The Book of Revelation is a revelation of the future given to John, one of Jesus' disciples. John wrote it down so that we could understand the prayer Jesus asked us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt.6:10).
This prayer is asking for the perfect society to become a reality. Since it will be ruled by God, it will be the Kingdom of God, and Jesus Christ will be its King. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, most of the world didn't pay much attention. Yet there had been over 300 predictions in the Old Testament about the birth, life and death of the child destined to rule the world as King.
The angels announced Jesus' birth, singing "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14). The wise men knew the child would be "King of the Jews" (Matt.2:1-2) and arrived with costly gifts to worship Him. They came to worship the One who will eventually rule the earth!
Prior to His crucifiction, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem. His followers spread their coats on the ground for the donkey to walk on, waved palm branches and sang "Hosanna" to the King. When the procession arrived in Jerusalem, we are told that "all the city was moved saying, Who is this?" The response was, "This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee" (Matt.21:9-11).
Jesus was only an obscure prophet to the multitudes. That is all He is to this day to the multitudes--an obscure prophet. They didn't recognize Him as God Himself "Emmanuel which being interpreted is God with us" the One destined for the throne of the earth as we are told in the Book of Revelation.
In the Old Testament a king, when chosen, was anointed with oil. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit at His baptism, (Luke 3:22) a sign that He is a King.
Kings wore signet rings which were used to impact their seal on important letters (Esth.8:8). We are "sealed for the day of redemption" (Eph.4:30) by King Jesus, "sealed with the promised Holy Spirit" (Eph.1:13) as a sign of His ownership upon us. The Jews who have not accepted Jesus into their hearts will be sealed at a later date (Rev.7:3-4).
The wise men foretold Jesus would be "King of the Jews" but the Jews expected a great king to rule Israel as King David had ruled, not a King of love to rule the whole world at the end of the ages.
Before Jesus' departure, He promised to leave His Spirit in our world to live in the hearts of believers. Only when every person on the whole earth will allow their hearts to be sealed with this Holy Spirit can His kingdom come and His will be done on earth.
In order to establish this perfect society where "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow" (Phil.2:10, the proud and rebellious will have to be humbled. An anti-Christ figure will deceive many (Matt.24:24) into thinking man can set up this kingdom by himself. We must read the Book of Revelation to discover that it is God who sets up the kingdom, not man.
The purpose of the Bible, the written Word of God, is to reveal the Living Word, Jesus Christ (Rev.19:13) as "King of kings and Lord of lords" (Rev.19:16).
Hallelujah to the coming King!
© 1999, Doreen Palmer