"The Book of Revelation is the only book of the Bible that
promises a special blessing to the reader.
There are many reasons why this book invariably results in a special
blessing to the diligent inquirer. Perhaps the most basic blessing accrues
from the fact that in order to understand the back ground of the many images,
one will have to trace back into virtually every other book of the Bible.
The Book of Revelation consists of 404 verses which contain over 800 references
to the Old Testament alone!
Organization of the Book
Jesus Himself has provided the key to the structure of the book: He told
John to write
-
the things which thou hast seen, and
-
the things which are, and
-
the things which shall be hereafter.
The "things which thou hast seen" refers to the vision of our risen Lord
just experienced previously in Chapter 1.
The "things which are" refers to the seven churches
which were existing at that time in Chapters 2 and 3.
The "things which shall be hereafter (meta tauta)" refers to the remainder
of the book.
Joshua as a Model?
It is interesting to notice the parallels in design between the Book
of Joshua in the Old Testament and the Book of Revelation. Joshua's
name is in Hebrew; in Greek it could be rendered "Jesus." Joshua's mission
is to dispossess the usurpers from the Land on behalf of God's people;
in Revelation, Jesus' mission is to dispossess the Planet Earth of the
usurpers.
Joshua initially sends ahead two witnesses. (We call them spies, but
all they accomplished was getting a Gentile woman saved.) The two witnesses
of Revelation Chapter 11 are a prominent element.
In the initial attack on the Amorite capital of Jericho, every rule
of the Torah was violated: the Levites were exempt from military duties,
yet they lead the procession. They were to do no work on Sabbath Day, yet
here they march around Jericho once a day for six days, and then seven
times on the seventh day! They are to keep silent until the final trumpet
blast, etc. It is interesting that the Seven Trumpets in Revelation are
introduced after a strange silence.
The opposing kings align themselves under a leader who calls himself
Adoni-Zedek ("The Lord of Righteousness"), who is ultimately defeated with
signs in the sun and the moon at the battle of Beth Horon. The defeated
kings hide in caves, etc. "
"Of other interest in the Book of Revelation is the emergence
of the "Man of Sin". It is interesting to consider this in the light of
Jesus statement that the end times would be "like the days of Noah" (Matthew
24:37). One of the things which finally precipitated the Flood was the
intermarriage of angels and women. Their children caused enormous trouble
in the old world.
Genesis 6 indicates that the "sons of God" (B'nai Elohim) took wives
of the "daughters of men," which gave birth to the "Nephilim." What on
earth was going on?
The B'nai Elohim is a term that refers to angels. It occurs four times
in the Old Testament (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7, as well as Genesis 6. They are
said to have "shouted for joy" at the creation) and is rendered "Angels
of God" in the ancient Septuagint translation. The intrusion of certain
angels into the human family resulted in unnatural offspring termed Nephilim,
which derives from the Hebrew naphal (to fall), or the Fallen Ones.
Incidentally, the Nephilim didn't completely end with the flood. Genesis
6:4 mentions, "...and also after that..." We find the sons of Anak, the
Anakim, later in the Old Testament (Numbers 13:3; Deuteronomy 3:11; Amos
2:9; 2 Samuel 21:15-22).
The Reason for the Flood
It was the infusion of these strange beings into the human predicament
that brought on the Flood of Noah. The Flood was preceded by four generations
of prophets/preachers warning of the coming judgment: Enoch, Methuselah,
Lamech, and Noah.
It seems that this was part of Satan's stratagem to corrupt the line
of Adam to prevent the fulfillment of the Messianic redemption. Noah was
apparently unique in that his genealogy was still uncorrupted. (Genesis
6:9)
The strange events which led to the flood are also alluded to in ancient
mythologies. (Fallen Angels and the Heroes of Mythology, by John Fleming.
) The legends of the Greek "titans" -- partly terrestrial, partly celestial
-- embrace these same memories. (They rebelled against their father Uranus
(Heaven) and after a prolonged contest were defeated by Zeus and condemned
into Tartarus, the term used by Peter to refer to hell (2 Peter 2:4)) (The
Greek titan is linguistically linked to the Chaldean sheitan, and the Hebrew
satan.)
The Angels that Sinned
The strange events of Genesis Chapter 6 are also referred to in the New
Testament. Peter refers to events preceding the flood of Noah
"For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to
hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment..."
(2 Peter 2:4)
(Peter uses the term tartarus, here translated as hell. This was a Greek
term for "the dark abode of woe, the pit of darkness in the unseen world."
Homer's Iliad portrays tartarus "as far below hades as the earth is below
Heaven...")
Also, in Jude, it mentions them:
"And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own
habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto
the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities
about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going
after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance
of eternal fire." (Jude 6,7)
Scripture warns against meddling with the spirit world. The punishment
which overtook the angels that sinned was to emphasize the serious nature
of apostasy: beings of a higher order than ours have been hurled down into
a dark place of confinement where they have remained for thousands of years.
God has not changed His attitude toward them; time has not mitigated
the seriousness of their sin. False teachers are pre written into condemnation.
The "Sons of God" Return?
There are many who believe that the recent "alien" involvements are demonic
and just another precursor to the end time. Some also believe that the
Coming World Leader may boast of an "alien connection."
(Missler, 1996)