Read with Me
Revelation 1:1-3 (HCSB)
The revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave Him to show His slaves what must quickly take place. He sent it and signified it through His angel to His slave John, who testified to God’s word and to the testimony about Jesus Christ, in all he saw. The one who reads this is blessed, and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it are blessed, because the time is near!
Listen with Me
John wrote this circular letter to the seven Churches in Asia which he oversaw. He wrote it in the midst of a strong persecution that had been unleashed against the Church by the Roman emperor Domitian in the early- to mid-90s AD. While Nero’s persecution of the Christians had been fierce, it had been limited to the city of Rome and its immediate vicinity. But Domitian’s persecution was much farther reaching. Domitian had tried to publicly boil the Apostle John in oil as a spectacle and as a warning to the other Christians. But the scalding oil had no effect on him. Having been warned that this was the apostle whom Jesus said would not die until His return (a false rumor – John 21:23), Domitian decided to not try again. Instead, he exiled John to Patmos in order to work him to death in the iron mines on the island, out of public view.
It was there the Jesus sent a messenger with a revelation from Himself to the apostle. John himself identifies this letter as a record of that revelation, communicating to the Christians who were either undergoing persecution or anticipating it about what Jesus was doing behind the scenes to help His people to stand firm and to ultimately overcome. And he included the promise that the things foretold in the letter would “quickly take place”.
John says clearly that this letter is the word of God and the testimony of Jessus faithfully recorded by him as a true witness. And because it was God’s word and Jesus’ testimony, this record could be trusted and relied on as the storm gathered and fell on those who stayed true to Jesus. John also gives them a bold reassurance that the time for the fulfillment of all these things was near. And it was. Domitian was assassinated in AD 96 and his successor, Nerva, stopped the persecution and released the exiles, including John, who returned to his home in Ephesus. Then the Church began to rebuild, and to continue its work of making disciples of all nations.
Pray with Me
Father, so many of us have been taught that this book is all about the future. So, it is easy to lose track of the fact that it was written to real people, at a real time in history, in a real time of persecution, and that it was written to give those real people hope and comfort. So, it was absolutely pertinent to them right then. Even though it may well speak to the future, this revelation spoke clearly and powerfully into their own present time. Help us to always be able to understand and remember the context into which You spoke in the past, so that we can more clearly see how Your eternal word speaks to our own present. Amen.