Kingdom Come

It was while experiencing the direst circumstances that the LORD God gave his faithful servant Daniel a detailed explanation of what future experiencers of the direst straits will face. If you’re like me, you’d rather face your enemy head on with knowledge, no matter how awful, than run blindly in terror.

“O Daniel, a man greatly beloved…I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days…I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth…

Behold, there shall stand up yet…Persia…Greece…the king of the north…And in his estate shall stand up a vile person…they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days…the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god…yet he shall come to his end…and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was…and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book… 

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end:” (Daniel 10-12) 

The chain of custody of this testimony makes this testimony unique from any other revelation purported to have been given by God or an angel before or since.

• The Revelation of Jesus Christ,
  • which God gave unto him,
    • to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass;
      • and he sent and signified it by his angel / physical manifestation of his hyperdimensional being
        • unto his servant John who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation…Who bare record…of all things that he saw…[the last living witness of the Firstborn of the resurrection] 

1. Jesus Christ…the faithful witness
   1. of the fulfilled prophecy of The Prince Of Peace reconciling humanity to God through his atoning death
2. the first begotten of the dead
   1. the fulfilled prophecy of The Seed Of The Woman victory over sin and death.

Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this [next witnessed fulfillment of] prophecy, and keep [like a castle keep, rely on this for safety when confronted with danger] those things which are written therein” (Revelation 1)

John was the last of the apostles certified to be witnesses of Jesus Christ the unique Son of God, on whose testimony everyone since then must rely on for our own hope of resurrection to eternal life.

“Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all [defiant] rule and all [oppositional] authority and power.” (I Corinthians 15:22-24)

This witness testimony is the exact same basis for trusting the next testimony by the Apostle John. Anyone who discredits John’s testimony of witnessing the future fulfillment of past biblical prophecy in Revelation must therefore also discredit John’s testimony of eternal life as well.

Think that through. 

Surely we understand that John’s Revelation is of paramount importance to a child of God.

So its message is a primary target for the Adversary.

For example, the following article, whose conclusions are absolutely contrary to scripture. Obviously these are false teachers.

What is on the sealed scroll in Revelation 5-8?

1.  we never find out anything about its contents.
2. a sort of “title deed to the universe”.
3. judgement lien.
4. the end of Israel as a holy nation,
5. the contents of the book will only be fully understood when or after Christ returns.

To determine the contents of this sealed scroll / book let’s just go wild here and assume that God is making good on a promise he made earlier to call into existence when unsealed – the prophesies contained in a specific sealed book. Especially since there is no other place in scripture where he lives up to that commitment.

Let me be clear – I am not claiming to be a prophetess with divine knowledge. I’m just an analyst putting together the clues and making an informed deduction. For sure the details match, but could be a “coming to pass” to be repeated in the future, not a “fulfillment” not to be repeated.

It does seem to me however, as a Baby Boomer adult who has lived through society’s transformation , and a psychiatric professional with an excellent record of projecting future behavior based on past and current dysfunction, that America’s increasingly corrupt society has reached a breaking point from which there is no human-led recovery. God either intervenes or Satan wins.

This same self-immolation has occurred in history.

“Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness…O LORD, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself…the LORD hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up.” (Lamentations 1:8-9, 14)

“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and the LORD gave [it]…into his hand…Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs [took] certain of the children of Israel…whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans…among these were…Daniel/ God is my Judge… he gave…the name of Belteshazzar” (Daniel 1:1-7)

Press pause. I have found only casual attempts by Bible commentators to translate this name “Belteshazzar” into a meaningful title that contributes any depth of understanding as to why it is included in this extraordinary prophetic passage. This is understandable, given that all cuneiform languages, including Babylonian, don’t translate as easily into alphabetic languages as these do to each other.

While cuneiform include phonetics like consonants that correspond to sounds, enabling the representation of various languages, cuneiform symbols also represent entire words. Then, that same item/symbol can also represent related non-material concepts. For example, the symbol for the substance “water” also means conceptual “chaos” – its action when not contained. The rules of syntax are typically Subject-Verb-Object, but variations may occur, especially in poetic or formal texts.

To translate meaningfully, the entirety of the “sentence” has to make sense in its context. Take, for example, the Neo-Babylonian Akkadian name of the founder of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

Nabo-pol-assar Nabû-apla-uṣur,= Nabu-son-protect. We can only understand this by cultural competence of the common practice of calling on indwelling deities. “[The God] Nabu, son of the god Marduk protect [(your spirit incarnated human, i.e.] son“.

Another Babylonian name is provided in scripture that assists us in translating one from the other.

Bel-sha-zzar  Bēl-šar-uṣur, meaning “[The God] Bel, the king protect”.

While Bel can simply mean Lord as in the Semitic Baal or to refer to Jesus Christ in Christianity, “Bel” at this time in Neo-Babylonian history  specifically referenced the god Marduk , father of the rival god Nabu, clearly a rivalry between “denominations” of pagan gods equivalent to Judaism’s devotion to YHVH vs Christianity’s to Jesus as the son of God.

Using the KISS principle – Keep It Simple Stupid – I matched every matchable element between Bel-shazzar and Bel-te-shazzar while at the same time applying “compare and contrast” irony as is so common in identifications.

• “Bel=Lord, in Daniel’s case meaning LORD / YHVH exclusive to the monotheistic Hebrew God,
• adding one word te=YOU, doubling down, emphasizing the subject LORD,
• sha = of
• uṣur = protection

In the context of Daniel’s new identity in the Babylonian court, his unfailing testimony of being spirit-indwelt, “the son of” YHVH because he refused against all inducements and surely punishments to honor the Babylonian gods, surely impressed his overseer into comparing and contrasting him with

• Belshazzar “Asking that Bel protect him as worthy of attention because he is king and provides lavishly for Bel’s upkeep”
• Belteshazzar “Utter assurance that his LORD God IS protection itself, despite his condition as a castrated slave in an enemy country.

And it was while experiencing the direst circumstances that the LORD God gave his faithful servant Daniel a detailed explanation of what future experiencers of the direst straits will face. If you’re like me, you’d rather face your enemy head on with knowledge, no matter how awful, than run blindly into darkness in terror.

“O Daniel, a man greatly beloved…I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days…I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth…

Behold, there shall stand up yet…Persia…Greece…the king of the north…And in his estate shall stand up a vile person…they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days…the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god…yet he shall come to his end…and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was…and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book… 

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end:” (Daniel 10-12) 

“O Daniel, a man greatly beloved…from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words…to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days…But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end…And at that time…there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. AND many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.” (Daniel 12)

How can anyone question that the book that shows up at the time of the end is the same as Daniel’s God-given account of the end of the world? I honestly do not know why this is so hard to figure out other than embracing the devil’s deception. It is exactly the right time to open the book, and the events unleashed are the exact fulfillment of Jesus’ own words.

“behold! the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof…for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood.”

That was a done deal. Or more, precisely, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) John was witness of that fact, remember? Seeing Jesus die, buried, and resurrected.

“And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book” / call into existence as at the beginning of Creation.” (Revelation 5)

John is weeping is that he knows the contents of the book from reading Daniel.

“I Daniel understood… the desolations of Jerusalem…And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O LORD, the great and dreadful God…As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us…O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away…O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name…” (Daniel 9)

That name is YHVH and His Chosen Savior is Yeshua AKA Jesus Christ in Anglicized Greek.

As Jesus described it and as any pregnant woman can tell you, birth pangs induce tears both of pain and relief. They signal the beginning of an excruciating ordeal, yes, but more than that are a welcome sign of the end of an era of escalating misery in addition to the blessed expectation of finally experiencing the joy of embracing the long-anticipated new life!

As the events

1. prophesied in the past by Daniel,
2. confirmed to have come to pass by John
3. unfold in the future again exactly as foretold,

they will prove that God’s word is true, and most importantly, reliable, during a time in history when people desperately need to trust God’s word when making the critical choice on who to trust for salvation from death to eternal life. 

So the Adversary confuses the message with interpretations.

Throughout church history, there have been four different views regarding the book of Revelation…

1. The idealist approach believes that apocalyptic literature like Revelation should be interpreted allegorically…
2. The preterist views Revelation as a symbolic presentation of events that occurred in 70 A. D.
3. The historicist school views the events as symbolic of all western church history.
4. The futurist school believes Revelation should be interpreted literally. In other words, the events of Revelation are to occur at a future time.

There is yet a fifth view, essentially incorporating all the above four perspectives, based on the eternal perspective of scriptures as detailed in post 182, “The Cycling Signs Of The Times.” God’s time is not limited to the straight arrow of mass-based four dimensions, but cycles around and around until fulfilled when all details bring the pre-determined events to fulfillment.

The only way we are going to understand John’s vision in Revelation is to interpret it as both

1. the outcome of a previously declared decision by God
2. waiting on the voluntary cooperation of humanity to whom he gave dominion and free will. 

“And when he had taken the book…four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb…And they sung a new song, saying…thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:8-10)

According to a straightforward understanding of what the elders proclaim, other humans who, in performing the key role of all rulers – join him in the fight to retake dominion.

There is really only one explanation for the delay in Christ’s return – the failure of his people to get in line behind him.

“For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

Wherefore the LORD said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.” (Isaiah 29)

” I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos…in the spirit on the Lord’s day…I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead [in a coma, his soul disconnected from bodily functions which then must be maintained externally].”  (Revelation 1:9-17)

The phrase, the Lord’s day, found in Revelation chapter one, occurs only once in the New Testament. What grounds do we have to determine what day John was speaking about (the day his readers would have understood him to mean)?

• Christians generally believe John refers to Sunday, the first day of the week.
  • However, Sunday did not become the day of worship until Constantine changed it from Saturday to honor Mithras, the god of the sun, so this can’t even be brought into consideration.
• Christian Sabbath observers such as Seventh Day Baptists and Messianic Christians believe John refers to the Sabbath of the LORD (7th day).
  • The Sabbath is never referred to as “the Lord’s day” anywhere in scripture.
• It’s unlikely that John intended the phrase to refer to the “day of the Lord” as found in the prophets because when “day of the Lord” is used elsewhere in the New Testament, in 1 Thessalonians 5:2 and 2 Peter 3:10. the phrase “day of the Lord” always appears with the genitive case.
  • Now that’s using your education to befuddle, not enlighten.

If we stick with the primary document it is evident that “the Lord’s Day” is the common English way of rephrasing the term The “Day Of” The Lord” exactly as translated in “the Lord’s supper” or angel “of the Lord”. Is anyone arguing over those phrasings?

The only accurate hermeneutical interpretation of what John meant is to apply the same interpretation meant by his fellow apostles and witnesses in their writings. Following this analysis, the “Lord’s Day” means the same thing in the New Testament as it did in the Old Testament – the fulfillment of Hebrew prophecy regarding “the Day of the LORD‘.

“cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD…Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe…their wickedness is great…the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining…and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel…Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.” (Joel 3)

Why introduce the potential for minimizing the hugely prophetic meaning of “the Lord’s day” to a mere day of the week, as is commonly taught? In the context of John’s fantastic revelation does that even make any sense? Could this lead Dispensationalist King James Onlyers into rejecting a key element of John’s revelation right from the beginning – the fulfillment of all Hebrew prophecies concerning Israel? Ahh.

“Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou  [equivalent to Washington, the people in government, people, not a location]  that killest the prophets...I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” (Matthew 23:37-39)

And so when, in Jesus day, “this generation” of rulers failed to throw in the crucial support behind their king, restoration did not happen and another generation is given another chance.

It was not uncommon in ancient times for a seal to be removed and replaced. Since Paul’s letters were passed around  the seals on his scrolls would have been lifted off and and replaced frequently to physically protect the written material in transit. Accordingly, Paul, like Jesus, used his signature rather than a stamp on the seal as proof of authenticity. In a letter quoted by Josephus the writer names the bearer and describes the seal to guarantee against the letter being surreptitiously opened and resealed with another stamp to conceal the sabotage (Josephus P 322) 

Opening and closing the seals is consistent with the eternal – i.e. non-linear – state of time in heaven where the Book is being handled.

“it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” (I John 2:18)

This is also consistent with Jesus’ report that “of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” (Matthew 24:36)

This is also consistent with history.

“Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers…When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him / Stephen with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and…said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.”

I.e., ready to return! Just waiting for this generation of rulers to repent, change your attitude and receive me as your king! Tragically, that inevitably includes putting pressure on his people, AKA great tribulation.

But no.

“Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city…And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And…he fell asleep.” (Acts 7) 

1. It is this author’s perspective of the seal events in Revelation 6 that the seals of this book in heaven are removed, providing an opportunity for Christ to return, only to be replaced, and then removed again, over and over, by the failure of his people to get behind him – finally.
2. It is also this author’s perspective that humanity has achieved the level of technology to bring about the days of Noah before the flood when such wickedness prevailed that only eight souls were saved.
   1. The return of the gods / fallen angels / aliens to earth by breaking through the protective firmament shielding humans from “outer” space and “the pit” imprisoning Lucifer and his minions.
   2. Hybridization in the cause of spiritual evolution.
   3. Most of all the possibility that no pure mortal humans would survive.
3. It is also this author’s perspective – consistent with Evangelical Christianity – that the events prophesied in Revelation occur in the earthly nation of Israel, and can only be interpreted correctly in the context of the restoration of Israel as a nation.

As per standard practice after any war, the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement divided former Ottoman territory into winners of WWI. The League of Nations duly granted Great Power Britain the pre-arranged Mandate for the most valuable territory.

The mandates in themselves constituted a betrayal of promises for independence to the Arab leaders who fought with the Allies against the Ottoman Empire. 

Britain then used the Holy Land like a whore to lure power and wealth from the rising leaders in the transforming Middle East, which set the stage for intractable conflict between rival Arab parties.

The British Balfour Declaration also pledged to “view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people,” One significant strategic reason for this controversial decision was to keep Egypt’s Suez Canal within Britain’s sphere of influence through a bordering proxy state.