Chapter 19 – A Dramatic End

Revelation’s prophecies employ vivid, world-ending language that metaphorically signifies actual events. The magnitude and severity of the first-century signs and tragedies warranted such expressive language. To better comprehend the apocalyptic language used in Revelation and its association with historical events, we will delve into the darkening of Rome and Jerusalem, signs in the heavens and on earth during the first century, the symbolic significance of the four angels at the Euphrates, the devastation of Jerusalem through hailstones and earthquakes, and the transformation of sea and rivers into blood.

Thrown Into Darkness

John foretold that God’s wrath would be unleashed on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom would be plunged into moral darkness and suffering.

Revelation 16:10-11 (WEB) The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was darkened. They gnawed their tongues because of the pain, 11 and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. They still didn’t repent of their works.

As discussed in “Chapter 15 – The Sea Beast” and “Chapter 16 – The Ten Horns”, “the beast,” specifically the sea beast, symbolized both Rome and the Jewish zealots. Remarkably, both fell into chaos and suffered from these plagues.

Rome experienced moral darkness and turmoil during the year-long civil war after Emperor Nero’s suicide. In addition, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD caused actual darkness to fall over the empire. The volcano’s smoke blocked out the sun and stars, even reaching Egypt. Following this, Rome faced a devastating plague, likely caused by acid rain from the eruption. Roman historian Cassius Dio wrote:

Indeed, the amount of dust, taken all together, was so great that some of it reached Africa and Syria and Egypt, and it also reached Rome, filling the air overhead and darkening the sun. 5 There, too, no little fear was occasioned, that lasted for several days, since the people did not know and could not imagine what had happened, but, like those close at hand, believed that the whole world was being turned upside down, that the sun was disappearing into the earth and that the earth was being lifted to the sky. These ashes, now, did the Romans no great harm at the time, though later they brought a terrible pestilence upon them.²¹

The Jewish zealots also endured dark times before and during the siege of Jerusalem. They split into three factions²² and destroyed each other’s food supplies. Historian Josephus described a “pestilential destruction” caused by the unburied dead filling the city, writing:

And indeed the multitude of carcasses that lay in heaps one upon another was an horrible sight; and produced a pestilential stench; which was an hindrance to those that would make sallies out of the city, and fight the enemy.²³

For they were come up from all the country to the feast of unleavened bread; and were on a sudden shut up by an army; which at the very first occasioned so great a straitness among them, that there came a pestilential destruction upon them; and soon afterward such a famine, as destroyed them more suddenly.²⁴

As foretold in Deuteronomy 28:27, Jerusalem was struck by the sixth plague of boils from Exodus, and painful sores afflicted those who bore the mark of the beast (Revelation 16:2).

Signs in the Heavens and Earth

Jesus and Joel prophesied that signs would appear in the stars and on earth before the destruction of Jerusalem (Joel 2:28-32).

Luke 21:25-26 (BSB) There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves. 26 Men will faint from fear and anxiety over what is coming upon the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Acts 2:19-20 (WEB) I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath: blood, and fire, and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.

Matthew 24:29 (BSB) Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’

In fulfillment of Jesus’ and Joel’s words, several cosmic events did occur in the skies before the Jewish war of 66-70 AD. Cassius Dio wrote about an event in 69 AD:

[E]vil omens occurred. A comet was seen, and the moon, contrary to precedent, appeared to suffer two eclipses, being obscured on the fourth and on the seventh day. Also people saw two suns at once, one in the west weak and pale, and one in the east brilliant and powerful.²⁵

The above account seems to also be a fulfillment of Isaiah 30:26.

Isaiah 30:26 (BSB) The light of the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days…

Sepher Yosippon also described miraculous events during Passover 66 AD.

Now it happened after this that there was seen from above over the Holy of Holies for the whole night the outline of a man’s face, the like of whose beauty had never been seen in all the land, and his appearance was quite awesome.²⁶

Josephus also recorded remarkable signs in the stars and on earth, most of which occurred during Passover, April 28 – May 5 66 AD (Nisan 14-21).

Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied God himself. While they did not attend, nor give credit to the signs that were so evident, and did so plainly foretel their future desolation. But like men infatuated, without either eyes to see, or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that God made to them. Thus there was a star, resembling a sword, which stood over the city: and a comet, that continued a whole year. (15) Thus also before the Jews rebellion, and before those commotions which preceded the war, when the people were come in great crouds to the feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth day of the month Xanthicus, [Nisan,] [April 28] (16) and at the ninth hour of the night, so great a light shone round the altar, and the holy house, that it appeared to be bright day time. Which light lasted for half an hour. This light seemed to be a good sign to the unskilful: but was so interpreted by the sacred scribes, as to portend those events that followed immediately upon it. At the same festival also an heifer [female cow], as she was led by the High-priest to be sacrificed, brought forth a lamb, in the midst of the temple. Moreover the eastern gate of the inner [court of the] temple,9 which was of brass, and vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by twenty men, and rested upon a basis armed with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor; which was there made of one intire stone: was seen to be opened of its own accord, about the sixth hour of the night. Now those that kept watch in the temple came hereupon running to the captain of the temple, and told him of it: who then came up thither: and, not without great difficulty, was able to shut the gate again. This also appeared to the vulgar to be a very happy prodigy: as if God did thereby open them the gate of happiness. But the men of learning understood it, that the security of their holy house was dissolved of its own accord: and that the gate was opened for the advantage of their enemies. So these publickly declared that this signal foreshewed the desolation that was coming upon them.²⁷

The above signs were a clear fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy of “wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath.”

The Four Angels at Euphrates

Revelation describes four “angels” bound at the Euphrates who would be released to kill a third of mankind.

Revelation 9:14-15 (WEB) saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!”

15 The four angels were freed who had been prepared for that hour and day and month and year, so that they might kill one third of mankind.

The Greek word “angeloi,” translated here as “angels,” can also mean “messengers” or “God’s delegates.” In scripture, this term sometimes refers to humans rather than supernatural beings (as seen in 2 Chronicles 36:15-16; Haggai 1:13; Malachi 3:1; Matthew 11:10; 24:31; Luke 7:24; 9:52; 1 Timothy 3:16; Revelation 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14; 21:17). For example, John the Baptist is called an “angelon,” meaning a delegate of God fulfilling His purposes. In this context, the “four angels” or “delegates” likely represent the four generals of the Roman legions stationed at the Euphrates before the Jewish war. Commenting on this, Morais writes:

During the siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, there were four Roman legions under Titus’ command: Legio V Macedonica, Legio X Fretensis, Legio XII Fulminata, and Legio XV Apollinaris. The four angels bound at the Euphrates appears to refer to the generals of these four legions. The fact that these four legions are said to be bound at the Euphrates also appears to be an historical easter egg as Titus’ four legions were all bound at the Euphrates just three years before the outbreak of the Jewish revolt. In A.D. 63 at the conclusion of the Roman-Parthian War all four of Titus’ Roman legions were stationed at the Euphrates.47 In A.D. 63 XII Fulminata was stationed in Zeugma48 at the banks of the Euphrates.49 X Fretensis was left to guard Cappadocia again presumably to guard the Parthian boarder at the Euphrates. And that year V Macedonica and XV Apollinaris crossed the Euphrates into Armenia in response to the Parthian threat.²⁸

A third of humankind was killed during the Jewish war in a unique manner. After multitudes of Jews came from all the nations into Jerusalem for Passover, the Romans locked them inside and began their siege. Josephus says a significant number of people, “not fewer in number than three millions,” visited Jerusalem during Passover at the start of the war.²⁹ If the same number attended the feast in 70 AD, a likely scenario, those killed in Jerusalem, “eleven hundred thousand” or over one million, would be one-third of its population. Josephus wrote:

Now the number (26) of those that were carried captive, during this whole war, was collected to be ninety-seven thousand. As was the number of those that perished during the whole siege eleven hundred thousand. The greater part of whom were indeed of the same nation [with the citizens of Jerusalem], but not belonging to the city it self. For they were come up from all the country to the feast of unleavened bread; and were on a sudden shut up by an army; which at the very first occasioned so great a straitness among them, that there came a pestilential destruction upon them; and soon afterward such a famine, as destroyed them more suddenly.³⁰

Hundred Pound Hailstones

Revelation symbolically describes a plague of hailstones, each weighing about a talent, falling upon the city.

Revelation 16:21 (BLB) And a great hail, about a talent weight, comes down out of heaven upon the men. And the men blasphemed God on account of the plague of the hail, for the plague of it is exceedingly severe.

Before the destruction of the temple, this prophecy was fulfilled when the Romans hurled white stones, sometimes mixed with fire, each weighing a talent, into Jerusalem.³¹ In this way, unbelieving Jerusalem—symbolized as the prostitute and adulteress in Revelation (17:4; 18:3,9)—was stoned for her spiritual adultery against God, as foretold in Deuteronomy 22:24. This event also draws a parallel to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire (Luke 17:28-33; 21:20-22; Revelation 11:8). Josephus vividly described the earthquake-like impact these massive stones had as they struck the city.

These engines, that all the legions had ready prepared for them, were admirably contrived: but still more extraordinary ones belonged to the tenth legion. Those that threw darts, and those that threw stones were more forcible, and larger than the rest; by which they not only repelled the excursions of the Jews, but drove those away that were upon the walls also. Now the stones (15) that were cast were of the weight of a talent; and were carried two furlongs, and farther. The blow they gave was no way to be sustained; not only by those that stood first in the way, but by those that were beyond them, for a great space. As for the Jews, they at first watched the coming of the stone: for it was of a white colour; and could therefore not only be perceived by the great noise it made, but could be seen also before it came by its brightness.³²

Josephus also graphically described the incredible force these stones had in the battle against Jotapata, further emphasizing their destructive power.³³

A Tenth of the City Collapses

John foresaw the death of seven thousand people when a tenth of Jerusalem collapsed.

Revelation 11:13 (BSB) And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand were killed in the quake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

In August of 70 AD (Menachem Av 70 AD), when the Jewish temple was destroyed, Josephus estimated that around ten thousand Jews were killed.³⁴ Morais calculates that the temple area made up approximately a tenth of the total space of Jerusalem, meaning that with its destruction, a literal tenth of the city fell.³⁵ This shows how the prophecy of the sixth trumpet was fulfilled in a strikingly literal and devastating way.

The Sea of Blood

Every living soul in the sea died when the second bowl of wrath was poured out.

Revelation 16:3 (BLB) And the second poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood, as of one dead; and every living soul that was in the sea died.

On July 5, 67 AD (Tamuz 4), the people of Joppa were slaughtered near the Mediterranean Sea. Josephus describes the scene:

But some of them thought that to die by their own swords was lighter than by the sea, and so they killed themselves, before they were drowned; although the greatest part of them were carried by the waves, and dashed to pieces against the abrupt parts of the rocks, insomuch that the sea was bloody a long way, and the maritime parts were full of dead bodies, for the Romans came upon those that were carried to the shore, and destroyed them; and the number of the bodies that were thus thrown out of the sea was four thousand, and two hundred.³⁶

Later, on September 6, 67 AD (Elul 8), Jews from Taricheae were killed in the Sea of Galilee. Josephus wrote:

but as many of these were repulsed when they were getting ashore, they were killed by the darts upon the lake; and the Romans leaped out of their vessels, and destroyed a great many more upon the land: one might then see the lake all bloody, and full of dead bodies, for not one of them escaped. And a terrible stink, and a very sad sight there was on the following days over that country; for as for the shores they were full of shipwrecks, and of dead bodies all swelled; and as the dead bodies were inflamed by the sun, and putrified, they corrupted the air, insomuch that the misery was not only the object of commiseration to the Jews, but to those that hated them, and had been the authors of that misery. This was the upshot of the sea fight. The number of the slain, including those that were killed in the city before, was six thousand and five hundred.³⁷

Additionally, when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, Cassius Dio noted that all fish were killed:

While this was going on, an inconceivable quantity of ashes was blown out, which covered both sea and land and filled all the air. It wrought much injury of various kinds, as chance befell, to men and farms and cattle, and in particular it destroyed all fish and birds.³⁸

Given Blood to Drink

Similarly, the third bowl of wrath turned the rivers to blood, and people were given blood to drink.

Revelation 16:4-6 (WEB) The third poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 I heard the angel of the waters saying, “You are righteous, who are and who were, O Holy One, because you have judged these things. 6 For they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve this.”

On February 27, 68 AD (Adar 5), a massacre occurred in the Jordan River, causing it to flow red with blood. Josephus wrote:

And this because, not only the whole country through which they fled was filled with slaughter, and Jordan could not be passed over by reason of the dead bodies that were in it; but because the lake Asphaltitis [Dead Sea] was also full of dead bodies, that were carried down into it by the river.³⁹

Researcher and blogger Adam Maarschalk notes that many Jews were pushed into the water by the Romans and drowned.⁴⁰ He explains that when someone drowns, the desperate urge to breathe underwater causes them to swallow water into their lungs. In this case, as the Jews drowned, they were literally “drinking blood,” fulfilling the prophecy in a chillingly literal way.

Summary

The first century was marked by tragic events that fulfilled biblical prophecies. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD plunged Rome into darkness and brought pestilence, aligning with Revelation 16:10-11. Miraculous celestial events recorded by Josephus, Sepher Yosippon, and Cassius Dio during the Jewish war fulfilled Luke 21:25-26. The four Roman generals who killed a third of Jerusalem’s Jewish inhabitants during the siege were the four angels from the Euphrates mentioned in Revelation 9:14-15. The Romans cast heavy hailstones on Jerusalem, leading to the destruction of the temple and the death of thousands, as foretold in Revelation 16:21 and 11:13. The war itself saw the sea and streams filled with blood and dead bodies, fulfilling Revelation 16:3-6. These dramatic prophecies accurately described the end of the Old Covenant, making the reading of the Jewish war a gut-wrenching experience. Christians today can find solace in the fact that this prophesied judgment is now in the past.

Footnotes