A Commentary in Simple English on Revelation

Numbers

We can see that the number 'seven' is very important in the Book of Revelation. There are many 'sevens'. Here are some more of them.

1. Seven 'blessings': - 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19: 9; 20:6; 22:7; 22:14. (These are 'beatitudes').

2. The name of God: 'The Lord God the Almighty': - 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 19:6; 21:22.

3. 'The One Who sits on the throne' - another name for God: - 4:9; 5:1; 5:7; 5:13; 6:16; 7:15; 21:5

4. The name 'Jesus' is there in Revelation fourteen times; seven of these speak of 'the witness (or witnesses) of Jesus'.

5. The name 'Christ' is there seven times, sometimes as part of 'Jesus Christ'

6. Christ is spoken of as 'the Lamb' twenty eight times; that is, four times seven. In seven of them 'God and the Lamb' are joined together.

7. You will find words like 'peoples and tribes and languages and nations' in 5:9; 7:9; 10:11; 11:9; 13:7; 14:6; 17:15. The exact words are not the same, but there are always four of them. Again seven times.

So we can begin to see that in this book, numbers do mean something. 'Seven' may mean that something is complete. 'Four' is said to be the number of the world. 'Twelve' is also very important. But we must be very careful about the use of numbers in Scripture. Some people have given it too much attention and strange ideas and teaching have been the result.

Christians and the Roman Empire

The Roman Empire had robbed the cities of Asia of their riches. But Rome had brought peace. Before, there had been long ages of war. The people were happy to have peace. So in the cities there were temples to 'Roma', a 'goddess' who stood for the city of Rome. Most of the Caesars or Emperors of Rome were honoured as 'gods' but usually only after they had died. Domitian became Caesar in AD 81. He expected people to call him 'My Lord and my God' while he was still alive. Christians could not do this. They were sometimes punished by the state because they would not. John wrote the Book of Revelation at a time when many of the Christians were suffering because of this.

To make it worse, the worship of the Emperor was mixed up with the worship of the heathen gods. The Jewish religion was the religion of a nation, which lived in the Roman Empire. It was a very old religion and the Roman law had a place in it for this religion. The Christian faith was new, and it was not the religion of one nation. It had spread through the Empire and beyond. It had no place in the law. The Romans did not hunt out and punish Christians all the time. But when Christians refused to honour the Caesar as a 'god' they were punished. Of course, trouble might break out at any time because the Jews hated the Christians. If part of the Empire had to provide 'criminals' to be killed in public in Rome by wild animals, some Christians would be sent to die. The Christians suffered from time to time as we can see in the Book of Acts. The mass killings of Christians by Nero in Rome in AD 64 do not seem to have spread from Rome to other places.

We know that some Christians gave way when they had to suffer because of their faith. They are spoken about in a letter which a man called Pliny wrote. This was about 20 years after John wrote Revelation. Most Christians stood firm. Many gave up their lives for Christ's sake. The teaching of Jesus is clear. (See Mark 12:13-17.) The government has a right to expect us to pay taxes to it and to do much besides. But there are things that belong to God. If the leader of a nation calls himself 'god' then Christians cannot honour him for that. [0.6].

We shall have to say much more about the Roman Empire as we go along, but you can see that what was true then, is true today. Every Christian wants to obey the law of his own land. But if the law of our land tells us to give to the state what belongs to God, then we have to say 'No'!

The Book of Revelation down the years

The first known argument about the Book of Revelation took place about 250 AD. It was near Arsinoe in the Fayyum in Egypt. The argument was between Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria and some local Christians. One of them was a man called Coracion. The argument went on for three days. At the end, not everyone felt sure that the Bishop was right. Christians have argued about Revelation ever since and their arguments have not done them any good.

Remember this, too. The prophets in the Old Testament had spoken in many places about the coming of our Lord Jesus into the world. But all the people were surprised when He came. He came in a way that none of them guessed or expected. God kept exactly to His word. God will keep His word again. Jesus will come again. All that the prophets have written will prove to be exactly right. But we shall be taken by surprise. God will do what He has promised. But He will do it in a way we have not guessed. So I do not think that any of the various systems which people use to explain the Book of Revelation will be found to be quite right. I hope that what I write will help you to understand the Book better. First, we must try to understand what John meant when he wrote. We must try to understand what the book meant to his first readers. When we have finished that work it will be time to think about other questions. [0.7]. There are things I do not understand and I will tell you that I cannot explain them.