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 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 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.
There in 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 70
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
