REVELATION 1.1 This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known to his servant, John. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it, for the time is at hand. -WEB Bible
Did you know that you are blessed just for reading the
book of Revelation? God is offering us some incentive, because he wants us to
know the big picture. Without the book of Revelation, we wouldn’t know how
earth’s story ends. And it’s especially important to have hope as things on
earth will literally take a turn for the worst.
The Apostle John was an old man when he wrote Revelation. He
had been exiled to the island of Patmos, where authorities intended to put a
stop to his ministry; but it is there that he recorded his visions of the
future, and left us an enduring legacy.
Some illustrations in this book depict John as a young man - but
it’s more likely that he was elderly, as shown in the painting above. Scholars
believe the book of Revelation was written sometime during AD 81–96.
The raven is an ancient symbol of prophecy and prophets,
with the raven being seen as a messenger. This tradition may have started when
a raven brought food to the prophet Elijah at the brook Cherith. Although
a raven is not specifically mentioned in the book of Revelation, it is frequently
depicted along-side St. John in ancient illustrations.
IMAGE CREDIT: St. John on
Patmos, date 1620, by
Pedro Orrente (1580-1645)