CORRESPONDING REVELATION WITH OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES

One of the things that makes the book of Revelation so hard to understand is that John wrote it in such a concise way. If you are familiar with the entire Bible, you will be able to see many things that are written in Revelation are also written more in depth somewhere in the Old Testament.

While many will say that books by the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others were prophecies that have been fulfilled millennia ago, that is not the case with all their prophecies, and I’ll show you here. Revelation 17 corresponds with Daniel chapters 7-9. Revelation 18 corresponds with Jeremiah chapters 50-51. Some of these verses are almost written in verbatim. Revelation 20 goes with Ezekiel 38, and Revelation 21-22 goes with Ezekiel 40-48. The four horsemen are linked to things also written throughout Revelation. The rider of the white horse is the Antichrist human being, written of in Daniel chapter 7 and 9. The rider of the black horse is great economic woe. The rider of the red horse envelopes many things written in Revelation, such as war, famine, and other examples of death. The rider of the pale horse is Satan. Who is named Death and who does Hell follow? This corresponds with Revelation 9:1-11 & 12:7-17. The woman spoken of in chapter 12 that bared the man child is Israel. It said her crown had twelve stars, representing the twelve tribes. It was Eve that would have the twelve tribes come from her with the tribe of Judah that bared Jesus, who is clearly the man child. John was saying Satan will come after the Jews geographically, which would be Israel. Of course Satan will go after Christians as well, but it saying specifically that Satan will go after the woman separates the woman from the child she gave birth to. Her receiving two wings of a great eagle could be the United States. With the present government intact, we will betray Israel, but that time will pass.

If you read the last chapters of Ezekiel, you will read about the new Temple. This will not be built in this age. As is written in the original Greek, Jesus’ return ends this age and Revelation 20 describes things that happen after His return. These groups of chapters in Ezekiel and Revelation both speak about the Temple. This is the same one, it’s just Ezekiel goes into greater detail. They both describe the dead who are in the temple, with Ezekiel 44:25 saying that only that only people of direct relations can come and defile themselves to visit the dead. There has not been any temple in the past that held anyone known as the dead. These direct relations must be our relationships in this age. Being termed as the dead and have the ability to defile those that simply see them obviously shows it’s not good to be termed as the dead. These must be people who have lived their lives wickedly in this age, but not of those who see the end.

After many years of studying, I have come to realize that even though there are those termed as the dead, and after a millennium into the next age the dead have another chance in Revelation 20:5-9, those who see the end and make the wrong choice do not get this chance. It is written that the sounding of the last trump removes the mystery of God (Rev 10:7), so because they do see that God exists and that His Son is Christ and the Bible is His Word, if they make the wrong choice after that they will be put into everlasting fire. They do not become the dead that are inside the Temple. They do not get another chance.

If you want to read more in depth about Revelation, read my post “Revealing The Book Of Revelation”. Praise God and the Lord Jesus Christ forever and ever.

THE BEAUTY OF REDEMPTION

To me, some of the greatest stories are the stories of redemption. Not much pleases me more than when I see a troubled person find their way to the right path. It is even better when that person finds their way to God. There are different types of redemption, but all who persevere through rough phases, even if they are self-inflicted, lay the ground work for the greatest of the redemptions. The stories of Michael Vick and Robert Downey Jr. I find particularly heartening. Michael Vick did some really horrific things earlier in his life. He abused and killed dogs and cats. After he served his punishment, he was still a bit defiant as to fully humbling himself. His first press conference made me wonder if he learned anything, but sometimes the road to redemption can have stumblingblocks. It can be a process. I’ve been real impressed at how he has handled himself the last few years though. I wish him luck and will pray for him after I’m done writing this. Robert Downey Jr. was as down and out as we have seen publicly in quite a long time. Time after time he was caught doing something addicts do. He even found himself sleeping in a strange girl’s bed after getting high. He was sadly the butt of many jokes, but I had heard pretty early on during his ordeal with drugs that his father introduced him to drugs when he was very young. Sure, like all addicts he was trying to escape from something, but this was all he knew. I was really rooting for him to find his way to sobriety. When he did, I doubt there were many people who were more happy about it than I was. The strength to fight and win against poor life choices shows the capability to do so much more than just straightening out their lives, and I think they know that. It shouldn’t end with just becoming sober or stop making the wrong decisions. Now they have a responsibility to do more because God gave them a second chance.

People who battle through things they couldn’t help also hearten me. I am one of them. People with diseases, those who have been abused, and the poor many times show the greatest of human strengths. Even those who lose out to their battle to deadly diseases show the strength of a winner. Perhaps life isn’t their great prize. Those three women who were kidnapped for so many years in Cleveland couldn’t impress me more. To come out of that alive is a miracle. One of them is mentally challenged, but you wouldn’t know it when you hear her speak. She spoke eloquently with unimaginable strength to the man who had abused her for a decade at his sentencing hearing. Who couldn’t be impressed with her, or even all three of them? I hope they can move on as best as they can. This monster who abused them is no longer with us, because he took his own life. Don’t think we somehow got cheated out of imprisoning him for many years. What device of man compares to the device of God that He has for those who do such things? Nobody is cheated from this monster’s suicide.

At the heart of this age and the existence of humanity is redemption of the Lord. This is why we are here. Some are here to light the path, and the rest are here to hopefully find it. If you have come here before and are familiar with what I’ve taught many times, you will know that there have been some, albeit very, very few who have already been judged innocent before this life in a permanent way. They are called God’s elect, or the election of grace. Some might say this defines Calvinism, but it really does not. Calvinism means everything has been pre-ordained when it comes to who becomes a Christian. This is foolish. If it was so, then this life means nothing and redemption is just a hollow word. At the same time, I cannot ignore what clearly is written about some who have been predestined to do certain things for the Lord. Romans 8, Romans 11, Jeremiah 1:5— it doesn’t get much more clear than these. God calls many, but has only chosen a few. The few are not glamorous people to be, for they are the Lord’s bondsmen and go through things most do not to ready them for their burden. For your sake we are killed all the day long, and we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Their lives are nothing but sacrifice. They work for the Lord by working for you. The elect cannot give redemption, but they can light the path.

Once Christ died and rose from the dead, true redemption from God’s point of view was etched in stone. In Christ, we are all invited to be partakers in victory because Satan failed at keeping Him from dying. If Christ at anytime said “Sorry Father, I cannot take anymore of this”, there would be no redemption. At this present time, there might not even be us. Where would we be right now? Considering each one of our souls are much older than our bodies, and yet only several thousand were judged innocent after the last life, would God give us another chance when the Best of us failed? Or would He just cut His losses to ensure that future Satans don’t arise for us to once again follow? Christ’s death carries the greatest of all weights and meanings. Without His sinless death for sin, there would be no breath to even utter the word “redemption”.

Who dares to mock one who takes advantage of Christ’s death? Your ability to mock is as the sand in an hourglass with no ability to turn it upside down. How can you put off your time? No matter how educated you might think you are, or how uneducated you think we are, there is one thing no thought of yours can change: we will be proven right. Generation after generation have come and gone, and some thought they really knew things, and generation after generation proof of their foolishness meets them at the gate. It was written millennia ago that God will make fools of the wise (those who think they know so much). How many souls that have passed by Him said,”I’m the smart one. You are but a fool.”? I’d reckon none. It’s a completely different posture when they are in His presence, I assure you.

To those who take advantage and hold true to Jesus’ sacrifice, you cannot even imagine how beneficial that decision is. You avoid eternal damnation filled with pain that is beyond human tolerance, but your reward will be redeemed. How much greater are the rewards He creates and gives than are the punishments He creates and gives? Think about it. Is His punishment more vast than His gift? Not a chance. For those who wonder why did He make a hell for us, just take to heart we have already failed Him after the gift of existence. God bless.