In late 2016, I compiled nine case studies, plus an additional case study, that showed parallels between the book of Revelation and “Wars of the Jews” by Josephus. Most of them are found among the seals, trumpets, and bowl judgments, assisting with understanding how and when those judgments took place during the Jewish-Roman War (AD 66-73). This article features a new parallel, involving the fourth seal.

“When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, ‘Come!’ I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and the one who sat on it had the name Death, and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, and famine, and plague, and by the wild animals of the earth” (Revelation 6:7-8 NASB).

In this text, we see that people “of the earth” are killed in four ways: [1] with sword [2] with famine [3] with plague [4] by wild animals.

After the temple in Jerusalem was burned, but before it was leveled, Josephus described how the Romans grew “quite tired with killing men,” but needed to decide what to do with the “vast multitude” that remained alive. The emperor Vespasian gave various orders for how to proceed (Wars 6.9.2), and Josephus described how those orders were carried out by Fronto (a military officer), his son Titus, and others. Consider the following description by Josephus regarding two ways in which the war captives were killed and two ways in which outsiders were killed after they came into Jerusalem just before the siege began in April AD 70:

“Titus also sent a great number into the provinces, as a present to them, that they might be destroyed upon their theatres, by the sword and by the wild beasts; but those that were under seventeen years of age were sold for slaves. Now during the days wherein Fronto was distinguishing these men, there perished, for want of food, eleven thousand… Now the number of those that were carried captive during this whole war was collected to be ninety-seven thousand; as was the number of those that perished during the whole siege eleven hundred thousand, the greater part of whom were indeed of the same nation [with the citizens of Jerusalem], but not belonging to the city itself; for they were come up from all the country to the feast of unleavened bread, and were on a sudden shut up by an army, which, at the very first, occasioned so great a straitness among them, that there came a pestilential destruction upon them, and soon afterward such a famine, as destroyed them more suddenly” (Wars 6.9.2-3).

Incidentally, just before this, Josephus wrote, “…as for the rest of the multitude that were above seventeen years old, he put them into bonds, and sent them to the Egyptian mines” (Wars 6.9.2). This fulfilled the prediction by Moses to the people of Israel that “the Lord will bring you back to Egypt in ships… And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer” (Deuteronomy 28:68). This was part of the evil that would confront them “in the latter days” (Deut. 31:29), at the time of “their end” when they would be “a perverse generation” (Deut. 32:20; cf., Matthew 17:17, Philippians 2:15).

Josephus went on to also describe how Titus “exhibited all sorts of shows” at Caesarea Philippi (about 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee), where “a great number of the captives were destroyed, some being thrown to wild beasts, and others in multitudes forced to kill one another, as if they were their enemies” (Wars 7.2.1). Similarly, Eleazar ben Jair, in his speech to his followers at Masada, acknowledged how some of their fellow Jews had already died by being “half devoured by wild beasts, and yet have been reserved alive to be devoured by them a second time, in order to afford laughter and sport to our enemies” (Wars 7.8.7).

So, Josephus described how Jews who were taken captive by the Romans were subjected to death by sword and wild beasts for the purpose of gladiator-style entertainment. He also described what happened to those who made the poor decision, against Jesus’ instructions (Luke 21:20-24; cf., Matthew 24:15-21, Mark 13:14-19), to enter Jerusalem for the feast of unleavened bread in spring AD 70. Many of them perished due to “a pestilential destruction” which was soon followed by a famine. This simple chart shows the parallels between what John was shown and what Josephus recorded.

Fourth Seal Fulfilled in AD 70
John (Revelation 6:8)	Josephus
“with sword”	“by the sword” (Wars 6.9.2)
“and famine”	“for want of food…a famine” (Wars 6.9.2-3)
“and plague”	“a pestilential destruction” (Wars 6.9.3)
“and by the wild animals of the earth”	“by the wild beasts” (Wars 6.9.2; 7.2.1; 7.8.7)

This case study, along with the previous 10 case studies, are all located at this new page on this site: Josephus/Revelation Parallels. Several more case studies are also in the works.