Revelation - Early or Late Dating?

THE DATING OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION: EARLY OR LATE?

Was Revelation written around AD 95–96 under Emperor Domitian, or was it written before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, during the reign of Nero?

This may sound like a minor historical question, but it dramatically affects how we understand the book. If Revelation was written after AD 70, then Jerusalem’s destruction was already history when John wrote. But if Revelation was written before AD 70, suddenly John’s repeated warnings that judgment was coming shortly, the temple still standing, the city being judged, and the identification of the reigning Caesar fall naturally into a first-century setting.

I believe the internal evidence strongly favors the early date, probably somewhere around AD 64–68.

First, however, let’s be fair to the late-date position.

WHERE DID THE AD 95 DATE COME FROM?

The strongest ancient evidence for the late date comes primarily from Irenaeus, writing around AD 180, more than a century after the time of Nero.

While discussing the identity represented by the number 666, Irenaeus made a statement commonly translated to mean that the apocalyptic vision was seen toward the end of Domitian’s reign. Domitian reigned from AD 81–96. This statement became the major foundation for dating Revelation around AD 95–96. Eusebius later interpreted Irenaeus this way, and the Domitianic date became deeply embedded in church tradition. (New Advent)

That evidence deserves to be taken seriously. But there is a problem: Irenaeus’ statement is not Scripture, and even his wording has been debated. Scholars have questioned whether he meant that the vision was seen during Domitian’s reign or that John himself was still seen alive during that period. Even scholars who defend an early date acknowledge that the external evidence is debated rather than pretending Irenaeus never said it. (BSW)

So instead of beginning with a statement written around AD 180 and forcing Revelation into it, why not first ask:

What does Revelation itself tell us? That is where the early date becomes extremely compelling.

JOHN SPEAKS AS THOUGH THE TEMPLE IS STILL STANDING

And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

Revelation 11:1–2

Notice the setting.

There is a temple. There is an altar. There are worshippers. There is a holy city. And that city is about to be trampled by Gentiles. Then John identifies the city:

And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Revelation 11:8

Where was Jesus crucified? Jerusalem.

This becomes incredibly significant because Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed by the Romans in AD 70.

If John was writing around AD 95, twenty-five years after the temple had been destroyed, we have to explain why the prophecy presents the temple, altar, worshippers and holy city in this manner. But if Revelation was written before AD 70, there is no difficulty at all.

JOHN TELLS US A KING WAS CURRENTLY REIGNING

And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.

Revelation 17:10

Those words matter:

ONE IS.

John doesn’t merely describe past and future kings. He places himself during the reign of one of them. Using the ancient reckoning beginning with Julius Caesar:

1. Julius Caesar

2. Augustus

3. Tiberius

4. Caligula

5. Claudius

6. Nero

Five had fallen.

One is.

That sixth ruler is Nero.

The next ruler was Galba, whose reign indeed lasted only a short time, from June AD 68 until January AD 69. This identification is debated because ancient lists could count emperors differently, so Revelation 17 by itself does not mathematically settle the date. But taken alongside the rest of Revelation’s internal evidence, it fits the Neronic period remarkably well. (Ligonier Ministries)

THEN COMES 666

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Revelation 13:18

John expected his original readers to be able to calculate a man’s name.

One of the most widely recognized scholarly solutions is Nero Caesar when the name is transliterated into Hebrew letters:

N = 50

R = 200

W = 6

N = 50

Q = 100

S = 60

R = 200

Total: 666

Even more interesting, some ancient manuscripts contain the variant 616. Dropping the final N from the Latin form Nero Caesar produces 616 under the same calculation. The identification of 666 with Nero Caesar has become one of the major scholarly interpretations of the number, although alternative proposals still exist. (OUP Academic)

So we have Revelation 17 pointing toward a reigning Caesar and Revelation 13 giving the number of a man that fits Nero. That certainly deserves our attention.

REVELATION CONSTANTLY SAYS THESE EVENTS WERE NEAR

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass.

Revelation 1:1

Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Revelation 1:3

Behold, I come quickly.

Revelation 3:11

Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Revelation 22:7

And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

Revelation 22:10

And, behold, I come quickly.

Revelation 22:12

Surely I come quickly.

Revelation 22:20

John begins Revelation by saying these things must shortly come to pass, and he closes Revelation by saying the time is at hand.

Those statements were written to actual first-century churches.

Compare this with Daniel.

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end.

Daniel 12:4

Daniel was told to seal his prophecy because its fulfillment was not yet near. John was specifically told: Seal not the sayings… for the time is at hand. That contrast is difficult to miss.

THE FIRST READERS WERE REAL PEOPLE FACING REAL EVENTS

John did not write Revelation directly to twenty-first-century America. John to the seven churches which are in Asia.

Revelation 1:4

These were actual congregations at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. Whatever Revelation meant, it first had to mean something to them. Imagine telling suffering first-century Christians: The time is at hand. These things must shortly come to pass. Behold, I come quickly.

Then interpreting those statements to mean events beginning more than two thousand years later. That is not how we ordinarily interpret language.

SO WHY IS THE LATE DATE SO POPULAR?

Because the traditional reading of Irenaeus became enormously influential. Later writers, especially Eusebius and Jerome, helped transmit the Domitianic understanding, and it eventually became the dominant position in much of Christian scholarship. Even Philip Schaff, while recognizing the strength of Revelation’s internal evidence for an earlier setting, acknowledged that the traditional external testimony pointed toward Domitian.

So I am not saying someone is foolish simply because they hold the late date. I am saying we should distinguish between church tradition and the internal testimony of the book itself.

And when I read Revelation within its own historical setting, I believe the early date makes far better sense. A temple still standing. A holy city about to be trampled. A ruler who presently is. A number identifying a man that fits Nero Caesar.

First century churches undergoing persecution. And repeated declarations that these events were shortly to happen because the time was at hand. Put Revelation before AD 70 and these pieces begin fitting together.

Put it in AD 95 and many of them have to be explained away, redefined or pushed thousands of years beyond John’s original audience. And this is precisely why the date matters.

If Revelation was written before AD 70, then the destruction of Jerusalem is no longer something we have to somehow squeeze out of the book. It is standing right in front of us. The great mistake of modern prophecy teaching has often been to take a book written to first-century believers about events near to them and turn it into a coded newspaper describing our generation.

Before asking, What does Revelation say about our future? Perhaps we should first ask the basic hermeneutical question:

What did Revelation mean to the people who first received it? Once we establish the audience, the historical setting and the date, Revelation stops looking like an unsolved puzzle about the end of planet Earth and begins looking like what John told his readers it was:

A revelation of things which must shortly come to pass, because the time was at hand. We should take this evidence into consideration.