TUESDAY
Yesterday we talked about some of our anxieties in reading the book of Revelation. I know it’s not going to be easy for us to read Revelation with fresh eyes, but I’m confident we will gain clarity as we move through it and it will come alive for you. At the outset, however, I want to emphasize the good Bible study technique that we must first understand how John’s original audience would have understood this book before we can begin applying it to our context today. Let’s begin by reading the introduction to the letter.
The difficulty in interpreting Revelation lies, in part, in its type of literature. The book consists of 2 (maybe 3) forms of biblical literature.
- Epistle - The book is addressed to seven churches in Asia minor, signed by John as the author, and contains a formal greeting. This is not much different than the other epistles in the New Testament. Chapters 1-3 especially read like an epistle.
- Prophecy - In 1:3 John refers to the book as prophecy. Broadly speaking, prophecy is hearing a message from God and communicated it to God’s people. We tend to think of the prophetic as only predicting the future or the otherwise unknowable. That is too narrow. Prophecy is any message from God. Sometimes it is predictive, but it is always revelatory.
- Apocalypse - It’s probably better to take apocalypse as a form of prophecy (hence the 2 or 3 forms of literature), but I wanted to tease out the definition a little here. The first word of the book is Ἀποκάλυψις apocalupsis translated revelation. It literally refers to something that was once hidden that is now revealed and made known. It’s difficult to pin down a definition of apocalypse, so many scholars include it as a type of prophecy, or revelation from God. The best definition I found is from Collins. He says apocalypses are “intended to interpret present, earthly circumstances in light of the supernatural world and of the future, and to influence both the understanding and the behavior of the audience by means of divine authority.” The difficulty in interpreting apocalypse is due to its use of images and symbols. We will see this as we go about the letter.
Revelation 1:1-5 1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. 4 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, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
Much of this introduction sounds like any of the other epistles in the New Testament. So let’s approach it the way we would any other letter.
The letter begins by revealing that this is the revelation from Jesus as well as the revelation about Jesus. Jesus hears this message from the Father and then communicates some of it directly to John. Sometimes he communicates to an angel who communicates it to John.
The author refers to himself only as John. This could be the Apostle John or another prophet named John. In my assessment, it’s most likely the Apostle John, the close disciple of Jesus who wrote the gospel of John and the 3 epistles. The author’s failure to indicate more about himself implies familiarity with his audience. They certainly knew of him and, according to church history, the Apostle John pastored the church in Ephesus. It is likely he knew all of these seven churches, as well. He addresses Ephesus first, which wouldn’t be surprising if this was his church. Irenaeus, a second century bishop in the early church, notes that the author was the Apostle John. Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of the Apostle John. John appointed Polycarp bishop of Smyrna, which is one of the cities in this letter. So this succession checks out.
John later mentions his situation in writing this letter:
Revelation 1:9 9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
John indicates that he writes from the island of Patmos, a small island off the coast of Asia Minor (present day Turkey). He says he is a partner in the tribulation and that he is on Patmos “on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” This likely means that John was arrested and sent to Patmos as an exile for preaching about Jesus.
The original audience is the seven churches of Asia Minor (v. 4). Jesus lists them in verse 11:
Revelation 1:11 “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
This letter was likely written at the end of emperor Domitian’s reign AD 81-96. At this time the church was facing pressure from their local magistrates and communities to conform to the imperial cult of the Romans. A letter from Pliny to emperor Trajan a few years later reveals that the local magistrates viewed Christianity as a threat. This is because Christians would not renounce Christ and declare Caesar as lord and worship him. Their unofficial policy was to persecute Christians who refused, put them in prison, beat them, or even have them executed if they failed to worship the emperor. This persecution wasn’t empire wide at this point (Domitian didn’t make a formal edict to outlaw Christianity). Even so, with a small movement like Christianity, even the execution or persecution of 1 in 500 would create a lot of waves.
Christianity also created tension amongst community members, as worship of the emperor and Greek or Roman deities was totally intertwined with society. There was no separation of religion and state in the Greco-Roman world. Some cities had temples built to the emperor. Much of the meat sold in the market had been sacrificed at the city temple to pagan deities. This was a common practice in this day, and Christians did not participate in the ceremonies or the purchase of meat they knew had been sacrificed to pagan gods. Success in business would entail being a part of a guild. Those guilds were closely associated with the gods. So if Christians didn’t participate they would be financially disadvantaged. This would amount to economic and social pressure for the church to cave to the Greco-Roman way of life. We see an example of this pressure in Acts 19 when a riot breaks out in Ephesus (one of the cities John is writing to) because the idol makers were losing money. This happened because people were converting to Christianity and no longer buying idols or worshipping Artemis.
This revelation reveals that the persecution isn’t going to go away soon (v. 1) but Jesus is victorious even in the midst of it. Therefore, those who hear and keep what is written in it are blessed (v. 3). Suffering persecution or social alienation for Jesus is the better way to live, rather than to cave to the pressure, and live a comfortable life.
Verses 4-5 sound like a typical greeting in an epistle. John blesses them with grace and peace. This greeting is from the Trinity. The Father is referenced as “him who is and who was and who is to come.” This echoes God’s revelation of himself to Moses as YAHWEH “I am” in Exodus 3:14. This also may be a not-so-subtle dis on Zeus, who was described in similar terms by the Greeks. The seven spirits refers to the Holy Spirit. The number seven is used symbolically, here implying completion and perfection. We will talk about what John writes about Jesus, tomorrow.
Additional Content
