Douglas F. Kelly’s Fourth “Indicator” for Revelation’s Early Date

The book of Revelation contains many strong bits of internal evidence in favor of an early date of composition (before 70 AD). One piece of internal evidence that Douglas F. Kelly, along with many others, finds convincing is that the Temple in Jerusalem seems to have been still standing when John receives instructions to measure it. Kelly writes,

Fourth, Revelation 11:1-2 seems to consider the Jerusalem Temple as still standing when Revelation was written (as we find in Matthew 24, Luke 21, and Mark 13). The Christ whom so much of Judaism officially rejected will judge them and their now apostate temple worship as his judgment descends by means of the Roman army in 70 AD. There is no scriptural reason to postpone this historic judgment to some future rebuilt temple.

If John wrote Revelation after 70 AD, it must be asked what temple John was told to measure. In Dispensationalism, a future, third temple is supposed, yet nowhere does the Bible say anything about a third, future, rebuilt temple. Another common interpretation, especially among amillennials, is that the temple John is told to measure is the church, which in Ephesians 2:21-22 is referred to as a growing temple. Given the context of Revelation 11, however, and the prophecy in verse 2 that the city would be trampled underfoot for 42 months (i.e. 67 AD to late 70 AD when the Temple was destroyed), the most likely answer is that John was told to measure the Temple in Jerusalem and that he received these instructions prior to 70 AD. 

​Kelly, Douglas. Revelation: A Mentor Expository Commentary. Ross-shire, Scotland: Mentor, 2012. p. 20.