Channel of Communication

5. How was Revelation communicated to the apostle John and then to the congregations?

⁵ Revelation 1:1b, 2 continues: “And he [Jesus] sent forth his angel and presented it [Revelation] in signs through him to his slave John, who bore witness to the word God gave and to the witness Jesus Christ gave, even to all the things he saw.” Thus, John received the inspired record through an angelic messenger. He wrote it in a scroll, transmitting it to the congregations of his time. Happily for us, God has preserved it for the encouragement of the almost 100,000 congregations of his united servants on earth today.

6. How did Jesus identify the channel that he would use to provide spiritual food for his ‘slaves’ today?

⁶ God had a channel for communicating Revelation in John’s day, and John was the earthly part of that channel. Likewise, God has a channel for giving spiritual nourishment to his ‘slaves’ today. In his great prophecy concerning the conclusion of the system of things, Jesus identified the earthly part of this channel as “the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time.” (Matthew 24:3, 45-47) He uses this John class in unlocking the meaning of the prophecy.

7. (a) How should the signs found in Revelation affect us? (b) For how long have some of the John class shared in the fulfillment of the visions of Revelation?

⁷ The apostle John writes that Jesus presented Revelation “in signs,” or symbols. These are vivid and thrilling to examine. They depict dynamic activity and should, in turn, stir us to zealous efforts in making known to others the prophecy and its meaning. Revelation presents for us a number of electrifying visions, in each of which John participated either actively or as an observer. Those of the John class, some of whom have shared for many decades in the fulfillment of these visions, are happy that God’s spirit has unlocked the meaning so that they can explain it to others.

9. (a) Like John, what attitude has the John class shown? (b) How does John show the way for us to become happy?

⁹ John was faithful in bearing witness to the message that God through Jesus Christ gave to him. He described in detail “all the things he saw.”