Posted on 06/14/2014 4:58:45 PM PDT by NKP_Vet
The “Woman” of Rev 12 is not Mary, but the entire nation of Israel.
>> “But of that day and that hour no one knows, no, not even the angels who are in the heaven, neither the Son, but only the Father.” <<
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“That day” is the feast of Trumpets, that is the only feast day that occurs precisely at the beginning of the 7th biblical month, with the appearance of the new moon usually slightly after sunset, Thus, “only the Father” can know when it is going to happen. All of the other appointed times are in the mid month, and thus are knowable in advance.
Still got those nasty "thief" and "wrath" problems, huh?
Oh well. Not to worry.
Quote-. I believe that when John describes the woman, he is describing the ark—of the New Covenant. And who is the woman? She is the one who gives birth to the male child Who will rule the nations. The child is Jesus; His mother is Mary.”
What John was describing was the constellation Virgo- when the sun clothes her and the moon is under her feet- that represents a new moon...
It marks the 6th month on Our Heavenly Father’s calendar...
and tells us when the messiah of Israel was born- just as one would expect from The Word that became flesh- His life is set along with the set times in His Holy Word. Those set times are new moons, Sabbaths(His) and His feasts..
He was born at a set time, circumcised at a set time, dedicated in the temple on a set time, baptized at a set time.. killed at a set time.. raised at a set time..all can be searched and found , some with hints, in scripture..
And the 6th month on our Heavenly Father’s calendar isn’t December 25...
But Christianity has traditions and teachings that trump scripture and His timekeeping..
>> “Would you know it if you saw it?” <<
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You’ll know it if you are watching for it.
It begins when the “man of sin” is revealed, and that happens at Purim. It also happens at a time when there are not to be any “Adar Bets” for four years in sequence. We know this part because if the “1335 days” between that and the first Resurrection, which happens at Trumpets. It couldn’t be exactly 1335 days if there were an Adar Bet, it would add 29 days to that period.
You might be surprised what you can see if you look for it.
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Live the most fulfilled and fulling life you can, and it doesn’t matter. No man can know when it will arrive.
All that was happening in the first century. For example, there was a huge earthquake that destroyed the city of Laodicea and neighbouring cities about AD 61. Historian Denis Callaghan wrote:
"There is only one small window of time in which there were only seven churches in Asia. The early AD 60's. The apostle Paul established nine churches in that area, but only seven were addressed in Revelation. The reason for this is that the cities of Colosse, Hierapolis, and Laodicea, were all destroyed by an earthquake around AD 61. Laodicea was rebuilt soon afterwards, but the other two cities were not. This left only seven churches in Asia during the five years just prior to the beginning of the Roman/Jewish war." [Denis Callaghan , "What You Were Never Told About the Book of Revelation"]
Albert Barnes wrote in his commentaries:
"Many of these [earthquakes] are mentioned as preceding the destruction of Jerusalem. Tacitus mentions one in the reign of Claudius, at Rome; and says that, in the reign of Nero, the cities of Laodicea, Hierapolis, and Colosse, were overthrown; and the celebrated Pompeii was overwhelmed, and almost destroyed by an earthquake, Annales, 15, 22. Others are mentioned as occurring at Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, and Samos." ["Barnes New Testament Notes," Matthew 24:7]
According to many historians, there was a long period of peace in the Roman Empire--the Pax Romana period--that began under Emperor Augustus in AD17, and didn't end until about AD60 when war broke out in Britain under Queen Boudicca. But wars have been virtually continuous in modern times. Therefore, when Jesus indicated the following would be a sign for those of his generation, he meant it to be a noticeable sign:
"And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." (Matt 24:6)
The "end" was not the "end of the world" as the Authorized Version reads, but the "end of the age," which occurred in AD70, about 40 years after Jesus' prediction, and 10 years after the various "wars" began. The "end of the age" was the end of the "Jewish" age that his disciples were inquiring about. The Greek word for age is the underlying word, αιωνος, which is roughly pronounced aion or aiōnos. See:
http://biblehub.com/lexicon/matthew/24-3.htm
This is the New King James Version that has the original Greek word translated correctly:
"Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"" (Mt 24:3 NKJV)
Anyway, all those things that Jesus prophecied in Matthew 24:5-29 occurred prior to AD 70, including the arrival of the false christs and prophets that led people into the desert:
"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not." (Mt 24:24-26 KJV)
This is Albert Barnes, referencing Flavius Josephus' ancient work, "Antiquities of the Jews:"
"[They] Shall shew great signs and wonders. That is, shall pretend to work miracles. Shall so nearly resemble prophets in their miraculous power as to render it difficult to detect the imposture. Josephus represents the false Christs and prophets that appeared, as magicians and sorcerers. He says they led the people out into the deserts, and promised to work miracles to deliver them. Ant., book xx., chap. 8, § 6. ["Barnes New Testament Notes," Matthew 24:24]
Dean and Professor John William Burgon wrote:
"And the Jewish Historian Josephus, as if it had been his design to illustrate this passage, informs us that false prophets and impostors prevailed on multitudes to follow them into the desert, promising there to display prodigies and signs; but that those who listened to them suffered the just punishment of their folly, and were either slain or dispersed by the Roman governor." One such case of imposture on the part of an Egyptian, is found alluded to in the Acts.(m) Other pretenders arose in Jerusalem itself. "Even at the last, when the Temple was in flames, multitudes of all ages flocked thither from the city, upon the proclamation of a false Prophet; and of six thousand assembled there, on this occasion, not one escaped the fire or the sword." ["A Plain Commentary on the Four Holy Gospels," 1856, p.216]
Philip
Still living under that stinking mushroom I see...
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>>>Yes, I believe we are. There are just too many signs to ignore. I feel sorry for our Catholic and leftist “Christian” FR friends, who have no clue about the signs of the times, much less the timeline for Revelation. They believe that Christ will come back BAM without the timeline of Scripture.<<<
Skypilot, that chart you posted makes the claim that it is “God’s Outline of History.” That claim is not based on any scripture that I am aware of. Therefore, the pretense that it is “God’s Outline” is troubling, to say the least. If you can prove the accuracy of the chart using the scriptures, it would be appreciated.
Philip
>>>I think the roaring 20’s was worse than today, even politically.<<<
Not even close. People had freedom in those days. You could go where you wanted to, and do what you wanted to (within reason;) and not feel like you are a dog wearing a tracking device.
Philip
We don't know how to compare Sodom and Gomorrah with today's society; but we do know that the Lord implied first century Jerusalem was worse than Sodom in this prophecy by Ezekiel:
"Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations . . . When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou [Jerusalem] and thy daughters shall return to your former estate." (Eze 16:2,55 KJV)
And the Lord indicated in the Revelation that Jerusalem was spiritually both Sodom and Egypt, indicating spiritual filth and bondage:
"And their dead bodies [the two witnesses] shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." (Rev 11:8 KJV)
We understand from historians that Jerusalem was a spiritually filthy and wicked city. But what about the implication of "bondage" in the verse above? That is found here:
". . . he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." (Gal 4:23-26 KJV)
Referring back to the wickedness of Jerusalem, Flavius Josephus, a Jewish Priest who was an eyewitness to the destruction, wrote of that generation (his generation) as the wickedest ever:
"That neither did any other city ever suffer such miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness than this was, from the beginning of the world." [Josephus, "Wars Of The Jews," V.10.5]
As Josephus recorded in other chapters and books, their tribulation was truly great; the city was completely destroyed, along with the surrounding cities and countryside; and over 3 million perished from war and famine.
My point is, the same Satan that created all that misery and destruction in the first century, is doing the same thing now! Therefore, if our societies are as wicked as Jerusalem of old, your comparison with Sodom is not so far fetched.
Keep the faith.
Philip
This article should answer that question.
But you did not mention global warming and/or climate change!
Shame!
Oh, but it IS in the Bible.
The author assumed a chronological order of the books of the Revelation. If you read the verse just prior to the mention of the ark, Rev 11:18, the judgement and wrath of the Lamb are indicated, not the resurrection or ascension of Christ. Rev 12:5, on the other hand, coincides with Rev 5, where the Lamb (who had been slain) ascended to God's throne.
That is, chapter 12 is a "parallel," if you will, of chapter 5; but with different details. Chapter 5 mentions Christ standing before the throne after his ascension: chapter 12 mentions Satan's war with the church after Christ's ascension.
>>>And who is the woman? She is the one who gives birth to the male child Who will rule the nations. The child is Jesus; His mother is Mary.<<<
If that be the case, then who were the remnant of her seed that Satan goes after?
"And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." (Rev 12:17 KJV)
There is no mention of Mary after Acts 1; but there are many references to Satan (that is, the Jews, and much later, Nero) going after the early Church, that is, after "those which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."
Therefore, my guess for the identity of the woman in Revelation 12 is the heavenly Jerusalem (the Church,) not Mary; but not without scriptural support, as follows:
". . . Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." (Gal 4:26 KJV)
There is also this:
"[Christ] loved the church, and gave himself for it;" (Eph 5:25 KJV)
So, who did Christ die for? The Church.
And who/what is the Church? New Jerusalem, the Mother of us all.
And who did Satan go after?
First he went after the spiritual entity, the Mother, with a "flood" that came out of his mouth. That could mean disinformation, ridicule, etc., that would proceed out of the mouth of the evil ones.
Next he went after her physical entities, the faithful, with disinformation and with violence.
Anyway, that is the way I see it.
Philip
>>>Still living under that stinking mushroom I see...<<<
Ah, my old friend! Are you still a Torah fellow; or have you finally left the darkness of the old covenant for the marvelous light of the new?
Philip
I like the saying, “Live every day as if it were your last...one day, you will be right!”.
We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think that wide circles of American society or wide circles of the Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel.
This is from same man who kissed the Koran and asked St John the Baptist to protect the diabolical sect Islam.
He's right though: We are facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church except the anti-Church is currently within the walls of the post Vatican II Church.
Only orthodox Jews should even call themselves faithful Jews. Most Jews, especially American Jews believe in abortion on demand and sodomite “marriage”. Even the state of Israel is caving in to the radical sodomite agenda. Sad, but true. The only countries on earth that are not being overtaken by sodomites are the Muslim countries and those with a strong Christian orthodox faith. Russia immediately comes to mind. Putin is to be applauded for not caving in to the child molesters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_Israel
Ain’t none of us getting’ outta here alive!
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