I agree with you in that literally speaking . .. it's already been fulfilled.
I'm a
partial preterist, but my problem is, I'm not sure what all's been fulfilled and what's yet to be.
I've been following the Prophecy thread, and had some thoughts. I didn't want to derail that thread, as it's plugging along at a rapid clip from a futurist perspective. So I thought I'd post "out here to the side" in this thread, and if anyone wanted to pursue a little different angle of it they could do so here without interfering with Molly's thread - and if not, they can ignore this one.
So some thoughts; with so many differing views about future fulfillment, at some point I wonder "has some of this already happened"? Do
some of these apply to Israel and God's dealings with them in the
past? If so, how much? Recently the "figurative/spiritual" aspect has been brought up in the Prophecy thread, and I wondered about member Nathan for instance, who I
think sees it from both a spiritual
and an already fulfilled perspective. He's sent me a study on Revelation a long time ago that I tried to find and couldn't. In lieu of that, I found the following interesting. Although I think it may have some merit, I'm NOT saying what the author is claiming is "all there is to it", I PERSONALLY believe there's more to be fulfilled. Also, I expect he'll get bashed as a derelict Full Preterist
. but even if he were, I just think (at least parts of) the following may be something to consider.
Excerpts from The Beast of Revelation;
"..before we can turn to those passages where the Beast is mentioned, we must deal with some basic issues of interpreting the Revelation. It seems that most people today have not read the first verse of this book, which
would go along way in helping them interpret it. Take note of verse 1:
"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must shortly take place...."
Notice verse 3:
".... and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near"
We cannot ignore John's use of these words, because they supply us with important information to the interpretation of this book. Whereas, most believers are awaiting the events described in the book of the Revelation to find their fulfillment in the future, John clearly tells us that the prophecies of Revelation would begin to come to pass within a very short period of time of his writing. He dogmatically states that the events of Revelation were "shortly" to take place, and that the time is "near." Both of these words are significant.
In addition, John states, "the other has not yet come" (the seventh), "and when he comes, he must remain a little while." Following Nero came Galba, who reigned less than seven months.
Further Evidence
"And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them...."
(Revelation 13:7)
Nero was not only the sixth emperor of Rome, he was the first to persecute Christians. That persecution began in the middle of November 64 A.D. and continued until June 8, 68 A.D. when Nero committed suicide, a period of 42 months. Take note how this fits with Revelation 13:5, which says:
"And there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies; and authority to act for forty-two months was given him."
Is this just another coincidence, or is it more evidence from Scripture as to the identity of the Beast?
Furthermore, John prophesied the death that the Beast would die. The Beast not only slays by the sword, but ultimately is to die of a sword wound.
Revelation 13:10 tells us:
"If anyone leads into captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed."
The fact that Nero killed by the sword is well documented. Paul, for example, is said to have died under Nero by decapitation with a sword. Tertullian credits "Nero's cruel sword" as providing the martyr's blood as seed for the Church. He urges his readers to "Consult your histories; you will there find that Nero was the first who assailed with the imperial sword the Christian sect."
Likewise, history records that Nero took his own life with the sword. Roman historian Suetonius describes Nero's death: "Then with the help of his secretary, Epaphroditus, he stabbed himself in the throat."
It is interesting, from a historical perspective, that Nero was actually referred to as a "beast" by his contemporaries. For instance, the pagan writer Apollinius of Tyana, who lived at the time of Nero, states: "In my travels, which have been wider than ever man yet accomplished, I have seen many wild beasts of Arabia and India; but this beast, that is commonly called a Tyrant, I know not how many heads it has, nor if it be crooked of claw, and armed with horrible fangs.... And of wild beasts you cannot say that they were ever known to eat their own mother, but Nero gorged himself on this diet."
Nero ruthlessly murdered his parents, his brother, his pregnant wife (whom he kicked to death) and other family members. He was a homosexual, who found sexual gratification in watching torture. He enjoyed dressing up as a
wild beast and raping male and female prisoners. He illuminated his garden parties with the bodies of Christians, covered with pitch and set aflame.
The whole article on Revelation here -
http://www.preteristarchive.com/PartialPreterism/walker-don_pp_01.html
