JOHN RECEIVES A REVELATION ON THE ISLAND OF PATMOS

REVELATION 1

Patmos is an island in the Aegean Sea lying off the west coast of modern Turkey, approximately thirty-five miles from the ancient harbor at Miletus. Eight miles long and six miles wide, the island boasts but a small amount of living space. Since it was off the major shipping lanes and had a limited supply of fresh water, it was destined to have a small population. But what impresses us even more than its small size and poor natural resources is the isolation of this rocky island.42 The Romans sent John to this island for a reason, and God used this setting to reverse the intended outcome of the Roman government.

Following Jesus’s ascension into heaven in the early years of the first century, John and the other apostles had remained in or near Jerusalem. By the close of the first century, tradition indicates John was at work in Ephesus.43 During those intervening years the church had witnessed explosive growth at the same time it had endured painful persecution. Rome was governed by the Flavian dynasty, which used the imperial cult of emperor worship as a way of uniting the empire. By the time of the revelation to John, the emperor Domitian was the head of the Roman Empire. He was not well educated, had no record as a war hero, lacked social graces, and was generally cruel. In a desperate attempt to lift his credibility, he commanded that he be addressed as dominus et deus noster, “our lord and god.”44 The emperor sought to exterminate those who refused to acknowledge him as deity or follow this national religion.

Statue of the Roman emperor Domitian.

Cave of the Apocalypse on the island of Patmos.

The Romans recognized that John was encouraging and advancing efforts that opposed the imperial cult. They sought to silence him by isolating him on the island of Patmos, which doubled as a Roman detention center.45 The Lord used the quiet isolation of Patmos to pull back the curtain of eternity and to reveal a vision that John preserved in the book of Revelation.

Emperor Nero (AD 37–68). The numeric equivalent in Hebrew script for Caesar Nero (qsr nrwn) is 100 + 60 + 200 + 50 + 200 + 6 + 50, which totals 666—the number given to the Antichrist in Revelation 13:18.

The island of Patmos with the monastery of AD 1088 at the top and the Cave of the Apocalypse in the center.

As John began the book of Revelation, he described himself as “your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus” (Rev. 1:9). John had felt the pain of persecution, but he had also received a revelation from God. By sharing this vision with the church, John assured the churches of Asia Minor that the Lord who loved them was still in control of the world. Using symbolic language, John described a revelation that confused those who wished to harm and yet brought comfort to those in harm’s way.

John received a revelation on the island of Patmos for a reason. Persecution can shorten rather than lengthen one’s view of life. Real healing and help for those living under persecution comes in getting the big picture presented in Revelation. As John’s gaze turned away from the landscape of his island prison, his eyes were freed to see future events and know that the final destruction of Satan was coming—a showdown in which the ultimate victory of Jesus over the adversary was assured. The Romans had sent John to Patmos to prevent him from offering encouragement to the church. In turn, God used the island of Patmos as the setting in which to reveal the vision destined to help and sustain the church during times of persecution.