Simple Keys to Understanding the Book of Revelation — Part 2
For years I have wondered why some people seem to have a fairly good grasp of the book of Revelation, while others seem to have no clue about how to even begin to understand it. And there doesn’t seem to be much middle ground. Either people seem to understand it fairly well, or they feel it is impossible to understand.
Just recently, I discovered the reason for this gap in understanding. The key is right there in the very first verse of the book!
In the first verse of Revelation, God establishes the purpose of the book.
“[This is] the revelation of Jesus Christ [His unveiling of the divine mysteries]. God gave it to Him to disclose and make known to His bond servants certain things which must shortly and speedily come to pass in their entirety. And He sent and communicated it through His angel (messenger) to His bond servant John”—Revelation 1:1 (AMPC)
The key that God shares with us here is that the mysteries of the book of Revelation are to be disclosed and made known to His bond servants, not to everyone. The intended audience is a relatively small group of people.
This is repeated in the last chapter of the book:
*“Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent His angel [as a representative] ****to show His bond-servants ***the things that must soon take place.”—Revelation 22:6 (AMP)
This is confirmed again in Amos 3:7 (AMP):
***“***Surely the Lord God does nothing Without revealing His secret plan [of the judgment to come] To His servants the prophets.”
The original word “servants” in that verse is the Hebrew word for* bond servants.*
The first and most important key to understanding the book of Revelation is to be a bond servant of Jesus Christ. To understand what that means, we have to go back to Exodus 21 where God describes the differences between bond servants and hired servants. This description is also found in Deuteronomy 15:16-17 (NIV):
“But if your servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your female servant.”
A bond servant carried a mark. What distinguished a bond servant from another servant was a mark on his ear where it had been bored through with the awl. The bond servant’s ear had been “opened” by the master.
“The Lord God has opened My ear, And I have not been rebellious Nor have I turned back.”—Isaiah 40:5 (AMP)
“He opens their ears to instruction and discipline”—Job 36:10 (AMP)
“You have opened my ears and given me the capacity to hear [and obey Your word]”—Psalm 40:6 (AMP)
The one sentence that Jesus repeated more than any other in Scripture was “he who has an ear to hear, let him hear.” It is a very significant declaration for the end times. It is spoken 16 times in the New Testament—8 times in the Gospels and 8 times in the book of Revelation.
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Matthew 11:15 (NKJV) “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
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Matthew 13:9 (NKJV) “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
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Matthew 13:43 (NKJV) “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
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Mark 4:9 (NKJV) “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
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Mark 4:23 (NKJV) “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”
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Mark 7:16 (NKJV) “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”
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Luke 8:8 (NKJV) “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
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Luke 14:35 (NKJV) “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
It was always spoken regarding a message of revelation of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God that not everyone would be able to hear.
It’s interesting that when Jesus speaks that declaration in the book of Revelation, He no longer says, “He who has ears,” (plural) but “He who has an ear” (singular). He speaks to those whose ear is single. This is a reference to the bond servants who have His mark on their ear. These committed servants of the Lord Jesus have had their ears opened to the voice of the Master.
It is significant that in seven out of the eight times this phrase is used in Revelation, it accompanies a message to the overcomer. This will become more meaningful as we learn about the role of the overcomer in the end times.
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Revelation 2:7 (NKJV) “ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes …”
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Revelation 2:11 (NKJV) “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes …”
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Revelation 2:17 (NKJV) “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes …”
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Revelation 2:29 (NKJV) “And he who overcomes … . He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
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Revelation 3:6 (NKJV) “He who overcomes … . He who has **an ear, **let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
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Revelation 3:13 (NKJV) “ He who overcomes … . He who has **an ear, **let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
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Revelation 3:22 (NKJV) “ To him who overcomes … . He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
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Revelation 13:9 (NKJV) “If anyone has an ear, let him hear.”
Neville Johnson had an experience in which an angel asked him for a particular passport to go to the next level in God. He relates this in his message, “Seeking God Part 2” from his series, “The Quest to Walk with God - Volume Two”.
*“You know, you need a passport to travel to the next level. You know, if I was to travel to another country, I’d need a passport, otherwise you can’t get in there, and you need a passport from Heaven. You need written permission to get in. We’re not talking about salvation. We’re talking about walking with God and entering that realm. *
*“I was praying recently and I found myself at a booth with an angel behind it. Behind the angel was a dark, solid door, and it was just like the Passport Control in an airport, and Christians were coming to the booth who had no passport. This angel was saying, “Passport, please,” and there was a bit of confusion and so on. Many who came to the booth had no passport, and so he turned them back. I heard them saying, “But I’m a Christian!” Another one said, “But, I teach!” Another one said, “I’m a pastor!” But he wouldn’t let them through. Then the angel looked at me and said, “Passport, please.” I looked in my pocket, and I had no passport. “Where’s my passport?” I said. This angel looked at me and said this, “Show me your ear.” I said, “What?” He said, “Show me your ear.” So, I showed him my ear, and he waved me past. And I turned around and looked as Christians were still coming and coming. I thought, “This is strange. Why did he do that?” I turned and said, “But why did you look at my ear?” He said “I wanted to see if there was a hole in it.” Then it dawned on me. *
“I turned around and looked at this door which was now translucent. The door was a bit like that series “Stargate” where they could pass through a stargate into another world. Well, it was translucent like that, and I just walked through that and I was in Heaven. I walked back out of it, and I was back at Passport Control. I turned around and walked through it again. I put my hand through it. I walked back, out of the Passport area, and I could come and go as I wished. And I said to the Lord, “What is this?” He said to me, “Exodus chapter 21.”
Of course, Exodus 21 is the chapter describing the bond servant relationship.
Hired servants were not allowed to partake of the holy things (Lev 22:10). Some people in the Lord’s service were allowed to eat of the bread from within the Holy Place. Hired servants were not allowed. In the same manner, there is some spiritual food that is reserved strictly for those who have committed themselves as the bond servants of the Lord. These are allowed to partake of the “hidden wisdom” that Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 2:7 and the hidden “treasures of wisdom and knowledge” that are spoken of in Colossians 2:3. Among those treasures of hidden wisdom and knowledge is the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It is a closed book to *hired *servants, but it can be an open book of vast wisdom and insight for His *bond *servants.
The bond servant relationship is necessary. It is a deeper degree of commitment and submission to God. Without that level of commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ, Revelation may remain a closed book to the reader.
