the law of the first mention (revelation 22:6)

This message was preached at New Testament Christian Fellowship in Claremont, NC on December 11, 2022. It’s been almost ten years since this exegetical study saw John on the Isle of Patmos in Chapter 1. Now begins the Epilogue of the Book and the Epilogue of the entire Bible in the last chapter of Revelation, the very last chapter of the Bible. Back on the Isle of Patmos, John is given a last exhortation (22:6-15), the final exhortation of the Holy Scriptures. To best contemplate the “lasts” of the Bible, one should consider the “firsts” of the Bible.

The particular focus of this message is Revelation 22:6, where the angel exhorts John by hearkening back, not only to the very first verse of the Book (Revelation 1:1), but also to the entire Old Testament. The same God who gave the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John via His angelic messenger “to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass” (1:1) is “the Lord God of the holy prophets” (22:6), the God of the Old Testament. It’s all one: ONE GOD, ONE BOOK, ONE BIBLE, ONE INCREDIBLE REVELATION. Therefore, it’s last exhortation demands a look at its first exhortation.

There is a basic hermeneutic principle for the study of the Scriptures called The Law of the First Mention: The first time something (be it a word, a principle, a concept, or a syntax) appears in the Holy Scriptures, how it appears or is used sets the tone, association, connotation, and/or basic meaning throughout the rest of Scripture. In other words, subsequent appearances are always connected back to the first appearance and should not be divorced from the original connotation. In this message, Jesse Boyd highlights the first mentions of the words love (Genesis 22:2), believe (Genesis 15:6), sin (Genesis 4:7), wicked (Genesis 13:3), and sinner (Genesis 13:13) in the Bible. He then addresses the Bible’s VERY LAST EXHORTATION (Revelation 22:6-15) by considering its VERY FIRST EXHORTATION (Genesis 1:27-30).