The Biblical book of Revelation was authored by a man named John, a person who identifies himself by name three times within this book (1:4, 1:9, 22:8). John is traditionally recognized as John the Apostle, the same man who produced the Gospel of John, along with the Biblical letters of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. The date of authorship was approximately 90-100 A.D. when John was probably ninety years of age.
Some Biblical translations refer to this book as the “Revelation of John.” However, it would be more accurate to view this book as the “Revelation of Jesus Christ” that was given to John. That’s because the word “revelation” refers to “an unveiling.” Here within the book of Revelation, God will remove the veil from a variety of things we couldn’t have known unless He revealed them to us.
While certain portions of the book of Revelation can be difficult to understand, it’s important to remember that difficult is not the same as impossible. In this respect, a good understanding of the book of Revelation is much like other good things that don’t come easily; we must be willing to study and work at understanding it.
Next, we should recognize that the book of Revelation devotes a great deal of content to the subject of heaven. Since there are certain aspects of heaven that are inexpressible, this book faces the unenviable task of expressing the inexpressible. This helps explain why we see a substantial amount of symbolic language in the book of Revelation.
Finally, the book of Revelation must communicate with an audience that has little or no frame of reference concerning the subjects it will discuss. We can illustrate that reality with a hypothetical example. Let’s say we have a farmer who is living in the 10th century A.D. Our farmer lives in the house where he was born, and has never left his village. The greatest technological advancement he has ever seen is a donkey pulling a cart.
Now let’s say that someone from the 21st century has traveled back to the 10th century to meet with our farmer. How could someone from the 21st century explain a mobile phone, a television, or a jet aircraft to a 10th century farmer who has no conception of such things? In some respects, we are much like our hypothetical farmer as we seek to grasp the book of Revelation.
However, we’ll soon find that Revelation chapter one will explain some of the symbolic language that will be used in the rest of the book.
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