Question
- Revelation 1:1 says The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John. Did the angel present his message using signs or symbolism?
Revelation 1:1 KJV
1) The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and
signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Is John's use here of "signified" intended to communicate that the meanings in this book are all hidden in symbols?
G4591
σημαίνω
sēmainō
say-mah'ee-no
From σῆμα sēma (a mark; of uncertain derivation); to indicate: - signify.
Total KJV Occurrences: 6
signifying, 3
John 12:33, John 18:32, John 21:19
signified, 2
Acts 11:28, Revelation 1:1
signify, 1
Acts 25:27
John 12:32-33 KJV
32) And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
33) This he said, signifying what death he should die.
John 18:31-32 KJV
31) Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:
32) That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die.
John 21:18-19 KJV
18) Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.
19) This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
Acts 11:27-29 KJV
27) And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch.
28) And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.
29) Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea:
Acts 25:26-27 KJV
26) Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, O king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have somewhat to write.
27) For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.
These are the other places this word appears in the New Testament. In each case it means to "make something known", not to "encode it in symbols".
Jesus said "lifted up", the then idiom for crucifixion. Now we'd say he'd get the chair, or the needle, and those are our idioms. Jesus said "lifted up" to signify the death He would die, that is, make it known.
Agabus made it known that there would be a famine, and the disciples responded.
And Festus, specifically, this was to have certain known charges against Paul. 'Signify' here expressly means to make clear and specific information plainly known.
The Revelation is an "uncovering", revealing. The book itself tells us when something is a symbol, and what that symbol means. And in fact unless that is true, your interpretion lacks Scriptural authority.
A great sign appears in heaven, and another great sign, and these are identified as signs, and those signs are defined, and this has Scriptural authority.
Where such things are not specifically said, I suggest giving very careful consideration before declaring certain things aren't actually real.
Much love!