2025/05/19

196. King of Kings, Lord of Lords

One day, when I read the phrase in Revelation, "Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein; for the time is near" (Rev 1:3), I realised that this book is a book of training. I tried it out and discovered its effectiveness. I have been continuing it for nearly four years. Recently, when I read the words "King of kings and Lord of lords" in Paul's letter to Timothy (1 Tim 6:15), I remembered that these words were also in Revelation (cf. Rev 19:16). Upon searching the Bible, I found that these words appear only in Revelation and Paul's letter to Timothy in the entire Bible. 

Paul's letter to Timothy, which contains these words, is in the form of a prayer: "[T]his will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen" (1 Tim 6:15-16). Looking at the passage of Revelation containing the words, the passage seems to answer Paul's prayer, as follows. 

"Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. ... he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself. ... and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. ... From his mouth issues a sharp sword with which to smite the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron ... On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords" (Rev 19:11-16). 

In this epistle, Paul gives his disciple Timothy various specific exhortations. He commands him to "attend to the public reading of scripture, to preaching, to teaching" (1 Tim 4:13) and teaches him writing, "[T]he sacred writings ... are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Tim 3:15-16). The "scripture" Paul refers to here is the Old Testament. It contains prophecies of Christ, but the name of "Christ Jesus" does not appear in it. Based on his faith experience, Paul understood that the wisdom for salvation was given when the name of Christ and the name of Jesus were connected in one's understanding (cf. Acts 9:4-5). Therefore, he used tentative expressions such as "are able to instruct you" and "profitable for teaching, for …. " 

Jesus chose the Apostles and allowed them to spend time with him during his public ministry, witness his suffering, death, resurrection and ascension, and experience the descent of the Holy Spirit. However, God's choice regarding the Apostle Paul was completely different. He did not have the personal experience with Jesus that the other Apostles had. He did not have in his memory "all that I have said to you," of which Jesus had said, "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" (Jn 14:26). Therefore, he went to Jerusalem for himself and heard much from the other Apostles. His efforts benefited the future Christians more than himself. 

Paul was given by God a role similar to that of John the Baptist, who had prepared the way for Jesus, as Paul himself writes, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim 1:1). He was chosen for God's plan to save the future of Christians from the falling Jerusalem and make Rome the new capital. Following the exceptional guidance of the Holy Spirit, Paul's path led him to Rome. He advanced, following the Lord's command: "Depart; for I will send you far away to the Gentiles" (Acts 22:21) and "Take courage, for as you have testified about me at Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also at Rome" (23:11). Thus, he testified to the words of Jesus: "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel" (9:15).

 All of these stories are in the New Testament. The New Testament has the Holy Spirit, who "will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you," and the authors who wrote the New Testament in collaboration with the Holy Spirit. The relationship between the Holy Spirit and its author is clearly described in the Book of Revelation. And when we read aloud and hear it, we relive the relationship between those two. On the other hand, the descriptions in the Book of Revelation that are read aloud have corresponding descriptions in the New Testament, and the two are like two sides of a coin. In this way, by reading Revelation aloud and listening to it, we can keep the memory of the New Testament alive. Paul's prayer above, which is part of the New Testament, was like the other side of a coin to the passage in Revelation containing the words "King of kings, Lord of lords". That is why the passage in Revelation seemed to answer Paul's prayer. 

Maria K. M.