The views taken in these blogs represent the earlier dating of John’s Revelation of Jesus Christ that centers around the destruction of Jerusalem. We have chosen to accept the testimony of the historical writing of Josephus over that of Ireneaus, who along with other “church fathers,” was largely responsible for the establishment of Christianity.
John was told to measure the city and temple. We are introduced to two witnesses whom we have identified as the two high priests in Jerusalem during the siege — Ananus and Jesus. After finishing their testimony, the beast that comes out of the Abyss, which is the same as the one coming out of…
The significance of two witnesses is to confirm the accuracy of whatever is claimed as being true. According to the Law of Moses, no accusation should be accepted on the testimony of only one witness (Deut. 17:6; 19:15; Num. 35:30). We see this reappear in other contexts of Scripture for the same reason (Matthew 18:16;…
As noted in our last blog, the trodding of the holy city for forty-two months represents the profanation of the temple by the seditious Jews and zealots who were led by John of Gishala during the Roman siege. However, a different prophecy is given by Jesus in Luke 21:24. Here He says, …
John was given a reed like a rod and was told to get up and measure the temple, the altar, and them that worship in it. Men used different standards to measure their activities to justify themselves. One common approach is to measure ourselves and compare ourselves to others that are like us or worse…
The strong angel was seen coming down out of heaven. This is not one of the seven with trumpets. This angel is, probably, the One mentioned in Revelation 1:1. Jesus Christ sent and signified the revelation to His angel. John had seen the Lamb take a scroll out of the right hand of Him who…
John hears a voice from the horns of the golden altar of incense that is before the throne. This alarm is the climax of the five-month siege. It said, “Loose the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates.” This river was the eastern boundary between Rome and the Parthians. Rome had launched…
The eagle that flew in the mid-heaven ends chapter eight, saying, “Woe, woe, woe for them that dwell on the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels who are set to sound” (8:13). These three woes sounded by the eagle coincide with the final three trumpets: the siege…
The seventh seal opens with four trumpets blown from four angels that reveal the judgment of God upon the Roman Empire. Interestingly, the first group of four were the four horsemen that depict the use of the Romans as God’s instrument of punishment upon the house of Israel and others who were in the path…
After the sealing of the 144,000, John sees a great multitude which no man could number, out of every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands. The gospel was and is the power of God unto salvation…
After the vision of the sixth seal, John saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow on the earth, sea, or upon any tree (7:1). For human beings, holding the wind is an expression of vanity. For God, however, He…