Apocalyptic? #41: New Heaven and New Earth

What will our existence in the world to come be like?  Kenneth Burke analyzes human activity in terms of a Dramatistic Pentad.  The word pentad means “five (as in a pentagon—a five-angled or five-sided shape) perspectives or motives” that are found in all human action.  The word dramatistic indicates that we see all five of these motives whenever we watch a “drama” performed at the theater.  The five terms are scene, act, agent, agency, and purpose.  They correspond to the one-word questions Who (agent), What (act), When/Where (scene), Why (purpose), and How (agency)?  All acts (things the performers [or agents] do) occur within some scene, the backdrop for the drama. The various props (or agencies) the performers use to complete their acts are also found within each scene.  No performer/agent performs an act in the drama without some purpose in mind.  Otherwise, the drama seems to be pointless.  Why (purpose) did Colonel Mustard (agent) kill (act) Mr. Boddy in the kitchen (scene) with a knife (agency)?  Do you even have a Clue®?  😊  We need all five terms to understand what is happening in the drama.  Let’s now consider these five perspectives as we view Revelation’s description of life in the New Heaven and New Earth.

 

Scene:

When God promises a new creation, there are elements of His older creation scene that He preserves.  By using the terms “new heaven and new earth (21:1),” there remains the sense of a cosmos or universe similar to our own.  Revelation promises a “scene” for future existence that, at the very least, “resembles” the scene in which we currently exist.  Perhaps, it is even the same scene we currently have, but purged of every curse.  Revelation 22:3 (NKJV) says: “And there shall be no more curse.” There was nothing at all wrong with this scene as God originally designed it in Genesis until Adam and Eve sinned and the world was cursed on their account.  God declares on each of the six days of creation that his work is either “good” (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25) or very good” (Genesis 1:31).  Ever wanted to see the world or even to travel through space?  Your new, immortal body will be like Christ’s (Philippians 3:20-21); surely, you will be capable of encountering such scenes.  Jesus’ body was capable of appearing in an instant in various locations where the door was locked and of ascending up into the heavens.

Just as there are elements of His older creation scene that God preserves, there are also elements of His older creation that He eliminates: 

1.                  No Sea.  (21:1).  Perhaps, this implies the elimination of any safe haven for the Dragon (Leviathan, at the shore of the sea) and/or the Beast who came up out of the sea (13:1).  This detail may, therefore, be symbolic.  It is possible that the seas will continue to exist in the new Earth.  To where else would the river/fountain of the water of life (21:6) flow?  But then, the River of Life may, itself, be symbolic.  See below.

2.                  No tears, death, sorrow, crying, or pain.  (21:4).  These are all curses and “corporal stresses” that are eliminated, as discussed in Apocalyptic? #8.

3.                  No curse (22:3).  Death, pain in childbearing, and a curse on the ground were the major curses from Eden, thus, “corporal stresses.”

4.                  No cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, dogs, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars; they are cast into the Lake of Fire (21:8, 27; 22:15).  With this list of characters absent from the New Heavens and New Earth, God eliminates this possibility of “community stress” from having to interact with these types.  Citizens of the New Jerusalem will not have to encounter these individuals any more:

·         Cowards stand in contrast to the “conquerors” who were willing to die for Christ.  Unlike the conquerors, the cowards continually shrank back and hid or denied their Christianity in order to save their own physical lives (and/or their incomes). 

·         Unbelievers refers to those who heard the message about Jesus, but continually refused to believe it.  (Would atheists be included, here?)

·         The Abominable refers to those who continue to commit certain very detestable sins that are called, in the Law of Moses, “abominations.”  Not every sin was called an “abomination,” but the following sins were explicitly called abominations:   [a.]  offering your children to Molech (Deuteronomy 12:31 and 18:10-12—compare to modern-day abortion),  [b.]  having sex with a man as you would with a woman (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13, 23:18),  [c.]  witchcraft/divination (Deuteronomy 18:10-12),  [d.]  women wearing men’s clothing and men wearing women’s clothing (Deuteronomy 22:5),  [e.]  prostitution whether by males or females (Deuteronomy 23:18—“dogs” were actually male prostitutes),  [f.]  remarrying a wife you have divorced after she has married someone else (Deuteronomy 24:4; perhaps, God was attempting here to protect the sanctity of the new marriage from the incursion of the former spouse),  [g.]  (merchants) using differing measuring scales in order to cheat customers (Deuteronomy 25:16),  [h.]  and worshiping idols (Deuteronomy 27:15 and elsewhere).  These types of activities were practiced in the religious activities of the nations of Canaan that God was expelling before Israel.  Leviticus 18:25-30 says, “You shall not commit any abominations . . .The men of the land that lies before you have committed all of these abominations, and the land is defiled.”

·         Murderers.  Those who kill their own children are not the only murderers, of course.

·         The Sexually Immoral (those practicing porneia) refers to the prostitutes mentioned above and below as “abominations,” as well as other sexual sins.

·         Dogs.  Deuteronomy 23:18 also calls “dogs” [male prostitutes] an “abomination” similar to female prostitutes (see above).  Perhaps, the name “dogs” came from some often-embarrassing activity of male dogs, interacting with humans.

·         Sorcerers.  The Greek word for the practice is “pharmakeia” from which we get the English term “pharmacy.”  Drugs (pharmaceuticals) were used to induce strange experiences for non-medical purposes, as they are today, whether or not sorcery is involved.  The divination/sorcery (mentioned above) was also called an abomination.

·         Idolaters are also very frequently listed as an abomination (see above).

·         Liars.  Those who feel they are not guilty of the activities of other types of individuals found in the Lake of Fire might still have some conscientious stress (feel guilty) concerning this one.  For example, did I lie when I told my children there was an Easter Bunny?  Besides the three passages mentioning that liars will be in the Lake of Fire, John in Revelation only uses the “lying” terminology two other times.  Once, in Revelation 14:5, John says that no “lie” is to be found in the mouths of the 144,000, for they are without fault before the throne of God.  Perhaps, all of their untruths—including the Easter Bunny thing—have been forgiven and, thus, they stand without fault.  The only other time John (and Jesus) calls someone a “liar” in Revelation is in 2:2, where Jesus commends the church at Ephesus for “test[ing] those who say they are apostles and are not, and [finding] them liars.”  I rather suspect that John had this weightier accusation of “liars” in mind as he compiled the Lake of Fire list.  That is to say, lying in matters of consequence would be the important factor.  When the serpent told Eve, “You shall not surely die,” it was a matter of grave consequence.  When the Ten Commandments say “Thou shalt not bear false witness,” they imply a type of court scene where witnesses perjure themselves, causing grave consequences.  When false apostles (and false prophets) lie about themselves and their messages, it is a matter of grave consequence.  What is clear in the false apostles’ example is that there will be “so-called” Christian leaders who find themselves cast into the Lake of Fire.

Agents:

Besides God and Jesus, the agents in the New Heavens and New Earth will be Christians (which term I will use from here on out for all whose names are in the Lamb’s book of life (21:27), the New Jerusalem, the bride of the Lamb (21:2).  As I explained in Apocalyptic? #8, their new nature will be different from the “cursed” nature that followed the Fall.  After the Fall, humans experienced every kind of stress (corporal, competence, community, confusion, conscientious, chrono, and cash stresses).  Now, John offers us a glimpse of an existence in which there is no stress at all.  Described as a “city” that comes down out of heaven from God, this list of Christians’ attributes seems more symbolic than literal, however.  What many confuse as a description of the scene of our existence is actually a description of the perfection of God’s people:

a.                   Shaped like a huge Holy of Holies (21:16).  It is a perfect cube; the measurement would be in cubic miles rather than square miles, as a city on earth now might be measured.  Its width, length, and height are each 1380 miles (=12,000 stadia), whereas, the width, length, and height of the Holy of Holies in Solomon’s Temple were each 20 cubits (II Chronicles 3:8).  This symbolism suggests that the Christians will now be the dwelling place of God, just as his presence was seen to dwell in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle and temple.  New Jerusalem, unlike the old Jerusalem, has no temple, for God and the Lamb are its temple (21:22).  There will be no community stress between Christians and God.  There is no separating wall.

b.                  Containing the Tree of Life (22:2).  This symbolism suggests that the Christians will have access to the Tree of Life (from Eden), and hence, will live forever.  There will be no chrono stress.

c.                   Containing the River (Fountain) of the Water of Life (21:6, 22:1).  This symbolism suggests that, as Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well, “whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”  This is another reference to the eternal life of the Christians.  Again, there will be no chrono stress

d.                  Having as her light, the Shekinah/Glory of God and the Lamb (21:11, 23; 22:5).  What light is brighter than the Sun and every star in the universe?  The Shekinah.  It totally illuminates even the darkness.  No confusion stress; we will know all things.

e.                   Having great high walls (1380 miles high) with twelve gates on which were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (21:12-13).  City walls are for the protection of those who dwell inside the city.  This symbolism suggests that, since the height, like the width and length, is 1380 miles (=12,000 stadia), there is perfect “protection and safety” for the Christians (including those Jews represented by the “twelve tribes of Israel”).  There will be no corporal or community stress.

f.                    Having twelve foundations for the wall on which were written the names of the twelve apostles (21:14).   The apostles’ doctrine (New Testament) is the foundation or basis for the Christians’ existence.  There is no confusion stress; we know the truth.

g.                  Having precious stones adorning the twelve foundations for the wall-- jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, sardius, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, jacinth, and amethyst—no doubt, corresponding to the twelve stones on the high priest’s breastplate, worn whenever approaching the Shekinah. (21:19-20).  This symbolism suggests that Christians collectively are the high priests who can enter into the presence of God.  Revelation 20:6 (NKJV) says that Christians “shall be priests of God and of Christ.”  There will be no competence stress.

h.                  Having “pearly gates” (21:21)—each gate was a pearl—along with having “streets of gold” (21:21).  These are not descriptions of the scene in which we will act; they are descriptions of the beauty and worth of Christ’s bride.  To say the least, however, Christians will have no “cash stress.”  To corroborate, John even says that the New Jerusalem will hold the glory of the nations in it (21:24-26). 

Acts:

                  

By definition, an act is something one does, purposefully, of his/her own free will and accord.  Gone will be the times of the evil inclination in the human heart, so whatever one does will be within the will of God. The specific act of humans mentioned in Revelation is “reigning” (22:5).  This seems like the same activity given to man in the first creation, before the Fall.  Genesis 1:27-30 (NKJV) states: “God created man in His own image . . . male and female He created them . . . and God said to them . . . ‘have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”  Such “activity” as reigning and having dominion implies complete freedom.  Without the physical restrictions, even of time and location, Christians may well be able to explore all parts of the universe, to engage with the plant and animal worlds as Adam and Eve did, and to interact with all other Christians from every generation (as God saw that Adam needed Eve with whom to interact) as well as with God and Jesus. 

                  

Incidentally, Jesus says that there will be no more marriage when we rise from the dead (Mark 12:25), but that doesn’t mean that we won’t interact with our loved ones from our earthly experience.  We need each other socially (although “socially” is still too weak a term to express our intense interaction needs), as God saw when He created Eve, and as God Himself probably felt when He created man, in the first place.  Adam and Eve certainly interacted before they sinned and ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Only after they ate did they notice that they were naked and were only then told to be fruitful and multiply.  Sex (and reproduction) was a consolation prize for having lost eternal life.  Since we will have regained eternal life, there will be no further need for the consolation prize of reproduction and sex.  Some portions of Islam differ from Christianity partly in the sense that some Muslims look forward to sexual gratification in paradise (72 virgins), and Christians are not thus obsessed with sexual gratification.

                   The picture often painted by preachers of the entirety of human activity being spent eternally singing “Holy, Holy, Holy!” and “Worthy are God Almighty and the Lamb” (while there will automatically be that kind of activity as part of our interaction with God and Jesus) was largely drawn from Revelation 5 and 6.  Those chapters were designed to depict God’s and the Lamb’s united rulership over the cosmos during this world, not a picture of the New Heaven and New Earth.

Agencies:

                  

New existence will, almost certainly, call for new agencies, the methods by which acts are performed.  These agencies will exist primarily within the capabilities of the glorified bodies inherited by Christians.  Since communication and creativity are parts of the image of God humans were given at Creation, there will certainly be communication and may well continue to be creative agencies employed by Christians.

Purpose:

            On pages 41-42 of my book The Logic of Christianity, I wrote:

What PURPOSE would motivate [God] an AGENT capable of ACTING to create and sustain life forms through the AGENCY of LOGOS to do so?

Abraham Maslow might term such a PURPOSIVE motive as “self-actualization.” . . . [God] created logically-reproducing life forms “because [He] could.”  And, given the existence of human AGENTS who are capable of ACTION, themselves, we must assume that this self-actualization PURPOSE extended to the desire/PURPOSE of creating and sustaining other AGENTS who (like [Himself]) were also capable of ACTION, COMMUNICATION, and forms of CREATION.  From Maslow’s motivational theory, we see that motives include not only the ultimate motive of self-actualization, but also the social motive.  If the LOGOS could create a being, similar to [Himself], capable of ACTION and COMMUNICATION, that LOGOS must also have a SOCIAL PURPOSE/motive.  . . .  SOCIAL  PURPOSE  motivated  the  AGENT [God]  to  create  a  CREATIVE, COMMUNICATIVE, ACTION-BASED life form [mankind] with which [God] LOGOS THE AGENT could communicate.

If God has a social purpose and His created humans have a social purpose, it only makes sense that the primary purpose for our activity in the New Heaven and New Earth will be to interact and communicate with God, Jesus, and our fellow citizens of the New Jerusalem.

 

POSTSCRIPT:

            My goal in writing Apocalyptic Apologetic:  Nails in the Coffin of Atheism was not to condemn atheists to the Lake of Fire or to gloat that those whose continual “acts”—however cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderous, sexually immoral, dog-like, drug-related, idolatrous, or false—might secure their part in the fiery Lake.  It was (as I believe John’s was in writing Revelation) to demonstrate in history the trustworthiness of biblical apocalyptic prophecy and to warn, and thus, divert those prone to practicing such acts from the Lake of Fire.  Atheists who take solace in the possibility presented in the previous post that annihilation (rather than eternal torment) might await them should instead take note in this final post (of the much more positive motivation):  all the things they will be missing in the New Heavens and New Earth . . . and repent.  I don’t want you to be annihilated.  I really want to see you and interact with you there!

Apocalyptic? #34: After Armageddon—Disney, Daniel, Jesus, and John

 

The Biblical Pattern of “Overview-Followed-by-Details” and Even Longer-Term Prediction

From the very first chapters of the Bible, there is a literary pattern pertaining to history.  Genesis provides, in chapter one, a rapid-fire synopsis of creation events, followed, in chapters two and three by a more detailed explanation of day six, explaining the situation in which the first female (Eve) was brought into being and the circumstances that led to the command to “Be fruitful and multiply.”  In chapter one, the six “days” of creation are presented rapidly, sequentially, from the creation of mass and light energy to waters and firmament to land and vegetation to seasons and years to elemental-then-advanced animal life to God’s crown of creation, man, both male and female, to whom He commanded: “Be fruitful and multiply.”  Then, in chapters two and three, Genesis backs up to the sixth day—even after the part of day six in which He creates the beasts, cattle, and creeping things—and focuses more intently on the creation of Adam, bringing Eve, and the Fall, and then projects far into the future, in apocalyptic fashion, by God “put[ting] enmity Between [the serpent] and the woman, And between [the serpent’s] seed and her Seed; He [the seed of woman] shall bruise [the serpent’s] head, And [the serpent] shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15 NKJV).

By way of comparison, in now-closed Disney attractions, the “Universe of Energy” at EPCOT visually traced the same rapid-fire sequence from a secular perspective--starting with the “Big Bang.” If you search online for “youtube universe of energy,” in a very short span of time near the first of the video, you will view a sequence of events that many scientists believe occurred over a period of 13 to 14 billion years, but which is very similar in sequence to the Genesis 1 account.  What you are viewing is Disney’s visual interpretation of the origins of the universe, according to secularly-accepted views in physics.  If you search online for “youtube living seas preshow film,” you will view a more detailed sequence from a secular perspective of the development of the seas, the eventual visibility of the sun, moon, and stars, and the beginning of life forms (plant to animal), which is very similar in sequence to the Genesis 1:9-22 account, providing further details skipped over by the Universe of Energy exhibit.  Disney, thus, provides a representative anecdote for understanding the “biblical pattern of overview-followed-by-details.” 

Returning to the bible, in layer upon layer of apocalyptic chronological sequence, Jeremiah begins, counting from the year Nebuchadnezzar became king of Babylon and, subsequently, captured Daniel and his fellow-Jews and carried them away into Babylon.  Jeremiah 25:12 (NKJV) prophesies: “Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,” says the Lord; “and I will make it a perpetual desolation.”  Jeremiah 29:10 (NKJV) states: “For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place [i.e., Judea].” Counting seventy years from when Nebuchadnezzar became king in Babylon (in 605 B.C.) brings us to 535 B.C.  The Persian king Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon (the land of the Chaldeans) and freed the Jews from exile in 538 B.C. 

The proverbial seventy years may have been considered an overview for Daniel, realizing that he is living near the end of the prescribed “seventy years,” for the process of “return[ing] to this place,” the land of Israel.  Daniel considers the proverbial seventy years in order to prophecy concerning seventy sabbatical years, i.e., 490 years.  Daniel 9 describes in greater detail than Jeremiah regarding that process of “return[ing] to this place,” i.e., the land of Israel: “I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem” (Daniel 9:2 NKJV).  Daniel, however, receives an updated and more detailed prophetic explanation in Daniel 9:24-27 (NKJV):

“Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint [same Hebrew root as Messiah/Christ] the Most Holy.

“Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem UNTIL MESSIAH the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times.
“And after the sixty-two weeks MESSIAH SHALL BE CUT OFF, but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”

 

Notice that, in Daniel 9:2 (cited above) the seventy years of Jerusalem’s desolation would not be the last of Jerusalem’s desolations, according to Daniel 9:27.  Daniel points to another, future abomination of desolation in Jerusalem.

 

A total of 69 (7 + 62) weeks of years (or 483 years) would be needed to “finish . . . transgression [and] to make an end of sins” (which Jesus did), to “make reconciliation . . . [and] bring in everlasting righteousness” (which Jesus did), and “to anoint the Most Holy” (Jesus).  Daniel is told to begin counting the 69 weeks of years at the “going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem.”  But which command to do so?  According to https://letgodbetrue.com/bible-topics/index/prophecy/cyrus-decree-to-rebuild/:

 

In the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, we find four royal commands issued by Median and Persian kings that could possibly qualify as the “commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.” The first command was by Cyrus in Ezra 1:1-11. The second was by Darius in Ezra 4:24 and 6:1-12. The third was by Artaxerxes in his 7th year in Ezra 7:7-26. The fourth was also by Artaxerxes in his 20th year in Nehemiah 2:1-8.

 

Without becoming endlessly bogged down by debates among these possibilities, I simply observe that, of these commands, the command of Artaxerxes in his 20^th year (Nehemiah 2:1-8), for example, occurring approximately 456 B.C., when added to by the 483 years of Daniel 9, brings us to 27 A.D., near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  The final one “week of years”= 7 years (“in the middle of” which He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.  And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate”), Jesus in his Olivet discourse expands and provides details: “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place . . . .” (Matthew 24:15, et. al. NKJV). 

 

Jesus then, knowing that he is living near the end of the prescribed “seventy weeks of years,” puts a time limit on when this final week of years will occur: “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34, et. al. NKJV). 

 

John, in Revelation, then, realizing that he is living near the end of the prescribed “generation,” writes in much greater detail of things that must happen soon.  John repeats his consciousness of the “what must SOON take place” throughout Revelation.  John predicts that the "time" is "near" (Revelation 1:3, 22:10), that Jesus is "coming soon" (Revelation 3:11, 22:20), that the dragon’s "time is short" (Revelation 12:12), and that these things “must soon take place" (Revelation 22:6).  As I have demonstrated in previous blogposts, John’s and Jesus’ predictions concerning all that was prophesied to occur up through the Battle of Armageddon were amazingly precise!  Even though I have not previously taken the opportunity to mention the more minute detail about the Plague of the Sun Burning in Revelation 16:8 (NKJV), “Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire,” I find that it is mentioned by Josephus in terms of the Samaritans in Mt. Gerazim, prior to the Battle of Armageddon:  The Roman armies under Vespasian’s commander Cerealis killed 11,600 Samaritans on Mt. Gerazim by laying siege to the mountain.  Josephus writes: “[T]he Samaritans, who were now destitute of water, were inflamed with a violent heat (for it was summer-time, and the multitude had not provided themselves with necessities) insomuch that some of them died that very day with heat,” the rest of them being slain by the Romans (Wars III.VII.32).

John, furthermore, does not stop with the first half of the week of years (=3 ½ years) that concluded with the end of the Battle of Armageddon and the “end to sacrifice and offering” as prophesied by Daniel.  He writes of the second half of the week of years (=3 ½ years), and then continues to project history for more than 1000 years into the future.

Is There Human History on Earth “After Armageddon”?

Revelation 20:9-15 does not seem to allow time for ANY human history on Earth (at least, on the first Earth) following the Battle of Gog and Magog. Instead, it moves, rapid-fire, from sending down fire to consume Gog and Magog to casting the devil into the Lake of Fire (where the Beast [Nero] and the False Prophet [Jewish High Priests] already were) to God’s judgment throne at which time God cast Death and Hell into the Lake of Fire, along with all whose names were not written in the book of life.

By contrast, there are at least 3 ½ years of human history on Earth following the Battle of Armageddon, until the “war” is over.  Then, there is that bothersome millennium, during which time (although the Beast [Nero] and the False Prophet [Jewish High Priests] had already been cast into the Lake of Fire), the dragon-serpent-devil-Satan was only “bound” and “cast into the bottomless pit.”  Many Amillennialists, as their name implies (even if that name was coined by Premillennialists in an attempt to discredit this school of interpretation), want to eliminate the millennium from Revelation altogether. Therefore, many Amillennialists equate the Battle of Armageddon with the Battle of Gog and Magog.  That equation is impossible.  The prefix A- before the term “millennium” is a prefix of negation (as in, there is NO millennium).  It compares to the A- prefix in Atheism (as in, there is NO God).  Nevertheless, the “millennium” figures prominently in Jewish teaching concerning how long the Messianic Kingdom will last, plus in Revelation itself, plus in the history of the interpretation of Revelation.  The topic of the millennium deserves its own blogpost, which I shall provide in the future.  For the present, we shall consider the remaining 3 ½ years.

Josephus’s Interpretation of Daniel’s 3 ½ Years

The language in Revelation 11:2-3, related to the "forty-two months" = "a thousand two hundred sixty days" (= three and one half years) corresponds to Daniel 9 and the times of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.  In fact, the "three and one-half years" of the testimony of the Witnesses (11:3) and the "three and one half years" of the trampling of the city by the Gentiles (11:2) appear to be either one or both halves of the "last week of years" described by Daniel in chapter 9.  In the "middle" of that last week, the desolator(?) "shall cause the offering and sacrifice to cease" (Daniel 9:27).  Dividing the final seven years in the "middle" leaves two periods of "three and one-half years" each--one before the cessation of sacrifice and one following the cessation of sacrifice.  Daniel concludes in 12:11 with the words:  "And from the time the daily [sacrifice] shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, a thousand two hundred ninety days [= roughly, three and one-half years]," after which will come qeytz (a word which means "end" but is easily associated, for plays on words, with the verb "to awaken," cf. Ezekiel 7:6).  Perhaps the Semitic play on the words "end" and "awaken" has Burke's "reidentification" sense, in which the “end” and the “beginning” meet.  Alpha meets Omega.  The “first” meets the “last.”  At any rate, it is clear that Daniel saw a thousand two hundred ninety days (= roughly, three and one-half years) period of time FOLLOWING what John will call “Armageddon.”

Josephus’s Use of the Term Desolation: Josephus is well-aware of Daniel’s prophecy of a coming desolation.  He describes the desolation of the countryside of Judea:

[The Romans] had cut down all the trees that were in the country that adjoined to the city for ninety furlongs [=11 miles] . . . those places which were before adorned with trees and pleasant gardens were now become a desolate country every way . . . its trees were all cut down . . . now . . . as a desert . . . all signs of beauty quite waste (Wars VI.I.1).

 

After the fall of Jerusalem, Josephus comments:

 

[T]his was the second time of its desolation . . . the king of Babylon conquered it, and made it desolate . . . .  It was demolished entirely by the Babylonians . . . to this destruction under Titus . . . .  And thus ended the siege of Jerusalem” (Wars VI.X.1).

 

Josephus’s Use of the Terminology Three and One-half Years:  Josephus offers the “example [of] Antiochus . . . Epiphanes . . . this city was plundered by our enemies, and our sanctuary made desolate for three years and six months” (Wars V.IX.4). 

Josephus fixed the exact date when “’the Daily Sacrifice’ had failed and had not been offered to God” along with his statement to the Jews—“Who is there that does not know what the writings of the ancient prophets contain in them,--and particularly that oracle which is just now going to be fulfilled upon this miserable city?” (Wars VI.II.1).  William Whiston, whose translation of Josephus we are using, in his footnote commenting upon this passage in Josephus finds it:

[R]emarkable [that] . . . Daniel’s prediction . . . [was precisely accurate:] the Romans “in half a week caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease.” Dan. ix.27; for from the month of February, A.D. 66 [when the war began] . . . to this very time, was just three years and a half.

What Happened, Then, in Those Final 3 ½ Years? 

According to Daniel 12:  qeytz (a word which means "end" but is easily associated, for plays on words, with the verb "to awaken)."  The “end” of the Jewish state, but, I think, the “awakening” of many faithful Jews and Christians then in the grave (i.e., the first resurrection, according to Revelation 20:5-6).  Many unbelieving Jews would flee to the fortified mountains that remained in Judea as possible refuges.  John writes: “Then . . . every mountain . . . was moved out of its place. And the kings of the [land] . . . hid themselves . . . in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!’” (Revelation 6:14-16 NKJV).  The church that had fled Judea at Jesus’ and John’s warnings would have their “covenant” “confirmed (via Rapture?).  According to Daniel, “Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week.” Nevertheless, in the spirit of the Biblical Pattern of “Overview-Followed-by-Details,” now that I have offered you a quick overview, I will supply the details in the next few blogposts, à la Disney, Moses, Daniel, Jesus, and John.