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NASB | Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Revelation 1:1 This is the revelation of Jesus Christ [His unveiling of the divine mysteries], which God [the Father] gave to Him to show to His bond-servants (believers) the things which must soon take place [in their entirety]; and He sent and communicated it by His angel (divine messenger) to His bond-servant John, |
Bible Question: God kept the truth of Salvation (called a "mystery revealed" in the New Testament) from the Old Testament Prophets, why????? |
Bible Answer: teachergary, This question is not an easy one to answer:-) First, let's consider what Jesus said to the Sadduces in Matt. 22:31-32: "But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living." They must have looked forward to the promise (of being resurrected) as indicated in Hebrews 11:13-16: "All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them." Christ spoke of this in reference to Abraham in John 8:56 saying, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." When we consider the phrase "the just shall live by faith"- quoted from Hab. 2:4 (Rom. 1:17, Gal. 3:11, Heb. 10:38)- it seems to carry an immediate and future meaning. Looking at Lev. 18:5 "‘So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord.", the Hebrew word for 'live' is chayah. It means "to live", "to remain alive", "to preserve his life". This can definitely speak to a future resurrection. Certainly, one of the more difficult verses are found in Hebrews 11:39-40 which seem to refer to such: "And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect." The answer may lie in 1 Thess. 4:16, 17 "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord." Speaking the Truth in Love, BradK |