Revelations

I thought I would write a little bit about what I've been reading, or attempting to study in the coming months. I thought I would go through the book of Revelations verse by verse, not because I'm all into prophesy or think that the world is about to end, but simply because it is the last book of scripture written, and I've never really taken the time to go through it. Many people think it is a confusing book, but when taking the time to read it, maybe with the help of a good commentary, it's really not. Why else would John write that blessed are those who read this book? God would not promise blessing on a book that no one could understand?

As I think about this book, I must take myself back to the time period in which it was written. At this time, politically, Romans viewed Christians as disloyal because they refused to acknowledge Caesar as the supreme authority. Religiously, Christians were denounced as atheists because they rejected the Roman gods and worshiped an invisible God instead of idols. Socially, Christians were often hated, since many came from the lower classes of society. The Christian teaching that all people are equal (Galatians 3:28) threatened to undermine the cultural structure of the affluent Romans and initiated concerns of a slave revolt.

Revelations was written around 95 A.D. During the first few decades after the death and resurrection of Christ, the Roman government considered Christianity as a sect of Judaism. Eventually, Christianity was recognized by the Romans as a religion distinct from Judaism. That identified Christians as worshipers of an illegal religion. Yet there was no official persecution by the Roman authorities until the time of Nero.

Thirty years later, Domitian instigated an official persecution of Christians. It extended to the province of Asia (modern Turkey) during the time the apostle John had been exiled to the island of Patmos. It is believed that John was banished here due to his relentless preaching of Christ, and being the only apostle left alive, and the only apostle that was not murdered for his faith, the believers John wrote to in Revelation desperately needed encouragement.

This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ! What a blessing to read and I look forward to studying this book.