A Revelation Invitation

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.(Revelation 1:1-2)

Have you ever played the game “Telephone”? Sitting in a circle of friends, one from the group whispers a sentence in the ear of the person sitting next to him. She in turn whispers what she heard to the person next to her. The message passes from person to person around the circle until it is told to the last person who then voices the sentence to the group. Usually, the final telling of the message has little resemblance to the initial statement often with hilarious effect. It seems that the book of Revelation has come to us through a long string of voices much like our game of “Telephone”. Let’s look again at the verses above:

The revelation of Jesus Christ[2], which God[1] gave him[2] to show to his servants[5] the things that must soon take place. He[2] made it known by sending his angel[3] to his servant John[4], who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

So, we learn the sequence of recipients and voices of the Revelation: God → Jesus Christ → angel → John → servants (the seven churches). If we want to extend the metaphor further, we could add scribes to the chain. Before the advent of the printing press the revelation that John received and passed on to the seven churches was meticulously, faithfully and repeatedly copied over centuries by forgotten scribes. Modern Biblical scholars attest to the accuracy and reliability of those ancient manuscripts. We are indebted to those anonymous men. One more link in the chain bringing it to our ears are the thousands of translators who have faithfully rendered the Revelation from its ancient Greek into modern English. All along this chain of witnesses the Spirit of God has lovingly overseen its preservation and dissemination. What a precious gift this book is. What care the Holy Spirit has taken for our edification.

No matter how puzzling or unnecessarily difficult you may think Revelation is, it came to us exactly as God intended it. John reported exactly what the the angel revealed to him. Being that John was a witness to this vision, he has recorded for us the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. We should appreciate and enjoy this gift.

Great God of heaven, thank you for providing this revelation to me your servant. You know exactly what I need to sustain my faith. Thank you, Jesus, for your witness which resulted in your death, but which gives me life. I thank you that you have presented this amazing vision of your power and sovereignty. I thank you, Holy Spirit, that you so carefully preserved this revelation for my brothers and sisters and me. Amen.