Shincheonji lesson 100: Revelation 1:1-8 summary
Lesson 100 · Advanced
Main verses used
Links open the NET Bible.
What SCJ teaches
This section comes from class notes that an attendee wrote down during SCJ’s 9-month Bible study seminar, posted with the full Closer Look study. They are not SCJ’s printed curriculum, so the wording is the note-taker’s.
A reflection and a prologue
The instructor opens with the parable of the soils (Luke 8:11-15) and tells students that “Your evangelists are like coaches.” If they push, “it’s with godly pressure and the best intention of helping all of us enter the kingdom of heaven.”
The lesson calls Revelation 1:1-8 something that “serves as both a summary and conclusion of the entire book of Revelation,” like a prologue in a novel. Students are told they live in the time of fulfillment, which is “comparable to living during the first coming when Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled, but even better.”
The route of the word
The first key point is the route. “This route begins with God, then moves to Jesus, to the angel, to John, and finally to many people, nations, languages, and kings, including you and me.” The notes map the chain onto the book: God and the scroll in chapter 5, Jesus opening it in chapters 6 and 8, the angel in 10:1-2, and New John eating the scroll in 10:8-11. John on Patmos is the prophecy, and New John is the fulfillment.
Using James 1:21 the notes ask for humility, then turn to access: “there’s only one way the truth will be made known to people.” For Revelation, “God predetermines the path of understanding: from God to Jesus to the angel to New John.” A student who would rather have the word directly is told: “Some might prefer the word to come directly to them, but this is a wrong thought. It’s contrary to and adds to the book of Revelation.”
Servants and Mount Zion
“For servants, there are two groups”: the 144,000 sealed (Revelation 7:3-4) and the great multitude in white (Revelation 7:9-14). Of the first group the notes say, “According to Revelation 14:1-3, they are gathered on Mount Zion.” Then: “if someone today claims to be a servant of God but is not on Mount Zion, we must question whether they are truly serving God. The answer would be no; they are serving Satan instead.” A “Cheating” illustration follows: “One of the worst things a spouse can do is cheat on their partner,” and worshipping on Sunday where the word is sealed is compared to a partner saying “We didn’t do anything.”
Churches, blood and clouds
With 1 Corinthians 3:16 the notes say “a temple or church represents a person or people,” so “to the seven churches in the province of Asia” means “seven people in one kingdom.”
On Revelation 1:5-6, the notes use Hebrews 9:28 to say “At the first coming, the role of Jesus’ blood was the atonement of sin.” At the second coming, from Revelation 5:9-10, “Jesus’ blood is used to purchase a kingdom and priests. This happens only when Revelation is fulfilled, not before that time.”
Revelation 1:7 is read as spiritual: “clouds represent spirits. Jesus comes as a spirit with many spirits.” “Jesus’ spirit only works through New John,” and “Today, Jesus comes as a spirit, invisible to our eyes. Yet, we can see the flesh through which the spirit works.” The notes add “New John does not replace Jesus; he is not Jesus.” In 1:8, “God prophesies and then fulfills.”
In SCJ’s own books
Each passage was checked against the scanned page image; page numbers are as printed.
Creation of Heaven and Earth, Lee Man-hee (Shincheonji Press), page 177:
“Revelation 1:1-8 is a summary and conclusion of all the chapters of Revelation, which give the details of the events that John saw and heard.”
Creation of Heaven and Earth, page 480:
“These people are purchased by blood (Rv 5:9-10) at the time of Revelation’s fulfillment.”
The Physical Fulfillment of Revelation, Lee Man-hee (Shincheonji Press), page 31:
“Jesus shed his blood to wash away our sins (Jn 3:16-17, Rom 5:8-9) and to purchase us and appoint us to be God’s kingdom and priests (Rv 5:9-10).”
The Physical Fulfillment of Revelation, page 33:
“When Jesus returns with the clouds, he will be invisible to our physical eyes because he is coming in spirit.”
The Physical Fulfillment of Revelation, page 34:
“Just as God, who is spirit, was with Jesus at the time of the first coming, Jesus, who is returning in spirit, works through the new John.”
How the lesson notes compare with the books
- The prologue. Same teaching. The notes say Revelation 1:1-8 “serves as both a summary and conclusion of the entire book”; Creation says it is “a summary and conclusion of all the chapters of Revelation” (p. 177).
- Clouds and spirit. Same teaching. The notes say “Jesus comes as a spirit, invisible to our eyes”; The Physical Fulfillment of Revelation says “he will be invisible to our physical eyes because he is coming in spirit” (p. 33) and that he “works through the new John” (p. 34).
- When the blood purchases. Difference. The notes say the purchase happens “only when Revelation is fulfilled, not before that time,” and Creation says the 144,000 “are purchased by blood (Rv 5:9-10) at the time of Revelation’s fulfillment” (p. 480). The Physical Fulfillment of Revelation says “Jesus shed his blood to wash away our sins … and to purchase us and appoint us to be God’s kingdom and priests” (p. 31). Needs checking: p. 31 may describe the purpose of the cross, and the books do not say how the two timings fit.
What the Bible says
- Revelation 1:1-3 is the opening the lesson is built on. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must happen very soon. He made it clear by sending his angel to his servant John, who then testified to everything that he saw concerning the word of God and the testimony about Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy aloud, and blessed are those who hear and obey the things written in it, because the time is near! (Revelation 1:1-3, NET)
- Revelation 1:7-8 gives the verse on the clouds and the Alpha and Omega. (Look! He is returning with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes on the earth will mourn because of him. This will certainly come to pass! Amen.) “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God—the one who is, and who was, and who is still to come—the All-Powerful! (Revelation 1:7-8, NET)
- Revelation 7:3-4 is the passage for the sealed servants. “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees until we have put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” Now I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, 144,000, sealed from all the tribes of the people of Israel: (Revelation 7:3-4, NET)
- Revelation 5:9-10 is the new song the notes use for the purchase of a kingdom and priests. They were singing a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were killed, and at the cost of your own blood you have purchased for God persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation. You have appointed them as a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10, NET)
Where SCJ’s reading conflicts with the Bible
This lesson treats Revelation 1:1-8 as a summary of the whole book. It says the word travels “from God to Jesus to the angel to New John,” and that wanting the word to come “directly” is “a wrong thought … contrary to and adds to the book of Revelation.” It says anyone who claims to serve God but isn’t on Mount Zion is “serving Satan instead,” and compares worshiping elsewhere on Sunday to a spouse cheating. It reads the seven churches as “seven people in one kingdom,” says Jesus’ blood purchases a kingdom and priests “only when Revelation is fulfilled, not before that time,” and reads Revelation 1:7 as “Jesus comes as a spirit, invisible to our eyes. Yet, we can see the flesh through which the spirit works.” It opens by calling evangelists “coaches” whose pressure is “godly pressure.” SCJ’s own book says “Jesus shed his blood to wash away our sins … and to purchase us and appoint us to be God’s kingdom and priests” (Physical Fulfillment, p. 31). The verses this lesson studies answer its main claims directly.
1. Revelation 1:7: Every eye will see him
The lesson says Jesus comes “as a spirit, invisible to our eyes,” and that his spirit “only works through New John.”
- The verse it’s explaining says: “Look! He is returning with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes on the earth will mourn because of him” (Revelation 1:7).
- “This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). He left visibly and bodily.
- Jesus warned that if anyone says he is “in the inner rooms,” don’t believe it (Matthew 24:26). (See Lessons 78 and 88.)
2. The blood has already made believers a kingdom and priests
The lesson says the purchase of a kingdom and priests happens “only when Revelation is fulfilled, not before that time.”
- Two verses earlier in the very passage being taught: “To the one who loves us and has set us free from our sins at the cost of his own blood and has appointed us as a kingdom, as priests serving his God and Father” (Revelation 1:5-6). It’s past tense, written to first-century believers.
- “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9), also to first-century readers.
- Revelation 5:9 says the same: “you were killed, and at the cost of your own blood you have purchased for God persons from every tribe.” Past tense.
- SCJ’s own book says Jesus shed his blood “to purchase us and appoint us to be God’s kingdom and priests” (Physical Fulfillment, p. 31). The notes contradict it. (See Lessons 79 and 87.)
3. Calling the wish for the word directly “a wrong thought”
- The new covenant promises: “there will be no need at all for each one to teach his countryman … saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest” (Hebrews 8:11).
- “if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously” (James 1:5).
- “the anointing that you received from him resides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you” (1 John 2:27).
- Teachers help (Ephesians 4:11). But going to God directly isn’t adding to Revelation. It’s what the new covenant gives every believer. (See Lessons 71 and 84.)
5. Saying servants not on Mount Zion are “serving Satan instead”
- Peter: “God does not show favoritism in dealing with people, but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is welcomed before him” (Acts 10:34-35).
- When the disciples tried to stop someone casting out demons in Jesus’ name because “he was not following us,” Jesus said, “Do not stop him … whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:38-40).
- Believers have already come to Mount Zion through Jesus (Hebrews 12:22-24). (See Lesson 44.)
6. The “Cheating” analogy
The lesson compares worshiping where the word is “sealed” to a spouse cheating.
- Scripture tells believers to keep meeting with their church (Hebrews 10:25). Worshiping Jesus with other believers on Sunday isn’t unfaithfulness.
- Paul did compare a church to a bride promised to one husband, Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2). His fear was that they would accept “another Jesus” or “a different gospel” (11:4). That warning applies to new teaching that redirects faith from Christ to a man. (See Lesson 54.)
7. Saying the seven churches are “seven people in one kingdom”
The lesson uses 1 Corinthians 3:16 to say “a temple or church represents a person or people.”
- In 1 Corinthians 3:16, “you are God’s temple” is plural: the whole Corinthian congregation together. It doesn’t reduce a church to one person.
- Revelation names the seven churches by their cities: “to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea” (1:11). (See Lesson 101.)
8. Saying “God prophesies and then fulfills” in 1:8
- “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God—the one who is, and who was, and who is still to come—the All-Powerful!” (1:8). The verse declares God’s eternal sovereignty. Revelation applies the same title to Jesus (22:13). It’s about who God is, not a formula for prophecy and fulfillment in one group.
9. Saying it’s “even better” than the first coming
- The lesson says living in the time of fulfillment is “comparable to living during the first coming … but even better.”
- The first coming was God becoming flesh, dying for our sins and rising again (John 1:14; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Nothing surpasses it. Believers today live in its full light: “the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8).
10. Calling evangelists’ pushing “godly pressure”
- Peter tells leaders to shepherd “not merely as a duty but willingly” and to “not lord it over those entrusted to you” (1 Peter 5:2-3).
- “where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17).
- Calling pressure “godly” makes it harder to recognize when it’s simply pressure. (See Lesson 79.)
11. “100% attendance, absolutely possible”
- The lesson closes by setting full attendance as the goal. God’s acceptance doesn’t rest on attendance records (Ephesians 2:8-9). (See Lesson 96.)
What the lesson is really for
This lesson uses Revelation’s opening to establish SCJ’s chain of authority:
- The word comes only through New John; wanting it directly is wrong.
- Servants outside Mount Zion serve Satan; worshiping elsewhere is like cheating.
- The blood makes a kingdom and priests only now.
- Jesus returns invisibly, seen only through New John’s flesh.
The biblical answer: Jesus has already released us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom and priests (Revelation 1:5-6). Every eye will see him when he returns (1:7). God gives wisdom to anyone who asks (James 1:5), and in the new covenant all will know him (Hebrews 8:11). And God welcomes from every nation anyone who fears him (Acts 10:34-35).
What’s happening behind the lesson
These notes are our reading of the lesson text, using Steven Hassan’s BITE model (behavior, information, thought and emotional control). They describe what the text does, not the teacher’s intent. Hassan notes that not every group uses every item. Source: Steven Hassan, BITE Model, Freedom of Mind.
- Information: can present one source as the only route (our reading). “there’s only one way the truth will be made known to people.” In our reading, this presents one channel as the only place an answer can be found, before a student has weighed other sources.
- Thought: can use a stark label for those outside the group. “they are serving Satan instead.”
- Emotional: can build guilt through an analogy. “One of the worst things a spouse can do is cheat on their partner.”
- Behavior: can set a goal of full attendance. “Finishing this class, possible. 100% attendance, absolutely possible.”
Putting away moral filth and humbly welcoming the message, as in James 1:21, is not a control technique in itself.
Go deeper
- Read the full Lesson 100 study
- Closer Look response: Examining Revelation – Chapter One Part One
- Closer Look response: Answering Revelation – Chapter One Part One
- Previous: Lesson 99: Overview of Revelation, part 2
- Next: Lesson 101: Revelation 1:9-20: the beginning of the events and the mystery of the seven stars
- Back to all Shincheonji lessons