Revelation Revisited
Does Historicism Clarify?
Historical Perspectives
By David Clover
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[We welcome this new author to this publication. David Clover has been a student of prophecy since his teens and has made in-depth studies into the book of Revelation. In this article he logically tackles the growing questions that the historicist method of interpretation raises. He ends with a persuasive plea to lay aside Biblical investigative techniques that are tainted too heavily with mans methods.] Most Adventists today approach the unraveling of Revelation’s mysteries armed with the Historicist method of interpreting apocalyptic prophecy. We come by this approach naturally enough, since it’s the primary interpretive principle that we were raised with. By and large, we all sat at the feet of Uriah Smith, who himself learned this method from great Christian scholars of earlier ages, including such notables as Isaac Newton. We learned that this was the correct way to view this magnificent book. The Historicist view is that the major story lines of Revelation point backward to events that are already past. The Historicist gains comfort in being able to see how God has lead out in the affairs of men and of nations. Perhaps the greatest work based on this view is the 4-volume work Horae Apocalypticae, by Edward B. Elliot, first published in 1844. Since this was the dominant method of apocalyptic interpretation among Protestants in the 19th century, William Miller and the other founders of Adventism inherited this view. The reason for their affinity for it is clear enough. William Miller taught that the next event on the prophetic horizon was the Second Coming of Jesus. Therefore, all the other events of Revelation must already have taken place. The Historicist view seemed to confirm his personal expectations. William Miller was remarkably consistent in his view. Not only did he hold that the 7 churches, the 7 seals and the 7 trumpets were all representations of historical events that had occurred between 31 AD and 1844, but he also held that the 7 plagues had also occurred, and could be seen in historical events. His view can be pictured as this:
No Adventist alive today would agree with William Miller on this view. Shortly after Jesus “failed” to appear in 1844, Adventist scholars and theologians modified the above view. After studying them in full, it was seen that the 7 last plagues were in fact yet ahead of us, and would directly proceed the 2nd coming of Jesus. Ellen White confirmed this view. For us this may see like a very minor adjustment. But to reach this conclusion, our forefathers had to set aside their principal principle of interpreting Revelation. They could no longer say that one method - the Historicist - could be used to understand all of Revelation. Instead, we had moved into a new phase of interpretation. We now had to study the literal meaning of the words to see if they had future application. If the meaning could not be seen as being literal and future, then it was assumed that the message applied to times that were behind us, and the Historicist method was utilized to determine that application. At the time that our position on the 7 last plagues was reevaluated, we could see no logical future application of the Seals and the Trumpets, so they were left locked in the Historicist mold. Valid questions have been raised about the
applicability of the Historicist method to the pastoral messages
given to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3.
Not only are the messages couched in different language
than the rest of the book, but they also lack the deliberate
numeric sequencing that is utilized in the Seals, Trumpets and
Plagues. Furthermore,
Jesus’ statements in Allowing for this adjustment in our schema, our modified Historicist view of Revelation would now look like this:
Further revisions of the above may become necessary, as many Adventists presently studying Revelation are concluding that the 7 trumpets are also end time events, and that they will take place in order prior to the 7 last plagues. Such investigation naturally leads to the question, what about the Seals? And perhaps more importantly, what about the Historicist method of interpretation? Actually, the answer to all these questions is “no”. Plain and simple. Again and again, God tells us that the purpose of prophecy is to enable us to know in advance when things are going to happen. Jesus said in Matthew 24: 32-33 “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.”[1] It is God’s ability to tell us what is going to happen in advance that gives us confidence in His ability to guide us through these events. It is a sign of his Divinity. Isaiah recognized this when he taunted the false gods, “Declare the things that are going to come afterward, That we may know that you are gods.” (Isaiah 41:23) And Revelation itself declares its mission statement: “to show to His bondservants, the things which must shortly take place.” (Rev. 1:1) Now, if the purpose of the book of Revelation is to show us “the things that must soon take place”, shouldn’t it point forward instead of backward? Yes, you may say, but what if it was pointing forward (at the time it was given) to those things that are now behind us? The Bible is full of examples of already-fulfilled prophecies
If that were the
case, shouldn’t the contemporary Christians - at the relevant
times of history - have been able to say
with certainty,
“Well, the second seal is over, the third one ought to be opened
any day now”? Evidence
shows this was not the case.
The noted historian Eugen Weber points out in his book
Apocalypses that when
the Goths attacked Why did many hundreds of years have to pass before we could look back and see the significance of these events, and see in them the fulfillment of prophecy that was lost upon those who lived through them? [Yes it is true that Froom and others make a case for people in all ages making applications from the text of Revelation to the events in which they found themselves. But in retrospect, most of those applications were in error. At no time was there a universal understanding that a particular Church, Seal, Trumpet or Plague event had occurred, which has not subsequently been questioned or set aside completely.] Many prophecies were recorded in the Bible, many of which were fulfilled in Biblical times. Often the fulfillments were anticipated. Usually they were understood to have taken place. The basic presumption of Historicism - that a prophecy can be fulfilled, but its fulfillment not be perceived or understood for hundreds of years - cannot be supported from scripture. So to use Historicism as the default hermeneutic for interpreting Revelation’s prophecies is untenable.
Not surprisingly, Historicism has proven to be a very tricky methodology. By definition, facts have been chosen to fit, and in some cases even our own scholars resorted to distortions and/or omissions in order to make historical “facts” fit the prophetic mold. Though countless scholars have agreed to the validity of the Historicist method, that unanimity has never produced a consensus opinion on what is meant by specific passages. Hundreds - if not thousands - of changes have been made in the Historicist Model as time has stretched out more and more. Let’s look a little closer at the Historicist view of the Churches, Seals, and Trumpets:
The closer you look
the more complex things get!
You’ll notice the string of dates at the bottom of the
graph. Each of these is
suggested as a possible start or stop date for the events
listed. In fact, since we
are in most cases dealing with subjective (rather than
objective) interpretations, the SDA Bible Commentary leaves a
large amount of leeway for various interpretations.
Peter referred to the “sure word of prophecy.”
What we have above is the “unsure” word!
We are unsure about almost all the dates!
The following statement from Volume 7 of the SDA Bible
Commentary, p. 753, on the close of the Pergamos period, is
typical of these discussions:
"Any one of various events might serve as an acceptable
boundary marker for the close of this period.
The deposition of the last Roman emperor in 476 marks it
as one such date. The
conversion, in 496, of the Frankish king
The 5th seal, we contend, ends in
1755, the year of the
In the case of the trumpets, you’ll
note that the 3rd comes before the 2nd!
That’s right! The
Huns, lead by Attila disappeared from history’s radar screen in
453 AD when Attila died.
The Vandals “vandalized” The 5th and 6th trumpet are so complex that the SDA Bible commentary spends considerable time on them and then concludes: “It should be made clear, however, that commentators and theologians in general have been greatly divided over the meaning of the 5th and 6th trumpets.” (Vol.7, p.796) On the one hand we want to use the description of the locust to describe the spread of the Moslem religion starting in about 629 AD. On the other hand, we want to use the 5 months (150 prophetic days = 150 literal years) to describe the 150 year struggle between the Ottoman Turks and the Greek Empire represented by Constantinople, which took place between 1299 and 1449. It clearly can not apply to both.
We have generally adhered to the
interpretation of the 6th trumpet as originally exposited by
Josiah Litch, who declared that the "hour, day, month, and year"
were to be understood as 391 years, 15 days.
These, he believed, started with the Battle of Bapheum on
Several years later, however, Josiah
Litch retracted his statements, declaring that he was in error,
and stating that we must look to some future fulfillment of this
prophecy. Clearly, the
Given all these problems - problems
with the meaning of the time period, problems with the
calculation of the event, problems with the failure of the The 7 Churches fill the time from 31 AD until the return of Jesus. They are said to trace the story of the true followers of Jesus throughout history. Nice and neat. Every thing fits. The 7 Seals are said to trace the spiritual environment the church would find itself in. Certainly this can be said of the first 5 Seals. The 6th, however, is said to depict the 2nd coming, and the 7th is a 1/2-hour "quite time" in heaven, apparently after the Second Coming. Something in this picture doesn't square up with the rest of the elements. This half-hour of silence doesn't fit in with the purported meaning of the rest of the Seals. Why is it grouped with them? And while we're asking questions, why is the story of the 144,000 told here instead of in the story of the 7 Churches, where the true church is said to be traced?
The 7 Trumpets are said to trace the
political events that would impact the church.
So we see attacks on the A weaver can't see all the problems in his work from up close. He needs to step back and look at the entire tapestry. Likewise, as we step back from the details of interpreting each of these elements, we see problems with the overall picture that weren't apparent close up. What other "broad-view" problems does our Historicist view create? Several.
It is
interesting to note that Ellen White wrote almost nothing about
the Seals and Trumpets of Revelation.
Why? Is it
possible the she was not allowed the understanding of the truths
that we may be allowed to uncover?
Are we not closer to the consummation of these events
than she? Shouldn't we
realize that we have a responsibility to study these issues for
ourselves - to do our own original research?
Shouldn’t we wonder what Ellen White meant when she
wrote: “Solemn
events before us are yet to transpire.
Trumpet after trumpet is to be sounded; vial after vial
poured out one after another upon the inhabitants of the earth”?[5] Often we are urged to remain loyal to “Historical Adventism”, as if there is value or merit in being an automaton that merely memorizes and recites the doctrines and positions that we inherited. We do no honor to the memory of our Adventist pioneers by such aping. They were men and women that studied deeply, and had the courage to go where Bible truths directed. Should we – their heirs – do less? Shouldn’t our guiding question be, “Where is the truth?” not “Where is the path?”
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Prophecy Research Initiative
EndTime Issues..., February 2003 -
endtimeissues.com