Revelation
Author: John
Revelation 1:1-2
And see Ecclesiastical History by Eusebius - Book 6, Chapter 25, Verse 10.
Date: Around 95 A.D. is quite a popular date.
Language: Greek
Place: Island of Patmos,
stated in Revelation 1:9.
Purpose: There is a clear threefold purpose: First, to give compliments and corrections to churches at the time which John wrote this. Such continues to be encouragement and advice for us Christians today to heed, since we are likewise in these "last days." And following these "last days," the "end times" is next.
Second, to present a vision of God's majesty and just wrath during the 'last call' of the end times.
Thirdly, to close Scripture with a prophecy of Judgement Day, and a prophecy revealing heaven, which will be the destiny for all who have, or who will, give their heart to Jesus, the One who died to forgive sins.
What kind of book?: A genre called Apocalyptic.
The Greek word used at the start, recorded in Revelation 1:1, is apokalypsis, which means unveiling or uncovering. The English word used in translation is "revelation."
Revealed in this book, after the huge address to the seven churches, is prophecy of what will take place in the "end times," through a vision given to John the apostle, by God. The book of Revelation is full of metaphors, and full of truths.
Reflection: After a downright intense semester, yet a blessed semester for me, at Colorado Christian University, how nice to go from a mode of academics, to a personal story of a very personal experience.
A little more than one year after I turned to Jesus, I decided to read the entire New Testament. That was in 1991. I would usually do the reading on the way home from work on the subway. One particular early evening I was reading the book of Revelation on the subway. The chapters involved some "far out" stuff, which all seemed rather foreign to me. In the midst of my reading, I was overwhelmed, and I wondered how this all could be "the word God."
After the subway ride, I always had to take a bus from the station to the closest bus stop near my house. And then I still had a decent walk from the bus stop to my parent's house. While on the bus, I was kind of out of it, thinking about what I had read. Then during the walk I was thinking even more about what I had read, still overwhelmed.
The first section of the walk home was a narrow asphalt path which went from the bus stop area through woods, and then connected with my housing subdivision. Coming out of the woods into my neighborhood, I looked up to see a grand rainbow.
A rainbow had been something God had used to reach out to me in the past before I was a Christian. (Even all these years later, I often say the Lord's Prayer if I am walking and I see a rainbow.)
The cool thing was that it was a rather sunny day. There were some storm clouds off in the distance, yet I was not even expecting a rainbow. I knew that God gave that rainbow for me that evening to comfort me. And comforted I was.
And now, all these years later, praise be to God, I have often found comfort for my soul in times of despair or disaster, and further encouragement in times of rejoicing, in the messages of the book of Revelation.
Hunter Irvine
Scripture Love Blog
