The Revelation Problem
(St. John's Revelation as History)
by
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“The population of vultures in Israel is increasing – getting ready for the great battle of Armageddon when the birds gather to eat the flesh of millions slain in the battle.” So said the daughter of a noted clergyman who visited our church one Sunday morning to bring us a musical solo. Her song was about the end of time and was quite good. To introduce the song, she said there were a number of things going on the world that, to her mind, signaled the approaching end of time. The item that caught my attention then and remains in my memory was her statement about the vultures in Israel. There is a problem here. Why? The language in Revelation 19: 17, 18 seems plain enough. Well, in two business trips I made to Israel over the next ten years, I saw no vultures, discounting aggressive souvenir salesmen. This alone is not compelling, but in a recent trip (2011) to Israel as a tourist I found a book about birds of Israel and the Near East, and read that vultures are rare in Israel. I also found that the Israeli Army and a university are teamed in operating a vulture feeding station in the northern Negev because there is not enough natural carrion to sustain even the small population of vultures. The obvious problem is that the woman’s statement was contrary to actual facts. A further underlying problem is that many people are quick to accept without critical analysis any statement that appears to support their end-time views of Revelation and then to uncritically embellish it. ...What if one discovers that Revelation was written to reveal happenings that were in the future from the standpoint of its first readers but are now history and can be evaluated? Now, we have an objective means of measuring Revelation’s truthfulness. We can observe what Revelation said would happen, and then we can measure that against what history says did happen. With the reliability of the Bible thus demonstrated, one has a major objective foundation for believing what it has to say about other things. It also means that many of the basic tenets of the futurist views no longer have reasons to be and that the futurist views need to be reevaluated to see if they have any merit left at all.
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About the Book
John T. Spivey breaks Revelation free from the confusing futurist interpretations and shows that St. John wrote to the Early Church to build its faith during persecution by the Roman Empire. He further shows that St. John predicted the fall of the Roman Empire. Mr. Spivey calls on many ancient historians and Early Church fathers to present their testimonies to show that Revelation’s predictions are subject to analysis and proof. He shows that St. John described the desolation of Judea and the deliverance of the Christian community from the destruction of Jerusalem in the Roman-Jewish War of AD 66-70 as completed events to build confidence in what would happen in the time of Roman persecution. Mr. Spivey also explains the millennium and the end of time in fresh, new ways that are scientifically sound and that affirm the Bible at every point.
About the Author
John T. Spivey is a retired aerospace engineer. One of his military aircraft assignments led to a three-year stay in Australia as chief engineer. A lay preacher and Bible teacher, he is a lifelong student of history. He lives near Greenville, Texas, with his wife, Anna.