Revelation is the most frequently interpreted and the least understood book in The Bible. The average person keeps reading interpretation after interpretation, hoping to get something that makes sense. The most popular interpretations take the scattered bits of current events we known and weave them into conformity with Revrelation This is a powerful way to capture the imagination of the reader, but I wonder if it really captures the truth. If we all knew the events of early history as well as we know current events, I wonder if we would see a better fit with early events than we see with modern events.
Curious that this might be true, I spent many years researching history books and reading more than thirty commentaries by other authors. As I did, I saw, I think, a more logical fit of Revelation with first and second century events as the Church grew and Judaism declined and what the real history of Christ's Church might be.
When reading The Anchor Bible Commentary, I found a clue to interpret many visions. J. Massyngberde Ford, in the volume devoted to Revelation, pointed out that, today, many Biblical scholars, after much textural study, believe parts of Revelation came from John the Baptist. These scholars claim that Chapters four through eleven were the original part of Revelation and were first preached by John the Baptist. Ford, an expert in this field, reviewed their evidence and left it unchallenged as part of the legitimate scholarship.
These scholars believed that what came from the Baptist was preached by his disciples for about thirty years. Then a Christian disciple of John the Baptist revised and added more visions just before A.D. 66. Finally in A.D. 96, John the Evangelist added the letters to the churches and made the final text that we have today. If this is true, then the early visions could be the Baptist's announcement that the Messiah has arrived and the Baptist's warnings what would happen should people not accept the Messiah and oppose him.
This caught my imagination. If the above is true, then our perception of the historical events predicted by the visions would shift from modern times to a much earlier period. So wrote my book Revelation: Fall of Judea, Rise of the Church.
Revelation: Fall of Judea, Rise of the Church is an interpretation of the last book in the Bible based on the preterist theory, which suggests that much of what is predicted by the visions recorded in the book of Revelations happened during the first century following the death of Christ. Williams offers Judean and Roman history to make his case against the futurist theory of revelation, the prediction that atrocities of the last days are yet to come.
“Preterists claim many of the predicted visions were meant for people who first heard them preached.” Williams begins his discussion with the assertion that chapters four through eleven of Revelations were founded in the preaching of John the Baptist and not John the Evangelist. If this is true, this would mean the visions of the four winds and the three woes occurred before Christianity developed. “If John the Baptist preached chapters 4 through 11, then these visions were meant for first-century Judeans, not for Gentiles living twenty centuries later.”
From here, the author weaves an intricate web through the history of Judea as it relates to the four winds and the three woes. Beginning with the dissention between Judeans who followed Christ and those who did not, the author guides the reader through the unfolding of Judea as infighting opened the doors to Roman infiltration by leaders such as Caligula. “The Judeans were supposed to recognize and accept the Messiah, but many did not. It seems logical that those who did not accept the Messiah would experience the disasters the Baptist predicted.” The author also ties the unleashing of Satan to the Reformation movement and the splintering of the Roman Catholic Church.
Williams invites the reader to experience the history of Judea as a witness to the undoing of its inhabitants by developing scenes in which the reader imagines him or herself a part of. He also suggests that the sin humans commit, although a result of the blessing of free will, is not possible without the cooperation of Jesus: “We have the guilt for all our sins because we willed to disobey, but Jesus in his divine nature is involved because we draw upon his power when we carry out our disobedience.” It is an interesting and controversial point as most Christians would place the blame of human sin on Satan.
Revelation: Fall of Judea, Rise of the Church will challenge the standard interpretations of the book of Revelations and open up discussions among Christians and non-Christians about the manifestation of the last days as recorded in the Bible.
This review was written by Melissa Levine
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A SECOND REVIEW: Revelation, everyone talks about it, everyone speculates, but what is the history? What do we know for sure? Author Maurice Williams has performed countless months, years of research and has compiled his research and his thoughts in this new book, Revelation: Fall of Judea, Rise of the Church.
No matter what religion you believe, this book will open your mind and your heart. Maybe it will challenge your beliefs or prove them more concrete, but you will gain insight and knowledge of history and faith. The author dissects the book of Revelation and shows the importance of each verse. Written in easy to understand language, and several illustrations, the book is simple to follow and interesting to read. Chapters include: The Baptist’s Vision of God and Christ, The Word Unleashes the Four Horsemen, The Sea Beasts: The Roman Empire, The Vials: Judea’s Great Tribulation, The Church up to Satan’s Release, The Church After Satan’s Release, and many, many more. A history lesson and bible lesson all mixed into one, Revelation: Fall of Judea, Rise of the Church is a great read for believers and non-believers alike.
The above review was written by someone on the staff of Get Book Reviews.
I Hope you like my book Revelation: Fall of Judea, Rise of the Church. It was published by iUniverse (ISBN 978-0-595-48429-4) in 2008. It was also published as a Kindle e-book in 2010. (ASIN: B0047GNDKM).