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Readings in the Book of
The Revelation
I hope I have established the thought in your mind that what we have read so far is only an INDICATION of what is to come. I’m sure the Spirit does not intend us to read the prophecies and expect the same literal events to re-occur. We are still reading (hearing) the “second” woe trumpet and we’ve seen the prolonged religious war it predicted, but now the illustration changes to show us our part in all this.
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Revelation 10:
1 And I saw another mighty Angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon His head, and His face was as it were the sun, and His feet as pillars of fire: 2 and He had in His hand a little book open:
and He set His right foot upon the sea, and His left foot on the earth, 3 and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars.
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The Son of God had taken on the attributes more fitting to His position in heaven. Standing there in white garments, with the rainbow of God above His head and emanating a great light, He was every inch the Prince of heaven. But John was far more interested in what He was doing – for He was holding an open book. There is only one book in the entire Bible that this could be, and John and many others had often puzzled over it during the course of centuries without any success. The angel Gabriel had told Daniel that what he had written would not be immediately understood. What he had said was, “But you, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased”! Daniel 12:4. Now John grasped that fact that the vision had progressed to the “time of the end”! Like the scroll he had been watching, the book of Daniel was now unsealed and its prophecies were open for all to study. (Remember, he was watching forward from the viewpoint of 100AD, and we are looking back. (We should note that “the time of the end” is NOT “the end of time” but a period before that.)
Here are the places where the “time of the end” is mentioned:
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Daniel 8:
16 And I heard a Man's voice between the banks of [the river] Ulai, which called, and said, “Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision”. 17 So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said to me, “Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision” [that’s when it will be understood].
Daniel 11:
35 [Gabriel told Daniel] “And [until your book is opened] some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end [at that point the persecutions will cease for a while]: because it is yet for a time appointed” . . .
40 “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over”.
Daniel 12:
4 “But you, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro [in the Scriptures], and knowledge [of the end time events] shall be increased” . . .
9 “And He said, “Go your way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end”.
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At this point the Son of God stood with one foot on dry land and the other on water, showing the worldwide scope of His influence in the closing scenes of this world’s history. He lifted up His voice in a great shout of triumph, but we are not told what He said! We’ll have to wait until the scroll is unrolled again for all the redeemed, to know what it was. But we can be sure that those who united with Satan to oppose the truth will not like it.
The fact that the book was already open in Christ’s hand, gives us an interesting clue. We have followed the unrolling of the scroll through to August 11, 1840 when the Islamic Empire collapsed, so the book must have been unsealed before then. If we calculate the prophecy of the 1260 day/years (a time, times and half a time, Daniel 7:25 and 12:7) through to its conclusion, we come to 1798. (538AD + 1260 = 1798.) For more on this try; http://www.oocities.org/weprotest.geo/BibleReadings/daniel/reading_406_dan_07b.html
Around that time positions within the Protestant churches began to polarise and the true-hearted ones began to see God’s way more clearly. The prophecies of Daniel were being connected with those of The Revelation more and more as we saw last week in Isaac Newton’s quote, and those of Daniel were now making sense. Therefore, the book had been open for some years by 1840. The haze caused by the persecutions of the past lifted and a worldwide desire to understand God’s word took over. Men like William Miller in America, Joseph Wolff in Africa, Asia and Europe, and many others, began to share their understanding of the book of Daniel and the advent movement was born.
But just then John’s attention was diverted:
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Revelation 10:
And when He had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a Voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not”.
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Can we imagine John writing feverishly as all these things were being played out around him? Then seven majestic voices made proclamations one after another, which rolled around heaven like peals of thunder. But, alas, John was told not to write their words, for they needed to be experienced, not just heard. Only AFTER the events that they covered were they to be understood.
However, we now know them to be a description of the great disappointments of 1843 and 1844, and the unveiling of the heavenly sanctuary, so it’s just as well they weren’t written down – and why they are still sealed for our future!
Here’s a note from my library:
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The books of Daniel and the Revelation are one. One is a prophecy, the other a revelation; one a book sealed, the other a book opened . . . The special light given to John which was expressed in the seven thunders was a delineation [an explanation] of events which would transpire under the first and second angels' messages.
It was not best for the people to know these things, for their faith must necessarily be tested. In the order of God most wonderful and advanced truths would be proclaimed. The first and second angels' messages [of Revelation 14] were to be proclaimed, but no further light was to be revealed before these messages had done their specific work. [See note 1 for the two angels and their messages.]
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If the people of the advent movement had known of the disappointments that were to shake their ranks into purity, they would not have been able to do their work as God intended.
With the expected time being first of all any day between 1st April 1843 and 31st March 1844 (the Jewish year), and then modified to the autumn of 1844, and then specifically to October 22, there was plenty of opportunity for faint-hearted ones to give up. After October 22 only those with a great faith in God’s word sought for a new MEANING to the prophecy – all the others either set new times or lapsed completely. The faithful were led to view the heavenly sanctuary and began to understand the work of their Redeemer more fully. Their hold on the “earthly sanctuaries” of the churches was (or should have been) broken.
Then it was that the Angel’s oath made sense.
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Revelation 10:
5 And the Angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up His hand to heaven, 6 and swore by Him that lives 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:
7 but in the days of the voice [trumpet] of the seventh angel, when he shall BEGIN to sound [Revelation 11:15], the mystery of God should be finished, as He has declared to His servants the prophets.
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What an impressive oath! The living God was telling us that His life is the guarantee that what He is saying is the truth. And what did He say? That there should be “time [setting] no longer”, and that the “mystery [but not the work of God] would be finished” when the last trumpet BEGINS to sound [his warning blast continues on after that].
What is the “mystery” which is to be finished? [A “mystery” in the Bible is a truth that we are slow to understand, for the Bible is God’s revealed will.] Try these:
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Colossians 1:
25 . . . I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 26 even the mystery which has been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints: 27 to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” [the experience of salvation]: 28 whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: 29 whereunto I also labour, striving according to His working, which works in me mightily.
Ephesians 1:
6 To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace; 8 wherein He has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself: 10 that in “the dispensation of the fulness of times” [the last period of time] He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him . . .
Ephesians 3:
2 If you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery; (as I wrote before in few words, 4 whereby, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel [he’s writing about the public expansion of the everlasting gospel in his time] . . .
Ephesians 6:
19 And [pray] for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel . . .
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What the Son of God was telling John was that as the seventh trumpet begins to sound, the everlasting gospel which has just been preached more fully than ever before (the loud cry), will cease! This is an obvious reference to the close of probation when everyone has made up their mind so definitely that none will change sides – they are all “sealed” or “marked”!
Regarding the phrase “time no longer” it is plain that He cannot be talking of literal time for that has continued on since those words were spoken, and we haven’t yet heard the sound of the seventh trumpet, the last “woe”. What He was explaining was that all of the endtime prophecies of the Bible met at that point (1844) and there would be no more time prophecies to be explained. From that point on the timing of the end of the world would depend on the people of God fulfilling their role – the Son of God has done all that He can and the “harvest is ripe”. Revelation 14:15.
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Revelation 10:
8 And the Voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again, and said, “Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the Angel which stands upon the sea and upon the earth”.
9 And I went to the Angel, and said to Him, “Give me the little book”.
And He said to me, “Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make your belly bitter, but it shall be in your mouth sweet as honey”. 10 And I took the little book out of the Angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
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John (and the people of the advent movement) at first enjoyed their new understanding of the book of Daniel, but then they realised what they had to do with this new knowledge! And so have we (I hope) as we read it earlier! It is written: “And you, son of man [Ezekiel], be not afraid of them [his fellow church members], neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with you, and you do dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. And you shall speak My words to them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious. But you, son of man, hear what I say to you; Be not you rebellious like that rebellious house: open your mouth, and eat [experience] that I give you”. And when I looked, behold, a Hand was sent to me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; and He spread it before me; and it was written within and without [it contained a lot]: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe”. Ezekiel 2:6-10.
But the end has not yet come and we are still stuck in verse 40 of Daniel 11!
“And at the time of the end shall the king of the south [the antichrist against God] push at him [the antichrist in place of God]: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over”. The king of the south (the anti against Christ) has struck at the king of the north (the anti in place of) several times since 1798 but has failed to get a full-blooded response from him.
Why?
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Revelation 10:
11 And He said to me, “You must prophesy AGAIN before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings”.
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That’s why!
The events that the seven thunders sounded about must be repeated.
I think this can best be described by a quote from my library:
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This scripture points forward to a time when the announcement of the fall of Babylon, as made by the second angel of Revelation 14 (verse 8), is to be repeated, with the additional mention of the corruptions which have been entering the various organizations that constitute Babylon, since that message was first given, in the summer [July] of 1844.
A terrible condition of the religious world is here described.
With every rejection of truth the minds of the people will become darker, their hearts more stubborn, until they are entrenched in an infidel hardihood. In defiance of the warnings which God has given, they will continue to trample upon one of the precepts of the Decalogue [the Sabbath commandment], until they are led to persecute those who hold it sacred. Christ is set at nought in the contempt placed upon His word and His people.
As the teachings of spiritualism are accepted by the churches, the restraint imposed upon the carnal heart is removed, and the profession of religion will become a cloak to conceal the basest iniquity. A belief in spiritual manifestations [especially communication with the dead] opens the door to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, and thus the influence of evil angels will be felt in the churches.
Of Babylon, at the time brought to view in this prophecy, it is declared: “Her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities”. Revelation 18:5. She has filled up the measure of her guilt, and destruction is about to fall upon her. But God still has a people in Babylon; and before the visitation of His judgments these faithful ones must be called out, that they partake not of her sins and “receive not of her plagues”.
Hence the movement symbolized by the angel coming down from heaven, lightening the earth with his glory and crying mightily with a strong voice, announcing the sins of Babylon. [Revelation 18:1-2.] In connection with his message the call is heard: “Come out of her, My people”. [verse 4] These announcements, uniting with the third angel's message, constitute the final warning to be given to the inhabitants of the earth.
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The “Babylon” of the last days cannot be the Papacy, for that church has been fallen in men’s eyes for centuries, so it must now mean her “daughters”, for she is the “MOTHER OF HARLOTS”. Revelation 17:5. Only as the veil is removed from the eyes of God’s people and we realise that not all religions calling themselves “Christian” are actually so, will we able to do our work properly. Then we will experience the seven thunders!
Bye for now,
Ron
Some of the comments in these readings are adapted from books in my library. No recognition is given because they are not intended as authorities, but are used because they express my understanding clearly. All the ideas expressed in these readings, right or wrong, are my own.
Some of these readings are available at http://www.oocities.org/weprotest.geo/BibleReadings/books_index.html
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Revelation 14:
6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people [as all God’s messengers do], 7 saying [adding a special message] with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters”.
8 And there followed another angel [the second], saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication”. [Please note that it is “Babylon” which has fallen, not “Israel”, for Babylon’s “daughters” have NEVER been part of “Israel”, the Christian church! Individuals may move from one to the other, but the base remains the same.]
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