This is the first of many articles where I will speak on the topic of Preterism, and show that it is not a valid biblical eschatology. If you want to follow along with this article, you should watcht the video through the presentation of the first of its "compelling arguments." After reading the refutation below, feel free to watch the rest of the video to familiarize yourself with Preterism.
DISCLAIMER: Blessed Anomaly does not promote Preterism as a valid eschatology. I include this video for transparency and for a review and commentary under copyright fair use. You can make up your own mind. Ultimately, eschatology is not salvific.
The following reply will cover only point 1 of 10 in the video. I will return and comment on the other 9 in future articles.
The seige of 70AD lasted approximately 143 days, from April 14 to September 8. The bible says it will last 42 months. Not even close. Five months is not 42 months. 42 months is 3-1/2 years, and that is what the scripture tells us is half the time of the Tribulation period.
More evidence is that here in Revelation 11 John also speaks of the two witnesses who are killed and lie in the street of the great city where the Lord was crucified.
Revelation 11: 8-12
8 Their corpses will lie in the street of the great city that is
symbolically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was also
crucified. 9 For three and a half days those from every people,
tribe, nation, and language will look at their corpses, because
they will not permit them to be placed in a tomb. 10 And those who
live on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate, even
sending gifts to each other, because these two prophets had
tormented those who live on the earth. 11 But after three and a
half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood
on their feet, and tremendous fear seized those who were watching
them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them:
“Come up here!” So the two prophets went up to heaven in a cloud
while their enemies stared at them.
If we are going to get so pedantic about John not mentioning the temple destruction of 70AD, then were is anyone speaking of these two witnesses. Two men who lay dead in the street for three days. People from "every people, tribe, nation, and language will" see them? So where are the stories? And after three and a half days they "stood to their feet, and tremendous fear seized those who were watching them." Yet not one wrote about it? And then the two prophets were taken "up to heaven in a cloud whle their enemies stared at them." Not quietly. Not hidden. Wide open where all could see: and not one person has written about this event that took place during the seige of Jerusalem -- you know, that seige everyone wrote about but somehow missed the most miraculous occurrance of the time. You know why? It didn't happen yet because Daniel and Revelation are speaking of a futue time.
This is called preaching from silence or "argument from silence (Latin: argumentum ex silentio)". It is a logical fallacy to do so. To say that John not mentioning something means that it didn't happen is a fallacy. For example, in 26-36AD Pontius Pilate took money from the Temple treasury to build an aqueduct. This led to Jewish riots, which Pilate brutally suppressed. Yet, this is not mentioned in the gospels. Does that mean it didn't happen? No. It just means that the gospel writers did not mention it. They had other things to focus on.
I use this example from silence to make the point, as we will later in this article get to the Preterist's saying that John not mentioning the destruction of the temple in 70AD means it didn't happen yet, and thus Revelation must have been written prior to 70AD. It is simply a logical fallacy. Let's get back to what the text actually says.
Let's look at Daniel 7 as if it were from 70AD.
Daniel 7:23
The fourth beast means that there will be a fourth kingdom on
earth that will differ from all the other kingdoms. It will devour
all the earth and will trample and crush it. 24 The ten horns mean
that ten kings will arise from that kingdom. Another king will
arise after them, but he will be different from the earlier ones.
He will humiliate three kings. 25 He will speak words against the
Most High. He will harass the holy ones of the Most High
continually. His intention will be to change times established by
law. The holy ones will be delivered into his hand for a time,
times, and half a time. 26 But the court will convene, and his
ruling authority will be removed— destroyed and abolished forever!
27 Then the kingdom, authority, and greatness of the kingdoms
under the whole heaven will be delivered to the people of the holy
ones of the Most High. His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; all
authorities will serve him and obey him.
What do we see here? The fourth kingdom. Scholars agree that the
four are:
(1) Babylon - Lion with eagle's wings;
(2) Medo-Persia
- Bear raised on one side;
(3) Greece - Leopard with four
wings and four heads; and
(4) the Roman Empire - terrifying
beast with iron teeth and ten horns.
The ten horns are the interesting part of this prophecy. The descriptions of all else could be overlaid onto the Roman Empire (as well as others). But the ten horns is an anomaly to the Preterist position.
The ten horns are seen as ten kingdoms that will arise from the
Roman Empire. And indeed there were ten kingdoms that indeed rose
from the Roman Empire. They are:
“The principal states and governments then were:
1. The senate of Rome, who revolted from the Greek
emperors, and claimed and exerted the privilege of choosing a
new western emperor;
2. The Greeks in Ravenna;
3.
The Lombards in Lombardy;
4. The Huns in Hungary;
5.
The Alemannes in Germany;
6. The Franks in France;
7. The Burgundians in Burgundy;
8. The Goths in
Spain;
9. The Britons;
10. The Saxons in Britain.
Not that there were constantly ten kingdoms, they were sometimes
more and sometimes fewer; but, as Sir Isaac Newton says, ‘whatever
was their number afterward, they are still called the ten
kingdoms, from their first number.’“
--biblehub.com
Here's the problem: these ten horns arose AFTER 70AD, and took until the 5th century to complete. You cannot skip around and desire to use the ten horns to say that they arose from the Roman Empire of the first century, see that the man of perdition is to come AFTER the rise of the ten, but then come back to Nero or Galba because they fit your narrative. And by 70AD we saw the death of Nero 69AD, Galba 69AD, Ortho 69AD, Vitellius 69AD, and finally Vespasian who ruled in 70AD (69AD thru 79AD). Are we to forget about all these, some of whom didn't even get their rule in place to have a change to persecute Christians. Can you say "cherry pick"?
But lets revisit Daniel 7:23-27. If you read there, you will see that the ten horns must arise, and another king after them. He is the one who will harass the holy ones of the Most High. Supposedly in 70AD, but he doesn't come along for 400 years. And the holy ones of the Most High will be delivered into his hands for a time, times, and half a time -- 42 months. And this man is nowhere near 70AD; and the seige in 70AD lasted nowhere near 42 months.
The reality is that Daniel is speaking of a future time that is even in our future. It is the end time revelation of the Tribulation Period that ushers in the end of the Age and Jesus' return.
So on point #1, the video already falls apart.
So what of the temple mentioned in Revelation 11? That is a future temple that Israel must rebuild, and that the Antichrist will defile. This is not 70AD.
Further, and this must be repeated ad naseum: you cannot prove anything with an argument from silence. The fact that Revelation makes no mention of the destruction of the temple in 70AD does not in any way prove Revelation's authorship prior to 70AD: it is a book about the future events, not the past.