Revelation 1:18b Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and Death.
The Lord concludes verse 18 with the factual statement that he possesses the keys of Hades, or Hell, or Gehenna, and Death. The NKJV capitalizes the word Death, almost as if the idea of death was being personalized. We find Death and Hell together again in Revelation 20:13 and 14, where both are cast into the Lake of Fire.
Revelation 1:18a I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.
Christ our Lord goes on from telling John not to be afraid, to giving His divine credentials. There are many counterfeit Christs, both ancient and modern. Paul and John wrestled with such ideologies, stemming from Judaizers to Gnostics. Today we have Rome, the Watchtower, Mormonism, Islam’s Jesus, and so many more. They are legion, but they are false, united in their efforts to dethrone the true Christ and replace Him with a man-made counterfeit that will damn those who follow and materially enrich those who endorse the lie.
I come to you with another prayer request on behalf of my family. We are told to pray for one another that we may be healed, and I humbly ask that my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for my wife, Gillian.
Revelation 1:17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.”
Verses 13 through 16 describe the glorified Christ using language taken straight from Old Testament Scripture. John finds himself standing before El Shaddai, or Yahweh, King of Israel. His reaction? He fell at Christ’s feet as though dead.
