Douglas F. Kelly's Second "Indicator" for Revelation's Early Date

Learning to read Scripture on its own terms is a difficult task. When referring to the "coming" of Jesus, it is easy by default to think only of his final coming at the end of world; however, this is often not the "coming" that the New Testament (NT) authors are referring to when they wrote. In fact, many of the references to the coming of Christ in the NT, such as those in the Olivet Discourse in Mt 24, Mk 13, and Lk 21, are in reference to his coming either (1) into Heaven to sit at the right hand of the father (Daniel 7:13) or (2) his coming in judgment on Jerusalem in 70 AD. In his commentary on Revelation, Douglas Kelly argues the "coming" of Jesus in the book of Revelation was in reference to his "coming in judgment" on Jerusalem. This is Kelly's second "indicator" for Revelation's early date.

[W]hat is meant by his coming? We shall later see that 'coming' can be used either as the last coming at the end of time or coming in judgment. It is used as 'coming in judgment' in many places in the Old Testament and in the Gospels. Thus, it is likely that in verse 7 [of Revelation 1], it means 'Coming in Judgment.' The judgments come from Christ's direct intervention, in which Christ in a sense rides upon the judgments against the enemies of his people.

In other words, the judgment events described in Revelation are the judgments of the risen and ascended Christ who has "come" back to Jerusalem to judge his enemies and to destroy the Temple. These judgments fulfill Jesus' prediction that the Temple would be destroyed within the generation of those who heard his Olivet Discourse. Just like God used the Assyrians and Babylonians in the Old Testament to judge his people and bring them into exile, Jesus used the Roman Army in 70 AD to pronounce judgment against Old Jerusalem. This was his "coming in judgment" from heaven to execute his will and vindicate the believers, especially the believing Jews who survived by fleeing Jerusalem as Jesus told them to do (Lk 21:20).