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The Book of Revelation and The End of the World |
The Book of Revelation is the last book of the New Testament. It is also called the Apocalypse of John. It is a cryptic document that contains information about the end of the world and it is full of symbols that are open to interpretation.
The book contains the visions of the apostle John, while he was banished to Patmos by the Roman authorities. While he was in custody, he had many visions about the end of the world.
{~ad~]This series of visions begins with a man with white woolly hair, bronze feet, and a tongue with a double edged sword appeared to John and said “I am he who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. And I have the keys of Hades of Death.” This representative of God then describes the events that are to take place during the apocalypse.
The Book of Revelation tells a long and complicated story, but in essence John appears before the throne of God and twenty-four elders in this vision. There are also four living creatures praising God in the scenario including a Lamb.
The Lamb is found worthy to take the “Judgment Scroll” from God and break the seals so that it can be unraveled and read.
The first seal that is broken predicts that one who is both a king and a conqueror will ride forth on a ride horse. The Second seal predicts that a rider on a red horse will bring war. The Third Seal predicts that a rider on a black horse will bring famine. A Fourth Seal predicts that a rider on a pale horse will bring death. The Fifth seal predicts that the souls of the martyrs under ht alter will cry out for vengeance.
When the Sixth Seal is broken, then there will be earthquakes and natural disasters. Many people believe that we are at that phase where the sixth seal is broken is happening now, just simply because we are experiencing so many natural disasters in the world.
When the Lamb breaks the Seventh Seal, seven trumpets begin to blow.
At the sound of the First Trumpet, hail and fire destroy a third of the trees and grass. Interestingly, this could be compared to the forest fires destroying natural property all over the world.
At the sound of Second Trumpet, a third of the oceans are destroyed. This may refer to pollution in our sea waters.
At the sound of the Third Trumpet, a third of the rivers and springs are poisoned. This too could be an image to do with global water pollution.
At the sound of the Fourth Trumpet, a third of the sky is darkened. Some say the darkening of the sky due to volcanic action, such as the Iceland Volcano, is responsible for this.
At the sound of the Fifth Trumpet, a plague of locusts terrorize the Earth of five months.
At the sound of the Sixth Trumpet, an army of 200 million kills a third of the Earth’s population.
At the sound of the Seventh Trumpet, complete chaos breaks out as a woman clothed with the sun, the moon, and the stars becomes visible to John. At this point, Satan is cast down to earth and a dragon persecutes the people of God. A beast from the sea makes war with the people of God and then a beast from the land forces people to worship the beast from the sea.
During the blowing of the Seventh trumpet, John sees 144,000 Christians with God’s name written on their forehead. At that point, three angles proclaim judgment and pour out their bowls on the earth. Each bowl contains an example of the “wrath of God.”
The first bowl contains a foul and loathsome sore to afflict the followers of the beast. The second bowl is poured into the sea and causes it to turn to blood and kill all the creatures within. The third bowl causes all fresh water to turn to blood. The fourth bowl scorches the Earth with intense heat. The fifth bowl causes total darkness and great pain. The sixth bowl prepares the world for the final battle between the forces of good and evil and the seventh bowl predicts a great earthquake in which every island fled away and the mountains were not found.
After this, Babylon the Great – “the great harlot who sits on many waters” - destroys the world. After that, there is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb where a great multitude praise God.
During a phase of the apocalypse known as The Millennium, the beast and false prophet are cast into the lake of fire. Satan is then imprisoned in the bottomless pit for that time. After the end of the thousand years, Satan tries again to make war against the people of God but he is cast into a lake of fire.
After this, a new heaven and a new earth will replace the old and God will come to dwell with humanity in the New Jerusalem in which the river and the tree of life appears for the healing of the all and Christ’s second coming is imminent.
There are many interpretations of what all of these predictions could possibly mean. However, it is plain to see how people could see the current slew of earthquakes plaguing the world could be a sign that the apocalypse is coming. In general, we see a decaying world fraught with war and environmental challenges that are possibly symbolized by the trumpets and the horsemen of the apocalypse.
Many people have also seen the Lake of Fire that Satan is cast into as being nuclear war. It takes a thousand years for the earth to recover and after that a new earth is recreated. Some people interpret that to mean that a new society emerges from the ashes of a holocaust.
The Millennium phase of the apocalypse is not supposed to start until 2012. Technically, 2012 is the beginning of the end of the world and not its actual ending.
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