When the Lord called me, in 1970, I was introduced to the bible, which I read and at the same time was presented two books called, The Late Great Planet Earth, by Hal Lindsey and also, Dispensational Truth, by Clarence Larkin.
These books presented a picture of what was to happen at the and of the world. Amongst those Christians I knew they believed those things.
What stuck in my mind was the words of Jesus to his disciples regarding the future destruction of the temple and His words to the women, when he was on the cross, “Weep not for me, etc, if they do these things in the green tree what will they do n the dry”. I had no one to tell me what it meant .
When I learned the doctrines of grace and joined Bierton Particular Baptists I began to see the spiritually of the Old Testament writings and realised that the Law that was to proceed from Zion was in fact the gospel of Christ, or Royal Law of Liberty and not the Law of Moses. This would be taught and preached from Zion (Zion being the City of God or New Jerusalem).
The book of Revelation was written by John before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. It was written for the benefit of the seven churches listed. This can be gathered from the internal evidence of the book it self and also the fact that the writer of Hebrews refers to Mount Zion and the City of God.
It was written before the Temple was destroyed and as John says the vision was given by God to Jesus about those things that were SHORTY to come to pass. Remember Jesus had already said to his disciple he did not know the time of the events when he was with them only His father but now John informed us that the Father had given this information to His Son and John was told to write the vision about this things that were shortly come to pass. Shortly means about too, in the very near future.
The destruction of Jerusalem by the agency of Rome was a display of the Vindictive justice of God against the Jewish leaders who had rejected the Lord Jesus Christ and Crucified him.
It was The Day of Vengeance of our God as foretold in by Moses Deut. 28, Malachi and John the baptist. The descent of New Jerusalem is the Spiritual City of God and the old covenant and rule of Moses had be abolished. The house of God being a spiritual house of Jew and Gentile, called the Whole Israel of God.
The majority of scholars have got it wrong when they take up the view that Revelation was written in 96 AD. They fail to miss the whole point that the Lord came in vengeance on Jerusalem in vindication of the blood of all the martyrs since the blood Able to that day and it would be required at the hands of that generation in Jesus’s day.
Those who fail to realise this will not be able to understand the Book of Revelation and so cannot be fully blessed.
A Jigsaw puzzle may be put together by forcing its pieces into the wrong place but when doing so one will be able to see the whole picture as it really is meant to be seen.
These two links will help if you wish to understand these things more fully.
High Praise For the Parousia, by James Stuart Russell
http://www.biertonparticularbaptists.co.uk/resources/The%20Parousia.html
Short Video
This is your Nero
Also, “Who Is This Babylon” by Don Preston .
Call me if you want to borrow these books