How I date the Book of Revelation: Part 1 -- Part 2 will be added to this post

[klewis]

There are many different ways of dating the book of Revelation / Apocalypse. This is part one on how I concluded that the book of Revelation was written after the death of Domitian. This is not different from what most scholars date the book of Revelation, but it is a different approach, so I hope you don't mind the journey.

First, we have the selection of material. The primary source for the book of Revelation is the book of Ezekiel. This is important because the book of Ezekiel is all about the destruction of Jerusalem and a prophetic hope if its restoration. See the link document of the complete text of Revelation that is derived from Ezekiel-Isaiah in the order of Ezekiel.
We can comfortably date the book of Revelation after the destruction of Jerusalem. In Ezekiel, the mission of the prophet does not begin until he is taken to the sky, placed before the throne of God and given a scroll to eat. The story of John is consistent with the story of Ezekiel.

From Ezekiel	From Revelation
	The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John (Rev 1:1 NIV)
I was among the captives by the River Chebar (1:1). In the fifth of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity (1:2). The Lord’s word came expressly to Ezekiel the priest (1:3).	I John, your brother and partner with you in the oppression, Kingdom, and perseverance in Christ Jesus, was on the isle that is called Patmos because of God’s Word and the testimony of Jesus Christ (1:9). I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day (1:10) and I heard behind me a loud voice. This is an author's notation. It is a device that John uses when he splits apart text from the source material. For example, the seven churches were inserted later and he uses the phrase "loud voice" as a notation that Ezekiel will continue.
No text from Ezekiel	I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet (1:10). This is an author's notation. It is a device that John uses when he splits apart text from the source material. For example, the seven churches were inserted later and he uses the phrase "loud voice" as a notation that Ezekiel will continue.
No text from Ezekiel	And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet (4:1).
Out of its center came . . . . living creatures (1:5). Each one of them had four wings (1:6). Face of a lion, ox, man, and an eagle (1:10). . . . and lightning went out of the fire (1:13). The four of them had their rims full of eyes all around (1:18). Over the head . . . . was the likeness of an expanse, like the awesome crystal to look on (1:22). The likeness of a throne (1:26). The appearance of a sapphire stone (1:26). As the appearance of the rainbow (1:28).	In the middle of the throne . . . . four living creatures (4:6). Each one of them having six wings (4:8 from Isa 6:2). Each one had a face like Like a lion, a calf, a man, and a flying eagle (4:7). Out of the throne proceeded lightnings, sounds and thunders (4:5). Full of eyes before and behind (4:6). Before the throne was something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal (4:6). There was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting on the throne (4:2). Looked like a jasper stone and a sardius stone (4:3). There was a rainbow around the throne (4:3).
The Scroll in Ezekiel	The Scroll in Revelation
When I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me; and, behold, a scroll of a book was therein (2:9). He spread it before me: and it was written within and without (2:10). He said to me, “Son of man, eat that which you find. Eat this scroll (3:1).” and go, speak to the house of Israel (3:1). So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat the scroll (3:2). He said to me, “Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill your bowels with this scroll that I give you. Then I ate it; and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth (3:3).”	I saw, in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a book (5:1), he had in his hand, a little open book (10:2). The scroll written inside and outside (5:2). Jesus took the scroll from the hand of God (5:7). He said to me, “Take it, and eat it up. It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey (10:9).” “You must prophesy again over many peoples, nations, languages and kings (10:11).” I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it up. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth (10:10).

The last major work that John added into Revelation was the book of Daniel. John derived the beast from Daniel 7 and made a few tweaks to help us identify who is the beast. It is also clear that the beast lived in John's time and therefore will end in John's time.

From Daniel	From Revelation
The beast came from the sea (7:2). The first was like a lion (7:4). The second was like a bear (7:5). The third was like a leopard (7:6). The fourth was strong and destroyed anything left (7:7). The last beast had ten horns (7:7). He devoured up the other three horns (7:8). He spoke great things (7:8). He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High (7:25). He shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time (7:25).	The beast came from the sea (13:1). He had a mouth like a lion, feet like a bear, he was a leopard (13:2). He destroyed all nations and the saints (13:4-7). He had ten horns (13:1). He destroyed all nations (13:4-7). He spoke blasphemous things against God (13:5). A mouth speaking great things and blasphemy was given to him (13:5). Authority to make war for forty-two months* was given to him (13:5).
There came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots: and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things (7:8). Concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three fell, even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke great things, whose look was more stout than its fellows (7:20). I saw, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them (7:21).	I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon (13:11). He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence (13:12). This section describes how the false prophet will defeat the saints (13:12-17).
	Here is wisdom. He who has understanding (13:18) This is another author's notation
	Here is the mind that has wisdom (17:9)
These great animals, which are four, are four kings, who shall arise out of the earth (7:17). The fourth animal shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces (7:23). As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise: and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the former, and he shall put down three kings (7:24).	The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits (17:9). They are seven kings. Five have fallen, the one is, the other has not yet come. When he comes, he must continue a little while (17:10). The beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goes to destruction (17:11). The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour (17:12).
I saw, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them (7:21).	These will war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for he is the lord of lords, and king of kings, and those who are with him are called chosen and faithful (17:14).
	Lord of lords, and king of kings (17:14) Another author's notation
	Lord of lords, and king of kings (19:16) Note: there is some drift of Daniel content which I explain in my book.
I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man (7:13). His clothing was white as snow (7:9). I saw even until the animal was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given to be burned with fire (7:11). As for the rest of the animals, their dominion was taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time (7:12).	I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse (19:11) [They were] clothed in white, pure, fine linens (19:14). The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur (19:20). The rest were killed with the sword of him who sat on the horse, the sword which came out of his mouth. All the birds were filled with their flesh (19:21).

John conflates the Daniel chapter 10 and Ezekiel 2:8 - 3:3; 3:12-27 to the scroll passage shown earlier in this post.

From Daniel and Ezekiel	Found in Revelation
When I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me; and, behold, a scroll of a book was therein (Ezek 2:9). When the seven thunders sounded, Ezekiel hears the living creatures making loud noises, seven days, saying: “Blessed be the Lord’s glory from his place (Ezek 3:12).” But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end (Dan 12:3).	He had in his hand, a little open book (10:2). I was about to write; but I heard a voice from the sky saying, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders said, and don’t write them (10:4).”
I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half (12:7). He said, “Go your way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end (12:9).”	[The angel] swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there will no longer be delay (10:6), but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as he declared to his servants, the prophets (10:7).
Ezekiel told to take the scroll and eat it. It will taste sweet to the mouth (Ezek 3:1-3). Ezekiel was bitter (3:14).	I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it, and eat it up. It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey (10:9-10).” He said to me, son of man, go to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them (3:4). Ezekiel appointed as a watchman to tell everyone (3:16-27).
From the time that the continual burnt offering shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up (Dan 12:11),	A reed like a rod was given to me. Someone said, “Rise, and measure God’s temple, and the altar, and those who worship in it. Leave out the court which is outside of the temple, and don’t measure it, for it has been given to the nations. They will tread the holy city under foot for 42 months (1,260 days) (11:1-2). A mouth speaking great things and blasphemy was given to him. Authority to make war for 42 months (1,260 days) was given to him. He opened his mouth for blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his dwelling, those who dwell in heaven. It was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. Authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been killed (13:5-8).
there shall be 1290 days (Dan 12:11)	I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth (11:13).

The placement of the Daniel 12 text prior to the destruction of Jerusalem found in chapter 11 and 12 of Revelation was done so that it gave the reader the impression that Revelation was written prior to the fall of Jerusalem. Thereby lending credibility to its ability to predict events in the future. With this in mind, we can also assume that all elements in predicting who is the beast will also be from the perspective that it is happening prior to the destruction of Jerusalem. So then we can assume that the passage in Revelation 17:9-11 is calculated from the events prior to the destruction of Jerusalem.

The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits (17:9).
They are seven kings. Five have fallen, the one is, the other has not yet come. When he comes, he must continue a little while (17:10).
The beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goes to destruction (17:11).
The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour

The sixth king: Vespasian (ruled for 10 years)
The seventh king: Titus (ruled for 2 years -- a little while?).
The eighth king: Domitian (ruled for 17 years).

This should set the framework for my next post which is centered around a 70 year prophecy that was in a prior version of Revelation. It is also allows us to see the date that John believed that Jesus was born and tells us when he thought the end of the world will occur.

[klewis]

In my earlier post, I mentioned that John used Ezekiel as his primary text. That statement was partly true. The first draft of Revelation was really a logical draft comprised of material from the whole of Ezekiel and chapters 6 to 29 of Isaiah. The reason for the selection is two fold, first the two texts from a parallel to each other. Ezekiel is the angry side of the parallel and Isaiah 6 to 29 is the happy side of the parallel. In Ezekiel, Jersusalem is destroyed by Babylon becasue the people are more wicked than the Babylonians. In Isaiah, Jerusalem is preserved because the people are more righteous than the nortnern kingdom. John took Ezekiel and made it the judgment side, he took Isaiah and used every opportunity to convey the imagery in Isaiah as actions of Jesus. If you wish to see this fully, please download what I call the approximation draft of what the Ezekiel-Isaiah draft (EID) look like (https://drive.google.com/file/d/12JZcor ... sp=sharing)

The Ezekiel-Isaiah draft (EID) was a logical draft. John used a method that I used when I was in high school a hundred years ago. He copied the information from Ezekiel and put it on a wax tablet. He then looked at the parallel text from Isaiah and added it to a wax tablet on the Isaiah side. The wax tablets, like 4x6 cards that I used, made it easy to move the material around for later drafts. The texts that were conflated tells us that went through Ezekiel and Isaiah 6 to 29 as a single logical step. They are as follows:

• John's description of heaven is a conflation of Ezekiel chapter 1 and Isaiah chapter 6 (see page 38-39).
• John's description of Tyre, he used to represent Babylon, he appended the two (see pages 56-57). This is where we get the destruction of Babylon, the meal celebrating it and all of those horses. The coming in the clouds came from the book of Daniel which can be seen in my earlier post.
• John's description of the war with the dragon at the time of the draft and later the beast in the Daniel draft (see pages 59-60).
• John's description of Gog and Magog in Revelation is a conflation of Ezekiel 38 & 39 and Isaiah 29 (see pages 60-61).
• John appended the Ezekiel and Isaiah's description of Jerusalem (see pages 62-63).

The texts in which the Ezekiel or Isaiah parallel have been relocated tells us that they were independent from each other. The following are examples of what was an original parallel and the text was moved due to a later process.

John made a parallel of Jerusalem representing the mother of God's children from Ezekiel 16:10- 36 and Eliakim / Jesus the father of God's children from Isaiah 22:20-25. The Ezekiel portion became the harlot in Revelation 17 and the Eliakim portion became description of Jesus in the letter to the church in Philadelphia (see pages 54-55).

• One time John moved from the Ezekiel side to the Isaiah side (see pages 52-53).
• Earlier, I mentioned that the descriptions of people in Isaiah became descriptions of Jesus in Revelation. Below is a brief description of the ones found in the approximation draft.
• Jesus as the one who removes iniquity. How Isaiah 6:4-8 became Rev 5:2-9 (see page 41).
• The prototype of the sixth seal (see page 51).
• The new seed, Jesus as the child from Isaiah 6:10 - 10:17 (see page 45; also see page 43).
• The prototype of the meal of the saints in heaven (page 57).

One text that was added inserted into Revelation from Isaiah was a story about the destruction of Tyre 70 years after a certain king (see page 57). The certain king John will define as Jesus in Revelation (see page 57 (Isaiah 23:18; Revelation 3:18; and the meal in heaven at the bottom of the page.

In the next draft, the Zechariah Draft (ZrD), John will conflate the scroll found in Ezekile 2:8 - 3:3 with the flying scroll found in Zechariah 5:1-4 (see https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rPbZyx ... sp=sharing ). It is in this process that John will expand the jurisdiction of the scroll to include Babylon by means of using the mighty angel as an author's notation.

So now, we have two different cities being destroyed by the scroll. The second city, Babylon / Rome, is directly connected to the seventy year prophecy, but how is the first city connected by the seventy year prophcy in Isaiah 23:15-17). John did it by having two different descriptions of Jesus. The first description of Jesus is the two prophets found in Revelation 11 in which they died, ressurected, taken to heaven, and as a result salvation is brought to the whole world (Rev 11:7-15). If they were a single person, theologians and scholars would define them as Jesus. However, the source materiah that John is deriving the text has two people involved (see page 43 and 52 in the approximation draft and https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rPbZyx ... sp=sharing). One of them happens to be named Jesus from Zechariah.

The child in Revelation 12 is derived from the texts that Christians would use back then, and today, as prophetic support for Jesus in the Hebrew scriptures (see https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rPbZyx ... sp=sharing). How ever, he was taken up into heaven to rule with God shortly after his birth to rule with God(Rev 12:5). As a result, salvation is brought to the world in a similar way described for the two prophets (Rev 11:15; 12:10).

We can assume that John expanded the scroll text, via the mighty angel to include the destruction of Jerusalem and Rome. He believed that the destruction of Jerusalem (in 70 CE) was connected to 70 years after the birth of Jesus and the destruction of Rome would occur 70 years after his death (105 CE). This indicates that John believed that Jesus was 35 years old when he died and was born in 1 BCE to 1 CE.

The next piece of evidence, is from the letter in the church in Smyrna, in which the people will be put in prison for 10 days (Rev 2:10). What if it is not ten days but ten years. The translation of days into years and years into days is not a new thing. In Ezekiel 4:5-8, God had Ezekiel lie down on one side and the other side for two different length of days. The sum of those days represented years that Israel and Judah had sin and the sum of those days represented the days of the siege. If this is the case here, then the ten years (105 CE - 10 years = 95 or 96 CE). However, in 96 CE Domitian died, and ruined what would have been a wonderful apocalyptic book, if John had time to hire proof readers. All he can do is show that the beast was also killed (Rev 13:3) and was resurrected, in hopes of the news was not true.