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The REVELATION of JESUS CHRIST - The Book Of The Last Days

by Horatius Bonar, D.D. (1808-1889)

For almost two thousand years, Bible scholars, theologians and lay church members alike have struggled to interpret Revelation, the last book of the New Testament Scriptures. Great theologians like John Calvin and Martin Luther were amongst those who could not or would not take up the challenge of writing a commentary on this book.

Why then would we promote this commentary by Horatius Bonar, the renowned Scottish preacher of the nineteenth century? Horatius Bonar is better known in Christian circles for his many hymns. However, he was one of Scotland's most sought-after preachers in his day and a prolific writer. The reason for Dr Bonar's popularity is found in the title he chose for this brief commentary, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ."

Dr Bonar knew Jesus Christ intimately. His living, his preaching, his teaching and his writing was focussed on the Christ of God revealed in the New Testament gospels. The heart and soul of Dr Bonar's witness was Jesus Christ centred on the cross of Calvary. Everything in Bonar's preaching, in his hymns and in his many books and articles is rooted and grounded in Christ crucified and risen. He once wrote, "The cross is the axle on which the universe turns." In this commentary he even suggests that Revelation should be considered as the fifth Gospel because it reveals Jesus Christ.

This current work of Dr Bonar is not an exhaustive, verse by verse commentary on the whole book of Revelation. He too, no doubt, struggled to interpret many of the symbols of this apocalyptic book. He knew better than to indulge in idle speculation about some of the deep issues of prophetic interpretation, a lesson that many modern commentators could well ponder.

However, Dr Bonar has put the key to this book into our hands. This book is the "Revelation of Jesus Christ." The key is Jesus Christ and His church.

Dr Bonar has given us a foundation, a rock-solid foundation, on which to build our study of this book. That foundation is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Revelation is both a revelation OF Jesus Christ and a revelation BY Jesus Christ. The book begins with Jesus and ends with Jesus. Jesus is found everywhere in its pages.

Jesus is the Lamb, the King of kings, the Son of God. He is God, revealed in love through the pages of a book that warns of the many struggles that the church, the Lamb's bride, must endure. Today, the Church continues to do battle with the many and varied forces of evil, symbolised in Revelation, just as it has done during the whole of the Christian era.

To discover Jesus Christ in our study of Revelation is to discover the God of grace and love and compassion.

Ray Smith