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NASB | Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Revelation 1:1 This is the revelation of Jesus Christ [His unveiling of the divine mysteries], which God [the Father] gave to Him to show to His bond-servants (believers) the things which must soon take place [in their entirety]; and He sent and communicated it by His angel (divine messenger) to His bond-servant John, |
Bible Question: when is revelation going to happend? |
Bible Answer: Prophecy can be viewed primarily in three different ways, literal, symbolic, and allegorical. Literal prophecy happens exactly as written. Symbolic prophecy uses defined symbols to represent prophesied events. Allegorical interpretations use prophecy to describe non-prophetic concepts and processes. The ¡§Love Family¡¨ cult, for instance, teaches that ¡§armageddon happens in the mind¡¨ and denies that an actual battle takes place. In the Biblical record, prophecy is fulfilled literally. Every place the Bible records the fulfillment of a prophecy, it records it¡¦s literal fulfillment. Isreal¡¦s captivity lasted 70 years (Jeremiah 25). Jesus is born in Bethlehem (Micah 5), and so on. Prophetic fulfillments recorded in history are literal. Tyre was scraped into the sea, and is a place for the spreading of nets (Ez 26), the Greek Empire was divided into fourths (Dan 8, 11). Israel was born in a day (Isaiah 66). Israel is exporting fruit around the world (Isaiah 27), and conditions in modern society were described II Timothy 3. Symbolic prophecy is stated as such. Ezekiel, in chapter 4, is told to label a brick ¡§Jerusalem¡¨, use a flat cooking iron for a siege wall. These are symbols of the siege of Jerusalem. He is told to lay on one side 390 days for the iniquity of Israel, and 40 days for the iniquity of Judah, one day for one year. The text tell us these meanings. Symbols must be made known by the Bible, not the unsupported teaching of man, as prophecy is explained away as symbolic of something else that cannot be supported from the Biblical text. The only symbolic interpretations we can rely on as accurate are those given in the Bible. Allegorical interpretations deny the meaning of prophecy, ignoring the possibility of an actual fulfillment. Are prophecies given in sequence? Look for textual indicators. How does one prophecy relate time-wise to another? The Outline of the Book of the Revelation in 1:19: ¡§Write what things you saw, and what things are, and what things are about to occur after these things (meta tauta).¡¨ This describes sequential narrative, one thing being before another. Rev 4:1 ¡§After these things (meta tauta) I saw. And behold, a door being opened in Heaven! And I heard the first voice as a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here, and I will show you what needs to happen after these things (meta tauta).¡¨ To simplify what John is saying about his visions, ¡§After these things I saw what must happen after these things¡¨ Again, he is describing a sequential narrative. The first words in Rev. 7:1 are ¡§meta tauta¡¨, or ¡§after these things¡¨. John describes the sealing of the 144,000 and the innumerable multitude appearing in heaven. In chapter 8, the seventh seal is opened, and seven angels are given trumpets, and begin to sound them. In chapter 10, John is being addressed, this is clearly not part of the narrative, and interrupts it. Chapter 11, regarding the two witnesses, describes events that happen over the course of 3.5 years, and again, this is plainly stated. Chapter 11 continues with events that happen ¡§quickly¡¨ afterward (vs. 14). Chapter 12 opens with the words ¡§And a great sign was seen in the heavens¡¨; this part is using symbols. This begins a section where John writes a series of short vignettes, which can all be related to the mid-point of the tribulation, and show events that happen during the course of the tribulation. The narrative is re-entered in chapter 14:1, as John writes: ¡§I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion¡¨. Kai eidon kai eidou.ƒn ¡§and I saw, and you see¡¨ ¡§Eidon¡¨ is first person indicitive, ¡§eidou¡¨ is second person imperitive. ¡§You are to see what I saw.¡¨ There is something there to be seen. To Be Continued |