Revelation Unveiled - Chapter One

The book of Revelation begins by declaring its genre from the get-go - it is an "apocalypse".  In our modern world, apocalyptic normally is associated with chaos, catastrophe, and dramatic end of the world scenarios, of the Hollywood variety.  But the Greek word apokalupsis, from where we get the word Revelation simply means to unveil or reveal.  Much like pulling back the curtain on a game show prize, what John's writing seeks to do is to reveal true reality - to give a perspective on the world and God's ultimate purposes that would otherwise remain hidden.

In verse one of the book, we are told that this is the revelation of Jesus Christ - either from Jesus, or about Jesus, or probably both.  It is a message given from God the Father to Jesus the Son, who then dispatched it to an angel who delivered it to John.  John then passes the revelation onto the seven churches of Asia - Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.  These churches are located in what is today Western Turkey.  John, exiled for his faith in Jesus to the isle of Patmos, received the revelation from the angel in a series of visions which he later wrote down and edited and then sent to these seven churches.  This is crucial for our understanding of Revelation.  The message of Revelation had to make sense for these seven churches.  It was first and primarily written for them.  It only became a part of our Christian scripture at a much later date.  This literary masterpiece still has the power to speak to us 2,000 years later, but we must first understand it in its original context if we wish it to make sense today.  

As we will soon discover, the seven churches of Asia are already experiencing challenging times and will soon be face to face with even greater difficulties.  Revelation is written in the early to mid 90s of the first century.  Domitian sits on the Roman throne, and he demands not only loyalty and homage, but even worship. 

For many decades the emperors had begun to promote the worship of themselves and though many in around Rome itself paid this megalomania little heed, out in the further reaches of the empire, emperor worship was far more common.  In fact, in Asia Minor, where the John's seven churches were located, several shrines, statues, and altars had been erected for the Roman Caesars and there was quite a lot of pressure placed on the residents of those regions to offer incense and other forms of worship to the head of the Roman Empire.  How might disciples of Jesus who had confessed that he and no other is Lord navigate this tricky social and political situation?

As John put his visions into writing, it appears that Caesar is in fact Lord of the Roman world, if not the larger sphere.  But Jesus Christ has a different perspective on things, and what Caesar represents is nothing more than a house of cards on shifting sand.  In the not-too-distant future, a mighty wind will blow this house of cards down and the loose sand beneath it will be blown to smithereens too.  The churches of that time will suffer, that is to be sure, but if they remain faithful through the time of trial, they will receive the crown of life in God's renewed creation in the end.  

This is essentially the message of Revelation.  And chapter one serves to introduce these themes to the careful reader.  We will begin to see things even clearer as we progress, so stay tuned.  There's far more to come! - Shay