The Date

 

 

We talked about Jesus’ return

Though we didn’t know when

But we did know somethings would happen

Just before then.

 

John was clear in his letters

Concerning the things that would happen,

And Jesus as he spoke to his disciples

They felt quite threatened.

 

They were going to lose their temple

And their beloved Jerusalem,

These were two of the major things

That would happen to them.

 

As we gazed at the temple

We just could not believe

That this would happen to our place of worship,

We were quite grieved.

 

As a matter of fact, we quizzed the Master

Concerning the date

And we got the distinct impression

It would be sooner rather than late.

 

What really got through to us

Was when he gave us the time frame

That some of us would be alive…

And I thought, “Who could be so insane?”

 

This temple was our life

And it was our connection with God

And, the fact that the Master was leaving,

Had already left us in awe.

 

Not long after that unsettling discourse

The Master was crucified

But he rose from triumphantly from the dead

As we ourselves testified.

 

Thereafter we watched him as he ascended

And we thought of what he had said

About the horrid events that were coming

When not all of us would be dead.

 

So that when we heard from John

About his experience on Patmos isle,

We were even more convinced that all these things

Would happen in a relatively short while.

 

We were under intense persecution

From many of our fellow Jews

And they became more and more incensed

As we preached the Good News.

 

The Master warned that they would hate us

Since they had hated him

And just as he had said, their view of him

Became more and more dim.

 

 

Revelation 17:3

 

The apostle John pointed to seven heads-

The first would have to be Julius Caesar,

Five of them had fallen and one was

Which led to Nero, the present Emperor.

 

Galba Caesar would follow Nero

But would remain only for a short while

And one only need to check Jewish history

In which this matter is filed.

 

The temple was destroyed in AD 70

And Jerusalem was laid waste,

This happened after Nero Caesar had died

And this can be easily traced.

 

Emperor Nero died in AD 68

The sixth Caesar on the apostle John’s list

So, the temple would have to be standing;

That we ought not to have missed.

 

It would have to be the second temple

That John had written about,

The one that Herod had refurbished-

Of this there should be little doubt.

 

Revelation 11:1-2

 

He was told to measure the temple

Hence, there must have been one,

Tell me, what would have been the sense

To measure a temple that was gone?

 

The temple must have been standing

When John wrote the book,

Hence, this would have to be before AD 70

Just take another look.

 

 

Luke 21:24 and Revelation 11:2

 

Then they are the parallel passages

Found in Revelation 11 and Luke 21

In which both Jesus and the Apostle John

Pointed to when the temple would be gone.

 

Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles

Until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

The echoing of this in Revelation 11:2

Suggests the temple was standing still.

 

The temple would cease to stand in AD 70

The culmination of a forty-two months attack,

Read Revelation chapter 11 and verse 2

To ascertain this fact.

 

John must have been referring to Jesus

As it pertains to this event,

The accuracy of apostle John’s reference

Could not be mere coincidence.

 

History shows from 67 AD to August AD 70

War was raged on the Holy City,

Therein would be our three and half years

As stated in John’s prophecy.

 

Therein is fulfilment of the Gentile’s time

As spoken by both Jesus and John,

Now the spreading of the Gospel could take place

Since the Jewish temple is gone.

 

Matthew 24:13

 

And this gospel of the kingdom

shall be preached in all the world

for a witness unto all nations;

and then shall the end come.

 

The date must have been before AD 65

When the book of Revelation was written,

It must have been when we consider

The period when all these things happened.

 

All these things must happen, said Jesus,

Before the end is come,

The coming judgment on the Jews

And the setting up of the kingdom.

 

Matthew 24:32-33

 

So likewise ye,

when ye shall see all these things,

know that it is near, 

even at the doors.

 

Verily I say unto you,

This generation shall not pass,

till all these things be fulfilled.

 

Revelation 3:9

 

Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan,

which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie;

behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet,

and to know that I have loved thee.

 

Romans 2:28-29

 

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly;

neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:

But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly;

and circumcision is that of the heart,

in the Spirit, and not in the letter;

whose praise is not of men, but of God.

 

John 8:39

 

They answered and said unto him,

Abraham is our father.

Jesus saith unto them, 

If ye were Abraham's children,

ye would do the works of Abraham.

 

Galatians 3:29

 

And if ye be Christ's,

then are ye Abraham's seed,

and heirs according to the promise.

 

Two dates are in contention

For the writing of the book of Revelation,

The more popular date has been AD 95

But AD 65 is gaining in consideration.

 

This earlier date is based on information

As shown in this conversation;

Most of which comes from the book itself-

That book being the book of Revelation.

 

John wrote to seven churches

That were experiencing great persecution

And he addressed the said churches

As “brother and companion in tribulation”.

 

Matthew 16:28

 

Verily I say unto you,

There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death,

till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

 

That he was sharing in their tribulation

There is therefore no doubt

And the fact that he was still alive

Should bear this all out.

 

 

John is said to have died in AD 100

At the ripe old age of 93 or 94,

Hence, he was one of them still standing

As Jesus had spoken of before.

 

Stewart Russell © March 10, 2021