book is sometimes called Revelation and sometimes the Apocalypse. It begins with the words ‘The revelation of Jesus Christ’, which mean not the revelation about Jesus Christ but the revelation given by Jesus Christ. The Greek word for revelation is apokalupsis, which is a word with a history.
(1) Apokalupsis is composed of two parts. Apo means away from, and kalupsis means a veiling. Apokalupsis, therefore, means an unveiling, a revealing. It was not originally an especially religious word; it meant simply the disclosure of any fact. There is an interesting use of it in the writings of the Greek historian Plutarch (How to tell a Flatterer from a Friend, 32). Plutarch tells how Pythagoras once severely rebuked a devoted disciple of his in public, and the young man went out and hanged himself. ‘From that time on, Pythagoras never admonished anyone when anyone else was present. For error should be treated as a foul disease, and all admonition and disclosure [apokalupsis] should be in secret.’ But apokalupsis became especially a Christian word.
(2) It is used for the revealing of God’s will to us for our actions. Paul says that he went up to Jerusalem by apokalupsis. He went because God told him he wanted him to go (Galatians 2:2).
(3) It is used of the revelation of God’s truth to men and women. Paul received his gospel not from a human source but by apokalupsis from Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:12). In the Christian assembly, the message of the preacher is an apokalupsis (1 Corinthians 14:6).
(4) It is used of God’s revealing to men and women of his own mysteries, especially in the incarnation of Jesus Christ (Romans 16:25; Ephesians 3:3).
(5) It is especially used of the revelation of the power and the holiness of God which is to come at the last days. That will be an unveiling of judgment (Romans 2:5); but for Christians it will be an unveiling of praise and glory (1 Peter 1:7), of grace (1 Peter 1:13) and of joy (1 Peter 4:13).
Before we remind ourselves of the more technical use of apokalupsis, we may note two things.
(1) This revelation is connected especially with the work of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:17).
(2) We are bound to see that here we have a picture of the whole of the Christian life. There is no part of it which is not lit by the revelation of God. God reveals to us what we must do and say; in Jesus Christ he reveals himself to us, for whoever has seen Jesus has seen the Father (John 14:9); and life moves on to the great and final revelation in which there is judgment for those who have not submitted to God, but there is grace and glory and joy for those who are in Jesus Christ. Revelation is not a technical theological idea; it is what God is offering to all who will listen.
Now we look at the technical meaning of apokalupsis, for that meaning is particularly connected with this book.
The Jews had long since ceased to hope that they would be recognized and upheld as the chosen people by human means. They hoped now for nothing less than the direct intervention of God. To that end, they divided all time into two ages – this present age, wholly given over to evil, and the age to come, the age of God. Between the two, there was to be a time of terrible trial. Between the Old and the New Testaments, the Jews wrote many books which were visions of the dreadful time before the end and of the blessedness to come. These books were called Apocalypses; and that is what Revelation is. Although there is nothing like it in the New Testament, it belongs to a class of literature which was common in the period between the Testaments. All these books are wild and unintelligible, for they are trying to describe the indescribable. The very subject with which Revelation deals is the reason why it is so difficult to understand.
THE MEANS OF GOD’S REVELATION
Revelation 1:1–3 (contd)
THIS short section gives us a concise account of how revelation comes to us.
(1) Revelation begins with God, the fountain of all truth. Every truth which we discover is two things – a discovery of the human mind and a gift of God. But it must always be remembered that we never create the truth; we receive it from God. We must also remember that we can receive it in two ways. It comes from earnest seeking. God gave us minds, and it is often through our minds that he speaks to us. Certainly, he does not grant his truth to those who are too lazy to think. It comes from reverent waiting. God sends his truth to those who not only think strenuously but also wait quietly in prayer and in devotion. But it must be remembered that prayer and devotion are not simply passive things. They are the dedicated listening for the voice of God.
(2) God gives this revelation to Jesus Christ. The Bible never, as it were, makes a second God of Jesus; rather, it stresses his utter dependence on God. ‘My teaching’, said Jesus, ‘is not mine but his who sent me’ (John 7:16). ‘I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me’ (John 8:28). ‘I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak’ (John 12:49). It is God’s truth that Jesus brings; and that is precisely why his teaching is unique and final.
(3) Jesus sends that truth to John through his angel (Revelation 1:1). Here, the writer of Revelation was a child of his time. At this point in history, people were particularly conscious of the transcendence of God. That is to say, they were impressed above all with the difference between God and the world – so much so that they felt that direct communication between God and human beings was impossible and that there must always be some intermediary. In the Old Testament story, Moses received the law directly from the hands of God (Exodus 19–20); but twice in the New Testament it is said that the law was given by angels (Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19).
(4) Finally, the revelation is given to John. It is most uplifting to remember the part that individuals play in the coming of God’s revelation. God must find someone to whom he can entrust his truth and whom he can use as his mouthpiece.
(5) Let us note the content of the revelation which comes to John. It is the revelation of ‘the things which must soon take place’ (1:1). There are two important words here. There is must. History is not haphazard; it has purpose. There is soon. Here is the proof that it is quite wrong to use Revelation as a kind of mysterious timetable of what is going to happen thousands of years from now. As John sees it, the things that it deals with are working themselves out immediately. Revelation must be interpreted against the background of its own time.
SERVANTS OF GOD
Revelation 1:1–3 (contd)
TWICE, the word servant appears in this passage. God’s revelation was sent to his servants, and it was sent through his servant John. In Greek the word is doulos, and in Hebrew ebedh. Each is difficult to translate fully. The normal translation of doulos is slave. The real servant of God is, in fact, his slave. Those who are in service to others can leave their work when they like; they have stated hours of employment and stated hours of freedom; they work for a wage; they have minds of their own and can bargain as to when and for what they will give their labour. Slaves can do none of these things; they are the absolute possessions of their owners, with neither time nor will of their own. Doulos and ebedh bring out how absolutely we must surrender life to God.
It is of the greatest interest to note to whom these words are applied in Scripture.
Abraham is the servant of God (Genesis 26:24; Psalm 105:26; Daniel 9:11). Jacob is the servant of God (Isaiah 44:1–2, 45:4; Ezekiel 37:25). Caleb and
