Before Jerusalem Fell
by Kenneth L. Gentry by Kenneth L. Gentry
Th Tmporal Expectation of tlu Author 143 1:7; see also: Rev. 2:9; 3:9), the Church (cf Rev. 1:9; 2:9-10, 16; 3:2), and the Roman Empire27 (Rev. 3:10). Thus, the book has reference to the three divisions of mankind .28 That the decades of the A.D. 60s best meet up to the requirements is evident from a number of considerations. First, the Jewish War of A.D. 67-70 witnessed the deaths of tens of thousands of the Jews in Judea, and the enslavement of thousands upon thousands more.29 This war eventuated in the final and complete destruction of the Temple and of the entire sacrificial system for Israel, as well as the total devastation of Jerusalem itself This destruction was beyond comparison according to Josephus: “Whereas the war which the Jews made with the Remans bath been the greatest of all those, not only that have been in our times, but, in a manner, of those that ever were heard o~ both of those wherein cities have fought against cities, or nations against nations. . . . Accordingly it appears to me, that the misfortunes of all men, from the beginning of the world, if they be compared to these of the Jews, are not so considerable as they were. “3° No later era witnesses any events that even approach the fundamental covenantal significance of this calamity. Such an analysis of the covenantal and redemptive import of the collapse of the Jewish order is demanded by the nature of Christianity (cf. the Epistle to the Hebrews) and the nature of the final, New Covenant (cf. Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11 :25). In an important sense John “did not die till Christ had returned, in that sense of the ‘close of the aeon’ to which His own words and that of His Apostles often 27. The Greek word translated “world” in Revelation 3:10 is okoupgvq, which is generally understood to represent the civilized world, or the Roman Empire. See Arndt and Gingrich, L.zxicon, p. 564 “the Roman Empire (which, in the exaggerated language commonly used in ret to the emperors, was equal to the whole world. . .) .“ Cp. Luke 2:1. 28. The three-fold division of the race – pagan, Jew, Christian – is seen in the Scriptural record at 1 Cor. 10:32, Tertullian also speaks at length of such a division, To ttw Natwns 1:8. 29. Josephus records more than 1,100,000 were slain, although most historians deem the figure to be inflated, CC Josephus, Wars of tb Jews 6:9:3. 30. Josephus, Wan, Preface Sec. 1 and Sec. 4. Mosheim wrote of this calamity “Throughout the whole history of the human race, we meet with but few, if any, instanms of slaughter and devastation at all to be compared with this” (John Laurence von Mosheim, Htitorkal Commmtaria on ttw State of Chri.stianip [New York: Converse, 1854] 1:125).
, 144 BEFORE JERUSALEM FELL point. . . . The Apocalypse was written before he had witnessed the coming of Christ and the close of the Old Dispensation, in the mighty catastrophe which, by the voice of God in history, abrogated all but the moral precepts which had been uttered by the voice of God on Sinai.”31 Second, the first persecution of Christianity by Imperial Rome occurred from A.D. 64 to A.D. 68 (ending at the death of Nero). This persecution was not only the first and one of the most severe, 32 but it was the one that brought about the deaths of at least two of Christianity’s greatest leaders: Peter and Paul. Furthermore, with the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, Christianity would be clearly distinguished forever from Judaism. 33 Third, from June, A.D. 68, through December, A.D. 69, the Roman Empire suffered through a gruesome and severe Civil War that almost brought the Empire down, and that had reverberations throughout the Empire. This era witnessed the remarkable and unique “Year of Four Emperors” (A.D. 68-69): Nero committed suicide in June, A.D. 68, at the outbreak of civil revolt. Galba from Spain declared himself emperor and was accepted as such by the Praetorian Guard and Senate. In January, A.D. 69, the Praetorians switched their allegiance to Otho, and slew Galba. The Rhine armies then proclaimed Vitellius emperor. His armies defeated Otho’s forces at Bednacum. Upon Otho’s suicide on April 17, A.D. 69, Vitellius was declared emperor. Later the Eastern provinces declared Vespasian emperor. Vespasian then took Rome in a destructive and bloody battle, which saw the death of Vitellius on December 20, A.D. 69. 34 Nothing in or around Domitian’s era had anywhere near the dramatic significance of these events for all three of these cultures. Regarding the Jews, the Temple was already gone and, since Vespasian, the Jews throughout the Empire had already been forced to 31. Frederic W. Farrar, The Ear~ Drys of Christianity (New York Cassell, 1884), pp. 404,406. 32. Philip Schaff, Hirtov of the Chrirtian Church, 8 vols. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, [1910] 1950) 1:386. 33. To be discussed much more fully in Chapter 13. 34. For a full historical account see Tacitus’s writings. For a brief summary see N. G. L. Hammond and H. H. Scullard, O.@ord Clamkal Dictiorurry, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Clarendon, 1970), p. 93Q or Wdliarn L. Langer, cd., An Erqw’@wdia of World Histmy, 5th ed. (Boston: Houghton Miillin, 1972), p. 121.
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,<br />
144 BEFORE JERUSALEM FELL<br />
point. . . . The Apocalypse was written before he had witnessed the<br />
coming of Christ and the close of the Old Dispensation, in the mighty<br />
catastrophe which, by the voice of God in history, abrogated all but<br />
the moral precepts which had been uttered by the voice of God on<br />
Sinai.”31<br />
Second, the first persecution of Christianity by Imperial Rome<br />
occurred from A.D. 64 to A.D. 68 (ending at the death of Nero).<br />
This persecution was not only the first and one of the most severe, 32<br />
but it was the one that brought about the deaths of at least two of<br />
Christianity’s greatest leaders: Peter and Paul. Furthermore, with the<br />
destruction of the Temple and <strong>Jerusalem</strong>, Christianity would be<br />
clearly distinguished forever from Judaism. 33<br />
Third, from June, A.D. 68, through December, A.D. 69, the<br />
Roman Empire suffered through a gruesome and severe Civil War<br />
that almost brought the Empire down, and that had reverberations<br />
throughout the Empire. This era witnessed the remarkable and<br />
unique “Year of Four Emperors” (A.D. 68-69): Nero committed<br />
suicide in June, A.D. 68, at the outbreak of civil revolt. Galba from<br />
Spain declared himself emperor and was accepted as such by the<br />
Praetorian Guard and Senate. In January, A.D. 69, the Praetorians<br />
switched their allegiance to Otho, and slew Galba. The Rhine armies<br />
then proclaimed Vitellius emperor. His armies defeated Otho’s forces<br />
at Bednacum. Upon Otho’s suicide on April 17, A.D. 69, Vitellius<br />
was declared emperor. Later the Eastern provinces declared Vespasian<br />
emperor. Vespasian then took Rome in a destructive and<br />
bloody battle, which saw the death of Vitellius on December 20,<br />
A.D. 69. 34<br />
Nothing in or around Domitian’s era had anywhere near the<br />
dramatic significance of these events for all three of these cultures.<br />
Regarding the Jews, the Temple was already gone and, since Vespasian,<br />
the Jews throughout the Empire had already been forced to<br />
31. Frederic W. Farrar, The Ear~ Drys of Christianity (New York Cassell, 1884), pp.<br />
404,406.<br />
32. Philip Schaff, Hirtov of the Chrirtian Church, 8 vols. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,<br />
[1910] 1950) 1:386.<br />
33. To be discussed much more fully in Chapter 13.<br />
34. For a full historical account see Tacitus’s writings. For a brief summary see N.<br />
G. L. Hammond and H. H. Scullard, O.@ord Clamkal Dictiorurry, 2nd ed. (Oxford:<br />
Clarendon, 1970), p. 93Q or Wdliarn L. Langer, cd., An Erqw’@wdia of World Histmy, 5th<br />
ed. (Boston: Houghton Miillin, 1972), p. 121.
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