Within the confines of the ancient Roman Empire, Christianity began in an era of relative peace. The emperors of the time generally followed a policy of religious toleration. This enabled early Christians to evangelize far and wide, both throughout and beyond the empire, as the journeys of the Apostle Paul show.
But the situation gradually changed when the cult of emperor worship grew to be more widespread throughout the empire and became compulsory. The enforcement of emperor worship was a gradual process, developing into a systematic and mandatory display of loyalty around the end of the first century AD under Emperor Domitian. Refusal to participate was considered treasonous and could lead to persecution.
Christians found themselves in an intolerable situation. Incredible pressures were brought to bear on them to participate in the holidays, games and ceremonies honoring the reigning emperor as a god.They understood Scripture prohibited the worship of anything or anyone besides the true God and His Son, Jesus Christ, and their refusal to participate in emperor worship put them into direct conflict with the authorities at all levels of the Roman hierarchy.
Christians everywhere, especially in Asia Minor, encountered wide-ranging ridicule and persecution. By the time Revelation was written, some Christians had already been executed and tortured because of their beliefs. Adding to their plight, Roman officials, after Jerusalem’s destruction in A.D. 70, ceased to view Christians as just another sect of the Jews. They were now often regarded as a subversive and potentially dangerous religious group. Rome saw their teachings of a coming kingdom and a powerful new king as a threat to the stability of the empire, and Emperor Nero had already falsely branded Christians as the perpetrators of the great fire in Rome. The religious tolerance Rome had originally extended to Christians disappeared and their future looked grim.
The Apostle John, imprisoned on the island of Patmos near the coast of Asia Minor during a later wave of persecution near the end of the first century, explained that he was also suffering persecution and was their “companion in the tribulation” (Revelation 1:9). Although he fully understood the stress they endured, he reminded them the Kingdom of God was their goal, and that patience and faith must be exercised to endure opposition and persecution, while they looked to the return of Jesus the Messiah for permanent deliverance and for God to grant them salvation.
This is the context in which Jesus revealed to the Apostle John when and how this satanic persecution, already responsible for the murder of loyal and faithful servants, would be permanently stopped. The book of Revelation sums up the impact the devil has, not just on Christians but on all mankind, from the time of John until the return of Christ. It reveals that the ancient conflict between the forces of good and evil will be resolved.
