Book of Revelation

[Jazzy]

What is your opinion on the Book of Revelation? Do you think it accurately predicts future events? If so, what are they and why do you believe it will happen in your lifetime?

 

[Lees]

What is your opinion on the Book of Revelation? Do you think it accurately predicts future events? If so, what are they and why do you believe it will happen in your lifetime?

It is the last Book in the Bible, inspired by God, and meant to be read and understood.

Yes, I believe it is accurate in it's prophecy of the future.

Your question as to listing the future events, involves a complete study of the Book of Revelation. Too much to put in one post. In short I would say (Rev. 11:15) best describes it. It is the culmination of God setting up His Kingdom on earth.

We can't know if these things will happen in our life time. And, because I believe the Rapture occurs before the Tribulation, then it could not happen in my lifetime on earth. I do believe the things we see occurring today with Russia and Israel and all the mid-east is certainly preparing for those final events.

Lees

 

[Stephen]

What is your opinion on the Book of Revelation? Do you think it accurately predicts future events? If so, what are they and why do you believe it will happen in your lifetime?

Personally I think the book of Revelation is greatly misused as some kind of timeline of the future.

Some people take it far too literally and, combined with the book of Daniel, come up with all sorts of weird theories and predictions.
I generally avoid end times discussions.

 

[Albion]

Personally I think the book of Revelation is greatly misused as some kind of timeline of the future.

Some people take it far too literally and, combined with the book of Daniel, come up with all sorts of weird theories and predictions.

That's right. John himself states in that book that he saw a vision. When else would we assume that every detail in a vision was meant to be accepted in a super-literal sense? Mostly, we wouldn't.

Instead, we'd consider it to be relaying an important message through various images and etc., but not as though we were dealing with a list of black and white instructions. And especially is this true when the vision is complex, includes unfamiliar images, etc. like the Book of Revelation gives us.

Oddly enough, people seem to think of Revelation as literally true down to the smallest detail, at the same time as they don't understand many of the events and statements found in other parts of Scripture (which are not a record of a vision) in the same way.

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.

Do you think it accurately predicts future events?

Yes.

If so, what are they

Rev 16:17-18 predicts a global earthquake so powerful on the Richter scale that
cities all over the world will collapse at once.

Something like 2,829 lost their lives when the World Trade Center was demolished
by a terrorist attack in 2001. Well that was only a few acres of New York City. Just
imagine the body count when all of Manhattan comes down at once. along with
other major cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Mexico City, Paris, Moscow,
Beijing, Tokyo, et al. The carnage will be beyond belief; and a great many of the
dead will be moms, infants, senior citizens, and underage children regardless of race,
gender, or religious preference.

* The Bible says that we should consider not only God's benevolence, but also His
severity. (Rom 11:22) Folks in the tribulation will be dealing with a someone in
control far more terrifying than even the tyrants of North Korea, Communist China,
Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the awful regimes in Africa.

● Heb 12:29 . . For our God is a consuming fire.

That's a quote from Deut 4:24 which, in context, doesn't describe God's physical
characteristics, rather, it's a figure of speech illustrating rage: defined by Webster's
as violent and uncontrolled anger. It's hard to imagine Christianity's divine patron
ticked off to that extent, but there it is.

A consuming fire is one that cannot be extinguished, i.e. once it gets going, there's
no stopping till all that's aflame is utterly destroyed, viz: an unquenchable
conflagration.
_

 

[Stephen]

.


Yes.



Rev 16:17-18 predicts a global earthquake so powerful on the Richter scale that
cities all over the world will collapse at once.

Something like 2,829 lost their lives when the World Trade Center was demolished
by a terrorist attack in 2001. Well that was only a few acres of New York City. Just
imagine the body count when all of Manhattan comes down at once. along with
other major cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Mexico City, Paris, Moscow,
Beijing, Tokyo, et al. The carnage will be beyond belief; and a great many of the
dead will be moms, infants, senior citizens, and underage children regardless of race,
gender, or religious preference.
_

I think that just makes my point about the errors in taking it too literally.

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Rev 6:5 . . And when He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature
saying: Come! And I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a
pair of scales in his hand.

Scales (a.k.a. balances) were mechanical devices used in the application of
commercial weights and measures. Modern electronic scales are quite a bit more
sophisticated.

The black horse in this case indicates hunger. (compare the pale horse's
assignment in Rev 6:8)

● Rev 6:6a . . And I heard as it were a voice in the center of the four living
creatures saying: A measure of wheat for a denarius, and three measures of
barley for a denarius;

The Greek word translated "measure" is roughly equal to 1.09 liters or 2.3 US pints.
The denarius is widely assumed to have been equivalent to a day's pay for soldiers
and/or laborers.

It's a pretty good guess that what we're looking at is hand-to-mouth existence due
to inflationary pricing caused by the simple fact that there just won't be enough to
go around; for example:

"When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake your bread in
one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not
be satisfied." (Lev 26:26)

● Rev 6:6b . . do not damage the oil and the wine!

Oil made from olives was common in just about everybody's kitchen and served as
a shortening. (cf. 1Kngs 17:8-12) Wine was a common first aid treatment, likely
due to its alcohol content (e.g. Luke 10:34) and also useful as a sedative (Prov
31:6-7)

NOTE: The oil used in Luke 10:34 was likely an essential oil rather than olive, e.g.
Myrrh, Clove, and/or Frankincense.
_

 

[Stephen]

.
● Rev 6:5 . . And when He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature
saying: Come! And I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a
pair of scales in his hand.

Scales (a.k.a. balances) were mechanical devices used in the application of
commercial weights and measures. Modern electronic scales are quite a bit more
sophisticated.

The black horse in this case indicates hunger. (compare the pale horse's
assignment in Rev 6:8)

● Rev 6:6a . . And I heard as it were a voice in the center of the four living
creatures saying: A measure of wheat for a denarius, and three measures of
barley for a denarius;

The Greek word translated "measure" is roughly equal to 1.09 liters or 2.3 US pints.
The denarius is widely assumed to have been equivalent to a day's pay for soldiers
and/or laborers.

It's a pretty good guess that what we're looking at is hand-to-mouth existence due
to inflationary pricing caused by the simple fact that there just won't be enough to
go around; for example:

"When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake your bread in
one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not
be satisfied." (Lev 26:26)

● Rev 6:6b . . do not damage the oil and the wine!

Oil made from olives was common in just about everybody's kitchen and served as
a shortening. (cf. 1Kngs 17:8-12) Wine was a common first aid treatment, likely
due to its alcohol content (e.g. Luke 10:34) and also useful as a sedative (Prov
31:6-7)

NOTE: The oil used in Luke 10:34 was likely an essential oil rather than olive, e.g.
Myrrh, Clove, and/or Frankincense.
_

¬"`First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation" (2Pet 1:20)

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● 2Pet 1:20 . . Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation.

The KJV's obsolete vernacular is a mite misleading at times. Here's that same
passage in modern terms.

"Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the
prophet's own interpretation"

In other words: the sayings of the prophets weren't produced by human reasoning
and a fertile imagination. No, they channeled their sayings directly from God.

"but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." (2Pet 1:21)

So in reality; 2Pet 1:20-21 isn't talking about a Bible's student's own personal
understanding of prophecy rather; the origin of prophecy. For example:

● Gal 1:11-12 . . I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not
something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught
it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

And:

● Rev 1:1-3 . . The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his
servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his
servant John, who testifies to everything he saw-- that is: the word of God and the
testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy,
and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because
the time is imminent.
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Rev 6:7-8 . .When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the
fourth living creature say: Come!

. . . I looked, and there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named Death,
and hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of
the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

* The lethal sources listed are common throughout the world today; but never have
they harvested so many souls as they will in the future. For example:

The current global population is roughly +/- 8,005,172,321 souls. By the time Mr.
Death finished his work, something like two billion of those people would be
rubbed out by war, hunger, disease, and the animal kingdom; which consists of a
fair number of poisonous species along with toxic critters like vampire bats and
mosquitoes.

* In perspective: two billion people adds up to nearly 6x the USA's current
population.

We don't usually notice someone's passing unless they're famous or one of our
friends, associates, and relatives. Well; when Mr. Death goes to work, the dead will
be all around and impossible to overlook. I rather suspect funeral homes will be
overwhelmed; if open for business at all.

And ER? Well, it's Mr. Death's intention that people die rather than survive, so I
should think that any and all medical attention the hospitals are able to provide will
be quite ineffective, viz: they'll likely serve as morgues instead of treatment
centers.
_

 

[Stephen]

.
● 2Pet 1:20 . . Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation.

The KJV's obsolete vernacular is a mite misleading at times. Here's that same
passage in modern terms.

"Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the
prophet's own interpretation"

The one I gave wasn't the KJV but the RSV.
Moreover Bible Gateway gives over 60 different translations and only a small minority give your interpretation.

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Rev 6:12 . . I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great
earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon
turned blood red

Astronomically, that depicts a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse simultaneously;
which nature by itself cannot produce due to specific alignment requirements.

● Rev 6:13 . . and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree
when shaken by a strong wind.

Those will likely be shooting stars (a.k.a. meteors) and possibly asteroids too,
rather than solar bodies like Polaris, Sirius, Betelgeuse, and/or Rigel which would
cause impacts that the Earth simply cannot accommodate due to its Lilliputian size
compared to the mass of those kinds of celestial objects. Many of the stars seen in
the sky are quite a bit larger than the Sun; whose diameter is 109x and its volume
1,300,000x the Earth's.

● Rev 6:14a . .The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up

Whether that pertains to the entire cosmos or limited to the Earth's atmosphere is
uncertain, although it does seem a preview of Rev 20:11.

● Rev 6:14b . . and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

No doubt previous centuries of theologians were curious about that prediction, but
thanks to the relatively new science of plate tectonics, we now know that the
movement of mountains and islands has been occurring all along; just not as
noticeable as the shuffle depicted by Rev 16:14b.

Anyway, those events will quite naturally cause a world-wide panic.

● Rev 6:15-17 . . .Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich,
the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks
of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks: Fall on us and hide
us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For
the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Rev 8:1 . .When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for
about half an hour.

A reason for the silence isn't given, but I suspect the one in charge will be thinking
about what He has to do next, and reluctant to bring it on; because the next round
of horror will be devastating beyond belief-- and once started, won't be stopped.

● Ezek 18:23 . . Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die-- saith the
Lord God --and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Rev 8:7 . .The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire
mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was
burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned
up.

There's quite a bit of destruction depicted in that verse; and I suspect it's all aimed
at agriculture.

First a portion of the soil's organic material is destroyed which will greatly impact its
fertility.

Next a portion of the trees are destroyed so that foods derived from trees— e.g.
nuts, and fruits— will become in short supply.

And finally all the green grass; which is translated from words that suggest crops
will be just starting to mature and produce grain, e.g. corn, beans, wheat, spelt,
barley, oats, and rice; et al.

* Rice is a staple food for over ½ of the world's human population, particularly in
Asia and Africa.

NOTE: Although crops will be burned, they'll bounce back. (Rev 9:1-4)

Anyway, when the availability of food stuffs is limited; demand exceeds supply; and
with that prices go up.
_

 

[Angel Michael]

What is your opinion on the Book of Revelation? Do you think it accurately predicts future events? If so, what are they and why do you believe it will happen in your lifetime?

It is the most important part in terms of making all previous predictions coming true. If this doesn't happen, all previously said is a lie. It is a pillar of Bible.

It is very hard to understand last events for they are not explained in plane language but a lot of metaphor was used in it. To understand it, one must know all prior to the book of Revelation.

It is very normal that human's suffering must come to an end and this books explain signs on when this will happen and how to know. Why is it important to know? It is said that false Christ will come first and many will be tricked and many will bow to the beast and take the mark of the beast and their name will be erased from the book of life.

One of the signs is that belief in God will be ridiculed or rejected at all. People will pleasure themselves in earthly goods and time will be as it was in the time of Noah. We know in time of Noah that people were evil beyond repair.

Another sign is there will be whispers of wars and king will strike on king, Tzar on Tzar, kingdom on kingdom. There will be many diseases.


Note: In my own eyes, we are close to last events because world is globalized now, we all know about each other and nothing is there to hide. the Antichrist can come and speak to ALL HUMANS. Never before was this possible in human history. Diseases - here and there you see we have some pandemic and serious thing going on. Wars - Russia, Palestine now.

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Rev 13:4 . . And they worshipped the Dragon which gave power unto the Beast:
and they worshipped the Beast, saying: Who is like unto the Beast? Who is able to
make war with him?

* The Dragon is identified at Rev 12:9 as the Serpent, the Devil, and Satan; so
there can be no doubt who this creature really is. (cf. Rev 20:2)

It's quite possible that the people of that day will honestly believe the Beast is
empowered by a divine being; and unaware they are actually giving glory to a
demonic being instead. For example:

● 2Thess 2:9-12 . . .This evil man will come to do the work of Satan with
counterfeit power and signs and miracles. He will use every kind of wicked
deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction because they refuse to
believe the truth that would save them. So God will send great deception upon
them, and they will believe all these lies.

Worship of the Beast will be universal, mandatory, and strictly enforced regardless
of age, race, gender, and/or ethnic identity-- a one-world mega religion that blows
all others out of the water, e.g. Islam, Mormonism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism,
Baha'i, Buddhism, etc. (This situation will be similar to Hab 2:14 except in a bad way.)
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Rev 13:5a . . And there was given unto the Beast a mouth speaking great things

That's pretty much describes the rhetoric of most every politician, viz: promises of
a better world under the auspices of their own administrative practices.

● Rev 13:5b . . and blasphemies

In this scenario, the Beast is God's political opponent, no doubt scoffing at the
notion of Christ's return to rule the world.

Well political opponents in today's world make it their mission in life to destroy the
other guy's reputation and call into question his motives. I suspect the Beast's
tactics will be no different because it's to his advantage to emphasize the old God's
perceived faults and failures and show how himself as the new God can do a much
better job managing the world's affairs.

"He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is
worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be
God." (2Thess 2:3-4)

NOTE: I would imagine that a first order of business for the Beast will be to come
up with a plausible explanation for the world-wide extraction described by 1Thess
4:13-18 wherein nigh unto 2,000 years of deceased Christians will appear out of
thin air all over the globe and join those alive to go up and rendezvous with Christ
in the clouds.
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Rev 13:5c . . and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

Prophetic months aren't the same as calendar months. Prophetic months are thirty
days each; so that forty-two such months add up to 1,260 days, i.e. 3½ prophetic
years, e.g. Rev 11:2 & Rev 12:6

Prophetic months are sort of like a baker's dozen. Though a baker's dozen isn't a
dozen of twelve; it's nonetheless a dozen in its own right: the same with mean
solar time vs sidereal time, and true north vs magnetic north.

* Scripture introduces prophetic months in Genesis relative to the Flood where a
period of five months adds up to exactly 150 days.
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Rev 13:7-8 . . And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to
overcome them; and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and
nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not
written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Because we're talking about all kindreds, and tongues, and nations; then I think we
may safely assume that the "saints" in this case are possibly anyone and everybody
that can be counted as loyal to God; both Jew and Gentile. This may or may not
refer to armed conflict but for sure it's related to oppression; and it's going to be
very effective if we reckon these saints to be the innumerable crowd depicted at
Rev 7:9-17.

The Beast's management practices are extreme, but not all that unusual. Take for
example modern communist China. It's very dangerous to be openly religious in
that country, and/or hold values that differ with the regime's, where they harvest
the organs of Falun Gong adherents without their consent. The situation in North
Korea is little better where God is second place to Kim Jong-Un.

* The Lamb slain "from the foundation of the world" reveals that Jesus wasn't a
stand-by paramedic sent to an unexpected train wreck, rather; he was designated,
and scheduled, to die on a cross for the sins of the world prior to God creating even
a single atom for the current cosmos. In other words: the cross was anticipated.
(cf. 1Pet 1:18-21)
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Rev 13:8 . . All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast— all whose names
have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from
the world.

Everything is a foregone conclusion with God; nothing surprises Him. God foresaw
the forbidden fruit incident, He foresaw Cain and Abel, He foresaw the Flood, He
foresaw the Tower of Babel, He foresaw Sodom and Gomorrah, He foresaw the
Exodus, He foresaw the Holocaust, He foresaw all the folks who won't bow to the
Beast, and He has seen the Lake of Fire and the end of the world as we know it.

There are no new believers to God. He's already foreseen every one of them back
at the very beginning just as He's seen everything else ahead of time before it
comes to pass. Ergo: if somebody's name isn't already in the lamb's book of life,
then their name will never be in there because the book is closed; it's finished.

● Eph 1:3-5 . . Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He
chose us in him before the creation of the world . . . in love He predestined us to be
adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will.
_