Columbo

Hi oldiesman! I've been a partial preterist for quite some time. Since converting to preterism, I've been all over the place regarding the gathering together mentioned in 2 Thess. 2. For years I have viewed the "rapture" or gathering together as the last event of human history occurring before the final judgment(Rev. 20:11). For those unfamiliar with preterism, preterists view the tribulation as the 3.5 year Roman campaign against the Zealot rebellion that began in 66AD and resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple at 70AD. The "earth" in most of the new testament was translated from the Greek "ge" which can also be translated as "land". In other words, preterists interpret the tribulation as a regional destruction instead of global. The total length of the campaign was approx. 7 years and ended with the fall of Masada in 73AD. There are different preterist viewpoints related to 1 Thess. 4, 2nd Thess. 2, and 1st Corinthians 15. I'm no longer commited to one viewpoint. 2 Thess. 1 indicates a sense of urgency to the audience receiving the message at the time it was given to them. Also the man of lawlessness seems to parallel the Sicarri, a subgroup of the Zealots. They were willing to kill any Roman or any Jew who collaborated with Rome. Josephus even called the Sicarri wicked and lawless. In 57AD they murdered a high priest named Jonathan. Looking at recorded history, a good candidate for the man of lawlessness would be Menahem Ben Judah. He was the first leader of the revolt shortly after the war with Rome began. He and his followers attacked Masada and took the weapons stored there and also took Herod's royal garments. From there the group proceeded to Jerusalem and attacked the Antonia fortress overpowering the troops of Agrippa II. Emboldened by his success Menahem presented himself in the temple as a king of the Jews wearing Herods royal regalia. He and his followers were killed in turn almost immediately by his rival, Eleazer, another pseudo messiah: https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12416-pseudo-messiahs Read Matthew 24:24 and then read the section about pseudo messiahs during the first century from the Jewish Encyclopedia. Looking at Daniel 12, we see the resurrection of the just and unjust of Israel. Daniel was told to roll up and seal the prophecy until the time of the end. Daniel asked the angel how long would it be before the astonishing things he was told would be fulfilled. The angel gave Daniel an amazing clue at the end of verse 7 no doubt linking the prophecy to 70AD. "When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.” Another clue linking the resurrection of the JAUJ to 70AD is the countdown of days between the abolition of the daily sacrifice and the setting up of the abomination of desolation. The cessation of the daily sacrifice on behalf of Rome occurred in 66 AD. https://cojs.org/cessation_of_sacrifice-_66_ce/ That brings the ressurection of JAUJ to a day in 70AD. Daniel was told to roll up and seal the words because the fulfillment of the prophecy was hundreds of years into his future. However, in Rev. 22:10 John was told to not seal the words because the "time is near."