PART I
DATING THE REVELATION

INTRODUCTION

"If I will that he tarry till I come..." Jesus had made a statement about his beloved disciple which led others to believe that the apostle John would survive until the Master's return from heaven. The apostle did live a long time, longer apparently than any of the other close disciples of Christ. He lived to receive late in life the wondrous visions from the Lord Jesus Christ himself which are recorded in the Apocalypse.

John had left his home in Jerusalem some years before and had settled at Ephesus, a city of Lydia on the west coast of Asia Minor.1 Here in the Lycus valley there were a number of ecclesias, those to whom letters are addressed in the first chapters of the Revelation as well as several others. The great apostle must have ministered to the brethren and sisters of these ecclesias diligently for many years. He must also have become well known in the area as a preacher of the gospel, for he came to the attention of the authorities. His persecution at the hand of Caesar became legend, and he was ultimately banished for a time to Patmos, a rocky, barren island off the coast of Asia Minor.2 There he received the remarkable visions described in the Revelation.3 It was to be the last message of the Deity to His people - a final word of prophecy and instruction as the age of the apostles came to a close. The aged apostle lived to return to Ephesus where he is said to have remained for a few years more.4 When he fell asleep, the last witness of the Lord's apostles was silenced and the first century came to a close. The witness remains, by God's grace, in the written word.

There has been a persistent tradition since very early times that the banishment of the apostle John to Patmos occurred during the reign of the emperor Domitian in about A.D. 95. 5 The date is not important in itself: Dr. John Thomas in EUREKA gives evidence for both an early date (A.D. 66) and this later date of writing. He accepts the later date while making the point that his interpretation is not affected either way. The subject only becomes essential if a particular exposition requires one date or the other.

It is generally agreed by all parties that the Apocalypse could only have been written during the reign of either Nero or Domitian (ca. A.D. 95). References in the book clearly require a time of persecution, and only under those two Caesars was there any significant harassment of the followers of Christ in the first century. Nero is perhaps the better known persecutor, but this is because popular history is more concerned with what was going on in the city of Rome itself. In viewing the history of any period it is necessary to look carefully at the whole picture. Nero's persecution flared up as a result of his own caprice and affected Christians primarily in the city of Rome and its environs, without being severely felt in the Asian provinces. The later persecution under Domitian, on the other hand, directly and oppressively affected the Brethren in Asia Minor; in fact, his persecution affected the very ecclesias to whom the Apocalypse was addressed. The Asiarchs (local rulers in Asia Minor) under Domitian enforced Caesar worship and carried out the imperial edict against Christians of this area with some zeal. 6

All references to the dating of the Revelation from the first three centuries support the Domitian period. The first mention of the Nero dating appears to be in the sixth century and is found in some later writings. "It has no foundation in the evidence of Christian antiquity and originated in a desire to interpret part of the prophecy (as referring to) the reign and fate of the Emperor Nero." 7

The Apocalypse itself supports the later date. It describes an advanced state of ecclesial deterioration: the deeds of the Nicolaitans, "which I hate", the doctrine of Balaam, and the immoral teachings of that woman Jezebel.

Compare:

Revelation 2: 4 (John's Letter to Ephesus)
"THOU HAST LEFT THY FIRST LOVE."

with

Ephesians 1: 15 (Paul's Letter to Ephesus)
"I HEARD OF YOUR FAITH ... AND LOVE."

The best evidence available confirms the usually accepted date (A.D. 95) for the Revelation. Some of that evidence is included in this study. We have carefully considered the opposite view, as put forward by Bro. H. A. Whittaker in his book, Revelation, a Biblical Approach, and we include responses to some of his comments on the subject.

It is our hope and prayer that our effort will lead others to return to the Apocalypse as a rewarding study and source of help for these last days. It has always had a prominent place in our community, and as the final utterance of the Spirit Word it should continue to hold the position it deserves.

"Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand" (Rev. 1: 3).

1 This is assumed from the apostle's evident familiarity with the Asian ecclesias in his seven letters to them (Rev. 1-3) and from statements of early writers to the effect that John returned to Ephesus after his exile (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Book III, ch. 20).

2 The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, "Patmos", Vol.4, p. 2263.

3 Revelation 1: 9.

4 Irenaeus, Against Heresies, II, 22.5 and III, 3.4.

5 Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Revelation", Vol. 19, p. 246 (1971 edition).

6 Chadwick, The Early Church, pp. 26-27:

"The Neronion persecution was confined to Rome and was not due to any sense of deep ideological conflict between Church and State; it was simply that the emperor had to blame somebody for the fire. Nevertheless, it was a precedent that magistrates had condemned Christians to death because they were Christians and on no other charge.

"Under Domitian (A.D. 81-96) the situation seems again to have become grave ... Domitian styling himself 'Master and God', was inclined to suspect of treachery those who looked askance at his cult. The customary oath 'by the genius of the emperor' became officially obligatory."

7 Alford, How to Study the New Testament, p. 285.