Collected here are singular entries from the book of Revelation that would seem to support the position, or disagree with various other positions, as indicated. The whole of the body of discussion should not solely rely upon “proof-texts”, but the entirety of the work, but they are interesting to note, and worthwhile to keep track of.
Because the more notable time-elements are related elsewhere, they are not included in this list.
- “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.” Revelation 1:3
These words are prophecy. Hence, this cannot be an idealistic or pastoral letter. It foretells real events that will transpire in the Earth. Any attempt to completely spiritualize these as to the “life of the believer”, or “within the heart” in a hidden way have missed the point that this is specifically identified as prophecy. - “and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” Revelation 1:5, portion
These titles are current tense, and, apparently, chronological. Christ was the faithful witness (or martyr, as the word could denote), He was raised to life, and, also, is now, the ruler of the kings of the Earth. Christ, upon His throne, is now king and is now ruling. - “BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him;“, Revelation 1:7, portion
Some partial preterists want to claim that the second coming events of Matthew 24 and other places were fulfilled in some way that is debatable. This, however, communicates differently. As the lightning in the east is visible in the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. It will be completely unmistakable to all those on the Earth. In deed, taking Peter’s letter, the Earth itself melts with its heat. Contrary to those who say the second coming happened at 70 AD, He is yet coming, and “every eye” will see. - “They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.” Revelation 14:4, portion
In order to be a “first fruits”, one has to be first. This verse would seem to indicate a near-first-century fulfillment, and preclude a futurist interpretation. - “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction.“, Revelation 17:8
This is speaking of Nero, the beast. For the futurist, this does not present perhaps as much of a roadblock as the preterist, but it still is there for sure. Whoever the beast was, and we say it was Nero, he had existed prior to the writing of Revelation, and didn’t at the time. After the writing, he would rise again. This categorically requires the beast that rises again to be in somehow related to something prior to John, most probably, an emperor. For the Preterist who attaches Nero to the beast, while they may attempt to make claims to some argument, the fact is Nero was was a beast, but not one back from the pit. For the futurist, as well, though, unless the beast that went into the pit was something else, they must look for a resurrected Nero. If they do choose Nero, and simply a long time in the pit, it fails as well because the Roman empire that Nero ruled died 1,500 years ago, it cannot be the same beast, and fails the other tests related to Daniel 2’s statue being broken together. So the nature and identity of this beast of Revelation 17:8 best points to Nero as the beast going into the pit, and Domitian, who was referred to as the Nero back from the dead, as the the beast coming back out. Yet, this precludes the standard Partial Preterist position, because Domitian came after the supposed 70 AD culmination of all things by ten to fifteen years. It does not harm this argument, however, because Revelation 12-19 are seen to stretch into the 250 years after 70 AD, or so. Hence, the events of Revelation 13 are clearly displayed, not in 70 AD, but in the reign of the Domitian. - Revelation 18:21-23 states that Babylon will never be inhabited again. If Babylon is Jerusalem in Revelation 17-19, this creates a problem, because the book of Joel clearly says that Jerusalem will always be inhabited. This may or may not be an issue for futurists, but it certainly is for the preterist who claims a 70 AD fulfillment.