Before Jerusalem Fell
by Kenneth L. Gentry by Kenneth L. Gentry
314 BEFORE JERUSALEM FELL this is the interpretation: in the midst of the time of that kingdom great struggles shall arise, and it shall be in danger of falling; nevertheless it shall not fall then, but shall regain its former power.” Josephus, a Jew from the province that included Israel, agrees that during this time Rome was brought near to utter “ruin.”5 2 He notes that “about this time it was that heavy calamities came about Rome on all sides.”5 3 The reports of the destruction and rapine were so horrible that it is reported of General Vespasian: “And as this sorrow of his was violent, he was not able to support the torments he was under, nor to apply himself further in other wars when his native country was laid waste.”5 4 Josephus writes elsewhere that “the Roman government [was] in a great internal disorder, by the continual changes of its rulers, and [the Germans] understood that every part of the habitable earth under them was in an unsettled and tottering condition. ”5 5 Men everywhere understood that “the state of the Remans was so ill.”5G But what eventually occurred at the end of these “death throes”? The rest of Suetonius’s quotation begun above informs us that “the empire, which for a long time had been unsettled and, as it were, drifting through the usurpation and violent death of three emperors, was at last taken in and given stability by the Flavian family.”5 7 Josephus concurs with this view of things when he writes: “So upon this confirmation of Vespasian’s entire government, which was now settled, and upon tfu unexpected deliverance of the public affairs of t/u Remans j$-om ruin, Vespasian turned his thoughts to what remained unsubdued in Judea. “5 8 Thus, after a time of grievous Civil War, the Empire was revived by the ascending of Vespasian to the purple. Through the death of the last Emperor from the original imperial Julian family, namely Nero, it seemed as though the old imperial power had received its death-blow. In the times of the so-called Interregnum new Emperors were constantly trying to secure the throne, but not one could secure a permanent or generally recognized 52. Josephus, Wan 4:11:5. 53. Zbid., 410:1. 54. Ibid., 4102. 55. Ibid. 7:42. 56. Ibid. 7:42 57. l@aiUn 1:1. 58. Wars 411:5. Emphasis mine.
Th Nero Redivivus Myth 315 authority. Thereupon, by the fact that Vespasian was made Emperor and in an orderly manner was confirmed by the Senate, the moral wound of the beast is healed and in the new imperial family of the Flavians the Roman Empire is restored in its old and firm power.59 A number of celebrated scholars (e.g., Schaff and Dusterdieck) ,60 view the matter thus, including some even of the late date school (e.g., Caird and Moffatt) .61 Moffatt is a particularly interesting case in point. He attempts to hold to the best of both worlds, as it were, when he writes at Revelation 13:3: “The allusion is . . . to the terrible convulsions which in 69 A.D. shook the empire to its foundations (Tat. Htit. i. 11 ). Nero’s death with the bloody interregnum after it, was a wound to the State, from which it only recovered under Vespasian.”G2 To discover such a vigorous late date advocate and Nero Rediuiuus enthusiast admitting that the references can be applied to the Roman Civil War and Rome’s revival under Vespa.sian, is to discover a telling admission. If the verses in Revelation can properly be understood as making reference to the earth-shaking historical events of the era, why would any commentator be driven to employ a myth to make sense of the passages? And this being the case, how can the myth be used as a major dating datum from the internal evidence? If such a vigorous, liberal advocate of the Domitianic date as Moffatt is willing to allow such, why should not the more cautious, evangelical scholars allow it? The reference to the “eighth” king (Rev. 17:11) might seem a difllculty for this view. This is because the eighth emperor of Rome was actually Otho, the second of the interregnum rulers, and not Vespasian, who actually gave life again to the Empire. Exegetically it should be noted that in the chronological line of the seven heads/ kings, John speaks of the matter with exactness by use of the definite article. That is, he writes in Revelation 17:10 (we translate it literally): “thz [of] five fell, the [d] one is, the [d] other not yet come, and whenever he comes a little time it behooves him to remain. ” But the definite article is conspicuously absent in the reference to the eighth 59. Weiss, Comrmmta~ 4453-454. 60. Philip Schaff, Hirtoy of th Christian Church, 8 vols. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, [1910] 1950) 1:390, 428; Diisterdieck, Revelation, pp. 374-375. 61. G. B. Caird, A Commenta~ on the Revelation of St. John the Diviru (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), p. 164; Moffatt, Revelation, p. 430. 62. Zbtd., p. 430.
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314 BEFORE JERUSALEM FELL<br />
this is the interpretation: in the midst of the time of that kingdom<br />
great struggles shall arise, and it shall be in danger of falling; nevertheless<br />
it shall not fall then, but shall regain its former power.”<br />
Josephus, a Jew from the province that included Israel, agrees that<br />
during this time Rome was brought near to utter “ruin.”5 2<br />
He notes<br />
that “about this time it was that heavy calamities came about Rome<br />
on all sides.”5 3<br />
The reports of the destruction and rapine were so<br />
horrible that it is reported of General Vespasian: “And as this sorrow<br />
of his was violent, he was not able to support the torments he was<br />
under, nor to apply himself further in other wars when his native<br />
country was laid waste.”5 4<br />
Josephus writes elsewhere that “the Roman<br />
government [was] in a great internal disorder, by the continual<br />
changes of its rulers, and [the Germans] understood that every part<br />
of the habitable earth under them was in an unsettled and tottering<br />
condition. ”5 5<br />
Men everywhere understood that “the state of the<br />
Remans was so ill.”5G<br />
But what eventually occurred at the end of these “death throes”?<br />
The rest of Suetonius’s quotation begun above informs us that “the<br />
empire, which for a long time had been unsettled and, as it were,<br />
drifting through the usurpation and violent death of three emperors,<br />
was at last taken in and given stability by the Flavian family.”5 7<br />
Josephus concurs with this view of things when he writes: “So upon<br />
this confirmation of Vespasian’s entire government, which was now<br />
settled, and upon tfu unexpected deliverance of the public affairs of t/u<br />
Remans j$-om ruin, Vespasian turned his thoughts to what remained<br />
unsubdued in Judea. “5 8<br />
Thus, after a time of grievous Civil War, the<br />
Empire was revived by the ascending of Vespasian to the purple.<br />
Through the death of the last Emperor from the original imperial<br />
Julian family, namely Nero, it seemed as though the old imperial<br />
power had received its death-blow. In the times of the so-called<br />
Interregnum new Emperors were constantly trying to secure the<br />
throne, but not one could secure a permanent or generally recognized<br />
52. Josephus, Wan 4:11:5.<br />
53. Zbid., 410:1.<br />
54. Ibid., 4102.<br />
55. Ibid. 7:42.<br />
56. Ibid. 7:42<br />
57. l@aiUn 1:1.<br />
58. Wars 411:5. Emphasis mine.