Revelation 6: A Preterist Commentary

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The Names of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the Seven Seals Revealed!

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A Preterist Commentary on Revelation 6: Summary and Highlights

Who are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?  And what were the seven seals?  In the following preterist Bible commentary on Revelation 6 the reader will be exposed to answers to these questions in addition to compelling evidence that every verse in this chapter came to pass during the Jewish War in the first century.  I believe the four horsemen of the apocalypse have human counterparts in the four kings that supplied auxiliary troops during the siege of Jerusalem.  I believe the four horsemen of the apocalypse are Antiochus, Agrippa II, Sohemus and Malchus.1  The Midrash says that Vespasian had four generals with him during the Roman assault on Israel.  It is also possible that these four horsemen are these four generals?  Regardless of whether they were four generals or four client kings, these four horsemen did indeed conquer as predicted in Revelation 6:2; “take peace from the earth” according to Revelation 6:4; induce famine as implied in Revelation 6:6; and “kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth” when these four kings led their armies in the war on Palestine climaxing in the siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.  As a result of this allied assault, Jerusalem was conquered and thousands of Israelites were killed by “sword, famine and plague.” 97,000 Jews were exiled2 many of whom were killed in Roman amphitheaters “by sword and wild beasts.”3  In A.D. 69, a year before the fall of Jerusalem, an omen of the coming tragedy was seen in the sky–the sun darkened, the moon turned blood red and a star fell in fulfillment of Revelation 6:12-13: “There was a great earthquake.  The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to the earth.”  The earthquake mentioned in v. 12 may refer to the earthquake that hit Jerusalem the year before, in A.D. 68.  Amidst the fall of Jerusalem, many people fled to caves under the city or to the mountains and caves of the Dead Sea as predicted in Revelation 6:15: then the people “hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.”  The last pocket of resistance held out at the mountain fortress of Masada.  Realizing that they could not overcome the Romans, 960 Jews took their lives.  In this mass suicide, one can see the eerie fulfillment of Revelation 6:16-17: “They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!  For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

Revelation 6 intro commentary, 7 seven-sealed scroll

The following may seem unbelievable.  However, most information is taken from unbiased historical records and all information is easily verifiable.  Sources listed at the end.

The Names of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the Seven Seals Revealed!

A Covenant Eschatology Exposition and Commentary of Revelation 6: The Scroll Sealed at the End of the Book of Daniel is the Same Scroll Opened at the Beginning of Revelation.  Thus Not Surprisingly Both Books adopt Similar Structure and Symbolism.

Although the purpose of the Bible is to reveal God, the central theme of the Bible appears to be an incitement. From the righteous blood of Abel to the blood of the prophets Jesus sent after His death (Matthew 23:29-39), the Jews killed their saints throughout Biblical history.  The major events in Jewish history appear to be Easter Eggs or typology symbolizing the fact that the Jews killed their prophets, saints and Messiah throughout their history and as punishment would suffer a similar fate at the time of the end.  We see this typology most clearly in the sacrificial customs of the Law which point so implicitly to the death of Jesus, the Lamb of God, and the saints who are the Body of Christ.  This central Biblical theme of unjust martyrdom is on full display climaxing in the Book of Revelation where we see the plagues of Revelation released upon the wicked in response to the prayers of the martyrs for vengeance (Revelation 6:9-11; 8:3-6). Revelation then culminates with the fall of Babylon who falls because she killed the martyrs (Revelation 17:6; 18:20, 24).  Furthermore, we see Revelation quote and allude to what seems like almost every other book of the Bible. In Revelation there are hints of the Genesis flood (Rev 10:1; 13:1-10); story of Exodus; the fall of Sodom by fire from heaven; the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple by the Babylonians; the fall of Babylon; allusions to Moses and Elijah (Rev 11); the return of the tree of life (Rev 22:2), allusions to the Maccabean Wars, the Abomination that Causes Desolation, and the return of Antiochus Epiphanies in Caesar Titus; and a recapitulation of Jesus’ life and ministry (Rev 12) along with repeated mentions and descriptions of His return (Rev 1,2, 6, 14, 19, 22).  The Book of Revelation is almost a string of quotes highlighting the major events of Biblical history.  It seems that these repeated quotes and allusions to the major events of the Jews’ ancient past is meant to call attention to the inherent prophetic significance of Israel’s history which at its root according to Revelation appears to foreshadow or typologically point to Israel’s sin, its end, and the justification of the saints.  Revelation’s repeated mention of Israel’s past history appears to confirm that this past is inherently prophetic just as are the customs of Israel’s Law.

Although Revelation alludes to almost every book of the Bible, Revelation is most closely tied to the Book of Daniel.  This is because the Book of Revelation, a.k.a the Apocalypse of John, is ultimately a continuation of the Book of Daniel.  In Daniel 12:4 Daniel is told to seal up the scroll until the time of the end: “But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end.”  The scroll sealed at the end of the Book of Daniel is the same scroll opened in Revelation 6.  In both the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation this scroll is the ultimate source of all the prophetic visions in both books.

Even Revelation’s name, the Apocalypse, seems to point to the opening of the scroll sealed in Daniel 12:4.  The word apocalypse comes from the Greek word apokalupsis, a word meaning “to disclose or open to view.”4  Thus even the name of this book seems to implicitly point back to the opening of the scroll sealed at the end of the Book of Daniel.

In light of this information it is not surprising that the symbolic writing style and basic structure of both books is so similar.  In the Book of Daniel, Daniel records several visions each of which is usually a restatement of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel 2) told from a different perspective with different symbolism and some additional information added ultimately climaxing in the resurrection of the dead.  Revelation repeats this same pattern.  In the Book of Revelation John also sees several visions back-to-back that are generally a restatement of the original told from a slightly different perspective ultimately culminating in the resurrection of the dead.5  In other words, much of what is foretold in the breaking of the seven seals is recapitulated with new imagery in the seven trumpets of Revelation 8-11 and seven bowls of Revelation 16 but with new information and symbolism added throughout each successive vision.

book-01

Revelation 6 Commentary Intro: The Book of Revelation is a Series of Six Independent Visions.

It is important to remember that the Book of Revelation like the rest of the Bible was not originally subdivided into verses and chapters.  These were added later to aid readers in citing and looking-up relevant passages.  Thus these chapter subdivisions can sometimes seem to stop and start in somewhat random places.  I believe the Book of Revelation may be properly subdivided into six independent visions.  Most of these visions present a sequence of events discussing the tumultuous years just after the death of Jesus and the start of the Church Age.  The first vision, I believe, begins in Revelation 4 and ends in Revelation 6:17.  The next vision begins in Revelation 7 and continues to the end of Revelation 11.  This vision covers the sealing of the 144,000 and the sounding of the seven trumpets, all of which highlight major events concerning Israel’s first century war with Rome.  The third vision, encompassing Revelation 12 and Revelation 13, begins with the birth of Christ, discusses the war with Rome, the preservation of the 144,000, the death of Nero, the rise of Vespasian, the abomination that causes desolation, and the subsequent destruction of Jerusalem and its temple.  The fourth vision, Revelation 14, opens with the sealing of the 144,000 and ends with the Son of Man swinging his sickle to harvest the land.  The fifth vision extends from Revelation 15 to Revelation 19:10.  This vision opens with the sealing of the 144,000.  Notable events during the time of Israel’s war with Rome are described in the seven bowls of Revelation 16, and the fall of Jerusalem is foretold in the remaining chapters.  When comparing the seven bowls of Revelation 16 with the seven trumpets of Revelation 8 and 9, one can immediately see strong similarities.  This is because as will be shown in the following commentary, the seven bowls and the seven trumpets describe the same historical events.  The last vision starts in Revelation 19:11 and continues to the end of the book.  I believe this vision foretells the events encompassing the thousand year period between the second coming and the Crusades.

Revelation 6 Commentary Intro: When Do the Six Seals Begin?

Though the seven seals appear to have been opened prior to the sounding of the seven trumpets (Revelation 8:1-2), there is compelling reason to believe that the judgments the seals foretold or set in motion actually transpired concurrently with the seven trumpets and seven bowls.  Evidence that the judgments of the first six seals did not unfold prior to the seven trumpets and bowls is found in Revelation 16:20.  This verse unfolded amidst the seventh bowl.  (Recall that the seven trumpets and seven bowls described the same seven events throughout the Jewish War.  Thus the seventh bowl corresponds with the seventh trumpet.)  Revelation 16:20 reads, “Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.”  Revelation 16:20 is almost a word-for-word quote of the consequences of the sixth seal in Revelation 6:14: “[E]very mountain and island was removed from its place.”  Here one can see that the seventh bowl of Revelation 16 and the sixth seal of Revelation 6:14 are describing the same event.   This event is the conquest of Israel by the Romans at the fall of Israel’s last and most fortified city, Jerusalem, in A.D. 70.  If Revelation is meant to be understood as a continuous sequence of events progressing in time from Revelation 6 to Revelation 22 and thus the six seals transpired before the seven trumpets and bowls as is often assumed, then an obvious problem arises: How is it that “[e]very island fled away and the mountains could not be found” in Revelation 16:20 when “every mountain and island was [already] removed from its place” earlier in Revelation 6:14?  The similarities between Revelation 6:14 and Revelation 16:20 show that the first six seals do not transpire prior to the seven trumpets and bowls.  More evidence in favor of this fact will we discussed in the remainder of the commentary.

1I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals.  Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!”  2I looked, and there before me was a white horse!  Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

 the names of the 4 four horsemen of the apocalypse

Durers, Albrecht. The Revelation of St. John 4: The Four Riders of the Apocalypse. 1497-1498. Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe.

A Realized Eschatological View and Commentary of Revelation 6:1-8: Are the Four Horsemen Antiochus, Agrippa II, Sohemus and Malchus, the Four Generals that Assisted Vespasian, or Embodied in Part by Vespasian and Titus Themselves?

Given a crown and riding off in conquest, the first of the four horsemen is their king and leader.  This horseman riding the white horse into battle is, I believe, depicted again in Revelation 19:11-16.  In Revelation 19:16 He is called the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”  In both cases this rider on the white horse is Jesus Christ, the Divine Son of God who is often called the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament.

The fact that Jesus is depicted riding a horse while carrying a bow calls to mind Habakkuk 3. In Habakkuk 3 the Lord is depicted coming on the clouds in judgment riding horses (v. 8) and carrying a bow (v. 9).6  The bow of the Lord is mentioned in Genesis 9:13-17 and is also seen hanging above the throne of God in Ezekiel 1:26-28 and Revelation 4:3.7  The arrow that flies from God’s divine bow is the lightning that accompanies the presence of God when He rides on the clouds of heaven in the midst of the Glory Cloud (Psalm 18:14).

This horseman is said to be a “conqueror bent on conquest.” The Greek word translated conquest in v. 2 is the same word used in the letters to the seven churches translated overcoming and conquering (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21). Revelation 3:21 reads, “He who conquers, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My Throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on His Throne.” Jesus is again depicted as a conqueror in Revelation 5:5: “The Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered so as to open the Book.”8  This horseman who is said to be a “conqueror bent on conquest” is Jesus Christ.

Following the precedent set in Ezekiel 28:1-19 I believe the four horsemen of Revelation 6 are heavenly beings with human counterparts which are separate and distinct from the four heavenly horsemen themselves.9  I believe the earthly refection of these four horsemen are the four kings that supplied auxiliary troops during the siege of Jerusalem: Antiochus, Agrippa II, Sohemus and Malchus?10  Interestingly, the Bible often uses the term “angel” to also refer to humans (2 Chronicles 36:15-16; Ezekiel 28; Haggai 1:13; Malachi 3:1; Matthew 11:10; 24:31; Luke 7:24; 9:52; 1 Timothy 3:16; Revelation 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14; 9:11; Revelation 21:17). I believe it is also possible that the earthly shadow of these four heavenly horsemen are four generals? The Midrash says that Vespasian was aided by four generals during the Jewish War: “the general of Arabia, of Africa, of Alexandria, and of Palestine.”11  It is also perhaps even more likely that Vespasian and/or Titus are one or two of the four horsemen mentioned in this chapter since as stated in v. 2 the rider on the white horse was “given a crown.” Both Vespasian and Titus, the two Roman generals of the Jewish War, were crowned Caesar in the middle of this war.12  Regardless of whether these four horsemen are the four generals mentioned in the Midrash, the four client kings mentioned by Josephus or are embodied in part by Vespasian and/or Titus, all of these interpretations plausibly fulfill the prophecies in this chapter.  The first rider is responsible for the conquest of Palestine.

3When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”  4Then another horse came out, a fiery red one.  Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other.  To him was given a large sword.

Revelation 6:4 Commentary: The Civil War in Israel and Israel’s War with Rome . . .

Pointing to Rome, the sword (machaira) of the second horseman was the short sword used by Roman infantry.13  This rider is commanded to take peace from the earth.  The fact that this horseman is said to take peace from the earth implies that the relative peace inaugurated by Caesar Augustus (27 B.C. – A.D. 14) had come to an end with the Jewish War.  It appears to be the task of this horseman to halt or put an end of this lengthy and glorious time of peace.

Revelation 6:3-5 A Preterist commentary the seven-sealed scroll

The man in the forefront is Vespasian. Immediately behind him is Titus, his son.

5When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse!  Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand.14 6Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barely for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

A Preterist Exposition and Commentary of Revelation 6:6: The Famine of v. 6 is caused by the Siege of Jerusalem.

The black color of the horse calls to mind Lamentations 5:10: “Our skin is black as an oven from the scorching heat of famine.”15  This horseman will bring famine to Jerusalem in fulfillment of the curse of Leviticus 26:26.  The scales in the hand of the rider in v. 5 indicate that the Jews will have to ration out their food, an inevitable consequence of a siege like the one imposed by Titus’ army in A.D. 70.  To make matters worse, the people of Jerusalem burned a large part of their own provisions before the arrival of the Roman army.16  This resulted in a steep rise in food prices even before the Romans began their siege.

Illustrating the severity of the famine induced by the siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the Sefer Ha-Aggadah tells a story in which Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai saw men stewing straw in the marketplace in Jerusalem.17  Further emphasizing the severity of the famine, Josephus mentions a woman who ate her own child.18  Sulpitious Severus echoes Josephus and the Sefer Ha-Aggadah:

Moreover, they [the Jews trapped in Jerusalem during the siege of A.D. 70] ventured on eating all things of the most abominable nature, and did not even abstain from human bodies, except those which putrefaction had already laid hold of and thus excluded from use as food.19

famine

A Realized Eschatology Interpretation and Commentary of Revelation 6:6: “Do Not Damage the Oil and Wine!”

The angel in v. 6 proclaims, “[D]o not damage the oil and wine!”  This verse may have found its fulfillment in the actions of the sacrilegious Jewish rebels who under the leadership of John Gischala plundered the oil and wine of the temple:

Accordingly, drawing the sacred wine and oil, which the priests kept for pouring on the burnt offerings, and which was deposited in the inner temple, [John] distributed them among his adherents, who consumed without horror more than a hin in anointing themselves and drinking.20

It is also possible that this verse was fulfilled during the siege of Jerusalem when according to J. Massyngberde Ford, Titus ordered “that olive groves and vineyards were not to be ravaged.”21

7When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”  8I looked, and there before me was a pale horse!  Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

Revelation 6:7-8, the 4th of 7 seals, name of the fourth horseman of the apocalypse

The siege of Jerusalem.Hayez, Francesco. The Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem. 1867. Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Venice.

Preterism Explained and Interpreted, A Commentary of Revelation 6:8: The Israelites were killed by Sword, Famine and Wild Beasts as predicted in v. 8.

In his history of the Jewish War, Josephus describes the civil war and famine induced by the fourth horseman:

Nor was there any place in the city [of Jerusalem] that had no dead bodies in it, but what was entirely covered with those that were killed either by the famine or the rebellion; and all was full of the dead bodies of such as had perished, either by that sedition or by that famine [emphasis mine].22

After Israel was conquered, the Roman general Titus exiled 97,000 Jews,23 many of whom according to Josephus were killed in Roman amphitheaters “by sword and wild beasts [emphasis mine]”: “Titus also sent a great number into the provinces, as a present to them, that they might be destroyed upon their theatres, by the sword and by the wild beasts   [emphasis mine].”24

Though it is true that many rebels were killed by wild beasts.  There may be more to Revelation 6:8 than this.  Though many Jews were killed by literal beasts in the aftermath of the fall of Jerusalem, the fact that these people are said to be killed by “beasts of the earth” appears to me to poetically point to the beast of the earth and the slaughter he caused in Jerusalem mentioned in Revelation 13:15 (see the preterist commentary on Revelation 13).

But what about the “plague” mentioned in v. 8?  The death by plague in v. 8 are the seven trumpet, bowl and seal plagues enumerated throughout the course of Revelation.

9When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they maintained.  10They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?  11Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.

 

Revelation 6:9-11 Commentary: The Martyrs under the Altar

The altar mentioned in v. 9 is in heaven, the dwelling place of God.  The fact that there is a temple in heaven is indicated in Revelation 11:19, 14:15-17, 15:5-8; and Psalms 18:6-9.25  The souls beneath this altar in heaven are the saints in Sheol unjustly killed throughout history awaiting the resurrection.  Jerusalem was well known for having killed its prophets.  Reminding them of this fact, Jesus pointedly declares:

Therefore I am sending you [Jerusalem] prophets and wise men and teachers.  Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.  And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  I tell you all this will come upon this generation (Matthew 23:34-36).

The Jews of that generation were, in fact, punished for these crimes having suffered greatly during the war with Rome.  Acts 8:1-3, 12:1-4 and 26:10 record the persecution the early church faced in Jerusalem soon after the death of Jesus.  Regarding this persecution, Jesus is recorded to have said the following in Luke 18:7-8: “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?  Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.”  God’s response to these pleas for justice mentioned in both Luke 18:7-8 and Revelation 6:10 is addressed in the remaining pages of the Apocalypse.

persecution of Christians Revelation 6:9-11 Preterist Commentary-The 7 seals

Gerome, Jean-Leon. The Christian Martyrs’ Last Prayer. 1863-1883. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

12I watched as he opened the sixth seal.  There was a great earthquake.  The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13and the stars in the sky fell to the earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.26  14The sky receded like a scroll rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

Preterist Bible Commentary on Revelation 6:12-14: Is there a Literal Core of Truth to Revelation 6:12-14 that Transpired during Israel’s War with Rome?

Many Preterists believe that end time predictions like Revelation 6:12-14 are not to be understood literally.  In other words, they believe that the sun did not darken and the moon did not literally turn blood-red at the end of the age. Instead, these predictions were symbols that represent something else like the seven-headed beast of Revelation 13 or the four-headed leopard of Daniel 7:6.  This belief is highly problematic.  Concerning events surrounding the end of the age, Jesus says, “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars (Luke 21:25).”   If the sun, moon and stars did not literally darken in Revelation 8:12 and the moon did not literally turn blood-red as predicted in Acts 2:20 and Revelation 6:12 as it does during a lunar eclipse, then why did Jesus say that there would be signs in the sun, moon and stars in the Olivet Discourse?  If nothing literally happened in the sky to fulfill Revelation 6:12, Revelation 8:12 and Acts 2:20, then what exactly were these signs in the sun, moon and stars that were expected to come at the end of the age?

Revelation 6:12-14 Commentary: The Destruction of Heaven and Earth

Before discussing the literal fulfillment of these heavenly warnings, it is important to address the crux of what is stated here.  John is describing the destruction of heaven and earth.  Hebrews 12:26 says,  “At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’  The words ‘once more’ indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain [emphasis mine].”  Revelation 6:12-14 records the fulfillment of this verse.  The earthquake and the stars falling from the sky are a result of God shaking heaven and earth.  Hebrews 12:26 points out that what has been shaken will be removed.  Verse 14 records this happening as the sky recedes like a scroll and every mountain and island is removed from its place.27

This is not the first time in Biblical history that heaven and earth were said to have passed away. The destruction of heaven and earth is often understood to mean that God is going to destroy the whole world and rebuild a perfect one in its place, this not necessarily the case.  The destruction of heaven and earth is not a onetime event.  When a nation was subjugated or conquered by another, the Bible often poetically portrays this conquest as the destruction of heaven and earth itself. The language used to describe the sixth century B.C. destructions of Babylon (Isaiah 13:9-13), Egypt (Ezekiel 32:7-9) and Edom (Isaiah 34:4-5) is the same cosmic language found in Revelation 6:12-14 which predicts a similar destruction of heaven and earth during the Roman conquest of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.  In Revelation 6:12-13, John foresees the shaking of heaven and earth also seen at the fall of Babylon in 539 B.C. according to Isaiah 13:13.  In Revelation 6:14 the sky recedes like a scroll and the stars of heaven fall to the earth as it had in Isaiah 34:4 at the destruction of Edom in the sixth century B.C.  When a nation was subjugated or conquered by another, the Bible often poetically portrays this conquest as the destruction of heaven and earth itself.  See The Destruction of Heaven and Earth and the New Heaven and Earth Explained.

Revelation 6:14 Commentary: Mountains Represent Kingdoms in the Bible

In v. 14, John states that every mountain will be removed. Mountain is a word the Bible often uses to denote a city or kingdom (Psalms 2:6; 48:1; Isaiah 66:20; Jeremiah 51:25; Joel 3:17; Daniel 9:16).  This is because cities were often built on mountains for military defense.  The removal of these mountains or kingdoms in Revelation 6:14 is fulfilled in the war with Rome.

Revelation 6:12-14 Commentary: The Destruction of Israel, the Earth

In A.D. 70 Jerusalem, the Lord’s Holy Mountain (Joel 3:17, Zechariah 8:3), was attacked and conquered under the leadership of the Roman general Titus.  After the city was taken, Caesar ordered that the city be demolished.  This order was carried out, and Jerusalem was completely destroyed leaving only the western wall and a few towers intact.  Concerning the devastation of the city, Josephus writes, “[T]here was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it had ever been inhabited.”28  Furthermore, the state of Idumea after the war is described in very much the same way: “[T]here was no sign remaining of those places that had been laid waste, that ever they had had a being.”29  The fate of Jerusalem and Idumea reflects the condition of Israel after the Jewish War.  Not only did the Romans destroy the cities, they also dug up the earth and stripped the land of trees in order to raise and transport siege engines. As a result, the land was left barren resembling the earth at its creation—depopulated, without form, void and desolate.  With the mountains or cities of Israel demolished by the Romans, the reader can appreciate how “every mountain [city] . . . was removed from its place” in Revelation 6:10.  Thus the state of Israel, the earth, after the Jewish War mirrors the formless and desolate state of the earth before its creation in Genesis 1:2, a fact which set the stage for the creation of the new heaven and earth in Revelation 21:1.

burning of the temple Revelation 6:12-14 preterist commentary sixth of 7 seals

The burning of Jerusalem and its Temple in A.D. 70

A Full Preterist View and Commentary of Revelation 6:12: Did the Earthquake of v. 12 hit Jerusalem in A.D. 68?

Having discussed the main point of Revelation 6:12-14, it is now time to address each verse and what I believe is its literal fulfillment.  Upon the opening of the sixth seal there is an earthquake.  Could this be the earthquake that hit Jerusalem in A.D. 68?30  See the preterist commentary on Revelation 16:18.

Revelation 6:12 Commentary: According to Joel 2:1-10 Earthquakes are also Caused by a Kingdom Trembling in Fear at the Approach of a Large Army.

Earthquakes are also occasionally used in Joel 2:1-10 and related apocalyptic literature as a poetic expression denoting fear.  As indicated in Joel 2:1-10 earthquakes are a poetic illustration of the people of the earth or land quaking or trembling in fear at the reverberating march of a large besieging army like the Romans who besieged Jerusalem in A.D. 70.  For a detailed explanation refer to How and Why Prophecies with Apocalyptic Imagery May Have Been Fulfilled in Old Testament History Much More Literally than Previously Thought.

storm

Preterist Eschatology and Commentary of Revelation 6:14: How the Sky may have looked as though it LITERALLY rolled up like a Scroll as Predicted in v. 14 during the Earthquake mentioned Above. 

Interestingly, the sky may have looked as though it had literally rolled up like a scroll as predicted in v. 14 at the time of the earthquake of A.D. 68 mentioned above.  But before describing how the stars may have appeared to have rolled up like a scroll, it is first necessary to reiterate what the Bible means when it mentions the Glory Cloud.  The Glory Cloud which marks the presence of God is a dark cloud with fire like the dark clouds of a violent thunderstorm (Exodus 40:34-38; Leviticus 16:2; 2 Samuel 22:8-15; Isaiah 66:15-16; Psalm 18:6-16; 50:3; 97:1-5; 144:5).  The Glory Cloud is often accompanied by powerful winds; lightning, fire from heaven; thunder; invading armies and an earthquake like the one in Revelation 6:12.  The Glory Cloud is mentioned in Psalm 18:7-14:

The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. . . .  He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet.  He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.   He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—the dark rain clouds of the sky.  Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.  He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

The description of the Glory Cloud in Psalm 18:7-14 perfectly echoes Josephus’ account of the storm that hit Jerusalem in A.D. 68 during the earthquake mentioned above:

There broke out a prodigious storm in the night, with the utmost violence, and very strong winds, with the largest showers of rain, with continued lightnings, terrible thunderings, and amazing concussions and bellowings of the earth, that was in an earthquake. These things were a manifest indication that some destruction was coming upon men, when the system of the world was put into this disorder; and any one would guess that these wonders foreshowed some grand calamities that were coming.31

This earthquake and storm occurred at the arrival of the Idumean Army outside of Jerusalem.  Remember that as stated above, invading armies are another sign of the presence of God on the Glory Cloud.  The Idumeans broke into Jerusalem later that night and slaughtered thousands of people within the city as the storm raged on.  Notice that in Psalm 18:7-14 and Josephus’ account quoted above both record a great storm with powerful winds, rain, lightning, thunder and earthquake.  Recall that Psalm 18:7-14 is a description of what it looks like when God comes on the clouds in judgment on the Glory Cloud.  The fact that all the same signs mentioned in Psalm 18:7-14 are also said to have occurred in A.D. 68 implies that God or Jesus ALSO had come on the clouds of heaven in the Glory Cloud at that time.  See The Appearance of Christ in A.D. 68?

The reason it is necessary to describe and define the Glory Cloud is because the dark clouds of the Glory Cloud blanket the sky and darken the stars overhead.  This point is explicitly stated in Ezekiel 32:7-8:

When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.  All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you; I will bring darkness over your land, declares the Sovereign Lord.

Notice that it is cloud cover that darkens the sun, moon and stars in Ezekiel 32:7-8.  The storm clouds of the Glory Cloud indicative of the presence of God on the clouds mentioned by Josephus in A.D. 68 above explain how “[t]he sky receded like a scroll rolling up” in v. 14.  As the thick clouds of the Glory Cloud spread across the night sky these opaque clouds progressively darken the stars as they do in Ezekiel 32:7-8 making the stars of the sky appear to roll up as they gradually fade from view at the coming of the Lord on the thick, dark storm clouds of the Glory Cloud.  This may be how the sky appeared to roll up like a scroll in fulfillment of Revelation 6:14.  Thus the storm that accompanied the arrival of Idumean Army at Jerusalem in A.D. 68 appears to have caused both the earthquake of v. 12 and the sky to roll up like a scroll in v. 14.  This blanketing effect caused by the Glory Cloud also explains how the sun is darkened in Revelation 6:12 as it is in Ezekiel 32:7-8.

The shaking of heaven and earth at the coming of the Lord is also likely to be a literal phenomenon: “At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”  (Hebrews 12:26)  The shaking of the earth in Hebrews 12:26 is of course fulfilled in an earthquake.  The shaking of heaven is the result of reverberating blasts of thunder.  Both of these signs were present in the storm marking the arrival of the Idumean Army at Jerusalem mentioned above.  This shaking of the sky from the strong winds and reverberating blasts of thunder mentioned in the storm of A.D. 68 may also be the apocalyptic or poetic explanation for why the stars of the sky seem to fall to the earth in Revelation 6:13.

Revelation 6:12 Preterist Commentary Falling Star 6 of seven seals

Covenant Eschatology Interpretation and Commentary of Revelation 6:12-13: According to the Midrash, the Sun represents the King, the Moon represents the Sanhedrin and the Stars represent Rabbis.

In Revelation 6:12-13 the sun is darkened, the moon turns blood red and the stars fall from the sky.  Whenever these signs appeared in the Old Testament–people died.  Looking ahead to verses 15 and 16, it is clear that now is no different.  The Midrash explains the meaning of the sun, moon and star imagery found in the Bible.  According to the Midrash, the sun represents the king.  The moon represents the Sanhedrin.  And the stars represent the Rabbis.  The fact that the Sanhedrin is represented by the moon is illustrated by the fact that the “seating of the Sanhedrin was in the shape of a semi-circular threshing floor [i.e. shaped like a crescent moon].”32  The fact that the stars represent the priestly class is derived from Daniel 12:3: “They that turn the many to righteousness are as the stars for ever and ever.”33

The Midrash interpretation mentioned above is not entirely accurate.  Jesus is said to be the sun in Malachi 4:2, the moon in Revelation 21:23, and the morning star, the brightest star in the sky, in Revelation 22:16.  Furthermore, the king of Babylon is also identified as the morning star.  Concerning the demise of the emperor of Babylon, Isaiah 14:12 reads, “How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn!  You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!”  It is perhaps more accurate to simply say that the sun, moon and stars signify the elite.  When the sun fails to shine, this is a celestial sign that a king is about to be overthrown or killed.  Psalm 72:5 says, “He [the king] will endure as long as the sun. . . .”  Also in Isaiah 24:21-23, God overthrows the kings of Israel and reigns as king in their place to the embarrassment of the sun.  In these verses, Isaiah, like John in Revelation 6:12, seems to imply that the state of the sun mirrors that of those in political authority.  When the sun is darkened this is an astral omen that a king’s reign is about to end.  However, as stated above stars can also represent a king.  Some additional examples in which the sun, moon and stars represent the elites are found in Isaiah 34:4-5, Ezekiel 32:1-10, and Joel 2:10.

Perhaps the falling stars mentioned in Revelation 6:13 has similar symbolic and prophetic meaning pointing to the overthrow of Israel’s elite, a fact echoed in The Wars of the Jews where the nobility and wealthy were killed and chased out of Israel during the Jewish War by the Zealots and Romans.34  It seems that this is also the message conveyed in Lamentations 2:1 which was fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in the sixth century B.C.: “How the Lord has covered Daughter Zion with the cloud of his anger!  He has hurled down the splendor of Israel from heaven to earth; he has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.”  In Lamentations 2:1 Jerusalem is said to be cast from heaven to earth like stars falling from the sky at its fall in the sixth century B.C.  Not surprisingly, after the appearance of these astrological signs, the kings and all the people of the earth are shown fleeing for their lives in caves and mountains in the following verses.

Hebrew prophets were not the only ones to place this interpretation on these heavenly omens.  Popular support for this perception can be found in the biography of Apollonius of Tyana, a first century Roman seer.  Here it is found that an eclipse of the sun was seen by the Roman populace as an omen foreshadowing the subsequent death of Caesar Domitian.35  Similarly, Domitian, convinced of his impending death, predicted a blood moon would mark his passing: “There will be blood on the Moon as she enters Aquarius, and a deed will be done for everyone to talk about throughout the entire world.”36  Falling stars also had similar meaning.  Fearing that a recently seen fallen star might portent his early death, Nero Caesar is recorded to have gone on a mass slaughter of nobility to avert the focus of the portent from him unto them.  Recording this event, Suetonius writes:

A comet, popularly supposed to herald the death of some person of outstanding importance, appeared several nights running.  His astrologer Balbillus observed that monarchs usually avoided portents of this kind by executing their most prominent subjects and thus directed the wrath of heaven elsewhere; so Nero resolved on a wholesale massacre of the nobility.37

Similarly, the death of Caesar Vespasian was said to have been foretold by a falling star reportedly seen immediately prior to his death.38   For a comprehensive explanation of the destruction of heaven and earth in the first century see The Destruction of Heaven and Earth and the New Heaven and Earth Explained!

Revelation 6:12 A Preterist Commentary the 6 of 7 seals

During a lunar eclipse the moon can turn blood red.

Preterist Bible Commentary on Revelation 6:12-13: The Sun Darkened, the Moon turned Red and a Star fell in A.D. 69.

Above we addressed some evidence that Revelation 6:12-13 may have been fulfilled in a surprisingly literal manner in A.D. 68.  Though it is possible that Revelation 6:12-13 was fulfilled at that time there is also good reason to believe that these verses were fulfilled in A.D. 69.  In A.D. 69, the year before the destruction of Jerusalem, a peculiar event was witnessed in the sky:

[E]vil omens occurred.  A comet was seen, and the moon, contrary to precedent, appeared to suffer two eclipses, being obscured on the fourth and on the seventh day.  Also people saw two suns at once, one in the west weak and pale, and one in the east brilliant and powerful.39

Cassius Dio, among other things, is describing a lunar eclipse.  During a lunar eclipse light from the sun that would ordinarily strike the moon is eclipsed by the earth.   When this happens the moon can turn a deep red color.  Above is an image of a lunar eclipse.  Here one can see the literal fulfillment of Revelation 6:12-13: Cassius Dio describes the sun darkening, the moon turning blood red and a star falling from the sky.  Though there may be nothing miraculous about what Cassius Dio described in the sky, what might be considered miraculous is what transpired in Jerusalem one year later.  Confirming the meaning of the symbolism of the sun, moon and stars mentioned above, John describes the aftermath of the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the subsequent fall of Masada in vs. 15-17.

Preterist Bible Commentary on Revelation 6:12-14: It is Also Possible that Revelation 6:12-14 May Have Been Fulfilled at the Fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 when the City was Burned by the Romans.  If So, then the Sun and Stars Darkened by the Smoke from the Fire.  And the Moon Turned Red After having Reflected the Hues of the Fire Below as Often occurs in Large Fires.

Having addressed the possible fulfillment of Revelation 6:12-14 in A.D. 68 and A.D. 69, it is also possible that these vs. were fulfilled at the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.  During the conquest and fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 the Romans burned and demolished the city.  If vs. 12-14 were fulfilled at this time then the earthquake mentioned in v. 12 would likely have been a poetic consequence of the people of Jerusalem trembling and shaking in fear at the Romans as they besieged and ultimately violently entered the city mirroring the way in which “earthquake” is used in the presence of a besieging army in Joel 2:1-10 mentioned above.

The celestial omens like the sun turning black like sackcloth, the moon turning red, and the stars falling from the sky might be a natural consequence of a large fire like that which consumed Jerusalem at its fall.  The smoke from the fire of the burning city may have darkened the sun like sackcloth in fulfillment of v. 12 from the perspective of those in and around Jerusalem at that time.  This smoke may have also obscured the stars making them darken and disappear as if they had fallen from heaven fulfilling v. 13.  Likewise, the red and orange hues of large fires like that which consumed Jerusalem can also reflect itself in the sky making the sky appear to also be on fire (2 Peter 3:5-13) during which the moon can also take on the orange or red color of the massive fire below.  Here one can see how the moon may have also turned red at this time in fulfillment of v. 12.

The Fortress of Masada Revelation 6:15-17 a preterist commentary 6th of 7 seals

The Fortress of Masada

15Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.  16They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!  17For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?

Preterist View, Interpretation and Commentary of the End Times and Revelation 6:15-17: As stated in v. 15, the People fled to the Mountains and Caves at the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the fall of Masada in A.D. 74.

After the Romans breached the walls and entered the city, John and Simon, the two remaining leaders of the Jewish revolt, as well as many other survivors fled to the caves under Jerusalem where they were eventually captured by the Romans.40  Here one can see how the kings, generals and people hid in caves as predicted in v. 15.

The fact that Revelation 6:16 was fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem is strongly implicit in Luke 23:28-30:

But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’

Notice that Jesus tells the people of Jerusalem to weep for themselves for days were soon to come in which these people of Jerusalem would say to the mountains, “‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’” Thus Revelation 6:15-16 must have been fulfilled at least in part in the destruction of Jerusalem as is strongly implied in Luke 23:28-30.41

The Well of Souls Revelation 6:15-17 A Preterist Commentary 6th of seven seals

The Well of Souls is a cave under the Temple Mount.

Revelation 6:15-17 also appears to have been fulfilled at the very end of the Jewish War, at the fall of Masada.  The remaining Jewish rebels who were not killed at the fall of Jerusalem escaped to the mountains and caves of the Dead Sea.  The last pocket of resistance held out at the mountain fortress of Masada.  Realizing they could not hold out against the Romans, 960 Jews took their lives.  In this mass suicide, one can see the eerie fulfillment of vs. 16 and 17 where the men of the land hid in caves and mountains longing to die to hide themselves from the wrath of God.

In the aftermath of the Jewish War one can appreciate the fulfillment of the astral omens in vs. 12-13.  By the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the remaining leaders of the Jewish revolt were killed and captured, the former high priest Ananus was killed by the Idumeans, and the priests of the Temple were killed by Titus and his army together with the common Jewish rebels.

caves of the dead sea Revelation 6:15-17 A Preterist Commentary 6th of 7 seals

The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in mountain caves.

 

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Interested in THE PRETERIST VIEW OF ESCHATOLOGY, or are you a PRETERIST struggling with a prophecy or verse?  It DID happen just like the Bible says!  If you liked this essay, see PRETERIST BIBLE COMMENTARY for a detailed explanation of the FULFILLMENT OF ALL MAJOR END TIME PROPHECIES IN THE BIBLE. The more unbelievable the prophecy, the more amazing and miraculous the fulfillment!

Also see Historical Evidence that Jesus was LITERALLY SEEN in the Clouds in the First Century. For an explanation of how the end of the age and its fulfillment during the Jewish War mirror Genesis 1-3; how the Bible teaches that the resurrection of the dead is a resurrection of heavenly bodies to heaven, not a resurrection of perfected earthly bodies; and how the resurrection is a mirror opposite of the fall see How the Jewish War and Resurrection to Heaven Mirror Genesis and the Fall; and How Preterism fixes the Age of the Earth Problem and unravels the Mysteries in Genesis.

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The A.D. 70 Doctrine View, Interpretation, Exposition and Commentary of Revelation 6: Conclusion

In the above realized eschatology commentary on Revelation 6, the seven seals were revealed and the names of the four horsemen of the apocalypse were shown to be Antiochus, Agrippa II, Sohemus and Malchus.[xxx]

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A Preterist Commentary on Revelation 6

 

 

  1. Josephus The Wars of the Jews 3.4.2.
  2. Ibid., 6.9.3.
  3. Ibid., 6.9.2.
  4. Dallas R. Burdette, D. Min., Commentary on the Book of Revelation: An Unraveling of The Olivet Discourse As a Preface to Understanding Revelation Volume 1, (USA: Xulon Press, 2013), 309.
  5. Kurt M. Simmons, The Consummation of the Ages, (Canada: Bimillennial Preterist Association, 2003), 172.
  6. David Chilton, The Great Tribulation, (Fort Worth, TX: Dominion Press, 1987), 69.
  7. Ibid., 70.
  8. Ibid., 71.
  9. Compare the first horseman with Jesus in Revelation 19:11-16.  The four horsemen are also envisioned in Zechariah 1.  Here Zechariah sees these four horsemen as four powerful heavenly beings.  In Zechariah 7:7-21 the Angel of the Lord who is often recognized in evangelical circles to be the preincarnate Christ speaks to Zechariah as one of the four horsemen.  I believe these four horsemen are the four living creatures themselves.  I believe these four powerful beings take on many forms throughout the Bible: They are the four living creatures of Revelation 4, the four seraphs of Isaiah 6, the four cherubim of Ezekiel 10, the four horsemen of Zechariah 1, the four charioteers of Zechariah 6, and I believe the four angels bound at the Euphrates in Revelation 9:14-16 as well.
  10. Josephus The Wars of the Jews 3.4.2.  However, Wellesley lists potentially up to seven client rulers that united with Titus in A.D. 69. Wellesley, Year of the Four Emperors, 123-124. cited in Duncan W. McKenzie, Ph.D., The Antichrist and the Second Coming: A Preterist Examination Volume 2: The Book of Revelation (USA: Xulon Press, 2012), 237.
  11. Midrash Rabbah Lamentations 1.31; Hayim Nahman Bialik and Yehoshua Hana Ravnitzky eds., The Book of Legends Sefer Ha-Aggadah: Legends from the Talmud and Midrash, trans. William G. Braude (New York: Schocken Books, 1992), 191.
  12. Milton S. Terry, Biblical Apocalyptics: A Study of the Most Notable Revelations of God and of Christ, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988), 327.
  13. Homer Hailey, The Book of Revelation: An Introduction and Commentary, (Las Vegas: Nevada Publications, 2007), 190.
  14. Surprisingly, much of the imagery in the remainder of this book is forever etched in the night sky.  Revelation’s use of symbolism is ingenious.  Each Roman legion was represented by a different constellation or sign of the zodiac.  The constellation or sign of the zodiac that signified a particular legion was often selected based on the month in which the legion was formed.  Interestingly, in Revelation 9 the Roman army is described in the image of the constellations visible in the night sky during Passover, the holiday in which the Romans began their siege of Jerusalem.  In describing the Roman army in this way, John offers the intelligent reader hints to the identity of the locust army in addition to the time in which these events were to be fulfilled.  The only constellation of the zodiac not mentioned in Revelation 9 is seen in v. 5.  This horseman is holding the scales of Libra in his hand.  The fact that this horseman holds the only constellation not alluded to in Revelation 9 is a subtle piece of evidence that this horseman acts during the siege of Jerusalem predicted in Revelation 9 (see Revelation 9: A Preterist Commentary).
  15. This quote is taken from The New Revised Standard Version: Catholic Edition.
  16. Josephus The Wars of the Jews 5.1.4.
  17. Hayim Nahman Bialik and Yehoshua Hana Ravnitzky eds., The Book of Legends Sefer Ha-Aggadah: Legends from the Talmud and Midrash, trans. William G. Braude (New York: Schocken Books, 1992), 190.
  18. Josephus The Wars of the Jews 6.3.3.
  19. Sulpitius Severus The Sacred History 2.30.
  20. Josephus The Wars of the Jews 5:13:6 cited in Steve Gregg, ed., Revelation: Four Views a Parallel Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997), 110, 112.
  21. J. Massyngberde Ford, The Anchor Bible: Revelation A New Translation With Introduction And Commentary, (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1975), 107.
  22. Josephus The Wars of the Jews 6.7.2.
  23. Ibid., 6.9.3.
  24. Ibid., 6.9.2.
  25. Testifying to the message of vs. 9-11 is the constellation Ara, the altar.  In these verses, John sees Ara, the altar, barely visible in the southern horizon.  The base of the altar is obscured by the earth illustrating the fact that the spirits under this altar are spirits in Sheol, the underworld, awaiting their resurrection to heaven. (Jacques M. Chevalier, A Postmodern Revelation: Signs of Astrology and the Apocalypse (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997), 270.)

    Ara Revelation 6:9 A Preterist Commentary the seven seals of revelation the names of the four horsemen of the apocalypse

    Ara

  26. The strong wind mentioned here is mentioned again in the first few verses of the next chapter.  This wind is the four destructive winds of heaven representing the spiritual army of Revelation 9:16See Revelation 7: A Preterist Commentary.
  27. In Revelation 21:1, there is a new heaven and a new earth.  In this world, there are no islands, because as indicated in this verse, there is no sea.
  28. Josephus The Wars of the Jews 7.1.1.
  29. Ibid., 4.9.7.
  30. Josephus The Wars of the Jews 4.4.5.
  31. Ibid., 4.4.5.
  32. Midrash Rabbah Lamentations Proems 23.
  33. Ibid.
  34. Josephus The Wars of the Jews 2.13.6; 4.5.3; 6.6.3; 6.9.2-3.
  35. Kenneth S. Guthrie, Gospel of Apollonius of Tyana: His Life and Deeds According to Philostratos (US: Kessinger Publishing’s, 1900), 70.
  36. Suetonius Lives of the Twelve Caesars 12.16.
  37. Ibid., 6.36; Tacitus Annals 14.22.
  38. Cassius Dio Roman History 66.17.
  39. Cassius Dio Roman History 65.8.  “At the same time this happened, Vespasian who was engaged in warfare with the Jews, learned of the rebellion of Vitellius and of Otho and was deliberating what he should do.”  (Ibid.)  While Vespasian was in Israel, Nero died and Galba, Otho and Vitellius struggled against one another to claim the empty throne.  Vespasian and many of his supporters were well acquainted with astral fatalism and would have seen this as a clear omen that Vespasian would soon become emperor.  As stated earlier, first century Romans also believed that the sun represented the king; thus the weak sun in the west would seem to represent Vespasian’s western rivals: Vitellius and Otho.  Furthermore, the fact that this sun, representing the current self-proclaimed Caesar, was in the west implies that it is about to set.  When the sun sets it appears to descend into the earth.  This was interpreted by many ancient people as a sign of the descent of a king or god into the underworld, the land of the dead.  The bright sun in the east is Vespasian, the general of the Roman forces in Israel to the east.  The falling star might be seen as the death of one of Vespasian’s rivals, perhaps Otho?  This interpretation proved correct.  Vitellius had been killed, and Vespasian soon became emperor in his place.
  40. Josephus The Wars of the Jews 6.9.4, 7.2.1.
  41. Arthur M. Ogden, The Avenging of the Apostles and Prophets: Commentary on Revelation, (Pinson, AL: Ogden Publications, 2006), 206.

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