(q.v.), then this may be regarded as his proper name, and Jether or Jethro
(i.e., “excellency”) as his official title. (3.) Numbers 2:14, called also Deuel
(1:14; 7:42).
- REVELATION an uncovering, a bringing to light of that which had been
previously wholly hidden or only obscurely seen. God has been pleased in
various ways and at different times (Hebrews 1:1) to make a supernatural
revelation of himself and his purposes and plans, which, under the
guidance of his Spirit, has been committed to writing. (See WORD OF
GOD.) The Scriptures are not merely the “record” of revelation; they are
the revelation itself in a written form, in order to the accurate presevation
and propagation of the truth.
Revelation and inspiration differ. Revelation is the supernatural
communication of truth to the mind; inspiration (q.v.) secures to the
teacher or writer infallibility in communicating that truth to others. It
renders its subject the spokesman or prophet of God in such a sense that
everything he asserts to be true, whether fact or doctrine or moral
principle, is true, infallibly true.
- REVELATION, BOOK OF =The Apocalypse, the closing book and the
only prophetical book of the New Testament canon. The author of this
book was undoubtedly John the apostle. His name occurs four times in the
book itself (1:1, 4, 9; 22:8), and there is every reason to conclude that the
“John” here mentioned was the apostle. In a manuscript of about the
twelfth century he is called “John the divine,” but no reason can be
assigned for this appellation.
The date of the writing of this book has generally been fixed at A.D. 96, in
the reign of Domitian. There are some, however, who contend for an earlier
date, A.D. 68 or 69, in the reign of Nero. Those who are in favour of the
later date appeal to the testimony of the Christian father Irenaeus, who
received information relative to this book from those who had seen John
face to face. He says that the Apocalypse “was seen no long time ago.”
As to the relation between this book and the Gospel of John, it has been
well observed that “the leading ideas of both are the same. The one gives
us in a magnificent vision, the other in a great historic drama, the supreme
conflict between good and evil and its issue. In both Jesus Christ is the
central figure, whose victory through defeat is the issue of the conflict. In
both the Jewish dispensation is the preparation for the gospel, and the