Adam Clarke on the date of Revelation

AV1611 · #1 (**permalink**) 06-10-2008, 09:18 AM

Rev 1:7 - Behold, he cometh with clouds - This relates to his coming to execute judgment on the enemies of his religion; perhaps to his coming to destroy Jerusalem, as he was to be particularly manifested to them that pierced him, which must mean the incredulous and rebellious Jews.
And all kindreds of the earth - Πασαι αἱ φυλαι της γης· All the tribes of the land. By this the Jewish people are most evidently intended, and therefore the whole verse may be understood as predicting the destruction of the Jews; and is a presumptive proof that the Apocalypse was written before the final overthrow of the Jewish state.
Even so, Amen - Ναι, αμην· Yea, Amen. It is true, so be it. Our Lord will come and execute judgment on the Jews and Gentiles. This the Jews and Romans particularly felt.

In his introduction he points out the view of Wetstein:

He supposes the book of the Apocalypse to have been written a considerable time before the destruction of Jerusalem. The events described from the fourth chapter to the end he supposes to refer to the Jewish war, and to the civil commotions which took place in Italy while Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian were contending for the empire. These contentions and destructive wars occupied the space of about three years and a half, during which Professor Wetstein thinks the principal events took place which are recorded in this book. On these subjects he speaks particularly in his notes, at the end of which he subjoins what he calls his Ανακεφαλαιωσις, or synopsis of the whole work, which I proceed now to lay before the reader.

“This prophecy, which predicts the calamities which God should send on the enemies of the Gospel, is divided into two parts. The first is contained in the closed book; the second, in the open book.
I. The first concerns the earth and the third part, i.e., Judea and the Jewish nation,
II. The second concerns many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings, Rev_10:11, i.e., the Roman empire.
1. The book written within and without, and sealed with seven seals, Rev_5:1, is the bill of divorce sent from God to the Jewish nation.
2. The crowned conqueror on the white horse armed with a bow, Rev_6:2, is Artabanus, king of the Parthians, who slaughtered multitudes of the Jews in Babylon.
3. The red horse, Rev_6:4. The Sicarii and robbers in Judea, in the time of the Proconsuls Felix and Festus.
4. The black horse, Rev_6:5. The famine under Claudius.
5. The pale horse, Rev_6:8. The plague which followed the robberies and the famine.
6. The souls of those who were slain, Rev_6:9. The Christians in Judea, who were persecuted, and were now about to be avenged.
7. The great earthquake, Rev_6:12. The commotions which preceded the Jewish rebellion.
8. The servants of God from every tribe, sealed in their foreheads, Rev_7:3. The Christians taken under the protection of God, and warned by the prophets to flee immediately from the land.
9. The silence for half an hour, Rev_8:1. The short truce granted at the solicitation of King Agrippa. Then follows the rebellion itself.
1. The trees are burnt, Rev_8:7. The fields and villages, and unfortified places of Judea, which first felt the bad effects of the sedition.
2. The burning mountain cast into the sea which in consequence became blood, Rev_8:8; and,
3. The burning star falling into the rivers, and making the waters bitter, Rev_8:10, Rev_8:11. The slaughter of the Jews at Caesarea and Scythopolis.
4. The eclipsing of the sun, moon, and stars, Rev_8:12. The anarchy of the Jewish commonwealth.
5. The locusts like scorpions hurting men, Rev_9:3. The expedition of Cestius Gallus, prefect of Syria.
6. The army with arms of divers colors, Rev_9:16, Rev_9:17. The armies under Vespasian in Judea. About this time Nero and Galba died; after which followed the civil war, signified by the sounding of the seventh trumpet, Rev_10:7, Rev_10:11; Rev_11:15.
1. The two prophetic witnesses, two olive trees, two candlesticks, Rev_11:3, Rev_11:4. Teachers in the Church, predicting the destruction of the Jewish temple and commonwealth.
2. The death of the witnesses, Rev_11:7. Their flight, and the flight of the Church of Jerusalem, to Pella, in Arabia.
3. The resurrection of the witnesses, after three days and a half, Rev_11:11. The predictions began to be fulfilled at a time in which their accomplishment was deemed impossible; and the doctrine of Christ begins to prevail over Judea, and over the whole earth.
4. The tenth part of the city fell in the same hour, and seven thousand names of men slain, Rev_11:13. Jerusalem seized by the Idumeans; and many of the priests and nobles, with Annas, the high priest, signified by names of men, i.e. men of name, slain by the Zealots.
5. The woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head, Rev_12:1. The Christian Church.
6. The great red dragon seen in heaven, with seven heads, seven diadems, and ten horns, Rev_12:3. The six first Caesars, who were all made princes at Rome, governing the armies and the Roman people with great authority; especially Nero, the last of them, who, having killed his mother, cruelly vexed the Christians, and afterwards turned his wrath against the rebellious Jews.
7. The seven-headed beast from the sea, having ten horns surrounded with diadems, Rev_13:1. Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, who were shortly to reign, and who were proclaimed emperors by the army.
8. This beast, having a mouth like a lion, the body like a leopard, the feet like a bear, Rev_13:2. Avaricious Galba; rash, unchaste, and inconstant Otho; Vitellius, cruel and sluggish, with the German any.
9. One head, i.e., the seventh, cut off, Rev_13:3. Galba.
10. He who leadeth into captivity shall be led into captivity; he who killeth with the sword shall be killed with the sword, Rev_13:10. Otho, who subdued the murderers of Galba, and slew himself with a dagger, Vitellius, who bound Sabinus with chains and was himself afterwards bound.
11. Another beast rising out of the earth, with two horns, Rev_13:11. Vespasian and his two and, Titus and Domitian, elected emperors at the same time in Judea.
12. The number of the wild beast, 666, the number of a man, Teitan, Titan or Titus: T, 300. E, 5. I, 10. T, 300. A, 1. N. 50, making in the whole 666. [But some very respectable MSS. have 616 for the number; if the N be taken away from Teitan, then the letters in Teita make exactly the sum 616].
13. A man sitting upon a cloud, unity a crown of gold upon his head, and a sickle in his hand, Rev_14:14. Otho and his army, about to prevent supplies for the army of Vitellius.
14. An angel of fire commanding another angel to gather the vintage; the winepress trodden whence the blood flows out 1600 furlongs. The followers of Vitellius laying all waste with fire; and the Bebriaci conquering the followers of Otho with great slaughter.
Then follow the seven plagues: -
1. The grievous sore, Rev_16:2. The diseases of the soldiers of Vitellius through intemperance.
2. The sea turned into blood, Rev_16:3. The fleet of Vitellius beaten, and the maritime towns taken from them by the Flavii.
3. The rivers turned into blood, Rev_16:4. The slaughter of the adherents of Vitellius, at Cremona and elsewhere, near rivers.
4. The scorching of the sun, Rev_16:8. The diseases of the Vitellii increasing, and their exhausted bodies impatient of the heat.
5. The seat of the beast darkened, Rev_16:10. All Rome in commotion through the torpor of Vitellius.
6. Euphrates dried up, and a way made for the kings of the east; and the three unclean spirits like frogs. The Flavii besieging Rome with a treble army; one part of which was by the bank of the Tiber.
The shame of him who is found asleep and naked. Vitellius, Rev_16:15. Armageddon, Rev_16:16. The praetorian camps.
7. The fall of Babylon, Rev_16:19. The sacking of Rome.
1. The whore, Rev_17:1. Rome.
2. The seven kings, Rev_17:10. Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, and Galba.
3. The eighth, which is of the seven, Rev_17:11. Otho, destined by adoption to be the son and successor of Galba.
4. The ten horns, Rev_17:12-16. The leaders of the Flavian factions.
5. The merchants of the earth, Rev_18:11; i.e., of Rome, which was then the emporium of the whole world.
6. The beast and the false prophet, Rev_19:20. Vespasian and his family, contrary to all expectation, becoming extinct in Domitian, as the first family of the Caesars, and of the three princes, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius.
7. The millennium, or a thousand years, Rev_20:2. Taken from Psa_90:4, a time appointed by God, including the space of forty years, from the death of Domitian to the Jewish war under Adrian.
8. Gog and Magog, going out over the earth, Rev_20:8. Barchochebas, the false Messiah, with an immense army of the Jews, coming forth suddenly from their caves and dens, tormenting the Christians, and carrying on a destructive war with the Romans.
9. The New Jerusalem, Rev 21:1, 2. The Jews being brought so low as to be capable of injuring no longer; the whole world resting after being expiated by wars; and the doctrine of Christ propagated and prevailing everywhere with incredible celerity.
Wetstein contends (and he is supported by very great men among the ancients and moderns) that “the book of the Revelation was written before the Jewish war, and the civil wars in Italy; that the important events which took place at that time, the greatest that ever happened since the foundation of the world, were worth enough of the Divine notice, as the affairs of his Church were so intimately connected with them; that his method of exposition proves the whole book to be a well-connected, certain series of events; but the common method of interpretation, founded on the hypothesis that the book was written after the destruction of Jerusalem, is utterly destitute of certainty, and leaves every commentator to the luxuriance of his own fancy, as is sufficiently evident from what has been done already on this book; some interpreters leading the reader now to Thebes, now to Athens, and finding in the words of the sacred penman Constantine the Great; Arius, Luther, Calvin; the Jesuits; the Albigenses; the Bohemians; Chemnitius; Elizabeth, queen of England; Cecil, her treasurer; and who not?” - See Wetstein’s Gr. Test., vol. ii. p. 889.

Backwoods Presbyterian · #2 (**permalink**) 06-10-2008, 09:31 AM

I am reading Kenneth Gentry's "Before Jerusalem Fell" and he also believes Revelation was written prior to AD 70.

BobVigneault · #3 (**permalink**) 06-10-2008, 09:52 AM

The early date favors the author of The Revelation as well:

1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place.

22:6 And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

7 “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

10 And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”

12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Backwoods Presbyterian · #4 (**permalink**) 06-10-2008, 09:54 AM

I agree. How would the dating of Revelation affect the dating of the Gospel of John?

AV1611 · #5 (**permalink**) 06-10-2008, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Backwoods Presbyterian

I am reading Kenneth Gentry's "Before Jerusalem Fell" and he also believes Revelation was written prior to AD 70.

It a quite a convincing book IMO.

Backwoods Presbyterian · #6 (**permalink**) 06-10-2008, 10:20 AM

Yes it is. Surprisingly enough I had to go to RPTS' library to get it. They did not have it at PTS which supposedly is the third largest theological library around.

shackleton · #7 (**permalink**) 06-10-2008, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Backwoods Presbyterian

I am reading Kenneth Gentry's "Before Jerusalem Fell" and he also believes Revelation was written prior to AD 70.

I just finished reading this book and loved it! This notion makes so much sense it is like a light bulb going off. Dispensationalism never made much sense but I never knew there was another way of looking at it.

I can't tell you how many conversations I had with people trying to find America in the book of Revelation and what happened to it. Being worried about accidentally taking the "mark of the beast," believing it might have something to do with ATM cards and feeling fearful of the movement towards a cashless society. Awaiting the revival of the "Second" Roman Empire and the rise of the Anti-Christ.

I remember sitting around trying to scare each other by trying to imagine what the Anti- Christ was doing right now, and most importantly, who is he. Going through the long list of world leaders and trying to figure if there name adds up to 666. My in laws still ask me every time I see them if I think this person or that person is the Anti-Christ.

Keeping a keen eye on world events to see if another piece of the puzzle has fallen into place. Oh yes, it is great to finally hear the truth.