P e t e r:.About
Peter himself...
The object of the book of
1
P e t e r is to confirm its readers in the doctrines
they had been already taught. Peter has been called "the apostle of hope",
because this epistle
abounds with words of comfort and encouragement fitted to sustain a "lively
hope". It contains about thirty five references to the
Old Testament.
It was written from Babylon,
on the Euphrates in 64 A.D., 6 years before the foretold 70
A.D. destruction of city of Jerusalem, the temple there, and the religion
of the Old Testament was forever to be abolished. At this time Jerusalem
was one of the chief seats of Jewish learning and a fitting centre for
labour among the Jews.
2
P e t e r appears to have been written shortly before the apostle's
death (2Peter 1:14), and from Rome
in 65 A.D. This epistle (letter) contains eleven references to the Old
Testament. It also contains (2Peter 3:15,16)
a remarkable reference to Paul's epistles.
J o h n ' s E p
i s t l e s:
1
J o h n was written by John the evangelist and probably also at Ephesus,
or perhaps Judea, and when the writer was in advanced age, about 69 A.D.
About
1John.
2
J o h n & 3
J o h n:.The
Second and Third Epistles (letters) were probably written soon after the
First and from Ephesus. Of the thirteen verses composing the second epistle
seven are in the First Epistle.
J
u d e: The author was "Judas, the brother of James" the Less (Jude
1:1), not the Judas that betrayed Him. This Judas is called also Lebbaeus
(Matthew 10:3)
and Thaddaeus:.Mark
3:18. It was apparently written in the later period of the apostolic
age, for when it was written there were persons still alive who had heard
the apostles preach:.Jude
17. It may thus have been written about A.D. 66 or 70, and apparently
in Palestine.
R
e v e l a t i o n: Revelation is the only prophetical
book of
the
New Testament.canon.
The Greek name for this book is Apocalypse.
The author of this book was
undoubtedly
John the apostle.
His name occurs four times in the book itself:.Revelation
1:1,4,9; 22:8.
Easton's Bible Dictionary."The
date of the writing of this book has generally (and inaccurately) been
fixed at A.D. 96 in the reign of Domitian in A.D. 51-96, who was Emperor
of Rome (81-96 A.D..{Anno
Domini; latin for 'a specified year of the Christian era'})."
If written after A.D. 70,
it could not be dealing with the destruction of Jerusalem. Revelation is
a book of prophecy predicting major destruction in the then
very near
future:.Revelation
1:1.
This book of the Bible.reports.on
atrocities
the Jews experienced in the
war of their revolt against Rome in 66-70 A.D.
The battle of Armageddon.(original
means 'surrounding upon') was fought back then when God used the Roman
armies to stop the Jewish persecution of Christians.
This was a
massive great tribulation that was
to quickly occur, not some two thousand years later as some still expect.
Some Christians are making the same mistake the Jews made in the time of
Jesus. The Jews expected a conquering king to come. Today it's the same
for some Christians. This was their own teaching based upon nothing substantial:.Matthew
22:29.
Not knowing the the momentous
events that occurred in circa
70 A.D. understanding or studying the historical events and just listening
to what others in their church believe, they too embrace an error today;
that of still expecting a conquering King from the heavens to land on Earth.
Some even believe in a non biblically substantiated rapture:.Matthew
15:9; Titus 1:14; Colossians
2:18;.1Timothy
4:1 ".....some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing
spirits and doctrines of devils."
The exceptional
works of these researchers should lay to rest any concern over the dating
of the Book of Revelation's writings:.Before
Jerusalem Fell, Dr. Kenneth Gentry;.Days
of Vengeance, David Chilton;.The
Avenging of the Apostles and Prophets, Arthur Ogden;.The
Book of Revelation, Foy Wallace.
The earlier date is more
probable. From.What
Happened In 70 A.D?.by
Edward E. Stevens:."The
book of Revelation describes the horrors that came upon the Jews during
their war with Rome (AD 66-70). The battle of Armageddon was fought A.D.
70 when the Infinite One used the Roman armies to stop the Jewish persecution
of Christians. This so destroyed
the established religious order of the day that established
legalistic religion was no longer a threat to the fledgling.Christian
communities springing up everywhere back then.
"The book of Revelation (as
well as all the other books of the New Testament) was written before the
destruction of Jerusalem, and the charismata (speaking in tongues, writing
by inspiration, etc.) seem to have ceased at AD 70. Everything that was
essential for us to know about the Kingdom had been fully revealed by that
time.
The immature state of the
church had given way to the complete state:.1Corinthians
13:8-13. The Kingdom (where is it?)
had been fully established under Christ’s control and Christ’s enemies.(who
had rejected Him and persecuted His followers).had
been destroyed..All.the
Old Testament prophecies about the Kingdom and Jesus’ return had been fulfilled:.Luke
21:22,31."
Josephus,
a Jewish historian, Tacitus,
a Roman historian, both first century eye witnesses, and Eusebius,
a 4th century Christian historian, all record the seriousness of these
times; these times which have been mostly glossed
over by many historians.
John wrote the Book of Revelation
to the seven churches in Asia:.Revelation
1:4,11.
John was influenced by the
resurrected Christ to record the things he saw in this vision he had
(Revelation 1:10; 22:8),
the things extant
at that time and the things.soon.coming:.Revelation
1:19; 22:6. He was to make
sure the seven churches in Asia way back then got this information:.Revelation
1:11; 22:16.
John bares record of God's
word and Christ's testimony
to him and the things he saw in this vision:.Revelation
1:2.
These churches in Asia were
prepared by John for a.soon.coming
tribulation. John wrote this to encourage them, to focus their minds on
just how great, how powerful, how ever present Christ is, and to note to
them that a reason for the coming tribulation upon them was to tune them
for a greater spiritual reward, and also to hearten
them that Christ is always there:.Revelation
1:17. The messages to those churches have lessons for each of us today:.Revelation
2:29.
John recorded that these
things were
imminent:.Revelation
1:3.
Some
today feel, in error, that these things are yet to occur.
The book of revelation talks
of great persecution soon to then occur:.Matthew
10:16-23; Matthew 24:9,10,21;
Acts
8:1-3; Galatians 1:13; Revelation
1:1,3; 22:6,10.
John focused on a major problem
in five of the seven churches he wrote to; that of being disloyal to Christ:.Revelation
1:20; Revelations
chapters 2 & 3. These can be representative of churches today.
Most contemporary scholars
hold to the view that the events described in Revelation were limited
to John's day. He describes the failures of these churches in Asia.
He emphasizes the conquest of evil obtained by Jesus Christ by His death
and resurrection. He talks of the end of all evil and of those who follow
the beast.
John comments in 278 of Revelation's
404 verses to Old Testament references, specifically those of the books
of Exodus, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel.
There are many 'sevens' in
this book – seven churches (Revelations
chapters 2 & 3), seven seals on a scroll (Revelation
chapters 6 & 7), seven angels (Revelation
chapters 8-11), seven trumpets and seven last things (Revelation
chapters 19-22), seven vials or bowls and seven plagues (Revelation
21:9), seven heads and 10 horns and seven crowns (Revelation
12:3), seven mountains (Revelation
17:9), a woman and a dragon (Revelation
chapter 12) two beasts (Revelation
13:1-18), Babylon the great whore or the satanically
influenced world system that's against man's purpose for being here (Revelation
14:8; 16:19; 17:5;
18th
chapter), a false prophet (Revelation
19:20;
20:10), a bottomless
pit (Revelation
chapter 9; 11:7; 17:8;
20:1,3),
etc. About all I can say is read it, knowing God is guiding your understanding,
and see what you get (1, 2,
3)
from it.
Four main visions John saw:
1) The
Son of Man amongst the seven churches:.Revelation
chapters 1-3.
2) The
scroll that was sealed seven times and the seven trumpets:.Revelation
4:1-19:10.
3) The
return of Christ and the concluding of this age:.Revelation
19:11-20:15.
4) The
new heaven and new earth:.Revelation
chapters 21 & 22.
The opening of the first
6 seals on the scroll (Revelation
6:1-17) describes events coming immediately before the beginning of
a new chapter of the reasons for man being
here, and of the end of human life as we have been accustomed to.