The Book Of Revelation
Revelation comes from the Greek word which means Apocalypse. Most people believe Apocalypse means end times, however, it actually means “to reveal” or “pull back the curtain.” So, in Revelation, God reveals his plan. Genesis began the story, and Revelation concludes it. It was written by John while imprisoned on the island of Patmos which lies 37 miles from the western coast of Asia Minor. The island itself in approx 9 miles long and 2 ½ miles wide.
Authorship is believed to be the Apostle John, the Son of Zebedee. Scholars speculate that he was the 1st cousin of Jesus and that his mother was Salome. He was a fisherman and “the disciple who Jesus loved.”
- Early church fathers strongly believed Revelations as canonical and apostolic.
- Justin Martyr at Rome(c. A.D. 100 - c. 165)
- Irenaeus at Lyons(c. A.D. 130 - c. 202)
- Tertullian at Carthage(c. A.D. 160 - c. 240)
- Hippolytus at Rome(died c. A.D. 235)
- Clement of Alexandria(died c. A.D. 220).
- Doubts came from Dionysis (3rd century Bishop of Alexandria) because he noticed that the writing style of John’s Gospel and the Epistles were different in Revelations – there were grammatical and literary differences. It was less polished. He was the first Church Father to question John’s authorship. He believed that someone called John the Presbyter (Presbyter means elder or Priest) wrote it. This John was mentioned in other ancient writings as being in leadership roles in the early church. Some scholars believe that John the Presbyter and John the disciple were the same person.
Since there are grammatical and literary differences, how do we reconcile that Revelations was indeed written by the Apostle John.
- Although the writer does not identify himself as the Apostle, the author does identify himself as John five times.
- The book itself reveals the writer as a Jew and a church leader. He was also known to the Asia Minor churches, knowledgeable about the scriptures, deeply religious, and believed faith would triumph.
- Revelations could have been deliberately written this way to allude to OT passages in Hebraic style.
- Bad grammar could have been the result of ecstatic mind as he did receive the prophecy in a dream.
- Most likely since he was in a penal colony he did not have an “amanuensis” or secretary as he did when he wrote the gospels and epistles. This secretary would have smoothed out his rough style.
Revelations was either written during the latter part of Nero’s reign (AD 54-68) to encourage the Christians Nero was persecuting. Or, it was written in the later part of Domitian’s reign (AD 81-96). This theory speculates that even though Domitian did not persecute the Christians, he erected a temple to himself and demanded that he be worshiped as a God. This Emperor Worship led to the persecution of Christians and John was trying to prepare them. Additionally, Ireaneus (early church father) testified that it was written during Domitian’s reign. Ireaneus was a protégé of Polycarp (AD60-155) who was the Bishop of Smyrna and sat under the tutelage of John the Apostle. It is believed that after Domitian’s death in AD 97, John was released and lived out the rest of his life in Ephesus.
Revelations is apocalyptic literature (highly symbolic writing) and describes visions that portray the end of history as well as the end of evil. It encourages believers to persevere as God will intervene, judge the world, reign and reward the righteous. It is divided into three segments: “Things which you have seen” (Chapter 1), “Things which are” (chapters 2 and 3), and “Things which are to come” (Chapters 4 – 22). Some of the “Things which are to come” parallels Daniels prophecies some 600 yrs earlier.
The use of the number seven is a distinctive feature – the number seven signifies completeness. It is used 52 times in Revelations; there are 7 churches (1:4,11), 7 spirits (1:4), 7 golden lampstands (1:12), 7 stars (1:16), 7 | 