Word Study: Revelation
Word family: Revelation, reveal, apocalypse, apocalyptic.
Synonyms: Disclosure, manifestation, unveiling, making known, bringing to light.
Related ideas: Inspiration, prophecy, second coming, mystery, visions, spiritual gifts, the Holy Spirit.
Definitions: Revelation is the process of God making known to man the will of God —disclosing the things of God which man needs to know, but cannot discover by his own thought and investigation. Revelation is the unveiling of God’s plan for mankind.
Greek References: αποκαλυψις (apokalupsis) revelation, apocalypse, 602 (Strong), αποκαλυπτω (apokalupto) to reveal 601.
Scripture:
The Second Coming
- 1Corinthians 1:7 “...awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ” (I take this as referring to the second coming, but it may refer to the preaching of the gospel.)
- 2Thessalonians 1:7 “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels...”
- 1Peter 1:5-7,13 “...glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ”
- 1Peter 4:13, 5:1 “...so that also, at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exultation”
- Luke 17:30 “...on the day that the Son of Man is revealed”
The Gospel of Christ
- Romans 1:16-17 “in [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith”
- Romans 16:25 “the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages past”
- 1Corinthians 2:1-10, Ephesians3:3-5 “"...revealed [the mystery] through the Spirit”
- Galatians 3:23 “the faith which was later to be revealed”
- Galatians 1:12 “...I received it by a revelation of Jesus Christ”
- Ephesians 3:3 “...by revelation there was made known to me the mystery...”
- 1Peter 1:11-12 “[The prophets] predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them... [and now] announced to you by those who preached the gospel”
- Revelation 1:1 “The revelation of Jesus Christ” [John's title for his book, describing its content]
Miraculous Gifts of the Holy Spirit
- 1Corinthians 14:6 “...I speak to you by way of revelation or of knowledge or of prophecy or of teaching”
- 1Corinthians 14:26 “...each one has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, an interpretation”
- 2Corinthians 12:1,7 “...visions and revelations from the Lord”
- Galatians 2:2 “...because of a revelation I went up [to Jerusalem]”
- Ephesians 1:17 “a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him”
Comment:“Apocalypse” is the name of the last book of the Bible. “Apocalypse” is merely the Greek word for “revelation”. The name of the book is used today as a word for certain events described in the book. In the book itself, however, as in the rest of the New Testament, the word apocalypse simply means revelation although it is scripturally used for the second coming of Christ when he will "be revealed from heaven" (2Thessalonians 1:7, 1Peter 1:7).
It is often said that the Book of Revelation is “apocalyptic literature”. That's correct provided that we mean it is revelatory literature —but then that is true of the entire Bible. The so-called “apocalyptic literature” is a collection of counterfeit pseudo revelations made up by men. The books of the Bible are genuine revelations from God.