Before Jerusalem Fell

11
THE CONTEMPOIURY
INTEGRITY OF THE TEMPLE
Another noteworthy historical datum in Revelation is found in
Revelation 11 where we discover a reference to the Temple. Verses
1 and 2 of Revelation 11 contain the relevant temporal indicators:
And there was given me a measuring rod like a stat and someone
said, “Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those
who worship in it. And leave out the court which is outside the
temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations;
and they will tread under fmt the holy city for forty-two months.”
The Significance of Revelation 11
A good number of competent scholars have long recognized the
significance of this passage for the interpretation and the dating of
the book. Bleek notes the existence of the Temple as a significant
indicator “with tolerable clearness” of Revelation’s historical era: “As
to the time ofun-iting, there are several statements which indicate this
with tolerable clearness, and to which we have already referred. In
the first division (ch. xi. 1-14) . . . Jerusalem and the temple are
spoken of as still standing.” 1 Dusterdieck writes with deep conviction
regarding Revelation 11:1 ff.: “It is sufficient for chronological interest,
that prophecy depends upon the presupposition that the destruction
of thz Holy City had not yet occurred. This is derived with the greatest
evidence from the text, since it is said, ver. 2, that the Holy City, i.e.,
Jerusalem, is to be trodden down by the Gentiles. . . . This testimony
of the Apoc., which is completely indisputable to an unpreju-
1. Johannes Friedrich Bleek, An Introduction to tlw Nsw Tatamsnt, 2 vols., 2nd cd.,
trans. William Urwick (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1870) 2:226.
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