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Why is Revelation’s first-century historical context important to understanding the book? How has your understanding of Revelation changed after learning more about its historical context?
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I have learned and understand so far that Revelation is a proclaiming type prophecy plus an apocalype. It communicates in symbols and metaphors. John used symbols and images to refer to real things, places, people and events. The people of the first-century could understand exactly what he saw because he described his visions using symbols. Therefore, I now understand the historical context of Revelation–it describes things symbolically.
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We need to read Revelation with the same viewpoint or understanding as its first century readers would have. We can only do this by understanding how they looked at prophets and prophecy. By understanding the difference between foretelling prophecy and forthtelling prophecy we can better understand the different parts of Revelation and how each part interacts with each other. By understanding that it is also a letter helps us understand that John was writing in a kind of personal way also. By understanding that it is also an apocalypse book we can see how it is unveiling or uncovering what John saw and experienced in his vision.
I now see that there are different parts of Revelation that can be looked at in different ways yet they intertwine to give us a full sense of what John has seen. It was interesting to learn that there are two kinds of prophecy and how each one is used. -
Because our understanding is informed in part by having some knowledge of what living was like in those times for John and the people to whom he was writing . Only by that can we know what the ruling authority was , the cultural practices, and the challenges faced by Christians in an environment of idolatry and paganism.
My understanding of the Revelation has already become better informed through this short course. -
Through using symbols and what would seem strange images, John was able to have the people of the first century see the Rome in a much different light.
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The historical context helps you understand when the book was written, the background, and the culture.