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Thread: Popularity of Historicism

  1. #31
    PeteWaldo Guest

    Default Daniel's 4 "Beasts" and John's Leopard-Bear-Lion composite "Beast"

    Blessedly there is a broad consensus among Jewish, as well as Christian scholars, futurist, preterist and orthodox, regarding the identity of Daniel's four beasts.

    In Daniel's chapter 7 dream we find: Daniel 7:3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

    Daniel 7:4 The first [was] like a lion, and had eagle's wings...
    Daniel 7:5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear...
    Daniel 7:6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard...
    Daniel 7:7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly...

    In the verse below we learn that in the figurative language of a vision or dream in prophecy, a "beast" is a kingdom or empire.

    Daniel 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

    BEAST = KINGDOM

    The broad consensus holds that the kingdoms represented by Daniel's lion, bear and leopard, are the successive ancient kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece, followed by the fourth "terrible" beast, that is understood to be the Roman Empire.

    This conclusion is reached within the traditional continuous-historic context of prophecy. This is simply the view that bible prophecy is fulfilled steadily, as the era about which it is written gradually unfolds. This is the context in which virtually all Christians and Jews understand Old Testament prophecy.

    Below are maps of these successive kingdoms.

    Daniel 7:4 The first [was] like a lion, and had eagle's wings...
    lion - Babylon



    Daniel 7:5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear...
    bear - Medo-Persia



    Daniel 7:6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard...
    leopard - Greece



    Daniel 7:7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly...
    fourth "dreadful" - The Roman Empire


  2. #32
    PeteWaldo Guest

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    Daniel's lion, bear and leopard kingdom "beasts" discussed in Daniel's prophecy, reappear together in scripture only one more time - in Revelation Chapter 13 - but combined into a composite "beast" - kingdom.

    Revelation 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. (Daniel's beast is "his")
    (The Greek interlinear below helps us understand who it is that gives what to whom.)

    This beast was to continue 42 prophetic "months". The seats of the ancient successive kingdom beasts of lion, bear and leopard that Daniel prophesied are occupied today by the countries of Iraq, Iran, and Syria/Lebanon. The dragon in the verse above is Satan.

    While these countries and sects of Islam may have differences, and some with national sovereignty, they are united spiritually through following the false prophet Mohammed, and by their holy book the Quran. As a result they are filled with the spirit of antichrist because their belief that God has no Son, or "shirk", is the most important element in Islam.



    Bible prophecy is ethnographic and therefore is largely about the Middle East. Terms like "whole world" are likely not about Peoria Illinois. "that deceiveth the whole world" - Strong's explains: 3625 oikoumene {oy-kou-men'-ay} 1) the inhabited earth 1a) the portion of the earth inhabited by the Greeks, in distinction from the lands of the barbarians 1b) the Roman empire, all the subjects of the empire

    The sketch map above is an illustration of the seat of the Islamic Empire "beast", and the countries that compose that seat today. But the Lord's interest isn't likely to lie in the artificial boundaries of men, but rather in the spiritual condition of mankind. The spirit of antichrist, in this case. Each of Daniel's successive kingdoms conquered the whole known world (Middle East area and the Holy Land) in its turn.

    In the prior post are maps of the succession of kingdoms that Daniel wrote of, that ruled the Middle East.
    There is broad consensus on the identity of these beasts. As per the prior post, and Daniel defines a beast as a kingdom when used in the figurative language of a dream or vision in prophecy.

    Below is a map of the composite leopard-bear-lion "beast" (kingdom) and the spiritual condition of the Middle East today.

    Leopard-Bear-Lion - Islamic Empire



    While some Muslims may be unaware that other Muslims mark the Quran and Mohammed with the number 666, former PLO terrorist Walid Shoebat also said that the moment he saw the GREEK symbol for 666, he read it as the ARABIC symbol for "Bismillah", or "in the name of Allah". There are ISLAMIC web sites that discuss how the number 666 demonstrates the perfection of the Quran, and that the Quran "is the 666". This number association of 666 was prophesied in Scripture 500 years before Mohammed was born.
    http://www.66619.org/thequran.htm

    Revelation 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six.

    On this link are videos of Muslims who have come to know the love of God.

  3. #33
    PeteWaldo Guest

    Default John's 42 "months" and 1260 "days" in prophecy

    DAY YEAR LANGUAGE OF PROPHECY

    Within this traditional continuous historic context of study we also find a "language" of prophecy wherein we consider "each day for a year". We learn that this day-year principle was well known prior to the 20th century, when we look to those of the "former age" and "search of their fathers", as the Bible instructs.

    The following is a summary of seven more of the math problems explored in "The False Prophet" (available absolutely free by simply clicking on the link), that uniformly apply this day = year "language" of prophecy. Much better to start the book at the beginning, rather than explore the math out of context, because "The False Prophet" is a brick by brick empirical argument.


    Let's start this section with a problem involving 1260 "days" in prophecy, from John's vision detailed in Revelation:
    Here is a link to a godtube video of this problem.

    3. Revelation 12:6 (KJV): And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days.

    Most agree that Israel, is the "woman" in the context of this verse. If we then consider that the end of the 1260 "days" was when Israel came out of "the wilderness" (of the people Ezekiel 20:35), or out from being scattered among the nations, returning home and declaring her independence in 1948, and subtract 1260 years ("each day for a year"), we arrive at 688 AD.

    A quick Yahoo search reveals that this is widely understood to be the founding year of the construction of the Islamic mosque, the Dome of the Rock.



    The founding verses of the Dome of the Rock "O you People of the Book, overstep not bounds in your religion, and of Allah speak only the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, is only an apostle of Allah, and his Word which he conveyed unto Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from him. Believe therefore in Allah and his apostles, and say not Three. It will be better for you. Allah is only one Allah. Far be it from His transcendent majesty that he should have a son."

    Luke 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

    1 John 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: [(but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also].

    The blasphemous founding verses are written in the mosaic on the Dome of the Rock both inside and out. Over the nearly 1400 years of Islamization of the Middle East, the Holy Land became spiritually desolated by the exile of Christians and Jews. Today Iran is 99% Muslim, with Iraq at 98% and Syria at 90%, while Saudi Arabia is 100% and Turkey 99% Muslim. Below is a map of this spiritual condition.



    By the 1800's Israel was rendered a desolate, barren, relatively abandoned, wasteland.

    Continuing our study it will become increasingly apparent that the Dome of the Rock is God's symbol for Islam in prophecy, and that Islam is the subject of Daniel's "time of the end", and the "end of the world".

    The language of prophecy wherein we calculate "each day for a year" was well known by Matthew Henry, Thieleman J. van Braght, and Jamison, Faucett & Brown, to mention just a few. One example of a source verse is:

    Ezekiel 4:6: And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.

  4. #34
    PeteWaldo Guest

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    Next let's try a verse that involves 42 "months" in prophecy.
    There are 365.24 days in our modern solar year, or John's 1st century Julian (365.25) year, divided by 12 months = 30.44 average days in a month:

    4. Revelation 11:2: 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.

    The city of Jerusalem was under the foot of, or controlled by, Gentiles until the Israelis took back the holy city in 1967. 42 months x 30.44 days = 1278.5 days (as years). Subtracting this from 1967 we arrive at 688.5. Once again, the founding year of the Dome of the Rock.

    It wasn't until after the events and the years of 1948 and 1967 had come to pass that we could understand the textual and mathematical solutions to these two simple problems.

    Further study of the above verse may well demonstrate God's wonderfully wry sense of humor. The Solomonic Temple was built over the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, and on that bedrock the Arc of the Covenant, or Holy or Holies, was kept. It is obvious that the stone pictured below, in the Dome of the Rock, could hardly have served as a threshing floor, because both threshing and recovery of grain would have been beyond reason, particularly when there was a perfectly suited smooth flat rock just 300 feet away.



    Today the little gazebo aptly named the "Dome of the Tablets", or "Dome of the Spirits", covers the smooth flat former threshing floor of the old Temple site. (Circled in Temple Mount photo at this link)



    The old Eastern Gate lines up perfectly with the little "Dome of the Tablets".
    The Solomonic Temple "Court of the Gentiles", where even unwashed slaves were allowed, is likely where the Dome of the Rock was constructed.



    Photo from: http://www.excel.net/~hoy/east-tab.html

    It would seem that the Dome of the Rock was built in the court that was outside of the Solomonic temple, that the Lord gave to the Gentiles. In other words, the Moslems built the Dome of the Rock - over the wrong rock! Does God have a wonderfully wry sense of humor?



    How about another 42 "months" problem from John in Revelation, prefaced with a related verse:

    Revelation 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his [Daniel's beast is "his"] feet were as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

    7. Revelation 13:5: And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty [and] two months.

    Again using the average of 30.44 days in a month, multiplied by 42 months = 1278.5 days (as years). Subtracting this from 1967 we arrive again at 688.5. The founding year of the Dome of the Rock.

    The political and religious control (through jizya - that is - humiliation taxes of the enslaved, etc.) of the Islamic LBL beast, of Revelation 13 "continued" in Jerusalem until the Israelis retook the Holy City in 1967 - Islam being marked symbolically by the founding year of the Dome of the Rock.

    Daniel defined what a beast is, when the figurative language of a dream or vision is used in Scripture, and he did it in the context of the lion, bear, leopard and fourth "terrible" beast: Daniel 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,...
    And so we learn that in the figurative language of a dream or vision in prophecy, beast = kingdom.

    Islamic conquest resulted in the exile of Jews and Christians from the Holy Land, and subsequent spiritual desolation of the region. By the 1800's it was a physically desolated, deserted wasteland.
    In "A History of the Jews" page 321 Paul Johnson writes: "Between 1827 and 1839, largely through British efforts, the population of Jerusalem rose from 550 to 5,500 and in all Palestine it topped 10,000 - the real beginning of the Jewish return to the Promised Land. In 1838 Palmerston appointed the first western vice-consul in Jerusalem, W.T. Young, and told him 'to afford protection to the Jews generally'."

    We can see from Revelation 13:2 above, that the dragon, Satan, gives the beast the power that is mentioned in Revelation 13:5, that is manifest in Islamic control of this empire. See illustration

    Daniel's successive kingdom beasts of lion, bear and leopard, which Bible scholars recognize as Babylon, Medo-Persia, and ancient Greece, form the composite leopard-bear-lion - beast / kingdom - we find in Revelation 13. This same geographical region is today occupied by Iraq, Iran, and Syria/Lebanon. While some Islamic sects have national autonomy, and different sects of Islam are at war against each other, they are all perfectly united behind their false prophet Mohammed, and united in the spirit of antichrist. These modern day realities perfectly compliment this sound hermeneutic, textual and mathematical study.

    The prophetic pin date of 688 and the symbol of the end times - the Dome of the Rock - the abomination of desolation - also fits all of the definitions of terms used to describe this abomination, since it was "set up", and "stands", "where it ought not", "in" the "holy place", as Matthew 24 confirms, in conjunction with that passage in Mark and Luke, as well as Daniel, where Matthew and Mark instruct us to "understand" the concept from.

    Eventually Western wealth transfer to the Middle East through oil purchase would heal the wound of the leopard-bear-lion beast, financing the second Jihad in the image of the first Jihad. Jihad is the pinnacle of worship in Islam. This image worship may also include the Black Stone in the Kaaba, that at one time housed over 360 idols, that all Muslims bow toward, in their daily prayers, from everywhere in the world.

  5. #35
    PeteWaldo Guest

    Default The day-year "Language" of Prophecy

    The following threads are intended simply to present the first little peak into another entire context through which to consider New Testament prophecy and particularly the book of Revelation. Unlike futurism or preterism this view suggests that the book of Revelation has been being steadily fulfilled throughout the Christian era. The same view that virtually all Christians and Jews hold for the Old Testament as in the case of Daniel's kingdom "beasts" for example.
    When we look to those of the former age we find the day-year language of prophecy was well understood:

    Job 8:8 For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers: 9 (For we [are but of] yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth [are] a shadow:)

    Quoting from "The False Prophet": "In 1569, the great Anabaptist theologian, Thieleman van Braght, wrote the following in Martyrs Mirror, pages 21-24: 'a thousand two hundred and threescore days, which reckoned according to prophetic language means as many years… let it be reckoned as it may, say we, as a very long period of time.'

    Two hundred years later, Matthew Henry, in his 'Commentary of the Whole Bible', came to the same conclusion (Vol VI, page 1157 column 1, para. 2): "….if the beginning of that interval could be ascertained, this number of prophetic days, taking a day for a year, would give us a prospect of when the end might be."

    Isaac Newton - "She is nourished by the merchants of the earth, three times or years and an half, or 42 months, or 1260 days: and in these Prophecies days are put for years." - Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St.a John - Chapter 3

    Also Jamison, Faucett & Brown commentary - "..... in the wilderness 'a thousand two hundred and threescore days.' In the wider sense, we may either adopt the year-day theory of 1260 years..."

    The source of this language can be found in these key verses:

    Ezekiel 4:5 For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

    Ezekiel 4:6 And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.

    Numbers 14:34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, [even] forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, [even] forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.

    Genesis 29:27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.

    Additionally Exodus alludes to a week of days as years:

    Exodus 23:10 And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:
    Exodus 23:11 But the seventh [year] thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, [and] with thy oliveyard.

    Other examples of those who understood this language include:

    Augustine (AD 430)
    Nahawendi (Jewish) (AD 8-9th century)
    Jehoram (AD 10th century)
    Abraham bar Hiyya (Jewish) (AD 1136)
    Arnold of Villanova AD (1292)
    Tichonius (AD 380)
    Joachim of Floris (AD 1202)
    John Wycliffe (AD c.1379)
    Nicholas of Cusa (AD c.1452)
    Martin Luther (AD 1522)
    Phillip Melanchthon (AD 1543)
    Johan Funck (AD 1558)
    James I of England (AD 1600)
    Sir Isaac Newton (AD 1727)

    It is important to note that the studies I entered in this forum discuss FULFILLED prophecy, pinned mathematically.

    "The folly of interpreters has been to foretell times and things by this prophecy [Revelation], as if God designed to make them prophets. By this rashness they have not only exposed themselves, but brought the prophecy also into contempt. The design of God was much otherwise. He gave this and the prophecies of the Old Testament, not to gratify men's curiosities by enabling them to foreknow things, but that after they were fulfilled they might be interpreted by the event, and his own providence, not the interpreters', be then manifested thereby to the world. For the event of things predicted many ages before will then be a convincing argument that the world is governed by Providence." - Sir Isaac Newton

    We should consider the warning that Jesus gave to the Pharisees, and never allow our doctrine to trump the truth of God's Holy Word:

    Mark 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

  6. #36
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    Default The Year_Day Theory Fails

    The Year-Day Theory

    Recently the study of prophecy had earned for itself a bad reputation among believers because of the so-called year-day theory. According to this theory, many numbers of days in the Scriptures are computed as though a day were a year [even Isaac Newton made this mistake with all kinds of calculations], thus fostering predictions as to the precise date for the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ—an exercise of the mind which is plainly contradictory to the Lord’s announcement: for no one knows the date of His return, not even Jesus himself. Then, too, some commentators on Revelation have twisted God’s word in ways that are meant to fit in with this year-day theory. We have no intention to argue about this theory; we only desire to point out a right understanding of the “days” that are mentioned in the Bible.

    The advocates of the year-day theory base their conception on Numbers 14.34 and Ezekiel 4.6. Let us first examine Numbers: "After the number of the days in which ye spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my alienation." Here we are told that due to their unbelief, the children of Israel were disciplined by God for forty years, a year for every day they had spied out the land. But this does not apply equally to other "days" mentioned in Scripture, and certainly not to the "days" found in Revelation. As to Ezekiel: "And again, when thou hast accomplished these, thou shalt lie on thy right side, and shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah: forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it unto thee." Here we see that God commanded Ezekiel to lie down in a certain position as a response to the iniquity of Judah. This has nothing to do with the other "days" found in the Bible.

    Let us look at a few more passages.

    (1) "And yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights" (Gen. 7.4). Did God wait for seven years and then have the rain fall for forty years? No, for the record goes on to explain as follows: "And it came to pass after the seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. . . . And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights" (vv.10,12). Here, a day is not a year.

    (2) "Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; within yet three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head" (Gen. 40.12,13). Was it that after three years the chief butler was released from prison? Not at all: "And it came to pass the third day . . . [that] he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again" (vv.20,21).

    (3) "Then said Jehovah unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day . . . And it shall come to pass on the sixth day . . . [that] it shall be twice as much as they gather daily" (Ex. 16.4,5). The children of Israel went out to gather manna every day, not once a year.

    (4) God gave meat to the children of Israel to eat for "a whole month" (Num. 11.19, 20). They did not eat meat for thirty years.

    (5) "Within three days ye are to cross this Jordan" (Joshua 1.11). What actually happened afterwards? Did the children of Israel cross over Jordan after three years? No, they crossed after three days.

    (6) "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matt. 12.40). Was the Lord Jesus in the heart of the earth for three years? We know from the biblical record that He was there for only three days and three nights.

    From this evidence, therefore, we can easily conclude that the year-day theory is erroneous. If some of the "days" appearing in the book of Revelation are to be taken as years, then the rest of the "days" found therein should also be treated as years. And in that case, the three and a half years of the Great Tribulation would have to be calculated as a thousand two hundred and sixty years; and the millennial kingdom would have to be extended out to three hundred and sixty thousand years. Obviously, we know that such calculations as these cannot be true.

    May we therefore trust the Holy Spirit to guide us correctly as we read the word of God. Let us not seize upon strange ideas like this. Even though the Bible is most wonderful, it is not to be explained in any quaint or bizarre way. We ought to learn to be more obedient to God in our thought. And then we will not be likely to misinterpret His word.

  7. #37
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    The One Thousand Two Hundred and Sixty Days

    Let us examine the last prophecy of Daniel as recorded in chapters 10-12. By carefully examining these chapters we shall see how his last prophecy fits in with his earlier prophecies. I cannot stay to explain it in detail, so let us merely touch upon it briefly.

    "And forces shall stand on his part, and they shall profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt-offering, and they shall set up the abomination that maketh desolate" (Dan. 11.31). How this coincides indeed with chapter 9. "I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half, and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. . . . And from the time that the continual burnt-offering shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way till the end be; for thou shalt rest, and shall stand in thy lot, at the end of the days" (12.7,11-13). Here we see again the three and a half years’ time. One thousand two hundred and ninety days is thirty days more than three and a half years, and a thousand three hundred and thirty-five days is forty-five days more than one thousand two hundred and ninety days. As the three years and a half (1260 days) come to an end, the Lord Jesus will appear on earth. The thirty more days will probably be used to judge the nations (see Matt. 25.31-46), or to cleanse the sanctuary. But after another forty-five days the children of Israel will receive glory.

    From the above investigation, we come to know a few things: (1) the time of the Gentiles—that is to say, the time when the Gentiles rule—will come to a sudden end, for One who looks like the Son of man will come with the clouds and set up His kingdom; (2) the last of the Gentile power will be the Roman empire, and its king will speak blasphemously against God and wear out the saints, but he will eventually be judged; (3) the Antichrist will make a covenant with the Jews, and in their unbelief, the latter will restore the sanctuary and its sacrifices; (4) but that after three years and a half, the Antichrist will break the covenant, cause the offering up of sacrifices to cease, and will introduce idolatry; (5) for this reason, desolation will continue to the end of the predetermined period of three and one-half years, and then God will deliver His holy people; and finally (6) the time of the Gentile kingdoms will come to its end with the sudden coming of the Lord from heaven to establish His own kingdom. We have not attempted with any degree of pressure to expound the above Scriptures to suit our own theory, but all we wish to do is to point Scripture to Scripture. We have noticed how the three and a half years of the little horn (ch. 7) fit perfectly with the latter half of the seventieth seven (ch. 9), and also with the three years and a half to be found in chapter 12. And so, the Scriptural prophecies spoken earlier and later agree completely with each other, except that the later prophecy does at times explain the former one or adds to what the former one had not said.

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    Third Division of "Revelation" Concurs with the Other Bible Prophecies

    We earlier saw that the human image in Daniel’s writing symbolizes the time of the Gentile rule. From this image we recognized Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome as signified by the golden head, the silver breast, the brass belly, and the iron legs. But we know from history that these have all passed away; only the image’s ten toes—partly of iron and partly of clay—have yet to be revealed in human history. These ten toes symbolically represent the future confederacy of the revived Roman Empire that is to arise. But at the fullness of time, a stone from heaven (which stone, as we saw, points to the Lord Jesus) will break them to pieces and will itself fill the whole earth. Likewise, in Revelation we are told of ten horns (13.1) which stand for ten kings (17.12), representing the last powers of the Gentiles. But "these shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings" (17.14). What agreement we find here with Daniel!

    In the vision of the beasts in Daniel 7, it is recorded that a little horn came up among the ten horns, and this little horn "shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High [the Jews]; and he shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time" (v.25). In reading Revelation, we learn of a beast (Daniel’s little horn) who is greater than the ten horns (17.12,13) and who speaks blasphemies (13.5) and makes war with the Jews (v.7). He speaks blasphemies against God (v.6) and has authority for forty-two months (v.5). Once again we see the perfect harmony.

    Daniel 9 tells us of seventy sevens, of which sixty-nine sevens have already passed but the seventieth seven is yet to come. As the last seven arrives, Antichrist will make a covenant with the children of Israel; but after three and a half years he will break the covenant and set up the idol image which is "the abomination of desolation." The last two chapters of Daniel repeat the mentioning of the setting up of this abomination (11.31 and 12.11). As we have seen, the Lord Jesus himself referred to this matter too, and so did Paul. And when we come to Revelation, we find the same thing: it records how the second beast entices people to make the image of the first beast and to worship it (13.14,15,4,8).

    Daniel 9 observes how the Antichrist will break his covenant in the midst of the last seven, which leaves another three years and a half remaining. This coincides with the three and a half years alluded to in Revelation chapter 7 and mentioned directly in Revelation chapter 12, during which time the Antichrist will be in power.

    The time of the Antichrist is altogether forty-two months (Rev. 13.5), which is three and a half years’ time. During that period the wicked cruelty of the beast and the related idolatry shall be rampant upon the earth. It is then that Jerusalem will be trodden under foot again, that the two men clothed in sackcloth will bear witness, that the persecuted saints will flee to the wilderness to be under the protection of God, and also that the Gentiles shall have dominion on the earth. All these will happen within the three years and a half. Within a very short time afterwards, the Messiah will come to reign.

    We have thus seen how the prophecies found in the book of Revelation agree with Daniel’s prophecies found in the Old Testament. Now, though, let us learn how they concur with the prophecies of the Lord Jesus.

    According to Matthew’s record of Jesus’ words, the signs of the end are (1) false Christs (24.5; cf. also v.24); (2) wars (vv.6,7); (3) famines (v.7); (4) pestilences (v.7 AV; cf. also Luke 21.11); (5) martyrs (v.9); and (6) signs in the sun, moon and stars (v.29). By comparing what Matthew’s record of Jesus’ words says with the six seals spoken of in Revelation, we can readily see the similarities. Even the order of them are the same. Moreover, Jesus in Matthew’s account speaks of the "abomination of desolation . . . standing in the holy place" (v.15), but so also does Revelation (13.14,15). In Matthew, our Lord warns the Jews that as soon as they see the idol being set up, they should flee; Revelation too describes how they run (12.6). Matthew records that Jesus says that for the sake of the elect that day will be shortened (24.22); Revelation states: "the devil . . . knowing that he hath but a short time" (12.12). Jesus in Matthew’s account states how the false christs and the false prophets shall show great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect (24.24); and a similar statement is given in Revelation: "he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by reason of the signs" (13.14). In Matthew Jesus tells how people will look for an earthly Christ (24.26); Revelation shows how they follow an earthly beast (13.3). Finally, Matthew indicates how the Lord will come from heaven; and Revelation describes how the Lord with His army shall come out of heaven in glory and power (19.11-16).

    We should also notice the harmony between Revelation and the Thessalonian prophecy of Paul. Paul mentions the revealing of the man of sin, the son of perdition; Revelation tells of the appearing of the Antichrist (13.1). Paul says the man of sin will oppose the Lord; Revelation records how he blasphemes God (13.6). Paul foretells how that man of sin will exalt himself as God to be worshipped; Revelation describes how he has his image made to receive homage (13.14,15). Paul describes that his coming is according to the working of Satan; Revelation narrates how he receives power from the dragon (that is to say, from Satan) (12.9, 13.4). Paul predicts he will perform signs and lying wonders; Revelation observes that "his death-stroke [will be] healed" (13.3; cf. also v.14). Paul concludes that he will be destroyed by the glory of the coming of the Lord Jesus; Revelation depicts him as being seized at the coming of the Lord and then being "cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone" (19.20).

    Can we not now see how the prophecies in Revelation correspond so intimately with all the other prophecies in both the Old and New Testaments? How truly one is the word of the Lord! Even as the prophecies quoted above from the New Testament as well as the Old await their fulfillment in the coming days, so also do the corresponding words in Revelation await their future realizations too.

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    Since Jesus didn't return at the end of the 1260 years, you know you are misusing the forty two months. "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months" (Rev. 13.5). This hasn't happened yet.

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    A Brief Summary Concerning Things to Come

    It might be helpful to conclude with a brief summary of the end-time events. The first thing to come is the rapture of the overcoming believers. All who have the cross wrought deeply in their lives will be raptured. But those who are saved and yet mix with the world and compromise with sins will remain on earth and pass through the Great Tribulation. Only the victorious and watchful saints are ready to be received (the rest of the saved believers will go through the Great Tribulation and be received at the sounding of the seventh trumpet). All this pertains to Christians.

    During that time the Roman Empire will be revived, and a very strong person shall be her emperor. He will be given certain powers by Satan in order to perform signs and lying wonders. He will call himself Christ and steal the hearts of many Jews. At that period, the Jews have already returned to their native land, but most of them are unbelievers. They shall rebuild the temple and restore their former worship and sacrifices. Out of fear towards outside powers, they will make a pact with the Antichrist for seven years in order to receive his protection. No doubt, there will still be a remnant who believe in the word of God and oppose the name of the false Messiah.

    In the midst of these seven years, there will come forth a sign in heaven, for the red dragon (Satan) will be cast down from heaven to the earth. He will be filled with hatred towards the saints of God—those Jews who bear witness for God. He will stir the heart of the Antichrist—the Roman Emperor—to oppose those Jews.

    But just as Satan persecutes those who belong to God, so God will punish those who belong to Satan. The "trumpets" and the "bowls" spoken of in the book of Revelation shall be the manifestations of God’s wrath towards the Antichrist and the inhabitants of the earth. In punishing the world, God will still expect them to repent, but the world will persist in evil and will not repent.

    Through the power of Satan, the Antichrist will break his covenant, cause all sacrifices and offerings to cease, and will set up the idol image—that wing of abomination—for people to worship. The false prophet will come forth to persuade people to worship the image. As soon as the image is set up, the remnant will immediately flee to the wilderness. Although Satan will use every means to destroy them, God shall take care of them during the three and a half years.

    Having no outlet for his wrath, Satan shall turn to persecute those Christian believers who have not previously been raptured. Many will be martyred. But at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the believers who remain on earth shall also be raptured because they will have learned obedience through sufferings and will have now been perfected.

    Then will the Antichrist gather together all nations to come and attack the Jews (the war of Armageddon). The Jews will flee from the city (see Zech. 14). This will happen at the conclusion of the last seven mentioned in Daniel, when the Lord Jesus will come from heaven with His saints and His feet will touch the Mount of Olives. He will save the children of Israel and destroy the nations which war against Him. Then shall commence the millennial kingdom.

    Such is a general outline of the book of Revelation. However, those who believe in the Lord and have been faithful, watching, ready, overcoming, and praying will have already been raptured to heaven before these things shall come upon the world. There will be no need for them to go through the Great Tribulation. Therefore, we need to have the spirit of rapture now. We must have the experience of rapture in spirit before we can find it fulfilled in body. Our spirit should go to heaven first, and then our body will follow suit. May we not be entangled in the things of this world so that we may go when the time comes. The "powers of the age to come" (cf. Heb. 6.5) should be manifested in the lives of the saints today. But, alas, many today seem to fall short.

    Lord, will You be gracious? Lead us and keep us that we may seek the truth, that we may have the light of the future to illumine our current course, that we may let the future judgment seat of Christ induce us to judge ourselves at present, and that we may taste the future joy now so as to strengthen our communion with the Spirit of the Lord today. Let us not study this most blessed book as though it were a kind of mental examination, but may the study of it radically change our lives and works. Amen.

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