The Lore of the Light-Bearer G. L. Bartholomew Abstract From beginning to end, the Bible contains references to a once great and majestic being who seems continually bent on causing trouble for mankind. Revelation, the last book to be written for the canonical Bible1 , refers to this being as “the great dragon”, “that serpent of old”, “the devil”, and “Satan” (Revelation 12:9). One of these titles is a reference to Genesis 3 which claims to be a record of events that occurred about 4000 years before the book of Revelation was written. Nearly 6000 years have elapsed since that fateful day in Eden but some think that this being is still actively trying to hinder the growth of mankind. This article will attempt to piece together the various references to this being that are spread throughout the pages of the Bible to glean a better understanding of him and his story. – So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelation 12:9 NKJV)
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Wikipedia: Book of Revelation – Dating
Introduction Our star character is first introduced in Genesis 3:1 as “the serpent” and described as “more cunning than any beast of the field”. It is obvious that animals cannot talk, yet this one is said to have carried on a conversation with Eve. Though they can be trained to associate the sensory stimulus of a sight or sound with a basic action or concept like “come here” or “food”, animals cannot talk because they do not have the necessary vocal cords, adequately designed respiratory systems, nor sufficiently complex brains to decipher speech at the level that humans do. This isn’t the only biblical account of an animal conversing with a human. Another such account can be found in Numbers 22:27-34. In the latter account, however, it is made clear that the speech coming from the animal – a donkey – was made possible by the intervention of a greater being. In the latter case, the words that were manifest were words that conveyed the animal’s sense of confusion so that it really was the animal that “restrained the prophet” (II Peter 2:16). While it is reasonable that a beast such as a donkey could be confused over why it is being beat by its master, it is not reasonable to believe that a serpent would have any concern about the affairs of mankind or that such an animal could contrive an elaborate plot as the one used in Genesis 3. It is obvious that the serpent was simply being used by a greater being to speak to Eve in a fashion similar to the way a puppeteer uses a puppet. There are accounts of spirit beings taking possession of human and animal bodies (e.g. Mark 5:1-13) so it is not at all unreasonable that what is recorded in Genesis 3 is also a case of possession. – Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1 NKJV) – And when the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff. Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!” So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.” Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. And the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me. The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.” And Balaam said to the Angel of the LORD, “I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases You, I will turn back.” (Numbers 22:27-34 NKJV) – … [Balaam] was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. (II Peter 2:16 NKJV) – Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.” For He said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” Then He asked him, “What is your name?” And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. So all the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we may enter them.” And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and
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Introduction the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea. (Mark 5:1-13 NKJV)
The “cunning” of the serpent is said to be greater than that of the other “beasts of the field”. Since the cunning being referred to is that of the spirit being and since it does not make sense to compare the mental faculty of a spirit being with that of an animal, the “beasts of the field” appear to be metaphorical types of the other beings of the angelic realm which ֹלהים ִ ( ֱאĕlōhîm/God) had made just as “the serpent” is a metaphorical type of a being who’s name is not revealed in the Genesis 3 account. While spirit beings are reported to have appeared to humans in many and diverse forms, the only account that we are given as to the nature of spirit beings is in John 3:8 where Jesus says that those who are “born (made) of the spirit” are like the wind which “blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes”. Jesus Christ Himself is also said to have taken on different human forms (e.g. Mark 16:9-13). It is possible that the various features that spirit beings use when manifesting themselves (e.g. wings, claws, &c.) have some meaning as to rank or talent in the angelic realm but it is also possible that the only parallel between the animal kingdom and the spiritual is that they were both made before man (Job 38:4-7). – The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8 NKJV) – Now when [Jesus] rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either. (Mark 16:9-13 NKJV) – Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:4-7 NKJV)
In the Genesis 3 account, we are told that the serpent was cursed “more than every beast of the field” (Genesis 3:14) for his crime and that he was made to go on his belly and eat dust all the days of his life. While ֹלהים ִ ֱאapparently did alter the anatomy of the physical serpent as a sign and reminder to Adam and Eve,2 the physical parallels were apparently just a type of what actually happened to this being in the spiritual realm. It is important to realize that for the curse to be meaningful “the serpent” would have had to have been “above” the other “beasts of the field” in rank/authority at the time it was pronounced. Also, “the days of [the serpent’s] life” were inexorably linked to “the dust” of the earth in the curse and the earth is prophesied to pass away (Revelation 21:1). Consequently, the serpent’s days appear to have been numbered since the pronouncement of the curse of Genesis 3. The curse actually states that Satan would have to “eat” dust all the days of his life. We are not told in the biblical text exactly what sort of nourishment spirit beings need for sustenance. However, scriptures such as Psalm 36:9, I Timothy 6:13-16, and Revelation 21:6 strongly suggest that all living beings, spiritual and physical, are sustained by ֹלהים ִ א. ֱ The curse that ֹלהים ִ ֱאpronounced against Satan may be suggesting that there is some finite amount of food/energy stored within the dust/atoms of the earth upon which Satan can sustain a temporary existence. Revelation 12:12 also makes it clear that Satan knows that he has but a “short time”. 2
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Introduction
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– … the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.” (Genesis 3:14 NKJV) – … I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. … (Revelation 21:1 NKJV) – … with Thee is the fountain of life … (Psalm 36:9 NKJV) – … God Who gives life to all things … Who alone has immortality … (I Timothy 6:13-16 NKJV) – … I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts (Revelation 21:6 NKJV) – Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time. (Revelation 12:12 NKJV)
Iniquity Found in Satan – Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: You [were] the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone [was] your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created. You [were] the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You [were] perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you. You defiled your sanctuaries By the multitude of your iniquities, By the iniquity of your trading; Therefore I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, And I turned you to ashes upon the earth In the sight of all who saw you. All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; You have become a horror, And [shall be] no more forever.’ ” (Ezekiel 28:11-19 NKJV)
Verses 12-15 of Ezekiel 28 appear to establish the setting of the account as being in “Eden, the garden of God” and elaborately describe the being’s state as being one of great splendor and clothed with valuable materials from the day of his creation. Because spiritual beings who are not made from physical atoms have no set physical form nor wear physical clothing and do not even see by means of physical light, the description of Satan that is given in these verses must be taken as a metaphorical reference to his great splendor relative to the other angels and not how Adam and Eve would have perceived him at the time that he was in Eden. Verses 16-19 then proceed to describe his downfall. The verses record that, because of his sin, he was cast from “the mountain of God” to “the ground” and that he was burnt as to “ashes” on the earth. While it is said that he was “laid before kings”, the “kings” must be taken as a reference to other angelic beings of authority for three reasons. The first reason being that there were only two humans in existence at the time that Eden was. The second reason being that it would be difficult to apply the phrase “all who knew you” to any of mankind. The third reason being that the words for king and angel are very similar in Hebrew ( ֶמ ֶלְךvs. )מ ְל ַאְך. ַ The end of this excerpt from Ezekiel reiterates that this once great being will at some future time cease to exist just as was pronounced in the curse of Genesis 3. While his actual downfall (in rank/esteem, not physical locality) appears to have occurred when the curse was pronounced in Eden, the wording of Ezekiel suggests that his punishment had been some time in coming. Ezekiel records that it was though an apparently protracted period of trading that this being gradually “became filled with violence within”. The wording here suggests that he became corrupt in the eye’s of ֹלהים ִ ֱאeven while he held his position of authority. One possibility as to how this may have occurred is that Lucifer abused his power – his creative talents – in such a way that by essentially overcharging for his products he was able, over a protracted period of time, to shift the balance of power in his favor. He may have even “bought” (from some other angel) the position that he held in the throne room of ֹלהים ִ א. ֱ As long as those to whom he sold his wares agreed to the price, he was technically not guilty of any crime and so could not “justly” be charged with wrong-doing. He probably didn’t even think he could be held accountable for Eve’s actions after he sold her on the idea that the apple of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would be beneficial to her. What he told her may have even been true if indeed Christ was “slain from the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4, I Peter 1:20, Revelation 13:8) such that, even as Eve committed the act, she had the possibility of forgiveness and redemption through Christ’s fore-
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Iniquity Found in Satan
planned sacrifice. Indeed all sacrifices were a forward-pointing type of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice (Hebrews 9:12-14, 10:18) and the very first sacrifice was made in Eden just after Adam and Eve were cursed and just before they were expelled (Genesis 3:21). Regardless of the degree of truth or falsity in Lucifer’s statement to Eve, ֹלהים ִ ֱאclearly saw Lucifer’s interference in the affairs of mankind as crossing a line that was worthy of his ultimate death. When Adam and Eve chose to adhere to Lucifer’s recommendation, Lucifer became the “god of this world” (John 14:30). Every individual, ever since, has had the choice/option to follow Christ or to follow Satan. ֹלהים ִ ֱאhas decided not to destroy Satan until every man has had the opportunity to choose between Christ and Satan (Revelation 20:3). – … He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love (Ephesians 1:4 NKJV) – He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you (I Peter 1:20 NKJV) – All who dwell on the earth will worship [the beast], whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8 NKJV) – Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:12-14 NKJV) – Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. (Hebrews 10:18 NKJV) – Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21 NKJV) – I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. (John 14:30 NKJV) – … after these things [Satan] must be released for a little while. (Revelation 20:3 NKJV)
There is one other ancient text which makes mention of Satan’s corrupt activities prior to his downfall at Eden but it must be taken with great skepticism because other parts of the text contradict what we are told in the more reputable texts of the canonical Bible. In spite of its contradictory sections, it contains some information that was well beyond the knowledge of man at the time it was written.3 This advanced scientific information indicates that at least some of the text was inspired by a greater being. It may be that it was once a legitimate text that was later corrupted. Just as the book of Daniel is not completely thrown out because the fictional story of “Bel and the Dragon” was added to it at a later time,4 this ancient text should not be completely disregarded because of the editing that is has suffered. The extra-biblical excerpt which speaks of Satan’s exploits prior to Eden is found in the Slavonic Enoch and the relevant text is quoted below. – … The devil understood that I wanted to create another world, because Adam was lord on earth, to rule and control it. The devil is the evil spirit of the lower places, as a fugitive he made Sotona from the heavens as his name was Satanail, thus he became different from the angels, but his nature did not change his intelligence as far as his understanding of righteous and sinful things. And he understood his condemnation and the sin which he had sinned before, therefore he conceived thought against Adam, in such form he entered and seduced Eva, but did not touch Adam. But I cursed ignorance, but what I had blessed previously, those I did not curse, I 3 4
Google: “The Mayim of Creation” Wikipedia: Additions to Daniel
Iniquity Found in Satan
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cursed not man, nor the earth, nor other creatures, but man’s evil fruit, and his works. I said to him: earth you are, and into the earth whence I took you you shalt go, and I will not ruin you, but send you whence I took you. Then I can again receive you at My second presence. And I blessed all my creatures visible and invisible. And Adam was five and half hours in paradise. And I blessed the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, on which he rested from all his works. (II Enoch 31:3-32:3)
The phrase “earth you are, and into the earth whence I took you you shalt go” (II Enoch 32:1) pronounced by ֹלהים ִ ֱאagainst Adam in this context of Satan tempting Eve is surely meant to be taken to be the same as the phrase “dust you are and to dust you shall return” as recorded in Genesis 3:19. The excerpt from the Slavonic Enoch appears to be expressing in the “whence I took you you shalt go” phraseology that ֹלהים ִ ֱאcursed Adam’s body which was made from the earth a slow death to eventual dust but not his spirit/soul which came not from the earth but from ֹלהים ִ ֱא (Ecclesiastes 12:7). – Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:7)
Satan’s Conflict with ֹלהים ִ ֱאDuring the Time of Job After his Eden escapade, Satan drops off the scene of literary works for quite some time; not resurfacing until hundreds of years after the flood in the story of Job. In the story of Job, ֹלהים ִ ֱא appears to use Job as an object lesson for Satan. Both Job and Satan, at the beginning of the story, have pride as their main failing. Job’s self-righteous pride is evident from the beginning in that he offers burnt offerings for his sons but not himself (Job 1:5). At the climax of the story, however, Job says to ֹלהים ִ א, ֱ “… now my eye sees You, therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). Job 1:6 contains the first ever literary reference to the devil using the name Satan. The name/title Satan is self explanatory of the holder’s fault because it literally means adversary in the ancient semitic language that it was originally recorded. The story begins with ֹלהים ִ ֱאpointing Job out to Satan and saying, “have you noticed My servant Job, how he is unique, blameless and upright, fearing Me and shunning evil?” (Job 1:8); one can read between the line in this context “… like you once were”. Satan, knowing full well what ֹלהים ִ ֱאwas getting at, promptly replied, “Does Job fear ֹלהים ִ ֱאfor nothing? …” (Job 1:9). ֹלהים ִ ֱאthen accepts Satan’s challenge and permits Satan to do to Job exactly (but nothing more than) what he claimed would be sufficient circumstance to cause Job to turn on Him. It is important to note here that Satan is clearly shown to be under ֹלהים ִ ’אs ֱ power as ֹלהים ִ ֱאboth gives him what power he has and defines the limits to which he may make use of the power. It is also important to notice how powerful Satan can be. In the story, Satan destroys all that Job has in a matter of minutes. The means by which Satan accomplishes the devastation are also impressive. Satan manages to orchestrate two separate and completely unrelated raiding parties – one party composed of Sabeans, and the other of three bands of Chaldeans – to each raid distinct portions of Job’s possessions – a heard of oxen and donkeys in one location and a caravan of camels at another – at the exact same time. Job did not, however, respond to his loss of greatness in the same way that Satan had. Rather than turning on ֹלהים ִ ֱאand declaring Him unjust as Satan did under apparently similar circumstances, Job responds, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21). The final verse of chapter one succinctly states, “In all this Job did not sin nor charge ֹלהים ִ ֱאwith wrong.” (Job 1:22). This last statement makes it crystal clear that Satan “lost the bet” so to speak. This isn’t the end of the matter, however, as the following chapters reveal. Chapter 2 of Job begins exactly as chapter 1 verse 6 did and does not deviate in wording until ֹלהים ִ ֱאstates, “… and [Job] still holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause” (Job 2:3). The repetition with the slight variation at its end is a very effective way of re-emphasizing Satan’s loss of the previous argument and the current state of affairs. The latter part of ֹלהים ִ ’אs ֱ statement, “to destroy him without cause” seems almost prophetic of where things are about to go as Satan had not sought to destroy Job up to this point. True to form, however, Satan does seek to harm Job’s person in the following verses. Satan’s response to ֹלהים ִ ’אs ֱ observation was “Skin for Skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life” thus taking the challenge to the next level rather than admitting defeat and error on his part. Satan’s case was evidently that while both he and Job had suffered the loss of all their esteem, Job was not in the state of facing the loss of his life whereas Satan had been cursed to certain eventual death. ֹלהים ִ ֱא again responded in the affirmative and gave Satan permission to put Job to the test to see whether anyone in a situation such as his would curse ֹלהים ִ ֱאand accuse Him of being unjust or whether Satan was uniquely flawed in his reasoning. ֹלהים ִ ֱאwas careful, however, to again set limits on what Satan could do to Job and said, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life”. Sparing
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Satan’s Conflict with ֹלהים ִ ֱאDuring the Time of Job
Job’s life did not negate the legitimacy of the test because Satan’s life, obviously, had not yet been taken. The test only required that Job think he was doomed to perish. In all of this, the contest was clearly between Satan and ֹלהים ִ ֱאand the observers were the other angels. While Job’s character was evidently flawed with some degree of pride, it is not recorded that he had actually done anything wrong. In fact, in the midst of all this, ֹלהים ִ ֱאtwice declared Job “blameless and upright”. It seems that the momentary physical suffering of a man was deemed an acceptable price for the clearing of ֹלהים ִ ’אs ֱ name before the angels. If the test were not permitted, it may be that Satan could have convinced several of the other angels that ֹלהים ִ ֱאwas unjust thereby causing them to follow him in folly and, ultimately, to suffer the same fate that Satan himself had been sentenced to. Even though ֹלהים ִ ֱאwas victorious in this trial, Satan still managed to convince a third of the angels to join him in his rebellious cause approximately 2000 years later (Revelation 12:4). – Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.” (Job 2:3 NKJV) – His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. (Revelation 12:4 NKJV)
Though it is inferred in the text that Satan continued to trouble Job by “whispering” wrongful accusations into the ears of his friends in the night (Job 4:12-17), nothing more was said of Satan throughout the remainder of the text of the book of Job. In the end, Job repented of his faulty character and acknowledged his relatively small worth in comparison to ֹלהים ִ ( ֱאJob 42:6) and ֹלהים ִ ֱא restored to Job double for all his losses (Job 42:7-15). – Now a word was secretly brought to me, and my ear received a whisper of it. In disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake. Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair on my body stood up. It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; there was silence; then I heard a voice saying: “Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?” (Job 4:12-17 NKJV) – … I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes (Job 42:6 NKJV) – And so it was, after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD commanded them; for the LORD had accepted Job. And the LORD restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the LORD had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold. Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. (Job 42:7-15 NKJV)
That ֹלהים ִ ֱאrestored double to Job in the end supports the conclusion that Job was not deserving of the suffering that he had endured. ֹלהים ִ ֱאalso directly stated that what He permitted to be done to Job was “without cause/justification” (Job 2:3). While Job evidently did have a character flaw
Satan’s Conflict with ֹלהים ִ ֱאDuring the Time of Job
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of pride, ֹלהים ִ ֱאdoes not judge people or angels for what He is 99.9% sure they will do at some future time. Even though Job had a prideful nature, he hadn’t actually done anything wrong. ֹלהים ִ ֱא judges His creation according to their acts/works and “fruits”; it was by Abraham’s actions that he was judged faithful (Genesis 22:12, James 2:21) and it is for their righteous acts that the saints are rewarded with “fine linen” (Revelation 19:8). This does not mean that a person can get away with only an outward pretense of being good, however, because ֹלהים ִ ֱאknows the inner thoughts of men (I Samuel 16:7, Psalms 7:9, Jeremiah 17:10, I Kings 8:39) and can put men through trials that will reveal whatever weaknesses they may have. He then judges all of mankind according to every secret thing (Ecclesiastes 12:14, Revelation 20:12). – And [the Angel of the LORD] said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” (Genesis 22:12 NKJV) – Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? (James 2:21 NKJV) – And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (Revelation 19:8 NKJV) – … the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. (I Samuel 16:7 NKJV) – … let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, But establish the just; for the righteous God tests the hearts and minds. (Psalms 7:9 NKJV) – I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings. (Jeremiah 17:10 NKJV) – … hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men) (I Kings 8:39 NKJV) – … God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:14 NKJV) – … I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. (Revelation 20:12 NKJV)
Note that the phrases “And the dead were judged according to their works” and “by the things which were written in the books” are written in the Hebrew poetic style of parallelism such that the verse is saying that what is written in “the books” (presumably one per dead soul) are the deeds and words (Matthew 12:36) of that soul for which they must give account. – … I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. (Matthew 12:36 NKJV)
It is not the case that men can earn salvation through works, however, as “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Rather, ֹלהים ִ ֱאgives the gift of eternal life to those who repent and choose to submit to Him (Romans 6:23). It is both true that ֹלהים ִ ֱאis “a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6) and that ֹלהים ִ ֱאgives of the “water of life” freely (Revelation 22:17). – … all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God … (Romans 3:23 NKJV) – … the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NKJV) – … without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He
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Satan’s Conflict with ֹלהים ִ ֱאDuring the Time of Job is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV) – … the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17 NKJV)
Note that ֹלהים ִ ’אs ֱ statement – “Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” – as cited above appears to be made after the thousand-year reign of the saints and the “white throne” judgement which are described in Revelation 20:4-6 and Revelation 20:11-15 respectively. This statement must occur after the thousand-year reign of the saints because it is made in the context of the description of “the New Jerusalem”/“the bride”/“the Lamb’s wife” when “all things” are made new (Revelation 21:5-6). It is evident that all things are not made new until after the thousand years because Revelation 20:7-9 describes a war between what appear to be nations of this earth and the current city of Jerusalem (“Gog” and “Magog” versus “the camp of the saints” and “the beloved city”) after “the thousand years have expired”. After this last war, Satan the devil is cast into the “lake of fire” and this earth passes away (Revelation 20:10-11). After earth passes away (presumably into the lake of fire along with the devil because the earth is described as being “reserved for fire” in “the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men” and is prophesied to be “burned up” in II Peter 3:7 and 10), the dead will be judged before ֹלהים ִ ( ֱאin heaven because the earth no longer exists and the new earth has not yet been made). This “white throne” judgement – to life or to eternal death (the “second death”) – is not inclusive of those who took part in the “first resurrection” because it is stated in Revelation 20:6 that the “second death” would have “no power” over those who took part in the first resurrection. From Revelation 20:6, it appears that a large portion of the “reward” for those who “diligently seek God” in this life is to reign as “priests of God and of Christ” during the millennium. It is important not to confuse the reward with the gift – one is for good works and the other is given to all who demonstrate the ability to live within the bounds of ֹלהים ִ ’אs ֱ law by not being “dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and [one who] loves and practices a lie” (Revelation 22:15). An analogy that demonstrates what is meant when it is said that salvation is not earned is this: Suppose that two strangers encounter one another in some vast wilderness. One stranger is extremely wealthy and is carrying a suitcase containing one hundred flawless blue diamonds each worth ten million United States dollars. Each diamond is about 1 cubic centimeter in volume and has a mass of approximately 3.5 grams. The whole suit case weighs a little over 1 pound and is worth one billion dollars. The other stranger is destitute. The rich stranger says to the poor, “You may have this suitcase containing one billion dollars worth of jewels if you can carry it”. The poor stranger accepts the gift and goes on his way – now a rich man. It should be obvious that the poor stranger did not earn the wealth that was given to him. Even though the stranger did not earn the wealth that was given to him, he still had to qualify for it by demonstrating that he could “bear the burden” so to speak. In the same way, even though no man can “earn” salvation because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), men must still qualify for salvation by demonstrating that they can “bear the burden” of eternal life by complying with “the commandments” (Matthew 19:16-22). – And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second
Satan’s Conflict with ֹלהים ִ ֱאDuring the Time of Job
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death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4-6 NKJV) – Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. (Revelation 20:79 NKJV) – The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. … (Revelation 20:10 NKJV) – … the heavens and the earth which are now preserved … are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men … the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. (II Peter 3:7-10 NKJV) – Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15 NKJV) – Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.” (Revelation 21:5-6 NKJV) – … outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. (Revelation 22:15 NKJV) – Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Matthew 19:16-22 NKJV) {note the clear distinction that Christ makes here between being “perfect” and qualifying for eternal life}
Satan Seeks the Dead Body of Moses – … Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (Jude 1:9 NKJV)
ֹלהים ִ ֱאperformed a few physical transformations during Moses’ initial visit on Mount Horeb (Exodus 3:1, 4:1-9). One of the transformations that was done appears to have been done to Moses’ body (Exodus 7:1, 34:29-30). Jeff Benner’s “The Living Words – Volume One” contains an excellent theory as to how and why Moses’ body was altered. Such an alteration may help to explain Satan’s apparent interest in the dead body of Moses. – Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. (Exodus 3:1 NKJV) – Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’ ” So the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.” And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), “that they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” Furthermore the LORD said to him, “Now put your hand in your bosom.” And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow. And He said, “Put your hand in your bosom again.” So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his other flesh. “Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign. And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land.” (Exodus 4:1-9 NKJV) – And the Lord said to Moses: Behold I have appointed thee the God of Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. (Exodus 7:1 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition) – And when Moses came down from the mount Sinai, he held the two tables of the testimony, and he knew not that his face was horned from the conversation of the Lord. And Aaron and the children of Israel seeing the face of Moses horned, were afraid to come near. (Exodus 34:29-30 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition)
Satan Attempts to Take Heaven by Force – … war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” (Revelation 12:7-12 NKJV)
We are told of this great war between Satan and ֹלהים ִ ֱאin the context of a vision about a woman, a child, and a dragon. The vision was given to John from the LORD and begins in Revelation 12:1 and does not end until Revelation 12:17. The events of this vision are strongly intertwined with the events of Christ’s first coming and everything being spoken of in the vision, save the prophecy of the protection of “the woman” for “a times, time, and half a time”, occurred during Christ’s first coming. It is important to note that the previous excerpt indicates that, prior to this war, Satan regularly “accused” the “brethren [of the angels]” (mankind) “before ֹלהים ִ ”א ֱ in the third heaven. As a consequence of the war, Satan was cast out of the third heaven and down to “the earth and the sea” and was thereafter no longer able to get an audience with ֹלהים ִ ֱאto accuse mankind. “sea”, as used here, is probably a reference to the “sea of glass” before ֹלהים ִ ’אs ֱ throne which is in turn symbolic of the second heaven – our universe – as explained in “The Mayim of Creation”. This passage cannot be referring to a war that took place before mankind existed (i.e. the time between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2) because it details the end of the time period during which Satan was permitted to accuse mankind and he could not have accused mankind before they existed. This verse cannot be used to support a gap-theory interpretation of Genesis 1. It is clear that earth was “inhabited” by mankind when this war took place because, at the end of the record, a warning is issued to those “inhabitants”. The inhabitants who are warned have to be mankind because the warning has been given to mankind through John the revelator. Some try to force Satan’s great rebellion back to a time between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 and to use this great war as an explanation of how the earth could have been created in verse 1 but exist in a state of chaos in verse 2. However, the earth was neither created in Genesis 1:1 nor in a state of chaos in verse 2 (see my earlier article “The Mayim of Creation” for a detailed explanation of the creation account). Furthermore, there is no basis for believing that a war between spirit beings in the third heaven would have any physical consequences in the second heaven (our universe). Furthermore, if it were true that Satan could destroy the earth by going to war with ֹלהים ִ א, ֱ regardless of the ultimate outcome of the war, then we would be subject to destruction by Satan at his whim. The storyline of the Bible does not, however, support such a possibility. The theory that Satan’s great rebellion occurred so early in history is easily debunked because there is a significant clue mentioned in the text of the book of Job that indicates that the great rebellion of Satan and his followers as recorded in Revelation 12:7-12 had not yet taken place. In Revelation 12:8-9, it is recorded that Satan and his followers lost their battle with ֹלהים ִ ֱאand consequently “… they did not have a place … in heaven any longer” and “… [Satan] was cast out [of heaven] to the earth and his angels were cast out with him”. The first few chapters of Job, however, clearly record
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Satan Attempts to Take Heaven by Force
Satan traversing between the third heaven and earth (Job 1:6, 2:1). There is also the record of I Kings 22:19-23 and II Chronicles 18:18-22 which suggest that lying/corrupt spirits were present in the third heaven well after the creation of man (~852 BC). – … there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. (Job 1:6 NKJV) – Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. (Job 2:1 NKJV) – Then [Micaiah] said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left. And the LORD said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ The LORD said to him, ‘In what way?’ So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the LORD said, ‘You shall persuade [him], and also prevail. Go out and do so.’ Therefore look! The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the LORD has declared disaster against you.” (I Kings 22:19-23 NKJV)
It seems that ֹלהים ִ ֱאis long-suffering, even toward angels that he is quite certain will side with Satan when the time comes. True to His great character of long-suffering, mercy, and patience, ֹלהים ִ ֱאseems to have bidden His time and waited until the actual rebellion took place to see which side each angel would individually choose. Later, shortly before king Ahaz’s death (~715 BC)(Isaiah 14:28), Isaiah was given a prophecy concerning the fate of the “king of Babylon” (Satan)(Isaiah 14:12-17). – This is the burden which came in the year that king Ahaz died. (Isaiah 14:28 NKJV) – How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying: “Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of his prisoners?” (Isaiah 14:12-17 NKJV)
Isaiah chapters 7 through 14 were apparently written during King Ahaz’s reign. Chapters 7 though 10 deal directly with a war that was occurring between Judah and Syria. Chapter 11 then begins a prophecy of Christ’s first coming and quickly transitions to His second coming. Chapter 11 speaks of gathering the Jews from the “four corners of the earth” (Compare Matthew 24:31). Chapter 13, verse 8 speaks of men being in great pain (Compare Revelation 16:10-11) and verse 10 speaks of the light of the sun, moon and stars going out (Compare Matthew 24:29 and Revelation 8:12) and verse 13 speaks of the heavens being shaken (Compare Matthew 24:29 and Revelation 6:12-17). Isaiah 14:3-4 says, “It shall come to pass in the day the LORD gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say …”. Isaiah 14:12 then says that this king has “fallen from heaven” (it is evident from the context that the “fall” being spoken of is a decline of stature/grace, not locality – the passage is speaking of Satan’s disgrace, not a great war) and names him “Lucifer, son of the morning”. The LORD reveals to Isaiah that Lucifer has “said in his heart” (note that what follows is only what Satan “has said/thought”, not what he has done/attempted) “I
Satan Attempts to Take Heaven by Force
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will exalt my throne above the stars of God”. The LORD then transitions back to the future prophecy of the last days and states, “Yet you shall (note the future tense) be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit” (Sheol literally means unknown5 and is called perdition in Revelation 17:8,11). – The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. (Revelation 17:8 NKJV) – And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. (Revelation 17:11 NKJV)
That the third of the angels who sided with Satan in his rebellion as recorded in Revelation 12 are not mentioned in Isaiah 14 is further evidence that what is being spoken of in Isaiah is only what Satan had in mind/heart at that point in time. If what were being spoken of in Isaiah were the battle that is recorded in Revelation 12, surely the third of the angels would be mentioned and condemned along with Satan. While it can be concluded that Satan had not attempted to take ֹלהים ִ ’אs ֱ throne as described in Revelation 12:3-12 prior to Job’s time because it is recorded that he was still permitted to travel between heaven and earth in the book of Job and that the battle had not occurred by Isaiah’s time because of the tenses of the wording that are used in Isaiah 14, there are references in Luke 10 and Matthew 11 that suggest that Satan’s rebellion had occurred during Christ’s first coming. Luke 10:17 begins with a report that “the seventy” returned “joyfully” exclaiming, as though it were a new thing, that “even the demons are subject to us in Your name” to which Christ responded that He “saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”. It is also interesting that it was at this time that Christ gave them authority over “serpents and scorpions”. – Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:17-19 NKJV)
We know that something very significant happened at that time because of Jesus’ actions and words as recorded in the next few verses (Luke 10:21-22). – … in that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said “... All things have been delivered to Me by My Father” (Luke 10:21-22 NKJV)
Though a strong connection between what happened and what Christ was rejoicing over is not made in Luke’s account, we may be able to derive what happened by reason of the similar wording found in the book of Revelation where it is recorded that the kingdom was delivered to Christ as a direct consequence of Satan’s defeat. – Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.” (Revelation 12:10 NKJV)
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Jeff Benner: The Living Words - Hell
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Satan Attempts to Take Heaven by Force
That Satan possessed some integral part of ֹלהים ִ ’אs ֱ kingdom prior to this time is supported by the account found in Luke 4. – Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, you shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.” (Luke 4:5-8 NKJV)
One might interpret Satan’s words to Christ as recorded in Luke 4:5-8 as an invitation to switch sides before the coming battle. Some interpret Satan’s statement “this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish” to mean that ֹלהים ִ ֱאhad given Satan authority over all of the earth. Such an interpretation cannot be true, however, because what ֹלהים ִ ֱאgives, He can certainly take away. The only way that Satan could possess authority over mankind against ֹלהים ִ ’אs ֱ will is if the authority were given him not by ֹלהים ִ ֱאbut by man. It is only in this way that ֹלהים ִ ֱאcould not take Satan’s authority from him as doing so would violate man’s freedom of choice – a violation which ֹלהים ִ ֱאwas apparently unwilling to perform. Luke 16:16 suggests that people have been “pressing into the kingdom of God” since John the Baptist. – The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. (Luke 16:16 NKJV)
The time of transition is stated as “now” in Matthew 11:11-13. – Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force {possibly a reference to an ongoing battle in heaven}. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. (Matthew 11:11-13 NKJV)
Just verses later in Matthew’s account is the parallel of Luke’s account stating that great things were revealed to babes and that all things were delivered to Christ by His Father. After having the kingdom delivered from Satan to Him by His Father, Jesus says “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (“rest” is a metaphor for ֹלהים ִ ’אs ֱ kingdom). There is also an incident which happened shortly after Christ received the kingdom during which Christ made an association between His ability to cast out demons and the kingdom’s presence among men (Matthew 12:28, Luke 11:20). – But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. (Matthew 12:28 NKJV) – But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. (Luke 11:20 NKJV)
Those who draw near spiritually (in mentality and lifestyle) to Christ the king are, in a sense, “near” His kingdom but ֹלהים ִ ’אs ֱ physical kingdom will not exist until Christ establishes it at His second coming. After his failure to take heaven by force (Revelation 12:4-8) and before his incarceration (Revelation 20:3), we are told that Satan “has come down to [earth], having great wrath, because he
Satan Attempts to Take Heaven by Force
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knows that he has a short time” (Revelation 12:12) and that he “walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (I Petter 5:8). Satan’s brutish behavior is not typical of all the angels that sided with him, however. James 2:19 records that, after the battle for heaven, some of the demons have learned to tremble at the power of ֹלהים ִ א. ֱ – You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! (James 2:19 NKJV)
Satan in the Book of Revelation The book of Revelation tells a bit more about the “dragon” and his relationship to various kings and kingdoms down through time, but before what is being said can be effectively grasp, it is necessary to understand the complex layout of the text of the book of Revelation. There are a series of visions concerning the end time which are described in Revelation chapters 6 through 19. Each of the visions described has 7 parts. Each part is typically delivered by a separate angel such that the phrase “another angel” is often, but not always, indicative of the introduction of a distinct part of one of the 7 part visions. In a careful reading of the scriptures, one can see that there are five series described in chapters 6 through 19. Three of the series are clearly labeled as the seals, trumpets, and bowls in that order. Additionally, between the trumpets and the bowls visions, there are a series of angels who fly out from heaven crying out various decrees. This series has been labeled V for voices in the below table. Although John doesn’t directly explain that these angles are part of a separate series, he does label one as the “third” angel and, counting backward, it is evident that the first angel of the series was the one introduced in Revelation 14:6. The division of the different sections from the introduction of this first angel to the vision of heaven being opened at the end of chapter 15 is straight forward. A good study Bible will have most of the separate sections divided correctly with separate headings. See the table below for the divisions and how they line up with the other visions. After the Bowls vision, there is another vision containing a series of alleluias and some of what is described in association with each of those alleluias also parallels what was described in earlier visions. Some conclude that the visions occur in sequence, either wholly or in part (a telescopic sequence), because the seventh part of the seals vision includes a description of 7 angels preparing for the trumpets vision and, likewise, the preparation of the angels with the bowls is described at the end of the previous vision. Just because the description of the preparation of the angels for a subsequent vision is overlapped with the description of the latter part of an earlier vision is not, however, sufficient evidence to conclude that the latter vision must of necessity pertain to things that happen after the earlier vision. It can be the case that the angels were simply preparing for “round 2” at the end of round 1 and that both rounds describe the same period of time. On close examination, the parallel interpretation does hold together quite well. Also, there are some difficulties with the serial interpretation. One major issue with the serial interpretation is that it has all the stars of heaven “falling” during the sixth seal (a parallel account of this great event is found in Matthew 24:29), but then they are described as being only partially darkened during the fourth trumpet. What is apparently happening with the stars is also an interesting topic. There are several accounts of the “shaking of the heaven” and the “falling” of the stars scattered throughout the scriptures. Scriptures which describe this end time cataclysmic event include Revelation 6:12-17, Matthew 24:29-35, Isaiah 13:13, Isaiah 34:4, Zechariah 14:6-7, and Job 14:12. – I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Revelation 6:12-17 NKJV)
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Satan in the Book of Revelation – Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. (Matthew 24:29-35 NKJV) – Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts and in the day of His fierce anger. (Isaiah 13:13 NKJV) – All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; all their host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from a fig tree. (Isaiah 34:4 NKJV) – It shall come to pass in that day that there will be no light; the lights will diminish. It shall be one day which is known to the LORD—Neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen that it will be light. (Zechariah 14:6-7 NKJV) – So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep. (Job 14:12 NKJV) – The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. (Isaiah 24:19 The New Defender’s Study Bible)
Isaiah 13:13 answers a bit of a riddle about how the stars of heaven could be made to “fall to from heaven”. The stars are too large, too distant, and too hot to be moved from heaven to earth. Isaiah 13:13 answers all of these problems by explaining that the earth will “move out of her place”. If the nearest star were moved, it would be about 4.2421 years6 before we could see the motion because of the time that it takes the light to travel from there to here. To make all the stars appear to move at once would require an immense feat of timing spanning thousands of years where the nearest star would have to be moved 4.2421 years before the second that all the stars need to appear to move. The next nearest star would have to be moved about 5.9630 years before the same second that all the stars are supposed to appear to move. And so on until the most distant star which would have to be moved thousands of years prior to the exact second of the event. If, however, the earth were to move instead of the stars, then, from our perspective, all of the stars would appear to move at once. The description of the stars “falling to earth” is probably given from the perspective of someone standing in the earth’s northern hemisphere and seeing the stars pass over the horizon as the earth is moved northward. Someone standing in the southern hemisphere would see all the stars recede into a distant point as the earth is moved from the second heaven (our universe) up to the third (ֹלהים ִ ’אs ֱ realm). It is unlikely that the earth will be moved through space at speeds so much greater than the speed of light as would be necessary for it to traverse the great distance between the earth’s current location in the midst of the universe to the third heaven during the lifetime of those who will have lived through the apocalypse. The descriptions of the sky being “rolled up like a scroll” and of “heaven being opened” solve the conundrum by suggesting that space itself is being distorted. Such a distortion would also explain the metaphor of “heaven being shaken”. 6
Wikipedia: List of Nearest Stars
Satan in the Book of Revelation
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A massive disturbance in the ether at the quantum level, as would be necessary to transpose matter across great distances faster than the speed of light, might well create variances in the optical density of space itself to the effect that light would be refracted in unusual ways. The view might be analogous to the way a street light appears to shake when its reflection is being viewed in the surface of a puddle that has been disturbed or the distortion effect that one sees when they peer through the air just over a hot fire (in the case of the fire, the heat is causing variations in the optical density of the air). What is being described in Isaiah 13:13 and the other verses which describe the stars of heaven falling to earth may be the earth being moved through some severe spacial distortion not unlike a wormhole7 . Matthew 24:29 also presents a problem with the serial interpretation of the visions of Revelation in that it claims that the event of the falling of the stars from heaven happens “immediately after the tribulation of those days” but the falling of the stars from heaven is described during the opening of the sixth seal (Revelation 6:12-17) and the entire trumpets vision is described after the opening of the sixth seal. The seventh seal, seventh trump, seventh bowl, &c., may not be considered part of the “tribulation of those days”, but the first six trumpets evidently are. Table 1 shows the parallel layout of Revelation chapters 6 through 19. There are no verses in the sequence from chapter 6 through chapter 19 that are omitted nor are any rearranged. There are hiatuses (discontinuities/breaks) between the descriptions of “days” 4 and 5 and between the descriptions of “days” 6 and 7 as clearly shown in the table. The hiatuses also show a parallel structure. The primary subject/focus of the verses which fall into hiatus column 2 (H2) is the saints. The primary subjects of the verses which fall into hiatus column 3 (H3) are Satan and his “beast power”. Though they are labeled days in the below chart because there are seven of them in sequence, these days are evidently much longer than 24 hours. The plague of the fifth trump in particular is greater than or equal to five months in duration (Revelation 9:5). Because ֹלהים ִ ֱאis known to be meticulous in His planning and to adhere to the timing of the orbital motions of the sun and moon, it is likely that the days of the tribulation are of equal length and of some integral number of solar or lunar orbits (e.g. 1 year or 6 months).
Table 1: Parallel Accounts of the Tribulation Week D1 6:1-2 8:7 14:6-7 16:1-2 18:1-20
S T V B A
D2 6:3-4 8:8-9 14:8 16:3 18:21-24
D3 6:5-6 8:10-11 14:9-12 16:4-7 19:1-2
D4 6:7-8 8:12 14:13 16:8-9 19:3
H1 8:13
D5 6:9-11 9:1-12 14:14-16 16:10-11 19:4
D6 6:12-17 9:13-21 14:17-20 16:12-16 19:5-10
H2 7:1-17 10:1-11:14 15:1-4
D7 8:1-6 11:15-19 15:5-8 16:17-21 19:11-21
H3 12:1-14:5 17:1-18
Below is the text of Revelation chapters 6 through 19 grouped by day. The first seal, the first trump, the first bowl, &c., are grouped under day 1. The second seal, the second trump, &c. are grouped under day 2 and so on. Significant words and phrases and those that are mentioned in multiple of the parallel visions are in bold. One of the first things of note that shows up in the parallel interpretation of the text of Revelation 6 through 19 is that the white, conquering horse of the first seal is paralleled with the preaching of the everlasting gospel to “every nation, tribe, tongue, and people”. The white horse is often 7
Wikipedia: Wormhole
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Satan in the Book of Revelation
associated with deception and false religion, but one important aspect of these four horsemen is being overlooked in such an assessment. All of these horsemen come from heaven and from ֹלהים ִ ֱא and are empowered by ֹלהים ִ ֱאto carry out His will during His great day of wrath. While ֹלהים ִ ֱא has been known to cause His enemies to turn on each other in war and to strike men with famine, pestilence, and death, ֹלהים ִ ֱאwould never send religious deception into the world. Such an act would be counter productive to His goal of bringing many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10). ֹלהים ִ ֱאis not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). Also, white is the symbol of purity and the vision as shown to John by Christ would of necessity portray the “true colors” of the entities involved in the acts (harlots are described as harlots, dragons as dragons, &c.). See the story of Elijah (Luke 4:25-26) for a good example of ֹלהים ִ ֱאpunishing people with famine, the story of King David (I Chronicles 21:10-14) for a good example of ֹלהים ִ ֱאpunishing people with pestilence, and see the stories of Jonathan (I Samuel 14:1-23) and the punishment of Samaria (Isaiah 9:8-12) for good examples of ֹלהים ִ ֱאcausing His enemies to turn on one another in war. Some mistakenly think of the tribulation described in the book of Revelation as “the day of Satan’s wrath”. A cursory reading of the verses that contain the word “wrath” in the book of Revelation shows, however, that the tribulation is associated with the day of ֹלהים ִ ’אs ֱ wrath, not Satan’s. Such is also evident in that it is the wicked who perish and the righteous who are spared in the storyline. – For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. (Hebrews 2:10 NKJV) – But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. (Luke 4:25-26 NKJV) – Go and tell David, saying, “Thus says the LORD: ‘I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.’ ” So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Choose for yourself, either three years of famine, or three months to be defeated by your foes with the sword of your enemies overtaking you, or else for three days the sword of the LORD—the plague in the land, with the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now consider what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.” And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. (I Chronicles 21:10-14 NKJV) – Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he did not tell his father. And Saul was sitting in the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men. Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD’s priest in Shiloh, was wearing an ephod. But the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. Between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a sharp rock on one side and a sharp rock on the other side. And the name of one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. The front of one faced northward opposite Michmash, and the other southward opposite Gibeah. Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the LORD will work for us. For nothing restrains the LORD from saving by many or by few.” So his armorbearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.” Then Jonathan said, “Very well, let us cross over to these men, and we will show ourselves to them. If they say thus to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them. But if they say thus, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up. For the LORD has delivered them into our hand, and this will be a sign to us.” So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden.” Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you something.” Jonathan said to
Satan in the Book of Revelation
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his armorbearer, “Come up after me, for the LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel.” And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his armorbearer after him; and they fell before Jonathan. And as he came after him, his armorbearer killed them. That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armorbearer made was about twenty men within about half an acre of land. And there was trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked, so that it was a very great trembling. Now the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and there was the multitude, melting away; and they went here and there. Then Saul said to the people who were with him, “Now call the roll and see who has gone from us.” And when they had called the roll, surprisingly, Jonathan and his armorbearer were not there. And Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God here” (for at that time the ark of God was with the children of Israel). Now it happened, while Saul talked to the priest, that the noise which was in the camp of the Philistines continued to increase; so Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” Then Saul and all the people who were with him assembled, and they went to the battle; and indeed every man’s sword was against his neighbor, and there was very great confusion. Moreover the Hebrews who were with the Philistines before that time, who went up with them into the camp from the surrounding country, they also joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. Likewise all the men of Israel who had hidden in the mountains of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, they also followed hard after them in the battle. So the LORD saved Israel that day, and the battle shifted to Beth Aven. (I Samuel 14:1-23 NKJV) – The Lord sent a word against Jacob, and it has fallen on Israel. All the people will know—Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria—who say in pride and arrogance of heart: “The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.” Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and spur his enemies on, the Syrians before and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with an open mouth. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. (Isaiah 9:8-12 NKJV)
The conquering of day one of tribulation week is reminiscent of Daniel’s description of the mountain which crushed the feet of the statue and then “grew to fill the whole earth” and “consumed all the kingdoms” (Daniel 2:35,44). – Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. (Daniel 2:35 NKJV) – And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. (Daniel 2:44 NKJV)
The preaching of the gospel as described in day one of tribulation week coincides with Matthew 24:14 wherein Christ says that “the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations and then the end will come”. Every thing before verse 14 of Matthew 24 is not part of “the end”/“tribulation week” but rather it is only the “beginning of sorrows”. It is also significant that the call to ֹלהים ִ ’אs ֱ people to come out of Babylon (apparently more in the sense of lifestyle than physical locality as Babylon seems to be a world-wide government at the time) happens just prior to the tribulation in the parallel interpretation (as one would expect).
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Satan in the Book of Revelation Day 1
S:
Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. (Revelation 6:1-2 NKJV)
T:
The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. (Revelation 8:7 NKJV)
V:
Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” (Revelation 14:6-7 NKJV)
B:
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.” So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. (Revelation 16:1-2 NKJV)
A:
After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.” And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’ And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore: merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men. The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all. The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’ They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’ Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!” (Revelation 18:1-20 NKJV)
Satan in the Book of Revelation
31 Day 2
S:
When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword. (Revelation 6:3-4 NKJV)
T:
Then 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. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. (Revelation 8:8-9 NKJV)
V:
And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” (Revelation 14:8 NKJV)
B:
Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died. (Revelation 16:3 NKJV)
A:
Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore. The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.” And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth. (Revelation 18:21-24 NKJV)
Day 3 S:
When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine. (Revelation 6:5-6 NKJV)
T:
Then the third angel 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 water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter. (Revelation 8:10-11 NKJV)
V:
Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. (Revelation 14:9-12 NKJV)
B:
Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying: “You are righteous, O Lord, the One who is and who was and who is to be, because You have judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.” And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.” (Revelation 16:4-7 NKJV)
A:
After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.” (Revelation 19:1-2 NKJV)
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Satan in the Book of Revelation
Day 4 would at first seem problematic to the parallel interpretation in that it is describing the sun as being both made hotter so as to “scorch men” and, at the same time, darkened. Two possible solutions to the problem are evident. One solution being that these are separate plagues which are occurring at different times during this prophetic day of tribulation (remember that these days of tribulation are not necessarily 24 hours in length). Another possibility, which appears to be supported by the wording of the text, is that it isn’t some random assortment of stars that are being darkened or a random third part of the sun or moon but rather that one third of the view of heaven from earth is being blocked by some dark shroud which exists above the earth but lower in altitude than the moon’s orbit. Such a construction, if it were large enough to obscure 120 degrees of the sky and placed to be continually straddling the boundary between the day and the night, could be aptly described as “preventing a third of the day and night from shining” as well as “darkening a third of the sun, moon, and stars” (that is, a third of their time in the sky). At the same time, where the sun wasn’t blocked by the shroud, it could shine so hot as to scorch men on earth. In fact, such a shroud would seem necessary if the sun were to become so bright because without it the entire earth would overheat too quickly and all life on earth would be destroyed. Day 4 S:
When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:7-8 NKJV)
T:
Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. (Revelation 8:12 NKJV)
V:
Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” (Revelation 14:13 NKJV)
B:
Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory. (Revelation 16:8-9 NKJV)
A:
Again they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!” (Revelation 19:3 NKJV)
Day 5 presents an interesting situation in that the fifth trump makes mention of “those who have the seal of God on their foreheads” but the sealing of “the servants of God” (and a great multitude) occurs during the hiatus of the seals vision in Revelation 7. Also, the hiatus of the seals vision, during which the servants are sealed, is described after day 6, but the sealed are mentioned during day 5 of the trumpets vision. A similar incongruity exists within the parallel hiatus of the trumpets vision (Revelation 10:1-11:14). The description of the sixth trump appears to end at the end of chapter 9. However, the end of the hiatus of the trumpets vision clearly speaks of things that happen at the very end of the sixth trump. At the end of the hiatus of the trumpets vision, the angel announces that the “second woe is past” and just prior to the announcement is the description of the earthquake that is paralleled in the sixth seal (the one that is not accompanied with hail). The “woes” are clearly associated with the last three trumps (Revelation 8:13). It seems unlikely that all that is described during the hiatus of the trumpets vision occurs during the sixth trump because much of the description is about the 3.5 year witness of the two witnesses. The events
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described during the hiatus of the trumpets vision seem to span too much time to occur during a single prophetic day (supposing that all days are of equal length). It would seem, therefore, that each of the hiatuses that occur directly after the description of the sixth day concern things that happen between the first and sixth days of tribulation week. Such would have to be the case with the hiatus of chapter 7 because, in its opening, it makes mention of things that happen during the first four trumps (i.e. the “harming” of the trees, the seas and rivers, and the earth). The hiatus of chapter 7, toward its end, also states that the “sealed” would no longer suffer hunger, thirst, or the heat of the sun. Such a statement, in this context, would seem to indicate that at least some of the sealed suffered through the first four plagues. It is also noteworthy that the “striking” of the sun such that it would harm the men of the earth with its heat is not mentioned until Revelation 8:12 but the statement “the sun shall not strike them anymore, nor any heat” occurs in Revelation 7:16. Such an arrangement strongly supports a parallel interpretation of the text. Day 5 S:
When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. (Revelation 6:9-11 NKJV)
T:
Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon. One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things. (Revelation 9:1-12 NKJV)
V:
Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. (Revelation 14:14-16 NKJV)
B:
Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds. (Revelation 16:10-11 NKJV)
A:
And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!” (Revelation 19:4 NKJV)
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Day 6 describes one of the most interesting miracles recorded in the Bible. On day 6, it is recorded that “the stars of heaven fell to earth”. Parallel accounts of this event are found in Matthew 24:29-35, Isaiah 13:13, Isaiah 34:4, Zechariah 14:6-7, and Job 14:12. As was mentioned earlier, Isaiah 13:13 indicates that the earth will be moved and such is the most reasonable explanation of how it could appear that the stars are moving all at once. Furthermore, Revelation 6:14 says that “the sky receded as a scroll” and Zechariah’s account says that it will be light even at “evening (night) time”. Such descriptions suggest that the earth will be moved from its place completely out of the second heaven even to the third and that the earth will not, on that “day”, receive light from a point source such as the sun, but rather it will be illuminated all the way around by an omnipresent light. – I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Revelation 6:12-17 NKJV) – Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. (Matthew 24:29-35 NKJV) – Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts and in the day of His fierce anger. (Isaiah 13:13 NKJV) – All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; all their host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from a fig tree. (Isaiah 34:4 NKJV) – It shall come to pass in that day that there will be no light; the lights will diminish. It shall be one day which is known to the LORD—Neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen that it will be light. (Zechariah 14:6-7 NKJV) – So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep. (Job 14:12 NKJV) – Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty and makes it waste, Distorts its surface And scatters abroad its inhabitants. And it shall be: As with the people, so with the priest; As with the servant, so with his master; As with the maid, so with her mistress; As with the buyer, so with the seller; As with the lender, so with the borrower; As with the creditor, so with the debtor. The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered, For the LORD has spoken this word. The earth mourns and fades away, The world languishes and fades away; The haughty people of the earth languish. The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed the laws, Changed the ordinance, Broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, And those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, And few men are left. The new wine fails, the vine languishes, All the merry-hearted sigh. The mirth of the tambourine ceases, The noise of the jubilant ends, The joy of the harp ceases. They shall not drink wine with a song; Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. The city of confusion is broken down; Every house is shut up, so that none may go in. There is a cry for wine in the streets, All joy is darkened, The mirth of the land is gone. In the city
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desolation is left, And the gate is stricken with destruction. When it shall be thus in the midst of the land among the people, It shall be like the shaking of an olive tree, Like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done. They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing; For the majesty of the LORD They shall cry aloud from the sea. Therefore glorify the LORD in the dawning light, The name of the LORD God of Israel in the coastlands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we have heard songs: “Glory to the righteous!” But I said, “I am ruined, ruined! Woe to me! The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously, Indeed, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.” Fear and the pit and the snare Are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall be That he who flees from the noise of the fear Shall fall into the pit, And he who comes up from the midst of the pit Shall be caught in the snare; For the windows from on high are open, And the foundations of the earth are shaken. The earth is violently broken, The earth is split open, The earth is shaken exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, And shall totter like a hut; Its transgression shall be heavy upon it, And it will fall, and not rise again. It shall come to pass in that day That the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones, And on the earth the kings of the earth. They will be gathered together, As prisoners are gathered in the pit, And will be shut up in the prison; After many days they will be punished. Then the moon will be disgraced And the sun ashamed; For the LORD of hosts will reign On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem And before His elders, gloriously. (Isaiah 24 NKJV) {note that “disgraced” and “ashamed” as applied to the moon and sun in this reference is probably a poor translation of what is probably meant to indicate that the light of the moon and sun will cease as is stated in the parallel verses of Zechariah 14:6-7}
The earthquakes mentioned throughout Revelation correspond neatly with the idea that the earth is undergoing acceleration. There are five mentions of “an earthquake” in the book of Revelation. Two of the instances (6:12 and 11:13) occur in the context of the end of the sixth day. The other three (8:5, 11:19 and 16:18) occur in the context of the seventh day and two of these latter three include descriptions of “great hail”. If the earth were being moved, it would not be at all unexpected that there would be great seismic activity associated with the two variances in the earth’s speed at the beginning and end of its journey. Much of the earth’s center is liquid and any uneven distribution in the application of the accelerating force would cause the earth’s surface to buckle. It is interesting that our planet earth happens to be constructed like a giant dynamo8 . The magnetic fields that surround the earth might be useful or even necessary for the movement of the earth through a wormhole9 . The great hail associated with the seventh day might also be a side effect of the movement of earth through a wormhole. The sudden removal of the sun might cause cooling and condensation in the earth’s upper atmosphere which could fall to earth in the form of extraordinarily large hailstones.
8 9
Hugh Ross: earth – One Amazing Dynamo Wikipedia: Wormhole
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The Euphrates river seems to be a prevalent theme during the sixth day. It is dried up to make way for “the kings from the east”. Parallel accounts of this gathering are found in Isaiah 13:3-6 and Zechariah 14:2-3. It seems that by this time in the tribulation week, it has become clear to all the nations of the earth that they must either submit to the LORD or perish. By this time, a third of mankind either has been or soon will be killed. It seems that a great many of the people of these nations decide to side with the demons and to try to fight the LORD rather than submitting. We are not told exactly how many people gather to battle against the LORD, but we are told that only one third of the earth’s population are brought through the “fire” (tribulation) and we are told the rather gruesome details of the fate that awaits those who “fought against Jerusalem” (Isaiah 34:1-17, Zechariah 13:8-9, Zechariah 14:12). – I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have also called My mighty ones for My anger—Those who rejoice in My exaltation. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts musters the army for battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven—The LORD and His weapons of indignation, to destroy the whole land. Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. (Isaiah 13:3-6 NKJV)
Note that the word “land” in the phrase “to destroy the whole land” in the previous reference is, in Hebrew, “”א ֶרץ ֶ and in this context of “the day of the LORD”, should be translated “earth” because it is made clear in the book of Revelation that the “destruction from the Almighty” at the end time is a global disaster. Note also that there are two great armies being described in the previous reference. One army is of many men of many nations gathering “in the mountains”. The other army is of the LORD’s “mighty ones” who rejoice in the LORD’s exaltation and who come from “the end of heaven” (that is, the end of the second heaven and the beginning of the third—the edge of our universe). – For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. (Zechariah 14:2-3 NKJV) – Come near, you nations, to hear; and heed, you people! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world and all things that come forth from it. For the indignation of the LORD is against all nations, and His fury against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter. Also their slain shall be thrown out; their stench shall rise from their corpses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; all their host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from a fig tree. For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; indeed it shall come down on Edom, and on the people of My curse, for judgment. The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made overflowing with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. The wild oxen shall come down with them, and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust saturated with fatness. For it is the day of the LORD’s vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion. Its streams shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone; its land shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night or day; its smoke shall ascend forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; no one shall pass through it forever and ever. But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it, also the owl and the raven shall dwell in it. And He shall stretch out over it the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness. They shall call its nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all its princes shall be nothing. And thorns shall come up in its palaces, nettles and brambles in its fortresses; it shall be a habitation of jackals, a courtyard for ostriches. The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the jackals, And the wild goat shall bleat to its companion; also the night creature shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There the arrow snake shall make her nest and lay eggs and hatch, and gather them under her shadow; there also shall
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the hawks be gathered, every one with her mate. Search from the book of the LORD, and read: not one of these shall fail; not one shall lack her mate. For My mouth has commanded it, and His Spirit has gathered them. He has cast the lot for them, and His hand has divided it among them with a measuring line. They shall possess it forever; from generation to generation they shall dwell in it. (Isaiah 34:1-17 NKJV) – And it shall come to pass in all the land, says the LORD, that two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, “This is My people”; and each one will say, “The LORD is my God.” (Zechariah 13:8-9 NKJV)
Note that “land” in the above quote from Zechariah 13 is “”א ֶרץ ֶ in Hebrew (the name given the planet earth at its creation) and should be translated “earth” in this context. – And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths. (Zechariah 14:12 NKJV)
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S:
I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Revelation 6:12-17 NKJV)
T:
Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm. But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. (Revelation 9:13-21 NKJV) Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.” So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs. (Revelation 14:17-20 NKJV)
V:
B:
Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.” And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon. (Revelation 16:12-16 NKJV)
A:
Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!” And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.” And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (Revelation 19:5-10 NKJV)
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The key things to note in the parallel visions of Day 7 are the hail that is associated with the earthquakes, the phrase “heaven opened” which is repeated in three of the visions, the disappearance of the islands and mountains, and the feast of the birds. As was mentioned earlier, it appears that the earth is moved completely out of the spacial realm of this universe such that the stars of heaven appear to have fallen out of the heaven. What is seen immediately after the “falling of the stars” is described as “heaven being opened” in the book of Revelation. The parallel account in Matthew 24:29-31 states that what will appear in heaven is “the sign of the Son of Man”. – Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31 NKJV)
The above quote from Matthew 24 further indicates that it is after the tribulation that the elect will be gathered from “the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other”. Such a statement is in complete alignment with the parallel interpretation of the visions of Revelation which has the calling of the elect to the wedding supper being mentioned on the sixth day. The hiatuses which describe the elect (Hiatus column 2 in Table 1) also agree with the timing indicated in Matthew 24 in that they are placed between days 6 and 7 of the tribulation week visions. Such a scenario is also described in the parable of the wheat and the tares as told by Christ in Matthew 13:24-30 and explained in Matthew 13:37-43. – Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matthew 13:24-30 NKJV) – He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew 13:37-43 NKJV)
Christ’s parable explains many things about the harvest of the end of the age. It explains that it is His angels who “gather the tares into the fire”. It explains that the gathering of the tares will occur before the gathering of the wheat. It is said in the parable that the angels are forbidden to uproot the tares early on because they might mistakenly uproot the wheat. It is evident that the two can be uprooted separately because, later on in the parable, they are. It is not said that the angels lack the necessary discernment to do the task at the time. The explanation that is left, then, is that Christ is long-suffering and giving the tares a chance to become wheat. Such is the statement in Zechariah 13:9, “I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined,
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and test them as gold is tested”. Zechariah 13:8 also explains that two-thirds of the earth will be cut off which aligns neatly with the two “reapings” that are recorded for days five and six. It is recorded that one-third of mankind is killed on the sixth day. It may be that most of the other third are killed on the fifth day in association with the great reaping of that day. Although, some appear to get killed during the seventh day by “the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse” and some are likely killed during the first four plagues. All of these prophecies do away with the notion of a “place of safety” wherein the elect are protected during the tribulation. These accounts and statements like, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Luke 10:2), suggest that the righteous, rather than cowering in some corner, will, during the tribulation, be doing their part to help convert the souls of men to be ֹלהים ִ ’אs ֱ people. The disappearance of the mountains and islands is recorded in Zechariah 14:10 and in Isaiah 54:9-10 among other places. – All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be raised up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin’s Gate to the place of the First Gate and the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananeel to the king’s winepresses. (Zechariah 14:10 NKJV) – God is our refuge and strength, … Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea … The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted. (Psalm 46:1-6 NKJV) – The LORD reigns; Let the earth rejoice; Let the multitude of isles be glad! … A fire goes before Him, And burns up His enemies round about. … The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples see His glory. (Psalm 97:16 NKJV) – I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and He said: Strike the doorposts, that the thresholds may shake, And break them on the heads of them all. I will slay the last of them with the sword. He who flees from them shall not get away, And he who escapes from them shall not be delivered. Though they dig into hell, From there My hand shall take them; Though they climb up to heaven, From there I will bring them down; And though they hide themselves on top of Carmel, From there I will search and take them; Though they hide from My sight at the bottom of the sea, From there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them; Though they go into captivity before their enemies, From there I will command the sword, And it shall slay them. I will set My eyes on them for harm and not for good. The Lord GOD of hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts, And all who dwell there mourn; All of it shall swell like the River, And subside like the River of Egypt … —The LORD is His name. (Amos 9:1-6 NKJV) – For behold, the LORD is coming out of His place; He will come down And tread on the high places of the earth. The mountains will melt under Him, And the valleys will split Like wax before the fire, Like waters poured down a steep place. All this is for the transgression of Jacob And for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what are the high places of Judah? Are they not Jerusalem? (Micah 1:3-5 NKJV) – God is jealous, and the LORD avenges; The LORD avenges and is furious. The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies; The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. The LORD has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, And dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, And the flower of Lebanon wilts. The mountains quake before Him, The hills melt, And the earth heaves at His presence, Yes, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, And the rocks are thrown down by Him. The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him. (Nahum 1:2-7 NKJV) – For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart and
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the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed, Says the LORD, who has mercy on you. (Isaiah 54:9-10 NKJV)
The previous quote from Isaiah 54 indirectly suggests a link between “the waters of Noah” and “the mountains … and the hills” in that they are removed from the earth at the same time. The quote also contrasts the waters of Noah, the mountains, and the hills with the kindness of the LORD; saying that the earlier will depart but the latter will not. Such wording suggests a link between the flood waters, mountains, and hills and the wrath of the LORD at the time of the flood. Isaiah 54:9-10 might be interpreted as saying that the wrath of the LORD, which caused the mountains, hills, and oceans, will depart but not His kindness. See Appendix A for a discussion about Noah’s flood and how it reformed/changed the surface of the earth. Accurately understanding the flood – its timing, cause, and what effect it had on the geography of the earth – is important to understanding why the earth will be reshaped at the second coming of Christ, when He comes to restore all things, as described in passages that parallel the events described in the verses of Revelation which occur on the seventh “day”. The last significant thing to note about the seventh “day” of tribulation week is that the birds will be called upon to feast on the flesh of those who will be vanquished on that day. This event is significant mainly in that it links the events of this day with the prophecy recorded in Ezekiel 39. – And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal; and I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel. Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand. You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken,’ says the Lord GOD. ‘And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the coastlands. Then they shall know that I am the LORD. So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel. Surely it is coming, and it shall be done,’ says the Lord GOD. ‘This is the day of which I have spoken. Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years. They will not take wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons; and they will plunder those who plundered them, and pillage those who pillaged them,’ says the Lord GOD. ‘It will come to pass in that day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea; and it will obstruct travelers, because there they will bury Gog and all his multitude. Therefore they will call it the Valley of Hamon Gog. For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. Indeed all the people of the land will be burying, and they will gain renown for it on the day that I am glorified,’ says the Lord GOD. ‘They will set apart men regularly employed, with the help of a search party, to pass through the land and bury those bodies remaining on the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make a search. The search party will pass through the land; and when anyone sees a man’s bone, he shall set up a marker by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. The name of the city will also be Hamonah. Thus they shall cleanse the land.’ ” And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, “Speak to every sort of bird and to every beast of the field: ‘Assemble yourselves and come; Gather together from all sides to My sacrificial meal Which I am sacrificing for you, A great sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel, That you may eat flesh and drink blood. You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, Drink the blood of the princes of the earth, Of rams and lambs, Of goats and bulls, All of them fatlings of Bashan. You shall eat fat till you are full, And drink blood till you are drunk, At My sacrificial meal Which I am sacrificing for you. You shall be filled at My table With horses and riders, With mighty men And with all the men of war,’ says the Lord GOD. I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day forward. The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they
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Satan in the Book of Revelation were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name – after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid. When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 39 NKJV)
There are many details revealed about the events of the last days in Ezekiel chapters 34 through 39, but it is too much to go into here. It is left to the reader to read these chapters of Ezekiel and compare and contrast what is said in them with what has been discussed in this article.
Satan in the Book of Revelation
43 Day 7
S:
When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. (Revelation 8:1-6 NKJV)
T:
Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” And the twentyfour elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth.” Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail. (Revelation 11:15-19 NKJV)
V:
After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. And out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden bands. Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed. (Revelation 15:5-8 NKJV)
B:
Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great. (Revelation 16:17-21 NKJV)
A:
Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.” And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh. (Revelation 19:11-21 NKJV)
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Satan in the Book of Revelation
Now that the layout of the book of Revelation has been thoroughly explained, the verses that deal with Satan can be paralleled and explained. The verses of interest are those that occur in the third hiatus as was described in Table 1. What is important to understand concerning the layout of the book of Revelation is that those things that fall into the same column are speaking of the same thing and/or time. Both the set of verses that fall into hiatus column 2 and the set of verses that fall into hiatus column 3 speak of durations of time that are 1260 “days” in length. The 1260 days spoken of in Revelation 11:3 are not the same 1260 days that are spoken of in Revelation 12:6 because they fall into different “columns” of subject matter. Likewise, the 42 months spoken of in Revelation 11:2 are not the same 42 months spoken of in Revelation 13:5. The 42 months of Revelation 11:2 are, however, the same as the 1260 days of Revelation 11:3 because they are in the same column. Likewise, the 1260 days, “time and times and half a time”, and 42 months of Revelation 12:6, 12:14, and 13:5 respectively are speaking of the same period of time. It is obvious that the 1260 days and the 42 months of Revelation 11:3 and 11:2 are speaking of a literal period of time because, among other things, the “two witnesses” are said to be clothed in “sackcloth” the whole time. What is less obvious (and misunderstood by many) is that the period of 1260 days/42 months/3.5 years spoken of in Revelation 12 and 13 (and Daniel 7:25) is not literal. The 3.5 years that are mentioned three times in Revelation 12 - 13 and once in Daniel 7 are symbolic of a period of 1260 years (one year corresponding to each “prophetic day”). I’m not sure who originally figured out the meaning of the 1260 prophetic days of Revelation 12 and 13, but one of the older references to it that I am familiar with occurs in an article titled “The Plain Truth About EASTER” by the late evangelist Herbert W. Armstrong. The relevant excerpt is shown below. Excerpted from “The Plain Truth About EASTER’’: You don’t read much of this true body of Christ in the secular histories of this world! No, the world little notes, nor long remembers, the activities of this “little flock”, hated and despised by the world, driven to the wilderness by persecution, always opposed, usually scattered! But there are enough references to it in authentic histories to show that it has continued through every century to now! The prophecies bring this church into concrete focus in the 12th chapter of Revelation. There she is shown spiritually, in the glory and splendor of the spirit of God, but visibly in the world as a persecuted commandment-keeping church driven into the wilderness, for 1260 years, through the Middle Ages! Even in Paul’s day, many among those attending at Antioch, at Jerusalem, at Ephesus, at Corinth, and other places, began to apostatize and turn away from the truth. Divisions sprang up. Those individuals, unconverted or turned from God’s truth and way of life, were no part of God’s true church, though visibly assembling with those who were. The “mystery of iniquity” was already working inside these visible churches. This apostasy increased! By the year AD 125 the majority in most churches, especially those gentile-born, were continuing in many of their old pagan beliefs and practices, though professing to be Christian! Gradually, a smaller and smaller portion of the visible churches going by the name “Christian” remained truly yielded to God and His truth, and led of His spirit. After Constantine took virtual control of the visible, professing church in the early fourth century, this visible organization became almost wholly pagan, and began excommunicating and persecuting all who held to the true word of God! Finally, it became necessary for real Christians, who, even as a scattered people, alone composed the true Christian church, to flee from the jurisdiction of Rome in order truly to worship God! Thus, the visible, organized Church which rose to power was the FALSE Church – the “Great Whore” of Revelation 17.
The persecuted Christians of whom Herbert Armstrong is speaking in the above excerpt are those known as the “Waldenses” and whose history is detailed in the book “Sketches of the Waldenses”.
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A relevant excerpt, detailing part of the “wilderness” of Europe that these Christians were driven into, is given below. Excerpted from “Sketches of the Waldenses”: On the French as well as on the Italian side of the Alps, there seems always to have been a remnant of scriptural Christians. Here the persecutions of later times scarcely succeeded in rooting out a race of Protestants; and the recent labours of Oberlin and Neff have resulted in a happy revival of religion. In Dormilleuse, where the latter preached, it is recorded that the inhabitants have never embraced the Romish faith – have never bowed the knee to idols. This hamlet stands on a rock, almost inaccessible, even in the finest season of the year; while in winter the ascent is doubly hazardous from the accumulation of ice in its narrowest part, where it is watered by a cascade. These valleys are, however, different from those of Piedmont in their general aspect; to the latter the words of Moses may be applied, “A land of wheat and barley, of vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil-olive and honey.” Those vales, as a traveller says, form a garden, with deserts, as it were, in view: some parts are barren and repulsive, but these are exceptions. On the contrary, in the retreats of the French Protestants, fertility is the exception, barrenness the common aspect. Nothing will grow there but corn, and that only in small quantities. There the tottering cliffs, the somber and frowning rocks, which, from their fatiguing continuity, look like a mournful veil, never to be raised; with the tremendous abysses, and the comfortless cottages, amidst the ever-present dangers from avalanches, and thick mists and clouds, proclaim that this is a land man never would have chosen, even for his hiding place, unless from the strictest necessity. These mountain fastnesses are said to have furnished a retreat to a Gallic chief, called king Cottius, when pursued by the Romans, and from him they are denominated the Cottian Alps.
In Tables 2 and 3 below, the details of the timing of the 1260 years and how the various prophecies of the books of Daniel and Revelation correspond are given. Table 2 was obtained from Melvin Rhodes – a former member of The World-Wide Church of God (founded by Herbert W. Armstrong). Table 3 was taken from “Inside the Book of Revelation” – a publication by The World-Wide Church of God.
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Satan in the Book of Revelation
Table 2: Daniel 7 Prophecies of Reigns of Gentile Kingdoms (The 4 “Beasts”) 1st Beast
Lion
Babylonian Empire
625 - 538 BC
2nd Beast
Bear
Persian Empire
558 - 330 BC
3rd Beast
Leopard
Greece
333 - 31 BC
4th Beast
Strong like Iron
Rome
31 BC - 476 AD
Resurrections of the Roman Empire (The 10 “Horns” of the 4th Beast) The first 3 horns were plucked up by the roots (they were short lived): 1st Horn
Vandals
Sacked Rome 455 AD
2nd Horn
Odoacer
476 - 493 AD
(First barbarian king of Italy, 476 AD, Supposedly recognized supremacy of eastern emperor)
3rd Horn
Ostrogoths
493 - 554 AD
(King Theodoric appointed king of Italy by eastern emperor – defeated and killed Odoacer)
The “pompous” little horn (the papacy) co-exists with the latter 7 horns (church-state resurrections): 4th Horn
Justinian
Two halves of the empire united and secure by 554 AD
5th Horn
Charlemagne
“King of the Franks and Roman Emperor” – Crowned Carolus Augustus, Emperor of the Romans, by Pope Leo III, Christmas Day, 800 AD at Aachen.
6th Horn
Holy Roman Empire
Otto I, crowned king of the Germans 936; Emperor 962 AD “Consolidated the German Reich. His use of the church as a stabilizing influence created a secure empire and stimulated a cultural renaissance.” (Encyc. Brit.)
7th Horn
Charles V
Holy Roman Emperor. Emperor of Austria, HRE, Low Countries, Burgundy, Iberian Peninsula, the Americas. Crowned Emperor at Aachen 1520 (aged 20). Condemned Luther the following year at the Diet of Worms. Father of Philip II of Spain.
8th Horn
Napoleon
A commoner who was proclaimed Emperor in May of 1804. Defeated (and ended) the HRE, but effectively continued the Imperial system until 1814.
-
-
554 - 1814 = 1260 years (Revelation 13:5)
9th Horn
2nd & 3rd Reichs/Italy
(Kaisers, Mussolini/Hitler). 1870 - 1945
10th Horn
“One that is to come”
Revelation 17:10
Satan in the Book of Revelation
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Table 3: Matching Up the ‘Beasts’ of Prophecy Historical Meaning
Four Beasts (Daniel 7)
Beast from the Sea (Rev. 13)
Babylonian Empire (625-539 BC)
Beast 1: Lion (v. 4)
Persian Empire (558-330 BC)
Beast 2: Bear (v. 5)
Greek Empire (divides into 4 parts after Alexander’s death)
Beast 3: Leopard with 4 Heads (v. 6)
Beast has 7 heads – Leopard Body, Bear Feet, and Lion Mouth (v. 2)
Roman Empire (31 BC - AD 476) and its “holy” revivals through history until the messiah comes
Beast 4: Iron has …
The Beast’s 7th Head has …
The four beasts have seven heads standing for four world ruling kingdoms. (Daniel 7:17, 22)
… 10 Horns (v. 7)
1st Horn
2nd Horn
Scarlet Beast (Rev. 17)
… 10 Horns (v. 1)
Subdued by “Little Horn” of Daniel 7:20, 24 or Scarlet Woman of Rev. 17:9
1st Horn
2nd Horn
Scarlet Beast has 7 Heads … (v. 3)
3rd Horn
3rd Horn
4th Horn
4th Horn
1st Head
5th Horn
5th Horn
2nd Head
6th Horn
6th Horn
3rd Head
7th Horn
7th Horn
4th Head
8th Horn
8th Horn
5th Head
9th Horn
9th Horn
6th Head
10th Horn
10th Horn
7th Head
Fourth kingdom’s last horn destroyed at Christ’s return (v. 24-27)
… and 10 horns or 10 kings who receive power with the beast for a short time fight with the “Lamb” and are destroyed at Christ’s return (v. 12-14)
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Satan in the Book of Revelation The 1260 years as laid out in Table 2 are also mentioned in Revelation 12 as quoted below. – Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12 NKJV)
The first important thing to note about Revelation 12 is that the entire chapter chronicles the events of one vision concerning a “woman”, a “child”, and a “dragon”. Most people correctly correlate the woman with Christ’s church, the child with Christ, and the dragon with Satan the devil. Pay close attention to the sequence of events that are described. In particular, notice that “her Child was caught up to God and His throne” and then “the woman fled into the wilderness”. Notice that Revelation 12:7-12 is parenthetical to the line of thought in the vision – it details events that are tangentially related to, but outside of, the context of the interaction between the two great signs of the woman and the dragon. Notice that it is after the dragon was “cast to the earth” that he begain “persecuting” the woman and that it is as a consequence of this persecution that “the woman was given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness”. This is not a second flight that the woman has made into the wilderness. The sequence of events, when these verses are put together is 1: her Child is caught up to ֹלהים ִ ֱאand His throne, 2: the dragon sees that he has been cast to the earth, 3: the woman who gave birth begins to be persecuted by the dragon, 4: the woman is given wings and flees into the wilderness for 1260 days/3.5 years. Before the woman flees, in order to prevent the woman from getting away, the dragon spews a “flood” out of his mouth to “carry the woman away” and the “earth” hinders the dragon’s efforts by “swallowing up” the flood. Again, many interpret this symbolic vision incorrectly and take it to be saying that a literal flood will pursue a people (oddly enough, the woman is never taken to be literal) and that the literal planet earth will open up and swallow the flood. However, neither the flood nor the earth are literal figures in this vision. Both the flood and the earth are symbolic of people just as are the dragon and the woman. Five reasons why these elements in this vision must be taken to be symbolic are given below.
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1. The physical earth has no neural brain with which to reason nor mussels with which to command its own movement – it is inanimate. 2. Phrases like “open mouth” and “devour” are used frequently in the Bible to refer to one army of men overpowering and destroying another (e.g. Numbers 14:9, Isaiah 9:12, Jeremiah 10:25 & 30:16). – Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them. (Numbers 14:9 NKJV) – The Syrians before and the Philistines behind; And they shall devour Israel with an open mouth … (Isaiah 9:12 NKJV) – Pour out Your fury on the Gentiles, who do not know You, And on the families who do not call on Your name; For they have eaten up Jacob, Devoured him and consumed him, And made his dwelling place desolate. (Jeremiah 10:25 NKJV) – Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured; And all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity … (Jeremiah 30:16 NKJV)
3. The same Greek word that is translated “earth” in Revelation 12:16 is used again just a few verses later in Revelation 13:3 where is it translated “world” and where it is understood to be in reference to the world’s human population. 4. This event is paralleled in Daniel 9:26 where the same symbology – a flood – is used in reference to the destruction of “the city and the sanctuary” that occurred in 70 AD. 5. The wording of the vision is not that the woman will be protected until Christ’s return. Rather, she is protected/“nourished” for a set period of time – “a time and times and half a time” – and afterward, in Revelation 13:7, it is granted to “the beast” to “make war with the saints and to overcome them”. As is illustrated in Table 2, this “time and times and half a time” corresponds to a period of 1260 years – from 554 AD to 1814 AD – during which the gentile nations had sway over the earth. After this time of protection had expired, it took Satan a mere one-hundred years to orchestrate the nations and their leaders such that World Wars I & II would unfold and lead to the destruction of millions of ֹלהים ִ א-fearing ֱ Jews (i.e. “saints”). Daniel 9:26 is important to understanding the “flood” of Revelation 12:15-17. The verses are given below along with a lengthy excerpt from “The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem” (a.k.a. “The Wars of the Jews”) by Josephus which recounts the beginning of the horrific event in detail. – And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. (Daniel 9:26 NKJV) – So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:15-17 NKJV) – … They also supposed that Ananus would be every where, and visit the guards every hour; which indeed was done upon other nights, but was omitted that night, not by reason of any slothfulness of Ananus, but by the overbearing appointment of fate, that so both he might himself perish, and the multitude of the guards might perish with him; for truly, as the night was far gone, and the storm very terrible, Ananus gave the guards in the
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Satan in the Book of Revelation cloisters leave to go to sleep; while it came into the heads of the zealots to make use of the saws belonging to the temple, and to cut the bars of the gates to pieces. The noise of the wind, and that not inferior sound of the thunder, did here also conspire with their designs, that the noise of the saws was not heard by the others. So they secretly went out of the temple to the wall of the city, and made use of their saws, and opened that gate which was over against the Idumeans. Now at first there came a fear upon the Idumeans themselves, which disturbed them, as imagining that Ananus and his party were coming to attack them, so that every one of them had his right hand upon his sword, in order to defend himself; but they soon came to know who they were that came to them, and were entered the city. And had the Idumeans then fallen upon the city, nothing could have hindered them from destroying the people every man of them, such was the rage they were in at that time; but as they first of all made haste to get the zealots out of custody, which those that brought them in earnestly desired them to do, and not to overlook those for whose sakes they were come, in the midst of their distresses, nor to bring them into a still greater danger; for that when they had once seized upon the guards, it would be easy for them to fall upon the city; but that if the city were once alarmed, they would not then be able to overcome those guards, because as soon as they should perceive they were there, they would put themselves in order to fight them, and would hinder their coming into the temple. This advice pleased the Idumeans, and they ascended through the city to the temple. The zealots were also in great expectation of their coming, and earnestly waited for them. When therefore these were entering, they also came boldly out of the inner temple, and mixing themselves among the Idumeans, they attacked the guards; and some of those that were upon the watch, but were fallen asleep, they killed as they were asleep; but as those that were now awakened made a cry, the whole multitude arose, and in the amazement they were in caught hold of their arms immediately, and betook themselves to their own defense; and so long as they thought they were only the zealots who attacked them, they went on boldly, as hoping to overpower them by their numbers; but when they saw others pressing in upon them also, they perceived the Idumeans were got in; and the greatest part of them laid aside their arms, together with their courage, and betook themselves to lamentations. But some few of the younger sort covered themselves with their armor, and valiantly received the Idumeans, and for a while protected the multitude of old men. Others, indeed, gave a signal to those that were in the city of the calamities they were in; but when these were also made sensible that the Idumeans were come in, none of them durst come to their assistance, only they returned the terrible echo of wailing, and lamented their misfortunes. A great howling of the women was excited also, and every one of the guards were in danger of being killed. The zealots also joined in the shouts raised by the Idumeans; and the storm itself rendered the cry more terrible; nor did the Idumeans spare any body; for as they are naturally a most barbarous and bloody nation, and had been distressed by the tempest, they made use of their weapons against those that had shut the gates against them, and acted in the same manner as to those that supplicated for their lives, and to those that fought them, insomuch that they ran through those with their swords who desired them to remember the relation there was between them, and begged of them to have regard to their common temple. Now there was at present neither any place for flight, nor any hope of preservation; but as they were driven one upon another in heaps, so were they slain. Thus the greater part were driven together by force, as there was now no place of retirement, and the murderers were upon them; and, having no other way, threw themselves down headlong into the city; whereby, in my opinion, they underwent a more miserable destruction than that which they avoided, because that was a voluntary one. And now the outer temple was all of it overflowed with blood; and that day, as it came on, they saw eight thousand five hundred dead bodies there. But the rage of the Idumeans was not satiated by these slaughters; but they now betook themselves to the city, and plundered every house, and slew every one they met; and for the other multitude, they esteemed it needless to go on with killing them, but they sought for the high priests, and the generality went with the greatest zeal against them; and as soon as they caught them they slew them, and then standing upon their dead bodies, in way of jest, upbraided Ananus with his kindness to the people, and Jesus with his speech made to them from the wall. Nay, they proceeded to that degree of impiety, as to cast away their dead bodies without burial, although the Jews used to take so much care of the burial of men, that they took down those that were condemned and crucified, and buried them before the going down of the sun. I should not mistake if I said that the death of Ananus was the beginning of the destruction of the city, and that from this very day may be dated the overthrow of her wall, and the ruin of her affairs, whereon they saw their high priest, and the procurer of their preservation, slain in the midst of their city. He was on other accounts also a venerable, and a very just man; and besides the grandeur of that nobility, and dignity, and honor of which he was possessed, he had been a lover of a kind of parity, even with regard to the meanest of the people; he was a prodigious lover of liberty, and an admirer of a democracy in government; and did ever prefer the public welfare before his own
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advantage, and preferred peace above all things; for he was thoroughly sensible that the Romans were not to be conquered. He also foresaw that of necessity a war would follow, and that unless the Jews made up matters with them very dexterously, they would be destroyed; to say all in a word, if Ananus had survived, they had certainly compounded matters; for he was a shrewd man in speaking and persuading the people, and had already gotten the mastery of those that opposed his designs, or were for the war. And the Jews had then put abundance of delays in the way of the Romans, if they had had such a general as he was. Jesus was also joined with him; and although he was inferior to him upon the comparison, he was superior to the rest; and I cannot but think that it was because God had doomed this city to destruction, as a polluted city, and was resolved to purge his sanctuary by fire, that he cut off these their great defenders and well-wishers, while those that a little before had worn the sacred garments, and had presided over the public worship; and had been esteemed venerable by those that dwelt on the whole habitable earth when they came into our city, were cast out naked, and seen to be the food of dogs and wild beasts. And I cannot but imagine that virtue itself groaned at these men’s case, and lamented that she was here so terribly conquered by wickedness. And this at last was the end of Ananus and Jesus. Now after these were slain, the zealots and the multitude of the Idumeans fell upon the people as upon a flock of profane animals, and cut their throats; and for the ordinary sort, they were destroyed in what place soever they caught them. But for the noblemen and the youth, they first caught them and bound them, and shut them up in prison, and put off their slaughter, in hopes that some of them would turn over to their party; but not one of them would comply with their desires, but all of them preferred death before being enrolled among such wicked wretches as acted against their own country. But this refusal of theirs brought upon them terrible torments; for they were so scourged and tortured, that their bodies were not able to sustain their torments, till at length, and with difficulty, they had the favor to be slain. Those whom they caught in the day time were slain in the night, and then their bodies were carried out and thrown away, that there might be room for other prisoners; and the terror that was upon the people was so great, that no one had courage enough either to weep openly for the dead man that was related to him, or to bury him; but those that were shut up in their own houses could only shed tears in secret, and durst not even groan without great caution, lest any of their enemies should hear them; for if they did, those that mourned for others soon underwent the same death with those whom they mourned for. Only in the night time they would take up a little dust, and throw it upon their bodies; and even some that were the most ready to expose themselves to danger would do it in the day time: and there were twelve thousand of the better sort who perished in this manner. And now these zealots and Idumeans were quite weary of barely killing men, so they had the impudence of setting up fictitious tribunals and judicatures for that purpose; and as they intended to have Zacharias the son of Baruch, one of the most eminent of the citizens, slain, so what provoked them against him was, that hatred of wickedness and love of liberty which were so eminent in him: he was also a rich man, so that by taking him off, they did not only hope to seize his effects, but also to get rid of a mall that had great power to destroy them. So they called together, by a public proclamation, seventy of the principal men of the populace, for a show, as if they were real judges, while they had no proper authority. Before these was Zacharias accused of a design to betray their polity to the Romans, and having traitorously sent to Vespasian for that purpose. Now there appeared no proof or sign of what he was accused; but they affirmed themselves that they were well persuaded that so it was, and desired that such their affirmation might be taken for sufficient evidence. Now when Zacharias clearly saw that there was no way remaining for his escape from them, as having been treacherously called before them, and then put in prison, but not with any intention of a legal trial, he took great liberty of speech in that despair of his life he was under. Accordingly he stood up, and laughed at their pretended accusation, and in a few words confuted the crimes laid to his charge; after which he turned his speech to his accusers, and went over distinctly all their transgressions of the law, and made heavy lamentation upon the confusion they had brought public affairs to: in the mean time, the zealots grew tumultuous, and had much ado to abstain from drawing their swords, although they designed to preserve the appearance and show of judicature to the end. They were also desirous, on other accounts, to try the judges, whether they would be mindful of what was just at their own peril. Now the seventy judges brought in their verdict that the person accused was not guilty, as choosing rather to die themselves with him, than to have his death laid at their doors; hereupon there arose a great clamor of the zealots upon his acquittal, and they all had indignation at the judges for not understanding that the authority that was given them was but in jest. So two of the boldest of them fell upon Zacharias in the middle of the temple, and slew him; and as he fell down dead, they bantered him, and said, “Thou hast also our verdict, and this will prove a more sure acquittal to thee than the other.” They also threw him down from the temple immediately into the valley beneath it. Moreover, they struck the judges with the backs of their swords, by way of abuse, and thrust them out of the court of the temple,
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Satan in the Book of Revelation and spared their lives with no other design than that, when they were dispersed among the people in the city, they might become their messengers, to let them know they were no better than slaves. But by this time the Idumeans repented of their coming, and were displeased at what had been done; and when they were assembled together by one of the zealots, who had come privately to them, he declared to them what a number of wicked pranks they had themselves done in conjunction with those that invited them, and gave a particular account of what mischiefs had been done against their metropolis. He said that they had taken arms, as though the high priests were betraying their metropolis to the Romans, but had found no indication of any such treachery; but that they had succored those that had pretended to believe such a thing, while they did themselves the works of war and tyranny, after an insolent manner. It had been indeed their business to have hindered them from such their proceedings at the first, but seeing they had once been partners with them in shedding the blood of their own countrymen, it was high time to put a stop to such crimes, and not continue to afford any more assistance to such as are subverting the laws of their forefathers; for that if any had taken it ill that the gates had been shut against them, and they had not been permitted to come into the city, yet that those who had excluded them have been punished, and Ananus is dead, and that almost all those people had been destroyed in one night’s time. That one may perceive many of themselves now repenting for what they had done, and might see the horrid barbarity of those that had invited them, and that they had no regard to such as had saved them; that they were so impudent as to perpetrate the vilest things, under the eyes of those that had supported them, and that their wicked actions would be laid to the charge of the Idumeans, and would be so laid to their charge till somebody obstructs their proceedings, or separates himself from the same wicked action; that they therefore ought to retire home, since the imputation of treason appears to be a Calumny, and that there was no expectation of the coming of the Romans at this time, and that the government of the city was secured by such walls as cannot easily be thrown down; and, by avoiding any further fellowship with these bad men, to make some excuse for themselves, as to what they had been so far deluded, as to have been partners with them hitherto. The Idumeans complied with these persuasions; and, in the first place, they set those that were in the prisons at liberty, being about two thousand of the populace, who thereupon fled away immediately to Simon, one whom we shall speak of presently. After which these Idumeans retired from Jerusalem, and went home; which departure of theirs was a great surprise to both parties; for the people, not knowing of their repentance, pulled up their courage for a while, as eased of so many of their enemies, while the zealots grew more insolent not as deserted by their confederates, but as freed from such men as might hinder their designs, and plat some stop to their wickedness. Accordingly, they made no longer any delay, nor took any deliberation in their enormous practices, but made use of the shortest methods for all their executions and what they had once resolved upon, they put in practice sooner than any one could imagine. But their thirst was chiefly after the blood of valiant men, and men of good families; the one sort of which they destroyed out of envy, the other out of fear; for they thought their whole security lay in leaving no potent men alive; on which account they slew Gorion, a person eminent in dignity, and on account of his family also; he was also for democracy, and of as great boldness and freedom of spirit as were any of the Jews whosoever; the principal thing that ruined him, added to his other advantages, was his free speaking. Nor did Niger of Peres escape their hands; he had been a man of great valor in their war with the Romans, but was now drawn through the middle of the city, and, as he went, he frequently cried out, and showed the scars of his wounds; and when he was drawn out of the gates, and despaired of his preservation, he besought them to grant him a burial; but as they had threatened him beforehand not to grant him any spot of earth for a grave, which he chiefly desired of them, so did they slay him [without permitting him to be buried]. Now when they were slaying him, he made this imprecation upon them, that they might undergo both famine and pestilence in this war, and besides all that, they might come to the mutual slaughter of one another; all which imprecations God confirmed against these impious men, and was what came most justly upon them, when not long afterward they tasted of their own madness in their mutual seditions one against another. So when this Niger was killed, their fears of being overturned were diminished; and indeed there was no part of the people but they found out some pretense to destroy them; for some were therefore slain, because they had had differences with some of them; and as to those that had not opposed them in times of peace, they watched seasonable opportunities to gain some accusation against them; and if any one did not come near them at all, he was under their suspicion as a proud man; if any one came with boldness, he was esteemed a contemner of them; and if any one came as aiming to oblige them, he was supposed to have some treacherous plot against them; while the only punishment of crimes, whether they were of the greatest or smallest sort, was death. Nor could any one escape, unless he were very inconsiderable, either on account of the meanness of his birth, or on account of his fortune. And now all the rest of the commanders of the Romans deemed this sedition among their
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enemies to be of great advantage to them, and were very earnest to march to the city, and they urged Vespasian, as their lord and general in all cases, to make haste, and said to him, that “the providence of God is on our side, by setting our enemies at variance against one another; that still the change in such cases may be sudden, and the Jews may quickly be at one again, either because they may be tired out with their civil miseries, or repent them of such doings.” But Vespasian replied, that they were greatly mistaken in what they thought fit to be done, as those that, upon the theater, love to make a show of their hands, and of their weapons, but do it at their own hazard, without considering, what was for their advantage, and for their security; for that if they now go and attack the city immediately, “they shall but occasion their enemies to unite together, and shall convert their force, now it is in its height, against themselves. But if they stay a while, they shall have fewer enemies, because they will be consumed in this sedition: that God acts as a general of the Romans better than he can do, and is giving the Jews up to them without any pains of their own, and granting their army a victory without any danger; that therefore it is their best way, while their enemies are destroying each other with their own hands, and falling into the greatest of misfortunes, which is that of sedition, to sit still as spectators of the dangers they run into, rather than to fight hand to hand with men that love murdering, and are mad one against another. But if any one imagines that the glory of victory, when it is gotten without fighting, will be more insipid, let him know this much, that a glorious success, quietly obtained, is more profitable than the dangers of a battle; for we ought to esteem these that do what is agreeable to temperance and prudence no less glorious than those that have gained great reputation by their actions in war: that he shall lead on his army with greater force when their enemies are diminished, and his own army refreshed after the continual labors they had undergone. However, that this is not a proper time to propose to ourselves the glory of victory; for that the Jews are not now employed in making of armor or building of walls, nor indeed in getting together auxiliaries, while the advantage will be on their side who give them such opportunity of delay; but that the Jews are vexed to pieces every day by their civil wars and dissensions, and are under greater miseries than, if they were once taken, could be inflicted on them by us. Whether therefore any one hath regard to what is for our safety, he ought to suffer these Jews to destroy one another; or whether he hath regard to the greater glory of the action, we ought by no means to meddle with those men, now they are afflicted with a distemper at home; for should we now conquer them, it would be said the conquest was not owing to our bravery, but to their sedition.” And now the commanders joined in their approbation of what Vespasian had said, and it was soon discovered how wise an opinion he had given. And indeed many there were of the Jews that deserted every day, and fled away from the zealots, although their flight was very difficult, since they had guarded every passage out of the city, and slew every one that was caught at them, as taking it for granted they were going over to the Romans; yet did he who gave them money get clear off, while he only that gave them none was voted a traitor. So the upshot was this, that the rich purchased their flight by money, while none but the poor were slain. Along all the roads also vast numbers of dead bodies lay in heaps, and even many of those that were so zealous in deserting at length chose rather to perish within the city; for the hopes of burial made death in their own city appear of the two less terrible to them. But these zealots came at last to that degree of barbarity, as not to bestow a burial either on those slain in the city, or on those that lay along the roads; but as if they had made an agreement to cancel both the laws of their country and the laws of nature, and, at the same time that they defiled men with their wicked actions, they would pollute the Divinity itself also, they left the dead bodies to putrefy under the sun; and the same punishment was allotted to such as buried any as to those that deserted, which was no other than death; while he that granted the favor of a grave to another would presently stand in need of a grave himself. To say all in a word, no other gentle passion was so entirely lost among them as mercy; for what were the greatest objects of pity did most of all irritate these wretches, and they transferred their rage from the living to those that had been slain, and from the dead to the living. Nay, the terror was so very great, that he who survived called them that were first dead happy, as being at rest already; as did those that were under torture in the prisons, declare, that, upon this comparison, those that lay unburied were the happiest. These men, therefore, trampled upon all the laws of men, and laughed at the laws of God; and for the oracles of the prophets, they ridiculed them as the tricks of jugglers; yet did these prophets foretell many things concerning [the rewards of] virtue, and [punishments of] vice, which when these zealots violated, they occasioned the fulfilling of those very prophecies belonging to their own country; for there was a certain ancient oracle of those men, that the city should then be taken and the sanctuary burnt, by right of war, when a sedition should invade the Jews, and their own hand should pollute the temple of God. Now while these zealots did not [quite] disbelieve these predictions, they made themselves the instruments of their accomplishment. … (The Wars of the Jews: Book 4)
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Josephus’ historical account of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD clearly shows that there were three main parties involved in the conflict. The three parties of Josephus’ account correspond neatly with the three parties of Revelation 12 – the flood, the woman, and the earth/world. The first party was of Ananus and Jesus (not the savior) backed by the Roman army (a.k.a. the “beast” power). The second party was the zealots/Jews (this group no doubt included a good many who were part of the new Christian movement). And the third party was the Idumeans who were very much a “worldly” people. The Romans were even confused by the involvement of the Idumeans and, when questioning them about their stake in the ensuing battle, even referred to them as “kin” to the Roman people as highlighted in the below excerpt which is taken from an earlier part of The Wars of the Jews: Book 4. – … Now this exit of the messengers was not known either to Ananus or to the guards, but the approach of the Idumeans was known to him; for as he knew of it before they came, he ordered the gates to be shut against them, and that the walls should be guarded. Yet did not he by any means think of fighting against them, but, before they came to blows, to try what persuasions would do. Accordingly, Jesus, the eldest of the high priests next to Artanus, stood upon the tower that was over against them, and said thus: ”Many troubles indeed, and those of various kinds, have fallen upon this city, yet in none of them have I so much wondered at her fortune as now, when you are come to assist wicked men, and this after a manner very extraordinary; for I see that you are come to support the vilest of men against us, and this with so great alacrity, as you could hardly put on the like, in case our metropolis had called you to her assistance against barbarians. And if I had perceived that your army was composed of men like unto those who invited them, I had not deemed your attempt so absurd; for nothing does so much cement the minds of men together as the alliance there is between their manners. But now for these men who have invited you, if you were to examine them one by one, every one of them would be found to have deserved ten thousand deaths; for the very rascality and offscouring of the whole country, who have spent in debauchery their own substance, and, by way of trial beforehand, have madly plundered the neighboring villages and cities, in the upshot of all, have privately run together into this holy city. They are robbers, who by their prodigious wickedness have profaned this most sacred floor, and who are to be now seen drinking themselves drunk in the sanctuary, and expending the spoils of those whom they have slaughtered upon their unsatiable bellies. As for the multitude that is with you, one may see them so decently adorned in their armor, as it would become them to be had their metropolis called them to her assistance against foreigners. What can a man call this procedure of yours but the sport of fortune, when he sees a whole nation coming to protect a sink of wicked wretches? I have for a good while been in doubt what it could possibly be that should move you to do this so suddenly; because certainly you would not take on your armor on the behalf of robbers, and against a people of kin to you, without some very great cause for your so doing. But we have an item that the Romans are pretended, and that we are supposed to be going to betray this city to them; for some of your men have lately made a clamor about those matters, and have said they are come to set their metropolis free. Now we cannot but admire at these wretches in their devising such a lie as this against us; for they knew there was no other way to irritate against us men that were naturally desirous of liberty, and on that account the best disposed to fight against foreign enemies, but by framing a tale as if we were going to betray that most desirable thing, liberty. But you ought to consider what sort of people they are that raise this calumny, and against what sort of people that calumny is raised, and to gather the truth of things, not by fictitious speeches, but out of the actions of both parties; for what occasion is there for us to sell ourselves to the Romans, while it was in our power not to have revolted from them at the first, or when we had once revolted, to have returned under their dominion again, and this while the neighboring countries were not yet laid waste? whereas it is not an easy thing to be reconciled to the Romans, if we were desirous of it, now they have subdued Galilee, and are thereby become proud and insolent; and to endeavor to please them at the time when they are so near us, would bring such a reproach upon us as were worse than death. … (The Wars of the Jews: Book 4)
The destruction of Jerusalem as described in the prophecy of Daniel, the history of Josephus, and the vision of Revelation 12 appears also to be mentioned in I Enoch. In I Enoch, it was predicted that “the Lord of the sheep” would call out to some “sheep” and send them to the others but that the
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other sheep would begin to kill the sheep that the Lord of the sheep had sent. The vision of I Enoch appears to use clean and unclean animals as types of Jews/Christians and Gentiles respectively. The group of sheep that were called by the Lord of the sheep, and killed by those to whom the Lord of the sheep sent them, seems to correlate with the prophets (Luke 11:47-51). I Enoch then records that “one of them” (a prophet) would be saved and delivered from their hands and made to ascend to and remain with the Lord of the sheep (John 20:17). Following the assention of this special prophet, there is a great slaughter (the destruction of the temple in 70 AD), various attempts to restore the temple are made and are hindered by “wild boars”, and eventually the Lord of the sheep comes and “taking in His hand the sceptre of His wrath” seizes the earth and rends it asunder causing all the preditors to fall from the sheep (the second advent). – Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore the wisdom of God also said, “I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute”, that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation. (Luke 11:47-51 NKJV) – Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ” (John 20:17 NKJV) – Again I saw that those sheep wandered, and went various ways, forsaking that their house; And that their Lord called to some among them, whom he sent to them. But these the sheep began to kill. And when one of them was saved from slaughter he leaped, and cried out against those who were desirous of killing him. But the Lord of the sheep delivered him from their hands, and made him ascend to him, and remain with him. He sent also many others to them, to testify, and with lamentations to exclaim against them. Again I saw, when some of them forsook the house of their Lord, and his tower; wandering on all sides, and growing blind, I saw that the Lord of the sheep made a great slaughter among them in their pasture, until they cried out to him in consequence of that slaughter. Then he departed from the place, and left them in the power of lions, tigers, wolves, and the zeebt, and in the power of foxes, and of every beast. And the wild beasts began to tear them. I saw, too, that he forsook the house of their fathers, and their tower; giving them all into the power of lions to tear and devour them; into the power of every beast. Then I began to cry out with all my might, imploring the Lord of the sheep, and showing him how the sheep were devoured by all the beasts of prey. But he looked on in silence, rejoicing that they were devoured, swallowed up, and carried off; and leaving them in the power of every beast for food. He called also seventy shepherds, and resigned to them the care of the sheep, that they might overlook them; Saying to them and to their associates, Every one of you henceforwards overlook the sheep, and whatsoever I command you, do; and I will deliver them to you numbered. I will tell you which of them shall be slain; these destroy. And he delivered the sheep to them. Then he called to another, and said, Understand, and watch everything which the shepherds shall do to these sheep; for many more of them shall perish than I have commanded. Of every excess and slaughter, which the shepherds shall commit, there shall be an account; as, how many may have perished by my command, and how many they may have destroyed of their own heads. Of all the destruction brought about by each of the shepherds there shall be an account; and according to the number I will cause a recital to be made before me, how many they have destroyed of their own heads, and how many they have delivered up to destruction, that I may have this testimony against them; that I may know all their proceedings; and that, delivering the sheep to them, I may see what they will do; whether they will act as I have commanded them, or not. Of this, however, they shall be ignorant; neither shall you make any explanation to them, neither shall you reprove them; but there shall be an account of all the destruction done by them in their respective seasons. Then they began to kill, and destroy more than it was commanded them. And they left the sheep in the power of the lions, so that very many of them were devoured and swallowed up by lions and tigers; and wild boars preyed upon them. That tower they burnt, and overthrew that house. Then I grieved extremely on account of the tower, and because the house of the sheep was overthrown. Neither was I afterwards able to perceive whether they again entered that house. The shepherds likewise, and their associates, delivered them to all the wild beasts, that they might devour them. Each of them in his season, according to
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Satan in the Book of Revelation his number, was delivered up; each of them, one with another, was described in a book, how many of them, one with another, were destroyed, in a book. More, however, than was ordered, every shepherd killed and destroyed. Then I began to weep, and was greatly indignant, on account of the sheep. In like manner also I saw in the vision him who wrote, how he wrote down one, destroyed by the shepherds, every day. He ascended, remained, and exhibited each of his books to the Lord of the sheep, containing all which they had done, and all which each of them had made away with; And all which they had delivered up to destruction. He took the book up in his hands, read it, sealed it, and deposited it. After this, I saw shepherds overlooking for twelve hours. And behold three of the sheep departed, arrived, went in; and began building all which was fallen down of that house. But the wild boars hindered them, although they prevailed not. Again they began to build as before, and raised up that tower, which was called a lofty tower. And again they began to place before the tower a table, with every impure and unclean kind of bread upon it. Moreover also all the sheep were blind, and could not see, as were the shepherds likewise. Thus were they delivered up to the shepherds for a great destruction, who trod them under foot, and devoured them. Yet was their Lord silent, until all the sheep in the field were destroyed. The shepherds and the sheep were all mixed together; but they did not save them from the power of the beasts. Then he who wrote the book ascended, exhibited it, and read it at the residence of the Lord of the sheep. He petitioned him for them, and prayed, pointing out every act of the shepherds, and testifying before him against them all. Then taking the book, he deposited it with him, and departed. And I observed during the time, that thus thirty-seven shepherds were overlooking, all of whom finished in their respective periods as the first. Others then received them into their hands, that they might overlook them in their respective periods, every shepherd in his own period. Afterwards I saw in the vision, that all the birds of heaven arrived; eagles, the avest, kites and ravens. The eagle instructed them all. They began to devour the sheep, to peck out their eyes, and to eat up their bodies. The sheep then cried out; for their bodies were devoured by the birds. I also cried out, and groaned in my sleep against the shepherd which overlooked the flock. And I looked, while the sheep were eaten up by the dogs, by the eagles, and by the kites. They neither left them their body, nor their skin, nor their muscles, until their bones alone remained; until their bones fell upon the ground. And the sheep became diminished. I observed likewise during the time, that twenty-tree shepherds were overlooking; who completed in their respective periods fifty-eight periods. Then were small lambs born of those white sheep; who began to open their eyes and to see, crying out to the sheep. The sheep, however, cried not out to them, neither did they hear what they uttered to them; but were deaf, blind, and obdurate in the greatest degrees. I saw in the vision that ravens flew down upon those lambs; That they seized one of them; and that tearing the sheep in pieces, they devoured them. I saw also, that the horns grew upon those lambs; and that the ravens lighted down upon their horns. I saw, too, that a large horn sprouted out on an animal among the sheep, and that their eyes were opened. He looked at them. Their eyes were wide open; and he cried out to them. Then the dabela saw him; all of whom ran to him. And besides this, all the eagles, the avest, the ravens and the kites, were still carrying off the sheep, flying down upon them, and devouring them. The sheep were silent, but the dabela lamented and cried out. Then the ravens contended, and struggled with them. They wished among them to break his horn; but they prevailed not over him. I looked on them, until the shepherds, the eagles, the avest, and the kites came. Who cried out to the ravens to break the horn of the dabela; to contend with him; and to kill him. But he struggled with them, and cried out, that help might come to him. Then I perceived that the man came who had written down the names of the shepherds, and who ascended up before the Lord of the sheep. He brought assistance, and caused every one to see him descending to the help of the dabela. I perceived likewise that the Lord of the sheep came to them in wrath, while all those who saw him fled away; all fell down in his tabernacle before his face; while all the eagles, the avest, ravens, and kites assembled, and brought with them all the sheep of the field. All came together, and strove to break the horn of the dabela. Then I saw, that the man, who wrote the book at the word of the Lord, opened the book of destruction, of that destruction which the last twelve shepherds wrought; and pointed out before the Lord of the sheep, that they destroyed more than those who preceded them. I saw also that the Lord of the sheep came to them, and taking in his hand the sceptre of his wrath seized the earth, which became rent asunder; while all the beasts and birds of heaven fell from the sheep, and sunk into the earth, which closed over them. I saw, too, that a large sword was given to the sheep, who went forth against all the beasts of the field to slay them. But all the beasts and birds of heaven fled away from before their face. And I saw a throne erected in a delectable land; Upon this sat the Lord of the sheep, who received all the sealed books; Which were open before him. Then the Lord called the first seven white ones, and commanded them to bring before him the first of the first stars, which preceded the stars whose form partly resembled that of horses; the first star, which fell down first; and they brought them all before him. And he
Satan in the Book of Revelation
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spoke to the man who wrote in his presence, who was one of the seven white ones, saying, Take those seventy shepherds, to whom I delivered up the sheep, and who receiving them killed more of them than I commanded. Behold, I saw them all bound, and standing before him. First came on the trial of the stars, which, being judged, and found guilty, went to the place of punishment. They thrust them into a place, deep, and full of flaming fire, and full of pillars of fire. Then the seventy shepherds were judged, and being found guilty, were thrust into the flaming abyss. At that time likewise I perceived, that one abyss was thus opened in the midst of the earth, which was full of fire. And to this were brought the blind sheep; which being judged, and found guilty, were all thrust into that abyss of fire on the earth, and burnt. The abyss was on the right of that house. And I saw the sheep burning, and their bones consuming. I stood beholding him immerge that ancient house, while they brought out its pillars, every plant in it, and the ivory infolding it. They brought it out, and deposited it in a place on the right side of the earth. I also saw, that the Lord of the sheep produced a new house, great, and loftier than the former, which he bound by the former circular spot. All its pillars were new, and its ivory new, as well as more abundant than the former ancient ivory, which he had brought out. And while all the sheep which were left were in the midst of it, all the beasts of the earth, and all the birds of heaven, fell down and worshipped them, petitioning them, and obeying them in everything. Then those three, who were clothed in white, and who, holding me by my hand, had before caused me to ascend, while the hand of him who spoke held me; raised me up, and placed me in the midst of the sheep, before the judgment took place. The sheep were all white, with wool long and pure. Then all who had perished, and had been destroyed, every beast of the field, and every bird of heaven, assembled in that house: while the Lord of the sheep rejoiced with great joy, because all were good, and had come back again to his dwelling. And I saw that they laid down the sword which had been given to the sheep, and returned it to his house, sealing it up in the presence of the Lord. All the sheep would have been inclosed in that house, had it been capable of containing them; and the eyes of all were open, gazing on the good One; nor was there one among them who did not behold him. I likewise perceived that the house was large, wide, and extremely full. I saw, too, that a white cow was born, whose horns were great; and that all the beasts of the field, and all the birds of heaven, were alarmed at him, and entreated him at all times. Then I saw that the nature of all of them was changed, and that they became white cows; And that the first, who was in the midst of them, spoke, when that word became a large beast, upon the head of which were great and black horns; While the Lord of the sheep rejoiced over them, and over all the cows. I lay down in the midst of them: I awoke; and saw the whole. This is the vision which I saw, lying down and waking. Then I blessed the Lord of righteousness, and gave glory to Him. (I Enoch 88:84-89:49)
Conclusion All of the significant references to Satan in the Bible have been discussed and more. The chief thing of note about him is that he never does the dirty work himself, so to speak. Rather, he whispers ideas into the minds of men, taking advantage of those who are weak of character and who, when persuaded that an item (be it a thing, a land, or a concept (e.g. liberty)) is highly desirable, will commit whatever atrocities he wishes them to commit in hope of attaining their desire. ֹלהים ִ ֱאhas power over Satan, but does not restrain him from whispering destructive thoughts to men. On the contrary, when ֹלהים ִ ֱאwas Himself in direct conflict with Satan, and forced to have him removed from heaven, He chose to confine Satan to earth – the dwelling place of men. From this, it can only be concluded that Satan serves some purpose to ֹלהים ִ ֱאwhere mankind is concerned. It seems that ֹלהים ִ ֱאis using Satan to test the hearts and minds of men – to see who is loyal to principles of righteousness and who will give in to temptation and desire (Genesis 4:7). In principal, Satan has no power over those who are strong of character because he is permitted only to whisper and never to interact directly with men (James 4:1-10). – If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. (Genesis 4:7 NKJV) – Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. (James 4:1-10 NKJV)
It is evident, from the scriptures, that Satan is a minor character in the grand scheme of things – ֹלהים ִ ֱאcan and will deal with him at the time of His choosing. It is thought by some, mistakenly, that Jesus came to save men from Satan. Such is not so, however, as directly stated in the naming of Jesus (Matthew 1:20-21). – … an angel of the Lord appeared to [Joseph] in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21 NKJV)
As was the case in Eden, ֹלהים ִ ֱאwill punish Satan for his crimes, and each of us for ours – we will be judged for how we act on various impulses, regardless of whether they are from Satan, our own contriving, or elsewhere. The reason for this should be obvious – ֹלהים ִ ֱאis creating a people for His kingdom and He wants that kingdom to be free of hurt (Revelation 21:4). In order to achieve this goal, He has to determine who is willing to harm another to obtain their goals. Satan is aiding ֹלהים ִ א, ֱ whether he wants to or not, in making this determination. – And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:4 NKJV)
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Conclusion
In the course of this article, much prophecy was discussed, but no estimates were given as to when the second advent of Christ is likely to happen. The reason for this is simple – I haven’t got a clue. Dewey Bruton, of “Daniel’s Timeline”10 fame, points out that the 120 “years” (times) spoken of by ֹלהים ִ ֱאin Genesis 6:3 is a factor of 6000. This is interesting because I Enoch 10:15 states that 70 “generations” will pass between the time of the flood, when the fallen angels were bound, and “the day of judgement” and, in Genesis 15:13-16, ֹלהים ִ ֱאassociates a generation with 100 years. So, 70 generations times 100 years per generation gives a 7000 year countdown that begins with Noah’s flood. Because the 6000 years (120 x 50) is between the flood and the end of man’s time and the 7000 years is between the flood and the day of judgement and Revelation 20:4 states that the 1000 years leading up to the day of judgement will be a time of Christ’s rule and not man’s, these verses seem to work together to indicate a 7000 year plan from Noah’s flood to the day of judgement. This doesn’t quite work out, however, because the 100 years per generation figure is counting double for what we would modernly call a year such that the numbers would be indicating a 3500 year timespan between the flood and the day of judgement. This does not work out because more than 3000 years have already elapsed since the flood. I Enoch 18:16 refers to the day of judgement as “the secret year” and so it seems to remain.
10
YouTube: Daniel’s Timeline
Appendix A: Noah’s Flood and the Reformation of the Earth In the book of Job, which was written only a few hundred years after the flood, the LORD reveals that the sea “burst forth and issued from the womb (the earth)” (Job 38:8) and that clouds of thick darkness were made at the same time. He proceeds to speak of reforming the surface of the earth “like clay under a seal” and of the light of the morning and the dawn being “withheld” from the wicked who’s “upraised arm is broken”. The wording suggests that the LORD who does not need light to see (Psalms 139:12) could still see the upraised and broken arms of the wicked who were buried in the soft, wet clay of the earth’s surface. Many assume that the water of Noah’s flood originated from above because of the reference in Genesis 7:11 to “the windows of heaven” being opened when the flood came and because they misinterpret the reference to the “waters above” in Genesis 1:7 to be a sphere of water that completely encompassed the pre-flood earth (see “The Mayim of Creation” for the rather lengthy explanation of what the “waters above” were). Genesis 8:2 – “the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained” – does indicate that the windows of heaven were seen as a source of rain water. However, there are compelling arguments that the quantity of water that came down on the earth as rain could not have been suspended directly above the earth (three of the more notable arguments are 1: that such a construct would block too much light, 2: that the weight of the water would cause the pressure of the atmosphere to be too great for life to exist, and 3: that principles of gravitation, buoyancy, and the tidal forces of the moon would make such a construct impossible to sustain). Excerpted from AiG’s “Noah’s Flood – Where did the water come from?”: Vardiman recognized a major difficulty with the canopy theory. The best canopy model still gives an intolerably high temperature at the surface of the earth. Rush and Vardiman have attempted a solution, but found that they had to drastically reduce the amount of water vapor in the canopy from a rain equivalent of 40 feet (12 meters) to only 20 inches (.5 meters). Further modelling suggested that a maximum of 2 meters (6.5 feet) of water could be held in such a canopy, even if all relevant factors were adjusted to the best possible values to maximize the amount of water stored. Such a reduced canopy would not significantly contribute to the 40 days and nights of rain at the beginning of the flood. Many creation scientists are now either abandoning the water vapor canopy model or no longer see any need for such a concept, particularly if other reasonable mechanisms could have supplied the rain. In the catastrophic plate tectonics model for the flood, volcanic activity associated with the breaking up of the pre-flood ocean floor would have created a linear geyser (like a wall) of superheated steam from the ocean, causing intense global rain. Nevertheless, whatever the source or mechanism, the scriptural statement about the windows of heaven opening is an apt description of global torrential rain. A vapor canopy holding more than 7 feet (two meters) of rain would cause the earth’s surface to be intolerably hot, so a vapor canopy could not have been a significant source of the flood waters.
It is not likely that the water of Noah’s flood was created during the flood because it is not stated that additional water was created in the account and because doing so would have substantially increased the mass of the earth to the point that its orbit would have to be significantly altered to prevent it from falling into the Sun. Such a drastic alteration in the earth’s orbit would have
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significantly lengthened the year which ֹלהים ִ ֱאhad establish at creation. Other solutions, such as altering the strength of the gravitational field also cause complex problems. All things are possible through the power of ֹלהים ִ א, ֱ but the solution that is directly stated in the text of Job – that the water came from below the earth’s surface (Job 38:8) – is the simplest and such a calamity neatly explains a great many of planet earth’s current geological features as throughly detailed in Dr. Walter Brown’s hydroplate theory11 . Glenn R. Morton presents three counter arguments to the hydroplate theory on his web page: http://home.entouch.net/dmd/hydroplate.htm which are detailed below. However, these arguments against Dr. Brown’s theory are not sound as will be explained presently.
11
Walter Brown: In The Beginning
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Argument 1: The Bible makes reference to mountains, but physics does not allow that mountains could exist on the kind of construct that Dr. Walter Brown promotes. Excerpt:
The math does effectively prove that large mountains, like the ones that we have today, could not have existed on the pre-flood earth if it were constructed as Dr. Brown suggests. However, the Bible does not say that such large mountains existed prior to the flood. In its original ancient semitic language, the Bible uses the same word – ( ָהרhar) – for both mountains and hills. There really was
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no ancient word for the large mountains that we have today and the same word is translated as both hills and mountains in the NKJV translation of Genesis 7:19 and 20 respectively. This fact actually helps to explain how the quantity of water that is present on the earth today (including the water that is now frozen in the polar ice caps) could have covered the entire earth. The pre-flood earth was extremely flat having small hills but no mountains. Another good example that shows that the ancient word ָהרwas evidently a reference to what we would today call a small hill is found in the ancient text of the book of Job. – Look now at the behemoth, which I made along with you; he eats grass like an ox. See now, his strength is in his hips, and his power is in his stomach muscles. He moves his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are tightly knit. His bones are like beams of bronze, his ribs like bars of iron. He is the first of the ways of God; only He who made him can bring near His sword. Surely the mountains yield food for him, and all the beasts of the field play there. He lies under the lotus trees, in a covert of reeds and marsh. The lotus trees cover him with their shade; the willows by the brook surround him. Indeed the river may rage, yet he is not disturbed; he is confident, though the Jordan gushes into his mouth, though he takes it in his eyes, or one pierces his nose with a snare. (Job 40:15-24 NKJV)
The word translated mountains in the above excerpt is הר. ָ The beast, by its description, is evidently a large sauropod (e.g. Sauroposeidon). While a large sauropod might feed on the grasses at the top of a hill, no such creature could have been so large as to feed on the heights of the large mountains that we have today. The context also shows that the word ָהרis referring to what we would today call hills when it states that “the beasts of the field play there”. Beasts of the field (cows, horses, sheep, &c.) do not play on the large rocky and barren slopes of what we today call mountains. They do, however, play on hills. The argument that there could not have been mountains on the pre-flood earth does not contradict what the Bible records. In fact, the earth would have had to have been much more evenly round in order for a global flood to have occurred as detailed in the Bible. If the present day earth were made more evenly round with both the mountains being lowered and the ocean basins being raised, the water that is present on earth today would cover the entire surface of the earth to a depth of 2.7 km.12 Argument 2: The disaster that Dr. Brown describes would occur naturally if the pre-flood earth were constructed as he proposes. Such a construction would contradict the Bible’s record that the earth was designed and created “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Also, if the event did occur naturally, due to poor design, the Bible’s record that ֹלהים ִ ֱאcaused the flood because of man’s sin (Genesis 6:5-7) would be incorrect. Excerpt:
While the earth was designed “very good” for the purpose of supporting mankind, it was never ֹלהים ִ ’אs ֱ intent that it should be capable of sustaining itself forever apart from Him. This is most evident in the case of the stars – they obviously cannot burn forever. Also, it does not matter 12
Wikipedia: Earth – Hydrosphere
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whether the flood came about by way of ֹלהים ִ ’אs ֱ action or inaction because He, as the creator of the earth, is solely responsible for its upkeep. Concerning the inevitability of the collision between the upper crust and the core in the preflood construction of the earth that Dr. Brown promotes, there are ways, other than subterranean pillars, that such a construction could be made stable. One such means is diamagnetism. Because the earth’s core exhibits an extremely strong magnetic field13 and because all non-ferromagnetic and non-paramagnetic materials (of which the earth’s crust is predominately composed) are repelled by magnetic fields (i.e. diamagnetic), there would be a substantial diamagnetic force that would tend to repel ever stronger as the earth’s core drifted toward its crust. The lowest energy state would then be when the core is at earth’s center and furthest from the crust all the way around. Such a setup would have the diamagnetic fields continually holding earth’s core to its center. It is also worth noting that the two masses are extremely great with respect to the relatively low turbulence that would be generated due to the friction between the intermediate water and the two surfaces (especially when the supercritical nature of the subterranean water is taken into account – a nature that causes water to have a viscosity and friction that are roughly one tenth that of nonsupercritical water14 ). There is not enough known about the makeup of the present-day earth, let alone the ancient earth, to determine how stable the construct would have been. Also, because neither frictional turbulence or diamagnetism are very strong with respect to the masses of the two solid bodies that they influence, it would take a great deal of time (probably on the order of tens of hundreds of years) for the balance of the forces to alter the alignment of the two masses to the point that they might collide (assuming that the turbulent force was the greater of the two and sufficiently so as to eventually cause a collision). There is some geological evidence that the breaking open of the earth’s crust may have been caused by a collision between the crust and the core. Where the earth’s crust broke open, a great deal of lava erupted. As the lava cooled, it hardened and, within it, minuscule iron particles which had aligned themselves with the earth’s magnetic field (just as do the modern compass needles) were frozen in their orientation. The consistent orientation (polarization) of the iron in the hardened lava causes the lava to exhibit its own magnetic field. The magnetic field emitted by the lava is easily detected and its orientation reveals the corresponding orientation of the iron within the lava. The degree of polarization of the hardened lava varies significantly in intensity as measurements are taken progressively outward from the mid-oceanic ridge.15 These variations show that, at some point in the past, the magnetic field of the earth, which is generated by currents of magma flowing in circular patterns in the earth’s molten core,16 fluctuated intensely. Such a fluctuation could only be caused by a significant variation in the patterns of flow of the magma in the core of the earth. The liquid core colliding with the earth’s crust is the only plausible explanation for such a drastic variation in the currents in the earth’s core that is evident (to me anyway).
13
IGRF data taken from 1970 and 2000 shows the earth’s magnetic field steadily decreasing at a rate of 1.41±0.16% which is equal to a halving of the field strength every 1500 years which would mean that it was 8 times stronger 6000 years ago.[D. Russell Humphreys: The Earth’s Magnetic Field is Still Losing Energy] 14 Wikipedia: Supercritical Fluid – Properties 15 Walter Brown: Magnetic Variations on the Ocean Floor 16 Wikipedia: Dynamo theory – Formal definition
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Argument 3: “Everybody will cook.” Excerpt:
It is certainly true that the subterranean water would have been under a great deal of pressure and that the release of that pressure would have made the water extremely hot. Is is also true, however, that the Bible records that ֹלהים ִ ֱאdealt with those steaming hot waters by causing “a wind to pass over the earth” (Genesis 8:1). Just how hot those waters would have been is again debatable and indeterminable due to unknown factors such as diamagnetism and the quantity of the water that would have been ejected into or passed through cold space. Interestingly, the Bible does actually record that the ocean water was extremely hot just as modern physics predicts that it should have been. It was a mystery to the ancient people who lived a only a few hundred years after the flood, but they recorded that the “south wind” actually made their garments hot (Job 37:17). The water would have had to have been very hot indeed to heat the wind that passed over it sufficiently that it could convey so much heat to the garments of Job and his friends. Job and his friends lived in the middle east. The “south wind” that Job felt would have recently passed over the Indian ocean and would have been saturated with warm or hot moisture. Because water has a high specific heat,17 the moist air could have actually heated the garments of Job and his friends. ICR’s article “The Ice Age and the Genesis Flood” explains how the hot ocean waters of the early post-flood centuries in combination with the strong winds that the Bible claims ֹלהים ִ ֱאsent upon the earth could have contributed to the formation of earth’s polar ice caps. ICR’s article is 17
Wikipedia: Specific Heat Capacity – Table of Specific Heat Capacities
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a succinct and strong argument for Noah’s flood which fully accounts for the warm oceans. The article suggests that earth’s ice caps could have reached their glacial maximum anywhere between 250 and 1300 years after the flood. While the polar ice caps of the earth were being built up by strong winds mixing hot and moist air with cold dry air and vice versa, the world would have been wrought with severe storms. Because the book of Job was written somewhere between 300 and 350 years after the flood (see my article “Dating the Book of Job” for a detailed discussion of the dating of the book of Job), we shouldn’t be supprised to see references to these great tempests in its text. Interestingly, the book of Job contains more references to weather phenomenon than any other book of the Bible. Below is a sample of verses from the book of Job that matched a few keywords related to rain and snow and tempests. From the number and content of the references, one gets the impression that the storms of the time were quite a spectacle. – May darkness and the shadow of death claim it; May a cloud settle on it; May the blackness of the day terrify it. (Job 3:5 NKJV) – By the blast of God they perish, And by the breath of His anger they are consumed. (Job 4:9 NKJV) – He gives rain on the earth, And sends waters on the fields. (Job 5:10 NKJV) – As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, So he who goes down to the grave does not come up. (Job 7:9 NKJV) – How long will you speak these things, And the words of your mouth be like a strong wind? (Job 8:2 NKJV) – For He crushes me with a tempest, And multiplies my wounds without cause. (Job 9:17 NKJV) – If I wash myself with snow water, And cleanse my hands with soap, (Job 9:30 NKJV) – If He withholds the waters, they dry up; If He sends them out, they overwhelm the earth. (Job 12:15 NKJV) – As water disappears from the sea, And a river becomes parched and dries up, (Job 14:11 NKJV) – As water wears away stones, And as torrents wash away the soil of the earth; So You destroy the hope of man. (Job 14:19 NKJV) – Though his haughtiness mounts up to the heavens, And his head reaches to the clouds, (Job 20:6 NKJV) – When he is about to fill his stomach, God will cast on him the fury of His wrath, And will rain it on him while he is eating. (Job 20:23 NKJV) – They are like straw before the wind, And like chaff that a storm carries away. (Job 21:18 NKJV) – Or darkness so that you cannot see; And an abundance of water covers you. (Job 22:11 NKJV) – Thick clouds cover Him, so that He cannot see, And He walks above the circle of heaven. (Job 22:14 NKJV) – They should be swift on the face of the waters, Their portion should be cursed in the earth, So that no one would turn into the way of their vineyards. (Job 24:18 NKJV) – As drought and heat consume the snow waters, So the grave consumes those who have sinned. (Job 24:19 NKJV) – He binds up the water in His thick clouds, Yet the clouds are not broken under it. (Job 26:8 NKJV) – He stirs up the sea with His power, And by His understanding He breaks up the storm. (Job 26:12 NKJV) – Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, And how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand? (Job 26:14 NKJV) – Terrors overtake him like a flood; A tempest steals him away in the night. (Job 27:20 NKJV) – The east wind carries him away, and he is gone; It sweeps him out of his place. (Job 27:21 NKJV) – He dams up the streams from trickling; What is hidden he brings forth to light. (Job 28:11 NKJV)
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Appendix A: Noah’s Flood and the Reformation of the Earth – To establish a weight for the wind, And apportion the waters by measure. (Job 28:25 NKJV) – When He made a law for the rain, And a path for the thunderbolt, (Job 28:26 NKJV) – My root is spread out to the waters, And the dew lies all night on my branch. (Job 29:19 NKJV) – They waited for me as for the rain, And they opened their mouth wide as for the spring rain. (Job 29:23 NKJV) – They come as broad breakers; Under the ruinous storm they roll along. (Job 30:14 NKJV) – Terrors are turned upon me; They pursue my honor as the wind, And my prosperity has passed like a cloud. (Job 30:15 NKJV) – Look to the heavens and see; And behold the clouds – They are higher than you. (Job 35:5 NKJV) – For He draws up drops of water, Which distill as rain from the mist, (Job 36:27 NKJV) – Which the clouds drop down And pour abundantly on man. (Job 36:28 NKJV) – Indeed, can anyone understand the spreading of clouds, The thunder from His canopy? (Job 36:29 NKJV) – Look, He scatters his light upon it, And covers the depths of the sea. (Job 36:30 NKJV) – He covers His hands with lightning, And commands it to strike. (Job 36:32 NKJV) – His thunder declares it, The cattle also, concerning the rising storm. (Job 36:33 NKJV) – Hear attentively the thunder of His voice, And the rumbling that comes from His mouth. (Job 37:2 NKJV) – He sends it forth under the whole heaven, His lightning to the ends of the earth. (Job 37:3 NKJV) – After it a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice, And He does not restrain them when His voice is heard. (Job 37:4 NKJV) – God thunders marvelously with His voice; He does great things which we cannot comprehend. (Job 37:5 NKJV) – For He says to the snow, “Fall on the earth”; Likewise to the gentle rain and the heavy rain of His strength. (Job 37:6 NKJV) – From the chamber of the south comes the whirlwind, And cold from the scattering winds of the north. (Job 37:9 NKJV) – By the breath of God ice is given, And the broad waters are frozen. (Job 37:10 NKJV) – Also with moisture He saturates the thick clouds; He scatters His bright clouds. (Job 37:11 NKJV) – Do you know when God dispatches them, And causes the light of His cloud to shine? (Job 37:15 NKJV) – Do you know how the clouds are balanced, Those wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge? (Job 37:16 NKJV) – With Him, have you spread out the skies, Strong as a cast metal mirror? (Job 37:18 NKJV) – Even now men cannot look at the light when it is bright in the skies, When the wind has passed and cleared them. (Job 37:21 NKJV) – When I made the clouds its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling band; (Job 38:9 NKJV) – By what way is light diffused, Or the east wind scattered over the earth? (Job 38:24 NKJV) – To cause it to rain on a land where there is no one, A wilderness in which there is no man; (Job 38:26 NKJV) – To satisfy the desolate waste, And cause to spring forth the growth of tender grass? (Job 38:27 NKJV) – Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew? (Job 38:28 NKJV) – The waters harden like stone, And the surface of the deep is frozen. (Job 38:30 NKJV) – Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That an abundance of water may cover you? (Job 38:34 NKJV) – Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven, (Job 38:37 NKJV)
Appendix A: Noah’s Flood and the Reformation of the Earth
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One of the more interesting references to water that is made in the book of Job occurs in Job 38:22-23 when ֹלהים ִ ֱאis speaking to Job. In these verses, ֹלהים ִ ֱאmakes mention of a “treasury” of frozen water which is “reserved for the time of trouble”. Interestingly, the only “reserve” of large quantities of snow and ice on earth is that which exists in the form of earth’s polar ice caps. According to the theories discussed thus far, these polar ice caps did not exist before the global flood and if it is these ice caps to which ֹלהים ִ ֱאis reffering, then He appears to be saying that the polar ice caps of the earth were destined from their creation to be “used” during the “time of trouble”. It is extremely interesting that it is at this time in history that the melting of the polar ice caps is beginning to accelerate. Of course, they have been melting gradually ever since their formation as the Sun has been supplying heat to the earth all along and there has not been a corresponding cooling force. Since the earth has become seventy percent covered with water (about 3500 years ago), its heat absorbtion rate has far outpaced its heat dissipation rate (the earth’s atmosphere has always worked as a thermal insulator). The air of the earth’s atmosphere and the water of its oceans, since the flood, have been continually circulating, warming under the heat of the Sun and dissipating that absorbed heat into the ice caps of the earth. As the earth’s ice caps absorb this heat, they melt. It appears from the wording in the book of Job that ֹלהים ִ ֱאknew when His “time of trouble” was destined to be and, in the first few centuries after the flood, He froze enough water in the earth’s ice caps to last until that time. The balance of “cold and heat, winter and summer” (Genesis 8:22) is beginning to break down, not because of man’s doing, but because is was never made to last. As the ice caps melt, they spread more heat-absorbing water over the surface of the earth. Some of the heat/energy absorbed by the oceans of the earth is transferred to the atmosphere of the earth as it passes over the oceans and this energy is released in the form of the violent tempests that are prophesied for the “time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7). – Have you entered into the treasury of snow, Or have you seen the treasury of hail, Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, For the day of battle and war? (Job 38:22-23 NKJV) – Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, But he shall be saved out of it. (Jeremiah 30:7 NKJV)
So, there is agreement between the ancient text of the book of Job and the theory that the oceans of the earth were extremely warm after the flood. The earth’s new, warm oceans supplied energy and moisture to massive storms which deposited immense quantities of precipitation in the earth’s polar regions in the form of snow and ice. —The End—
