Patmos was at times colonized by the Doriens and thereafter followed the Ionians. It is said that the mythology hero Oreste pursued by the Erinnyes (the Furies), because he killed his mother Clytemnestra, took shelter in Patmos, coming with the Argiens.

The walls of the 6th and 4th centuries BC, of the ancient Acropole situated over the hill Castelli, are evidences of the location of the ancient town. From the well preserved relics, it is supposed that around the Acropolis ground existed the Apollon Temple, the Bacchus Temple and the Hippodrome. Old cemeteries, pottery fragments, carved works in bas-reliefs, inscriptions, sepulchral stones and other sculptures of the Christian orthodox churches, are all evidences of the flourishing and prosperous stand of ancient Patmos.

In ancient ages, the goddess Diane was particularly adored in Patmos. She was considered as the Patroness of the island. Under the domination of the Romans, the island fell into decline. It was abandoned and was subsequently used as a place of exile.

Domitian was born in Rome on 24 October A.D. 51, the youngest son of Vespasian, Roman emperor (A.D. 69-79) and Domitilla I, a treasury clerk's daughter. Despite a tradition that associated Domitian with Flavian proverty, the family's status remained high throughout his early years.

Vespasian was appointed to the prestigious proconsulship of North Africa in A.D. 59, and seven years later was granted a special command in the East by the emperor Nero (A.D. 54-69) to settle a revolt in Judaea. Titus, Domitian's older brother by at least ten years and Vespasian's eventual successor as emperor, had married well in the 60's and was chosen as a legionary legate under Vespasian in the East.

Before Domitian became emperor, his brother and father were worried that his sense of ambition was too dangerous. Domitian used his power to instigate a reign of terror. All of Rome and particularly the senate was not pleased at all with him, since Domitian required to be called Dominus et Deus "Lord and God," and had many Romans executed.

There are only two reasons he was popular with the army: he was a successful general, and he also launched a very prosperous campaign to reform morality, basically a family values campaign. This made a very large impact on Rome. Domitian was not educated to become an emperor but went through sound training in Rome.

In late AD 70 Domitian married Domitia Longina, daughter of the great general, Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, whom Nero had forced to commit suicide. This marriage was troubled; their only child died young. Domitian exiled her in AD 83. Later, she was recalled to the palace where she lived until Domitian's death. Compared to Vespasian and Titus, whose military abilities were genuine, those of Domitian were not.

As emperor, Domitian became one of Rome's micromanagers with the economy. Shortly after taking office he raised the silver content by 12%, only to minimize it in AD 85, when the income wasn't good enough to meet the military and public expenses. Late in AD 85 he made himself censor perpetuus, censor for life, with general supervision of conduct and morals.

Domitian may have been one of the most unpopular emperors but he had the ability to form a greater government, so he did. Domitian, with great power manipulated the senate. He ordered from the senate the respect which he thought he deserved. Later on Domitian used his power to execute specific senate members.

Domitian was repeatedly re-elected the consul, the civilian head of government. He also kept the allegiance of his troops. Many princeps were fond of Domitian, they thought of him as divine. In 89 AD, when Saturninus, the Roman commander on the Rhine, appointed himself princeps and started a rebellion. Domitian ended the rebellion in a bloodbath of executions.

He trusted no one and was very superstitious. He even had mirrors in every room so that he would know who was behind him at all times. In 18 September 96 AD he was a victim of the kind of conspiracy that he had always feared. A freedman was hired by the senate to kill him. The senate declared him "damnatio memoriae" damned in memory. The senate had everything of Domitian banished, from his bed to all records of him ever existing, including all the names he had placed on buildings.

Somewhere between 81 A.D. and 96 AD, the Apostle John was banished in Patmos by the emperor Domitian for preaching the Gospel at Ephesus. The Gospel declares that Jesus is Lord and God, but Domitian required to be called Dominus et Deus "Lord and God." Something had to give!! To shut him up, Domitian had John thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil before the Porta Latina at Rome but John suffered no injury! The only way that Domitian could get rid of him was the same way he got rid of his wife - exile.

It was here on this island that Apostole John wrote Revelation (Apokalypsis.) John, during his exile in Patmos lodged into a grotto of which today's name is "Apokalypsis". At the Emperor Domitian's death in 97 AD John returned to Ephesus where he lived to a ripe old age.

Revelation 1:9 - I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle John was exiled to Patmos because of his stand for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. That is the character of apostolic ministry. At its center is the unrelenting, authoritative heralding of God's word. It is the type of preaching and teaching which, cuts to the core of one's inner being; it exposes all that an individual is in character, substance and nature. No wonder Emperor Domitian hated John and had him exiled!

Hebrews 4:12-13 - For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

God knew Domitian and knew how to control him to Divine ends.

Strong, weighty, and challenging testimonies that clearly exalt and glorify Christ (Acts 3:12-19, 4:10-12, Acts 5:12-16,1 Thessalonians 1:5), also accompany apostolic preaching, as evidenced by such verses as Acts 4:33. - And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

Additionally, among other things, the apostolic anointing confronts man with the reality of his insurrection against Almighty God, and the subsequent need for repentance (Acts 2:22-38). The apostolic message also highlights Christ's sovereign Lordship, bringing it into sharp focus for man and Hell! (Acts 10:36, Philippians 2:10, Revelation 17:14). Consequently, the apostolic ministry evokes fierce, demonically backed opposition.

Patmos therefore is a type of satanic trump card. It is played by the kingdom of darkness in an attempt to silence an apostle's bold, Holy Spirit anointed preaching of the word of God (Acts 4:13, 29, Acts 9:27, Revelation 1:9). In like fashion, Patmos is an assault against unashamed, aggressive, and effective testimonies for the Lord Jesus that are frequently generated by apostolic ministry (Acts 4:30-31, Revelation 1:9, Revelation 12:11).

Satan's Patmos Agenda:

Obviously, if isolated from the public domain and segregated from the rest of the body of Christ, apostolic preaching and testimonies can have little, if any impact. That may provide some insight into the frequent jailing of the apostles (Acts 5:17-18) and why four of the Apostle Paul's epistles were penned while he was in jail (those books are Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians).

The Patmos-tactic employed by Satan is also intended to demoralize an apostle, thereby breaking the power of the apostolic thrust. In the simplest of terms, Patmos is one element in the satanic strategy to stack the deck against the advancement and related influence of apostolic ministry.

However, at Patmos, God releases an even greater measure of the revelation of Jesus to the apostolic ministry (Revelation 1:1). Through this instrument the expanded revelation of Christ, born out of John's exile to Patmos, is subsequently imparted to the body of Christ at large (Revelation 1:4). Consequently, Hell's desired outcome at Patmos was neutralized and made of no effect!

Better yet, as most of Satan's devices do, Patmos will backfire on him (1 Corinthians 2:8). The Patmos-initiative to silence the apostolic ministry will be stopped when greater revelation of Christ is received and communicated to an even wider segment of the church. The result is that God's people are encouraged, strengthened, and empowered.

The axiom, what Satan has meant for harm, God has meant for good, is validated at Patmos in a number of other ways as well (Romans 8:28). For instance, at Patmos, Satan hope was that he had successfully cut the apostolic ministry off, not only from friends and human fellowship, but also from all hope and most significantly, from God Himself! Such a demonic technique is not new or unusual. Later, in subsequent Lecture Notes watch how Satan successfully twisted and tried to shut off the message of Revelation for more than a 1000 years during the Dark Ages.

Through the protracted pressure of bleak and trying circumstances, hell strongly suggests that God has abandoned mankind in general and the people of God in particular. The aim of this hellish ruse is to shatter any inkling of morale and hope in God. Consider these three examples from the word of God.

1. Exodus 1:8-14 - Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph... Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities…And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

 

The implication from Exodus 1:8-14 is that the kingdom of darkness, represented by Egypt, sensed and feared that God's people might succeed in finding the inner-fortitude to pursue and acquire self-determination, freedom. In order to stifle any such ambitions, the Devil retaliated by turning up the heat of oppression. At last, in desperate response to their maltreatment, the people of God, groaned because of their bondage, and they cried out to God. (Exodus 2:23)

 

We know the outcome of the above illustration. Hell miscalculated its position. God raised up Moses, and through outpourings of God's supernatural power, Pharaoh, who is a type of Satan, had his spiritual back broken. The people of God were delivered. God demonstrated that He had not forgotten the seed of Abraham!

 

2. Isaiah prophesied of people that walked in darkness… and those … that dwell in the land of the shadow of death (Isaiah 9:2). The people Isaiah to whom the prophet was referring were not physically inactive or incapacitated. In the natural realm they drank, ate, labored, married, and had families. Some were even religiously active. However, Satan held them spiritually captive, they were estranged from God and therefore, spiritually dead. That is the condition Isaiah foresaw and was addressing. The New Testament's documented fulfillment to Isaiah's prophetic vision is found in Matthew 4:16 - 17.

 

Matthew 4:16-17 - The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to preach - the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.

 

Furthermore, once Jesus arrived on the scene He set the captives free. Luke 4:18 - And Jesus went…teaching in their synagogues, and preaching…and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. Matthew 4:23-25 - And…they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people.

 

Isaiah's prophetic declaration (Isaiah 9:2) and Christ's fulfillment (Matthew 4:23-25) is one demonstration of Ephesians 4:8, which says that Jesus, led captivity captive, glory to God! Nevertheless, emphasis is on the fact that hopeless looking situations do not convict God of being a deserter!

 

3. There is Ezekiel 37:1-8. What a depressing sight to behold; the Prophet Ezekiel is shown a valley filled to the brim with deteriorated human remains; the scripture, Ezekiel 3:2 - behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

Concerning Ezekiel 37:11, we could say that things did not look good for the home team! Yet, in such a sorrowful time in their history, God shows Israel what we have learned in 2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish.

Ezekiel 37:4-6,11 - God commanded Ezekiel, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

Once again, God turned things around!

Patmos is no different from the preceding examples. At Patmos, satanically concocted circumstances demanded the right to steer the apostle's ministry away from its God-ordained direction and function. However, in the midst of all satanically orchestrated distractions, Revelation 1:10 - "a great voice, as of a trumpet" penetrates the deceptiveness of Patmos-induced circumstances. The awesome voice heard at Patmos belongs to the Savior. It is Jesus and He is,"Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last." (Revelation 1:11).

At Patmos, Jesus speaks. With thunderous authority Jesus trumpets that He is Lord, that He lives, rules, and reigns, and has the last word on all things! At Patmos, the apostolic ministry and thereby the church is reinvigorated, inspired and driven by a God-given, fresh and greater revelation of the Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. We are confident that that is one boomerang that Satan can't handle!

No wonder Satan hates the book Revelation!