Posted on 12/08/2001 9:04:24 AM PST by fish hawk
Please excuse my Vanity but I've studied the book of Revelation looking for a hint of where and what the USA will be involved in at that time.
I come up empty, can any of you Bible scholars point me in the right direction?
2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
We will have melded into the NWO European dominated system.
I know, I know, sounds crazy. Never happen, comes readilly to mind. But it is already happening. We will soon be the US in name only. The corporations calling the shots now have no real loyalty to any country. They are loyal, if at all, to an economic system.
[11] "The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more--
[12] cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble;
[13] cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.
[14] "They will say, 'The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.'
[15] The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn
[16] and cry out: " 'Woe! Woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!
[17] In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!' "Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. (viewing by satelite TV perhaps)
[18] When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, 'Was there ever a city like this great city?'
[19] They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out: " 'Woe! Woe, O great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin!
[20] Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you.' "
[21] Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: "With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.
[22] The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No workman of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again.
[23] The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world's great men. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.
[24] In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth." Rev. 18:11-24
The last verse qualifies the entire passage. 'all' rather expands the description beyond just one city. I think Babylon is a world economic system, not just a city. The prophet John might have said Rome but Rome was already being taken over by Christianity at the time he wrote. Babylon was a completely anti-Jewish-anti-God-false-religion based system that at one time had dominated the known world. It was a more apt description of the type of One World Order to come.
God forbid! That would indeed be tribulation such as the world has never known!
you know that you have opened a can of worms. many people believe that you read it literally. as a result the may believe that only 144,000 go to heaven, that the earthly nation of israel must be preserved, that the devil will rule for 1,000 years and so forth.
revelations was written at a time of christian persecution towards the end of the first century ad. it was written in the apocolyptic style, that is highly symbolic. it was written this way so that cristians could get their message to each other without the romans being able to fully catch on and have hard 'evidence' against the christians.
there are many ways to interpret the events of revelations. preterists believe the events have already happened and that it happened in 1st century ad. futurists believe the book is about the end times. idealists view the book as a symbolic war of good vs evil. historicists believe that the book represents the events of the earth from the time of christ's death to the end times.
i have studied this thoroughly and am a strong historicist. the devil rules the earth today, and has for quite sometime. evil abounds. there is no mention of the united states per se, although some would suggest that the position of the president is the anti-christ (attacking religion and trying to stifle god's word). i also happen to believe that the anti-christ is seen in many human forms besides the president.
i can fill you in on more. i can also rcommend several good books and commentaries to read if you are interested. in case you are interested, i view this as a missouri synod lutheran set of eyes.
I think it wise to accept those things that are clear and leave those things which are over our heads for God to explain later, if He pleases.
To study, interpret, speculate, in an attempt to make our perspective of our times 'fit' Revelation is a dangerous thing.
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