What Are The Events Soon To Take Place In Revelation?

In Revelation, we will discover the events that must soon take place were the judgments upon first-century, old covenant, unbelieving Israel who rejected Jesus as the Christ and killed many of their fellow Israelites who believed in him.

The judgments were directly connected to the law-based judgments listed in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28-32, and they included the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the temple.

Jesus spoke about the judgment against Jerusalem and the temple in Luke 19:41-44.

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

In these verses, Jesus described the horrific events of AD 70 when the Roman armies surrounded and ultimately destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. Jesus also spoke about this judgment in Luke 21:20-24.

“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”

As Jesus was being led away by the Roman soldiers to be crucified, he once again spoke about the destruction of Jerusalem and its people (Luke 23:26-30).

As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him.

Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’

Then “ ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’

These are the same judgments Jesus told his disciples about in Luke 21: 5-6.

Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

After hearing Jesus speak about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, the disciples asked Jesus (Luke 21:7),

“...when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”

I believe the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple Jesus said was about to take place was the same destruction concerning what would soon take place in AD 70. The destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem, along with the death of many Jewish people, was soon to take place, and this is what Jesus was revealing to John and what we read about in Revelation.

This is an excerpt from my book on Revelation: Judgment On First-Century Israel - due out early May of 2025.

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