THE RAPTURE IS NOT BIBLICAL: THE DOCTRINE OF THE SECRET RAPTURE EMERGED DURING THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY THROUGH THE TEACHINGS OF JOHN NELSON DARBY.
DARBY WAS ONE OF THE EARLY LEADERS OF THE PLYMOUTH BRETHREN MOVEMENT, AND HIS TEACHINGS BECAME KNOWN AS “DISPENSATIONALISM.” FURTHERMORE, THE ANALOGY OF NOAH AND THE FLOOD SUGGESTS THAT THOSE “TAKEN” ARE ACTUALLY THE ONES SWEPT AWAY IN JUDGMENT! YESHUA HAS RETURNED! MATTHEW 24 POINTS TO CHRIST'S RETURN AND THE GREAT TRIBULATION TO ACCURE AROUND 70 AD (THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE)- AND THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. YESHUA RETURNED IN THE FORM OF THE ROMAN ARMY, WHO CAME AS A THIEF- KILLING ONE IN THE FIELD WHILE LEAVING ONE STANDING, AND KILLING ONE GRINDING AT THE MILL WHILE LETTING ONE LIVE. THOSE WHO WERE TAKEN WERE TAKEN AWAY IN JUDGMENT. HE CAME AND JUDGED JERUSALEM (THE BEAST OF THE EARTH) JUST AS HE CAME THROUGH MOSES AND JUDGED EGYPT. EXODUS 12:12 IF THE RAPTURE WERE TRULY A BIBLICAL DOCTRINE, IT WOULD MESH WITH ALL OTHER SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES TO CHRIST'S COMING.
BUT IT DOES NOT STAND UP TO THAT TEST. BOTH DARBY AND SCOFIELD CLAIMED THAT THE "DAY OF CHRIST" REFERS TO THE RAPTURE AND THAT "THE DAY OF THE LORD" REFERS TO THE ACTUAL SECOND COMING SEVERAL YEARS AFTER THE RAPTURE. IN FACT, "THE DAY OF THE LORD" AND "THE DAY OF CHRIST" BOTH REFER TO CHRIST'S RETURN TO THE EARTH THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE. THE HEART OF THE CASE OFFERED BY DARBY, SCOFIELD AND THEIR MODERN COUNTERPARTS IS BASED UPON THE ENGLISH WORDS "CAUGHT UP" IN 1 THESSALONIANS 4:17. 1 THESSALONIANS 4:17 MEANS THAT THE SAINTS ARE CAUGHT AWAY TO HEAVEN. THIS IS REFERING TO THE RESURRECTION WHICH HAPPENED SPIRITUALLY IN 70 AD. THE DEAD SAINTS WERE CAUGHT UP TO HEAVEN, THEN US WHO WERE STILL ALIVE WOULD BE CAUGHT UP ALSO- WHEN WE DIE. PAUL WROTE THAT THEY SHOULD NOT GRIEVE OVER THIS: "FOR IF WE BELIEVE THAT YESHUA DIED AND ROSE AGAIN, EVEN SO GOD WILL BRING WITH HIM THOSE WHO SLEEP IN YESHUA [BELIEVERS WHO HAD DIED]." WAS HE RESPONDING TO A WORRY ABOUT WHETHER CHRIST WOULD RESCUE BELIEVERS FROM THE GREAT TRIBULATION? NO, NOTHING IS SAID OF THIS. NOR IS THERE ANYTHING IN THESE VERSES THAT INTIMATES CHRIST MAKING A SWOOPING PASS BY THE EARTH TO SNATCH OFF A FEW PEOPLE TO TAKE THEM TO HEAVEN. THESE VERSES REFER ONLY TO THE DOCTRINE OF THE SECOND COMING, WHICH HAPPENED IN 70 AD. WE WHO ARE ALIVE AND REMAIN UNTIL THE COMING OF THE LORD WILL BY NO MEANS PRECEDE THOSE WHO ARE ASLEEP. GOD WOULD REUNITE BELIEVERS WHO REMAIN ALIVE WITH BELIEVERS WHO HAD DIED. THE DEAD WON'T BE BEHIND IN ANY WAY!
TODAY'S TEACHERS OF THE RAPTURE WEAVE NUMEROUS BIBLICAL REFERENCES INTO THEIR NARRATIVES. PAUL WAS COMFORTING MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH OF GOD IN THESSALONICA WHO WERE GRIEVING OVER BELIEVERS WHO HAD DIED. THE SURVIVORS FEARED THAT THEIR LOVED ONES WOULD LOSE OUT ON PARTICIPATING IN GOD'S GLORIOUS KINGDOM. CHRIST INSPIRED PAUL TO PUT IN PLAIN WORDS THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER. THOSE WHO DIED DIDN'T GO TO HEAVEN. THEY WERE IN THEIR GRAVES. BUT THAT DIDN'T MEAN THEY WOULD LOSE OUT ON THE MARVELOUS KINGDOM OF GOD OR THAT THE BELIEVERS STILL LIVING WOULD HAVE ANY ADVANTAGE. THE BIBLICAL TERM FOR RISING FROM THE DEAD IS RESURRECTION. A PARALLEL REFERENCE IS 1 CORINTHIANS 15:51-53, WHICH PLAINLY TELLS US THAT GOD RESURRECTS DECEASED BELIEVERS TO SPIRIT AT "THE LAST TRUMPET," THE SAME "TRUMPET OF GOD" MENTIONED IN 1 THESSALONIANS 4:16. THIS LAST TRUMPET HAPPENED DURING THE WAR OF 70 AD. ACCORDING TO NUMBERS CHAPTER 10, ISRAEL LEARNED THE MEANING OF THE USE OF THE TRUMPETS THROUGH THE INSTRUCTION OF MOSES. SPECIFIC DETAILS FOR THE GATHERING OF THE ASSEMBLY, ADVANCING, GOING TO WAR AND IN THE ACCOMPANIMENT WITH THE APPOINTED FEASTS WERE ASSIGNED TO THE BLOWING OF TRUMPETS. FOUR BLESSINGS OF ISRAEL’S LAST DAYS ARE MENTIONED: -THE ESCHATOLOGICAL FEAST -THE REMOVING OF THE VEIL CAST OVER THE NATIONS -THE SWALLOWING UP OF DEATH -REJOICING IN THE SALVATION OF GOD ALL BLESSINGS FULFILLED IN THE MESSAGE OF REVELATION IN REVELATION WE HAVE EACH OF THESE BLESSINGS MENTIONED ABOVE FULFILLED. THE FEAST IS THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB.
IT OCCURS AFTER THE FALL OF THE GREAT CITY MYSTERY BABYLON AT THE TIME OF THE WEDDING OF THE LAMB, (REVELATION 19:7–9). MYSTERY BABYLON, IDENTIFIED AS JERUSALEM IN REVELATION FALLS IN 70 AD. THE RAPTURE THEORY SAYS CHRIST TAKES THE SAINTS TO HEAVEN TO SPARE THEM FROM THE GREAT TRIBULATION. BUT ACCORDING TO YESHUA IN MATTHEW 24, THE GREAT TRIBULATION HAPPENED WITH THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE. IN MATTHEW 24, CHRIST COMES IN THE CLOUDS WITH THE SOUNDING OF THE TRUMPET TO CONSUMMATE THE TIME OF THE END. THIS CORRESPONDS WITH THE SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS IN REVELATION. AS A RESURRECTION TEXT, MATTHEW 24:31, DRAWS FROM DANIEL 12:1–4, CONNECTING THE TIME OF THE END, THE GREAT TRIBULATION AND THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN IN THE CLOUDS, (DANIEL 7:13–14), LEAVING NO DOUBT THAT ALL EVENTS OCCURRED IN AD 70. MATTHEW 24:31, ALSO PARALLELS THE COMING OF THE LORD WITH A TRUMPET SOUND IN 1 THESSALONIANS 4:17, 1 CORINTHIANS 15:51. ALL TEXTS LIMIT THE EVENTS TO THE FIRST CENTURY GENERATION. SCRIPTURE DOESN'T ALLOW FOR A RAPTURE OF THE SAINTS TO HEAVEN FOR AN INTERIM OF SEVERAL YEARS! ZECHARIAH 14:1-4 BEHOLD, THE DAY OF THE LORD IS COMING…FOR I WILL GATHER ALL THE NATIONS TO BATTLE AGAINST JERUSALEM; THE CITY SHALL BE TAKEN, THE HOUSES RIFLED, AND THE WOMEN RAVISHED. HALF OF THE CITY SHALL GO INTO CAPTIVITY, BUT THE REMNANT OF THE PEOPLE SHALL NOT BE CUT OFF FROM THE CITY. THEN THE LORD WILL GO FORTH AND FIGHT AGAINST THOSE NATIONS, AS HE FIGHTS IN THE DAY OF BATTLE. AND IN THAT DAY HIS FEET WILL STAND ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. BELIEVERS AREN'T TAKEN OFF THE EARTH DURING THE GREAT TRIBULATION. BUT GOD WILL PROTECT BELIEVERS DURING THIS TIME OF STRESS.
WHY WOULD THE SAINTS RISE TO MEET CHRIST IN THE AIR, WHEN HE IS ON HIS WAY TO THE EARTH TO DEFEAT EVIL AND TO ESTABLISH THE KINGDOM OF GOD HERE? WHY NOT SIMPLY WAIT FOR HIM TO ARRIVE? THOSE WHO TEACH THE RAPTURE MAKE MUCH OF THIS ISSUE, CLAIMING THAT IT BUTTRESSES THEIR THEORY. IN FACT, THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER ACTUALLY FURTHER DISCREDITS THEIR ERRONEOUS TEACHING. IN NO WAY DOES IT CONVEY THAT CHRIST ONLY ENTERS THE ATMOSPHERE AND THEN REVERSES COURSE, AS HE SNATCHES BELIEVERS AWAY TO HEAVEN. ALL THE SAINTS WILL FORM A WELCOMING PARTY THAT RISES TO MEET CHRIST AND ESCORT HIM BACK TO EARTH; ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IS SAID OR IMPLIED ABOUT GOING TO HEAVEN. THERE IS NO RAPTURE. THERE IS/WAS A RESURRECTION AT THE SECOND COMING OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, YESHUA HAMASHIACH. IN THE MOVIE TRAILER FOR LEFT BEHIND, ONE READS, IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, THE BIBLICAL RAPTURE STRIKES THE WORLD. MILLIONS OF PEOPLE DISAPPEAR WITHOUT A TRACE. ALL THAT REMAINS ARE THEIR CLOTHES AND BELONGINGS, AND IN AN INSTANT, TERROR AND CHAOS SPREAD AROUND THE WORLD. THE VANISHINGS CAUSE UNMANNED VEHICLES TO CRASH AND BURN. PLANES FALL FROM THE SKY. EMERGENCY FORCES EVERYWHERE ARE DEVASTATED. GRIDLOCK, RIOTS AND LOOTING OVERRUN THE CITIES. THERE IS NO ONE TO HELP OR PROVIDE ANSWERS. IN A MOMENT, THE ENTIRE PLANET IS PLUNGED INTO DARKNESS. BUT THE QUESTION WE MUST ASK IS—IS THAT TRUE? THE TEACHING OF A SECRET RAPTURE FIRST BEGAN TO BE TAUGHT IN CHURCHES IN THE MID-1800’S. SUCH TEACHING HAD NEVER BEEN TAUGHT IN OR BELIEVED BY ANYONE IN THE CHURCH PRIOR TO THE 1800’S.
MONTE JUDAH, LIKE SO MANY OTHERS HAVE FALSELY INTERPRETED THE 70TH WEEK OF DANIEL TO BE A FUTURE EVENT WITH 7 YEARS OF TRIBULATION; IN WHICH THE CHURCH IS RAPTURED AFTER 3 ½ YEARS. THIS FALSE CLAIM IS BASED ON DANIEL 9:27 DANIEL 9:27 AND HE SHALL CONFIRM THE COVENANT WITH MANY FOR ONE WEEK: AND IN THE MIDST OF THE WEEK HE SHALL CAUSE THE SACRIFICE AND THE OBLATION TO CEASE, AND FOR THE OVERSPREADING OF ABOMINATIONS HE SHALL MAKE IT DESOLATE, EVEN UNTIL THE CONSUMMATION, AND THAT DETERMINED SHALL BE POURED UPON THE DESOLATE. DANIEL IS NOT TALKING ABOUT AN ANTICHRIST ENTERING THE 3RD TEMPLE AND STOPPING THE SACRIFICES… IT’S SPEAKING OF THE 2ND TEMPLE… AND THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION WAS THE ROMAN ARMY… THE 69TH WEEK (483 YEARS) AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FIRST TEMPLE AND ONE WEEK (7 YEARS) BEFORE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SECOND TEMPLE, AN ANOINTED ONE IS CUT OFF. THEANOINTED ONE CAN REFER TO THE LAST HIGH PRIEST (PRIESTS ARE ANOINTED AS SEEN IN LEVITICUS 4) AND THE SACRIFICES (INDICATED IN LEVITICUS 8:10-11). ALL WERE CONSIDERED ANOINTED AND WERE CUT OFF DURING THE FINAL WEEK BEFORE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE 2ND TEMPLE. HISTORICALLY DURING THE YEARS BEFORE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SECOND TEMPLE THE ROMANS SET UP IDOLATRY IN THE TEMPLE FULFILLING THE FINAL VERSE IN DANIEL 9 THAT SAYS, “UPON WINGS OF ABOMINATION SHALL COME ONE WHO MAKE DESOLATE UNTIL THE DECREED DESTRUCTION IS POURED OUT DESOLATOR” DANIEL 9:27 MOST OF THE WARNINGS IN YESHUA OLIVET DISCOURSE WERE FULFILLED IN 70 A.D., NOT IN THE END TIMES.
THE CONTEXT OF “THOSE WHO ARE IN JUDEA” CONFIRMS THAT PROPHECY APPLIED TO THE TIME OF JERUSALEM’S DESTRUCTION IN 70 A.D., NOT THE END TIMES. HE WAS WARNING HIS DISCIPLES WHO WERE IN JUDEA. DANIEL 9:26-27 TELLS US THAT THERE IS A DETERMINED PERIOD OF TIME THAT THE ROMAN ARMY (GENTILES) WILL DESOLATE THE JEWS. DANIEL 12 GIVES US MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE “TIME OF THE GENTILES.” IT SAYS THAT IT WILL BE FOR A TOTAL OF 1,335 DAYS, WHICH WAS FULFILLED AS THE ROMAN ARMY SURROUNDED THE CITY IN 66 A.D. AND THEN COMPLETED THEIR SIEGE IN 70 A.D. THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION IS INVALID THE ‘PEOPLE OF THE PRINCE‘ IN DANIEL 9:26 WAS THE ROMAN ARMY, WHO POURED INTO THE CITY AS A FLOOD IN 70 A.D. SO THE ‘PRINCE‘ IN THE 70TH WEEK OF DANIEL IS NOT AN END-TIMES ANTICHRIST, AND SINCE IT DOES NOT APPLY TO AN END-TIME ANTICHRIST, THE FOUNDATION FOR THE 7-YEAR TRIBULATION IS INVALID. BECAUSE OF THE JEWS ABOMINATIONS AGAINST GOD, HE MADE THEM DESOLATE. THE OLIVET DISCOURSE IN THE OLIVET DISCOURSE (MATTHEW 24), YESHUA IS SPEAKING TO HIS DISCIPLES. HE NEVER CHANGES HIS AUDIENCE FROM HIS FOLLOWERS OF THAT TIME TO MODERN DAY CHRISTIANS. THEY ARE HIS AUDIENCE. IT IS CLEAR THAT HE IS SPEAKING ABOUT ONE THING: THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE. IN A.D. 70 THE ROMANS DESTROYED THE TEMPLE LITERALLY LEAVING NO STONE ON ANOTHER. THE WAILING WALL WHICH MANY THINK IS THE REMAINS OF THE TEMPLE IS REALLY THE REMAINS OF FORT ANTONIA.
MATTHEW 24:3 TELL US, WHEN WILL THESE THINGS BE, AND WHAT WILL BE THE SIGN OF YOUR COMING AND OF THE END OF THE AGE? THE END OF THE AGE IS NOT THE END OF THE AGE OF THE LAW AS MANY CHRISTIANS THINK. THIS PHRASE PROBABLY REFERS TO THE END OF THE PRESENT WORLD ORDER. “WORLD” IS AION IN THE GREEK, MEANING THE “AGE” OF TIME AND SPACE IN WHICH PEOPLE NOW LIVE, AND HAVE LIVED SINCE THE WORLD WAS DRASTICALLY CHANGED BY THE FLOOD IN THE DAYS OF NOAH. MATTHEW 24:5-8 FOR MANY WILL COME IN MY NAME, CLAIMING, ‘I AM THE MESSIAH,’ AND WILL DECEIVE MANY. YOU WILL HEAR OF WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS, BUT SEE TO IT THAT YOU ARE NOT ALARMED. SUCH THINGS MUST HAPPEN, BUT THE END IS STILL TO COME. NATION WILL RISE AGAINST NATION, AND KINGDOM AGAINST KINGDOM. THERE WILL BE FAMINES AND EARTHQUAKES IN VARIOUS PLACES. ALL THESE ARE THE BEGINNING OF BIRTH PAINS. ONE EXAMPLE OF THE EARTHQUAKES MENTIONED IS THE EARTHQUAKE THAT STRUCK LAODICEA SOMETIME BETWEEN A.D. 60 AND A.D. 64 DURING THE REIGN OF NERO. IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT ONE OF THE CHURCHES ADDRESSED BY JOHN IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION WAS A CHURCH IN THIS CITY (REVELATION 3:14-22). PRIOR TO A.D. 70 THERE WERE ALSO EARTHQUAKES IN CRETE, SMYRNA, MILETUS, CHIOS, SAMOS, HIERAPOLIS, COLOSSAE, CAMPANIA, ROME AND JUDEA. MATTHEW 24:9 THEN YOU WILL BE HANDED OVER TO BE PERSECUTED AND PUT TO DEATH, AND YOU WILL BE HATED BY ALL NATIONS BECAUSE OF ME. CHRISTIANS WERE PERSECUTED AND KILLED IN JERUSALEM AFTER YESHUA'S CRUCIFIXION. STEPHEN WAS STONED TO DEATH; THEN JAMES THE SON OF ZEBEDEE, AND THE BROTHER OF JOHN WAS BEHEADED.
ROME ALSO KILLED CHRISTIANS IN A.D. 64. THESE CHRISTIANS WERE BETRAYED BY OTHER CHRISTIANS. MATTHEW 24:11-12 AND MANY FALSE PROPHETS WILL APPEAR AND DECEIVE MANY PEOPLE. BECAUSE OF THE INCREASE OF WICKEDNESS, THE LOVE OF MOST WILL GROW COLD… MANY PEOPLE WERE BRIBED TO ACT AS PROPHETS DECLARING VICTORY TO THE JEWS DURING THE JEWISH WAR. IN MATTHEW 12:39, YESHUA CALLS HIS CONTEMPORARIES “A WICKED AND ADULTEROUS GENERATION.” MATTHEW 24:14 AND THIS GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM WILL BE PREACHED IN THE WHOLE WORLD AS A TESTIMONY TO ALL NATIONS, AND THEN THE END WILL COME. IN COLOSSIANS 1:23, PAUL ALLUDES TO THE FULFILLMENT OF THIS PREDICTION BY SAYING, “THIS IS THE GOSPEL THAT YOU HEARD AND THAT HAS BEEN PROCLAIMED TO EVERY CREATURE UNDER HEAVEN.” APPROXIMATELY SIX YEARS AFTER PAUL’S DEATH, THE END HAD COME. COLOSSIANS 1:5-6 THE FAITH AND LOVE THAT SPRING FROM THE HOPE STORED UP FOR YOU IN HEAVEN AND ABOUT WHICH YOU HAVE ALREADY HEARD IN THE TRUE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL THAT HAS COME TO YOU. IN THE SAME WAY, THE GOSPEL IS BEARING FRUIT AND IS GROWING THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE WORLD—JUST AS IT HAS BEEN DOING AMONG YOU SINCE THE DAY YOU HEARD IT AND TRULY UNDERSTOOD GOD’S GRACE. “ALL THE WORLD” OR “ALL THE NATIONS” REFERS TO THE KNOWN INHABITED WORLD AND NOT EVERY NATION WITHOUT EXCEPTION.
THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION MATTHEW 24:15-16 WHEN YOU SEE STANDING IN THE HOLY PLACE ‘THE ABOMINATION THAT CAUSES DESOLATION,’SPOKEN OF THROUGH THE PROPHET DANIEL, LET THE READER UNDERSTAND— THEN LET THOSE WHO ARE IN JUDEA FLEE TO THE MOUNTAINS. FALSE PROPHETS, SUCH AS MONTE JUDAH TAKE MATTHEW 24:16 TO MEAN THAT A 3RD TEMPLE WILL BE BUILT AND AN ANTI MESSIAH WILL ENTER, STOP THE SACRIFICES- (THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION)- AND THEN WE ARE TO FLEE TO THE LAST PLACE WE HAD SUKKOT… I’M NOT SURE WHAT VERSE SUPPORTS SUCH A CLAIM. HOWEVER, THIS IS WHAT IS BEING TAUGHT TODAY. DANIEL 12:11 SPOKEN OF BY DANIEL THE PROPHET, STANDING IN THE HOLY PLACE, (WHOEVER READS, LET HIM UNDERSTAND), THEN LET THOSE WHO ARE IN JUDEA FLEE TO THE MOUNTAINS. LUKE 21:20-21 CLARIFIES WHAT THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION WAS. “BUT WHEN YOU SEE JERUSALEM SURROUNDED BY ARMIES, THEN KNOW THAT ITS DESOLATION IS NEAR. THEN LET THOSE WHO ARE IN JUDEA FLEE TO THE MOUNTAINS, LET THOSE WHO ARE IN THE MIDST OF HER DEPART, AND LET NOT THOSE WHO ARE IN THE COUNTRY ENTER HER.” THE ABOMINATION WAS THE DETESTABLE ENEMIES OF THE JEWS, THE ROMANS; WHO WOULD SURROUND JERUSALEM, AND STAND IN THE HOLY LAND TO MAKE THE PLACE A ‘DESOLATION‘. WHEN MATTHEW RECORDED THE WORDS “AND WHAT WILL BE THE SIGN OF YOUR COMING, AND OF THE END OF THE AGE?” IN MATTHEW 24:3, HE NO DOUBT UNDERSTOOD “YESHUA COMING” AS MEANING HIS COMING IN VENGEANCE AGAINST THE JEWS, THROUGH THE ROMANS, TO END THE “LATTER DAYS” AGE OF THE JEWISH KINGDOM.
THE “LATTER DAYS” REFERS TO THE TIME PERIOD THAT OCCURRED WHEN THE JEWS WERE RELEASED FROM BABYLON IN 457 B.C. TO 70 A.D WHEN THE CITY, TEMPLE AND PEOPLE WERE DESOLATED. MATTHEW 24:22 IF THOSE DAYS HAD NOT BEEN CUT SHORT, NO ONE WOULD SURVIVE, BUT FOR THE SAKE OF THE ELECT THOSE DAYS WILL BE SHORTENED. THE GREAT DISTRESS OF MATTHEW 24:21 MAY REFER TO THE JEWISH WAR ITSELF. THE ARRIVAL OF FLORUS’ ARMY OUTSIDE OF JERUSALEM IN IYYAR OF A.D. 66 SERVED AS A SIGN FOR CHRISTIANS IN JERUSALEM TO FLEE THE CITY AT THAT TIME. AND FLORUS’ ASSAULT WAS CUT SHORT AT THIS TIME FOR THE SAKE OF THE ELECT SO THAT THE SAINTS WOULD NOT MEET THE SAME FATE AS THEIR PERSECUTORS. MATTHEW 24:24 FOR FALSE MESSIAHS AND FALSE PROPHETS WILL APPEAR AND PERFORM GREAT SIGNS AND WONDERS TO DECEIVE, EVEN THE ELECT. THE WORDS "IF POSSIBLE" ARE NOT IN THE ACTUAL TEXT. DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE FIRST CENTURY THERE WERE MANY FALSE PROPHETS WHO HAD ARISEN IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE CLAIMING TO HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO PERFORM ASTONISHING ACTS BY DIVINE POWER. MATTHEW 24:27-28 FOR AS LIGHTNING THAT COMES FROM THE EAST IS VISIBLE EVEN IN THE WEST, SO WILL BE THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN. WHEREVER THERE IS A CARCASS, THERE THE VULTURES WILL GATHER. WHEN GOD CAME ON THE CLOUDS IN JUDGMENT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD WAS PICTURED RIDING DARK STORM CLOUDS ACCOMPANIED BY RUMBLINGS OF THE EARTH, THUNDER AND LIGHTNING.
THE FACT THAT YESHUA LIKENS HIS RETURN TO “LIGHTNING THAT COMES FROM THE EAST” ILLUSTRATES THE FACT THAT WHEN CHRIST WAS EXPECTED TO COME ON THE CLOUDS IN JUDGMENT HE WAS TO DO SO AS THE LORD HAD DONE IN THE PAST–RIDING ON DARK STORM CLOUDS ACCOMPANIED BY LIGHTNING. INTERESTINGLY, THE WORD TRANSLATED VULTURE IN THIS VERSE ALSO MEANS EAGLE–THE NATIONAL SYMBOL OF ROME. WHEN THE ROMANS SEIZED THE TEMPLE IN A.D. 70, THEY CARRIED THEIR ENSIGNS INTO THE TEMPLE COURTS. AS STATED ABOVE, ROME’S MAIN ENSIGN WAS THE AQUILA, AN EAGLE. THE ROMAN ARMY OFFERED SACRIFICES TO THESE EAGLE IMAGES REPRESENTING ROME ON THE 9TH OF AV ALL WHILE THE TEMPLE WAS IN FLAMES. WITH THESE LITERAL AND SYMBOLIC INTERPRETATIONS, ONE CAN APPRECIATE THE RICHNESS OF WHAT YESHUA MEANT WHEN HE SAID, “WHEREVER THERE IS A CARCASS, THERE THE VULTURES [EAGLES] WILL GATHER.” MATTHEW 24:29 THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT; THE STARS WILL FALL FROM THE SKY, AND THE HEAVENLY BODIES WILL BE SHAKEN. ACCORDING TO THE MIDRASH, THE SUN REPRESENTS THE KING, THE MOON REPRESENTS THE SANHEDRIN AND THE STARS REPRESENT RABBIS. THESE ASTRAL OMENS ARE VERY SIMILAR TO THE HEAVENLY SIGNS SAID TO ACCOMPANY THE FALL OF JUDAH IN THE SIXTH CENTURY B.C. VARIOUS HEAVENLY OMENS MARKED A GREAT SLAUGHTER AT THE FALL OF JUDAH, EGYPT, BABYLON AND EDOM IN THE SIXTH CENTURY B.C., THE SAME THING IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR AT THE FALL OF JERUSALEM AND ISRAEL AT THE END OF THE AGE. THE FACT THAT IN V. 29 THE SUN DARKENS, THE MOON TURNS TO BLOOD AND THE STARS FALL FROM THE SKY ARE ALL SIGNS OF THE DESTRUCTION OF HEAVEN AND EARTH PREDICTED IN 2 PETER 3.
MATTHEW 24:30 THEN WILL APPEAR THE SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN IN HEAVEN. AND THEN ALL THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH WILL MOURN WHEN THEY SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN, WITH POWER AND GREAT GLORY. “ALL THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH” IS MORE ACCURATELY TRANSLATED “ALL THE TRIBES OF THE LAND.” AT HIS ARREST, YESHUA WARNED: MATTHEW 26:52 ALL WHO DRAW THE SWORD WILL DIE BY THE SWORD. THIS MAXIM PROVED TRUE. THE JEWISH ZEALOTS WHO HAD TAKEN-UP ARMS AGAINST THE ROMANS HAD, FOR THE MOST PART, DIED AS THEY LIVED. BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THIS MESSAGE MAY BE A SYMBOLIC DOUBLE MEANING… SWORDS ARE OFTEN USED IN THE BIBLE TO REPRESENT THE WORD OF GOD (ISAIAH 49:2, HEBREWS 4:12, REVELATION 1:16). YESHUA IS CALLED THE WORD OF GOD IN JOHN 1, AND HE PERSISTENTLY WARNED THE ISRAELITES OF AN IMPENDING WAR. IN A.D. 66 A SWORD-SHAPED STAR HOVERED OVER JERUSALEM IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO THE WAR WITH ROME. THIS HEAVENLY SIGN IN THE SKY COULD REPRESENTS YESHUA, HIMSELF WHO IS THE WORD OF GOD. COULD THIS SWORD-SHAPED STAR BE THE SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN MENTIONED IN V. 30? IF SO THEN THIS WOULD NOT BE THE FIRST TIME THAT A STAR SERVED AS A SIGN OF THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH. MATTHEW 24:31 AND HE WILL SEND OUT HIS ANGELS WITH A LOUD TRUMPET CALL, AND THEY WILL GATHER HIS ELECT FROM THE FOUR WINDS, FROM ONE END OF THE HEAVENS TO THE OTHER.
THIS VERSE CALLS TO MIND 1 THESS. 4:16-17 AND 1 CORINTHIANS 15:52. THESE THREE VERSES COLLECTIVELY DESCRIBE THE RESURRECTION AT THE LAST TRUMPET. IT IS OFTEN SUPPOSED THAT YESHUA'S RESURRECTION BODY WAS TO BE A MODEL OF THE RESURRECTION BODIES OF THE SAINTS. THIS BELIEF IS DERIVED LARGELY FROM: PHILIPPIANS 3:20-21 BUT OUR CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN. AND WE EAGERLY AWAIT A SAVIOR FROM THERE, YESHUA THE MESSIAH, WHO, BY THE POWER THAT ENABLES HIM TO BRING EVERYTHING UNDER HIS CONTROL, WILL TRANSFORM OUR LOWLY BODIES SO THAT THEY WILL BE LIKE HIS [CHRIST’S] GLORIOUS BODY. IMMEDIATELY AFTER HIS RESURRECTION, YESHUA'S RESURRECTION BODY CLOSELY RESEMBLED HIS PHYSICAL BODY THOUGH HE COULD PASS THROUGH WALLS AND APPEAR AND DISAPPEAR AT WILL. YESHUA'S BODY WAS FURTHER GLORIFIED AFTER HIS ASCENSION ACCORDING TO ACTS 9:3-6 AND REVELATION 1:13-16 SUCH THAT IT TOOK ON A FORM LIKE THAT OF THE FATHER. AFTER RESURRECTING AND ASCENDING INTO HEAVEN, THE BODIES OF THE SAINTS ARE EXPECTED TO EXPERIENCE A SIMILAR TRANSFORMATION ACCORDING TO: 1 CORINTHIANS 15:49 AND JUST AS WE HAVE BORNE THE IMAGE OF THE EARTHLY MAN, SO SHALL WE BEAR THE IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY MAN. MATTHEW 13:43 AND DANIEL 12:2-3 CONFIRM 1 CORINTHIANS 15:49. MATTHEW 13:43 READS THEN THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE LIKE THE SUN IN THE KINGDOM OF THEIR FATHER.
DANIEL 12:2-3 ECHOES MATTHEW 13:43: MULTITUDES WHO SLEEP IN THE DUST OF THE EARTH WILL AWAKE: SOME TO EVERLASTING LIFE, OTHERS TO SHAME AND EVERLASTING CONTEMPT. THOSE WHO ARE WISE WILL SHINE LIKE THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE HEAVENS, AND THOSE WHO LEAD MANY TO RIGHTEOUSNESS, LIKE THE STARS FOREVER AND EVER. THIS IDEA IS ALSO FOUND IN PHILIPPIANS 2:14-15: DO EVERYTHING WITHOUT GRUMBLING OR ARGUING, SO THAT YOU MAY BECOME BLAMELESS AND PURE, ‘CHILDREN OF GOD WITHOUT FAULT IN A WARPED AND CROOKED GENERATION.’ THEN YOU WILL SHINE AMONG THEM [BOTH CHRIST AND THE FATHER IN HEAVEN (VS. 9-11)] LIKE STARS IN THE SKY. YESHUA'S EARTHLY RESURRECTION PRIOR TO HIS ASCENSION SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN MORE OF A SIGN THAT ASSURED THE SAINTS OF THEIR OWN IMMINENT RESURRECTION, RATHER THAN A PERFECTED OR IDEALIZED MODEL OF THE RESURRECTION BODIES OF THE SAINTS. JAMES 2:26 STATES, AS THE BODY WITHOUT THE SPIRIT IS DEAD, SO FAITH WITHOUT DEEDS IS DEAD. THE WORD FOR SPIRIT USED IN THESE TWO VERSES IS PNEUMA. AS STATED ABOVE, PNEUMA MEANS WIND OR BREATH. THIS TERM CONNOTES AN IMMATERIAL SUBSTANCE. HOWEVER, AT THE RESURRECTION, THE SPIRIT IS NOT SIMPLY RELEASED IN ORDER TO ENTER HEAVEN IN ITS PURE, INTANGIBLE AND NAKED FORM. AT THE RESURRECTION, THE SPIRIT IS PRESUMABLY AGAIN CLOTHED WITH A BODY, A NEW GLORIFIED BODY. THIS FACT IS STATED IN: 1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-49 BUT SOMEONE WILL ASK, “HOW ARE THE DEAD RAISED? WITH WHAT KIND OF BODY WILL THEY COME?” HOW FOOLISH! WHAT YOU SOW DOES NOT COME TO LIFE UNLESS IT DIES.
WHEN YOU SOW, YOU DO NOT PLANT THE BODY THAT WILL BE, BUT JUST A SEED, PERHAPS OF WHEAT OR OF SOMETHING ELSE. BUT GOD GIVES IT A BODY AS HE HAS DETERMINED, AND TO EACH KIND OF SEED HE GIVES ITS OWN BODY. NOT ALL FLESH IS THE SAME: PEOPLE HAVE ONE KIND OF FLESH, ANIMALS HAVE ANOTHER, BIRDS ANOTHER AND FISH ANOTHER. THERE ARE ALSO HEAVENLY BODIES AND THERE ARE EARTHLY BODIES; BUT THE SPLENDOR OF THE HEAVENLY BODIES IS ONE KIND, AND THE SPLENDOR OF THE EARTHLY BODIES IS ANOTHER. THE SUN HAS ONE KIND OF SPLENDOR, THE MOON ANOTHER AND THE STARS ANOTHER; AND STAR DIFFERS FROM STAR IN SPLENDOR. SO WILL IT BE WITH THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. THE BODY THAT IS SOWN IS PERISHABLE, IT IS RAISED IMPERISHABLE; IT IS SOWN IN DISHONOR, IT IS RAISED IN GLORY; IT IS SOWN IN WEAKNESS, IT IS RAISED IN POWER; IT IS SOWN A NATURAL BODY, IT IS RAISED A SPIRITUAL BODY… IF THERE IS A NATURAL BODY, THERE IS ALSO A SPIRITUAL BODY. SO IT IS WRITTEN: “THE FIRST MAN ADAM BECAME A LIVING BEING”; THE LAST ADAM, A LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT. THE SPIRITUAL DID NOT COME FIRST, BUT THE NATURAL, AND AFTER THAT THE SPIRITUAL. THE FIRST MAN WAS OF THE DUST OF THE EARTH; THE SECOND MAN IS OF [THE SUBSTANCE OR MATTER OF] HEAVEN. AS WAS THE EARTHLY MAN, SO ARE THOSE WHO ARE OF THE EARTH; AND AS IS THE HEAVENLY MAN, SO ALSO ARE THOSE WHO ARE OF HEAVEN. AND JUST AS WE HAVE BORNE THE IMAGE OF THE EARTHLY MAN, SO SHALL WE BEAR THE IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY MAN. HERE ONE CAN SEE THAT 1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-49 IMPLIES THAT AT THE RESURRECTION OF THE RIGHTEOUS TO HEAVEN, THE SPIRITS OF THE SAINTS ARE CLOTHED WITH NEW BODIES MADE UP OF THE SUBSTANCE OR MATTER OF HEAVEN. IN OTHER WORDS, THE SPIRITUAL BODY RECEIVED AT THE RESURRECTION MENTIONED ABOVE IS NOT A NAKED, INTANGIBLE SPIRIT. THE FACT THAT THE SAINTS RECEIVE NEW GLORIFIED BODIES IN HEAVEN AS EXPLICITLY STATED IN 1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-49 IS ALSO STRONGLY IMPLIED IN:
2 CORINTHIANS 5:1 FOR WE KNOW THAT IF THE EARTHLY TENT WE LIVE IN IS DESTROYED, WE HAVE A BUILDING FROM GOD, AN ETERNAL HOUSE IN HEAVEN, NOT BUILT BY HUMAN HANDS. OF COURSE THE EARTHLY TENT IN THIS VERSE IS THE EARTHLY, MORTAL BODY. IF THE EARTHLY TENT IS THE EARTHLY BODY, THEN IT LOGICALLY FOLLOWS THAT THE “BUILDING FROM GOD” OR THE “ETERNAL HOUSE IN HEAVEN” WOULD, THEREFORE, BE THE HEAVENLY BODY THAT CLOTHES THE SPIRIT WHILE IN HEAVEN AFTER DEATH AS THE EARTHLY BODY CLOTHES THE SPIRIT WHILE ON EARTH. THE NOTION THAT THE DEAD ARE RAISED AS PERFECTED EARTHLY BODIES IS DISPELLED BY 1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-50. 1 CORINTHIANS 15:50 FLESH AND BLOOD CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD… IN FUTURIST AND PARTIAL PRETERIST CIRCLES IT IS OFTEN EXPECTED THAT THE RESURRECTION WILL BE AN EARTHLY PHENOMENON IN WHICH THE DEAD WILL BE RAISED AS INCORRUPTIBLE EARTHLY BODIES. AS SHOWN ABOVE, THE NOTION THAT THE RESURRECTION IS AN EARTHLY PHENOMENON IN WHICH THE DEAD ARE RAISED AS PERFECTED EARTHLY BODIES IS DISPELLED BY 1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-50. IN 1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-50, PAUL CLARIFIES THE FACT THAT DURING THE RESURRECTION, THE SAINTS WERE TO ASCEND INTO HEAVEN TO RECEIVE GLORIFIED HEAVENLY BODIES, NOT REMAIN ON EARTH WITH INCORRUPTIBLE CORPORAL BODIES AS IS OFTEN MISTAKENLY SUPPOSED. WHAT ABOUT THE RESURRECTION OF MATTHEW 27:52-53?
IN SUPPORT OF THE IDEA THAT AT THE RESURRECTION THE SAINTS ARE TO RECEIVE IMPERISHABLE EARTHLY BODIES SOME QUOTE: MATTHEW 27:52-53 THE TOMBS WERE OPENED, AND MANY BODIES OF THE SAINTS WHO HAD FALLEN ASLEEP WERE RAISED; AND COMING OUT OF THE TOMBS AFTER HIS RESURRECTION. THEY ENTERED THE HOLY CITY AND APPEARED TO MANY. WHAT HAPPENED HERE WAS THAT DO TO THE EARTHQUAKE, THE TOMBS WERE BROKE OPEN- AND THE BODIES OF THE DEAD EXPOSED. THIS BEING THE CASE, THEY WOULD BE SEEN BY MANY. THIS IS NOT A RESURRECTION, NOR A ZOMBIA APOCALYPSE. IT CAN ALSO BE REASONABLY IMPLIED THAT THESE PARTICULAR GRAVES WERE ROCKY TOMBS, HOLES CARVED INTO THE ROCK WHOSE ENTRANCES WERE SEALED BY LARGE STONES ROLLED IN FRONT OF THEM. WE CAN INFER THIS BECAUSE OF THE OBVIOUS CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TWO STATEMENTS “THE ROCKS SPLIT” AND “THE TOMBS BROKE OPEN.” THIS RECORD OF THE EARTHQUAKE, THE ROCKS BEING SPLIT, THE GRAVES BEING OPENED, AND THE DEAD BEING RAISED OCCURS ONLY IN MATTHEW, AND IT CONTAINS SOME APPARENT INCONSISTENCIES. IN SPITE OF THE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE FOR MATTHEW 27:52 AND 53, THERE ARE SOME VERY DISTURBING THINGS ABOUT THESE VERSES. FIRST AND FOREMOST IS THAT IF “MANY” OF THE OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS AROSE AND WENT TO JERUSALEM, WHY ARE THEY NOT MENTIONED ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT? IN FACT, THE ENTIRE EVENT IS NOT MENTIONED ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE BIBLE. SCRIPTURE IS VERY CLEAR THAT YESHUA IS THE “FIRSTFRUITS FROM THE DEAD,” MEANING, YESHUA WAS THE FIRST PERSON RAISED TO EVERLASTING LIFE; AND JOHN 3:13 AFFIRMS THAT WHEN THE BOOK OF JOHN WAS WRITTEN (PERHAPS 80-90 AD), NO ONE WAS IN HEAVEN BUT YESHUA.
IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE THAT “MANY” OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS HAD BEEN RAISED FOR THREE DAYS AND HAD BEGUN TO ENTER THE CITY OF JERUSALEM AND THIS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN REPORTED. THE “SAINTS” WERE DEAD, NOT ALIVE. THERE IS NOTHING IN THE RECORD THAT SAYS THAT THEY WERE ALIVE IN ANY WAY, OR THAT THEIR “SOULS” WERE RETURNED TO THEM FROM HEAVEN. IT SIMPLY SAYS THAT THEIR BODIES WERE RAISED. BODIES WERE MOVED AND CONSEQUENTLY EMERGED FROM THE OPEN TOMBS. IN OTHER WORDS, GRAVES WERE BROKEN OPEN & CORPSES EMERGED. "THOSE WHO ENTERED THE HOLY CITY" DOES NOT REFER TO THE BODIES OF THE REPOSING SAINTS BUT TO THE MANY TO WHOM THIS WAS MADE KNOWN. MATTHEW 24:34 TRULY I TELL YOU, THIS GENERATION WILL CERTAINLY NOT PASS AWAY UNTIL ALL THESE THINGS HAVE HAPPENED. THIS FIRST CENTURY GENERATION DID NOT PASS UNTIL ALL THE PROPHECIES OF THIS CHAPTER LITERALLY OCCURRED. MATTHEW 24:36-37 BUT ABOUT THAT DAY OR HOUR NO ONE KNOWS, NOT EVEN THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN, NOR THE SON, BUT ONLY THE FATHER. AS IT WAS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH, SO IT WILL BE AT THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN. IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION EARTH IS USED AS A METAPHOR FOR THE LAND OF ISRAEL AND SEA REPRESENTS GENTILE ROME. THIS IMAGERY IS NOT UNIQUE TO REVELATION, EARTH IS OFTEN USED TO DENOTE A SPECIFIC NATION-STATE WHILE WATER IMAGERY LIKE SEA, WATERS AND FLOOD OFTEN POETICALLY SYMBOLIZE FOREIGN ARMIES. MATTHEW 24:40-41 TWO MEN WILL BE IN THE FIELD; ONE WILL BE TAKEN AND THE OTHER LEFT. TWO WOMEN WILL BE GRINDING WITH A HAND MILL; ONE WILL BE TAKEN AND THE OTHER LEFT.
THIS VERSE IS OFTEN MISTAKENLY CITED AS EVIDENCE OF THE RAPTURE. RAPTURE THEORISTS IDENTIFY THOSE WHO ARE TAKEN IN VERSE 40 AS THE RIGHTEOUS WHO ARE RAPTURED. DURING TIMES OF WAR, THE YOUNG MEN IN THE FIELD AND THE YOUNG WOMEN GRINDING AT THE MILL WOULD HAVE BEEN TAKEN (AND KILLED), LEAVING THE OLD MEN AND WOMAN BEHIND. SO THOSE WHO ARE TAKEN ARE DESTROYED- NOT THE ONES LEFT BEHIND. IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS VERSE THOSE WHO ARE TAKEN IN VERSE 40 ARE THE WICKED, NOT THE RIGHTEOUS, SINCE IT WAS THE UNRIGHTEOUS WHO WERE TAKEN AWAY BY NOAH’S FLOOD. MATTHEW 24:51 HE WILL CUT HIM TO PIECES AND ASSIGN HIM A PLACE WITH THE HYPOCRITES, WHERE THERE WILL BE WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH. WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH IS BETTER UNDERSTOOD AS BEING CONSUMED WITH TEARS AND ANGER. THE GREEK PHRASE FOR “GNASHING OF TEETH” LITERALLY MEANS “GRINDING ONE’S TEETH TOGETHER.” MATTHEW 25:31-33 WHEN THE SON OF MAN COMES IN HIS GLORY, AND ALL THE ANGELS WITH HIM, THEN HE WILL SIT ON HIS GLORIOUS THRONE. BEFORE HIM WILL BE GATHERED ALL THE NATIONS, AND HE WILL SEPARATE PEOPLE ONE FROM ANOTHER AS A SHEPHERD SEPARATES THE SHEEP FROM THE GOATS. AND HE WILL PLACE THE SHEEP ON HIS RIGHT, BUT THE GOATS ON THE LEFT. THIS SEPERATING SEEMS TO COME AT THE RESURRECTION WHEN THE RIGHTEOUS GOING TO HEAVEN AND THE WICKED GOING TO DESTRUCTION. LUKE 11:15 BUT SOME OF THEM SAID, “IT IS BY BEELZEBUL, THE PRINCE OF THE DEMONS, THAT HE DRIVES OUT DEMONS.” SOME PHARISEEZS BELIEVED IN BEELZEBUL (AKA: LORD OF THE FLIES), AND IF THEY ATE WITH DIRTY HANDS, THEN THEY COULD BECOME POSSESSED AND THAT DEMON WOULD CAUSE THEM TO FOLLY OR SIN.
ECCLESIASTES 10:1 SAYS THAT A DEAD FLY CAUSES PERFUME TO STINK- THUS A WISE MAN COULD RUIN HIS REPUTATION BECAUSE OF ONE FOLLY. THEREFORE, THE LORD OF THE FLIES- WAS THE LORD OF FOLLY, WHO CAUSES THE WISE TO SIN; OR RUIN THEIR REPUTATION. THIS IS WHY THE PHARISEES HAD A TRADITION OF RITUAL HAND WASHING. ACTS 17:31 BECAUSE HE HAS FIXED A DAY ON WHICH HE WILL JUDGE THE WORLD IN RIGHTEOUSNESS BY A MAN WHOM HE HAS APPOINTED; AND OF THIS HE HAS GIVEN ASSURANCE TO ALL BY RAISING HIM FROM THE DEAD. 1 THESSALONIANS 4:16-17 FOR THE LORD HIMSELF WILL DESCEND FROM HEAVEN WITH A CRY OF COMMAND, WITH THE VOICE OF AN ARCHANGEL, AND WITH THE SOUND OF THE TRUMPET OF GOD. AND THE DEAD IN CHRIST WILL RISE FIRST. THEN WE WHO ARE ALIVE, WHO ARE LEFT, WILL BE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER WITH THEM IN THE CLOUDS TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR, AND SO WE WILL ALWAYS BE WITH THE LORD. THE RAPTURE IS A RELATIVELY NEW CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE MADE POPULAR ESPECIALLY IN AMERICAN EVANGELICAL CIRCLES. MOST CHRISTIANS LIVING IN A CULTURE WHERE THE RAPTURE IS DEEPLY ENGRAVED IN CHURCH TEACHING MIGHT SEE THESE VERSES AS IRREFUTABLE PROOF OF THIS DOCTRINE. HOWEVER, FOR ALMOST TWO THOUSAND YEARS MOST CHRISTIANS UNDERSTOOD THAT THESE VERSES REFERRED TO THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. DESPITE BEING LESS THAN TWO HUNDRED YEARS OLD, THE DOCTRINE OF THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE HAS GROWN IN POPULARITY SO QUICKLY THAT MANY MODERN CHRISTIANS ASSUME ITS VALIDITY ALMOST AXIOMATICALLY. PART OF THE REASON THIS TEACHING HAS SPREAD SO QUICKLY IS BECAUSE OF AN EXCERPT FROM ANOTHER ONE OF PAUL’S LETTERS.
HOWEVER, 1 CORINTHIANS 15:51-52 AND 1 THESSALONIANS 4:15-18 IMPLY THAT THE SAINTS WHO HAVE OUTLIVED THE RESURRECTION WILL BE RAISED TO HEAVEN AFTER DEATH WITHOUT A LENGTHY IMPRISONMENT IN SHEOL WHILE THOSE STILL IN SHEOL AT THE RESURRECTION WILL RISE TO HEAVEN FIRST. THESE VERSES SUGGEST THAT DURING AND AFTER THE RESURRECTION AT THE LAST TRUMPET, MANY PEOPLE WILL NO LONGER BE IMPRISONED IN DEATH OR THE SLEEPY REALM OF SHEOL BEFORE RESURRECTING FROM THE DEAD. THESE PEOPLE WILL BE “CHANGED” MEANING THAT THEY WILL BE GIVEN THEIR RESURRECTION BODIES IMMEDIATELY AFTER DEATH PRESUMABLY WITHOUT BEING TRAPPED IN SHEOL FIRST. IN LIGHT OF THIS UNDERSTANDING, 1 THESSALONIANS 4:15-17 NOW SEEMS TO ECHO THIS POINT. THE REASON WHY THE “THE DEAD IN CHRIST WILL RISE FIRST” IS BECAUSE THOSE “WHO ARE LEFT UNTIL THE COMING OF THE LORD” MUST WAIT UNTIL THEIR INDIVIDUAL TIME OF DEATH SOMETIME AFTER THE LAST TRUMPET BEFORE THEY ARE “CHANGED” INTO THEIR RESURRECTION BODIES… THUS I BELIEVE THE “CHANGE” MENTIONED IN 1 CORINTHIANS 15:51-52 BEGINS AT THE LAST TRUMPET AND CONTINUES THEREAFTER IMMEDIATELY AT THE TIME OF PHYSICAL DEATH. IN THE VERSE SAYING WE WILL "MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR", THE GREEK WORD FOR AIR IN THIS VERSE IS INTERCHANGEABLE WITH SKY OR HEAVEN, THE AFTERLIFE REALM. THE CLOUDS IN 1 THESSALONIANS 4:17 UPON WHICH THE SAINTS MEET THE LORD IS THE GLORY CLOUD, THE QUINTESSENTIAL BIBLICAL SIGN OF THE SPIRITUAL PRESENCE OF GOD. IT ALSO REPRESENTS GOD'S GLORY. IN LIGHT OF 2 CORINTHIANS 12:2-4, THE WORD “CAUGHT UP” IN 1 THESSALONIANS 4:17 DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE SAINTS ARE RAPTURED OR RAISED TO HEAVEN CORPORALLY.
1 THESSALONIANS 4:17 SAYS THAT THE SAINTS WILL BE “CAUGHT UP” TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR. “THE WORDS ‘CAUGHT UP’ ARE [FROM] THE GREEK WORD HARAPAZO, IT MEANS: ‘TO SNATCH AWAY.’ INTERESTINGLY HARAPAZO OR “CAUGHT UP” IS ALSO FOUND IN 2 CORINTHIANS 12:2-4 AND REVELATION 12:5: 2 CORINTHIANS 12:2-4 I KNOW A MAN IN CHRIST WHO FOURTEEN YEARS AGO—WHETHER IN THE BODY I DO NOT KNOW, OR OUT OF THE BODY I DO NOT KNOW, GOD KNOWS—SUCH A MAN WAS CAUGHT UP [HARAPAZO] TO THE THIRD HEAVEN. AND I KNOW HOW SUCH A MAN—WHETHER IN THE BODY OR APART FROM THE BODY I DO NOT KNOW, GOD KNOWS—WAS CAUGHT UP [HARAPAZO] INTO PARADISE AND HEARD INEXPRESSIBLE WORDS, WHICH A MAN IS NOT PERMITTED TO SPEAK… REVELATION 12:5 AND SHE GAVE BIRTH TO A SON, A MALE CHILD, WHO IS TO RULE ALL THE NATIONS WITH A ROD OF IRON; AND HER CHILD WAS CAUGHT UP, [HARAPAZO] TO GOD AND TO HIS THRONE. NOTICE THAT IN 2 CORINTHIANS 12:2-4 AND REVELATION 12:5 HARAPAZO OR “CAUGHT UP” IS APPLIED TO THOSE TAKEN TO HEAVEN, NOT THE LITERAL SKY. THIS IS ALSO WHAT APPEARS TO BE IMPLIED IN 1 THESSALONIANS 4:17 SINCE 1 THESSALONIANS 4:17 SAYS THAT IT IS HERE, PRESUMABLY IN THE AIR- (HEAVEN), THAT THE SAINTS REMAIN WITH CHRIST FOREVER.' 1 CORINTHIANS 15:52 SAYS THAT THE RESURRECTION WAS TO OCCUR AT THE LAST TRUMPET. MANY PRETERISTS BELIEVE THAT THE LAST TRUMPET IS THE SEVENTH TRUMPET OF REVELATION 11:15. A LITERAL TRUMPET WOULD HAVE LIKELY BEEN BLOWN BY THE ROMAN ARMY AT THE START OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. PERHAPS THE SEVENTH TRUMPET OF REVELATION WAS BLOWN AT THIS TIME.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:2-4 FOR YOU YOURSELVES ARE FULLY AWARE THAT THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL COME LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT. WHILE PEOPLE ARE SAYING, “THERE IS PEACE AND SECURITY,”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
THE FIRST OCCASION WAS SHORTLY AFTER THE DEATH OF NERO IN A.D. 68. UPON HEARING OF THE DEATH OF NERO, THE ROMAN ASSAULT CEASED AND TITUS AND VESPASIAN LEFT JUDAEA TO AWAIT FURTHER ORDERS. THUS SHORTLY AFTER THE DEATH OF NERO WE HAVE ONE OCCASION IN WHICH THE LAWLESS ONE WAS TAKEN AWAY AND REDUCED TO INACTIVITY. THE NEXT OCCASION IN WHICH THE LAWLESS ONE WAS TAKEN AWAY AND REDUCED TO INACTIVITY WAS AFTER THE FALL OF JERUSALEM IN A.D. 70. AFTER USURPING THE THRONE AND BECOMING CAESAR IN A.D. 69, VESPASIAN DISPATCHED TITUS BACK TO JUDAEA WITH AN OVERWHELMING MILITARY FORCE IN ORDER TO PUT AN END TO THE JEWISH REVOLT BY BESIEGING JERUSALEM. THE CITY FELL AFTER A FIVE-MONTH SIEGE AND TITUS THEN LEFT ISRAEL FOR ROME TO CELEBRATE A TRIUMPH WITH HIS FATHER, VESPASIAN. 2 THESSALONIANS 2:9 READS, THE COMING OF THE LAWLESS ONE WILL BE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WORKS OF SATAN DISPLAYED IN ALL KINDS OF COUNTERFEIT MIRACLES, SIGNS AND WONDERS . . . IMMEDIATELY BEFORE ENTERING ROME TO CLAIM THE CROWN, CAESAR VESPASIAN, THE FORMER ROMAN GENERAL OF THE JEWISH-ROMAN WAR, WAS IN ALEXANDRIA WHEN AND WHERE A BLIND MAN AND A MAN WITH A WITHERED HAND FELL BEFORE HIM BEGGING TO BE HEALED: WITH A SMILING EXPRESSION AND SURROUNDED BY AN EXPECTANT CROWD OF BYSTANDERS, HE [VESPASIAN] DID WHAT WAS ASKED. INSTANTLY THE CRIPPLE RECOVERED THE USE OF HIS HAND AND THE LIGHT OF DAY DAWNED AGAIN UPON HIS BLIND COMPANION. BOTH THESE INCIDENTS ARE STILL VOUCHED FOR BY EYE-WITNESSES, THOUGH THERE IS NOW NOTHING TO BE GAINED BY LYING.
2 PETER 3:5-7 FOR THIS THEY WILLINGLY ARE IGNORANT OF, THAT BY THE WORD OF GOD THE HEAVENS WERE OF OLD, AND THE EARTH STANDING OUT OF THE WATER AND IN THE WATER: WHEREBY THE WORLD THAT THEN WAS, BEING OVERFLOWED WITH WATER, PERISHED: BUT THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, WHICH ARE NOW, BY THE SAME WORD ARE KEPT IN STORE, RESERVED UNTO FIRE AGAINST THE DAY OF JUDGMENT AND PERDITION OF UNGODLY MEN. IF ONE BELIEVES THAT THE WATERS AND FLOOD OF NOAH’S TIME WAS A LITERAL FLOOD WHICH LITERALLY DESTROYED THE EARTH WHETHER IN A LOCAL OR GLOBAL SENSE, ONE IS ALSO COMPELLED TO BELIEVE THAT THE FIRE THAT DESTROYS THE EARTH IN 2 PETER 3:7 MUST ALSO BE LITERAL. YOU CANNOT HAVE LITERAL WATERS IN 2 PETER 3:6 WITHOUT ALSO HAVING LITERAL FIRE IN 2 PETER 3:7-13. WAS THE FIRE OF 2 PETER 3:7-13 LITERAL? YES. AS PART OF THE ROMAN SCORCHED-EARTH POLICY, JOSEPHUS RECORDS THE FACT THAT THE ROMANS LITERALLY DESTROYED THE CITIES AND MUCH OF THE COUNTRYSIDE OF ISRAEL, THE EARTH, BY FIRE DURING THE JEWISH WAR. BECAUSE OF THE "ABOMINATIONS" OF THE PHARISEES, YESHUA TOLD THEM, "SEE! YOUR HOUSE IS LEFT TO YOU DESOLATE" (MATTHEW 23:38). THUS DANIEL'S STATEMENT IN DANIEL 9:27 ABOUT JERUSALEM BECOMING "DESOLATE" WAS FULFILLED IN A.D. 70, NOT TO BE FULFILLED IN THE FUTURE. THIS IS EVIDENCE WHICH IS OVERWHELMING AGAINST TODAY'S LEFT BEHIND THEORIES. POINT BY POINT THE EVENTS OF DANIEL'S 70TH WEEK HAVE BEEN FULFILLED IN THE PAST. THE ENTIRE "SEVEN-YEAR PERIOD OF TRIBULATION" THEORY IS AN END TIME DELUSION, A MASSIVE MEGA-MYTH. IT MAY EVEN GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS THE "GREATEST EVANGELICAL MISINTERPRETATION OF ALL TIME." IT'S A FACT THAT THERE IS NO TEXT IN THE BIBLE WHICH TEACHES A "SEVEN-YEAR TRIBULATION."
THE ENTIRE PROPHECY OF DANIEL 9:24-27 COVERS A PERIOD OF "SEVENTY WEEKS." LOGIC REQUIRES THAT "SEVENTY WEEKS" REFERS TO ONE CONSECUTIVE BLOCK OF TIME, IN OTHER WORDS, TO SEVENTY STRAIGHT SEQUENTIAL WEEKS. LOGIC ALSO REQUIRES THAT THE 70TH WEEK FOLLOW IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE 69TH WEEK. THE 70 WEEKS DANIEL 9:24 SEVENTY WEEKS ARE DETERMINED UPON THY PEOPLE AND UPON THY HOLY CITY, TO FINISH THE TRANSGRESSION, AND TO MAKE AN END OF SINS, AND TO MAKE RECONCILIATION FOR INIQUITY, AND TO BRING IN EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND TO SEAL UP THE VISION AND PROPHECY, AND TO ANOINT THE MOST HOLY. THE 490 YEARS (70 WEEKS) REFER TO THE ENTIRE TIME PERIOD FROM THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FIRST TEMPLE UNTIL THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SECOND. GABRIEL OUTLINED THIS ENTIRE PERIOD TO DANIEL. DANIEL ALSO STATES THAT THIS MESSIAH WILL BE CUT OFF “AND THERE WILL NOT BE TO HIM” (“V’AIN LO”). IT IS A CRYPTIC TERM, BUT SEEMS TO SAY THAT HE WILL HAVE NOTHING LEFT OR THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT OF HIM. CHRISTIANS INTERPRET THIS EXPRESSION AS MEANING “HE WILL DIE BUT NOT FOR HIS OWN SAKE” – NAMELY, THE MESSIAH WILL DIE FOR OUR SINS. BUT THAT IS SIMPLY NOT WHAT THE HEBREW MEANS. CHRISTIANS BELIEVE THAT THE MESSIAH WAS TO BE CUT OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FINAL 7 YEARS (THE FINAL “WEEK” OF V. 27) AND AT THE END OF THAT WEEK THE TEMPLE WAS DESTINED TO BE DESTROYED. BUT ACCORDING TO CHRISTIAN TRADITION, YESHUA WAS CRUCIFIED IN THE EARLY 30’S C.E. WHICH WAS WELL OVER THE HALF WEEK (24.5 YEARS) BEFORE THE TEMPLE’S DESTRUCTION IN THE YEAR 70. IT IS ALSO DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND WHEN TO BEGIN THE COUNT OF 490 YEARS ACCORDING TO CHRISTIAN IDEAOLOGY.
THIS IS HOW DANIEL 9:24-26 SHOULD BE CORRECTLY TRANSLATED AND UNDERSTOOD: SEVENTY WEEKS (490 YEARS) ARE DETERMINED UPON YOUR PEOPLE AND UPON YOUR HOLY CITY, TO FINISH THE TRANSGRESSION, AND TO MAKE AN END OF SINS, AND TO MAKE RECONCILIATION FOR INIQUITY, AND TO BRING IN EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND TO SEAL UP THE VISION AND PROPHECY, AND TO ANOINT THE HOLY OF HOLIES. KNOW THEREFORE AND DISCERN THAT FROM THE ISSUING OF A WORD TO RESTORE AND REBUILD JERUSALEM (STARTING FROM ITS DESTRUCTION) UNTIL AN ANOINTED PRINCE (CYRUS) WILL BE SEVEN WEEKS (49 YEARS) AND THEN FOR SIXTY-TWO WEEKS (434 YEARS) IT WILL BE BUILT AGAIN WITH PLAZA AND MOAT BUT IN TROUBLED TIMES… (PERSIAN, GREEK AND ROMAN DOMINATION) THEN AFTER THE SIXTY- TWO WEEKS (483 YEARS FROM THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FIRST TEMPLE) AN ANOINTED ONE (SACRIFICES, LAST JEWISH PRIEST AND KING) WILL BE CUT OFF AND WILL BE NO MORE, AND THE PEOPLE OF THE PRINCE (ROMANS) WHO IS TO COME WILL DESTROY THE CITY AND THE SANCTUARY (IN THE 70TH WEEK 490 YEARS FROM THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FIRST TEMPLE)… AN “ANOINTED ONE” WILL BE CUT OFF EITHER REFERS TO THE HIGH PRIEST AT THAT TIME, OR THE NOTION OF THE PRIESTHOOD IN GENERAL. THE TEMPLE WILL BE UTTERLY DESTROYED BY THE ROMAN LEGIONS OF VESPASIAN AND TITUS. (“THE PEOPLE OF THE PRINCE”). THE ROMANS, WHO ARE OFTEN SYMBOLIZED BY THE EAGLE WINGS RESTING ON THEIR STANDARDS, WOULD DESECRATE THE TEMPLE WITH IDOLATRY. DANIEL IS PROFOUNDLY WORRIED ABOUT THE PROPHECY OF JEREMIAH. JEREMIAH FORETOLD THAT JERUSALEM’S DESTRUCTION WOULD LAST 70 YEARS (SEE JEREMIAH 25:12 AND 29:10). HE THOUGHT THE 70 YEARS HAD COME TO AN END ALREADY, AND IN FACT THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE HAD RECENTLY BEEN OVERTAKEN BY THE PERSIANS, YET THE RETURN TO JERUSALEM HAD NOT OCCURRED.
HE FEARED THAT THEY WERE NOT WORTHY OF THE PROPHESIED REDEMPTION AND THAT IT WAS GOING TO BE DELAYED. HE BEGAN FASTING AND PRAYING, BESEECHING GOD FOR HIS FORGIVENESS, UNTIL “THE ANGEL” GABRIEL CAME TO HIM AND CLARIFIED THE FUTURE EVENTS WHEN THE 2ND TEMPLE WOULD BE REBUILT AND HOW LONG IT WOULD STAND. VERSE 27 ADDS SOME INTERESTING DETAILS OF THOSE FINAL YEARS AND BEYOND. THE ROMANS WILL MAKE A COVENANT OF PEACE WITH THE “GREAT ONES” OF ISRAEL FOR THE FINAL SEVEN YEARS. HOWEVER, THEY WILL NOT ABIDE BY THEIR COVENANT BUT FOR THE FINAL HALF A WEEK BEFORE THE TEMPLE’S DESTRUCTION THEY WILL ABOLISH THE OFFERING OF SACRIFICES. ALSO, AN IDOLATROUS TEMPLE WITH MUTE ABOMINATIONS WOULD LATER BE BUILT ON THE HIGH PLACE OF THE TEMPLE (BY HADRIAN) – UNTIL DESTRUCTION WILL BE POURED OUT UPON ALL SUCH ABOMINATIONS IN THE END OF DAYS. DANIEL 12:2 AND MANY OF THOSE WHO SLEEP IN THE DUST OF THE EARTH SHALL AWAKE, SOME TO EVERLASTING LIFE, SOME TO SHAME AND EVERLASTING CONTEMPT. ACCORDING TO 1 CORINTHIANS 15:52 THERE WAS TO BE A MASS RESURRECTION AT THE LAST TRUMPET. THE FINAL TRUMPET MENTIONED IN THIS VERSE APPEARS TO BE THE SEVENTH TRUMPET DESCRIBED IN REVELATION 11:14. THE SOUNDING OF THIS TRUMPET CORRESPONDS PRECISELY WITH THE SOUNDING OF THE ROMAN TRUMPETS SIGNALING THE START OF THE ROMAN ATTACK ON JERUSALEM ON PASSOVER OF A.D. 70. DANIEL 12:11 AND FROM THE TIME THAT THE DAILY SACRIFICE IS TAKEN AWAY, AND THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION IS SET UP, THERE SHALL BE 1290 DAYS. BLESSED IS HE WHO WAITS, AND COMES TO THE 1335DAYS.
IT SEEMS TO BE THAT THERE TRULY WERE 1290 DAYS FROM THE TIME THAT THE DAILY SACRIFICE [TO CAESAR WAS] ABOLISHED [IN A.D. 66] AND THE ABOMINATION THAT CAUSES DESOLATION [WAS] SET UP [IN A.D. 70]. THE ROMAN ARMY WITH THEIR IDOLS TO ZEUS, CAESAR AND ROME IS THE ABOMINATION THAT CAUSES DESOLATION. 1335 DAYS ARE ROUGHLY THREE AND A HALF YEARS (3.66 YEARS). RECALL THAT DANIEL 9:27 SAYS THAT THE PRINCE TO COME WILL “CONFIRM A COVENANT WITH MANY FOR ONE ‘SEVEN,AND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ‘SEVEN’ HE WILL PUT AN END TO SACRIFICE AND OFFERING.” THESE “SEVENS” ARE SEVEN-YEAR INTERVALS. DANIEL 9:27 WAS FULFILLED IN THE FACT THAT THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM DIVIDED THE JEWISH WAR INTO TWO THREE AND A HALF YEAR INTERVALS. THERE WERE EXACTLY 1,335 DAYS FROM THE ABOLITION OF THE DAILY SACRIFICE TO CAESAR IN AV OF A.D. 66 UNTIL THE BEGINNING OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM ON PASSOVER OF A.D. 70. THERE WERE ALSO EXACTLY 1,335 DAYS FROM THE 9TH OF AV OF A.D. 70 WHEN THE ROMAN ARMY WORSHIPED IDOLS OF ZEUS, ROME AND CAESAR ON THE EASTERN GATE OF THE TEMPLE UNTIL THE FIRST DAY OF PEACE AT THE END OF THE JEWISH WAR ON THE 16TH OF NISAN IN A.D. 74. THE 16TH OF NISAN, WAS THE FIRST OFFICIAL DAY OF PEACE. THE 16TH OF NISAN OF A.D. 74 IS EXACTLY 1335 DAYS AFTER THE NINTH DAY OF AV IN A.D. 70 WHEN THE ROMAN ARMY BROKE INTO THE TEMPLE, SET IT ON FIRE AND SACRIFICED A PIG TO THE ENSIGNS ON THE EASTERN GATE. IN MATTHEW 16:27-28, YESHUA DECLARES, “THE SON OF MAN IS GOING TO COME IN HIS FATHER’S GLORY WITH HIS ANGELS. . . . SOME OF YOU STANDING HERE WILL NOT TASTE DEATH BEFORE THEY SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING IN HIS KINGDOM.” THESE VERSES ARE FULFILLED LITERALLY IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
AFTER YESHUA CONQUERED DEATH, THE DEPARTED ARE PRESUMABLY IMMEDIATELY RAISED TO LIFE WITHOUT BEING CONFINED TO THE SPIRITUAL REALM OF DEATH CALLED SHEOL FIRST. WE READ IN REVELATION 17:12 THAT THE 10 HORNS HAD “RECEIVED NO KINGDOM AS YET.” THIS WAS TRUE AT THE TIME WHEN JOHN WROTE REVELATION. BEFORE THE WINTER OF 66-67 AD THESE GENERALS DIDN’T OVERSEE JERUSALEM, IDUMAEA, JERICHO, PEREA, ETC. THEY RECEIVED THESE KINGDOMS AND THIS AUTHORITY AROUND THE BEGINNING OF 67 AD AFTER THE DEFEAT OF CESTIUS GALLUS. REVELATION 13:1 AND I STOOD UPON THE SAND OF THE SEA, AND SAW A BEAST RISE UP OUT OF THE SEA, HAVING SEVEN HEADS AND TEN HORNS, AND UPON HIS HORNS TEN CROWNS, AND UPON HIS HEADS THE NAME OF BLASPHEMY.
THE 10 APPOINTED JEWISH GENERALS OF REVELATION 13:1 1. JOSEPH, THE SON OF GORION (GOVERNOR OF JERUSALEM) 2. ANANUS, THE HIGH PRIEST (GOVERNOR OF JERUSALEM) 3. JESUS, THE SON OF SAPPHIAS, ONE OF THE HIGH PRIESTS (IDUMAEA) 4. ELEAZAR, THE SON OF ANANIAS, THE HIGH PRIEST (IDUMAEA) 5. NIGER, THE THEN GOVERNOR OF IDUMEA (IDUMAEA) 6. JOSEPH, THE SON OF SIMON (JERICHO) 7. MANASSEH (PEREA) 8. JOHN, THE ESSCUE (TOPARCHY OF THAMNA; “LYDDA, JOPPA, AND EMMAUS”) 9. JOHN, THE SON OF MATTHIAS (TOPARCHIES OF GOPHNITICA, ACRABATTENE) 10. JOSEPHUS, THE SON OF MATTHIAS (BOTH THE GALILEES)
IN REVELATION 17:14 WE READ, “THESE WILL MAKE WAR WITH THE LAMB, AND THE LAMB WILL OVERCOME THEM, FOR HE IS LORD OR LORDS AND KING OF KINGS; AND THOSE WHO ARE WITH HIM ARE CALLED, CHOSEN, AND FAITHFUL.” YESHUA MADE WAR AGAINST THE HARLOT/GREAT CITY AND HE USED THE ROMAN ARMY AS HIS INSTRUMENT. THE 144,000 APPEAR TO BE THE BODY OF FIRST CENTURY BELIEVERS THAT SURVIVED ISRAEL’S FIRST CENTURY WAR WITH ROME. IN REVELATION 7 JOHN LISTS TWELVE THOUSAND MEN FROM EACH OF THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL TO BE SEALED AND PROTECTED FROM THE COMING JUDGMENT. IF THE TWELVE TRIBES ARE SYMBOLIC OF COURSE THE EXACT NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS FROM EACH TRIBE IS PROBABLY ALSO NOT LITERAL. REVELATION 7:9-14 TELLS OF “A GREAT MULTITUDE FROM EVERY NATION, TRIBE, PEOPLE AND LANGUAGE” THAT “HAVE COME OUT OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION.” THE SAME TRIBULATION THE WOMAN AND 144,000 APPEAR TO AVOID. AFTER THE WOMAN ESCAPES THE DRAGON, THE DRAGON WENT OFF TO WAGE WAR AGAINST THE REST OF HER OFFSPRING—THOSE WHO KEEP GOD’S COMMANDMENTS. THESE JEWISH CHRISTIAN SURVIVORS APPEAR TO BE THE 144,000 AND THE WOMAN OF REVELATION 12.
ARMAGEDDON REVELATION 16:16 THEN THEY GATHERED THE KINGS TOGETHER TO THE PLACE THAT IN HEBREW IS CALLED ARMAGEDDON. THE WORD ARMAGEDDON, HAR-MAGEDDON, IS COMMONLY SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT THE MOUNTAIN OF MEGIDDO BETTER KNOWN AS MT. CARMEL. THE ROMAN KINGS, GENERALS AND THEIR ARMIES GATHERED IN THE COASTAL CITY OF CAESAREA IMMEDIATELY BEFORE MARCHING SOUTH TO ATTACK JERUSALEM IN A.D. 70.35 CAESAREA IS ABOUT EIGHT MILES EAST OF MT. CARMEL, AND MT. CARMEL IS CLEARLY VISIBLE FROM CAEAREA. THROUGH THIS REGION RAN A HIGHWAY WHERE GOODS WERE TRADED BETWEEN EGYPT, ASIA MINOR AND THE MIDDLE EAST. THIS HIGHWAY PASSED NEAR CAESAREA AND CONTINUED NORTHEAST ALONG THE EDGE OF MT. CARMEL THROUGH THE VALLEY OF JEZREEL. GIVEN THE CLOSE PROXIMITY OF THE CITY OF CAESAREA AND THE VALLEY OF MEGIDDO, PERHAPS THE MOUNTAIN OF MEGIDDO IS THE CITY OF CAESAREA ITSELF? AFTER ALL MOUNTAINS OFTEN DENOTE CITIES IN THE BIBLE. IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT JEZREEL VALLEY WHERE MT. MEGIDDO IS LOCATED AND THE ROMAN ARMY MET BEFORE BEGINNING THEIR SIEGE OF JERUSALEM IN A.D. 70 WAS CALLED “THE GREAT PLAIN OF LEGIO (MEANING LEGION)” AFTER THE SECOND JEWISH REVOLT (A.D. 132-35).” THIS VERSE INDICATES THAT THE KINGS WOULD MEET AT ARMAGEDDON THOUGH IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTICE THAT NO EXPLICIT MENTION IS MADE IN THIS VERSE OR ELSEWHERE OF A BATTLE AT MT. MEGIDDO ITSELF. THEREFORE, THE POPULAR NOTION OF THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON AT MT. MEGIDDO IS A TEACHING WITHOUT MEANINGFUL BIBLICAL SUPPORT.
THE HEBREW FOR ARMAGEDDON LITERALLY MEANS “MOUNTAIN OF [GATHERING] TROOPS.” SINCE “MOUNTAINS” SIGNIFY KINGDOMS IN THE BIBLE, THIS “MOUNTAIN” APPEARS TO BE SPIRITUAL BABYLON (JERUSALEM).
MANY CHRISTIAN SCHOLARS HAVE NOW DISMISSED THE NOTION OF A BATTLE AT MT. MEGIDDO IN FAVOR OF A BATTLE AT JERUSALEM. THE FACT THAT JERUSALEM, CALLED MANY THINGS THROUGHOUT THIS PROPHETIC SERIES OF VISIONS, IS GIVEN THIS TITLE IS NOT SURPRISING SINCE IT IS AT JERUSALEM THAT THE ROMAN ARMY AND THE REMAINING JEWISH REBELS CONVERGED TO FACE ONE ANOTHER DURING THE CLIMAX OF THE JEWISH WAR. PERHAPS THIS TERM HAS AN INTENTIONALLY AMBIGUOUS ETYMOLOGY IN ORDER TO ALLUDE TO BOTH THE VICINITY OF MEGIDDO, WHERE THE ROMANS MET BEFORE THEIR ATTACK ON JERUSALEM, AND JERUSALEM ITSELF. YESHUA IN MATTHEW 24:15-20 AND LUKE 21:20-24 CONNECTS “THE WAR” OF DANIEL 9 AND 12 AND THE SURROUNDING OF THE IDUMEAN AND ROMAN ARMIES TO A SPECIFIC SIGN OF HIS COMING AND “THE END” OR “THE END OF THE AGE” IN THE YEARS BETWEEN AD 66 – AD 70. THE 2 WITNESSES REVELATION 11:4-14 THESE ARE THE TWO OLIVE TREES, AND THE TWO CANDLESTICKS STANDING BEFORE THE GOD OF THE EARTH.
THESE TWO OLIVE TREES ARE NOT INDIVIDUALS- BUT RATHER TWO GROUPS OF PEOPLE.
THIS OLIVE BRANCH REPRESENTS THE JEWISH PEOPLE- THE NATURAL BRANCHES.
BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF, THESE NATURTAL BRANCHES ARE BROKEN OFF. THOSE GRAFTED IN AMOUNG THE NATURAL BRANCHES ARE GENTILES. ROMANS 11:21 FOR IF GOD SPARED NOT THE NATURAL BRANCHES, TAKE HEED LEST HE ALSO SPARE NOT THEE. YESHUA IS TELLING THE GENTILES HERE (THROUGH PAUL), DO NOT BECOME ARROGANT. JUST BECAUSE GOD HAS CALLED YOU- DOES NOT MEAN HE HAS ABANDONED THE JEWISH PEOPLE. REMEMBER, IT IS THE ROOT THAT SUPPORTS YOU. THEREFORE, DO NOT BE ARROGANT. BUT TREMBLE! THE GOD SAYS SOMETHING ABOUT THE JEWS THAT WERE CUT OFF IN ORDER THAT YOU, GENTILES, COULD BE GRAFTED IN: ROMANS 11:23 AND THEY ALSO, IF THEY ABIDE NOT STILL IN UNBELIEF, SHALL BE GRAFTED IN: FOR GOD IS ABLE TO GRAFT THEM IN AGAIN. GOD’S PEOPLE ARE THE TWO OLIVE TREES. REVELATION 11:2-3 BUT THE COURT WHICH IS WITHOUT THE TEMPLE LEAVE OUT, AND MEASURE IT NOT; FOR IT IS GIVEN UNTO THE GENTILES: AND THE HOLY CITY SHALL THEY TREAD UNDER FOOT FORTY AND TWO MONTHS. AND I WILL GIVE POWER UNTO MY TWO WITNESSES, AND THEY SHALL PROPHESY A THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND THREESCORE DAYS, CLOTHED IN SACKCLOTH. BEING CLOTHES IN SACKCLOTH MEANS THEY WERE PROPHESYING BAD THINGS. NOTE THAT THE WITNESSES ARE PROPHESYING WHILE THE CITY STILL STANDS. THE NATIONS GET ANGRY WITH THE WITNESSES, THEN THE WITNESSES DIE, AND THEN THE WRATH OF GOD COMES AGAINST JERUSALEM…
THE 2 WITNESSES EMBODY THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS/THE WORD OF GOD. THESE 2 WITNESSES REPRESENT THE TWO-FOLD OATH WHICH GOD HIMSELF SWORE. GOD SWORE TO DAVID THAT HE WOULD SEAT ONE OF HIS DESCENDANTS UPON HIS THRONE (ACTS 2:29-31, 2SAMUEL 7:8-17) AND GOD ALSO SWORE TO THAT DESCENDANT (CHRIST) "YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK." (HEBREWS 7:21-22, PSALMS 110:4) THE OATHS GOD SWORE DECLARE THAT CHRIST AS HEAD OF THE CHURCH IS BOTH KING AND HIGH PRIEST. THE TWO WITNESSES IN JOHN’S VISION AND THE TWO OLIVE TREES IN ZECHARIAH'S VISION SIGNIFY THIS PROMISE OF THE DOUBLE ANOINTING OF YESHUA. THE TWO WITNESSES WERE TO WEAR SACKCLOTH (REVELATION 11:3). SACKCLOTH IS WHAT THE NAME SUGGESTS —A ROUGH CLOTH FOR THE MAKING OF SACKS. IT WAS WORN AS A SIGN OF REPROACH AND SORROW FOR SIN, IF NOT FOR ONE'S OWN SIN, THEN FOR THE SINS OF OTHERS. IN THIS VISION, SACKCLOTH REPRESENTS THE REPROACH OF CHRIST — HE BORE THE SINS OF THE WORLD (PSALMS 69:7-21). THE LAMPSTANDS SIGNIFY THE LIGHT WHICH THESE TWO DIVINE OATHS, AND THE PERSON ABOUT WHOM THE OATHS WERE MADE, SHED UPON A DARK WORLD. YESHUA, OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST AND KING OF KINGS, IS LORD OF THE EARTH AND LIGHT OF THE WORLD (JOHN 1:1-5). THE TWO WITNESSES HAVE POWER TO KILL THEIR ENEMIES WITH PLAGUES (REVELATION 11:5-6). THIS SIGNIFIES THE FACT THAT THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST (OUR HIGHPRIEST AND KING) TORMENTS THE ENEMIES OF GOD AND OVERPOWERS THEM. THE FACT THAT THE TWO WITNESSES ARE DEPICTED AS TWO LAMPSTANDS AND TWO OLIVE TREES ALSO POINTS TO CHRIST WHO IS THE SOLE EMBODIMENT OF THE CHURCH, THE BODY OF CHRIST.
THE DEADLY WOUND THE ROMAN BEAST WITH ITS SEVEN HEADS REPRESENTS SEVEN CAESARS THIS CHAPTER OPENS WITH THE DEVIL STANDING ON THE SHORE OF THE SEA–A METAPHOR FOR ROME THROUGHOUT THE BOOK OF REVELATION. THIS SYMBOLISM IS MOST EXPLICIT IN: REVELATION 17:15 THE WATERS WHICH YOU SAW WHERE THE HARLOT SITS, ARE PEOPLES AND MULTITUDES AND NATIONS AND TONGUES. SEE IN THE BIBLE “EARTH” SIGNIFIES THE SPECIFIC LAND ADDRESSED WHILE “SEA” SYMBOLIZES FOREIGN NATIONS. THIS SEVEN-HEADED SEA MONSTER REPRESENTS ROME. THE PROPHETS ISAIAH, DANIEL AND EZEKIEL ALSO USED MYTHICAL SEA MONSTERS TO SYMBOLIZE OPPRESSIVE GENTILE EMPIRES (DANIEL 7; ISAIAH 27:1, 30:7, 51:9-10; AND EZEKIEL 32:2-9). FOLLOWING THE PRECEDENCE SET IN EZEKIEL 32:2-9, THE AUTHOR OF REVELATION USES THIS SEA BEAST IMAGERY TO SIGNIFY BOTH AN EMPIRE AND ITS LEADERS. THUS THE BEAST IS BOTH A KING AND HIS KINGDOM. ILLUSTRATING THIS ANCIENT CONCEPTION, KENNETH GENTRY QUOTES THE ROMAN POET OVID (43 B.C.-A.D. 18) AS SAYING, “THE STATE IS CAESAR.” THE SEVEN HEADS OF THE SEA MONSTER REPRESENT THE SEVEN CAESARS OF ROME AND ITS BODY REPRESENTS THE ROMAN CITIZENRY. IS THE SEVEN-HEADED BEAST OF REVELATION 13 THE KINGS OF ISRAEL? THIS INTERPRETATION IS CONFIRMED IN REVELATION 17:10. HERE IT IS SAID THAT THE SEVEN HEADS OF THE BEAST ARE SEVEN KINGS. SIMILAR IMAGERY IS FOUND IN: COLOSSIANS 1:18 AND HE [CHRIST] IS THE HEAD OF THE BODY, THE CHURCH. . . .
HEAD IS A BIBLICAL METAPHOR FOR A KING OR LEADER. LIKEWISE, BODY REPRESENTS A KINGDOM OR COHESIVE GROUP OF PEOPLE. SIMILARLY, THIS BEAST, WITH ITS MANY HEADS, SIGNIFIES BOTH CAESAR AND HIS EMPIRE. THE NUMBER SEVEN POINTS TO ROME IN TWO COMPLIMENTARY WAYS: “THE SEVEN HEADS ARE SEVEN HILLS ON WHICH THE WOMAN SITS. THEY ARE ALSO SEVEN KINGS.” (REVELATION 17:9-10) ROME WAS FOUNDED ON EXACTLY SEVEN HILLS BY EXACTLY SEVEN KINGS. AUNE WRITES, “[A]CCORDING TO TRADITION, ROME DID HAVE SEVEN KINGS, NO MORE AND NO LESS. THESE BELONGED TO THE ROMAN MONARCHY BEGINNING WITH ROMULUS (TRADITIONALLY 753 B.C.) AND ENDING WITH THE EXPULSION OF THE SEVENTH KING, TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS, IN 508 B.C.” ROMANS SUFFERED GREATLY DURING THE REIGN OF THESE SEVEN KINGS CAUSING ROME TO BECOME A REPUBLIC IN 509 B.C. IT MUST BE EMPHASIZED, HOWEVER, THAT THE SEVEN HEADS/KINGS OF REVELATION ARE NOT ROME’S SEVEN FOUNDING KINGS, AFTER ALL REVELATION MENTIONS AT LEAST EIGHT KINGS (REVELATION 17:11). RATHER, THE FACT THAT THE BEAST OF REVELATION 13 IS SAID TO HAVE SEVEN HEADS/KINGS IMPLIES A KIND OF SPIRITUAL OR SYMBOLIC RETURN OF THE SEVEN FOUNDING KINGS OF ROME OR MORE PRECISELY A RETURN TO THE AUTOCRACY AND TYRANNY OF THESE KINGS. THE SEVEN-HEADED BEAST IN REVELATION SYMBOLIZES ROME, THE CITY OF SEVEN HILLS, AND ITS RETURN TO AUTOCRACY AND THE EVIL THAT SEEMED DESTINED TO FOLLOW WHEN HISTORY REPEATED ITSELF AS ROME REGRESSED BACK TO ITS TYRANNICAL ROOTS WITH JULIUS CAESAR IN 44 B.C. WHEN HE DECLARED HIMSELF EMPEROR FOR LIFE AND WAS ASSASSINATED SOON AFTER. ANTICHRIST IS A TERM USED IN 1 AND 2 JOHN TO REFER TO THE SPIRIT OF HERESY, NOT A WORLD-WIDE RULER WHO BLASPHEMES GOD AND PERSECUTES THE SAINTS.
THE PROPHECIES OF REVELATION 13 HIGHLIGHT THE REIGNS AND ACTIONS OF THREE OF THESE HEADS OR CAESARS—CAESAR NERO, CAESAR VESPASIAN AND CAESAR TITUS. THE HEADS OF THE SEA BEAST ARE THE HEADS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, THE CAESARS. BUT THE HEADS OF THE BEAST ARE NOT JUST THE EMPERORS OF ROME. THE HEADS OF THE BEAST ARE THOSE EMPERORS WHO REIGNED IN THE TWO DYNASTIES THAT RULED ROME IN THE FIRST CENTURY, THE CAESAR FAMILY DYNASTY AND THE FLAVIAN FAMILY DYNASTY. THE FIRST SIX HEADS ARE THE SIX EMPERORS OF THE CAESAR FAMILY DYNASTY BEGINNING WITH THE VERY FIRST, JULIUS CAESAR. THUS THE FIRST SIX HEADS ARE THE FIRST SIX CAESARS: 1) JULIUS CAESAR 2) AUGUSTUS CAESAR 3) TIBERIUS CAESAR 4) GAIUS CAESAR 5) CLAUDIUS CAESAR 6) NERO CAESAR. IN REVELATION 13:3 THE BEAST IS SAID TO HAVE A FATALLY WOUNDED HEAD. THIS HEAD IS THE SIXTH HEAD, NERO CAESAR, WHO COMMITTED SUICIDE IN A.D. 68. NERO WAS THE LAST RULER OF THE CAESAR FAMILY DYNASTY. AND SINCE NERO HAD NOT NAMED HIS SUCCESSOR, THERE WAS A SUCCESSION STRUGGLE RESULTING IN CIVIL WAR FOLLOWING NERO’S SUICIDE. WITH NERO’S DEATH, THE END OF THE CAESAR FAMILY DYNASTY, AND THE RESULTING CIVIL WAR WHICH THREATENED TO COLLAPSE THE EMPIRE AT THE HEIGHT OF ITS POWER, THE BEAST SEEMS TO HAVE A FATAL WOUND IN REVELATION 13:3. THUS WITH THE SIXTH HEAD SEVERED THIS BEAST APPEARS TO BE DEAD WITH NERO. AS WILL BE EXPLAINED SHORTLY, THE SEVEN-HEADED SEA MONSTER OF THIS CHAPTER WAS CERTAINLY NOT MADE-UP BY JOHN.
THE AMERICAN OBSESSION WITH THE SECOND COMING OF YESHUA — ESPECIALLY WITH DISTORTED INTERPRETATIONS OF IT — CONTINUES UNABATED.
2 THESSALONIANS 2:7 FOR THE SECRET POWER OF LAWLESSNESS IS ALREADY AT WORK; BUT THE ONE WHO NOW HOLDS IT BACK WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO TILL HE IS TAKEN OUT OF THE WAY. IN YESHUA’S TIME, THE POWER OF LAWLESSNESS OR (ANTI-CHRIST) WAS ALREADY AT WORK IN THE WORLD. THE SON OF PERDITION IS A MAN OR A FALSE RELIGIOUS SYSTEM DESIGNED BY MAN. FALSE RELIGION AND FALSE RELIGIOUS LEADERS HAVE BEEN AROUND SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME BUT THE REVEALING OF THESE INSTITUTIONS HAS BEEN TAKING PLACE FOR CENTURIES. THE SON OF PERDITION IS A MAN WHO IS THE DECEIVER OF MEN AND THAT SYSTEM OF DECEPTION WITH FALSE DOCTRINES AND HERETICAL IDEAS COMES FROM A SON OF PERDITION. SOME BELIEVE THE SON OF PERDITION IN 2 THESSALONIANS 2:3 IS THE SINGLE PERSON SPOKEN OF WHO CAUSES BELIEVERS TO FALL AWAY FROM GOD AND OFTEN IDENTIFY THIS INDIVIDUAL AS THE FAMOUS ANTI-CHRIST. AGAIN, THE SON OF PERDITION IS NOT “SATAN” AS SOME BELIEVE. THIS ONE PASSAGE SUPPORTS THE BIBLICAL VIEW THAT HE IS A HUMAN MAN JUST AS THE TEXT CLEARLY INDICATES. “LET NO MAN DECEIVE YOU.” WITH ALL THE VARIED INTERPRETATIONS OF WHO THE SON OF PERDITION IS, IT MAY BE HELPFUL TO SIMPLY SEE THE MOST APPARENT VIEW. THIS IS A MAN OR A FALSE RELIGIOUS SYSTEM DESIGNED BY MAN. DURING YESHUA’S TIME, MANY WERE ALREADY AT WORK TEACHING AGAINST TORAH. THERE WAS A RELIGIOUS SYSTEM OF LAWLESSNESS (ANTI-TORAH) BEING TAUGHT EVEN IN YESHUA’S TIME. THIS SYSTEM PRODUCES SIGNS AND WONDERS THAT SERVE THE LIE. IMAGINE THE LAWLESSNESS OF CHRISTIANITY- AND ALL THE SIGNS AND WONDERS WHICH SERVE THAT RELIGIOUS SYSTEM. BECAUSE THEY TEACH AGAINST TRUTH- WHICH IS THE TORAH AND THE TRUE CHARACTER OF YESHUA, THEY ARE GIVEN OVER TO A LIE… A GREAT DELUSION.
LEVIATHAN & BEHEMOTH THE BEAST FROM THE SEA: LEVIATHAN ROME THE FIRST BEAST FROM THE SEA REPRESENTS THE IMPERIAL POWER AND VIOLENCE OF ROME. IT RISES FROM THE SEA - ROME IS A COASTAL CITY. ITS TEN HEADS REPRESENT CLIENT KINGS, ITS SEVEN HEADS THE CAESARS AND HILLS OF ROME, AS REVEALED IN CHAPTER 17. THE SEA BEAST IS UNDOUBTEDLY THE LEVIATHAN. ACCORDING TO PSALM 104:25-26 AND PSALM 74:13-14, THE LEVIATHAN WAS A MANY-HEADED SEA MONSTER. THE WHOLE EARTH FOLLOWS AND WORSHIPS THIS BEAST – THE ROMAN EMPIRE. THE ROMAN EMPIRE WAS CONSIDERED TO SPAN THE ENTIRETY OF THE KNOWN WORLD WHERE CAESAR IS REVEALED, NOT AS A BENEFICENT RULER OR DEITY, BUT AS A BEAST THAT MURDERS THOSE FAITHFUL TO THE TRUE GOD. THE BEAST OF THE LAND : BEHEMOTH IS JERUSALEM THE BEAST FROM THE LAND IS THE NEW FORM OF ISRAEL THAT EMERGED IN AD 70 AD AND AFTER. THE HEAD OF THE BEAST IS A POLITICAL RULER, HEROD AGRIPPA II, WHOM I WILL JUST REFER TO AS AGRIPPA FOR SHORT. AND JUST AS THE HORNS OF THE FIRST BEAST WERE MEN CONTROLLING LEADERS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE, THE TWO HORNS OF THIS LAND BEAST ARE TWO MEN- VESPASIAN AND TITUS, THE TWO MEN, WHO “ROSE OUT OF THE EARTH” (ISRAEL) TO BECOME THE FINAL HEADS OF THE BEAST WHO USED THEIR VICTORY IN ISRAEL (THE EARTH) TO LEGITIMIZE THEIR REIGN. REVELATION 17:9-12 THE SEVEN HEADS ARE SEVEN MOUNTAINS, ON WHICH THE WOMAN SITTETH. AND THERE ARE SEVEN KINGS: FIVE ARE FALLEN, AND ONE IS, AND THE OTHER IS NOT YET COME; AND WHEN HE COMETH, HE MUST CONTINUE A SHORT SPACE. AND THE BEAST THAT WAS, AND IS NOT, EVEN HE IS THE EIGHTH, AND IS OF THE SEVEN, AND GOETH INTO PERDITION. AND THE TEN HORNS WHICH THOU SAWEST ARE TEN KINGS, WHICH HAVE RECEIVED NO KINGDOM AS YET; BUT RECEIVE POWER AS KINGS ONE HOUR WITH THE BEAST.
THE WOMAN THAT SIT UPON THE 7 HEADS IS ISRAEL. IT IS BEST TO UNDERSTAND “MOUNTAINS” AS A SYMBOL FOR THE KINGDOMS THAT CORRESPOND TO THE KINGS. BEASTS ARE USED TO REPRESENT KINGS AND THEIR KINGDOMS. THE 7 KINGS IN REVELATION 17:9-10 1. AUGUSTUS, 2. TIBERIUS, 3. GAIUS CALIGULA, 4. CLAUDIUS, 5. NERO, 6. GALBA, 7. VESPASIAN THE FIRST FIVE HAVE FALLEN: AUGUSTUS, TIBERIUS, GAIUS, CLAUDIUS AND NERO. THE ONE WHO HAS NOT YET COME AND MUST REMAIN A LITTLE WHILE IS TITUS, WHO REIGNED VERY BRIEFLY. THE EIGHTH KING IS DOMITIAN. THE WHORE OF BABYLON (JERUSALEM) IS SEATED ON SEVEN HEADS (REV 17:9). THIS IS ALSO WHERE THE 10 HORNS ARE (REV 13:1) IMPLYING THAT THE TEN HORNS ARE JEWISH (THE 10 ZEALOT LEADERS). I BELIEVE THAT THE 10 HORNS ARE ALSO THE 10 TOES OF THE STATUE OF DANIEL 2 WHICH IS A MIXTURE OF IRON (ROME) AND CLAY (ISRAEL). BELOW IS A CHART LISTING THE 7 HILLS OF ROME:
THE ZEALOTS CONTINUALLY ROBBED, KILLED AND “HATED” THE RICH OF JERUSALEM (THE WHORE OF BABYLON) BECAUSE OF THEIR LOYALTY TO ROME. THE ZEALOTS ALSO BURNED PARTS OF THE CITY DUE TO INFIGHTING. JOSEPHUS REFERS TO THE ZEALOTS’ ASSAULT ON THEIR OWN CITY AS A BEAST “EATING ITS OWN FLESH.” AFTER LOSING THE WAR, ALL 10 ZEALOT LEADERS IN SOME WAY FORCIBLY SURRENDERED THEIR AUTHORITY TO ROME. THE MARK OF THE BEAST TWO POSSIBILITIES: WHEN JOHN WROTE THE EPISTLE OF REVELATION TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES, HE MADE IT VERY CLEAR – ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS – THAT THE PROPHECIES CONTAINED IN HIS LETTER WERE TO TAKE PLACE “SOON.” THERE CAN BE LITTLE DOUBT, THEREFORE, THAT THE FIRST CENTURY CHRISTIANS WHO RECEIVED AND READ JOHN’S LETTER UNDERSTOOD AT LEAST ONE THING: THEY WERE READING ABOUT EVENTS THAT WERE ABOUT TO HAPPEN SOON…
SINCE THE APOSTLE JOHN WAS WRITING THIS LETTER FROM CAPTIVITY ON THE ISLAND OF PATMOS, HE REVERTED TO CODE WHICH HIS READERS (JEWISH CHRISTIANS) WOULD UNDERSTAND EASILY BUT HIS CAPTORS (THE ROMANS) WOULD NOT. NOTE ALSO THAT, AS A PRISONER OF ROME, HE WOULDN’T WANT TO COME RIGHT OUT AND WRITE ANYTHING NEGATIVE ABOUT THE EMPEROR OR THE GOVERNMENT THAT HELD HIM CAPTIVE – FOR OBVIOUS REASONS. THE HEBREW SPELLING OF “NERO CAESAR” WAS NRWN QSR. SINCE HEBREW LETTERS DOUBLED AS NUMBERS IT WAS A SIMPLE THING TO TAKE THAT NAME AND ADD THEM TOGETHER WHICH ADDS UP EXACTLY TO 666 [EXAMPLE: N = 50 R = 200 W = 6 N =50 Q = 100 S = 60 R = 200]. ONE FASCINATING VARIANT OF THIS SAME PASSAGE NOTES THAT “SOME MANUSCRIPTS READ: 616” RATHER THAN 666. WHY? BECAUSE WHEN REVELATION WAS LATER COPIED INTO LATIN THE NAME NERO CAESAR DIDN’T ADD UP TO 666, IT ADDED UP TO 616.
ROMAN CITIZENS WERE REQUIRED TO PUBLICLY CLAIM ALLEGIANCE TO CAESAR BY BURNING INCENSE IN HIS HONOR AND PROCLAIMING THAT “CAESAR IS LORD.” JOHN WAS WRITING IN CODES ABOUT SOMETHING THAT WAS ALREADY KNOWN BOTH TO HIM AND TO HIS READERS. HOW COULD HIS AUDIENCE COUNT THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST, WHICH IS ALSO THE NUMBER OF A MAN, IF THAT MAN OR SYSTEM WAS NOT IN EXISTENCE AT THE TIME OF JOHN'S WRITING? JOHN'S AUDIENCE COULD ONLY COMPUTE THE NUMBER OF AN EXISTING EMPIRE OR EMPEROR... THE ROMAN EMPIRE ! ROMANS ARE CALLED IN GREEK "LATEINOS" MEANING "LATIN MAN" OR "THE NAME OF LATIUM." LATEINOS IN GREEK: L=30, A=1, T=300, E=5, I=10, N=50, O=70 AND S=200. IT ADDS UP TO 666. THE NUMBER 666 IS BRANDED ON THE ROMAN EMPIRE. ON THE FOUNDER AND FIRST KING OF THE LATINS, ON EVERY ROMAN. BRANDING IS THE FIRST OPTION FOR THE MARK OF THE BEAST THIS MARK THAT THEY RECEIVED WAS A TESTIMONY TO HIS OWNERSHIP OF THEM. HE COULD HAVE ENSLAVED ALL OF THEM AND SHIPPED THEM OFF TO ROME, BUT HE "GRACIOUSLY" ALLOWED SOME TO STAY IN THE LAND, BUT EVEN THOSE WHO STAYED WERE CONSIDERED TO BE HIS SLAVES; HIS PROPERTY - THUS THE BRAND. THIS WAS A VERY LITERAL MARK PLACED ON VERY LITERAL FOREHEADS AND HANDS. THE LITERAL MEANING OF THE GREEK WORD ΧΡΑΓΜΑ, REFERS TO EITHER A STAMP-SEAL FOR COMMERCIAL DOCUMENTS, A COIN THAT WAS IMPRINTED WITH AN ENGRAVING OF AN IMAGE, OR THE MARK LEFT BY A BRANDING IRON THAT HAD A SYMBOL OR WORDS ON IT. THIS CHARAGMA IS USED OF VISIBLE CUTS, ENGRAVINGS, OR BRANDINGS. STOREKEEPERS WERE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE THOSE WHO HAD THE MARK AND THOSE WHO DID NOT. DID ALL JEWS RECEIVE A LITERAL MARK SOMEWHERE ON THEIR BODES? I BELIEVE THE EVIDENCE IS OVERWHELMING THAT THEY DID.
BASED ON HOW VESPASIAN AND TITUS TREATED REBELLIONS IN OTHER PARTS OF THE EMPIRE, AND GIVEN THE SEVERITY AND DURATION OF THIS REBELLION AND TITUS'S MANDATE TO SECURE LOYALTY, IT IS INCONCEIVABLE TO ME THAT THESE JEWS WOULD HAVE ESCAPED SOME KIND OF DAILY TOKEN THAT THEY WERE INDEED IN SUBMISSION. THE COIN THEORY IS THE OTHER OPTION… THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST IS ASSOCIATED WITH MAMMON… (FROM GREEK “MAMMONAS” MEANING TREASURE OR RICHES). THE FACE OF THE EMPEROR WAS OFTEN PRINTED ON THE COINS. IN ADDITION, THE GREEK WORD TRANSLATED “IMAGE” (EIKON) IS THE SAME BOTH HERE AND IN REVELATION 13. JUST AS THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST IS WORSHIPED [REV 13:5, 14:9-11], YESHUA TELLS US THAT MAMMON ITSELF CAN BE WORSHIPED: MATTHEW 6:24 NO MAN CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS: FOR EITHER HE WILL HATE THE ONE, AND LOVE THE OTHER; OR ELSE HE WILL HOLD TO THE ONE, AND DESPISE THE OTHER. YE CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON. THE WORSHIP OF MAMMON IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE WRATH OF YESHUA DURING HIS MINISTRY ON THIS EARTH. THE JUDGMENT OF THE WHORE OF BABYLON IS ALSO ASSOCIATED WITH THE WRATH OF GOD AND WITH MAMMON. IT IS NOT SURPRISING THAT THE NAME OF THE EMPEROR ALONG WITH HIS VARIOUS TITLES WERE ALWAYS PRINTED ON THE SAME COINS AROUND HIS IMAGE…
ALTHOUGH QUITE INTRIGUING, THERE IS ONE MAJOR PROBLEM WITH THE CONCLUSION THAT THE “IMAGE TO THE BEAST” ARE COINS BEARING THE IMAGE OF THE CAESAR. THE CRUX OF THIS PROBLEM IS FOUND IN A SUBTLE CHRONOLOGICAL STATEMENT CONCERNING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS “IMAGE.” THE JEWS WHO WERE CONQUERED IN 70AD WERE THE ONES WHO HAD RECEIVED THE MARK OF THE BEAST. DURING THIS TIME PERIOD, THOUGH, NOT ONLY ARE THE JEWS IN REBELLION AGAINST ROME, THE BEAST, BUT THE JEWS STRUCK THEIR OWN COINS CELEBRATING THEIR NEW FOUND FREEDOM. FOLLOWING JEWISH LAW, THE COIN BORE NEITHER THE NAME NOR IMAGE OF ANY CAESAR. A CHALICE WAS IMPRINTED ON ONE SIDE OF THE COIN, AND ON THE REVERSE A BRANCH WITH THREE POMEGRANATES.
THE JEWISH REVOLT COIN
THEREFORE, THERE ARE THREE SIGNIFICANT ISSUES WITH THIS THEORY THAT THE MARK OF THE BEAST REPRESENTED COINS WITH NERO’S IMAGE AND NAME ON THEM: 1) IMPERIAL COINS WERE ALREADY IN ABUNDANCE AND DID NOT HAVE TO BE MADE (THE IMAGE WAS MADE BY THE FALSE PROPHET AFTER THE RESURRECTION OF THE BEAST). 2) THE JEWS, AFTER THE “DEADLY WOUND” OF THE BEAST, ISSUED FREEDOM COINS WHICH BORE NEITHER THE NAME NOR IMAGE OF A CAESAR, THE BEAST. 3) THOSE WITH THE MARK OF THE BEAST ARE JUDGED AT THE CULMINATION OF REVELATION FOR THEIR WORSHIP OF THE BEAST. IF THOSE WITH THE MARK ARE JEWS, THEIR REBELLION AGAINST ROME (THE BEAST) AND THEIR MINTING OF FREEDOM COINS SEEMS TO INDICATE THAT THEY DID NOT WORSHIP THE BEAST OR RECEIVE HIS MARK.
IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE FREEDOM COIN ITSELF WAS THE IMAGE AND MARK OF THE BEAST, AND THE JEWS WERE SOMEHOW UNDER THE DECEPTION OF THE FALSE PROPHET? IDENTIFYING THE GREAT HARLOT THE DRESS OF THE HIGH PRIEST AS DESCRIBED IN THE OT IS ALMOST IDENTICAL TO THE CLOTHING OF THE HARLOT: EXODUS 28:2 AND THOU SHALT MAKE HOLY GARMENTS FOR AARON THY BROTHER FOR GLORY AND FOR BEAUTY. EXODUS 28:6 AND THEY SHALL MAKE THE EPHOD OF GOLD, OF BLUE, AND OF PURPLE, OF SCARLET, AND FINE TWINED LINEN, WITH CUNNING WORK. EXODUS 28:17 AND THOU SHALT SET IN IT SETTINGS OF STONES… THESE FREEDOM COINS AND THE BEAST IS FOUND BY COMPARING THE ATTIRE OF THE GREAT HARLOT, WHO RIDES ON THE BEAST (REV 17:3), WITH THAT OF THE HIGH PRIEST. REVELATION 17:4 AND THE WOMAN WAS ARRAYED IN PURPLE AND SCARLET COLOUR, AND DECKED WITH GOLD AND PRECIOUS STONES AND PEARLS… REVELATION 18:16 AND SAYING, ALAS, ALAS, THAT GREAT CITY, THAT WAS CLOTHED IN FINE LINEN, AND PURPLE, AND SCARLET, AND DECKED WITH GOLD, AND PRECIOUS STONES, AND PEARLS! THIS SUGGESTS THAT THE PRIESTHOOD WAS A CORRUPT INSTITUTION AT THE TIME OF THE JEWISH REVOLT AND THE EVEN THOUGH THE COINS BORE A FORMER SYMBOL OF THE HOLINESS OF THE PRIESTHOOD, IT HAD BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO A SYMBOL OF CORRUPTION.
ONE OF THE PRIMARY COLORS OF THE HARLOT IS SAID TO BE SCARLET, WHICH IS ARGUABLY THE COLOR OF THE POMEGRANATE. THE IMAGERY OF THE GREAT HARLOT MAY VERY WELL BE PATTERENED AFTER SEVERAL ANCIENT GODDESSES. THE PRIMARY GODDESS TO WHICH THE GREAT HARLOT PARALLELS IS ASTARTE / ASHTORETH. IN PARALLEL TO THE THEME OF REVELATION, KING SOLOMON’S HEART WAS TURNED TO STRANGE GODS BY HIS MANY WIVES (REVELATION 2:20) INCLUDING ASHTORETH (1 KINGS 11:4-5). KING MANASSEH SET UP AN IMAGE OF ASHTORETH (2 KINGS 21:7) IN THE TEMPLE, PARALLELING THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION SPOKEN OF BY DANIEL AND CHRIST (DANIEL 8:13, 9:27; MATTHEW 24:15). NERO’S IMAGE APPEARS ON AT LEAST ONE COIN WITH ASTARTE / ASHTORETH NERO’S NAME APPEARS IN THE GREEK, NERON KAISER WHICH, AS DISCUSSED IN THE PREVIOUS ARTICLE, CAN BE CONVERTED INTO THE NUMBER 666.
NERO COIN WITH ASTARTE ON REVERSE
ALTHOUGH IT IS THE FALSE PROPHET WHO IS SAID TO HAVE “TWO HORNS” AS A LAMB, ASTARTE ALSO WAS ASSOCIATED IN ANCIENT TIMES WITH A COW OR BULL WITH HORNS. REVELATION 13:11 AND I BEHELD ANOTHER BEAST COMING UP OUT OF THE EARTH; AND HE HAD TWO HORNS LIKE A LAMB…
A COIN WITH ASTARTE WITH A BULL’S HEAD IS SHOWN BELOW…
ASTARTE WITH TWO HORNS
ANOTHER INTERESTING CONNECTION CAN BE MADE BETWEEN THE GREAT HARLOT AND THE FREEDOM COIN. THE HARLOT IS LATER DESCRIBED HOLDING A “GOLDEN CUP.” REVELATION 17:4 AND THE WOMAN WAS ARRAYED IN PURPLE AND SCARLET COLOR… HAVING A GOLDEN CUP IN HER HAND… ON THE OBVERSE OF THE JEWISH FREEDOM COINS APPEARS A CHALICE.
THE JEWISH REVOLT COIN WITH CHALICE ON OBVERSE
JEREMIAH 51:7 BABYLON HATH BEEN A GOLDEN CUP IN THE LORD'S HAND, THAT MADE ALL THE EARTH DRUNKEN: THE NATIONS HAVE DRUNKEN OF HER WINE; THEREFORE THE NATIONS ARE MAD. THIS SACRED FRUIT IN GREEK LEGEND…WAS ALWAYS ASSOCIATED WITH THE NOTION OF FERTILITY. “SIDE” IN GREEK GEMATRIA IS EQUAL TO 222. SINCE THERE ARE THREE POMEGRANATES ON THE FREEDOM COIN, IT COULD BE ARGUED THAT THE TOTAL GEMATRIA VALUE IS 666, THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST.
THE JEWISH REVOLT COIN CONNECTION TO 666
THE “NAME OF THE BEAST” IS THE EMPEROR’S TITLE. THE “MARK” IS THE DENOMINATION. AND IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT WITHOUT COINS, THERE CAN BE NO BUYING OR SELLING.
THE MARK OF THE BEAST IS EITHER A COIN OR ABRANDING ON THE FOREHEAD OR HAND. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ALLAH OR ISLAM. TO THOSE WHO CLAIM THE GREEK LETTER "XI" LOOKS LIKE "IN THE NAME OF ALLAH" OR "BISMALLAH" IN ARABIC- THE FIRST PROBLEM WITH THIS IS THAT THE ARABIC IS SIGNIFICANTLY LONGER. WHEN YOU GET INTO THE RELEVANT SCRIPTS, THE COMPARISON IS EVEN HARDER TO MAKE. THE GREEK XI LOOKS VERY LITTLE LIKE THE SCRIPT "IN THE NAME OF ALLAH." THIS IS PARTIALLY BECAUSE GREEK WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS AND LOWERCASE ONLY EMERGED LATER IN THE 9TH CENTURY.
A BEAST IN DANIEL 7:17-18 IS A KINGDOM OR A KING THAT RULES IT. AND THEREFORE, IT REALLY IS A KINGDOM. THEREFORE THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT 666 MUST BE THE NUMBER OF A KINGDOM, OR A GOVERNMENT, OR AN EMPIRE, AS WELL AS THE KING WHO RULES IT. "THE NAME OF ALLAH" IN ARABIC IS NEITHER A KINGDOM, NOR A GOVERNMENT, NOR AN EMPIRE, NOR EVEN A KING... WHEN JOHN WROTE REVELATION, THE ISLAMIC RELIGION WAS NOT EVEN IN EXISTENCE. ISLAM DIDN'T EXIST IN THE 1ST CENTURY. BUT WHAT DID EXIST? JOHN'S AUDIENCE COULD ONLY COMPUTE THE NUMBER OF AN EXISTING EMPIRE OR EMPEROR... THE ROMAN EMPIRE ! BECAUSE ISRAEL AND THOSE GRAFTED INTO ISRAEL ARE IS BOTH ON EARTH AND IN HEAVEN AND BECAUSE ISRAEL ON EARTH IS DESTINED FOR HEAVEN, THE NEW JERUSALEM IS THE REIGNING PEOPLE OF CHRIST DESCRIBED IN THE LIKENESS OF HEAVEN. THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM APPEARS TO BE A SYMBOLIC MODEL OF HEAVEN AND EARTH WITH THE INNER SANCTUARY OF THE TEMPLE BEING A COPY AND SHADOW OF WHAT IS IN HEAVEN. THE NEW JERUSALEM IS SEEN COMING DOWN FROM HEAVEN WHICH MEANS THAT THE NEW JERUSALEM IS A REPRESENTATION OF HEAVEN AND EARTH AS WAS THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM. DURING THE THOUSAND YEARS BETWEEN THE JEWISH WAR AND THE CRUSADES, JUDEA ENJOYED RELATIVE PEACE. THIS PEACE; ONLY BRIEFLY INTERRUPTED BY THE BAR KOKHBA REBELLION, THE SASSANID INVASION, THE FATIMID ASSAULT (A.D. 970-1030) AND OCCASIONAL BOUTS OF ROMAN PERSECUTION WHICH CONTINUED UNTIL A.D. 313 WHEN EMPEROR CONSTANTINE GRANTED RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. THEREFORE, SATAN WAS BOUND FOR 1000 YEARS…THEN IN A.D. 614, THE PERSIANS ATTACKED JERUSALEM.
IN A.D. 1071, ONE THOUSAND YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF JERUSALEM IN A.D. 70, SATAN WAS RELEASED FROM THE ABYSS, AND THE SELJUK TURKS TOOK CONTROL OF JUDEA MAKING TRAVEL DANGEROUS FOR CHRISTIAN PILGRIMS. THIS ANGERED EUROPEANS AND IN 1096, EUROPE DECLARED WAR ON JERUSALEM AND THUS BEGAN THE CRUSADES—THE BATTLE OF GOG AND MAGOG. THE BEAST WAS CAST INTO THE ABYSS AT THE DEATH OF NERO AS NERO WAS THE LAST OF THE CAESAR DYNASTY. THE BEAST THEN RESURRECTS FROM THE DEAD OR RISES OUT OF THE ABYSS AT THE START OF THE FLAVIAN DYNASTY IN A.D. 69/70. THIS IDEA IMPLIES THAT THE BEAST IS ROME UNDER ITS TWO DYNASTIES: THE CAESAR AND FLAVIAN FAMILY DYNASTIES. IF THE BEAST IS ROME UNDER THE CAESAR AND FLAVIAN DYNASTIES AS THE PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE SUGGESTS, THEN THIS SHEDS SOME INTERESTING LIGHT ON WHY THE BATTLE OF GOG AND MAGOG BEGAN IN A.D. 1096. THE FLAVIAN DYNASTY ENDED IN A.D. 96 AT THE DEATH OF DOMITIAN. THIS MEANS THAT THE BEAST WAS FINALLY CAST INTO THE ABYSS AS PREDICTED IN REV 19:20 AND DAN 7:11 UNTIL A.D. 96. ALTHOUGH “CHRISTIANS” MAY HAVE REIGNED GLORIOUSLY IN JUDEA THROUGHOUT MUCH OF THE THOUSAND YEARS BETWEEN THE JEWISH WAR AND THE CRUSADES, THIS DID NOT MEAN THAT THEY WOULD NEVER EXPERIENCE WAR OR FACE OCCASIONAL HARDSHIP. THE BINDING OF SATAN DOES NOT MEAN THAT THERE WILL BE A LITERAL HEAVEN ON EARTH. WHEN SATAN “FALSE IDEAS AND FALSE GODS” REIGNED, GOD’S PLAN OF REDEMPTION WAS IMPEDED. WITH THE DEVIL IMPRISONED, MEN NOW ENJOY GREATER FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD. BUT THE BINDING OF SATAN DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE WORLD WOULD THEN BE FREE OF SIN. JAMES 1:14 EACH ONE IS TEMPTED WHEN, BY HIS OWN EVIL DESIRE, HE IS DRAGGED AWAY AND ENTICED.
ACCORDING TO THIS VERSE, IT IS HUMANITY’S OWN EVIL DESIRES, NOT SATAN, THAT CAUSES PEOPLE TO SIN. THE THOUSAND-YEAR REIGN IS NOT AN END TIME PROPHECY, RATHER IT IS THE FIRST THOUSAND YEARS OF THE NEW COVENANT, THE NEW AGE PREDICTED BY CHRIST THROUGHOUT HIS MINISTRY. THE FACT THAT THE THOUSAND YEAR REIGN IS THE FIRST THOUSAND YEARS OF THE NEW COVENANT IS IMPLIED BY THE FACT THAT THAT THE SAINTS WERE TO REIGN WITH CHRIST AT THIS TIME. THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE IN A.D. 70, MARKED THE END OF THE OLD COVENANT AGE AND THE BEGINNING OF YESHUA ACTING AS A PRIEST AND A KING IN THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK (PRIEST IN THE LINE OF ZADOK AND KING IN THE LINE OF DAVID). HIS BLOOD WAS ALSO THE BLOOD THAT RENEWED THE OLD COVENANT, MAKING IT A NEW COVENANT. THE FACT THAT THE THOUSAND-YEAR REIGN MIGHT HAVE BEGUN IN 70 A.D. IS ALSO SUPPORTED BY THE FACT THAT THE SELJUK TURKS CONQUERED THE HOLY LAND AND BEGAN TO MOLEST CHRISTIAN PILGRIMS ON THEIR WAY TO JERUSALEM IN A.D. 1071— 1000 YEARS AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE IN A.D. 70! FURTHER EVIDENCE THAT THE 1000 YEAR REIGN IN THE NEW JERUSALEM IS A LITERAL THOUSAND YEAR PERIOD IS SUGGESTED BY THE FACT THAT THE TEMPLE SYSTEM IN OLD COVENANT JERUSALEM LASTED ALMOST EXACTLY 1000 YEARS. SOLOMON’S TEMPLE WAS BUILT SOMETIME BETWEEN 970 AND 931 B.C. AND THE LAST TEMPLE WAS DESTROYED IN A.D. 70. THIS MEANS THAT THE TEMPLE OR TEMPLE SYSTEM IN JERUSALEM LASTED ALMOST EXACTLY 1000 YEARS. IF THE PHYSICAL TEMPLE AND THE TEMPLE SYSTEM EXISTED IN JERUSALEM FOR A LITERAL THOUSAND YEARS, WOULD IT NOT STAND TO REASON THAT THE NEW SPIRITUAL TEMPLE OF GOD WOULD ALSO EXIST IN JERUSALEM FOR A SIMILAR THOUSAND YEAR PERIOD?
GOD DID NOT REJECT THE OLD COVENANT NOR HIS PEOPLE. HE ACTUALLY RENEWED THE OLD COVENANT- MAKING IT A NEW COVENANT. GOD REJECTING HIS PEOPLE COMES FROM HERETIC REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY. REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY CAME ABOUT IN THE FIRST CENTURY. THE MESSIANIC/CHRISTIAN DEBT TO HEBREW SCRIPTURE, JEWISH EXEGESIS, AND DIVINE REVELATION WERE EVIDENT TO ALL FOLLOWERS OF THE WAY. IN FACT, JEWISH-CHRISTIAN RELATIONS, IN SPITE OF 2ND AND 3RD CENTURY CHRISTIAN ELITIST ASSAULTS UPON ALL THINGS JEWISH, CONTINUED WITH GOOD RHYTHM AND SOLID RELATIONSHIP UNTIL THE MID-FOURTH CENTURY WITH THE ADVENT OF THE FIRST COUNCIL OF NICAEA. AT THE COUNCIL OF NICAEA, UNDER CONSTANTINE’S OVERSIGHT, THE CHURCH DISCONNECTED FROM THE JEWISH ROOTS OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY AND PRACTICE BY SEPARATING THE CELEBRATION OF EASTER FROM THE CELEBRATION OF PASSOVER. REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY IS A FRIGHTENING TREND IN THE CHURCH. THE BELIEF THAT THE LORD HAS WRITTEN OFF THE JEWISH NATION AND THAT THE CHURCH WILL BE THE SOLE RECIPIENT OF GOD'S PROMISES IS BAD THEOLOGY; AND BAD THEOLOGY RESULTS IN BAD CONSEQUENCES.
THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB THE MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB IS AN ESCHATOLOGICAL THEME, TIED TO THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST (MATTHEW 25: 1-13). WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS IMAGERY AND WHEN WAS IT FULFILLED?
MARRIAGE IMAGERY IS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT - COVENANT WITH ISRAEL. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, THE IMAGERY OF MARRIAGE WAS A SYMBOL FOR THE LAW OF MOSES AND COVENANT WITH ISRAEL. GOD ESPOUSED (BETROTHED) ISRAEL TO HIMSELF IN THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT. THE "MARRIED" WOMAN REFERS TO ISRAEL BEFORE THE CAPTIVITY; THE "DESOLATE" WOMAN REFERS TO ISRAEL DURING THE CAPTIVITY. THOSE WHO RESPOND TO THE GOSPEL CALL ARE ESPOUSED TO CHRIST AND BECOME THE CHURCH AND BRIDE. THUS, THEY GRAFT INTO ETHNIC ISRAEL AND VOW TO OBEY THE LAW OF MOSES AS CONDITIONS OF THE NEW OR RENEWED COVENANT.