A long arduous study...

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what, must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, REV 1:1

With just this one verse, the very first verse of Revelations, God reveals yet again that all things in His book points to the cross. As we look at the word “revelation” it’s breathtaking to me to see how much is revealed in just that one word.

The word “revelation” is translated from the Greek word APOKALUPSIS. From this root word we get our own English word “Apocalypse”, however its true meaning is something different then what we’ve come to know “Apocalypse” as. The true meaning is not a synonym for ‘”Armageddon” or for a great battle the will destroy the world as we know it.

If we look at the meaning of this word we find it comes from two words with an interesting definition.

“APOKALUPSIS” is derived from APO and KALUPTO. In the Greek APO means “of Separation” or “of separation of a part from the whole”. KALUPTO means to “hide’ or what I find most interesting “VEIL”. It could be then also translated “A separation of the Veil”.

Now of course what John was saying literally was that the revelation he was about to give of Christ was a peeling back of a veil or “unveiling” of things that have previously been hidden. However as I read this I thought of another veil that was separated some 35 to 63 years before this revelation was given.

We find in the crucifixion account written in Mathew that when Jesus “yielded up the ghost” with a loud voice, the earth shook, and the veil in the temple that separated the holy of holies from the inner courts in the temple built to hold God's presence, was separated in two.

Of course we know this was to signify that no longer would God dwell (or tabernacle) in a [place built by man, separated from all. With his work at the Cross, Jesus our High priest, tore the veil in two so that now the fullness of the triune God dwell in a place built by Him, which is of course us.

This one word “Revelation” is a revealing of Christ’s work at the Cross.

It is here I realized this is going to be a long arduous study if just ONE WORD can reveal so much. God has depths we cannot even begin to fathom. But I am determined to go as far as I possibly can!