Revelation 1 opens with three
statements that help us understand when this book was written:
The revelation of Jesus
Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He
made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, (1)
Blessed is the one who reads
the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart
what is written in it, because the time is near. (3)
Write, therefore, what you
have seen, what is now and what will take place later. (12)
Jesus tells John to start
writing. The time span will cover events
happening NOW all the way to the FUTURE.
Some of the events transpired as John wrote this—what he has seen.
So what was happening and
what would soon happen in the near future?
Christians were being persecuted
by the Jewish leaders (Pharisees) and the Romans. The churches were depressed and
oppressed. God needed to bring them
comfort.
The Jewish temple was
destroyed in 70 AD by the Roman military leader Titus who completely leveled
the place and made it uninhabitable, the effect of that attack still seen and
felt today. It was a judgment by God
against the city for allowing Roman occupation and Roman atrocities to thrive.
Many wonder if Revelation was
written to warn the Jewish of their own 9/11.
It would let them know that God saw the churches problems and was going
to do something about it.
This is the clearest evidence
that Revelation was written before 70 AD.
However, many scholars date Revelation to 96 AD, well after the event.
Evidence for 96 AD
·
Irenaeus (180 AD) a student
of Polycarp who was a disciple of John said Revelation written at the close of
the reign of Domitian (81-96 AD).
·
Clement of Alexandria (155-25
AD) said John returned from Patmos as the “tyrant” was dead, believed to be Domitian. It says John was an old man. The question then is an old man in his 60s or
80s?
·
Victorinus (250-303 AD) was a
Greek commentary writer of the Bible. He
said John wrote Revelation while Domitian was in power.
·
Jerome (340-420 AD) said John
wrote Revelation during Domitian.
·
Could the churches be in such
a mess around 69 AD since some like Ephesus only started in 61 AD?
·
Domitian loved to put people
on Patmos, however Nero did too.
·
Laodicea described as a place
of great wealth but in 60 AD a great earthquake devasted it. Could be have risen to wealth in 8-9 years?
·
Christian persecution limited
to Rome during Nero, but expanded during Domitian.
Evidence for 69 AD
·
No mention of Jerusalem’s
destruction. Would it be long forgotten
in 96 AD?
These questions must be
answered for a later date on the letter:
·
What other event would be
soon and near in John's timeframe after 90 AD?
·
Did John receive Revelation
earlier (60 AD) then write it down in 90 AD before his death? Possible that John did not feel the need to
write down the revelation and circulate the letter? Unlikely...it's a pretty dramatic vision that
expresses urgency.
·
Is John interpreting the
destruction like someone looking back on 9/11?
Then why would John say these things will happen soon if they already
happened?
·
If the destruction of the
temple happened, why was it never mentioned by John? Wouldn’t John use literal terms instead of
figurative terms? Wouldn't John be
devastated by such news like we are still by 9/11?
·
If this book has a futurist
view, why would God tell us not to be afraid?
If something happened 20 years ago or is going to happen thousands of
years from now, I wouldn’t be afraid.
·
Why would John give a vision
to him and the churches if the events he saw would happen 2,000 years in the
future? How would that comfort a church
feeling persecution at the time?