Yes He did, just as He said He would, to that same generation. The return of Christ's presence (which is what we are talking about) is well recorded historical fact!! He promised He would come back and hold those wicked priests responsible for all the righteous blood they spilled (including His own). He goes on to say,
"Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation." We don't have to guess, history records that Titus ordered all surviving priests to be killed, fulfilling Jesus' prophesy. Jesus is speaking to them, not us, when He says,
"for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ” Then when facing the Sanhedrin Jesus says, "Jesus said to him,
“It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Either He came back to them as He promised or He was wrong. God is NEVER wrong. Maybe the futurists are wrong. Ever stop to think about that possibility?
You need to understand that His presence was to return, not him bodily and recognizable. Why do you think the disciples asked for signs of His parousia (presence)?
Of course they have. Are you just hearing about this now?
First Bowl: Loathsome Sores:
After Jerusalem was surrounded by the army of Titus, pestilential diseases soon made their appearance there, to aggravate the miseries, and deepen the horrors of the siege. They were partly occasioned by the immense multitudes which were crowded together in the city, partly by the putrid effluvia which arose from the unburied dead, and partly from the prevalence of the famine.
Interestingly, Josephus says that a “pestilential destruction” came upon Jerusalem during the siege of A.D. 70. Thus in fulfillment of Deuteronomy 28:27, 35 Judea is afflicted with the sixth plague of Exodus, the plague of boils.
Second Bowl: The Sea Turns to Blood:
The fact that the sea “turned into blood like that of a dead man” suggests that the sea had turned red from the blood of the dead floating on the water’s surface. Describing the slaughter of the people of Joppa by the Mediterranean Sea, Josephus writes, “[T]he
sea was bloody a long way, and the maritime parts were full of dead bodies.” The sea of Galilee was also bloodied during this war when many Jews from Taricheae were killed there. Regarding this slaughter Josephus says, “
[O]ne might then see the lake all bloody, and full of dead bodies, for not one of them escaped.” In describing the tragedy at Taricheae, Josephus echoes the point made in v. 3 that everyone in the sea died.
Third Bowl: The Waters Turn to Blood:
The Jordan River also turned red with blood. Many Jews fleeing from Gadara were cornered by the Romans at the Jordan River. Here a great massacre ensued. Regarding the aftermath, Josephus writes that the “Jordan could not be passed over, by reason of the dead bodies that were in it, but because the lake Asphatitis [the Dead Sea] was also full of dead bodies, that were carried down into it by the river.
Fourth Bowl: Men Are Scorched:
In Deuteronomy 28:22, God threatened to punish the Israelites with scorching heat if they ever turned away from him. Josephus records people being killed by the heat of summer during the war with Rome. During the Jewish War, many Samaritans escaped to the mountain of Gerizzim where they were besieged by the Romans at the base of the mountain. Concerning the fate of these Samaritans, Josephus says the following in Wars of the Jews 3.7.32: “Now it happened that the Samaritans, who were destitute of water, were inflamed with a violent heat (for it was summertime, and the multitude had not provided themselves with necessaries), insomuch that some of them died that very day with heat . . . .” Here one can see the literal fulfillment of Revelation 16:9: “They were seared by the intense heat . . . .” That having been said, there appears to be more to the searing heat of v. 8 than just the heat of the sun.
During the Jewish War, Rome followed a scorched-earth policy. In his history of the Jewish War, Josephus records how the Romans set fire to the cities of Israel and the surrounding suburbs and countryside. The punishing heat of v. 8 might also have been induced and aggravated by the many fires ignited by the Romans throughout the course of the Jewish War. In light of Rome’s scorched earth policy, one can see how the people were truly scorched “with fire” in v. 8.
Fifth Bowl: Darkness and Pain:
This infliction was aimed at Rome, the kingdom of the Beast. As is the case in Isaiah 13:9-10, Ezekiel 32:7-8 and Amos 8:9, darkness signifies political upheaval and the fall or death of a king. The darkness of Revelation 16:10 is no exception. In A.D. 69, Rome experienced unprecedented strife. This darkness is a perfect metaphor for what may have been Rome’s darkest hour. This chaos began with the death of Nero Caesar. After Nero’s death, Rome collapsed into civil war and is pictured here dying with Nero. The fact that the beast, Nero, and his kingdom, Rome, are “plunged into darkness” is a Biblical metaphor of the beast being cast into the dark underworld of the dead.
Sixth Bowl: Euphrates Dried Up:
The Euphrates is again dried up (as it was when the Persians conquered Babylon in 539 BC) to allow the passage of the kings of the east. During the first century, Rome was the center of the known world, hence the saying, “All roads lead to Rome.” To a Roman audience like the seven churches addressed in Revelation the term “kings of the east” implies kings or rulers of Rome’s eastern provinces which were distinct from the rest of the Roman Empire as the eastern provinces worshiped the living emperor. Thus the kings of the east mentioned here appear to be Sohaemus and Antiochus who ruled on the fringes of Rome’s eastern provinces. These kings would also be east of Patmos and Western Turkey, the location of the 7 churches to which John wrote.
King Sohaemus ruled the kingdom of Sophene on the east bank of the Euphrates between Cappadocia and Armenia. Antiochus was the king of Commagene on the west bank of the Euphrates. These kings of the east offered their military and leadership to aid in the defeat of Jerusalem. In addition to the two kings mentioned above, three thousand Roman soldiers drawn from the legions guarding the Euphrates also reinforced Titus’ army on its road to Jerusalem. Thus the fall of Jerusalem, spiritual Babylon, mirrored the fall of ancient, historical Babylon: both cities having been conquered, at least in part, by the crossing of their enemies over the Euphrates.
Seventh Bowl: The Earth Utterly Shaken
Josephus describes an almost supernatural thunderstorm and earthquake that hit Jerusalem simultaneously before the arrival of Titus’ army. Concerning this event Josephus writes:
[F]or there broke out a prodigious storm in the night, with the utmost violence, and very strong winds, with the largest showers of rain, with continual lightnings, terrible thunderings, and amazing concussions and bellowings of the earth, that was in an earthquake. These things were a manifest indication that some destruction was coming upon men, when the system of the world was put into this disorder; and anyone would guess that these wonders foreshadowed some grand calamities that were coming
Revelation 16:19 says that Babylon split into three parts. In A.D. 69, Jewish refugees from the surrounding cities that had been destroyed during Vespasian’s campaign fled to Jerusalem to make their last stand. Shortly after the thunderstorm mentioned above a three-way civil war erupted. The Jewish rebels were split into three factions led by three aspiring Messiahs—John, Simon and Eleazar. Eleazar and his men were stationed in the inner court of the temple. Simon the son of Gioras controlled the upper city and much of the lower. John controlled the rest of Jerusalem. From here John and his men were attacked above and below by their two enemies
I will address this last statement of yours separately since you have a lot to learn and I'm out of space.
