Finale Revelation and Imagination Daily Devotional- 7

REVELATION 1:7-9, 17-19| ⁷ Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. ⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. ⁹ I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades. ¹⁹ Now write what you have seen, what is, and what is to take place after this.

The book of Revelation was almost certainly written between 93-96 AD, during the reign of Domitian. He was the first emperor who insisted Christians participate in emperor worship and styled himself as dominos et deus noster, “our lord and god.” He treated Christians as enemies of the state if they refused to comply and by this time church and synagogue had separated so Christ-followers could not claim the exception given to Jews from the practices of the emperor cult.

Persecution by the great state of Rome must have been absolutely terrifying. John’s message is that Jesus’ return will overwhelm every force of evil and that only He ultimately holds “the keys of death and Hades.” John, banished to the prison island of Patmos, shares the persecution experience with his audience, but insists that the Returning Christ is the Alpha and Omega, the first and last, the Almighty.

Can you name two countries where Christians are persecuted?

Pray for the church in those places.

Tags: church, prayer, christians, persecuted