When studying the Book of Revelation it is important to keep in mind when Revelation could have been written. It is also interesting to note the influence Revelation may have had on the Apostles and their writings in the NT.

Paul wrote in 2 Cor 12:2

It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. (But) I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.  I knew (know) a man in Christ above (before) fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell (know); or whether out of the body, I cannot tell (know): God knoweth;) such an one caught up to (as far as) the third heaven.  And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell (know): God knoweth;)  How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.  Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.

It is my opinion and belief that Paul was referring to John who wrote Revelation. Of course this is in opposition to many who say that John must have written Revelation in his old age because it is the last book in the Bible. It is known that the books of the Bible are not in chronological order.

John wrote in Revelation 1:9-10 how he was in the spirit.

 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.  I was in the Spirit in the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

And again in John wrote in Revelation 4:1-2

After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.  And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

John wrote in Rev 17:3 and 21:10 “And he carried me away in the spirit…”

John was definitely out of the body and in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and was in the future day of the Lord; not meaning on a Sunday or the Lord’s Day.

If Paul wrote 2 Corinthians in A.D. 57, the fourteen years prior would be A.D. 43. If Saul was converted in A.D. 37 and arrived in Jerusalem three years later in 40 A.D (Gal 1:18), John’s vision could have occurred even before Paul’s first ministry.

According to Gal 1:18-19 Saul did not meet John on his first return to Jerusalem from Damascus. He only met Peter and James. Saul was quickly brought to Caesarea, then to Tarsus (Acts 9:30).

Saul was brought from Tarsus to Antioch, Syria by Barnabas (Acts 11:25-26) where they spent at least a year. Saul’s second return to Jerusalem was with Barnabas to bring an offering from Antioch to Judaea because of the great dearth took place around A.D. 43. Saul was in Judea when Herod killed James and imprisoned Peter and even when Herod was stuck suddenly ill and died in A.D. 44 (Acts 12:23). Saul and Barnabas then returned from Jerusalem to Antioch (Acts 12:25). This second visit to Jerusalem was before Paul’s first missionary journey.

Saul could have known John in Jerusalem around A.D.43 before Saul and Barnabas returned to Antioch (Acts 12:25) in A.D. 44. I believe this is the time Paul refers to in 2 Cor 12:2.

John would have written down the details of his vision and the other disciples either read it or heard about it. Revelation is so symbolic that they probably remembered bits and pieces of it, but did not fully understand it. There are hints of this in some of their epistles as discussed later. This would have been at least six years after the dispersion created by Saul, so there could have been some assemblies of believers in those seven cities in Asia by the time John wrote Revelation.

I believe John was taken in the spirit to the future to the island of Patmos which was west of and in view of those seven cities in Asia. But those cities did exist in John’s day. But since John wasn’t known to be in Ephesus until his later life, scholars think that John had to have been exiled to Patmos which is east of Ephesus and then he wrote Revelation.

There was no broad ministry to the Gentile yet in A.D. 43. Peter was used by the Lord to open the doors of the kingdom of heaven to the Gentiles in Acts Chapter 10 and likely after Saul came to Jerusalem in A.D. 40 and before Saul’s second return in A.D. 43. At that time this was an isolated incident involving Gentiles partaking of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Paul began his first ministry in Acts 13:4 and first turned to the Gentiles in Acts 13:46. During his first missionary journey Paul was stoned and left for dead in Lystra in Acts 14:19 where it could have been possible that he had an out of body experience. In 2 Cor 12:2 many assume that Paul is referring to himself as being out of the body in Acts 14:19; but the timing does not fit. That stoning occurred at least two and a half years before Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem in Acts 15:2 and that was in A.D. 51. So Paul’s stoning in Lystra took place around A.D. 48 which is only nine years before he wrote 2 Cor 12:2 in A.D. 57: not fourteen years before. The Furthermore, the Scriptures say nothing of Paul having an out-of-body spiritual experience in Lystra in Acts 14:19.

If John wrote Revelation in A.D. 43, this was a few years before Paul’s ministry to the uncircumcised Gentiles began. When Revelation was written there was no ministry to uncircumcised Gentiles by the any of the apostles. Philip witnessed to the eunuch from Ethiopia in Acts Chapter 8 and Peter was sent to Cornelius at Caesarea in Acts Chapter 10. These were isolated incidents.

These things are important and must be kept in mind when reading Revelation. Revelation was written to the overcomers of the seven assemblies, or synagogues, in Asia. The seven “churches” in Revelation are likely seven synagogues. The overseers of the synagogues were often called “angels” of the synagogue (CB Ap. 120.I.2). These Synagogues could have been in the then present and/or in the then future. Revelation is to and about the circumcised of Israel in the future as there were no Gentiles in the plan of Israel when it was written.

Revelation and Paul’s Ministry

These seven “churches” in Asia were located in an area to which Paul had a desire to minister. Is it possible that John’s Revelation addressed to the seven assemblies in Asia had any connection to Paul’s desire to minister there?

Was Paul somehow influenced by John’s Revelation to minister to the Jews in Asia?

Paul’s first missionary journey was confined to cities in Galatia.

During Paul’s second missionary journey he travelled through eastern and northern Asia. Paul wanted to turn south and preach the word in Asia, but was forbidden by the Holy Ghost (Acts 16:6-7). Paul was directed to Macedonia instead.

During Paul’s third missionary journey, Paul made two passes through Asia: first through the interior and then back along the coast. He spent two years in Ephesus so that all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks (Acts 19:10). Demetrius the silversmith proclaimed the following: “Moreover ye see and hear that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul had persuaded and turned away much people saying that they be no gods which are made by hands” (Acts 19:26).

In 1 Cor 16:19 Paul writes, “The churches of Asia solute you”.

2 Cor 1:8 “For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life.”

So, again, the question remains if Revelation might have had an influence on where Paul directed his ministries.

The Return of Christ Imminent

Another thing to keep in mind is that the Apostles believed that the Lord would return to earth in their lifetime. The events of John’s Revelation were expected to happen in their lifetime. Had Israel acknowledged Jesus as the Christ of God, then certainly those things could have occurred.

According to Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy weeks of years, the Lord would have returned in about A.D. 85. This was understood by the Apostles including Paul. If this was so, how could the Book of Revelation have been written after A.D. 85 as some Bible scholars teach?

In Mathew 19:28 and Luke 22:30 the disciples were told that they would sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. That may be why they felt they had to replace Judas with Matthias.

In Acts 1:6 the disciples asked Jesus. “Lord wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (as stated in Luke 1:32-33)

Then, after Jesus was taken up, two men in white apparel said, “This same Jesus Which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven”.

Peter quoted the prophet Joel concerning “the last days” in Acts 2:17-21. They sold all their possessions and pooled their money in Acts 2:45 and 4:34.

If Revelation was written around A.D. 43 then what was written in Rev 22:20 must have had an impact:              

            He Which testifieth these things saith, “Surely I come quickly.”

In Heb 1:2 Paul writes, “(God) That in these last days spoken unto us by His Son”.

In Heb 10:24-25 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

In 1 Thes 5:2 “for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”

2 Thes 2:2 “…as the day of the Lord is at hand”.

1 Cor 1:7 “waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”

1 Cor 7:29 “But this I say, brethren, the time is short…”

1 Cor 11:26 “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till He come”

1 Cor 15:23-28

 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.  For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.   And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Even other apostles wrote evidence of things from Revelation.

1 Peter 4:7 “But the end of all things is at hand”.

2 Peter 3:10-13 “But the day of God will come as a thief in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise,  and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,  the earth also, and the works that are there in shall be burned up.” (cp. Rev 20:11, 21:1) “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the  day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness”.

1 John 2:18 “Little Children it is the last time: and ye have heard that antichrist shall come…”

1 John 2:28 “When He shall appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.”

1 John 4:3 “…and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come;…”

James 4:7,8 Be patient therefore brethren unto the coming of the Lord…Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

Any writing during the Acts period was colored by this fact that there was an expectation of the return of Christ and that it was imminent. This includes three of the Gospels, seven of Paul’s epistles, the seven General Epistles, The Acts, and The Revelation. All of these writings had the Jew in mind with all their restored kingdom promises and hopes and blessings. They are all connected to John’s Revelation.

But even in Paul’s post-Acts period did Paul have any knowledge of the Lord’s timing? Is it safe to say that Paul did not know how long the new dispensation of the calling out of the Body of Christ would last? Hosea did prophesy “two days”; but who could have foreseen the two thousand years that we have seen?

There are other things to consider.

It is true that there was much prophesied about the future in the OT which Paul knew very well. We do not know all the details of what the Lord could have revealed directly to Paul during the Acts period, or what he might have learned from the other apostles.

In Gal 1:11-12 Paul wrote “But I certify you, brethren that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it from man, neither was I taught it, but by revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Now I do not believe that Paul meant “John’s Revelation of Jesus Christ”. I believe that Paul received some direct revelations from the Lord.

Consider these verses. If Paul wrote about:

1.      “Jerusalem which is above” in Gal 4:26

2.      “a city which hath (twelve) foundations, whose builder and maker is God” in Heb 11:10,

3.      “But they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath  prepared them a city” in Heb 11:16

4.      “unto the city of the God, the heavenly living Jerusalem” in Heb 12:22

5.      “for here we have ho continuing city, but we seek one to come” in Heb 13:14

Did he learn these from John’s descriptions of the New Jerusalem in Revelation?

Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

Rev 21:14 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

When Paul wrote in 1 Thes 4:13-17, did he learn about that from John’s Revelation?

 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

1 Cor 15:51-53

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

How did Paul know to write in 2 Thes 1:4-10 “when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven” and in 2:2-12 about the “man of sin, the son of perdition”?

 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:  Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:  Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;  And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels (Rev 19:11-14),  In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;  When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth (Rev19:21), and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

2 Thes 2:1 Now we beseech you brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him.

2 Thes 2:2-7 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ the Lord is at hand.  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God (Rev 13:11-18).  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

2 Cor 5:10 “for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ”

Ro 2:5 “…the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God”. (cp Rev 6:17, 19:15)

James 1:12 and Rev 2:10 talk of the “crown of life”.

The Rest of the Dead

Here is an interesting tidbit concerning Paul and Revelation. In Revelation 20:5 “the rest of the dead” is taught by some that these are the unsaved. The word translated “rest of” is Gr. loipoy. If you see Bullinger’s note on Romans 1:13 that same Gr loipoy is translated “other”. In the references given by Bullinger, he notes that Paul frequently uses the significant term “the rest” to designate the “unsaved”. He gives several verses including Rev 20:5. Then one might deduce that “the rest of the dead” could mean “the unsaved”; as scholars usually teach.

Of course, I believe Revelation was written by John and not by Paul. I believe Revelation was written before Paul wrote any of his epistles. Furthermore, since this Rev 20:5 speaks of resurrection, only the saved are resurrected. The rest of the dead “lived not again until” which means they were resurrected to life. The unsaved are said to perish and, therefore, have no resurrection to life (1 John 5:12, John 3:36, John 3:15, 16)). Therefore Paul’s uses of loipoy would have come after John’s use of the word. This does not prove “the rest of the dead” in Rev 20:5 means “the unsaved”.

Gentiles

If John’s Revelation was written before Gentiles were grafted into the kingdom of heaven, this begs the question “will there be Gentiles saved during that time?” or “what happens to the Gentiles (nations) when God returns to the salvation and restoration of Israel and to the fulfillment of the New Covenant with Israel”?

Will there be any Gentiles offered salvation apart from Israel after the epiphaneia of Christ, and when the Body of Christ appears with Him and is raised together and seated together with Christ at the right hand of God? Will God return to deal with Israel at the exclusion of Gentiles

Some believe that the Gentiles who are saved in this present dispensation and who are not members of the chosen Body of Christ will be the guests at the marriage in Matt 22:9-10. The guests of the wedding in Matt 22:9-10 correspond to the marriage of the Lamb in Rev 19:7-9. If Israel is Lo-Ammi at the present, the marriage is not now ready (as indicated in Matt 22:8); not until Rev 19:7 is the marriage of the Lamb come or “is ready”. The guests will not be uncircumcised Gentiles. This wedding takes place after the parousia and before the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom. Revelation concerns only Israel.

The woman who becomes remarried to the Lord is Israel, who for now is divorced. The Bride of the Lamb is the holy city new Jerusalem (Rev 21:2, 9)

The Greek ethnos is used throughout the NT and is translated nations, non-Jewish people, Gentiles, or heathen. In some cases it means the nations of Israel. The Hebrew for Gentile is goy.

The man from Ethiopia was saved In Acts Chapter 8 but apparently he was not considered a Gentile. In fact there was no stir about his conversion makes me think he was already a proselyte. Cornelius and his house were saved in Acts Chapter 10. This likely took place before John wrote Revelation

Although the Body of Christ consists of chosen people from all nations, the Body of Christ was not known at the writing of The Revelation, and I believe it will no longer exist on earth in the time of The Revelation.

If we look at the evidence in the Scriptures, a case can be made that Revelation was written in the first half of the Acts period and before most of the writings of the epistles of the apostles. Revelation could have had a significant influence on the minds of the apostles. Revelation could have had an influence on where Paul conducted his ministries in Asia.

I will conclude this study and leave you with some questions in the light of what was presented.

What happens to the believers in Christ that are not chosen to be members of the Body of Christ?

Do they identify themselves with Christ or are they just followers or just believers? If they are promised eternal life, where will they enjoy it?

What is the book of life? The Lamb’s book of life contains the names of those of Israel who will occupy the holy city new Jerusalem (Rev 21:27). The books of works pertain to Israel’s works for judgement (Rev 20:12). Do these books pertain to the Gentiles believers or the Body of Christ?