Bible Timeline · About AD 95

John on Patmos: The Book of Revelation

Near the end of the first century, the apostle John, the last of the Twelve still living, was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching about Jesus. There he saw the visions of the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible to be written, about AD 95 under the emperor Domitian. Some scholars date it about AD 68, under Nero.

Read it in the Bible: Revelation 1 Revelation 2-3 Revelation 21-22 John 21:20-24

About AD 95, the apostle John was an old man living in exile on Patmos, a small rocky island off the coast of what is now Turkey. He had been sent there for preaching about Jesus. One Sunday, which he calls the Lord’s day, he heard a voice like a trumpet behind him and turned to see the risen Jesus in blazing glory. The visions that followed became the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible to be written. With it, the story that began in Genesis with a garden ends with a city, a river and the tree of life.

I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus. Revelation 1:9

Who Was John, the Last Apostle?

John was the son of Zebedee and the brother of James. He was a fisherman from Galilee and one of Jesus’ inner circle of three. In his Gospel he calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loved. At the cross, Jesus gave His mother Mary into John’s care, John 19:26 to 27.

His brother James was the first of the Twelve to die, in AD 44. John seems to have been the last. Early writers say he spent his later years in Ephesus, the great city of the province of Asia. The church father Irenaeus, writing about AD 180, says John lived until the time of the emperor Trajan, who began to rule in AD 98. So John may have been in his late eighties or older when he died.

There is also a famous tradition about John. Tertullian, writing about AD 200, says that in Rome John was plunged into boiling oil and came out unhurt, and was then sent to his island exile. We can’t confirm that story, but it shows how early Christians remembered him: the apostle God kept alive to finish the job.

When Was the Book of Revelation Written?

The Owner’s Manual dates Revelation about AD 95, near the end of the emperor Domitian’s reign, which ran from AD 81 to 96. That was the view of the early church. Irenaeus said John saw the vision not long ago, almost in our own generation, at the end of the reign of Domitian. The historian Eusebius quotes him and adds that Domitian was the second emperor, after Nero, to persecute Christians.

Some scholars date the book about AD 68, under Nero, a view sometimes called the early date. They point out that Revelation 11 tells John to measure the temple, which might mean it was still standing before AD 70. Some also note that the number 666 in Revelation 13:18 matches the name Nero Caesar when it is spelled in Hebrew letters and added up. Those who hold the later date answer that the measuring is symbolic, and that the churches in chapters 2 and 3 seem to have been around long enough to cool off spiritually, like Ephesus, which had left its first love.

Who Did John Write Revelation To?

Revelation is not a secret code for people two thousand years later only. It was a real letter to real churches.

“Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.” Revelation 1:11

These seven cities sat in a rough circle in western Turkey, in the order a mail carrier would visit them. Each church gets a short message from Jesus in chapters 2 and 3, with praise, warnings, or both. Smyrna is told to be faithful even unto death. Laodicea, a rich city often said to have had lukewarm piped water, is told it is neither hot nor cold. Through those seven, the message goes to every church.

What Else Did John Write?

John is traditionally credited with five books of the New Testament: the Gospel of John, the three letters of 1, 2 and 3 John, and Revelation. The Owner’s Manual dates his Gospel and letters about AD 85 to 95, from Ephesus. In 1 John he calls his readers little children and keeps coming back to one theme: God is love, 1 John 4:8. Some scholars think a different John, called John the Elder, wrote some of these. About AD 250, Dionysius of Alexandria noticed that Revelation’s Greek style is rougher than the Gospel’s and suggested a different author. The early church as a whole said it was the apostle.

How Should We Read the Book of Revelation?

Revelation is full of symbols: lampstands, a slain Lamb, seals, trumpets, a dragon, beasts and a woman clothed with the sun. John tells us some of them right away, like the seven lampstands that are seven churches, Revelation 1:20. Christians have read the rest in four main ways:

Futurist: most of the book, especially chapters 4 to 22, describes events still to come before Jesus returns. This is common among many evangelicals today.
Preterist: much of it was fulfilled in the first centuries, in the fall of Jerusalem and the Roman persecutions.
Historicist: it maps out church history from John’s day to the end. Many Reformers read it this way.
Idealist: it pictures the timeless battle between God and evil in every age.

Many readers mix these. Whatever view you take, every Christian tradition agrees on the main point: Jesus wins.

Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.” Revelation 11:15

Was Revelation the Last Book of the Bible Written?

Yes, according to the traditional dates. Revelation is placed last in the Bible because it tells how history ends, and it was also likely the last book written. With it, the New Testament was complete, written within about sixty years of the cross. The church then spent the next few centuries recognizing which books belonged, a story told in the Church History timeline on this site. Revelation ends with a warning not to add to or take away from the words of this book, Revelation 22:18 to 19. Strictly, that warning is about Revelation itself, but many Christians see it as a fitting seal on the whole Bible.

How Revelation Points to Jesus Today

The first readers of Revelation were small churches facing pressure from the most powerful empire on earth. John’s visions pulled back the curtain to show who was really on the throne. Not Caesar. The Lamb who was slain and now lives forever.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:3 to 4

The Bible begins with God walking with people in a garden and ends with God living with His people forever. Everything between is the story of how He brought them home. And the last prayer of the Bible is still the church’s prayer today.

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! Revelation 22:20

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Questions People Ask

When was the book of Revelation written?

The Owner's Manual dates it about AD 95, near the end of the emperor Domitian's reign, as Irenaeus said about AD 180. Some scholars date it about AD 68, under Nero, before the temple was destroyed.

Why was John on the island of Patmos?

John says he was on Patmos because of the word of God and his testimony about Jesus, Revelation 1:9. Early church writers say he was exiled there by the emperor Domitian as punishment for preaching. Patmos is a small island in the Aegean Sea off the coast of modern Turkey.

Was John the last apostle to die?

Church tradition says yes. Irenaeus wrote that John lived in Ephesus until the reign of Trajan, which began in AD 98. Tradition says he was the only one of the Twelve who was not martyred, though Tertullian records a story that he survived being plunged into boiling oil.

What are the seven churches of Revelation?

They are Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, Revelation 1:11. All were real cities in the Roman province of Asia, in what is now western Turkey. Jesus gives each one a message in Revelation 2 and 3.

What are the main ways to interpret Revelation?

Christians read Revelation in four main ways. Futurists see most of it as still to come, preterists see much of it fulfilled in the early centuries, historicists see it as a map of church history, and idealists see it as the timeless battle between good and evil. All agree that Jesus wins in the end.

Sources

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