Recently the power went out at my house due to inclement weather. During the power outage, I sat and read the book of Revelation again from beginning to end by flashlight :-). I asked the Lord to give me wisdom and understanding as He said He would in His Word:
Prov 2:1My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
3and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
What He showed me raised more questions than were answered, but I am thankful for what was given nonetheless. What was shown to this writer? It is likely that most if not all of what we have been taught about the book of Revelation is wrong. What? Before you think "uh oh, he's gone off the deep end this time," hear me out. Everything that the bible says will happen,
will happen, no debate there....What trashes everything we've been taught about the book is
when these things will happen.
The "when" things will happen is a very very big deal in understanding the book, and almost everyone I've heard or read that teaches Revelation has had it wrong. What I would like to do here is like going to a bowling alley. I am throwing the bowling ball down the lane and scoring a perfect "strike" on all the pins (our understanding the "when" of Revelation), knocking them to the ground. This writer will also tell you that he does not know enough to stand any of the pins back up for you, he just knows enough to knock them down. That means this writer does not know much...
So here goes with "knocking pins down:"
The Fall of Babylon
Rev 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 8
Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
The "what" here is plagues in one day. Death, mourning, famine and being utterly burned with fire, that's the what that's going to happen to Babylon. The "when" is in one day. The "what" in this case are seals 2,3,4: plague, famine, death.
So what? So, the linear reading of the book of Revelation is out the window. That is, reading Revelation 1-22 and thinking to yourself, okay, so Rev 1 happens first, then Rev 2, then Rev 3, then Rev 4, etc etc etc will not give you a good understanding of "when" things are going to happen.
The most stunning example of "we have no remote idea when things are going to happen" is this. In Revelation 10 we read:
Rev 10:5And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 6And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that
there should be time no longer: 7But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
WHAT???? Did you read that? I've read it probably 100 times but this time it stopped me in my tracks....there should be time no longer. Now remember, we are being told "there should be time no longer" in Revelation 10....So, time stops, it no longer exists as of Revelation 10. That's a BIG deal and I cannot remember a single teacher, preacher or anyone else ever stopping to point that out to anyone. Do you think its a big deal that our God stops time at some point in the book of Revelation? I think its a big deal. I think its a really big deal. Well, what does that mean, "there should be time no longer?" It means, we have no idea how radically different things will actually work out from the way we have been taught that they will work out.
Do you need more proof that the preachers and teachers of yesterday taught you a flawed view of Revelation? Here you go :
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
Once again, we are coming at this thing from a time perspective, a "when" perspective, and once again, we see the Lord messing with time, changing the "rules" as we have known them.
Will there be a day during the time of "Jacob's trouble" when time will be no more? Correct. Will days be shortened? Correct. Will judgments be happening all in one day, not over a long period of time? Correct. Where does that leave us? How about here:
Mark 13:32
... But of that day and that hour knows no man, no, not the angels which
are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father
My understanding of how the book of Revelation lays out is now like this: a stack of pancakes. The middle of any pancake is day 1 of the seventieth week of Daniel. As you move from the center of the pancake out to the edge you get closer to Rev 22. The trick is, not all the events start on day 1, nor do all pancakes end at Rev 22. For example, the seals of Revelation are one pancake, and will likely start very early and continue throughout the time of Jacob's trouble. That means that while the world is dealing with the trumpet and vial judgements, the 6 seals are still taking a toll on humanity, thus there is some overlap. The trumpets are another pancake, the vials another, etc all stacked on top of one another in "time" (although time will be no more..), not laid out in a line as people like to teach it.
The usefulness of my pancake metaphor for my own mind is this; it allows me to visualize the non-linear nature of the book, and how many events will overlap, thus clearing some of the fog that has been created from being taught a linear unfolding of the book. Why does this matter? Because timing matters. Here's an example, let's say that New York city is hit with a plague of swine flu tomorrow. Would the city be able to survive it? Yes, likely so. Would "business as usual" carry on just as it always has with maybe a few delays? Yes, likely so. Okay then, what if New York city was hit with a plague of swine flu and at the same time they find out there will be no more trucks bringing food into the city (famine)? Would that change the calculus of the situation? Yep, radically I'd say. Lots more dead, lots more attention. Same day matters, timing matters. If the famine and the plague are spaced out in time, people are more able to deal with them. Ever hear that saying "divide and conquer?" If you can take on your problems one at a time, applying all of your resources to each problem, you are able to more effectively dispatch your problems.
What is coming will tax humanity beyond its ability to cope. "Business as usual" also known as burying the head in the sand, pretending that if they just ignore everything long enough it will all go away won't work anymore. The Lord tells us that this time, He will get people's attention. Their heads will be pulled out of the sand with their rear ends on fire and their mouths screaming this time. Ignoring what is coming will not make it go away...
Switching gears here a bit....
I heard a decent explanation of what is coming in 2012 from a guy who explained some of the science of it. Apparently, this earth that we live in has had a violent and cataclysmic past. Radical earth changes have take place to shape the world as we now know it. These radical changes have taken place over very short periods of time. We have not been taught that. We have been taught a theory of gradual earth change, and that, for the most part has been a lie.
In 2012, the earth will align with galactic center. That is known fact:
http://www.alignment2012.com/whatisga.htm
What is also known fact, is that the powers that be have built a seed vault into a mountain in Norway, the weather has been getting more and more crazy, movies have been coming out about "2012" to condition people without ever really admitting that something crazy is about to happen, and all the while, people sit on their perches and tell us "oh, that's just a crazy conspiracy theory." Really? If you do nothing else but watch the natural world around us, you'll understand that the "debunker" crowd are in serious denial and they will get their collective teeth kicked in by the events unfolding around us. Birds, cattle, fish, all dieing by the tens of millions and what do we hear? "Nothing to see here folks, move right along..it was probably just fireworks or something that has killed and keeps killing off the animal world around us..."
There are people like Piers Corbyn who have nailed weather predictions and told us that the powers that be and propaganda press are a den of liars when it comes to telling us whats going on regarding earth changes:
http://www.weatheraction.com/
and he is right.
Our Lord told us:
Luke 21:25 ... “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of
nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves,
"Signs in the heavens" have been largely hijacked by the new age crowd, but our Lord beat them to the punch. He told us that there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, so would we be wise to keep our eyes on these things as we watch for our Lord every day? I would say so. Be very very careful though. Satan and his minions have laid a deadly minefield all over "signs in the heavens" so be careful what you accept as fact when researching such things. The bible alone is our gold standard, the pillar of truth. Anything that does not align itself with the truths we find in the bible must be trashed as falsehood.
Getting tired so I'm going to wrap this up. I will be very surprised if earth passed through the galactic center and there are not some major earth changes as a result of it. We are already seeing the changes, is it such a far fetched idea that we will see more of these changes in the future? The changes, I believe are going to become radical. "When" all these things will happen, I don't know. Keep your eyes on the Lord, grace and peace |
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