WHY WAS THE WRITING OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION DELAYED?
 

God, it seems, held back from giving the last living Apostle John the information now contained in the book of Revelation (The Apocalypse) until after all the other Apostles were dead and thousands of anointed Sons of God had died.  Why?  Apart from John's writings, all other books and letters making up the New testament were completed by 65AD.  The spirit apparently held back John from writing anything until 96AD.   Why?

The information contained in this book if Revelation are about events recorded for a future time and for future servants of Yhwh.  "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place;  he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John" Rev 1:1 (RSV).   It contains a unique schedule of unfolding future events, with internal clues required to locate these future events in the stream of time. In short, it is a book of prophecy.

This revealed information was unavailable to the anointed disciples and apostles living during the first-century.  They had all mostly been killed off or died before Jesus sent the informing angel to John.  Deliberately held back by Jesus Christ under God's direction for a very good reason.  It avoided any confusion with the events undergoing their primary application during the first-century 'generation'.  The Revelation is carefully designed to provide key pieces of information, unlocking a set of  future time templates.

The title 'Revelation' or 'Apocalypse' means an uncovering, disclosure or revealing.  It was designed to do just that, containing time keys to unlock the re-running of time patterns laid down during the first-century.  Examination reveals it presents intricate and detailed time templates, ensuring their application can only correctly fit together during one specific future period.  This implies that at a future time, there will be other servants of Yhwh who, like the apostles, would receive spirit power in order to understand and explain its true application.

Jesus, with his brilliant mind, paling into insignificance the genius highest minds of today, was very aware of the intricacies of these future composite templates, having been directly involved in their construction and timing.  Some 63 years before Jesus passed the Revelation information to his apostle John, he was laying down events in connection with its timetable.  John had been singled out for the privilege of recording this special information in codex (book) form at a pre-arranged time.  When John was in his thirties, he was informed by Jesus that he would be party to an important future meeting with him, when he was an old man, after all the apostles had died.

"Most truly I say to you (John), When you are young, you dress yourself and walk about where you wanted.  But when you grow old you will stretch out your hands and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want.  This he said to signify by what sort of death he (John) would glorify God,” John 21:18-19.  A death when he was in his old age, unlike the other Apostles.

"Peter saw the disciple following whom Jesus used to love (John), the one who at the evening meal had leaned back upon his chest and said: “Lord, who is the one betraying you?   Accordingly, when he caught sight of him, Peter said to Jesus: “Lord, what will this man do?” Jesus said to him: “If it is my will for him to remain until I come, of what concern is that to you?  You continue following me.”  In consequence, this saying went out among the brothers, that that disciple would not die.  However, Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but: “If it is my will for him to remain until I come, of what concern is that to you?” John 21:20-23.

In the year 33, Jesus informed John that he would remain alive into old age, when he would make a special visit with him for a very specific purpose.

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AN APPOINTMENT 63 YEARS IN THE FUTURE
 

The appointment was kept as promised in the year 96 AD, when John was in his late 90s, living on the Island of Patmos.  This was 63 years after the meeting had originally been scheduled and 26 years after the destruction of Jerusalem.  When Jesus attended this meeting, he used an angel to present to John vivid visions as signs relating to future events.  By this time, all the other anointed apostles and disciples were sleeping in death.  John was probably the last remaining anointed apostle alive, now very old and close to death.  The first century generation period of activities of the Kingdom anointed ones'  had come to its end, "it is the last hour; and as you have heard the Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour" 1 John 2:18 (NKJV).

In the Jewish law, priests were required to be 30 years old before they took up their sacrificial priestly duties as in fact, Jesus was. It is probable that a basic prerequisite to Apostleship and receiving the anointing spirit was a minimum age of 30 years.  It required mature adults who were able to undertake the terms of the Kingdom contract and the responsibilities of carrying them out, which involved presenting their own lives as sacrifices alongside Jesus' sacrifice.  These ones served God throughout the last Jewish generation period and were killed off until none but John was left alive (Romans 12:1, 1 Pet 2:5,9, Revelation 1:6, 6:9, & 12:11). 

The activities of the apostles in fulfilling prophecy during their first century needed to be deliberately separated from the prophetic information contained in the Revelation.  It separated the fulfilment of Jesus' prophecies relating to the first century generation, from the prophecies he recorded for application in a later one. Many prophecies recorded in the gospels were fulfilled in the first century, but there were definitely some that were not.  It was not until when this first century generation ended, that those prophecies unfulfilled could be identified, and so relevant to the later Revelation generation.  Details of which were deliberately held back, preventing confusion with the activities of the apostles in the first century.  It is now almost 2,000 years since this first century generation ended.  The time has come to find out what the signs in Revelation tells us about "things about to take place", without confusing them with the first century events.
 

These Revelation prophecies reveal there will be a second recruitment of anointed ones, who will also become adopted Sons of God.  It is for these ones that the Revelation information is primarily recorded.  They, under the power of the Spirit, will clearly understand the prophetic information in this book and will be able to make it known.  When does this second gathering of Sons start?

For further information see: 

REVEALING THE SONS OF GOD

KINGDOM OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHRISTIANS OF ALL DENOMINATIONS