This is a photo of the island of Patmos, which was one of the places I was most looking forward to seeing on our recent pilgrimage. There is a cave on Patmos believed to be the location where John received the visions recorded in the book of Revelations. We were able to visit this cave which is now enclosed within a building.

Patmos was not at all what I was expecting. It was a bigger island and much more populated than when I thought it would be. We were told that the island shuts down from November through February-March.

I never thought about the Book of Revelations as anything but a book of prophecy. However, it seems clear that it was written as words of both encouragement and warning to the early Christians suffering persecution.