NEAR the close of the first century of the Christian era, or, about sixty years after the great Teacher had passed from the view of men, the beloved disciple of Jesus was exiled to the island of Patmos in the Ægean sea, by Domitian, the Roman Emperor; and it was during this exile that John was vouchsafed the wonderful vision of the Apocalypse. The loving disciple who had leaned on the breast of his great Master had come close to the real inspiration of Truth under his intimate tutelage. He had visited Rome and other cities, had suffered much persecution and hardship for the sake of Christianity, and was finally brought to confinement on a point of the earth's surface so narrowly circumscribed that it could be said that materiality had indeed very largely faded from his consciousness. And yet the varied experiences of the Revelator and his temporary place of asylum all combined to render his consciousness fully prepared for the great work of receiving and transcribing the facts recorded in his book of Revelation.
Patmos was a rocky and barren island in the Ægean archipelago, lying between Greece and Asia Minor. It was only about fifteen miles in circumference, and because of its very desolate aspect was considered to lie well adapted to the purpose of a prison to which political and other offenders against Rome could be banished. John's exile to this place seemed to be a very harsh expedient; but really it became for him a retreat of quietude and safety. That which sometimes seems to our blindfolded eyes to be injustice, may, by reversal of the material sense, be seen to be a means of progress which is related to issues of great importance and benefit to many people.
Thus the gentle disciple-prophet was in the right place to fulfil that duty which became his inheritance for the good of the human race. There was little in nature or in art to charm the senses and beguile the seer from the tasks connected with his transcendental vision, and his spiritual perception reached far above matter or material sense. The human senses of this prophet of reality were confined to such meager limitations that his enlightened consciousness of Truth could look into the ever-present heavens and perceive their spiritual glories.
