The Isle That Is Called Patmos:

Why John Was Exiled

Copyright 2009

Steven M. McCalip

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Website: kingjamesman.com

Have you ever wondered why John was banished to the island of Patmos to spend his remaining days? It is on this island that he received the greatest revelation that any man had ever received, so great that it was in fact called “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” John’s entire book of Revelation all came to him on this island, and in the opening chapter, we learn from John that for the first time directly, Jesus Christ is called “the Almighty (Rev. 1:8). That is the revelation of Jesus in a nutshell. That does away with any who might think Jesus was not fully God, or he was one of three “Almighties”, or he was a half God, half man. He is The Almighty God with a capital “T.” To say that he is Almighty and not the Father is a contradiction. There are not three who are called Almighty,  or each could not be called Almighty. You cannot share “almightiness.” End of story.

It is fitting that it was John whom God entrusted his final revelation to. John’s gospel and epistles have some of the greatest proofs of Jesus being God, including John 1:1 “the Word was God,” John 14:7-9 “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father,” and 1 John 3:16 “Hereby perceive we the love of God; because he laid down his life for us.” Most anyone that wants to prove Jesus is God will inevitably turn to John’s books in the Bible. John was in awe of Jesus as God himself in human flesh. He was also called the disciple that Jesus loved. That is no coincidence. Jesus knew who glorified him above all else, and John was one of the main ones.

John gives us two reasons why he was banished to the isle of Patmos: “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” (Revelation 1:9). This is the signature verse of my website, appearing as the header on the top of my first page. They are the two things I will defend to my death: the word of God, and the testimony and identity of Jesus Christ.

Defending the word of God these days will get you banished in most Christian circles. Most people would rather defend their invisible bible, their so-called original manuscripts, and their Roman Catholic bibles. Most “Christians” defend a book that can’t be produced, a book of “originals” that disappeared off the face of the earth 2000 years ago. They say they believe in the Bible, but ask them the all important “which bible?,” and then listen to the litany of excuses fly. The bottom line is that these people are defending nothing. They can’t point you to any book on earth that are God’s words without error. Their faith is in a book that doesn’t exist, but in their belief existed thousands of years ago.

John wasn’t banished to the isle of Patmos for believing in “original manuscripts” only. And don’t start with your silly accusation that John didn’t have the King James. He most certainly did, for he had the equivalent of every word of the King James in Hebrew and Greek. He had the King James in Greek and Hebrew, so to speak! They are both the inerrant word of God and equal to each other, so don’t play games with me.

People can go on believing their Roman Catholic Greek texts (Westcott and Hort, Aland, etc.), and I’ll go on believing what came from Antioch, Syria, the majority text used by true believers. The false texts came from Alexandria, Egypt and included the Apocrypha. These texts are the cracked foundation of every major bible except the King James.

John was banished for the testimony of Jesus Christ.  He wasn’t banished for believing in “God,” and praying “in Jesus’ name.” He was exiled for his declaration that Jesus Christ is the Almighty God. The disciples in Acts 5:41 fared no different: “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” Jesus himself warned that Paul would share the same fate: “For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake” (Acts 9:16). It is always the name of Jesus that we will suffer for. The world can accomodate any other name, but not that one.

John was thrown onto an island in the middle of nowhere, not because he believed in God, but because he believed in Jesus and wasn’t afraid to tell others that. When John spoke of God, he spoke of Jesus Christ. He was willing to die for two things: the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. John knew what two things were everything to him, and his life on this isle of Patmos proved that he was willing to suffer for the word of God and for Jesus Christ. John did not talk like most “Christians” today. The word of God was not some nebulous term to him. It was a book he could read, touch, and believe in. They were words that came from the mouth of God. Jesus to him was not some second person of a Trinity or an eternally begotten, inferior Son. John didn’t talk like that. John knew that Jesus was the Lord God Almighty, and John worshipped him and him alone. The disciple that Jesus loved showed why the word of God gave him that name.

My friends, if you are not being persecuted for your belief in the word of God and Jesus Christ, you are not suffering for his name. You don’t have to provoke it or go looking for it-it will find you. If you are hiding behind smokescreens like the name “God” and “Father” and not declaring the name Jesus with everyone you meet, you are not suffering for his name. If the word of God is a book that you can’t declare is perfect, you don’t have the word of God. John had it, and he died on Patmos for it.