Revelation 1:1
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
The Revelation of Jesus Christ is the revelation of ‘things which must shortly come to pass’. The Revelation, therefore, is the revelation of future events, events that will happen soon. Since no one can understand spiritual things unless it is given of God, and God will not give the understanding of them until the appointed time, the understanding of the Revelation will confirm that the time for these things to ‘shortly come to pass’ is at hand. Therefore, the one who understands the Revelation will soon witness the fulfilment of the things ‘which must shortly come to pass’.
Since God gave the Revelation of Jesus Christ to Him, we may conclude that it was something that Jesus did not have or know in the first place. While Jesus was able to tell His disciples of the signs that would reveal the nearness of His Second Coming, He could not tell of ‘that day and that hour’. He confessed to His disciples that this was something that only the Father knew: “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” (Mark 13:32) Could this then be the very essence of the Revelation of Jesus Christ? If so, such would easily constitute the greatest prophetic revelation ever. What greater revelation of the future than the revelation of the day and hour of the Second Coming? Since God makes known the future through prophecy, one would be wise to not discount the Revelation prophecy as being such, without a close diligent prayerful study under the leading of the Holy Spirit.
God gave the Revelation to Jesus to show unto His servants. The Revelation is only for the servants of Christ. Only servants will understand. Only servants will desire to understand. Therefore, should one seek to understand the Revelation, one would do well to examine one’s self as to whether one be a servant of Christ. That is, whether one be in the faith. As the apostle Paul wrote, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” (2 Corinthians 13:5) It will take faith to understand the Revelation prophecy.
Jesus sent the Revelation by ‘His angel’. The Greek word ‘angelos’ from which ‘angel’ is translated, means messenger. The messenger of the Lord is the Holy Spirit. Jesus told His disciples that the Holy Spirit would receive truth from Him and show it to them; the Spirit would show them ‘things to come’: “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself: but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall he speak: and He will show you things to come. 14He shall glorify me: for He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. 15All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore, said I, that He shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.” (John 16:13-15)
The Holy Spirit ‘signified’ the Revelation in that the Spirit showed it unto John in signs and wonders. Therein lies the difficulty of understanding the Revelation prophecy, for one must first know the meanings of these signs and wonders in order to understand the truths portrayed in the Revelation prophecy. But one need not be discouraged, the keys to understanding the symbolism lies within the scriptures and in many cases, within the Revelation itself, and the Holy Spirit is come to guide us into all truth.