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<p>7:4&nbsp;<em>And I heard the number-</em>&nbsp;This is added to highlight the contrast with the “great multitude which no man could number” (<em><a href='B:730 7:9'>Rev 7:9</a></em>). This ‘hearing’ contrasts with how John "saw" the great multitude. I suggest that the same group are in view, just seen from different perspectives. He heard something happening in Heaven- there, the 144,000 are marked off or sealed. There is not necessarily any physical mark upon the faithful, repentant Jewish remnant, apart from that they refuse to wear the mark or seal of the beast, which I have suggested is the seal of Mohammed. There will therefore be a tension between the seals- the seal of Mohammed, the mark of the beast, which is visible; and the invisible seal of God which is seen only in Heaven.</p><p><em>Of those that were sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand</em>- The 12 x 12 is obviously intentional, as if to say that this group is the true Israel. The thousands would refer to their being ‘many’. The sealing of a group of faithful within Israel parallels the 7000 “reserved” by God out of Israel for Himself at the time of Elijah’s ministry. The three and a half year ministry of the historical Elijah looks forward to the latter day Elijah ministry during the tribulation for the same period. As 7000 faithful were ‘reserved’ by God for Himself at that time, so the 144,000 are in the last days. The 7000 remnant in Elijah's time were "left" or 'remained' to God (<em><a href='B:110 19:18'>1Ki 19:18</a></em>). The same word is used of the latter day remnant within Israel: "He that is left in Zion, and he that remains in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem" (<em><a href='B:290 4:3'>Isa 4:3</a></em>). This is the same idea in essence as in Revelation 7 - the 144,000 are numbered and written, carefully noted by God. The same word is used of the latter day Jewish remnant in <em><a href='B:290 11:11'>Isa 11:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 11:16'>Isa 11:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 17:6'>Isa 17:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 24:6'>Isa 24:6</a></em> (the few men that will remain when the earth / land is made desolate); <em><a href='B:290 37:31'>Isa 37:31</a></em> (the faithful remnant in Jerusalem at the time of the Assyrian invasion which typifies that of the last days); <em><a href='B:290 49:21'>Isa 49:21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 21:7'>Jer 21:7</a></em> (the remnant who remain after the plague, sword and famine of the Babylonian invasion have devoured them, all of which are the source material for the events of the six seals which the 144,000 have come through); <em><a href='B:300 50:20'>Jer 50:20</a></em> ("I will pardon them whom I reserve", speaking of the forgiveness of the latter day repentant remnant); <em><a href='B:370 5:3'>Amo 5:3</a></em> (the ten percent of Israel who 'remain'); <em><a href='B:430 3:12'>Zep 3:12</a></em> (the 'remnant' of the "afflicted and poor people" who "shall trust in the name of the Lord"); <em><a href='B:450 9:7'>Zec 9:7</a></em> (the remnant who will "be for our God" after the destruction of the majority of Israel); <em><a href='B:450 12:14'>Zec 12:14</a></em> (the 'remaining ones' who weep in repentance for crucifying Jesus).</p><p>The 144,000 are the antithesis of the followers of the beast- these follow the Lamb wherever&nbsp;<em>He</em>&nbsp;goes. It's highly significant that Muhammad is supposed to have had 144,000 followers or&nbsp;<em>Sahaba</em>&nbsp;Thomas Patrick Hughes,&nbsp;<em>A Dictionary of Islam</em>, "Ashab". This is supposed to connect with the claim that there are 144,000 prophets in Islam Elwood Morris Wherry & George Sale,&nbsp;<em>A Comprehensive Commentary on the Quran</em>. The 144,000 who follow the Lamb are thus in purposeful contrast with the 144,000 who are supposed to have followed Mohammad wherever he went. This confirms the entire thrust of our exposition- that whatever previous historical fulfilments there have been, the latter day application of Revelation is to events in the land promised to Abraham in the last days whilst it is under Moslem domination.</p><p>Revelation is full of language which is also found in the Koran- because Islam, like Babylon, Assyria and Rome before them, are offering God’s people a fake replica of real spirituality and the true Hope of Israel. They are an anti-Christ, an imitation Jesus, a false 12 tribes of Israel rather than the true. This explains why the promises of the Kingdom of God in Revelation are full of language which is also used in the Koran for the reward of faithful Moslems. Revelation will have intense relevance to the persecuted under Moslem domination- the rewards offered by Islam will be seen to be a fake Kingdom of God. Thus in Sura 2:25,266: "Give glad tidings cp. 'the Gospel' to those who believe Moslems... for them will be gardens under which the rivers of Paradise flow... they will be provided with a fruit therefrom... &nbsp;trees with all kinds of fruit… they will abide therein for ever". The final visions of Revelation offer eternal residence in a restored Paradise and eating the fruit of the tree- to those who refuse to accept the religion of the beast, Islam.</p><p><em>Sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel</em>- This makes more poignant the omission of Dan and Ephraim from the list. Due to their apostasy, they are no longer numbered amongst the children of Israel. The order of the tribes is also not according to their age, but it may be according to their faithfulness to God. This is therefore the picture at the time of final judgment, when the true Israel have finally been made up and numbered.</p><p>The very laboured mentioning of 12,000 faithful within each tribe may be because they are the antithesis to some yet unseen aspect of the beast. In the ISIS magazine&nbsp;<em>Dabiq</em>&nbsp;No. 4 (October 2014) the Islamic State on the back page (p. 56) quote a hadith which states: “They will then gather for the&nbsp;<em>Malmanah</em>&nbsp;(the grand battle before the Hour) the equivalent of Biblical Armageddon, they will come under eighty banners, with each banner there will be twelve thousand people”. The IS wish to consciously fulfil such Islamic prophecies in order to hasten the coming of the antiChrist and then the Mahdi. Perhaps in an attempt to fulfil these predictions, there will be groups of 12,000 Moslems who play some role in the earth / land promised to Abraham. Their antithesis- the Jews who refuse to convert to Islam- are therefore here presented as twelve tribes of twelve thousand.</p><p>The Koran claims that the twelve sons of Jacob were in fact 'Moslems', and that current Jewish claims to being descended from Jacob's twelve sons are false (Surah 2:140 "Or say you that Ibrahim (Abraham), Isma'il (Ishmael), Ishaque (Isaac), Ya'qub (Jacob) and Al-Asbat the twelve sons of Ya'qub (Jacob) were Jews or Christians? Say, "Do you know better or does Allah (knows better; that they all were Muslims)? And who is more unjust than he who conceals the testimony)". Again we see the relevance of the sealing of people from the 12 tribes of natural Israel- if at the very time this happens, they are being accused of not being from those 12 tribes, and that in fact it is Arab Moslems who are the true 12 tribes. This situation is reflected by the way in which the descriptions of the 144,000 are in terms elsewhere used by the beast system. Thus they are sealed, just as the beast seals his followers; the great multitude who proclaim “Victory” before the throne (7:10) are parodied by the beast’s followers doing the same in 13:4.</p><p>It is worth noting that two thirds of the Jews within the land are to be&nbsp;“cut off" in the holocaust, meaning that a third survive it (<em><a href='B:450 13:8-9'>Zec 13:8-9</a></em>):&nbsp;&nbsp; Having spoken of this period in Revelation 6, <em><a href='B:730 7:4'>Rev 7:4</a></em> speaks of 144,000 Jews as surviving it:&nbsp;&nbsp; A third of the Jews in Israel is about 1:4 million people; it may be that only a tenth of those will ultimately be found worthy. The 144,000 are sealed so that they avoid God’s judgments, which would fit the idea of the righteous remnant miraculously surviving in an Arab occupied Jerusalem.</p>


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<p>7:5&nbsp;<em>Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand</em>- See on :4 and :8.</p>


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<p>7:6&nbsp;<em>Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand-&nbsp;</em>See on :4 and :8.</p>


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<p>7:7&nbsp;<em>Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand-&nbsp;</em>See on :4 and :8.</p>


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<p>7:8&nbsp;<em>Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand</em>-&nbsp; See on :4. It’s been observed that the tribe of Dan is excluded from the list of the redeemed tribes in Revelation 7. Dan didn’t take possession of their inheritance; they despised it. And so they excluded themselves, rather than being excluded for e.g. bad behaviour. The other tribes all had their moments of terrible failures; but these didn’t exclude them. The only one excluded was the one who didn’t want to be there.</p>


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<p>7:9&nbsp;<em>After these things I saw and beheld a great crowd, which no one could number</em>- An allusion to how the seed of Abraham would be innumerable (<em><a href='B:10 13:16'>Gen 13:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 16:10'>Gen 16:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 32:12'>Gen 32:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:350 1:10'>Hos 1:10</a></em>). The great multitude are the true Israel, and are thus parallel with the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel.</p><p><em>Out of every nation, comprised of all tribes, peoples and tongues</em>- The reference is limited by the context to the tribes of the earth / land promised to Abraham; see on "All nations" later in this verse. This is the same term used about the nations, tribes, peoples under the domination of the beast (<em><a href='B:730 17:15'>Rev 17:15</a></em>), and seems almost a title of the beast system in <em><a href='B:730 11:9'>Rev 11:9</a></em>. The great multitude are therefore being parodied by the followers of the beast, who also claim as the Jihadists do to be universal in their support base. This is just as the 144,000 followers of the lamb are parodied by the supposed 144,000 followers of Mohammad. The events of the last days will bring about the final and ultimate clash of God’s Kingdom and the kingdoms of men.</p><p><em>Standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes and with palms in their hands-&nbsp;</em>They "stood before the throne", as men will "stand before" God at the day of judgment (<em><a href='B:730 20:12'>Rev 20:12</a></em> s:w:). They had white robes, a term used about those slain at the start of the tribulation (<em><a href='B:730 6:11'>Rev 6:11</a></em>):&nbsp; In this we see the connection between the seals and the sealing of the 144,000 / great multitude. A specific group is in view- those who were slain in the tribulation.</p><p><em>Of all nations-</em>&nbsp;The multitude came 'out of'&nbsp;<em>ek</em>&nbsp;"great tribulation" (:14); yet they also come&nbsp;<em>ek,</em>&nbsp;out of, the nations, peoples, languages of :9. The suggestion would be that this group of various peoples are those where the tribulation has occurred. The very same Greek phrase "nations, tribes, peoples and languages" is used later in Revelation for the peoples within the land promised to Abraham who support the beast system (<em><a href='B:730 11:9'>Rev 11:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 17:15'>Rev 17:15</a></em>):&nbsp; The beast / whore rides upon them- and her dominion is over the earth / land, which is therefore where these tribes and peoples are located. This also solves the logistical problem of imagining that literally every tribe and language group of the Amazon or central Africa or Pacific islands must come under the direct control of any one world system. We can legitimately translate&nbsp;<em>ek</em>&nbsp;as 'out of'; the same word is found in <em><a href='B:730 18:4'>Rev 18:4</a></em> where "My people" are asked to come "out of" Babylon and the beast system- the mass of peoples and tribes within the land promised to Abraham from Euphrates to Egypt, which is under the control and religion of the beast. It's a typical Western stereotype to assume that all the people living in that area are simply 'Arabs'. That's as facile as saying that Europe is inhabited by 'Europeans'. The area is full of various tribes and ethnicities, as the conflicts in Iraq and Syria have demonstrated. So the statement that the great multitude had come&nbsp;<em>ek&nbsp;</em>out of the various nations and tribes is not merely a statement of fact, it is a commendation of the fact that they had spiritually 'come out of' those peoples. <em><a href='B:730 15:2'>Rev 15:2</a></em> repeatedly uses the word&nbsp;<em>ek</em>&nbsp;to speak of how the faithful had come out of the beast system: "Them that had gotten the victory over&nbsp;<em>ek</em>, out of- "over" is not the correct translation the beast, and over&nbsp;<em>ek</em>, out of his image, and over&nbsp;<em>ek,</em>&nbsp;out of his mark, and over&nbsp;<em>ek</em>, out of the number of his name". <em><a href='B:730 7:9'>Rev 7:9</a></em> says that the faithful come&nbsp;<em>ek</em>&nbsp;out of the&nbsp;<em>phule</em>, the tribes AV "kindreds". But we have just read with painstaking repetition of how the 144,000 have come&nbsp;<em>ek</em>&nbsp;out of the&nbsp;<em>phule</em>, the tribes, of&nbsp;<em>Israel</em>&nbsp;We must not fail to give this due weight in interpretation. The 144,000 come out of the tribes of Israel, and the great multitude come out of the tribes who are willingly dominated by the beast. The picture is that the tribes of Israel submit to the beast, but the faithful refuse to do so. Such a covenant is suggested by Daniel 9, and I have commented upon this elsewhere in writing about the Antichrist. This coming 'out of' the beast system may be in view in <em><a href='B:470 24:31'>Mat 24:31</a></em>, where we learn that the Lord will gather His elect&nbsp;<em>ek</em>, out of, "the four winds". And <em><a href='B:730 7:1'>Rev 7:1</a></em> in this very context speaks of the four winds of desolation to come upon Israel, from which the 144,000 are preserved.</p><p>Think of the misunderstood Jesus, welcomed by the crowds with palm fronds in hope of an immediate Messianic Kingdom. Surely John intends us to think back to that when we read in <em><a href='B:730 7:9'>Rev 7:9</a></em> that the Lord will be welcomed by another large crowd, from every nation, carrying palm fronds and calling out praise to Him for dying on the cross and redeeming them. Here are those who truly understand Him. The Lord had in mind this contrast between the crowd and those who would truly understand Him when He said that “Now is the son of man glorified” in the things of the cross (<em><a href='B:500 12:23'>Joh 12:23</a></em>) in contrast to the crowds who were shouting “Glory in the highest” at the prospect of Him there and then inaugurating the Messianic Kingdom (<em><a href='B:490 19:38'>Luk 19:38</a></em>). See on <em><a href='B:500 5:23'>Joh 5:23</a></em>.</p>


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<p>7:10&nbsp;<em>Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne</em>- See on <em><a href='B:500 20:28'>Joh 20:28</a></em>. Revelation is full of allusion to Roman imperial court scenes and rituals. In its first century application, it was an appeal for Christians to not convert to the imperial cult, even at the risk of persecution and death. In its latter day reference, Revelation may well be found to be full of reference to and parody of the culture and structure of the entity which dominates the land in the last days. In the first century, the Caesar declared himself as the ‘saviour’. The Roman emperors often gathered people from all nations and languages within the empire, who stood before his throne and cried ‘Victory’ or ‘Salvation’ to the Caesar. This was seen as legitimizing the Caesar as chosen and approved by the entire empire. Radical Islam loves to use the cry of ‘Victory’ and to talk of how each town they overrun has been liberated or saved. They also love to claim that they have support from worldwide and not simply from Arab Moslems. The crowd of believers here parodies their claims by giving the true international worship to the true God rather than the false one:&nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'>And all the angels were standing round about the throne and about the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell before the throne on their faces and worshiped God- The implication is that the Angels are deeply impressed when they see these things working out. They are struck by the wisdom and power revealed in the whole Divine design (<a href='B:730 7:12'>:12</a>). This gives a window into what immortality will be all about. We will still be impressionable; able to observe new things with wonder and a sense of praise; and not necessarily able to precisely imagine how plans shall work out.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'>Saying: Amen. Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honour, power and might to our God for ever and ever. Amen- As noted on <a href='B:730 7:11'>:11</a>, this gives some insight into what it will be like to have the kind of immortal nature which the Angels now have. They are presented as observing how things work out in God’s plan, and then being deeply impressed with the whole wisdom and wonder of it all. In seeing God’s power and might manifest in such a way, they wish that this shall for ever be the case. And so it shall be. &quot;Amen&quot;.</p>


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<p>7:13- see on <em><a href='B:730 6:9'>Rev 6:9</a></em>.</p><p><em>And one of the elders asked me: These that are dressed in white robes, who are they and from where did they come?<br/></em>- This is the clothing of Angels; they are presented as at one with their Angelic representatives in the court of Heaven. The Lord Jesus is likewise presented as clothed both in white and in a red “garment dipped in blood” (<em><a href='B:730 19:13'>Rev 19:13</a></em>). The whore who leads the beast is also described as clothed in white linen (<em><a href='B:730 18:16'>Rev 18:16</a></em>) and also in&nbsp;<em>porphura</em>&nbsp;(<em><a href='B:730 17:4'>Rev 17:4</a></em>), a word which can mean ‘dyed red’. The external clothing of the real Christ and the antiChrist is similar; because the antiChrist is indeed a fake Christ. Moslems also believe in dressing in white robes; it’s as if this group who come out of the Moslem dominated land of Israel are the antithesis of their persecutors.</p><p>"From where did they come?" carries the idea that they had come out of something, namely, the beast system (:14). See on :9&nbsp;<em>Of all nations</em>.</p>


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<p>7:14&nbsp;<em>And I replied: My lord, do you know? And he explained to me: These are they that came out of the great tribulation</em>- The great tribulation in latter day Israel of <em><a href='B:470 24:9'>Mat 24:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 24:21'>Mat 24:21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 24:29'>Mat 24:29</a></em>. ‘Coming out’ can be a Hebraism for coming forth successfully from a trial- e.g. “When He has tested me, I shall&nbsp;<em>come forth</em>&nbsp;as gold” (<em><a href='B:220 23:10'>Job 23:10</a></em>). These are the group who respond to the traumas of the six seals and repent. Their white robes connect with those given to those who die during the tribulation under the fifth seal (“And each one was given a white robe”, <em><a href='B:730 6:11'>Rev 6:11</a></em>).</p><p><em>And they washed their robes</em>- Perhaps a reference to mass baptisms into Christ in the beast dominated Israel of the last days?</p><p><em>And made them white in the blood of the Lamb</em>- It is the function of the three and a half year Elijah ministry which will occur at the same time as the tribulation to be “like fullers’ soap” so that Israel may “abide the day of Messiah’s coming” (<em><a href='B:460 3:2'>Mal 3:2</a></em>). Fullers’ soap is what makes white. The reference is to those in Israel who respond to the Elijah ministry and make their clothes white. These are the 144,000 or great multitude.</p><p>The 144,000 are redeemed from all the tribes of Jewry in the last days, and they wash their robes through baptism in the blood of Jesus as a result of “the great tribulation” (<em><a href='B:730 7:14'>Rev 7:14</a></em> RV) which they pass through. This great multitude are Jews yet out of every nation and language (<em><a href='B:730 7:9'>Rev 7:9</a></em>)- for as Ron Abel shows in&nbsp;<em>Wrested Scriptures</em>, the great multitude and the 144,000 are to be read as identical. The witness to them will thus be world-wide. This “great tribulation” is one of many links discernible between Revelation and the Olivet prophecy. The Lord had prophesied that the “great tribulation” such as never was for Israel will occur in the very last days before the return (<em><a href='B:470 24:21'>Mat 24:21</a></em>). It is only for the sake of “the elect” that the days of the great tribulation are shortened. This elect are surely the 144,000 of Revelation 7 - Jewish brethren in Christ,&nbsp;converted during the very last days. It is this “elect” which is to be gathered from “the four winds” (<em><a href='B:470 24:31'>Mat 24:31</a></em>) by the Angels. This suggests that they are not just Jews in the land who are converted, but those throughout the world-wide Diaspora. For the time of Jacob’s trouble, worse than anything they have ever experienced (including the holocaust) must affect all Jewry world-wide. And this includes the USA and other apparently pro-Jewish or tolerant nations.</p><p>We must face the questions: Are the 144,000 the same as the great multitude? And are these 144,000 the same as the 144,000 in Revelation 14? I believe they all refer to the same group of faithful believers, perhaps literal Jews, who repent during the early part of the tribulation which is described in the six seals. But each passage gives different aspects of the same picture. The seven trumpets are the tribulations brought about by the four winds of <em><a href='B:730 7:1'>Rev 7:1</a></em>. These can still be responded to by those within the land. The 144,000 group are preserved from them, just as Israel experienced the first plagues to come upon Egypt but were preserved from the later ones (cp. <em><a href='B:290 26:20'>Isa 26:20</a></em>). The seven vials are clearly based upon the plagues upon Egypt, and they are part of the extensive description of the beast’s judgment which interspersed with visions of the faithful dominate the rest of the book of Revelation.</p><p>But are these 144,000 the same as the 144,000 in Revelation 14? The differences don’t necessarily have to make them different; John hears the 144,000 and then sees the great multitude, just as earlier John hears about the Lion but turns to&nbsp;<em>see</em>&nbsp;a Lamb (<em><a href='B:730 5:5-6'>Rev 5:5-6</a></em>); and so it could be that he is<em>&nbsp;told</em>&nbsp;about the 144,000 and turns to&nbsp;<em>see</em>a great multitude. It would be facile to suggest that the Lion and Lamb are two different beings. They are simply different aspects of the same personage- the Lord Jesus. And this is common in Revelation and Jewish apocalyptic generally. So the differences are not fundamental, but rather presenting to us different aspects of the same group. In one sense they are the innumerable seed of Abraham, in another sense they are the 12 tribes, the true Israel. The great multitude are dressed in “white robes”- and this has just been used about those slain at the start of the tribulation (<em><a href='B:730 6:11'>Rev 6:11</a></em>). A specific group is in view- Jewish believers who suffered in the land at the hands of the beast during the time of the seals.</p><p>There are similarities between the 144,000 and the “great multitude”. The 144,000 of <em><a href='B:730 14:3'>Rev 14:3</a></em> are “before the throne” just as the “great multitude” of <em><a href='B:730 7:15'>Rev 7:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 7:17'>Rev 7:17</a></em> are. If the 144,000 represent the church generally, it’s hard to understand why there should be such a laboured enumeration of them as coming from the various listed tribes of Israel. The idea surely is that they are Jewish Christians from within the land- perhaps the mention of the 12 tribes is to show that they will come from the entire geographical inheritance of Israel.</p><p>The great multitude have palms in their hands (:9) as if they are lining the streets of Jerusalem to welcome Jesus as King (<em><a href='B:470 21:8'>Mat 21:8</a></em>). The term “great multitude” is repeatedly used in the Gospels for the crowds who followed Jesus. So although they do refer to the group of Jewish Christians of the last days, they are clearly to be understood as looking forward to the entire community of Jesus-followers. <em><a href='B:730 7:14'>Rev 7:14</a></em> says of the great multitude: “These are they which came out of great tribulation”. The many connections with the Olivet Prophecy would surely mean that the tribulation in view is partly that of the last days (<em><a href='B:470 24:21'>Mat 24:21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 24:29'>Mat 24:29</a></em>):&nbsp;</p>


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<p>7:15&nbsp;<em>Therefore are they before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple, and He that sits on the throne shall spread His tabernacle over them</em>- There is maybe the suggestion here that after the judgment process, the Lord will come down off His throne and mix with us, after the pattern of Joseph reassuring his brethren.</p>


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<p>7:16&nbsp;<em>They shall hunger no more nor thirst any more</em>- Quoting from <em><a href='B:290 49:10'>Isa 49:10</a></em> about the repentant Jewish remnant of the last days. Hunger, thirst, no more burning AV “heat” and the sun no longer falling upon them Gk. all has reference to the experiences in the land during the six seal judgments. The comfort for that group is that these things will be no more.</p><p><em>Neither shall the sun strike upon them, nor any heat</em>- The sun is symbolic of the Lord Jesus, but those who have passed through the tribulation will have been under the heat of the anti-Christ, the fake "sun" (cp. <em><a href='B:470 13:6'>Mat 13:6</a></em>). The "heat" could refer to the heat of torture or to nuclear warfare. The word literally means a glow or burn. There seems no doubt that the Islamist elements within the earth / land promised to Abraham would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons in their assault upon Israel. However the Hebrew used in <em><a href='B:290 49:10'>Isa 49:10</a></em>, which is being quoted, refers to the&nbsp;<em>sirocco</em>&nbsp;or scorching desert storm wind, an idea used earlier for the Islamist invasion of Israel in the last days.</p>


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<p>7:17– see on <em><a href='B:490 13:15'>Luk 13:15</a></em>.</p><p><em>For the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them to springs of living water-</em>&nbsp;Again we have a kaleidoscope of images. The Lamb is both in the midst of the throne and leading them as a shepherd. he Lamb, once a sheep, is the appropriate shepherd; His shepherding is on the basis of His own human experience, as a sheep.</p><p>The "springs of living water" to which they are led could refer to us; for repentant Israel will be given teachers to teach them (<em><a href='B:300 3:15'>Jer 3:15</a></em>). In John's languages, the spring of living water is the gift of the Spirit given in the Lord Jesus. It is ultimately the spring which gives the water of life eternal (<em><a href='B:730 22:1'>Rev 22:1</a></em>). This last generation of repentant Jews will indeed be given the life eternal.</p><p><em>And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes</em>- Quoting from <em><a href='B:290 25:8'>Isa 25:8</a></em> about the resurrection and immortality of the last day (thus it is quoted in 1 Corinthians 15), again about the repentant Jewish remnant of the last days. In the context, this happens on Mount Zion, which is where the 144,000 are found in Revelation 14, at a time when “Moab” and Israel’s neighbour enemies have been destroyed. Those who enter the Kingdom will genuinely, from the very depth of their being, feel that they shouldn't be there. When we read that the Lord will “wipe away” tears from their eyes, this is the same word used in <em><a href='B:510 3:19'>Act 3:19</a></em> to describe how the sins of repentant Israel will be “blotted out” when the Lord returns. The conclusion seems to be, therefore, that the Lord Himself will comfort them with the reality that their sins and being unworthy of the Kingdom is all truly forgiven. The judgment will have achieved its end for them- a true realization of sinfulness.</p>


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<p>The trumpets of Revelation 8-11 are clearly based upon the plagues of Exodus 7-12. Yet those plagues were each one designed to induce repentance in Egypt; there were various possible futures and outcomes related to each of them. If, e.g., after plague eight, Pharaoh had truly repented- then the other plagues wouldn't have happened. And perhaps it will be the same with the trumpets of the last days. See on <em><a href='B:730 16:12'>Rev 16:12</a></em>.</p><p>The six seals of Revelation 6 brought judgment upon God’s people Israel within the land or earth promised to Abraham. A minority responded and were “sealed” in Revelation 7. Now there are seven trumpets, which are judgments on the Jews who are impenitent, and also on others within the land. But trumpets are warnings. In these judgments there is still an appeal being made, even though time is more than up for both Israel and her enemies. The trumpet judgments begin with desolations upon the physical land, in order to help people in the land understand what is going to happen to them. After the trumpets, there is yet another desperate appeal for repentance; and then in <em><a href='B:730 15:7-8'>Rev 15:7-8</a></em> the temple is closed, and the vials are poured out- of final and utter destruction. The vials come in rapid succession, because they are not intended to elicit repentance. Their finality is implied by the words "the seven&nbsp;<em>last&nbsp;</em>plagues". Whereas under the seals and trumpets, only a third or quarter of things were destroyed, under the vials there is total destruction. The language of the trumpets and vials is similar- because Babylon is being made to drink the cup of judgments which she gave others to drink during the seals and trumpets:<br/>:</p><table><tr><td></p><p>Trumpets</td><td>Vials</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1st. earth</td><td>earth</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2nd. sea (salt water)</td><td>sea (salt water)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>3rd. rivers and fountains (fresh water)</td><td>rivers and fountains (fresh water)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>4th. sun, moon, stars</td><td>sun, moon, stars</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>5th. sun and air darkened</td><td>kingdom of beast full of darkness</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>6th. River Euphrates</td><td>River Euphrates</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>7th. "The kingdoms of this world are become </p><p style='margin-left:1:135em'>the kingdoms of our Lord"</td><td>"It is done"</td><td></td></tr></table><p>This explains why the trumpet judgments are effected through a variety of agents, some of them evidently human. The vials, however, are all poured out by Angels.</p><p>It should be noted that the seven signs, relating to the destruction of the beast, are also related to the seven trumpets:</p><table><tr><td></p><p>Trumpets</td><td>Signs</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>(Chapters 8 -11)</td><td>(Chapters 12 onwards)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>A great star falls from heaven (<em><a href='B:730 8:10'>Rev 8:10</a></em>)</td><td>The dragon is cast out of heaven (<em><a href='B:730 12:9'>Rev 12:9</a></em>)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>A third part of the stars is smitten (<em><a href='B:730 8:12'>Rev 8:12</a></em>)</td><td>The dragon's tail casts down a third </p><p style='margin-left:1:135em'>of the stars (<em><a href='B:730 12:4'>Rev 12:4</a></em>)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><p>"Woe, woe, woe to the inhabiters </p><p style='margin-left:1:135em'>of the earth" (<em><a href='B:730 8:13'>Rev 8:13</a></em>)</td><td>"Woe to the inhabiters of the earth" (<em><a href='B:730 12:12'>Rev 12:12</a></em>)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><p>The beast that comes out of the bottomless pit . . .</td><td>The beast that comes out of the sea . . .</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>. . . makes war against the witnesses </p><p style='margin-left:1:135em'>and overcomes them . . .</td><td>:makes war against the saints and overcomes them.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><p>. . . they of the people and kindreds and tongues . . .</td><td>:power over kindreds and tongues and nations . . .</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>. . . they that dwell upon the earth... (<em><a href='B:730 11:7-10'>Rev 11:7-10</a></em>)</td><td>:all that dwell upon the earth . . . (<em><a href='B:730 13:1-8'>Rev 13:1-8</a></em>)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Resurrection and judgment (<em><a href='B:730 11:18'>Rev 11:18</a></em>)</td><td>Resurrection and judgment </p><p style='margin-left:1:135em'>(<em><a href='B:730 20:4'>Rev 20:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 20:11-13'>Rev 20:11-13</a></em>)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><p>"Your wrath is come" (11:18)</td><td>The vials of God’s wrath (chapters 15,16)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Temple of God opened (<em><a href='B:730 11:19'>Rev 11:19</a></em>)</td><td>Temple of God opened (<em><a href='B:730 15:5'>Rev 15:5</a></em>)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Lightnings, voices, thunderings, earthquake and hail (11:19)</td><td>Voices, thunders, </p><p style='margin-left:1:135em'>earthquake and hail (<em><a href='B:730 16:18'>Rev 16:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 16:21'>Rev 16:21</a></em>)</td><td></td></tr></table><p><em><a href='B:730 8:1'>Rev 8:1</a></em></p>&nbsp;<p><em>And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed a silence in heaven for about half an hour</em>- Literally “<em>whenever&nbsp;</em>he opened the seventh seal...", as if there is an element of doubt as to whether it will be opened. See on :13. On <em><a href='B:730 6:1'>Rev 6:1</a></em> I discussed whether in fact the seventh seal is opened, or has anything in it; hence the silence.</p><p>But the silence is also an allusion to the silence in the temple at the time of the incense offering (see on <em><a href='B:730 5:8'>Rev 5:8</a></em>). The run up to the final tribulation will provoke a “praying always, that ye may be accounted worthy... to stand before the Son of man" (<em><a href='B:490 21:36'>Luk 21:36</a></em>). Perhaps this intense latter day praying of the faithful is what <em><a href='B:730 8:1'>Rev 8:1</a></em> refers to, in speaking of "silence in heaven" when the seventh seal was opened- for this is one of Revelation's continual allusions to the temple service: "In the Temple, when the incense was offered, the people retired from the court and prostrated themselves in silent prayer".</p>


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<p>8:2&nbsp;<em>And I saw the seven angels that stood before God; and there were given to them seven trumpets</em>- The presence of the article "the" indicates these seven Angels have already been referred to. But the only time we have so far read of them in Revelation is in the description of the seven Angels of the churches who represent the believers before God (<em><a href='B:730 1:20'>Rev 1:20</a></em>). The seven Angels feature later in Revelation, pouring out the vials of Divine wrath upon the land and the beast system. The Angels responsible for God’s people are the same ones who pour out such terrible calamities upon the land. This is the power of our representation before God in the court of Heaven. This is exactly in context, because we go on to read that because of the prayers of the believers, things are poured out upon the land and Angels blow trumpets. This is the power of prayer, and it will be especially evident in the last days.</p><p>The theme of ‘seven’ judgments coming upon the land surely connects with the claim that Mohammad waged seven military campaigns against the infidels in the land promised to Abraham. The Hadith several times speaks of the "seven military expeditions led by the Messenger of Allah himself (may peace be upon him)" (e.g. Book 19:4469), or of the “seven battles” he was victorious in (Book 19:4462). This would explain the seven fold structure of the seals-trumpets-vials, and the feature of ‘seven’ judgments in various others way within the Apocalypse. The Muslim pretenders to the pattern of Mohamad bring seven judgments upon Israel, and are punished by likewise receiving back seven judgments, drinking the cup they made others to drink.</p><p>The Hadith claims that Mohammad predicted three cycles of calamities in the last days, which would be subdivided into various other calamities: "Hudhaifa b. al−?Yaman reported: By Allah, I have the best knowledge amongst people about every turmoil which is going to appear in the period intervening me and the Last Hour; and it is not for the fact that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) told me something confidentially pertaining to it and he did not tell anybody else about it, but it is because of the fact that I was present in the assembly in which he had been describing the turmoil. and he especially made a mention of three turmoils which would not spare anything and amongst these there would be turmoils like storms in the hot season" (41:6908). This is exactly the Biblical picture- of three cycles of judgments and turmoils in the land (seals-trumpets-vials), subdivided into various specific calamities. As the jihadists strive to obey the letter of their writings, they will thereby be fulfilling the outline picture of the last day crisis which is foretold in Revelation.<br/>It’s noteworthy that the seven seals and seven trumpets and seven vials all conclude with the seventh being the establishment of the Kingdom. So there are actually six judgments in each case. The Hadith (Book 41:7040) speaks of six signs before the last day: "Hasten in performing these good deeds (before these) six things (happen): (the appearance) of tribe Dijjal, the smoke, the beast of the earth, the rising of the sun from the west, the general turmoil (leading to large-scale massacre) and death of masses and individuals". These six are very similar to the things spoken of in the seals and trumpets- signs in the sun, mass death, smoke, beasts of the earth. The jihadists are seeking to consciously fulfil the Hadith and so, due to the allusions the Hadith and Koran make to Revelation, they will end up fulfilling God’s word of their own volition.</p><p>The Angels "stood before God". We have just read of how the great multitude, the minority of the Jews in the land who repent as a result of the six seals, stand before God (<em><a href='B:730 7:9'>Rev 7:9</a></em>), as do their representative Angels (<em><a href='B:730 7:11'>Rev 7:11</a></em>). They are "before God" in that their representative Angels are literally in His presence in the throne room of Heaven. Now, those Angels act on behalf of those believers. And the prayers of the believers&nbsp;are likewise before God (:3). There is only one mediator, the Lord Jesus. The Angels do not mediate those prayers, but Heaven is aware of the prayers on account of their Angels:&nbsp; Our final 'standing before God' at judgment day (<em><a href='B:730 20:12'>Rev 20:12</a></em>) is effectively going on now. We are right now in the presence of His judgment throne.</p><p>Again we note the idea of "given" they were "given" the trumpets. The judgments and calamities to be poured out are not because of any radical human evil, unrestrained in the world. These things are all under God’s direct Angelic control. The trumpet sound is very much associated with the return of Christ to earth (<em><a href='B:470 24:31'>Mat 24:31</a></em>; <em><a href='B:590 4:16'>1Th 4:16</a></em>). Our change to immortality will be when the&nbsp;<em>last</em>&nbsp;trumpet sounds (<em><a href='B:530 15:52'>1Co 15:52</a></em>); and the seventh trumpet announces the full establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth (<em><a href='B:730 11:15'>Rev 11:15</a></em>). These trumpets therefore speak of events immediately surrounding the Lord's return.</p><p>The trumpet judgments contain several of the plagues on Egypt:</p><table><tr><td></p><p><em>Trumpets</em></td><td><em>Plagues on Egypt</em></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1.</td><td>Fire from the altar cast upon the earth.</td><td>Dust of the furnace (of the altar) sprinkled abroad.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2.</td><td>Hail and fire.</td><td>Hail and fire.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>3.</td><td>Sea became blood.</td><td>Waters turned to blood.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>4.</td><td>Darkness.</td><td>Darkness.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>5.</td><td>Locusts.</td><td>Locusts.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>6.</td><td>Abaddon, the Destroyer.</td><td>The Destroyer Angel (<em><a href='B:20 12:23'>Exo 12:23</a></em>).</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>7.</td><td>Men slain by angels.</td><td>The firstborn slain by angels.</td><td></td></tr></table><p>The seal judgments of chapter 6 came upon Israel to bring them to repentance, and a majority repented, as explained in the sealing of the 144,000 in chapter 7. Now, that repentant remnant are spared the plagues on Egypt, as it were; but the impenitent amongst Israel will suffer along with ‘Egypt’, the unbelieving world. This is as predicted in <em><a href='B:50 28:59-60'>Deu 28:59-60</a></em> - the plagues of Egypt will come upon unbelieving Israel: “Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues… He will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt”.</p>


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<p>8:3&nbsp;<em>And another Angel</em>- Perhaps representative of the Lord Jesus, seeing He is the mediator of prayer.<br/><em><br/>Came and stood over the altar-&nbsp;</em> "Over the altar" gives the image of the Angel standing next to the altar but taller than the altar, in order to take fire off it. The bronze altar of sacrifice in the Jerusalem temple had steps going up it, according to the Mishnah. Josephus says it also had a ramp; so that the priest could be "over the altar" to place sacrifices upon it, and [as in this case] to take fire off it for the censor of incense. This altar is clearly distinguished from the golden altar, i.e. the altar of incense which although outside the Most Holy Place is often described as being 'before Yahweh' as it is here called "before the throne". This is because it was just in front of the curtain dividing the Most Holy from the Holy Place, and the incense from it entered in to the Most Holy. In this sense the incense altar provided "a perpetual incense before the LORD" (Ex. 30:8), before Yahweh's presence over the ark in the Most Holy. Just as we are not actually in God's literal presence, and yet our prayers and status in Christ mean that effectively we are. This is the wonder of prayer. We can get that close to God. Ex. 40:5 implies that effectively, the curtain dividing the incense altar from the ark was not there: "You shall put the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony". And moreso, in Christ, that veil is torn down. This also explains the otherwise strange description of the incense altar in 1 Kings 6:22 as "the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary". On the Day of Atonement, the veil was effectively removed, and in that context Heb. 9:3,4 can say that "behind the second curtain stood a tent called the Holy of Holies having ['to which pertained'] the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant". If this is not a Day of Atonement allusion, then the Greek for "having..." can legitimately be read as meaning 'to which pertained...', because there was such a strong association between the incense altar and the Most Holy Place. 
Ex. 30:6 speaks of the incense altar as "where I will meet with you". And yet this is said of the ark within the Most Holy Place: "And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat" (Ex. 25:22;; Num. 17:4). But when did God actually commune with men from the mercy seat in the ark? The High Priest only entered the Most Holy Place once per year on the day of Atonement. So when Ex. 30:6 appears to say that it was the altar of incense "where I will meet with you", we are to understand that the God who dwelt over the ark actually communicated at the altar of incense. The context of Ex. 30:6 is all about the incense altar. And it is there, in prayer, that God meets with man. LXX has "wherein I will make myself known to thee from thence". This suggests that God from the Most Holy ["from thence"] makes Himself known to man at the incense altar, i.e. in prayer. This is why the tabernacle generally is described as the place "where I will meet with you, to speak there to you" (Ex. 29:42). It was "the tent of meeting" in that the God who met man in the Most Holy Place came out of that place to meet man at the incense altar. The incense altar was therefore the place of communion between God and man. The incense wafted through into the Most Holy Place, and God met with man in His word "from thence". Relationship with God is therefore two way. We speak to Him in prayer, and He speaks back through His word. This is why prayer and Bible reading are so critically important. All this clearly teaches that prayer is not a list of requests. The many prayers in the Psalms have very few requests compared to simply talking with God in communion. "Pray without ceasing" [alluding to the constant offering of incense morning and evening] cannot mean that we send up an unbroken barrage of requests. Rather does it mean that we are to be in unbroken communion with God.</p>><p>
There are two altars in view here. The Angel takes fire from the bronze altar of sacrifice, which we have recently encountered in 6:9 as the symbol of the sacrifice of the faithful during the tribulation, under which is their blood which cries out for vengeance, and uses this to ignite the incense on the golden altar of incense, which we again encounter in <em><a href='B:730 9:13'>Rev 9:13</a></em>. The sacrifice of the faithful remnant, their endurance unto death, gives power to the prayers offered for the coming of Christ. The sacrifice of the believers during the tribulation in 6:9 gave rise to the prayer "How long…?", the begging for the Lord's coming. And it was because of their sacrifice that their prayers were heard. That is represented here by the fire from the blood covered altar of sacrifice being used to ignite the incense of prayer on the incense altar. Our lives are in that sense a prayer, and give credibility and integrity to our words of prayer. Otherwise, prayer is mere words. But those prayed words cannot be powerful unless they are rooted in a life lived before God. God is not a magician and prayer is not of power just because of the words, otherwise prayer is merely like a pagan incantation. If this were not the case, then answers to prayer would simply go to those who know how to wordsmith their language nicely and persuasively. That is a mistake made by so many Orthodox believers, but we can all tend to believe it too. The cry of the blood of the martyrs was "How long, O Lord, will you not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Rev. 6:9,10). That prayer was now being answered. There is no conscious survival of death. Those people were dead, but their prayers were as it were still active in God's mind, and He was working to respond to them. And the events of AD70 were a partial answer to them, judging "those who dwell on the earth / land [of Israel, in the primary context]" (Rev. 8:13). The scene here is also clearly based upon that of Israel under persecution in Egypt. "I have surely seen the affiction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry" (Ex. 3:7). God's response was to send the plagues. Here, the incense ascends to God and He sends the sequence of trumpet plagues which clearly allude to the plagues on Egypt (hail, fire etc., :7). My point is that the cry of Israel was not specific words, but a situation which God took heed to. Likewise incense is not simply representative of words prayed, but of the life and life situation behind them. And it was likewise responded to by God in the first century in the events of AD70, as it will be in our last days.  </p><p><em>Having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense, that he should add it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne</em>- One Angel is given much incense- i:e. prayers- presumably by the individual guardian Angels. He then offers this up on the altar (Christ) to God, and the response from God comes in the form of the Angels sounding their trumpets. It is interesting to note that actually these Angels had already been prepared for what they were going to do (<em><a href='B:730 8:2'>Rev 8:2</a></em>) when they had been earlier before the throne of God. God knows our prayers before we say them. He knew what the prayers of the people at that time would be, and had earlier prepared the Angels to answer them, and this was unleashed by their cumulative prayer. But without that prayer- that human part of the equation- the prepared answer would not have been put into action. The prayers were offered up by one Angel- this either means there is one Angel with overall responsibility for offering up prayers to Christ (the altar), or that there is one Angel who collects together the prayers from one period of time or about one particular subject and then offers them up to Christ. The fact "much incense" is mentioned presumably means that there was much prayer made at this time, and this was added to the "prayers of all saints" (v. 3) which had already been made about thIsa.</p><p>The sky, the trillions of kilometres between Heaven and earth, are in fact no ultimate distance. That’s the simplest message of those visions. In Revelation we see the incense of human prayers arising into Heaven, resulting in Angels coming to earth, pouring out bowls, blowing trumpets, and major events happening on earth (<em><a href='B:730 5:8'>Rev 5:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 8:3'>Rev 8:3</a></em>). Prayer is noticed; it brings forth quite out of proportion responses.</p><p><em><a href='B:730 8:3-5'>Rev 8:3-5</a></em> as well as <em><a href='B:730 11:6'>Rev 11:6</a></em> certainly allude to Elijah as a pattern for our latter day witnessing. Much incense of latter day prayer is added to the existing incense, resulting in fire being brought down on earth after the pattern of Elijah (<em><a href='B:730 8:3-5'>Rev 8:3-5</a></em> RV). The especially intense prayers of the latter day remnant are added to the cumulative prayers of former generations, and result in the second coming and the beginning of the final judgments.</p>


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<p>8:4&nbsp;<em>And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand</em>- The same Greek words for 'smoke ascended up' are found in <em><a href='B:730 14:11'>Rev 14:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 19:3'>Rev 19:3</a></em> concerning the smoke of the destruction of the beast system. This ultimately will be brought about by the prayer of the latter day remnant. As I point out in&nbsp;<em>The Last Days,&nbsp;</em>much emphasis is given to prayer in the latter day prophecies. But the ascending up of the smoke of their prayers is also to be compared with the ascending up of the smoke from the bottomless pit in <em><a href='B:730 9:2'>Rev 9:2</a></em>, which gives rise to the locust invasion which torments those in the land. This judgment on the land is therefore a direct response to human prayer. And God finds our prayers pleasant, just as the Mosaic sacrifices and the sacrifice of Noah were a "pleasing odor" to God (Gen. 8:21). But the smell of sacrifices was not pleasant to human smell. But it was to God. Likewise Eph. 5:2, "Christ gave Himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God". Prayer likewise may seem a bizarre exercise to the secular man. For sweet smelling incense is the symbol of prayer: "May my prayer be counted as incense before You" (Ps. 141:2; Rev. 5:8). It gives God joy: "Oil and incense make the heart glad" (Prov. 27:9). But that incense must be "beaten small" in humility: "he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small; and he shall bring it within the veil" (Lev. 16:11-14). The impression we get from Lev. 16:12 is that as much as possible should be brought: "a censer full of coals of fire... two handfuls of sweet incense". As much coal and incense as possible. The idea is that we should indulge in prayer, and not be minimalists. As there was always fire on the altar (Lev. 9:9), so prayer can always be offered.</p>


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<p>8:5- see on <em><a href='B:730 5:8'>Rev 5:8</a></em>.</p><p><em>And the angel took the censer, filled it with the fire of the altar and cast it upon the earth</em>- The fire from the bronze sacrifice altar was used to ignite the incense on the incense altar; see on :3. The earth / land has the fire of judgment thrown at it because of the prayers of and about those who were slain in it during the tribulation. This is the scene at the altar in <em><a href='B:730 6:9'>Rev 6:9</a></em>; the blood on the altar leads to a promise of judgment against those who shed it. The Lord perhaps foresaw all this when He used the same words about how He came not to cast peace on the land but fire and a sword (<em><a href='B:470 10:34'>Mat 10:34</a></em>; <em><a href='B:490 12:49'>Luk 12:49</a></em>)- because Israel refused to accept Him. The scattering of fire on the land recalls <em><a href='B:330 10:2'>Eze 10:2</a></em>, where fire is scattered over the city of Jerusalem; and the Babylonian desolation which this primarily refers to is a prototype of the latter day desolation of Jerusalem. Clearly, "I have come to cast fire upon the earth" (Lk. 12:49) required the incense of prayer to trigger it. The events of AD70 were therefore in response to the blood of the martyrs of Rev. 6, "the souls under the altar", arising as prayer-incense and triggering this response from Heaven. We see here how God's people were totally uncompromised with the Jewish world around them, who of course were praying and fighting for the preservation of Jerusalem and victory against Rome. But the Roman judgment of Jerusalem and the temple with fire, was in fact all sent from the Lord Jesus, triggered by prayer and the blood of those slain by the Jewish system. The judgments are thrown onto the earth / land directly from the incense altar to show that it was the lives and prayers of the faithful that brought about those judgments. Whereas in the world systems around the believers, prayer was to be offered for Jerusalem and the land [by Jews] and for the empire [by Romans].  
The cry for vengeance of the blood of the souls under the altar in Rev. 6 is answered throughout the visions of judgment in the rest of Revelation- e.g. "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; because His judgements are true and righteous; for... He has avenged the blood of his bond servants on her" (Rev. 19:1,2). But this was all brought about by the incense of prayer. Just as the incense ascended up, so the judgment of their persecuters is "smoke" that "rises up forever and ever" (Rev. 19:3). And this is why in Rev. 16:6,7 we find the altar apparently speaking: "They poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, and blood have You given them to drink. They are worthy. And I heard another ["another angel" is not in the original] out of the altar saying: Yes, O Lord God the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments". The dialogue from the altar is because the voice of prayer is the voice of the lives of the martyrs, and being dead they still speak from God's perspective, as does the blood of Abel (Heb. 11:4 "he, though being dead, still speaks"; "the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel", Heb. 12:24). Likewise when the sixth trumpet sounds, John hears “a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God” (Rev. 9:13). The vials etc. which form part of the sixth trumpet were all triggered by the voice from the incense altar- God's voice responding to the voice of the incense / prayer which had been offered there, and the voice of the martyrs of Rev. 6:9 which came from that altar. 
The direct connection between prayer and the outpouring of judgments is continued in Rev. 15:7, where “one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God”. In Rev. 5:8, the golden bowls are filled with incense, which is stated there to represent prayers. The similarity of the "golden bowls" is to show how prayer results in the triggering of the outpouring of Divine judgment. On one hand, God is sovereign and does as He wishes; and yet He also will only do what He does in response to man. The fire thrown onto the earth in Rev. 8:3-5 is thrown from the incense altar. And that fire came from the altar of sacrifice where the blood of the martyrs cries for vengeance. The clear idea is that prayer is directly related to God causing major geopolitical events and judgments on this earth. This is where understanding Revelation changes our whole perception both of ourselves and of the world around us. </p><p><em>There followed thunders, voices, lightnings and an earthquake</em>- Whatever the specific fulfilments of these things, we must not fail to gather the overall impression which would have been taken by a first century illiterate Jewish audience. Thunder, voices, flashes of lightning, seven trumpet blasts and an earthquake all go together with the classic theophanies whereby God 'comes down' to earth with a great trumpet sound (Ex. 19:16-19; Is. 19:6; Rev. 11:19; 16:18). And this is triggered by the incense of prayer. What was seen in the Heavenly throne room at the start of the vision (<em><a href='B:730 4:5'>Rev 4:5</a></em> cp. <em><a href='B:730 11:19'>Rev 11:19</a></em>). This awesome Divine activity in the temple of Heaven, the throne room (<em><a href='B:730 11:19'>Rev 11:19</a></em>), is triggered by the prayers of men on earth. Voices, thunder, lightning and earthquake are all experienced in the events which make Babylon fall in <em><a href='B:730 16:18'>Rev 16:18</a></em> under the seventh vial (<em><a href='B:730 16:17'>Rev 16:17</a></em>). The voice of thunderings proclaims the establishment of God’s Kingdom in <em><a href='B:730 19:6'>Rev 19:6</a></em>. Putting these things together, we see that the voices, thunders and lightnings are all part and parcel of the same final judgment of the beast system and establishment of God’s Kingdom at Christ's coming. There is no way that these various passages refer to events over a 2000 year period. They are the events of the very last days. The earthquake which is associated with voices, thunders and lightnings is clearly that of <em><a href='B:730 16:18'>Rev 16:18</a></em>, for the same words are used. The literalistic, linear thinking mind would expect that there must be a progression of chronological events between chapters 8 and 16. But that is not how apocalyptic works, nor do we find such a chronological development in Old Testament Bible prophecy. Rather are we given repeated snapshots of the same events from different angles, and often the end point is declared and then there is an explanation of how that position was arrived at. This is true of Biblical language generally- consider how in 2 Samuel 24 we are told that the Lord spared Jerusalem because of David’s prayer, but then the text reverts in time to explain how that came about.</p><p>The same earthquake is in view throughout Revelation (<em><a href='B:730 6:12'>Rev 6:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 11:13'>Rev 11:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 11:19'>Rev 11:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 16:18'>Rev 16:18</a></em>). We naturally think of the great earthquake which is to accompany the return of the Lord Jesus in <em><a href='B:450 14:5'>Zec 14:5</a></em>. The earthquake is described in various parts of the Revelation prophecy because chronological order is not very significant in apocalyptic. The images overlap, giving a kaleidoscope effect.</p><p>The language in 8:5 and indeed throughout the trumpets is alluding to the prophecy of Jerusalem's destruction in Isaiah 29 :<br/>"I will distress Ariel, and there shall be moaning and lamentation... I will encamp against you all around... and you will be brought low... in an instant, suddenly, you will be visited by the LORD of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire. And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her, shall be like a dream, a vision of the night... so shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion... In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD... For the ruthless the Islamic Jihadists shall come to nothing and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off... Jacob shall no more be ashamed, no more shall his face grow pale... those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding". It's hard to find a complete historical fulfilment of this- when God revealed Himself to deliver a besieged Jerusalem with thunder, earthquake and great noise, which then results in the repentance of a remnant in Israel. This time is yet to come, and it is the time spoken of in Revelation 8. The earthquake which fells Babylon is Jerusalem's salvation, and it comes at a time when Jerusalem is surrounded by enemy armies. This is the scenario of Zechariah 14 - Jerusalem surrounded by armies, who are judged by the Lord's return and a huge earthquake.</p>


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<p>8:6&nbsp;<em>And the seven Angels that had the seven trumpets</em>- The blowing of trumpets is commonly used in the OT for preparing war against Israel's enemies. The war being prepared is against Israel's latter day desolators. The obvious connection is with the seven priests blowing the seven trumpets which caused the fall of the great city Jericho (<em><a href='B:60 6:4'>Jos 6:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 6:6'>Jos 6:6</a></em>). Israel's latter day enemies are the equivalent of the Canaanites, the non-Jewish inhabitants of the land promised to Abraham. The Angels are as it were the priests, and we have read earlier in Revelation 8 of the Angels as it were doing priestly duty in the Heavenly tabernacle. The blowing of the trumpets is preparing for the fall of the great city Babylon, the epitome of the beast.</p><p><em>Prepared themselves to sound</em>- We imagine them lifting the trumpets to their mouths. The detail adds to the general impression that all the calamities of the last days have been carefully prepared. They are not at all the outcome of random evil which has got out of even Divine control. That point is repeatedly made doubtless because it might well appear like that to those who endure those things. There is a strong theme in Revelation of things being prepared by the Angels and then happening on the land (the locusts are prepared for battle, <em><a href='B:730 9:7'>Rev 9:7</a></em>; four Angels are prepared for action at a precise moment, <em><a href='B:730 9:15'>Rev 9:15</a></em>; the persecuted woman has a placed of refuge prepared for her, <em><a href='B:730 12:6'>Rev 12:6</a></em>; the hordes from the East are prepared for release from the Euphrates, which is what we are seeing in the preparation of the jihadist hordes in that very area today, <em><a href='B:730 16:12'>Rev 16:12</a></em>; the bride is prepared through all her tribulations, <em><a href='B:730 19:7'>Rev 19:7</a></em>: <em><a href='B:730 21:2'>Rev 21:2</a></em>). It is that preparation process which we are seeing today in the development of the radical Islamists.</p><p>Num. 10:8-10 clearly associates the sounding of the trumpets with the deliverance of God's people from their enemies: "When you go to war in your land against the adversary who attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and be saved from your enemies". We have an example in 2 Chron. 13:14,15: "When Judah turned around, behold they were attacked both front and rear; so they cried to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets. Then the men of Judah raised a war cry, and when the men of Judah raised the war cry, then it was that God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah". Again we see that the context in Revelation is likewise Israel. The judgments which follow are therefore against the enemies of the true people of God. But we must remember that this is all in response to the incense, which was initially the cry of the lives of those martyred by Jewish and Roman systems in the first century. The true Israel were persecuted by the fake Israel, and so there is an element in which these judgments came upon the land of Israel in AD70.  </p>


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<p>8:7&nbsp;<em>And the first sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mingled with blood; and they were cast upon the earth-&nbsp;</em>One reason why there are such similarities between the seven vials and the seven trumpets see introduction to this chapter could be that the vials refer largely to the judgments to come upon the world, and the trumpets to the latter day tribulation of the saints. See on <em><a href='B:730 11:3'>Rev 11:3</a></em>:&nbsp;<br/>Seven Vials&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Seven trumpets&nbsp;<br/> <em><a href='B:730 16:2'>Rev 16:2</a></em>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em><a href='B:730 8:7'>Rev 8:7</a></em>&nbsp;<br/> <em><a href='B:730 16:3'>Rev 16:3</a></em>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em><a href='B:730 8:8'>Rev 8:8</a></em>&nbsp;<br/> <em><a href='B:730 16:4'>Rev 16:4</a></em>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em><a href='B:730 8:10'>Rev 8:10</a></em>&nbsp;<br/> <em><a href='B:730 16:8'>Rev 16:8</a></em>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em><a href='B:730 8:12'>Rev 8:12</a></em>&nbsp;<br/> <em><a href='B:730 16:10'>Rev 16:10</a></em>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em><a href='B:730 9:1'>Rev 9:1</a></em>&nbsp;<br/> <em><a href='B:730 16:12'>Rev 16:12</a></em>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em><a href='B:730 9:13'>Rev 9:13</a></em>&nbsp;<br/> <em><a href='B:730 16:17-21'>Rev 16:17-21</a></em>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em><a href='B:730 11:15'>Rev 11:15</a></em></p><p>The hail is seen prepared in Heaven in <em><a href='B:730 11:9'>Rev 11:9</a></em>; now it is sent to the earth. Hail is one of the final bowls that is poured upon the beast system in <em><a href='B:730 16:21'>Rev 16:21</a></em>. What the beast does to those on the land is done to them; the cup or bowl they gave others to drink, they must drink at the time of the bowls being poured out. The idea of "hail and fire mingled" is clearly alluding to the plague upon Egypt, of hail mingled with fire (<em><a href='B:20 9:24'>Exo 9:24</a></em>). But the hail plague did not touch the Israelites in Goshen (<em><a href='B:20 9:26'>Exo 9:26</a></em>). This is exactly as we would expect- the seal judgments led a remnant of Israel to repent, and through the symbology of the 144,000 in Revelation 7, they are declared the true Israel. They are sealed so that the judgments of the trumpets don't come upon them. So the allusion to a plague on Egypt which didn’t touch Israel is appropriate. <em><a href='B:290 32:19'>Isa 32:19</a></em> describes the repentant remnant of Israel as being unharmed by hail in the last days. Note that the plagues on Egypt were intended to elicit repentance in Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and that is likewise the purpose of the trumpet judgments upon the beast system. We gasp at God’s grace- that He even wants jihadists to repent. We recall too how a confederacy of five kings of the earth / land, under the leadership of the antichrist figure Adonizedek (‘Lord of righteousness’, a fake Christ), were likewise destroyed by hail during the conquest of Joshua-Jesus (<em><a href='B:60 10:11'>Jos 10:11</a></em>).</p><p>Hail cast down to the earth is exactly the language of the judgment upon the impenitent amongst Israel in the last days who do not accept the Messiah, the corner stone laid in Zion; those who are not amongst the remnant who repent (<em><a href='B:290 28:2'>Isa 28:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 28:5'>Isa 28:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 28:16-17'>Isa 28:16-17</a></em>); those Jews who will not 'come out of' the Babylon system will experience her judgments, if they are not part of the repentant Jewish remnant, the 144,000. In similar manner, the impenitent Jews at the time of the restoration were struck with hail, albeit as part of a program intended to bring them even then to repentance (<em><a href='B:440 2:17'>Hag 2:17</a></em>).</p><p>Hail and blood are used by God to “plead” with Gog (<em><a href='B:330 38:22'>Eze 38:22</a></em>). Ezekiel 38 is a latter day prophecy, but we again must note that the judgment of hail, blood, plague etc. is in order to plead even with Gog to repent. Only when the warning trumpets are ignored are the vials of complete destruction poured out and the temple is closed to men (<em><a href='B:730 15:7-8'>Rev 15:7-8</a></em>).</p><p>"Fire mingled with blood" is all part of the Lord’s second coming, for He comes with flaming fire in judgment upon those who have refused to know Him (<em><a href='B:600 1:7'>2Th 1:7</a></em>); thus the eyes of Jesus in Revelation are as a flaming fire (<em><a href='B:730 1:7'>Rev 1:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 2:18'>Rev 2:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 19:12'>Rev 19:12</a></em>). This is the picture of Him at the time of His coming in judgment to earth. Yet the Angels are His eyes, according to Revelation 1 and <em><a href='B:730 4:5'>Rev 4:5</a></em>, and they are therefore made a flaming fire (<em><a href='B:650 1:7'>Heb 1:7</a></em>). Thus the actual, mechanical outworking of His coming in judgment in fire will be through the medium of Angelic activity. And this is what we have spoken of here in <em><a href='B:730 8:7'>Rev 8:7</a></em>.</p><p>Casting fire on the land of Israel recalls <em><a href='B:370 7:4'>Amo 7:4</a></em>, which also mentions locusts, whom we will meet in the fifth trumpet: “The Lord God contended by fire... and it devoured the great deep, and would have eaten up the land (R:V:, LXX: “the Lord’s portion”). The context goes on to predict that “the high places of Isaac (where Isaac was offered- Moriah, the temple mount) shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries the great sanctuary? of Israel shall be laid waste”. Notice once again that the punishment by fire is Yahweh ‘contending’. It is again an appeal for repentance.</p><p><em>The third part of the earth was burnt up, as was the third part of the trees; and all green grass was burnt up</em>- In <em><a href='B:330 5:1-5'>Eze 5:1-5</a></em> Ezekiel shaves his hair and is told to divide it carefully into three parts, except for a mere few bound in the hem of his robe. These three parts are then consigned to destruction by fire, sword or scattering. We have just read in chapter 7 of the 144,000 faithful remnant. They will be saved, but the three parts of Israel who remain apart from them are to be destroyed. Note that the context of Ezekiel 5 is specifically Jerusalem. <em><a href='B:450 13:8-9'>Zec 13:8-9</a></em> speaks of two thirds of Jews&nbsp;<em>in the land</em>&nbsp;being killed, and a third being refined. <em><a href='B:450 14:2'>Zec 14:2</a></em> has half of Jerusalem going into captivity. Bearing in mind the difference between Jerusalem and the whole land, these proportions aren’t necessarily contradictory. The point is, these Old Testament prophecies of a partial desolation of Jerusalem and the land of Israel are being alluded to in Revelation; and the context is of the last days, rather than of some period in past history.</p><p>Not all trees were destroyed by the hail. This is in intended contrast to how the hail upon Egypt destroyed&nbsp;<em>every</em>&nbsp;tree of the field (<em><a href='B:20 9:25'>Exo 9:25</a></em> - although some escaped, <em><a href='B:20 10:5'>Exo 10:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:12'>Exo 10:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:15'>Exo 10:15</a></em>) as well as all the grass. Here, all the grass is destroyed but only a third of the trees. We may not need to think in terms of literal grass and trees. Perhaps the point is being made that yes, the situation is analogous to Israel in Egypt and the plagues upon Egypt, but still they are more restrained than those upon Egypt. This would be because God wants the beast system to perceive the similarities perhaps therefore literal hail will be used, and to repent- before the bowls are poured out, which speak of utter destruction of the beast system. We note that in this case, Moses before Pharaoh must have a latter day equivalent, and we see this in chapter 11, where the two witnesses have similarities to Moses at this time.</p><p>The destruction of trees recalls what Babylon did to Jerusalem: “For thus hath the Lord of Hosts said, Hew down her trees (RVmg:), and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her” (<em><a href='B:300 6:6'>Jer 6:6</a></em>). Likewise <em><a href='B:330 20:47'>Eze 20:47</a></em>: “Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein”. These words were applied by the Lord to Jerusalem’s future judgment, both in AD70 and therefore also in the last days (<em><a href='B:490 23:31'>Luk 23:31</a></em>). The idea is that the Babylonian judgment upon Israel is to be repeated in the last days. And that may simply be the point of reference to the trees- perhaps we don’t need to look for any literal application. It could be that as in the Lord’s latter day parable of the fig tree, trees represent nations within the land / earth promised to Abraham. Another Old Testament allusion to be aware of regarding trees is&nbsp;in <em><a href='B:450 11:1-2'>Zec 11:1-2</a></em>: “Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars. Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down”. These words preface a prophecy of the rejection of Jesus and of the resultant judgment for that in the last days:&nbsp;</p><p>It’s not my style in this exposition to unduly dwell on the very evident application of Revelation to the run up to AD70, for we want to know the relevance to our days. But it’s worth noting that there was a literal removing of trees then. Josephus claims that trees were felled indiscriminately to build engines of war and even the crucifixion of prisoners had to cease through lack of timber to make crosses. There has been an especial attempt to reforest the land of Israel since 1948. This is typical of the way that natural Israel have sought to bring about the fulfilment of Bible prophecies about the fertility of the land- in their own strength. And all that reforestation will be burnt up in the tribulation.</p><p>We note that the olive and vine trees were not to be hurt during the time of the seals (<em><a href='B:730 6:6'>Rev 6:6</a></em>). But now, a third of them are. The Hadith records how generally, trees should not be destroyed by Moslems when on campaigns: “The first Caliph Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased with him) gave to his army while sending her on the expedition to the Syrian borders commands permeated with the noble spirit with which the war in Islam is permitted. He said: "... Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire, especially those which are fruitful" (The Hadith, Book 19 Jihad and Expedition (<em>Kitab Al−?Jihad wa'l−?Siyar</em>). As often happens, the jihadist may go well beyond their own religion. Or it could be that these particular judgments on the land are brought about by non-Moslems.</p><p>"Burnt up" is the same word used about the burning up in judgment of the last day when Christ returns (<em><a href='B:490 3:17'>Luk 3:17</a></em>; <em><a href='B:530 3:15'>1Co 3:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:680 3:10'>2Pe 3:10</a></em>) and the burning up of Babylon (<em><a href='B:730 17:16'>Rev 17:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 18:8'>Rev 18:8</a></em>). The weeds are gathered together and burnt up (<em><a href='B:470 13:30'>Mat 13:30</a></em>), and this is effectively a latter day prophecy of the gathering together of the nations to Armageddon and their being burnt up in the land. "Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (<em><a href='B:470 13:40-42'>Mat 13:40-42</a></em>). The furnace is specifically defined as Jerusalem under judgment at the hands of Babylon-Assyria (<em><a href='B:290 31:9'>Isa 31:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 22:18'>Eze 22:18</a></em>), the latter day Sodom and Egypt which are also described as a furnace (<em><a href='B:10 19:28'>Gen 19:28</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 4:20'>Deu 4:20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:110 8:51'>1Ki 8:51</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 11:4'>Jer 11:4</a></em>). Sodom and Egypt are Jerusalem of the last days (<em><a href='B:730 11:8'>Rev 11:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 1:10'>Isa 1:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 3:9'>Isa 3:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 23:14'>Jer 23:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 16:46'>Eze 16:46</a></em>). The prophecies about this will therefore be fulfilled in stages within the last few days around the coming of Christ. The furnace of <em><a href='B:730 9:2'>Rev 9:2</a></em> must be understood likewise; the overthrow of Babylon is as when God overthrew Sodom (<em><a href='B:290 13:19'>Isa 13:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 49:18'>Jer 49:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 50:40'>Jer 50:40</a></em>).</p><p>The specific mention of&nbsp;<em>green</em>&nbsp;grass may suggest that this happens at Passover time (cp. <em><a href='B:480 6:39'>Mar 6:39</a></em>):&nbsp;<em>Chloros</em>, here translated “green”, is the same word used about the&nbsp;<em>chloros</em>&nbsp;AV “pale” horse” of the seals (<em><a href='B:730 6:8'>Rev 6:8</a></em>). This similarity with the seals is because what was done to Israel is now being done to those who did it. Babylon is drinking the cup she gave others.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'>And the second angel blew his trumpet and as it were a great mountain- This can refer to Israel and Mount Zion: &quot;Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done&quot; (<a href='B:470 21:21'>Mt. 21:21</a>). &quot;This mountain&quot; was Zion, before which the Lord stood at that time, with its altar fire, which never went out. Yet the great destroying mountain is also Babylon (<a href='B:300 51:25'>Jer.  51:25</a>). The punishment upon Babylon will come upon an Israel who fail to come out of her.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The mountains had been moved out of their places in the seal judgments (<a href='B:730 6:14'>6:14</a>), and now this is in turn done to the enemies of God’s people. For the mountain falling represents the destruction of Babylon in the Old Testament. But it also represents Judaism. The fall of Israel as an entity is framed in the same terms as the fall of Babylon. They had failed to come out of Babylon, and so Babylon's judgments come upon them. We're dealing here with a double symbol- of both falling Babylon and falling Israel. By contrast, the &quot;great mountain&quot; of God’s Kingdom, the Mount Zion, stands secure (<a href='B:340 2:35'>Dan. 2:35</a>; <a href='B:730 14:1'>Rev. 14:1</a>; <a href='B:730 21:10'>21:10</a>). The clearest Old Testament allusion is to <a href='B:450 4:7'>Zech. 4:7</a>: &quot;Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the corner stone amid shouts of 'Grace, grace to it!'&quot;. The corner stone is the Lord Jesus, whose second coming will mean the fall of the &quot;great mountain&quot;. The creation of a plain instead of elevated land is the language of the required levelling of Israel by the work of the Elijah prophet before the coming of Messiah (<a href='B:290 40:4'>Is. 40:4</a>). The immediate context of <a href='B:450 4:7'>Zech. 4:7</a> speaks of how the mountain of opposition to Zerubbabel would be removed so that the restoration of Israel's Kingdom could come about. And that opposition was from local Arabs such as Sanballat who were opposing it. Zerubbabel failed to restore the Kingdom and become the Messiah figure he could have become. The essence of the prophecy is to be fulfilled in the last days, when the Lord Jesus will be in perfection the Messiah of Israel. The great mountain will then speak of the fake kingdom of God established by the Babylon beast, which shall be cast down.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Burning with fire- This burning with fire is part of the outworking of how fire was cast into the land as a result of the prayers of the faithful remnant (<a href='B:730 8:5'>8:5</a>). The mountain is cast down, burning- just as fire is cast onto the earth from above. Yet burning fire is a feature of God’s latter day judgment upon the beast, as often spoken of later in Revelation. The Lord Jesus will sit in judgment on the beast enthroned with wheels of burning fire (<a href='B:340 7:19'>Dan. 7:19</a>), replete as that language is with reference to the Angel cherubim (<a href='B:330 1:13'>Ez. 1:13</a>), the four beasts of Heaven. Again, we are clearly to see in this the language of the last day. The lamps of fire burning before the throne in <a href='B:730 4:5'>Rev. 4:5</a> speak of the view of the Heavenly throne room as it will be in the last day. Finally, the lake of burning fire- fire burning on water- is the end of the beast system. And this same image, fire cast into water and the water burning, is found here in the second trumpet (and also in the third trumpet, where fire hits water again, the rivers). Perhaps we could understand that this is a foretaste of the final judgment of the lake of fire. Only a third of the water is affected, and then a third part of the rivers, unlike the symbology of the entire lake of fire burning. There is again the implication that even at this late stage, men can see what condemnation will be like and avoid it in repentance. This would be in keeping with how God has worked so many times- He gives worked examples of condemnation to men to warn them of where their path shall lead them. Quite simply, because He wishes their repentance. Significantly, the Koran several times claims that the judgment of unbelievers will be severe exactly because they have rejected warnings (especially Sura 54.16-24). The Moslem followers of the beast will be treated exactly in accordance with their own perceptions of Divine judgment.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Was cast into the sea- In this sense, there is a sea of glass mingled with fire in <a href='B:730 15:2'>15:2</a>. The sea of glass speaks of the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth, but the picture is mingled with fire because the throwing of fire into the sea is what brings about the Kingdom. We see again how apocalyptic is not interested in precise chronology- the events are run together. Different aspects of the same picture are given. What this means, however, is that the casting of the mountain of fire into the sea is definitely a picture of latter day events, immediately around the time of the establishment of the sea as glass, the Kingdom of God on the sea of nations.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The wicked are as a troubled sea (<a href='B:290 57:20'>Is. 57:20</a>). But closer examination of that passage reveals that is talking about the Jews at the time of the Assyrian invasion who chose not to be amongst the righteous remnant. This exactly fits our context. And the Hebrew word translated &quot;troubled&quot; means literally 'sent away', and is also translated 'divorced'. The metaphor of divorce is certainly used about God’s relationship with Israel, and the destruction of the faithless majority of Israel at the time of the end will be the final climax of that great divorce. such troubling of the sea will be the lot of the majority in Israel, but &quot;Peace, peace&quot; to the repentant remnant (<a href='B:290 57:19'>Is. 57:19</a>).</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>And the third part of the sea became blood- In the AD70 application, this may refer to the mass killing of Jews in the Sea of Galilee. Josephus recorded: &quot;One might see the lake all bloody, and full of dead bodies, for not one of them escaped. And a terrible stink, and a very sad sight, there was on the following days over the country. In this way thousands were slain&quot; (B.J. 3:10:9). Likewise, on the Mediterranean coast: &quot;The sea was bloody a long way, and the maritime ports were full of dead bodies ... and the number of the bodies that were thus thrown out of the sea was 4,200&quot; (B.J. 3:9:3). Perhaps something similar will happen in the last days.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Water becoming blood is obviously a reference to the plagues upon Egypt (<a href='B:20 7:20'>Ex. 7:20</a>). The continual allusion to those plagues suggest that there has been an abuse of Israel by a latter day Egypt. In The Last Days chapter 5 I work out in more detail the typology of Egypt's domination of Israel, with the Passover deliverance being a type of the second coming. That might explain the reference to &quot;green grass&quot;, associated as it is with Passover. Bother &quot;rivers&quot; and &quot;waters&quot; are described as being turned into blood in Egypt (<a href='B:230 78:44'>Ps. 78:44</a>; <a href='B:230 105:29'>105:29</a>), and both rivers and waters are spoken of here in the trumpets.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>A burning mountain coming into the sea would create the impression of a sea of fire- and the lake of fire is the picture of the beast's final destruction (<a href='B:730 19:20'>Rev. 19:20</a>; <a href='B:730 21:18'>21:8</a>). There may therefore be no specific symbology in the 'sea' or water beyond this.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Fire destroying things in water is surely an indication that this is from God. The Hadith (Book 41.7012) says that the Antichrist of the last days will do the same: &quot;The Dajjal would appear and there would be along with him water and fire and what the people would see as water that would be fire and that would burn and what would appear as fire that would be water&quot;. The Muslims will therefore see the entity bringing these things about- the Lord Jesus- as the antiChrist and thus be the more motivated to engage in mad warfare against Him, to their own destruction.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>In <a href='B:730 8:8'>Rev. 8:8</a> we have an Angel casting a mountain into the sea. This must surely connect with the Lord's encouragement that we can cast mountains into the sea by our faith (<a href='B:480 11:23'>Mk. 11:23</a>). Therefore... it surely follows that our prayers have a direct effect upon the Angels. They throw mountains around because of our faithful prayer... Inevitably we see a connection with <a href='B:230 46:2'>Ps. 46:2</a>, which comforts us not to fear when mountains are cast into sea. Surely the point is that we shouldn't be scared when we perceive the awesomeness of the power of prayer and its influence upon Angels. It's all too easy to ask for things without perceiving how it would really be if that prayer were answered. We need to have specific and focused faith in what we ask for, realizing that legions of Angels are potentially able to operationalize what we ask for. See on <a href='B:290 6:7'>Is. 6:7</a>.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'><a href='B:300 51:25'>Jer. 51:25</a> calls Babylon a &quot;destroying mountain&quot; which is to be judged by fire to become &quot;a burnt mountain&quot;. The use of identical language in <a href='B:730 8:8'>Rev. 8:8</a> must make that passage have some reference to the fall of latter-day Babylon. &quot;Destroying mountain&quot; is the language of <a href='B:340 2:44'>Dan. 2:44</a> concerning the little stone destroying the image and growing into a mountain, symbolizing God’s Kingdom. <a href='B:300 51:20-231'>Jer. 51:20-23</a> stresses no less than nine times how 'Babylon' is to be &quot;broken in pieces&quot;, which is another connection with <a href='B:340 2:44'>Dan. 2:44</a> concerning the breaking in pieces of the nations who are confederate with 'Babylon', the head of gold. </p>


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<p>8:9&nbsp;<em>And there died the third part of the creatures (even they that had life) which were in the sea, and the third part of the ships were destroyed</em>- The connection is clearly with <em><a href='B:730 5:13'>Rev 5:13</a></em>, where the "creatures" s:w. in the sea all give glory to the Lamb enthroned. To get to that end point, the creatures in the sea who will not give Him glory must be judged. The seals, trumpets, vials and descriptions of the judgments upon the beast and whore can be read as being all aspects of the final judgment. But it could also be that the last judgment of the unbelieving world comes in stages. Here in the trumpets, a third of the sea creatures die; in <em><a href='B:730 16:3'>Rev 16:3</a></em>, the sea becomes as the blood of a dead corpse "and&nbsp;<em>every</em>&nbsp;living creature died in the sea". The same Greek word for "died" is used there as here in <em><a href='B:730 8:9'>Rev 8:9</a></em>. As commented previously, God gives warning of His final judgments, in the hope that men will learn from the condemnation of others and repent. We marvel at His patience, portrayed as it is throughout the various judgments we read of. Our human sense would be to simply liquidate the entire unbelieving, abusive system in one shot. But He works, with all the intricacies of the systems of seven interlocking, interrelated judgments, in order to try to elicit repentance at every turn. Truly, as Emil Brunner observed, "the wrath of God is the love of God". Even in His style of condemning wicked men and systems, we see shining through His urgent desire for human repentance and other, better outcomes. "The sea" is the area from which the beast arises (<em><a href='B:730 13:1'>Rev 13:1</a></em>). We can therefore interpret it as the power base of the beast- the nations and peoples within the land promised to Abraham. This would explain the repeated judgments upon the "sea" in Revelation. The emphasis given to "the ships" being judged would therefore speak of the mercantile activities within that area. The only other references in Revelation to "ships" are when we read that the ships associated with the Babylon-beast system are destroyed in her final judgment (<em><a href='B:730 18:17'>Rev 18:17</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 18:19'>Rev 18:19</a></em>). At the time of the trumpet judgments, only a third of them are destroyed- but finally, they are all destroyed. The destruction of a third of them is again a portent of the final total destruction- and is therefore an appeal for repentance. Likewise we read that this third part of shipping was "destroyed" but the word is found elsewhere in Revelation only when we read of the total 'destruction' of those who had destroyed the land (<em><a href='B:730 11:18'>Rev 11:18</a></em>).</p>


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<p>8:10&nbsp;<em>And the third angel blew his trumpet, and there fell from heaven a great star-</em>&nbsp;The Olivet prophecy speaks of the stars falling from Heaven (<em><a href='B:470 24:29'>Mat 24:29</a></em>), and the context begs us interpret this as referring to the collapse of the Israelite ruling system. The imagery can equally refer to the ruling system of any entity. It seems a specific star or leader is in view, and his fall will result in damage on the earth / land. A great star falling from Heaven to earth recalls Isaiah 14, the parable of the fall of the king of Babylon. And this surely looks forward to the last days. Stars represent rulers or leaders, and <em><a href='B:730 17:10'>Rev 17:10</a></em> speaks of how the five kings supporting the beast system ‘fall’ s:w:; here in the trumpets we have detail of the fall of at least two of them.</p><p><em>Burning as a torch</em>- This is the language of the earlier vision of the Heavenly throne room, where the seven lamps of fire burn before the throne (<em><a href='B:730 4:5'>Rev 4:5</a></em>). The implication is that this is a result of Angelic involvement in the judgment. But there is also a continuation of the theme that the beast kingdom is a fake kingdom of God. It has just been described as a “great mountain”, which is the language of&nbsp;<em>God’s</em>&nbsp;Kingdom. Perhaps the leader who falls will be known as the burning torch or lamp.</p><p><em>And it fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the fountains of the waters</em>- See on 8:8&nbsp;<em>burning with fire:&nbsp;</em>Such judgment on water courses is predicted in prophecies about latter day events in the land of Israel. “The mountains of Israel... Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers (R:V. “water courses”; the reference is to wadis) and to the valleys” (<em><a href='B:330 6:3'>Eze 6:3</a></em>). <em><a href='B:330 36:4'>Eze 36:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 36:6'>Eze 36:6</a></em> uses identical language about the land of Israel, again in a latter day context. Before the Assyrian invasion, typical of the latter day desolation of Israel, <em><a href='B:360 1:20'>Joe 1:20</a></em> records that “the rivers of waters are dried up".</p><p>The Koran and Hadith speak hundreds of times of paradise as being a place of rivers and fountains of waters. The contrast is with the&nbsp;<em>living</em>&nbsp;“fountains of waters” which the repentant 144,000 come to (<em><a href='B:730 7:17'>Rev 7:17</a></em>). The “fountains of waters” of the beast system are turned to blood and dried up in the various judgments brought upon them. They are&nbsp;<em>dead</em>. The Muslim concept of paradise will be destroyed and inverted. In seeking to establish a caliphate in the land promised to Abraham, with Jerusalem as its capital and the temple mount as its central point of worship, radical Islam is seeking to establish a fake, imitation Kingdom of God- just as Assyria offered Judah a land where each would sit under their own vine and fig tree, appropriating the language of&nbsp;<em>God’s</em>&nbsp;Kingdom to their own. Whilst there may be a literal element to these judgments upon the waters, I suspect that the judgment must be understood in terms of the Islamic conception of paradise.</p>


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<p>8:11&nbsp;<em>And the name of the star is called Wormwood</em>- This is Old Testament imagery for the bitterness of Israel’s judgment at the hand of their neighbours, especially Babylon at the fall of Jerusalem: “Behold I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. I will scatter them also among the nations” (<em><a href='B:300 9:15-16'>Jer 9:15-16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:310 3:15'>Lam 3:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:310 3:19'>Lam 3:19</a></em>). “Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land” (<em><a href='B:300 23:15'>Jer 23:15</a></em> cp. <em><a href='B:300 6:26'>Jer 6:26</a></em>). The allusion is also to Numbers 5, the trial of the bitter waters of jealousy, for the woman who has been unfaithful to her husband. And that woman is clearly enough representative of Israel, according to many Old Testament allusions.</p><p>Sura 37:62 of the Koran speaks of a similar plant that Muslims believe is the food of dwellers of Hell-fire, part of the diet of&nbsp;<em>Adh-Dhari</em>, bitter fruit, which intensifies their torment (Sura 69:36,37). The similarities with the Koran could suggest that the victims of these judgments will be subjected to an Islamic judgment of condemnation, i:e. ministered by Islam. Or the hint could be that the self-righteous jihadists will understand that they are being condemned, they will feel their condemnation in terms they understand.</p><p><em>And one third of the waters became bitter-tasting; and many men died because the waters were made so bitter-&nbsp;</em>The parallel is between the waters ‘becoming wormwood’ and the waters being “made bitter”. There may not be too much significance in the term “wormwood”, rather is the idea being developed of a curse and bitterness. The judgments of the trumpets are partly upon those in Israel who didn’t repent during the seals, and thus weren’t sealed in chapter 7; and partly upon their desolators, or others within the land promised to Abraham. The language of bitter waters obviously alludes to Israel’s experience at Marah in <em><a href='B:20 15:23'>Exo 15:23</a></em>. The bitter waters were cured by a tree being cut down and cast into the water. This clearly looked ahead to the tree of the Lord’s crucifixion, through which the bitter waters were made sweet. The unbelieving Israelites were tested / tried at the bitter waters (<em><a href='B:20 15:25'>Exo 15:25</a></em>). We could reasonably infer that the way only a third of the waters were made bitter is a hint that this partial judgment is intended to lead Israel to repentance, and to acceptance of the tree / cross of the Christ whom they crucified. Again we marvel at God’s ever saving intention, ever desiring human repentance and salvation. After leaving Marah, and learning the lesson of the tree, Israel came to Elim, where there were “fountains of living water” (<em><a href='B:40 33:9'>Num 33:9</a></em>). The contrast between bitter water and living water is only really found here in <em><a href='B:730 8:10'>Rev 8:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 7:17'>Rev 7:17</a></em>, where the repentant 144,000 come to living fountains of waters. Those who don’t accept the crucified Christ have the bitter waters of Marah, from which they will not move on to Elim.</p>


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<p>8:12- see on <em><a href='B:730 18:8'>Rev 18:8</a></em>.</p><p><em>And the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck and a third of the moon and a third of the stars-&nbsp;</em>The darkening of a third of the stars and a third of the sun and moon is very much the picture in <em><a href='B:730 12:4'>Rev 12:4</a></em>, where a third of the stars fall to earth. The picture of a part of the heavens falling is exactly how the Koran envisages the last day judgment of apostates- “A fragment of the heaven falling” (Sura 52:44). The judgment they envisage upon others will come upon them, and it will be articulated in terms appropriate to their cultural understanding. This, I suggest, is the significance of the similarities between the Biblical pictures of the latter day judgments, and the wording of the Koran and Hadith.</p><p>Harry Whittaker sums up the various usages of sun, moon and stars as symbols of Israel: “(a) Joseph’s dream, where sun, moon and stars stand for his father, mother and brethren,&nbsp;<em>i:e:&nbsp;</em>the whole family of Israel.<br/>(b) <em><a href='B:730 12:1'>Rev 12:1</a></em>. The woman clothed with the sun and with the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars similarly represents the nation of Israel. From this starting point the chapter yields a coherent and highly relevant interpretation (ch. 27).<br/>(c) <em><a href='B:10 22:17'>Gen 22:17</a></em>: “I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven."<br/>(d) <em><a href='B:300 31:36'>Jer 31:36</a></em>: “If those ordinances (sun, moon and stars; v. 35) depart from before Me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me forever."<br/>(e) <em><a href='B:360 2:10'>Joe 2:10</a></em>: “The sun and moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining” - the final invasion of Israel in the Last Days (cp. ch. <em><a href='B:360 3:15'>Joe 3:15</a></em>).<br/>(f) <em><a href='B:340 8:10'>Dan 8:10</a></em>: “The little horn waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them."<br/>(g) <em><a href='B:370 8:9'>Amo 8:9</a></em>: “I will cause the sun to go down at noon” is coupled with: “I will turn your feasts into mourning."<br/>(h) <em><a href='B:490 23:45'>Luk 23:45</a></em>: “And the sun was darkened and the veil of the temple rent in the midst." Strange conjunction of phenomena in one verse except it is that both are symbolic of the same thing - the end of the Mosaic economy”.</p><p>They are "struck", using the same word as is used in the LXX of the smiting of Israel by the Assyrians (<em><a href='B:290 1:5'>Isa 1:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 9:13'>Isa 9:13</a></em>), who represent Israel's latter day invaders:&nbsp;</p><p><em>This meant that the third part of them were darkened; and the day would not shine for the third part of it, and the night in like manner</em>- Darkness coming upon the earth is the presage of a new creation (<em><a href='B:10 1:2'>Gen 1:2</a></em>). The Old Testament prophets use the metaphor about the latter day invader of Israel bringing darkness upon the land (<em><a href='B:290 8:22'>Isa 8:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:370 4:13'>Amo 4:13</a></em>), but that darkness is the necessary precursor for the Lord arising in glory upon the land (<em><a href='B:290 60:2'>Isa 60:2</a></em>). This language of a darkened earth is therefore the signal that we should expect imminently the active manifestation of God, through the return of His Son. These events therefore specifically reference the time of the immediate return of Christ. The unnatural eclipse of heavenly bodies recalls the period of darkness at the crucifixion. As so often in Revelation, the message is that the sufferings of the last days will enable people to identify with the crucifixion sufferings of Christ, and through that identification with Him to come to share in His resurrection. The essence of this means to salvation in Christ has gone on throughout the lives of all the Lord's people, at whatever time they have lived. However, the victims of the trumpet judgments are those who did not respond to those of the six seals. We again draw our breath in marvel at how the Lord will even seek with those stubborn people to bring them to identity with Him. Note that many of these judgments are a reversal of creation- for God initially made the sun, moon and stars to shine upon the earth (<em><a href='B:10 1:15'>Gen 1:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 1:17'>Gen 1:17</a></em> s:w. LXX).</p>


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<p>8:13<em>&nbsp;And I saw and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with a great voice-&nbsp;</em>According to Vine, "It means, properly, the meridian, the highest point in the heavens which the sun occupies at noon; not the space between heaven and earth". The appeal from the place of the sun at its zenith surely speaks of the Lord Jesus:&nbsp;<em>En</em>(AV "through") would be better translated "at", with reference to this specific point. The warning that the next three Angels have very serious judgments to declare must serve some kind of function. It may be to give the impression that these judgments are not to be understood in chronological sequence; they are known before they are pronounced. Or perhaps the declaration is made because, yet again, it is an appeal to repentance.</p><p><em>Woe, woe, woe</em>- This can be read as an invitation to weeping; the weeping of repentance. There is still just about time for repentance, even from those who have turned down the appeals of the six seals. The Muslim jihadists believe they are to pronounce woe upon the enemies in the last hour: "When a decisive surah is revealed and war is mentioned therein... Therefore woe unto them" (Sura 47:20). The trumpets speak of judgments which are to come on both the beast and the impenitent Jews. But the judgments are brought about by the Moslem beast itself, which is exactly how God’s enemies have met their end in history- by destroying themselves. <em><a href='B:730 17:16'>Rev 17:16</a></em> speaks of how the horns of the beast destroy the beast. So the bringing of "Woe" upon those in the land is what the jihadists are preparing to do.</p><p><em>For those who dwell on the earth</em>- This talk of “inhabitants” seems rather redundant; until we realize that the reference is likely to those who have but recently invaded the land promised to Abraham, grabbed the wealth of the Jews and are now ‘inhabiting’ it as their own land.</p><p><em>By reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, who are yet to sound</em>- But only two of the woe trumpets appear to be sounded (<em><a href='B:730 9:12'>Rev 9:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 11:14'>Rev 11:14</a></em>). This recalls how there is no seventh seal either- just a pointed silence in Heaven, instead of an expected outpouring of calamity (see on :1). And now it seems there is no seventh trumpet either. This may be because we are intended to see ‘the end’, the final establishment of the Kingdom, as the seventh trumpet and seventh seal. But the seals and trumpets are of calamities happening to the land and people, not blessings. It could well be that God planned a final calamity which will not happen, just as the seven thunders are prepared but not recorded. His grace and pity may make Him relent; or quite simply the prayers of the faithful for ‘the end’ are powerful in bringing about some measure of shortening of His work. The Old Testament parallel would be in Joseph apparently cutting short the more extended program of education which He had intended for his brothers.</p>


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<p>9:1<em>&nbsp;And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star from heaven fall to the earth-&nbsp;&nbsp;</em>If the physical movement of Angels from Heaven to earth to perform certain tasks can be taken literally, <em><a href='B:730 9:1'>Rev 9:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 9:11'>Rev 9:11</a></em> and certain other&nbsp;passages taken on a more literal slant: "I saw a star (symbolic of an Angel) fall from Heaven unto the earth: and to Him was given the key of the bottomless pit. . . the Angel of the bottomless pit" (<em><a href='B:730 9:1'>Rev 9:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 9:11'>Rev 9:11</a></em>). It seems that great stress is placed in Scripture on the Angels physically moving through space, both on the earth and between Heaven and earth, in order to fulfil their tasks, rather than being static in Heaven or earth and bringing things about by just willing them to happen. See on <em><a href='B:10 18:10'>Gen 18:10</a></em>.</p><p><em>And there was given to him the key to the pit of the abyss</em>- The key to death and the grave is in Christ's hand (<em><a href='B:730 1:18'>Rev 1:18</a></em>). This person is therefore an anti-Christ. We note how the locusts who are released from it are specifically obedient to their king-leader (<em><a href='B:730 9:4'>Rev 9:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 9:11'>Rev 9:11</a></em>). The idea of course is that if you're thrown into a bottomless pit "abyss" which is locked, there's no way you can ever get out of it. But locusts, representing the desolators of the land, do arise out of it. The figure is similar to that of receiving a deadly wound, a wound that makes one die, and then resurrecting. This is what is said of the beast and its horn (<em><a href='B:730 13:3'>Rev 13:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 13:12'>Rev 13:12</a></em>). The locusts are connected to that entity. We should be looking, therefore, for the entity which will finally dominate Israel to receive a wound which apparently makes it dead. This could be from Western and / or Israeli intervention against them. There would then be a brief period of worldwide relief- the "peace and safety" period of 1 Thessalonians 5. But the entity then revives. This scenario is possible as we see from the Western conflict against the Islamic jihadists.</p><p>So many of Revelation’s allusions to the Old Testament are to material specifically concerning Jerusalem. One could almost argue that the prophecy could have a specific application to the latter day city of Jerusalem. The language of the bottomless pit likewise has specific reference to Jerusalem: “In the floor of the small cave (measuring about 14 feet square with a six foot ceiling) under the great foundation stone in the Dome of the Rock is round marble slab closing a well shaft known as "the well of the souls" (Bir al Arwah) … A Muslim tradition holds this is the entrance into the bottomless pit, the abyss. The souls of the dead awaiting judgment are said to be audible beneath. The Talmud claims that this is the abyss above the primeval waters of creation and of the Flood” Lambert Dolphin,&nbsp;<em>Early History of the Temple Mount</em>.</p><p>The language used here is specifically relevant to latter day Islam. Mawdudi writes of how Muhammed and his message came out of “Arabia- the Abyss of Darkness” (Abul A’la Mawdudi,&nbsp;<em>Towards Understanding Islam</em>, 8th ed. (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: National Offset Printing Press, 1986), p:63).</p>


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<p>9:2&nbsp;<em>And he opened the pit of the abyss and smoke went out of the pit</em>- This is the same figure used in <em><a href='B:730 14:11'>Rev 14:11</a></em> for the destruction of the beast worshippers. But here it speaks of what they did to deserve that destruction- their actions against Israel and the land promised to Abraham is the grounds for their condemnation:&nbsp; The Hadith mentions smoke as one of the ten signs that the last day is coming: "Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) came to us all of a sudden as we were (busy in a discussion). He said: What do you discuss about? They (the Companions) said. We are discussing about the Last Hour. Thereupon he said: It will not come until you see ten signs before and (in this connection) he made a mention of the smoke, Dajjal Antichrist, the beast, the rising of the sun from the west, the descent of Jesus son of Mary (Allah be pleased with him), the Gog and Magog, and landslidings in three places, one in the east, one in the west and one in Arabia at the end of which fire would burn forth from the Yemen, and would drive people to the place of their assembly" (Book 41:6931). Again, we see the crisis in the land in the last days foretold in terms which Moslems will relate to. Sura 44 of the Koran is entitled&nbsp;<em>Al-Dukhan</em>, ‘The Smoke’. It speaks of how painful smoke will be the punishment of God’s enemies in the last days: “But watch thou O Muhammad for the day when the sky will produce visible smoke that will envelop the people. This will be a painful torment. Then they will say: Our Lord relieve us of the torment” (Sura 44:10-12). It could be that jihadists bring smoke upon others in an attempt to judge them according to Islam. And they will be judged likewise, drinking the cup they made others to drink. This means that they will be judged as apostates within their own frames of reference.</p><p><em>Like the smoke of a great furnace</em>- See on <em><a href='B:730 8:7'>Rev 8:7</a></em>. The language of Sodom (<em><a href='B:10 19:28'>Gen 19:28</a></em>) and Egypt. Both these places are used to describe Jerusalem under domination of her enemies as the place of particular suffering for God’s people (<em><a href='B:730 11:8'>Rev 11:8</a></em>).</p><p>The invading hordes come out of the bottomless pit- both the locusts (:3) and the beast arise from here (<em><a href='B:730 9:1'>Rev 9:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 11:7'>Rev 11:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 17:8'>Rev 17:8</a></em>). They come up out of the "bottomless pit", the abyss, the "great furnace" (<em><a href='B:730 9:2'>Rev 9:2</a></em>). But the beast arises out of&nbsp;<em>the land</em>&nbsp;promised to Abraham in <em><a href='B:730 13:2'>Rev 13:2</a></em>. We can therefore understand the bottomless pit and great furnace as being within the land promised to Abraham. The locusts of <em><a href='B:360 2:3'>Joe 2:3</a></em> are pictured as coming upon Israel as if it is the garden of Eden, and leaving it as a desolate wilderness. This could connect with the revival of the land of Israel since 1948 as the garden of Eden (<em><a href='B:330 36:35'>Eze 36:35</a></em>); or it could be that Eden is the same as the land promised to Abraham. <em><a href='B:290 31:9'>Isa 31:9</a></em> speaks of Jerusalem surrounded by the Assyrians as a furnace. Judah's captivity in Babylon was as it were in a furnace of affliction (<em><a href='B:290 48:10'>Isa 48:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 22:18'>Eze 22:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 22:20'>Eze 22:20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 22:22'>Eze 22:22</a></em>). The deliverance of the faithful Jews from the furnace in <em><a href='B:340 3:6'>Dan 3:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:340 3:11'>Dan 3:11</a></em> was an acted parable of Judah's deliverance from captivity in Babylon / Persia and her empire- throughout the land promised to Abraham. And yet in <em><a href='B:730 20:3'>Rev 20:3</a></em>, the beast is again cast into the bottomless pit, clearly representing condemnation and judgment. So it would seem that the judgment upon the beast / locusts occurs several times- they are condemned / judged and put in the bottomless pit, and then released, and then placed there again. This probably speaks of various stages in the judgment upon them. But it would be foolhardy to try to work out an exact chronology ahead of time.</p><p><em>And the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit</em>- Israel's extremist neighbours will not think twice about using nuclear weaponry against her, and one wonders therefore whether this will have a literal dimension. The sun is spoken of as being darkened by the smoke. But the sun itself would not be darkened; that is presented here as it appears from the standpoint of an observer on earth. So often the Bible is written this way, from the Genesis account of creation to the language of demons in the New Testament. Failure to appreciate this leads to wrong interpretation. The darkening of the sun is another connection with the account of the Lord's crucifixion (s:w. <em><a href='B:490 23:45'>Luk 23:45</a></em>), the point being that the tribulation&nbsp;of the last days will connect the saints with His sufferings; and having suffered with Him, that generation shall live eternally with Him. It is also a quotation from the Olivet prophecy (<em><a href='B:470 24:29'>Mat 24:29</a></em>). This again confirms that we are reading of things to happen in the very last days, before the Lord's return- and not at some point between centuries before that. The darkening of the sun is the very figure used for the latter day suffering of Israel at the hands of her invaders (<em><a href='B:360 3:15'>Joe 3:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 24:29'>Mat 24:29</a></em>).</p>


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<p>9:3&nbsp;<em>And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power</em>- The locusts of the fifth trumpet act in a very un-locust-like way. Unlike real locusts, they have a king. And, astonishing to relate, they are forbidden to touch grass or any vegetation Once again the instruction seems to be: "Hurt not the earth, nor the trees"- only on this occasion it is given to locusts:&nbsp;<em>Akrab</em>&nbsp;being the Hebrew for scorpion, we may be justified in seeing here an allusion to the word 'Arab', the likely ethnicity of many of the boots on the ground of the last days. :3 The connection between these specific locusts and their place of origin is in line with how the Bible uses plant and animal imagery. "The prophets, when they used symbolical language to denote any events, commonly, at least, employed those which had a local or geographical reference; thus, in the symbols derived from the vegetable kingdom, when Judah is to be symbolized, the olive, the vine, and the fig-tree are selected; when Egypt is referred to, the reed is chosen; when Babylon, the willow. And so, in the animal kingdom, the lion is the symbol of Judah; the wild ass, of the Arabs; the crocodile, of Egypt, etc." (Elliott,&nbsp;<em>Horae Apoc</em>. i. 394-406):&nbsp; Being consumed by locusts was one of the punishments upon Israel for their disobedience (<em><a href='B:50 28:38'>Deu 28:38</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 28:42'>Deu 28:42</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 78:46'>Psa 78:46</a></em>; <em><a href='B:360 1:2'>Joe 1:2</a></em>). Again, we are to understand this language as specifically applying to Israel.</p><p>The parallels between Joel and Revelation 8, 9 are certainly impressive.</p><table><tr><td></p><p><em>&nbsp;</em></td><td><em>&nbsp;</em></td><td><em>&nbsp;</em></td><td><em>Joel</em></td><td><em>Revelation</em></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>1</td><td>Locusts.</td><td><em><a href='B:360 1:4'>Joe 1:4</a></em></td><td><em><a href='B:730 9:3'>Rev 9:3</a></em>.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>2</td><td>Symbolic of a nation.</td><td><em><a href='B:360 1:6'>Joe 1:6</a></em>.</td><td><em><a href='B:730 9:4'>Rev 9:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 9:7'>Rev 9:7</a></em>.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>3</td><td>Teeth like lions.</td><td><em><a href='B:360 1:6'>Joe 1:6</a></em>.</td><td><em><a href='B:730 9:8'>Rev 9:8</a></em>.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>4</td><td>Trees and pasture withered and burnt up.</td><td><em><a href='B:360 1:12'>Joe 1:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:360 1:18-20'>Joe 1:18-20</a></em>.</td><td><em><a href='B:730 8:7'>Rev 8:7</a></em>.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>5</td><td>Destruction from the Almighty.</td><td><em><a href='B:360 1:15'>Joe 1:15</a></em>.</td><td><em><a href='B:730 9:11'>Rev 9:11</a></em>.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>6</td><td>Fire.</td><td><em><a href='B:360 1:19'>Joe 1:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:360 2:3'>Joe 2:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:360 2:5'>Joe 2:5</a></em>.</td><td><em><a href='B:730 8:7'>Rev 8:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 9:17'>Rev 9:17</a></em>.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>7</td><td>Rivers of waters dried up.</td><td><em><a href='B:360 1:20'>Joe 1:20</a></em>.</td><td><em><a href='B:730 8:10'>Rev 8:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 9:14'>Rev 9:14</a></em></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>8</td><td>Blowing of trumpets.</td><td><em><a href='B:360 2:1'>Joe 2:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:360 2:11'>Joe 2:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:360 2:15'>Joe 2:15</a></em>.</td><td><em><a href='B:730 8:6'>Rev 8:6</a></em>.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>9</td><td>Darkness.</td><td><em><a href='B:360 2:2'>Joe 2:2</a></em>.</td><td><em><a href='B:730 9:2'>Rev 9:2</a></em>.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>10.</td><td>Horses.</td><td><em><a href='B:360 2:4'>Joe 2:4</a></em>.</td><td><em><a href='B:730 9:7'>Rev 9:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 9:9'>Rev 9:9</a></em>.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>11.</td><td>Chariots.</td><td><em><a href='B:360 2:5'>Joe 2:5</a></em>.</td><td><em><a href='B:730 9:9'>Rev 9:9</a></em>.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>12.</td><td>Torment.</td><td><em><a href='B:360 2:6'>Joe 2:6</a></em>.</td><td><em><a href='B:730 9:6'>Rev 9:6</a></em>.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>13.</td><td>Earthquake.</td><td><em><a href='B:360 2:10'>Joe 2:10</a></em>.</td><td><em><a href='B:730 8:5'>Rev 8:5</a></em>.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>14.</td><td>Sun, moon, and stars darkened.</td><td><em><a href='B:360 2:10'>Joe 2:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:360 2:31'>Joe 2:31</a></em>; <em><a href='B:360 3:15'>Joe 3:15</a></em>.</td><td><em><a href='B:730 8:12'>Rev 8:12</a></em>, <em><a href='B:730 9:2'>Rev 9:2</a></em>.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>15.</td><td>“Turn to me ... “</td><td><em><a href='B:360 2:12'>Joe 2:12</a></em>.</td><td><em><a href='B:730 9:20-21'>Rev 9:20-21</a></em>.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>16.</td><td>The locust army goes back into the abyss.</td><td><em><a href='B:360 2:20'>Joe 2:20</a></em>.</td><td><em><a href='B:730 9:1'>Rev 9:1</a></em>.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>17.</td><td>Deliverance for the faithful remnant.</td><td><em><a href='B:360 2:32'>Joe 2:32</a></em>.</td><td><em><a href='B:730 9:4'>Rev 9:4</a></em>.</td><td></td></tr></table><p>Locusts in Joel<br/>Joel's prophecy is full of reference to the army of locust-horses which invade Israel in conjunction with the Palestinians (<em><a href='B:360 3:4'>Joe 3:4</a></em>), resulting in the repentance of a remnant who stand on Mount Zion (<em><a href='B:360 2:32'>Joe 2:32</a></em>), the destruction of the northern invader another term for the locust army after their holy war jihad, <em><a href='B:360 3:9'>Joe 3:9</a></em>, and then the final establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth. He describes the invading army in Joel 2 in terms of a locust swarm, and they come to their end as locust swarms often do in Israel- in the Dead Sea and Mediterranean. In more detail, <em><a href='B:360 3:2'>Joe 3:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:360 3:12'>Joe 3:12</a></em> speaks of a final conflict in the valley of Jehoshaphat, when the Gentiles "round about" Israel are gathered together and judged- spoken of in Revelation 16 as the battle of Armageddon (which likewise is primarily concerning the peoples "round about" Israel rather than the whole planet). The degree of damage done to the land and people of Israel was limitable- if Judah repented. Hence the frequent appeals for repentance. This prophecy could have had potential fulfilment in the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions of Judah; but the prophecy is alluded to in Revelation and in other latter day prophecies, as if it has specific and complete fulfilment in the last days. The overall context is exactly as presented in Revelation- the seal judgments appeal for Israel's repentance, the minority who respond are the symbolic 144,000 who stand on mount Zion; and then there are the trumpet and vial judgments, which are full of allusion back to Joel. The frequent appeals for repentance mention the possibility that the program of judgment and desolation can be limited- if Judah repent. And finally, Joel speaks of the establishment of God’s Kingdom and physical restoration of the decimated land, into the wonder of God’s Kingdom on earth at Christ's return. Joel opens by saying that the destruction of the land he was burdened to portray had no parallel in the past, and the Jews would tell their children of it and the account of it would be passed down throughout future history (<em><a href='B:360 1:2-3'>Joe 1:2-3</a></em>). This is another way of saying that this prophecy is about a time of trouble for Israel such as never was, and never will be in the future. And that is precisely the language of the Lord Jesus, Jeremiah and Daniel about the latter day tribulation of Israel:&nbsp;<br/>&nbsp;<br/>The Arabs and Muhammed have a unique connection to the locust: “In the Bedoween romance Antar, the locust is introduced as the national emblem of the Ishmaelites. And it is a remarkable coincidence that Muslim tradition speaks of locusts having dropped into the hands of Muhammed, bearing on their wings this inscription – ‘We are the army of the Great God:’” (Albert Barnes,&nbsp;<em>Barnes’ Notes on the Bible</em>, Vol. 18).</p>


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<p>9:4&nbsp;<em>And it was said to them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree</em>- There are many allusions in this section to the anatomy and style of the locust; the highlighted difference here with locusts who usually eat up the grass is therefore intentional. The people represented by the locusts were therefore going to be made to act uncharacteristically due to the charismatic individual controlling them. The reason for this is because these locusts have a king- which, again, locusts typically do not (see on&nbsp;<em>king over them</em>). And locusts eat grass and green things; but these locusts are commanded by God's word not to do what is natural to them. We have a simple lesson there as to the power of God's word, to make men do what is against their natural inclination and wiring. That word is as powerful in our lives. This is the force of the simple statement that "It was said to them that they should not hurt the grass....". This is how alcoholics stop drinking, and how small minded secular houseproud town mice are converted into loving, passionate Christ followers.  </p><p>Keil in his commentary on Joel 2 describes the geographical origins of the locusts which descend upon Israel: "Swarms of locusts come from south, west, north, and east. Their home is not confined to the desert of Arabia, but they are found in all the sandy deserts, which form the southern boundaries of the lands that were, and to some extent still are, the seat of cultivation, viz:, in the Sahara, the Libyan desert, Arabia, and Iraq; and Niebuhr saw a large tract of land, on the road from Mosul to Nisibis, completely covered with young locusts. They are also met with in the Syrian desert, from which swarms could easily be driven to Palestine by a north-east wind... Such a swarm as this might be called the&nbsp;<em>tsephoni¯</em>, i:e:, the northern one, or northerner <em><a href='B:360 2:20'>Joe 2:20</a></em>, even if the north was not its true home". These are the very areas from where jihadist fighters are emerging in their tens of thousands, and uniting together to establish an Islamic state and destroy Israel. This geographical connection cannot be merely coincidental</p><p>Concerning trees and vegetation, the Koran says: “When you fight the battles of the Lord… destroy no palm trees, nor burn any fields of grain. Cut down no fruit trees…” (Quoted in Barnes,&nbsp;<em>op. cit</em>).</p><p>Albert Barnes makes the following commentary upon the statement that the locusts would be commanded to not harm the grass: “The often-quoted order of the Caliph Aboubekir, the father-in-law and successor of Muhammed, issued to the Saracen hordes on their invasion of Syria, shows what was understood to be the spirit of their religion: “Remember that you are always in the presence of God, on the verge of death, in the assurance of judgment, and the hope of paradise. Avoid injustice and oppression; consult with your brethren, and study to preserve the love and confidence of your troops. When you fight the battles of the Lord, acquit yourselves like men, without turning your backs; but let not the victory be stained with the blood of women or children. Destroy no palm-trees, nor burn any fields of grain. Cut down no fruit-trees, nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill to eat. When you make any covenant or article, stand to it, and be as good as your word. As you go on, you will find some religious persons who live retired in monasteries, and propose to themselves to serve God in that way; let them alone, and neither kill them (‘and to them it was given that they should not kill them,’ ver 5), nor destroy their monasteries,” etc. (Gibbon, iii. 417, 418). So Mr. Gibbon notices this precept of the Koran: “In the siege of Tayaf,” says he, “sixty miles from Mecca, Muhammed violated his own laws by the extirpation of the fruit-trees,” ii. 392. The same order existed among the Hebrews, and it is not improbable that Muhammed derived his precept from the command of Moses&nbsp; <em><a href='B:50 20:19'>Deu 20:19</a></em>, though what was mercy among the Hebrews was probably mere policy with him. This precept is the more remarkable because it has been the usual custom in war, and particularly among barbarians and semi-barbarians, to destroy grain and fruit, and especially to cut down fruit-trees, in order to do greater injury to an enemy”.</p><p><em>But only such men as do not have the seal of God on their foreheads</em>- They also don't have His seal. So perhaps we are intended to read in an ellipsis: 'Have not received the seal of God'. The idea would then be that those who have not responded to the appeal to repent (as a result of the seal judgments) are targetted.</p><p>Job is being shown to represent "those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads" (<em><a href='B:730 9:4'>Rev 9:4</a></em>). The idea of sealing is associated with being justified by faith rather than by the Law in <em><a href='B:520 4:11'>Rom 4:11</a></em>. If "the earth" in Revelation 9 is read as "the land" and the chapter given a Jewish interpretation, the allusions to Job as representative of unsealed Jewry still depending on the Law become even more relevant. Note the clear connections between Revelation 9 and Job:&nbsp;</p><table><tr><td></p><p><em><a href='B:730 9:5-11'>Rev 9:5-11</a></em></td><td>Job</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>:5 "To them it was given that they&nbsp;should not kill them, but that&nbsp;they should be tormented"</td><td>Satan could not kill Job, but was given power to torment him.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>:6 "Men (shall) seek death, and&nbsp;shall not find it; and shall&nbsp;desire to die, and death shall&nbsp;flee from them" .</td><td>Job said he was one of them "which long&nbsp;for death, but it comes not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures" (<em><a href='B:220 3:21-22'>Job 3:21-22</a></em>)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>The marauding Saracen bands&nbsp;</td><td>The Sabean bands</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>:11 "A king over them, which is&nbsp;the Angel:."</td><td>The satan/Angel of Job?</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>:11 "A king... Abaddon... Apollyon" ('Destroyer'):&nbsp;</td><td>"The king of terrors" attacking Job's tents (<em><a href='B:220 18:14'>Job 18:14</a></em>)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>:11 "The bottomless pit" &nbsp;</td><td>"Hell is naked before Him, and&nbsp;destruction (cp. 'Abaddon') has no covering" (<em><a href='B:220 26:6'>Job 26:6</a></em>).</td><td></td></tr></table>


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<p>9:5<em>&nbsp;They were told</em>- AV "It was given". We are surely to read in the ellipsis, that a commandment was given to them. And it is jihadist Islam which forbids damaging trees and plants during military campaigns. Or it could be that the idea is that these jihadists are actually 'told' something by God indirectly communicating with them.</p><p><em>That they should not kill them</em>- As locusts don't usually cause death but rather suffering.</p><p><em>But that they should be tormented</em>- The same word used about Babylon (<em><a href='B:730 18:7'>Rev 18:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 18:10'>Rev 18:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 18:15'>Rev 18:15</a></em>) and the beast worshippers being "tormented" (<em><a href='B:730 14:10'>Rev 14:10</a></em>). The language of torment is not, therefore, reflective of an angry God being mean to sinners. Rather will they drink the cup they gave others to drink.</p><p><em>Five months</em>- It could be argued that the book of Revelation will 'come alive' during the three-and-a-half-year tribulation in the land, and it's possible that this is a literal period. In any case, it is based around the fact that the season for locusts is five months, from May to September. Five months is their lifespan, so the idea may be that at the end of it they too will come to their end. Always in Revelation there is the simple message that even the most awful suffering must at some point come to an end- and the tormentors are time limited, and shall meet their eternal end. </p><p>The locusts / scorpions judge the people in the land for five months (<em><a href='B:730 9:5'>Rev 9:5</a></em>)- part of the three and a half year tribulation period. When it happens, it will all be clear enough. But for now, the point is that these locust / scorpion hordes, the beast, are restrained and yet then released, to come and destroy the unbelievers in the land / earth promised to Abraham; see on :14,15. It is this restraint which we are now seeing released, as the hordes develop and begin to gush forth from the Euphrates. The AD70 fulfilment could have been in the terrible suffering of the people of Jerusalem for 5 months from May-September AD70. That is exactly the typical life period of locust swarms, between May and September. This period is specifically mentioned by Josephus. The scorpions would then refer to the poisoned arrows used by the Romans during the siege of Jerusalem. 'Scorpion' was a term used for the archers who shot them. But the fulfilment is shadowy, because not all elements of the prophecy here had a clear fulfilment at the time. But that is typical of primary fulfilments of prophecy. The wider fulfilment was possible, but various preconditions were not met [e.g. the repentance of Israel, the spread of the Gospel to the Gentile world]. And so we are left with a partial fulfilment, looking ahead to the total fulfilment at the last times.  </p><p><em>Their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man</em>- See on :3. There are many links between the trumpets, seals and the Olivet prophecy; and also many links with Josephus' descriptions of what came upon Palestine in AD66-70- e.g. 9:5 "inwardly tormented" Gk:&nbsp;<em>ebasanizonto</em>&nbsp;is used in Josephus (<em>Wars</em>&nbsp;5:1:5).</p>


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<p>9:6&nbsp;<em>And in those days men shall seek death and shall in no way find it, and they shall desire to die and death will flee from them</em>- Whatever the historical fulfilments, this will be the situation of all those who face God's final judgment at the last day. Those who in that day will "seek death" are those whose behaviour in this life was effectively a seeking of death (<em><a href='B:240 21:6'>Pro 21:6</a></em>). They were and are living out the condemnation experience right now. See on <em><a href='B:530 10:13'>1Co 10:13</a></em>. In the latter day application, the Koran in Sura 75:10,11 speaks in similar terms of the final judgment of the condemned: "On that day man will cry: Whither to flee Alas No refuge". Islamists will therefore seek to do this to the Jews whom they believe it is their duty to condemn, and in turn they will drink the same cup, seeking death but not finding it.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'>And the shapes of the locusts were like horses- Clearly the locusts represent fighters charging to war. The Arab Bedouin call locusts Farras el Jundy, 'soldiers' horses'. The description of these horsemen from the East accurately fits the Parthians, who were massed to the East of the Roman empire. There was much angst amongst the Romans of the first century as to whether the Parthians would invade; they did not. But the similarity is explained if we accept that Revelation is open to many possible fulfilments. It could have all happened in the first century, and God moved the players into place. But due to human failure, the whole scenario was delayed to our last days.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>&quot;Like unto&quot; continues the idea that John is seeing in outline form something he finds hard to describe, and he keeps likening the vision to things he is familiar with. Hence &quot;As…as… like unto… as it were&quot;. This is understandable if he saw modern military hardware.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Prepared for war- This is the process we see ongoing around us. The Joel allusions encourage us to see this as <a href='B:360 3:9'>Joel 3:9</a>: &quot;Prepare war, wake up the might men&quot;. The gathering of thousands of fighters to support an Islamic State in the land promised to Abraham is surely the fulfilment of this.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>And upon their heads as if crowns of gold, and their faces were as men's faces- The stephanos may suggest they are victorious, for a brief period, over the land. But John saw their appearance like this. Turbans as worn by Moslems today were not used in his day. If he saw, as I suggest, hordes of latter day Moslems streaming into Israel to proclaim a radical Islamic state, then this is how he would've described them- wearing something like a stephanos. The Greek literally means something wrapped around the head. This is the picture of Moslem turbans and jihadist headgear. The Hadith records Mohammed as saying &quot;And turbans are the crowns of Arabs&quot;. &quot;Like gold&quot; means he saw a yellow colour. Perhaps this group of jihadists will have yellow headgear or turbans? According to Suyuti's Commentary on the Koran, there are Hadith which make this association: &quot;Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr: The latter was wearing a yellow turban on the day of Badr, so the angels descended wearing yellow turbans... the Prophet himself came wearing a yellow turban... The day of Badr the angels came down on piebald horses, wearing yellow turbans&quot; .</p>


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<p>9:8&nbsp;<em>And they had hair as the hair of women-&nbsp;</em>The long hair of the jihadist fighters.</p><p><em>And their teeth were like that of lions</em>- The quotation from <em><a href='B:360 1:6'>Joe 1:6</a></em> means that these forces will be a latter day Babylon or Assyria invading Israel. Lions are a common OT symbol of Babylon-Assyria, the historical prototype of Israel's latter day invader.</p>


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<p>9:9<em>&nbsp;And they had breastplates, like breastplates of iron</em>&nbsp;- Another allusion to how the locust has a firm and hard cuticle on the forepart of the breast, which serves for a shield or defence. ““Breastplates of iron” speak of the Arabs’ armour. The poem Antar makes at least four references to a warrior’s cuirass or breastplate. The Koran says, “God hath given you coats of mail to defend you in your wars” …” (Quoted in Barnes,&nbsp;<em>op. cit</em>).</p><p><em>And the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to war</em>- Alluding to the noise made by locust swarms. They are similar to chariot horses in that the locust's head is similar to that of a horse. The locusts of Joel 1 which invade Israel are also described as war horses in <em><a href='B:360 2:4-6'>Joe 2:4-6</a></em>: "Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run. As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle". The similarity with locusts is in the springing motion of chariots on mountain paths. This was surely the first century way of trying to express helicopter gunships and other modern military technology advancing into the land promised to Abraham in final judgment. <em><a href='B:360 2:8'>Joe 2:8</a></em> speaks of how this locust army will not be deterred by weaponry: "they fall headlong through weapons&nbsp;<em>shelach</em>&nbsp;means literally a missile, and do not cut themselves in pieces". The greatest missiles and military technology of the IDF and the West will be unable to restrain their ever forward march into the land. Currently, it is superior weaponry that enables Israel to survive and the West to control the jihadists. But the picture of the locust swarm is that absolutely no weapon can stand in their way. Perhaps it is by sheer force of suicidal numbers that the jihadists win- and thousands of Muslims are already flocking to Syria and Iraq to enlist in this great army. In Joel 2, the locust army attacks because Judah failed to respond to the call to repent made in Joel 1. But even at that late stage there is the possibility of repentance: "Yet even now, is the saying of Jehovah, turn ye to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning" (<em><a href='B:360 2:12'>Joe 2:12</a></em>). This fits the context of the trumpets admirably. The seal judgments in Revelation 6 appealed for repentance; those few who respond, the symbolic 144,000, are sealed and stand on Mount Zion; and then the trumpet judgments come. But even then there is the chance of repentance, so that God would leave behind a blessing, i:e. the harvest-produce which could be used for a meat offering and drink offering (<em><a href='B:360 2:14'>Joe 2:14</a></em>)- even though this had "all" been destroyed by the locusts (<em><a href='B:360 1:9'>Joe 1:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:360 1:13'>Joe 1:13</a></em>). And as a result of this, a remnant of repentant Jews is likewise pictured by Joel standing on Mount Zion (<em><a href='B:360 2:32'>Joe 2:32</a></em>).</p><p>The reference is also to the language of the cherubim chariots; <em><a href='B:330 10:5'>Eze 10:5</a></em> is the only other place in the Bible where we read of the sound of wings as chariots are in motion. The invaders will be led by the Angels, just as the locust army of Joel 2 is described in terms of the irresistible march of the Angels. But there may also be the hint that the invaders see themselves as a cherubic system, continuing the theme of the anti-Christ being an imitation Christ.</p>


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<p>9:10- see on <em><a href='B:470 24:37'>Mat 24:37</a></em>; <em><a href='B:480 13:20'>Mar 13:20</a></em>.</p><p><em>And they have tails like scorpions and stings, and in their tails is their power</em>- At first blush, this appears to not be true to the figure of locusts. But Smith's “Bible Dictionary” gives a picture of "a species of locust, the&nbsp;<em>Acridium Lineola</em>, a species commonly sold for food in the markets of Baghdad, which has a sting in the tail". We may infer that these symbolic locusts come from Iraq, specifically from the area of the Euphrates. This is in harmony with the later picture within this same chapter of hordes of attackers swarming into the land promised to Abraham from the same area- the Euphrates. The only other reference to a “tail” in the NT is in <em><a href='B:730 12:4'>Rev 12:4</a></em>, where the dragon uses his tail to cast down one third of the stars. It could be that we are being shown part of the same process here.</p><p><em>To hurt men</em>- Significantly, the same word is used in <em><a href='B:490 10:19'>Luk 10:19</a></em> about how those who are preaching the Lord Jesus will not be hurt by scorpions. This is the context here- these trumpets are part of the judgments which will be restrained from falling upon those who have responded to the seal judgments, the symbolic 144,000. The same word is used in 7:2,3 of how the 144,000 will not be “hurt”. And chapters 10-15 teach that the resistant believers at this time will be engaged in witnessing to Jesus.</p><p><em>For five months</em>- See on :5.</p>


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<p>9:11&nbsp;<em>They have over them as king</em>- <em><a href='B:240 30:27'>Pro 30:27</a></em> observes that locusts have no king. As noted above, this is the power of God's word in history, amongst men and nations, and also in our own hearts as believers. We are transformed by a higher power, no matter how radically independent and anarchic we may be by natural wiring. There is likely an allusion to Am. 7:1 LXX "and behold one locust grub [was] Gog the king". The picture presented is of an unusual and uncharacteristic unity of the locusts under the leadership of a "king" or caliph, the 'Gog' of Amos 7. The picture presented is of an unusual and uncharacteristic unity of the locusts under the leadership of a "king" or caliph. This is what students of latter day prophecy are taught by the image's toes of Daniel 2. The components of the final entity to abuse Israel are divided, but uncharacteristically united in their domination of Israel. This will be brought about by the locusts having a king- just as the disparate materials of the image are united in the form of a man, a latter day Nebuchadnezzar.</p><p><em>The Angel of the bottomless pit</em>- This presumably is the same as the fifth Angel, who opened the pit at the beginning of this section. As in Daniel, so here, the Angel refers both to an Angel in the court of Heaven, and to the person on earth whom that Angel represents before God. Again we see how that even the terrible individual on earth spoken of here is in fact represented in the court of Heaven and under the control of God’s Angel. The allusion is to the destroying Angel of the Passover deliverance (<em><a href='B:20 12:23'>Exo 12:23</a></em>; <em><a href='B:530 10:10'>1Co 10:10</a></em>). The Angel comes in judgment upon the Egyptians and also upon any unfaithful Israelites who would not trust in the blood of the Lamb; hence all the allusions to the plagues on Egypt here in the trumpet judgments. The locusts unleased by the destroyer Angel therefore come forth to punish people for what they did to God’s people Israel, and also to punish those of Israel who will not trust in the blood of the Lamb / Jesus.</p><p><em>His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek tongue</em>- The two languages are perhaps mentioned because both Jews and non-Jews in the land suffer from this invasion. The locusts have an Angel-King over them, called Abaddon / Apollyon- the destroyer. The idea is that their leader has an Angel representative in Heaven. Again, emphasis is placed upon their having a specific leader, the antichrist. ‘The destroyer’ was the Angel who destroyed the unfaithful Israelites (<em><a href='B:530 10:10'>1Co 10:10</a></em>), and the charge of the locusts and their leader is against the same group, within the land promised to Abraham.</p><p><em>Apollyon</em>- This is the noun from the verb&nbsp;<em>apollumi</em>. <em><a href='B:490 21:18'>Luk 21:18</a></em> says that not a hair of the faithful will be&nbsp;<em>apollumi</em>&nbsp;in the latter day tribulation, and this is clearly what the Apollyon Angel is responsible for. There are many word plays upon and indirect allusions to Caesar worship in Revelation. <em><a href='B:730 9:11'>Rev 9:11</a></em> is an example- the condemned King of the bottomless pit is called "Apollyon", which G:B. Caird takes to be an allusion to Domitian, "who liked to be regarded as Apollo incarnate". We see here a radical inversion of all the images and beliefs of the cult of empire which surrounded the early believers. And we are called to no less a radical inversion of values of our world; Christianity truly is a counter culture, and therefore there can be no compromise with the world. It is a huge tragedy that Christianity compromised with the Roman empire, which is presented in Revelation as a system that cannot at all be assimilated into.  </p><p>Often, Angels are described in terms of the men, empires or armies they control- the frequent descriptions of human armies in language which refers to Angels too provides proof of this (e. g. <em><a href='B:290 66:15'>Isa 66:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 26:7'>Eze 26:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 26:10'>Eze 26:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:360 2:5'>Joe 2:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:410 2:3-4'>Nah 2:3-4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:410 2:13'>Nah 2:13</a></em>). <em><a href='B:730 9:11'>Rev 9:11</a></em> is another example: "They (the Arabs?) had a king over them, which&nbsp;<em>is&nbsp;</em>the Angel of the bottomless pit". This Angel is both a Heavenly Angel and the earthly leader over which the Angel has charge. <em><a href='B:730 9:16'>Rev 9:16</a></em>&nbsp;says that "the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand"- cp. "thousand thousands" of Angels in <em><a href='B:340 7:10'>Dan 7:10</a></em>. <em><a href='B:730 9:17'>Rev 9:17</a></em> continues: "Horses... and them that sat on them". Horses and riders in Revelation 6 and Zechariah have clear Angelic connections (Chapter 11); "the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions"- lions and Angels are linked in <em><a href='B:730 9:17'>Rev 9:17</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 10:1'>Rev 10:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 10:3'>Rev 10:3</a></em>.</p><p>The locusts have a specific leader- an Angel called Abaddon or Apollyon. Angels as in the Divine beings do not sin, as I’ve demonstrated in chapter 2 of&nbsp;<em>The Real Devil</em>:&nbsp; But Daniel 10 and other passages are clear that situations, nations and individual leaders on earth have an Angelic representative in Heaven, before the court of God. The antichrist figure on earth therefore has a representative Angel in Heaven, just as the prince of Persia did in Daniel 10. ‘Abaddon’ means ‘the destroyer’, and the term is used of the destroying Angel of Passover, the same Angel who destroyed the unbelieving Jews in the wilderness (<em><a href='B:530 10:10'>1Co 10:10</a></em>)- and it is also used of the Babylonian invader (<em><a href='B:140 36:19'>2Ch 36:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 14:20'>Isa 14:20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 4:7'>Jer 4:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 15:3'>Jer 15:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 22:7'>Jer 22:7</a></em> “I will prepare destroyers against you”; 36:29), the Midianite invasion of Israel (<em><a href='B:70 6:4'>Jdg 6:4</a></em>), the Philistines / Palestinians (<em><a href='B:90 13:17'>1Sa 13:17</a></em>; <em><a href='B:90 14:15'>1Sa 14:15</a></em>), the Assyrian invader (<em><a href='B:110 18:25'>1Ki 18:25</a></em>) and the Syrian invasion (<em><a href='B:140 24:23'>2Ch 24:23</a></em>). All these nations and incidents were from the territory of the IS, and prefigure the latter day invasion of Israel. The point is, there is a specific, singular leader- and this fits well with the Biblical requirements for an antichrist figure to lead the enemies of Israel in the final jihad against her. The destruction, wanton and conscious, wrought by the IS surely justifies the leader of the entity being called ‘the destroyer’.</p><p>The Islamic world has always been divided, and the neighbours of Israel have likewise been characterized by their historical divisions. What is going to be remarkable, therefore, is their temporary unity against Israel. This is the picture presented of the iron and clay not cleaving to each other, but standing together, however fragile, in brief domination of the land promised to Abraham on the eve of Christ’s return. This unity will be under one strong leader, the antichrist. The metaphor in Revelation 9 makes this point, by saying that the invading hordes will be as locusts who have a king over them, called Abaddon (<em><a href='B:730 9:11'>Rev 9:11</a></em>). Locusts do not have much centralized structure in their movement, and <em><a href='B:240 30:27'>Pro 30:27</a></em> specifically states that locusts have no king over them. But these latter day locusts will have such a king- for a brief period. Muslim tradition speaks of locusts having dropped into the hands of Mohammed, bearing on their wings this inscription - ‘We are the army of the Great God:’”</p><p>There can be little doubt that Revelation 9 speaks of the very last days. The smoke and resultant darkening of sun and moon is obviously alluding to the Old Testament prophecies about these things happening in the context of an invasion of the land of Israel in the immediate prelude to Christ’s coming: “Behold, the day of the LORD comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine. (<em><a href='B:290 13:9-10'>Isa 13:9-10</a></em>). “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD”&nbsp;(<em><a href='B:360 2:30-31'>Joe 2:30-31</a></em>).</p>


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<p>9:12&nbsp;<em>The first Woe is past. Behold, hereafter there come two other woes-&nbsp;</em>This could seem relatively pointless information, until we perceive that the idea is to appeal for repentance, even now at a time when the window for repentance provided by the six seals and sealing process of chapter 7 has already passed. I have mentioned earlier that the third of the three woes never seems to happen- perhaps because there is repentance, or because God’s mercy is such that He restrains the final destruction. Or perhaps the third woe is the pouring out of the bowls of final destruction upon the beast and impenitent.</p>


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<p>9:13- see on <em><a href='B:500 16:23'>Joh 16:23</a></em>.</p><p><em>And the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God</em>- This is the incense altar, and the voice suggests that the combined prayers of the faithful bring forward the execution of God’s purpose, causing Angels in Heaven to sound and do things on the earth / land. The words / voice of those prayers really is "before God". just as the incense from the incense altar penetrated beyond the veil into the Most Holy Place. This an attempt to relay the degree to which human words in prayer really are rehearsed before God’s very presence, and result in a word of command appropriate to the word of those prayers. Horns are connected with Angels in <em><a href='B:450 1:18'>Zec 1:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:420 3:4'>Hab 3:4</a></em>, and these four horns on the altar suggesting reference to the Angel cherubim.</p><p>Let's be encouraged by the fact that the sixth Angel releases the hordes from behind the Euphrates because of "a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God" (<em><a href='B:730 9:13'>Rev 9:13</a></em>). This is the incense altar, and earlier in the scene we have seen the prayers of the faithful ascending from that altar, eliciting Divine action from Heaven upon the earth (<em><a href='B:730 8:3-5'>Rev 8:3-5</a></em>). The releasing of the peoples beyond the Euphrates which we are seeing before our eyes&nbsp;<em>is actually a response to our prayers</em>. We pray and pray for the second coming, and it seems as if nothing very concrete is happening. But it Isa. The IS were raised up and given control of the Euphrates and are being propelled on their mission to fulfil end time prophecies, so that the culmination may come in the return of the Lord Jesus to earth. In this context we can note that the language of loosing the bound was used by the Lord in His teaching that we can bind and loose things in Heaven (<em><a href='B:470 16:19'>Mat 16:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 18:18'>Mat 18:18</a></em>)- in this case, the Angels. This is the huge significance of human prayer and action for God.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'>see on <a href='B:230 78:49'>Ps. 78:49</a>; <a href='B:490 1:10-11'>Lk. 1:10,11</a>. For the significance of the Euphrates, see on <a href='B:730 16:12-13'>16:12,13</a>.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>One saying to the sixth angel that had one trumpet: Release the four angels that are chained at the great river Euphrates- The voice of prayer is effectively a voice of command to Angels resulting in dramatic action upon the earth / land, and in this case, the loosing of restraining Angels. The voice of human prayer as it were commands: &quot;Loose the four angels which are bound at the great river Euphrates&quot; (R.V.). They then eagerly go forward to prepare the way for the second coming. The implication is surely that those Angels were geographically bound / limited in the scope of their work by the Euphrates River- and yet in their eagerness to progress the timetable of events leading to the last day, they yearned to go beyond that limitation. The reference to &quot;the Angel of the waters&quot; likewise suggests that an Angel was operative in one geographical area. It could be that as the future elohim we likewise will have areas of geographical influence in the age to come- the &quot;cities&quot; over which we are given dominion.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>There seems no reason to doubt that these, along with most other mentions of 'Angels' in Revelation, can be taken as literal Angels John saw in the court of Heaven, representing individuals and groups on earth. The fact that they were &quot;loosed&quot; implies a restraint from action- as if the action they desired to take was held back by another (&quot;the sixth&quot;) Angel &quot;preparing&quot; or 'adjusting' (Greek) them for a certain period. This recalls the Angel of death being restrained or held back by the Angel who hovered over the homes of the Israelites on Passover night in Egypt. It's not that there are good and sinful Angels; but there are Angels who have different tasks, and make exceptions in executing those tasks because of the intervention of other Angels.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>God Himself has a close interest in and control of the work of His Angels; thus in <a href='B:730 9:13-14'>Rev. 9:13,14</a> we read of the sixth Angel sounding, wanting to bring about certain things on the earth. The response to this was &quot;a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth Angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four Angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates&quot;. This voice was probably either from Christ (the altar), as the head of the Angels, or God Himself; or maybe a mighty Angel representing God or Christ. It instructed the Angel how to bring about His intention by bringing other Angels into operation which this sixth Angel presumably had in its control- hence they were to be &quot;loosed&quot; by Him.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The drying up of the Euphrates spoken of in <a href='B:730 16:12'>Rev. 16:12</a> is what enables the seventh trumpet and seventh seal to come to pass- and they refer to the coming of Christ. It cannot be insignificant that the Islamic State took control of the dams on the Euphrates. The latter day Islamic entity which overruns Israel will likely do the same. The control of rivers, dams, and water installations would be a major weapon in their tactical armoury. This was indeed how it was in the time of Saddam Hussein. For more information on this, see Vidal, John (The Guardian 2 July 2014). &quot;Water supply key to outcome of conflicts in Iraq and Syria, experts warn&quot;.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The waters of a river are symbolic of nations (<a href='B:290 23:20'>Is. 23:10</a>), specifically the Assyrians in <a href='B:290 8:7'>Is. 8:7</a>, <a href='B:450 10:11'>Zech. 10:11</a> and <a href='B:300 2:18'>Jer. 2:18</a> - it could be that the reference is to the drying up or destruction [as the metaphor of 'drying up' means] of the nations and tribes of the fertile crescent. And these are the very areas where the Islamic State is so active. The Assyrian armies were those &quot;beyond the river [Euphrates]&quot; which were unleashed by God upon Judah (<a href='B:290 7:20'>Is. 7:20</a>). This is the basis for the language of <a href='B:730 9:14'>Rev. 9:14</a>, where four Angels are bound by the river Euphrates and unleashed in the sense that a huge army is let loose from beyond that river in order to judge an impenitent Israel. This is surely the latter day fulfilment of the enigmatic comment in 2 Thess. 2:7 that "he who now restrains it will do so, until he is out of the way".  We recall that it was an Angel which stood upon the river in <a href='B:340 12:6'>Dan. 12:6</a>. We note that Greece likewise was likened to a ram held back by a river, which it jumped over (<a href='B:340 8:3'>Dan. 8:3</a>). The latter day power restrained by the Euphrates is therefore to be based upon the historical Assyria and Greece. Again we see how the image of Daniel 2 stands complete in the last days, because the final entity which dominates Israel will incorporate elements of the previous dominators, such as Assyria and Greece.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Euphrates was the boundary of the land promised to Abraham. Israel were thrown out of their land by being taken 'beyond the river [Euphrates]', just as Adam was cast out of Eden, which appears to have been bounded by the Euphrates. The 200,000 (or RV &quot;twice ten thousand times ten thousand&quot;) horsemen were bound at [RV; Gk. epi] the Euphrates (Rev. 9:14), which is the northern border of the land promised to Abraham (<a href='B:10 15:18'>Gen. 15:18</a>; <a href='B:20 23:31'>Ex. 23:31</a>; <a href='B:50 1:7'>Dt. 1:7</a>; <a href='B:60 1:4'>Josh. 1:4</a>; <a href='B:100 8:3'>2 Sam. 8:3</a>). When Judah were taken to Babylon to be punished, this is described as their being punished in the border of Israel (<a href='B:330 11:10-11'>Ez. 11:10,11</a>). Babylon was located on the border of the land promised to Abraham. The idea is clearly that these hordes will come from that northern border, the Euphrates, and invade Israel. The Islamic jihadists are already using pictures of horsemen as symbolic of their mission. The Greek text speaks of&quot; twice ten thousand times ten thousand&quot;, recalling the way that the image of Daniel 2 and the beasts of Daniel 7 will be destroyed when &quot;ten thousand times ten thousand&quot; stand before the judgment seat of Christ (<a href='B:340 7:10'>Dan. 7:10</a>). Once the Euphrates is no longer allowed to restrain these hordes, they will race towards Israel- and judgment by the returned Lord Jesus. Note too the language of <a href='B:400 5:6'>Mic. 5:6</a> - the latter day Assyrian will &quot;tread within our borders&quot;, which include the Euphrates, and then be destroyed by Christ's return. Revelation is putting this another way, in saying that the hordes of invaders will come from beyond the Euphrates, the border of Israel.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The trumpets, seals and vials do not have to be chronologically consecutive events; they are all part of the kaleidoscope of images which we have in Revelation. They are different takes and angles on related events. The sixth Angel loosing the hordes bound at the Euphrates is matched by the fifth Angel coming down to the land and unlocking the bottomless pit with a key (<a href='B:730 9:1-2'>Rev. 9:1,2</a>; this surely refers to a Divine Angel, as it would make no sense for 'satan' to be given the key to his own prison). This released the aggressive locusts to swarm over the earth / land [of Israel] and kill and persecute those in the land promised to Abraham who haven't taken the Father's Name into their foreheads- for all their hypocritical wearing of phylacteries. Again we have the metaphor of restraint being lifted, and swarms of enemies pouring into the earth / land of Israel. The seventh trumpet begins with the news that there will be no more delay (<a href='B:730 10:6'>Rev. 10:6</a>)- the idea is again of an imposed delay / restraint being now lifted. Locusts are symbolic of Israel's neighbouring enemies (<a href='B:50 28:38'>Dt. 28:38</a>; <a href='B:70 6:5'>Jud. 6:5</a>; <a href='B:70 7:12'>7:12</a>; <a href='B:300 46:23'>Jer. 46:23</a>; <a href='B:360 1:4'>Joel 1:4</a>; <a href='B:360 2:25'>2:25</a>). Especially significant is the reference in <a href='B:370 7:1'>Am. 7:1</a> LXX: &quot;Thus has the Lord God shewed me; and, behold, a swarm of locusts coming from the east; and, behold, one caterpillar, king Gog&quot;. The locusts from the east, headed by Gog, released by the fifth Angel, compares with the kings from the east who are released by the sixth Angel. The locusts arise out of the bottomless pit, just as the beast arises out of the bottomless pit (<a href='B:730 11:7'>Rev. 11:7</a>; <a href='B:730 17:8'>17:8</a>). The beast is therefore another image for the locusts; they all speak of the enemies of Israel coming from the east and swarming the land. The locusts are described as having long hair, and striking as scorpions (<a href='B:730 9:5'>Rev. 9:5</a>,<a href='B:730 9:8'>8</a>)- all very reminiscent of jihadist fighters.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'> </p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'> </p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The similarities between Revelation 9 and Joel are striking, and without question Joel is speaking of the neighbour nations pouring into the land of Israel: &quot;The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array… They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march everyone on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks… They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining&quot; (<a href='B:360 2:4-10'>Joel 2:4-10</a>).</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The four Angels holding winds in<a href='B:730 9:16'> Rev. 9:16</a> surely alludes to the Angels gathering the elect from the four winds (<a href='B:470 24:31'>Mt. 24:31</a>; <a href='B:480 13:27'>Mk. 13:27</a>). The process of gathering the elect at the last day is part of the same process as gathering the nations to judgment. It could be that the final gathering of the nations against Israel therefore occurs at the same time as the gathering of the believers to judgment. It would seem that now all is in place for such a gathering of the nations from beyond the Euphrates- and therefore the Lord's coming could be really very near. The whole scene surely consciously recalls that of Daniel 12, where Daniel sees Angels standing on the banks of &quot;the river&quot;, announcing that there must be a time of terrible trouble for Israel lasting &quot;time, times and a half&quot; (three and a half years?) and then the whole suffering of Israel would be &quot;finished&quot; by the return of Messiah and establishment of the Kingdom of God (<a href='B:340 12:5-10'>Dan. 12:5-10</a>). &quot;The river&quot; is not defined, but the term is usually used in the prophets for the Euphrates; at the very least it must refer to one of the rivers in the Tigris-Euphrates basin. Note the significance of the river Ulai, a tributary of the Euphrates, in Daniel 8. Revelation expands upon this by saying that the Angels cease restraining the jihadist hordes and then release them in the last days, when the Euphrates dries up. Biblically, the drying up of water is so that armies can pass over (we think of the Red Sea and Jordan being dried up for this intent). The final time of trouble is brought about by Angels standing upon &quot;the river&quot;- and the fact the Euphrates is now in the hands of Islamists is therefore highly significant.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>It is also surely no coincidence that there are four nations [represented by the four Angels?] located to the East of the Euphrates, bound by her- Turkey, Syria, Iraq and what is now effectively the nation of Kurdistan. Kurdish independence and the development of a de facto state of Kurdistan is something we can expect to develop. It could just about be argued that Iran is also effectively held back from the promised land by the Euphrates, but Iran doesn't in fact border the river. It could be argued that the part of Turkey which is bound by the Euphrates is Kurdish territory, and may form part of a future state of Kurdistan if it is declared. In this case, the four nations could be Kurdistan, Syria, Iraq and Iran- or perhaps some future Islamic entity. These four nations would be under the control of the four Angels bound at the Euphrates, who then release them when the restraint is lifted.</p>


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<p>9:15&nbsp;<em>And the four angels were released, that had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year-&nbsp;</em>Vine correctly observes: "This rendering is wrong, since it conveys the idea that the four periods mentioned are to be combined as representing the length of the preparation or of the continuance of the plague. But it is to be noted that neither the article nor the preposition are repeated before day and month and year. The meaning is that the angels are prepared unto the hour appointed by God, and that this hour shall fall in its appointed day and month and year". The parallel is with how the locust-horses are "prepared" s:w. unto the final battle. It is this specific battle which is the final date in view here in :15. The way of the kings from the East is likewise "prepared" (<em><a href='B:730 16:12'>Rev 16:12</a></em> s:w:).</p><p><em>That they should kill a third of all mankind</em>- This 'slaying' could be understood as a ritual slaughter&nbsp;<em>apokteino</em>. The fact it is done at a particular hour on a particular date and year may mean that there is some kind of religious relevance of the exact time of their slaughter; and that the men are slain at the same "hour", suggesting a specific ritual, organized slaughter rather than the gradual killing of people in the process of war or domination of the land. This kind of thing is imaginable in an Islamic state.</p><p>"The river" was Biblically the language of Euphrates; the Assyrian invasion is described as the River i:e. Euphrates bursting upon Israel (<em><a href='B:290 8:5-8'>Isa 8:5-8</a></em>). This invasion is described as the loosing of four Angels (<em><a href='B:730 9:15-16'>Rev 9:15-16</a></em>). It could be that four Angels are involved in the work of arranging this geopolitical situation; or it could be that each Angel represents a particular subdivision of the latter day Islamic entity. Note how "the Angel of the bottomless pit" refers both to a Heavenly Angel and to a human leader on earth, in that the princes of the earth have their Angelic representative in the court of Heaven. These are surely the same four Angels of <em><a href='B:730 7:1-2'>Rev 7:1-2</a></em> who had been holding the winds from blowing on the land of Israel; restraining the nations around Israel from destroying it from 1948 onwards. But they will no longer hold back the winds; they will loose the horsemen previously restrained by the Euphrates. This may happen in practice by the restraining power of America and the West being no longer permitted to operate by the four Angels. At the time of writing, it's highly significant that most of the cities, towns and areas on the East bank of the Euphrates are now in the hands of jihadists, of various factions; the river was as it were holding them back from advancing Westwards into the land promised to Israel. But that restraint is now being lifted. This idea of a restraint in place is to be found in <em><a href='B:600 2:7-8'>2Th 2:7-8</a></em>. It could be argued that the Roman Empire was the restraining force written about by Paul there, and there will be another restraining power likewise in the last days. In practice, not only has the West been the power broker restraining Israel’s enemies, but Israel’s nuclear and technological edge have been. This may be removed, in whatever way, so that this is no longer a restraining item.</p>


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<p>9:16&nbsp;<em>And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard the number of them</em>- The very words used about the 144,000 in 7:4. The contrast is made between the sealed 144,000 and this far larger group of their opponents, 200,000,000. The figures are surely not to be taken literally, rather is the idea that the opponents of the faithful are far more, and are as it were a fake imitation of the faithful, just as the anti-Christ is a fake imitation of the true Christ. This concept fits admirably with Islamist theology, as they consider themselves as the descendants of Ishmael to be the true seed of Abraham, and Isaac to be as the Bible presents Ishmael the roles of Isaac and Ishmael are switched around in the Koran; Moslems believe that it was Jewish scribes who switched the roles to how they are in the Hebrew Bible.</p><p>The significance of "<em>twice</em>&nbsp;ten thousand times ten thousand" may be in that the latter day dominators of Israel are split into two broad camps, represented by the two feet of the image of Daniel. It may be a reference to the Sunni - Shia division within Islam, or to the two centres of domination of Israel which will appear based in Gaza and the West Bank. <em><a href='B:340 7:10'>Dan 7:10</a></em> contrasts these "ten thousand times ten thousand" who are to be judged with the thousands who minister unto the judge, the Lord Jesus; the thousands of the Lord Jesus will stand in opposition to the thousands of the latter day invaders, just as the true Christ will face off against the anti-Christ.</p><p>"By these three was the third part of men killed" suggests that this invading army has three aspects to its work:&nbsp;The huge number of horsemen must allude to the "great company" of horsemen of <em><a href='B:330 38:4'>Eze 38:4</a></em>, which is rooted in the Assyrian invasion. The 200,000,000 horsemen of <em><a href='B:730 9:16'>Rev 9:16</a></em> may correspond to the fact that the strength of the Assyrian army which came against Jerusalem was claimed as being 200,000 men. See on <em><a href='B:730 16:16'>Rev 16:16</a></em>. But this huge invasion is portrayed here in chapter 9 as being the cause of punishment of the abusers themselves. So as has happened so many times in Israel's Biblical history, their invaders will turn upon themselves. Perhaps that is one reason why the Ezekiel 38 invasion is not recorded as being successful.</p>


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<p>9:17&nbsp;<em>And thus I saw the horses in the vision and those that sat on them, having breastplates as of fire and of hyacinth and of sulphur, and heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceeded fire, smoke and sulphur</em>- These are to be connected with the three methods by which the third part of men are killed in :18, fire, smoke and brimstone. The third of men are perhaps divided into thirds, and each killed by a different method. Or it may be that the third part of men are killed by a combination of these three factors. I suggested on :15 that this may be a ritual slaughter, performed at a specific "hour" on a carefully chosen specific date of religious significance. "Jacinth" means 'deep blue'; there may be some specific means by which fire, deep blue and sulphur brimstone are used in the destruction process. We are therefore to expect some form of technology which uses these three elements or appearances in order to effect the mass destruction of a large number of people in one hour. The way Babylon's destruction likewise comes in "one hour" would therefore match this; Babylon must drink the cup she gave others to drink.</p><p>Another approach is to recall that the fire and jacinth come out of the&nbsp;<em>breastplates</em>&nbsp;of these fighters; and yet jacinth hyacinth is also one of the stones on the priestly breastplate. In this case we are invited to see these fighters acting as fake High Priests, which would connect with the undoubted theme of 'anti-Christ'- the Islamic fighters acting as if they are the true Israel of God. We note that in the last day, God will put on the breastplate of judgment against His enemies (<em><a href='B:290 59:17'>Isa 59:17</a></em>). Sulphur and fire have associations with Divine judgment; these people will therefore believe that they are executing God’s judgments for Him. This is precisely the spirit of radical Islam.</p>


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<p>9:18&nbsp;<em>By these three illnesses was one third of all mankind killed, by the fire and the smoke and the sulphur, which proceeded out of their mouths</em>- The idea could be that one third of the third are killed by fire, another third by smoke, another third by the sulphur. The "all mankind" refers not to the whole planet but to the earth / land promised to Abraham. There have been attempts within the continuous historical approach to locate the fulfilment of this verse at some previous point in history. But the difficulty faced is how to define the earth / land, and "all mankind" within it. Such definitions are arbitrary and&nbsp;<em>ad hoc</em>, whereas the Bible envisages only two definitions of the earth / land- either the whole planet, or the land promised to Abraham.</p><p>The latter day invasion from the Euphrates (i:e. geographical Babylon) will result in men being killed by fire, smoke and brimstone (<em><a href='B:730 9:14'>Rev 9:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 9:18'>Rev 9:18</a></em>)- nuclear language?</p>


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<p>9:19&nbsp;<em>For the power of the horses is in their mouth and in their tails. For their tails are like those of serpents and have heads, and by means of them they wound</em>- There is some stress that their power is in their mouths (:18). Perhaps the reference is to the power or propaganda. We are now seeing Muslims from worldwide gathering to fight against Israel because of the power of this propaganda, spreading through social media so that the word / mouth of the Islamic entity is truly worldwide. The analogy to serpents wounding men clearly makes this element the latter day seed of the serpent; and according to <em><a href='B:10 3:15'>Gen 3:15</a></em>, they will be crushed directly by the seed of the woman, the Lord Jesus. The final conflict between the Lord Jesus and the serpent will be its manifestation in this group; who as we have demonstrated above, refer to the Islamic opposition surrounding Israel.</p><p>The 'wounding' of men is only after there has been an opportunity for the faithful to be sealed. The same word is in <em><a href='B:730 7:3'>Rev 7:3</a></em>: "Hurt wound not the earth... till we have sealed the servants of God". But now that window of opportunity is over. Those responsible for the wounding are now fast headed to destruction and the point is approached where they cannot repent. For the same word is found in <em><a href='B:730 22:11'>Rev 22:11</a></em>: "Him that is unjust s:w. 'wounding', let him be unjust still".</p>


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<p>9:20&nbsp;<em>And the rest of mankind, who were not killed with these illnesses, did not repent</em>- Again we note that even now at the time of the trumpet judgments, there is the desperate desire that some still repent; even though after the seal judgments, there was a sealing of those who had responded and a shielding of them from the judgments which were to come upon the impenitent.</p><p><em>Of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons and the idols of gold, silver, brass, stone and wood</em>- The allusion is clearly to <em><a href='B:340 5:4'>Dan 5:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:340 5:23'>Dan 5:23</a></em>, where the very same materials are mentioned as being the idols of Babylon. In the context, the final king of Babylon has been asked to repent in that he had been asked to learn the lesson of his father Nebuchadnezzar, who was smitten with madness and turned into an animal. But Nebuchadnezzar revived from that deadly wound, as it were. It could be that the final leader of the entity known as Babylon is intended to repent because the previous leader was struck down by God, as Nebuchadnezzar had been. But because he didn’t repent, he was judged. The appeal of Daniel to him in the very last minutes of his life is therefore to be seen as the equivalent of this final appeal to the leader of Babylon through the trumpet judgments. The 'division' of his kingdom in judgment (<em><a href='B:340 5:28'>Dan 5:28</a></em>) perhaps recalls the divided state of the toes of the image just before Christ comes to destroy them. The fifth trumpet began with mention of the opening of a bottomless pit, which I suggested is parallel to the deadly wound of the beast. The reason for this is so that the deadly wounding will be an opportunity for repentance- this deep Divine desire for human repentance, even amongst His worst enemies, is so clearly portrayed in the structure of this apocalyptic. Nebuchadnezzar’s ‘wound’ was intended to elicit repentance in the final king of Babylon. Hence the allusion to that scenario here in the sixth trumpet.</p><p><em>Which can neither see, hear nor walk</em>- This again is a quotation from <em><a href='B:340 5:28'>Dan 5:28</a></em>. The similarity with the fall of Babylon is clearly intended. And what was particularly obnoxious about the king of Babylon at that time was that he was using the temple vessels in a drunken idol ritual; this in outline terms is the same as placing an abomination on the temple mount, which will be the reason for his desolation. The reference to "sorceries" (:21) is likewise an allusion to the practices of the historical Babylon and Assyria (<em><a href='B:290 47:9'>Isa 47:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 47:12'>Isa 47:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:410 3:4'>Nah 3:4</a></em>). Such things were the calling card of Jezebel, the prototype of the whore who rides the beast (<em><a href='B:120 9:22'>2Ki 9:22</a></em>). Note she was from Tyre, in modern day Lebanon. We may well enquire how idol worship and sorcery could be part of a radical Islamic state, seeing they are passionately against such things. The point is that this latter day entity is being cast in terms of the historical Babylon; and for all Islam's protest against idolatry and sorcery, from God’s viewpoint, these are the very things they are guilty of.</p>


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<p>9:21&nbsp;<em>And they did not repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts</em>- This sounds very much the behaviour of jihadist fighters, murdering and thieving, and sexually abusing those whom they conquer (witness the Islamic State's treatment of Yezidi and Christian women whom they captured and declared as their 'spoils of war'). We observe that both the people being judged, as well as those judging them, can easily be interpreted as radical Islamist fighters. But this turning upon themselves is what we expect, both from Bible prophecy (e.g. regarding the divided state of the toes of the image in Daniel 2) and from Divine historical precedent. For His preferred method of destroying Israel's enemies has been through making them turn upon each other, rather than direct bolts from Heaven. "Sorceries" is a word we only meet again in <em><a href='B:730 18:23'>Rev 18:23</a></em>, speaking of the sorceries of latter day Babylon. This trumpet therefore speaks of the judgment upon latter day Babylon. The LXX uses the word not only of Babylon (<em><a href='B:290 47:9'>Isa 47:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 47:12'>Isa 47:12</a></em>) but also of Egypt at the time of the plagues (<em><a href='B:20 7:22'>Exo 7:22</a></em>). And the trumpet judgments are full of reference to the plagues upon Egypt.</p><p>There are at least ten references in :20,21 back to the sins of Israel in Old Testament times. The suggestion therefore is that the latter day Islamic entity will fail as Israel failed to heed God’s pleading with them in the past, both through prophets and judgments. The idea is that the sins of this Islamic entity are effectively those of the Jews, whom they consider themselves so far spiritually superior to. Islamists love to quote the Old Testament condemnations of Israel as justification for their vendetta against the Jews; but these allusions show that they are in essence just as guilty.</p>


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<p>10:1&nbsp;<em>And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, arrayed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, his face was as the sun and his feet as pillars of fire-&nbsp;</em>It is quite possible that the Angel of <em><a href='B:730 10:1'>Rev 10:1</a></em> who descends from Heaven in a cloud with a face like the sun, holding the books of judgement is referring to Christ's second coming in person. He is called "The messenger (Heb. 'malak', the Angel) of the covenant" (<em><a href='B:460 3:1'>Mal 3:1</a></em>). It could be argued that this chapter is a continuation of the sixth trumpet- Alf Norris makes a reasonable case for this. We find Revelation continually deconstructing the images associated with the might of the Roman empire. David Aune sees this mighty angel of Revelation 10 as allusive to the Colossos of Rhodes, a well known statue and icon of the empire (Revelation, 2:556). The bronze material of the Colossos were believed to reflect the sun "like fiery pillars", just as here the Angel has legs which “were like fiery pillars” (Rev. 10:1). The statue was a representation of Helios, the sun god, just as the angel’s face “was like the sun” (10:1). More specifically, the Colossos of Rhodes state had its right hand raised, just as the mighty Angel (Rev. 10:5). The Colossos statue stood at the harbor of Rhodes and allowed “ships to pass through its legs”, as the Angel stands "on the sea and on the land” (:5). The simple visual message is that the mighty icons of this world are not the true reality. The Angels are at work constructing the ultimate reality, and we are even now to live within that. Early Christians in the Roman empire were living in fear and with a sense of powerlessness. Just as we do in various ways. So these deconstructions of the icons of Roman power and apparent permanence had special meaning. </p><p>The same words "mighty Angel" are used in <em><a href='B:730 5:2'>Rev 5:2</a></em>, where "a strong Angel" (AV) offers the book, and Jesus the Lamb opens it. Now John, representative of the latter day believers, is asked to follow the role of the Lord Jesus and take the book. The connection with chapter 5 is intentional- hence we read of "<em>another</em>&nbsp;mighty Angel". Therefore the little book which is opened is in fact the book of Rev. 5, which is the book of life. Perhaps this is the same "mighty Angel" who judges Babylon (<em><a href='B:730 18:21'>Rev 18:21</a></em> s:w:), crying "mightily" (<em><a href='B:730 18:2'>Rev 18:2</a></em> s:w:); that Angel also "comes down" from Heaven in judgment (<em><a href='B:730 18:1'>Rev 18:1</a></em> s:w. <em><a href='B:730 10:1'>Rev 10:1</a></em> "come down from Heaven").</p><p>The Angel arrayed with a cloud represents the Lord Jesus, who comes with clouds (<em><a href='B:730 1:7'>Rev 1:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:490 21:27'>Luk 21:27</a></em>; <em><a href='B:590 4:17'>1Th 4:17</a></em>), sitting upon a cloud (<em><a href='B:730 14:14'>Rev 14:14</a></em>). The rainbow around his head implies that the face is the sun, producing a rainbow in the clouds around his head. The Lord was transfigured as having face like the sun. He is "the sun of righteousness" which is to arise. His voice like a lion (:3)  is the fulilfment of various latter day prophecies: "the Lord roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem" (Joel 3:16; Hos. 11:10; Am. 3:8). The second coming is clearly in view.  An Angel coming down clothed with a cloud is very much alluding to what happened after Israel left Egypt; although Moses alone saw thIsa. John, despised and imprisoned on Patmos, is therefore being encouraged that he is in no less an awesome position than was Moses- who was seen in Judaism as the epitome of human spirituality, and whose experience on Sinai was&nbsp;presented as the highest a man has ever gone to God. The idea is that now the tribulation of Israel is completed, and instead of the coming down of the Angel clothed with cloud on Sinai, there will be the literal return of Christ to earth.</p><p>The rainbow about His head is another connection with the opening vision of a rainbow around the throne of the Lord Jesus (<em><a href='B:730 4:3'>Rev 4:3</a></em>). Cloud, rainbow and sun are all part of the same process which results in rainbows becoming visible. From the point of observation, the rain has ceased but the cloud suggests there is still water around. We can maybe infer that this is a picture of some judgments the rain having ended, but others still ongoing. And this is in chronological terms about where we are up to in the book- the remaining judgments described in the book are upon the beast systems, judging them as they had previously judged Israel / God’s people.</p><p>His face as the sun is the very description of Jesus in <em><a href='B:730 1:16'>Rev 1:16</a></em>. And "feet as pillars of fire" is just like the Lord Jesus in <em><a href='B:730 1:17'>Rev 1:17</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 2:18'>Rev 2:18</a></em>. After all the allusions to Joel in Revelation 9, it's not surprising that this too alludes to Joel, this time to <em><a href='B:360 2:30'>Joe 2:30</a></em> - pillars of fire, smoke and blood are to be seen in the land in the last days. The context there would require that this is judgment coming upon the land. And yet this image of judgment is presented along with that of the rainbow, the cessation of judgment- in the kaleidoscope of images which forms the apocalyptic genre. That kaleidoscope of images means we should not be unduly concerned about whether the Angel here is an Angel or the Lord Jesus personally.</p><p>Harry Whittaker makes a good case for this Angel being that of Daniel 10. And yet, as he also points out, the connections with the Lord Jesus personally are undeniable:</p><p>The detailed parallel between Revelation 10, 11 and Daniel 10, 12 set out below requires that John understood the being he saw to be the angel who revealed so much to Daniel.</p><table><tr><td></p><p><em><a href='B:730 10:1-11'>Rev 10:1-11</a></em></td><td><em><a href='B:340 10:5'>Dan 10:5</a></em><em> to </em><em><a href='B:340 12:7'>Dan 12:7</a></em></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>10:1</td><td>A mighty angel.</td><td>10:5, 12:7</td><td>A man clothed in linen.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>10:2</td><td>Right foot on the sea, left foot on the land.</td><td>12:7</td><td>Standing on the waters of the river.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>10:1</td><td>Face like the sun.</td><td>10:6</td><td>Face like lightning.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>10:1</td><td>Feet as pillars of fire.</td><td>10:6</td><td>Feet like polished brass.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>10:2</td><td>Open book in his hand.</td><td>10:21</td><td>“I will shew thee that which is noted in the Scripture of truth (the heavenly prototype)."</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>10:3</td><td>Voice as a lion.</td><td>10:6</td><td>Voice like a multitude.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>10:5</td><td>Lifts right hand to heaven. (The left hand holds the book:)</td><td>12:7</td><td>Lifts both hands to heaven.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>10:6</td><td>Swears by Him that liveth for ever.</td><td>12:7</td><td>Swears by Him that liveth for ever.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>10:7</td><td>Mystery of God to be finished as declared to the prophet.</td><td>12:7</td><td>“All these things shall be finished."</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>11:2</td><td>Temple court “cast out,” given to Gentiles.</td><td>12:11</td><td>Daily sacrifice taken away, abomination set up.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>11:2</td><td>Holy city trodden under foot.</td><td>12:7</td><td>Power of the holy people scattered.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>11:2</td><td>42 months.</td><td>12:7</td><td>Time, times and an half.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>11:18</td><td>The time of the dead that they should be judged.</td><td>12:2</td><td>Many that sleep awake, to everlasting life or to contempt.</td><td></td></tr></table><p>And yet the similarities between this Angel and the Lord Jesus cannot be denied:</p><table><tr><td></p><p><em>The Angel of Revelation 10</em></td><td><em>Christ</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></em>(a)</td><td>Clothed with a cloud.</td><td>“A cloud received him out of their sight ... shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (<em><a href='B:510 1:10-11'>Act 1:10-11</a></em>). </p><p>“Behold he cometh with clouds” (<em><a href='B:730 1:7'>Rev 1:7</a></em> and <em><a href='B:730 14:14'>Rev 14:14</a></em>).</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><p>(b)</td><td>His face as the sun</td><td>“His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength” (<em><a href='B:730 1:16'>Rev 1:16</a></em>).</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>(c)</td><td>His feet as pillars of fire (contrast the kingdoms of men - feet of iron and clay).</td><td>“His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace” (<em><a href='B:730 1:15'>Rev 1:15</a></em>)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>(d)</td><td>“Cried with a loud voice as when a lion roareth."</td><td>“The Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed to open the seals” (<em><a href='B:730 5:5'>Rev 5:5</a></em>).</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>(e)</td><td>“A rainbow was upon his head."</td><td>“There was a rainbow round about the throne (4:3) ... a Lamb in the midst of the throne” (<em><a href='B:730 5:6'>Rev 5:6</a></em>)</td><td></td></tr></table>


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<p>10:2<em>&nbsp;And he had in his hand a little scroll that was opened, and he set hi</em>s <em>right foot upon the sea and his left upon the earth</em>- The question of course is whether this open scroll is the same scroll, the book of life, which the Lord opened earlier in Revelation, and which He likewise holds in His hand in <em><a href='B:730 5:1'>Rev 5:1</a></em>; and which is only opened by the releasing of the seals binding it in the very last days. The Apocalypse is a kaleidoscope of images, and we should not be too concerned with trying to define each usage of a symbol in a distinctly separate way. The Lord, represented by His Angel, is standing in judgment upon the land promised to Abraham, judging according to what is written in a scroll. The scroll of "life" was written on both sides, and we saw on <em><a href='B:730 5:1'>Rev 5:1</a></em> that this curious feature may mean that it contained both the blessings for the faithful and judgments upon the wicked; hence it tasted both bitter and sweet in :10. In :5 we will read that the Angel representative of Jesus raises His right hand to Heaven; perhaps we are meant to deduce that the small scroll was in His left hand. The book of <em><a href='B:730 5:1'>Rev 5:1</a></em> is in the Lord's right hand. That may mean that there we are seeing the blessing aspect, as it has been introduced as the book of life. Here in chapter 10 we have the judgment aspect, hence it is held in the left hand.</p><p>The scroll is a little scroll, perhaps not meaning it is a different scroll, but to place the visual emphasis upon the colossal size of the Lord, standing in control of earth and sea; and to fit the decorum of the symbol, in that John will be asked to eat it as if it can be swallowed in one gulp (:10). The simple take away point is that we, and all the 'earth', are judged not ad hoc, according to the emotion of the judge, but according to a predetermined written record based upon actions in this life. The sea is where one beast arises from (13:1), whilst another arises from the earth (13:11). Yet even before they are portrayed as arising, we are assured that the Lord stands firmly in judgment upon both sea and earth; for to have territory under the feet means to judge or be lord over it. If the earth means the territory of the land promised to Abraham, perhaps the sea refers to the territories immediately surrounding it. Although the earth and sea beasts appear to arise before  this point, we are reminded at this point in the vision that the Angel stands firmly upon both earth and sea. And that Angel then morphs into the returned Lord Jesus. Nothing is outside of His control. All the oppression of history, which makes the saints feel hopelessly outnumbered and overpowered, is in fact firmly under His feet already. </p><p>The simple take away point is that we, and all the 'earth', are judged not&nbsp;<em>ad hoc</em>, according to the emotion of the judge, but according to a predetermined written record based upon actions in this life. The sea is where one beast arises from (<em><a href='B:730 13:1'>Rev 13:1</a></em>), whilst another arises from the earth (<em><a href='B:730 13:11'>Rev 13:11</a></em>). Yet even before they are portrayed as arising, we are assured that the Lord stands firmly in judgment upon both sea and earth; for to have territory under the feet means to judge or be lord over it. If the earth means the territory of the land promised to Abraham, perhaps the sea refers to the territories immediately surrounding it.</p><p>Perhaps the little book is the rest of the vision of Revelation being given to John? Or perhaps this receipt of the book is because now the theme of the visions will move specifically towards the witness made by the faithful under persecution. We need not stress about trying to make chapter 10 follow on from the events of chapter 9 and precede the events of chapter 11. That would be to miss the point of the genre of apocalyptic, seeking to impose a European, linear approach to Semitic thought which is not constrained by the linear, chronological model. We also have to appreciate that this vision of the Lord in glory is one of several which punctuate and form the structure of the book; which to quote another could be summarized as:</p><p>A Opening vision (Revelation 1)<br/>&nbsp; B Seven letters with seven visions of the saints in glory (Revelation 2, 3)<br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; C Christ in glory (Revelation 4, 5)<br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; D 7 seals of judgment upon Israel and sealing of the repentant (Revelation 6, 7); the language of 'sealing' in both chapters thereby connects them<br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; E 7 trumpets (Revelation 8, 9)<br/>10 Christ stands in glory; commissions John to preach<br/>&nbsp; 11 Preaching by the saints under persecution<br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 12 The church against the beast- the essence of the Apocalypse<br/>&nbsp;&nbsp; 13&nbsp; Preaching by the saints under persecution<br/>14 Christ stands in glory; the Gospel preached<br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ea 7 vials (Ch, 15 & 16)<br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Daniel 7 judgments on Babylon, presented as Israel (thus connecting with 'D'); the faithful presented in <em><a href='B:730 19:1-10'>Rev 19:1-10</a></em> in the language of Revelation 7 (<em><a href='B:730 17:1'>Rev 17:1</a></em> to <em><a href='B:730 19:10'>Rev 19:10</a></em>)<br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ca Christ in glory (<em><a href='B:730 19:11-21'>Rev 19:11-21</a></em>)<br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ba 7 visions of the saints in glory&nbsp;<br/>A Closing vision.</p>


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<p>10:3&nbsp;<em>And he cried with a great voice, as a lion roars; and when he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices</em>- The Lord is likened to a lion when earlier He has held the scroll in <em><a href='B:730 5:5'>Rev 5:5</a></em>, confirming my hunch that it is the same scroll in view. The roaring of the Messianic lion of Judah is in final victory over those who are abusing Israel and the sons of Jacob (<em><a href='B:10 49:9'>Gen 49:9</a></em>). Thunders have indeed been associated with judgments so far in Revelation, but voices as thunders could simply mean that His singular voice is Divine, as mighty as seven completeness thunders; for this is the idea of a voice as of thunder in <em><a href='B:730 19:6'>Rev 19:6</a></em> and <em><a href='B:500 12:29'>Joh 12:29</a></em>.</p>


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<p>10:4&nbsp;<em>And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write. And I heard a voice from heaven, saying: Keep secret the things which the seven thunders uttered and do not write them down</em>- The voices of thunders pronounced something which John heard but was forbidden from writing. We have series of seven judgments recorded in the seals, trumpets and bowls. It seems there is another possible and potentially planned series of seven judgments, all planned in Heaven, which are not written because they will not happen. There will be the repentance of the remnant so sought for, and so these judgments will not be required. As early as <em><a href='B:730 2:10'>Rev 2:10</a></em> see note there we have been introduced to the idea of potential fulfilments of prophecy; there are various possible outcomes, but not all shall happen, because humans have freewill to repent or resist, and the detailed shape of the latter day events is responsive to that. This is why no detailed chronology of events is presented, but rather the kaleidoscope of images we have in the apocalyptic genre which the Spirit chose for Revelation.</p>


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<p>10:5&nbsp;<em>And the angel that I saw standing upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his right hand to heaven</em>- Presumably holding the scroll of judgments in His left hand; see on :2. This would mean the scroll refers to judgments upon the wicked; it is written on both sides, and I suggested on <em><a href='B:730 5:1'>Rev 5:1</a></em> that blessing for the faithful is on one side, and judgments for the wicked on the other.</p>


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<p>10:6&nbsp;<em>And swore by Him that lives forever and ever, who created the heaven and the things that are therein and the earth and the things that are therein, and the sea and the things that are therein, that there shall be no more delay</em>- The seventh trumpet begins with the news that there will be no more delay- the idea is again of an imposed delay / restraint being now lifted. This restraint is that noted on <em><a href='B:730 9:14-15'>Rev 9:14-15</a></em>, and which is specifically mentioned in 2 Thess. 2:3. Then, "the coming one will come, and shall not tarry”, i.e. will not any longer tarry / delay (Heb. 10:37). This is the delay implied in the parable of the ten virgins, who slumber whilst the bridegroom tarries. This delay will reveal whether the last generation really love their Lord, whether they stay eager for Him despite things not going according to plan, and their interpretations of Bible prophecy not producing the Lord's return when they think it should come. "My Lord delays His coming" indeed states what is true; but the question is, how we respond to that delay. This is the answer to the cry "How long?" earlier. The answer had been that there had to be further persecution. Now, there is no more delay. The whole scene recalls that of the Angel in Daniel who likewise lifted up his hand to Heaven and swore- but that there should be a "time, times and a half" until the resolution of all things. But now, the Angel says there shall be that "time" no longer. There has been an earlier delay in order to allow the faithful to be sealed (see on <em><a href='B:730 7:3'>Rev 7:3</a></em>). But there are no more restraints; now the final end shall come. As noted on :2, the structure of Revelation is such that we are not to think that now chapter 10 shall therefore close the whole of human history. Chapter 11 will revert to how this situation is achieved. The earth and sea where the Angel representative of Jesus is standing have all been created by God. There is no entity that can arise in the experience of God’s people that has not been ultimately created by God; indeed the entire heavenly throne room which John is viewing has been created by Him.</p>


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<p>10:7&nbsp;<em>But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God, according to the good news which He declared to His servants the prophets</em>- The message of the prophets was specifically concerning Israel, which is therefore the focus of the "mystery" here. "About to sound" could suggest that the seventh Angel doesn't actually sound; therefore the seven thunders were not written down. I suggested on :4 that this is because that potential sequence of judgments don't happen. Perhaps in His grace and in response to the prayers of the faithful in the last days, the judgments are cut short and these ones therefore don't happen. See too the notes on <em><a href='B:730 6:1'>Rev 6:1</a></em> regarding the seventh seal. RSV "the mystery of God would be fulfilled" or revealed suggests that what is now a mystery, the inability to ultimately attach meaning to event in human history, will then be made plain. And likewise our own life path will become ultimately plain. No longer will we struggle to understand significance, but for God's people, the dots will be finally joined and the ultimate picture and intention made plain- a picture of love, of salvation, of joy without end. Then, the problem of suffering and Divine justice will be finally resolved. And for now, we have the comfort that the evil in this world is not insuperable; the time and tide of human history is not aimless, a circle that keeps repeating [cp. Solzhenitsyn's history of Russia, The Red Wheel / Circle], with everything repeating, what goes around comes around, with our own lives likewise ever circling in some pointless movement... but rather history (and our own life) is progressing in a linear sense towards an end point, in the inevitable triumph of God and His Son and their Kingdom. 
"About to sound" could suggest that the seventh Angel doesn't actually sound; therefore the seven thunders were not written down. I suggested on :4 that this is because that potential sequence of judgments don't happen. Perhaps in His grace and in response to the prayers of the faithful in the last days, the judgments are cut short and these ones therefore don't happen. See too the notes on 6:1 regarding the seventh seal.</p>


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<p>10:8&nbsp;<em>And the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard it again speaking with me, and saying: Go, take the book which is opened in the hand of the angel that stands upon the sea and upon the earth</em>- There is a parallel between the commissioning of John in <em><a href='B:730 1:9'>Rev 1:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 1:19'>Rev 1:19</a></em> and his recommission in chapter 10. The open scroll given to him in chapter 10 is the same scroll which has been opened by the seals being removed in chapter 6. The&nbsp;<em>aggelon ischyron</em>&nbsp;of <em><a href='B:730 5:2'>Rev 5:2</a></em> is the same Angel described with the same words in <em><a href='B:730 10:8'>Rev 10:8</a></em>; both times the Angel introduces a scroll. I suggest it is the same scroll. As the Lamb took the scroll from the hand of the Angel in <em><a href='B:730 5:7-8'>Rev 5:7-8</a></em>, now John does the same (<em><a href='B:730 10:9-10'>Rev 10:9-10</a></em>). Perhaps in this context there is significance in the scroll having writing on both sides, of blessing sweet and judgment bitter. It could be that this is the fulfilment of the opening statement in Rev. 1:1. The revelation was given by God to Jesus, who gave it to His Angel, who gave it to John. And it is at this point that the revelation is given to John. That 'revelation' is the book of life. It is quite simply the message of salvation. </p>


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<p>10:9- see on <em><a href='B:730 11:3'>Rev 11:3</a></em>.</p><p><em>And I went to the angel, saying to him that he should give me the little book. And he said to me: Take it and eat it up; it shall make your belly bitter but in your mouth it shall be as sweet as honey</em>- As explained on :10, this was to recall Ezekiel's experience of eating the bitter judgments upon Israel, and also the sweetness of blessing for the faithful within Israel. And in practice it was to enable John to enter into something of the Lord's feelings in dispensing judgments and blessings at the last day; see on :10. We note that although John asked to be given the book, he is still asked to "take it". All those who speak forth God's word are required to consciously make an effort to receive it. And the way he had to eat it reflects how we are to personalize and absorb the message we preach, rather than impersonally transmit truth.</p>


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<p>10:10&nbsp;<em>And I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey. But when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter</em>- Taking the book of life from the hand of the Angel is exactly what the Lord Jesus did. John is being asked to identify with how the Lord Jesus will actually feel at the last day. As noted on <em><a href='B:730 5:1'>Rev 5:1</a></em> and <em><a href='B:730 10:1'>Rev 10:1</a></em>, I suggest that the scroll is the book of life, with blessings for the faithful written on one side and judgments for the wicked on the other. But in the actual realization of all these things, the Lord literally feels bitter-sweet, just as John did. He is not the impassive judge.</p><p>The "little book" is a&nbsp;<em>bibliaridion</em>, a term used in :8,9,10, and <em><a href='B:330 2:9'>Eze 2:9</a></em> LXX in a closely similar episode. The book in Ezekiel is "written within and without" (like that in <em><a href='B:730 5:1'>Rev 5:1</a></em>) and carries a message of "lamentations, mourning and woe", very much the theme of this part of Revelation. Ezekiel was required to eat the roll, as John is here (<em><a href='B:730 10:9'>Rev 10:9</a></em>); but though Ezekiel was to speak its message to Israel, John must prophesy "again over many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings" (<em><a href='B:730 10:11'>Rev 10:11</a></em>). For each the book was "sweet as honey", and while in John's case his "belly was made bitter", in Ezekiel's the prophet went about "in bitterness".</p>


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<p>10:11&nbsp;<em>And they said to me: You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings</em>- The idea is that John was assumed to be recording his message for the Jews, but it also had reference to the Gentiles. The traumas to happen in the land promised to Abraham will affect both Jew and non-Jew in that land; and this is why both the Hebrew and Greek terms for 'the destroyer' are given in chapter 9. But about can also be "to". The idea is then of a last moment intense witness to all the peoples, perhaps of the world, or within the land promised to Abraham. And this is the theme of the next visions; of witness under terrible persecution during the last days. John was typical of those persecuted preachers, seeing he himself was under tribulation for the sake of his witness of God’s word in Christ, as chapter 1 has reminded us.</p>


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<p>11:1&nbsp;<em>And there was given to me a reed like a measuring rod, and I was told: Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those that worship therein</em>- The Apocalypse, within the apocalyptic genre, is a kaleidoscope of images. We are therefore not intended to interpret the various visions in a strictly chronological way. Nor are we to see them all referring to the same groups at the same times. In viewing a kaleidoscope, some images are more impressing or relevant for us than others. And thus the book of Revelation has been for those who have read it over the centuries. But in our last days, all the visions have their final application, culminating in the literal return of the Lord to establish the Kingdom on earth. The idea of measuring the temple can be read as measuring to protect. Revelation speaks of the new Jerusalem as the ultimate reality, and therefore the old Jerusalem is delegitimized, or at best obscured in significance. This was also of great comfort to those who lived through the destruction of the temple in AD70. This was the end of the world for many Jews. But Jewish Christians who had grasped identity with "the new Jerusalem" would not be fazed by it. Likewise the preservation of the temple spoken of in Rev. 11:1,2 was to be understood as spiritual preservation of the spiritual temple, the people of God. The destruction of the literal temple would've highlighted this interpretation. Those who had grasped the spirit of Christ would not have had their faith shattered at all by the events of AD70. Whereas those who had become caught up in the spirit of Jewish nationalism would've been driven to despair as all their hopes for an immediate Kingdom of God came crashing down. </p><p><em><a href='B:730 11:1'>Rev 11:1</a></em> speaks of a command to measure the temple- and immediately our minds are sent back to the temple being measured in such detail in <em><a href='B:330 40:10'>Eze 40:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 40:21-22'>Eze 40:21-22</a></em> etc. Is this to be read as a sign that we are about to receive another such conditional prophecy? Assuming that Revelation was given just prior to the fall of Jerusalem in AD70, we could read the ensuing prophecy in Revelation 11 as saying that although Jerusalem and the outer court would fall to the Romans, the zealots in the inner sanctuary would be preserved, and a command to repentance would be issued by two prophets. Now of course, this didn’t happen; but perhaps it could've done, potentially? Consider the possibility- both here and in so many other Bible passages.</p><p>A case can even be made that the compilation of Luke’s Gospel record of the Olivet prophecy, as well as sections of Revelation, were released throughout the period of Titus’ encirclement of Jerusalem in the lead up to AD70. The encouragement to flee Jerusalem whilst it was still possible (<em><a href='B:490 21:20-21'>Luk 21:20-21</a></em>) would have been urgent commands to be fulfilled immediately upon receipt. And then <em><a href='B:730 11:1'>Rev 11:1</a></em> could imply that by the time of the prophecy’s release, the Roman attack on the outer court of the temple had already begun. A lot of work remains to be done in working out how this mass of Scripture could have been received by the faithful within Jerusalem in AD67-70, and read as directly relevant to them, requiring immediate response.</p><p>But whatever the first century fulfilment, we are to look for a latter day application as the main one. The measuring of the temple in judgment may imply that there will be a literal temple built in Jerusalem by the Jews in the last days. They certainly have plans for one.</p>


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<p>11:2&nbsp;<em>But the court which is outside the temple, do not measure it. For it has been given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months</em>- The trampling of the holy city doesn't necessarily have to speak of a domination of the literal city of Jerusalem. For in Revelation, "Jerusalem" is contrasted with Rome / Babylon, the 'unholy' city. It could equally refer simply to the 'holy' people of God, as it does elsewhere. Again we have the idea of the death and apparent defeat of God's people being, in fact, their glorious victory. Just as in the death of the Lord, a kind of "magnificent defeat". The holy city Jerusalem to be trampled for 42 months is clearly the equivalent of <em><a href='B:490 21:24'>Luk 21:24</a></em> concerning the events leading up to AD70: "Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled". The "times of the Gentiles" are therefore the 42 months. "From Spring of 67 to August of 70, the time of formal imperial engagement against Jerusalem is a period of 42 months". John "measures" the inner temple, altar and worshippers - for protection (<em><a href='B:330 22:26'>Eze 22:26</a></em>; <em><a href='B:450 2:1-5'>Zec 2:1-5</a></em>). Thus the external temple perishes but the spiritual reality- the true worshippers, the new Israel- are preserved. This is what happened in AD70.</p><p>"The holy city" is one of a series of allusions in this section to the crucifixion, for this same phrase is used about Jerusalem in the context of the crucifixion (<em><a href='B:470 27:53'>Mat 27:53</a></em>). The prophecies of persecution in Revelation are shot through with references to the crucifixion; to encourage the people of God that in those persecutions they are in fact sharing in the sufferings of Christ, and will surely likewise share in His resurrection and eternal life. This theme will have especial reference to those who endure the final tribulation- for they are the generation who perhaps will never taste death and will move directly from sharing His crucifixion sufferings to sharing His resurrection glory and eternal life. <em><a href='B:730 4:4'>Rev 4:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 4:10'>Rev 4:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 5:6'>Rev 5:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 5:8'>Rev 5:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 5:14'>Rev 5:14</a></em> associate the 24 elders falling down in worship with what happened when Christ died and / or ascended to Heaven; but here, that is said to happen during the time of tribulation (:16). The dead bodies lying in the streets of Jerusalem (:8) recalls <em><a href='B:470 27:52'>Mat 27:52</a></em>. The description of Jerusalem as Sodom And Egypt both OT descriptions of Jerusalem in apostasy seems almost angry; exactly because the reference is to Jerusalem being the city which killed Jesus (<em><a href='B:470 23:37'>Mat 23:37</a></em>). The dead bodies being on display (:9) is apparently what happened in <em><a href='B:470 27:52'>Mat 27:52</a></em> - the graves in Jerusalem opened in the earthquake at the death of Christ with the corpses as it were on display, and the bodies arose out of them at His resurrection. Not suffering bodies to be put in graves (:9) is language associated with crucifixion victims, whose bodies were usually cast out from Golgotha into Gehenna. The suffering believers are thereby likened to crucifixion victims. Death for three days (:9) is the same period Jesus lay dead. A case can even be made that He was dead three and a half days rather than 72 hours. "Great fear fell upon" (:11) the persecutors of the saints just as it did upon those who witnessed the resurrection of the crucified Christ (<em><a href='B:470 27:54'>Mat 27:54</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 28:4'>Mat 28:4</a></em>). Ascension to Heaven in a cloud (:12) evidently recalls that of the Lord Jesus; the earthquake of :13 recalls that of <em><a href='B:470 27:54'>Mat 27:54</a></em>. The temple being opened in :19 clearly refers to the veil being rent at the crucifixion (<em><a href='B:470 27:51'>Mat 27:51</a></em>). These connections aren't neatly chronological; the point is that the lives of the suffering believers were connected with the sufferings of Christ in various ways and times. Their suffering was riddled with connection and allusion to the crucifixion sufferings of Jesus, just as our lives are, as like Paul we seek to fill up what is lacking in us of the crucifixion sufferings of Jesus. The connection between the sufferings of the last days and the crucifixion sufferings of the Lord are made apparent especially in Mark 13. "It is done" (16:17) sounds very much like "It is finished". The Olivet prophecy as recorded in Mark 13 has many allusions to the sufferings of our Lord, thereby suggesting that our sufferings during the coming tribulation will make us fellowship the cross as never before. The whole idea of darkness, earthquake, open graves, rocks shaking etc, which we read of in the Olivet and other last day prophecies is evidently the language of the crucifixion. The description of suffering before "the end" comes (<em><a href='B:480 13:7'>Mar 13:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:480 13:13'>Mar 13:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 24:14'>Mat 24:14</a></em>) invites connection with Christ's death also being described as "the end", coming as it did after a period of suffering (<em><a href='B:470 26:58'>Mat 26:58</a></em>; <em><a href='B:490 22:37'>Luk 22:37</a></em>; <em><a href='B:500 13:1'>Joh 13:1</a></em>). This connection is strengthened by the way in which each record of the Olivet prophecy leads straight on into the sufferings of the Lord Jesus. <em><a href='B:470 24:13'>Mat 24:13</a></em> commends those who endure to the end- of the great tribulation. The same word occurs in <em><a href='B:650 12:2-3'>Heb 12:2-3</a></em> about Christ enduring the cross- we fellowship the cross during the last day tribulation. The word in <em><a href='B:470 24:29'>Mat 24:29</a></em> for “the tribulation” is used in <em><a href='B:580 1:24'>Col 1:24</a></em> about the afflictions of Christ. The tribulation will enable those who endure it to fellowship the Lord's crucifixion sufferings, that they might immediately share His resurrection life at His return. This will be especially relevant to Jews under persecution, who will have to come to repentance regarding His crucifixion:</p><table><tr><td></p><p>" They shall deliver you up to the councils...</td><td>As Christ to the Sanhedrin</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>beaten...</td><td>Christ buffeted</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>rulers and kings for a testimony...</td><td>Chief priests, Herod, Pilate</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>brother shall betray the brother...</td><td>Judas; Peter's denial?</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>turn back to take up his garment...</td><td>John Mark's linen garment</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>false Christs...</td><td>Barabbas</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>the sun shall be darkened...</td><td>As at the crucifixion</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>watch and pray...</td><td>" Watch with me”; Gethsemane</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>at even...</td><td>Last Supper</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>at midnight...</td><td>Gethsemane</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>at the cock crowing...</td><td>Peter's denials</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>in the morning...</td><td>Trial and crucifixion</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>find you sleeping"</td><td>Disciples in Gethsemane</td><td></td></tr></table>


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<p>11:3&nbsp;<em>And I will give power to My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth</em>- Empowering witnesses is the language of the comforter in John 14-16. The prophecy here has specific applications to various historical moments and a greater fulfilment in the last days, but the essence is true for all who are empowered in their witness by the gift of the Spirit. The only other NT references to two witnesses is to ordinary members of the Christian church (<em><a href='B:470 18:16'>Mat 18:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:540 13:1'>2Co 13:1</a></em>). All believers are witnesses, in the power of the Spirit (cp. <em><a href='B:510 1:8'>Act 1:8</a></em>).</p><p>The context of this vision is set by <em><a href='B:730 10:9'>Rev 10:9</a></em>, where John eats the little book. I suggested there that this is part of a recommissioning of John, which introduces the theme of witness to the Gospel under persecution which fills the subsequent visions in Revelation.</p><p>John was to "Prophecy (preach) again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings" (<em><a href='B:730 10:11'>Rev 10:11</a></em>). Such language recalls Jeremiah and the prophets (often initially unwilling also) spreading their message to nations and kings, and also the spirit of first century apostolic preaching. Both these groups did so amidst great persecution; and this is to happen in the last days. John's eating of the book also looks back to <em><a href='B:330 2:8'>Eze 2:8</a></em>, where Ezekiel had to do this at the beginning of his preaching ministry to an apostate Israel in captivity. This may hint that this latter day preaching to all nations within the earth / land promised to Abraham? will especially focus upon the Jews among them, and those persecuted Jews within the land itself.</p><p>The vision of the two witnesses carries straight on, describing in more detail what <em><a href='B:730 10:8-11'>Rev 10:8-11</a></em> has summarized. The downtreading of the Holy City (literal Jerusalem) will be for 42 months. During that time, the witnesses prophecy for a parallel period of 1,260 days- both periods equivalent to three and a half years (<em><a href='B:730 11:2-3'>Rev 11:2-3</a></em>). The two witnesses may either represent the Jews and the Christians, or two individual leaders of the saints who each concentrate respectively on preaching to Jews or Gentiles. The<em>&nbsp;false</em>&nbsp;prophet for the witnesses are prophets, :6,10 is not necessarily an individual but a group of persons, perhaps headed up in one figurehead. Perhaps the two righteous witnesses speak of something similar. The language of :6 has clear reference back to Elijah and Moses- both of whom spoke the word of God largely to an apostate Israel during time of great persecution of God’s true witnesses.</p><p>Other Scriptures describe a three-and-a-half-year period of persecution by the beast. This is matched in Revelation 11 by the three and a half year witnessing in sackcloth, with the power to bring plagues on their enemies. This would equate the witnesses with Moses and the faithful Israelites in Egypt undergoing persecution, at a time when Egypt (cp. the latter day world) was very prosperous (treasure cities etc:). The sackcloth suggests fasting and prayer- for their deliverance through the Lord's return. I have suggested elsewhere that the second coming is dependent on the intensity of our prayers. To allow the Lord's return to happen, it seems we need this tribulation to vitalize our community's prayer life. In the last days, God’s faithful people will be given a mouth and wisdom which their persecutors will be unable to gainsay nor resist (<em><a href='B:490 21:15'>Luk 21:15</a></em>). This evidently alludes to how Moses before Pharaoh was given such a ‘mouth’ (<em><a href='B:20 4:15'>Exo 4:15</a></em>). Moses at that time was a type of the faithful remnant of their last days, in their witness against the world during the tribulation. Hence Revelation 11 describes their witness in terms of Moses doing miracles before Pharaoh.</p><p>Sackcloth is also a symbol of repentance and recognition of sin (<em><a href='B:10 37:34'>Gen 37:34</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 4:8'>Jer 4:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:390 3:5'>Jon 3:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:480 2:20'>Mar 2:20</a></em>). Their own personal repentance and acceptance of God’s gracious forgiveness was the basis of their appeal to others. And is it going too far to understand that if these “two witnesses” do indeed represent the latter day witness of true Christianity to the 'earth' / land promised to Abraham, it will be made on the basis of a genuine repentance, brought about by the experiences of the tribulation.</p>


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<p>11:4&nbsp;<em>These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, standing before the Lord of the earth</em>- The allusion is clearly to the visions of Zechariah. They are filled with the Spirit for their witness; see on :3.</p><p>Zechariah 4 contained a vision of Joshua and Zerubbabel, likened to two olive trees which emptied their oil into the seven branched candlestick, representing the ecclesia of Judah. They represented the kingly and priestly offices. The whole ‘lightstand’ depended upon these two anointed ones, these providers of oil, and the fact they both in various ways failed to deliver true faith and spirituality meant that the victory over the world which the vision also prophesied could not come about; the final fulfilment had to come through the Lord Jesus, who was the ultimate Priest (cp. Joshua-Jesus) and Prince of Judah (cp. Zerubbabel). This prophecy could have been fulfilled at the restoration; but when we read in <em><a href='B:730 11:4'>Rev 11:4</a></em> that “These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks”, is the Lord not saying that now He has redefined and rescheduled the fulfilment of that vision in a latter day context?</p><p>The Lord of the earth / land in the Zechariah context was a reference to Israel's Angel (Michael?) who was in control of the land despite all happening within it. But the latter day lord of the land will be the anti-Christ, the fake Christ, the fake, imitation lord of the land. And before him they make their witness. The later allusions to them as it were bringing the plagues upon Egypt suggest they are as it were standing before Pharaoh as Moses did, strangely unhurt by him as Moses and Aaron were strangely preserved from being killed by him, bringing the plagues upon the persecutors of God’s apostate people Israel.</p>


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<p>11:5&nbsp;<em>And if anyone desires to hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies, and if anyone shall desire to hurt them, in this manner must he be killed</em>- These two individuals or entities are miraculously preserved as Moses was before Pharaoh, the lord of the earth in his day (see on :4).</p><p>They have power to shut heaven and bring fire upon their enemies - clearly alluding to Elijah. His bringing down fire was against people of his own Jewish race who were persecuting him (<em><a href='B:120 1:9-12'>2Ki 1:9-12</a></em>), suggesting that the Elijah ministry will be bitterly opposed by many Jews, after the pattern of Jeremiah's persecution during the Babylonian invasion. The witnesses are therefore the latter day Elijah ministry, who shall come to prepare Israel before the final day of the Lord comes, witnessing against powers as well as against Israel; just as John the Baptist did in the spirit and power of Elijah, against Herod who killed him.</p>


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<p>11:6&nbsp;<em>These have the power to shut the heaven so that it does not rain during the days of their prophecy, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall desire</em>- See on:3 and on :6 for the significance of the Elijah allusions. This latter day Elijah ministry will withhold rain, as Elijah did, for three and a half years, in the hope that it will lead to repentance in Israel. The plaguing of the persecutors as Moses and Aaron plagued Egypt further strengthens the impression that Israel's experience in Egypt is the prototype for the coming tribulation. The plagues brought upon Egypt were likewise in the hope that Egypt and even Pharaoh would 'know the Lord' and repent.</p>


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<p>11:7- see on <em><a href='B:730 6:10'>Rev 6:10</a></em>.</p><p><em>And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss shall make war with them and overcome them and kill them</em>- The same word for "witnesses" is used of how the Babylon system slays the Lord's witnesses in the last days (<em><a href='B:730 17:6'>Rev 17:6</a></em>). This parallels "the beast" here with latter day Babylon. This speaks of a final, furious bout of persecution which brings about the destruction of the beast. It is because of this latter day orgy of killing the saints that the woman riding the beast was "drunken with the blood of the saints (the latter day true Christian community?), and (also) with the blood of the martyrs (s:w. "witnesses"- the two particular ones of Revelation 11?) of Jesus" (<em><a href='B:730 17:6'>Rev 17:6</a></em>). The witnesses 'testifying' suggests association with their prototype John, who was persecuted for his obedience to and preaching of "the word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ" (<em><a href='B:730 1:2'>Rev 1:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 1:9'>Rev 1:9</a></em>) in the last days before the Lord's 'coming' in AD70. I have suggested earlier on this chapter that John's recommissioning as a witness to all peoples in chapter 10 makes him personally representative of these latter day witnesses. John was encouraged in his tribulation by being given such a deep understanding of prophecy; and his latter day counterparts may be blessed likewise. The "souls under the altar" which we have previously considered were "slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held" (<em><a href='B:730 6:9'>Rev 6:9</a></em>), which cements the link between them and the apostle John's descriptions of his sufferings.</p><p>The dragon/ beast also "made war" with the seed of the woman "which keep the commandments (word) of God, and have the testimony (i:e. preaching) of Jesus" (<em><a href='B:730 12:17'>Rev 12:17</a></em>); it was because of "the word of their testimony (i:e. preaching) (that) they loved not their lives unto the death" (<em><a href='B:730 12:11'>Rev 12:11</a></em>), indicating that Revelation 12 also has reference to this last day persecution and is providing more detail about the events of chapter 11, during which the witnesses are persecuted and slain. Interestingly, the Angel says that he is a fellowservant and brother of them "that have the testimony (preaching) of Jesus" (<em><a href='B:730 19:10'>Rev 19:10</a></em>), i:e. the witnesses- as if the Angels who are with the witnesses in the tribulation are so near those they represent that they almost feel our sufferings.</p><p>We note that the beast is mentioned without introduction. The abyss from which it emerges has been mentioned, as the source of the locust invasion of Israel; which previously we have identified as the Muslim onslaught against Israel by her Islamic neighbours. The beast perhaps has no introduction because of the idea of Revelation being a kaleidoscope of images. It's not that a beast is introduced, defined and then we have progressive development of the beast theme in a chronological sense. What we have, true to the apocalyptic genre, is a kaleidoscope of images, rotating before us.</p>


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<p>11:8&nbsp;<em>And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified</em>- It would seem that the murder of these two witnesses takes place in Jerusalem, which is spiritual Sodom (<em><a href='B:290 1:10'>Isa 1:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 3:1'>Isa 3:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 3:9'>Isa 3:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 23:14'>Jer 23:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:310 4:6'>Lam 4:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 16:46-56'>Eze 16:46-56</a></em>; <em><a href='B:370 4:11'>Amo 4:11</a></em>) and Egypt (<em><a href='B:330 23:19-22'>Eze 23:19-22</a></em>). This point is clinched by its description as "where also our Lord was crucified" (see on <em><a href='B:480 13:13'>Mar 13:13</a></em>). "They of the people (of Israel?) and kindreds and tongues and nations (those preached to in <em><a href='B:730 10:11'>Rev 10:11</a></em>) shall see their dead bodies three days (literal ones?) and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves" (<em><a href='B:730 11:9'>Rev 11:9</a></em>). This seems a designed contrast to Stephen, the first martyr for preaching the Christian Gospel, whose body was also stared upon, but who was allowed to be buried. There are a number of similarities in Revelation 11 with the events in Sodom. "The God of the earth" of :4 clearly connects with "Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" in <em><a href='B:10 18:25'>Gen 18:25</a></em>. The two Angels (cp. the two Angel-supported witnesses) were warned not to abide in the street (cp. bodies in the street) for fear of violence being done to them; the city is spiritually called Sodom. These references to Sodom and Egypt, both types of the last days, confirm that Revelation 11 also has a latter day application.</p>


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<p>11:9&nbsp;<em>And from among the peoples, tribes, tongues and nations do men look upon their dead bodies for three and a half days, and they will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb</em>- Converts are to be made from "among the peoples, tribes..." etc. as noted on chapter 5. Perhaps the death of the witnesses makes some converts. But it may be that people from among the peoples, tribes etc. of the earth / land promised to Abraham come up to Jerusalem to gloat over the display of the dead bodies. There seem a number of points of contact in Revelation 11 with our Lord's sufferings, and this may be another one. Had it not been for Nicodemus' bold request, the Lord's body would have been thrown into Gehenna. Compare this with the bodies being unburied here, as if to imply they had been crucified. Thus in their sufferings the remnant under tribulation will really feel crucified with Christ, and therefore have great peace from knowing that if they suffer with Him, they will also reign with Him. It could be that the witnesses are literally crucified; for that is a typical punishment inflicted by jihadists, who make a big deal about display of the bodies of those they have slain.</p>


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<p>11:10&nbsp;<em>And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them and make merry, and they shall send gifts to each other, because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth</em>- The earth dwellers are those within the earth / land promised to Abraham. Their brief rejoicing at the apparent death of the witnesses corresponds to Egypt's glee that Israel had left and were trapped at the Red Sea. This rejoicing over the slaughtered saints by the nations of the beast is echoed later by the holy apostles and prophets rejoicing over the destruction of Babylon (<em><a href='B:730 18:20'>Rev 18:20</a></em>)- as if the sufferings of the saints are later brought upon their persecutors. See on <em><a href='B:730 8:7'>Rev 8:7</a></em>.</p>


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<p>11:11&nbsp;<em>And after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered into them and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon those that saw them</em>- The persecution period in which the dead bodies lie in the street lasts three and a half days, connecting with the Lord's death for three days; this may indicate a final persecution at the end of the three and a half years. This is followed by the resurrection of the witnesses, after a brief period of rejoicing by the world that these people whose Spirit gifts had plagued them were now no more (by all means compare this with the rejoicing of the world in the three days in which Christ lay dead). The great fear that fell upon them who saw the resurrected witnesses recalls the fear of those who saw the risen Lord (<em><a href='B:470 28:4-5'>Mat 28:4-5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 28:8'>Mat 28:8</a></em>).</p><p>Whilst the primary reference of all this is to the situation within the earth / land promised to Abraham, there is reason to think that the believing community worldwide will suffer at this time too. There is a general, outline theme throughout Revelation that the righteous are gathered&nbsp;<em>after</em>&nbsp;they go through the judgments, implying we will experience them, although it would be possible, were we more spiritual, that we could be spared them (<em><a href='B:730 7:9-17'>Rev 7:9-17</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 11:11-12'>Rev 11:11-12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 14:13-16'>Rev 14:13-16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 19:1-10'>Rev 19:1-10</a></em>). Thus although the types of Israel in Egypt, the faithful in Hezekiah's Jerusalem, Noah shut in the ark etc. suggest that the faithful will be spared the judgments, the fact is they will&nbsp;<em>need</em>&nbsp;the&nbsp;experience of the judgments to make them more spiritual, and therefore ultimately these types may not come true: they will only speak of what was possible. Evidently the latter day ecclesia will not be as strong as God would wish it to be.</p>


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<p>11:12- see on <em><a href='B:590 4:17'>1Th 4:17</a></em>.</p><p><em>And they heard a great voice from heaven saying to them: Come up here And they went into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them</em>- This surely connects with the transporting of the saints through the clouds to meet the Lord, as detailed in <em><a href='B:590 4:15-17'>1Th 4:15-17</a></em>. There are also links with <em><a href='B:730 1:7'>Rev 1:7</a></em> - a shout (cp. <em><a href='B:590 4:16'>1Th 4:16</a></em>), a cloud, being seen by enemies. We know that <em><a href='B:730 1:7'>Rev 1:7</a></em> is concerning the second coming (see note there). There we have the picture of the Lord's persecutors seeing Him personally; some will say "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord", but too late (see on <em><a href='B:470 23:39'>Mat 23:39</a></em>). They will be resurrected to judgment, and see Him in glory; and the last generation of Israel's persecutors will see not only Him, but the resurrected two witnesses with Him. The exact chronology need not worry us; for here in the Apocalypse we have a kaleidoscope of images and not a strictly chronological outline of events.</p>


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<p>11:13&nbsp;<em>And in that hour there was a great earthquake and the tenth part of the city fell; and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand persons, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven</em>- It is tempting to interpret the great earthquake and repentance of a remnant in <em><a href='B:730 11:13'>Rev 11:13</a></em> as referring also to the Lord's coming, accompanied as it will be by a literal earthquake which affects Jerusalem when the Lord returns to the mount of Olives (<em><a href='B:450 14:1-4'>Zec 14:1-4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 1:11'>Act 1:11</a></em>), heralding the repentance of the Jewish remnant as described in Romans 11. The seventh Angel then sounds, declaring that the Kingdom has come (note "are become- now- the Kingdoms of our Lord").</p>


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<p>11:14&nbsp;<em>The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe comes quickly</em>- Yet this third woe is not recorded. I suggested on <em><a href='B:730 6:1'>Rev 6:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 10:4'>Rev 10:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 10:7'>Rev 10:7</a></em> that there are some judgments potentially planned which never actually happen. Perhaps because the required number of the remnant repent, or because of the power of prayer, and God’s desire to hasten towards the end of His judgments so that He might save His people.</p>


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<p>11:15&nbsp;<em>And the seventh angel blew his trumpet and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said-&nbsp;</em>&nbsp;As suggested on :14 and also <em><a href='B:730 6:1'>Rev 6:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 10:4'>Rev 10:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 10:7'>Rev 10:7</a></em>, it seems that there are some judgments potentially planned in association with the seventh trumpet which never actually happen, as things hasten towards their close.</p><p><em>The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever</em>- The kingdom initially in view is that of the Islamic entity which has taken control of the land promised to Abraham. That is now handed over to the Lord Jesus, who as Abraham's seed is the rightful heir to it:&nbsp; Satan's Kingdom has members, those he is king over see on <em><a href='B:490 11:18'>Luk 11:18</a></em>. His Kingdom is the people of this world, those dominated by the fleshly mind. When the Kingdoms of this world become those of God at the second coming, this is more than a physical handover of political authority. "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein" (<em><a href='B:230 24:1'>Psa 24:1</a></em>). The political power in the world is ultimately God’s even now (<em><a href='B:520 13:1-4'>Rom 13:1-4</a></em>). The idea of a handover of the Kingdoms of this world to God must therefore refer to the end of Satan's power; no longer will the world be structured around the desires of the flesh, but around the principles of God. Satan's Kingdom is not a political Kingdom, but an influence, a way of thinking, life lived according to certain principles, permeating every part of a man's thinking and behaviour. The Kingdom of God is the antithesis of Satan's Kingdom. The fact Satan's Kingdom exists now and is the antithesis of the true Kingdom is proof enough that in some sense the Kingdom of God exists in some non-political sense now, although of course this will be politically manifested at the Lord's return. God’s Kingdom exists in the same sense as Satan's; as an influence, a way of thinking, life lived according to certain principles, permeating every part of a man's thinking and behaviour. This is why the Lord's parables describing the Kingdom of God refer not to the political Kingdom, but to His ways and principles as they should operate in our lives today. The Kingdom of God in this non-political sense was taken from the Jews and given to us, so that we might bring forth the fruits of the Kingdom (<em><a href='B:470 21:43'>Mat 21:43</a></em>). The political Kingdom had already been taken from Israel (<em><a href='B:330 21:27'>Eze 21:27</a></em>).</p>


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<p>11:16&nbsp;<em>And the twenty four elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces and worshiped God, saying</em>- As noted on <em><a href='B:730 4:4'>Rev 4:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 4:10'>Rev 4:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 5:8'>Rev 5:8</a></em>, these Angels were representative of the faithful. The whole awful program of latter day events is ultimately to elicit the deepest praise and glory to God. And the traumas of our own lives likewise.</p>


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<p>11:17&nbsp;<em>We give You thanks O Lord God, the Almighty, who is and who was; because You have taken Your great power and have reigned</em>- God can do anything, He is omnipotent. But He chooses to limit His omnipotence in order to allow man total freewill. Therefore effectively, how far God will fulfil His purpose depends upon how far we are obedient to Him. Thus Israel limited the Holy One of Israel (<em><a href='B:230 78:41'>Psa 78:41</a></em>). Only at the return of the Lord Jesus will God 'take to Himself His great power'- which language of itself suggests that God has chosen to limit His omnipotence for the moment. Of course, God can act quite independently of us; He has the sovereign right and ability to act as He likes, and achieve His objectives how He likes. But it seems that God chooses to limit His ability to do thIsa. We have complete freewill, and God&nbsp;works with us individually in proportion as we work with Him. We have genuine choice, not only as to whether to serve God, but&nbsp;<em>how&nbsp;</em>and on what level and to what extent we serve Him, within the salvation we experience in Christ.</p><p>The faithful (see on :16) now perceive that God always was in control and in power; all their tribulations were only with His permission.</p>


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<p>11:18&nbsp;<em>And the nations were angry, and Your anger came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give reward to Your servants the prophets and to the saints, and to those that fear Your Name, the small and the great-&nbsp;</em>The nations will be angry, and the wrath / anger of God also will rise. When their iniquity has reached a certain level, then judgment will fall (cp. Sodom and the Amorites, <em><a href='B:10 15:16'>Gen 15:16</a></em>). The Amorites speak of Israel's aggressive neighbours who are the beast persecuting her in the last days; and Sodom has earlier in this chapter been presented as a type of the last days.</p><p><em>And to destroy those that destroy the earth</em>- The reference is to the "nations" within the land promised to Abraham who had destroyed that land. They will be judged as they judged Israel- a major theme of Revelation. The same word is used of how the whore of Babylon corrupted the land / earth (<em><a href='B:730 19:2'>Rev 19:2</a></em>); and these "nations" are those under her control.</p>


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<p>11:19&nbsp;<em>And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His covenant, and there followed lightnings, voices, thunders, an earthquake and great hail</em>- John was already viewing a Heavenly temple scene. The opening therefore refers to the opening of the most holy; and there is seen the ark. First century Jews were fascinated with the location of the physical ark. Here it is revealed- in heaven. There was an association of the covenant with Israel, and the ark of the covenant. The loss of the ark and its disappearance was a sign that the covenant with Israel had been suspended. But the ark was never known to have been destroyed, just as the covenant has as it were disappeared, been suspended, but not ended. And so the vision of the ark in Heaven is the sign that the covenant with Israel shall be remembered and revealed; and following from that are more judgments upon those who had once destroyed her. The lightnings, thunders, hail etc. are all the language of judgment; this is the promised destruction of those who had destroyed Israel (:18), in recognition of God’s resumed covenant with Israel.</p><p>The ark over which the&nbsp;<em>shekinah</em>&nbsp;glory dwelt was as it were the throne of God; the idea is that Yahweh shall again be enthroned upon Israel. That the throne of God is represented by the ark of the covenant is shown by comparing <em><a href='B:730 11:19'>Rev 11:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 4:1-5'>Rev 4:1-5</a></em>:</p><table><tr><td></p><p><em><a href='B:730 11:19'>Rev 11:19</a></em>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><em><a href='B:730 4:1-5'>Rev 4:1-5</a></em></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>"The temple of God was opened in&nbsp;Heaven"&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td>"A door was opened in Heaven"</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>"There was seen in the temple the ark of His testament"</td><td>"A throne was set in Heaven, and one sat on the throne. . . there&nbsp;<br/>&nbsp;was a rainbow round about the throne".</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>"There were lightnings, and voices and thunderings"</td><td>"Out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices"</td><td></td></tr></table><p>The throne in Revelation 4 was surrounded by cherubim, as was the "throne" of the ark of the covenant.</p>


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<p>12:1&nbsp;<em>And a great sign was seen in heaven-&nbsp;</em>We are dealing with symbols (<em><a href='B:730 1:1'>Rev 1:1</a></em>), of things to happen after John's time. There is no description here of any historical event in the garden of Eden or some rebellion in Heaven before that. The woman here is caught up to God (:5), so we are not talking about a woman in literal heaven, and the moon and stars which are her clothing show these things are symbols and not literal.</p><p><em>A woman arrayed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars</em>- She was who the people of Israel were intended to be, and thus she becomes our representative. The sun is a symbol for the Lord Jesus, and she is clothed with Christ, with His righteousness. This idea is used at the end of Revelation about the believers. Peter Watkins in his excellent book&nbsp;<em>Exploring The Apocalypse</em>&nbsp;sees the woman of Revelation 12 as a symbol of the church expressed in terms of Mary- for it was she who gave birth to “the man child” Jesus, who is to subdue the nations with a rod of iron (<em><a href='B:730 12:5'>Rev 12:5</a></em> = <em><a href='B:730 2:27'>Rev 2:27</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 19:15'>Rev 19:15</a></em>). The stars around her head would, if we let Scripture interpret Scripture, refer to Israel (Genesis 37 <em><a href='B:10 37:1'>Gen 37:1</a></em>). There are many links between Revelation and John’s Gospel, and thus it may be significant that in <em><a href='B:500 19:25-27'>Joh 19:25-27</a></em> Jesus calls Mary “Woman” and then in Revelation, He uses the same title for the “woman” who bears the man child. Yet the point of Revelation 12 is surely to show us from Heaven’s point of view the huge disruption in the universe caused by the birth of Jesus that night in Bethlehem. A baby’s birth, brought about by the quiet faith and indefatigable ambition of a teenage girl, shattered the whole cosmos. This is really what happens when we perform acts of faith based on slowly developed spiritual understanding. We do things which have cosmic consequences. See on <em><a href='B:490 1:28'>Luk 1:28</a></em>.</p><p>The significance of chapter 12 is that almost every student of Revelation's structure finds this chapter to be the very core of the book. Nils Lund's suggestion has been followed with minor amendments by most students (<em>Chiasmus in the New Testament: a Study in Gormgeschichte</em>&nbsp;(Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press,1942)):</p><p>A Prologue (<em><a href='B:730 1:1-20'>Rev 1:1-20</a></em>)<br/>B Seven Epistles (<em><a href='B:730 2:1'>Rev 2:1</a></em> to <em><a href='B:730 3:22'>Rev 3:22</a></em>)<br/>C Seven Seals (<em><a href='B:730 4:1'>Rev 4:1</a></em> to <em><a href='B:730 8:1'>Rev 8:1</a></em>)&nbsp;<br/>D 144,000 saints & Seven Trumpets (<em><a href='B:730 7:1'>Rev 7:1</a></em> to <em><a href='B:730 11:19'>Rev 11:19</a></em>)<br/>E The Two Witnesses (<em><a href='B:730 11:1-13'>Rev 11:1-13</a></em>)&nbsp;<br/>F Woman clothed with the sun (<em><a href='B:730 12:1'>Rev 12:1</a></em>)<br/>G Dragon in heaven (<em><a href='B:730 12:4'>Rev 12:4</a></em>)<br/>H Woman flees to wilderness (<em><a href='B:730 12:6'>Rev 12:6</a></em>)<br/>J Satan cast out (<em><a href='B:730 12:12'>Rev 12:12</a></em>)<br/>H' Woman flees to wilderness (<em><a href='B:730 12:14'>Rev 12:14</a></em>)<br/>G' Dragon persecutes woman (<em><a href='B:730 12:15'>Rev 12:15</a></em>)<br/>F' Woman’s seed keeps the commandments of God (<em><a href='B:730 12:17'>Rev 12:17</a></em>)<br/>E' The Two Beasts (<em><a href='B:730 13:1-18'>Rev 13:1-18</a></em>)<br/>D' 144,000 saints & Seven Angels (<em><a href='B:730 14:1'>Rev 14:1</a></em> -<em><a href='B:730 15:4'>Rev 15:4</a></em>)<br/>C' Seven Bowls (<em><a href='B:730 15:1'>Rev 15:1</a></em>)<br/>B' Seven Angels: whore of Babylon vs. New Jerusalem (<em><a href='B:730 17:1'>Rev 17:1</a></em> to <em><a href='B:730 22:5'>Rev 22:5</a></em>)<br/>A' Epilogue (<em><a href='B:730 22:6-21'>Rev 22:6-21</a></em>).</p><p>But Revelation is a kaleidoscope of images. In viewing a kaleidoscope, some images are more impressing or relevant for us than others. And thus the book of Revelation has been for those who have read it over the centuries. But in our last days, all the visions have their final application, culminating in the literal return of the Lord to establish the Kingdom on earth. The events spoken of here therefore have various historical applications, and one main application in the last day.</p>


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<p>12:2&nbsp;<em>She was with child, and was crying out with labour pains and the agony of giving birth</em>- This is another connection with the gospel of John, where the Lord speaks of His followers under tribulation as a woman in labour, whose release comes when they 'see' Him again (<em><a href='B:500 16:21'>Joh 16:21</a></em>). This will ultimately be at His return, and so this language speaks of the tribulation of the church in the last days.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'>And there was seen another sign in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and upon his heads seven diadems- The seven heads and ten horns of the apparently invincible dragon are in obvious contrast to the Lamb [the Lord Jesus], who has no horns but seven heads and seven spirits (Rev. 5:6). Those seven spirits are the totality of God's power. The conflict appears to be all in favour of the beast. But closer thought and reflection shows that through the cross [for "the Lamb" has obvious sacrificial associations], the Lord Jesus has all power. All the scary heads and horns of the dragon and beasts will have no power against Him. The battle has already been won. The dragon and beasts may persecute God's people, but they begin the entire conflict as born losers. Because of the cross, through which all power / Spirit in Heaven and earth has been given to the Lamb. Alfred Norris in The Apocalypse for Everyman sums up the picture of the beasts presented in Revelation: &quot;Once there was a woman in heaven about to give birth, and an evil dragon stood in front of her, intending to devour the newborn child (<a href='B:730 12:1-3'>12.1-3</a>). It had already done great damage in throwing down a third part of the stars (<a href='B:730 12:4'>12.4</a>), but when the baby boy was born he was snatched away from the dragon to the safety of God’s throne (<a href='B:730 12:5'>12.5</a>), while the woman, too, ran away to a safe hiding place in the wilderness (<a href='B:730 12:6'>12.6</a>). The wicked dragon was beaten in a war with Michael and his angels and, with its own angels, was thrown out of heaven to the earth (<a href='B:730 12:7-9'>12.7-9</a>). The heavens rejoiced that the dragon had been expelled (<a href='B:730 12:10-12'>12.10-12a</a>), but things looked bad for the earth, for the dragon meant to continue doing evil during the short time left to it (<a href='B:730 12:12'>12.12b</a>). First it pursued the woman, but she fled out of its way to her refuge (<a href='B:730 12:13-14'>12.13-14</a>), and even the flood it sent after her failed to overwhelm her, because the earth itself came to her aid by swallowing up the flood (<a href='B:730 12:15-16'>12.15-16</a>). There were still some of her children left, though, remaining faithful to their God and Lord, so the dragon decided to make life hard for them (<a href='B:730 12:17'>12.17</a>). What it did was to stand by the seashore and conjure up out of the sea a dreadful beast to which it gave worldwide authority (<a href='B:730 13:1-2'>13.1-2</a>) and also healed it when it looked as though it was wounded to death (<a href='B:730 13:3'>13.3</a>); so that the earth fell down and worshipped before the dragon, and before the beast which took over its power (<a href='B:730 13:4'>13.4</a>). From the wings of the stage the dragon still caused its voice to be heard through another beast, from the earth (<a href='B:730 13:11'>13.11</a>), and helped both beasts to gather the nations together to war against God Almighty (<a href='B:730 16:13'>16.13</a>). But its designs failed, for when the beast and the false prophet (the second beast) were beaten by the Lamb it was placed under restraint in the abyss (<a href='B:730 20:2'>20.2</a>) and not allowed out for 1000 years, at the end of which it was released, and gathered the nations together against the saints (<a href='B:730 20:7'>20.7</a>). The nations were overcome, however, by fire from heaven, and the dragon was finally removed from the scene by being destroyed in the lake of fire where its helpers, the beast and the false prophet, had been cast (<a href='B:730 20:10'>20.10</a>)&quot;.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>It is obviously the same dragon throughout the Book from chapter 12 to chapter 20. The differences between the form it takes are because different aspects of its actions are being presented; again we say, that Revelation is a kaleidoscope of images. I noted on <a href='B:730 11:7'>11:7</a> that &quot;the beast&quot; is first mentioned there but without introduction. The beast perhaps has no introduction because of the idea of Revelation being a kaleidoscope of images. It's not that a beast is introduced, defined and then we have progressive development of the beast theme in a chronological sense. What we have, true to the apocalyptic genre, is a kaleidoscope of images, rotating before us.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The persecuting entity changes forms and has various aspects. It is presented in chapter 12 as a dragon; the dragon continues to exist, having given power to the beast of chapter 13. Then another beast arises, a &quot;little horn&quot; who also acts as the beast (<a href='B:340 7:11'>Dan. 7:11</a>). The beast is destroyed and then finally the dragon himself at the very end of Revelation. Politics and alliances within the land promised to Abraham change quickly. This is the kind of sequence we can expect; one persecuting alliance [the dragon] empowers another [the beast of Rev. 13), then another beast arises, then there is separate persecution orchestrated by the charismatic individuals presented as the little horn, the whore and the false prophet. All these entities have points of similarity with each other [e.g. the dragon and beast both have seven heads and ten horns]. But they are none the less distinct and unique. As noted many times, we are not to look for a chronological fulfilment in terms of a sequence of events. These are all kaleidoscope images of the persecution to be unleashed upon the earth / land. They merge and morph with each other, and yet re-emerge as separate entities. The dragon has seven heads and ten horns, with each head crowned; the beast from the sea has likewise seven heads and ten horns, but now it is the horns which are crowned; on the heads of the beast there are &quot;names of blasphemy&quot; (<a href='B:730 13:1'>13:1</a>). Their prototype in <a href='B:340 7:20'>Daniel 7:20</a> has ten horns upon only one head.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>These nuances may be significant, but they will only be recognizable when they have their fulfilment in the very last days (perhaps literally) before the Lord returns. It could be that the seven crowned heads refer to political leadership; but then they become the bearers of the names of blasphemy, as if they take on a more spiritual-religious aspect; and it is then the horns who are crowned at the time of the beast in chapter 13. The outline picture is however clear; a succession of groups of leaders and entities controlled by them (for the horns are &quot;kings&quot; and &quot;kingdoms&quot;), all summarized within one coalition of hatred against Israel; and a group of seven various &quot;heads&quot; of this coalition, seven mountains or nations (<a href='B:730 17:9'>17:9</a>), who exist either simultaneously or follow one another in quick succession.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'> </p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>It's noteworthy that the vision of Daniel 7 is presented as seven separate visions, each introduced by the rubric &quot;I saw&quot; (<a href='B:730 7:2-13'>7:2,4,6,7,9,11,13</a>). Revelation is an expansion upon Daniel's visions, and there we find seven visions which are in turn subdivided into seven visions and even some of those subdivisions are subdivided into seven visions. Admittedly, these can be defined in various ways, but some of the more obvious ones are:</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>7 visions:</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>1) Revelation 4 - 8:1<br />
	2) Revelation 8:2 - 11<br />
	3) Revelation 12 - 14<br />
	4) Revelation 15, 16<br />
	5) Revelation 17, 18<br />
	6) Revelation 19<br />
	7) Revelation 20<br />
</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The seven visions of conflict explaining the Establishment of God’s Kingdom between Rev. 11:15-13:8: <br />
	1. The woman with child: the birth of Jesus, <a href='B:730 12:1-2'>12:1-2</a><br />
	2. The great red dragon: the enemy of Peace, <a href='B:730 12:3-6'>12:3-6</a> <br />
	3. The war in heaven: the Cross, <a href='B:730 12:7-12'>12:7-12</a>br />
	4. The dragon, the woman, and her children: the struggle of God’s people, <a href='B:730 12:13-17'>12:13-17</a> <br />
	5. The seven-headed beast from the sea, <a href='B:730 13:1-4'>13:1-4</a> <br />
	6. The war against the saints: persecutions, <a href='B:730 13:5-10'>13:5-10</a> <br />
	7. The beast and his mark: corruption of the emperor and the dragon's agents, <a href='B:730 13:11-18'>13:11-18</a></p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Then there are the Seven Visions of Zion, Rev. 14:1-20; the Seven Bowls of the Wrath of God, Rev. 15:1-16:21; the Seven Visions of the Fall of Babylon, Rev. 17:1-19:10; the Seven Visions of Recompense, Rev. 19:11-21:5.<br />
</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The point is that the outline scenario of Daniel 7 is repeated in more detail in Revelation. But the primary reference remains the same- a prediction of a final time of trouble within the land promised to Abraham, which will come to term in the return of Christ to earth to establish His Kingdom upon the ruins of Israel's enemies. For this is the metanarrative of Daniel's prophecies, beginning from the empires dominating the land outlined in Daniel 2.<br />
</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>&quot;Seven heads and ten horns&quot; refers to how groups of seven and ten nations and kings surrounding Israel are associated with previous dominations of Israel (7= <a href='B:50 7:1'>Dt. 7:1</a>; <a href='B:60 3:10'>Josh. 3:10</a>; <a href='B:510 13:19'>Acts 13:19</a>; 10 = <a href='B:10 15:18'>Gen. 15:18</a>; Ps. 83; the ten surrounding nations starting with Egypt and ending with Babylon of Jer. 46-50; the ten toes of the image of Daniel 2, the ten horns of the beast of Daniel 7; the ten invading nations of Ez. 38 headed by Gog). </p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The similarity with the fourth beast of Daniel 7 have led many to see a fulfilment in Rome; with the seven heads referring to   seven forms of government or the seven mountains, or hills, on which it is claimed Rome is built; or to seven capital cities in the Roman empire (Rome, Carthage, Aege, Antiochia, Augustodunum, Alexandria, and Constantinople). The ten horns are seen as ten European peoples who came out of the Roman empire. This may be true to a limited extent, but the events described here lead to the establishment of God’s Kingdom. This didn’t happen, and certainly not at the hands of Constantine as claimed. Further, the attempts to enumerate seven forms of Roman government, or ten kingdoms coming out of the broken up Roman empire, are arbitrary and seriously flawed. Far more than ten kingdoms came out of Rome; and Rome broke up over a period of time. Likewise the various forms of Government can be defined variously. It is all rather forced, and involves coming to history looking for a fulfilment of Revelation, rather than letting the symbols speak for themselves and find obvious fulfilment when the right time comes. J.B. Norris has written a helpful critique of the continuous historical approach to Roman history, which remains unanswered. He demonstrates the highly selective use of historical fact and the cherry picking of incidents to fit into a picture required by a pre-existing commitment to the continuous historical approach. The argument that the Roman empire broke up in a very short time into ten kingdoms is particularly suspect. There were far more kingdoms than Huns, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Alans, Burgundians, Heruli, Saxons and Lombards. And these are the kings of the &quot;earth&quot;; and there is absolutely no Biblical reason for interpreting the earth / land as Western Europe. That bears all the signs of 'Western' centric bias.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The Bible is Israel centred, focused upon the earth / land promised to Abraham. Daniel 2 predicts a sequence of body parts which shall dominate that area, and then Daniel 7 gives more detail about these parts, expressing them in form of beasts, which shall come together in the last days to dominate the land and crush God’s people. Revelation develops these beasts further- but the essential message is the same: it concerns the latter day domination of Israel by her enemies. There will be a final time of tribulation, resolved by the return of the Lord Jesus to earth and the establishment of His Kingdom on earth. The seven diadems will then be seen as a poor imitation of the &quot;many diadems&quot; on Christ's head (<a href='B:730 19:12'>19:12</a>). </p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>So in summary my suggestion is that the seven heads and ten horns on the dragon and beast refer to a quick succession or co-existence of various peoples, leaders or entities originating from or around the land promised to Abraham, which will persecute God’s people in the last days. They will all form part of the coalition of evil known as the beast or dragon, and radical Islam will be their religion. The dragon / beast is clearly an extension of the fourth beast of Daniel 7. To understand that beast would require major exposition, which you can see at http://www.n-e-v.info/cm/dan7com.html , and yet that in turn requires an understanding of the image of Daniel 2 which is the basis for the beasts; see on http://www.n-e-v.info/cm/dan2com.html , and the development of the beasts in Daniel 8, see http://www.n-e-v.info/cm/dan8com.html</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'><a href='B:340 7:21-22'>Dan. 7:21,22</a> speak of how the &quot;saints&quot; will be persecuted by the beast, and then &quot;the saints&quot; will 'possess the Kingdom'. The &quot;saints&quot; are Israel, the same Hebrew word is used in <a href='B:20 19:5'>Ex. 19:5</a> to describe them as a holy or saintly nation, a nation of saints, sanctified ones. If we understand the Kingdom as primarily the land promised to Abraham's seed for them to 'possess', then this makes sense. That land will be dominated and trodden down by the beast, and then the remnant of Abraham's seed will triumphantly possess it eternally; and that mountain, or Kingdom, will then grow to fill the whole planet.<br />
The little horn devours, treads down and breaks in pieces &quot;the earth&quot; (<a href='B:340 7:23'>Dan. 7:23</a>); that has little meaning if applied to the whole planet. The context speaks of destruction and persecution of &quot;the saints&quot;, God’s people in His land. The reference is surely to the specific land of Israel.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The beast will &quot;devour&quot; the land (<a href='B:340 7:7'>Dan. 7:7</a>), just as the historical Babylon 'devoured' Jerusalem with fire (<a href='B:300 30:16'>Jer. 30:16</a>; <a href='B:310 4:11'>Lam. 4:11</a>; <a href='B:330 15:5'>Ez. 15:5</a>; <a href='B:330 19:12'>19:12</a>; <a href='B:330 23:25'>23:25</a>; <a href='B:350 8:14'>Hos. 8:14</a>; <a href='B:370 1:4'>Am. 1:4</a>; <a href='B:370 2:5'>2:5</a>) and the Assyrians devoured the land (<a href='B:300 50:17'>Jer. 50:17</a>; <a href='B:350 11:6'>Hos. 11:6</a>; <a href='B:350 13:8'>13:8</a>; <a href='B:360 1:4'>Joel 1:4</a>,<a href='B:360 19-20'>19,20</a>; <a href='B:360 2:3-5'>2:3,5</a>,<a href='B:360 2:25'>25</a>). All these verses use the same word translated 'devour' in <a href='B:340 7:7'>Dan. 7:7</a>. Clearly enough, the 'devouring' of the fourth beast is a summation of all previous 'devourings' of God’s land and people. Even in Old Testament times, this idea of a singular beast embodying all Israel's enemies was not unknown. For <a href='B:330 34:28'>Ez. 34:28</a> looked forward to the day when &quot;Neither shall the beast of the land devour them [any more]&quot;. Mal. 3:11 likewise speaks of how &quot;the devourer&quot; will be rebuked by God when finally Israel respond to the Elijah prophet (<a href='B:460 3:1'>Mal. 3:1</a>). This again suggests that the final devouring of Israel will be whilst the Elijah prophet is making an ongoing appeal for their repentance and acceptance of Jesus. Once they do so, the devourer is rebuked and Jesus returns to His desperately repentant people.</p>


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<p>12:4&nbsp;<em>And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and he did throw them to the earth; and the dragon stands before the woman that is about to give birth, so that when she gives birth he may devour her child</em>- A dragon waves its tail before it pounces. The decorum of the symbol may mean that this is but the prelude to a greater, final destruction which the dragon wants to achieve. The earlier visions have described how 'thirds' of the people in the land are destroyed. Here we have this described in dramatic terms; a third of the stars (referring to the sons of Jacob, Genesis 37; or possibly to their leaders) are thrown to the earth, in order to be trampled; we have just read of Jerusalem being trampled for three and a half years in <em><a href='B:730 11:2'>Rev 11:2</a></em>. But the dragon at the same time intends to destroy the seed of the woman, the Christian believers, her newborn male child.</p><p>The attempt to destroy the newborn boy child is of course framed in terms of Pharaoh’s attempt to destroy the baby boys of Israel in Egypt, and Herod's attempt to do the same to the Lord Jesus at His birth. But neither Pharaoh nor Herod achieved their aim; the baby boys of Israel, especially Moses, were somehow preserved; as was the Lord Jesus from Herod's intentions.</p><p>The coalition dominating the land promised to Abraham therefore seeks also to persecute the Christians there and not simply orthodox Jews. <em><a href='B:290 37:3'>Isa 37:3</a></em> uses a significant figure in this context to describe how when Jerusalem was surrounded by the Assyrians, with much of the land and people desolated, something was conceived, but there appeared no strength to deliver the child. That person conceived was a repentant remnant of Judah, who were perhaps prefigured by Isaiah's children of sign, and the unusual conception of his wife in Isaiah 7 which became typical of the Lord's conception and birth of a virgin.</p><p>The intention of all the latter day trauma which Revelation describes is to bring about the repentance of a remnant. This group of genuine Christians within the land, perhaps largely Jews, will elicit the especial wrath and attention of the dragon coalition. But just as the two witnesses of chapter 11 were miraculously preserved for three and a half years, so the woman and her child are likewise.</p><p>The little horn of Daniel 8 is connected with the dragon:</p><table><tr><td></p><p>". . . it cast down some ... of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them"</td><td>"And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and did cast them to the earth"</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>(<em><a href='B:340 8:10'>Dan 8:10</a></em>)</td><td>(<em><a href='B:730 12:4'>Rev 12:4</a></em>)</td><td></td></tr></table><p>The dragon drew a third of the stars of heaven to the earth with his tail. If this is read literally – and Revelation 12 has to be read literally to support the Popular Interpretation – the sheer size of the dragon is immense – a third of the whole universe (or solar system at least) could be contained just on his tail. There is no way the planet earth would be big enough to contain such huge creature sprawling over it. Most of the stars of the solar system are bigger than our earth – how then could a third of them land on earth? And remember that all this happened, or will happen, after the first century A:D:, when this prophecy was given.</p>


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<p>12:5&nbsp;<em>And she gave birth to a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up to God and to His throne</em>- The "man child” is clearly referring to the Lord Jesus, who is to subdue the nations with a rod of iron (<em><a href='B:730 12:5'>Rev 12:5</a></em> = <em><a href='B:730 2:27'>Rev 2:27</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 19:15'>Rev 19:15</a></em>). But this is a prophecy of events to happen after His birth. The entity the woman gives birth to is part of "the seed of the woman", they are "in Christ" as Paul would put it; but not the Lord Jesus personally. All that is true of Him becomes true of those in Him. We have learnt already that those who overcome shall reign with Christ on His throne, and they too "shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces" (<em><a href='B:730 2:27'>Rev 2:27</a></em>). Perhaps that repentant Jewish remnant at this time will be literally snatched away from persecution and be preserved. It would seem that this man child is connected with the two witnesses, who die and are resurrected, and then likewise snatched away to Heaven: "And they heard a great voice from heaven saying to them: Come up here And they went into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them" (<em><a href='B:730 11:12'>Rev 11:12</a></em>). The woman who gave birth to this remnant would then refer to the true Christian believers who were already in existence before the tribulation started. They escape, as explained in :6.</p>


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<p>12:6&nbsp;<em>And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that there they may nourish her one thousand two hundred and sixty days</em>- This three-and-a-half-year period is surely the same "42 months" during which Jerusalem is trampled (<em><a href='B:730 11:2'>Rev 11:2</a></em>) and the same period during which the two witnesses testify before their death (<em><a href='B:730 11:3'>Rev 11:3</a></em>). It may be objected that the man child is snatched away before this three-and-a-half-year period begins (:5). It could be that the snatching away to God occurs not immediately, and that we are reading in :5 of a situation which finally occurs (after three and a half years) and now :6 backtracks to explain how this happens. For it was Mary who fled through the wilderness to Egypt with the man child in her arms. And it would seem that she was there in Egypt with the Lord for around three and a half years. This is the same period of the Elijah ministry (<em><a href='B:490 4:25'>Luk 4:25</a></em>). The 'problem' with the witnesses being killed after this period and the man child being snatched away before it need not unduly concern us; I have many times made the point that we have in Revelation a kaleidoscope of images, and we are not being given any neat, linear chronological outline of events. As the images rotate and merge, there are going to be points of apparent overlap and morphing of images.</p><p>The woman who gave birth to the repentant Jewish remnant, the man child, finds safety in the wilderness as did Mary and as did Israel when they fled Egyptian persecution. There they too were provide for. This may connect with the picture presented in <em><a href='B:290 26:20'>Isa 26:20</a></em> of the faithful entering into a quiet room, until the tribulations pass over. Likewise the letters to the churches with which Revelation open feature the idea of the faithful being somehow preserved from tribulation (see on <em><a href='B:730 2:10'>Rev 2:10</a></em>). The only other time the Greek phrase "a place prepared" occurs is also in John's writings (<em><a href='B:500 14:2-3'>Joh 14:2-3</a></em>); due to the Lord's death, salvation is assured for all in tribulation. The prepared place is in God’s Kingdom (<em><a href='B:470 25:34'>Mat 25:34</a></em>). Perhaps the woman will somehow be saved or given miraculous protection during this tribulation period:&nbsp; The 1,260 days is the same 42 months as we have just encountered in Rev. 11:2,3. There, the "holy city" is trampled for 42 months, and in those 1,260 days, the faithful make a prophetic witness. The idea may be that although indeed many of the component members die, they are spiritually preserved. This would be typical of how Revelation shows us how things are in secular terms [where the dominant world systems appear invincible and slay God's people]; and how they actually are in spiritual terms, viewed from Heaven [where the death of God's people is their spiritual victory, and the victory depends upon holding on to the faith, rather than militarily, visibly defeating their enemies].</p>


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<p>12:7&nbsp;<em>And there was a war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels retaliated</em>- John is as it were "in heaven", viewing things going on in the heavenly throne room. Each situation and entity on earth has representative Angels, who are God’s Angels, and not themselves sinful nor rebellious; although they can represent sinful situations and actions on earth. Michael, the Angel who stands for Israel (<em><a href='B:340 10:21'>Dan 10:21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:340 12:1'>Dan 12:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:720 1:9'>Jud 1:9</a></em>), fights with the dragon entity and his supporters. We note that Gabriel is the Angel associated with the Lord Jesus. But we read here of Michael, not Gabriel. This is not a struggle between Jesus and the devil. It speaks of a struggle between Israel and Israel's persecutors. But ultimately, those persecuting the Israelites are fighting God Himself and His Angels. The same word for "fought / retaliated" is used of how the beast which the dragon empowers appears invincible- "Who is able to make war s:w. against him?" (<em><a href='B:730 13:4'>Rev 13:4</a></em>). Yet he is effectively making war against God, who is at war against him (<em><a href='B:730 19:11'>Rev 19:11</a></em>); the beast in another of its manifestations makes war / fights with the Lamb (<em><a href='B:730 17:14'>Rev 17:14</a></em>). This is another manifestation of the jihadists locusts rushing to "make war" (<em><a href='B:730 9:7'>Rev 9:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 9:9'>Rev 9:9</a></em> s:w:). The war is not only against Israel, but against the believers; for the same word is used of the beast making war against the two witnesses (<em><a href='B:730 11:7'>Rev 11:7</a></em>). This is all part of the final battle when the kings of the land gather to fight (<em><a href='B:730 16:14'>Rev 16:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 19:19'>Rev 19:19</a></em> s:w:).</p><p>What it doesn't mean</p><p>Angels cannot sin and that there can be no rebellion in heaven. Thus this passage – which is the only one of its kind – must be interpreted in a way that does not involve angels sinning or there being sinful angels making people sin on earth, seeing that sin comes from within us, not from outside of us (<em><a href='B:480 7:20-23'>Mar 7:20-23</a></em>). Note carefully that there is no reference here to angels sinning or rebelling against God, only to a war in heaven.</p><p>That the Devil–dragon represents some kind of political power is indicated by it having “crowns upon his heads” (v. 3). <em><a href='B:730 17:9-10'>Rev 17:9-10</a></em> also comments on this dragon: “Here is the mind that hath wisdom” – i:e. don’t try and understand this animal as a literal being – “The seven heads are seven mountains... these are seven kings”. One of the kings continuing “a short space” perhaps connects with the Devil–dragon having “but a short time” in <em><a href='B:730 12:12'>Rev 12:12</a></em>.</p><p>After the drama of :7–9, verse 10 says that there was “a loud voice saying in heaven,&nbsp;<em>now</em>&nbsp;is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night”. If :7–9 occurred at the beginning of the world, before the time of Adam and Eve, how could it be said that after Satan’s fall there came salvation and the kingdom of God? After Adam’s sin, mankind began his sad history of slavery to sin and failure – a state hardly to be described as “salvation” and the kingdom of God. There is rejoicing that the Devil – the accuser – has been cast down to earth. Why should there be rejoicing if his coming to earth was the start of sin and disaster for man? If a fall from heaven to earth is understood figuratively rather than literally, as representing a fall from authority (as <em><a href='B:290 14:12'>Isa 14:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 51:53'>Jer 51:53</a></em>; <em><a href='B:310 2:1'>Lam 2:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 11:23'>Mat 11:23</a></em>), much more sense can be made of all thIsa. If all this happened before the time of Adam, or at least before the fall of man, how could the Devil have been accusing “our brethren”, seeing they did not then exist? There is nothing indicating that all this happened in the Garden of Eden. A vital point is made in <em><a href='B:730 1:1'>Rev 1:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 4:1'>Rev 4:1</a></em> – that the Revelation is a prophecy of “things which must shortly come to pass”. It is not therefore a description of what happened in Eden, but a prophecy of things to happen at some time after the first century, when the Revelation was given by Jesus. Any who are truly humble to the Word will see that this argument alone precludes all attempts to refer Revelation 12 to the Garden of Eden. The question has also to be answered as to why the identity of the Devil and information about what happened in Eden should be reserved until the end of the Bible before being revealed.</p><p>In view of this and many other things in Revelation 12 (and the whole prophecy) which are just incapable of any literal fulfilment, it is not surprising that we are told first of all (<em><a href='B:730 1:1'>Rev 1:1</a></em>) that this is a message that has been “signified” – i:e. put into sign language, or symbol. As if to emphasize this in the context of Revelation 12, <em><a href='B:730 12:1'>Rev 12:1</a></em> describes the subsequent action as “a great sign” (A:V. margin). In reading of what the Devil does when he is on the earth, there is no description of him causing people to sin; indeed, vs. 12–16 show that the Devil was unsuccessful in his attempts to cause trouble on earth once he arrived there. This contradicts the popular interpretation. In their eagerness to show that <em><a href='B:730 12:7-9'>Rev 12:7-9</a></em> refers to fallen angels at the beginning of the world, apologists for a personal Satan have rather overlooked the context of the passage. A woman in Heaven, in the agony of childbirth and resting her feet on the moon, is faced by a dragon, whose tail throws down a third of the stars of Heaven to earth (<em><a href='B:730 12:4'>Rev 12:4</a></em>). She gives birth, and the child “was caught up unto God, and to his throne” (<em><a href='B:730 12:5'>Rev 12:5</a></em>). Clearly enough the “heaven” where all this occurs isn’t the “heaven” where God lives and where His throne Isa. Next we read of a power struggle “in heaven”, and the dragon and his angels are “cast out” (<em><a href='B:730 12:9'>Rev 12:9</a></em>). The dragon throws one third of the stars of Heaven to earth – are these Angels? If so, how come the dragon and not God casts them to earth? That’s quite the opposite of the scenario painted in&nbsp;<em>Paradise Lost</em>. How can a literalistic reading of this passage cope with the&nbsp;<em>two</em>&nbsp;episodes of Angels being cast down to earth? At the very least, care in thought and exposition is clearly lacking in the orthodox reading of this passage. The woman, who is never recorded as leaving “Heaven”, then flees “into the wilderness” (<em><a href='B:730 12:6'>Rev 12:6</a></em>). Once the dragon is cast to the earth, then he starts persecuting the woman by hissing huge volumes of water at her (<em><a href='B:730 12:13'>Rev 12:13</a></em>). The earth opens and swallows this water (<em><a href='B:730 12:16'>Rev 12:16</a></em>) – even though the woman is never recorded as losing her “in heaven” status. All this is reason enough to not interpret “heaven” and “earth” in this passage in any literal manner. The appearance of the woman and dragon “in heaven” is described as a&nbsp;<em>semeion</em>, a “sign”, something that needs to be interpreted, rather than a literal fact (<em><a href='B:730 12:1'>Rev 12:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 12:3'>Rev 12:3</a></em>).</p><p>The language of ‘war’ is surely metaphor rather than literal description. What begins as a literal battle ends as a legal one, as the metaphor changes to the law court, with accusers, judge and Satan’s case rejected. If the legal language isn’t to be taken literally, why should the ‘war’ language be so literal?</p><p>The Chronological Problem</p><p>The woman of :1 is “clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars”. These heavenly bodies, as well as the woman, apparently suspended in heaven, cannot be literal. She could not literally be clothed with the sun, or have stars as big as the earth on her literal head.</p><p>Another sign appears in heaven in :3 – a red dragon. This is commonly taken as a literal heaven, but why should it be, seeing that the same heaven is referred to in v. 1 and that is clearly figurative? Verse 4 shows the dragon casting a third of the stars of heaven to earth. We have seen that because of the size of the stars and earth, this cannot therefore refer to literal stars or heaven. The Kingdom of God is to be established on earth (<em><a href='B:340 2:44'>Dan 2:44</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 5:5'>Mat 5:5</a></em>), which will not be possible if the earth is destroyed (which it would be) by huge stars falling onto it.</p><p>The woman in “heaven” then delivered her child, who was “caught up unto God and to his throne” (v. 5). God’s throne is in heaven. If the woman was already in heaven, why would her child have to be “caught up” to heaven? She must have been a symbol of something on earth, although in a figurative “heaven”. She then flees “into the wilderness” (v. 6). If she was in literal heaven, this means there is a wilderness in heaven. It is far more fitting for her to be in a figurative heavenly place, and then flee to a literal or figurative wilderness on the earth.</p><p>We then come to v. 7 – “there was war in heaven”. All other references to “heaven” in Revelation 12 having been figurative, it seems only consistent that this was war in a figurative heaven. This must be the case, as there can be no rebellion or sin in literal heaven (<em><a href='B:470 6:10'>Mat 6:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 5:4-5'>Psa 5:4-5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:420 1:13'>Hab 1:13</a></em>). The common view claims that wicked angels are locked up in hell; but here they are in heaven. They are not therefore literal angels.</p><p>I sometimes ask those who believe in the orthodox idea of the Devil the following question: ‘Can you give me a brief Biblical history of the Devil, according to your interpretation of Bible passages? The response is highly contradictory. According to ‘orthodox’ reasoning, the answer has to be something like this:&nbsp;&nbsp;<br/>a) The Devil was an angel in heaven who was thrown out into the garden of Eden. He was thrown to earth in Genesis 1.</p><p>b) He is supposed to have come to earth and married in Genesis 6.</p><p>c) At the time of Job he is said to have had access to both heaven and earth.</p><p>d) By the time of Isaiah 14 he is thrown out of heaven onto earth.</p><p>e) In Zechariah 3 he is in heaven again.</p><p>f) He is on earth in Matthew 4.</p><p>g) He is “cast out” at the time of Jesus’ death, according to the popular view of “the prince of this world” being “cast out” at that time.</p><p>h) There is a prophecy of the Devil being ‘cast out’ in Revelation 12.</p><p>i) The Devil is “chained” in Revelation 20, but he and his angels were chained in Genesis, according to the common view of <em><a href='B:720 1:6'>Jud 1:6</a></em>. If he was bound with ‘eternal chains’ then, how is he chained up again in Revelation 20?</p><p>From this it should be obvious that the popular view that the Devil was cast out of heaven for sinning cannot be true, seeing that he is described as still being in heaven after each occurrence of being ‘cast out’. It is vital to understand both heaven and the Devil in a figurative sense.</p><p>Revelation 12 : Deconstructing Pagan Myths</p><p>Various scholars have shown that this passage is full of allusion to contemporary pagan myths (e.g. Neil Forsyth,&nbsp;<em>Satan and the Combat Myth</em>&nbsp;(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989) chapter 13). For example, the Greeks believed that the dragon Python attempts to kill the new born son of Zeus but is stopped the escape of the child’s mother, Leto, to the island of Delos; Apollo then comes and slays the dragon. For the Egyptians, Set the red dragon hunts Isis but is then killed by her son Horus. In other myths, the dragon of darkness tries to kill the sun god but is killed by him. There are other examples of the sun god myth being alluded to in Revelation. Take the description of Jesus as having eyes as a flaming fire and feet of pure bronze (<em><a href='B:730 2:18'>Rev 2:18</a></em>). This is said to the Thyatira ecclesia – and the god of Thyatira was Apollo, the sun god, known locally as Tyrimnos, who appeared in this very form on the city’s coins. The point of the allusion was that actually, there is no sun god – for the Christians in Thyatira, that means Jesus.</p><p>This is in keeping with what we have seen elsewhere in the Scriptures – pagan myths are alluded to in order to deconstruct them. Surely the point of all the allusions here in Revelation 12 is to say: ‘Take your attention away from all these myths of what supposedly is going on out in the cosmos. Get real. Here on earth, you are going to be persecuted by Rome or some other adversary. Prepare for it in your hearts. The real enemy isn’t a dragon in the sky. It’s Rome’. Other scholars have demonstrated that Revelation 12, 13 contain many allusions to contemporary Jewish writings – e.g. <em><a href='B:730 12:9'>Rev 12:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 13:14'>Rev 13:14</a></em> speak of the beast / Satan “leading astray those that dwell on the earth”, quoting from the&nbsp;<em>Apocalypse of Abraham</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>Enoch</em>&nbsp;54:6 about the armies of Azazel / Satan who “lead astray those that dwell on the earth”. The point is that pagan Rome and the Jewish ‘Satan’ were those who were leading astray, and who would be punished in the cataclysm of AD70; and in a last days context, it is the latter day Satan / beast who will lead astray many and be destroyed by the second coming of Christ.</p><p>For 15 years Dr. David Pitt-Francis applied an exceptional mind to trying to get to grips with the book of Revelation (David Pitt-Francis,&nbsp;<em>The Most Amazing Message Ever Written</em>&nbsp;(Irchester, UK: Mark Saunders Books, 1983)). His conclusion, written up in chapter 9 of his book, was that not only does Revelation 12 not teach the existence of a personal Satan, but it actually is a parody of the whole belief in a sinful Satan figure existing in Heaven. He follows the approach that Revelation 12 alludes heavily to pagan myths of a Satan figure existing in Heaven, and that the whole idea of the chapter is to show that, given the victory of the Lord Jesus over all evil, those pagan ideas are just no longer tenable in any form. The idea of a Satan figure in Heaven has been ‘cast down’ for the serious believer in Christ: “Satan was imagined to have dominated at least a third of heaven in pre-Christian times. Babylonian, Zend and Teutonic thought assumed ‘Satan’ or his equivalent to be in possession of about a third of heaven. Jewish apostate thought (as in Enoch) also imagined a third of heaven to be in the possession of rebellious angels. The vision of a dragon occupying a third of heaven, and specifically defined as the ‘Devil and Satan’ is provided at this stage, not to indicate some literal fact, but to summarise the preconceptions about the Devil which had existed in pagan thought before the coming of Christ, and that had even crept into Judaism... It was primarily the task of Christianity to show the world that evil could have no place in heaven, that it did not occupy a place in heaven except in the imagination of mankind, and that it could be vanquished by the grace of Christ, and the Word of His testimony... The casting forth of Satan from heaven is a powerful symbol of what would happen to the human concept of evil as a result of the teaching of Christ. The woman and the dragon cannot coexist in heaven... Could there have been such a literal ‘Devil’ or even a ‘literal’ dragon, who perverted a third of the angels in heaven and cast them to the ground, as Jewish apocalyptic writers had actually believed? If we adopt this literalistic stance, we not only fall into the error of those books against which the Revelation was written but miss the main message of the chapter, that since the advent of Christianity to disprove the concept of imagined evil in heaven, no ‘Devil’ has ever had any place there”. He goes on to suggest that ‘Satan’ in post–Christian religions e.g. Islam has always been envisaged as a being living under the earth, in a supposed “hell”, rather than in Heaven. Whether or not we feel happy with this kind of ‘spiritualized’ interpretation of Revelation, the allusions of Revelation 12 to material in the book of Enoch about Heavenly rebellions, Enoch being caught up to God etc:, cannot be gainsaid. And I suggest that such allusions are indeed, as David Pitt-Francis suggests, in order to deconstruct these wrong ideas.</p><p>First century applications</p><p>Revelation is a description of events on earth from the perspective of what happens in Heaven – encouraging the early Christians that God and His Son and His Angels are in fact intensely aware of the crises going on, and actually the whole scenario is playing itself out in the court of Heaven. All powers and individuals and organizations on earth have in Heaven their Angelic representatives, and the situations are tried by God before His throne – with the result that it is those on the side of Christ who are vindicated. The language with which John’s Apocalypse achieves this is shot through with allusion to earthly realities, often deconstructing the claims of pagans. Rome was the great reality of the first century world; it was appropriate for the Jewish mind of the time to understand the “serpent” / adversary figure as referring to Rome. According to the Jewish Encyclopaedia, “the Serpent is spoken of as&nbsp;<em>Harasha’</em>, “the Wicked One,” in Gen. R. xx:, Bek. 8<em>a</em>&nbsp;(compare Targ. Yer. Gen. iii. 13); and Rome as the wicked kingdom,&nbsp;<em>Malkut ha–resha’ah</em>&nbsp;(Gen. R. lxxvi:)” (5).<br/><br/>Roman coins depicted the goddess Roma, THEAN ROMEN, as queen of the gods and mother of the world’s saviour. John speaks of she who claims to be the queen of the earth (<em><a href='B:730 18:7'>Rev 18:7</a></em>) – and portrays her instead as nothing but a prostitute, who is soon to be destroyed. The fact Revelation alludes to the goddess Roma in this way doesn’t mean that ‘she’ actually existed in Heaven in reality. And the way John in Revelation 12 likewise alludes to myths about dragons and beasts doesn’t mean they exist either. The material in Revelation 12 has some twists in it which debunk the legends – thus it is not emperor of Rome who slays the dragon, it is the victory of Christ on the cross, through His blood, which is the real means of victory against all opposition on earth. The telling paradox is that the escape for the persecuted child is through&nbsp;<em>death</em>, through blood, rather than through some dashing heroic victory in battle. When Jeremiah compared Babylon to a dragon gulping down Jerusalem whole, we don’t for a moment think that Babylon was a literal dragon (<em><a href='B:300 51:34'>Jer 51:34</a></em>); likewise when Ezekiel calls Pharaoh a dragon lying in a stream (<em><a href='B:330 29:3'>Eze 29:3</a></em>). The message was that the real dragon / chaos monster was earthly powers – and God would break them. And so it is with Revelation’s message, although more attention is given to the idea of those earthly powers having Angelic representatives in the court of Heaven.</p><p>The language of judgment is really common throughout the Bible. In fact we could say that legal language is disproportionately common in the Bible. The idea of a Divine, heavenly court is common. God is the judge who upholds the weak, those who are condemned by human judgment (<em><a href='B:90 24:15'>1Sa 24:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 9:4'>Psa 9:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 43:1'>Psa 43:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 140:12'>Psa 140:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:310 3:58'>Lam 3:58</a></em>; <em><a href='B:400 7:9'>Mic 7:9</a></em>); He is even portrayed as the one appealing for justice (<em><a href='B:230 74:22'>Psa 74:22</a></em>). If God is the only and ultimate judge, then&nbsp;<em>His</em>&nbsp;judgment is all that ultimately matters, and in this sense human ‘sentences’ or judgment from the court of human opinion are reversed by Him (<em><a href='B:240 22:22-23'>Pro 22:22-23</a></em>). Yet the pain of being judged by those around us is highly significant to us mortals; and time and again, Scripture is reminding us that we should not pay deep attention to this, because God’s judgment is what ultimately matters; and the Divine court is sitting in session right now, at the very same time as those around us are judging us with their meaningless human judgments. This, then, is the ultimate answer to the pain of being slandered and defamed, being misunderstood and misrepresented, or feeling that persecution by worldly powers is not noticed by God.</p><p>The traditional reading of Revelation 12 makes out that there was a rebellion in Heaven, the Devil came down to earth, and then trouble started down here. But the whole idea of Revelation’s visions of ‘heaven’ is that we are being given snapshots of the ‘throne room’ of Heaven, the Divine court... which is a reflection of what is actually going on here on earth, and what will subsequently follow from this in the future. I wish to stress this point, because I think it’s fundamental to understanding Revelation. Those visions aren’t historical descriptions of what happened before creation, before human history. They are insights into how God right then in the first century viewed what was going on there in the Middle East on planet earth, showing us how He judged the situations and Governments and individuals involved, and what would follow from this. Thus when we read that no place was found for the opposing forces in Heaven (<em><a href='B:730 12:8'>Rev 12:8</a></em>), we are to imagine the representative of those forces, the barrister as it were, being thrown out of court. They would simply disappear from the Heavenly court room, thrown out of court as it were, perhaps reflected by the Angel representing them leaving the court. What makes interpreting Revelation so confusing is that there are so many layers of allusion going on in the text at one and the same time. Thus Revelation 12 alludes to the surrounding myths, and yet also on multiple further layers to Old Testament themes. The vision of Revelation 12 clearly has in mind Pharaoh pursuing the escaping Israelites as a dragon pursues (<em><a href='B:20 14:8'>Exo 14:8</a></em>), Israel like the early church carried on eagles’ wings to some safety (<em><a href='B:20 19:4'>Exo 19:4</a></em>), Pharaoh trying to destroy Israel by drowning them in the water of the Nile, God providing for His people in the desert. Again, these allusions are to a real historical situation that happened here on earth – and not to some Biblically unrecorded drama somewhere out in the cosmos.</p>


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<p>12:8&nbsp;<em>But he was defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven</em>- God’s side are assured of victory. Literally, the dragon was 'of no power'; for all such power is vested in the Lord Jesus (s:w. <em><a href='B:730 5:12'>Rev 5:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 7:12'>Rev 7:12</a></em>). And yet viewed from earthly perspectives, the dragon appears invincible in power (<em><a href='B:730 13:4'>Rev 13:4</a></em>). John is viewing heaven opened, and the geopolitical situation in the land in the very last days being played out before him, with Angelic actors, as it were, representing the various entities on earth. But now the dragon has no more place there; this can also be understood as meaning he had no more power, reading 'heaven' as symbolic of power. We will still read of the dragon; giving power to the beast, and then being chained in chapter 20. Again we see that the visions are not intended to be interpreted in such a way that there emerges a linear chronological progression of events. Rather are we seeing different perspectives and angles on the same ultimate realities. The dragon finally loses power- that is the point.</p>


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<p>12:9&nbsp;<em>And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him</em>- The conflict between God and the persecuting coalition of the last days will be the final manifestation of God’s battle with sin and evil. He will finally be revealed as triumphant. Perhaps the symbology of a woman is chosen in :1 exactly so as to point up this allusion to the battle between the women and the serpent which began in <em><a href='B:10 3:15'>Gen 3:15</a></em>. Eden is now about to be restored. This latter day entity will have deceived the world- perhaps a reference to an influence larger than over the earth / land promised to Abraham. For the coalition of evil will have deceived people worldwide to support their mania against Israel and Christians. It is hard not to see reference here to radical Islam. The same word for 'deceit' is often used in the Olivet prophecy. There would be 'deceit' associated with false prophets (and "the false prophet" is associated with the beast in Revelation- a likely reference to some incarnation of Mohammed, some jihadist imams claiming to be God’s prophets on earth). This will "deceive many", here called "the whole world" (<em><a href='B:470 24:4-5'>Mat 24:4-5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 24:11'>Mat 24:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 24:24'>Mat 24:24</a></em>), "the nations" (20:3), especially those in the corners of the land promised to Abraham (<em><a href='B:730 20:8'>Rev 20:8</a></em>). The deceit will involve claims that the Christ has come (<em><a href='B:470 24:5'>Mat 24:5</a></em>)- perhaps a reference to some jihadist claim about the Mahdi. This deception will be given surface level credibility by false miracles performed by "the false prophet" (<em><a href='B:730 13:14'>Rev 13:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 19:20'>Rev 19:20</a></em>), which are in fact performed by magic (<em><a href='B:730 18:23'>Rev 18:23</a></em>). The deceitful coalition is cast from heaven to earth; this is figurative for a loss of power, but this entity is now pictures as angry and desperate on the earth / land promised to Abraham.</p><p>The Greek word&nbsp;<em>ballo</em>&nbsp;translated “cast out” doesn’t necessarily mean to throw&nbsp;<em>down –&nbsp;</em>Greek has words for this specific idea and it’s significant that they’re not used here. Here are a few examples of the usage of&nbsp;<em>ballo</em>, showing that it really means to expel or re-place:</p><p>– A wind “arose” (<em><a href='B:510 27:14'>Act 27:14</a></em>); a crowd “threw” dust&nbsp;<em>up</em>&nbsp;into the air (<em><a href='B:510 22:23'>Act 22:23</a></em>); a sword is “put&nbsp;<em>up</em>” into a sheath (<em><a href='B:500 18:11'>Joh 18:11</a></em>) imply the word can mean to throw&nbsp;<em>up</em>&nbsp;as well as to throw&nbsp;<em>down</em>.<br/>– Men “cast” stones (<em><a href='B:500 8:7'>Joh 8:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:500 8:59'>Joh 8:59</a></em>), “strike” another man on the face (<em><a href='B:480 14:65'>Mar 14:65</a></em>), “put” fingers in the ear (<em><a href='B:480 7:33'>Mar 7:33</a></em>), people “lay” upon a bed (<em><a href='B:470 8:6'>Mat 8:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 8:14'>Mat 8:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 9:2'>Mat 9:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:480 7:30'>Mar 7:30</a></em>) – horizontal movement.<br/>– We “put” bits into the mouths of horses (<em><a href='B:660 3:3'>Jas 3:3</a></em>) – no vertical movement there. Thomas “thrust” his hand into the Lord’s side (<em><a href='B:500 20:27'>Joh 20:27</a></em>).<br/>– Believers were “cast” into prison (<em><a href='B:510 16:24'>Act 16:24</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 16:37'>Act 16:37</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 2:10'>Rev 2:10</a></em>) – the idea of vertical movement isn’t there. Likewise love “casts out” fear (<em><a href='B:690 4:18'>1Jn 4:18</a></em>).<br/>– The dragon casts water out of his mouth (<em><a href='B:730 12:15-16'>Rev 12:15-16</a></em>), horizontally along the ground. Here the word clearly doesn’t mean to throw&nbsp;<em>down</em>&nbsp;from a height – and the same word is used in that context for the Devil being “cast out”, i:e. ejected, from Heaven.<br/>– Men “cast” dust on their own heads (<em><a href='B:730 18:19'>Rev 18:19</a></em>).</p><p>The serpent is cast out of heaven, implying it was originally there. But the literal serpent in Eden was created by God out of the dust of the earth (<em><a href='B:10 1:24-25'>Gen 1:24-25</a></em>). There is no implication that the Devil came down from heaven and got inside the serpent. The language of “cast down” and “cast out” does not require literal downwards movement – Babylon is “thrown down” in <em><a href='B:730 18:21'>Rev 18:21</a></em>. The O:T. basis of “cast out” is in the nations / beasts being cast out from God’s presence in the land of Israel. In Revelation 12 we have another woman in the wilderness, who enters the Kingdom cp. the land once the beast is cast out. In <em><a href='B:340 7:9'>Dan 7:9</a></em> the thrones of the beast / kingdoms are “cast down” before God’s Kingdom is established on earth, just as the beast is cast down before the establishment of the Kingdom in Revelation 12. The idea of being cast out of Heaven was and is common in Semitic languages and even wider culture for a loss of power – thus Cicero comments about Mark Anthony: “You have hurled your colleagues down from heaven”.</p><p>“That old serpent” (<em><a href='B:730 12:9'>Rev 12:9</a></em>) is often misread to mean that the original serpent in the Garden of Eden is now a dragon in the sky. But care in thought and Biblical exposition is lacking in such a view. The orthodox understanding is that Satan sinned in Heaven, and was thrown down to earth, where he tempted Eve in the form of a serpent. But <em><a href='B:730 12:9'>Rev 12:9</a></em> is a prophecy of the&nbsp;<em>future</em>, just prior to the return of Christ to earth, saying that&nbsp;<em>then</em>&nbsp;there will be a conflict “in heaven” – which we understand to be figurative language. The orthodox interpretation does violence to the obvious chronology, and is evidently an opportunistic grabbing hold of Biblical phrases with no attention at all to their context, and stringing them together to justify popular Christianity’s adoption of Jewish and pagan myths about the Devil. In passing, note how <em><a href='B:10 3:15'>Gen 3:15</a></em> prophesies that God&nbsp;<em>will&nbsp;</em>put hostility between the serpent and the woman. This is not what we would expect to hear if this were indeed speaking of a pre-existent Christ and Satan. According to the orthodox understanding, the enmity between them occurred in Heaven&nbsp;<em>before</em>&nbsp;Satan supposedly came down to earth. Notice, too, that according to the Biblical record in <em><a href='B:10 3:15'>Gen 3:15</a></em> it is God who created this hostility, whereas the common view implies it was Satan’s hatred of God which was the original enmity. We read that the dragon / serpent’s “place” was not “found” in Heaven as a result of the final struggle (<em><a href='B:730 12:8'>Rev 12:8</a></em>). The same term is to be found in <em><a href='B:730 20:11'>Rev 20:11</a></em>, where we read that the ‘Heaven and earth’ had no place found for them in Heaven as a result of Christ’s final sitting in judgment. Clearly, ‘Heaven and earth’ are figurative – used here, as so often in the Bible, to refer to a system of things. Notice how the Devil / dragon / serpent are thus paralleled with the ‘Heaven and earth’. This worldly system of things in the last days, the dragon / serpent power, will be no more after the final judgment seat of Christ. We see all this prefigured in how the rejected Esau came before his father Isaac, typical of the rejection of the wicked at the final judgment, and “found no place”, despite his tears and gnashing of teeth (<em><a href='B:650 12:17'>Heb 12:17</a></em>). The rejected&nbsp;<em>people&nbsp;</em>at the final judgment will “not be able” to enter God’s Kingdom then (<em><a href='B:490 13:24'>Luk 13:24</a></em>) – and the same Greek word is used in <em><a href='B:730 12:8'>Rev 12:8</a></em> to describe how the serpent / Devil system of people will not “prevail”. Clearly the reference of Revelation 12 is to the very last day, when Christ returns to earth in judgment. The serpent ‘not prevailing’ and ‘finding no place’ with God in ‘Heaven’ refers in the light of the same terms used in other Bible passages to what happens at the final judgment, at Christ’s second coming, and it is therefore&nbsp;<em>not</em>&nbsp;descriptive of some past events in Eden. It’s also noteworthy that the serpent / Devil is ‘cast down’ from Heaven to make “woe” for “the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea” (<em><a href='B:730 12:12'>Rev 12:12</a></em>). This hardly sounds like the orthodox Satan of&nbsp;<em>Paradise Lost</em>&nbsp;being thrown down to earth to make trouble for just Adam and Eve. The people who inhabit “the sea” rather than the earth surely indicates that we are to understand all this literally. And it is “the serpent” who is thrown down from Heaven to the earth / sea. Orthodox thinking holds that Satan was cast down and became a serpent here on earth rather than being a serpent “in Heaven” as Revelation 12 requires. In any case, the woman in Revelation 12 is persecuted by the serpent rather than being charmed and tempted by him; and she escapes from him by fleeing into “the wilderness”, which makes the serpent mad with her (<em><a href='B:730 12:13-17'>Rev 12:13-17</a></em>). None of this Biblical testimony fits the orthodox interpretation of the passage – it directly contradicts it.</p><p>When we read that the Devil–dragon “deceives” people, this is defined more specifically in <em><a href='B:730 19:20'>Rev 19:20</a></em> as referring to deceiving people in the very last days by false miracles worked in conjunction with the “false prophet”. Thus the deceit is not to be understood as a general inciting of humanity to sin in their hearts – the deceit is specified as occurring only in the last days, immediately prior to the Kingdom of God being established:&nbsp;<br/><br/>The “old serpent” may be a reference to the characteristics of the serpent whom we meet in GenesIsa. The serpent–Eve incident played itself out in history, and still does, in that the children of the woman God’s people are tempted and now threatened by the powers of sin and sinful organizations. Thus Paul could say that in the same way as the serpent tempted Eve, so Jewish false teachers in the early church were tempting the true bride of Christ (<em><a href='B:540 11:3'>2Co 11:3</a></em>). So it was again in the persecution of true Christians by the Roman empire, which Revelation 12 initially refers to; so it was throughout history; and so it will be in the time of the final tribulation before the second coming of Christ. My specific suggestions as to the fulfilment of Revelation 12 in the latter day tribulation can be found in&nbsp;<em>The Last Days</em>&nbsp;Chapter 12–7.</p><p>The dragon power is associated with “the false prophet” and the doing of fake miracles (<em><a href='B:730 13:14'>Rev 13:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 19:20'>Rev 19:20</a></em>) – this is the basis upon which the dragon / Satan / adversary of God’s people “deceives” the world (<em><a href='B:730 12:9'>Rev 12:9</a></em>). There are multiple connections between the Lord’s Olivet prophecy and the prophecy of the book of Revelation. Almost every commentary on Revelation brings these out, and I have listed many of them in&nbsp;<em>The Last Days</em>&nbsp;Chapter 12. The Lord Jesus repeatedly warned His followers not to be “deceived” – using the same Greek word as in <em><a href='B:730 12:9'>Rev 12:9</a></em> about the dragon / Devil ‘deceiving’ unbelievers. But He warns time and again that the source of this deception will be from “<em>men</em>... false prophets... false Christs... false prophets” doing false miracles (<em><a href='B:470 24:4-5'>Mat 24:4-5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 24:11'>Mat 24:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 24:24'>Mat 24:24</a></em>). Jesus says nothing about some fallen–Angel ‘Satan’ being behind these men. He simply warns His followers to beware of&nbsp;<em>human</em>&nbsp;deceivers – and Revelation 12 fills out the picture by specifically painting these&nbsp;<em>men</em>&nbsp;as part of a massive&nbsp;<em>human</em>&nbsp;system called Satan, the adversary, who would have all the characteristics of the serpent in Eden, just as the adversaries of God’s people always have had. This system of opposition, in the first century context, was both Jewish and Roman – hence the dragon is called both “the Devil and Satan” in <em><a href='B:730 12:9'>Rev 12:9</a></em> –&nbsp;<em>diabolos</em>&nbsp;being the Greek term for the Hebrew&nbsp;<em>Satan</em>. They are practically interchangeable – but both terms occur here, I suggest, in order to show that the opposition to Christianity was coming from both Jewish and Gentile sources. Time and again the New Testament writers warn the Christians of both Jews and Gentiles,&nbsp;<em>men</em>&nbsp;not demons, spirits, fallen Angels, Satan etc. – but&nbsp;<em>men</em>&nbsp;who “seek to deceive you” (<em><a href='B:690 2:26'>1Jn 2:26</a></em>; <em><a href='B:690 3:7'>1Jn 3:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:660 1:16'>Jas 1:16</a></em>). “Be not deceived” is a watchword of Paul (<em><a href='B:530 6:9'>1Co 6:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:530 15:33'>1Co 15:33</a></em>; <em><a href='B:550 6:7'>Gal 6:7</a></em>). It is the&nbsp;<em>world</em>&nbsp;which is deceived by wicked men (<em><a href='B:610 3:13'>1Ti 3:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:630 3:3'>Tit 3:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:670 2:25'>1Pe 2:25</a></em>) – just as <em><a href='B:730 12:9'>Rev 12:9</a></em> says that the dragon / Satan system will deceived “the whole world”. That system was thus composed of wicked&nbsp;<em>men</em>. In all these passages, the very same Greek word occurs which is translated “deceive” in <em><a href='B:730 12:9'>Rev 12:9</a></em>. Again we have to ask – why did Jesus, Paul, Peter, James and John not spell out to their converts that it was really&nbsp;<em>Satan</em>&nbsp;who was tempting them and likely to deceive them? Why do they repeatedly stress that it is&nbsp;<em>men</em>&nbsp;and the human heart (<em><a href='B:650 3:10'>Heb 3:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:690 1:8'>1Jn 1:8</a></em>) who are the deceivers? Why do we have to wait until the very last book of the Bible to be told that actually, it’s Satan who’s doing this? How can belief in a personal Satan be so crucial to many churches, when the earliest Christian converts made before Revelation was given had been taught nothing about any Angel falling from Heaven and being responsible for temptation? Was there one Gospel for them, but another for the 21st century church?</p><p>“The great dragon was... that old serpent” (<em><a href='B:730 12:9'>Rev 12:9</a></em>). The dragon had “seven heads and ten horns” (v. 3), therefore it was not literally the serpent. It being called “that old serpent” shows that it had the characteristics of that serpent in Eden, in the sense of being a deceiver, as the serpent was. Thus the Devil is not literally the serpent. If it is, then the dragon is the snake. But the dragon is a political power, manifesting sin (satan). Pharaoh is likened to a great dragon (<em><a href='B:330 32:2'>Eze 32:2</a></em>) but we can’t reason that therefore he was a literal dragon. Similarly, “the sting of death is sin” (<em><a href='B:530 15:56'>1Co 15:56</a></em>), but that does not mean that death is a literal snake. It has the characteristics of the snake, through its association with sin. How could the Devil have deceived “the whole world” (v. 9) before he was thrown out of heaven seeing that there was no one in the world before Adam?</p><p>The Greek&nbsp;<em>archaios</em>, translated “old” in <em><a href='B:730 12:9'>Rev 12:9</a></em> and <em><a href='B:730 20:2'>Rev 20:2</a></em>, can easily be misread as meaning simply ‘the archaic / very old’ serpent. But&nbsp;<em>archaios</em>&nbsp;is a form of the Greek root&nbsp;<em>arche</em>&nbsp;– the dragon power of Revelation 12 is the arch–serpent, the archetypical serpent. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the serpent is very old. For the serpent who tempted Eve suffered from the curse which came upon all other “beasts of the field” (<em><a href='B:10 3:1'>Gen 3:1</a></em>), and died. We see serpents today eating dust and crawling on their bellies, living and dying like any other creature. The&nbsp;<em>arche</em>&nbsp;serpent doesn’t therefore mean ‘the extremely old serpent, the animal who tempted Eve, is still actually alive’. We meet the word&nbsp;<em>arche</em>&nbsp;elsewhere in the context of meaning ‘archetype’ rather than ‘having been in existence from the beginning of Biblical history’: “The&nbsp;<em>principles</em>&nbsp;(Gk:&nbsp;<em>arche</em>) of Christ” (<em><a href='B:650 6:1'>Heb 6:1</a></em>); “the first (Gk:&nbsp;<em>arche</em>) principles of the oracles of God” (<em><a href='B:650 5:12'>Heb 5:12</a></em>); and quite commonly&nbsp;<em>arche</em>&nbsp;is simply translated as “magistrates”, “rulers”, “principalities” – the ordering,&nbsp;<em>arch</em>–principles and foundations of society (<em><a href='B:490 12:11'>Luk 12:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:490 20:20'>Luk 20:20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:520 8:38'>Rom 8:38</a></em>; <em><a href='B:530 15:24'>1Co 15:24</a></em>; <em><a href='B:560 1:21'>Eph 1:21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:560 3:10'>Eph 3:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:560 6:12'>Eph 6:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:580 1:16'>Col 1:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:580 2:10'>Col 2:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:580 2:15'>Col 2:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:630 3:1'>Tit 3:1</a></em>). In line with this understanding, I think we could fairly paraphrase <em><a href='B:730 12:9'>Rev 12:9</a></em> as: “The great dragon, the classic, typical serpent, the thinking and behaviour of Eden’s snake played out all over again in classic role, the Gentile / Roman Devil and the Jewish Satan, an evil system adversarial to God’s true people”.</p><p>Austin Farrar coined the term “a rebirth of images” (Austin Farrar,<em>&nbsp;A Rebirth of Images&nbsp;</em>(Boston: Beacon Press, 1963)) to describe what’s going on in Revelation. Old Testament images are taken up and given a new focus; and this is what’s happened with the image of the serpent. It’s not a reference to&nbsp;<em>the same</em>&nbsp;serpent as was in Eden – but a rebirth of that image. G:B. Caird has commented on the very common error of interpretation made with Revelation 12 : “Later Christian tradition, by the fallacy of misplaced concreteness, treated this as a precosmic event... quite failing to recognize that John’s imagery had an earthly referent” (G:B. Caird,&nbsp;<em>The Language and Imagery of the Bible</em>&nbsp;(London: Duckworth, 1988) p. 55). What Caird is saying, in dense theological language, is that Christian folk have over literally interpreted the reference to the serpent, assuming that Revelation 12 is talking about something happening before creation, when in fact it is referring to things happening on earth in John’s own generation.</p>


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<p>12:10&nbsp;<em>And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying: Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers is cast down, who accuses them before our God day and night</em>- The great voice is presumably from the Angels representing the faithful. Not that the faithful personally are in Heaven, for there is no conscious survival of death. But their representative Angels are there, who look upon those persecuted by the dragon as their "brothers". The dragon is a veritable&nbsp;<em>diabolos</em>, a false accuser. In Jewish thought, one can be accused before God, in the heavenly throne room, without personally being there. Within John's writings we have a classic example in <em><a href='B:500 5:45'>Joh 5:45</a></em>, where the same word is again used of how Moses who was dead accused the Jews before God. Our own thoughts accuse us to God (<em><a href='B:520 2:15'>Rom 2:15</a></em>). The dragon entity had representation before the throne of God, falsely accusing "our brothers". The reference would presumably be to the Jewish Christian remnant, rather than to Jewish people generally. The accusation was in the sense that the Islamists consider Jews and Christians to be especially worthy of Divine condemnation; they justify their extreme judgment against Jews and Christians on the basis that they say God has spoken harshly against them. The Koran is full of this kind of thing. God is not unmindful of it.</p><p>There are copious links between Revelation 12 and Matthew 24. This chapter therefore has reference to the last days as well as AD70, bearing in mind the reference of the Olivet prophecy to these two periods. What proves this beyond doubt is that as soon as the dragon is cast out we are told "<em>Now</em>&nbsp;is come salvation... the Kingdom of our God... for the accuser of our brethren is cast down" (12:10). Neither salvation nor the Kingdom of God can fully come without the second coming. If Scripture interprets Scripture, then the dragon being cast out must refer to the events of the second coming. There is rejoicing because the believers were no longer being accused (Greek 'seized upon' or accused in a law court), implying that this will be going on until the dragon/beast is cast out by Michael, the Angel who acts for God’s people in the last days (<em><a href='B:340 12:1'>Dan 12:1</a></em>). The dragon accusing them before God sounds like Job's satan- as if the supreme intensity of suffering brought upon a materialistic, self-justifying Job to make him fit for God’s full fellowship points forward to our tribulation to come. As Job was brought to say that he had heard of God by the hearing of the ear (theoretically), but now, through his sufferings, "my eye sees You" (<em><a href='B:220 42:5'>Job 42:5</a></em>), so the latter day tribulation will develop God’s people.</p><p>The ‘accusation’ of God’s people “before God” by the serpent / Devil doesn’t mean he has to be literally in Heaven (<em><a href='B:730 12:10'>Rev 12:10</a></em>). The same term is found in <em><a href='B:500 5:45'>Joh 5:45</a></em> where the Lord Jesus states that the long–dead Moses ‘accuses’ the Jews to God. Our own thoughts accuse us to God (<em><a href='B:520 2:15'>Rom 2:15</a></em>). What all this surely means is that things done on earth, good and bad, even thoughts and feelings, are somehow represented before the throne of God, perhaps by representative Angels there, and God to continue the figure ‘judges’ those reported accusations. But this doesn’t require our literal presence in Heaven to do thIsa. The first century mind, especially those from a Jewish background, would likely have picked all this up with no problem; it is the European insistence on literalism in semantics which has led to so many of the problems in interpretation which these verses have given rise to. We have to somehow shed our slowness and hesitancy to accept that figures e.g. of a judgment court replete with literal books, throne, accusers, witnesses are just that– figures.</p><p>The 'coming' of salvation and the public assumption on earth of the power, authority etc. which the Lord already has in Heaven can only fully speak of the second coming. Any application to any other events are mere shadows and unworthy of much attention compared to the obvious application to the second coming.</p>


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<p>12:11&nbsp;<em>And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they did not love their life even to death</em>- This may imply that their testimony to others is related to their victory against the dragon. The language of overcoming is applied to us all in the letters which opened Revelation. The faithful overcome by the blood of the lamb- by what is done for them- and also by the word of their preaching, as if the act of preaching and witnessing against a hostile persecuting system was what helped maintain their faith. Preaching is a spiritual exercise for the benefit of the preacher. Through their work of witnessing, the persecuted believers overcome their tribulation. Witness is therefore not because God is in need of it, but for the personal spiritual benefit of the witnesses. The testimony made by the "brothers" is that of the two witnesses in <em><a href='B:730 11:7'>Rev 11:7</a></em>. It is the final witness amidst tribulation that is resolved by the coming of Jesus and the establishment of the Kingdom. See on <em><a href='B:470 24:14'>Mat 24:14</a></em>. It is this fearless Christian witness which provokes the beast of chapter 11 to ascend out of the pit to make war with them; and the dragon likewise goes to make war with the woman and the remnant at this&nbsp;time in chapter 12. As the two witnesses are killed at the end of their witness, so here it is during their work of witness that "they loved not their lives unto the death".</p><p>Militant Judaism appealed to the image of 'martyrdom' at the time of the Maccabees. But the word for 'martyr' is used here of how the Lord Jesus was the faithful witness unto death; to turn a conversation around to Jesus and face social death or ostracism, that is the true witness or 'martyrdom'. Not being a suicide bomber against the Romans.  Our witness is our witness (Rev. 6:9; 12:11). It is us personally witnessing in our way and context. But it is the witness of Jesus (Rev. 12:17; 19:10), who was the first and ultimate witness / martyr unto death (Rev. 1:5). We are His witnesses, continuing His witness unto death (Rev. 12:17; 17:6; 19:10). Our standing up for Him, our preaching, our witness to Him, is in the Spirit of His witness-unto-death. 
Judaism likewise sought to inspire followers with looking for future victory in some great Messianic battle against Rome. This was attractive to the early Jewish Christians who were the initial audience of Revelation, tempted as they were to either assimilate with the world around them, or to turn in upon themselves in internal strife (just as all believers have been tempted to over the centuries). But here we read that the people of God attain victory because of the Lord's victory on the cross, represented by His blood. This victory, therefore, is not something we are fighting for against this world. It has been attained. And we are to believe it and bask it, and seek to share the victory and to likewise not love our lives unto death. We are to "overcome" as the letters to the churches emphasize, to also be victors, in the spirit of His victory. We love, we die, we sacrifice, because He did. He is the model martyr / witness for us. But it's always more attractive, and easier to mentally handle, to be in search for something- rather than rejoicing that we have found it. To believe there is a battle to be fought and a victory to be won by us personally- when in fact it has already beeen fought and won, by the One far better than us. This is a feature of human nature we must beware of. To be ever learning and seeking, but unable to come to acknowledge the Truth when we find it. 
The focus is taken off immediate military conflict with Rome, onto man's spiritual need. And the Lord Jesus has won that ultimate victory, which ensures that ultimately, the Gentile world shall be subsumed beneath the Kingdom of God. But that is a future outcome. All human political device to bring it about now is at best misplaced. That is the lesson of Revelation 12. God's peope will indeed "overcome"; and this clearly alludes to the promises to 'him who overcomes' which concludes each of the opening letters to the churches in Rev. 2 and 3. But the battles in those churches were not literal military conflicts. The battles were against the flesh, against loss of love and faith, distraction by secular life, slipping away to pagan or Jewish religion and thus away from Jesus. The real essential conflict is within. And those who are now paraded as 'overcomers' or 'victors' in Rev. 12:15 only overcome because of the Lord's blood- not their military prowess. Our conviction of these things means that we too shall not seek to bring about our own version of God's Kingdom in our own strength- nor by secular politics. His blood makes us overcomers, not our strength. The dragon is red, associated later with the whore who is drunk with the red blood of the saints. The Lord's blood is also red. It is red against red; remember how visual is the entire apocalyptic genre. And the Lord's 'red' wins. But only for those who are willing to see that the red dragon is not at all invincible as it seems, but is in fact a born loser in its death throes. This is a radically 'other' perception of the world, which of itself makes us mentally separate from the world itself. Most people are dominated by the culture in which they live; the images and values of the system dominate them. Materialism, or whatever philosophy and worldview is prevalent, appears invincible. Whether or not it is billed as such, our current world system has a dominant, totalitarian ideology, based around the flesh, pride, lust, sex, power, wealth and hedonism. We are asked to adopt Heaven's persepctive,  to see another world, and live within it so far as we can. The Christian preacher may consider that this worldview of unbelievers is impenetrable. But the message of Revelation is that there are some who will see through it, adopting the images, culture and values of God's invisible empire and chosen King, the Lord Jesus. And those new, ultimately true images are given to us in these Revelation visions.
The whole message is that Christian involvement in secular politics is not going to bring about the Kingdom of God. The struggle has already been fought and won by the Lord on the cross. It is for us to focus upon that, win the battles within our own minds against our own flesh- and patiently wait for the visible articulation of that victory in His return to earth. 
The cult of Emperor presented Caesar as the one who brought peace to the empire ['the Kingdom'] by slaying the wild dragons of non-Roman empires. But everything is reveresed. It is the Lord Jesus and His people who win victory over the beasts / dragon- who in fact represent Rome. 
And they did not love their life even to death- This is very much the language of martyrdom, which the Jewish Christians of the first century were hearing from their Jewish relatives and families. But martyrs are usually just a few distinguished, spotlighted individuals on the side of the revolutionaries. But this language of martyrdom and radical resistance-unto-death is applied to the entire community of those on the Lamb's side. It could be that one possible fulfilment of Revelation could have been in the total matyrdom of the entire Christian community at the hands of Rome; and perhaps one future possibility is likewise the genocide of the entire body of Christ until He comes to save the last surviving remnant of them. Or it could be that all Christians are to be characterized by the spirit of radical martyrdom. The final difference is simply between those who overcome / conquer / are victors- and those who are rejected. All the Lord's people are heroic martyrs and victors: "He that overcomes shall inherit all things... But the fearful, and unbelieving..." (Rev. 21:7,8). The call to be the Lord's man or woman is without doubt a call to a brave life. Not the religion of mum and dad, nor to blend in with a mere culture of Sunday churchianity. All the "great multitude" of believers "are they which came out of great tribulation" (Rev. 7:14), they all fought for freedom, and now share the sweet joy of eternal victory and glory. We are all to be witnesses / martyrs unto death. Our witness, our preaching, our standing up and living for the principles of the Lord "the faithful and true witness", this is our resistance. This is our death. Be it social death, actual death or the giving up of life slowly, bit by bit- this is our martyrdom. It is part of being a Christian to have sworn loyalty unto death, to die with Jesus as we did in baptism- and to give our lives for Him. Whether in actual violent death, or [as is more common] in a life no longer lived unto ourselves but for Him and the cause of His Kingdom. This is the radical nature of our call. Man is at best a rebel without a cause, or at least, a very good cause which stands the test of time. We are rebels for the ultimate cause, with a leader who will never disappoint nor be revealed as having feet of clay. The call of non-conformity is attractive to men, especially in youth, but the power of human conservatism and the power of conformity within society is too great and the call to non conform is soon overcome. And man slides quickly back into the mire of mediocrity. This is where the radical Christian message ought to be particularly attractive to youth. Idealism, the image of being David against Goliath, of the outsider winning, the no-hoper, written off as a loser, coming to ultimate vicory, the call to rebel... these things are very much the stuff of the Christian call, and they are repeatdly talked up here in Revelation. It is a far higher call than merely dying your hair an outlandish colour or cussing authority figures behind their backs. And chatting for a few minutes over coffee about idealism and a new world order- and then changing the topic. </p>


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<p>12:12&nbsp;<em>Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe for the earth and for the sea Because the Devil has gone down to you, having great anger, knowing that he has but a short time</em>- Those John was observing in "Heaven" could refer to the Angels. But we have just read of some of the latter day faithful being observed being snatched up to "heaven" (<em><a href='B:730 11:12'>Rev 11:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 12:5'>Rev 12:5</a></em>). Perhaps it is specifically they who are referred to. But this defeat by Divine force, just as Pharaoh experienced, provoked a final burst of wrath by the dragon entity. The earth would refer to the land promised to Abraham; and the sea perhaps to the neighbouring territories.</p><p>"Therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many" (<em><a href='B:340 11:44'>Dan 11:44</a></em>) is a commentary on Sennacherib's rage (<em><a href='B:120 19:27-28'>2Ki 19:27-28</a></em>):&nbsp;Rabshakeh boasted immediately after the receipt of the "rumour" that Assyria would 'utterly destroy' Israel still (<em><a href='B:120 19:11'>2Ki 19:11</a></em>):&nbsp;This is matched by "to<em>&nbsp;destroy</em>, and&nbsp;<em>utterly</em>&nbsp;to make away" in <em><a href='B:340 11:44'>Dan 11:44</a></em>. The fury of Assyria against Jerusalem because of their recognition that they only had limited time to destroy it before having to turn their attention against the Arab rebels is the basis of the Jihadist beast of the last days going forth against God’s people with "having great anger, knowing that he has but a short time" (:12,17). In the same way as "the king of Babylon heard the report" of the Medes' invasion and was troubled (<em><a href='B:300 50:43'>Jer 50:43</a></em>), so the latter-day "king of the north", while personally present conducting the campaign against Jerusalem, will be troubled by "tidings" of this massive Muslim mutiny against him, and will therefore go ahead in a furious rage to try to exterminate every Jew left in Jerusalem (<em><a href='B:340 11:44-45'>Dan 11:44-45</a></em>). <em><a href='B:300 51:31-32'>Jer 51:31-32</a></em> stresses how the report of the attack on Babylon will spread like wildfire. This relates to the beast launching a final burst of persecution against God’s people, "having great anger, knowing that he has but a short time".</p><p>If the Devil was cast down in Eden, he has had the opportunity to torment man throughout his long history – which is hardly having only “a short time” in which to wreak havoc:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>The idea is that in 'heaven', from God's perspective, the Lord's death has overcome the dragon. But on earth, he is fighting, and apparently winning against God's people. But he has been beaten, slain on the cross. He is a loser from the start, and his persecution of God's people is the mad flailing of the dragon in his death throes. That of course isn't how it seems. But from God's perspective, he is beaten- and this is the whole point of these visions flipping between heaven and earth, showing us the perspective of heaven on things happening on earth. We suffer and we die, the forces of this world appear far stronger. But the perspective given by the cross is that evil and sin in all its forms has been overcome and vanquished. The believers are the armies who follow the lamb (Rev. 14:1-5) and overcome the apparently far superior dragon and his followers. The believers are faithful unto death, as their Lord was; the apparent victory of the beast against them is in fact their victory over the beast. Just as they overcome the beast by the blood / death of the lamb. The paradox is that the apparent victory of the beast over them- turns out to be their victory over the beast. As with the Lord, death becomes the symbol of victory rather than defeat, just as losing all things now is in fact eternal gain. It is only to those who dwell on earth that the beast appears omnipotent (Rev. 13:8). But Revelation gives us the perspective from Heaven. This radical re-interpretation of death and apparent loss is one of the most powerful outcomes of the cross. It has obvious comfort to believers as they face and negotiate the reality of their own death and the decline of faculty which usually precedes it. And this is the truth, the ultimately true perspective. Whereas the beast systems are repeatedly described as deceiving others (Rev. 12:9; 13:14; 18:23), compared to the followers of the Lamb who are [like their Lord] "without deceit" (Rev. 3:14; 14:5). The Jewish Christians were being called to martyrdom in the struggle against Rome. But the message is that the real martyrdom is death at the hands of the likes of Rome, death after the pattern of the Lord's death at the hands of the Romans and Jews.  
Revelation comforts believers that their sufferings at the hands of systems of evil are only for "a short time" or "a little while" (Rev. 6:11; 12:12; 17:10). But this is from Heaven's perspective. For those 'on the ground' suffering persecution and death during that "short time", this would give perspective. But it would only be comforting if they accepted Heaven's perspective, as taught in Revelation. Believing in the ultimate return of Jesus and the eternity of God's Kingdom on earth... this enables us to locate our own sufferings, even if they last a lifetime, within the broader perspective of eternity. The comfort that suffering is only 'for a moment' only finds meaning if we accept the reality of the eternity ahead. In this sense, the Lord's return is "soon".</p>


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<p>12:13&nbsp;<em>And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman that had brought forth the man child</em>- The allusion is to how Pharaoh recognized he had been beaten by Divine power; and hastily sought to hunt the Israelites to death. That motif is continued by the way in which the destruction of Israel's latter day invaders is celebrated with the "Song of Moses" sung after the Red Sea deliverance (<em><a href='B:730 15:3'>Rev 15:3</a></em>). There are references to Israel and Egypt; the woman flees away from the dragon (cp. Egypt) into a wilderness, but is pursued by the dragon (<em><a href='B:730 12:13'>Rev 12:13</a></em>), who tries to use water as a means of destroying her (<em><a href='B:730 12:15'>Rev 12:15</a></em>; cp. the Red Sea), but by a miracle Israel are preserved from it. The woman is carried on eagle's wings, as Israel were out of Egypt (<em><a href='B:20 19:4'>Exo 19:4</a></em>). The woman is "nourished" during the three and a half years, as Israel were fed with manna in the wilderness. Jesus reasons in John 6 that the manna represents the word of God. It may follow that the nourishing of the seed of the woman in the wilderness of her latter day tribulation will be through some special spiritual feeding programme designed by God. It may well be through an increased level of understanding of the Apocalypse and other prophecies of the tribulations which we will then be experiencing.</p><p>The wrath of the dragon is because the woman "had brought forth the man child". I suggested above that this refers to the successful preaching of the Gospel to the extent that some Jews repent, forming the repentant remnant which is miraculously preserved from the dragon. It is quite imaginable that exactly because of this, the dragon will so hate the woman, the true Christian church. "Persecute" is the same word used in the Olivet prophecy, of how the true disciples will be persecuted in Israel both in AD70 and especially in the last days (<em><a href='B:490 21:12'>Luk 21:12</a></em>).</p>


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<p>12:14&nbsp;<em>And there was given to the woman the two wings of the 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</em>- "The great eagle" is a symbol for both Babylon / Nebuchadnezzar (<em><a href='B:340 7:4'>Dan 7:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 17:3'>Eze 17:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 17:12'>Eze 17:12</a></em>) and Pharaoh king of Egypt (<em><a href='B:330 17:7'>Eze 17:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 17:17'>Eze 17:17</a></em>). It could be that in some way, some element of the persecuting coalition assists her; this would then be parallel with the earth / land helping the woman by swallowing up the flood spewed by the dragon. This repeating of the same idea through two different images is typical of what I mean by saying that Revelation is a kaleidoscope of images, ever rotating, reinforcing general impressions and themes, and yet with each image still unique. In the same way we read in :6 that the woman flees; here in :14 that idea is repeated, but with the detail that she flees by flying. Or it could be that&nbsp;we should read without the article, "two wings of an eagle", as if part of the cherubim vision of <em><a href='B:730 7:4'>Rev 7:4</a></em> the "eagle" aspect of it assists the woman to safety. Note the connection of Angel and eagle at <em><a href='B:730 8:13'>Rev 8:13</a></em>. And the allusion would then be to how God brought His people to safety from Egypt "on eagle's wings" (<em><a href='B:20 19:4'>Exo 19:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 32:11'>Deu 32:11</a></em>).</p><p>The woman is in the wilderness, in the presence of the serpent / dragon; for the dragon spits water at her (:15), and in <em><a href='B:730 17:3'>Rev 17:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:730 17:8'>Rev 17:8</a></em> the beast arises from the wilderness with the blood of the saints. So whilst the woman as a whole is preserved, miraculously, some believers will die as a result of the dragon's mania against them there. The description of a conflict between a serpent and a woman and her seed in <em><a href='B:730 12:14-16'>Rev 12:14-16</a></em> must refer back to <em><a href='B:10 3:15'>Gen 3:15</a></em> - from which we can conclude that there will be a short term victory for the devil/ dragon over the seed of the woman in the last days.</p><p>The nourishing or feeding for three and a half years recalls Elijah being miraculously fed for his three-and-a-half-year ministry, with ravens bringing him meat at one stage. The woman is part of the three and a half year Elijah ministry of the last days, witnessing to Israel under persecution.</p>


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<p>12:15&nbsp;<em>The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood</em>- Pharaoh has been alluded to in previous verses; here perhaps is in view his plan to trap Israel and hurl them into the waters of the Red Sea. It was God who provided a stream of water in the desert; yet here the serpent does the same. Likewise it was God who destroyed the earth by a flood; and here the serpent attempts to do just the same. This is the principle of anti-Christ, appearing as the Father or Son when in fact they were bitterly opposed to them and imitating them.</p><p>The other allusion is to the Assyrian invasion of Judah and Jerusalem being likened to a river gushing toward God’s people (<em><a href='B:290 8:7'>Isa 8:7</a></em>). This is typical of the latter day Assyrian dominating the earth / land. But just as the Assyrian was unsuccessful in taking Jerusalem, so the latter day river will be swallowed up the Greek for river and "flood" here is the same.</p>


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<p>12:16&nbsp;<em>And the earth helped the woman; the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth</em>- "The earth helped the woman" might refer to some of the Islamists indirectly 'helping' the woman by turning against Babylon:&nbsp; See on <em><a href='B:730 17:16'>Rev 17:16</a></em>. I suggested on :14 that the woman escapes through the wings of an eagle, and this may parallel this thought- if we understand the eagle as the symbol of the abusers. Somehow something within their own system enabled her to survive. The earth opening has been encountered in <em><a href='B:730 9:2'>Rev 9:2</a></em>, where the bottomless pit is opened. Perhaps it is this very source of the locusts which absorbs the flood of judgment the dragon spits out against the woman. The language suggests that the dragon plays God in bringing a flood upon the woman. The Islamists justify their judgment of Jews and Christians by arguing they have Divine, even Biblical, warrant for doing so. But they are stopped in this, in that the flood is swallowed by the opening earth- itself a sign of condemnation. This is language very similar to how the Koran describes the abating of the flood in Noah’s time: “And it was said: O earth Swallow thy water and, O sky be cleared of clouds And the water was made to subside” (Sura 11:44). They themselves will realize that their pogrom of destruction against "the woman" is being stopped by God.</p>


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<p>12:17&nbsp;<em>And the dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed that keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus</em>- Revelation 12 begins with the dragon trying to kill the man child born of the woman, and now at the end of the vision he seeks to kill the rest of her children. I earlier interpreted the man child as the Jewish Christian converts who repent and who are miraculously taken away from persecution. "The rest of her seed" would refer to another group of her spiritual children. They hold the testimony of Jesus in that they too witness to their new faith, in the face of the most awful opposition and persecution. He persecutes "the remnant" of the seed of the woman, just as the fourth beast of <em><a href='B:340 7:7'>Dan 7:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:340 7:19'>Dan 7:19</a></em> downtreads “the remnant”.</p><p>We need to note the parallels between Revelation 12, 20. There we meet again "the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and satan" (<em><a href='B:730 12:9'>Rev 12:9</a></em> = <em><a href='B:730 20:2'>Rev 20:2</a></em>). The repetition of this exact phrase indicates we are being given another angle on events here in chapter 12. At the time of the establishment of God’s Kingdom, the figurative "thousand years" (see notes on chapter 20), this entity persecutes the faithful; and then once the Kingdom has been established not at the end of some 1000 year Millennial reign, he is released from his prison and makes a futile attack upon the "camp of the saints" before being finally destroyed by fire (<em><a href='B:730 20:9'>Rev 20:9</a></em>). This event is therefore spoken of here in chapter 12 as 'making war' with 'the rest of the woman's seed'. This is the final stage of the ancient conflict envisaged in <em><a href='B:10 3:15'>Gen 3:15</a></em> between the seed of the woman and the serpent.</p><p>Revelation 12 indicates that the dragon is unsuccessful in totally destroying the woman, and therefore turns in a brief period of fury "to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus" (<em><a href='B:730 12:17'>Rev 12:17</a></em>). Here we have the same idea as in <em><a href='B:730 11:7'>Rev 11:7</a></em>; three and a half years of witnessing amidst persecution, followed by a brief, intense period of horror, as Christ's three and a half year ministry was terminated by three and a half days of especial suffering. Notice that the dragon goes into the wilderness to persecute the woman's seed; 17:3,8 describes a beast from the wilderness, full of the blood of the saints. Thus the beast of Revelation 17 is also to be read in a latter day context.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'>And I stood upon the sand of the sea- A position associated with the seed of Abraham in their land. This is the perspective from which we must view the beasts. The sea shore is on the earth / land promised to Abraham. John is viewing things from the very edge of that territory.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea- If the earth is the land promised to Abraham, from the Euphrates to the river of Egypt, then this beast arises from the sea of nations and peoples immediately surrounding it. Iran comes to mind, as does Egypt and Libya, all home to jihadist Islamists with a sworn hatred of Israel. Turkey is also in view, and we can expect her to become more deeply anti-Israel. </p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>There is a clear parallel between the four winds which strove with each other upon the sea, and the four beasts who came up out of the sea. The impression is that these beasts all exist at the same time, and their conflict with each other leads to the final appearance of a beast which represents all of them; and this entity dominates the earth / land promised to Abraham, and God’s people upon it. The appearance of this entity will therefore be brought about by massive conflict within the land promised to Abraham- and this is what we are seeing before our eyes. The only uniting issue between the powers in that area is a common hatred of Israel and desire to take Jerusalem. This will be the basis of the final beast arising. We can perhaps look to the development of four distinct power groups within the land promised to Abraham, giving rise to ten 'kings' or leaders, the horns of the beast, the ten toes of the image. The period of conflict between those groups could be very brief. We need not, therefore, think that the Lord's coming isn't near because we can't currently identify those four entities or ten leaders. What we are seeing before our eyes is the winds blowing on the sea, striving between the peoples of the land / earth promised to Abraham, leaving millions dead and the entire region in bitter division. And this, according to Daniel 7, will give rise to the emergence of the final entity of abuse, perhaps on the pattern of the entity known as the Islamic State.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>We should therefore be looking for a group of four kings / kingdoms, out of which arise ten kings / kingdoms; and out of them arises one &quot;little horn&quot; in particular. Revelation's take on the beasts adds more detail- there are also seven heads, a false prophet acting as publicity agent for the beast, a whore riding the beast, sitting on seven hills / kings. The four beasts / kings are initially in conflict, striving with each other upon the sea, and arising from that comes the fourth beast entity, the composite beast including elements of all the previous ones. And from that there arises the ten horns and one little horn. We should not, however, think of these situations as having to be chronological developments, i.e. first the four, then the fourth beast, then the ten horns, then the little horn. It may work out like that, but not necessarily. The precise details need not concern us ahead of time; the picture is of a series of leaders and powers involved in the domination of the land promised to Abraham. The fact is, the beasts will all exist together in the last days, just as the metals of the image will. These various entities will &quot;arise&quot; from the land. And this is what we see happening already- in the last few years there has been what is called the Arabic, and particularly Sunni, sahwa, 'awakening'. Powers and kings have risen up out of the scrubland and desert of the eretz, united in their hatred of Israel, but bitterly divided against each other.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>We are for sure in the stage of the winds / ruach / Angel controlled nations 'striving' with each other- the eretz is full of conflict as never before, not just between Israel and her neighbours, but between those neighbours. There are currently four non-Jewish nations within the eretz- Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. But they exist just on paper as lines on the map; there are other significant entities within the area, e.g. Kurdistan, the Islamic State, Gaza, parts of Egypt and Turkey [depending how one defines the northern border of Israel], parts of Saudi Arabia [depending how the eastern border is defined]. In total they make ten kingdoms, but the number ten may not be literal. We would then be awaiting for the &quot;little horn&quot; to arise- a charismatic, antiChrist leader, or perhaps another very small entity. For the horn is called the little horn, and yet it is the most powerful in the very last days. However, the Hebrew and Aramaic words translated &quot;little&quot; can mean 'short' in terms of time as well as size. The idea may be that it lasts a very short time indeed, maybe literally days or hours in the very last day, and is the human representative of the beast / horns who personally challenges the Lord Jesus and is destroyed by the brightness of His coming. </p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The empires of Daniel 2 dominate the earth. The Hebrew eretz can refer either to the entire planet, or to the land- the land promised to Abraham, the land of Israel, from the Euphrates to the river of Egypt. The dominion of the four beasts is therefore over the same area. Daniel saw the beasts arising out of the great sea. This could be a reference to the laver, which is also called a 'sea' (<a href='B:110 7:23-26'>1 Kings 7:23-26</a>,<a href='B:110 7:39'>39</a>). This was a huge circular bowl for washing which was set upon 12 bronze oxen, representing the 12 tribes of Israel. They were arranged in four groups of three, facing north, south, east and west, in imitation of the camp of Israel in the wilderness. The beasts therefore arise out of the territory promised to the twelve tribes of Israel.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'><a href='B:730 17:15'>Rev. 17:15</a> interprets waters or seas as &quot;peoples&quot;. The beasts therefore arise out of the peoples who are to be found in the land of the 12 tribes of Israel. The interpretation is confirmed by the words of the Angel in <a href='B:340 7:17'>Dan. 7:17</a>, who says that the four beasts who arise out of the sea are four king[dom]s which &quot;shall arise out of the earth / land&quot;.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Another possibility regarding the &quot;great sea&quot; is that it refers to the area of Babylon's dominion. The vision of Daniel 7 clearly parallels that of Daniel 2, which was intended to explain what would happen after the Babylonians. The arena of the &quot;great sea&quot; was to be dominated by other kingdoms apart from Babylon. In confirmation of this, we find the word rab [&quot;great&quot;] used about the greatness of Babylon (&quot;great Babylon&quot;, <a href='B:340 4:30'>Dan. 4:30</a>; <a href='B:360 2:2'>Joel 2:2</a>,<a href='B:360 2:11'>11</a>). But rab is also translated &quot;master&quot; (<a href='B:340 1:3'>Dan. 1:3</a>), &quot;lord&quot;, &quot;captain&quot;, &quot;chief&quot; (<a href='B:340 2:10'>Dan. 2:10</a>,<a href='B:340 2:14'>14</a>,<a href='B:340 2:48'>48</a>), &quot;master&quot; (<a href='B:340 4:19'>Dan. 4:1</a>; <a href='B:340 5:11'>5:11</a>). We could understand the &quot;great sea&quot; as the sea of nations ruled over by the master, the lord of the sea, the king of Babylon- and Daniel is seeing this vision in the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon (<a href='B:340 7:1'>Dan. 7:1</a>). As in the Daniel 2 vision, Daniel is explaining that the leadership of Babylon will not last, other kingdoms will arise to also dominate the sea of nations which was then under Babylon's sole control. This again pushes us towards understanding the entire vision as specifically concerning the area over which Babylon had dominion, and not the whole planet.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Having ten horns and seven heads; and on his horns ten diadems- The beasts of Revelation are built upon the beasts of Daniel. In the latter day application, the various beasts are perhaps pictures of various aspects of the final beast. The beast of <a href='B:730 13:2'>Rev. 13:2</a> was &quot;like a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion&quot;. Here we see the elements of the various beasts of Dan. 7 and therefore the metals of the image of Dan. 2 all incorporated into this latter day beast. It is the equivalent of the image standing complete in the last days. It has &quot;seven heads and ten horns&quot; (<a href='B:730 13:1'>Rev. 13:1</a>)- which is the total number of heads and horns of the four beasts of Dan. 7. In harmony with this, <a href='B:350 13:7'>Hos. 13:7</a> describes Israel's latter day invader as a lion, bear, leopard and wild beast. All elements of the beasts are brought together in the final latter day invasion. The [singular] beast of <a href='B:730 13:1'>Rev. 13:1</a> arose out of the sea, but the beasts of Daniel 7 all also arise out of the sea; it's as if all those beasts are epitomized in the one beast, just as the image of Daniel 2 stands complete at the time of Christ's return, incorporating all the metals / empires of history. All this is explained further in commentary on Daniel 2, Daniel 8 and Daniel 9.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The metals of the image of Daniel 2 and the beasts of Daniel 7 all have dominion over &quot;the earth&quot;, and this has reference is to the earth / land of Israel. This, I suggest, continues to be the focus in the visions of Revelation. When we read of various judgments being poured out upon the &quot;earth&quot;, we are reading about the situation in the land promised to Abraham. The references to 'thirds' of the earth / land being judged is clearly alluding to the Old Testament prophetic descriptions of 'thirds' of Israel or the population of Jerusalem being judged, especially in Ezekiel and Zechariah. Indeed <a href='B:730 1:7'>Rev. 1:7</a> opens the prophecy by making the connection between Israel and the &quot;earth&quot;: &quot;Those who pierced [crucified] Him and all the tribes of the earth [land] shall wail because of Him&quot;. This is quoting from Zechariah's prophecy of how all the tribes of Israel will weep in repentance because of their crucifixion of their Messiah.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The four beasts of Daniel 7 are replaced in Revelation by one composite beast, although it is presented from different aspects. This, I suggest, is because the beast of Revelation specifically is the latter day beast, which incorporates all the previous beasts. </p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the first self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State, said that Muslims should unite to capture Rome in order to &quot;own the world&quot;. The significance of this is that the ten horn entity, the latter day radical Islamist entity, is seeking to incorporate an element of the previous metals / beast systems, i.e. Rome. This is what we would expect if the image is to stand erect in the last days.  Source: McElory, Damien. &quot;Rome will be conquered next, says leader of 'Islamic State'&quot;. The Telegraph. Retrieved 3 July 2014.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The beasts of Daniel represented empires, but this beastly empire in Revelation is a composite Leopard-Bear-Lion (<a href='B:730 13:2'>13:2</a>). It isn't just one of Daniel's three empires. It's all three empires rolled into one. In other words, this new empire is composed of the descendants of those earlier empires, in the same geographic location. Looking back at the history of the Middle East, we can now identify this new empire as the various powers that have controlled the Holy Land whilst the Jews were established within it.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'> </p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>It's surely significant that Daniel 7 is comprised of seven visions- each introduced by the statement that Daniel 'beheld'. This matches with the series of seven visions we find in Revelation. I would say that Revelation is therefore a development and expansion of the ideas presented in Daniel; the basic picture presented in Daniel will come true, but the outworking of it is developed somewhat in Revelation.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The four beasts of Daniel 7 clearly are to be connected with the four separate beasts which we encounter in the book of Revelation- the dragon of chapters 12 and 20, the sea beast of <a href='B:730 13:1'>13:1</a>, the earth beast of <a href='B:730 13:11'>13:11</a> and the beast ridden by the whore in chapter 17. Note how the four 'evil' beasts of Revelation are a conscious contrast with &quot;the four living creatures&quot; of God’s heavenly throne room (<a href='B:730 19:42'>Rev. 19:4</a> cp. <a href='B:330 1:5'>Ez. 1:5</a>,<a href='B:330 1:15'>15</a>). Perhaps the contrast is also to demonstrate how as in Daniel, the nations on earth have their representative, controlling Angels in the court of Heaven.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Each of the beasts has some similarities with the other beasts. Three of them 'arise'; they all have horns; three of them have the same number of horns and heads; they all persecute God’s people, etc. They all exist at the same time- they do not arise in chronological sequence. They are a different take on the four beasts of Daniel 7, but they have only outline similarities. The sequence of beasts / empires in Daniel 7 was a potential prophetic program, which never came to complete fulfilment. But the essence of the prophecy is repeated in Revelation, and will come true in the last days. It could be that we should not unduly sweat to understand the precise details of the beasts in Daniel 7, because this was part of a prophetic program which did not come about- I have written elsewhere about Conditional prophecy in Daniel. But the essence of the prophecy will come true in the last days, and we find it fleshed out in Revelation.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>We read of &quot;the beast&quot; without any specification as to which beast is in view (<a href='B:730 19:19-20'>Rev. 19:19,20</a>; <a href='B:730 20:4'>20:4</a>,<a href='B:730 20:10'>10</a>). This is surely because the various beasts are only manifestations of the one beast, just as the four beasts of Daniel 7 are comprehended in the fourth beast. The beasts are in a sense separate- thus the beast is put into the lake of fire before the dragon is (<a href='B:730 20:10'>Rev. 20:10</a>). But in another sense, these entities are all expressing the same reality and principles. Different aspects of the dominating entity may be destroyed at different times in different ways- hence the usage of the imagery of more than one beast.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>As noted on <a href='B:730 12:3'>12:3</a>, &quot;seven heads and ten horns&quot; refers to how groups of seven and ten nations and kings surrounding Israel are associated with previous dominations of Israel (7=<a href='B:50 7:1'> Dt. 7:1</a>; <a href='B:60 3:10'>Josh. 3:10</a>; <a href='B:510 13:19'>Acts 13:19</a>; 10 = <a href='B:10 15:18'>Gen. 15:18</a>; Ps. 83; the ten surrounding nations starting with Egypt and ending with Babylon of Jer. 46-50; the ten toes of the image of Daniel 2, the ten horns of the beast of Daniel 7; the ten invading nations of Ez. 38 headed by Gog).  suggestion is that the seven heads and ten horns on the dragon and beast refer to a quick succession or co-existence of various peoples, leaders or entities originating from or around the land promised to Abraham, which will persecute God’s people in the last days. They will all form part of the coalition of evil known as the beast or dragon, and radical Islam will be their religion.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The ten horns represent ten kings- the reference may be to individual leaders rather than to nations (<a href='B:340 7:42'>Dan. 7:24</a>). They arise out of the head of the beast, maybe implying they share the same overall ideology or thinking. That ideology would be that of hatred of Israel and a common desire to destroy her- which rather suggests Islam. That is the only appropriate ideology within the earth / land promised to Abraham which could be the candidate for the fulfilment of this prophetic requirement.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'> </p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'> </p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The One Beast</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'> </p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Daniel 7</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>2 Thess. 2</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Rev. 13</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Rev. 17</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Rev. 19</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>1.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Called:</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The beast</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The beast</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The beast</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The beast</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Also called:</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The little horn*</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The man of sin</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The eighth head</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>2.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Comes out of the sea</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Comes out of the deep (i.e. the sea)</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>3.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Associated with 10 horns</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>10 horns</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>10 horns</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>10 horns</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>4.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Emerges at end of Gentile times</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>End of Gentile times</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>End of Gentile times</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>End of Gentile times</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>End of Gentile times</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>5.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Amazing recovery</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Amazing emergence</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>6.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>A mouth speaking great things against the Most High</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>God-defying</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Opens mouth in blasphemy against God</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Full of names of blasphemy</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>7.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Deceitful signs and lying wonders</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Deceitful signs and lying wonders t</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Deceives them that had received the mark of the beast t</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>8.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Given publicity by the beast out the earth</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Given publicity by the false prophet (i.e. the beast of the earth)</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>9.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>All deceived who do not believe the truth</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>All that dwell upon the earth worship the beast, whose names are not written in the book of life</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>They that dwell on the earth, whose names are not written in the book of life, wonder at the revival of the beast</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>10</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Persecutes and overcomes saints</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Intolerant of all religions</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Persecutes and overcomes the saints</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Persecutes the saints Destroys the whore</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>11</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Duration of 3.5 years</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Duration of 3.5 years</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>12</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The son of perdition</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Goes to perdition</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>13</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Destroyed by Christ</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Destroyed by Christ</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Destroyed by Christ</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Destroyed by Christ</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Note that the little horn is treated as the beast (<a href='B:340 7:11'>Dan. 7:11</a>).</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>And upon his heads were names of blasphemy- The beast of <a href='B:730 17:4'>17:4</a> was &quot;full of blasphemous names&quot;. Not only the heads of the Beast (<a href='B:730 13:1'>13:1</a>), but its whole body is covered with them, indicating that the entire empire sanctioned the emperors' arrogation of divine titles; such titles could be found throughout the Roman world, inscribed on public buildings and monuments. The blasphemy of the last days will be in that the jihadists consider that they have Divine, even Biblical warrant to execute His judgments upon Israel and the true Christian church.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>As noted many times, we are not to look for a chronological fulfilment in terms of a sequence of events. These are all kaleidoscope images of the persecution to be unleashed upon the earth / land. They merge and morph with each other, and yet re-emerge as separate entities. The dragon has seven heads and ten horns, with each head crowned; the beast from the sea has likewise seven heads and ten horns, but now it is the horns which are crowned; on the heads of the beast there are &quot;names of blasphemy&quot; (<a href='B:730 13:1'>13:1</a>). Their prototype in <a href='B:340 7:20'>Daniel 7:20</a> has ten horns upon only one head.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The names of the Roman emperors were to be greatly revered. The cult of emperor worship grew very strongly in the 1st century. Yet <a href='B:730 13:2'>Rev. 13:2</a> describes the names of the leaders of the beast, which on one level represented the Roman empire in the 1st century, as &quot;blasphemous names&quot;. To assign divine titles to the emperor was, to the Jewish and Christian mind, a blasphemy (<a href='B:50 11:36'>Dt. 11:36</a>; <a href='B:600 2:4'>2 Thess. 2:4</a>). This would have made the Apocalypse an outlawed document in the first century. Consider too the clear references to the evil of the emperor worship cult later in Rev. 13: one of its heads. . .is set up as the very opposite of the true Christ.</p>


text:
<p>13:2&nbsp;<em>And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were as the feet of a bear, his mouth as the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority-&nbsp;</em>As noted on :1, the beast is the composite of all the beasts of Daniel 7. The dragon of chapter 12 is also the same ideology which speaks from the mouth of the earth beast in :11. The dragon may be damaged or apparently destroyed in political terms by the Lord's direct judgment, perhaps at the hands of Israeli or Western militia. But the jihadist philosophy re-emerges in another incarnation, just as has been witnessed so often in the war against various Islamic terrorist organizations.</p><p>The beast of Revelation 13 has elements of all the other beasts. And so does the fourth beast of Daniel 7. It had iron teeth and brass nails (<em><a href='B:340 7:19'>Dan 7:19</a></em>), alluding to the brass of the third kingdom and the iron of the fourth kingdom. It had “eyes of a man” and a human eye on its horn, (<em><a href='B:340 7:8'>Dan 7:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:340 7:20'>Dan 7:20</a></em>), just as the first beast, the lion, had a human heart and stood up like a man (<em><a href='B:340 7:4'>Dan 7:4</a></em>). The bear, the second beast, had three ribs in its mouth, representing its conquest of three other powers; the fourth beast features a little horn which conquers three other horns (<em><a href='B:340 7:8'>Dan 7:8</a></em>). The bear also ‘devoured much flesh’ (<em><a href='B:340 7:5'>Dan 7:5</a></em>); the fourth beast ‘devours’ the land (<em><a href='B:340 7:7'>Dan 7:7</a></em>). The third beast, the leopard, had four heads (<em><a href='B:340 7:6'>Dan 7:6</a></em>), rather like the fourth beast also has ten horns; and Revelation 13 explains that these are later located on seven heads. The fourth beast of Daniel 7 is therefore a composite beast; the other beasts merge into an entity which includes all of them, even though they still exist separately- for in the final Divine judgment, the fourth beast entity is destroyed, but the beasts have their dominion taken away although their lives are “prolonged for a season and time” (<em><a href='B:340 7:12'>Dan 7:12</a></em>). This may mean that the final entity is destroyed, but the individual components of it continue to exist “for a season and time”. The only other reference in Daniel to a period being “prolonged” is when the same word is used in <em><a href='B:340 4:27'>Dan 4:27</a></em> regarding the possibility of the king of the kingdom prolonging his life by repentance; it could be that the delay or prolonging is in order they repent:&nbsp; This may also explain why the first beast, representing Babylon, is pictured as having a man’s heart being given to it after its wings power are cropped. The historical king of Babylon had a beast’s heart (<em><a href='B:340 4:16'>Dan 4:16</a></em>), but his understanding a human heart returned to him on his repentance (<em><a href='B:340 4:34'>Dan 4:34</a></em>). So this feature of the first beast may be a hit at a repentance after the pattern of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 4.</p><p>It’s apparent that the four beasts of Daniel and of Revelation (dragon, sea beast, earth beast, scarlet beast) are full of allusion to the cherubim vision seen by Ezekiel- also whilst in captivity in Babylon, just as Daniel was. The cherubim were likewise four separate living creatures beasts which somehow were also one. The four beasts of Daniel 7 become comprehended in the fourth beast and in the one composite beast of Revelation 13, which includes all elements of the previous beasts within it. Note that the Hebrew / Aramaic for “beast” means literally a living one- the living creature of the cherubim vision. The cherubim featured the faces of lion, ox, man and eagle (<em><a href='B:330 1:10'>Eze 1:10</a></em>), and lion, ox and eagle feature in the descriptions of the four beasts; the ‘man’ element is found in that the lion has the heart of a man, and the little horn of the fourth beast has the eyes of a man. The first living creature has wings which are lifted up from the earth (<em><a href='B:340 7:4'>Dan 7:4</a></em>)- which is precisely the language of the cherubim wings being lifted up from the earth in <em><a href='B:330 1:19'>Eze 1:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 1:21'>Eze 1:21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 10:16'>Eze 10:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 10:19'>Eze 10:19</a></em>. As the first beast is made to stand on its feet (<em><a href='B:340 7:4'>Dan 7:4</a></em>), so the cherubim caused Ezekiel to stand on his feet (<em><a href='B:330 2:2'>Eze 2:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 3:24'>Eze 3:24</a></em>). The second creature had a “side” which was “lifted up” (<em><a href='B:340 7:5'>Dan 7:5</a></em>), as the cherubim likewise had ‘sides’ which were ‘lifted up’ (<em><a href='B:330 1:8'>Eze 1:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 1:20'>Eze 1:20</a></em>). The third beast had four wings as each of the living creatures / cherubim did (<em><a href='B:340 7:6'>Dan 7:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 1:23'>Eze 1:23</a></em>). The first and fourth beasts / living creatures have feet (<em><a href='B:340 7:4'>Dan 7:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:340 7:7'>Dan 7:7</a></em>) as the cherubim do (<em><a href='B:330 1:7'>Eze 1:7</a></em>). The description of how these living creatures / beasts will be judged by the Lord Jesus includes language also used in Ezekiel’s cherubim visions- One seated upon a throne, wheels of burning fire (<em><a href='B:340 7:9'>Dan 7:9</a></em>).</p><p>Ezekiel’s vision was surely well known to Daniel and John. The connection is surely that throughout the course of human history, especially the course of Gentile domination of the land of Israel, the glory of God shone through it all, it was all going according to His purpose; and the various beasts were in fact manipulated by the living creatures of the Angel cherubim. Daniel 7 says this in different terms by opening with the statement that the four spirits / Angels of Heaven were responsible for the uprising of the four beasts (<em><a href='B:340 7:2-3'>Dan 7:2-3</a></em>). Events were not just taking their course, with everything spinning out of control; but rather, God through the Angels was powerfully in control. And His glory shone through the apparent cruelty, shame and randomness of the events that appeared to be happening to His land and people.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'>And I saw one of his heads as though it had a mortal wound; but its mortal wound was healed- This significant head is to be associated with the little horn of Daniel 7 and 8. See further commentary here and here. </p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The little horn represents the beast; the persecution of the saints by the horn is therefore also by the beast:</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The Little Horn</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The Beast</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>&quot;Diverse&quot; (<a href='B:340 7:24'>Dan.7:24</a>) from            others</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>&quot;Diverse&quot; (<a href='B:340 7:23'>Dan.7:23</a>) from <br />
	others </p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>&quot;A mouth speaking great things&quot; (<a href='B:730 3:5'>Rev.3:5</a>)</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>&quot;A mouth speaking great things&quot; <br />
	(<a href='B:340 7:8'>Dan.7:8</a>) </p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>&quot;He shall speak great words <br />
	against the Most High&quot; (<a href='B:340 7:25'>Dan.7:25</a>) </p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>&quot;He opened his mouth in blasphemy against God&quot; (<a href='B:730 13:6'>Rev.13:6</a>)</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>&quot;The same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them (<a href='B:340 7:21'>Dan.7:21</a>).</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>&quot;Make war with the saints, and    to overcome them&quot; (<a href='B:730 13:7'>Rev.13:7</a>)</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'> </p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Thus <a href='B:340 7:11'>Dan. 7:11</a> speaks as if the beast and the little horn are interchangeable: &quot; I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain&quot;. <a href='B:730 13:5'>Rev.13:5</a> says that the beast makes war with the saints (AVmg.) for 3.5 years- as does the little horn in Dan. 7. The beast was &quot;like a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion&quot; (<a href='B:730 13:2'>Rev. 13:2</a>). Again we see the elements of the various beasts of Dan. 7 and therefore the metals of the image of Dan. 2 all incorporated in this beast. It has &quot;seven heads and ten horns&quot; (<a href='B:730 13:1'>Rev. 13:1</a>)- which is the total number of heads and horns of the four beasts of Dan. 7. In harmony with this, <a href='B:350 13:7'>Hos. 13:7</a> describes Israel's latter day invader as a lion, bear, leopard and wild beast. All elements of the beasts are brought together in the final latter day invasion.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>One of the heads receives a deadly wound, but this is described as the beast receiving a deadly wound, thus identifying the beast with one of its particular heads (<a href='B:730 13:3'>Rev. 13:3</a>,<a href='B:730 13:12'>12</a>). The overall picture presented by the descriptions of the horns is of conflict with each other, whilst at the same time dominating the earth / land of Israel. The little horn 'subdues' [to abase / humiliate / degrade] three of the horns, and according to <a href='B:730 17:16'>Rev. 17:16</a>, the ten horns hate the whore, the individual riding the beast entity, and bitterly destroy and burn her. And the fortunes of the entire entity ebb and flow- one of the wounds has a deadly wound but revives, the beast itself has a deadly wound from a sword but revives (<a href='B:730 13:3'>Rev. 13:3</a>,<a href='B:730 13:12'>12</a>,<a href='B:730 13:14'>14</a>), the beast was, is not and yet is (<a href='B:730 17:8'>Rev. 17:8</a>), and we are beginning to see this ebb and flow of the fortunes of the entity developing in the land / earth. This is precisely the picture that has more recently unfolded in the land promised to Abraham- a series of increasingly powerful and aggressive leaders and powers, morphing together from the perspective of Israel and God’s people into a system of abuse such as has never been seen and never will be. And yet from another viewpoint, they are bitterly divided against themselves.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The tendency is to want to clearly identity each of the ten toes / ten horns of the fourth beasts, the wings of the lion, the three ribs in the mouth of the second beast, the four wings and four heads of the third beast, the three horns who are plucked up by the little horn of the fourth beast, and then in Revelation we have seven heads found on the beast, as well as the ten horns, who in Revelation &quot;hate the whore&quot; and burn her; and the whore who rides the beast sits on seven hills or kings. Each of these attributes [toes, horns, wings, heads] refer to kings / kingdoms. Looking at the scenarios through half closed eyes, as it were, not sweating the details, we have the impression of a latter day entity dominating the earth / land promised to Abraham, which is comprised of a bewildering array of smaller powers and charismatic leaders who are often pitted against each other. This is exactly the position we see developing in that geographical area. We don't need to interpret the fine details ahead of time- that is not how prophecy functions. When it all happens, then it will be clear. What we are seeing is the general picture developing- an array of aggressive powers, some strong and some weak, broadly grouped into four groups, matching the four beasts who will exist in the last days. They are all united around a desire to dominate Israel. It's not hard to imagine how they will destroy each other, which is God’s preferred method of judging His people's enemies. </p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The changing of times and laws by the antichrist figure of <a href='B:340 7:25'>Dan. 7:25</a> sounds like the radical Islamist desire to impose the Islamic calendar and sharia law in the land promised to Abraham, which they see as their caliphate; and for sure, if Israel becomes part of an Islamic state, then the keeping of the Jewish calendar will be outlawed. The implementation of sharia law and changing legal structures to reflect it, is a major theme in their program. It's clear that the three and a half year domination of Jerusalem and changing of the Jewish law and calendar had an initial fulfilment in the abuses of Antiochus Epiphanes, who desecrated the temple. There was a three and a half year period from the edict of Antiochus in June 168 BC to the rededication of the temple in December 165 BC.  The little horn of Daniel 8 comes out of the Greek kingdom, but the horn of Daniel 7 out of the fourth kingdom. I suggest that this is because the prophecy could have been fulfilled totally at the time of Antiochus- Messiah could have come and destroyed him. But the various required preconditions weren't met, and so there was another possibility of it coming true out of the Roman kingdom [another possibility is that the four beasts and metals refer to Babylon-Media-Persia-Greece rather than Babylon-Medo Persia-Greece-Rome]. Revelation uses the same imagery to describe the antiChrist of the last days, who will incorporate some elements of the previous historical fulfilments of the little horn in men like Antiochus Epiphanes.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>The entire vision of the beasts of Daniel 7 is summed up in <a href='B:340 7:1'>Dan. 7:1</a>: &quot;the rosh of the words&quot; (AV &quot;sum of the matter&quot;). And the rosh surely refers to the individual of <a href='B:330 38:2'>Ezekiel 38:2</a> who will lead the latter day armies against Israel. The whole system of beasts is summed up in an individual rosh or leader, just as the metals of the image in Daniel 2 are in the form of a man with the face of Nebuchadnezzar. The little horn of Daniel 7 is actually called &quot;the beast&quot;: &quot;I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame&quot; (<a href='B:340 7:11'>Dan. 7:11</a>).</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>And the whole earth marvelled as they followed the beast- One feature of the presentation of the beasts is that both John and &quot;the whole earth / land&quot; wonder at it and at the whore riding it (<a href='B:730 13:3'>Rev. 13:3</a>; <a href='B:730 17:6-7'>17:6,7</a>). This matches with the stress in Daniel 7 that the fourth beast is strikingly different from all the other beasts. The world will be in shock and awe at the entity which will suddenly develop- and we see the beginnings of that with the awe and fear inspired by the jihadists. This speaks not only of the fear inspired by the entity in its enemies on the ground, but implies a watching world onlooking in awe and fear, unable to do anything against it</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>Let's not get caught up with the idea that Israel shall survive and defeat the invaders in her own strength. The beast must dominate Israel. Jerusalem will be taken. <a href='B:340 7:7'>Dan. 7:7</a>,<a href='B:340 7:21'>21</a> speaks of how the beast made war with the saints and prevailed against them- Israel- until the Ancient of days came; in <a href='B:340 7:23'>Dan. 7:23</a> he devours the whole land [as a beast] and shall tread it down. The beast of Revelation is so powerful in the earth / land that &quot;the world&quot; wondered at it and at the whore riding it (<a href='B:730 13:3'>Rev. 13:3</a>; <a href='B:730 17:6-7'>17:6,7</a>), feeling unable to make war with it. This of itself requires the demise and degrading of America, Europe and the West generally. <a href='B:340 11:41'>Dan. 11:41</a>,<a href='B:340 11:45'>45</a> are likewise clear about the latter day King of the North: &quot;He shall also come into the glorious land… He shall plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him&quot;.</p>
<p style='margin-left:1em'>As the entire image was &quot;terrible&quot; (<a href='B:340 2:31'>Dan. 2:31</a>), so the fourth beast system is described with the same word (<a href='B:340 7:7'>Dan. 7:7</a>). As the image appeared &quot;excellent&quot; (<a href='B:340 2:31'>Dan. 2:31</a>), so the strength of the fourth beast was 'excellent' (s.w. <a href='B:340 7:7'>Dan. 7:7</a>). <a href='B:340 7:7'>Dan. 7:7</a> emphasizes that this final beast is altogether more aggressive than any previous beast / dominator of the land: &quot;Dreadful, terrible, strong exceedingly... it was different from all the beasts that were before it&quot;. The original word translated &quot;dreadful&quot; suggests whoever sees it slinks away in fear- its strength and advantage over others is &quot;exceeding&quot;. This is the same awe we find in Rev. 13, where the world looks on at the beast, marvelling at this entity and feeling that nobody can even begin to make war with him. This speaks of an entity that is more aggressive and fear-inspiring than the aggressive Babylonians, Assyrians or abusive Nazis. It implies too the eclipse of the West as the dominant world power block and power broker. The current Islamic jihadist movement may develop into an entity which fits this bill- a reign of terror involving cutting off children's heads and parading their actions on videos, live crucifixion of any who don't agree with them, but with a stranglehold advantage over any critics... The same radical difference between this final beast and all previous ones is brought out by the way in which John, after all he had earlier seen, was in shock at the way the beast drunk the blood of the saints, i.e. the people of God, Israel in their land (<a href='B:730 17:6'>Rev. 17:6</a>). The whole world likewise is in shock horror at this beast (<a href='B:730 13:3'>Rev. 13:3</a>; <a href='B:730 17:8'>17:8</a>). <a href='B:340 12:1'>Dan. 12:1</a> puts it this way: &quot;There shall be a time of trouble such as never was&quot; for God’s people, and they will be saved from it by the standing up of Jesus for His people, the resurrection of the dead and the destruction of the &quot;king of the north&quot;. The &quot;time of Jacob's trouble&quot; from which he shall be saved (<a href='B:300 30:7'>Jer. 30:7</a>) must be understood in the context of how the phrase &quot;time of trouble&quot; is used in the Bible to describe times of Israel's invasion and suffering at the hands of their neighbours (<a href='B:290 33:2'>Is. 33:2</a>; <a href='B:300 2:27-28'>Jer. 2:27,28</a>; <a href='B:300 8:15'>8:15</a>; <a href='B:300 11:12-14'>11:12,14</a>; <a href='B:300 14:8'>14:8</a>,<a href='B:300 14:19'>19</a>; <a href='B:330 7:7'>Ez. 7:7</a>). &quot;There shall be a time of trouble such as never was&quot; therefore suggests a time of abuse of Israel such as has never been seen. And this includes the Nazi holocaust, the death camps of Europe, the Babylonian and Assyrian atrocities... It's purely wishful thinking to hope that the IDF and Israel's military technology will stave this off. It will not. Jerusalem is to be taken and the women raped (<a href='B:450 14:2'>Zech. 14:2</a>). The beast is to dominate the earth / land of Israel.</p>


text:
<p>13:4&nbsp;<em>And they worshiped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the beast-&nbsp;</em>The dragon may be politically off the scene, but the jihadist philosophy continues. Or it may be that we are simply seeing in these visions different aspects of the same entity, in a kaleidoscope of images wherein some of the images overlap; and the connection between dragon and beast would then simply be that overlap, as it were.</p><p><em>And they worshiped the beast, saying: Who is like to the beast? And who is able to war with him?</em>- This will be the world's reaction to the Arab beast of the last days. They worship him because they feel he is invincible, and have not paid attention to the continued reminders in Revelation that all power, authority and strength is not with human empires but with the Lord Jesus. Seeing that the West has nuclear weapons, this could imply that the beast either deprives them of their weapons (a Muslim dominated and more politically powerful UN or EU could achieve this), or that a new paradigm of weapons, worse than nuclear, are possessed by the beast and used to hold the rest of the world to ransom.</p><p>The language is based upon the prototype of Goliath the Philistine / Palestinian, who likewise had a mouth speaking great things against Israel and Israel's God. That similarity is continued by the description of the small, finally repentant remnant of Jews who overthrow the beast as being like David (<em><a href='B:450 12:8'>Zec 12:8</a></em>). This is not to say that there will not initially be opposition to the beast- the horn recovers amazingly from a "deadly wound" which could likely refer to some form of Western operation against this entity (<em><a href='B:730 13:3'>Rev 13:3</a></em>). Likewise the beast was, is not, and yet will be <em><a href='B:730 17:8'>Rev 17:8</a></em> - i:e. it will be revived after apparent destruction. But the final picture is of the beast having free reign in the earth / land promised to Abraham. We must look, therefore, to Zion being forsaken of all her lovers, America particularly pulling out of supporting Israel. We already can see the beginnings of such a situation developing. The West will either collapse, perhaps financially, and become impotent; or will come to a policy position which refuses to support Israel nor get involved in on the ground operations within the land promised to Abraham. Their impotence is however described in terms of their 'worshipping' the beast and&nbsp;<em>therefore</em>&nbsp;fearing to make war with it (<em><a href='B:730 13:4'>Rev 13:4</a></em>). The Greek for 'worship' can mean to cower or fawn before a person; the West may be forced to this position by Islamic elements within their own nations, by an oil and energy embargo, or something similar. Another option is that the 'world' spoken of in Revelation 13 is specifically the world around Israel; but in our days of a global village, that would still require that the West is left impotent to intervene. It has been their background support of Israel which has kept the current situation in balance so far. But <em><a href='B:730 9:14'>Rev 9:14</a></em> speaks of the hordes of enemies being bound at the Euphrates River, and then being released by Angelic action. This restraint which is released could well refer to an Angelically-orchestrated removal of the West's restraining power. With no such power broker in the region, the forces of Islamic jihad will without doubt burst forth over the Euphrates, the boundary of the land promised to Abraham, and surge towards Israel.</p><p>However we interpret the beast and its horns, the point has to be accepted that it is radically different to any entity or empire which has ever dominated the earth / land of Israel before. It was "terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong... it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it" (<em><a href='B:340 7:7'>Dan 7:7</a></em>). It is this same beast which led John in Revelation to be staggered and amazed. For such an entity to dominate Israel in the last days, the current geopolitical situation must change. The West will be powerless to stop it. The historical support of Israel by the West, and their continual involvement on the ground in the Middle East to avert catastrophe and protect their interests there... will end. This could be because of their financial collapse, or an oil / energy stranglehold over them,&nbsp;or the uprise of domestic forces allied with Islam which leave them powerless to get involved; or maybe they genuinely turn against Israel.</p><p>Or perhaps the beast entity is in possession of military technology, just as Goliath was, which leads to the sense that nobody can make war with this beast: "Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" (<em><a href='B:730 13:4'>Rev 13:4</a></em>). And if 'all' that is required for peace is to let these guys have their way with Israel... well, that will be a price which will seem cheap compared to the unleashing of nuclear, germ, chemical or some other kind of technology against the West. "Who is like unto the beast?" suggests that it is felt that nobody is comparable with the beast in order to make war with it; there is a superiority of military ability which is perceived which results in recognizing that this entity cannot be challenged. The language is very much of David and Goliath. The current dependency of Israel upon military technology to maintain the upper edge over their enemies must therefore come to an end. All those scenarios are well on the way to development. Nuclear technology is already in the hands of Iran, and can spread easily to irresponsible hands. It would also be typical of Russian foreign policy to spite the West by arming the West's enemies with such technology. Without the West as the power broker in the Middle East, such an entity will surely arise. The release of the restrained horsemen on the banks of the Euphrates may refer to this restraining influence being removed (Revelation 9, 16). The growth of the IS shows the potential for it, if nothing else. So the very prediction of such an entity arising in the land promised to Abraham has some radical implications for the West.</p><p>Judah’s invasion by the Babylonians is clearly a type of the latter day invasion by the Islamic entity or state. The Biblical record emphasizes Judah’s sense of betrayal, in that her lovers and friends i:e. other nations had not come to her aid as they had promised and as she had hoped (Lamentations is full of such language). This has its counterpart today, in that Israel depends upon the West to be the power broker deflecting any major strike against them by the Islamic powers around them. But that factor will be removed, the promises and undertakings will not come true- because the Biblical picture is of a huge state in power over Israel without opposition.</p><p>If we are looking for a power or ideology within the land promised to Abraham which focuses upon the destruction of Israel, then we do not have far to look. Radical Islam explicitly encourages Moslems to attack Israel and force Jews to either convert to Israel or be killed: Consider these passages from the Hadith: "You will fight against the Jews and you will kill them until even a stone would say: Come here, Muslim, there is a Jew (hiding himself behind me); kill him" (Book 41:6981). Book 19:4366 likewise: "I will expel the Jews and Christians from Arabia and will not leave any but Muslim". The 'Arabia' here is often interpreted as the Arabian Peninsula, but that was probably not in Mohammed's perceptual geography. By 'Arabia' he meant 'the lands where the Arabs live', and that area includes Israel, inhabited as it is by several million Palestinian Arabs.</p>


