The Rapture

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Nov 23, 2013
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Perhaps. But the opening of the seals happened then.


Sorry, but we need to distinguish very clearly between "the Lord's Day" (the first day of the week when Christians worship) and "the day of the Lord" which is a period of very severe judgments, and will correspond to the Great Tribulation.

John was "in the Spirit" on the Lord's Day and that is a lesson for us to also be in the Spirit every Lord's Day. It is unfortunate that many Christians refer to this day as "Sunday" (the pagan designation) rather than "the Lord's Day" (Christian designation).


Please note what John Gill has to say about the Lord's Day in his commentary. It is very enlightening.

Revelation 1:10
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day
Not on the Jewish sabbath, which was now abolished, nor was that ever called the Lord's day, and had John meant that, he would have said on the sabbath day; much less the Jewish passover, but the first day of the week is designed; so the Ethiopic version renders it "on the first day"; and is so called just as the ordinance of the supper is called the Lord's supper, being instituted by the Lord, and the Lord's table, (1 Corinthians 10:21 ) ( 11:20 ) , and that because it was the day in which our Lord rose from the dead, ( Mark 16:9 ) ; and in which he appeared at different times to his disciples, ( John 20:19 John 20:26 ) , and which the primitive churches set apart for his worship and service, and on which they met together to hear the word, and attend on ordinances, ( Acts 20:7 ) ( 1 Corinthians 16:1 ) ; and Justin MartyrF26 tells us, who lived within about fifty years after this time, that on the day called (th tou) (hliou hmera) , "Sunday", (by the Greeks,) the Christians met together in one place, and read the Scriptures, and prayed together, and administered the ordinance of the supper; and this, he adds, was the first day in which God created the World, and our Saviour Jesus Christ rose from the dead; yea, Barnabas F1, the companion of the Apostle Paul, calls this day the eighth day, in distinction from the seventh day sabbath of the Jews, and which he says is the beginning of another world; and therefore we keep the eighth day, adds he, joyfully, in which Jesus rose from the dead, and being manifested, ascended unto heaven: and this day was known by the ancients by the name of "the Lord's day"; as by Ignatius F2, Irenaeus F3, Tertullian F4, Origen F5, and others; for it must be some day that was known by this name, otherwise it is mentioned to no purpose, because it would not be distinctive from others; for which reason it cannot merely design the day in which John saw this vision, because the Lord appeared on it to him, for this would not distinguish it from any other day. Some have conjectured that this was not the weekly Lord's day observed by the Christians, but the anniversary of Christ's resurrection; and so the Ethiopians still call Easter "Schambatah Crostos", the sabbath of Christ: to understand it of the former is best. Now, though John was driven from the house and worship of God, and could not join with the saints in the public worship of that day; yet he was employed in spiritual contemplations and exercises, and was under a more than ordinary influence of the Spirit of God; and his spirit or soul was wholly intent upon, and taken up with divine and spiritual things, with visions and representations that were made unto his mind, which he perceived in his spirit, and not with the organs of his body; he was in an ecstasy of spirit, and knew not scarcely whether he was in the body or out of it:

I searched the bible for Lord, Lord's and day and I couldn't find anything tying it to a worship service.
 

VCO

Senior Member
Oct 14, 2013
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I searched the bible for Lord, Lord's and day and I couldn't find anything tying it to a worship service.
Maybe this will help eliminate some of the confusion:

Lord's Day, the
The expression "the Lord's day" is found only once in the Bible. In Revelation 1:10 John relates the beginning of his visionary experience to being in the Spirit "on the Lord's Day." The phrase seems to have become more common in the second century a.d., where it is found in such early Christian writings as Ignatius's Epistle to the Magnesians9:1 (c. a.d. 108), the Didache 14:1 (c. a.d. 100-125), and the Gospel of Peter 9:35; 12:50 (c. a.d. 125-50).


The presence of the adjective kuriakos [kuriakov"] makes the expression grammatically different from the common biblical phrase "the Day of the Lord, " which uses the genitive form of the noun kurios [kuvrio"]. The adjective is found only one other time in the New Testament, in 1 Corinthians 11:20, where Paul speaks of "the Lord's Supper." Non-Christian parallels suggest that the adjective was used with reference to that which belonged to the Roman emperor; early Christians seem to have used it, perhaps in conscious protest, to refer to that which belonged to Jesus.


The particular "day" that belonged to Jesus seems to have been Sunday, or, by Jewish reckoning, Saturday sundown until Sunday sundown. According to the Gospels, Jesus was raised from the dead on "the first day of the week" ( Matt 28:1 ; Mark 16:2 ; Luke 24:1 ; John 20:1 ), that is, Sunday. New Testament evidence suggests that by the 50s, if not earlier, Christians were attaching special significance to Sunday. In 1 Corinthians 16:1-3 Paul exhorts the church at Corinth to set aside a sum of money "on the first day of every week" for the church at Jerusalem, as the Galatian churches were already doing. Similarly, Luke notes that when Paul arrived at Troas near the end of his third missionary journey, the church gathered together to break bread "on the first day of the week" ( Acts 20:6-7 ). Although the identification is not made explicit, there is therefore good reason to believe that John has Sunday in mind when he mentions "the Lord's Day" in Revelation 1:10. Certainly the second-century Gospel of Peter, which twice speaks of the day of Jesus' resurrection as "the Lord's Day" (9:35; 12:50), makes the connection. Similarly, the Epistle of Barnabas (c. a.d. 130) notes that Christians celebrate Jesus' resurrection of "the eighth day" (15:9; cf. John 20:26 ), or Sunday, which is the day after the seventh daythat is, the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday). Justin Martyr affirms that Jesus was raised on "the day of the Sun" (Apology 67).


How quickly the Lord's Day emerged as a specific day of worship for the early church is not clear. Luke observes that in the period immediately following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost the earliest Christians met "every day" in the temple courts. Whether their breaking of bread in their homes was a daily or weekly occurrence he does not specify, but the former seems more likely ( Acts 2:46 ). Alternately, Paul's comments to the Corinthians concerning the laying aside of money on the first day of the week do not indicate whether this action was connected with a formal gathering of the church ( 1 Cor 16:13 ). Luke's description of the meeting of believers at Troas is the first clear indication of a special gathering as taking place in the evening, by which he probably means Sunday, using Roman reckoning from midnight to midnight, rather than the Jewish system. By the second century the Lord's Day was clearly set apart as a special day for worship. In a letter to the emperor Trajan (c. a.d. 112), the Roman governor Pliny the Younger notes that Christians assembled before daylight "on an appointed day" (Epistle 10:96), undoubtedly Sunday. The Didache specifically exhorts believers to come together on the Lord's Day (14:1), and the Epistle of Barnabas sees it as a special day of celebration (15:9). Indeed, Justin Martyr (c. a.d. 150) gives a detailed account of typical Sunday worship (Apology 67).

Lord's Day, the Definition and Meaning - Bible Dictionary
The Day of the Lord
A frequently found phrase throughout Scripture related to this time of trouble is the Day of the Lord (Isa. Isa. 2:10-22; Isa. 13:6, Isa. 13:9; Jer. Jer. 46:2, Jer. 46:10; Eze. Eze. 13:5, Eze. 13:9, Eze. 13:14, Eze. 13:21, Eze. 13:23; Eze. 30:3-6, Eze. 30:8, Eze. 30:19, Eze. 30:25-26; Dan. Dan. 9:1-27; Joel Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1, Joel 2:11, Joel 2:31; Joel 3:14; Amos Amos 5:18, Amos 5:20; Ob. Ob. 1:15; Zep. Zep. 1:7, Zep. 1:14; Zec. Zec. 14:1; Mal. Mal. 4:5; Acts Acts 2:20; 1Th. 1Th. 5:2; 2Pe. 2Pe. 3:10). This particular day is seen to be so unique and significant that it is also referred to as simply, that day (Isa. Isa. 2:11, Isa. 2:17; Isa. 2:20; Isa. 4:2; Joel Joel 3:18; Mark Mark 13:32; Luke Luke 21:34; 2Ti. 2Ti. 1:12, 2Ti. 1:18; 2Ti. 4:8).

The Day of the Lord refers to God’s special interventions into the course of world events to judge His enemies, accomplish His purpose for history, and thereby demonstrate who He is—the sovereign God of the universe.[SUP]1
[/SUP]

There is some disagreement concerning whether the phrase “Day of the Lord” refers just to the time of tribulation, or whether it also includes the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth which follows.

The most common biblical term for the seven years of Tribulation in both testaments is the Day of Jehovah or Day of the Lord. There are many who use the term, the Day of the Lord, to apply to both the Tribulation and the Messianic Kingdom. This is generally based on the assumption that the phrases, the Day of the Lord and that day, are synonymous. While it is true that the expression, that day, has a wide meaning that includes both the Tribulation and the Messianic Kingdom, in those passages where the actual phrase, the Day of the Lord (Jehovah) is used, they never refer to the Millennium, but always to the Tribulation.[SUP]2[/SUP] We believe there are reasons to understand the phrase as including the millennial reign:


  1. Peter’s description of the Day of the Lord appears to include events following the Millennium (2Pe. 2Pe. 3:10-12 cf. Rev. Rev. 20:11+; Rev. 21:1+).[SUP]3[/SUP]
  2. The phrases this day and that day are not disconnected terms, but involve demonstrative pronouns which make little sense in the absence of any antecedent. The antecedent is seen to be the Day of the Lord (Isa. Isa. 2:12 cf. Isa. 2:20; Joel Joel 3:14 cf. Joel Joel 3:18).

Nevertheless, the phrase Day of the Lord is uniformly connected with darkness and judgment, whereas the phrases this day and that day do appear to be associated with the positive era subsequent to the initial dark elements of the day.[SUP]4[/SUP] The two-fold nature of the day is characterized by a time of intense darkness followed by incredible blessings:

The future Day of the Lord will have at least a twofold nature. First, it will be characterized by darkness and a tremendous outpouring of divine wrath upon the world (Joel Joel 2:1-2; Amos Amos 5:18-20; Zep. Zep. 1:14-15; 1Th. 1Th. 5:1-11). Amos Amos 5:18-20 emphasizes that this will be the total nature of the Day of the Lord for God’s enemies. It will bring no divine light or blessing to them. This will be the nature of the Day of the Lord during the 70th week of Daniel. Second, the Day of the Lord will also be characterized by light, an outpouring of divine blessing, and the administration of God’s rule. The Prophet Joel, after talking about the darkening of the sun, moon, and stars and God’s Day of the Lord judgment of the armies of the nations gathered in Israel (Joel Joel 3:9-16), foretold great divine blessing “in that day” (Joel Joel 3:17-21). In addition, the Prophet Zechariah, after discussing the future Day of the Lord, when all nations will war against Jerusalem and the Messiah will come to the earth to fight against the nations (Zec. Zec. 14:1-5), indicated that although the earlier part of “that day” will be characterized by darkness, the latter part will be characterized by light (Zec. Zec. 14:6-7), great blessing (Zec. Zec. 14:8), and God’s rule over the earth (Zec. Zec. 14:9). This will be the nature of the Day of the Lord in the Millennium. . . . Just as each day of creation and the Jewish day consisted of two phases—a time of darkness (“evening”) followed by a time of light (“day”) [Gen. Gen. 1:4-6]—so the future Day of the Lord will consist of two phases, a period of darkness (judgment) followed by a period of light (divine rule and blessing). . . . First, during the 70th week of Daniel it will be characterized by darkness and a tremendous outpouring of divine wrath upon the world. Second, during the Millennium it will be characterized by light, an outpouring of divine blessing, and the administration of God’s rule over the whole world.[SUP]5[/SUP]

13.3. The Day of the Lord Commentary - A Testimony of Jesus Christ
 

tanakh

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Dec 1, 2015
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Quite intriguing, could you provide examples or a website reference? I would like to look further.
There are several books that you may find useful. The first is Youngs Analytical concordance which includes the meanings of all the Biblical names and places. Another is Connections A guide to types and symbols by Glen Carpenter

A website you could check out belongs to Ed Vasicek. He is a Jewish Christian Pastor who has written two books on the Midrash method of interpretation called The Midrash Key and the other titled The Amazing Doctrines of Paul as Midrash

The last book title is The hidden mystery of the Bible by Jack Addington. He is a Christian Pyschologist but dont let that put you off.

Have you ever read The Pilgrims Progress? John Bunyan tells the story of a man seeking salvation. All the people and places the man encounters are named to describe their characters. Addington explains that the Bible is written in a similar way. The difference being is that
the People and Places in the Bible are real.
 
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It just hit me that John was sending the book of Revelation to the seven churches and told them to count the number of the beast. So it must have been something that those 7 churches knew and could count, not something we are supposed to guess and calculate 2000 years later. I found a website that lists all the names that match the gematria of that number, such speculation.

So anyone got any ideas what it was back then that they identified the number with? I doubt it was ronald reagan.
 

PlainWord

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Jun 11, 2013
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oop's isn't the eight the head that was and was not yet is that would ascend out of the pit Revelation 17:8 aren’t you accounting for all the wrong heads?
I explained this. Titus Flavius Caesar were three people, all of them had the title, "Caesar" at the same time; Vespasian, Titus and Domitian (Father and two sons), but ruled the empire in succession. They were an unholy trinity.

[SUP]8 [/SUP]The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition.

This beast was Rome. She "died" in 68 when Nero stabbed himself in the neck (head received mortal wound), and left no successor. Rome went through an uncertain civil war under 3 generals and came back to life (ascended from the abyss) on Dec 21, 69 AD when Vespasian stabilized the government. This depiction uses resurrection imagery of fallen Rome then resurrected Rome. During the "Year of the 4 emperors" the beast's kingdom entered darkness (5th plague).

[SUP]10 [/SUP]There are also seven kings. Five have fallen (Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero), one is (Vespasian), and the other has not yet come (Titus). And when he (Titus) comes (to Jerusalem), he must continue (in Jerusalem) a short time (6 months). [SUP]11 [/SUP]The beast that was (5 Kings of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty), and is not (time Rome entered darkness, the abyss, 68-69 AD), is himself also the eighth (6-7-8, the Flavian Dynasty all named Titus Flavius Caesar), and is of the seven (Titus, the Man of Sin and Son of Perdition), and is going to perdition.
 
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Nov 23, 2013
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Maybe this will help eliminate some of the confusion:
You should know me better than this now VCO... If it ain't in the bible then it aint real. The only confusion I've ever had over this was when I believed comentaries instead of the bible.

The bible is clear - I was in the spirit on the LORD's DAY.... there is only one type of LORD'S DAY in the bible. Not to mention the fact from chapter 1 forward is obviously speaking of things that came AFTER the death, burial and resurrection.

This day has to be SPIRITUALIZED by futurist because it proves beyond any doubt that the book of Revelation was written well before any of the things written in it took place.
 
Nov 23, 2013
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It just hit me that John was sending the book of Revelation to the seven churches and told them to count the number of the beast. So it must have been something that those 7 churches knew and could count, not something we are supposed to guess and calculate 2000 years later. I found a website that lists all the names that match the gematria of that number, such speculation.

So anyone got any ideas what it was back then that they identified the number with? I doubt it was ronald reagan.
You're a smart guy, count the number.
 
Nov 23, 2013
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You should know me better than this now VCO... If it ain't in the bible then it aint real. The only confusion I've ever had over this was when I believed comentaries instead of the bible.

The bible is clear - I was in the spirit on the LORD's DAY.... there is only one type of LORD'S DAY in the bible. Not to mention the fact from chapter 1 forward is obviously speaking of things that came AFTER the death, burial and resurrection.

This day has to be SPIRITUALIZED by futurist because it proves beyond any doubt that the book of Revelation was written well before any of the things written in it took place.
Correction - From chapter 1 forward covers things from the birth of Christ forward.
 

PlainWord

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Jun 11, 2013
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lol,the one we are speaking of is one that received a deadly wound and then returns,so if he simply was as if he never existed that would be fine. The problem comes when we ponder the point where he receives a deadly wound and then returns...

According to Revelation 1-3, the Apocalypse was originally written to churches in Asia Minor, a Greco-Roman audience. When the writers of the New Testament wrote in Greek they, of course, used Greek words to conveying Jewish concepts and ideas. For example, the Hebrew words Sheol and Gehenna are often translated into their mythological Greco-Roman counterparts Hades and Tartarus (Matthew 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31; 2 Peter 2:4; Revelation 1:18; 6:8; 20:13, 14). Similarly, the Jewish leviathan which according to Psalm 74:13-14 and 104:25-26 is a many-headed sea monster is often depicted in Revelation as its Greco-Roman mythological counterpart the many-headed sea monster, the Hydra.

The many-headed Hydra, the Roman equivalent of Tiamat and the Hebrew monster the seven-headed leviathan, was known to regenerate severed heads. Thus the Roman myth of the Hydra was analogous to the Middle Eastern creature called Tiamat in Babylon and Leviathan in Israel. Thus as shown above, John sees Rome represented in the night sky by the constellation Hydra. According to the myth of the Lernaean Hydra if one of the heads of the Hydra were decapitated, two heads would grow in its place. In Revelation 13:3, John says that one of the heads of the beast received a fatal wound. Therefore after the severed head of the beast is healed as it was in Revelation 13:3, the Roman beast is then restored to life with eight heads, not seven, because two heads grew in the place of the sixth wounded head. Because the revived seven-headed beast now has eight heads Rev 17:11 mentions an eighth king who is also one of the seven. This 8th king (Domitian) plays no part in the fall of Jerusalem but was part of the beast, Rome.

I know, it's complicated and took forever to figure out. The key, as always, is "audience relevancy." Think as the audience would think (1st century Greeks and Romans), not as a 21st century man would think.

 
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PlainWord

Senior Member
Jun 11, 2013
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You should know me better than this now VCO... If it ain't in the bible then it aint real. The only confusion I've ever had over this was when I believed comentaries instead of the bible.

The bible is clear - I was in the spirit on the LORD's DAY.... there is only one type of LORD'S DAY in the bible. Not to mention the fact from chapter 1 forward is obviously speaking of things that came AFTER the death, burial and resurrection.

This day has to be SPIRITUALIZED by futurist because it proves beyond any doubt that the book of Revelation was written well before any of the things written in it took place.
I concur except wouldn't use the qualifier "well" before. I would say, written just before the events of 70 AD took place.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place...for the time is near.


 
H

heartofdavid

Guest
Calm down ladies and gentlemen. Eschatology is NOT related to salvation. Salvation is all about if you are in Christ or not.




If we take a step back we can see how people can come to each view.
If you look at Jesus' words alone it is difficult not to arrive at an amillennial conclusion. It is not difficult to understand why many have a simple view of Jesus returning and people going to heaven or hell, because that is the overall scheme of things, very few Christians have studied the book of Revelation indepth, and learned all the symbols, since that is the only place where the 1000 years are mentioned in the Scriptures.


If you read the Old Testament combined with the book of Revelation it is not difficult to imagine how one can come to a conclusion of premillennialism. They see the conditions mentioned of people having long lifespans and peace on earth, they notice it cannot fit into eternity since sin and death are still present, therefore they move that to the 1000 years mentioned in Revelation 20.


So both views are within orthodoxy in my opinion. No reason to divide over it. The one thing we cannot afford to be open-minded about is soteriology.
Yes,salvation does not require any end times view /position.

One thing to factor in,concerning the mil,is Israel becoming a nation. Many church fathers were amileneum. Easy to see why,they formed a doctrinal position looking at the scattering of Jews with no country Israel.
 
H

heartofdavid

Guest
Waiting for your interpretation on the word "thousand"? Not the metaphor used in a parable "flying scorpions". Remember the prescription for rightly dividing..without parables Christ hid not the spiritual understanding. We must search out the spiritual understanding by keeping our mind open to the mind of God as his way of communing (parables). Some suggest we keep it closed and walk by sight.
Thousand means thousand and those flying creatures have wings and stingers like scorpions. Flying scorpions is as good a name as any for them. They are not spirits. Their stingers are real and they possess insect type properties . They are told not to eat plants. That tells you they normally would have.

And btw,the 144 k are 144 k. Jewish men.

You guys invented those spiritualizations of those 3 no-brainers.

You invented that convoluted doctrine of spiritualizing no brainer dynamics.
 
H

heartofdavid

Guest
It just hit me that John was sending the book of Revelation to the seven churches and told them to count the number of the beast. So it must have been something that those 7 churches knew and could count, not something we are supposed to guess and calculate 2000 years later. I found a website that lists all the names that match the gematria of that number, such speculation.

So anyone got any ideas what it was back then that they identified the number with? I doubt it was ronald reagan.
He also wrote it some 20+ years after Jerusalem was destroyed,so that alone annihilates historical viewpoint.

It is possible he did not write it while on patmos. The change in emporers secured his release from patmos.

John said " I WAS on the isle of patmos."......"WAS"
 
H

heartofdavid

Guest
In case anyone is wondering why historical adherants spiritualize those three components,it is because they DIRECTLY torpedo their view.

Their view prohibits the existence of those 3 dynamics.

That is why.

They simply remove the offending verses.
 
H

heartofdavid

Guest
What an impasse.

A doctrine that REQUIRES a culled bible.
 
H

heartofdavid

Guest
Pretrib rapture stands alone as the ONLY position that harmonizes with God's word.
 

iamsoandso

Senior Member
Oct 6, 2011
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I explained this. Titus Flavius Caesar were three people, all of them had the title, "Caesar" at the same time; Vespasian, Titus and Domitian (Father and two sons), but ruled the empire in succession. They were an unholy trinity.

[SUP]8 [/SUP]The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition.

This beast was Rome. She "died" in 68 when Nero stabbed himself in the neck (head received mortal wound), and left no successor. Rome went through an uncertain civil war under 3 generals and came back to life (ascended from the abyss) on Dec 21, 69 AD when Vespasian stabilized the government. This depiction uses resurrection imagery of fallen Rome then resurrected Rome. During the "Year of the 4 emperors" the beast's kingdom entered darkness (5th plague).

[SUP]10 [/SUP]There are also seven kings. Five have fallen (Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero), one is (Vespasian), and the other has not yet come (Titus). And when he (Titus) comes (to Jerusalem), he must continue (in Jerusalem) a short time (6 months). [SUP]11 [/SUP]The beast that was (5 Kings of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty), and is not (time Rome entered darkness, the abyss, 68-69 AD), is himself also the eighth (6-7-8, the Flavian Dynasty all named Titus Flavius Caesar), and is of the seven (Titus, the Man of Sin and Son of Perdition), and is going to perdition.



Ok let's just go with it as if you are correct. In post #5196,pg.360 and post # 5200,pg. 360 (of this thread) lets take the things I ask and see if they will apply to this.

In Revelation 13:15 the ones who refuse to worship the beast(you say Vespasian,Titus ect./after the wound Nero) and if we examine history (Josephus wars) the Jews who denied Jesus as the messiah revolted,rebelled and refuse to acknowledge Vespasian or Titus as over them. They revolted against them at the cost of their lives and were killed.

In the same time frame the apostles said to the Christians to "HONOUR the authority" as "ordained" by God and use their money/pay tribute (Romans 13:1- 7 and 1Peter 2:13-15 ).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrian_shekel
So consider these two things from scripture and notice that if the Jews who stopped using the Tyrian shekel and minted their own to use https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Jewish_Revolt_coinage and refused to obey Vespasian or Titus and they were killed because of it then if the ones who were killed because they would not worship the image of the beast then do they have the mark of the beast or the mark of God?

And then the opposite when you look at the Christians of the same time frame if they were told to honour the authority over them as ordained by God(Romans 13:1) than from ad66-70 that would be Vespasian and then Titus afterwards. So if they(the Christians used their money(Vespasian and Titus) then in fact they would have been using the money/mark of the beast to buy and sell and were bowing to it's authority as if ordained by God.

In Revelation every time the wrath,plagues ect. are poured out they are always poured on those who "have the mark,number the name" but not the ones who don't. Other than that anyone who adds to or take away the plagues are added,Revelation 22:18-19.

So if you notice the mark's are on the wrong foreheads if you conclude the things you have because the ones who are refusing the money and authority of Rome(Vespasian) are the ones who are killed and the ones who Honoured the authority as ordained by God are not receiving God's wrath at all. It gets foggy grey from there and falls all apart if you take the path you are on.
 

iamsoandso

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Oct 6, 2011
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According to Revelation 1-3, the Apocalypse was originally written to churches in Asia Minor, a Greco-Roman audience. When the writers of the New Testament wrote in Greek they, of course, used Greek words to conveying Jewish concepts and ideas. For example, the Hebrew words Sheol and Gehenna are often translated into their mythological Greco-Roman counterparts Hades and Tartarus (Matthew 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31; 2 Peter 2:4; Revelation 1:18; 6:8; 20:13, 14). Similarly, the Jewish leviathan which according to Psalm 74:13-14 and 104:25-26 is a many-headed sea monster is often depicted in Revelation as its Greco-Roman mythological counterpart the many-headed sea monster, the Hydra.

The many-headed Hydra, the Roman equivalent of Tiamat and the Hebrew monster the seven-headed leviathan, was known to regenerate severed heads. Thus the Roman myth of the Hydra was analogous to the Middle Eastern creature called Tiamat in Babylon and Leviathan in Israel. Thus as shown above, John sees Rome represented in the night sky by the constellation Hydra. According to the myth of the Lernaean Hydra if one of the heads of the Hydra were decapitated, two heads would grow in its place. In Revelation 13:3, John says that one of the heads of the beast received a fatal wound. Therefore after the severed head of the beast is healed as it was in Revelation 13:3, the Roman beast is then restored to life with eight heads, not seven, because two heads grew in the place of the sixth wounded head. Because the revived seven-headed beast now has eight heads Rev 17:11 mentions an eighth king who is also one of the seven. This 8th king (Domitian) plays no part in the fall of Jerusalem but was part of the beast, Rome.

I know, it's complicated and took forever to figure out. The key, as always, is "audience relevancy." Think as the audience would think (1st century Greeks and Romans), not as a 21st century man would think.


Hugo Grotius and many others have explored the very same path you are on it's nothing new.
 

tanakh

Senior Member
Dec 1, 2015
4,635
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It just hit me that John was sending the book of Revelation to the seven churches and told them to count the number of the beast. So it must have been something that those 7 churches knew and could count, not something we are supposed to guess and calculate 2000 years later. I found a website that lists all the names that match the gematria of that number, such speculation.

So anyone got any ideas what it was back then that they identified the number with? I doubt it was ronald reagan.
I did suggest someone who would fit. 666 is not the number of a persons name it is the number of a type of person.
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