Category Archives: Revelation

REV 17 AND THE BEAST THAT “WAS, IS, AND IS NOT”

Objections, Revelation October 30, 2026 Leave a comment

PMW 2026-085 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In previous studies I presented evidence that the sixth head of the seven-headed beast of Revelation was Nero Caesar, the sixth emperor of Rome. Thus, in Revelation the sixth head of the beast represents the then reigning sixth head/king of Rome. But now we must deal with a passage that seems to contradict this identification. In Revelation 17 the interpreting angel states that:

“The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. . . . The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction.” (Rev. 17:8, 11)

As we focus on these statements, two important questions arise: (1) What is the significance of the beast being the one who “was and is not, and is about to come”? Is this one of the many instances of the beast’s divine pretensions, wherein he parodies divine eternality, which is the view of most commentators? And (2) does this description undercut the early-date position and preterist approach by declaring the beast (Nero) is already dead when John writes? After all, the angel states that he “was and is not [ouk estin].” Continue reading →

ISRAEL CAST OUT IN REVELATION (1)

Israel, Revelation January 6, 2026 Leave a comment

Jesus casting outPMW 2021-073 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Rev 11:1-2 is an important passage in John’s drama about Israel’s judgment. There John receives a command to actually engage an action in his visionary experience:

“Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.” Continue reading →

HOW TO INTRODUCE PRETERISM (1)

Fun Stuff, Revelation December 16, 2025 Comments: 2

PMW 2025-099 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In the modern evangelical world, we live in a dispensational-dominated reality. The average Christian leads a colorful life of expectation. He is either looking for a red heifer or a blood moon, while he plays pin-the-horns on the Antichrist. Consequently, it is difficult to get a hearing on even the possibility of a preterist analysis of everyone’s favorite book of the Bible: Revelation. And by this I mean, of course, an orthodox preterist approach to Revelation. Not the wholesale preterist theology of hyper-preterism, which is unorthodox heresy.

So, how can you introduce a preterist approach to Revelation in just the few minutes you will have before your head is bashed in with the New Scofield Reference Bible, or one of the other two dozen or so dispensational study Bibles written by “prophecy experts”? We must take to heart Jesus’ directive: “What thou doest, do quickly.” Continue reading →

POSTMILLENNIALISM AND SATAN’S LOOSING

Millennial Views, Millennium, Objections, Revelation November 7, 2025 Leave a comment

PMW 2025-088 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Satan loosedI received this question from a reader. I think it might be helpful to other blog readers for me to answer it. Here is the question:

“As I’ve been reading your whole series on Revelation, I have come realize more and more how much we A-Mill Folks agree with you Post Mill Guys. But how does the loosing of Satan coincide with your postmillennial preterist hermeneutic? This seems to be the only area where I have a problem from the Preterist Viewpoint. Please advise where this fits.”

This is a good question that touches on an issue that seems to confront both preterism (Satan’s loosing occurs after 1000 years in a book set to transpire shortly) and to undermine the idea of the universal conquest of the gospel expected by postmillennialism. Postmillennialism is a theological construct whereas preterism is a methodology, rather than a theology. Both merge well in my understanding of postmillennialism. Let me explain. Continue reading →

REV 1:10 AS THE LORD’S DAY (2)

Revelation September 26, 2025 Leave a comment

PMW 2025-076 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is the second in a two-part study of Rev. 1:10. I am continuing a presentation and defense of the view that John’s “Lord’s day” in Rev 1:10 is referring to “the Day of the Lord.” If this is so, it fits perfectly with the redemptive-historical preterist understanding of Revelation as a drama presenting Christ’s judgment-coming against Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70.

I will pick up where I left off in the last article. There I presented and briefly rebutted the argument for Rev 1:10 pointing to the Lord’s Day (the weekly day of worship). Now we are ready to look at the positive evidence for it picturing the Day of the Lord, i.e., AD 70. Continue reading →

REV 1:10 AS THE LORD’S DAY (1)

Revelation September 23, 2025 Leave a comment

PMW 2025-075 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Rev. 1:10 is a verse that I believe widely misinterpreted and misapplied in contemporary discussion. This verse reads: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet.” Contrary to popular opinion, I believe that John is speaking of “the Day of the Lord,” rather than “the Lord’s Day” (Sunday, the Christian day of worship). In this and the following post, I will engage the question.

John tells us here that he was in the Spirit “on the Lord’s day” (1:10a). Most commentators see the Greek phrase kuriake hemera (“Lord’s day”) as referring to when John received his vision, i.e., on the first day of the week, the Christian day of worship. Continue reading →

WHY DID JOHN MEASURE THE TEMPLE?

Revelation, Temple September 19, 2025 Leave a comment

PMW 2025-074 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

The measuring of the temple in Rev. 11:1–2 is an important episode in Revelation. Here we clearly see Revelation’s focus on Israel: this “holy city” with a “temple” must be Jerusalem (Neh. 11:1; Isa. 48:2; 52:1; 64:10; Matt. 4:5; 27:53). In verse 8 John unmasks this “holy city” for what she becomes: an Egypt, a Sodom, the slayer of Christ: “Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.” Indeed, second century Christians call Jews “Christ-killers” and “murderers of the Lord” (e.g., Ignatius, Magnesians 11; Justin Martyr, First Apology 35; Irenaeus, i 3:12:2)

Significantly this passage strongly reflects Jesus’s prophecy in the Olivet Discourse (compare the italicized words):

Luke 21:24b: “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”

Revelation 11:2: “But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.”

Continue reading →