On Sunday nights, we have been looking at the book of Revelation. We are just now actually getting into the text of the book because of the large amount of introductory study that needed to happen. I wanted to make those introductory resources available here and let you know about the resources I will be leaning on as we go through this study.
Author
The author of Revelation announces himself as “John” in verses 1:1, 4, 9; 22:8. Of course, this doesn’t reveal if John is the apostle, son of Zebedee, author of the fourth gospel. However, he describes himself as a “servant” (1:1), their “brother and fellow-partaker in tribulation” (1:9) and a “prophet” (22:9).
The earliest references from the church fathers all the way back to the second century ascribe the authorship of the book to John the Apostle. For instance, Justin Martyr lived in Ephesus in the early second century, among people who had known John personally. Also, Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp, who was taught by the apostle himself. This puts them in a position to know, better than we do, which works John had actually written.
The opposition to Johannine authorship stems mostly from differences in grammar and structure between the fourth gospel and Revelation. This is easily bridged when you consider that these are two very different types of books. Some would even say that the gospel was written in Aramaic while Revelation was written in a secondary language of Greek by John. This would explain some differences, but ultimately, we see word pictures that are very similar in-between both books and I don’t think there is enough evidence to overcome the witness of the early church.
Setting
Everyone agrees that John received his visions while he was on the island of Patmos, a small, rugged island in the Aegean Sea about forty miles off the coast of modern-day Turkey. It’s roughly the size of Washington D.C. and would have been the site of a penal colony as well as several pagan temples.
Revelation 1:9 says, “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.”
There is a question about whether the book was written on Patmos, as the vision came, or later after he had returned home to Ephesus. Much of this comes down to the reason that you believe that John was on Patmos in the first place. The common and most likely explanation is that John was exiled as a form of persecution by Emperor Domitian around 95 AD. This was confirmed by early Church fathers such as Irenaeus who wrote around 180 AD.
However, preterists, who believe that the bulk of imagery in the book is describing the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, would explain John’s time on Patmos as either being due to persecution under Emperor Nero around 68 AD or disconnected from any imperial coercion. The language of the verse above simply says that he was on Patmos ” on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” This could easily be referring to missionary efforts on the island. It’s proximity and connection to John’s home base of Ephesus makes this a plausible setting as well.
