The Intent + Divine Commentary on The Book of Revelation - Ch 01 (20.12.10)

And I hear the Lord Jesus saying to His scribe, 

            “I would like you to prepare the individual Chapters with their verses of My book of Revelation so I may have you record the meaning with clarity of expression. 

            For as it was with My disciples, as they asked the meaning of My parables, so it will be with My disciples of today, so will I make clear the meaning of what John saw by vision when he was on the Isle of Patmos.”

Rev 1:1 THE Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,

Rev 1:2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

Divine commentary –

“For such as these will assuredly not lose their inheritance within the Kingdom of their God,

                               will assuredly not be led astray in the days of turmoil, 

                               will assuredly not be found with their gowns bereft of adornment, 

                               will assuredly not fall from grace in the day of The Lord. 

For such as these are at the forefront of their race, 

                                       grasping their baton securely – 

                                                         as each scroll is annotated at the way stations of The Lord.”

Rev 1:4 John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,

Divine commentary –

“The Will of the Father in unity with The Son, 

               is conveyed by The Son to The Holy Spirit –

                          whereby The Father’s Will is placed within the oversight of the seven Spirits who await tasking before the throne of Him who is and who was 

                                                     and who is to come – 

                                                                   The Spirit of justice,

                                                                   The Spirit of assembly, 

                                                                   The Spirit of knowledge,

                                                                   The Spirit of sanctity, 

                                                                   The Spirit of peace,

                                                                   The Spirit of wisdom,

                                                                   The Spirit of mercy – 

                                                                               with order not important.”

Rev 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,

Rev 1:6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Divine commentary –

“As the glory flows, 

          so it is caught up; 

                  as it is caught up, 

                         so it mantles the spirits and the souls of man: 

                                                                         they who exchanged their sins for grace. 

The glory of inheritance, 

          received upon the cross of victory at the bestowal of The Father, 

                 becomes the inheritance of them who testify of Me, 

                                                        of them of whom the Father knows, 

                                                        of them in whom the seed of faith has blossomed, 

                                                                                             as in a desert, 

                                                                                     where the fruit of faith now share their testimonies of how they came to be: 

                                                                                                 each with their own fruit – 

                                                                                                     which bear their generations well.”

Rev 1:7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

Divine commentary –

“As it is written, 

          so it is about to come to pass, 

          so it will be witnessed, 

          so it will close the age of grace. 

                             The closure of the age of grace removes the need for faith, 

                                                                               modifies the tasking of the Holy Spirit, 

                                                                               transitions man into the presence of his God.”

Rev 1:8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Divine commentary –

“I, 

      The Lord, 

               approach the end of time for man. 

I, 

      The Lord, 

               hold the release of The Father. 

I, 

      The Lord, 

               acknowledge the prophecies of the past, 

                                     the prophecies of the present, 

                                     the prophecies of what is about to be before the eyes of man. 

I, 

      The Lord, 

               uphold the prophecies of My prophets whom I know.”

Rev 1:9 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of 

Jesus Christ.

Divine commentary –

“So John spoke of what he saw within the heavens – 

                   all which was still to come to pass. 

  So John wrote, 

           as a scribe of honesty, 

                   all which he was shown as about to be. 

   So John, 

           My beloved, 

                   recorded for posterity all the vision which he witnessed – 

                                                                          when the heavens opened for the benefit of man.”

Rev 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,

Rev 1:11 saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last," and, "What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

Divine commentary –

“I, 

      The Lord, 

               rebuke My children whom I love, 

                           My children whom I would have hold to the truth, 

                           My children whom I would not have stray, 

                           My children whom I would recognise as they forsake the milk, 

                                                                                                 as they mature onto meat. 

For My children of the gospel were not to be turned by Satan when at the forefront of commissioning with all the lands before them. 

For My children were called to shelter as if chickens by a hen, 

                            were called to feed where the hen does peck, 

                            were called to be – 

                                                             as the hen does teach her chickens – 

                                                      in the world beyond her wings.”

Rev 1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 

Rev 1:13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands  One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. 

Divine commentary –

“The golden band contains absolute completeness in totality.”

Rev 1:14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 

Divine commentary –

“A flame of fire is partially descriptive of His outward appearance when projecting the presence of The Holy Spirit.”

Rev 1:15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters;

Divine commentary –

“The fine brass, 

            as if refined in a furnace,

                    portrays longevity of function with perfection of form and substance. 

The sound of many waters is vocally expressing supreme power and authority within clarity of diction.”

Rev 1:16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.

Divine commentary –

“The seven stars in His right hand signify His protection of, 

                with support for, 

                            the seven ecclesia of the Asian churches. 

The sharp two-edged sword is the word of God.”

Rev 1:17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.

Rev 1:18 "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

Divine commentary –

“The keys are the means of access with control, 

                in this instance, 

                            over hell and death, including the second death.”

Rev 1:19 "Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.

Rev 1:20 "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.

NKJV Footnotes:

    * (1:5) NU-Text reads loves us and freed; M-Text reads loves us and washed.

    * (1:6) NU-Text and M-Text read a kingdom.

    * (1:8) NU-Text and M-Text omit the Beginning and the End.

    * (1:8) NU-Text and M-Text add God.

    * (1:9) NU-Text and M-Text omit both.

    * (1:11) NU-Text and M-Text omit I am through third and.

    * (1:11) NU-Text and M-Text omit which are in Asia.

    * (1:17) NU-Text and M-Text omit to me.

    * (1:19) NU-Text and M-Text read Therefore, write.

    * (1:20) NU-Text and M-Text omit which you saw.

The Blue Letter Bible is acknowledged with gratitude for its practical assistance with NKJV Text entry. 

www.blueletterbible.org/

 

Copyright Information, New King James Version (NKJV)

New King James Version, © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

NKJV: What does NU-Text and M-Text mean in the footnotes?

For example, see Matthew 1:7.

    Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa[1]. 

[1] NU-Text reads Asaph.

The following is quoted from the front matter of the New King James Version.

    New King James Footnotes Important textual variants in the Old Testament are identified in a standard form. The textual notes in the present edition of the New Testament make no evaluation of readings, but do clearly indicate the manuscript sources of readings. They objectively present the facts without such tendentious remarks as "the best manuscripts omit" or "the most reliable manuscripts read." Such notes are value judgments that differ according to varying viewpoints on the text. By giving a clearly defined set of variants the New King James Version benefits readers of all textual persuasions. Where significant variations occur in the New Testament Greek manuscripts, textual notes are classified as follows:

 

       1. NU-Text These variations from the traditional text generally represent the Alexandrian or Egyptian type of text described previously in "The New Testament Text." They are found in the Critical Text published in the twenty-seventh edition of the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament (N) and in the United Bible Societies fourth edition (U), hence the acronym, "NU-Text."

       2. M-Text This symbol indicates points of variation in the Majority Text from the traditional text, as also previously discussed in "The New Testament Text." It should be noted that M stands for whatever reading is printed in the published Greek New Testament According to the Majority Text, whether supported by overwhelming, strong, or only a divided majority textual tradition.

    The textual notes reflect the scholarship of the past 150 years and will assist the reader to observe the variations between the different manuscript traditions of the New Testament. Such information is generally not available in English translations of the New Testament.