Shasta
Well-known member
11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings” (Revelation 10:11 ESV)
The Greek proposition epi which is translated "before" in the KJB should, in this be context, be more accurately be translated: "about," "as to," or "concerning."
http://biblehub.com/text/revelation/10-11.htm
Pardon me, I misread one of my sources. Banishing of political enemies to islands was common, however,
Taking this policy into account, banishing a member of a poor minority sect of Judaism hardly seems probable. Later, though, when Christianity had spread across the Empire and could not escape the notice of the Emperor, banishment of Christians was more likely to have been practiced. Still, Nero seemed less inclined to banish Christians than to use them to light his parties and to feed them to the lions. Domitian used banishment extensively although the extent to which he banished Christians I do not know.
Your theory that Agrippa banished John all the way to Patmos just so that he, would not be resented for killing all of Zebedee’s clan is highly speculative and, seems to me, somewhat contrived. It makes me wonder what doctrinal presupposition motivates you to establish such an early date for the Apocalypse. Why would the Jews care what happened to John's clan anyway when they saw their nation was in danger of incurring God's wrath because of the idolatrous Christians and Jewish Apostates? Antipas' violence was an expression of their own hatred for the truth. A hatred inflamed with rage and murder is not likely to allow for mercy.
In your narrative, John is arrested and shipped off to Patmos during the persecution of Agrippa which was sometime after 43 AD. On the island, John has an incredible vision. The events must have happened rather quickly, for Agrippa died before 44 AD. During that brief time, Peter was hunted, arrested, jailed, and freed (but not recaptured). Then Agrippa abruptly dies and the persecution stops. Then John is brought back across the ocean to the Land where he is joyfully reunited with the Christian community. You would think that such an occasion would receive some coverage in the Book of Acts; especially if John came back proclaiming all the strange things he saw in the Revelation but nothing was recorded either about his exile, his return or his vision. Had the writer of Acts been a journalist he would have been fired for missing a headline story.
You say that the Churches of Asia Minor must have been evangelized by the scattering Christians during persecutions. Apparently did happen but the full scope and extent of this dispersion is impossible to determine. We do know about Ephesus, though, and that Paul started a Church there in 52 AD (Acts 18:18-21). However, Ephesus, as it is presented in Acts, does not impress me as being a city with a thriving Christian community when Paul first arrives. How is it possible that John wrote a letter to a well taught and organized Ephesian Church years before Paul laid the foundation there?
The Church Father Irenaeus (120-202 AD) grew up in Asia Minor and was trained by Polycarp the Bishop of Smyrna. Irenaeus had this to say about Polycarp.
This is to show the quality of Irenaeus' sources of information.
Polycarp, who lived from 69-150AD also grew up in Asia Minor. Since he had been a child he had known the Apostle John. John had trained him for the ministry. Irenaeus made the following comment about those days:
Since Irenaeus was from Asia Minor he would have grown up hearing people talk about John his works, his teaching, his exile, his Revelation and his ministry to the Church. Here is what Irenaeus said about John’s work at Ephesus:
This makes sense with the Book of Acts. Paul was the first to evangelize Ephesus. Much later John moved there built upon his foundation just as others did at Corinth.
Irenaeus says he lived barely one generation beyond the time when the Revelation was written which was at the end of the reign of Domitian. If he lived that close to the time then Polycarp would have been able to read it when it was first written.
The testimony of believers who lived in the same geographical region who knew John or knew others who had known him provides evidence for a later date for Revelation. More importantly, though, it supports the idea that John, in his later years, ministered to a predominantly Gentile Church in Ephesus
I would not venture to guess what Satan's specific strategies are in this book.
