Historical background
A crucial question for understanding Revelation is: why was this book written, and what challenges were its first readers facing? We’ll take a quick look at both.
The first challenge was what’s known as the “Pax Romana,” or Roman Peace — a source of pressure to compromise one’s faith, backed by a vast propaganda machine. The emperor in Rome claimed to be the mediator of the gods’ blessings, and therefore worthy of worship in his own right. Christians could ignore that claim and go along with it, or they could challenge it by insisting that Jesus alone is worthy of worship.
The second challenge was the church’s relationship to Israel. On one hand, the church is itself part of Israel; on the other, the Jews were one of the biggest sources of opposition the church faced.