The scene of the heavenly reign of Christ’s saints is important, given the historical situation in which Revelation was written. At the time when John wrote this epistle, Christians were under horrible persecution at the hands of the pagan Roman Empire.[60] John was writing largely to give them hope in the midst of their trials at a time when martyrdom was all too common. By the time Revelation was written, Stephen, James, Paul, and Peter had already died martyrs’ deaths. The seven letters to the churches in Revelation 2–3 describe a situation in which false doctrine and persecution were
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