Quote:
Originally Posted by Esaias
"First, even if it is, it must have happened shortly after Revelation was written. After all, the angel of Revelation said this prophecy would happen soon, for the time was at hand ( Rev. 22:10). Therefore, it must have happened in the first century."
The problem is the underlying fundamental premise (quoted above). The conclusion drawn by the author places all the events of Revelation in the first century, which means the final judgment has occurred already, and therefore there is no basis to believe anyone after that time has any future whatsoever. If death, hell, and the lost have been destroyed in the lake of fire, if the great judgment has already happened, upon what basis can anyone claim there is any future judgment for anyone else? There is no basis for a belief in a future judgment that I can see? |
Proof that the author of the article does not understand Bible prophecy:
Deuteronomy 31:28-29 KJV
Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them. [29] For I know that
after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and
evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.
When did evil befall Israel because of their sins? When were these "latter days" Moses spoke of? Why, they began shortly after the death of Joshua, and yet appear again and again through Israel's history. This prophecy is NOT limited to the first century AD, clearly.
But let's look at the prophecy itself:
Deuteronomy 32:35 KJV
To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for
the day of their calamity is at hand, and
the things that shall come upon them make haste.
Before they even entered the Promised Land, Moses prophesied that the day of their calamity and doom "was at hand", and that the things that shall come upon them "make haste". These are time statements that, if interpreted according to the hermeneutic of the article's author, would place the fulfillment of
Deut 32 within less than say 40-50 years of Moses' death. Yet everyone knows that is not what happened at all.
Deut 32 is a prophetic warning about the consequences of Israel backsliding, culminating in the destruction national sovereignty and the scattering and enslavement of the people by foreigners. Which did not happen until beginning in the 8th century BC for the ten tribed House of Israel and the 6th century for the House of Judah. And which was repeated under Rome in AD 70. (And again around 132 AD.) So a prophecy which is stated to be "at hand" and to "make haste" (ie be SOON)
did not find it's fulfillment until over 1000 years later.
Therefore, the author does not understand Bible prophecy and how prophetic time statements are to be interpreted. And therefore the author is not in a position to speak authoritatively about Revelation and its fulfillment (or lack thereof).
The article says "...the event in Revelation must have happened soon after the book was written. After all, John said the events would happen soon, for the time was at hand (
Rev. 1:1–3, 22:6–10). There’s just no (honest) way around the time indicators." If the author is correct, then the events described in
Deut 32 must have happened soon after Moses gave his speech. After all, Moses said the events "make haste" and the time was "at hand". There's just no (honest) way around the time indicators." Right?