One of the great theological mistakes and teachings of Christian Fundamentalism and HWA/WCG in our own experience was "reading the Book of Revelation like a newspaper". How often, as students, did we hear Roderick Meredith affirm, "we have 3-5, 10 at the most, 20 tops" years left before Jesus comes. Conveniently, this range of possibilities generally fits the expected lifetime of all concerned. Gerald Waterhouse spent his entire life promoting the Book of Revelation to the churches as occurring within the boundaries of the life of HWA. When I, to his face, asked Gerald what he would think WHEN not IF, HWA would die. He simply replied, "I'll believe it after three days and three nights".
...and too...all these men have since died
A book that begins with...
1The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
And ends with...
20He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Is not talking to us today
"Digging through the pages of history of the early church fathers, citing excellent commentaries from the late 19th and early 20th century, and taking Scripture with the seriousness that any scholar should, Gentry gives overwhelming evidence that Revelation was written prior to A.D. 70 and also gives us answers into some of the mysteries such as
Who is the Beast?
What is 666?
Is the tribulation past or still to come?
as well as demonstrating that the majority of Revelation, all of the Olivet Discourse and the 70 weeks passage in Daniel was fulfilled in the destruction of the Temple by the Romans. Dr. Gentry shows that, as should always be the case, that prophecy is easier to understand after it has been fulfilled than before. If you are into any view that calls for a tribulation of any kind, should you decide to read this book, you will definitely be affected and challenge to make a change of such a view."
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In short, The Book of Revelation was written in or around the summer of 69 CE (65 according to this study) and certainly BEFORE not after the Fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. It was written to encourage the Jewish Christians in harm's way under the siege of Rome on the city. Revelation is a Jewish Christian Book. The 144,000 are Jewish Christians and the "innumerable multitude" are Jewish Christians who were not as righteous as the 144,000 but to be regathered nonetheless, not of the nations as gentiles, but "out of them" as Jewish.
Rome had grown weary of militant Jews and Zealots and militant Jewish Christians and with Judea under Roman control, was not going to put up with it anymore.
(I personally believe the Gospels and Paul's book of Romans reflect the fact that Rome had a great deal of input in the writing of the NT to pacify the militant Jewish Messiah and Jesus resulting in the Orthodox Judaism of today and a "turn the other cheek", "render unto Caesar..." and "Obey those that have rule over you (Rom. 13), pacifistic Jesus of the NT. Vespasian may have been the "Beast" and the Apostle Paul the "False Prophet" to Jewish Christians, but that's another story)
For a personal view of "Them not US" see:
"But back to the original question. To whom was Jesus speaking when he said the words and to whom did he mean for it to apply? The answer is within the context, plain and simple.
"Take heed that no man deceive you." (Matt 24:4)
"...ye shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars..." (Matt 24:6)
"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted..." (Matt 24:9)
"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation..." (Matt 24:15)
"But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter..." (Matt 24:20)
"Behold, I have told you before." (Matt 24:25)
The context in which Jesus spoke was his own. The "you" that he was addressing was the group he was addressing then and the group to which all these things would happen for, and soon. Jesus was telling those disciples that these things would happen in their time. Jesus made a mistake in his perceptions.
In our time, Christians read the same words and see the "ye" and "you" as "me" and "us" just as the original disciples would have. The only difference is that the disciples actually were disappointed and this generation has yet to realize their own disappointment to come.
The proof that Jesus himself meant the people he was talking to is found in the fact that the "this generation" comment is actually the tail end of a much larger, often overlooked quote taken in its entirety.
"So likewise YE when YE shall SEE ALL these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto YOU, THIS generation shall not pass, till ALL these things be fulfilled." (Matt 24:33-24 emphasis mine)
There is no reason to twist the words of Jesus to mean more than they were ever intended to mean. A scripture can never mean what it never meant. The early disciples and infant Church knew it meant them and we see the gradual deterioration of their personal confidence in the immediacy of the Second Coming promise throughout the NT.
I Thessalonians 4:15-17 "...For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout...Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air..." Meaning...some would die, but not us who tell you this. Jesus still means us.
I Corinthians 15:51,52 "...We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump..." Meaning...you will die, but we won't but it all works out...Jesus still meant us.
Romans 13:11-12 "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand..." Meaning...we had some doubts, but now we know it's almost here. Jesus still meant us.
James 5:8 "Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." Meaning...impatience was growing, hang in there. Jesus still meant us.
I John 2:18 "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time." Meaning...Jesus still meant us.
I Peter 4:7 "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer."
Revelation 22:20 "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly...." Meaning...ok, it's been over 30 years, but Jesus still means us.
Obviously, every one of these quoted hopes and statements was wrong. Jesus did not return for them and to date has not returned for anyone. Paul and the early church who wrote in his name was just as wrong as the many COG prophetic types are wrong in this time. And it is based on the fact that Jesus himself was wrong which I know most Christians can never come to admit. For Paul it becomes....
" I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." Meaning...Ok, I give up, Jesus didn't mean us, or at least not me. I was wrong. 2 Timothy 4:8-9
...and at best, this will also become the reality for those alive today seeing the imminent return of Jesus in every newspaper and on every turn of the dial in this dangerous and contentious world of ours."
I'm not scoffing. Being accused of scoffing was a label for those in the early Church who were really beginning to doubt the "soon" and "shortly" of it all. Rather than admit "Yeah, we get it", the powers that were simply blamed the "observer of reality", mocked them and said they didn't understand that "with God, a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day! Duh!" Of course, this little bit of information was not taught back in the day when it was obvious no Jesus was returning soon.
The disciples expected Jesus to return within days of his death and when they met him in Galilee, even doubted that. It's what you say to those that are becoming disillusioned but the others know that the return is still in their lifetime for sure.
Scoffers, i.e. "Noticers", were undermining the confidence of the early followers and disciples of Jesus. An observation is not scoffing. Observations are based on the passage of millennia. It's a 2000-year-old observation. To motivate with fear, false prophetic fulfillment's of non-prophecies and imagined prophetic accuracy on topics anyone could speculate somewhat accurately about, is simply foolishness and makes the Church, in any form, look stupid and ignorant. Jesus said his generation would not pass until the Son of Man be come. He was wrong too.
Revelation is a failed first-century prophecy. The Romans won again.
For an impressive recreation of The Fall of Jerusalem see:
