Revelation Work In Progress
|
The Great Red Dragon - Blake
|
If your ideas about Revelation do not change over your lifetime, then you
are not thinking very hard about the subject. No one knows what the
Revelation holds but Jesus and he has not begun yet to open the book (or has he?). Any man who claims to have a complete understanding of the Apocalypse is selling
fiction.
For this reason I would never pay money for anyone's book about the Apocalypse. Nor would I try to sell one of my own.
This post is a snapshot of where some of my thoughts are at a moment in
time, but it does not capture all of the opposing ideas that I have about
many of the concepts described below.
Seals
|
Angels – recap seals & trumpets
|
1. White horse rider w/crown & bow conquering – coronavirus
involved?; corona= crown; bow: Apollo (the NWO) shoots arrows of
plague then he (the NWO) heals the plague they started (or
pretends to) with vaccine.
|
1. Gospel preached to the world - this has been
happening for 2,000 years.
|
2. Red horse rider w/ great sword brings war
|
2. Babylon aka the United States falls; 2nd trumpet
recap?
|
3. Black horse brings famine
|
3. Warning not to worship the beast – 3.5 years begins around
this time
|
4. Pale horse brings death, pestilence and hell. The animal kingdom will also be under great pressure and shall turn against mankind.
|
4. Angel declares the earth is ripe
|
5. Souls under the altar
|
5. Angel reaps the Lord’s
people
|
6. Earthquake; stars fall; sun & moon darkened
the great men of the world hide in their bunkers
this is the Day of the Lord
|
6. Fire angel declares earth is ripe
|
7. Silence in heaven ½ hour
|
7. Angel of judgment reaps the unbelieving world
|
|
|
Trumpets – recapitulates seals
|
Vials -
recapitulation after 5th trump & 3rd
angel) - 3.5 years begins at some point prior the the Vials
|
1. Hail & fire mingled w/blood
|
1. Sores upon the marked
|
2. Fiery mountain into the sea – Babylon begins to fall
Is Rev 18:21 millstone a recapitulation of this?
|
2. Sea turns to blood everything in it dies
|
3. Wormwood – fallout? rivers and springs are poisoned
|
3. Rivers and springs become blood
|
4. Sun turned to darkness – recapitulation of 6th
seal
|
4. Sun scorches men
|
5. Apollyon & locusts released – 3.5 years begins
|
5. Darkness - recap 6th seal
|
6. Army of 200 million is released & the 3.5 year ministry of the two witnesses begins
|
6. Euphrates dries up & armies gather at Armageddon
|
7. Kingdoms of the world become the Kingdom of the Lord
recap of 6th seal Day of the Lord judgment of antichrist's kingdom commences
|
7. Great earthquake – recapitulation of 6th
seal
islands (small nations) and mountains (great nations) fled away
i.e. the kingdoms of the world become the Kingdom of the Lord
- recap of 7th trumpet
|
Recapitulation: to go over the main points again
a.Concept stating that the seals, trumpets and vials are not a
chronological set of events, but that the latter are recaps of the
former.
b.Four perspectives of the same thing just like the Gospels.
c.The seals, trumpets and angels all contain the entire tribulation
beginning to end. We only change gears when we get to the vials, which
may be seen as beginning later into the Tribulation.
d.Recapitulation sheds a very different light on the 5th seal
than many have been taught.
I am not dogmatic about many things in Revelation. Anyone who gets upset
or argues about the Revelation needs to chill a bit.
Most of the things in it will not be clear until they are happening or
have happened.
Just putting this up to work on it as I go.
Not Everything that appears to be recapitulation is: the 6th Seal vs. the 7th Vial
The 6th Seal:
Rev. 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo,
there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth
of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13 And the stars of heaven
fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when
she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14 And the heaven departed as a
scroll when it is rolled together;
and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Under the 6th Seal the islands (small nations) and mountains (great
nations) are only moved.
But under the 7th Vial these nations are obliterated:
Rev. 16:17 ¶ And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the
air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the
throne, saying, It is done. 18 And there were voices, and thunders,
and lightnings;
and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon
the earth,
so mighty an earthquake, [and] so great. 19 And the great
city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and
great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of
the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20
And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Some commentators believe 16:18-20 to be a recapitulation of 6:12,14 due
to both involving a great earthquake and the words concerning islands and
mountains. But we must not ignore the differences between the two passages
that lead us to the conclusion that these are not the same event.
Chapter 6 describes just another "great" earthquake where the islands and
mountains are simply moved.
The earthquake described in chapter 16 is the greatest earthquake in all
human history and it does not simply move the mountains and islands; it
wipes them out completely.
So, how do we know that these islands and mountains represent nations?
The
book of Daniel describes the same event as what we just read about in
Revelation chapter 16:
31 ¶ Thou, O king, sawest, and, behold, a great image. This image,
which was mighty, and whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee;
and the aspect thereof was terrible. 32 As for this image, its head
was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its
thighs of brass, 33 its legs of iron, its feet part of iron, and
part of clay. 34
Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote
the image upon its feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them in
pieces.
35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold,
broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer
threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, so that no place was
found for them:
and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled
the whole earth.
36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof
before the king. 37 Thou, O king, art king of kings, unto whom the
God of heaven hath given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the
glory; 38 and wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of
the field and the birds of the heavens hath he given into thy hand, and
hath made thee to rule over them all: thou art the head of gold. 39
And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee; and another
third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 40
And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh
in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that crusheth all these,
shall it break in pieces and crush. 41 And whereas thou sawest the
feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, it shall be a
divided kingdom; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron,
forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 42 And as
the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom
shall be partly strong, and partly broken. 43 And whereas thou
sawest the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with
the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron
doth not mingle with clay.
44 And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up
a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty
thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and
consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 45
Forasmuch as thou sawest that a stone was cut out of the mountain
without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the
clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass
hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof
sure.
The world is currently under
the 4th kingdom as described in Daniel - the ten toes of iron and clay. It is
ROME - Rome commingled with what the Romans considered to be Barbarian tribes (and the Jews). The kings
of Daniel 2 and ten kings of Daniel 7:24 are the same ten kings described
in Revelation who give their kingdom to the beast (Rev. 17:17).
The stone cut out of the mountain that becomes a great mountain, consumes
the nations and lasts forever is JESUS CHRIST:
1Pe 2:7 Unto you therefore which believe [he is] precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
The Sanhedrin rejected him. The Sadducees because they did not believe anything. They were the liberals of their day and they licked the boots of Rome. The Pharisees rejected him because they were waiting for a mighty king to free them from Roman subjugation.
The complete removal of the nations of the earth that we witness under the 7th Vial contrasts with the 6th Seal, which describes God allowing antichrist to take temporary control of the nations of the earth - a judgement not unlike the way in which God used Nebuchadnezzar to judge many nations.
Therefore, the 7th Vial is not a recapitulation of the 6th Seal. But the 7th Vial is a recapitulation of the 6th Trumpet, as each describe the same event, to wit, Christ takes possession of the kingdoms of the earth forevermore. From the 7th Vial we know this by extrapolation and from the 6th Trumpet it is explicitly stated.
Oh, but what about the other part of the 6th Seal that certainly seems to be the beginning of wrath, which indicates that the 6th Trumpet and 7th Vial are indeed recaps of the 6th Seal:
Rev. 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
There is no mention of antichrist there, but only the wrath of God, which is explicitly the vials 1-7.
The Revelation is like a Rubik's Cube that no one can solve. You think you have all of the pieces lined up then you see that one detail is out of place. You fix that detail and now ten others no longer fit.
What can I say, but what I said earlier: Revelation is still locked and try as you might you will never solve it.
Is America Babylon?
 |
Statue of Liberty by Mcj1800 licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
|
Zec 5:7 And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this [is] a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. 8 And he said, This [is] wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof. 9 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind [was] in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven. 10 Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah? 11 And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar [Babylon]: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.
In the book of Daniel the prophet saw a golden image that represented four kingdoms:Babylon. Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. The power that defeats Babylon becomes Babylon. Our modern world is under Rome, which is Babylon the Great. America may not be the whole of Babylon, but it has most certainly been the torch of it:
America is filled with the language, gods, practices and systems of Rome.
And get this, they are still obsessed with ancient Babylon:
Troops from the US-led force in Iraq
have caused widespread damage and severe contamination to the remains
of the ancient city of Babylon, according to a damning report released
today by the British Museum.
John Curtis,
keeper of the museum's Ancient Near East department and an authority on
Iraq's many archaeological sites, found "substantial damage" on an
investigative visit to Babylon last month.
The
ancient city has been used by US and Polish forces as a military depot
for the past two years, despite objections from archaeologists.
What is the stated reason for America going to Iraq? Whatever it was turned out to be lies. They had ulterior motives.He who defeats Babylon Becomes Babylon.
The 2nd Trumpet Fire Mountain
Revelation 8:8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; 9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
Many imagine this object that is burning with fire and like a mountain to be an asteroid or comet. I do not believe this to be the case. The Bible interprets itself and we go astray when we allow Hollywood to steer our understanding of it.We need to look no further than the book of Jeremiah for our answer as to what this mountain burning with fire is:
Jeremiah 51:24 And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD. 25 Behold, I [am] against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. 26 And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD. 27 Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers. 28 Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.
This mountain burning with fire in Revelation is a war between Babylon the Great and many other nations. The "sea" that the burning mountain falls upon in Revelation are these nations. This is stated in Jeremiah for the event that has happened and confirmed in Revelation 17:
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters.
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
This whore is Babylon and she rules over many kings and nations. The betrayal comes from within the empire among those who have been chafing under Babylon's rule and lusting for their own.
There is a hidden structure to the world. You can see it if you try. Who takes down kings and who sets them up? Who has been doing this for a very long time?
No Borders No Nations
The spirit of antichrist has been working for thousands of years attempting to be born. Nimrod attempted to create a one world government and his accolytes constructed the Bab el (gate of God). It was only after its destruction that Babel came to be associated with confusion. Bab il was not a city. It was much more.
Re 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
The spirit of antichrist today is making war against the world through many front organizations. It seeks to dissolve borders, nations, constitutions and all law.
One such front organization has the motto "No Border, No Nation, Stop Deportations!" This slogan sounds good to masses of people who are striving to escape the hopeless deprivations of their nations of origin. Little do they know, that those who are making promises to them of a better life receive their marching orders from the same masters that have destroyed their homelands.
Things Sacrificed To Idols
Even though we may not be able to solve the puzzle of the events of the Revelation and how and when they transpire we can still glean useful information about how we ought to conduct our lives.
The one lesson that you ought to learn from the book is BE PREPARED.
I tend to agree with just about everything
that Paul has to say. He is level headed and rational throughout his
epistles. "John's" Revelation stretches the boundaries of rationality to say
the least. It may well be rational on a level high above our ability to comprehend as yet.
I bring up Paul because many say that his ideas on eating things
sacrificed to idols (1 Cor. chapter 8) is a contradiction of what is said
in the words of Jesus (as written by a certain John) in the Revelation
chapter 2.
I understand completely what Paul is saying about it being acceptable to
eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols, as the idol is nothing. I
agree with this.
If you think carefully about what goes on in this world you will see that
"the whole earth lieth in evil" and you cannot take two steps without
touching something that has become wrapped up in the widespread paganism
of the age.
If we as Christians were forbidden to have any dealings with things that
have been chanted over, prayed over or otherwise influenced by people with
pagan intent, then we would not be able to leave the house.
While we were building our house there were numerous occasions where
people were placing coins in the foundation, throwing chicken blood
everywhere or making cross signs on the concrete with the blood. If we had
taken any of that seriously, then we would not be able to live in our
house.
We are not to be influenced by the superstitions of other
people.
But this teaching of Paul seems to contradict Revelation chapter 2 where
we are told that eating things sacrificed to idols is wrong.
But is it really a contradiction or are we misunderstanding the intent of
what is said in Revelation?
In the Revelation eating things offered to idols is mentioned twice and
both times in conjunction with fornication, which is taken to mean BOTH
physical and spiritual fornication. Revelation is not simply condemning
eating things offered to idols, but actually taking part in the pagan
worship that went along with it. This is a wholly different concept than
what Paul spoke of.
Paul tells us that Christian liberty is an offense to a weaker brother
and that we should limit our exercise of it so that those without capacity
for temperance will not be drawn into sin.
In Revelation the group being referred to are ostensibly these "weaker
brothers" in that they do not stop at eating and have been drawn into
fornication. For such people the message of temperance is a snare and
therefore total abstinence is in order.
For now I lean toward this interpretation, because it allows me to
reconcile Paul and the Revelation.
It is important to address briefly these two verses in Revelation chapter
2 that speak to ritual fornication:
14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them
that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a
stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed
unto idols, and to commit fornication.
20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou
sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to
teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things
sacrificed unto idols.
The Greek word used for fornication in these two verses is "πορνεύω," which is transliterated as "porneuo" and pronounced
"porn-yoo’-o."
Does it look familiar? PORN
When you look upon a woman to lust you have committed adultery (or
fornication) with her in your heart. If only Christians were only
looking upon women, but the porn that is out there goes far beyond
that.
There has been an explosion in the availability and use of pornography in
recent times with the advent of the Internet.
Christianity is under attack from the porn industrial complex, as
illustrated by these statistics from
Conquerseries:
-
70% of Christian youth pastors report that they have had at least one
teen come to them for help in dealing with pornography in the past 12
months.
-
68% of church-going men and over 50% of pastors view porn on a regular
basis.
-
Of young Christian adults 18-24 years old, 76% actively search for
porn.
-
59% of pastors said that married men seek their help for porn
use.
-
Only 13% of self identified Christian women say they never watch porn –
87% of Christian women have watched porn.
-
57% of pastors say porn addiction is the most damaging issue in their
congregation and 69% say porn has adversely impacted the church.
If you have ever wondered what the end time war against the saints looked
like there it is. It's spiritual warfare and you are under direct assault
or someone you know and love is.
Pornography is literally satanic. The people who make pornography are
literally satan worshipers. This is not a game. Satan is destroying the
communion between Christ and the church through the secret sin of
pornography.
I would have you to be under no illusions here. Pornography is a Satanic
agenda of the highest order.
Revelation 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because
thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to
teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things
sacrificed unto idols. 21 And I gave her space to repent of her
fornication; and she repented not. 22
Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with
her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
Now, doubtless these words held significance to the actual church that they
were being written to. However, they also hold significance for us now in
these latter times. Is this Satanic porn mega assault against
Christianity a preparation for the "falling away."
You saw the stats I
gave you on porn use in the church. You can find similar shocking numbers
from untold sources. It's true. The church is full of porn addicts.
Why?
Nu 31:16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the
counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of
Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.
Balac, king of Moab, consulted Balaam as to how he might defeat Israel.
Balaam told him to lure Israel into sin that they might be brought under
judgment of God.
This incident is specifically referenced in Revelation 2:14 above:
because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught
Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat
things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
Not only does your use of pornography separate you from God, dull your
spiritual awareness and destroy your relationship with Christ, but
ultimately it brings you under judgment of God just as sexual immorality
brought Israel under judgment.
Given that such a mass portion of Christianity is trapped in pornography
addiction I think it is not an overstatement to say that Satan is making a big
push to bring the judgment of God down on apostate Christianity:
Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery
with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their
deeds.
The production of pornography is steeped in occult ritual practice
and using pornography is a Satanic
soul destroying activity.
Those who have made pornography widely and easily available and easy
to find (Google, Yahoo, Duckduckgo, Microsoft and many others) are all
engaged in a Satanic conspiracy against Christianity.
This is a key component in the ongoing war against the saints.
Do not allow pornography to blind your spiritual eyes at this most
dangerous hour. You just might find yourself falling for a god that is not God. Not saying anyone can lose salvation, but only that Satan is apt to try just about anything.
In Closing
In closing, as I stated in the beginning, I have many divergent ideas about the concepts described above.
You could say that my opinions on these matters are much like those who rule over this world ...hyper-dimensional.
So, though I state a single description for one of these concepts I may have quite a few beliefs about it that you will not find here.
For instance, the falling away, which I describe as a discrete future event above. In fact, I tend to believe that it is not an event, but a process and that it began long in the past. In line with the concept of dual fulfillment (with a twist) it may be ultimately fulfilled with a discrete future event that punctuates the process that began thousands of years ago.
But what if the falling away is not an apostasy within Christianity, which has been going for two thousand years and continues to this day with great intensity.
2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
There is no context given, yet Bible colleges and pastors stick to the dogma that this is a mass falling away from the faith. As stated, this has happened and is happening. There has always been tremendous and egregious error within the diverse groups that call themselves Christian.
So, either this falling away is a long drawn out process or it is a discrete event of an entirely different kind.
The falling away from the Greek ἀποστασία is translated as apostasy meaning not only defection, but also revolt and rebellion.
Where are we told about a rebellion that happens immediately prior to the rise of the great beast 666?
Re 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Perhaps the falling away is the War in Heaven and not a rebellion within Christianity.
Now some say oh but the War in Heaven already happened. Has it? In Heaven there is no past present or future. There is only eternity. So from our corporeal perspective the War in Heaven has not only already happened, but it is happening and will happen. It only becomes relevant for our world time-wise when this war reaches into our temporal reality:
"Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."
The apostasia is the rebellion of Satan and his angels that happened, is happening and will happen (was and is not and yet is).Everything gets complicated when we start talking about the eternal, which is beyond our comprehension.