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Introduction to Revelation:
Authorship, Concepts, Terminology.
1. WHO IS THE AUTHOR OF REVELATION?
JOHN.
Rev. 1: 1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
B. Which John?
John, the brother of James and son of Zebedee (Mark 1: 19). He had a particularly close relationship with Jesus and called himself "the one whom Jesus loved." (As in John 13: 23; John 20: 2; John 21: 7; John 21: 20 - 24.) It was to him that Jesus entrusted the care of his mother. (As in John 19: 25 - 27) John became one of the elders of the church in Ephesus, and was banished to the isle of Patmos for his faith.
C. What did early church leaders say about the author?
The early church leaders testified that John Bar-Zebedee was indeed the author of the book. Those men include:
Justin Martyr (100 - 165 AD)
Clement of Alexandria (150 - 215 AD)
Hippolytus (170 - 235 AD)
Origen (185 - 254 AD).
There is no credible
evidence to support the assertion that Revelation was written by some other Christian named John, or someone using John's identity. Such assertions are merely attempts to discredit the book and its author.
2. WHAT KIND OF BOOK IS REVELATION?
A. Prophecy.
Revelation is the only New Testament book which is primarily prophetic. The name "Revelation" is a translation of the Greek apokalupsis, from which we get the word apocalypse. The book is also called The Apocalypse. Many people talk of "The Apocalypse" as if it were an event, but the word means
"a revealing or uncovering," as when buried treasure is unearthed. The Apocalypse is the book of the Bible which we call Revelation, NOT an event.
B. Apocalyptic literature.
Apocalyptic writing is a kind of prophetic writing full of mystic symbolism and numerology and dealing (usually) with God's wrath upon unbelievers, especially those who are persecuting the faithful. In the Old Testament, the books of Daniel and Ezekial (and small parts of Zechariah and Isaiah) contain apocalyptic passages. In the New Testament, Matthew 24, Revelation 4 - 22 (and possibly II Peter and II Thess.) have apocalyptic sections. Revelation takes its style and themes from Old Testament apocalyptic writings.
C. Why all the mystery?
Apocalyptic writings occurred in times of severe threat and imminent danger to God's people. In the Old Testament, Daniel and Ezekial were written in the time of the Babylonia siege and captivity around 600 BC, when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonian invaders. This was a time when it was dangerous to be a follower of God, so messages to God's people were couched in highly symbolic language that was richly informative to the Jews, but seemed nothing but unintelligible gibberish to foreigners. Similarly, Revelation was written in a time of great crisis and persecution in the first century AD, when it often meant
death or imprisonment to be a Christian. God's message to his people had to be couched in asymbols to hide its meaning from non-believers. There are many examples of apocalyptic writings outside the Bible. Such writings were fairly common between 200 BC and 200 AD.
3. WHERE WAS THE REVELATION GIVEN?
A. On Patmos.
Patmos is a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just a few mile off the coast of Asia Minor (Turkey). (See map.) Patmos is one of the islands known as the Dodecaneses (12). These were the original 12 Greek islands. It is a small rocky island only about 11 square miles in size. It has been deserted for much of its history, and in Roman times was a place where non-violent criminals were sometimes exiled.
I John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. Rev. 1: 9
4. WHY WAS REVELATION WRITTEN?
A. To reveal the things which were about to happen to those who first heard the revelation. The word apokalupsis means an uncovering, a revealing, NOT a hiding. This is stated clearly in the beginning of the book.
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein; for the time is near. Rev. 1: 1 - 3
B. To encourage the disciples by revealing what would happen to their two great enemies.The two great enemies of God talked about in Revelation are "the beast" and "the whore of Babylon."
C. To warn Christians to remain faithful lest they suffer a fate similar to God's enemies. (See Rev 2: 15, 16.)
5. WHEN WAS THE REVELATION GIVEN TO JOHN?
There are two main dates accepted for the authorship of Revelation.
1. About 95 AD during the reign of Domitian.
This date is widely accepted, but has some serious problems. Rather that refute this later date directly, we will instead look at reasons (good ones) for an earlier date for the book. The evidence for the "late date" of Revelation comes from one early church leader, Iraneus, who seemed to indicate that Revelation was written at the tail end of the first century. His statement on the subject is rather ambiguous and may not actually say what people claim. Every historian and churchman who lived after 150 AD and claimed the late date based it upon this single statement of Iraneus.
2. About AD 64 to 66 during the reign of Nero.
What are the reasons for accepting this earlier date?
a. The Syriac New Testament (Peshitta) which was probably written at the end of the first century or early second century claims that Revelation was written during the reign of Nero (54 - 68 AD).
b. Two other early texts called the "Muratorian Fragment" (about 180 AD) and the "Monarchian Prologues" (about 300 AD) claim that Paul wrote letters to seven churches following the pattern of the seven churches in
Revelation, and therefore they place Revelation BEFORE the letters of Paul. This would place Revelation during the reign of Nero.
c. There are things in Revelation itself which suggest an early date of authorship.
1) The language of Rev 11: 1, 2 clearly indicates that it was BEFORE the temple and Jerusalem were destroyed. Jerusalem was utterly destroyed in 70 AD by the Roman general Titus.
2) I Peter 1: 6; 4: 12; 5: 9 implies that severe worldwide persecution like that described in Rev. 2 and 3 was already happening in his lifetime. Peter died about 68 AD, during the reign of Nero.
d. Other New Testament passages written in the 60's AD are so much like passages of Revelation that it seems likely that the apostles Paul and Peter had read the Revelation before they died. (See II Thess. 2; II Peter 3;
Heb. 12: 18ff.)
e. There are other evidences in the text of the book which indicate an early date of authorship. We will point those out in the text where they appear.
6. WHAT ARE THE FOUR MAIN WAYS OF INTERPRETING THE BOOK OF REVELATION?
There are four main classifications of how people interpret the events described in revelation.
1. The FUTURIST view.
This view holds that the events described by John are to take place in the end times, just before Christ's final return to Earth. This view is held by most fundamental denominations such as the Assemblies of God and Seventh Day Adventists. It is the viewpoint commonly espoused on the "Christian" TV channels and made popular by men like Hal Lindsey.
2. The HISTORICIST view.
This view holds that the events of Revelation describe a symbolic history of the major events of the church, such as the rise of the Papacy, the Reformation, World Wars, etc. Like the futurist viewpoint, the historicist view holds that Revelation treats of events far removed from the time in which it was written. All these events are seen as part of the "Millennium," or Christian Age, as they see it.
3. The PRETERIST view.
The word "preterist" is from the Latin praeteritus, which basically means "the past." This view holds that the events described in Revelation (except for the last couple of
chapters, perhaps) deal with events which happened during the first century, shortly after the time it was written. Since it deals mostly with fulfilled prophecy, its value to our modern times is not in its prophecy but in
its testimony of God's care over his people, the admonition to remain faithful through all trials, and as evidence that God's prophecies have come true. The preterist view rejects the "Millennial Timetable" as defined by the futurists.
4. The IDEALIST view.
The fourth view holds that Revelation has little to do with actual historical events, but is merely symbolic of the continuing struggle of good versus evil and the eventual triumph of the church (or forces of good) over evil.
7. In this study we will take the PRETERIST viewpoint.
In this study we will take the preterist viewpoint for the following reasons:
1. The book says it was written to seven churches of Asia, not the United States or the world of the future. Here Asia means the Roman province of Asia, which is now western Turkey.
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, Rev. 1: 4
2. Revelation repeatedly says that it is about things which must "shortly come to pass."
THE REVELATION of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, Rev 1: 1
Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein; for the time is near. Rev. 1: 3
I am coming soon; hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. Rev. 3: 11
The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come. Rev. 11: 14
And he said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place. And behold, I am coming soon." Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. Rev 22: 6, 7
And he said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Rev. 22: 10
"Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, to repay every one for what he has done. Rev 22: 12
He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! Rev 22: 20
3. John was told NOT to seal up the book, for the time of fulfillment was near. (Rev 22:10, as above.) Compare this to the prophecies of Daniel in the Old Testament.
The vision of the evenings and the mornings which has been told is true; but seal up the vision, for it pertains to many days hence. Dan 8: 26
In other words, when apocalyptic writings referred to times far in the future, they said so, as in Daniel. When they referred to events in the near future they said that, too, as in Revelation.
4. If the events foretold in Revelation had no fulfillment in the lifetimes of the people of those times, then why was it written to them? Those Christians were undergoing trials and tribulations at the hands of despotic Roman rulers and Jewish zealots. If Revelation was written to a generation some 20+ centuries in the future, how could it be comforting or enlightening to those original hearers at all. In Daniel 8: 27, Daniel remarks that he did not understand the visions he had seen, and so he was ". . .overcome and lay sick for some days." In contrast, Revelation 1: 3 says: "Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein; for the time is near." Obviously they were to understand and be "blessed" (made happy) by the word that God delivered to John.
5. There are many internal passages in Revelation that seem to demand a Preterist interpretation. Those will be noted when they are seen in the study of the book.
In this study we will take the PRETERIST position. John, the apostle and son of Zebedee, wrote Revelation around 66 AD. It was written to inform, encourage, and warn the disciples who were being persecuted by Jews and Romans during the first century. Its prophecies concern events which happened in the first century, NOT events which have yet to occur. (Except in a couple of passages, which will be pointed out later.)
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John. Rev. 1: 1
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