The Strong Delusion-Part 7: Rev Commentary Continued

THE STRONG DELUSION—PART 7

The Continuing Synopsis of the Revelation as a Historical Prophecy

7-7-2019

A Continued Unmasking of the Revelation Misunderstanding – The Third Layer of Delusion as Proposed in:  https://freedomfromdelusion.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-strong-delusion-part-1.html

The misunderstanding that the Revelation written by John is actually a blueprint of the events that will occur during the tribulation period.  Fomented by the Scofield Study Bible the understanding by the Church Fathers was changed to a literal interpretation of real events that will occur during a future seven year tribulation period.

The Revelation was originally understood as a prophetic history of the Church age, from the beginning of the teachings of Jesus to the Millennial Kingdom of God.

The Protestant Reformation, beginning with Luther, did not regain the early Church fathers knowledge of the purpose of the Revelation because it had long ago vanished.

At what point the Revelation was viewed as a literal chronology of tribulation period events is unknown to a certain point.  It occurred after Darby’s dispensational theory was employed within Scofield’s note filled study Bible, but the exact timeline of a literal Revelation, the misinterpretation of the 70 weeks, and the misunderstanding of the state of Israel as a fulfillment of all Bible prophecy is not certain.

The following snippets of Revelation commentary were extracted from the series of commentaries written by Dr. Stephen Jones.

The Message of the Seventh Angel

As for the start of the third woe, that is, the seventh trumpet, it is difficult to pinpoint a single beginning point— nor should we try. We have already seen how God sets up multiple starting points in order to provide us with double and triple witnesses.

When angels blow trumpets, they send a silent but effective message throughout the earth. So we see the message of the seventh angel given in Rev. 11: 15,

15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there arose loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever [aionios ton aionon, “for the ages of the ages”].

Such announcements come before the fact, not after they have been completed. This trumpet, then, is the divine Statement of Intent. More than this, it is a Statement of Fact in the sense that when God intends to do something, He always succeeds.

So Rev. 11: 15 should be understood as a divine decree that precedes the fulfillment of that decree. God speaks of it in the past tense, as we so often see in the Hebrew language.  So when the seventh angel proclaims that the world kingdom has come under the dominion of Jesus Christ, it is simply a revelation of the divine plan from the beginning.

The Elders in Agreement

John continues in Rev. 11: 16, 17, 18, with a restatement by the twenty-four elders:

16 And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying, “We give Thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast, because Thou hast taken Thy great power and hast begun to reign. 18 And the nations were enraged, and Thy wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to Thy bond-servants the prophets, and to the saints and to those who fear Thy name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

These elders expand the message of the seventh angel. In fact, they help us interpret its meaning and implication. They thank God because He has “begun to reign.” God has always reigned, of course, but this statement comes in the context of man’s rebellion. Men and nations have usurped power, thinking God has given them ownership of His creation. But the seventh angel signals that the end of men’s usurpation is in sight. The corner has been turned. Rightful dominion is about to be restored to the one true King who has proven His love for all of mankind.

The twenty-four elders tells us in verse 18 that “the nations were enraged” for losing their usurped sovereignty. They also see that “the time came for the dead to be judged.” Again, the Great White Throne judgment was not to come until the end of the thousand years following the return of Christ, but the elders can already see it coming and treat it as an accomplished fact.

The elders also see rewards being given to the saints and prophets, as well as judgments upon “those who destroy the earth.”

The Heavenly Temple Opened

Revelation 11: 19 then says,

19 And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm. 1 And a great sign appeared in heaven…

The implication is that prior to the coronation of Jesus Christ as King of Creation, the heavenly temple was CLOSED. But when the temple doors were opened, “the ark of His covenant appeared,” that is, it was revealed for all to see. The Greek word is horao, “to see with the eyes.” Furthermore, when the temple is opened, a great sign appears in the heavens, which is the subject of Revelation 12. It is the woman clothed with the sun. The “and” in Rev. 12: 1 is a Hebraic connector, commonly used throughout the Old Testament, which in this case links the open temple to the sign of the woman.

Although the heavenly temple is opened here, the ark itself remains closed until we see it opened in Rev. 15: 5, 6,

5 After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened, 6 and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple.

The Feast of Trumpets

Opening the temple in heaven is an event associated with the feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hoshana) which was held on the first day of the seventh month.

The first trumpet, then, was blown on the first day of the first month, and the seventh trumpet was blown on Rosh Hoshana (Lev. 23: 24), the first day of the seventh month. Rosh Hoshana, however, was more important than other first days of the month, because it was considered to be the first day of creation— the birth of the earth itself. It was also believed to be the day when, in the future, the dead would be raised. Hence, “the last trumpet” in 1 Thess. 4: 16 was the seventh trumpet, the last to mark the progression of months leading to the final Mosaic feast, the feast of Tabernacles.

During the feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month (trumpet), they were to pour out a drink offering on each of the seven days of Tabernacles (Num. 29: 19, 22, 25, etc.). These are the seven bowls of wine poured out during the time of the seventh trumpet (month).

So we see that the seven seals in the book of Revelation represent the seven years of a Sabbath cycle. The seven trumpets come in the seventh seal, because these are prophesied in the seven months of that Sabbath year. Finally, the seven bowls of wine in Revelation 16 are prophesied by the seven drink offerings in the feast of Tabernacles which falls in the seventh month.

Seeing this gives us the context of the seventh trumpet in the prophetic structure of Revelation. It is meant to portray the prophecy of Rosh Hoshana, which in turn leads to the feast of Tabernacles and the ultimate collapse of Babylon on the eighth day of Tabernacles.

The Storm

Opening the temple sets off a spiritual “storm,” complete with lightning, thunder, hail, and even an earthquake.

Lightning is called God’s “arrows” (Psalm 77: 17), and arrows are also sons (Psalm 127: 4). Hence, lightning represents the sons of God. God’s voice is heard in the “thunder” (Psalm 77: 18; 2 Sam. 22: 14; John 12: 29), and because thunder is the sound of lightning, what is pictured is the voice of God speaking through His sons.

Spiritual “hail” is Truth, for we read in Isaiah 28: 17 that “hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies.” This hail of truth comes from the sons of God, as the decrees of God thunder from their mouths. When men’s governments are overthrown, Scripture pictures this as earthquakes.

All of this is pictured in Rev. 11: 19 in order to set us up for the next event in chapter 12. Opening the temple in heaven reveals the woman clothed with the sun, and, in fact, this appears to be the message coming from the sons of God in the lightning and thunder.  Revelation 12, then, is about the conflict over who has legitimate authority over the earth.

Revelation 12 - The Woman and Her Son

When the temple in heaven was opened, thunder, lightning, hail, an earthquake, and a sign in heaven were all seen as a result. The sign was that of Virgo bringing forth a son and the conflict with a great dragon. Rev. 12: 1, 2 says,

1 And a great sign appeared in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; 2 and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.

John sees the constellation Virgo appear in the heavens. It is one of the signs that God not only created, but also named (Psalm 147: 4) for the purpose of expressing the gospel story.

The gospel was expressed in the heavens and was known, more or less, to all cultures at the beginning. It was the first Universal Bible, written as signs, prophesying of the divine plan to send His Son through a Virgin, who would give His life to save the world. The truth in the stars and constellations diminished over time and was often changed, perverted, and misused by astrologers, but what men did with the truth did not eliminate its original message nor diminish its value.

Clothed with the Sun

Each year as the sun appears to move through the constellations, Virgo is said to be “clothed with the sun” for a month beginning in late August. The sun normally transits Virgo from August 23 to September 22. For this reason, John’s terminology in Rev. 12: 1, 2 pictures an event taking place during this time of year. It shows that Mary did not go into labor in December, but in September.

While this sign is seen every year, only rarely does it happen in conjunction with “the moon under her feet.” This sign actually occurred four years in a row: September 15, 1996, October 2, 1997, September 21, 1998, and September 11, 1999. The moon appeared to pass from Virgo’s womb to her feet.

The woman sign was literally fulfilled in the heavens from 1996-1999, when the moon passed through Virgo from her womb to her feet during the month when she was clothed with the sun. Each year the moon was positioned more perfectly until the climax in 1999.

The Dragon Wars

Rev. 12: 3, 4 introduces us to “a great red dragon” in the heavens:

3 And another sign appeared in heaven; and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. 4 And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth, he might devour her child.

This dragon is another sign in the heavens, known as Draco, which encircles about a third of the heavens.

The Red Dragon at Jesus’ Birth

Revelation 12: 5 says,

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 to God and to His throne.

The original pattern was seen clearly when King Herod attempted to kill Jesus when he was about three months old. Jesus was born on the feast of Trumpets, September 29, 2 B.C., and the wise men arrived around December 25 of that year when Jupiter hovered over Bethlehem (as viewed from Jerusalem). The wise men had followed Jupiter’s westward movement ever since it had “crowned” Regulus, the great star that is positioned between the feet of Leo, the lion.

Herod was half-Idumean (i.e., Edomite). Edom means “red.” He was the manifestation of the red dragon at that time, attempting to “devour her child.”

The Woman in the Wilderness

After the woman’s son ascends to the throne, Rev. 12: 6 says,

6 And the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she might be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

The prophecy of the woman in the wilderness in Revelation 12 serves two main purposes. First, it presents her as the mother of Jesus Christ, who was destined to be the King of all nations. Secondarily, it presents the woman as the mother of the body of Christ— those who are destined to reign with Christ.

Christ’s death on the cross at the feast of Passover set them free from the bondage of sin and death. However, the church again went into its own wilderness. Though some truly experienced freedom in Christ, the majority retained the same slave mentality that was ingrained in the Israelites under Moses.

Scripture shows that there is a second coming of Christ— this time with Christ coming as Perseus— to break the slavery of Babylon and to restore the earth to the freedom of the children of God. This is prophesied in Micah 2: 13,

13 The breaker [peres] goes up before them; they break out [peres], pass through the gate, and go out by it. So their king goes on before them, and the Lord at their head.

John then adds another flavor of understanding by revealing the war between Michael and the red dragon.

The Accuser Thrown out of Court

Revelation 12: 7, 8 says,

7 And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war, 8 and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.

John was referring first and foremost to the heavenly battle written pictorially in the night sky and supported by the names of the constellations and individual stars within each.

John speaks of “Michael and his angels” fighting the war against the dragon. Michael is the counterpart and the natural enemy of the red dragon.  John, then, identifies Michael as the deliverer in Revelation 12.

So we find very early the belief that Satan, or Lucifer, rebelled and was cast out of heaven. It was believed that the battle in the heavens was very ancient and not merely consigned to the future. Yet because the battle continues until the final victory and resolution, we can see this battle playing out in the time interim.  In the big picture, we are now positioned at the end of the age, when we ought to see the dragon overcome.  However, they say that the signs which were were seen in 1996-1999 will not be repeated, at least not in the foreseeable future.

Revelation 12: 9-11 says,

9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power [dunamis], and the kingdom of our God and the authority [exousia] of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death.”

Here the great dragon is identified with “the serpent of old,” the same as the tempter in the garden (Gen. 3: 1). This serpent is “called the devil and Satan.” The Greek word for “devil” is diabolos, “false accuser, slanderer.” Satan is an Aramaic word (satanas) transliterated directly in Greek, which means “an adversary.” The serpent is both an accuser and an adversary (prosecutor) in the divine court. John says he “accuses them before our God day and night,” that is, continuously.

Hence, when the accuser is “thrown down to the earth,” it means he is thrown out of the divine court. His case against “our brethren” has been rejected or denied.  Under normal circumstances, the accuser has a case against us, for all have broken the law of God. However, after the Child of the woman has been born, and after His ascension to the throne, the dragon’s case against us carries no merit.

When Christ took upon Himself the sin of the world (John 1: 29), He became the Victim of all sin ever committed. This gave Him the right as a victim either to hold men accountable or to forgive and release them.

While yet on the cross, He chose to forgive (Luke 23: 34). Hence, even though He has also held men accountable— and will yet do so at the Great White Throne— those who are judged will also be saved in the end when all sin (debt) is canceled at the great Jubilee.

Rev. 12: 7 indicates that Michael cast the serpent-devil out of heaven to the earth, but Rev. 12: 11 says that “they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb.” In this case, “they” refers to “our brethren,” that is, those who had been accused day and night. This process of overcoming has been timeless, because before the cross men applied the blood of lambs to their sin, and this showed faith in the true Lamb that was yet to come.

We see Michael casting the accuser out of the divine court, but after this, the brethren must also overcome the dragon on the earth. It is a two-step program, one for the Head and the other for the body of Christ. The first part was accomplished by Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, which is prophesied in Rev. 12: 1-10. The second part has taken place over many generations, as each of the “brethren” individually overcome by their testimony and even by their own blood if necessary.

Introduction to Revelation 13

Woe to the Earth and the Sea

Rev. 12: 12 says, “Woe to the earth and the sea.” This is, in fact, an introduction to the next chapter, where we see the rise of two beasts: one from the earth, and the other from the sea. The earth and sea are subjected to the dragon that is cast out of the divine court, and a new power thus arises, which is the final manifestation of beast governments prior to the Kingdom.

The verse implies that the beast rising from the sea (Rev. 13: 1) and the other from the earth (Rev. 13: 11) are both inspired and ruled by the dragon. In fact, as we will see from Rev. 13: 2, the beast from the sea is given power and authority by this dragon. Likewise, in Rev. 13: 11 the beast from the earth “spoke as a dragon.”

In the big picture, then, these two beasts arise as a result of the dragon being cast down to the earth when Christ ascended to the throne in heaven. Their power is drawn from men’s lack of faith to believe that Jesus Christ paid the penalty for their own sin and for the sin of the whole world.

As we will see, the beast from the sea is the Roman church, that is, the “Holy See.” The beast from the earth is a banking beast that arose at the time that the sea-beast received a fatal wound that was healed (1798-1804). The “Holy See” kept people in bondage to sin, not telling them that their debt was paid. They found Christian guilt to be useful, for then the church could continue to collect penance from the people and to pay for their relatives to be released from Purgatory.

In other words, the church failed to teach the truth about grace, for they redefined grace as God’s help to keep the old flesh man from sinning. Thus, “grace” was needed continually, because the old man of flesh can never be perfected. But in fact, biblical grace is a state where the law is satisfied and requires no further payment on past debt.

The name “Babylon” is reserved for a later phase of carnal religion and does not appear until Rev. 18: 2. Babylon appears to be the name used when the focus of prophecy shifts from the little horn, as Daniel saw it, to the extra beast that John saw in Rev. 13: 11.

Daniel saw the beast which John described as coming out of the sea in Rev. 13: 1, but John saw beyond Daniel’s revelation when he described a beast coming out of the earth in Rev. 13: 11. This second banking beast, allied with the first religious beast, appears to be the final phase of tribulation prior to the coming of Christ. As we will see later, this final phase, known to historians as “The Holy Alliance,” lasted precisely 200 years from the Congress of Vienna in 1814-1815 until the Dominion was given to the saints in 2014-2015.

The 1,260 Years

Dan. 7: 25 tells us that the time of the little horn is the extension of the iron beast of Rome, and that his time of dominion is “a time, times, and half a time.” In other words, this little horn is given the final half of the full seven times. This is an enormous amount of time, because the other half had to be divided among each of the other beasts.

John’s statement in Rev. 12: 14 that the woman was sent into the wilderness for “a time, times, and half a time” links her wilderness experience (where she is persecuted) with the time of the little horn who persecutes her.

Who Stood on the Seashore?

Revelation 12 ends with the dragon/ serpent being enraged that the earth would actually help the woman and protect her from the dragon’s persecution. Hence, the beast from the earth is helpful, even though it is not a “good” beast as such. In fact, as we will see, the earth beast supports the sea beast’s claim to be worthy of worship (13: 12). When Stephen Langdon divided the New Testament into chapters and verses seven centuries ago, he mistakenly put the last sentence of chapter 12 as part of Revelation 13.

It was not John who stood on the shore, but the dragon. The dragon’s purpose was to conjure up a beast from the sea after being defeated by Michael, the Archangel, and cast down to the earth. The text here gives us the sequence of events, but does not specify timing. When the “male child” was caught up to the throne in heaven (Rev. 12: 5), the dragon had no further power to endanger that son’s life, so he found alternate targets among “the rest of her offspring.”