27 Sep 2013
Revelation 11:1
Revelation 11:1: “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.”
Preterists claim that this verse proves that Revelation was written before 70 AD, because in 70 AD the Temple was destroyed. If the book had been written after 70 AD then there wouldn’t have been a Temple around for John to measure.
This is a silly argument. The prophet Ezekiel was also asked to measure a Temple, and the Temple that he measured has never been built to this day. John wasn’t asked to measure Herod’s Temple; he was asked to measure a future temple – one that, like Ezekiel’s Temple, hasn’t been built yet.
There is compelling evidence that Revelation was written long after 70 AD. The early church claimed that it was written in the early 90s, which is consistent with the evidence in the book itself. For example, Revelation 1 claims that it was written while John was exiled to Patmos. John was exiled there by Domitian, who did not become Emperor until 81 AD.