Revelation is a book that is a pain to date. No matter what time one is in history, there is always something that someone can connect to a passage in Revelation. I did not base mine on persecutions of Domitian. I based it upon how John incorporates Isaiah chapter 23 into his writing.
Keep in mind, the Christians back then and the Christians today have a persecution complex. Today, many Fundamentalists will weave a tale that socialism is at the gates and if they do not stop it Christianity will cease to be. CRT is out to get them and they must stop it at all cost. The purpose of apocalyptic teaching is to imagine how badly the world can turn.
There are a few passages in Revelation that can be linked to the NT but many of them are also linked to the Hebrew Scriptures. For example Gospel of John is the only gospel to point out that Jesus was pierced and Revelation has the same imagery. They are both derived from Zechariah 12:10. Whether John, the author of Revelation used the Gospel of John as the source of his inspiration, we will never know. What we do know is that the author of Revelation incorporated Zechariah into the book of Revelation in a methodical fashion.
Zechariah 12:10 |
John 19:37 |
Revelation 1:7 |
I will pour on David’s house, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn. |
Again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they pierced.” |
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen. |
Thanks for the purchase of the book. I hope you find it useful in understanding Revelation. It is definitely unique, and the most exhaustive, in its approach to how the book of Revelation was written.