REVELATION:
- What Might God DO Next
Published 20250808 -:- Revised 20250819
References are from King James unless otherwise noted
INTRODUCTION
The rise of the antichrist, the rapture, a one-world government, rumours
of wars, famine, Armageddon, and then the End of the world? Many people lap up
the latest news with great enthusiasm hoping to get a heads up on how the world
might end. Unfortunately many Christians are much the same. And Why? Because
they don't know the scriptures where God has already told us what He's going to
do.
Amos 3:7 (EesyReadVersion) “When the Lord
GOD decides to do something, he will first tell his servants, the prophets.”
AIM
I want to study the books of Daniel, Revelation and others and try to
map out the historic interpretation showing our history from Christ to present
day and then perhaps a reasonable prediction of the future.
WHY
A dear friend asked me "if the Revelation has been unfolding over
the past 2000 years; then were are we up to in the Revelation now? So that gave
me a project.
WHAT TO STUDY
I'm NOT doing a detailed study of the Revelation. Numerous scholars have
produced volumes from which you can find more details of the Historic
Interpretation if you wish. I just want to skim through past history, show
where "I THINK" those events where prophesied, wether in Revelation
or other books. Then show where we are up to in the Revelation now. I'll give
you some references as we go along.
REFERENCE MATIRIAL
If you have "eSword" or "mySword", they have a large
selection of commentaries you can download to compare, scholars like: - Albert Barnes, Joseph Benson, Adam Clarke, John Gill, Robert Hawker, Matthew Henry, B.W. Johnson, Alexander MacLaren, F.B. Meyer, Robertson
Word Picture, John Wesley, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical
Illustrator, Cambridge
Bible, Expositor's
Bible, Great Texts, Geneva, Popular New Testament, Preacher's
Homiletical, Pulpit Commentary, Sermon Bible, Summarized
Bible, Treasury of
David, TSK Cross
References and Vincent's Word Studies
Most of these scholars or references, to my knowledge are Historic Interpretation believers.
Two old 1930's booklets you might like, are by A. J. Ferris, refer the
links below: -
Book
of Revelation Part 1
Book
of Revelation Part 2
Also “Amazing Book Of Revelation Explained!” by Thomas Foster
The Charts I have copied curtesy of Ferris and Foster were from various
booklets. Some date back to 1937, before WW II. They are a very useful tool.
BUT you can see that towards the end their predictions are a bit off!
Additionally, you can refer to John S Fox who has in more recent years
produced an interesting booklet entitled: -
"A Flood Of Light Upon The Book Of Revelation".
I often use King James, (KJV+ in eSword, or KJV on my phone). Because
they both give you the Strong’s reference number to instantly find the meaning of the word. So, I'm just well acquainted with the old wording!
My conclusion I'm working towards will be, “What can we expect to see
God do next?”
COBWEBS
This might be a bit long winded for the start. But I am trying to set the
groundwork for the historic understanding of the Revelation. To do so we need
to clear away the 'cobwebs' of delusions set up by the futurist interpretation.
Some topics to be cleared away for example are the idea of a pre tribulation
rapture, or that the times mentioned in prophecy are literal or that the
seventieth week of Daniel chapter 9 is still in the future! So bear with me as
we debunk those false teachings.
If you already understand the historic interpretation you could skip
through to the heading: - "Daniel's MAP OF History"
Also you might like to look into my talk in the link below: -
The
Book of Revelation Started 2000 Years Ago
The Pre Tribulation Rapture?
There is no pre tribulation rapture! The idea of the church being
"raptured", or caught up to the Lord BEFORE a supposed seven year
tribulation starts, is quite unscriptural. There are a whole lot of problems
with that theory, but most importantly is that for anyone who is supposedly
left behind, would find that the bible suddenly turns into a pack of LIES! Which just CAN NOT BE SO!
A quick example, let's say for whatever reason, you've been left behind!
You find a bible and you read this,
Heb 13:5 ...for he hath said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you. Well you
have been left behind and forsakenly handed over to the clutches of the
antichrist!???
Refer to my talk in the link shown below: -
The
Lies In The Bible Part 2
Time Times half Time
For the prophecies of Revelation to make sense and cover such a long
span of time, i.e. some 2000 years, then the periods of time given must also be
interpreted prophetically. In the same way the "seventy weeks" in
Daniel cannot be taken, as literal, they need to be interpreted on the bases of
a day for a year. So if we apply this rule to the times give in the Revolution
then the historic fulfilment falls into place perfectly. Trust me this will
become surprisingly obvious as we go along.
An Example To Explain Prophetic Time
Go to Daniel chapter 7 verses 25 then go back to verse 12. Verse 25
speaks of the "little horn", (the antichrist), who "shall wear
out the saints... and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times
and the dividing of time." The famous 3 and a half years! Which most
people think is a literal 3 1/2 years!
Then go back to verse 12. Dan 7:12 KJV "As concerning the rest of
the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged
for a SEASON AND A TIME." God is speaking of the other beasts or empires
mentioned, and they would no longer have dominion or supreme rule, but they
would continue to exist for a "season and a time". If you use the same
calculation used in verse 25, a literal 3 1/2 years, then you have to assume
those three empires would continue to exist for a "season and a time"
which is a mere 15 months?
Which makes no sense! Surly if we apply the day for a year rule to verse
12 it then makes sense. Because we know from history that those three empires
continued for several hundred years! A Season, 90 days, Plus a Time, 360 days =
450 prophetic days which equals 450 literal years!
Hence we would have to apply the same rule to both versus. Therefore the
little horn should rule for a "prophetic" time times and dividing of
time. Which is 360 plus twice 360 plus half of 360 PROPHETIC days. Which equals
1260 PROPHETIC days, which comes to 1260 literal years.
You can also refer to my talk covering this topic in the link below:
- The
Day For A Year Conundrum
Daniel 's Seventieth WEEK
Gabriel said in, Dan 9:25 KJV "..from the going forth of the commandment
to restore and to build Jerusalem UNTO THE MESSIAH THE PRINCE shall be seven
weeks, and threescore and two weeks:.." In other words a total of 69 weeks
at which POINT in time the Messiah should arrives in history! The problem with
most teaching on Daniel chapter 9 is that most people think that the 69TH week
finishes when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey! That was only a few days
before he was crucified? Which would mean that during his 3 and a half years
ministry, he was NOT THE MESSIAH!?? That can't be correct because God from
heaven said at Jesus baptism, "This Is My Beloved Son"! Identifying
Jesus as the Messiah!
So the 69th week MUST HAVE FINISHED at Jesus baptism! Therefore in the middle
of the seventieth week Jesus was crucified? Which leaves only half of the
seventieth week left to be fulfilled! So the whole concept that there is still
a complete seven years left of the seventy weeks of Daniel chapter 9; and that
week, (seven years), is still yet to be fulfilled in the future is quite unsound
thinking!
Please check out my talk in the link below: - When
Did Jesus Become The Messiah
Futurist View Of Revelation
A lot of people these days latch onto the Futurist Interpretation of
Revelation. Which is much easier to accept because it requires no mental effort
to interpret the scriptures. It's ALL IN THE FUTURE! So why give it a second
thought?
Not only that but it is often put into the "too hard basket", they
try to avoid preaching on it because people are afraid to read it, because it
speaks of the antichrist and his mark etc. etc. Which gives some mystical
horror feel to the Book! Also they try to fudge scripture to fit any current
event. For example I remember some 40 years ago, in the 1980's, when preachers
all said that "The Beast" was some huge computer in Belgium.
But all this makes no sense because if you read in Rev 1:3 KJV
"Blessed is he that readeth, hear and keep those things.. therein: for the
time is at hand." So we SHOULD read and/or listen to the Revolution,
because it is a BLESSING to us who do so.
SUMMARY
So: -
There is NO Pre Tribulation Rapture!
The times in the bible are NOT literal!
Daniel 's seventy weeks is finished!
And the Futurist View is nonsense
I hope that has cleared away some of the 'cobwebs' of the miss teaching
of the Futurist view. Let me now try to help you look at the Revelation
from the historic point of view.
Daniel's MAP OF History
If we go to Daniel chapter 2 verses 32 to 35 we see Daniel explaining to
king Nebuchadnezzar ALL the future kingdoms of the world. Dan 2:32-35 KJV 32
"This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver,
his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 His legs of iron, his 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 his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them
to pieces. 35 .... and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain,
and filled the whole earth."
Clearly we have a vision here with continuity! Each metal represents an Empire and each Empire follows on from the previous Empire.
This image curtesy of Thomas Foster I think is one of the best to show you the Kingdoms of the World.
So historically we know the world empires consisted of: -
Gold was Babylon
Silver was Medo-Persia
Brass was Greece
Iron was Rome
Iron & Clay was the TEN European Kingdoms a MIX of Roman and the
Gothic tribes that conquered Rome.
And The Stone is a KINGDOM and NOT CHRIST!
Therefore through Daniel God gave us a clear 'map' of the future of the
world right through to the return of Christ! So let's keep that in the back of
our mind and/or draw that on a large sheet of graph paper as a base time line.
Some years ago I put together four graph sheets, joined top to bottom
then turned it on its side. I then had a graph sheet a metre plus wide. I then
marked the base line at 50 mm equals 100 years. I then marked out history
using, "The Letters to the Churches". Then above that I marked out
the history from chapters 6 to 11. Then above that I marked out the history
from chapters 12 to 19. It was amazing to see how the three lines of 2000 years
helps you to understand The Revelation. You can also download from eSword: -
"Composite: Adam's Synchronological Chart".
Or buy one from Koorong Christian bookstore. That chart folds out to
some 8 metres long.
WHAT IS THE REVELATION
Let's first look at what I call the fine print in Revelation! The two short
bits that everyone seems to ignore.
Rev 1:1-3 KJV 1 “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto
him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; ...3 Blessed is he that readeth, hear and keep
those things …therein: for the time is at hand.”
Rev 22:6-10 KJV 6 “...and the Lord God ...sent his angel to shew unto
his servants the things which must shortly be done. ...10 And he saith …Seal
not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand”.
Now if you were watching a news presenter on TV speaking of some coming
event using that kind of wording; would you think they mean the event won't
start for another 2000 years? Seriously!! Of course not!
So the Revelation must therefore be a "revealing" of world
events that were about to start as of John's lifetime, that is starting around
96 AD. In other words a description of our past 2000 years. Not necessarily all
prophesy because the woman in chapter 12 is "revealing" an event to
John, which had already taken place at the time he was writing.
The logical conclusion must be this, that the weird symbols of the
Revelation have been unfolding over the past 2000 years. Therefore if or when
we reach some horrific time in history, the symbols used suddenly become
self-explanatory, and that part of the Revelation should give us a heads up on
what to expect. Such as if we were alive at, the fall of the Roman Empire, the
rise of Islam, the invention of gunpowder or bombs falling from aircraft. Hence
Blessed is he that readeth, so that we are not caught unawares when we see
those things come into being!
Take note that some events described in the Revelation use only a
handful of words to describe things that take place over decades or even
hundreds of years.
THREE MAJOR DIVISSIONS
I believe the Revelation is give to us in three parts. Each part gives
us an overall collage of visions for the past 2000 years. Let me explain.
The Letters
Chapters 2 and 3 are the letters to the churches. And some people don't
agree with this following idea. Each church represents a period of our past
2000 years, both the good and bad points during our church history. Each church
represents a Christian era that develops differently from the previous era. And
some of them overlap. For example the last four churches’ each end with a
comment indicating that Christ could appear to THAT particular church at any
time! So from Thyatira through to the Laodicean churches, they must ALL still
be functioning church era's in our present day.
For example you can look at the church in China. It was planted by the early
missionaries. Same as the apostles Paul and John, the Ephesus era. Then China
went through horrendous persecution.. same as the Smyrna era! Now the church in
China has the "3 Self" church. A government sanctioned church? Which
is so characteristic of the Pergamos era. Because the word Pergamos means,
"married to power"! In conclusion each church letter does NOT
represent a specific period in history, date to date! I'll explain more as we
go along.
The Glorious Scene In Heaven
Chapters 4 n 5 have nothing to do with the historical fulfilment aspect
of the Revelation. But it shows us the glorious scene in heaven.
Chapters 6 to 11
Compare chapters 11 and 12? Chapter 11 seems like it speaks of the Second
Advent? Chapter 12 seems like it is speaking of the birth of Christ? Well your
almost correct. In simple terms, chapters 6 to 11 are a series of visions
covering our past 2000 years.
Chapters 12 Onwards
Then in chapter 12 we have the woman with child, which takes us back to
the time of Christ. But it is not His physical birth, it is as Paul says in Col
1:18 KJV "And he is... the firstborn from the dead;” Or in Rev 1:5 KJV
"... the first begotten of the dead," So we have a new start point
going back 2000 years. So chapter 12 to about chapter 18 is a collection of
visions also covering our past 2000 years. Also it gives us information
regarding God's chosen people Israel. In particular, the Lost Ten Tribes. And
some may NOT like to accept that thought, but if we choose NOT to, then it gets
really hard to figure out what God is taking about!
The aspect we need to keep in mind is that the Revelation seems to be
focused on the Roman world. Namely the Western Roman Empire and the Ten
European Kingdoms that followed, (Ten Toes of Daniel chapter 2 or likewise the
TEN Horns etc.). I have made that sort of comment in the past and got my head
bitten off. But the simple logic is that the bible has always spoken of the
leading world power at the time the prophet was writing. So when John received
the Revelation the world power was Rome.
Some reference is given to the Eastern Roman Empire. But for a
"brief concise" prophecy regarding the Eastern Roman Empire, (the
middle East, the Arabs and the Turks), you can go to Daniel chapters 10 to 12.
Or you can refer to my talk as in the link: - From
The Second Advent How-When-Where? Daniel Ch 11
You can also search for “A.J.Ferris -The Second Advent by A. J.
Ferris. – Publisher, “The Clarendon” Blackheath London S.E.3 (3rd Edition
July 1940).”
Skimming Through The Revelation
Most people are mainly interested in what the future holds, so I will
just skim through the prophetic visions. I'll TRY to give you the historical
interpretation viewpoint as to what each short vision represented from our past
history. Then I'll TRY to rationalize what we are yet to see fulfilled from
various prophecies.
THE CHURCHES
Ephesus
We know from the Book of Acts and the epistles the shaky start the early church
went through with false teaching.
Smyrna
During the Roman Empire age we know of the Roman persecution, the Smyrna era.
Christians fed to lions, put on poles covered in oil then set on fire as street
lighting etc. etc. And the TEN days, (day for year), the Ten years from 303 to
313 AD. was the worst persecution for the church under Emperor Diocletian.
Pergamos
In 313 AD. Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. WOW what a change! So
Christianity became the state religion and if you wanted to keep your job in
the Roman government you had to also convert to Christianity. So the church
true to its name was "Married to Power"! In short under the control
of the Emperor, which continued until 606 AD.
Thyatira
Thyatira means, "To be ruled by a Woman". In 606 AD. We saw the rise
of papal power, the Jezebel spirit that taught the church to worship the Queen
of Heaven, (Mary).
Sardis
After the church of Roman we saw the reformation in 1517 with Martin Luther.
With more persecution and the burning of bibles.
Philadelphia
The time of revival, Salvation Army and the British and American bible
societies evangelizing the world.
Laodicea
Finally we come to the church era that represents our present day. We are blind
to what God really wants of us. Poor in spiritual knowledge and neither hot nor
cold. A frightening thought to think that is how God sees this generation of
Christians. We have need of nothing; we have money coming into the church and all
these wonderful programs. BUT are we really seeking God?
CHAPTERS 4 AND 5
Come up here and I will show you things which must happen
hereafter". The futurist view will tell you this is an example of
"The Rapture!" It's nothing of the kind. Christ is simply inviting
John up into the spirit realm where John remains for the rest of the
Revelation.
Have you ever seen how filmmakers plan a movie? They use "story
boards". And that was what John was about to see. The storyboards or the
collection of visions in the spirit realm, which give a brief outline of
"things which must happen hereafter". BUT we also get a glimpse of
the glory of the throne of God.
CHAPTERS 6 TO 11
The first four SEALS. The horseman is symbolic of the Roman Emperor
leading his triumphal parade into Rome. So the four colours represent the rise
and fall of Rome. White is the years of victory, red is the years of civil war,
black the increased taxation and the pale horse is the era of famine and death.
Fifth SEAL souls under the altar are those killed under the rule of Rome.
Sixth SEAL is a great upheaval. Earthquake, Sun, moon and stars etc.
This is the massive political change of the Roman government to Christianity
under Constantine. Then previous governors etc trying to hide from any reprisal
and backlash for their past persecution of the Christian.
Chapter 7
Revelation 7:1 KJV "...I saw four angels standing on the four
corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should
not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree." Symbolic of peace
under Constantine throughout the whole Roman Empire, east and west.
Rev 7:2 Angel with THE SEAL of God.
The seal is symbolic of the Holy Spirit, 2Co 1:22 and Eph 1:13 KJV ...
"ye were sealed with that holy Spirit.." The 144,000 is perhaps
symbolic of perfect government and definitely not a literal number. Some say
"But it leaves out the tribe of Dan!" But it also leaves out the
tribe of Ephraim? So it has to be symbolic and includes ALL 13 Tribes
consisting of the Lost Ten Tribes and Two tribed Judah, (JUDAH was actually
three tribes. Benjamin and Judah, plus; when the kingdom split after Solomon,
Levi got kicked out of the Northern Ten Tribes and they migrated south to
become part of JUDAH). Then added in is the multitude in white robes. This is
still in our future, and happens at the Second Advent. Why? Because in verse 14
we see they all came out of the great tribulation, therefore I reckon it must
happen at the Second Advent.
Chapter 8
Change from SEALS to TRUMPETS. By this stage ALL seven SEALS of
"the scroll" Jesus received are now open. THE FIRST F0UR TRUMPETS each devastate a THIRD of some part of the "pagan", Old Roman Empire,
the forests, ships, rivers valleys, political powers etc. Refer to the chart
courtesy of Ferris and Foster's booklets, which is quite informative.
WOES
The next three trumpets are in chapters 9 to 11 and they introduce each of the
WOES!
TAKE NOTE: these Woes are a direct attack on Idolatrous Christianity!
Also the Roman Empire collapsed in three different waves of encroaching
external powers. The Goths, Vandals, Huns and the Heruli took the western THIRD
between 400 and 476 AD. which brings us to the end of chapter 8. The Arabs took
the southern or north African THIRD by 762 AD. Finally the Turks who reached
their zenith by about 1690, they took the eastern THIRD.
Chapter 9
The Fifth Trumpet.
Rev 9:1 "... star fall from heaven... HE given key to PIT".
The star is an angel who releases locusts and scorpions, which are symbolic of
some Middle Eastern attacking force. Which would not "hurt grass or
trees"? The Arabs made it a principle not to lay waste to the countryside!
And this new onslaught would last 5 months?
5 months is 5 x 30 prophetic days, at a day for a year, that equals 150
literal years. Amazing, because in 612 AD. Mohammed proclaimed his mission to
convert the world to Islam! Then 150 years later in 762 AD. the Arabs ceased
their advance into the old Roman world and concentrated more to the east.
The Sixth Trumpet
Rev 9:14 KJV "..sixth angel.. Loose the four angels.. in the..
Euphrates. 15 ..which were prepared for an hour.. day.. month, and a
year.. 18 they killed, by the fire, smoke, and brimstone, which issued out of
their mouths. 19 ..and in their tails: for their tails were like ..serpents,
and had heads,"
Who came from the Euphrates? The Turks. An Hour, Day, Month and Year is
1 + 30 + 360 prophetic days which by day for year equals 391 years of fulfilled
prophecy. [PLUS, an hour, which is a 24th of a Day. Which is a 24th of a literal
year, that's about 2 weeks? OR you go by the idea that an HOUR is a twelfth of day light time, that is then maybe a month? It might be significant?]. From history the Turks
crossed the Euphrates in 1062 AD. Then 391 years later in 1453 AD. they took
Constantinople. And how did they do that? By perfecting cannons and gunpowder,
(brimstone). And the cannons had decorative heads or "mouths".
Like I said at the start all these weird symbols! Imagine you were John
in 96 AD. How would you describe the vision of that monstrous cannon? A long
serpent like line of bullocks and cannon, towed into place, turned around so
that the tail points to the enemy, then it belches out of its MOUTH fire,
brimstone, and smoke.
Chapter 10
Rev 10:1 "And I saw another mighty angel.. 2 And he had.. a little
book open:" The little book is the bible eventually produced in small
print via the invention of the printing press. This vision shows the
reformation from Luther in 1517 onwards. .
Chapter 11
Ok we are up to what you are looking for. This chapter is where we
should see events leading up to the Second Advent. But it's not clear-cut. As I
said before as we see events in history unfold, then the Revelation should give
us a heads up on God's plan. But if we haven't reached the fulfilment stage of
the vision, we clutch at straws trying to make things fit. For example, Rev
11:15 KJV "...The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our
Lord," etc. That clearly sounds like it hasn't happened as yet. OR HAS IT?
Also chapter 11 spans some hundreds of years. Let's study it.
I suggest you go to Ferris, Foster or Fox because there are some complex
issues here, of which I am simply skimming over in this study. But they cover
them in depth.
You can also refer to my talk entitled "Church History Part
3", use the link below.
CHURCH
HISTORY Part 3 -:- [Who Were The Reformers]
Then look under the heading: - "1517 THE TWO WITNESSES"
Rev 11:1 The ROD is the Standard by which to measure the TRUE church and
the Idolatrous church which are separated by a simple rule. Which is; Who
believes the word of God and trusts in the only mediator Jesus Christ? Or who
believes in the Idolatrous Church of Rome with all its various saints and Mary
to pray to etc? The means by which to measure is "The Little Book",
the Bible, mentioned previously in chapter 10. Which the church of Rome by this
chapter were flat out gathering and burning them along with the
"heretics" that were printing them and those who were preaching from
the little book.
Rev 11:3 to 12 The two witnesses are the true Holy Spirit witnessing
believers and the written word of God, both inspired by The Holy Spirit. They
were "killed" and left dead in "The Great City" etc.,
(symbolic of the church of Rome), for "three and a half days". 3 1/2
prophetic days equals 3 1/2 literal years. This is from 1514 to 1517. Please
read the references give above. It's perfect!
But the reformation didn't start with Luther in 1517, it had been
ongoing for nearly 500 years. It just went into overdrive as of 1517. Broaden
your view of history. Remember in Daniel chapter 9, "the little
horn", the antichrist. He wore out the saints for a time times and
dividing of time, that is 1260 literal years, starting as of 538 AD. That's
when the bishop of Rome partitioned the Eastern Roman Emperor to set the
position of the bishop of Rome above ALL the churches, East and West.
So the bishop of Rome, the pope, the antichrist, ruled supreme for 1260 years,
ordering kingdoms and principalities to slaughter millions of devout Christians
who would not bow to papal supremacy. Finally Napoleon took him prisoner in
1798. Check the maths, 538 + 1260 = 1798. So the antichrist has had his reign
as prophesied, and will NEVER rise again. So anyone who says some horrible antichrist
will rise up in the future, doesn't know scripture, NOR do they know history!
YET the antichrist must still continue until the Second Advent at which time,
2Th 2:8 KJV "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of
his coming:"
Revelation 11 Verse 13. Great earthquake, tenth part and 7000 slain. This
matches proportionally with the principalities that broke away from the Church
of Rome. Henry VIII broke away and there were numerous wars against the Church
of Rome in northern Europe.
A remnant gave glory? "A remnant" is a term associated with
God's chosen people Israel. So England broke away and the Lord saved them from
the Spanish Armada in 1588. Would they be those who gave glory? And would they
then be the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel?
Rev 11:14 KJV "The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe
cometh quickly." Well the second Woe started in chapter 9 with the Turks,
and by 1690 the Turkish Empire began to fall away.
Verse 15 onwards I think is still future. Ferris, Foster and Fox all
give an interpretation based on the British Israel teaching. That
interpretation is feasible. If we look at Daniel chapter 2 and consider
"The Stone", it is referred to as a KINGDOM. And NOT, a Prince, or
the MESSIAH, or any inference to it being Christ?
Dan 2:44 KJV "And in the days of these kings", (the Ten Toes,
Ten Kingdoms of Europe), "shall the God of heaven set up a KINGDOM, which
shall never be destroyed: and the KINGDOM shall not be left to other people,
BUT IT shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, AND IT shall stand
forever".
And the only kingdom that could achieve that and ultimately LAST FOREVER
would have to be Ten Tribe Israel. Because ultimately Christ will return to be
KING of that kingdom. Israel should finally emerge from their 2520 years
punishment, by 1776 America and in 1800 the British Commonwealth. They then
beat the world into submission in order to bring in righteous government. It would
be the fulfilment of Jeremiah 51 verses 19 to 23.
Jer 51:20 KJV “Thou art my battle-axe and weapons of war: for with thee
will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy
KINGDOMS;" Read that whole passage. God simply says He will use Israel to
perform His cleanup of the world, REGARDLESS of how bad or corrupt she maybe. And
if her kings are GODLESS, it still doesn't matter. Read 2Sa 7:14-15 KJV "I
will be his father, and he shall be my son. IF HE COMMITS INIQUITY, I will
chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I
put away before thee.
Ultimately Christ returns to take the throne of David. Luke 1:32 KJV
"He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the
Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:". Which means
that throne MUST still exist in the world somewhere! You can't simply fabricate
something and call it "David's Throne"! So where is that throne at
present? And if the Anglo-Saxon people are the Lost Ten Tribes, it all fits
into place. They have for the past 500 plus years been defeating the Ten European Kingdoms and forcing them to "choose" a democratic
government.
But as I said at the start, if you don't accept the British Israel
teaching, it gets REALLY HARD to work out what God is talking about! So it is
all speculation isn't it?
Revelation 11:16 to 19 all seems to be the follow up
after the Second Advent. As I have said it hasn't happened as yet, so we would
only be guessing. Or does it have some spiritual interpretation? Let's now look
at the Revelation from chapter 12 onward.
CHAPTERS 12 to 20
The third section of Revelation, which will
give us a view of our past 2000 years, starts in chapter 12 and continues
through to chapter 18. Chapter 19 speaks of Christs Triumphal Second Coming.
Chapter 20 speaks of the start of the millennium. So let's skim through again
then as we get closer to our present day we'll slow down and study more
closely.
Chapter 12
There is a lot of information in this
chapter. The woman to give birth to a man-child. We've talked about the child
represents Christ at his resurrection. But the woman? She represents 12 Tribe
Israel, (12 star crown), refer Gen 37:9 KJV "...the sun and the moon and
the eleven stars made obeisance to me". She is NOT the church! The dragon
represents Satan and his manipulation of Rome, trying to thwart God's plan. But
to no avail. Rev 12:6 KJV "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where
she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand
two hundred and threescore days." Or 1260 days, i.e. 1260 years.
The WILDERNESS!? It is an interesting word,
Translated from 'erēmos', which can mean; "deserted places, lonely
regions, an uncultivated region fit for pasturage". So it is not a dry
desert.
A PLACE PREPARED OF GOD? Now refer 2Sa 7:10
KJV Moreover I WILL APPOINT A PLACE FOR MY PEOPLE ISRAEL, and will plant
them, that they may dwell in A PLACE OF THEIR OWN, and MOVE NO MORE;
neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,
NB: we'll come back to all this?
Verses 7 to 11 "there was war in
heaven"! Satan and his mafia were ALL kicked out of Heaven by Michael.
Question: How do you defeat an enemy? With better weapons or tactics than your
enemy. What weapon did Michael use to expel Satan? Refer Rev 12:11 KJV
"And they overcame him by the BLOOD OF THE LAMB, and by the word of their
testimony;"
NB: This is VERY important. At what point in history do you think Satan gets
kicked out of Heaven? Couldn't God have kicked him out long ago, say before the
story of Job? NO because the blood of the lamb had not been shed until Christ.
Christ died and his blood paid the eternal price!
Some preachers say Satan is still in heaven,
"accusing the brethren"!? So why would God wait another 2000 years to
kick Satan out of Heaven? He wouldn't, Satan was kicked out of Heaven
immediately after Christ rose from the dead. So don't let anyone feed you the
rubbish that Satan is still in heaven accusing us before God.
Verse 13 Dragon persecuted women; she fled
to wilderness, safe out of Dragon's reach for 1260 years. So the Dragon turns
his wrath on the "remnant" of her seed who keep commandments and
testimony of Jesus! That means there are 2 groups of people? I said I'd get
back to it! I believe the First group is the Lost Ten Tribes Israel, (the
women), travelling north then west from the Caucasus Mountains to the
"appointed place", for the next 500 plus years. In 410 AD the Romans
pulled out of Briton. Some hundred years later, "The woman" migrated
across the English Channel to "a place prepared of God, a deserted lonely
uncultivated region fit for pasturage". Consisting of the deserted Roman infrastructure,
buildings with internal heating, aqueducts, roads etc.
The Second group are Christian's living on
the continent, (keeping the testimony of Jesus)? There is a third group of
God's people if you include the Jews who rejected Jesus? So putting them all
together you have all twelve tribes. The woman, the Ten Tribes and Judah, three
tribes and then the "multitude", Christians, being grafted into the
kingdom.
Chapter 13
Another new beast rises from the sea, seven
heads, ten horns and ten crowns, a composite of leopard, bear and lion. Deadly head wound healed. They
worship both the dragon and the beast. This is the transition from pagan to
papal Rome. Rome fell in 476 AD then in 538 Rome began to rise as the capital
of the Church of Rome, (Deadly wound healed). The pope was "Speaking great
blasphemies", "he made war with the saints", and this started
with the persecution of the Protestants, the Huguenots, Waldenses, Albigenses,
Vaudois, Wicliffites, Hussites and others. They were long before Luther comes
in to the picture in 1517.
Verse 11, a third beast with two horns. I
believe it represents the priesthood. Then the famous MARK of the BEAST. This
Mark or 666 you can Google, some sites are nonsense, but some show that the
name "LATINUS" adds up to 666! Then Protestants can't buy or sell,
which came in via "The Third Lateran Council, convened in 1179
by Pope Alexander III". Refer to article 27, "no commerce with
heretics". Then again a similar enforcement in 1414.
Chapter 17...???
Refer to Ferris and you will find he has placed
the interpretation of chapter 17 between chapters 13 and 14. Which might seem
odd until you read the opening verses. Chapter 17 is a separate vision, which
overlaps the same periods in chapters 14, 15, 16 and 18. BUT it is basically
dedicated to show John and us the demise of the "whore" and the Latin
kingdom.
Chapter 14
The start of this chapter seems to speak of
events happening after the Second Advent. But at the end it has two angels
reaping the earth etc. Then later in chapter 16 the angels pour out the 7 vials
on the earth. Therefore this must fit into history somewhere after Luther in
1517. My "guess" it's about 1560, the death of Catholic "Bloody
Mary". Then under Elizabeth I, the complete religious and political break
from papal rule.
The 144000 as I've said are 12 tribe Israel.
They sing the song of freedom and true worship of Christ alone. They were
"virgins", NOT worshiping idols, (which is the Catholic system of
worship), without fault before God. Compare 2Ki 19:21 and Isaiah 37:22 KJV
"...The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee
to scorn..".
Verse 8 Babylon is fallen. Refer Thayer
Definition: Fallen is better translated as, going down, loosing power. Babylon
is the whole idolatrous Christian system, Catholic and Greek Orthodox. And the
Greek Orthodox half was falling under the Turks, literally God's wine press.
Putting in the sickles to reap the evil.
Chapter 15
1588 the Spanish Amada. Verse 2. WHO at this time had victory over the
beast? England! So the pope ordered the Amada to conquer England. But God had
other plans. So the English stood on, (by) the sea watching the Amada burn.
"Sea of glass and fire". [Google Spanish
Armada1588 “The English, led by Lord Howard
of Effingham and Sir Francis Drake, met the Armada in the
English Channel. The English ships were more maneuverable and had a faster
rate of fire than the Spanish, giving them a tactical advantage. Fireships were
used to break up the Armada's formation off Calais, causing panic and
scattering the fleet.”]. And they sung thanks to God. Then seven angels,
plagues, vials full of God's wrath. Which are to be poured out.
NB: You NEED to know this clever rebuttal. Who is the wrath of God
poured out upon? In chapter 16 we are told that God's wrath is poured out upon
"those that have the MARK!" So, if anyone answers you with that famous
quote from
1Th 5:9 KJV "For God hath not appointed us to wrath!" Then they use
that as an argument to say that's why we are NOT on earth during the
tribulation!
Then you can answer them with this statement! "CORRECT! Because the wrath of God is only poured out upon those that have
the MARK! And not us Christians. In the same way as the children of Israel did not experience the
plagues of Egypt!"
Chapter 16
Verse 2 "First vial upon earth that
produced noisome and grievous sore on men which had the mark". This
suggests a pandemic, like in 1665: The Great Plague of London, or Smallpox 1734
to 1886. But it would be a remarkable event in history if it only infected the
Catholic people of the world, those with the MARK! About 400,000 died annually
from smallpox. Which in turn would put a heavy toll on the world's workforce
producing food etc. Hence a big divide between the rich and poor! A powder keg
for the French Revolution 1789 to 1799. Then like an infectious sore, communism
spread across Catholic France.
Verse 3 "Second vial upon the sea,
indicates sea battles. From 1793 to 1813 until England "ruled the
waves", and her shores were finally safe from invasion.
Verse 4 "Third vial upon the rivers and
waterways. 1793 France declared war on numerous monarchies on her boarders,
which were major rivers. So the "waterways" become battlefield blood
baths. Verses 5, 6 n 7 are God's vindication for saints who perished in the
same waterways under papal persecution hundreds of years before.
Verse 8 "Fourth vial upon the sun.. to
scorch with fire. The sun is symbolic of the major ruling power, some time
after 1793? It must be Napoleon, who from 1806 to 1815 tore apart the papal
Roman Empire. Dethroning the monarchies that served the "antichrist",
the pope. (The TEN Horns of the BEAST).
Verse 10 "Fifth vial upon the seat of
the Beast"? The beast was the Latin kingdom, the Ten Horns or Ten Kingdoms
of Western Europe. The little horn was the antichrist, the pope! So where was
the seat of the Beast? Rome. So in 1798 Napoleon took the pope prisoner. Rev
13:10 KJV "He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity:.."
Although Napoleon's reign ended in 1815, revolution continued in the Latin
kingdom through to 1870.
Verse 12 "Sixth vial upon Euphrates to
DRY UP.. The WAY of kings of the East be prepared". Drying up signifies
withering away; Euphrates is the region of the Turks. Right on time in history
in 1878 the modern Balkan nation gained independents. From then on the once
great Empire of Turkey DRIED UP to it's current state as of 1918 after WW I.
Verse 13 "Three FROGS! What do frogs do
best? They "Croak", "Croak", "Croak",
"Croak", to state their territory. It's the era of propaganda from
the 1920's till now. We have seen; "Propaganda" in public speaking
"Propaganda" in newspapers, "Propaganda" on radios
"Propaganda" in movie newsreels and these days on the Internet! But
the THREE classic Frogs were Communism 1917 Russia, Fascism 1922 Italy and
Nazism 1933 Germany.
Verse 14 The frogs are. "spirits of
devils.. go.. unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather
them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." This sounds like WW
II.
PRESENT DAY
Now at this point in the Revelation we are
approaching our present day. But then this pops up..? Verse 16 "And he
gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue
Armageddon." We have always associated Armageddon with the end of the
world, then Christ appears!?
But if you look up the meaning of the word
Armageddon from Thayer Definition: - "Hence in Revelation a place of great
slaughter, the scene of a terrible retribution upon the wicked". So it is
not a specific location or some special event. If we look at Ezekiel 38 and 39,
we tend to think that conflict is the battle of Armageddon, but it seems like
it only lasts a couple of weeks at the most! But WW II was a global conflict, which lasted 6
years, and some 50 to 60 million died worldwide. So I think the Armageddon in
verse 16 refers to WW II.
Verses 17 to 21, all this seems like
"end of the world" stuff. But it can't be so because chapter 18 says
"come out of her my people". So Babylon and the world system must
still continue into chapter 18. So let's continue the study.
Verse 17 "Seventh vial INTO the AIR!
This is symbolic of air warfare starting as of WW I, which would include GAS
warfare. Verse 18 Great earthquake symbolic of great political upheaval, as was
the destruction of Catholic Europe after WW II. 19 “great city was divided into
three parts;”, possibly meaning the OLD papal Empire was divided into three,
Teutonic, Latin and Slavic. The other alternative is Spain France and Italy.
Witch ever way you look at it, Europe was no longer unified under papal rule.
Islands and mountains not found? A mountain
is symbolic of a kingdom, Refer Ezekiel 36:8 “But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall put out your branches and yield your fruit” Well mountains do grow branches? After WW II the USSR absorbed the
Eastern Europe kingdoms, so they were not found. 21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven,
every stone about the weight of a talent, (100 pound). This must be a reference
to the Thousand Plane bombing raids over Germany night and day. And Latin
Europe still did not repent.
Chapter 17
John seems to get carried away into the
wilderness to see a special viewing of what will happen to the
"whore", the woman riding the Beast which had seven heads and Ten
Horns. Rev 17:4 KJV "And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet
colour, (The colours of the catholic hierarchy!), and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden
cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:".
Most Historic Interpretation believers know
this as the Latin or papal Empire. The whore, church of Rome. Carried by the
Ten Horned beast. Verse 6 "..the woman drunken with the blood of the
saints, and .. the martyrs of Jesus". Under papal rule a gestimated 50 to 100
million protestants were slaughtered.
Ultimately in verse 16, And the ten horns,
(Ten European Kingdoms),... upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and
shall make her desolate .. naked, ..eat her flesh, and burn her with
fire." The result of the French revolution and consequently the toppling
of thrones throughout Europe. For example Russia fell to Communism, Spain went
into complete anarchy. Italy fell to Fascism and Germany to Nazism.
So you can see that what we have studied so
far is in parallel with this account of papal history.
Chapter 18
Now we are at the 'crunch' point again. This
all sounds like it is future! An angel with GREAT power came down from heaven,
Rev 18:2 KJV "And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon
the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the
hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird."
It's the same word "fallen" as in chapter 14. Meaning going down or
on the way out! And all nations and kings have, "been in bed with
her"! So it is a cage of fifth!
Verse 4 "Then another voice.. Rev
18:4-5 KJV 4 "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of
her, MY people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not
of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath
remembered her iniquities. 6 Reward her even as she rewarded YOU, and double
unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill
to her double." Does this sound like we the righteous are give the order to REWARD her? This then sounds like WW II, and the allies bombing the Old papal Empire?
So MY people is who? How often have you
heard God say "MY people Israel "? Reward her even as she rewarded
YOU! This sounds like God is calling the true witnessing Christians to get out
now or you will get the same punishment that is about to be poured out onto
Babylon. Rev 18:8 KJV "Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death,
and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong
is the Lord God who judgeth her."
Blare, blare, blare, blare. Ultimately that great city is utterly destroyed,
"by an angel with a great millstone", and those affare off watch in
horror. Does that sound like an atomic bomb to you?
Decades ago I heard Tom Foster speaking of
an incident where he heard of a Russian pilot either shot down or defected in
the 1960's. In the interrogation the pilot said the key aim of the USSR was to
raise the Red Flag over Israel, it would spit in the face of EVERY religion!
What if say Islam or Communism did the same
to Rome? Not to say God couldn't do that Himself with say a massive meteorite
or volcano? But It would be such a devastating blow to Christianity, Catholic
and Protestant!
GUG And MAGOG
But there is a bit more details we can get
from Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39, Joel chapter 2 and Zechariah chapter 14. They
give us quite a detailed description of the “End of the Age battle”, (what we
all call Armageddon), and the aftermath.
My thought is that Revelation chapter 18 happens just before the Great and
Terrible day of The LORD, Ezekiel 38, 39 stuff. Imagin this, Gog and Magog completely destroy Rome to demoralize Christianity. Then they mobilize their vast army down towards Israel.
Consider this, Eze 38:10 "So says the Lord Jehovah: And it shall be in that day that things shall come into your heart, and you shall devise an evil plan. 11 And you shall say, I will GO UP TO the land of open spaces. I will go to those at ease, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, (every medieval county has Walls!), and there are no bars nor gates to them," If Gog and Magog are from the northeastern European area, (Russia), and they go NORTH? Where do they end up? Alaska and Canada! Modern "new world" countries, without walls!
So, if they head for Alaska and also Israel, what are they after? Eze 38:12 "in order to take a spoil, and to steal a prize; ...cattle and goods, ...13 ...to take a spoil? ...to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?" (AND OIL)
Therefor I still think that the
final battle with Gog and Magog is instigated solely because of their need for
oil.
CONCLUSION
I hope that has given you a very brief outline of the Revelation for the past 2000 years, from the Historic Interpretation point of view. And as I said at the start, I have tried to 'fudge up' a reasonable interpretation of our close coming future. Chapter 19 is the Great rejoicing in heaven and Christ's triumphal return to earth. Then in Chapter 20, Satan BOUND for a
Thousand years, and Christ rules from His Davidic Throne, [ON EARTH], forever,
even forever and ever! AMEN!
If you have any comments I would
love to hear from you.
God Bless Ya Yours Adrian
Deacon.
