The Case for an Early Date for the Book of Revelation – Dating the Book of Revelation

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Scholars have debated for years about the dating of the most mysterious and mystifying book in the Bible- The Book of Revelation. The dating of this book is crucial. If John wrote the book before AD 70 and the fall of Jerusalem, then at least some of his prophecies have to be applied to the most catastrophic event to happen to the city of Jerusalem and religious life of the Jewish people in all of history. If written after the reign of Domition somewhere between AD 84-96, that would put the prophetic word well after the utter destruction of Jersualem, pointing to a future event. This is why it’s critical to understand internal and external clues. We make the case for an early date around AD 64-65 for the writing of the Apocalypse from major clues hidden in the book itself and outside writings from early church fathers as well as contemporary secular historians. You won’t want to miss this episode.

Entire BLOG of Leah’s notes from tonight’s episode below👇️

Resources:

• The Kingdom Roundtable on Rumble
• SperoPictures: 20 mins of Revelation
• Cory Gray: Born Again As Kings is packed full of scriptures that show Jesus came, overthrew Satan’s dominion and He has given us the keys- we just need to learn how to use them! Be sure to check out Cory’s: The Unstoppable Kingdom Business Mind School: Click here And also take the FREE 8-course series of KINGDOM UNIVERSITY! Click here!
• Follow Dr. Jason and Kingdom Healing Community on Facebook, Rumble and Youtube
• JOHNNY ENLOW UNFILTERED – EPISODE 44– Perfect video to introduce others to the Revelation Redpill message
• Kingdom/Revelation Redpill books: AmericanVision.org
• Resistance Chicks Revelation Red Pill Page: www.resistancechicks.com/revelation-red-pill-academy/
• Bruce Gore’s The Apocolypse In Space and Time Playlist: Click here

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Scholars have debated for years about the dating of the most mysterious and mystifying book in the Bible- The Book of Revelation. The dating of this book is crucial. If John wrote the book before AD 70 and the fall of Jerusalem, then at least some of his prophecies have to be applied to the most catastrophic event to happen to the city of Jerusalem and religious life of the Jewish people in all of history. If written after the reign of Domition somewhere between AD 84-96, that would put the prophetic word well after the utter destruction of Jersualem, pointing to a future event. This is why it’s critical to understand internal and external clues. We make the case for an early date around AD 64-65 for the writing of the Apocalypse from major clues hidden in the book itself and outside writings from early church fathers as well as contemporary secular historians. You won’t want to miss this episode.

(updated from Sept 2020) 
Now in our Revelation Red Pill Series I’d like to take a turn to look at how others throughout Church history have viewed the Apocalypse…ie the “Revelation of Jesus Christ” and so called “end times events?” How did great minds and theologians like Martin Luther, St Augustine, the Pilgrims, view Matthew 24? Did they put Revelation into the distant future? Did they feel they were living through the Tribulation like the Pilgrims or Johnathan Edwards? When did the idea of a rapture first come to light, how did it take such a hold on the modern western church? I would love to dive right into the 19th Century and show how those who began to develop the idea of a rapture and seven year Tribulation, such as Edward Irving, Margaret MacDonald, and flesh out this new theology, like John Nelson Darby, truly believed that in moments of prayer they were interpreting Bible prophesy in a completely new way. They felt special to be the first to “rediscover” these truths and even see  prophesy in a way no one had ever done before. During the 1800’s many “special” people with “uniquely Divinely Revelation” came on the scene during the Second Great Awakening that sprang up not just in America but across the pond in Great Britain, in Scotland, Ireland, and England. But to understand how this new theology, that is taught in most evangelical churches today, save the Presbyterians and Episcopalians, we need to start at the beginning, and by the beginning, I mean, when and where and who wrote the book that has spawned such controversy and mystery over the past two millennia.     

Biblical scholar Ken Gentry: There are two basic positions on the dating of Revelation, although each has several slight variations. The current majority position is the late-date view. This view holds that the Apostle John wrote Revelation toward the close of the reign of Domitian Caesar — about A.D. 95 or 96. The minority view-point today is the early-date position. Early-date advocates hold that Revelation was written by John prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70.

I hold that Revelation was produced prior to the death of Nero in June, A.D. 68, and even before the formal engagement of the Jewish War by Vespasian in Spring, A.D. 67. My position is that Revelation was written in A.D. 65 or 66. This would be after the outbreak of the Neronic persecution in November, 64, and before the engagement of Vespasian’s forces in Spring of 67.

Though the late-date view is the majority position today, this has not always been the case. In fact, it is the opposite of what prevailed among leading biblical scholars a little over seventy-five years ago. Late-date advocate William Milligan conceded in 1893 that “recent scholarship has, with little exception, decided in favour of the earlier and not the later date.” Two-decades later in 1910 early-date advocate Philip Schaff could still confirm Milligan’s report: “The early date is now accepted by perhaps the majority of scholars.”
https://postmillennialworldview.com/2015/06/10/revelations-early-date-1/

“In other words, determining the date of a writing, determines the historical circumstances that existed at that time, and understanding those circumstances is necessary to properly interpret what was written. Paul’s letter to the Galatians is a great example. If we were to push the date of Galatians ahead from its recognized date of 51-55 A.D. to 75 A.D., the interpretation of portions of the letter would drastically change. Paul rebukes the Galatians for observing “days and months and seasons and years” (4:10), which is a direct allusion to the Jewish feast days and ceremonies. But, those Jewish feast days could only be observed while the temple in Jerusalem was still standing. This means that Galatians must have been written prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, while it was still possible to observe the Jewish feast days. And here is the point. If we push the writing of Galatians out beyond 70 A.D. and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, we are forced to interpret the observance of “days and months and seasons and years” as something other than Jewish feast days, as they could no longer be observed after that time. Such an interpretation would be completely foreign to the context, and would distort the flow of the book

We see the same implications in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. In 7:25-31, Paul advises virgin men to remain as they are and to “not seek a wife” (7:26-27). Why? Paul says, “because of the present distress” (impending distress – NET). And, in connection to that present distress, Paul says that the form of that world was “passing away” (7:31). So once again, here is the application concerning the dating of the letter. If 1 Corinthians 1 was written prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D. (57 A.D.), then Paul’s advice for virgins not to marry due to the “present/impending distress” and the “form of the world” passing away, can be interpreted through those historical circumstances and their significance. In other words, the present/impending distress can be understood as the time of tribulation and suffering that had already began for the church and would be extended to Old Covenant Israel prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D. To first century Jews, that destruction in a very real sense meant the passing away of the “form” of their world. At the removal of the temple and its religious observances, “days and months and seasons and years” – the form and expression of their covenant world – passed away. For a young man to marry and bring a family into a world that was destined to perish in just over a decade, was not wise. Paul was attempting to spare them that inevitable tribulation (7:28). However, if the dating of 1 Corinthians was to be pushed beyond 70 A.D., then Paul’s words could not possibly apply to that event, but must apply to some other time of “impending distress” connected to the passing away of the form of another “world”. In that case, the second generation of the Church should have continued to advise its young virgin men not to marry, just the apostle Paul had. As we can see, the proper dating of a book has significant implications on its interpretation. Wrong dating in most cases will result in wrong interpretation. This is true for the book of Revelation, specifically as it relates to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D

Those who hold the late date of Revelation will generally approach the book in one or more of the following three ways: A) The Idealist (spiritual) View: This view uses an allegorical method to interpret the book. In the idealist view, the