He was oppressed by the first century Roman Empire and cast from society. Alone on a small rocky island far from his congregation in Ephesus, the disciple that Jesus loved was the last of the twelve still alive.
It’s estimated that John the apostle was approximately 90 years old when he was sent to live his remaining years on the island of Patmos. While John may have been afraid He was not alone. His best friend from decades ago was about to pay him a visit. It wasn’t going to be just any old visit. Jesus was going to reveal the sixty-sixth book of the Bible. The twenty-seventh of the New Testament. The book of Revelation.
What John is about to witness and experience could not be replicated by a hundred Imax theaters. John was part of Jesus’ inner circle when he was his disciple. He witnessed Jesus perform many incredible miracles and even heard the voice of God in the garden of Gethsemanes.
None of these things will compare with what Jesus is about to reveal to John in words and visions. John is about to learn the final plan God has for His creation that He brought forth long ago.
It’s all going to be about Jesus Christ.
Literal vs. Allegorical Interpretation
God is not a God of confusion. He has been revealing His plan to mankind throughout generations in dreams, visions and His Word.
The book that John is asked by Jesus to write is meant to be read, understood and shared. It’s meant to be interpreted literally. It’s a book filled with symbols. These symbols represent literal events that are going to occur in the near future.
Too many interpret Revelation allegorically. Once you go down this road, you leave the door open for anyone to interpret the book based on their own false understanding. This is why there are so many different interpretations of Revelation by so many false preachers. It leaves people more confused than ever about this important book of the Bible.
After all, we are duly warned by Jesus that we are not to add or take away from the text of God’s Word.
How important is the book of Revelation. It’s the only book in the Bible that offers a blessing at the beginning and at the end of the book. A blessing to those who read it, learn it and share it.
The Writings of John
John the apostle wrote five books of the New Testament. They are the Gospel of John, his three Epistles and the book of Revelation.
The gospel of John and Revelation are two very unique bookends to his collection of writings. In his gospel, he breaks away from similarities of describing the events of Jesus that we see in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The resounding theme in John’s gospel is the deity of Jesus Christ. Demonstrating that Jesus is God is the essence of his gospel.
Then he closes out his writings with his greatest work, the book of Revelation. After a personal encounter with Christ, he’s told to write everything he hears and sees of what’s to come upon the earth in the last days.
Are These New Revelations?
We should not assume that what we read in Revelation is new. In fact, it was handed down to the Old Testament prophets throughout the centuries prior to John being commanded to lay pen to paper.
Revelation brings together all of what has been told by God through the prophets. In this case, John would be given much detail to help make sense of what has been already written. It would be told to John by none other than Jesus Himself so it could be written perfectly and beautifully.
John the Apostle & Daniel the Old Testament Prophet
When we take a close look at the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation we see some striking similarities between these two men.
We see Daniel on more than one occasion being told by the angel Gabriel that he is highly esteemed. We don’t see these words given to any other prophet of the Old Testament. We can point to many reasons why Daniel’s faithfulness to God led him to be highly favored by the one true God of Israel.
Unlike any other apostle in the New Testament, we see John hold a very similar stature as the “disciple whom Jesus loved.” Does this mean that Jesus didn’t love His other disciples? Absolutely not! He loved all His disciples but held a special bond with John. Just as we have many friends, we often have only one or two best friends.
So we have two special men who have been reserved by God for a very special purpose. And that purpose was to author the two most prophetic books of the Bible. In fact, we should look at the book of Daniel as a prerequisite to understanding the book of Revelation.
Revelation Revealed Prerequisite
Anyone who wants to fully grasp the message of Revelation, should tackle Daniel’s book first.
In taking a closer look at these two figures, we see that a place was purposed for both of them to write their books. Both of these highly favored men were in exile at the time of their revelation from God. Daniel exiled in Babylon under the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar, while John was exiled to the Island of Patmos by Roman Emperor Domitian for his Christian beliefs in the One crucified, Jesus Christ.
All in all, the book of Revelation is from Jesus, through Jesus, about Jesus and for Jesus. And in the end, we who are children of God will reign and rule with Jesus.
However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him— (1 Corinthians 2:9)