Could Revelations be describing the fall of the Roman empire?

Question

Are there things in revelations that sound like past reasons for Romes fall.

It would be pretty crafty for sholars to slip this under the Romans noses when their were creating the bible, made it out to be end of time instead.

This would've been good propaganda for the Christians of the time.

Answer 1

Well, Revelation was written to the seven churches in Asia Minor, therefore, it was written to directly address their particular cultural and historical circumstances. Thus, the book is about the coming fall of Rome (or at least, the author's hope that Rome would fall). To assert that Revelation was written to us is to rip the book out of its original context, which does violence to the intended meaning and historical location of the text. It was great propoganda to the Christians of that time since they were dealing with a brutal system of government. It wasn't that they were being actively persecuted under Rome (although, they were under Nero), it was that the economic and social systems were oppressive to a vast majority of the population (this is attested in the text). As far as how it relates to people today, instead of trying to interpret the signs of the end of things (which has failed miserably in every age), the text asserts that oppressive powers will fail since, in the opinion on the author of Rev., God intends for there to be equity, peace, and security in the world. It is more a message of hope rather than a blueprint for the end of time. You may want to pick up Craig Koester's book, "Revelation and the End of all Things," it will give you more insight into the historical and cultural situation of 1st and 2nd century Christians who received this text.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

When book of Daniel was writtten and the book of Revelation God told the prophets that the books would remain sealed until the end of time. There was a proper time for the books to be opened and the secrets revealed. I am sure that the reasons for the fall of the roman empire will also be the reasons that we fall as a nation and people. God has a way of keeping things hidden even if it is written in plain text in front of you. The antichrist is supposed to come out of the roman empire. History has a way of repeating itself, and the end times are supposed to be like the time of babylon. There are books out there that simply the book of revelation and exlpore the different prophecies that are coming true. Saddam Hussein was rebuilding the city of babylon in Saudia Arabia. The middle east was where the bible took place and that is where most of the end time prophecies will end up happening for the end of times. If you look into it and research the book you will find alot of interesting stuff.

Answer 4

At the time the Book of Revelation was written, the Christian Church was being persecuted by the pagan Roman Empire. The book was written to give advice, hope and encouragement to those being persecuted.

The Book of Revelation uses a lot of symbolism and imagery to convey a message that the Christian Churches would understand, but the Roman Empire would not. The symbolism and imagery apply to the world in the first and second centuries, not the 21st century.

The Book was never intended to describe or predict teh end of the world as we know it. It was included in the Bible because all peoples will experience persecution and all peoples need hope and encouragement.

Answer 5

Actually it does describe the fall of the Roman empire, but keep in mind history repeats itself. The Romans were arrogant inconsiderate people who sought nothing more than power and money. HMMMMMM, kind of like The United States Government. We are the Romans, always sticking our noses where it does not belong, bullying other countries around and all for the almighty dollar and the power that comes with it. So, revelations is describing the end of times. Christ will return to earth once, and that did not happen in roman times, but it does state throughout revelations that He will come. So, decide for your self.

Answer 6

You hit the nail right on the head.
In fact, this is pretty much the preterist view of the book too (the view that all the prophecy of the bible was fulfilled by 70 A.D. with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem). There are serious Christian apologists that believe in the inerrancy of the bible... but can only make it work if they deny long-term prophecy.

Much of the new testament was a propaganda tool. I'd go as far as to say all of it after the Gospels.. and maybe even the gospel of John.

Answer 7

Revelation (not Revelations) was written about the Roman Empire, but it was written about how mean Nero was, not about its collapse (which wouldn't happen for another half millennium or so).

The literary genre used, called Apocalypticism, was common at the time. It obscured the actual meaning of the text so as to keep people from losing their heads for it. You can see another example of apocalyptic biblical literature in Daniel, which was pretty much the same thing, only about the Greeks instead of the Romans. Daniel was written to oppose the Hellenistic people (specifically, Antiochus IV) who put a shrine to Zeus up in the Jewish temple.

Answer 8

It speaks of a beast like in Daniel's vision of four world empires, which would be Rome.

It speaks of a woman on seven mountains (Revelation 17:19), which describes Rome.

It was written during a time of Roman persecution, when circulating a letter saying "Rome will fall; remain faithful" would be treason, but a description of strange beasts, vials, bowls, and trumpets would be able to pass unscathed.

It never says it describes "the end of time," but "things that would shortly come to pass" (Revelation 1:1).

Answer 9

I think it did, but prophecy is strange. It can describe things in the near future and at the same time talk about events further down the line.

For instance, many OT prophets talked about the fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity and return, and we believe that they were talking about the end times as well.

Jesus talked about the end times in the same breath as He talked about the destruction of the city by the Romans shortly after His death.

In any case, we've read the back of the book, and we win.

Answer 10

I'm not sure about Revelations, but the book of Revelation in the Bible is end time prophecy. Some of the prophecies have passed, some are in the process of coming to pass today, and some are still yet to come.
The whole conspiracy theory would make a nice fiction book, but is completely unsubstantiated, and imo, just silly, :)