Here is the preterist interpretation:
4-5 Since Israel was to be destroyed, the apostles spent much of their time during the Last Days summoning Gods people to a religious separation from her, urging them to align themselves instead with the Church (cf. Acts 2:37-40; 3:19-26; 4:8-12; 5:27-32). This is St. Johns message in Revelation. Gods people must not seek to reform Israel, with its new religion of Judaism, but must abandon her to her fate. The Jews had "tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the Age to come" the
Age brought in by Christs redemptive act and had fallen away. It would be "impossible to renew them again to repentance."Judaism the vain attempt to continue the Old Covenant while rejecting Christ "is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned" (Heb. 6:4-8). Old Covenant religion cannot be revivified; it is impossible to have the Covenant without Christ. There can be no turning "back" to something which never existed, for even the fathers under the Old Covenant worshiped Christ under the signs and seals of the provisional age (1 Cor. 10:1-4). Now that "the Age to come" has arrived, salvation is with Christ and the Church. Only destruction awaits those who are identified with the Harlot: Come out of her, My people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues (cf. Heb. 10:19-39; 12:15-29; 13:10-14). Time for Israels repentance has run out, and by now her sins have piled up [literally, have adheredl to heaven (cf. Gen. 19:13; 2 Chron. 28:9; Ezra 9:6; Jer. 51:9; Jon. 1:2). Jesus had foretold that this crucifying generation would "fill up the measure of the guilt" of their rebellious fathers, and thus that upon them would fall "all the righteous blood shed on earth" (Matt. 23:32-35). This prophecy was fulfilled within the first century, as St. Paul observed: "They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved; with the result that they
always.lill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the uttermost"
(1 Thess. 2:15-16).Therefore, not only religious separation was demanded that you may not participate in her sins
but physical, geographical separation was necessary as well (cf. Matt. 24:16-21), that you may not receive of her plagues. The language is reminiscent of Gods call to His people to come out of Babylon at the end of the captivity. The Old Testament texts speak in terms of three ideas: the coming destruction of Babylon, the coming redemption of the faithful Covenant people, and the rebuilding of the Temple (Ezra 1:2-3; Isa. 48:20; 52:11-12; Jer. 50:8; 51:6, 9, 45). Similarly, the New Covenant people were to separate themselves from Israel. The persecutors were about to suffer destruction at Gods hands, the Churchs redemption was drawing near (Luke 21:28, 31), and the new Temple was about to be fully established.3. See Henry R. Van Til, The Calvinistic Concept of Culture
(Philadelphia:The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1959); Abraham Kuyper,
Lectures on Calvinism
(Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.,1931).
4. J. Massyngberde Ford,
Revelation: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary(Garden City: Doubleday and Co., 1975), pp. 301f.
This is from the book 'days of vengence' by david chilton. With this interpretation, the book of revelation is truly closed. having been fulfilled 1900 yrs ago. Chilton's commentary on rev can be downloaded at: http://freebooks.entrewave.com/freebooks/docs/2226_47e.htm
If you go to this site, don't get sucked into some of the other stuff.
SS
Edited by - saintsatan on 1 December 2002 21:15:24