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The Revelation of Jesus Christ
by Patricia Bailey
This article appeared in the 2026 Spring issue of Fulfilled! Magazine
To most people, the book of Revelation is a blur of frightening and incomprehensible images predicting a terrifying future before the Kingdom of God finally arrives.Those who give due credence to the time statements of Revelation are not subject to these kinds of misconceptions, but the book still causes bewilderment because of its highly symbolic expression. However, the first sentence explains the book’s purpose and centers our thoughts. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ. Tracing John’s vision with this in mind discloses precious truths. The book of Revelation is indeed the revelation of Jesus Christ’s divine nature and the revelation that He is co-equal with, as well as one with, the Father.
Jesus is represented in a variety of ways in Revelation. In chapter one, He is the awesome High Priest walking among the seven golden candlesticks in the boundless temple of God. Curiously, this remarkable Son of Man has hair like white wool, reminding us of the Ancient of Days, whose hair was like pure wool, in the throne scene of Daniel 7.
Cloud images are consistently representational of Yahweh in the Tanakh, but in Revelation 10, the imposing Christophany, with one foot on land and the other on the sea, is actually clothed in a cloud. Even more remarkably, he is further adorned with a rainbow, another image exclusively associated with Yahweh. In addition, the mighty angel’s feet are of fire, yet another relation to the fiery imagery of the Yahweh throne scene in Daniel.
In contrast to these powerful depictions is the Lamb of chapter five standing as if it had been slain. Its presence is unsettling. It is alive and yet appears to have been slaughtered, a disquieting image. Strikingly, however, this disfigured Lamb is standing in the very midst of God’s throne (5:6).
The use of Yahweh imagery to represent Jesus is suggestive, but it is the highly charged direct assertions of Revelation that awaken us to extraordinary truths regarding the identity of Jesus Christ. The book conveys the unambiguous divine nature of the Son and lets us know that the Father and the Son together, and apart, are Yahweh! (Scripture texts used in this study are from The World English Bible, a 1997 revision of the American Standard Version of the Holy Bible.)
1. Both the Father and the Son are the First and the Last.
Father: “This is what Yahweh, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies, says: ‘I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God’” (Isa 44:6).
Son: “When I [John] saw Him [Jesus], I fell at His feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last’” (Rev 1:17).
2. Both the Father and the Son are the Alpha and the Omega.
Father: “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come” (Rev 1:8).
Son: “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Rev 22:12-13).
3. Both the Father and the Son are King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Father: “For Yahweh your God, he is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the awesome, who doesn’t respect persons or take bribes” (Deut 10:17).
Father: “…that the blessed and only ruler will make manifest at the proper time, the King of kings and Lord of lords…” (I Tim 6:15).
Son: He has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev 19:16).
4. The Father and Son each have seven eyes. The seven eyes are the seven Spirits representing omniscience and divine activity throughout the earth.
Father: “These seven are the eyes of Yahweh. They are going to and fro in all the land” (Zech 4:10).
Father: “There were seven lamps of fire burning before his throne, which are the seven Spirits of God” (Rev. 4:5).
Son: “I saw… a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth” (Rev 5:6).
Son: “To the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: ‘He who has the seven Spirits of God…’” (Rev 3:1).
5. Both the Father and the Son are the supreme and ultimate righteous Commanders in battle.
Father: “One called to another, and said, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!’” (Isa 6:3).
Son: “Behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns” (Rev 19:11-12).
6. The same praises are given to the Father and the Son.
Father: “All the angels were standing around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before His throne, and worshiped God, saying, ‘Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might, be to our God forever and ever! Amen’” (Rev 7:11-12).
Son: “I looked, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders. The number of them was ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who has been killed to receive the power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing!’” (Rev 5:11-12).
Both Father and Son: “I heard every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them, saying, ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!’ The four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ Then the elders fell down and worshiped” (Rev 5:13-14).
7. The Father and the Son together are the temple.
“I saw no temple in it [The New Jerusalem], for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (Rev 21:22).
8. The glory of the Father and Son together illuminates the city of God.
“The city has no need for the sun or moon to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it and its lamp is the Lamb” (Rev 21:23).
9. The throne of the Father and the Son are one and the same.
“The seventh angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever!’” (Rev 11:15).
“He showed me a river of water of life… proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev 22:1).
“There will be no curse any more. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will serve him” (Rev 22:3).
Jesus is referenced as “the Lamb” in 26 verses of this book, far more times than “Jesus” or “Jesus Christ.” The hearer/reader is called to contemplate the greatest of all ironies — the sacrificial Lamb controlling the unfolding of history! He stands in the midst of God’s throne (5:6), executing justice in the land (chapters 6-20). He readied the glorious Kingdom of God where man is no longer estranged from his Creator, but living peacefully in communion.
To first-century Jews, as well as to us, the comprehension of Jesus as being one with the Father is impossible. Human perception is based on subject/object consciousness and the apparent separation of things in space. We tend to believe that “the Father is not the Son” and “the Son is not the Father.” The book of Revelation seeks to defeat this limitation of the finite mind and elevate the reader to spiritual truth. The Son is different from the Father, and yet He is not! It is incomprehensible, and yet we can "feel our way” into knowing it is true. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says Yahweh (Isa 55:8). ♰
This study is taken from Preterist Paper 94: The Revelation of Jesus Christ (https://preteristpapers.com/94-the-revelation-of-jesus-christ/).
The PDF of this study, which also includes an addendum with passages about the Lamb in the book of Revelation, can be found here (https://preteristpapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/94-The-Revelation-of-Jesus-Christ-rev-1.pdf).
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