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REFLECTION It seems, when one reflects on the entire message of Revelation, that the meaning of the "right hand" is particularly notable. Jesus Christ left the earth, and the message of Christianity to the following generations. This message would, through the apostles, spread within the Roman Empire in the first centuries, up to a point when Christ would intervene. He would intervene because the death of Christians had to be accounted for by man, but also he wished to bring about a unity of Christian state and Christian church with which he would be one and in which the Word would spread through the Spirit. Therefore there follows a long period of history ( the times of the Riders on the White and Red Horses) when the message would be spread rapidly ( in Western Europe) by the strong bond ("the right hand") between Christian Church and State, but also a time of retribution had to be brought upon man. The "right hand" was the action ( "wings of eagles") of the Christian kings and Christian church to spread the Word. With the advent of the second millenium, man became all the more man-orientated and with an augmented onslaught by the dragon, having been cast down to earth, man in both the Church and in the Christian State would succumb to ousting the church (but unwittingly also Christ ) out of the rule of nations. Man's right hand ( his action), was now to promote the interests of man and not of Christ ( by being prepared to give the power of the state rule no responsibility as to the spread and maintenance of Christianity). Ultimately the Christian nations equalized Christianity to all other forms of religion, by the global concept of a freedom of religion. This was to appease man. Almighty God knew that man would follow this course, for he created man, therefore it was said that the "beast would be given authority to rule" (Rev 17:17) until the Second Coming. What we to-day, in 1999, do not realize, and what Revelation wants to bring to the attention of man is that "the mystery" of Christ is about to be revealed. The mystery being the inevitable result of the breakdown of the unity of Christian church and state. The breakdown of this unity must lead to a greater influence of the forces of evil on society - a process that in 1999 cannot be reversed. Therefore one has a tide of lawlessness sweeping the earth at this time. This is "allowed" up to the point, as was illustrated in Revelation, when Almighty God "released" certain nations. We are now moving to the final global "release", which according to the chart of the new Jerusalem must be in the following years - possibly round about the year 2004. How long after that the Second Coming will be we do not know. If there is a warning to us to-day it is that Christians of all nations should remain one in Christ. Four With regard to the final "release" it should be noted that the number 144 000 is also written "an hundred and forty and four thousand" (KJV-Rev 7:4). From what has been related we know that the time indicated by the number 144 000, is the entire earth in the time 1860 to 2004. Therefore the "hundred" could mean the time 1860 to 1960. 1960 being about the time that the beast was placed on the 'throne' of the nations of the earth. The "forty" could relate to the time 1960 to 2000 and "four" to the time 2000 to 2004 (2004 having being linked to the words "small and great"). The "four" could convey the time that the "four angels standing at the four corners of the earth" would no longer be "holding back the four winds" (Rev 7:1). Also the time of the final "release" of the four angels "bound at the great river Euphrates", possibly conveying that a definite sign of the end time will be seen in the Middle East section of the earth in the time 2000 to 2004. Alpha and Omega I do not think we should be "deceived"( Revelation 20:3) that the Second Coming will be about 2034 ( the thousandth anniversary of the death of Christ) for Revelation has just laid too much accent on the time up to the thousandth anniversary of the birth of Christ. However only time will tell exactly how near we are to Armageddon. Signs of the end time I am convinced that Revelation, that measures time, was given to Christians to know at the end of the second millennium that the Second Coming is near. Taking all that has been revealed in the previous chapters into account it seems that we can measure accurately up to the time 2004. When man proceeds to clone a human being, ( the use of the word "breath" in Revelation 11:11) an indication or sign of the wrath of God might follow ("terror struck those who saw them"). When exactly the time of the casting of the seventh bowl of wrath "into the air" begins remains a mystery ( Rev. 16:17-21). It is not impossible that the use of chemical weapons is the beginning of the time of the final bowl of wrath. If a particularly large earthquake or disturbance of the heavenly bodies should occur it is likely the sounding of the "seventh trumpet" and the beginning of the end time. The earthquake could be followed by the rising of the level of the sea ( "every island fled away and the mountains could not be found" -16:20). The revealing of the meaning of the book of Revelation (the scroll) is a sign of the end time, therefore we are possibly very near visual evidence of the final "hour". The effects of El Nino in 1998 and 1999, as well as global warming should not be underestimated. The Sign of Jonah The fact that the book Jonah indicates a verification as to what has been established in Revelation, it is not impossible that if we are very near the end time - that this could be the sign of Jonah. Matthew 12: 39 - 42 A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in a belly of the huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And now one greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgement with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom and now one greater than Solomon is here.
BIBLIOGRPHY
This interpretation of Revelation which is a correlation with the history of the last two millennia, has not been based on any former book. However, I would like to acknowledge the historians and theologians, whose books I have read in the past, that must have contributed to an understanding of history and theology, in order to make this correlation. The historical facts in the interpretation can be found in the following books. As indications of certain periods of history could only be given in broad terms, as not to make this interpretation to cumbersome, it is recommended that more detail on the history of times mentioned should be acquired.
Adamthwaite, Anthony: THE LOST PEACE, International Relations in Europe 1918 -1939. Edward Arnold, London 1980. Backhouse, Robert: CHRISTIAN MARTYRS, Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1996. Baigent, Michael and Leigh, Richard: THE TEMPLE AND THE LODGE. Corgi Books, 1996. " THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS DECEPTION. Corgi Books, 1992 Beasley-Murray, G R; Hobbs, Herschel H and Robbins, Ray Frank: REVELATION : THREE VIEWPOINTS, Broadman press, Nashville, Tennessee. Barraclough, Geoffrey: THE TIMES CONCISE ATLAS OF WORLD HISTORY, Times books, Harper Collins Publishers, 5th Edition , 1994. Burne, Jerome( Ed): CHRONICLE OF THE WORLD, Longman Chronicle, London, 1989. Carr, EH: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD WARS. 1919 - 1939. The Macmillan Press Ltd., London, 1979. Chadwick, Henry: THE EARLY CHURCH, Penguin, London, 1993. Cotterell, Arthur: CHINA, A history. Pimlico, London, 1995. Carpenter, Clive ( Ed.): THE GUINESS BOOK OF KINGS RULERS AND STATESMEN, Guiness Superlatives Ltd. London Rd., Enfield, Middlesex, 1978. Crossland, John R and Parrish , J M ( Eds.): ANIMAL LIFE OF THE WORLD , Odhams Press Ltd., Long Acre, London. Undated. Churchill, Winston S. THE SECOND WORLD WAR and Epilogue on the yers 1945 - 1957, Cassell, London, 1959. Cruden, Alexander: CRUDEN'S COMPLETE CONCORDANCE TO THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS, Hendrickson Publishers. Dulles, Foster Rhea: AMERICAS RISE TO WORLD POWER 1898 - 1954. Harper and Row, New York, 1963. Downey, Glanville: ANCIENT ANTIOCH Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 1963. Driver, G R: THE JUDAEAN SCROLLS The problem and a solution. Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1965. Delderfield, Eric R: KINGS AND QUEENS OF ENGLAND AND GREAT BRITAIN Greenwich Editions, London, 1996. Elton, Amos: JERUSALEM, CITY OF MIRRORS, Fontana, London, 1991. Ergang Robert: EUROPE SINCE WATERLOO, Heath, USA, 1961. " FROM THE RENISSANCE TO WATERLOO, Heath, USA, Estep, W R: RENISSANCE AND REFORMATION, William B Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids Michigan, 1986. Eldridge C C: VICTORIAN IMPERIALISM, Hodder and Stoughton Educational, Kent, 1978. Fischer, Fritz: GERMANY'S AIMS IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR. W W Norton and Co, New York, 1967. Frend, WHC: THE EARLY CHURCH, Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1991. Griffith, Tom ( Ed.): THE TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO, Wordsworth Classics of World Literature, Hertfordshire, 1997. Grant AJ and Temperley, H: EUROPE IN THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES 1789 - 1950. Longman , London, 1977. Gribetz, Judah et al: THE TIMETABLES OF JEWISH HISTORY A Chronology of the Most Important Events in Jewish History. A Touchstone Book, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1994. Gonzalez, Justo L: THE STORY OF CHRISTIANITY, Volume 2, The Reformation to the Present Day. Harper, San Francisco, Harper Collins, 1985. Hancock, Graham: FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS Mandarin, London, 1996. Harrison, T R ( Ed.): PRINCIPLES OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, Fourth Edition, McGraw - Hill Book Company, London, 1962. Hosking, Geoffrey: A HISTORY OF THE SOVIET UNION 1917 - 1991 Final Edition. Fontana, London, 1992.
Hiro Dilip: BETWEEN MARX AND MOHAMMED, The changing face of Central Asia. Harper Collins Publishers, London, 1995. Herken Gregg: THE WINNING WEAPON, The Atomic Bomb in the Cold War 1945 - 1950. Princeton Univercity Press, 1988 Hewlett RG and Anderson OE: THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION, Volume I, The New World, 1939 -1946 The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1962. Volume II, Atomic Shield, 1947 - 1952. Hussey, JM: THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1986. James, Lawrence: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, Abacus, London, 1996. Johnson, Paul: A HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY, Penguin, England, 1990. A HISTORY OF THE JEWS, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1987. THE OFFSHORE ISLANDERS, A History of the English People, Phoenix Giants, Great Britain, 1992. Laistner, MLW: A SURVEY OF ANCIENT HISTORY : To the death of Constantine. D H Heath and Co., New York, 1929. Latourette, Kenneth Scott: A HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY, Volume I, to AD 1500. Harper, San Francisco, 1975. A HISTORY OF THE EXPANSION OF CHRISTIANITY, Volume VI, The Great Century in North Africa and Asia, AD 1800 - AD 1914. Harper and Brothers, New York and London, 1945 Volume VII, Advance through Storm, AD 1914 and after with Concluding Generalizations. Harper and Brothers, 1945. Le Roy Bennett, A: INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, PRINCIPLES AND ISSUES, Prentice-Hall International Inc. New Jersey, 1988 Malcolm, Noel: BOSNIA, A Short History, Papermac, London, 1996. Mansoor, Menahem: THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS, E J Brill, Leiden, 1964. Medvedev, Roy A: LET HISTORY JUDGE. The Origins and Consequences of Stalinism, European Socialist Thought Series, No 7, Spokesman Books, New York, USA, 1971 Moffett, Samuel Hugh: A HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN ASIA, Volume I, Beginnings to 1500, Harper, San Francisco, Harper Collins Publishers, New York, 1992. Morison, Samuel Eliot, et al: THE GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC, Volume II, Seventh Edition, Oxford University Press, New York, 1980. Nevins, Allan and Commager, Henry Steele: A POCKET HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, Pocket Books, New York, 1992. Oliver, R and Atmore A, AFRICA SINCE 1800, Cambridge university Press, 1978. Paine, Thomas: THE RIGHTS OF MAN, Wordsworth Classics of World Literature, Hertfordshire, 1996. Parsons, Anthony: FROM COLD WAR TO HOT PEACE United Nations Interventions 1947- 1995. Penguin Books, London. Smith, William: A DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE, Thomas Nelson Publishers, New York. Szulc, Tad: POPE, JOHN PAUL II, The Biography, Scribner, New York, 1995. Tapsell, R F: MONARCHS, RULERS, DYNASTIES AND KINGDOMS OF THE WORLD, Thames and Hudson, London, 1983. Taylor, A J P: THE STRUGGLE FOR MASTERY IN EUROPE, 1848 - 1918. Oxford Univercity Press, Oxford, 1980. Thomson, David: EUROPE SINCE NAPOLEON, Pelican Books, Great Britain. Vidler, Alec R: THE CHURCH IN AN AGE OF REVOLUTION, 1789 to the Present Day, The Penguin history of the church, Volume 5, Penguin , London, 1974. Wootton, David (Ed.): DIVINE RIGHT AND DEMOCRACY. An anthology of political writing in Stuart England. Penguin Books, Great Britain, 1986. Bibles HOLY BIBLE, King James Version, Oxford London NEW INTERNATIOAL VERSION STUDY BIBLE, 10th Anniversary Edition, 1995 Encyclopaediae ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF RELIGION MacMillan Publishing Co. New York. THE AMAZING WORLD OF NATURE Readers's Digest, London, 1969. THE NEW STANDARD ENCYCLPAEDIA AND WORLD ATLAS, Parish JM et al, Odhams Press Ltd., London, Great Britain, 1936. THE READERS DIGEST LIBRARY OF MODEN KNOWLEDGE, VOLUMES 1-3, 1981 Newsweek Magazine: 1996 - 1999 (Articles on cloning, AIDS and drug dealing) |
