Revelation Perseverance

NOTE: This is the continuation of the 'Sunday Sermon' series, all entries of which can be viewed by clicking that 'label' below.

The Book of Revelation is the final book of the Bible. Also known to some as 'The Apocalypse' or the 'Revelation to John', the book is filled with symbolism as it unravels the end of times for man's journey here on the planet Earth which began in the Garden of Eden.

The symbolism of the book can likely be attributed to two parts. The first part is one that I believe to be mystical revelation in which God reveals future events to John of a spiritual or heavenly nature with symbols that he can understand and which are left to our interpretation for their exact meaning and nature.

The second part is one that I believe comes from John's attempts to describe future people, places, media, weaponry, technology and events in ways that are understandable to him based on the world of his time. For instance, John describes in Revelation 9:19 what I believe to be tanks as horses. When you read the passage and a few just prior, it is easy to follow this logic.

The Book of Revelation is about two main principles. As the New American Bible describes it "the triumph of God in the world of men and women remains a mystery, to be accepted in faith and longed for in hope." This means that we need to accept with faith that God has a plan for humanity, and that the culmination of his plan for humanity is nothing to be feared, but rather to be longed for.

Many through the ages have wanted to believe that this finale for humanity was upon them and their world. They have seen the end of days, that 'apocalypse' or prophesied time of the imminent destruction of the world and salvation of the righteous, coming in their own lifetimes. Every one of these previous believers was wrong, or was rushing God's hand.

God has laid out certain key events in the text of the Bible that must occur before the events depicted in Revelation will come to pass. Among these were the spreading of the Gospel of the Truth of Jesus Christ to all corners of the world. This has only become realized in recent decades, with the final reaching of missionaries, evangelists and, frankly, the internet into the remotest sections of the planet.

Another key event that the Bible lays out as necessary before the end times fully arrive is the rebuilding of the Jewish temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This was impossible until recent decades, with the return of the Jews to power in the region, the establishment of Israel as a nation, and their subsequent control over Jerusalem itself as a result of a series of wars. Those wars will probably look like small potatoes next to what will result if they actually attempt to build that Temple.

The organization of the European Union is another clear sign that we are moving towards those end days of Revelation. Add in the circumstances of Israel in relation to its neighbors, the budding relationship between Russia and Iran, and the strengthening of China, and any serious evaluator of a Biblical end times theory has to admit that the earthly powers and circumstances are finally aligning as fully as never before in human history to those expressed as necessary by Revelation and other Biblical revelatory books.

Now there will be some who will scoff at any 'end of the world' scenario. There are many non-believers in the world today. Not just non-Christians, but people who refuse to believe in anything beyond their own worldly thoughts and desires. For these people we can do nothing but pray, and hope that as the final years play out they see the light before it is too late.

The fact is that the Bible says there will be many who see these Revelation events unfold before their very eyes, and yet continue to disbelieve. Some will do so out of a hard heart. These are the stubborn people who simply refuse to admit they were wrong, and refuse to surrender their will to that of God. Others will be seduced and misled by the forces of evil that will emerge during these end times, most especially by the anti-Christ, the world leader who will emerge.

Keep in mind the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Jews there. If you see that happen, you can begin the countdown. If you don't see that happen, then anything else is pure fear-mongering. But if that does happen, if you are not a believer by that point you had better start paying attention to Revelation, and in fact to the entirety of Christ's teachings and those of his Apostles in the New Testament.

The end times, whenever they occur, will not be a happy period for Christian believers here on earth. There will be wars, famine, persecution, pestilence, natural disasters, and many other heart-stopping occurrences. The anti-Christ will mislead many into thinking that these are coincidental and that he has the answers. Those of us who know the truth need not fear that time and those events, we only need do two things: remain faithful, and persevere. Remember, we know how it will all turn out in the end.

Until such time, if it even happens in our lifetimes, I would urge you to open up your Bible and read. Try to take the time to read it from front to back. If nothing else, at least start out by reading through the New Testament, from the teachings of Christ to the 'Acts of the Apostles' and on to Revelation. Give yourself a fighting chance by experiencing the ammunition of revealed Truth. And may God bless you and yours as you continue your life's journey.

End of Days?

It happens every once in awhile that I sit down to watch some TV, nothing special is on my agenda, and a show or movie catches my attention and ends up drawing me in to watch the whole thing. It happened yesterday with Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1999 apocalyptic tome "End of Days" on the 'Encore' movie network. First you need to understand that I grew up in the whole Schwarzenegger-Sylvester Stallone-Bruce Willis-Harrison Ford-Clint Eastwood era of movie watching, and I simply enjoy most of these guys action adventures. They have probably delivered more memorable one-liners than any group in the history of cinema, and their films have come during the era when special effects have allowed almost anything to happen and seem realistic. The plot of "End of Days" finds Schwarzenegger as an ex-cop turned private security specialist, providing security along with his partner played by Kevin Pollack for a wealthy Wall Street financier played by Gabriel Byrne. Problem is that Byrne's character's body becomes taken over by Satan himself, whose goal is to mate with a chosen human woman in the final hour before the end of the Millenium. That chosen woman is played by the beautiful Robin Tunney, and the film also is highlighted by one of the final appearances (the last in a major film) by veteran actor Rod Steiger. As the rest of the world prepares to celebrate the coming of the year 2000, the officials of the Church are trying to track down and stop the mating process of Satan and his chosen concubine, which per the story line will result in the birth of a child who will usher in a 'hell on earth' scenario. Schwarzenegger is the unbelieving, pragmatic dupe whose own wife and daughter were brutally murdered a few years earlier, who has descended into a battle with alcoholism in the aftermath, and who is just moving through life using his particular 'skill set' in providing private security services. He finally is forced to realize that he is providing those services for the Dark Prince himself, and begins a mission to protect Tunney from becoming the devil's mate that she was born to become. In the end, it is only through Arnold's own personal revelation, his own belief and faith, and his own self-sacrifice that he can finally hope to overcome evil and save the woman and the world. Around all of the outstanding special effects, and there are many here that still hold up great even a decade later, and a bit of a typically overblown Arnold story, there are outstanding themes and lessons to be learned. First, the idea of the 'end of days', the 'end times', 'Armageddon', the 'apocalypse' is addressed in dramatic form. It has been addressed better and more believably in other places, but this pop version of the story returns the idea to the front of your consciousness. If you are an unbeliever, little but being smacked on the head with a board by God Himself will wake you up. But to believers, we know that it will happen, it's just a matter of time and exact details. The fact is that God gave us a primer, he provided us clues, in the Bible's final book. Of course, no one knows when the exact end of time will come, that is God's information alone. But he just as obviously wanted man to know that the time was coming, and wanted us to have final opportunities to come to love and accept him before any final judgement. The Book of the Apocalypse, or the Revelation of St. John, provides much that points to things happening in today's world that should give one pause. The book provides basically that there will be seven cycles of events that will lead to the return of Jesus Christ and the end of days on earth as we have known them. Some of the signs are generic, and could apply to any time in Earth's history: false prophets have always existed, there have always been wars and rumors of war, famine, earthquakes and other natural disasters. But what is revealed to St. John is that these things will become more and more frequent, and more and more devastating, as the end approaches. To say that this has not been happening, for whatever reason that they may be happening, is to simply deny reality. Another sign was that the Gospel would reach all corners of the world thanks to instant communications. This sign was not completely possible until recent years with the development of the internet, high-speed travel, and other modern realities that allow the Word to spread to every corner of the globe. The signs include the return as well of a restored Roman Empire, the return of Hebrew as a language, and the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount in Israel. Rome is reborn in the EU, Hebrew was a dead language until the nation of Israel restored it's teaching, and now some are planning to construct the Temple as well. You see this actually happening, you will know that the time is coming. And then there is the famous 'Mark of the Beast' most widely known under the number '666', and the fact that all will be required to accept this to buy and sell and move about somewhat freely. It has not been until today's coming technologies of microscopic bio-chips and other ID technologies, the development of cards replacing currency, bar code technology, and other inventions that has made this final piece of the puzzle clearer. You can argue all you want about any of these 'signs' individually, but it is the combination of them that signals the coming of the End Times. I have faith, and personally believe that all these things will happen. Whether they happen in my lifetime or not is not for me to say. But I would say to you that if you are intelligent, and if you have any established Christian belief that you take seriously, then you need to keep your eyes, ears, and heart open for the signs as they come closer and closer together, signalling the "End of Days". As is always the case, the title of this entry is a link to more information on the topic, this one taking you to a YouTube free internet film series on the topic.