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Thursday, March 27, 2014

DEMONSTRATION IN THE BOOK OF REVEALTION

Demonstration in the Book of Revelation: This refers to the Method that is used.

 
The Meaning of Demonstration. "To show"
"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John."
The word (deiknumi) dike-noo'-o; a prol. form of an obs. prim. of the same mean.; to show (lit. or fig.):--shew. means to make a public display, or put on an exhibition. Used eight times in the book (1:1; 4:1, 17:1, 21:9, 10; 22:1, 6, 8). In each one of these cases, ,John is brought into the presence of a great public display. John is a spectator to a great picture show of the future.
The substance of demonstration. "Things which . . . come to pass."
 These things are future - "come to pass"
These things are imminent - "shortly"; cf. Luke 18:7-8. Relative term - cf. Rom. 16-20.
These things are certain - "must". It is necessary.
"And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?" "I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"

These things are sudden - word shortly means this (22:12). cf. 1 Thess. 5:3 - Then sudden destruction cometh. "For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape."
The recipients of demonstration. "Unto his servants" This refers to all the saints. "lowliest slave" 10:11; 13:18; 14:13. Sent immediately to Church saints, 1:4, 11; 2-3; 22:16. Received by the apostle saint John. By demonstration the meaning could be more easily grasped by the saints. It is vivid, picturesque.

Signification: This denotes the meaning of the book.
The Meaning of signification. (semaino) say-mah'-ee-no; from  sema (a mark; of uncert. der.); to indicate:--signify.
This means to show by signs or sign-i-fy. These signs, however, point definitely to the meaning that is intended. This is the word that John particularly likes. He uses it in his gospel and it has been rendered "miracles" (cf. John 2:11 and John 20:30-31). "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him." "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:" "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."
The Agent of signification. "by his angel"
This particular angel is the revealing angel, the one who presents the signs that makes this indeed a revelation of the things that are to come to pass. Many other angels appear throughout the book: cf. 1:11; 7:11; 7:1, 2,; 8:2, 3; 10:1; Chapters 14, 15, 16; 18:1-3, 21; 19:17; 20:1-3; 21:9.

The substance of significance. "signified it . . ."
The signs are stars for angels (1:20); candlesticks for churches (1:20); symbolism of the temple, etc. In fact, Old Testament imagery is everywhere in the book (cf. chapter 10, also 11). This deals mostly with matters covering the tribulation period. The messages of chapters 2-3 are direct from Christ, also portions of chapter one and chapter 22. "The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches."
 

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