Historical Context of Revelation

Many people question who the author of the book of Revelation is and when it was written. The author simply calls himself John. In the New Testament we know of two Johns, John the Baptist and John the Apostle. Since the Baptist was long dead, does the author simply assume that we will know it is the Apostle John who writes? Some of the earliest preserved writings of Christian leaders agree. Justin Martyr of Rome (A.D. 150), for instance, wrote that John the Apostle, son of Zebedee, was the author.

Now we have understood that the expression used among these words, 'According to the days of the tree [of life ] shall be the days of my people; the works of their toil shall abound' obscurely predicts a thousand years. For as Adam was told that in the day he ate of the tree he would die, we know that he did not complete a thousand years. We have perceived, moreover, that the expression, 'The day of the Lord is as a thousand years,' is connected with this subject. And further, there was a certain man with us, whose name was John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied, by a revelation that was made to him, that those who believed in our Christ would dwell a thousand years in Jerusalem; and that thereafter the general, and, in short, the eternal resurrection and judgment of all men would likewise take place. Just as our Lord also said, 'They shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, but shall be equal to the angels, the children of the God of the resurrection.' Luke 20:35f. (Dialogue 81)

The authorship of Revelation was debated back and forth in the Eastern branch of the church. Eusebius (A.D. 325) wavered, but at one point wrote this about the Apostle John and the Apocalypse:

Domitian, having shown great cruelty toward many, and having unjustly put to death no small number of well-born and notable men at Rome, and having without cause exiled and confiscated the property of a great many other illustrious men, finally became a successor of Nero in his hatred and enmity toward God. He was in fact the second that stirred up a persecution against us, although his father Vespasian had undertaken nothing prejudicial to us.
Chapter 18. The Apostle John and the Apocalypse.
1. It is said that in this persecution the apostle and evangelist John, who was still alive, was condemned to dwell on the island of Patmos in consequence of his testimony to the divine word.
2. Irenæus (A.D. 180), in the fifth book of his work Against Heresies, where he discusses the number of the name of Antichrist which is given in the so-called Apocalypse of John, speaks as follows concerning him:
3. If it were necessary for his name to be proclaimed openly at the present time, it would have been declared by him who saw the revelation. For it was seen not long ago, but almost in our own generation, at the end of the reign of Domitian.

These quotes from Justin Martyr and Eusebius do not settle the issue for Mike Blume (Rightly Dividing the Word). He claims that Revelation was written before AD 70 by the Apostle and is a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, among other things. To support this he quotes a number of the earliest Church Fathers and ancient writings, such as the Muratorian Canon.

I mention all this in order to put the book into its historical context. From my perspective it seems best to conclude that the book was written by the Apostle from the island of Patmos toward the end of Domitian's reign (A.D. 90-95). Besides Eusebius this date is confirmed by the testimony of other early church fathers such as  Clement of Alexandria (200) and Origen (254).

Following the lead of Bruce Metzger then, I look at Revelation as a book written in code for Christians under persecution by the Roman Emperor Domitian. The code, of course, is based upon the Old Testament.

More About The End Of The Age

My astute friend Harold wrote some insightful comments about my previous posting. I review them here and add some more of my own with helpful links. Harold's are in italics.

When Jesus in v. 6 of Mt. 24 says, "But the END is not yet", I believe that the word in Gk. "telos", refers not to the "end of the world", for Jesus does not there use the word, sunteleia, of 24:3.I believe He is speaking of the things that will happen before the "END" of the TEMPLE (Jesus' prediction of temple's destruction was a blow too hard to believe for disciples). The disciples were shocked to hear Jesus predict the destruction of the temple.

Matthew reports Jesus' using the Gk. word sunteleia to speak exclusively about the "end of the age":

• . . . and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. ... So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous - Mat 13:39-40, 49 ESV 
• teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." - Mat 28:20 ESV

Harold continues:

Their question was "WHEN shall 'these things' be?" When Jesus says 'YOU" in v. 6, v. 9, v. 14,v.23,25, He is speaking to THAT generation which would be around when the armies of Rome would encircle Jerusalem.The "abomination of desolation"would be SEEN, and acc. to Lk.21:20 that abomination was the entry of pagan armies into Jerusalem and the temple . Eusebius reports that believers, remembering Jesus' words, fled to the hills when Rom. armies began to come to jerusalem. 

Eusebius was a 4th century bishop of Caesarea. He wrote a chronological account of early Christianity from the first century to his own. He does indeed write about the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans and the predictions of Christ. They are quoted by eschatology.org.


Harold speaks about modern attempts to interpret Matthew:

I note that premillenialists use the words of Mt. 24 in such a way as though Jesus were speaking to US in the 20th or 21st centuries, as the "Left Behind" series of novels show, and eisegizing a present Jewish people into the text who are to also "flee to the hills", etc.

Patrick Zukeran of PROBE ministries refers to Hank Hanegraaff's book The Apocalypse Code as he writes about the conflicting views about the end of the age. He notes that the debate has continued throughout the history of the church, based not only on Matt. 24, but especially on the Book of Revelation. Harold's word "eisegizing" refers to the practice of reading words and ideas into the Biblical text rather than letting the text speak for itself.



Harold continues with some historical comments about the Roman world of that day.

Jesus says that before the "END" of the temple, 70 A.D., the Gospel would go to all nations, and it did (Rom.1:8;, Rom.16:26, Col.1:6, Col 1:23). There was political turmoil at the time of 70 A.D.(4 emperors in 18 months)there were numerous wars(v.6), famines and earthquakes (v.7).All these things took place in the decades before 70 A.D.  

There were indeed many Roman Emperors in the first century. They had quite a passion for killing off one another. You can read more about the destruction of Jerusalem and the horrors, famines and pestilence connected with in in Josephus' history.



Harold concludes his comments with these words:

I see these words of Jesus in Matt. 24, as the author of the study on Revelation (forgot his name, publ. by CPH) says, "are a microcosm" of the End of all things, and Judgment Day. . . . . h.h. 

He probably refers to Louis A Brighton's several commentaries published by Concordia Publishing House on the Book of Revelation in the Concordia Commentary series.

Thank you Harold. You have expanded our understanding of Matt. 24 and strengthened our faith in the promised return of the Lord Jesus. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Amen.