The Bible was not written to American Christians in the twenty-first century. The books of the New Testament, for example, were written to their original recipients during the first century A.D.
Each of the Gospels was written for a particular purpose. Every letter was written to a particular people. 1 Thessalonians was not written to me or you. It was written to the church of the Thessalonians that existed at that point in time. Romans was not written to me or you. It was written to the church at Rome during that time. 1 Peter was not written to you and me. It was written specifically to “the strangers (exiles) scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” during the first century.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ was not written to you and me. This is how it opens.
King James Version
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
John to the seven churches which are in Asia
New American Standard
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, everything that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written in it; for the time is near.
John to the seven churches that are in Asia
Amplified Bible
This is the revelation of Jesus Christ [His unveiling of the divine mysteries], which God [the Father] gave to Him to show to His bond-servants (believers) the things which must soon take place [in their entirety]; and He sent and communicated it by His angel (divine messenger) to His bond-servant John, who testified and gave supporting evidence to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to everything that he saw [in his visions]. Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and who keep the things which are written in it [heeding them and taking them to heart]; for the time [of fulfillment] is near.
John, to the seven churches that are in [the province of] Asia
The book of Revelation was written to seven churches in the province of Asia.
- It was not written to people reading the Bible in other centuries.
- It was written to them, the seven churches in the province of Asia.
- It had to make sense to them, the seven churches in the province of Asia.
- John wrote it in language they would understand in the seven churches in the province of Asia.
- He did not write it to us today.
As someone has said, when we are reading the Bible we are reading someone else’s mail, not today’s newspaper.
Audience relevance is everything in understanding the Bible. Even for those of us who try to take the original recipients into account while reading, we often still insert ourselves into the text. We’ve read certain verses or passages so many times. We will often “claim them” for ourselves because they hit us just right at a certain time. We’ve heard the same sermon explanations of certain verses so many times we could preach the sermon ourselves. But is it correct?
I challenge you today to read the book of Matthew with your entire focus being on audience relevance. Identify who Christ speaking to specifically in every passage. Don’t assume you have been reading it correctly. In fact, go into it assuming you have been reading parts of it incorrectly. What do you discover?
Are we often completely missing the point Jesus is making in our rush to “apply the Bible to our lives” right now?
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