Posted by Elana Janson on June 10, 2004 at 14:36:18:
Measure the altar continued…….(1)
In Rev 13:13-18 Revelation measures “six hundred, threescore years and six” (Rev 13:18) years through a correlation of the words of Rev 13:13-18 and the history of the Christian nations from 1266 to 1932. “Six hundred”, “threescore” and “six” (Rev 13:18) years are the ‘three parts’ of “earth”. In Rev 13:13-18 there is also a fourth time measure from 1932 to 1992. This time measure is established by taking every word in Rev 13:13-18 into account. (This is a why no one was allowed to take away or add to the words of Revelation. See Rev 22:18-19. If a single word was removed from Revelation, we would not have been able to correlate Revelation with history and we would not know what we know now. ) This ‘fourth’ time measure is what is meant by the “fourth part of earth”, in Rev 6:8.
The ‘end’ time of “altar” is established through the understanding of the opening of the “fourth seal” that precedes Rev 6:9-11, the opening of the “fifth seal”. As mentioned, Revelation continually builds on knowledge that has been revealed in previous chapters and verses. Therefore the opening of the fifth seal builds on knowledge of the opening of the fourth seal. In Rev 6:10 the words “How long, O Lord, holy and true” appear. The words “O lord of hosts, how long” appear in Zechariah 1:12 as well as a time measure of “threescore and ten years”. Because these words are the same, and because, the time measures of Revelation were made known to me, I know that these words may be applied to the present time. Zechariah 1:12 says “O lord of hosts, how long will thou not have mercy on Jerusalem, and on the cities of Judah, against which thou has had indignation these threescore and ten years.?“ Only the understanding that within Rev 13:13-18 there is a “fourth” time measure of “threescore years”, the “fourth part of earth” (Rev 6:8), do we know that ten years should be added to 1992 in order to establish the time of “altar”, and the opening of the fifth seal in Revelation.
Once again in 2002 the message of Christianity is “slain”. Why is the slain Lamb, through the word “altar”, linked to the ‘beast out of the earth’? In 2004, with the knowledge of time measurement in Revelation we can know exactly what is meant by the “beast out of the earth”. We also know it by the meaning of the word “beast” and the words “out of the earth”. To explain “beast” the use of “evil beast” in Genesis 37:20 comes near to what is meant. In that verse the sons of Jacob were trying to make up a story to tell their father, as to why their brother Joseph would not return home with them. They thought that they should hide the truth by saying that some “evil beast” had devoured him. In this example the wild animal (that is inherently not ‘evil’) is made ‘evil’ by what the brothers said. It was explained on this website how the understanding of the “beast out of the earth” is linked to times of discoveries by man, essentially as a result of his accomplishments in the processing and numerous applications of the earth’s mineral wealth. Through what has been mined from the “earth”, (see the words of Job 28:2 “iron is taken out of the earth..” and 5 “the earth, out of it cometh bread..”) man could make a comfortable living, develop for example dynamite, the atomic bomb and ultimately sent rockets into outer space (Rev 13:13 “And he does great wonders, so that he makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men”). Therefore in the “beast out of the earth”, the wealth that is taken out of the earth is not in itself evil, but what that wealth leads man to do by the shortcomings of man’s nature, is evil. The “he” in Rev 13:13 is “the beast out of the earth” and is the ‘figurative image’ of power of satan that misleads man away from the truths of Scripture. Revelation links the slain Lamb to this enormous concept of man’s development, for in the process of finding, understanding and exploiting the wealth of the earth, man was ultimately misled .
Jesus Christ predicted man’s deception in Matthew 12 :40 “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”. The word “heart” is of significance for In Rev 17:17 it is said “for God has put it in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.” For two thousand years the words of Matthew 12:40 only had bearing on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but in 2004 in the understanding and interpretation of Revelation these words also refer to three ‘nights’ (figuratively a time of spiritual decline) measured back from 2003. As night is as long as day, three ‘nights’ can be measured back from 2003. That brings us to the time 1142 (287 times 3, measured back from 2003) It is interesting to note that in 1143 the Romans declared themselves independent of the pope. This is significant in relation to the words of Revelation 1:6 “And has made us kings and priests unto God”. It was from about the time 1142, that the nations of Europe slowly but surely moved to separating the authority of the church and the authority of the state. An ideology that would lead to much war and death. It was also the separation of Church and state that would give man the freedom to exploit the minerals of the earth, to study the universe and to ultimately through science send missions into space. Today the Western Christian Church and the state are separated in all nations except in the Vatican. According to my understanding of Revelation, and because God fully understands the way man thinks, this would be the destiny of mankind. However, within this destiny of gradual ‘darkening’ and spiritual decline, their would be those who would through life strive to reach the mark for the prize of the higher calling of God in Jesus Christ.
It is only with the understanding of two previous posts on this Forum concerning the opening of the sixth seal and the destruction of fowls at the beginning of 2003, that I believe that current happenings confirm the time of “altar” as being about the time 2002. How do current happenings confirm the time of “altar”?
With the insight of the “ten days” that can be measured from the time of Elijah at this point in time, I believe we should consider if “altar” has a symbolic relationship to the “altar” on Mount Carmel in the time about 866 BC. In Rev 13:13 it is said that “he (the beast out of the earth) does great wonders so that he makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.” In 1 Kings 18:38 the words “fire of the Lord fell”. This is interesting in the interpretation of Revelation, for in 1 Kings, chapter 18, we are told that Elijah prayed to God, to give a sign that he is the Lord God. Almighty God then sent fire to consume the burnt offering. In the time measurement of the “beast out of the earth”, Rev 13:13 relates to the time 1992. The time that all the nations of the earth could see on television the weaponry, manufactured from iron and other minerals from the earth, causing devastation in Desert Storm. 1992 is also the end of the “threescore years” of the “threescore years and ten” (Zachariah 1:12) that ultimately reveal the time of “altar” in 2002. Revelation 13:13 repeats the words of 1 Kings 18:38 to show that God is going to react to the prayers of the believers at the time of the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century. The image of “fire” in Revelation indicates that God, the Father of the Son, Jesus Christ, is about to, as in the time of Elijah, show that he is the Lord God. Will it be through that which man has created through the wealth of the earth? Only time will tell.
The Christian nations had in their struggle to obtain and harness the riches of the earth become arrogant and extremely comfortable from the luxuries brought about by the development and exploitation of the minerals of the earth. This prosperity and arrogance has largely destroyed man’s dependence on his faith. He has been misled by the power of satan in the form of the ‘beast out of the earth’. Through the words “fire from heaven” Revelation reveals that God is in this time making known that figuratively the Christian nations have slain the Lamb and they shall see that God will show that he is Lord God.
In order to further understand what Revelation reveals concerning the time “altar” we have to look at the other verses where the word “altar” appears in Revelation. This will be discussed in a following post.