The Writings of Revelation

How do you write about something you have never seen or experienced before? How do you describe events, people and places that you never even knew existed? How do you give a message that is needed for today but also for eternity? This is the challenge Jesus gives to John when He tells him to record what he sees and hears. Writing the letter of Revelation was not John’s idea. It was God’s idea. 

John had been praying intensely for the church while on an island. 60 years after Christ resurrected and ascended the church was facing great persecution. People were confused and afraid. Christians were tempted to compromise their witness in society. No one could make sense of what was happening with the hardship. No one knew what the future held for the church. So Jesus returns to John, not as a carpenter like when He walked the earth 60 years ago, but now Jesus comes as a Divine King. John has an important message to give the church. An important message back then, that remains an important message for today. 

John’s goal is to show the church that not all is as it seems. There is another reality taking place. John wanted to inspire the church and give hope to Christians. He didn’t understand everything Jesus showed him. But John knew that all he saw meant that God was doing far more than could be seen in the natural. Whatever future events would transpire, John, as a pastor and a leader, wanted his readers to gain hope and security from his letter. John perhaps knew that his letter would provide the same inspiration and hope to Christians throughout the centuries to come. Revelation is a letter to be read for hope not as an exact description of all the details of future events. John knew he was writing under a special revelation by God’s Spirit. Because John recorded what he saw, he recorded unusual events and not always in exact order, but in the order he witnessed them. He knew his pictures would seem bizarre at times to the readers of his letter. He knew he was recording what had happened in the past, what was happening in the present and what was going to happen in the future. John wanted to connect the Old Testament to what God was doing now and in times to come. Jesus knew this revelation could be confusing so the one main message given to John and to the church, was communicated in many different ways. Bowls, trumpets, and very dark events were described to John. Other wonderful moments around the throne of God were described to John. Specific events were described to John. Seasons of time were described to John. All of these were given for one purpose: So the church would know that God is working His plan to fulfill His purpose since the time of creation. John’s letter describing the revelation of Jesus to him was not meant to confuse but to inspire, even if all the details would not be fully understood.