Daily Archives: March 8, 2015

Dating The Writing of the Book of Revelation

If we are to understand the Book of Revelation, we must identify the approximate date of its writing. Historical context requires knowledge of the time factor. The date of the writing is crucial to its interpretation.

There are two main views of the date of the writing:

  1. In the time of the reign of Domitian during the persecution of 96 AD.
  2. In the time of Nero, before the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.

(1) Those who favor a date in the reign of Domitian, (AD 81-96), do so on the basis that:

  • (A) Mystery Babylon depicts the Roman empire and that:
  • (B) this date more accurately depicts the conditions of the empire at that time than at the time of Nero and
  • that the later date gives more time for the decline of the churches shown in the letters in chapters two and three.

(2) I favor the view that it was written

  • Immediately following Nero’s death, in Galba’s reign, in 68 AD.
  • That canonization of the Book depended upon its having been written by an Apostle.
  • That the identity of Mystery Babylon is not Rome, but rather the fallen Jerusalem.
  • That the external evidence from the Book of II Esdras, furnishes historical evidence for the time of Nero.

My View

My view is that the Book was written in 68 AD during the brief reign of Galba, immediately following the death of Nero.* Some of the evidence that favors this earlier date is that the temple is mentioned as if it were literally extant in Revelation 11:1-2 which favors a date in Nero’s reign and that the numerical value of Nero’s name, Neron Caesar, can be calculated to equal the cryptic number of the Beast, 666.

Further evidence for the writing having been during the reign of Galba will be dealt with in my Commentary on Revelation 17:9* showing that Galba was the sixth of the “Seven Kings,” who was the present King in the writing of Revelation.

Internal Evidence: Apostolicity:

One of the criteria for canonization of a writing in the early Church was apostolicity, that is, that it was written by or was based upon the witness of an apostle. The fact that it was accepted into the canon is evidence that the early Church believed it to be the work of John the Beloved Apostle. John would have been an old Man in 68 AD, although it is possible, but not probable, that he lived to Domitian’s reign, 25 years later.

The internal evidence of the Book itself, if we take it to be the inspired Word of God, should be determinative. The witness of the writing itself is that it was written by the Apostle John, the writer of the Gospel and the Epistles of John. (See my article “I, John.” **)

Blood Guilt: Jewish or Roman? The Identity of Mystery Babylon

The internal evidence is also that Babylon the Great was not Rome but rather the wicked city of Jerusalem which had been persecuting the Church of Jesus Christ and whose destruction had been predicted by Christ to be within the generation that heard Him.***

The identity of Babylon must be seen in relationship to the referent in Matthew 23:34-35. In the context of His condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees and His description of the predicted destruction of Jerusalem, Christ said: “Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them you shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zecharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.”

The fact that it was the fallen Jerusalem who was to bear the guilt of “all the righteous blood shed on earth,” and the fact that it is Mystery Babylon in whom is found the blood of “all who have been slain on earth,” conclusively shows that Mystery Babylon symbolizes the fallen Jerusalem. Mystery Babylon is clearly said to have slain “the saints and martyrs of Jesus,” (Revelation 17:6). In the context of the Scriptures, then, Mystery Babylon can be none other than the fallen Jerusalem.

If Mystery Babylon is Jerusalem, then the Book would have been written prior to70 AD.

Jewish Persecution, Not Roman:

The entire New Testament witnesses to the fact that it was the Pharisaical sect of the Jews that persecuted and killed Christ and His Church, the Christian branch of the Jewish race. On the other hand, there are no references in the Scriptures to Roman persecution of Christians as such. Although the Romans did get involved in the legal disputes, that should not be called persecution. Secular historians show that the Roman government did not recognize that there was a difference between the Christians and other “Jews” until after the great fire in approximately 64 AD.

The Jewish nation as a politico/religious state was ruled by a class of priests, Pharisees, and scribes who curried the favor of Roman power in a love/hate relationship. On one hand, they coveted the power and economic gain from Rome; on the other hand, their conscience forbade them to neglect halakhah, the law of their religious traditions. Therefore, the people who observed the traditions, the Pharisees, were in rebellion, either overtly or covertly, against Rome throughout the New Testament era.

Although the Pharisaic Jews considered themselves persecuted by Rome, they were not persecuted as followers of Christ. Neither were the Christians persecuted by Rome as followers of Christ. Persecution of Christians by Rome was because they were perceived to be Jews who were in rebellion against Rome, not because they were followers of Christ. If the persecutor of the saints was Jerusalem, not Rome, then the Book of Revelation was written prior to 70 AD.

External Evidence:

The Book of 2 Esdras has many parallels to the Book of Revelation and is believed to have been written very near the same time, i.e., near the close of the first century AD. In 2 Esdras 12:18, some theologians believe a reference is made to the time following the death of Nero, 68 AD. The writer of 2 Esdras, however, is recounting a vision he has seen revealing events which were to come. If this is indeed a reference to the time following Nero’s death, then 2 Esdras would have been written before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The parallels to the Book of Revelation would serve as a second witness that the Revelation was written prior to 70 AD.

It is clear from these facts that the dating of the Book, as well as the attribution of authorship, depend upon the interpretation of the symbols of the Book; and the interpretation of the symbols depend upon the dating of the writing, a circular process. However, I believe the overwhelming evidence is for the earlier date. 

[This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book, Revelation In Contest, pages 11-13. For further discussion of historical, literary, and theological sources, please see the footnotes at that location.]

*See my book: Commentary at 17:10 “Roman Appointed Kings of Judea.“ p. 304-305.

** See my book, page 97.

***See my book, pages 74-94.