Although to modern tastes Revelation, with its exotic images, may seem bizarre, it was in fact following a common pattern within Jewish literature of its time, and owes everything to the Old Testament where numerous examples of such writings have survived. These include the Book of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible and 2 Esdras in the Apocrypha. Scholars call these works "apocalyptic literature" after the Greek word apocalypsis which means "revelation."

John introduced his book as "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John." It is addressed to the seven founder churches of Christianity. The Book of Revelation is structured around the number seven, a number that in the ancient world usually symbolised completeness and perfection. The words that begin John's strange journey come to him from a "voice like a trumpet" that says, "Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches" (1:10-11). The seven churches he targeted formed the early Christian community of western Asia Minor, and are symbolised by seven lampstands. The churches have seven angels symbolised by seven stars, and each is sent a highly stylised letter. These are addressed not from John to the church but from Christ- with his face "like the sun shining in full strength"-to the angel of the particular church. The letters are specific and direct in dealing with problems in the churches, and they suggest that all is not well.

Christ praised some of the congregations for faithfulness and endurance under persecution, but others were beset by idolatry and heresy. He rebuked the congregation at Ephesus because it had "abandoned the love" they had at first (2:4). He harshly told the church at Sardis, "you have the name of being alive, and you are dead" (3:1). And the church at Laodicea was so "lukewarm," he said, "I will spew you out of my mouth" (3:16). These were clearly churches that needed a vision to lift their eyes above their struggle. The message was for all: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (3:22).

Apocalyptic literature often described the way in which the present evil age of human history would be overthrown by God, who would then create a new, perfect age from which evil would be banished. The visions in this literature were ascribed to many of the ancient figures of the Bible: Adam, Abraham, Moses, Ezekiel, Daniel, Ezra, and others, though almost all were written from about 200 B.C. to A.D. 200. These great men of earlier centuries were typically said to have received a revelation that either took them on a visionary journey or symbolically laid out the course of human history until its end.

To Christians of John's time, Revelation must have been startling but recognisable. Though John never expressly quotes the Scriptures, Revelation is full of biblical images and language. He depended on his readers' knowledge of the Scriptures to catch these resonances. For example, John's readers would hear echoes of Ezekiel's vision of God's throne, in which Ezekiel also saw four creatures, each with those four faces (Ezekiel 1:5-10). The Beasts of Coventry are therefore a direct visual route, deep into the heart of Old Testament beliefs. To boost the flagging spirits of his small community of beleaguered churches., John focused their minds on the belief that eventually, when Jesus returned, Christians would take-over Jerusalem.