Deciphering the Clues of Revelation (3)

Did John write about events that were thousands of years away, and irrelevant to his immediate audience, or did he describe things that were "just about to happen"?

This is Part 3 of a five-part series. To start at the beginning, click here.

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“Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?” — Chicago

Thus far in this series, we’ve looked at some of the fascinating parallels that exist between numerous Old and New Testament passages and the mysterious woman, “Babylon the Great,” mentioned in the book of Revelation. In this piece, I’d like to highlight some of the benefits associated with the idea that we’ll have a better chance of understanding John’s vision if we attempt to interpret his words and grammar in the light of its original first-century context.

Many modern interpreters have argued for a symbolic or trans-temporal reading of Revelation (i.e., its themes apply to all times and places rather than to any particular time or place),¹ however, if we pay close attention to the clear language of the opening, John immediately calls attention to the fact that he was writing about things that, from his perspective in time, were just around the corner. Here is John’s opening:

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed…are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near (Rev 1:1-3).

If we take these words at face value, John doesn’t appear to be writing about things that are always true or things that will take place thousands of years in the future. This becomes even more clear as we make our way through the book, since John keeps repeating this same point: (Rev 2:16, 3:11, 11:14, 22:6-7, 12, 20). If this idea is news to you, it may take some time for you to wrap your head around it. In the end, however, it’s not all that different from the way we interpret the book of Daniel. Though events were future from the prophet’s perspective, we should interpret them as having already been fulfilled.²

When John says in verse 1 that these things must soon take place, he uses the Greek word τᾰ́χος, which refers to “a very brief period of time, with focus on speed of an activity or event, speed, quickness, swiftness, haste.”³ When used in an adverbial sense, it means “quickly, soon, immediately.”⁴ This is the word we find in John 13:27 when Jesus tells Judas, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” The other clear word in John’s opening appears in verse 3 when he writes that “the time is near” (ἐγγύς). This word refers to “close proximity” in either space or time.⁵ Back in 1898, F.W. Farrar noted that John “emphatically says that the future events which he has to foreshadow will occur speedily (ἐν τάχει) and the recurrent burden of his whole book is the nearness (‘ο καιρὸς ἐγγύς)…Language is simply meaningless if it is to be so manipulated by every successive commentator as to make the words “speedily” and “near” imply any number of centuries of delay.”⁶

A Hidden Key
There’s another helpful interpretive key in Rev 1:19, but because of the way this verse is often translated, it’s not always easy to see. John is specifically instructed to record everything he sees in his vision: “Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are about to (μέλλει) take place after this.” Many modern English translations, including the ESV, leave the temporal modifier “μέλλει” essentially untranslated. Once again, if we pay close attention to John’s language here in the opening chapter, it seems clear that his vision relates to things that are close at hand. This is why the book of Revelation is best read and understood in the light of its first-century context.

Here are a few other passages in the Apocalypse where this same temporal modifier is used (and is often untranslated):

• Rev. 3:10 I will keep you from the hour of trial that is about to (μελλούσης) come.

• Rev. 12:4-5 The dragon stood before the woman who was about to (μελλούσης) give birth so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is about to (μέλλει) rule all the nations with a rod of iron…⁷

• Rev. 17:8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to (μέλλει) rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction.⁸

Finally, John is specifically told by an angel in the last chapter, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near” (Rev 22:10). Some six centuries earlier, Daniel was told the very opposite: “But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end.” (Dan 12:4). The contrast between these two passages is striking. Hundreds of years had passed from the time of Daniel until the destruction of Jerusalem,⁹ but close to two thousand years have now elapsed since John wrote down the words of his vision. This should lead us to ask why he, unlike Daniel, was told not to seal the words of his book.

A Time of Tribulation
Another unexpected feature of John’s Apocalypse relates to what is known as “the great tribulation” period. Contemporary Christians often debate as to whether the rapture will occur sometime before, during, or after the great tribulation (which explains debates over “Pre-Trib, Mid-Trib, and Post-Trib” perspectives). But all parties concerned seem to agree that the great tribulation is a future event still waiting to be fulfilled. Here are some of the New Testament passages that refer to this period:

• Matt. 24:21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be (cf. Mk 13:19)

• Matt. 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days (cf. Mk 13:24)

• Rev. 7:14 These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.

What few seemed to have noticed, however, is that when John wrote Revelation, the tribulation period was already in progress: “I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (Rev 1:9). Furthermore, Jesus instructed John to write seven letters to the churches in Asia Minor, which included a very specific warning to the members of the church in Smyrna: “Behold, the devil is about to (μέλλεις) throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation.” Because of his use of the word “μέλλω,” it’s clear that Jesus was warning about something that was to take place soon after the residents of Smyrna recieved this letter, which is why John is a partner with them in the tribulation—since he too has become a prisoner, having been banished to Patmos.

An Apocalyptic Timestamp
In my first two articles, I discussed the mysterious woman, “Babylon the Great,” who appears in multiple chapters, and who is specifically named and identified in chapter 17. But when we read this chapter in its original first-century context, we discover a number of additional clues pertaining to the overall time frame. Here is the relevant section:

Rev 17:3: “I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns….6 When I saw her, I marveled greatly. 7 But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to (μέλλει) rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction...9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power…16 they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.

Though most commentators identify Babylon the Great as a symbol of Rome, I’ve been arguing that, when all the allusions to the Old Testament are factored in, along with numerous echoes found in the Gospels, connecting the harlot to the corrupt leadership of Jerusalem from 30-70 AD ends up making much more sense. This also fits better with verse 16 above as the beast begins to hate the prositute, and burns her up with fire. Since the beast is identified with Rome, this is an apt description of the Jewish war that culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

Now, if Babylon represents Rome, this raises two important questions:

1. What does John mean when he says that the woman (Rome) was seated on the beast (Rome)? Why has John chosen to use two entirely different symbols for Rome, and what could it possibly mean to suggest that Rome is seated on Rome, or that Rome is carried by Rome (cf. Rev 17:3, 7, 9).

2. When the beast begins to hate the woman, and makes her desolate and naked, and burns her with fire, how should this be interpreted? Has Rome become full of self-hatred? Is this a reference to a civil war? If so, it appears to be an unfulfilled prophecy since we’re told in Rev 18:14 that all her splendors were “destroyed, never to be found again.” Though Rome did indeed experience a civil war in 68-69 AD, the ancient metropolis was clearly never made desolate. If the prophecy refers to a still future event, then John’s timing was off by thousands of years.

The City of Seven Hills
In his Lives of the Caesars, the Roman historian Suetonius says of Domitian that “in the course of one of his shows in celebration of the feast of the Seven Hills, he gave a plentiful banquet.”¹⁰ This particular passage helps us to understand that it was a well understood and celebrated fact that Rome was the city of “seven hills.” In fact, these hills also happen to be depicted on Roman coins, and in the image below, the goddess Roma is seated (i.e., enthroned) upon them.

This is curious since Revelation 17 also presents a woman seated on seven hills. Now it makes sense that the patron goddess of Rome would be depicted as being enthroned on seven hills, so perhaps this is close to John’s meaning as well. But if Harlot Babylon is interpreted as a kind of mockery of the goddess Roma, what is the significance of her being devoured by the beast? If this is seen as a prophecy that Rome would soon abandon goddess worship, again, this would be another failure, since the empire didn’t officially abandon it’s pagan beliefs until it adopted Christianity hundreds of years later in the days of Constantine. The other major problem with this view is that John repeatedly indicates that Harlot Babylon is a personification, not of a goddess, but “a great city” (Rev 17:18, 18:10, 16, 18-21), which in the standard interpretation would mean, once again, that the great city of Rome is seated on the city of Seven Hills (Rome).

Now, if on the other hand John’s mysterious woman refers to unfaithful Jerusalem, then perhaps she is being depicted as an adulterous queen (cf. Rev 18:7) who sits enthroned in a thoroughly pagan city. In other words, she’s being presented as one who is flagrantly cohabitating with the beast. Here I think it’s relevent for us to recall the words of the chief priests in John 19:15: “We have no king but Caesar!”

Seven Heads Are Seven Kings
According to John, “the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated,” but they also represent “seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while” (Rev 17:9-10). This is relatively easy to connect in both Hebrew and Aramaic, since the word “head” can also refer to the “peak” or “summit” of a mountain. So if John is describing his “present” situation, along with things that were “about to” take place, then one obvious way of interpreting Rev 17:9 is to suggest that the “seven kings” of this city with “seven hills” refer to the first seven Caesars.

According to Josephus and other first century Jewish writers, Julius Caesar was Rome’s first emperor (which is why the name “Caesar” eventually became synonymous with emperorship itself).¹¹ If this also happens to be John’s understanding, then his reference to the “five kings who have fallen” would refer to: Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius. The king who “is,” i.e., the emperor who was on the throne when John wrote Revelation, would thus be Nero.

Now, this interpretation obviously requires an earlier dating of the book of Revelation, since Nero died in 68 AD. In other words, if John wrote his vision while Nero was still on the throne, then his vision must have been written down sometime between 54 AD and 68 AD. Though this is earlier than most New Testament scholars typically argue, there is a significant minority of scholars who have defended a pre-70 date for John’s Apocalypse.¹² Some scholars, in fact, see John’s list of kings in Revelation 17 as strong evidence for an earlier date. “The most important clue for an early dating of Revelation,” writes George Van Kooten, “comes from the interpretation of the seven-headed beast in ch. 17, and the succession of emperors it implies.”¹³

If the book of Revelation was written sometime during Nero’s reign, then all the references we’ve looked at in this article related to the things which “must soon take place” would fit rather well. It would also fit with the identification we’ve made thus far related to Harlot Babylon (i.e., that she is not a symbol of Rome, but rather of the unrepentant and unfaithful authorities in Jerusalem).

In the next installment, I’ll flesh out my interpretation of Revelation 17 and will attempt to relate it to some of the things I discussed on the recent Decoding Daniel episode. If you’re interested in exploring this subject further, I’ll be releasing an PDF resource on this topic soon to my supporters and paid subscribers.

CLICK HERE to begin reading Part 4 of this article series.

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Shane Rosenthal is the founder and host of The Humble Skeptic podcast. He was one of the creators of the White Horse Inn radio broadcast which he also hosted from 2019-2021, and has written numerous articles for various sites and publications, including TableTalk, Logia, Core Christianity, and others.

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FOR FURTHER STUDY

Articles
Deciphering the Clues of Revelation (Pt 1), (Pt 2), (Pt 3), (Pt 4), (Pt 5), Shane Rosenthal
Notes to Episode #68, featuring selections from the Dead Sea Scrolls and more
Notes to Episode #66, featuring selections from Josephus, Irenaeus, and others
Finding Christ in All The Scriptures, Shane Rosenthal
Why Should We Believe The Bible? Shane Rosenthal
Archaeological Discoveries Related to Nebuchadnezzar II, Shane Rosenthal
Justin Martyr on the Importance of Fulfilled Prophecy, Shane Rosenthal
Isaiah’s Prophecy of the Messiah’s Birth, Shane Rosenthal
The Bethlehem Prophecy: An Exploration of Micah 5:2, Shane Rosenthal

Books
The Last Days According to Jesus, R.C. Sproul
End Times Bible Prophecy: It’s Not What They Told You, Brian Godawa
Revelation: Four Views, Steve Gregg
The Divorce of Israel, Kenneth Gentry, Jr.
Before Jerusalem Fell, Kenneth Gentry, Jr.
Redating the New Testament, John A.T. Robinson
Rethinking the Dates of the New Testament, Jonathan Bernier
The Antichrist & The Second Coming, Duncan McKenzie
Proof of the Gospel, Eusebius of Caesarea
Son of Man in Early Jewish Literature, Richard Bauckham
A Commentary on the NT from the Talmud, John Lightfoot
The Parousia, James Stuart Russell — FREE
The Early Days of Christianity, F.W. Farrar — FREE

Audio
Decoding the Prophecies of Daniel, Humble Skeptic #68
Babylon, Humble Skeptic #66
Jacob’s Ladder, Humble Skeptic #63
Jewish Views of the Messiah, Humble Skeptic #38
The Intersection of Church & State, Humble Skeptic #53
What Child is This? Humble Skeptic Bonus Episode

Coming Soon
A PDF Resource for DONORS and PAID subscribers…
Understanding the Mystery of Babylon the Great, Shane Rosenthal

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1. For example, in his commentary on Revelation, Douglas F. Kelly says of “the beast,” that it “is empowered by the devil through the ages of history so that he takes different forms. One time the beast appears one way; in another century he looks different…The beast can veil himself as a kingdom, a tribe, an empire, or even as a democracy” (Revelation: A Mentor Expository Commentary; Geanies House Fern, Tain: UK, Mentor, 2012; 330). Similarly, G.K. Beale in his commentary speaks of “the transtemporal nature of the beast” (The Book of Revelation NIGTC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999, 870).

2. This is not to say that everything described in Revelation has already been fulfilled. According to chapter 20, some events will take place after “a thousand years,” which according to most commentators is a symbolic number that refers to the present age of the church.

3. BDAG, 993.

4. Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek, 2090.

5. BDAG, 271. According to Brill (580), it means, “near, close, beside.”

6. Frederic W. Farrar, The Early Days of Christianity (London: Cassell & Company, 1898) 432-433.

7. Though the ESV, NASB, NRSV, NIV, CSB, and NKJV ended up translating the word μέλλω in verse 4, they all decided not to translate the same word when it appears in verse 5. The Literal Standard Version does not make this mistake.

8. For other curious examples in which the word “μέλλω” is left untranslated outside the book of Revelation, see Mt 12:32, 16:27, Lk 3:7, 21:36, Acts 17:31, 24:14-15; 25, 26:22-23, Rom 4:24, 8:38, Eph 1:21, Col 2:17, 1Tim 4:8, 2Tim 4:1, Heb 1:14, 2:5, 6:5, 10:1, 27, 13:14, Jas 2:12, 1Pt 5:1, and 2Pt 2:6.

9. Here I specifically have in mind his prophecy of the “abomination of desolation” (Dan 9:24-27). Incidentally, some have argued that when Jesus referred to this prophecy and said “let the reader understand” (Mt 24:15, Mk 13:14), he was essentially “unsealing,” that which had been sealed.

10. Suetonius, The Lives of the Caesars translated by J.C. Rolfe (New York: Barnes & Noble Publishing, 2004), 315. This was first written in 117 AD.

11. See Josephus (Ant. 18:32, 19.75), Sibiline Oracles 5:12-51, 4 Ezra 11-12, Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 1:21.

12. Early date advocates include B.F. Westcott, J.B. Lightfoot, Alfred Edersheim, Philip Schaff, F.F Bruce, John A.T. Robinson, Kenneth Gentry, N.T. Wright, Ian Boxall, and Jonathan Bernier. In his massive commentary on Revelation, late date advocate G.K. Beale concluded his section of the dating of Revelation by conceding that “the early date may be right.” NIGTC Commentary: The Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1999), 27.

13. George Van Kooten, “The Yearof the Four Emperors and the Revelation of John” JSNT 30:2 (2007): 209.