Revelation: a Complete Commentary (William R. Newell)
《Revelation: A Complete Commentary》(William R. Newell)
Commentator
American Bible teacher and pastor. Born May 22, 1868, William Reed Newell attended Wooster (Ohio) College, graduating in 1891. After studies at Princeton and Oberlin Seminaries, he pastored the Bethesda Congregational Church in Chicago until 1895, when Moody invited him to become the assistant superintendent of Moody Bible Institute under R.A. Torrey. In this position Newell demonstrated his extraordinary gift of Bible exposition. Great audiences in Chicago, St. Louis and Toronto flocked to hear his city-wide Bible classes, leading to the publication of his widely-known commentaries, especially Romans Verse-by-Verse, Hebrews Verse-by-Verse, and The Book of Revelation.
During this period, Newell wrote the beloved Gospel hymn At Calvary. He was called into the presence of the One he gladly owned as his King on April 1, 1956. Few men have had a clearer grasp of the magnitude of God's grace in Christ or have been able to convey it with such lasting results.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Part One: Judgment
Chapter 1 - Opening Message
Chapter 2 - The Seven Letters
Chapter 3 - The Throne Of Adjudication In Heaven
Chapter 4 - Six Seals Opened
Chapter 5 - The Sealed Israelites
Chapter 6 - The Seven Trumpet Angels And The Other Angel
Chapter 7 - Locusts And Hellish Horsemen
Chapter 8 - No Longer Delay!
Chapter 9 - God’s Last Prophets: The Two Witnesses: Their Tremendous Task
Chapter 10 - The Woman, The Dragon, The Man-Child
Chapter 11 - The Beast And His Prophet
Chapter 12 - The 144,000 On Mt. Zion
Chapter 13 - The Six “Other” Angels
Chapter 14 - The Seven Last Plagues
Chapter 15 - The Judgment Of Babylon
Chapter 16 - Marriage Of The Lamb
Chapter 17 - The Great Day Of Wrath
Chapter 18 - Satan Bound, The Millennium
Chapter 19 - The Great White Throne Judgment
Part Two: New Creation
Chapter 20 - The New Creation
Chapter 21 - The New Jerusalem
Chapter 22 - Closing Messages
Appendix I
Appendix II
Appendix III
Appendix IV: Bullingerism
Why The Church Will Not Be In The Great Tribulation
Introduction
Romans, Ephesians and Hebrews should be known before Revelation. Romans, justified forever by faith; Ephesians, our calling, one with the Risen Christ; Hebrews, our Great High Priest, Who makes continual intercession for us, and leads our worship in heaven.
Remembering that the Father hath committed all judgment, and also the authority to execute it, unto the Son, “because he is a son of man,” we shall expect Christ to be seen as the Judge, in each judgment scene in The Revelation; and also that He will have a special character towards each stage of judgment.
I. The part concerning judgment will include:
First, judgment of the assemblies (churches) as God’s house on earth; for judgment must “begin at the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17). This judgment Christ carries on as risen, glorified Son of God, in His priestly character, but as a priest dealing judicially. Church testimony on earth is finally rejected. Chapters 1 to 3.
Second, the scene is removed to heaven, where is seen the Throne of God as holding the whole earth in responsibility. Christ, as the Lamb slain, takes the sealed book of the divine counsels of earthly judgment. The seals, trumpets and vials follow. Chapters 4 to 18.
Third, Christ Himself comes as King of kings and Lord of lords in the Great Day of Wrath; sets up on earth His iron-rod judgment rule of 1000 years, at the end of which, Satan being released and man rushing again to his banner, the world’s affairs are closed up, and heaven and earth pass away. Chapter 19.
Fourth, all moral, responsible beings (except Christ’s own) are called to the judgment of the Great White Throne, which has nothing to do with earth or with dispensations, but with eternal destinies only. Chapter 20: verses 11-15.
II. Then we have the New Creation: a new heaven, a new earth,—“all things new”; with the new Jerusalem the home of God and His saints; the Throne of God being established therein.
It is for this new heaven and new earth wherein righteousness is at home, that the Spirit, through Peter, declares the saints are looking.
The Various Judgments
1. Of the Church’s earthly history—chapters 2 and 3.
2. Of the rebellious nations—especially the Beast-worshippers—chapters 4 to 16.
3. Of the system of earth idolatry called “Babylon”— chapters 17 and 18.
4. Of the Beast, the False Prophet and the Kings and armies of earth at Armageddon—chapter 19:19-21.
5. (This is the Great Day of Wrath.)
6. Of the devil’s permitted career on earth, for 1000 years—chapter 20:1-3.
7. Of the spared nations, in enforced righteousness, justice and peace, during the Millennium—chapter 20:4-6.
8. Of the rebellious earth, upon Satan’s release—chapter 20:7-9.
9. Of Satan himself in the Lake of Fire forever—chapter 20:10.
10. Of the unsaved, at the Great White Throne—chapter 20:4-15.
We repeat over and over that our Lord is not seen in the book of The Revelation as the Head of the Body, the Church. This description belongs wholly to Paul, who unfolds in his epistles the character, calling and destiny of the Church of God. in The Revelation we are not studying the calling of the Church as the Body of Christ, as risen and heavenly.
But The Revelation does deal with outcomes: (1) of the earthly church testimony, for as a witness for God the church is proved unfaithful and removed from the scene: the real Church taken to heaven (4:1), and the false, destroyed by the Wild Beast (chapter 17). (2) Then the nations, under responsibility to occupy and govern the earth, are judged and desolated. (3) Jerusalem, “the holy city,” is seen as “Sodom and Egypt” (except for a remnant). The nation is handed over to the delusions of Antichrist. (4) Finally, the rebellious of the race of Adam and the earth they chose and claimed, following Satan’s captaincy in their final testing, are destroyed, and new things are brought in.
Christ In The Revelation
We find our blessed Lord directly named in seven chief characters:
1. He is the risen, glorified Son of God among the churches as the lightbearers of this present age, judging their state by His Spirit (chapters 2 and 3).
2. He is the Lamb in heaven (after the rapture of the Church) publicly invested with authority to carry out the determined preliminary judgments upon men before His personal arrival on earth as Judge and King (chapters 4 to 19:10).
3. He comes to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords in the Great Day of Wrath (chapter 19:11-21).
4. He is Christ, reigning with His glorified saints on earth, during one thousand years (chapter 20:1-6). He is then “King over all the earth” (Zechariah 14:9).
5. He is the Judge upon the Great White Throne, with the holiness, righteousness and truth of deity absolutely and finally unveiled in judgment (chapter 20: 11-15).
6. He is the Lamb, upon “the throne of God and of the Lamb”: through whom, though subjected willingly to the Father (1 Corinthians 15:28), the glory and love of the deity will be expressed forevermore (chapter 21: 22, 23; 22:3, 4).
7. He is “I Jesus … the root and offspring of David, the bright, the morning star,” to His own, His beloved servants (chapter 22:16). He is the Coming One, expected and longed for by His real saints, the Bride, the true Church, who are under His grace continually. The Revelation’s last words are, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with the saints. Amen.” We must study this book in the light of this verse, and of Revelation 1:5: “Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood!”
Whatever judgments fall, they do not fall on the saints, the Body of Christ!
Part One: JudgmentChapter I
Opening Message
Revelation 1
The Revelation of Jesus Christ: which God gave Him. This expression is the true title to the book. It is a communication or unfolding of the details of future things by our Lord Jesus Christ. These opening statements are startling: (1) God gave Jesus Christ this apocalypse, or “revelation.” (2) It was that He might show it unto His servants (literally bondservants). (3) Jesus Christ communicated it “by his angel.” (4) It was “His servant John” to whom it was communicated (5) John faithfully “bare witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw.”We have, first, God; then Jesus Christ; then, His angel; then, His servant John, and finally Christ’s servants,—to whom the Revelation comes. Furthermore, we note that John bears witness to two things:
(1) “the word of God,” and (2) “the testimony of Jesus Christ.” “The word of God” is evidently God’s word to Christ in which He communicated to Him this apocalypse, or revelation; and “the testimony of Jesus Christ” is our Lord’s faithful communication of what God gave Him to tell us.
First, there can be no doubt, that Jesus Christ is the Second Person of the Trinity. The Father, in Hebrews 1:8, addresses Him as God, saying, “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.” Our Lord claimed worship, and plainly says that “all should honor the Son even as they honor the Father” (John 5:23). And in a comparison of Revelation 1:8 with 22:13, all doubt vanishes.
But, secondly, we must remember and believe Christ’s own words in Matthew 24:36: “Of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only.” Compare Mark 13:32, and also His parting words after the resurrection, in Acts 1:7, “It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father hath set within his own authority.”1
Again, in Hebrews 10:12, 13, “He … sat down on the right hand of God, henceforth expecting till his enemies be made the footstool of his feet.” The word here used means, “to await from the hand of another.” Taken in connection with the preceding verses, it indicates a state of constant expectancy: certain of the event, but leaving the time in the hands of the Father. When our Lord came to earth, we read (Philippians 2:7) He “emptied himself.” He left His glory, His wisdom, and His power, absolutely in the hands of the Father. This did not subtract an iota from His Deity, but placed Him where He could say to the Father (Psalm 22:9, 10), “Thou didst make me trust when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb.” So He spoke on earth, “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing.” Now, of course, our Lord has entered into His glory, and all authority has been committed unto Him in heaven and on earth.
Nevertheless, these plain words are before us as we enter upon The Revelation: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him.” This revelation must have been communicated to Him after His ascension to heaven, by the Father who has “set within his own authority” times and seasons. We believe:
1. That the times and seasons are yet within the Father’s authority—of course by the glad consent of the Son.
2. That the book of The Revelation contains the details of the carrying out of the divine decree that all Christ’s enemies should be put under His feet—all things, save the Father, subjected unto Him (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).
3. That the Father has not revealed “the day and the hour,” so that we are waiting and watching and expecting, along with our Lord, the Father’s giving Him His Kingdom, which He “went into a far country, to receive … and to return” (Luke 19:12).
Our Lord said in Gethsemane, “Thinkest thou that I cannot beseech my Father, and he shall even now send me more than twelve legions of angels? How then should the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?” (Matthew 26:53, 54). He left it to the Father to grant Him, as He pleased, weakness, shame and suffering, or resurrection, power, and glory. And this was perfect obedience!
Christ will, of course, occupy the eternal throne, for He is God, yet it will be “the Throne of God and of the Lamb,” an infinitely beautiful and gracious arrangement. For our Lord will not retire from us into the Godhead, although He is and will continue to be, “God blessed forever”: but He will be a man, and as such will reign on “the Throne of God and of the Lamb” forever!
To show unto his servants (literally bondservants). This revelation is written not exclusively to the Church, but to all willing subjects of Christ. This will include the spared remnant of Israel, also those among the nations that attach themselves to them in the awful time of trouble; in fact, all companies of God’s saints. Although written “for the churches” (Revelation 22:16), the book of The Revelation is not addressed to the Church, the assembly of God, the Body of Christ, as such, as are Paul’s Epistles. The Revelation is a prophecy, testified to the churches, for their information as to “the things that are to come,” and for warning and correction.
No wonder, then, that those not subject to Christ should find difficulty with the book of The Revelation! It is a remarkable fact, that although our Lord Jesus said in the upper room, “No longer do I call you servants; … but I have called you friends”; and although Paul tells the church saints, in Galatians 4:7, “Ye are no longer bondservants, but full-age sons:”—nevertheless all the apostles in their writings call themselves bondservants of Jesus Christ! If we are having difficulty with this blessed closing book of God’s holy Word, let us surrender ourselves to Jesus Christ as His servants. The book was written to bondservants.
The things which must shortly come to pass. “The things,”—this is definite. It describes events. Do not then look for vague “symbols.” “Must come to pass”— here is certainty, necessity. Man dreams of “development,” “progress,” “achievement.” God says, “The rulers of this world are coming to nought” (1 Corinthians 2:6). Believe God; doubt man. Satan is the prince of this world and the God of this age. He deceiveth the whole world. Let us not be deceived. The things we are about to study in The Revelation “must come to pass,” and, “shortly.”
“Shortly” surely indicates imminence. We have the same Greek expression in Romans 16:20, “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly” (Greek: en tachei). He is not yet bruised, but we are expecting it! The same phrase is used in Revelation 22:6, “The things which must shortly come to pass.” This shuts out the “historical” interpretation of the book,—that is, making the seals, trumpets, vials, etc., apply to the events of the past church centuries. In fact, the strictly prophetic part of The Revelation does not begin till the churches are out of the scene,—that is, after chapter 4. I firmly believe that unless we reject utterly the idea that this part of The Revelation has been “gradually fulfilling itself” in the present age, we shall miss the meaning of the book. Remember Paul’s explanation of the doctrine of the Jewish remnant in Romans 9:27, 28, “The Lord will execute his word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short.” The present dispensation must not in any sense be confused with God’s future dealing with the Jewish remnant after the true Church has been taken to heaven. Strictly speaking, the true Church has nothing to do with the present age, any more than it has to do with this world. Judgment for her is past; her citi- zenship is in heaven; she is one with Christ; she is indwelt by the Holy Ghost, and may be caught up at any moment. Although she is informed in Revelation about “the things which must shortly come to pass” on earth, she will not be in them; even as Enoch was taught of the Lord’s coming and judgment (Jude 14), but yet was not to pass through it; and as Abraham was taught concerning the destruction of Sodom, while he himself dwelt on the mountain away from the place of judgment.
It is absolutely necessary for us to distinguish, as members of the Body of Christ, between what is said about us (in the epistles), and what is told to us, as friends, by our Lord, in The Revelation.
“Shortly,” moreover, not only means imminency, but also rapidity of execution when action once begins. “Things which in their entirety must soon come to pass”—in God’s speedy time, although He seems to delay; for the same Greek expression is translated “speedily” in Luke 18:7, 8.
He sent and signified (them) by his angel unto his servant John; who bare witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw. The manner of the communication of The Revelation to John by Jesus Christ is remarkable. He “sent and signified by his angel.”2 This angelic agency of course does not refer to the title and introduction (1:l-8); nor to the great personal vision of Christ (1:9-20); nor to the messages to the seven churches (chapters 2, 3). Also the thrice repeated “I come quickly,” and the “I Jesus have sent mine angel,” are spoken directly by the Lord. Indeed chapter 22:6-10, and again 10-20 may well have been spoken by the Lord Himself; while the closing verse, like the opening of the book, is the Spirit-inspired utterance of the apostle. Like 1:4-7 it is more apostolic than seer-like in form, and so, more intimate to our hearts.