The Strong Delusion, Part 3, More Revelation Synopsis

THE STRONG DELUSION—PART 3

The Continuing Synopsis of the Revelation as a Historical Prophecy

5-18-2019

A Continuation Revelation Misunderstanding – The Third Layer

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.

Summary of the 7^th Chapter and the Six Seals

The sixth seal, as we have seen, starts with the martyrdom and persecution of the saints and ends with “the great day of their wrath” (Rev. 6: 17).

If a time frame was placed on the sixth seal, it actually takes us all the way to the time of the end and the establishment of the Kingdom of God. But the seventh seal, with its trumpets and bowls, must also be given time for fulfillment. The sixth seal does not conclude the book of Revelation. Hence, it is clear that while the persecutions of the sixth seal are ongoing in the background, other events are also taking place.

In fact, the great victory of the saints over the kings of the earth, along with the fall of Mystery Babylon, is not fully covered until Revelation 17-19. Hence, John has previewed the coming victory in chapter six, as if to give hope to the persecuted saints during their time of tribulation.

Dan. 7: 21, 22 makes it clear that the little horn’s war with the saints continues until the transfer of authority at the end of the beast nations’ dominion. We must therefore conclude that the sixth seal largely runs concurrent with the seventh.

The sixth seal has more to do with the long-running war (persecution) in which the saints find themselves, while the seventh gives us a more definitive time line of events that focus on the downfall of Babylon.

Introduction to Revelation Chapter 7

The seventh chapter of revelation calls for a time-out to seal the saints, in view of the time of persecution when the little horn makes war on them. This is obviously a pause in the narrative, rather than a pause in the time of persecution.

The kings of the earth are allowed to overcome the saints during their allotted time (Dan. 7: 21), but when their legal authority ends, God equips His saints with sufficient spiritual weapons to take back the earth by the manifest power of God Himself.

The Four Angels

Revelation 7: 1 says,

1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind should blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.

The phrase “after this” is not meant to date this event after the fall of kings, but to show that John saw this after seeing the sixth seal being opened.  The sealing of these saints occurs at or near the start of the sixth seal, rather than at the end of the age as many have assumed.

The four angels represent the earth, each identified with a different direction (north, south, east, and west). These are the same four angels that the prophet saw in Zech. 6: 1-8.

1 Now I lifted up my eyes again and looked, and behold, four chariots were coming forth from between the two mountains; and the mountains were bronze mountains.

The chariots were pulled by four horses of various colors: red, black, white, and “dappled” (spotted).

4 Then I spoke and said to the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 And the angel answered and said to me, “These are the four spirits [ruach, “winds”] of heaven, going forth after standing before the Lord of all the earth.”

In Revelation 7 the saints are sealed before the little horn arises to make war against them.  A great many of those saints were killed.  In Rev. 7: 13-17, where many saints are seen clothed in white robes, no longer persecuted and no longer suffering from hunger and thirst. It is a heavenly scene.

The 144,000

Revelation 7: 4 says,

4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel.

Perhaps the most controversial issue regarding this is whether John was speaking of physical Israelites or members of a tribal unit.  Anyone was allowed to join a tribe if he was willing to attach himself to God’s covenant (Isaiah 56: 6-8). Likewise, tribal members (including physical Israelites) could be “cut off” and denied citizenship for refusing to repent of various sins. (Lev. 17: 4.)

The Greek word for “tribe” is phyle.  ”Phyle” means to grow, to sprout like a leaf from the Wind, or Spirit of God. The word implies that one has been begotten by the Spirit of God.  Hence, a tribe is a group of related people whom God has brought forth by His “wind” or Spirit. It is applied to physical people, yet it recognizes that all tribes originate with God.  The word applies equally to those who are begotten of God by His Spirit. One cannot use John’s term phyle to prove that these twelve tribes must be physical descendants of one of the patriarchs.

The souls under the altar in Rev. 6: 9-11 await the promise of God, but in Rev. 20: 4 they are seen again as they rise from the dead to reign with Christ a thousand years.  Nowhere is there any indication that these overcomers must be physical descendants of Abraham or from one of the twelve sons of Jacob-Israel. The focus is entirely on their character and upon their faithfulness even unto death.

The 144,000 are these first fruits. They are the first to be raised from the dead in the first resurrection (Rev. 20: 4-6), in order that the rest of creation might be raised and saved as well in the greater harvest.

The first fruits are followed by “a great multitude” in Rev. 7: 9, pictured as the harvest that is sanctified by the smaller group. It is clear that the 144,000 do not make up all who are to be “harvested” (i.e., resurrected from the ground). They are only a small sample taken from the field that is the world. They are the first to be presented as the sons of God, and their presentation ensures a greater harvest yet to come.

As for the tribal listing, we find that Dan was omitted but replaced by Levi, which, as the tribe of priests, did not receive any territory as a state within the nation of Israel. Further, Joseph replaces his son Ephraim in the list.

The peculiar tribal order in these verses, along with the omission of Dan and the insertion of Levi, makes little sense unless there is a deeper prophecy to be understood. When we string these tribes together in the order that John lists them, we see that there is a hidden message for us.

Behold, a Son, a whole troop whose fortune has come. They are happy and blessed after wrestling and striving, forgetting their past troubles, hearing and obeying, united as one. Their recompense for their labor is to dwell with God, and He will increase and add to them many sons of His right hand.

The Great Multitude

EDITOR’S COMMENT:  This great multitude around the throne of God is not a literal scene.  Dr. Jones alludes to this fact although he does not specifically write it.  Although everything John sees is future prophetic events Dr. Jones allow states that John is shown various events that are futuristic even to the events that he is currently being shown.  In other words not all events written as seen in the Revelation are on a progressive timeline.

John saw this multitude in 5:13 and is now seeing it again.  The multitude is a metaphoric representation of the outcome of all tribulation since the sin of Adam and Eve including the murder of Able.  Their death as a martyr places them symbolically before the metaphoric throne of God.

It is clear, then, that when tribulation is revealed to John, God also shows him its end in order to encourage him and others during their trials.  So again in Revelation 7, after sealing the 144,000 during the time of persecution and war against the saints, we are projected to the end of time to see the outcome of the history.

The Elder’s Question

Revelation 7: 13 says,

13 And one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?” 14 And I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

The answer: “from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues” (Rev. 7: 9).

While many have put a short time frame on this tribulation (usually limiting it to seven years), it is much broader than that. John puts no time limit on this tribulation, because it covers all the martyrs from Abel until the last martyr is killed at the end of the age.

So if we understand “the great multitude” in Rev. 7: 9, 10 to be the same as “every created thing” in Rev. 5: 13, then the definition of a martyr reaches its widest possible application. Both groups praise God in the end, and their praise is witnessed by the elders’ “Amen.”

The first four seals in the book of Revelation followed a general time line of history in the first few centuries. The fifth and sixth are different in that each casts an eye toward the future in order to provide comfort for those who are in tribulation.

The fifth seal portrays the martyrs as sacrificial offerings whose “souls” (i.e. blood) are under the altar in the temple in heaven, and they are given white robes with a promise of justice in the future.

The sixth seal speaks of the end-time victory of the overcomers when the mighty men of the earth flee before their light and glory.

However, the hope of future justice and victory that is given to them does not negate the fact that each seal must have a beginning point as well. We cannot lose sight of that beginning point without losing our way in the historical sequence of events. The seals are opened in the context of God’s judgment upon the fourth beast (Rome) and its extension, the little horn.

Rome’s dominion began in 63 B.C. when Pompey took Jerusalem. The western empire fell in 476 A.D. But by this time “New Rome” (Constantinople) had been built as the new capital of the empire on the western shores of the Black Sea. The Roman emperors ruled from New Rome from that time onward, and old Rome was important in prophecy mainly because of the presence of the Roman bishop (pope).

During the time of the little horn, which arose in 529 A.D., the emperor in the East and the pope in the West were both important in their own way. Emperor Justinian made “alterations in times and in law” (Dan. 7: 25) by giving the Empire a new calendar and a new system of law that was based on Church law, i.e., canon law.

Yet the seven seals preceded the rise of the little horn, because they were designed to bring judgment upon Rome by various calamities and invasions. From a historical standpoint, the seven seals can be dated as follows:

Seal 1: 31 B.C. to 193 A.D.

Seal 2: 193-284 A.D.

Seal 3: 250-300 A.D.

Seal 4: 250-265 A.D.

Seal 5: 303-313 A.D.

Seal 6: 310-395 A.D.

Interim: Half hour (15 years) of silence Seal

7: 410-476 A.D. (The fall of Imperial Rome)

The Half Hour

395 A.D., then, marked the end of the sixth seal and the start of the “half an hour” of silence leading to the start of the seventh seal. Rev. 8: 1 says,

1 And when He broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

During this time of silence, a new threat to Rome began to develop. From 395-398 Alaric the Goth invaded Greece, but was repulsed. Shortly afterward, he made an incursion into Italy but was again repulsed.

The seventh seal began a final series of judgments upon the Western “leg” of the Roman Empire, including the city of Rome. There are seven trumpets contained within the seventh seal. They begin with the sack of Rome in 410 and end with its final collapse in 476.

The hour of judgment finally arrived. It was not a judgment upon pagan Rome, for that (final) judgment had already occurred in 395. No, this was a judgment upon Christian Imperial Rome for its corruption, idolatry, and greed.

The half hour of silence in Rev. 8: 1 was a 15-year time period from 395-410 A.D. It began with the legal end of pagan sacrifice, the confiscation of the pagan temples, and the division of the empire. It ended 15 years later when Rome was sacked by the troops of Alaric the Goth in 410.

The Eight Angels - Seven Angels, Plus One

Revelation 8: 2-4 reads,

2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God; and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand.

John then saw heavenly preparations being made for the start of judgment upon Christian Rome. He saw seven angels standing before God, each having a trumpet (Trumpets signify decrees from the throne). While the seven angels stood in readiness, “another angel came and stood at the altar.”

Casting Fire on the Earth

Revelation 8: 5 says,

5 And the angel took the censer; and he filled it with the fire of the altar and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

After the angel scattered coals from the altar in Rev. 8: 5, the result was thunder, lightning, and an earthquake. Thunder depicts the voice of God, though usually not intelligible to most people (2 Sam. 22: 14; John 12: 29). Lightning depicts God’s arrows (Psalm 77: 17, 18), and since arrows also depict sons (Psalm 127: 4, 5), God’s lightning can represent the sons of God. Earthquakes, of course, depict divine judgment, upheavals of all kinds, and the overthrow of political and/ or religious institutions.

These judgments are then applied more specifically by the seven other angels who were standing ready to sound their trumpets.

A summary of these trumpet judgments are as follows:

1. Alaric the Goth (410)

2. Genseric the Vandal (429-460)

3. Attila the Hun (446-453)

4. Odoacer the Teuton (476)

There is an interlude that separates the first four trumpets from the final three. The final three trumpets are also called “woes,” and they depict God’s call for Islam to judge the church.

5. The Saracens (612-762)

6. The Seljuk and Ottoman Turks (1063-1453)

7. The Seventh Trumpet is subdivided into Seven Bowls (Rev. 16)

The seven trumpets send forth commands from the divine court to bring judgment upon the iron beast foretold by Daniel. The first four trumpets overthrow the Western Roman Empire (and Rome itself) from 410-476 A.D. The last three are Islamic “woes” that overthrow the Eastern Roman Empire (and Constantinople, or New Rome) from 612-1453 A.D.

The First Trumpet - Alaric the Goth (410 A.D.)

Revelation 8: 6, 7 says,

6 And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them. 7 And the first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

The earth is the Roman Empire, which is the iron “beast” kingdom of Daniel.  Hail is one of God’s weapons of war (Job 38: 22, 23), which “shall sweep away the refuge of lies” (Isaiah 28: 17). Hail is Truth, which alone can sweep away the lies of men. Trees are men (Deut. 20: 19; Mark 8: 24). Grass also depicts fleshly people, because “all flesh is grass” (Isaiah 40: 6),

So when the first angel sounds his trumpet, God sends the hail of Truth and the fire of the Holy Spirit, mixed with blood. If the blood of Christ is rejected, then man’s blood is shed in this time of tribulation. We read that a third of the men were judged by the fiery Law. This is how the Bible interprets its own symbolism.

In 410 A.D. Alaric the Goth took the city of Rome and sacked it for six days. His army removed all of the gold, silver, and gems that they could find and even tortured those they suspected of hiding their treasures. Within a week, the great and wealthy city of Rome was reduced to abject poverty.

This directly affected about a third of the Western Roman Empire. Rome was not the only city that Alaric sacked. He sacked most of Italy. All the “grass” was burned, in that this literally affected everyone. There was much starvation as a result of the divine fire upon the land. The Goths ate what they could and destroyed the rest of the food.

The Second Trumpet - Genseric the Vandal (429-460)  

Revelation 8: 8, 9 says,

8 And the second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood; 9 and a third of the creatures, which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Whereas the first trumpet focused upon land events, the second focuses upon the sea. John saw “a great mountain” on fire being cast into the sea. Even as the first trumpet described (in symbolic terms) a Gothic invasion of Italy and the sack of Rome, so also the second trumpet describes, in equally symbolic terms, an invasion from the sea.

In biblical symbolism, a mountain is a kingdom.  The “mountain” established in the last days is later called the “kingdom” of God.

Thus, the second trumpet calls for the overthrow of a kingdom. It has nothing to do with a huge meteor hitting the ocean from outer space, killing a third of marine life. It has rather to do with judgment upon the Roman fleet, as opposed to judgment upon the land-based cities and armies.

The Vandals began their conquest of the Roman fleets in the Mediterranean Sea. They soon took control of the sea from Rome, which is what Rev. 8: 8 describes.  Genseric (or Gaiseric) the Vandal destroyed the Roman fleets. By 455 A.D. they had obtained the mastery of sea and had actually pillaged Rome itself.

The great mountain of Rome, already burning, as it were, by the fire of divine judgment from the first trumpet, saw its final demise in the sea. From that moment, it was only a matter of time until the Western Roman Empire, Christian in name, but worse than pagan in its immorality and injustice, approached its final end in 476 A.D.

The Third Trumpet -  Attila the Hun (446-453)

God’s third judgment upon Rome was Attila the Hun. John speaks of the third trumpet in Rev. 8: 10, 11,

10 And the third trumpet sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters; 11 and the name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood; and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.

This is not to be understood as a literal star, comet, or meteor falling from heaven, which pollutes a third of the rivers on earth. Meteors are not known to pollute streams or rivers. Neither do the waters themselves become wormwood, as a literal interpretation of verse 11 appears to say. It is a symbolic way of saying that a destructive army has fallen upon a third of the rivers (or tributaries) of Roman territory (earth), causing hardship and great bitterness.

Attila the Hun was God’s way of making the Christian Roman Empire drink the bitter waters of gall from wormwood. For this reason, the “great star” is seen falling “from heaven.” It pictures God giving the Empire wormwood to drink, as Jer. 9: 15 had said about Jerusalem many years earlier.

Attila the Hun came from the East, first invading the East as far as Constantinople (446). Then he invaded Western Europe in 450 A.D.  While retreating, Attila’s cruelty gave him a reputation as “the scourge of God.”

The Fourth Trumpet - Odoacer the Teuton (476)

In 476 Augustulus (in Rome) informed the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (in Constantinople) that there were no more emperors in the West. John says in Rev. 8: 12,

12 And the fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were smitten, so that a third of them might be darkened and the day might not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.

Romulus Augustulus was the last emperor of the West.  Augustulus was conquered by Odoacer, the king of a medley of Teutonic tribes. After the third invasion, which again subdivided the Western Empire, the formerly unified Roman Empire was divided into three parts, as each of the trumpets suggested.

Odoacer’s invasion directly affected only the Ostrogothic third of what had been the Western Roman Empire. The sun, moon, and stars, are symbolic of leaders in the nation— not only the emperor himself, but also those lesser authorities under him. In the case of Rome, this would include the senators.

One-third of the senatorial landowners saw their property “extorted for the use of the conquerors.” John tells us that by the time of the fourth trumpet, a third of the sun, moon, and stars had been blotted out. This is symbolic of the ruling senatorial families of Rome.

The sun being reduced in size by a third, or a third of the moon being eaten away by some sort of cosmic disaster has to do with the destruction of the ruling families of the Western Roman Empire. The conquest by Odoacer in 476 is the generally accepted date of Rome’s final dissolution. It is possible, though not provable, that the population of the Western Roman Empire had been reduced as well by a third, because of the wars, famine, and pestilence of that century alone— the time of the first four trumpets.

Due to the complete loss of population and government it was only natural that the bishop of Rome would assume power. He was the only one who could keep any kind of order as anarchy reigned in Italy.

The fall of the Western Empire provided a vacuum that was naturally filled by the bishop of Rome. With the loss of civil power, people naturally turned to the church for leadership and hope. Gradually, the bishops increased their claims to power, especially as the barbarian conquerors became Christians.

Insofar as the book of Revelation is concerned— and therefore, God’s perspective— the Islamic judgment on the Church came immediately after the Roman bishop laid exclusive claim to the title of “Universal Bishop.”

And so the year 606 A.D. marked an important turning point in the history of the Church. It marks the time when the Roman Bishop assumed full authority over the entire Church.

This 414-year time frame saw the rise of the “Little Horn” of Daniel's prophecy (Dan. 7: 8), having the mouth “speaking great things,” which John describes as “blasphemy” (Rev. 13: 6). Perhaps Pope Gregory understood this, but if so, his view was buried in the cemetery of history. From a biblical perspective, this assumption of power was “antichrist,” in that it usurped the position of Christ.