In this article we move on and discuss a few more critical matters which hold millions of believers in ignorance and kept there by vast numbers of false teachers and misled pastors. These matters are supremely important, going to the heart of the gospel of the Kingdom of God.
Last time we saw why John sent the Revelation to the 7 churches. It was so they might have knowledge of the current situation and the things which will happen soon after them. The Lord wished to prepare them for the devasting time that was about to be poured upon Jerusalem and the land (Greek epi tes ges):
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour outon the land the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” Rev 16:1.
And also, by comforting His people, confirming that His promised return was imminent:
He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming shortly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Rev 22:20
The wrath of the Lord was about to prevail on Jerusalem for the slaughter of the His disciples. As Jesus had warned before His death:
“Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, 35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. Mat 23:34-36
These dreadful consequences which were soon to take place on Jerusalem. These were recorded in shocking detail by the Jewish historian Flavious Josephus. He recorded the horrific details of the three and a half years long siege of Jerusalem by the Romans –just as they were foretold by Jesus.
The wrath of God was clearly seen poured out on the city and its temple at the time of John and the seven churches of Asia. Most Christians and their pastors today have ignored the clear historical evidence and preferring other explanations that have no place in the time when John wrote.
Again, let us now go back to the time of the Vision. Looking at the scene we see the great harlot signifying the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They had persecuted and killed the preachers of the Gospel.
And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly. And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. Rev 17:6-7.
We know that Stephen was the first to meet his death, by the heads of the Jewish Council, not by the Romans. There were more to come. The woman was manifested to John as drunk with their blood.
2 And he [the angel] cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. Rev18:2
This recalls Jesus’ words about the complete demonic possession that would come upon the generation of Israel to which He had come. He spoke of the evil spirit cast out, ‘it goes and takes seven other spirits, and they go and dwell there, and the last state of that man become worse than at first. So it will be also be with this evil generation.” Mat: 12:45.
The inhabitants of Jerusalem suffered for three and a half years trapped in the city after the saints had made their escape from the city and Judea. As Jesus had prophesied on this way to the cross, “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but for yourselves, and your children. For behold, days are coming, in the which they shall say, blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the breasts that never gave suck. Then shall they say to the mountains, fall on us; and to the hills, cover us.” Luke 23:27-30.
Jesus had this awful scene in mind when He prophesied this to these women. They will see it fulfilled in their lifetime 40 years hence. “Then shall they say to the mountains, fall on us; and to the hills, cover us and hide us from the face of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath has come: and we not able to stand”. Rev: 6:16-17. Notice how Luke 23:27-30 matches perfectly with this passage in Revelation.
Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, “Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. 2 Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread underfoot the holy city for forty-two months. Rev 11:1-2
John was shown the judgment that was coming. That is why John’s book must be dated before Jerusalem fell in AD 70. I mentioned this early dating in my first and preceding post i.e., before the destruction of Jerusalem. Here, in this passage we have here solid proof of the early date. This popular belief of a date 20 years later has led to a most serious error –most Christians are still looking for the fulfilment of the events that Jesus prophesied 2000 years ago! So, what we read in the first chapter of Revelation is totally ignored.
John is told to measure the altar and the worshippers. So, that shows that the temple was still functioning. Those worshipping in the temple were those who clung to the Old Covenant about to end. He was to measure the worshippers because they were to be judged and destroyed along with the temple.
The Gentiles here referred to the Roman armies who were about to send plunder and obliterate Jerusalem for 42 months, from 66 AD to 70 AD. That proves again that the Revelation had to be written before 70 AD! Notice also, that Revelation 11:1-3 is the fulfilment of Jesus’ words in Luke’s gospel.
20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. 21 Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; 22 because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great disruption the land and wrath to this people; and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Luke 21: 20-24.
These are Jesus’ words to the disciples and part of the Olivet Discourse. They match what John wrote in the Revelation. Also, John in the Revelation was shown that Jesus’ words “times of the Gentiles” in the Gospel of Luke referred to 42 months period reference to the same prophetic period of three and a half years.
In closing, a brief look at the letters warnings from Christ given to the seven churches. First to Ephesus: repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent. Rev 2:5. Smyrna
And also, to Pergamum 2:16: repent; or else I am coming to you quickly
Thyatira 2:25: the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
Sardis3:3: if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come
Philadelphia 3:11: I am coming quickly
Finally, those famous words to Laodicea 3:19-20. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
Let us be sure we Repent and we will Dine with Him.
Ian Thomson 