Category Archives: Revelation Commentary

Precis Of Revelation In Context

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PRECIS OF REVELATION IN CONTEXT

The first three verses of the Book of Revelation tell us that something was about to happen.

WHAT HAPPENED?

In 70 AD the nation of Israel was destroyed along with its capitol city, Jerusalem. The survivors of this destruction were sold into slavery and assimilated racially. Jesus Christ was left as the only legitimate Heir to the Promises, the Covenants, the Kingdom, and the Throne.

His Bride, His Body, the Church, flourished in the absence of their arch persecutors. They went forth with the presence and power of God and conquered the Roman world in the first few centuries.

The surviving Rabbis of the Pharisees joined together to preserve their religion. They appropriated to themselves the name “Jews” and “Israel.” They worked for the next few centuries to try to gather up their “Oral Law” and put it into writing. The result of their work is still extant in the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud, which they claim to be their authoritative scriptures, supplanting the Biblical Scriptures. These are now available in English translation.

WHEN did it happen? ON CUE AS FORETOLD

The events of the Book of Revelation happened “Shortly,” “Quickly,” “Soon,” after the Book was written in the first century AD. It is about events that are now past in time. Its interpretation therefore requires a knowledge of the historical context.

WHERE did it happen?

Primarily in Judea and from there to the Jewish colonies throughout the Roman world.

HOW did the Book happen?

By revelation from God to Jesus Christ, to the Angel, to John, then to “His Servants.” This revelation came through visions, through voices, and through the writing by John to the Churches.

WHO was the message to?

It was to “His Servants.” “His Servants” were the Jews who had accepted Christ as their Savior and their earliest Gentile converts.

WHY did it happen?

Because these things had been promised in the Covenant and prophesied by the Prophets and confirmed by their fulfillment in Christ. It was morally imperative that they happen when they did.

This blog, Revelation in Context, will describe, discuss and document these events in their Biblical, historical, linguistic, and cultural context. We invite you to go with us through this study of this most interesting, inspiring and informative Book.

Revelation: Greek ‘Apocalypse’ – The Veils Removed

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THE VEILS

The Greek title of the Book of Revelation is referred to as “The Apocalypse.” The prefix apo- means “from, away from.” The root of the word Apocalypse is kalu, meaning “a veil or covering.” The suffix -psis denotes action or process. Apocalypse therefore means, “the action or process of taking away the veil.”

This Greek word may also be translated as “the unveiling, uncovering, manifestation, appearing, or coming.” So the “Revelation of Jesus Christ” refers to His unveiling, uncovering, manifestation, appearing, and/or coming.

The Veils of the Old Testament

For the Biblical context we should consider the significant veils described in the Old Testament:

  • (1) the veil of mortality,
  • (2) the veil of separation,
  • (3) the veil of the Law, and
  • (4) the veil of the Heavens.

(1) The veil of mortality is unredeemed Flesh. This veil became necessary when Adam and Eve sinned and became subject to death, separation from God. It was the veil of death. God clothed them; that is, He put a veil between Him and their sinful Flesh, Genesis 3.21.

Christ removed this veil of flesh, Hebrews 10:19-20: “Having therefore boldness, brethren, to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.” See also I Corinthians 15:54.

Isaiah saw this veil as the veil of death, mortality, that kept the whole world from seeing the full Light of God, Isaiah 25.7-8: “And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.”

Isaiah’s prophecy of the removal of the veil of death is referred to in I Corinthians 15:53-57 and also Revelation 21:4.

(2) Another veil of separation was in the Holy of Holies in the Temple where God chose to dwell with His people. Even the Priesthood could only enter this sacred area with the absolute perfection of the requirements of the sacrificial blood, foreshadowing the blood of Christ. Christ accomplished the removal of this veil: Matthew 27.51. Christ provided access through Himself to this most Holy place: Hebrews 9.1-12.

(3) The veil of the Law. The Pharisees pretended a high reverence for the Law, but Christ taught that the Law was only necessary because of disobedience. God’s will was that the Law should be written in the hearts of Mankind by the very Breath/Spirit of God. The external ritual code of the Law often blinded people to the need for the inner obedience from the heart. The story of Moses’ face to face confrontation with God furnishes an example that beholding and partaking of the glory of God is the essence of the Law of God. The original law was for Mankind to be in God’s image, to know Him and to be in His likeness, Exodus 34:33; II Corinthians 3:13-18.

(4) The veil of the Heavens is described in Psalm 104:2 as a curtain that veils the full Light of God. It is God’s garment, Psalm 104:2. The starry heavens, or what we might call ‘the sky’, declares the glory of God and was created for the purpose of orientation in time and space for Mankind, Genesis 1.14-15. The sun, moon, stars and planets were not just randomly sprinkled but formed definite and readable patterns. Moses was instructed to make all things according to the “Pattern,” Exodus 25:40; Numbers 8:4; Hebrews 8:5.

The veil of the heavens was opened to the prophets as in Ezekiel 1.1. In the New Testament the Heavens were opened to John the Baptist, Mark 1:10; Stephen, Acts 7:56; Peter, Acts 10:11; and John the Revelator, Revelation 4:1. The Book of Revelation concerns the visions given to John in which the veil of the Heavens was opened again to prophetic view.

The Book of Revelation shows how all of these veils were removed by Jesus Christ.

For more discussion and referents on the Greek word Apocalypse see my book Revelation in Context, pages 63-70, available at www.Amazon.com or www.XulonPress.com or locally at Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net