Transcript

So, let's go ahead and start with a prayer in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Amen.

God, our Father, we thank you and we praise you for this wonderful opportunity to gather together as brothers and sisters in the name of your Son, Jesus, to meditate upon the holy Word of God, in particular the Book of Revelation.

As we meditate upon this great mystery and this great revelation, may our minds come to know you deeper, and may our hearts come to love you more.

We ask this in the name of your Son, Jesus, as we pray.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Okay, so the Book of Revelation.

Da, da, da, da!

Right?

Uh, a book that, as I mentioned, offer, there's so many different interpretations out there about, you know, the end of the world, and the Antichrist, and all of, uh, that good stuff.

Um, in this particular seminar, I'm going to offer an interpretation to you that's, uh, not quite as familiar for, to most people.

It's not quite as common, uh, among the TV evangelists out there, among the majority of biblical scholars within the scholarly world in interpreting the Book of Revelation.

Uh, there is a particular key that once you know the key, and once you see how the key fits, there's an interpretive key that literally unlocks the mystery for us.

And so, that's why I've entitled the seminar Unveiling the Mystery: A Catholic Study of the Book of Revelation.

And I'd like to start out by just giving you a brief outline overview of the seminar itself, and then we'll look at an outline or an overview of tonight's lesson as well.

So, uh, lesson one, I've entitled it the Beginning of the Unveiling, uh, which is tonight's session.

We're going to begin to unveil the great mystery of the Book of Revelation.

I'm gonna propose to you, uh, a, a, a suggested methodology of interpreting the Book of Revelation.

It's important to s- point out right at the get-go, uh, that there is no definitive church teaching on how to interpret the Book of Revelation.

So, Catholics are free to offer differing methods of interpretation of the Book of Revelation, et cetera.

Now, there are certain points in the book itself where we're going to see where the church has adopted into her, into her official teaching, particularly when we get to the liturgical images of the Book of Revelation.

But in regard to interpreting specific details, and the methodology of how to interpret the Book of Revelation, there is no official church position on it, okay?

I'm going to be offering to you, in this seminar, a particular type of method of interpreting known as the Preterist view, which sees the Book of Revelation as a prophecy that John is giving within its literal historical context.

That is, for the Christians in the first century, particularly before 70 A.D.

So, in tonight's lesson, I'm gonna show you, I'm gonna share with you this sort of Catholic posture, this posture with which we can approach the Book of Revelation.

So, tonight is sort of a, a whet your appetite, get your feet wet type of session for the rest of the five succeeding weeks, okay?

And what we're going to see is that the Book of Revelation is actually a revelation given to John, which is a prophecy of the impending judgment on Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

when Jerusalem was sieged by the Roman Empire, and the city was burnt along with Solomon's Temple.

I'm gonna give you evidence after evidence after evidence for the rest of the, uh, remaining weeks in this seminar that this is what John is prophesying about.

And there, and that's the, the literal historical context, that's the first level of interpretation, and then we can build on that literal historical context and see how certain truths can point to the future, and then we'll see how certain principles and truths found in this prophecy can apply to our life as well.

Mm-kay?

So, that's what we're gonna do basically tonight.

We're gonna be looking at, uh, evidence for this pre-70 dating, that it's a prophecy f- for the impending judgment on Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

We're gonna look at the theme of judgment, the theme of liturgy, and then we're gonna look at the identity of Jesus in chapter one.

Uh, what is John revealing to us in chapter one of his revelation about who Jesus Christ is?

So, that's tonight's lesson.

Next week, uh, we're gonna look at chapters two through six, looking at the letters, the seven letters written to the seven churches.

We're gonna see all of the liturgical details, and we're gonna look at the sealed scroll.

In lesson three, we're gonna review chapter seven through 12, looking at the restored Israel, the 144,000 that St. John writes about.

Uh, the seven trumpets that are blown.

What is the significance of these seven trumpets, and everything that takes place when the trumpets are blown?

And the great woman clothed with the sun, the moon underneath her feet, the crown of 12 stars upon her head, right, in Revelation chapter 12.

We'll be looking at that in lesson three.

In lesson four, we'll be covering chapters 13 through 16.

We'll be a- answering the question, who is the beast?

There are two beasts mentioned: a beast from the sea, a beast from the land.

Uh,What or who does these beasts refers refer to?

We're gonna look at the seven chalices being poured out, and everything that follows when those chalices are poured out.

And the fall of the great new Babylon, Fallen, fallen Babylon, St. John hears.

What is the new Babylon?

And lesson five, we're going to, uh, cover chapter 17 through 19, looking at the story of the great harlot city and the great wedding feast of the lamb.

What is the harlot city?

Who is the harlot?

The You know, we have this character of the harlot in the Book of Revelation.

To what or to whom does that refer?

Then we'll take a look at the wedding feast of the lamb, the marriage supper of the lamb.

The very words that you hear in mass, Behold the lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world.

Happy are those who are called to the supper of the lamb, we're gonna see where that comes from in the Book of Revelation chapter 19, and we're gonna do some exegesis and some study and some meditation on that revelation.

And finally, lesson six, we're gonna cover chapters 20 through 22.

We're gonna look at the millennial reign, the thousand-year reign of Jesus, right?

Is that a literal thousand-year reign of some golden age of Christ reigning on Earth, or does it refer to something else?

Like is it symbolic, perhaps maybe the church age, and so therefore we're in the millennial reign, we're in the thousand years?

We're gonna answer that question.

We're gonna look at the great white throne judgment and the revelation of the new Jerusalem, okay?

So that's just a brief overview of the seminar itself, six lessons going from chapter 1 through chapter 22.

We'll see how we do.

Amen?

Okay.

So as I mentioned, for tonight's lesson I've entitled it the beginning of the unveiling, to begin to unveil this great mystery, kinda giving you the interpretive key tonight.

That's my purpose.

So you can see in the introductory way what we're going to be doing for the remaining five succeeding weeks.

Tonight, we're gonna look at the authorship.

We'll start off with the authorship of the Book of Revelation.

We'll give evidence for the pre-70 dating of the Book of Revelation and show the clues that point to the fact that John is prophesying about the impending judgment on Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

by the Roman Empire.

We'll look at two major themes that sort of run throughout the whole Book of Revelation, the theme of liturgy and the theme of judgment.

And then finally, we'll look at the identity of Jesus in chapter 1. So let's dive right in with the authorship.

Who wrote the Book of Revelation?

Well, the common view, the common tradition of the church was that John the Apostle wrote the Book of Revelation.

However, there is an alternative theory.

There's a other John theory that's circulating out there among the scholarly world within universities and with certain Bible commentaries that it wasn't John the Apostle, that it was some other John.

And it first appeared in 250 A.D., goes all the way back to 250 A.D., where a Christian named Dionysius, in 250 A.D.

denied that John the Apostle wrote the Book of Revelation.

And the reasons that he and others after him have given is that the Book of Revelation seems totally different than John's gospel.

Like the gospel that John the Apostle wrote is totally different in style and in vocabulary than the Book of Revelation, and that's pretty obvious, right?

All you gotta do is read the two, and you can see that the Book of Revelation talks about beast and harlot and all of this, uh, cataclysmic imagery, sun los- m- uh, being red, and sun excuse me, moon being red, sun losing its light, all of that weird stuff, right?

That's not found in the Gospel of John.

So some will suggest that because of the different literary styles and genres, it must be two different authors.

So w- who are some of the other people that are suggested to be the author besides John the Apostle?

Well, the first possible candidate is John the Baptist.

Some have asserted that.

Secondly, John Mark.

Do you remember Mark who wrote the Gospel of Mark?

Well, his name is John Mark.

So some will suggest that, well, the author of the Book of Revelation, 'cause it says, I, John, would be John Mark possibly.

Some would say it's just an unknown prophet named John that we really don't know much about.

And then finally, some will just say, uh, it's an anonymous writer using the pseudonym of John, okay?

But what I wanna offer to you is I wanna offer reasons, evidence why we know that John the Apostle wrote the Book of Revelation which supports the traditional view of the authorship of the book.

And so the first reason is the consensus of the early church fathers who affirmed that John the Apostle is the author.

The first early church father is St. Justin the Martyr.

Around 150 A.D.

in his dialogue with Trypho, he writes the following, quote, There was a certain man with us whose name was John, one of the apostles of Christ who prophesied by a revelation that was made to him.

End quote.

Notice that this is John, one of the apostles, who prophesied in regard to his revelation.

Okay?

So St. Justin the Martyr believes John the Apostle wrote the Book of Revelation.

St. Irenaeus in 180 A.D.

writes the following.

When speaking about Revelation chapter 1, Irenaeus states, quote, When John could not endure the sight, the word revived him.

Christ reminded him that it was he upon whose bosom he had leaned at supper.

Close quote.So, what John is Irenaeus referring to?

The John who leaned his head upon the chest of Jesus at the Last Supper.

That's John the Apostle.

Irenaeus associates that John the Apostle with the author of the Book of Revelation, because that's the context in which Saint Irenaeus makes this statement.

Tertullian, an early Christian writer in the, uh, early 200s, right around 200 A.D., he writes the following, Now the Apostle John in the Apocalypse describes a sword which proceeded from the mouth of God as a doubly sharp two-edged one.

Close quote.

Now, what is the Apocalypse?

Well, Tertullian's referring to the Book of Revelation, because the Greek word that is the title for this prophecy of Saint John is apokalupsis, from which we get the English word apocalypse.

So in the older versions, the older English translations of the Bible, the Book of Revelation's title is apoc, The Apocalypse, right?

It's coming from the Greek title.

We say Revelation because apokalupsis in Greek means to reveal or to unveil, mm-kay?

So that's why it's called the Book of Revelation.

Uh, Saint Hippolytus, an early Christian writer, once again in the early 200s after Christ we read this, quote, For he sees within the Isle Patmos a revelation of awful mysteries which he c- recounts freely and makes known to others.

Tell me, Blessed John, Apostle and Disciple of the Lord, what didst thou see and hear concerning Babylon?

Close quote.

All right?

So it's as if Saint Hippolytus is talking to Saint John, and he identifies John, the one who had the revelation on the Isle at Patmos, the Isle of Patmos, Saint Hippolytus identifies that John as John an Apostle, John the Apostle.

And then finally, Saint Jerome, uh, who writes in the early 400s, late 300s to the early 400s, Saint Jerome writes the following, quote, Apostle because he wrote to the churches as a master, and evangelist because he composed a Gospel, a prophet for he saw in the Island of Patmos an Apocalypse.

Close quote.

So that author who wrote the Book of Revelation, who was exiled on the Island at Patmos, what John does Saint Jerome identify him as Apostle, the one who composed a Gospel.

So we see from the early church fathers that the traditional church understand, the traditional understanding of John the Apostle being the author of the Book of Revelation is affirmed.

So the first reason why we know John the Apostle wrote the Book of Revelation is because it's affirmed by the early church fathers.

The second reason, John the Apostle was the one who had authority over the area of Asia Minor according to the ancient tradition.

The area of Asia Minor to which the seven letters were written and the prophecy was given, it was John the Apostle who had authority over that area, uh, where the local churches were.

So it makes sense that John the Apostle would be the one writing those letters to those local churches as the bishop, as the shepherd of that region.

Reason number three, the author identifies himself as John without qualification.

In Revelation 1:1, To his servant John.

In Revelation 1:4, John to the seven churches.

Revelation 1:9, I, John.

Notice how he identifies himself as John without qualification.

If you're in the first century, if you're in first century Christianity within the region of Asia Minor and you read about John, who's the first John that's gonna come to mind?

John the Apostle, who's the bishop of that local area.

And this author speaks of himself as John without qualification, so it's reasonable con, to conclude that this John is John the Apostle, the one who is overseer of the seven churcher- churches in Asia Minor.

Reason number four, just because the Book of Revelation and the Gospel of John are two different literary genres doesn't necessitate different authors, right?

For example, Blessed Pope John Paul II, who's feast day we celebrate today, I believe.

Blessed Pope John Paul II is known for writing all sorts of different types of literature.

For example, his famous Jeweler's Shop, which is a three act play, that reads a heck of a lot different than his encyclical Fides et Ratio, some highfalutin' philosophical, theological stuff.

Amen?

So that's two different forms of literature, but same author.

So just because the Book of Revelation and the Gospel of John are two different styles of literary genre, it doesn't negate the fact that it's the same John who wrote both.

And finally, reason number five why the Book of Revelation is written by John the Apostle is because there are indeed literary parallels between the Book of Revelation and the Gospel of John.

We see various images, various details that we find present in both the Book of Revelation and in John.

So I'm gonna just kinda run down through them here.

You see 'em on the PowerPoint you have your hand out, so we're just gonna kinda go through them.

The first is Jesus as the word.

Remember in John 1:1, In the beginning was the word, the word was with God, the word was God, right?

Well, in Revelation 19:13 we read about how Jesus is the word of God.

So we see that paralleling and present in both works.

Jesus as the lamb.

Remember John 1:21, John the Baptist, Jo-, excuse me, John 1:29, John the Apostle records John the Baptist saying to Jesus, Behold the Lamb of God, right?

Well, in Revelation chapter five we read about Jesus being what?

A lamb, the Lamb of God.Christian worship in the spirit is another theme present in both works.

Remember in John 4:23, when Jesus is talking to the Samaritan woman at the well, he talks about how there will be the day that will come when we will worship in spirit and in truth?

Well, that same theme is found in Revelation 1:10, where St. John says, I was caught up in the Spirit.

Same motif.

Another example, salvation is seen as a gift, uh, of living water.

In John 4:14, once again, when Jesus is talking to the Samaritan woman at the well, Salvation is the gift of living water.

We also see it in Revelation 21:6, l- a, a river of living water flowing out of the new temple, the new Jerusalem in heaven.

Another example, Jesus is the true giver of the true is the giver of the true manna.

Remember, Jo- Jesus told us about that in John 6:48-50 in his bread of life discourse.

He said, I am the true bread that comes down from heaven.

Your fathers ate manna in the desert, they died.

He who eats this bread shall live forever, right?

Jesus identifies himself as the true manna.

When Revelation 2:17, guess what St. John says?

There in the heavenly temple, I saw the hidden manna.

So you have the motif of the theme of manna present in both works.

Another example, w- the mother of Jesus plays a po- a prominent role, has a prominent place in both of these works.

In John 19:26-27, St. John records how the mother of Jesus is at the foot of the cross.

In Revelation 12:17, what does St. John see?

The great woman, whom we identify to be Mary.

We read about the bridegroom and the bride, you have this motif of, this theme of nuptiality between Christ and his church.

In John 3:29, we find this theme of the bridegroom and the bride, and in Revelation 19, the wedding supper of the lamb.

The lamb is the bridegroom, and who is his bride?

The church.

Uh, in John 12:25, we read about the call to love not our own lives, even unto death, and we also see the same theme in Revelation 12:11.

Uh, the idea of Satan being cast out we find in John 12:31 and Revelation 12:9.

The mother of Jesus is called, Woman, in John 2:4, remember?

'Cause, uh, the wedding feast of Cana, Jesus t- calls Mary, Woman, what is this to me and to thee?

And then also in John 19:25, Jesus hanging on the cross calls Mary, Woman.

When Revelation chapter 12, what does John s- describe?

The woman.

And so that's a very powerful theme there present in both works.

Uh, r- running down the list here, finally, Jesus as the true temple.

And this is a powerful one, John 2:21, remember Jesus said, Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.

John the Apostle tells us in commentary, he was talking about his body.

Well, what does St. John tell us in Revelation 21:22?

He says, I saw the temple coming down.

But then he tells us, I saw no temple, because the temple was the lamb.

So John identifies Jesus as the temple in his gospel.

We see Jesus as the temple in the Book of Revelation, therefore making the conclusion it's reasonable that John the Apostle wrote the Book of Revelation.

Finally, uh, we have the theme of Christ as the good shepherd in John 10:1-6 as Revel- as well as Revelation 7:17.

Okay?

So, we have sufficient reason to believe that John the Apostle is indeed the author, not only of the Gospel of John and his letters, but also the Book of Revelation.

Now, we move to the second section of tonight's reflection, and that is the dating of the Book of Revelation.

And I'm going to suggest to you that the Book of Revelation can be dated pre-70.

That is before 70 A.D., particularly during the Neronian persecution.

That is the persecution by Emperor Nero, as opposed to what's often suggested, the Book of Revelation being dated to mid-90s, th- uh, 90 plus A.D., during the Domitian persecution, okay?

So I'm going to offer to you this, uh, the interpretation of dating the Book of Revelation before 70 A.D., during the Neronian persecution as well as the Jewish persecution.

Because remember, the first persecution of the Christians was not from Rome, it was from the Jewish community.

And that is a key to help us understand what's going on in the prophecy and precisely the dating of the prophecy as well, at least the dating of the, the, the written text of the Book of Revelation.

Okay, so there are two types of evidence that we can give.

We can give external evidence outside of the Book of Revelation and then internal evidence within the Book of Revelation.

Let's start with the external evidence first.

First of all, there is a Syriac version of the Book of Revelation, uh, so it's w- translated into Syriac.

And what we find is that in the introductory section of the Book of Revelation in this Syriac version, it states that this, uh, book was written in Patmos, to which John was sent by Nero Caesar.

Close quote.

So in this ancient manuscript of the Syriac version of the Book of Revelation, in its introductory section, it states that John was sent to the e- in exile to the Island of Patmos by Nero, which would put and date the Book of Revelation before 70 A.D., because Nero, Nero would reign Let me get this right, from '54 to '68 A.D.

Okay?

So our next piece of external evidence.

There is an extra biblical historical work, it's a Syriac work known as The History of John, the Son of Zebedee.

And in that historical document, it asserts that Nero, Emperor Nero was the one that exiled John to the Island of Patmos.So we have these two sources of external evidence that point to this pre-70 dating.

Third, uh, piece of external evidence.

There is a scholarly consensus that there was actually no widespread persecution of the Christians during the reign of Domitian, as there was during the reign of Nero.

Domitian indeed persecuted the Christians, but it wasn't as widespread and organized as it was during the reign of Emperor Nero.

So that's -- that's a sort of a converging clue there.

Uh, fourth piece of external evidence: Nero is known for his tyrannical behavior and persecution of the Jew -- of the Christians.

Remember, uh, he -- he blamed the Christians for burning the whole city of Rome, and it was from that he be- that he began his organized attack on the Christians.

Here's some, uh Here's an excerpt from Tacitus, a Roman historian.

Uh, Tacitus, uh, writes about Nero's amusement in torturing the Christians, and so here's what we read from Tacitus.

Quote, Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths, covered with the skins of beast, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt to serve as nightly illumination when day had expired.

Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle and was exhibiting a show in the circus.

There arose a feeling of compassion for it was not as it seemed for the public good that they were being destroyed.

Close quote.

So the Roman historian Tacitus shares with us, tells us, give us an insight to the gravity of Nero's persecution of the Christians.

Feeding them to the dogs, to the beasts, putting them on crosses, lighting them on fire to be candlesticks in the night, and putting them in his gardens for spectacle, for show, for entertainment, all right?

So we get a sense of the gravity of Nero's persecution, which seems to fit and parallel the intensity of the persecution that John gives us an insight to in the Book of Revelation.

Okay?

Now, that's the external evidence that would seem to point in the direction that the Book of Revelation predates 70 A.D.

during the reign of Nero.

The internal evidence to in my opinion, is very conclusive, is very demonstrative of this pre-70 A.D.

dating.

Clue number one of from the internal evidence.

Just basically, as we're gonna see over the next five weeks, the book as a whole makes much more sense under the period of the Jewish and Neronian persecution prior to the destruction of Jerusalem.

When I show you the interpretive key, which is basically the principle of content and unity, reading the new in light of the old, reading John's prophecy in light of the Jewish prophets who came before him: Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel.

And once you can read John's prophecy, a good Jewish prophet and light of the Jewish prophets who preceded him, you're able to see the parallels and make pretty darn good theological conclusions about what's taking place in John's prophecy.

But And so once we see that and we see it over and over and over again as we use the key, as we go throughout the whole Book of Revelation, you're gonna see that the book as a whole makes much more sense, putting it before 70 A.D.

with- within the timeframe of the Jewish and Neronian persecution, and it being a prophecy of the impending destruction on Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

Clue number two.

The early letters to the churches suggest Jewish persecution, which would fit with a pre-70 A.D.

dating when the Christians were being persecuted by the Jews.

We see it particularly in Acts chapter, uh, 12, in the Acts of the Apostles, and in particular Acts chapter 12.

Remember James the Greater?

He has his head cut off, uh, from one of the religious leaders of the Jewish community.

And all throughout the Book of Acts, the early Christians were being persecuted by the Jews.

Okay?

And we get a hint of this actually in the letters that are to be written to the seven churches in Asia Minor.

Here's what we read in Revelation 2:9-10.

Quote, I know your tribulation This is Jesus speaking.

I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich, and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a but are a synagogue of Satan.

Do not fear what you are about to suffer.

Close quote.

So notice how within the context of suffering, that these Christians are going to endure suffering.

From whom does the suffering come?

Those who claim to be Jews, but are not real Jews and they're called a synagogue of Satan.

Could you imagine, Father getting up at the pulpit on Sunday and saying, You church of Satan, and reprimanding his flock?

I don't think there would be anybody left in the pew, and the collection basket would be zero, all right?

Okay?

Jesus doesn't hold any punches, folks.

Okay?

So we see here a hint of that the Christians, to whom John is writing and giving hope and consolation to in the midst of their suffering, that suffering is coming from the Jewish community, which parallels and fits that first century Jewish persecution of the Christians prior to 70 A.D., in the mid 50s and into the 60s.

Clue number three from the internal evidence: the author is familiar with the temple, with Solomon's Temple.

He's given an instruction to measure the temple.

He's familiar with the forms of worship within the temple, and we're gonna see this played out in the Book of Revelation.

So in Re- if you check it, take a look at Revelation 11:1-4, we read this, And I was given a measuring rod, like a staff, and I was told, 'Come and measure the Temple of God and the altar.

The nations will trample over the city for 42 months.' Now, folks, if John is being given the command to measure the temple and the altar in the temple, and well as some scholars would suggest, that seems to indicate the temple was still standing.

It wouldn't make sense for John to receive the instruction if the temple was already demolished and burnt to the ground by the Roman Empire, which would come after 70 A.D., right?

So this text here is a clue to suggest that this prophecy is being given to John and he is writing it prior to 70 A.D.

And notice how it says the nations, that is the Gentiles, okay, a Gentile empire will trample the city for how many months?

42 months, three and a half years.

Guess how long the Jewish-Roman war lasted, culminating with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D.?

It lasted 42 months, three and a half years, you see?

And so this is a key text that would point us in the direction of dating the Book of Revelation before 70 A.D., and it being a prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem.

Clue number four from the internal evidence: we see that there is evidence that the impending judgment that is to come is on Jerusalem.

So what I'm gonna do right here in a few minutes, we're going to, uh, look at it in detail for the next five succeeding weeks, okay?

And so here's a little summarized form of what's to come for the next, uh, few weeks.

The first piece of evidence that suggests that the judgment that is, uh, being prophesied about by John is the judgment on Jerusalem, and that is in Revelation 11:7-8, that city that's gonna be trampled for 42 months by a Gentile empire, right?

Here's what St. John tells us.

And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war upon them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

Close quote.

So the great city that's gonna be trampled on by a foreign nation, and all the bodies will be laying in the street, that nation will make war upon them, conquer them.

It's that great city is the city where our Lord was crucified.

What city was that?

Jerusalem, friends.

Now, somebody said, might say, Well, he was crucified on the outside walls of Jeru- outside of the walls of Jerusalem.

Well, yes, he was on the hill of Calvary outside of the walls of Jerusalem, but the great city where our Lord was crucified indeed was Jerusalem.

So this is our first sup- not our first, but one of the pieces of evidence that would seem to indicate that this prophecy of judgment is particularly a prophecy of judgment within its literal historical context on Jerusalem.

Our second piece of supporting evidence, which I find fascinating, there are tons of parallels between John's vision in the Book of Revelation and Ezekiel's vision in his prophecies about the destruction of Jerusalem that would take place in 587 B.C.

by the Babylonian Empire.

Okay?

So follow that line of reasoning there.

John's vision has various details and images that parallel verbatim Ezekiel's vision, which was about the impending destruction on Jerusalem in 587 B.C.

by a foreign nation.

So if you can see these parallels between the two visions, what's the theological conclusion about John's vision?

John's vision must be a prophecy about impending destruction on Jerusalem by a foreign nation, just like it was for Ezekiel.

You see?

So let's look at the parallels here.

Number one, we have the theme of the throne, the image of the throne in Revelation chapter four and Ezekiel chapter one.

They both get a vision and a tour of the heavenly throne room of God.

Secondly, we have the image of the slain under the altar in Revelation 6:9-11.

Remember St. John sees those souls who were martyred for the, for the testimony of Jesus under the altar?

And we'll get back to that and I'll spend a little bit more time on that when we get to Revelation 6. But that same image is seen by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 6. There were some slain for the testimony of Almighty God.

We read about the seal on the foreheads of the faithful to God in Revelation chapter 7 and Ezekiel 9. They both speak of the faithful remnant of God's people being sealed on the foreheads, which would be a sign of their protection from the impending destruction of the judgment of God.

We also read about the coals from the altar in Revelation 8 and Ezekiel 10.The eating of the book.

Ezekiel was told to eat the scroll in Ezekiel chapter two.

Well, guess what?

John is told to eat the scroll as well in Revelation chapter 10, verses eight through 11.

You also have the measuring of the temple, right?

Ezekiel, in Ezekiel chapters 40-43, God told Ezekiel, Ezekiel, measure the temple.

What happens after that?

The temple is destroyed.

John's told to measure the temple.

Fill in the blank, what happens after that?

Temple destroyed.

That's a powerful parallel there.

We read about Jerusalem as Sodom in Revelation 11:8, as well as Ezekiel 16.

In Ezekiel's prophecy, Jerusalem is called Sodom.

Jeru- Jerusalem is referred to as Sodom, right?

Why?

Because it's being unfaithful, idolatry, and consequently, it encouraged judgment on itself, like Sodom did, right?

It's burned to the ground.

Well, in John's prophecy, guess what?

John just told us that great city where our Lord was crucified, Jerusalem, is allegorically called Sodom.

Wait a minute.

Jerusalem was called Sodom before it was destroyed in 587 B.C., it's being called Sodom here in the Book of Revelation, so what's about to happen to Jerusalem?

It's gonna be destroyed.

It's gonna be burnt to the ground like Sodom was long ago, and like it Jerusalem was in 587 B.C.

We read about We have the image of the cup of wrath present in both Revelation 14 and Ezekiel 23.

We read about the great harlot in Revelation 17-18 and Ezekiel 16 and 23.

Hint, hint: who was the harlot in Ezekiel's prophecy?

Jerusalem.

It was playing the harlot because Jerusalem was being unfaithful to her bridegroom, Yahweh.

Consequently, it cursed judgment and destruction upon itself.

But John calls Jerusalem, and we're gonna get to that.

Later, in a future session, we're gonna see how the harlot in the Book of Revelation is Jerusalem.

So, if Jerusalem's called a harlot in John's vision, what's gonna happen to Jerusalem?

It's gonna be destroyed.

The battle with Gog and Magog.

We find this, um, image of this great battle between Go- o- of Gog and Magog in Revelation 20:7-9 and Ezekiel 38-39.

And finally, the theme of the new Jerusalem, found in Revelation 21 and Ezekiel chapters 40-48.

Now, think about this: why would Ezekiel have a vision of a new Jerusalem in his prophecy?

Because the old Jerusalem was about to be destroyed, right?

John receives a vision of a new Jerusalem.

Why does he receive a vision of a new Jerusalem?

Because the old one is about to be destroyed, as it was in 587 B.C.

So, all of these parallels between John's vision and Ezekiel's vision seems to point us in the direction that John's vision is indeed a prophecy about the impending destruction on Jerusalem in 70 A.D., thus putting it before 70 A.D.

Clue number five that this is, uh, a prophecy during the reign of Nero, during his persecution.

In Revelation 17:9-10, we, we have the imagery of the beast from the sea and its seven heads being seven hills and seven kings, right?

Here's what we read.

The seven heads or seven hills on which the woman is seated, they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come.

And when he comes, he must remain a little while.

Close quote.

So, beast from the sea, seven heads are seven hills and seven kings.

Of the seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, one is yet to come, and when he comes, he's only gonna remain for a little while.

You got that?

Okay.

Now, see how this parallels Rome.

What is Rome known for?

A city seated on seven hills, okay?

Rome is associated with seven hills, so that seems to parallel the seven hills the seven heads, which are seven hills, that John tells us.

Now, check this out.

The seven kings that John talks about, five of whom have fallen, one is, one is yet to come, those seven kings seem to parallel the first seven Caesars, or the first seven emperors.

Julius Caesar from '46 to '44 B.C.; Augustus, Caesar Augustus, '27 B.C.

to '14 A.D.; Tiberius I, '14 A.D.

to '37 A.D.; Gaius Caesar from '37 to '41 A.D.; Claudius I, '41 to '54.

How many Caesars have we gone through so far?

Five.

Five of whom have fallen, one is, Nero, s- '54 to '68 A.D.; and one is yet to come, Galba, '68 to '69 A.D., w only a year's worth of reigning.

What did Saint John say?

The one who is yet to come will only remain a little while.

So, the seven heads of the beast from the sea that's identified by John as seven kings seems to parallel perfectly the first seven emperors, the first seven Caesars.

And the one that is is Nero.

Further evidence that the Book of Revelation is w- written under or during the reign of Nero, the number of the beast, right?

How many times have we heard about the number of the beast?

Whenever you hear, 666, boy, everybody trembles, right?

Everybody flutters, man.

The number of the beast.

You know, is it the little chip that they're gonna put in our bodies, you know, type of thing?

Is that the mark of the beast?

Is that the number of the beast?

Well, folks, the number of the beast, as some scholars suggest, refers to Nero.How so?

Well, you know how Romans uh, for the Romans, letters are used for numbers, they have numerical value?

So like I has the value of one, II has the value of two, the V has the value of five, right?

The X has the value of 10.

L has the value of is it 50?

50.

It's 50, right.

Uh, Okay.

B- What's a hundred?

C. C is a hundred.

Okay, good.

I get those two mixed up sometimes.

Like the Romans, the Hebrews, the Jews also had numerical value to their consonants in the Hebrew language.

And what scholars point out is that when you take the Greek form of Nero Caesar, and you transliterate Nero Caesar from Greek into Hebrew, the numerical value is 666.

So taking the Greek form of Nero Caesar, going over into the Hebrew alphabet, and his name adds up to 666 in numerical value.

Now, to even further support that the number of the beast refers to Nero, is that in some ancient manuscripts we're told, some of the ancient manuscripts, the number is not 666, it's 616.

How does that s- remind us of Nero?

Well, if you take Nero C- Caesar in its Latin form and you come over into the Hebrew alphabet, Nero Caesar from Latin into Hebrew adds up to 616.

And so this seems to indicate that even in these ancient manuscripts with the number 616, it's referring to Nero.

So the number of the beast is a symbolic way of saying that this beast is Rome, led by Nero.

This is the beast from the sea that's going to devour the harlot, as we're gonna read about in Revelation chapter 17, I think?

I might be messing up on that, but we'll see when we get there , okay?

So even the number of the beast suggests that this is during the Neronian persecution, and that the beast is indeed Rome.

Clue number seven, we have the sense of urgency.

In Revelation 1:1, we read, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place.

There's a sense of urgency that what is being revealed to John is fixing to happen, which would make perfect sense that if he's receiving it during the Neronian persecution, anywhere from 54 to 68 A.D., right, that the prophecy of judgment is fixing to come to in 70 A.D.

with the destruction of Jerusalem.

Revelation 22:6-7, we read, The Lord has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.

'And behold, I am coming soon,' Jesus says.

And as we're gonna see in a minute, that theme or that motif of Jesus coming signifies he's coming in judgment.

It's not necessarily his second coming at the end of the world, which will be a coming in judgment as well, but just the idea of him coming can mean he simply will inflict judgment and, and punishment on those who are being unfaithful to the covenant.

And finally, uh, the last clue that suggests this pre-70 A.D.

dating, prophecies about the destruction of Jerusalem during the Neronian Jewish persecution, and that is the cataclysmic imagery, all right?

Let me preface it by saying this: many people think that the Book of Revelation is only and all about the end of the world, right, because it has all this sort of world ending imagery.

You know?

Moon, l- moon, sun, stars losing its light, right?

All of this sort of world ending stuff that we read about, particularly in Revelation chapter six.

We find the imagery, the cataclysmic imagery, right, in Revelation six, as well as, uh, sporadically throughout other places.

But what's important to note is that when seen in light of the Jewish prophecies and the Jewish tradition, such cataclysmic imagery does not mean the end of the world, but the end of a world.

The same imagery that's used in Revelation 6 is the same type of imagery, for example, used by the Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 13 when he's prophesying about the destruction of Babylon.

Remember Babylon?

In 587 B.C., King Nebuchadnezzar, Babylonian Empire, ransacked Jerusalem, destroyed Jerusalem, took the southern Israelites into captivity in the Babylonian exile, right?

Well, Babylon, 70 years later, would be destroyed by King Cyrus, the Persian king, okay?

And then you would have the Medo-Persian Kingdom succeeding Babylon.

And then after the Medo-Persian Kingdom, you would have Greece and then Rome, okay?

But in, in prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem, here's how Isaiah describes it.

The oracle concerning Babylon.

Okay?

There's the context.

The oracle concerning Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

'Wail, for the day of the Lord is near!

As destruction from the Almighty, it will come.

For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light.

The sun will be dark in its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.

And Babylon will be like Sodom and Gomorrah.' Right?

So there's the cataclysmic imagery.

Stars from heavens and their constellations not giving their light, sun being darkened, moon being darkened, not shedding its light, et cetera.

Okay?

But Isaiah uses that imagery when he's prophesying about the destruction of Babylon.

Now, why such cataclysmic, catastrophic imagery when talking about the end of a kingdom?

Well, because when a kingdom came to an end, it was world changing.It describes not the end of the world, the cosmos as a whole, but the end of a world order.

Further, what do we use the sun, the moon, and the stars for?

Keeping time, right?

And so if the imagery of the sun, moon, and stars losing their light is being employed and used, what does that suggest to this kingdom?

Your time is up.

And so the cataclysmic imagery that's being employed in the Book of Revelation, what's in light of the Jewish tradition, would seem to suggest that this is not a prophecy primarily.

Does it have hints and does it point to the end of the world?

Yes, and we'll look at that in, uh, in a fut- future sessions.

But primarily it does not mean the end of the world.

It suggests the end of a world.

And when you take that clue in light of all the other clues that we've seen so far, it would seem to suggest that the prophecy is about the end of the world of Jerusalem, the temple world, the world of the old covenant, you see?

The new covenant has come, so the old is passing away, and that is a primary physical concrete example of that reality, precisely because of the infidelity of the Jewish people at that time in the first century who were Who killed the Messiah, right?

At least the Jewish religious leaders.

And who were killing off the Messianic people, the people of the Messiah.

And consequently because of that infidelity to the covenant, they incur upon themselves the curse of the covenant, which is destruction, destruction by a foreign nation.

Moses prophesied about it way, way, way, way, way, way long ago in Deuteronomy 28 on through chapter 30.

Deuteronomy would talk about the blessing and the curse of the covenant, right?

You're faithful to the covenant, blessing.

You're unfaithful to the covenant, curse.

Did that happen in Israel, in Israel's history throughout salvation history?

Indeed.

When they were unfaithful to the covenant, guess what?

A foreign nation comes in, wipes them out.

We see that primarily in 587 B.C.

Temple destroyed, Jerusalem destroyed.

They go back to Jerusalem.

They rebuild the temple.

They rebuild Jerusalem.

They're unfaithful to the covenant again by killing their very Messiah and his people, and consequently they incur the curse of the covenant once again.

So my dear friends, we can see that this is sort of the posture or the approach that we're going to be taking for the remaining five succeeding weeks, that this is a vision and a prophecy that John the Apostle is receiving in the very Jewish tradition of the Jewish prophets of old.

And it is a prophecy about the impending destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

So what I've done in a few minutes there is sort of summarize, give you an introduction of what we're gonna flesh out for the remaining five weeks.

Now, we're gonna take a break right now 'cause I'm at a good stopping point.

But when we come back, we're gonna pick up with the two major themes that we see running as a golden thread throughout the Book of Revelation.

The theme of judgment, we already kind of saw that already, but we're gonna look at it in a systematic way.

The theme of judgment, the theme of liturgy, you don't want to miss that one.

And then we'll conclude with the revelation of the identity of Jesus in chapter one of the Book of Revelation and describe how John sees Jesus.

Amen?

Amen.

All right, so let's take a pause for a good cause.