More about Revelation and 1st century Jerusalem...

[Stormcrow]

And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe. Revelation 16:21 (ESV)

The 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 that were cast were of the weight of a talent*, and were carried two furlongs and further. 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.

[*The heavy common talent, used in New Testament times, was 58.9 kilograms (130 lb).]

As for the Jews, they at first watched the coming of the stone, for it was of a white color, and could therefore not only be perceived by the great noise it made, but could be seen also before it came by its brightness; accordingly the watchmen that sat upon the towers gave them notice when the engine was let go, and the stone came from it, and cried out aloud, in their own country language, The Son Comethso those that were in its way stood off, and threw themselves down upon the ground; by which means, and by their thus guarding themselves, the stone fell down and did them no harm.

But the Romans contrived how to prevent that by blacking the stone, who then could aim at them with success, when the stone was not discerned beforehand, as it had been till then; and so they destroyed many of them at one blow.

Flavius Josephus, The Works of Flavius Josephus, trans. William Whiston (Hartford, CN: S. S. Scranton, 1905), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 811.

Whitson, in his notes about this passage, indicates one possible reason for them yelling "the Son cometh" when the Romans unleashed a barrage of these large siege stones, was to make fun of the oft-repeated warnings of Christ and the apostles that Christ was coming in judgment upon Jerusalem, using the Romans to fulfill His prophecies against it.

By the way, two furlongs equals about a quarter of a mile. Anything able to hurl a 130 lb. boulder a quarter of a mile is bound to do a lot of damage, especially to those people unfortunate enough to be in its path.

"...and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe."

Makes sense now, huh?

 

[John 8:32]

And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe. Revelation 16:21 (ESV)

The 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 that were cast were of the weight of a talent*, and were carried two furlongs and further. 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.

[*The heavy common talent, used in New Testament times, was 58.9 kilograms (130 lb).]

As for the Jews, they at first watched the coming of the stone, for it was of a white color, and could therefore not only be perceived by the great noise it made, but could be seen also before it came by its brightness; accordingly the watchmen that sat upon the towers gave them notice when the engine was let go, and the stone came from it, and cried out aloud, in their own country language, The Son Comethso those that were in its way stood off, and threw themselves down upon the ground; by which means, and by their thus guarding themselves, the stone fell down and did them no harm.

But the Romans contrived how to prevent that by blacking the stone, who then could aim at them with success, when the stone was not discerned beforehand, as it had been till then; and so they destroyed many of them at one blow.

Flavius Josephus, The Works of Flavius Josephus, trans. William Whiston (Hartford, CN: S. S. Scranton, 1905), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 811.

Whitson, in his notes about this passage, indicates one possible reason for them yelling "the Son cometh" when the Romans unleashed a barrage of these large siege stones, was to make fun of the oft-repeated warnings of Christ and the apostles that Christ was coming in judgment upon Jerusalem, using the Romans to fulfill His prophecies against it.

By the way, two furlongs equals about a quarter of a mile. Anything able to hurl a 130 lb. boulder a quarter of a mile is bound to do a lot of damage, especially to those people unfortunate enough to be in its path.

"...and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe."

Makes sense now, huh?

How about making sense of Rev16:2

2 So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.-NKJV

 

[Stormcrow]

How about making sense of Rev16:2

2 So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.-NKJV

I take by this, then, you fully accept the account of Josephus as a perfectly logical and rational interpretation of Revelation 16:21, and want to learn more about this chapter?

Or do you simply offer verse 2 as a rhetorical argument against my original post?

I would hope these posts would inspire people to research these passages on their own, using all available resources at hand to come to a better understanding of the material.

Unfortunately, I think some people aren't up to the challenge.

 

[John 8:32]

I take by this, then, you fully accept the account of Josephus as a perfectly logical and rational interpretation of Revelation 16:21, and want to learn more about this chapter?

Or do you simply offer verse 2 as a rhetorical argument against my original post?

I would hope these posts would inspire people to research these passages on their own, using all available resources at hand to come to a better understanding of the material.

Unfortunately, I think some people aren't up to the challenge.

Actually, I would just like to hear your interpretation of the entire chapter of Rev 16. I don't intend to argue, comment or rebut anything, just would like to see your view of it.

 

[Stormcrow]

The key passage to understanding what this chapter is about is found in verses 4-7:

Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying, "Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it." And I heard the altar saying, "Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments."Revelation 16:4-7 (NASB)
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Again, this passage has to be seen in light of what God did in the OT and what Christ said in the New:

The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, until there was no remedy.

Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand.

All the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his officers, he brought them all to Babylon.

Then they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles. Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete. 2 Chronicles 36:15-21 (NASB)
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God sent them messengers - the prophets - who tried to get the priests and the people to repent. Many of these prophets were killed by the same royal priesthood that would later kill Christ Himself. Now, look at what Christ said in Matthew 23:

"Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

"Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!Matthew 23:34-38 (NASB)
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This entire chapter of Revelation 16 represents the wrath of God poured out upon Jerusalem and Judea. Just as God had used Babylon to destroy Jerusalem in the past, Christ would destroy it again but use the Romans to do it.

Christ is the judge here, just as the Father was in the OT.