The woman (Israel) gives birth to the Messiah and then flees to the wilderness to be protected by God for three-and-a-half years.
The signs following the seventh trumpet judgment continue in Revelation 12:5-6, now with the sign of the birth of the Messiah: And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne (v. 5).
This male child is Jesus, the promised Messiah of God. “Messiah” means “anointed,” as does the New Testament term “Christ.” The word “Christ” is used to translate the Hebrew term “masiah” in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament (the “Septuagint”).
The phrase she gave birth to a son refers to Mary, the mother of Jesus, who gave birth to Him in Bethlehem (Luke 2:6-7). This son, Jesus, is destined to rule all the nations. This means Jesus will reign over Israel as well as the entire earth (all nations). We will see this later in Revelation when “the nations” will walk by “the light” of God’s glory and “the kings of the earth will bring their glory” into the New Jerusalem which is ruled by God who comes down to dwell among humans (Revelation 21:24).
This language of ruling with a rod of iron underscores the authority and kingship of Jesus Christ—a central theme in Revelation, where Christ is ultimately presented as the triumphant Lamb. This presents a major paradox, as a lamb is roughly the opposite of the lion in the animal kingdom.
The lamb is among the most helpless of animals while the lion is the king of the animals. We saw in Revelation 5:5-6, that Jesus was presented both as the Lamb of God as well as the Lion of Judah. The Old Testament predicts a suffering Messiah, God’s “Servant” who will suffer and die for the sins of the world (as in Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12). It also describes a ruling Messiah, who will reign over the earth with a “rod of iron” as in Psalm 2:9, “You shall break them with a rod of iron.”
The image of Jesus as a Lamb who reigns with a rod of iron (Lion) brings unity to the paradox of the Messiah/Christ as both servant and ruler, the lion and the lamb. Jesus will be the opposite of Satan, who is a tyrant. The Lamb will rule with a rod of iron but also as a servant to His people.
Jesus is a servant who died for the sins of the world, as a Lamb, so that all might come to Him and be cleansed of unrighteousness through faith (John 3:14-16). He is also the creator of the universe who will judge all the earth and cleanse sin and evil from the world.
When Jesus finished His earthly ministry, He ascended back to heaven, as we see in Acts 1:9. This correlates with what we see here in Revelation: and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.
We saw earlier in Revelation 3:21 that Jesus was rewarded with the privilege of sharing His Father’s throne because He “overcame.” We saw that Jesus offers to His servants the great reward of also sharing His throne if they overcome as He overcame. Jesus desires His servants to follow His example and learn from Him. He desires to greatly reward those who walk in obedience to Him and serve others.
It is through serving (lambs) that His servants qualify to share His reign and also be rewarded to be a “son” who gains the “glory and honor” of reigning (lions). This restores God’s original design for humans (Hebrews 2:5-10, Psalm 8).
In Revelation 5, we saw how Christ was the only person who was worthy to open the scroll, because He was the ultimate servant (the Lamb) as well as the one worthy to rule (the Lion). Here, we see a similar declaration of His unmatched authority. While this verse describes Him as a child, emphasizing Jesus the human born in Bethlehem, it also points toward His divinity and eternal kingship over the nations by saying He will rule all the nations with a rod of iron.
Jesus as both Lion and Lamb brings together prophecy from the Old Testament with New Testament fulfillment. Jesus has already atoned for sin, as prophesied in Daniel 9:24, part of the “seventy weeks” prophecy that provides an overview of God’s plan for the Jewish people. He will in the future also further fulfill Daniel 9:24 by bringing in everlasting righteousness (2 Peter 3:13).
Jesus will return to earth to deliver His people, as we can see in Zechariah 14:4, 16. He is the LORD, as we can see from Zechariah 12:1, 10 where the LORD says, “they will look on Me whom they have pierced.” He is God made man, come in human form, who learned obedience even to death on the cross and was therefore rewarded by being given all authority (Luke 2:6-7, Matthew 28:18, Philippians 2:8-9, Psalm 110:1-2, Hebrews 1:13, 2:9).
The phrase was caught up to God and to His throne (v. 5) describes Christ’s ascension (Acts 1:9-11). Although He was granted all authority, Jesus ascended after His crucifixion and resurrection (Matthew 28:18). He conveyed His authority to believers for the purpose of making disciples, teaching them to obey His commands (Matthew 28:19).
God remains on the throne of creation even when the world is in upheaval. As the male child takes His place “at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3), it solidifies the fact that no earthly power, including Satan as the great red dragon, can ultimately thwart God’s redemptive plan.
The prophetic clock for Israel stopped when Jesus was “cut off”—rejected and crucified at the end of the 69 weeks of years (Daniel 9:26). Israel’s prophetic clock will resume when the beast makes a “firm covenant with the many” (Daniel 9:27). At that point Daniel’s clock restarts and will run for another seven years, at which time the seventy weeks prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 will be fulfilled completely. God has appointed times and boundaries (Acts 17:26), and Jesus’ position of being granted all authority ensures that the ultimate outcome of these end-time conflicts is certain.
Jesus was caught up into heaven, and the people of Israel will likewise be caught up to a place of safety that they might escape what Jesus called a time of “great tribulation” (Matthew 24:21). The escape is described in the following: the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days (v. 6).
This shows that the woman introduced in Revelation 12:1-2 also symbolizes Israel. The one thousand two hundred and sixty days is three-and-a-half-years. Israel used a lunar calendar where a year is 360 days, so 3.5 times 360 equals 1,260. This time period is used repeatedly in Revelation (11:2; 13:5). It ties directly to Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:15-21.
This three-and-a-half-year period is the last half of Daniel’s final seven-year “week” of years. Jesus called this a time of “great tribulation” that is so bad it must be cut short or no one on earth will survive (Matthew 24:22). Daniel 9:27 speaks of the “great tribulation” which begins with the “abomination of desolation” (Matthew 24:15) beginning in the “middle of the week” which would be three-and-a-half years. Revelation 11:2 and 13:5 refer to “forty-two months” which is also three-and-a-half years. And here in Revelation 12:6, the period is referred to as one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Perhaps God uses a number of ways to describe the same three-and-a-half-year period of time to indicate various perspectives on this time of “great tribulation.” It will be part of a grander plan (“middle of the week”). It will occur one day at a time, likely one agonizing day at a time (one thousand two hundred and sixty days). It will happen through seasons of years, over forty-two months.
In His discourse in Matthew 24:15-22, Jesus also exhorts Israel to flee when they “see the abomination of desolation” spoken of in Daniel 9:27. This exhortation of Jesus likely overlaps with the prediction in verse 6 that God will prepare a place to flee to in the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Daniel 9:27, says “in the middle of the week” the desolation Jesus spoke of will come. Thus, this will mark the beginning of the “great tribulation.” It also indicates that God’s people will have the opportunity to be protected during that time if they heed the sign and flee.
In Scripture, the wilderness is often a place of both trial and divine provision. We can think of Israel’s wandering after the Exodus (Exodus 16-17), where they were in a desolate place but were miraculously provided for. We can also think of Elijah’s refuge by the brook Cherith (1 Kings 17:2-6) during a time of drought, where God fed him using ravens.
Here, again, God prepares a sanctuary for His people during a time of duress. It may require the leading of the Holy Spirit for God’s people alive at the time of the “abomination of desolation” to recognize the time as well as the way of escape. However, Jesus indicates that it is observable (Matthew 24:15).
The wilderness might be figurative. We will see in the next chapter that the beast will prohibit the buying and selling of goods without taking his mark and will kill all who will not worship him (Revelation 13:15-17). It might be that God will provide an alternate means of provision in such an economic wasteland that will be something like the provision of Israel in the wilderness.
What we know is that believers alive at that time need to recognize the “abomination of desolation” and flee immediately. It might also be that the wilderness passage is literal. Zechariah 14:5 encourages the people of Israel to flee “by the valley of My mountains.” This is in the day when Jesus returns a second time. He will land on the Mount of Olives which will then split in two (Zechariah 14:4). This occurs at a time when Jerusalem has been captured (Zechariah 14:2).
We see, then, how the woman fled correlates to the urgent warnings Jesus gave: “let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:16). In the overarching timeline, once the abomination of desolation (Daniel 9:27) is set up, God’s chosen nation is forced to seek divine protection. The presence of Satan in this chapter (Revelation 12:3-4) indicates that the dragon is seeking to destroy Israel, but God has already made provision.
The wording prepared by God (v. 6) is a reminder that every part of this sequence of tribulation is under the divine orchestration introduced in Revelation 4-5. The scroll with seven seals, the throne room, and the sovereign rule of God remind us that He is never absent or unsure of His next move.
This reflects a major theme of Revelation: God is on the throne. Even in the darkest times, the 1,260 days or three-and-a-half years of the great tribulation, He provides the protection and resources for His people. However, it is required that the people recognize and flee in order to gain benefit. We will see that many believers will die for their faith during this time of severe persecution.
New Testament believers this side of the great tribulation can make a personal application of the wilderness period. While many of Revelation’s prophecies pertain specifically to Israel, contemporary believers can find themselves in a wilderness season. This can be a time of testing, trial, or persecution. The book of Revelation urges believers to live as faithful witnesses regardless of loss, rejection, or even death. Revelation begins with a promise of a great blessing for anyone who heeds the words of this prophecy (Revelation 1:3). In scripture, times of high-impact ministry are often preceded by times of preparation in the wilderness.
The great promise of reward goes to believers who “overcome” even as Jesus overcame (Revelation 3:21). Jesus in the wilderness being tempted by Satan serves as one picture of what it means to “overcome.” Fortunately, each believer can have confidence that God will not ask them to endure any temptation beyond what they are able (1 Corinthians 10:13).
God prepares what is necessary to sustain us. Though the context in verse 6 is specifically about Israel’s future, the principle remains—God’s sovereign hand is at work, setting boundaries and authorizing events across all history. God’s created beings will make choices that are real and have true impact. But, although those choices are real, outcomes are in the hands of God. God’s plan to ultimately redeem His creation will not be thwarted.
It is common for prophecies to have multiple fulfillments. The earlier fulfillments are similar to the birth pangs leading up to the final birth. Although birth pangs resemble and precede the time of the birth, they are not the birth. In the case of these prophecies about the destruction of Jerusalem and the abomination of desolation, there have been at least two premonitions of what is to come, or “birth pangs” that precede the actual fulfillment that is yet to come (as of the writing of this commentary).
A foreshadowing of an abomination of desolation occurred during the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes. He ruled a part of the Greek empire that included the territory of Israel during the second century BC. He erected a statue of Zeus and sacrificed a pig on the altar in the temple in Jerusalem as a part of his campaign to extinguish Jewish religious practice. Antiochus Epiphanes was miraculously defeated by a Jewish uprising led by the Maccabees.
This defiling of the temple and attempt to eliminate Jewish religious practice foreshadowed the abomination of desolations, but it could not have been a complete fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy, since over a century later Jesus spoke of a future fulfilment in Matthew 24:15.
The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD might be another foreshadowing. That event would fit the description of the Gentiles treading underfoot the holy city, as described in Revelation 11:2. This great destruction was predicted by Jesus; He said that not one stone of the temple would be left standing upon another (Matthew 24:2).
Even to this day, only the platform that is the foundation upon which the temple stood remains. Excavations have revealed massive stones that were thrown down from the stone platform that cover the temple mount, just as Jesus predicted.
But neither the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD fulfill the predictions of Daniel 9, Matthew 24, and Revelation. It certainly did not “bring in everlasting righteousness” as predicted in Daniel 9:24. That will take place at the end of the age, as will be revealed in the last chapters of Revelation.
Further, the 70 AD event was not global, as the events predicted by Jesus in Matthew 24 and here in Revelation will be. As the following quote from Jesus indicates, the event that will follow the time of “great tribulation” would end all life if not cut short:
“For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.” (Matthew 24:21-22)
The temple destruction in 70 AD was confined to the territory of Judea. Roman leaders used the wealth gained from sacking the Jewish temple to build the Roman colosseum; so for them it was a time of prosperity rather than tribulation. Yet, the sacking of Jerusalem still mirrored some of the events that are to come, so it can reasonably be considered a foreshadowing.
After the destruction of Jerusalem, the Roman Emperor Hadrian established a new colony upon the ruins of Jerusalem and called it “Aelia Capitolina.” He dedicated the new city built on the ruins of a desecrated Jerusalem to the Roman god Jupiter Capitolinus as a means of further desecration.
Hadrian renamed the area formerly known as Judea/Israel “Syria Palaestina” after the traditional enemy of Israel, the Philistines, as a further act of humiliation. He banned the Jewish practice of circumcision as well as banning any Jews from entering the city. These actions of Emperor Hadrian might be considered another birth pang and foreshadowing of the “abomination of desolation which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet” spoken by Jesus in Matthew 24:15.
Revelation 12:5-6 meaning
The signs following the seventh trumpet judgment continue in Revelation 12:5-6, now with the sign of the birth of the Messiah: And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne (v. 5).
This male child is Jesus, the promised Messiah of God. “Messiah” means “anointed,” as does the New Testament term “Christ.” The word “Christ” is used to translate the Hebrew term “masiah” in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament (the “Septuagint”).
The phrase she gave birth to a son refers to Mary, the mother of Jesus, who gave birth to Him in Bethlehem (Luke 2:6-7). This son, Jesus, is destined to rule all the nations. This means Jesus will reign over Israel as well as the entire earth (all nations). We will see this later in Revelation when “the nations” will walk by “the light” of God’s glory and “the kings of the earth will bring their glory” into the New Jerusalem which is ruled by God who comes down to dwell among humans (Revelation 21:24).
This language of ruling with a rod of iron underscores the authority and kingship of Jesus Christ—a central theme in Revelation, where Christ is ultimately presented as the triumphant Lamb. This presents a major paradox, as a lamb is roughly the opposite of the lion in the animal kingdom.
The lamb is among the most helpless of animals while the lion is the king of the animals. We saw in Revelation 5:5-6, that Jesus was presented both as the Lamb of God as well as the Lion of Judah. The Old Testament predicts a suffering Messiah, God’s “Servant” who will suffer and die for the sins of the world (as in Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12). It also describes a ruling Messiah, who will reign over the earth with a “rod of iron” as in Psalm 2:9, “You shall break them with a rod of iron.”
The image of Jesus as a Lamb who reigns with a rod of iron (Lion) brings unity to the paradox of the Messiah/Christ as both servant and ruler, the lion and the lamb. Jesus will be the opposite of Satan, who is a tyrant. The Lamb will rule with a rod of iron but also as a servant to His people.
Jesus is a servant who died for the sins of the world, as a Lamb, so that all might come to Him and be cleansed of unrighteousness through faith (John 3:14-16). He is also the creator of the universe who will judge all the earth and cleanse sin and evil from the world.
When Jesus finished His earthly ministry, He ascended back to heaven, as we see in Acts 1:9. This correlates with what we see here in Revelation: and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.
We saw earlier in Revelation 3:21 that Jesus was rewarded with the privilege of sharing His Father’s throne because He “overcame.” We saw that Jesus offers to His servants the great reward of also sharing His throne if they overcome as He overcame. Jesus desires His servants to follow His example and learn from Him. He desires to greatly reward those who walk in obedience to Him and serve others.
It is through serving (lambs) that His servants qualify to share His reign and also be rewarded to be a “son” who gains the “glory and honor” of reigning (lions). This restores God’s original design for humans (Hebrews 2:5-10, Psalm 8).
In Revelation 5, we saw how Christ was the only person who was worthy to open the scroll, because He was the ultimate servant (the Lamb) as well as the one worthy to rule (the Lion). Here, we see a similar declaration of His unmatched authority. While this verse describes Him as a child, emphasizing Jesus the human born in Bethlehem, it also points toward His divinity and eternal kingship over the nations by saying He will rule all the nations with a rod of iron.
Jesus as both Lion and Lamb brings together prophecy from the Old Testament with New Testament fulfillment. Jesus has already atoned for sin, as prophesied in Daniel 9:24, part of the “seventy weeks” prophecy that provides an overview of God’s plan for the Jewish people. He will in the future also further fulfill Daniel 9:24 by bringing in everlasting righteousness (2 Peter 3:13).
Jesus will return to earth to deliver His people, as we can see in Zechariah 14:4, 16. He is the LORD, as we can see from Zechariah 12:1, 10 where the LORD says, “they will look on Me whom they have pierced.” He is God made man, come in human form, who learned obedience even to death on the cross and was therefore rewarded by being given all authority (Luke 2:6-7, Matthew 28:18, Philippians 2:8-9, Psalm 110:1-2, Hebrews 1:13, 2:9).
The phrase was caught up to God and to His throne (v. 5) describes Christ’s ascension (Acts 1:9-11). Although He was granted all authority, Jesus ascended after His crucifixion and resurrection (Matthew 28:18). He conveyed His authority to believers for the purpose of making disciples, teaching them to obey His commands (Matthew 28:19).
God remains on the throne of creation even when the world is in upheaval. As the male child takes His place “at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3), it solidifies the fact that no earthly power, including Satan as the great red dragon, can ultimately thwart God’s redemptive plan.
The prophetic clock for Israel stopped when Jesus was “cut off”—rejected and crucified at the end of the 69 weeks of years (Daniel 9:26). Israel’s prophetic clock will resume when the beast makes a “firm covenant with the many” (Daniel 9:27). At that point Daniel’s clock restarts and will run for another seven years, at which time the seventy weeks prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 will be fulfilled completely. God has appointed times and boundaries (Acts 17:26), and Jesus’ position of being granted all authority ensures that the ultimate outcome of these end-time conflicts is certain.
Jesus was caught up into heaven, and the people of Israel will likewise be caught up to a place of safety that they might escape what Jesus called a time of “great tribulation” (Matthew 24:21). The escape is described in the following: the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days (v. 6).
This shows that the woman introduced in Revelation 12:1-2 also symbolizes Israel. The one thousand two hundred and sixty days is three-and-a-half-years. Israel used a lunar calendar where a year is 360 days, so 3.5 times 360 equals 1,260. This time period is used repeatedly in Revelation (11:2; 13:5). It ties directly to Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:15-21.
This three-and-a-half-year period is the last half of Daniel’s final seven-year “week” of years. Jesus called this a time of “great tribulation” that is so bad it must be cut short or no one on earth will survive (Matthew 24:22). Daniel 9:27 speaks of the “great tribulation” which begins with the “abomination of desolation” (Matthew 24:15) beginning in the “middle of the week” which would be three-and-a-half years. Revelation 11:2 and 13:5 refer to “forty-two months” which is also three-and-a-half years. And here in Revelation 12:6, the period is referred to as one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Perhaps God uses a number of ways to describe the same three-and-a-half-year period of time to indicate various perspectives on this time of “great tribulation.” It will be part of a grander plan (“middle of the week”). It will occur one day at a time, likely one agonizing day at a time (one thousand two hundred and sixty days). It will happen through seasons of years, over forty-two months.
In His discourse in Matthew 24:15-22, Jesus also exhorts Israel to flee when they “see the abomination of desolation” spoken of in Daniel 9:27. This exhortation of Jesus likely overlaps with the prediction in verse 6 that God will prepare a place to flee to in the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Daniel 9:27, says “in the middle of the week” the desolation Jesus spoke of will come. Thus, this will mark the beginning of the “great tribulation.” It also indicates that God’s people will have the opportunity to be protected during that time if they heed the sign and flee.
In Scripture, the wilderness is often a place of both trial and divine provision. We can think of Israel’s wandering after the Exodus (Exodus 16-17), where they were in a desolate place but were miraculously provided for. We can also think of Elijah’s refuge by the brook Cherith (1 Kings 17:2-6) during a time of drought, where God fed him using ravens.
Here, again, God prepares a sanctuary for His people during a time of duress. It may require the leading of the Holy Spirit for God’s people alive at the time of the “abomination of desolation” to recognize the time as well as the way of escape. However, Jesus indicates that it is observable (Matthew 24:15).
The wilderness might be figurative. We will see in the next chapter that the beast will prohibit the buying and selling of goods without taking his mark and will kill all who will not worship him (Revelation 13:15-17). It might be that God will provide an alternate means of provision in such an economic wasteland that will be something like the provision of Israel in the wilderness.
What we know is that believers alive at that time need to recognize the “abomination of desolation” and flee immediately. It might also be that the wilderness passage is literal. Zechariah 14:5 encourages the people of Israel to flee “by the valley of My mountains.” This is in the day when Jesus returns a second time. He will land on the Mount of Olives which will then split in two (Zechariah 14:4). This occurs at a time when Jerusalem has been captured (Zechariah 14:2).
We see, then, how the woman fled correlates to the urgent warnings Jesus gave: “let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:16). In the overarching timeline, once the abomination of desolation (Daniel 9:27) is set up, God’s chosen nation is forced to seek divine protection. The presence of Satan in this chapter (Revelation 12:3-4) indicates that the dragon is seeking to destroy Israel, but God has already made provision.
The wording prepared by God (v. 6) is a reminder that every part of this sequence of tribulation is under the divine orchestration introduced in Revelation 4-5. The scroll with seven seals, the throne room, and the sovereign rule of God remind us that He is never absent or unsure of His next move.
This reflects a major theme of Revelation: God is on the throne. Even in the darkest times, the 1,260 days or three-and-a-half years of the great tribulation, He provides the protection and resources for His people. However, it is required that the people recognize and flee in order to gain benefit. We will see that many believers will die for their faith during this time of severe persecution.
New Testament believers this side of the great tribulation can make a personal application of the wilderness period. While many of Revelation’s prophecies pertain specifically to Israel, contemporary believers can find themselves in a wilderness season. This can be a time of testing, trial, or persecution. The book of Revelation urges believers to live as faithful witnesses regardless of loss, rejection, or even death. Revelation begins with a promise of a great blessing for anyone who heeds the words of this prophecy (Revelation 1:3). In scripture, times of high-impact ministry are often preceded by times of preparation in the wilderness.
The great promise of reward goes to believers who “overcome” even as Jesus overcame (Revelation 3:21). Jesus in the wilderness being tempted by Satan serves as one picture of what it means to “overcome.” Fortunately, each believer can have confidence that God will not ask them to endure any temptation beyond what they are able (1 Corinthians 10:13).
God prepares what is necessary to sustain us. Though the context in verse 6 is specifically about Israel’s future, the principle remains—God’s sovereign hand is at work, setting boundaries and authorizing events across all history. God’s created beings will make choices that are real and have true impact. But, although those choices are real, outcomes are in the hands of God. God’s plan to ultimately redeem His creation will not be thwarted.
It is common for prophecies to have multiple fulfillments. The earlier fulfillments are similar to the birth pangs leading up to the final birth. Although birth pangs resemble and precede the time of the birth, they are not the birth. In the case of these prophecies about the destruction of Jerusalem and the abomination of desolation, there have been at least two premonitions of what is to come, or “birth pangs” that precede the actual fulfillment that is yet to come (as of the writing of this commentary).
A foreshadowing of an abomination of desolation occurred during the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes. He ruled a part of the Greek empire that included the territory of Israel during the second century BC. He erected a statue of Zeus and sacrificed a pig on the altar in the temple in Jerusalem as a part of his campaign to extinguish Jewish religious practice. Antiochus Epiphanes was miraculously defeated by a Jewish uprising led by the Maccabees.
This defiling of the temple and attempt to eliminate Jewish religious practice foreshadowed the abomination of desolations, but it could not have been a complete fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy, since over a century later Jesus spoke of a future fulfilment in Matthew 24:15.
The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD might be another foreshadowing. That event would fit the description of the Gentiles treading underfoot the holy city, as described in Revelation 11:2. This great destruction was predicted by Jesus; He said that not one stone of the temple would be left standing upon another (Matthew 24:2).
Even to this day, only the platform that is the foundation upon which the temple stood remains. Excavations have revealed massive stones that were thrown down from the stone platform that cover the temple mount, just as Jesus predicted.
But neither the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD fulfill the predictions of Daniel 9, Matthew 24, and Revelation. It certainly did not “bring in everlasting righteousness” as predicted in Daniel 9:24. That will take place at the end of the age, as will be revealed in the last chapters of Revelation.
Further, the 70 AD event was not global, as the events predicted by Jesus in Matthew 24 and here in Revelation will be. As the following quote from Jesus indicates, the event that will follow the time of “great tribulation” would end all life if not cut short:
“For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”
(Matthew 24:21-22)
The temple destruction in 70 AD was confined to the territory of Judea. Roman leaders used the wealth gained from sacking the Jewish temple to build the Roman colosseum; so for them it was a time of prosperity rather than tribulation. Yet, the sacking of Jerusalem still mirrored some of the events that are to come, so it can reasonably be considered a foreshadowing.
After the destruction of Jerusalem, the Roman Emperor Hadrian established a new colony upon the ruins of Jerusalem and called it “Aelia Capitolina.” He dedicated the new city built on the ruins of a desecrated Jerusalem to the Roman god Jupiter Capitolinus as a means of further desecration.
Hadrian renamed the area formerly known as Judea/Israel “Syria Palaestina” after the traditional enemy of Israel, the Philistines, as a further act of humiliation. He banned the Jewish practice of circumcision as well as banning any Jews from entering the city. These actions of Emperor Hadrian might be considered another birth pang and foreshadowing of the “abomination of desolation which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet” spoken by Jesus in Matthew 24:15.