The Revelation: Chapter Listing
Commentary © By John of AllFaith*Note: Most people don't understand the historical and prophetic biblical timeline and why the Book of Revelation is as relevant for Jews as it is for Christians and everyone else. In this study, I hope to demonstrate why this book is relevant and vital to understand.
When the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, it threw Judaism into a tailspin. Without the Jerusalem Temple and its biblically mandated sacrifices, Judaism had to be fundamentally reformed if it was to survive. The Pharisees, established by Ezra and the Men of the Great Assembly during the Babylonian captivity, became known as the Rabbis (circa 50 BCE-70 CE). They established "Rabbinic Judaism" following the Temple's destruction in 70 CE. This process of transforming "Biblical Judaism" into "Rabbinic Judaism" was completed in the 500's CE. with the completion of the Babylonian Talmud.
The process of completing the Hebrew religious canon, called Gemara or "Completion," occurred in the then two major centers of Jewish scholarship: Galilee and Babylonia. These two Rabbinic bodies examined the Written Torah of Moshe, the Tanach (or remainder of the "Old Testament"), the scraps of surviving Rabbinic notes (megillot setarim, and the insights of the various authors to produce what became the official Jewish Canon. Hence, the Jerusalem Talmud or the Talmud Yerushalmi - compiled in 4th century CE Galilee - and the Babylonian Talmud (Talmud Bavli), completed around 500 CE, with further edits later became the central texts of Rabbinic Judaism. The word "Talmud," when used without qualification, usually refers to the Babylonian Talmud.
The Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots, and most other Jewish sects ceased to exist with the destruction of the Second Temple and the fall of Masada, and the Rabbis became the accepted leaders and heirs of the Covenant. However, not all Jews accepted the Rabbinic reforms, including the Talmud.
Many of these Jewish Rabbinic opposers united into a new first-century Jewish sect, whose followers held that a Jewish rabbi named Yeshua ben Miriam (later Anglicized as Jesus, son of Mary) had been sent by HaShem to transform Biblical Judaism in ways different than the Pharisees.
According to the Gospels, Yeshua was also a rabbi (a Pharisee) but opposed what he saw as the "teachings of men" (i.e., the Oral Rabbinic Torah) replacing the teachings of God (i.e., the Written Torah of Moshe). Yeshua's disciples created what they called HaDerech (The Way) or Derech Yeshua. This Jewish sect offered an alternative to the then-rising Rabbinate. The Way sect rejected the Rabbi's assumed power over Jewish lives and beliefs, demanding that as the Father of us all, Jews require no Rabbinic middlemen. This Written Torah-based doctrine and the reforms offered to maintain essential biblical Judaism attracted many followers among the Jews and Gentiles of the day.
From its conception by Yeshua, Paul, James, Peter, and the other apostles, the Way battled assimilation from within and without and ultimately fell before what Yochanan, John the Revelator, called the Nicolaitan heresy. While Rabbinic Judaism continued to develop as a unique Hebrew system, the Way sect gradually transformed into a different religious and social system.
The Roman authorities absorbed the Way sect circa 320 CE, and it became a separate religion from Rabbinic Judaism, known as "Catholicism" or Universalism and Christianity. Yochanan warned of this rising threat in the late first century in the second and third chapters of his Revelation.
During the first and second centuries CE, "Judaism" was in transition as various sects and teachers sought to determine its future. These competing sects struggled for control. In the end, "Judaism" became "Rabbinic Judaism" and condemned or replaced all of its competitors, including the Way sect, the Samarians, the Essene Brotherhood, the Sadducees, etc. Yochanan wrote as a non-Rabbinic Jewish reformer, the last surviving Apostle of Yeshua, not as a "Christian." There was no conception of Christianity during his lifetime. Way sect Jews considered themselves Jewish followers of a controversial but anointed Jewish Rabbi. Judaism was the only religion Yochanan knew and practiced. As far as he was concerned, his books were solidly based on the biblical (Tanach) prophets and concepts of the Written Torah when properly understood. Much of the Rabbinic opposition to the Way sect reforms was based more on politics than content.
This is a study of a vital prophecy by one of the First Century CE Jewish Way followers. Examining these writings does not endorse another religion, as some charge. When Yochanan wrote this book, he considered himself a loyal Jew promoting a needed reform for the well-being of our people. We will look at these writings from their Jewish perspective as best we can. Examining these writings is not an endorsement of a different religion but an acknowledgment of what is evident to anyone who cares to look: The Revelation is proving to be accurate and harmonious with the prophecies of Daniel and other Hebrew prophets, and what it describes is fast becoming our shared reality. Like certain other books we don't accept as canonical, Enoch, Jasher, Ben Sira, Jubilees, Macabees, etc., this book reveals many essential insights, which is why the established Roman Church tried to prevent its inclusion in their canon.
We at Beit Emunah are independent Rabbinic Jews who seek to understand our history and Scripture more thoroughly and to encourage others to seek the God of the Written Torah. We believe the Oral Torah and the Rabbinic structure are valid but should never be used to supersede the Written Torah. The Revelation of Yochanan is a Jewish book. Many of our sincere Christian friends study to understand the origins of their religion as we do and will also find this study helpful because we arise from the same root.
Sadly, many of our Jewish brothers and sisters prefer ignorance to knowledge and have opposed my teaching this topic for reasons I don't understand. The Jewish prophecies are coming to pass right before our eyes, and those who believe "ignorance is bliss" are already reaping the result of their intellectual errors. We seek to be ready to serve HaShem and refuse to blind ourselves with superstition, politics, and baseless fear.
There have been numerous well-intentioned attempts to rediscover "Biblical religion." The best-known of these within Judaism is Kairism (Yahadut Qara'it). This Jewish non-Rabbinic sect, probably founded by Anan ben David, who lived c. 715 – 795 (or 811), has not succeeded despite some notable successes in previous centuries. Today, there are roughly 35,000–50,000 Kairaites worldwide, depending on how one identifies them, with an estimated 1,500 in the United States and some unaffiliated self-proclaimed internet-based Kairaite groups.
Within Christianity, several groups have risen in the past hundred years with titles like J's Witnesses, "Messianic Judaism," "Hebrew Roots," Root and Branch Jews," and so on, seeking to rediscover the original Way sect. Most of these groups maintain substantial elements of Constantine's Nicean and other Catholic creeds and hence fail to restore the Way sect as observed by Yeshua and his followers.
Until the coming of Mashiach ben David and the building of the Third Beit HaMikdash (Jerusalem Temple), biblical Judaism can not be restored because biblical Judaism is primarily a sacrificial system requiring the Temple and its trained priesthood. May HaShem be merciful and guide all who seek Him according to His Will. Until then, we are only gazing into a dark mirror.
An Overview of History from a Prophetic Perspective:
From the Nephilim to Magog: The Historic Sweep of Globalism
Overview of the Image of the Beast:
The Image of the Beast and the Four World Empires
The Revelation:
Chapter 1:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2:Chapter 2
Chapter 3:Chapter 3
Chapter 4:
Chapter 4
Chapter 5:Chapter 5
Chapter 6:Chapter 6
Chapter 7:
Chapter 7
Chapter 8:
Chapter 8
Chapter 9:
Chapter 9
Chapter 10:
Chapter 10
Chapter 11:
Chapter 11
Chapter 12:
Chapter 12
Chapter 13:
Chapter 13
Chapter 14:
Chapter 14
Chapter 15:
Chapter 15
Chapter 16:
Chapter 16
Chapter 17:
Chapter 17
Chapter 18:
Chapter 18
Chapter 19:
Chapter 19
Chapter 20:
Chapter 20
Chapter 21:
Chapter 21
Chapter 22:
Chapter 22
If you have any questions or thoughts on these or other topics feel free to drop me a line.
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* This series is by John of AllFaith, © June 1, 1999 (last updated March 4,2024)
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