Posted by Elana Janson on December 02, 2006 at 04:47:43:
References to Lebanon in Scripture that relate to words in Revelation
Lebanon
Political strife in Lebanon at the present time has necessitated an investigation of certain words in Revelation that in Scripture also relate to Lebanon. The reason for this is to ascertain whether Lebanon may be indicated in Revelation as contributing (in conjunction with happenings in Jerusalem and in the vicinity of the Euphrates River) to the run up to the final clash of the nations.
A stern warning
Once again, as in my books and on this website, I must draw readers’ attention to the two verses of Revelation that warn that not a single word of Revelation may at any time be tampered with. Rev 22:18-19 “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things that are written in this book.”
In my understanding and interpretation of the prophecy of Revelation it was shown how important it was that these instructions and consequential damnation were given. For if anyone had changed the sequence of the words of Revelation I would not have understood its meaning and its amazing correlation with history, the recent past and the present time. These two verses: Rev 22:18-19 also have bearing on the investigation in this post. With the knowledge of Revelation revealed to us at this point in time, if the words of Revelation are so significant to its understanding there may be in the words of Revelation a further indication of the location and unfolding of events in the final time.
For enlightenment and knowledge
Furthermore it must be remembered that the placement and meaning of the words of Revelation were divinely chosen to enlighten us in the twenty-first century as the end time. Revelation is not only about judgement and damnation. Remember it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ and in the New Testament Jesus Christ is revealed to us with love, understanding and great sacrifice for all mankind.
Verification
The sternness and consequential damnation of Rev 22:18-19 at this time, reveals how immensely important the words of Revelation are in the end time. It was by using the method of taking the words of Revelation to verses in Scripture where the same words appear that the great message of Revelation was revealed. Therefore by using the same method in relation to investigating the possible location of the events that are going to lead up to the final signs, we can be pretty sure that if Revelation reveals a certain location, that is where the final happenings will evolve.
Location and progress
As it was pointed out in my books and on this website, according to my understanding of Revelation we can now no longer measure time through Revelation. We know from Revelation that the duration of time in which the events that are to take place in the future time, the last “season”, are in the hands of the Trinity. However the words of Revelation seem to show where these events are to take place. The investigation in this post reveals that even though we do not know at what point in time the final happenings will be upon us, it seems to be revealed that they relate to the location of Lebanon.
Certain words and phrases in Revelation that also appear in Scripture must now be considered more closely.
“Length”, “breadth” and “height”
The words “length”, “breadth” and “height” appear in Rev 21:16 “The length, and the breadth and the height of it are equal”. These words relate to the city the “New Jerusalem” which is the symbolic representation of the life after death where the righteous will dwell with the Father and the Son (Rev 21:23).
The words “length”, “breadth”, and “height” are used with the dimensions of the temple or “house of the Lord” that Solomon built (1 Kings 6:1-2). In the book 1 Kings the measures of the temple of Solomon are given with these words and in the prophecy of Revelation, Jesus Christ reveals the symbolic “temple of God” (Rev 11:1) with these words which is the rise of the Christian Church after the Resurrection.
“Temple” in the understanding of Revelation
The repetition of the words “length”, “breadth” and “height” used in relation to the New Jerusalem and used in relation to the “temple” of Solomon revealed the total meaning of “temple” in Revelation. The symbolic “temple” of Revelation relates to the words of Jesus Christ in John 2:19 “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” and with the knowledge of the twelve time measures of Revelation to time measure in history. Its dimensions span a bit more than two thousand years from the time of the coming of the Christ. This symbolic “temple” houses all the followers of Jesus Christ, since the time of his coming that have through the centuries worship within his church (Rev 11:1 “and they that worship therein”). In Revelation, chapter 21, the dimensions of the New Jerusalem also apply to the time measures of the ‘temple’ on earth that is the existence of the Christian Church in the past two thousand years. Revelation gives the dimensions of the New Jerusalem that are applied to time measure in history to convey that those who died in Christ while on earth will inherit everlasting life in the New Jerusalem.
Throne of judgement
Because the words of the measures: “length”, “breadth” and “height” of the temple of Solomon and of Revelation are so significant in the understanding of the total dimensions of Revelation we should bear in mind that the cedar was used in the roof (1 Kings 6:9) of the temple of Solomon. In Solomon’s own house cedar from Lebanon was used. In his house he placed a “throne” from which he could “judge”. In Revelation it is also from the “throne” that God ‘judges’.
1 Kings 6:9 “And covered the house with beams and boards of cedar”.
1 Kings 7:2 “He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof was fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits.”
The dimensions of the temple and house of Solomon differ from the dimensions of the temple of Revelation and of the New Jerusalem because in Revelation the measures relate to totally different real and symbolic measures in the understanding of Revelation. But because the WORDS of Revelation are so significant in the revealing of the message of Revelation, we can in no way not take into account the use of the words “length”, “breadth” and “height” as used in the building of the temple or the house of Solomon. In both constructions of Solomon the cedar came from Lebanon.
We are moving to the time of the realization of the meaning of the “temple” of Revelation as well as the time of judgement.
1 Kings 7:7 “Then he made a porch for the throne from which he may judge and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.”
“Fall”
It must be noted that the words “fall” is of significance in the “fall” of Babylon in Revelation, chapter 18.
Isaiah 10:33-34 “The Lord of hosts shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled. And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
“Violence” and “mighty”
Both the words “violence” and “mighty” appear in Revelation. The word “terror” is used in Isaiah 10:33 and “violence” in Revelation. “Violence and “mighty” both appear in Revelation 18:21 which relate to the final fall of Babylon. (Rev 18:21 “And a mighty angel took up a stone like a millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, thus with violence will that great city Babylon be thrown down”.)
Habakkuk 2:17 “For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.”
In 2 Kings19:23 and Isaiah 37:24, Isaiah prophesies the “fall” of Sennacherib in words that relate to Lebanon.
“Height”
2 Kings 19:23: “By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said: with the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof.”
Note in the above verse the use of the word ”height” in the phrase “height of the mountains”, that in Scripture also means “arrogance”.
In 2 kings 19:21 -28 the arrogance of the Assyrians and the ridicule of the Israelites and their God are countered with a pronouncement of judgement.
In Revelation “height” is symbolically understood in the word “high” to describe the “wall” of the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:12 “And it had a wall great and high”). Because the wall is “high” many will not enter the kingdom of God. Because man became arrogant in the twentieth century (the time of the “wall” in the time measures of Revelation is 1860 to 2004 and beyond) many will not attain everlasting life.
“Cried’ and “travailing in birth”
Of particular importance are the words “cried” and “travailing in birth” that are used in Rev 12:2 “And she being with child cried, travailing in birth”. In my understanding of Revelation these words relate to the time of the birth of Jesus Christ, but also to the beginning of the second and third millennia after the coming of the Christ. This was established through the understanding of the twelve time measures of Revelation. One of the time measures of Revelation is the period of a “thousand years” (Rev 20:2). It is particularly through the application of this time measure to the words of Revelation, chapter 12, that the verses of this chapter could be understood. [Readers should refer to the full explanation in my books and in posts on this website.]
At the beginning of the second millennium, it would be to a woman that insight will be given into the understanding of the book Revelation. At the time that she reveals the twelve time measures of Revelation (the twelve time measures being “the crown of twelve stars”), it is also the time that the meaning of the words “cry out” and “as a woman in travail” will become known. In Jeremiah 22:20 and 23 these words are used in relation to Lebanon.
Jeremiah 22:20 “Go up to Lebanon, and cry”
Jeremiah 22:23 “O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail”.
It seems therefore that the realization that Revelation relates to the time measure of some two thousand years after the birth of Jesus Christ, also connects to Lebanon.
The above references relate to: 1) the understanding that the temple of Solomon has bearing on the symbolism of Revelation; 2) the time of the final “fall of Babylon”; 3) the time of the realization of the twelve time measures of Revelation, and therefore the understanding of Revelation.
It may ultimately be the events in Lebanon and Iraq (revealed by the words “Euphrates River” in Revelation), and of course together with Jerusalem (we know this for certain through the words of Jesus Christ in Luke 21:20), that will bring about the realization that the time measures of Revelation relate to the time of the birth of Jesus Christ and the past some two thousand years.
Jerusalem
“A great eagle with great wings”
We cannot ignore the words of Ezekiel 17:3 where “a great eagle” came to the land of Lebanon. “A great eagle with great wings, long winged, full of feathers, which had diverse colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar.” The image of the “great eagle” is used in Revelation (12:14 “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle”) and “eagles wings” in Daniel (7:4 “The first (beast) was like a lion and had eagle’s wings”). In Ezekiel, chapter 17, the image of the eagle ultimately relates to God’s judgement on Jerusalem.
In the understanding of Revelation, “the beast out of the sea” (the first beast in Revelation) is the ideology of the government of men or democracy that developed in the West and replaced the rule of the anointed king. Under this form of government the rights of men could be enforced and the Christian Church would be protected from hostile majorities. It is referred to in Revelation as “the beast” for it is a secular form of government that does not promote the Christian message, but regards all faiths as equal before the law of the land. It is the beast “out of the sea” for it was a form of government best for the lands across the seas to which the Christian faith spread. As mentioned, the Christian faith would be protected from hostile majorities. (This happened in the course of the second millennium after the coming of the Christ - AD 1000 to 2000.) In the twentieth century it was globally accepted by the majorities of the nations. Revelation reveals in Rev 17:17 that God allowed this global form of government to be for a certain length of time.
Rev 12:14 substantiates this understanding. “The woman were given two wings of a great eagle” means that the Christian faith (“the woman”) would have strength and be protected by the form of government (“of a great eagle”) that had developed in the Christian nations of Europe - the rule of men or democracy – and spread (“two wings”) to the lands across the seas.
Does Revelation through the words Ezekiel 17:3 (“A great eagle with great wings…came unto Lebanon”) reveal that it is when this form of government reaches Lebanon in the end time that we must move to the final clash of nations?
The importance and accuracy of the words of Revelation.
Note again how the number “two” in “two wings” incorporates the whole concept of the “two witnesses” in Revelation, chapter 11: “two” representing those that carry the message or missionaries (”witnesses”) of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. This understanding comes from the use of the words “witness” and “both” in Hebrews 2:4 “God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will.” In other words the symbols in “the woman were given two wings of a great eagle” incorporates the spread of the Christian faith, through missionaries with the gift of the Holy Spirit, under the protection of the world order of Government of the nations. However because there was no longer an anointed head of state, and a secular form of government was accepted, there was room for the “dragon” to pursue the “woman” and mislead the nations particularly in the course of the second millennium (AD1000 to 2000) after the coming of the Christ. Readers should refer to the analysis of Revelation chapter 12 in “11 September 2001, the Great earthquake and Revelation”. As mentioned, Revelation chapter 12 can be understood through the understanding of the time measure of a “thousand years”.
“Gather” and “not be found”
It should be noted that the word “gather” which is used in Rev 16:14 “to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty”; Rev 16:16 “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon” as well as Rev 19:17 “Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God” is used in Zechariah 10:10 “And gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them.”
Rev 18:21 “That great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.”
Rev 18:22 “And no craftsman, of whatever craft he be, shall be found anymore in thee”.
Understanding of the symbolism of Revelation
Those who have studied my books and this website will know that it is through meaning of words in Scripture, applied to the history of the past two millennia that the meaning of the symbolism of Revelation could be understood. Because I believe that we are living in the time that world events and particularly events of the nations involving the Middle East at the present time are leading up to a clash of the nations, we look to the prophecy of Revelation. For this reason the words of Scripture that relate to Lebanon and also connect to Revelation have been considered.