Rev. 1:1 ¶ The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John,
Rev. 1:2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
Every 50 years on the Jewish calendar was a year of Jubilee. A lot of wonderful things happened during a Jubilee year, but on of the best was that all of the slaves were to be set free, yet if a slave had come to love their master because of his goodness, that slave could choose to remain a slave for the rest of his, or her life. A hole would be bore in one ear lobe where a ring would be placed signifying that this was a BOND-SERVANT; one who out of love had chosen to be a slave the rest of their days. We could say then, that a Bond-Slave is a “volunteer prisoner of love.”
Also, the word “Revelation” means to Unveil. John calls this letter a revelation, (unveiling) of Jesus Christ. This book is not just about Eschatology, it’s about unveiling the personality, beauty, and heart of Jesus.
In verse 1, John tells us that this unveiling of the beauty, and heart of God is for Bond-Servants, “Volunteer Prisoners of Love,” and they are the ones who get to live in “The Realm of The Unveiled Heart.” John at this point is in his nineties, exiled to what many believe to be was a Penal Colony, Patmos; a small desert island. This old man, living in the harsh circumstances of exile in a Penal Colony, over 60 years after first laying his head on Jesus’ breast, and discovering he was the “Disciple Whom Jesus Loved,” is still consumed with the reality that he is a “Volunteer Prisoner of Love,” living in the “Realm of the Unveiled heart of God.” No wonder it says in verse 2 that he bore witness to the testimony (revelation, unveiled beauty) of Jesus to ALL that he saw. Oh, to be that lovesick in my nineties. When you are TAKEN by the love of Christ; when you are a Smitten Prisoner of Love, it just gets better, and better. The passion never fades; it’s just gets stronger, and more unbridled, living in the Realm of The Unveiled Heart.