DISTANT EVENTS IN REVELATION?

PMT 2015-037 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

I often receive e-mail questions from readers. Here is a good question from Micah Thompson:

Question

“I have appreciated your teachings regarding Revelation. Through personal study, I came to believe that each book of the Bible was written to benefit those of its day and to which it was written, otherwise it really didn’t make much sense excluding, of course, the redemptive weave throughout the OT. So when I was given your presentation I felt it was confirmed even more.

The question I did have is in regard to Revelation. Since John did say “shortly” in the beginning and ending as you mentioned: Is there anything in between those chapters that we could speculate could still happen or is yet to happen other than the return of Christ?

Do you feel all the apocalyptic language stuff has ALREADY happened since it does fall between the beginning and ending chapters?

Answer

This is an important question, both for understanding Revelation and explaining its preterist orientation. How are we to understand these declarations? And do they prohibit any and all reference to the distant future?

As a matter of fact, I do see some historical events in Rev that stretch beyond its near-term time frames. By the very nature of the case, these are rare, since John brackets both ends of his prophetic work with near-term indicators. But these do exist.

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I believe that Rev 20 is the one place where the reader is taken into the distant future from John’s day. In fact, I believe we are taken through history to the very end. Let me explain.

In Rev 20 we read six times of a thousand-year period of time. This clearly points beyond the near term and projects out into the distant future. Whatever John means by his reference to the “thousand years,” he surely cannot mean a short period of time. In Scripture a thousand years is deemed a long time. And the number “one thousand” pictures an enormous number, even where it is not understood literally.

For instance, when the Psalmist has God state that “the cattle on a thousands” are Mine (Psa 50:10), he is most definitely not having the Lord state: “I own a few cattle here and there.” And when he declares for himself and his own comfort that “a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside” (Psa 84:10), he surely is not stating that “a day in Your courts is better than five or six days outside.” Obviously, when a thousand of something is mentioned, it indicates a very large number.

In Psa 90:4 we read: “For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night.” So that which is an enormously long period for us on earth, is but a flash for the eternal God. But he would not say: “For three and one-half years in your sight is like yesterday.”That would not be impressive.

This is true of the one thousand year period in Rev 20. The thousand year reign of Christ must indicate an enormously long reign. And indeed, most non-dispensationalist or non-premillennialist scholars hold that the this period represents Christian history from the first century to the last, whenever that may be.

Consequently, we must understand John to be making a rare breech of his time-constraints. And this is for the purpose of looking at the long-term consequences of the near-term events. Since he is writing to a martyr church, he is basically encouraging them: Your persecutors will have their day, and it will all be over. But you will be taken up into heaven where you will exercise Christ’s authority through to the end of history. Therefore, hang in there!

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We must recognize, however, that the thousand years of Rev 20 actually begin in the first century. In fact, I believe they begin in the context of AD 70. Upon the judgment of the beast (Nero’s death) in AD 68) and the collapse of the temple and th false prophet (the high-priesthood) in AD 70, the martyred Christians will be exercising rule in heaven with Christ.

When you compare Rev 6:9 with Rev 20:4 you will note the strong parallels of words and sentiment. In Rev 6:11 the martyrs are told they must wait only “a little while longer,” i.e., until the conclusion of the judgment of Israel. In another study Iwill show how Rev 20:4 is the fulfillment of the prayer in Rev 6:10: “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood”?