Before Jerusalem Fell

The Looming Jewish War 247
Such should not be done even in non-canonical apocalyptic literature,
as fantastic as it is. For instance, the “thirty years” of the apocalyptic
2 Esdras 3:1 seems clearly to indicate a specific time-frame:
A date of thirty years after A.D. 70 corresponds, at least in very
general terms, with the date which on other grounds seems probable
for the composition of 2 Esdras 3-14. From the vision recorded in chs.
11-12 it seems clear that this work was composed during the reign of
Domitian (A.D. 91-96). Unless the thirty years are totally out of step
with reality, the evidence of 3:1 suggests that we should think in terms
of the end, rather than the beginning, of Domitian’s reign. . . . 45
Thus, it is not without parallel in the more extravagant apocalyptic
literature. The three time-frame statements to be investigated are
found in Revelation 9:5, 10; Revelation 11:2;% and Revelation 13:5.
Revelation 9:5, 10
Revelation 9:1-12 clearly seems to speak of demons under the
imagery of locusts (perhaps due to their destructive power and the
gnawing agony they cause). A great many commentators agree that,
stripped of the poetical imagery, the locusts are really demons and
their sting is that of the pain and influence of demonic oppression.
This seems to be quite clearly the case in light of their origin (the
bottomless pit, 9:1 -3), their task (they afllict only men, 9:4), and their
ruler (“the angel of the abyss,” surely Satan, 9:11 ). Were this a
reference to the Roman army (or some other later army), their
restriction from killing (Rev. 9:5, 10) would be inexplicable in that
the Roman army actually did destroy thousands of the Jews in its
assault. But if these are demons, and the physical killing is left to the
armies (which are seen later, Rev. 9: 13ff.), the picture begins to come
into focus.
If demons are in view in this passage, this fits well with requirements
of the early date and the prophetic expectation of Christ in
Matthew 12:38-45. There Christ teaches that during His earthly
45. R. J. Coggins, in Coggins and M. A. Knibb, The First and Second Boob of Esdras.
Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible (London: Cambridge, 1979),
p. 115. Metzger agrees; Bruce M. Metzger, “The Fourth Book of Ezra,” in James H.
Charlesworth, cd., Old ?%tamsnt Pseude$igrapha, 2 vols (Garden City, NY: Doubleday,
1983) 1:520,
46. Rev. 11:3 will not be treated. Almost certainly its time-frame is concurrent with
the one in 11:2 and the events are simultaneous.