Posted by Elana Janson on May 18, 2004 at 14:53:25:
First must come Elijah.
Because Rev 6:17 says “For the great day of his wrath is come” and the prophet Malachi in Malachi 4:6 says “Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord”, we must at this point in time consider the “ten days” mentioned in Rev 2:10. It is through the knowledge of the measurement of “three days and a half” in each millennium that we can understand why Revelation uses the words “ten days” in Rev. 2:10. If we measure three days back from 4BC we reach the time about 866BC. This is the time of the prophet Elijah. As the time measurements of a “day” in Revelation now ultimately reveal a time span from the time of the prophet Elijah, to the time 2003, it seems as if Revelation, through time measurement of “days” symbolically combines the message of God to the people through the prophets from the time of Elijah to the insight of the hand of God in the ruling of the nations, through the understanding of Revelation through the words of Jesus Christ.
This insight is supported by the words “all things” and “true and faithful “ used in Rev 21:5 “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful.” . When the words of Revelation are the same as those spoken by Jesus Christ while he was on earth, the meaning of Revelation is revealed. In Matthew 17:11 Jesus Christ uses the words “all things” in relation to the prophet Elijah. “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias surely shall first come, and restore all things.” The words “true and faithful” in Rev 22:6 are combined with the words “and the spirits of the holy prophets.”
The logical question now is why does Revelation mention “ten days” in the letter to Smyrna. Rev 2:10 “Fear none of those things which you shall suffer: behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried and you shall have tribulation ten days, be thou faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life.” To understand the words of Rev 2:10, we must know firstly, that there was a persecution in Smyrna in the time about AD165 and 168, but historical records are such that we do not know for exactly how long there was persecution in Smyrna. Therefore, firstly, Revelation says look to the persecution in Smyrna and when it came to an end in relation to the time measurement of “days” in Revelation. By the Edict of Milan in 313, Emperor Constantine brought an end to persecution in all the territories of the Roman Empire and that also included Smyrna. Revelation wishes to indicate that there will be a persecution in Smyrna, but it also reveals that there is a larger message hidden within the symbolism of Revelation. A symbolism of time measurement of “days” that persecution will ultimately take place over the entire earth and over a great period of time.
Secondly. Revelation uses the “tens”, “hundreds” and “thousands” of a numeral to indicate “one”, “two” or “three” sections of the earth. For example, 144 000 (Rev 14:1) means those who lived in the 144 years approximately 1860 to 2004 in all three sections of the earth “having his Fathers name written on their foreheads”. Therefore “10” refers also to one section of the earth. Smyrna lies in the middle section of the earth. Revelation indicates “place” and “time” in the words “ten days”. Revelation reveals that persecution will come to an end in Smyrna, in one section of the earth, after the time of “one” day, measured from the time that Jesus Christ started his ministry in AD26 (measured from the birth date in 4BC). However, before the Return, in the time that the nations will see the prophecy of Revelation being fulfilled, the time of “ten days” can be measured. A time to show that the words of the prophets and the words of Jesus Christ are true and faithful.
I believe that the words of Revelation symbolically indicate that ‘Elijah must first come’ through particular verses in Revelation. We shall firstly consider Rev 11:5-6 “And if any man will hurt them (the two witnesses) fire proceeds out of their mouth, and devours their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have the power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the day of their prophecy.” Of significance are the words, “fire proceeds”. These words relate to the time of the prophet Elijah who could by the power vested in him by God, destroy by fire (11 Kings:1:10 and 12). Also the words “power to shut heaven”. In 1Kings 17:1, Elijah prophesied that it would not rain, and it did not rain. What Revelation is saying through Rev 11:5-6 is that the Spirit that is with Christians, and that has been since the time of the coming of the Holy Spirit, is from God, also the Spirit that was with Elijah was from God.
In Revelation, chapter 11:3 we are told that the “two witnesses” of God will prophecy for a certain period of time, namely, “1260 days”. In order to understand what Revelation means by the “two witnesses” we have to go to Romans 8:16 “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit.”. This means that those who bear witness to the message of Jesus Christ (that includes belief in the Father and the Holy Spirit), are not speaking and acting alone, for the power of the Holy Spirit is present, working through their spirit, to assist them in what they say and do. This understanding is substantiated by the words of Jesus Christ in Luke 21:15 “ I will give you a mouth and wisdom”.
Where Christians were harmed through the centuries past God would punish, for example, by fire as in 11Kings 1:10 or by drought as in 1 Kings 17:1. It was shown in How Near Armageddon that the beginning of the time measures of the casting of the “bowls of wrath”, of Revelation, chapter 16, were cast way back in history - this was established through the knowledge of time measurement in Revelation. In other words the wrath of God of the centuries past came upon the world because of harm that was done to Christians. We are now in 2004 experiencing the accumulative effect of that wrath.
In How Near Armageddon it was shown that in the past two millennia there were two witnesses who were filled with the Holy Spirit. One of these was Origen who in the first millennium formulated the concept of the Trinity. This concept forms the basis of Western Christianity. He was chosen for it was he would discovered the Biblical Scrolls at Jericho in the year AD216 – the time made known to me as the time of the Rider on the White Horse - by the Divine intervention in August 1996. The second was Francis of Assisi (who lived 1000 years later c1216 and received the stigmata), who believed that the message of Jesus Christ must be carried into the world simply and absolutely according to Scripture. His teachings inspired many missionaries and later Protestants who wished to read the Bible, that was formerly in Latin, in their own language. Through the last two millennia there were of course thousands upon thousands of ‘witnesses’.
As I have mentioned, the words of Revelation refer both to history and the present time. In Rev 11:3 we are told that for a certain time ‘1260 days’ they (two witnesses) will be clothed in sackcloth. The 1260 days is one of the last time measures of Revelation and could well be about 2000 to 2003. The reason that I say this is because from the time of the Divine intervention on 22 August 1996 to the time that the planet Mars was at its nearest point to the earth on 28 August 2003 was about seven years. (In Rev 11:2-3 the two time measures “42 months” and “1260 days” are about seven years.) They are clothed in sackcloth because many within the nations no longer believe that the power of spirits of the prophets of the Old Testament and the power of the Holy Spirit can intervene in the destiny of the nations. It is the time that the message of Christianity is undermined by an acceptance of the equalization of world faiths. The time that the Lamb is “slain” (Rev 5:6).
The next verse that that can be referred back to the time of Elijah is Revelation 13:13 “And he does great wonders, so that he makes fire come down from heaven on earth in the sight of men.” As mentioned above, “fire come down from heaven” appears in 11 Kings 1:10. In the interpretation of Revelation the words of Rev 13:13 relate to man’s capability to harness the minerals of the earth and to use them to further science, economic prosperity and for power over other nations. Through time measurement this verse is linked to the time 1992, the time that bombs and missiles could be fired on the enemy from the sky, rockets sent into space and also at the same time be seen by those nations under the rule of men directly on television (“in the sight of men”). (Read the full explanation of the analysis of the “beast out of the earth” in the Q&A section of this website.)
As we know that the time measure of the “beast out of the earth”, we know that Rev 13:13 refers to the time 1992. Therefore I believe that Revelation wishes to show symbolically the coming of Elijah before the prophecy of Revelation has been played out. In Rev 20:9 the words “fire came down from God out of heaven”, appear again at the time that is almost at the very end of the happenings predicted in Revelation.
The words “behold a white cloud” in Rev 14:14 can be referred back to the time of Elijah: “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like the Son of man…” I believe that this verse indicates the beginning of the final punishment of the nations, before the actual Return, that we shall see. I say this because of the similarity of the words of this verse with the words of 1Kings 18:44 “And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there arises a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand.” What Revelation is saying is that at the times where Revelation uses words directly from the time of Elijah in Scripture, we are very near to the time that all nations will see that the prophecy of Revelation is finally being fulfilled.
I place the time of Rev 14:14 in 1996 for two reasons. The year 1996 is two thousand years after the birth of Jesus Christ , measured from 4BC. Also, after 22 August 1996, the time of the Devine intervention that revealed certain time measurements in Revelation to me, on 28 August 1996, in the early hours of the morning, there appeared a circle of coloured light in the night sky above the city of Pretoria in South Africa. In the morning the circle of coloured light appeared as a small cloud. In the light of this post I do not think that we should overlook this happening.