This past week, I’ve been reading The Harbinger: The Ancient Mystery That Holds the Secret of America’s Future by Jonathan Cahn.
Before its destruction as a nation, ancient Israel received nine harbingers, prophetic omens of warning. Cahn explains each of them and shows how the SAME nine harbingers are now manifesting in America, beginning with the 9/11 attacks.
This Glenn Beck video covers the basics, but the argument in the book is really detailed and builds layer by layer with lots of interesting stuff about Old Testament Israel and American history. If you’re intrigued by the ideas, I suggest you read the book. It’s way too complex and detailed to boil down into 25-words or even a 21 minute Glenn Beck interview.
Rabbi Jonathan Cahn (Harbinger) & Glenn Beck [21:55]
One of my all-time favorite DVDs, The Star of Bethlehem, presents an incredibly compelling and spiritually beautiful explanation for the sky events that led the Magi to take gifts to Bethlehem. I was so moved by it that I got it for everyone on my Christmas gift list and have lost track of the number of times I’ve watched it.
One question it answers is this:Is it okay for Christians to watch the stars?
Yes and no. The Bible clearly forbids divination, but it also says the skies carry signs from the Almighty, as it did when the stars guided the Magi to Bethlehem. Therefore, astrology, which holds that celestial bodies exert force on human behavior, and studying horoscopes for the purpose of making life decisions is definitely forbidden. However, noticing major sky signs and pondering their significance in God’s big plan is permitted.
If you’ve been following my Bible blogs, you’ll know I believe it is likely the Rapture will be very soon. Given this and my interest in The Star of Bethlehem, my brows definitely rose when I saw a news item about last night’s rare conjunction of planets and stars.
A tight conjunction of these three planets has occurred only five times in the last century and will not occur again for 43 years. (I don’t know when it last showed up between the horns of the bull.)
While Jupiter, Venus and Mercury can be interpreted as symbols for either good or evil, a triangle of them smack dab INSIDE the horns of the BULL definitely gets me looking toward the evil side, which means:
Jupiter is the BIGGEST planet. Jupiter is king of the gods and was chief deity of the Roman Empire’s state religion.
Venus is the BRIGHTEST planet. Venus is the goddess of sex and was the mother of the Roman people.
Mercury is the FASTEST planet. Mercury is Jupiter’s son and was the god of commerce (thieves) and communication (divination). He also guided souls to the underworld.
The constellation Taurus the Bull: One of the stars in the Taurus constellation is named for Mercury’s mother Maia and loads of evilness is associated with bulls.
The Golden Calf episode in the Sinai definitely puts cow worship at the tippy top of God’s list of Do Nots.
Ditto worship of the pagan deity, Moloch, who was often depicted as a bull and into whose fires live babies were thrown as offerings. Moloch was worshiped by various Middle Eastern cultures, including the Egyptian and Phoenician.
In Greek mythology, when Zeus (father of the gods, comparable to the Roman Jupiter) fell in love with the Phoenician princess Europa, he transformed himself into a white bull with golden horns to whisk her away to Crete, where bulls were worshipped by the Minoans.
The Romans were reputed to have used a brazen bull as a torture device to kill Jews and Christians. The martyred Antipas mentioned in the Revelation Letter to Pergamum (Rev 2:13) was the Bishop of Pergamum who it is believed was roasted to death in a brazen bull during the persecutions of Emperor Domitian ca 92 AD.
Are you seeing a theme here? I sure am.
We’ve got a triangular three-some of bad god symbols perched inside the horns of a bad god symbol.
We’ve also got the raised arm of the constellation Orion the Hunter aimed right at the trio in the horns.
And it’s all happening on TRINITY SUNDAY!
The constellation Orion the Hunter: Nowhere in the entire Bible does God speak one word against those who hunt righteously and utilize the meat fully. (Methinks this could be why the vegan-treehugging-PETA crowd hates hunters.)
The Hunter’s BRIGHTEST star, Rigel, is actually THREE stars that, from Earth, are so close that they appear as ONE big one = The Trinity.
The Hunter’s SECOND brightest, Betelgeuse which marks the shoulder of the hunting arm, is a RED GIANT = Jesus who shed His blood for all.
The belt of Orion is THREE stars, more or less evenly spaced in a straight line = The Trinity again, plus:
Jesus’ birth: In the Philippines and Puerto Rico, the stars on the belt are called the Three Kings, because they start appearing in the sky around Epiphany. The Three Kings, of course, were the Magi who followed the Bethlehem star to see the newborn King.
Jesus’ death: In Spain, Portugal and South America, the stars on the belt are known as the Three Marys after the three women the Bible names were at the Crucifixion and later came to Jesus’ tomb.
Do you see in all this a great big honking SIGN in the sky of the impending END TIMES WAR?!
Over the course of my study of the Book of Revelation, I have concluded that the Letters and Seals are parallel descriptions of the years from Jesus to the beginning of the Great Tribulation, while the Trumpets and Bowls are parallel descriptions of the Great Tribulation through to Final Judgment.
In March, I wrote about why I have come to believe the Rapture will be part of the Sixth Seal event.
I believe it is likely that the Rapture will happen sometime during Nisan in a year when Passover and Easter weeks coincide.
Why? Because Seal SIX is opened at the end of Chapter SIX, Seal SEVEN is opened right at the beginning of Chapter EIGHT, and only two things happen in between in Chapter SEVEN:
On EARTH, 144,000 JEWS from every tribe of the Israelites are MARKED with God’s SEAL (Rev 7:1-8). One understanding of this is that these 144,000 will be Jewish evangelists who go out to preach that Jesus is Messiah during the seven year tribulation.
In HEAVEN, a great multitude from every nation, race, people, and tongue cheer and wave PALM branches before the throne of God and before the Lamb (Rev 7:9-17).
These events match up closely with the events of the first Passover in Egypt and with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the Monday of Holy Week.
Passover is commemorated from Nisan 15 to Nisan 22. Jesus’ triumphal entry is commemorated the Sunday before Easter, although the actual event was on Monday, Nisan 10, 33 AD.
Christian communities follow one of two calendars for Easter season – the Roman Catholic or the Eastern Orthodox. Sometimes these coincide with each other. Sometimes one or the other will overlap Passover. Very rarely will all three line up in the same year, but it does happen on occasion. I believe the Rapture will occur during Nisan of one of these rare years.
Note: If you click on the graphics, they’ll open big enough to read.
If you’ve been following my Revelation blogs right along, you’ll know that I believe that the Seven Letters and the Seven Seals are parallel descriptions of the Ages of the Christian Church and that the Seven Trumpets and the Seven Bowls provide parallel descriptions of seven (not fourteen) key End of Time events.
For a long time, I only visualized the Seven Seals like this:
Then, just recently, I was typing “Letters-Seals” and I realized … DUH … seals can also go on letters. Like the scroll seals, they must be broken before anyone can read the contents. ::headsmack::
This got me wondering if there might not be a similar correlation between Trumpets and Bowls. In my research about Jewish Holidays, I had learned that Rosh Hashanah is also known as the Feast of Trumpets.
The LORD said to Moses: Tell the Israelites: On the first day of the seventh month, you will have a sabbath rest, with trumpet blasts as a reminder, a declared holy day. ILeviticus 23:23-24)
Note: In Judaism, the first day of the seventh month of Tishri (Rosh Hashana) is the new year for the purpose of counting the years, while the first day of the first month of Nissan is the new year for the purpose of counting the months.
Rosh Hashanah is a Sabbath-level Holy Day for Jews. No work may be done and much of the day is spent in synagogue, where the shofar (horn, trumpet) is sounded and the special services for the holiday focus on God’s sovereignty. The video below tells you all kinds of fascinating facts about shofars, how they’re made and what they sound like. It is a wonderful spiritual meditation!
Shofar Factory (How A Shofar Is Made) [3:36
“Bubbe” [1:17 in video] is Yiddish for Grandparent. Shofars are only made from kosher animal horns from which the inner cartilage can be easily removed. But the shofar maker has to smack the horn to get the cartilage out. Then he softens the horn over a flame so he can shape it to his liking, after which he hardens it in cold, running water. Then comes the belt sander, then the drilling, then more sanding and polishing … oh my goodness, but isn’t this all exactly how God works with us?!
On Rosh Hashanah, the faithful are encouraged to look back at the mistakes of the past year and plan what changes to make in the new year. One popular custom is to to symbolically cast off ones sins by throwing small pieces of bread into a river or stream. The common greeting for Rosh Hashanah is a wish that one may be “inscribed and sealed for a good year.” Inscribed and SEALed? How cool is that! Remember the victor rewards from the Revelation LETTERS?
To the victor I shall give some of the hidden manna; I shall also give a white amulet upon which is inscribed a new name, which no one knows except the one who receives it. (Rev 2:17)
The victor I will make into a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never leave it again. On him I will inscribe the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, as well as my new name. (Rev 3:12)
So, there you go. TRUMPETS with a bonus linking of Letters and Seals. And guess what? …. I found BOWLS (and more trumpets) in another Tishri holiday, the Festival of Booths (aka, Tabernacles, Sukkot, In-gathering), which is a seven-day festival that lasts eight days, as per God’s command:
“The fifteenth day of this seventh month is the LORD’s feast of Booths, which shall continue for seven days. On the first day, a declared holy day, you shall do no heavy work. For seven days you shall offer an oblation to the LORD, and on the eighth day you will have a declared holy day. You shall offer an oblation to the LORD. It is the festival closing. You shall do no heavy work. … For a week, you shall make merry before the LORD, your God.” (Leviticus 23:33-36,40)
Back during Jesus’ time, when the Jews still had their great Temple, the second through seventh days of Sukkot were marked by the High Priest going down to the Pool of Siloam to fill a golden pitcher with “living water.” “Living” means “moving”, as in a stream or river where the water is continually freshened and aerated. (The Pool of Siloam was fed by a spring.)
The High Priest and his assistant (with a pitcher of wine) would then pour out their libations on to the altar. From the illustration, it seems the pitcher was poured into a special BOWL that had a spout on the bottom, so the liquid would run out in a tidy stream down the side of the altar. (I can’t help thinking of Jesus on the cross, when he was pierced and blood and water came out.)
These six days were the only time all year when water was poured out on the altar. On the seventh day, this ceremony was seven times longer and involved lots of singing and TRUMPETS.
The other notable event during the Festival of Booths was the Illumination of the Temple, which involved the ritual lighting of four 75-foot tall golden lamps in the Court of Women.
These enormous flames burned all night reminding the people of the pillar of fire that had guided Israel in their wilderness journey. The flames were fed by huge BOWLS of oil.
The lamps were said to be so bright that they lit up the entire city. Can you imagine such a thing in a culture that had nothing but candles and oil lamps to light the dark?! All the men would dance and sing; the rejoicing would last late into the night.
Jesus Himself referred to both of the BOWL customs — the water libation and the lighting of the huge lamps — relating the living water and the brilliant illumination to Himself.
On the seventh day of the Festival of Booths, Jesus exclaimed, “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.'” (John 7:37)
Then on the eight day, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
The eighth day is commonly thought of as part of Sukkot, but technically it is a holiday in its own right called Shemini Atzeret (literally, “the assembly of the eighth”). It seems to be a somewhat abbreviated day with similar, but fewer and shorter observances.
Rabbinic literature explains the eighth day this way: “Our Creator is like a host, who invites us as visitors for a limited time, but when the time comes for us to leave, He has enjoyed himself so much that He asks us to stay another day.”
This reminds me of my Italian in-laws who can never quite let us out the door when the holidays are over. Once the car is packed and all the kisses and hugs are done, Grandma will always insist we have a “quick bite” before getting on the road. 🙂
There are a number of different interpretations of Revelation 20:1-10. The one I want to discuss today is the one that says that the Millennium began during Jesus’ lifetime on Earth and is still going on now.
My church (Roman Catholic) has pronounced only briefly on this subject and only to state that the Second Coming will be followed closely by the Final Judgment. If you believe the Millennium will occur between the Great Tribulation and Final Judgment, God bless you. I don’t and I’m going to explain here why I don’t. If that will offend you, I hope you will do us both a favor and move on to more congenial blogs. Thank you.
In my Bible studies, I have found strong evidence that the Millennium began before Jesus ascended and will continue most likely until the 5th Trumpet and Bowl events. Below is the timeline I made. I will expand on each of the ten items individually below.
As I understand it, the Post-Tribulation/Pre-Final Judgment Millennium interpretation is based largely on the assumption that the Revelation visions are chronologically consecutive. I can’t agree. Revelation 12:1-9 seems to make it obvious that we ought not to expect a consecutive chronology in John’s visions.
Sign in the sky announcing the birth of Jesus.
War in Heaven; Satan and his followers fall to Earth.
Satan tries to destroy Jesus as a baby.
Jesus is born.
Jesus ascends.
Woman changes from being Mary, Mother of Jesus, to being the Church.
Persecution of early Christians is conflated with End Times flight from Jerusalem.
War in Heaven.
N.b., We know 2 and 8 happened long before Jesus’ birth, because Satan was on Earth to tempt Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Apart from chronology, I can find only one other justification for a Post-Tribulation Millennium interpretation, which is that the forehead/hand marks are part of the Tribulation prophecies.
Revelation 20:4 “I saw the souls of those … who had not worshiped the beast or its image nor had accepted its mark on their foreheads or hands. They came to life and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”
Evidence supporting a “Millennium is now” interpretation
1. Revelation 20:1-10 never says Jesus will reign on Earth.
The thrones in the Millennial passage could be those of the 24 elders [Rev 4:4].
The martyrs of Revelation 20:4 could be the fifth seal souls [Rev 6:9].
2. Satan appears to have had free reign on Earth from the time he was thrown out of Heaven until some time after he tempted Jesus.
But once Jesus began his ministry, He spent quite a lot of time casting demons out of people, something He specifically said was proof that “the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Right after, He adds, “How can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.” [Matt 12:28-29]
3. Very soon after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus said, “Now the ruler of this world will be driven out.” [John 12:31]
4. During the Last Supper, He said He would not drink wine again until the kingdom of God had come. He drank wine right before He died.
5. The grammar in the Millennium passage itself suggests that, at the time John had this vision (ca 90 AD), Satan had already been locked in the abyss.
John saw that an angel had seized, had tied up, had thrown, had locked over and had sealed Satan into the abyss.
Then, John learned that, after the thousand years was completed, Satan would be released.
6. It seems fairly clear to me that the main reason for “binding the strongman” was to allow Christianity to spread.
Jesus told his disciples, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come.” [Matt 24:14]
The reason cited for locking Satan in the abyss is, “So that it could no longer lead the nations astray until the thousand years are completed.” [Rev 20:3]
If you’ve been reading my Bible studies right along, you’ll know that I believe the Rapture will be the Second Coming, the “Jesus in the clouds” event, and that it will occur on the day of the Sixth Seal. This has nothing to do with today’s discussion, but I need to stick it in here so my timeline thing is complete.
7. It appears that Satan will be released as part of the fifth Trumpet/Bowl events. I noticed something really interesting here: It says the passage to the abyss will be opened, which would allow Satan to come out on to Earth. But it never says Satan will be unchained. This fits with my interpretation that it was Jesus’ death that put the chains on Satan. That was a once for all event; the chaining would not be undo-able.
8. In Medieval History, I learned that a lot of Christians expected the Second Coming at the end of Y1K. This would make sense only if they interpreted the chaining and locking of Satan to have been accomplished by Jesus during His lifetime. As for “a thousand years” clearly not having meant a thousand literal revolutions of the Earth around the Sun, I have no problem with it. Elsewhere in the Bible, one thousand is used to symbolize a large, but indefinite quantity. We don’t insist that Psalm 50:10 must mean that God owns the cattle on no more and no less than one thousand hills, do we?
9. In Revelation 17:7-11, an angel says THREE times that the beast of the abyss existed once, but now exists no longer, and yet it will come again. Since the angel was speaking to John in his own present time, it seems patently obvious to me that Satan had already been locked into the abyss before 90 AD and would not be released until the Great Tribulation events the angel was describing.
10. This interesting graphic further strengthens my case that the Millennium is now.
Since the Bible’s chapter and verse numbers are not original to the text, I’ve been trying to ignore the numbers and just look at the structure and words. I’ve identified TWO “Angel Don’t” sections that bracket FOUR “Pool of Fire” sections. You’ll recall that TWO is a pair of things that are both similar and contrasting, while FOUR is about all that God created.
BRACKETS: TWO things that are similar and contrasting
PARALLEL BEGINNINGS: Angel Don’t
FIRST Rev 17:1 Then one of the seven angels who were holding the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come here. I will show you the judgment on the great harlot* who lives near the many waters.
SECOND Rev 21:9 One of the seven angels who held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
PARALLEL MIDDLES: Angel Don’t
FIRST The angel carried John away in spirit to a deserted place where he saw Satan’s city.*
SECOND The angel carried John away in spirit to a great, high mountain where he saw God’s city.
FIRST Satan’s city will be a place of immense wealth and depravity.
SECOND God’s city will be a place of immense wealth and holiness.
FIRST God will destroy Satan’s city in one day and no light from a lamp will ever be seen in her again.
SECOND God’s city will last forever and His glory will be its light.
PARALLEL ENDINGS: Angel Don’t
FIRST Rev 19:9-10 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These words are true; they come from God.” I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t! I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brothers who bear witness to Jesus. Worship God. Witness to Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
SECOND Rev 22:8-9 it is I, John, who heard and saw these things, and when I heard and saw them I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. But he said to me, “Don’t! I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brothers the prophets and of those who keep the message of this book. Worship God.”
FIRST POOL OF FIRE = Rev 19:11 through Rev 19:21
Rev 19:20-21 The Anti-Christ and the False Prophet “were thrown alive into the fiery pool burning with sulfur.”
SECOND POOL OF FIRE = Rev 20:1-10
Rev 20:10 “The Devil who had led them astray was thrown into the pool of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
THIRD POOL OF FIRE = Rev 20:11 through Rev 20:15
Rev 20:14-15 “Death and Hades were thrown into the pool of fire. (This pool of fire is the second death.) Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the pool of fire.”
FOURTH POOL OF FIRE = Rev 21:1 through Rev 21:8
Rev 21:8 “But as for cowards, the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers, idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort, their lot is in the burning pool of fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
THE STORY LINES
FIRST POOL OF FIRE = Rev 19:11 through Rev 19:21
The Final Battle at Armageddon: Jesus will fulfill the Jews’ expectation for a warrior Messiah by vanquishing all Israel’s enemies and establishing her reign forever. Note: He will have already fulfilled the Christians’ expectation for a Second Coming in the clouds at the Rapture. For my take on the Rapture, see https://polination.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/the-olivet-discourse-seal-six-and-the-rapture/
SECOND POOL OF FIRE = Rev 20:1-10
The Millennium: Satan has been chained for a thousand years. When this time is completed, he will be released to deceive the nations and fight the Final Battle at Armageddon, after which God will send him and all who serve him into the pit forever.
THIRD POOL OF FIRE = Rev 20:11 through Rev 20:15
Final Judgment: Fate of the Damned = Compare white throne here with white horse in FIRST Pool of Fire.
FOURTH POOL OF FIRE = Rev 21:1 through Rev 21:8
Final Judgment: Fate of the Victors = Characteristics of Damned: The cowards, the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers, idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort.
I encourage you to read these passages in full for yourselves, keeping this structure in mind. It adds even more richness to the imagery. For example, consider how Satan’s city is described in the first Angel Don’t as the “Mother of Harlots” while God’s city is described in the second Angel Don’t as “a bride adorned for her husband.”
NOTE: In my next Bible study blog, I will be discussing why I believe the Millennium began before Jesus ascended. If that is going to make you mad, please skip that blog. I’ve had my fill of people being pissed at me for explaining what my beliefs are and why I hold them.
I’ve been puzzling over Revelation, chapter 17, and realized the “great harlot” (Rev 17:1) and the “mother of harlots” (Rev 17:5) are two different cities.
For example, Revelation 17:16 says that, after turning their authority over to Satan*, the ten kings and Satan will hate the Great Harlot, “leave her desolate and naked; they will eat her flesh and consume her with fire.”
But Revelation 18:9 says God will destroy Satan’s capital city, the Mother of Harlots, and that the kings will then “weep and mourn over her.” (Rev 18:9).
Obviously, these can’t be the same two cities.
*To save time, I am using “Satan” as a catch-all for both the fallen angel Lucifer and for the Anti-Christ he imbues with his power.
Below are other clues given in the Scriptures that show obvious contrasts between the two places.
Differences in the Purposes and Functions of The Great Harlot vs. The Mother of Harlots
The Great Harlot will have “intercourse” with the kings of the Earth (Rev 17:2) who will agree to give their power and authority to Satan (Rev 17:17, Dan 17:13). The kings and inhabitants of Earth will become drunk on the “wine of her harlotry” (Rev 17:2).
The Great Harlot appears to be an organization like the United Nations, where leaders who are sovereign within their own nations meet to discuss world issues and arrange treaties beneficial to the world order. The Great Harlot will be important in the moral corruption of the peoples of the world, but the kings will merely dally with her, while maintaining their own sovereignty.
The Mother of Harlots will be a “great city that has sovereignty over the kings of the earth” (Rev 17:18). She will be ruled over by Satan, who will “devour, trample down and crush” “the whole earth” (Rev 17:7-8; Dan 7:23). She will make war on the holy ones (Dan 7:21); she will become drunk on the blood of the “holy ones” and “witnesses to Jesus” (Rev 17:6a).
It looks to me as if, at some point, the “kings” who were coordinating their activities via the Great Harlot will decide unanimously to grant all of their power and authority to Satan. He will then become a cruel dictator of the whole world, ruling from his capital city, “Babylon, Mother of Harlots.”
Where the Great Harlot merely corrupted the peoples of the Earth with worldly temptations, Satan will carry out on a global scale the same kind of anti-God genocide that Hitler, Stalin, Mao and others like him perpetrated in the 20th c.
Differences in the Physical Characteristics of The Great Harlot vs. The Mother of Harlots
The Great Harlot will live near the “many waters” (Rev 17:1). An angel says this represents “large numbers of peoples, nations, and tongues” (Rev 17:15), but it seems possible, even likely, that it also literally means many waters. New York City, where the United Nations is headquartered, works for both interpretations.
Large numbers of people: New York City has the largest population and highest population density of any city in the U.S.
Large numbers of nations: New York City has long been a major point of entry for international immigration. City residents trace their ancestry to virtually every other place on the planet and about 36% of the city’s population is foreign-born.
Large numbers of tongues: About 170 languages are spoken in NYC, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world.
The Mother of Harlots will be sited in a “wilderness”, “desert” and/or “deserted place” (Rev 17:3). I checked parallel translations of this line:
17 selected “wilderness” (including NIV, NASB, the KJVs, Aramaic, LDS and Young’s Literal Translation);
4 selected “desert” (including Holman, Darby, Weymouth and Douay-Rheims;
1 selected “deserted place” (NABRE)
Barnes’ Notes on the Bible gives the same general picture: “This scene is laid in a wilderness or desert.” It’s hard to imagine a place less like the Great Harlot’s “many waters” and “large numbers”!
According to Revelation 17:9, Satan’s capital will sit on seven hills; Revelation 18:17-19 says the city will be a major sea port. I’m guessing the focus of Satan’s regime will be in the same areas of the world where Judaism, Christianity and Islam started.
I checked the existing cities in these areas that are built on seven hills; none of them are sea ports. I’m wondering if maybe deserted-wilderness-desert means Satan will build his great capital from scratch in a desert region. Just for kicks, I grabbed a map of deserts and stuck some place names on for general reference.
In 1917 AD, Muslim Turks surrendered control of Jerusalem to Christian Brits on December 9, which was Kislev 24 in the Hebrew calendar. In the Book of Haggai, it says the Second Temple in Jerusalem where Jesus would worship was founded on Kislev 24, 520 BC.
The Egyptian coin below shows the Roman year 1917 coincided with the Muslim year 1335. In an eschatological prophecy in the Book of Daniel, “the man clothed in linen” tells Daniel, “Blessed are they who have patience and persevere for the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.” (Daniel 12:12) In Bible prophecy, it is common for a “day” in the text to equal a year in actual time. This is based on Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6.
I googled yesterday and learned that chapter and verse numbers were not part of the Bible until the 16th century.
It got me thinking that looking only at the order, structure and textual clues in Revelation would be interesting and possibly quite fruitful.
Quick recap: I showed in previous blogs how the Letters/Seals and Trumpets/Bowls are matchers and that Seal Six looks to be the Rapture event.
I also speculated briefly about what the Letter to Laodicea and Seal Seven indicate will happen between the Rapture and the Great Tribulation. Since then, I had a great talk with Mama Buzz who came up with an interesting thought that maybe heaven would be silent because the Elect go to Earth to help Jesus knock on all those hearts.
I’ve got zero evidence for this idea, apart from the “silence in heaven” thing. And I know he wouldn’t need our help! But he likes it when we help. Maybe he’ll let us appear in dreams or visions to those friends and loved ones who didn’t listen before we were Raptured. It’s a nice thought!
Now, about that textual analysis. My first gleaning is very cool, because it adds even more power to my matchers interpretation. Check it out. The two sets of sevens mirror each other structurally!
polination.blog 