A Bit to Bite 10/13/14
A piece of spirit bread to chew and meditate on.
“I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev.1:9
John tells us where he was and why he was there. He does not give a time. Neither does he say that he was exiled. Though Patmos was used by the Romans as a sort of prison, we cannot from that fact deduct that he was himself a prisoner. That would be adding to what is written. The disciples where given the order to preach the gospel to all, including prisoners. So when he says he was there for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, we have to accept it as it stands written.
There is only one single reference in ancient history to John being in Patmos. Tertullian is claimed to have written that John was exiled to Patmos after AD 70. We cannot accept that testimony as being the Truth because: a)there have to be at least TWO witnesses for a testimony to be accepted as true; b)Tertullian lived more than a hundred years after Johns death, so is not a witness as such; c)Tertullian’s writings could have been manipulated by translators.
Therefore, since there is no proof as to when Revelation was written, those who claim it was written after the destruction of the Jewish temple have NO foundation whatsoever to stand on.
Chapter one of Revelation clearly points to a date before AD70 in verses 1,3 and 7, which echo and correlate with Matt.16:28, Matt.24:34 and 1Thess.4:15.
Previous bits to chew on: 6/10, 7/10, 8/10, 9/10, 10/10, 11/10, 12/10, 13/10
For more info on what happened in Jerusalem between AD 66 to AD70 go Histories of Tacitus and Josephus’s War of the Jews Book 6 (Chapter 5 #3 signs).
