Revelation Fulfilled by AD 70 Part 4 - Revelation 5-10
Revelation 5
The Seven Sealed Scroll
Some have suggested the seven sealed scroll is God’s divorce certificate to Old Covenant Jerusalem for her apostasy and spiritual adultery. Others, the scroll represents the “mystery” of God’s plan of salvation (Jew / Gentile union). But in the ancient world if you got a seven sealed scroll it was usually after someone had died and it contained the will or last testament of the person who had died. In other words I believe the seven sealed scroll is the will or New Testament/Covenant inaugurated in Christ’s death. Upon opening the will/scroll one would realize quickly who the true heirs or children of the inheritance were and those that were not or disinherited. Old Covenant Israel in rejecting their Messiah and the gospel (good news of the New Covenant that was promised in the OT), would now be “cut off” and disinherited from the covenant promises and now be subject of the covenant curses.
No one was found worthy to open the scroll. “There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not” and “all fall short of the glory of God” (Eccl. 7:20; Rms. 3:23). The LORD and the LORD alone was worthy to open the scroll. Adulterous OC Jerusalem thought she had disposed of her faithful Groom and Messiah, but her putting Him to death (and soon all those prophets sent to her – Mt. 23), would be what would seal her fate and rendered her judgment certain, just and imminent.
Jesus is the Lion from the Tribe of Judah whom in AD 70 would cause the covenantal authority and scepter to depart from Judah and be given to the gathered, raised, and glorified Church/New Jerusalem to behold His very face in helping to rule the nations (Gen. 49:9-12; Mt. 24:30-31, 34; 1Cor. 13:12; Rev. 22:4, 12).
The NC priests and kings making up this kingdom of whom Christ has redeemed, “…will reign on the earth” (v. 10). This is another indicator that Revelation is not completely concerned with disembodied spirits, as much as it is God’s reign on earth through His people whom are “on the earth.” This reigning on the earth continues into the NC age which was “about to come” during the transition period. Post AD 70 the Church continues Her mission as priests and kings ruling over and bringing healing to the nations as we preach the everlasting gospel.
Christ didn’t come to potentially save the human race, but to actually redeem and establish a kingdom of priests and kings 5:9-10. When it comes to phrases in the NT such as the “world” or the “whole world” connected with Christ’s redemption and atonement, we need to be understand them as teaching God purposing to redeem the believing world of Jew and Gentile - out from among the nations.
Revelation 6
Outline and Unity of Structure for Revelation 5-8 and 8-11.
The first 5 chapters of Revelation are primarily introductive and set the stage for what will unfold in chapters 6—22.
The Reformation Study Bible develops the Full Preterist view in this chapter when we harmonize what the Amillennialist writes and what the Partial Preterist Editors (R.C. Sproul and Keith Mathison) have written in their books on Eschatology. The Amillennial commentator writes of the outline and Second Coming of Christ described in chapter 6 and it’s connection with the unit or block extending into chapter 11,
“In formal structure, 5:1–8:1 runs parallel to 8:2–11:19. Each has an opening scene introducing the origin of the judgments (ch. 5; 8:2–6). Six judgments follow (ch. 6; 8:7–9:21). A dramatic interlude promises care for God’s people (ch. 7; 10:1–11:14). The seventh and climactic judgment follows the interlude (8:1; 11:15–19; Introduction: Outline). The seven judgments move forward toward the Second Coming, which occurs in 6:12–17 and 11:15–19.”
While this is true, the editors and writers of Dr. Sproul’s Reformation Study Bible have formed the Sovereign Grace Full Preterist position when we consider that the judgments in these chapters (5-8 and 8-11) depict Christ’s imminent “soon,” “shortly,” “at hand,” “about to be” coming in AD 70 (Partial Preterism – R.C. Sproul and Keith Mathison – we find this in their other works from Ligonier Ministries). But again, the Amillennial commentators of the Study Bible tell us that this coming is His “actual” Second Coming event (something denied by Mathison in WSTTB?).
Keith Mathison writes concerning the parallels between the Olivet Discourse (OD) and Revelation 6,
“1. War (6:1-2; cf. Matt. 24:6; Mark 13:7; Luke 21:9)
2. International strife (6:5-6; cf. Matt. 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:10
3. Famine (6:5-6; cf. Matt. 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11)
4. Pestilence (6:7-8; cf. Luke 21:11)
5. Persecution (6:9-11; cf. Matt. 24:9-11; Mark 13:9-13; Luke 21:12-19)
6. Earthquakes, cosmic upheaval (6:12-17; cf. Matt.24:15-31; Mark 13:14-27; Luke 21:20-27)
John is clearly speaking of the very events prophesied by Christ in the Olivet Discourse, events which were to fall upon the generation of Jews who rejected and crucified their Messiah. (Mathison, Postmillennialism,148).
Opening of the first four seals and the four horses (6:1-8)
The time frame of the horses
Some Preterist authors see the riding of these horses and the opening of the first six seals to be a description of the preaching of the gospel and transitionary period roughly between AD 30 – AD 66. Then after a pause of silence, the opening of the seventh depicts Christ’s Parousia or the period between AD 66 – AD 70. Others see then as strictly unleashing the judgment in the events of AD 66 - AD 70. Since as we pointed out there is harmony between the famines, pestilence, wars, persecutions etc... in Matthew 24, and since these were signs preceding the events of AD 66 - AD 70, there may be some concepts during the transition period and how they may be applied then that we should look at. Either way, what we see in the difficult times of AD 30 - AD 66 would be magnified in AD 66 - AD 70.
The OT background and Old Covenant curses
The OT background seems to come from Jeremiah 5 and Ezekiel 5-7. In Jeremiah God threatens Israel with the sword, pestilence, famine and and the arrow and in Revelation 6 we once again see God coming in judgment with the descriptions of the sword, famine, pestilence and riding with a bow to wage war. In Ezekiel 5-7 we have essentially the same - a judgment coming upon Jerusalem by means of the sword, famine, plagues and evil beasts thrown in as well. The important thing to note here is that these are Old Covenant curses specifically to be poured out upon Israel for violating her covenant with God (cf. Lev. 26; Deut. 28-30). Again, another indicator that this is a local judgment coming upon the land of Palestine and not the globe!
The White Horse– The rider of the white horse with a crown as depicted elsewhere (19:11-16) is Christ and not the anti-Christ as some alleged “prophecy experts” such as Hal Lindsey has fancifully misguided many. White throughout the book of Revelation (white garments, cloud, throne, etc…) consistently is descriptive of purity, holiness, righteousness and victory. This is a picture of Christ coming victoriously through the Church in the preaching of the gospel – which when rejected, would be the imminent end of the apostate Jewish enemies whom rejected that message and put to death Christ and His Apostles and Prophets. Christ is pictured as riding with a bow and crown – symbols of power and authority in subduing His enemies under His feet. God is the Warrior King who carries the bow (Hab. 3:9, 11).
The Red Horse - The color red here is symbolic or a description of bloodshed, suffering and war. Jesus predicted that when His first century disciples would preach the gospel they would suffer and many of them would be put to death even at the hands of family members before His return and the “end” (of the Old Covenant age) – events to be fulfilled within their lifetimes and generation (Mt. 10:17-23; Mrk. 13:9-13, 30). The rider is permitted “to take peace from the earth/land” and again Jesus said His message would be like a sword that would bring division among families (Mt. 10:34-36). This “sword” (Greek machaira) was short as a knife and used for sacrificing the animals. Therefore, it would be through the sacrifice of the Lamb of God and the first century martyrs, that Christ and the Church would emerge victorious by AD 70.
The Black Horse – introduces mourning and famine upon the earth/land. We know from Acts 11:28 that a famine did occur throughout the world of the Roman Empire in around AD 44. We learn that this caused a lack of food for the Jerusalem Church of which the church at Antioch sought to relieve with their financial assistance. On top of this, the Jews persecuted the early Jewish Christian Church by not selling to or buying from them. This period would be black and dark before Christ would come to relieve the suffering and hardship during this period.
The Pale (greenish-white) Horse – is symbolic of “death” which would result with one’s soul being kept in “Hades” until Christ’s Second Coming in AD 70. Christ had the keys to death and Hades (Rev. 1:18) and He is allowing it to be very active during the transition period and magnified during AD 66 – AD 70. The true fear that came from physical death was that “THE (spiritual) death” that came through Adam followed the soul in its separation from God in Hades.
Vindication of martyrs in “a little while” and time for the Resurrection (6:9-11)
When the fifth seal is opened in verses 9-11 we get a prophetic picture of the first century persecuted church, through the eyes of the martyrs crying out under the altar wanting to know from the Lord “how long” until their prayers of vengeance upon their enemies will be answered. They are told in “a little while.” Kistemaker asks the question of this verse,
“How long is “a little while”? Jesus referred to his imminent departure when he said, “Yet a little while am I with you” (John 7:33 KJV) and “Yet a little while is the light with you” (John 12:35 KJV). By contrast, the souls under the altar must wait as they call for judgment to take place at the consummation. No one, not even the Son of Man, knows when the culmination comes, for it is God the Father who sets the times and the seasons (Matt. 24:36; Acts 1:7).” (Kistemaker, Revelation, 234).
We must allow Scripture to interpret itself on the meaning of “a little while.” There is no contradiction between Jesus knowing that He would return within his own generation and yet declare it was given to the Father to know the exact day and hour (within His generation) it would occur! According to Jesus, the vindication of the martyrs would take place at His return, when the temple would become desolate, and specifically within His “this generation” (Mt. 23:30-36, 38; 24:1-34). So, when we examine the teachings of Jesus, a “little while” means what it says and there is no reason to make up one’s own definition of “eschatological time” to force it into the Futurist paradigm. It is more than consistent to have one writing towards the end of Jesus’ “this generation” to address the time of His return and vindication to arrive in “a little while.” The “Synagouge of Satan” and the Jewish “countrymen” were the ones responsible for killing these first century Christians. Although Kistemaker does parallel this martyr scene with Matthew 23, he fails to exegetically parallel Jesus’ phrase of “this generation” (Mt. 23:26) with His “in a little while” period as being the divine time frame for the cup of God’s wrath to be full. He states,
“But when God’s endurance has come to an end and the cup of his wrath is full, the time for judgment is near (Matt. 23:32; 1 Thess. 2:16)” (Ibid., 234).
But notice how he selectively referenced Matthew 23:32 without mentioning the “this generation” of verse 36 and references 1Thessalonians 2:16, without pointing out that this persecution and martyrdom is coming from their contemporary Jewish “countrymen” in verses 14-15 and that Christ would come and give them “relief” from that trouble while at the same time giving these first century Jewish persecutors “trouble” or tribulation at His return (cf. 2 Thess. 1:5-7)! This is very poor exegesis coming from Kistemaker in comparing Scripture with Scripture.
Keith Mathison does connect some of these exegetical dots between the Thessalonian epistles with that of Revelation and Matthew’s gospel. He correctly applies their coming “relief” from the “hour of trial” and the fiery vindication upon their first century Jewish enemies as Christ coming from heaven in the judgment of AD 70. (Mathison, Ibid. 144, 149, 223-233).
Likewise, Kenneth Gentry argues,
“He would be taunting them mercilessly if he were discussing events two thousand years distant. God answers the anxious cry “How long?” by urging their patience only a “little while longer” (6:10-11). (Gentry, FOUR VIEWS ON THE BOOK OF REVELATION, pp. 42-43).
Unfortunately for Mr. Gentry, he does not use this same logic and hermeneutic when it comes to Christ returning from heaven to give his first century Christians relief and burn up their enemies in 1 & 2 Thessalonians! Yet neither Mathison nor Gentry can exegetically address:
1). How Abel was vindicated without the consummative judgment and resurrection having taken place in Jesus’ “this generation,” and 2). Deal with the parallel and recapitulation structure of the same group of martyrs throughout Revelation as receiving vindication and relief at the time of the judgment and resurrection of the living and the dead (Rev. 2:10-13; 6:9; 11:7; 13:15; 17:6; 18:24; 20:4).
It is at this point the Partial Preterist views of Mathison and Gentry fall apart when the issues involving the judgment and resurrection of “the dead” are brought up. They avoid the parallel and recapitulation structure of Revelation and start quoting creeds, run to “Mother Church” and completely abandon the internal message of Revelation let alone the rest of Scripture! Scripture affirms Israel’s sin of violating her old covenant law in shedding the blood of the righteous would be judged in a very specific generation - within Israel’s “last days.” The prophets also affirmed this would be the time of receiving the kingdom and attaining the resurrection (Deut. 31:29; 32:5, 20, 43; Isa. 1-5; Isa. 24-27; Dan. 7, 9, 12). Jesus said all this would be fulfilled in His generation, which included the resurrection and consummative redemption (Mt. 23-24:30-31, 34; Luke 21:22-32). Jesus and John in Revelation are consistent with Jesus’ teaching in the gospels as to the time frame for the vindication of the martyrs in connection with the resurrection.
Apocalyptic language of judgment and the de-creation of (6:12-14)
The Bible is its own best interpreter. In Isaiah 13:9-10, the contextual setting is God about to judge Babylon through the Medes and Persians. Babylon’s fall is described as,
“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.”
In Scripture the sun, moon, and stars represented men and angelic beings holding civil and religious authorities and who governed and ruled over a particular nation. When God would judge a particular nation, He would describe it as Him turning out their lights or casting their stars to the ground. Later in Isaiah 34:4-5 the fall of Edom is described, “All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down As the leaf falls from the vine, And as fruit falling from a fig tree. “For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; Indeed it shall come down on Edom, And on the people of My curse, for judgment.”
Obviously, the literal heavens did not roll back like a scroll and literal stars (which are much bigger than the earth) did not fall to the earth when God judged Edom. This is figurative language describing–in time–historical judgments of nations (remember Amos 5:18; 8:9 describing the judgments upon Israel and Judah through the Assyrians and Babylonians).
Kistemaker in his commentary on Revelation while acknowledging some figurative language is being used, without examining the contexts of Isaiah 13 and 34, believes these passages are dealing with the destruction of the planet at the end of time as he assumes Matthew 24:29 and Revelation 6:12-14 are. However, Reformed theologians and even Dispensational ones have acknowledged these passages in Isaiah to be using figurative language describing historical judgments of nations and not the destruction of planet earth.
The context to the de-creation language in Matthew 24:29 as Gentry and Mathison agree, is addressing the casting down of the civil and religious rulers of Jerusalem in AD 70 and has nothing to do with the destruction of the planet earth. Kistemaker even believes Joel 2:10, 31 is describing the end of the planet. Because Kistemaker believes the coming of the Lord in Acts 2:19-20 is still future and refers to the de-creation of the planet earth, this logically forces him into embracing charismatic theology (John Piper would be a good example of this consistently being played out). He claims Luke is allegedly not really interested in developing any kind of imminent time frame for the Second Coming in Acts and Luke is,
“…equally noncommittal in respect to the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy on signs and wonders. Joel predicts that all these things will take place “before the great and glorious day of the Lord will come.” (Kistemaker, Revelation, Ibid., 90).
Most Reformed theologians such as Gentry disagree, and believe “the great and dreadful day of the Lord” and de-creation language in Acts 2 is referring to Christ coming in judgment upon Jerusalem in AD 70. Of course both views are true: 1. “The great and glorious day of the Lord” is the actual ONE Second Coming event (Amillennial Kistemaker) and it was fulfilled spiritually in AD 70 (Sproul, Mathison and Gentry).
“Hid in the caves” and “They called to the mountains and rocks, ‘fall on us…’” (6:15-16)
We looked at this passage in our study of Hosea 10:8 in connection with Isaiah 2 and how these passages formed Jesus’, Paul and John’s eschatology for the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. But let’s review a bit.
Verses 15-16 completely destroys Kistemaker’s case. John is quoting from the “last days” “Day of the Lord” judgment of (Isa. 2:10, 19, 21). Jesus in Luke 23:30 applies this passage and judgment in Isaiah 2 to the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 as virtually every commentator agrees! The burden of proof rests upon Kistemaker (and those Futurists that agree with him) to prove John and Jesus are using the Isaiah 2 passage to refer to a different judgment than Jesus referenced in Luke 23:30! Obviously if the coming of Christ in the judgment of Revelation 6 is referring to the destruction of the planet, men would not be able to go and hide in caves! Gentry, citing Josephus, points out that the Roman armies went throughout the land and slew the Jews who sought to hide and seek shelter in the caves. (Gentry, Four Views, Ibid., 55).
Not only that, but Isaiah tells us that there is a righteous remnant or “survivors” of this “Day of the Lord” and they continue well on into the new creation (new covenant age) preaching the gospel to sinful nations as does Revelation (Isaiah 1-5, 24-28, 65-66; Revelation 21-22:17). Indeed, the Christians fled to Pella and were safe and continued to preach the gospel as the Church does today in the new creation or age which was “about to come” in John and Paul’s day. Kistemaker, does not exegetically deal with the time texts, conveniently does not address the survivors of Day of the Lord in Isaiah or Revelation, nor addresses the historical fulfillment of the Romans slaying those that sought refuge in the caves within the local land of Palestine at this time.
The great day of wrath (6:17)
This is none other than the “great and dreadful day of the Lord” John (as Elijah) came to prepare Israel for and of which the Pharisees were called to repent because it was a “wrath about to” come upon them (Mt. 3:2-12 WUESTNT; GNT; Mal. 3-4). These were the “days of vengeance” and “wrath” coming “against this people (the Jews) that Jesus said was coming upon His contemporary “this generation” (Lk. 21:22-32). Again, contextually and allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture, this is covenant wrath coming upon Israel and not the globe.
Summary of Chapter 6 and problems for classic Amillennialists / Historic Premillennialists and Partial Preterists - Recapitulation and Imminence
As the book of Revelation begins to unfold, we can see how the various Futurist views and Partial Preterism contain truth in them and thus has formed Full Preterism. We are correctly told by the classic Amillennialist that the coming of Christ, the de-creation, vindication of the martyrs, coming of the Lord, and judgment of the dead in Revelation 6 extending to chapter 11 -- where this section climaxes in the judgment of the dead is referring to the ONE Second Coming event and is recapitulated in Revelation 20. And yet Partial Preterism affirms Revelation 6-11 was fulfilled at Christ’s “soon” coming in AD 70 when the Old Covenant creation passed away and the dead were judged. We believe BOTH views are accurate and have formed Full Preterism.
Revelation 7
Interlude - In verses 1-17 we have a parenthesis, pause or brief interlude separating the seventh seal of judgment from the preceding six. This interlude depicts the time when Rome surrounded Jerusalem and then retreated giving the Christians in Jerusalem time to flee right before the judgment upon the city began.
Second Exodus – As G.K. Beale points out in his commentary on Revelation, chapter seven develops the second exodus motif (cf. Isa. 11).
1. A great multitude comes out of tribulation (Ex. 4:31 LXX/Rev. 7:14).
2. They wash their garments (Ex. 19:10/Rev. 7:14).
3. They are saved and sprinkled by blood (Ex. 24:8/7:14) which is necessary before God could tabernacle or dwell among them.
4. God’s presence as a Husband provides food, water, protection and comfort (cf. Lev. 23:40/Rev. 7:9ff.). (cf. THE NEW INTERNATIONAL GREEK TESTAMENT COMMENTARY, Eerdmans Publishing Co., 439)
Since Old Covenant Jerusalem is apostate, she is described as a Great Harlot City such as “Egypt” where the Lord was crucified (Rev. 11:8). And as God had called out His people along with a mixed multitude of believing Gentiles, so God was calling out the remnant or Jewish 144,000 along with a great multitude of Gentile believers in Yeshua.
A fifth angel comes “from the east” to hold back and then unleash the “wind.”
Wind (v. 1) – this is referring to the common ancient hot desert winds that would torch vegetation and the ungodly (cf. Hos. 13:15-16; Rev. 16:9).
Could not blow on the earth/land, sea or any tree (v. 1) – The wrath would not come upon God’s Jewish elect until the gospel was preached throughout the land of Palestine (primarily the Jewish Church), or those separated from Israel and the “sea” – that is believing Gentiles throughout the Roman Empire. The addition of “any tree,” could simply mean – the protection extends as far as God’s people could be found throughout the Roman Empire. Or Chilton following James Jordan sees the “trees” in our text as referring to people and specifically to the people of God citing (Jud. 9:8-15; Ex. 15:17; Ps. 1:3; 92:12-14; Isa. 61:3; Jer. 17:5-8). Ezekiel 31 also refers to trees as representing people and nations – even making a reference to the trees in the Garden in Genesis.
Another angel (representative of Christ) arising from the East (v. 2) – Christ would come as the “Sun of Righteousness” from the east and shining His rays of light to the west (cf. Mt. 24:27/Mal. 4:2) burning up the wicked tares and giving life and light to the new covenant Garden of God.
Seal (v. 2) – The OT background for this sealing is most likely found in Ezekiel 9:1-7. The apostate priests in Jerusalem would ber judged while the godly remnant would be “sealed” on their foreheads (Ezek. 9:4). The High Priest was marked with gold letters over his forehead which communicated that he was “HOLY TO THE LORD” (Ex. 28:36). Since Israel functioned as a kingdom of priests to the nations, she too was marked with the Law on their foreheads and hands – being symbolic of a people who would meditate (on the forehead) on God’s Word day and night and then act it out (on the hand) in their lives through worship and acts of grace and mercy (Deut. 6:6-8).
The “seal” that distinguished God’s new Israel of God or Royal Priesthood in the first century was not only the belief in Yeshua as the Messiah, but resulted in the sealing or down-payment of the Holy Spirit which also involved the charismatic gifts as a sign of the imminent inheritance or redemption (Ephs. 1:13-14; 4:30).
No harm was to come upon those the angels put a seal of ownership and protection upon their foreheads. Jesus had promised prior to Him coming in wrath upon Jerusalem that some Christians would experience persecution and death, but not a hair of their head would be lost when it came time for Him to pour out His wrath upon the City—Luke 21:18-20.
Paul says the same thing in that Christians were sons of the day and not destined to partake in this “wrath” (1 Thess. 5:9). We know from history the Christians fled the city when they saw the Roman armies surrounding Jerusalem and fled to Pella and were safe from experiencing this covenantal wrath.
The 144,000 (vss. 4-8) - is symbolic of the new and perfected Israel of God (12 tribes of Israel times the 12 Apostles, times a thousand = 144, 000) and is describing the first century Jewish “first fruits” Christians who came out of the tribulation period in verse 14. These will be further described and associated with the harvest/resurrection in chapter 14. From Pentecost and on, there were a great many Jews who became Christians and John is using Old Testament symbolic language and numerology to describe them being preserved from the wrath about to be poured out upon Jerusalem in the opening of the seventh seal.
A Great Multitude (v. 9) – After the sealing of the Jewish first-fruits or the 144,000, there is another group described as a “great multitude” standing before the throne in verses 9-13 which includes the addition of the Gentiles.
The 144,000 and the Gentile addition making up the “great multitude,” is not meant to be a fixed number as much as it represents symbolically all the redeemed Church of God or the Jew/Gentile New Covenant “mystery” or “fullness” that is elsewhere described by Paul as the “salvation of all Israel” (Rm. 11:25-26). All those nations who continue to hear the gospel post AD 70 and receive healing, become a part of this group and thus flow into the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21-22:17). Having said that, there is a distinction between the Great Commission of Revelation 22:17 post AD 70 than the one our Lord addressed in Matthew 24:14.
Amillennialists such as Simon Kistemaker correctly identify the 144,000 and the great multitude with those having heard the message of the great commission before Christ’s return and the “end” comes in (Mt. 24:14),
“Here is a picture of the universal church in its fullest sense fulfilling Jesus’ word: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14). (Ibid. 253).
This of course is contradictory to Gentry, Mathison and Sproul whom correctly understand this great commission having been fulfilled by AD 70 as we do.
Kistemaker also errors on the great tribulation claiming,
“The expression the great tribulation includes all Christians who have experienced oppression and persecution everywhere throughout history.” (Ibid., 247).
This also contradicts John Lightfoot, Gentry, Mathison, Sproul, and the Reformed Partial Preterist community, who correctly identify this period as Christians being persecuted just prior to God’s wrath and tribulation being rendered upon Jerusalem in the years AD 62-70. The great commission and great tribulation were specific eschatological events to occur in Jesus’ “this generation” and the text mentions nothing of the great tribulation or any of the signs being extended “throughout history.”
However, we give Kistemaker credit for correctly identifying that the promises of verses 15-17 associated with the saints coming out of this great tribulation to be the time of the glorification (resurrection) of these saints and reception of the new creation,
“The last line in this verse is a picture of joy and happiness, of deliverance from sin and guilt, of salvation full and free. It is a scene of life in the fullest sense of the word—to be forever in the presence of our covenant God, who dwells in the midst of the glorified saints. It is Paradise restored.” (Ibid., 257).
Here we see the Amillennial view properly using the structure of recapitulation with this chapter with that of Revelation 20-22. This is where Partial Preterist’s such as Gentry and Mathison drop the ball due to creedal commitments. One cannot separate the time of the judgment and the great tribulation, from the resurrection, as occurring when the power of the Holy People (of Jerusalem and her temples law) would be completely shattered in AD 70—Daniel 12:1-7.
Verses 10-17 demonstrate that Christ’s Second Coming “soon” in AD 66 – AD 70 was not just a physical salvation or deliverance from the wrath of Rome and the Jews. It was rooted in Christ’s atonement (the blood of the lamb) and has granted us eternal life (living water from which we will never thirst). Positionally, God was wiped away every tear from our eyes, because through His High Priestly work (Cross and Parousia) He truly remembers our sins no more and they can never be used to condemn us. “Salvation belongs to our God” – He alone is the author and finisher of our faith.
We have consistently built our case and paradigm from the admissions of futurists and the hermeneutics they have used in interpreting the Book of Revelation. We will continue to prove that Revelation teaches that the Second Coming, judgment and resurrection of “the dead” were fulfilled by AD 70.
Revelation 8
We now embark upon the third vision. In chapter eight we are informed that the opening of the seventh seal involves the judgment described in the form of blowing seven trumpets. We continue seeing the second exodus theme in chapter 8. The chapter begins with the blowing of seven trumpets and the first reference to a trumpet being blown in Scripture is in Exodus 19.
Ex. 19:16-17: On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.
Rev. 8-11: Seven trumpets – the seventh trumpet was descriptive of the 144,000 coming out of the Tribulation and being delivered from or making an exodus from the Great Harlot City called “Egypt” and placing them in His Most Holy Place presence or on top of Mount Zion(cf. Rev. 11:15-19; 14:1 – see also Heb. 12:18-24; Mt. 24:30-31; 1 Thess. 4:15-17; 1 Cor. 15:52).
Under the Old Covenant only Moses functioning as the High Priest could ascend and be gathered at the top of the mountain into God’s presence. But under the New Covenant, at the sound of a trumpet at Christ’s Parousia in AD 70, all of God’s people have been gathered into His presence on top of Mount Zion to enjoy the wedding feast with Him (Isa. 25:6-9/27:12-13).
There are a few more parallels to the plagues and exodus event:
1. Hail and fire - Ex. 9:23-24 = Rev. 8:7
2. Blood Ex. - 7:14-24 = Rev. 8:8
3. Darkened - Ex. 10:21-23 = Rev. 8:12
Silence for a half an hour (v. 1)
Many commentators such as Kistemaker miss the significance of the “silence” for the length of a half an hour in Revelation 8:1. I would concur with others that this is corresponding to the work of the priest in the temple. G.K. Beale following Sweet, Chilton, and Edersheim writes,
“Silence in relation to the temple liturgy. The Mishnah’s explanation of the background of the liturgy of the daily sacrifice in the temple makes even more cogent the association of prayer with the silence in Rev. 8:1 (cf. m. Tamid). The order of the service roughly resembled the order of some of the significant images in the Apocalypse: (1) trimming of the seven lamps (Revelation 1-3), (2) slaying of the sacrificial lamb (Rev. 5:6), (3) pouring of the sacrificial blood at the base of the altar (Rev. 6:9), (4) offering of incense, during a time of silence and prayer (so Luke 1:10; cf. Rev. 8:1, 4-5), (5) the burnt offering and drink offering (Rev. 16:1) together with the sounding of the trumpets (Rev. 8:6), and (6) singing of psalms (19:1-8).” (Beale, Revelation, 452).
Chilton following Milton Terry, suggests it took the priest roughly a half an hour to perform these duties and then return to the praying congregation. (Chilton, Days of Vengeance, 229-230).
Since chapter eight going through chapter eleven develops the blowing of seven trumpets, it is important to get the OT background as to why and when trumpets would be sounded.
In chapter eight we have the scene of the prayers of the saints for vindication upon their enemies (earlier depicted in 6:10-11) beginning to be answered in the “in a little while” time frame. Their imprecatory prayers result in God sending an angel to take fire from the altar in which he hurls it from heaven to burn a third of the land. Kistemaker connects this fiery judgment with Luke 12:49 and I would add to that the message of John’s baptism of fire and the burning of the elements (cf. Matthew 3:2-12; 2 Peter 3). But obviously this de-creation burning is not affecting the entire globe but only a “third” of the land. Gentry takes a literal interpretation quoting Josephus in reference to the storms, burning of the land, and the blood and dead bodies in the waters surrounding Palestine during the Jewish/Roman war. (Gentry, Four Views, Ibid., 58-60).
Chilton also understood some of this language to be a physical description of war but also left open the possibility of the grass and trees representing some of God’s elect. (Chilton, Ibid., 236-237).
However one understands the tribulation and judgment of the third of the land of Israel here, this de-creation language is to be parallel with that of Matthew 24:29 and Revelation 6 and is describing the falling of the religious, civil and demonic powers within Jerusalem in AD 70.
The mountain burning with fire of which is thrown into the sea in 8:8 was addressed by Jesus in His cursing apostate Israel in the form of the withering of the fig tree. Jesus then gets the disciples involved in teaching them how to pray in removing and cursing Israel using the figure of removing a mountain in Matthew 21:18-22. Through old-covenant Jerusalem’s apostasy, they had become a destroying mountain persecuting the elect among the new covenant Israel of God. Like Babylon and Egypt whom had persecuted old-covenant Israel in the Old Testament, their fall and punishments for persecuting the new Israel of God, would now be wielded out upon them as their enemies had been dealt with before (Ex. 7; Isa. 19; Jer. 51; Isa. 14:3-12). Again, the darkness of the sun, moon and stars is referring to the civil and religious rulers of old-covenant Jerusalem whom rejected their Messiah and the prophets He had sent to her and now their lights (authorities) are turned out and cast to the ground.
Many such as Kistemaker do not make these simple connections to these texts and although a third of the land is being destroyed, they continue to claim this chapter is describing “a coming cosmic catastrophe that will affect the whole surface of the earth.” All of Jesus’ parables surrounding this section (Matthew 21-25) have to do with the judgment and fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. It is at this time the kingdom was taken away from apostate Israel and completely given over and transferred to the Church in redemptive history (Mt. 21:33-45).
The Feast of Trumpets Fulfilled By AD 70
Feast of Trumpets
Pastor David Curtis makes the following observations on what took place on the Feast of Trumpets and how it was fulfilled by AD 70,
“The actual observance of the Feast of Trumpets is recorded only once in Scripture. Ezra, the scribe, related that it was during the Feast of Trumpets that the Temple altar was rebuilt, and sacrifices were reinstituted by those who returned from Babylonian exile (Ezra 3:1-6). Nehemiah recorded that sweeping revival also took place in Israel that same day as Ezra rehearsed God's Law in the ears of the people (Neh. 7:73-8:13).
There are several things about this feast which should pique our interest. First, this feast was to be celebrated on the first day of the month. Second, this feast was to be celebrated on the first day of the seventh month. Third, the feast was marked by a blowing of trumpets. The Hebrew word here is teruah, which means: "an alarm, a signal, a sound of tempest, a shout, a shout or blast of war or alarm or joy." Why is this significant that this feast was on the first day of the month? The Feast of Trumpets is the only one of the seven feasts which began on the first day of the month.
The Hebrew months each began on the New Moon. The other feasts occurred toward the middle of the respective months, when the moon was at, or near, full. The nights would be filled with moonlight. At the New Moon the moon is DARK and only a thin crescent.
The beginning of each month was originally dependent upon the sighting of the New Moon when the moon was but a crescent; the nights would be dark, with little moonlight. The precise timing of the New Moon was not always easily determined due to weather conditions and a lack of witnesses.
Two concurring witnesses sighting the first sliver of the New Moon determined each new month. The two witnesses see the New Moon and attest to it before the Sanhedrin in the Temple. This could happen during either of two days, depending on when the witnesses come. Since no one knew when the witnesses would come, no one knew when the Feast of Trumpets would start. After the appearance of the New Moon was confirmed, then the Feast of Trumpets could begin, and the rest of the Fall Feasts could be accurately calculated from that date. The Feast of Trumpets is also considered a High Sabbath, and no work is to be done. Therefore, all preparations for the Feast of Trumpets had to be made in advance. Since no one knew the exact day of the New Moon's appearance, it kept people in a continual state of alertness. They knew approximately when the New Moon would reveal itself, but they did not know the exact hour of its appearance.
Watchfulness was a critical ingredient of this feast. The rabbis later added a second day to this feast to make sure they didn't miss it. This need for watchfulness and preparedness in connection with the Feast of Trumpets is echoed and reechoed throughout the New Testament in connection with the Lord's coming:
"Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. Matthew 24:42 NASB
The Seventh Month--we should see immediately the significance of the seventh month. As the seventh month this month was set aside as a Sabbath month. Yahweh had ordained the seventh day as the Sabbath day, the day of rest (Exodus 20:8-11). The Sabbath Day was to be a day of rest and remembrance of what God had done. Not only was there to be a Sabbath Day, but also a Sabbath Year (Lev 25:1-7), and a year of Jubilee (Lev 25:8-17), the year following seven sevens of years.
The Sabbath Year and the Year of Jubilee were times of rest, redemption, and freedom. During both times, everyone rested. During the sixth year, God promised a triple portion, enough to carry the people over for the seventh and eighth years.
The seventh month was special in the same way. During the seventh month, the very special Fall Feasts occurred: the Feasts of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Nearly the entire month was set aside for these three feasts.
What is special about the blowing of trumpets? There are basically two kinds of trumpets in Israel: Trumpets made of ram's horns, or the shofar (show-far), and silver trumpets.
The shofar was a curved trumpet fashioned from a ram's horn. In the Hebrew language, the shofar (ram's horn trumpet) was clearly distinguished from a keren, the "horn of an animal," when not used as a musical instrument. The ram's horn came from some type of sacrifice from the bullock or the ram. The ram's horns were especially used to blast out the note of shouting at the fall of the walls of Jericho. It was the trumpet of Jubliee. Trumpets constructed from cows' horns were rejected due to the reminder of Israel's idolatrous worship of the golden calf in the wilderness. The ram's horn was seen as a much more pleasant reminder of God's deliverance of Isaac through the ram caught by its horns in the thicket.
When the Lord designated the first of Tishri as a "day of blowing" and a "memorial of blowing," the type of trumpet for the Feast of Trumpets was not specifically identified. Almost without exception, historical observance and rabbinic tradition specified the shofar (ram's horn), not the silver trumpets of the priests, as the primary instrument intended by Scripture.
Perhaps the original reason for specifying the ram's horn is to be found in the announcement of the Jubilee Year. Scripture designated the shofar (ram's horn), not the trumpet fashioned from precious metal, as the trumpet to be blown on Yom Kippur.
Every 50th year, this shofar announced the arrival of the Jubilee Year in which the slaves were freed and the fields were given rest from the farming cycle.
Apart from the sacrificial ceremony, the trumpet had several uses for the nation of Israel. The two main uses were to gather an assembly before the Lord, and it sounded an alarm to warn the people of that which was coming (Numbers 10:2-4,9).
The Feast of Trumpets is Israel's dark day. It occured at the New Moon when the primary night light of the heavens is darkened. Israel's prophets repeatedly warned of a coming day of judgment for the nation. It was called "the Day of Yahweh." It was to occur at the end of the Jewish age. The Day of Yahweh was a time when Yahweh poured out His wrath upon Israel.
The prophet Amos spoke of this dark day of judgment:
Alas, you who are longing for the day of the LORD, For what purpose will the day of the LORD be to you? It will be darkness and not light; As when a man flees from a lion And a bear meets him, Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall And a snake bites him. Will not the day of the LORD be darkness instead of light, Even gloom with no brightness in it? Amos 5:18-20 NASB
We see in Joel that the Trumpet was used to usher in the Day of Yahweh:
Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the LORD is coming; Surely it is near, Joel 2:1 NASB
We mentioned earlier that the Feast of Trumpets is the only feast day to begin when the moon is dark. Notice what Zephaniah says:
Near is the great day of the LORD, Near and coming very quickly; Listen, the day of the LORD! In it the warrior cries out bitterly. A day of wrath is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of trumpet and battle cry Against the fortified cities And the high corner towers. Zephaniah 1:14-16 NASB
This passage from Zephaniah is only one of many which speaks of the Day of Yahweh as a day of darkness, and a day when the shofar sounds.
As the darkening of the moon in the night heavens announced the Feast of Trumpets, so too, the heavens were to be divinely darkened as the Day of Yahweh commenced:
"The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. Joel 2:31 NASB
In the New Testament, the trumpet was to be blown at the resurrection:
"And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. Matthew 24:31 NASB
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:52 NASB
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 NASB
Paul equates the resurrection with the sound of God's shofar. What are the similarities between the resurrection and the Feast of Trumpets? First, they both were to occur on an unknown and undetermined day and hour. Second, they both were to be announced by the sounding of the shofar.
If we put all of these together, can we begin to see the significance of the shofar on this very special feast day? We know that the Spring Feasts were fulfilled with the death, and resurrection of Yeshua and the birth of the Church.
Yeshua, the Lamb of God, fulfilled the Passover when He was offered as a sacrifice for our sins on the Feast of Passover. He fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread when He delivered His people from their sins. He fulfilled First Fruits when He was resurrected. We know that the Feast of Weeks was fulfilled with the beginning of the New Covenant, fifty days later. The four Spring Feasts were fulfilled in Yeshua's first coming, and the three Fall Feasts were fulfilled at His Second Coming in A.D. 70.
The blast of the shofar is a type of that blast which called the faithful home to be with the Lord, but it is also a type of the shofar that was blasted to call judgment on the nation Israel who refused to come to Christ. In short, we see the Feast of Trumpets fulfilled at the resurrection of the dead, which immediately precedes the Day of Yahweh. Both are heralded by the blast of the shofar.
The Bible often speaks of men and angels blowing trumpets, yet only twice is it recorded that Yahweh blows a trumpet. In both instances it is the shofar. The first occasion was at Mt. Sinai when the Lord revealed Himself from Heaven and prepared to bring the nation under the Old Covenant. The Shekinahglory of the Yahweh descended with a fiery tempest and with the sound of the shofar (Exodus 19:18-20).
The second occasion on which Yahweh blew the SHOFAR (Ram's horn) was at the Messiah's return. The Lord descended from Heaven with the whirlwind, the clouds of His glory, fire, and the SOUND OF THE TRUMPET. The prophet Zechariah declares:
Then the LORD will appear over them, And His arrow will go forth like lightning; And the Lord GOD will blow the trumpet, And will march in the storm winds of the south. Zechariah 9:14 NASB
The ancient rabbis repeatedly quoted this verse in connection with the coming of the Messiah: "And it is the ram's horn that the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to blow when the son of David, our righteous One, will reveal Himself, as it is said: 'And the Lord our God will blow the horn.'" (Tanna debe Eliyahu Zutta XXII)
Here is an interesting side note: ancient Jewish tradition held that the resurrection of the dead would occur on Rosh Hashanah. Reflecting this tradition, Jewish gravestones were often engraved with a SHOFAR. God's last trump and the resurrection of the righteous are intricately connected in the New Testament:
Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 NASB
Most of us recognize this event as the resurrection, but few of us identify it with the Feast of Trumpets. Paul was a highly educated man of God's Torah and understood the Messianic fulfillment's of the Feasts of Yahweh. Paul understood how Messiah was the fulfillment of Passover and First Fruits, and Paul also recognized Messiah's future fulfillment of the Fall Feasts.
I think that it is also interesting that, according to Jewish tradition, the gates of Heaven are opened on Rosh HaShanah so the righteous nation may enter. This doesn't prove anything, but it's interesting that the Jews saw that day as the day the righteous entered heaven.
These last three feasts are a little harder to nail down as to their anti-type, because they have no Scriptural reference as to their fulfillment. The Bible is silent about their New Covenant fulfillment, because no books of the Bible were written after A.D. 70. But we know that the pattern set by the Spring Feasts is continued in the Fall Feasts.
We see the type of this feast, in Joshua chapter 6, with the destruction of Jericho at the end of the forty year exodus. SEVEN priests, with the Ark of God in the midst, marched with seven trumpets around the wall of Jericho for 6 days. ON the SEVENTH DAY they marched around SEVEN TIMES. At the close of the march, the trumpets were blown, the people shouted, and God caused the walls of Jericho to collapse. The victory was COMPLETE.
The events of Jericho offered a graphic image and actual prophecy of events at the close of the Jewish age, forty years after Pentecost, when there were seven angels with seven trumpets of doom and judgment:
And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Revelation 8:2 NASB
At that time the great and powerful city of Babylon (Jerusalem) suddenly fell:
standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.' Revelation 18:10 NASB
Accompanied by a great shouting in heaven:
"Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her." Revelation 18:20 NASB
The name "Joshua" is from the Hebrew yehoshua. The name Joshua sometimes appears in its shortened form as "Yeshua" (Neh. 8:17). As in Joshua the destruction of the city came at the sound of the trumpets, so at the end of the Jewish age the destruction of Jerusalem came as Yeshua sounded the trumpet.
Another name for Rosh HaShanah is 'Yom HaDin', the Day of Judgment. The righteous are separated and will be with God. This is known to Bible believers as the resurrection. The wicked unbelieving Jews faced the wrath of God in Israel's fall, during the tribulation period.
We see the spiritual anti-type of the Feast of Trumpets in the fall of Jerusalem and the return of Christ in A.D. 70. Thus at the blowing of the trumpet, in Matthew 24, the scene was set, and Christ fulfilled the feast. Guess what month it was when Jerusalem fell? (Tishrei usually occurs in September-October on the Gregorian calendar). "The city was taken on September 8, A.D. 70, after the last siege had lasted about five months" (Josephus, vol. 1, p. 467). (Pastor David B. Curtis of Berean Bible Church, VA).
“Filled with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth…” (v. 5)
David Chilton points out that originally the fire for the altar came down from heaven (Lev. 9:24; 2 Chron. 7:1) and was to be kept burning by the priests to be used to start other holy fires (Lev. 16:12-13; Num. 16:46-50; Gen. 22:6). In some cases when Israel was commanded to blow the trumpet and destroy an apostate city, she was to bring all the booty out of that city that would be used as kindle to burn the entire city before the LORD as a burnt offering (Deut. 13:16; Jud. 20:40; Gen. 19:28). Jerusalem having become an apostate city in rejecting her Messiah, would now be burned with the holy fire of God. One would either accept the sacrifice of Yeshua as the Lamb of God, or become a sacrifice burned with God’s all consuming fire (Chilton, Days of Vengeance, pp. 232).
“…a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea…” (v. 8)
Israel was once God’s “Holy Mountain” (Ex. 15:17) but through her killing her Messiah and shedding the blood of His saints, Apostles and Prophets He sent to her, she had become like Babylon or a “destroying mountain” who once persecuted Israel in the OT (Jer. 51:25, 42). After cursing the fig tree (which was symbolic of Israel), Yeshua taught the disciples that if they had faith they could “…say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it shall happen.” (Mt. 21:21-22). Here we see those imprecatory prayers of the martyrs and persecuted saints being answered as Old Covenant apostate Israel was uprooted and cast in the sea (i.e. judged in AD 70) and to never return in her Old Covenant earthly existence.
Revelation 9
Chapter nine continues the blowing of the fifth trumpet which describes the same judgment, but introducing the Abyss motif. In Daniel, “watchers” and angelic beings are very much involved in the warfare of nations – especially when they involve God’s covenant people and the protection of the remnant. While the demonic are very active in the three warring factions within Jerusalem tearing it apart, chapter nine also emphasizes the demonic working through the Romans to come against Jerusalem.
In Matthew 12 Jesus delivers a man from demon possession and is then accused by the religious rulers that He is done this through the power of Beelzebub. Jesus informs these children of the devil, that He in fact is plundering the strong man (and by extension their “fathers”) “house” (Mt. 12:22-30) through this process. In verse 43-45 Jesus uses this on an individual level with corporate overtones involving an exhortation of their “this generation” to repent or God will send seven more spirits to torment the man’s “house.” Gentry quoting F.F. Bruce notes that within 40 years of their generation,
“Titus began the siege of Jerusalem in April, 70. The defenders held out desperately for five months, but by the end of August the temple area was occupied and the holy house burned down” (cf. Wars 5).” (Gentry, Four Views of Revelation, p. 61).
However, commentators have pointed out that the common lifespan of the locust is five months–from May to September. Josephus in Wars 5 describes how the wicked Jews refused to repent during this time period and desired death in the midst of famine and starvation.
Gentry sees verse 14-16 describing the angels participating in the judgment who were seen in the sky riding upon chariots during the siege citing Josephus, a Jewish historian and Tacitus, a Roman historian. He also sees the description found in verse 17 as the four Roman legions of soldiers that had been sent to the west side of Jerusalem,
“Here we discover the implements of the fiery destruction that Jerusalem will undergo from the Roman’s armored horsemen, iron-plated towers, battering rams, and catapults, producing their fire and smoke (a description of the Roman armament appears in Wars 3.5.2, 5-6; 6.2).” (Ibid., 63-64).
Despite John’s focus on the third of the land being the subject and Revelation following the tribulation and wrath that would come upon that generation through the Roman armies, sensationalist “prophecy experts” such as Hal Lindsey and Chuck Smith claim Revelation 9:16-19 is describing a global catastrophe involving the alleged future invasion of China’s boasted 2 million strong military force. This section is also an alleged description of modern day warfare by John who is attempting to describe it by first century language. John is alleged to be describing attack Cobra helicopters, missiles, and modern-day warfare technology. Then of course there is the “out of this world” “interpretation” of Charles Ryrie whom claimed John is trying to describe a U.F.O. war machine!
As to the so-called reference here to China’s 2 million army invasion Chuck Smith sensationally claims to know this is the army in view by writing,
“We are speaking here of a huge army of two hundred million. Do you realize how impossible this was until recent times? How cold any nation or combination of nations in the world field an army of two hundred million people? It was only in 1860 that the earth reached a population of one billion Even if every available man alive at the time of John’s writing had been mustered, they couldn’t have fielded an army of two hundred million.
Today China boasts that she’s able to put an army of two hundred million on the field. Isn’t that an interesting figure? Why didn’t China say 150 million or 175 million or 201 million? Time magazine reported that China declares that she can now field an army of two hundred million. And John sees this great army.”
As usual Smith looks to contemporary newspaper headlines and Time Magazine to interpret the Olivet discourse and the Book of Revelation instead of allowing the Bible to interpret itself! A more Biblical approach would be to understand the doubling of the myriads of myriads to be referring to an innumerable or “too many to count” reference as in 5:11 and 7:9. This is the majority opinion among the commentators from a wide rage of eschatological views, and one we would agree with,
The symbol is, no doubt, chosen to signify power, of which horsemen or cavalry are an emblem. Were two hundred thousand thousand; or, twice myriads of myriads (of. Jude 14–16, which is a quotation from Enoch; also Dan. 7:10). The number is, of course, not to be taken literally, but as signifying an exceeding great multitude.
G.K. Beale notes that the number “twice ten thousand” does not occur in Biblical literature elsewhere but writes without exception,
“…(“ten thousand”) designates an incalculable immensity wherever it is used without any numerical adjective. In the LXX the plural also has a figurative connotation of an innumerable, indefinite host (Gen. 24:60; Lev. 26:8; Num. 10:35[36]; Deut. 23:30; 33:2, 17; 1 Kgs. 18:7-8; 21:12[11]; Ps. 3:7[6]; Cant. 5:10; Sir. 47:6; Mic. 6:7; Dan. 7:10; in Ps. 90[91]:7 the singular is used figuratively). Noteworthy is 1 En. 40:1, where a figurative meaning is explicitly stated as a development of Dan. 7:10 (“ten thousands of ten thousands,” to which Rev. 5:11 also alludes): “I saw thousands of thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand, I saw a multitude beyond number and reckoning” (cf. 1 En. 60:1;…” “…The same is true in other early Jewish and Christian writings (Philo, De Agricltura 35, 113; Josephus, Ant. 7.318; 1 En. 1:9; 14:22; Sib. Or.4.139; Luke 12:1; Acts 21:20; Heb. 12:22; Jude 14; 1 Clemet 34:6.” “…Therefore, a figurative meaning is demanded by a literal translation of the number, since its plural forms leave it too indefinitely stated to be calculated precisely…” (Beale, Revelation, 509).
We prefer to stick to a grammatical historical hermeneutic that allows the Bible to interpret itself in these matters rather than Time Magazine! What we have here is a description of a multitude of demonic forces influencing the Roman armies to attack Jerusalem. Chilton gives a concise summary of this chapter,
“Thus, to sum up the idea: An innumerable army is advancing upon Jerusalem from the Euphrates, the origin of Israel’s traditional enemies; it is a fierce, hostile, demonic force sent by God in answer to His people’s prayers for vengeance. In short, this army is the fulfillment of all the warnings in the law and the prophets of an avenging horde sent to punish the Covenant-breakers. The horrors described in Deuteronomy 28 were to be visited upon this evil generation (see especially verses 49—68). Moses had declared: You shall be driven mad by the sight of what you see (Deut. 28:34). (Chilton, Revelation, 251-252).
Indeed, the fulfillment of all that the Old Testament prophets had predicted as far as salvation for the elect and judgment upon Jerusalem would no longer be delayed as we learn in the following chapter.
Revelation 10
In Revelation 10:4 we see something that seems out of place from what we have read thus far in the Revelation. John is told to seal up one aspect of the vision and not reveal it. Since thunders and trumpets can be symbolic of warning for the wicked, it is possible that because the wicked have rejected the last 6 trumpets and warnings, God is saying withhold this warning from them because the time of fulfillment is so close - "there will be no more delay." Or it is simply another way of saying "the secret things belong to the Lord." Or as Paul put it when he was caught up to the third heaven and saw things that just couldn't be explained.
As there was a brief intermission or parenthesis between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals in describing the judgment scene upon old-covenant Jerusalem, so there is a parenthesis here between the sixth and seventh trumpets which involves the angel with the little scroll and the two witnesses which take up sections 10:1-11:13. In chapter ten we are introduced to an angel standing on the land and the sea preaching the gospel. We are told this involves the fulfillment or “accomplishment” of the “mystery of God” as revealed and predicted by the “prophets” in verses 1-7.
The sounding of the trumpet carries with it the concept of warning and the need to repent. In Biblical imagery, the land represents Israel and the sea the Gentiles. This corresponds to the “mystery” as far as the gospel is the peaceful union of both Jew and Gentile “in Christ” (Rms. 11:25; 16:25; 1Cor. 2:7; 15:51; Ephs. 1-3; 5-6; Col. 1:26-27; 2:2; 4:3; 1Tim. 3:9, 16). Here we are having a flash back to the period of the great commissions fulfillment described for us in (Mt.24:14; 28:18-20/Mrk. 16:15-18; Acts 1:7-8; 2:5 à Cols. 1:5-6, 23-24; Rms. 10:18; 16:25-26). This is now taking place just before the end of the old-covenant age and right before the judgment of Jerusalem in AD 66 - 70.
Gentry in his writings gives very little attention to Relation 10 but does write,
“Revelation promises there will no longer be “delay” (10:6). The ad hoc nature of the book demands a preterist approach.” (Gentry, Four Views, Ibid., 43).
Mathison states,
“With the destruction of the temple, the mystery will be finished (Eph. 3:4-6). (Mathison, Postmillennialism, 151).
What Gentry and Mathison do not want to address here is that Revelation 10:7 and Jesus in Luke 21:22, are clearly teaching that ALL prophecy (of the Old Testament prophets [which foretold the judgment & resurrection] and New Testament prophets) would be fulfilled in Jesus’ “this generation” and would not be delayed!
Mathison quotes (Eph. 3:4-6) in connection with the fulfillment of the “mystery” here in Revelation 10, but our text is concerned with the consummative and maturing fulfillment of this mystery. The point is that the “heirs” were “about to” receive the “glory” the prophets foretold and the reception of the resurrection and new creation is the context and that of the NT (Rms. 8:17-23 YLT; Rev. 1:19YLT; 20-22:6-7, 10-12, 20).
Chilton even before converting to the Full Preterist view understood to some degree that this chapter introduces us to the first great “climax of the prophecy” as “…declared to be completed with the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet…”
“…it is a day of creating heaven and earth and consummating a temple of God…” “The sounding of the seventh angel will be the irrefutable sign that the promised New Creation, the New Covenant, is an accomplished fact. The great mystery of God—the completion and filling of His new and final Temple – will have been revealed to the world (11:15-19).”
And again connecting 10:6-7 with 11:15 Chilton writes,
“in conformity with the Biblical pattern uniting the ideas of Sabbath and consummation, the Trumpet of the seventh angel announces that “the mystery of God has been fulfilled and accomplished (cf. 10:6-7).” (Chilton, Ibid., 267-268, 286).
The consummation of prophecy through the prophets is what is in view here and Partial Preterists such as Mathison and Gentry need to stop “adding” to the prophecy of Revelation. There is no “inaugurating” another great commission, end of another age, which allegedly climaxes in the passing of another “first creation” at another second coming to end time per their views. Revelation knows of no such modern creedally imposed concepts.
To read the entire 7-part series follow the links below:
Revelation Fulfilled by AD 70 Part 1 – Pre-AD 70 Dating:
https://michaelsullivan.substack.com/p/revelation-fulfilled-by-ad-70-part/comments?r=17mhb1
Revelation Fulfilled by AD 70 Part 2 – How Futurists Twist the Meaning of “Soon,” “Shortly,” “About to be” and “no more delay” in the Book of Revelation and NT Imminence in General:
Revelation Fulfilled by AD 70 Part 3 – Revelation 1-4: Parallels with Matthew 24-25, Recapitulation, Symbolism, Theme & Rewards (Eternal Life) Given in New Creation at Christ’s “Soon” Coming:
Revelation Fulfilled by AD 70 Part 4 – Revelation 5-10:
Revelation Fulfilled by AD 70 Part 5 – Revelation 11-13:
Revelation Fulfilled by AD 70 Part 6 – Revelation 14-19:
Revelation Fulfilled by AD 70 Part 7 – Revelation 20-22: