Introduction
The book of Revelation is a source of many controversies throughout church history. Whether that be the book’s dating, the prophecy’s fulfillment, or if it should be included in the canon. In this article, I will focus on when most of the book of Revelation is/was fulfilled. This article presupposes an early date for Revelation (64-68AD) rather than the later date (84-96AD). I hold to the (partial) preterist view of Revelation, meaning that most of Revelation was fulfilled in the first century during the Roman-Jewish war with the destruction of the Jewish temple. Many of these arguments can be used as internal evidence for the early date of Revelation, but the main point in these arguments is the fulfillment of these during the first century. This view is opposed to the futurist and historicist interpretations of Revelation. The futurist view holds that most, if not all, of Revelation, has yet to be fulfilled. The historicist view holds that Revelation prophesies about many significant historical events such as the rise of the Papacy and the Crusades. In support of the preterist interpretation (opposed to the heterodox hyper-preterists who say that all has been fulfilled, including the final resurrection and the final judgment), I will use the temporal expectation and limits of the author, the line of seven kings found in Rev. 17:9-10, and the beast that rises from the sea being Nero Caesar. I will also provide some interesting accounts of the Roman-Jewish war from Josephus, an eyewitness and trusted historian, in relation to Revelation.
Temporal Expectation and Limits
Throughout Revelation, John explicitly states that the events outlined in the visions are soon to take place. He tells this to seven historical churches in Asia minor; therefore, John wanted these churches to be prepared for the coming tribulation. The first verse of Revelation says, “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the things that must soon take place (I ask why we insist on pushing Revelation a couple millennia into the future when John is telling God’s servants in a historical time and place that this will soon take place, but I digress). ” He also uses the phrase 2 verse later saying, “for the time is near” and verse 19 “that are to take place after this.” At the end of Revelation, he uses some of the same phrasings: 22:6 says, “. . .has sent an angel to show his servants what must soon take place,” and right after “I am coming soon.” Furthermore, verse 12 repeats staying, “I am coming soon,” and verse 20 says, “Surely I am coming soon.” John uses three phrases that literally mean quickly and about to happen in the introduction of Revelation and four to conclude Revelation. Using a basic rule of hermeneutics, we must interpret the text the way the original audience would have best understood it. John urges the churches to read the book in the congregation aloud because the events were soon to take place; therefore, the original audience would have taken John’s statement at face value. Keep in mind that John’s introduction has yet to use the apocalyptic language the rest of the book uses, so we can take it at face value. Not only does John give temporal immediacy to the events he outlines, but he also gives time limits on the events to take place. Revelation 11:3 and 12:6 use 1,260 days, 11:2 and 13:5 use forty-two months, and 12:14 uses time (one year), times (two years), and half a time (half a year). All of these time limits given are exactly three and a half years. Now think for a moment, John and the audience expect the events to soon take place and that they will last for three and half years. Presupposing that the temple is still standing at the time of the writing (see Revelation 11 for support), the soundest historical fulfillment is Nero’s imperial persecution of the Christians from November, 64AD, to June, 68AD, and the Roman-Jewish wars, which lasted three and half years, from September of 66AD to the spring in 70AD. During the war, the Gentiles “trample[d] the holy city for forty-two months.” This culminated in the destruction of the temple in 70AD. So, the temporal immediacy and time limits John gives support to the fulfillment of most of Revelation being fulfilled during the Jewish-Roman wars.
Revelation 17:9-10
Revelation 17:9-10 says, “This calls for a mind of wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while.” The seven mountains or hills would have been universally recognized in the first century as referring to Rome, the city that sits on seven hills: Palatine, Aventine, Caelian, Esquiline, Viminal, Quirinal, and Capitoline. Therefore, it would logically follow that the seven kings are kings from Rome. The five that have fallen are Julius Caesar (49-44BC), Augustus (31BC-AD14), Tiberius (AD 14-37), Gaius, also known as Caligula (AD 37-41), and Claudius (AD 41-44). The one that is would be Nero (AD 54-68). Finally, the one who will come and reign for a short time is Galba who reigned for seven months in AD 68 and 69. Starting with Julius Caesar is reasonable because many ancient historians, including Josephus, put Caesar as the first emperor and the Jews would believe he is the first because he gave them privileges. Moreover, emperors are called kings throughout Scripture (Acts 17:7, John 19:15, etc.), so this is not a problem. This passage heavily points to a time during the line of Roman emperors during the first century; therefore, the prophecy is focusing on first-century events.
The Beast that Rises from the Sea: Nero Caesar
In Revelation 13, John begins to detail his vision of two beasts, one rising from the sea, and the other rising from the land. In this article, I will focus on the first beast. The first beast is said to rise out of the sea which represents the Gentile world. Throughout the Old Testament, the sea refers to the Gentile world around the land, the Jewish world. For example, Psalm 65:7 says, “who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples,” and Isaiah 5:30 “They [Gentiles] will growl over it on that day, like the growling of the sea (see also Revelation 17:15).” The sea also symbolizes the abyss, where evil and Satanic powers arise from, as seen in Psalm 69:1-3 and 70:20. Therefore, we can conclude that the beast that rises from the sea is a Gentile power that is evil. The seven heads are later tied to the aforementioned verse, Revelation 17:9-10, meaning the beast is Rome. So, the first beast is the evil Gentile power of Rome whose emperors claimed to be gods, thus having blasphemous names. It is important to realize that symbols in Revelation have a general meaning and a more specific meaning. In general, the first beast refers to Rome; however, later in the chapter, John identifies the beast as a specific man whose number is 666, giving the symbol of a beast a specific meaning. Since the beast is Rome, it would make sense that the man is an emperor. Now to the number 666. Back in ancient times, people used gematria riddles, meaning every letter in the alphabet was assigned a set numerical value. The first-century audience would have immediately recognized the application of 666 in the gematria riddle. Because John’s writing is considered the most Jewish book in the New Testament, it is not unreasonable to apply the number 666 in the Hebraic alphabet. The spelling of Nero Caesar in Hebrew is “Nrwn Qsr” which gives us the numerical value of 666. נ (N) is 50, ר (R) is 200, ו (W) is 6, נ (N) is 50, ק (Q) is 100, ס (S) is 60, ר (R) is 200, leaving נֵרוֹנ קֵסַר to be 666 (hopefully my Hebrew is right, it is hard to type Hebrew on an English keyboard). Therefore, the evil Roman emperor is Nero Caesar which gives us a past fulfillment of Revelation. Furthermore, the only textual variant of 666 is 616, which is completely different in Greek; therefore, most scholars believe that the mistake was done intentionally. And guess what, the spelling of Nero Caesar in Hebrew by transliterating it from Latin gives us a numerical value of 616. This would make sense for the scribe to do for the new Latin-speaking world to understand. Finally, one more point to be made is that Revelation 13:10 says that “if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain” and Nero Caesar killed people with a sword and died by committing suicide on his own sword. Overwhelming internal evidence, pointing to Nero Caesar as the beast, leads to a past fulfillment of Revelation.
The Eyewitness and Trusted Historian: Josephus
Many people will ask if there were really all these major signs and wonders during the first century that Revelation talks about or ask if the Jewish-Roman wars were really that bad. Josephus gives us external evidence for the signs and harshness of the war in his work, The Jewish War. I will give a few excerpts from his work. “A meteor, resembling a sword, hung over Jerusalem during one whole year.” “On the eighth of the month, at the ninth hour of the night, there shown round about the altar, and the circumjacent buildings of the temple, a light equal to the brightness of the day, which continues for the space of half an hour.” “About the sixth hour of the night, the eastern gate of the temple was seen to open without human assistance.” “Soon after the feast of the Passover, in various parts of the country, before the setting of the sun, chariots and armed men were seen in the air, passing round about Jerusalem.” “At the subsequent feast of Pentecost, while the priests were going, by night, into the inner temple to perform their customary ministrations, they first felt, as they said, a shaking, accompanied by an indistinct murmuring, and afterward voices as of the multitude, saying, in a distinct and earnest manner, ‘Let us depart hence.’” And finally a longer story of Joshua prophesying, starting in 62AD, “But what is still more terrible; there was one Joshua, the son of Ananus, a plebian, and a husbandman, who, four years before the war began; and at a time when the city was in very great peace and prosperity; came to that feast whereon it is our custom for everyone to make tabernacles to God in the temple, began on a sudden to cry aloud” “A voice from the east; a voice from the west; a voice from the four winds; a voice against Jerusalem, and the holy house; a voice against the bridegroom, and the brides; a voice against this whole people” “This was his cry, as he went about by day and by night, in all the lanes of the city” “Hereupon our rulers, supposing, as the case proved to be, that this was sort of divine fury in the man; brought him to the Roman procurator, who had him whipped till his bones were laid bare. Yet he did not make any supplication for himself, nor shed any tears: but turning his voice to the most lamentable tone possible, at every stroke of the whip his answer was, ‘Woe, woe to Jerusalem’” “This cry of his was the loudest at the festivals; and he continued this ditty for seven years, and five months; without growing hoarse, or being tired therewith. Until the very time that he saw his presage in earnest fulfilled in our siege; when it ceased” “For as he was going round upon the wall, he cried out with his utmost force, ‘Woe, woe to the city again, and to the people, and to the holy house.’ And just as he added at the last, ‘Woe, woe to myself also,’ there came a stone out of one of the engines, and smote him, and killed him immediately. And as he was uttering the very same presages he gave up the ghost.” These are some of the wonderous signs Josephus detailed in his account, but he also describes the utter destruction of the Jewish people, saying “. . .insomuch that children pulled the very morsels that their fathers were eating, out of their very mouths, and what was still more to be pitied, so did the mothers do as to their infants. . . (cf. Rev. 6:5-6)” Also, “but as many of these were repulsed when they were getting ashore as were killed by the darts upon the lake; and the Roman leaped out of their vessels, and destroyed a great many more upon the land; one might then see the lake all bloody, and full of dead bodies, for not one of them escaped. And a terrible stink, and a very sad sight there was on the following days over that country; for as for the shores, they were full of shipwrecks, and of dead bodies all swelled. . . (cf. Rev. 14:19-20)” Finally and probably the most extraordinary, “The engines [catapults], that all the legions had ready prepared for them, were admirably contrived; but still more extraordinary ones belonged to the tenth legion: those that threw darts and those that threw stones, were more forcible and larger than the rest, by which they not only repelled the excursions of the Jews, but drove those away that were upon the walls also. Now, the stones that were cast, were of the weight of a talent, and were carried two furlongs and further. The blow they gave was no way to be sustained, not only by those that stood first in the way, but by those that were beyond them for a great space. As for the Jews, they at first watched the coming of the stone, for it was a white color [like hailstones] (cf. Rev. 16:21 KJV).” Sorry this was so long, Josephus is a very wordy person.
Conclusion
Using internal and external evidence, hopefully this article showed that the preterist view is well within the bounds of sound exegesis. John’s temporal expectation and time limits given to the event show the historical fulfillment of the prophecy during the first century. The line of kings John gives also points to the Caesarean line of emperors and the first beast generally symbolizes Rome but specifically symbolizes Nero Caesar. Moreover, the external evidence in Josephus’s work provides detailed fulfillment of specific prophesies in Revelation. Most likely due to the rise of Dispensationalism and later on fundamentalism, the American church has become ignorantly dogmatic of the full futurist premillennial view of Revelation without knowing any other views. This article may not have convinced you of the preterist view, for these are only a few condensed arguments, but hopefully this shows that the preterist view is not as far out as people make it to be.
P. S. I was going to use the Olivet Discourse as support for the preterist view (note this generation [i.e. the generation Jesus was talking to], not that generation in verse 39 of Matthew chapter 23), but as I began exegeting the text, it became way too long for the purposes of this article so my next blog will probably be the Olivet Discourse in relation to Daniel and Revelation.