[Rev 1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. ]
Even if we can't agree on dates -->Revelation was written in the 1st century.<--
Around 60AD or 96AD. Preterism generally believes the earlier date. Most futurists believe the later date.
I once wondered how all of Revelation could be fulfilled if it said this:
[Rev. 21:4 and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away. ]
This verse is often used to prove Preterism wrong.
I want you to see something though:
[Rev. 22:2 in the midst of the street thereof. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. ]
We need to ask the question about the verse above: How is it possible that the leaves are for healing of the nations if there will be no pain?
There are many verses in the bible which clearly teach us that Trees are a metaphor for believers (Isa. 55:12, Isa 61:3) Jesus confirms this at the beginning of his ministry when he quotes from the same passage in Isaiah 61:1-2(Luke 4:18).
Freedom is spiritual.
The River of Life is spiritual water (John 4:13)
Jesus commanded his disciples to heal the sick. Paul even says the trees/believers were bearing fruit throughout the whole world (Col 1). The Divine nature that comes from faith in his promises (2Pet 1) Jesus said "these signs" would follow those that "believe"(Mk 16:17), not that they would "do" these signs. Jesus teaching was enough for them to become like him naturally, just as a tree bears leaves naturally.
Genesis 37:9 Where Joseph has a dream of the celestial bodies bowing down to him. This was representative of Systems, nations and governing authorities. Hebrews 12:26 declares that at the time the Law of Moses was given, God had "shaken" the earth, and there was a soon to come "shaking of both heaven and earth" Hebrews was written about 65 AD as most scholars agree. Hebrews states:
[Hebrews 10:37 For, "In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay."]
We can be sure the apostles understood the season which God would come,(1 Thes 5:1) as they listened to him give all the signs of his coming judgement on Jerusalem in AD 70. They understood his teaching Matthew 13:51.
The New Heavens and New Earth: I don't have a lot of time to explain this subject, please see Don K Preston's Teaching:
this: http://www.preteristarchive.com/Hyper/0000_preston_heaven-passed.html
Another Verse to consider when thinking about the nature of Scripture :
[Rev. 22:15 outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts]
How is it possible that sinners are outside the gates of Jerusalem when Jesus says this:
[Luke 16:26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.']
which contradicts this:
[John 10:9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.]
the great chasm was clearly a reference to Heaven and Hell after physical death, but Jesus teaches that people can come in and go out of the sheep pen through Faith. The Sheep Pen represents The New Covenant Kingdom Jesus was setting up.
To make this point even clearer, I want to establish what exactly the New Jerusalem IS in Revelation. Many people like myself, have thought it was a city that would physically come down out of heaven sometime in the future. This is based on a mistaken understanding of the figurative, spiritually fulfilled interpretation of the Old Covenant.
The bible sometimes is talking about the Old Covenant Jerusalem which is physical, and declaring Judgements on her for not obeying the Law of Moses, and sometimes it is prophesying about the New Covenant Jerusalem which is a spiritual building of the New Covenant. Jerusalem is also referred to as Zion, the City of David, or The Mountain of the Lord, which was next to Jerusalem. You can research these separately but I want to briefly explain how the physical Jerusalem is copy of what was to come. As it is written:
[Heb 8:5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.]
[1Co 15:46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. ]
[Joh 5:39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, ]
The pharisees and teachers of the law, though they searched the Old testament diligently, did not recognize Jesus, because Jesus can not be found in the Old Testament as a literal person, you can only see Jesus in the Old Testament if you have an understanding of the types and shadows of Christ, and the Holy Spirit has revealed it to you.
As for The Jerusalem Shadow and Reality, Paul describes Abraham's wives:
[Galatians 4:22-26 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23His son by the slave woman was born as the result of a divine promise.
24 These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. 25Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, (physical 1st century) because she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.
Paul also mentions the Heavenly Jerusalem in Hebrews
Hebrews 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,
This shows that Paul believed the Heavenly Jerusalem had arrived and was arriving as the New Covenant, to fully arrive in the destruction of Jerusalem. This is synonymous to the New Heaven and Earth.
What about "NO MORE DEATH"
[2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!]
ok, you are probably still wondering how it can say no more death, but think about the things I have been revealing. If God is making "All things New" that means natural things are pointing to a spiritual reality, even the death. Let's go to the perfect example:
[Gen 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”]
God made a covenant with Adam, but he came to break it, the punishment for doing so was "in that day" Adam would "die". Adam and Eve were cursed and kicked out of the Garden and lived to be 930 years old. So did Adam actually die "in that day" which he ate of the tree? he had to. The principle of spiritual reality is already at work in the first book of Genesis. Breaking the covenant was cause for him to spiritually die, which is different from physical death. We can See this being taught in the New Testament in many places:
[Matthew 9:24 he said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him.]
[Luke 9:60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”]
So what is the solution to this spiritual death?
Jesus said:
[John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ]
[John 11:26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” ]
I want you to remember that last verse: "EVERYONE WHO LIVES AND BELIEVES IN ME SHALL NEVER DIE. DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?"
Did the 12 disciples Die?
They did die Physically.
The curse on Adam was fulfilled by Jesus antithetically (Rom 5:14) Adam means Man, Jesus is called the Son of Man, or "The Son of Adam" and Adam's death brought Eve Life, just as Jesus death brings The New Covenant life.
[Genesis 3:20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.]
Eve means "living" or "life" Just as Sleep represented physical Death, physical life represented spiritual life, and we are Children of Eternal Life: As it is written in the New Testament:
[Galatians 4:28 Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise.]
[1Jn 2:25 And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.]
So by understanding the Nature of the Bible, and the framework of the New Testaments words concerning the timing of these events. The language and metaphors of the Hebrew people, We can be sure and understand what Jesus was predicting. Eternal Life is something that begins when you enter the New Covenant, not some obscure time in the future at Jesus physical appearing on a cumulous cloud when he rips away free will. We should know that "without faith it is impossible to please God". You can know who is in the New Covenant by their "fruit" (Matt 7) what fruit actually refers to can be found in Galatians 5.
Seek and you will find
Do not be unwise but know what the will of the Lord is
study to show yourself approved