Revelation 1:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

NIV: who testifies to everything he saw--that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

NASB: who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, everything that he saw.

CSB: who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, whatever he saw.

NLT: who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

KJV: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

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

In this verse John testifies that this account of his encounter with Jesus Christ has been recorded accurately. Further, he describes the substance of his testimony as the Word of God. The book of Revelation, therefore, is the product of divine inspiration and not the product of human imagination.

John had previously written the Gospel of John, introducing Jesus to the world as the Word, God's message in human form. In his Gospel, John depicts Jesus as the Son of God and frames His work around seven key miracles. These are "signs" which show conclusively that Jesus is the Son of God. By recording these miracles John intended to persuade readers to believe in Jesus and thereby receive eternal life. He wrote in John 20:30–31: "Now Jesus did many other [miracles] in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

This revelation bears further testimony to the character of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 1:1–3 is the prologue to the book of Revelation. It establishes the authority for the entire writing by stating that this uncovering—this ''revelation''—is from Jesus Christ, given by God to John. John testifies that what he saw was a message from and about Jesus Christ. He promises that all who read and obey the words of Revelation will be blessed.

The Roman government had banished John to the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, off the coast of Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. While John was at Patmos, the risen, glorified Son of God appeared to him and commanded him to write ''the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this'' (Revelation 1:19). John pronounces blessings to those who read and obey Revelation, and then he greets his readers warmly and describes Jesus' appearance.

The apostle John begins this chapter by stating that he received the revelation of Jesus Christ by divine activity. God sent this vision to John while he was on the island of Patmos, likely as a punishment from the Roman government. This book follows John's four prior messages contained in the New Testament: the Gospel of John and the letters 1, 2, and 3 John. Chapters 2 and 3 tell what Jesus dictated to seven churches in Asia Minor, while the rest of John's message concerns future events.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''

Accessed 5/3/2024 2:40:04 PM