steve7150 wrote:Conceptually i find the concept of Revelation explaining the transition from the Old Covenant to the New plus the destruction of Jerusalem odd to me because it is interpreted very symbolically in Rev yet it had been clearly stated many times prior to Revelation. To me for this to make sense this idea would have been stated symbolically prior to Revelation and then clearly revealed in Revelation. That would be a revelation to the reader not the other way around.
There are other issues which i'm sure you are aware of like, judgment of the world, resurrection of the dead and evil being defeated and the milleneum being 40 years among others.
Yes Brother, these very same issues is what surprised me the most, to find that they did indeed happen. Let me put it this way, the time statements concerning these events you've just mentioned is irrefutable. Most all scholars and even dispensationalists agree they were clearly tied to the 1st century church. The main argument these days are concerning the nature of these events, and in so doing, new methods of fringe hermeneutics are popping up like, "double fulfillment, Jesus and the Apostles, themselves and their teachings, being types not the anti-type or fulfillment" to name a few.
All this mind you, just to fit a presupposition that was alien to those 1st century believers, who lived and witnessed all these events. Your list of oddities concerning Preterism is not at all difficult to explain. Every bit of it was focused on a 1st century fulfillment. Most importantly, it's not what I'm saying, it's what Jesus and the Apostles said. And you know what else is interesting? You cannot find one example of any eschatological event, mentioned in the N.T., that the 1st century believers were told would not happen in their lifetime, not one!
I believe we had wrong the nature of how these events would transpire for a long time. For example:
Revelation parallels Ezekiel, pulls from Daniel, Isaiah, Matthew 24, etc...
Revelation was clearly stated to the original intended audience. They knew perfectly what John was writing about, they were mostly comprised of Jews steeped in the Hebrew language and culture. The language of Revelation is the language of the Law and the Prophets recorded in the Old Testament, which they all were very familiar with. These symbols were stated many times over in the O.T., it's right there and always have been!
Judgement, the resurrection, the millennium and such are not that difficult to understand. If you like, we can have a discussion concerning each point to see if the nature of the event is understood biblically. Well God bless, and enjoy reading that 700+ page book, LOL!