Question:
What
does it
mean in
Revelation
1:18,
where
Jesus is
said to
have the
keys to
hell and
death?
ANSWER:
Answer:
Keys are
very
important
articles.
It is
interesting
that the
singular
word
‘key’ is
mentioned
six
times
while
the
plural
‘keys’
only
mention
twice.
This is
true of
the
verse in
question,
and
Matthew
16:19,
And I
will
give
unto
thee the
keys of
the
kingdom
of
heaven:
and
whatsoever
thou
shalt
bind on
earth
shall be
bound in
heaven:
and
whatsoever
thou
shalt
loose on
earth
shall be
loosed
in
heaven.
Keys
imply a
dual
purpose
while
the
singular,
a single
purpose.
In
Revelation
1:19,
Jesus is
the only
person
that has
the keys
of hell
and
death.
He alone
is the
one that
can
unlock
hell
(Hades,
Luke
16:23,
...the
prison
house of
the lost
souls)
And
bring
those
souls
out of
that
place,
and He
alone
can open
their
graves
and
bring up
their
bodies
(that
death
has
claimed)
and cast
them
both
body and
soul in
hell
fire.
Matthew
10:28,
and
Revelation
20:13-14.
Peter
was
given
the keys
to the
kingdom
of
heaven
(the
realm of
profession).
They
were for
a dual
purpose.
He used
those
keys in
Acts 2
to
unlock
the
gospel
door to
the
Jewish
nation,
and
three
thousand
were
saved.
He later
went to
the
Gentiles
in
Acts 10
and
unlocked
the door
to the
Gentile
world.
From
there on
he fades
out of
the
divine
record,
and
Paul,
the
chosen
vessel
to the
Gentiles,
comes on
the
scene
and
enters
that
unlocked
door and
evangelizes
the
Gentiles.
Now the
door
that
Peter
opened,
was that
Christ
is the
door to
heaven,
John
10:9,
I am the
door: by
me if
any man
enter
in, he
shall be
saved,
and
shall go
in and
out, and
find
pasture.
Though
he had
the keys
before
the
resurrection,
he never
used
them
until
after.
That is
because
the door
was not
there
until
Christ
died,
was
buried
and rose
again
from the
dead.
Have you
enter
this
open
door
yet? It
is the
only
door to
heaven.
You come
in
through
this
door by
way
repentance
and
faith in
His
sacrifice
for your
sins.
Acts
20:21
Testifying
both to
the
Jews,
and also
to the
Greeks,
repentance
toward
God, and
faith
toward
our Lord
Jesus
Christ.
Harold
Smith
