Who did God give the revelation to?
Who did God give the revelation to?
Mon, 2008-11-10 09:44
#1
Who did God give the revelation to?
Tue, 2008-11-11 21:46
#2
re:who did God give the revelation to?
Jesus Christ. "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants..." Rev 1:1
Wed, 2008-11-12 07:22
#3
I think it is interesting
I think it is interesting that Jesus Christ received a revelation of himself from God; but who is the revelation for?
Mon, 2008-11-17 19:34
#4
Was revelation written for
Was revelation written for 1st century Christians? Was this John's target audience. If so why would it be revevant to them? Were a lot of the things John mentions already happening in his time? Would it have the same meaning to them as it does to us? Why would 1st century Christians need to know about the signs of the end times? Could it be a message for Christians being persecuted in John's time and have information that can be useful to us today? Sorry for all the questions. I am planning to try and find the answers but many heads are better than one.
Mon, 2008-11-17 20:09
#5
I don't really know the
I don't really know the answer to this, but in verse 4 it says, "to the seven churches in the provence of Asia..."
Also, the intro. to Revelation in my Bible says that there are generally 4 groups of people who interpret Revelation differently:
Preterists: Understand Revelation exclusively in terms of 1st century setting, believe most events have already taken place.
Historicists: Believe it describes the long chain of events from Patmos to the end of history
Futurists: Place the book primarily in the end times
Idealists: View it as symbolic pictures of timeless truths, such as the victory of good over evil.
Tue, 2008-11-18 23:39
#6
Don't forget the Ignoramusist!
They forgot the fifth category:
Ignoramusist: Haven't got a clue, but would like to understand more.
It is interesting that the book was written to the seven churches, but (I don't have a bible in front of me right now) later it says, "blessed are they that read the words of this prophecy and blessed are they that hear it, and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near." Does this fragment legitimize our studying of the book as we can gain a blessing for doing so?
I can't help but think of our Ephesians study, where Paul is fairly clear about who his message is for (there is some dispute over this). but still seems to open it up as valuable to all believers.
Wed, 2008-11-19 22:32
#7
seven churches
I wasn’t questioning whether or not we needed to legitimize our study. But rather, that knowing whom it was written for would help with our understanding of its message for us. As Somer mentioned, it is apparent that John is addressing the seven churches in the province of Asia. What significance does the number seven have as there were probably more than seven churches in the region?
Wed, 2008-11-19 23:17
#8
Well, I actually didn't
Well, I actually didn't think you were questioning the legitimacy of studying revelation, but I thought it might be a good thing to do anyway. Here we go studying it, but should we? I think so, but I'd like to have a ready answer when somebody asks. :)
As to the seven churches, I've wondered that too. Maybe we need to do some historical digging to see what the significance of the seven churches is.