When John wrote about his vision from the Isle of Patmos, his audience was living in the midst of a cruel world which was beginning to resist the missionary efforts of the apostles, while still trying to live as people of the Resurrection. They were persecuted by those around them and, at the same time, trying to make sense of their faith in an era of uncertainty. They all wanted to be faithful to what they had been taught of the expectation of eternal life with Jesus while facing the discouragement of the reality they saw.
