|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
Covenant Eschatology - Spirit of the Word - Introductory Note - New Stuff
A Study of the Resurrection
Part 4
by Don K. PrestonTHE HOUR OF HIS JUDGMENT IS COME
The same author that wrote of the coming hour in the book of John and said in his first epistle that the last hour had come also wrote the book of Revelation. Amillennialists commonly see in this book the message of the fall of Rome. We believe this is incorrect; the book is about the destruction and overthrow of the city "where the Lord was crucified" 11:8. Needless to say Jesus was not crucified in Rome! "Babylon" was also full of all the blood shed on the earth, 18:4, 20-24. Jesus identified the persecutor of prophets and apostles as Jerusalem, Mat. 23:31-39; Luke 13:31-33.
As all agree, the book of Revelation deals with the resurrection. This is the resurrection "hour" of John 5. What few seem to notice is that the resurrection is depicted in direct association with the fall of the city where the Lord was crucified, Rev. 11:8-19!
In Revelation 14 John has the critical "hour" in view. This chapter presents a view of an angel with the everlasting gospel to preach to all the world, vs. 6. The message of the gospel is "Fear God and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come," vs. 7. [my emphasis] This judgment is on the city Babylon, the persecutor of God's saints, 17:6ff--this is the same city as in 11:8. The time of judgment is when the one like the Son of Man would come on the cloud and reap when the harvest of the earth was ripe, 14:14f. There are several things to note about this text.
The preaching of the gospel into all the world is representative of the church's responsibility to preach the gospel to all the world in Jesus' generation before the fall of Jerusalem. In Matthew 24:14, in predicting the demise of Old Israel, Jesus said: "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness to the nations then comes the end." The completion of the world mission was to be a sign of the imminent end of the Old Covenant Age! Jesus positively declared that his coming would be in that generation, Matthew 24:29-34.
For an entire generation the early church proclaimed, amidst persecution, that impending judgment. The Cilician apostle said "the day is at hand" Romans 13:11, and God would crush Satan under their feet shortly, 16:20. He said this after saying the gospel had been preached in all the world, 10:18f! In harmony with Jesus' promise of Mark 13:9f, Paul said the early Christians would possess the miraculous gifts until the coming of the Lord, 1 Cor. 1:4-8. He said they were living in the end of the age, 1 Cor. 10:11. In Titus 2:11-13 the same apostle said the gospel had been preached to all men and consequently they were expecting the appearing of Jesus.
Our point is that in Revelation 14 the angel with the everlasting gospel and its message of impending judgment corresponds to the mission of the early church with its message of the coming of Christ in the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. And in Revelation 14 that coming judgment is called "the hour of his judgment"; it is the critical hour so central to John's other writings. It should be noted that John calls it literally "the hour of the judgment." The definite article appears with both "hour" and "judgment." Compare this with the comments on Stafford North above.
The urgency of the message of that judgment must also be emphasized. The message was that the judgment had come. In fact, John is told in the most emphatic expressions that his vision was to be fulfilled "shortly"; "the time is at hand"; Jesus was to come "quickly,"
Rev. 1:1-3; 22:6, 10, 12, 20. The consistency of John's writings and his constant focus on the consummative hour coupled with the imminence of Revelation demands a first century fulfillment of that critical hour.John, in 5:24-25 speaks of the beginning of the harvest--the firstfruits if you will--"the hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live." He then speaks of the rest of the harvest in verse 28-29--"Marvel not at this for the hour is coming when all that are in the graves shall hear." The movement is from some who hear unto life, to all those who hear and some to condemnation.
Revelation 14 contains the identical motif. In verses 1-5 we find the 144,000 who are the firstfruits unto God. These are the redeemed. They follow the Lamb--they hear his voice! In verses 14-20 the focus is on the remainder of the harvest and on condemnation just as in John 5:28-29.
The parallels between John 5 and Revelation 14 are too obvious to be ignored. The "coming hour" of John 5 is "the hour of his judgment" in Revelation 14. And since Revelation 14 is so emphatic as to the imminence of that impending judgment we must see that the critical "coming hour" of John 5:28-29 was not an event millennia removed from Jesus' day but was to occur in his generation.
That Revelation, and specifically chapter 14, deals with the A.D. 70 judgment against the Old Covenant World of Israel is illustrated in several ways. In verse 20 it says the "winepress was trodden without the city"--this term "without the city" is almost a technical term to identify Jerusalem, see Hebrews 13:12-13. Further, the writer says the blood from the judgment flowed for 1600 furlongs--almost 200 miles. As many commentators have noted, this is the measurement for the land of Israel. This is then a coded expression to signify not only the horrible nature of the impending suffering but to express its focus as well. Are we to believe that the writer expressed the judgment in terms that would bring Israel to mind when he actually had Rome in view?
In Revelation 14 we find, as in 1 John and the book of John, the impending critical hour. In both 1 John and Revelation we find emphatic time indicators saying the consummative hour was imminent.
Web ed. note: For more on resurrection and judgment in Revelation see
The Second DeathContents - Part 5 - Don Preston's site - Covenant Eschatology
Spirit of the Word - Introductory Note - New Stuff
Undivided Version
Part 1 - Resurrection From What Death?
Part 2 - Two Resurrections?
Part 3 - It Is the Last Hour
Part 4 - The Hour of His Judgment Is Come
Part 5 - The Hope of Israel
Part 6 - The Kingdom Does Not Come With Observation
Part 7 - Resurrection and the Law
Part 8 - The Prophetic Background of John 5
Part 9 - What Is Resurrection?
Part 10 - Resurrection When?
Part 11 - Problems With Tradition
Part 12 - Objections Considered
Part 13 - Summary and Conclusion