YoungDisciple10
July 18th, 2006, 04:29 PM
I think one should be extremely well-aquainted with the Gospels and Acts before they do anything else, personally. The Gospels because we're Christians, and how are we to follow Christ if we don't deeply know who He is by looking at His life as recorded in the Gospels? Not to mention that foundational teachings on everything are in them, including the destruction of Jerusalem and the 2nd coming of Christ. Acts because it shows the basics of how the church is organized, grew, and how people were converted. It's also good history to have to fit the other Epistles into context.
As far as other things, just having a basic concept of Old Testament history helps, the plan of Redeption, and so forth.
In regard to an all out study on Revelation, you need to study Daniel as a book in itself (as well as the other apocalyptic scriptures), before going through Revelation. And when going through Revelation, constantly looking for the tie ins with the OT.
Let me give you an example that I posted in another thread, of how this is incredibly helpful.
Have you ever wondered who/what the Beast is in Revelation? If we don't know our Bibles well, we can make it "the antichrist," "the Pope," or any number of things. But comparing it to the OT makes it extremely clear and obvious: (this isn't a copy and paste of a website, this is my own writing on an older thread)
"We read, "And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, 'Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?'" (Rev. 13:1-4).
The problem that I have with most futurists and premillenialists, is that they have very little knowledge of the Bible as a whole, and simply turn to Revelation and start imposing their own goofy views that they have gleamed from such heretical books as the left behind series, and totally neglet the genre that Revelation is in, and it's historical and Old Testament backround.
If we look back into our Old Testaments, we don't have to guess at who the beast is, we don't have to say he's some antichrist, some politician, or genetically engineered superhuman. The Old Testament tells us, fairly flat out, who the beast out of the sea is.
We read in Daniel 7:2-7, "'I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion and had eagles' wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, 'Arise, devour much flesh.' After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.'"
Clearly, the beast out of the sea from Revelation is not Satan, but rather the "fourth beast" of Dan. 7. Notice further that the beast is said to be made up of the three beasts of Dan 7. Why is this signifigant, we'll move to that in a moment.
Daniel goes on to say in verses 23-27, "Thus he said: 'As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it to pieces. As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings. He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. But the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end. And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them.'"
The fourth beast isn't Satan, he isn't "The Antichrist," he's a kingdom, with his heads being kings. Why force our own interpretations, when Daniel under inspiration gives us his? What man's interpretation can be better than God's?
So which kingdom is this fourth kingdom? Judging off of the prophecy of the giant in Dan 2, it is obvious that the order of the kingdoms are as follows: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and then Rome. This is interesting, as Rome, historically, had in fact defeated Greece (which defeated Medo-Persia, which defeated Babylon), and though had overcome those nations, had much from those nations in it (like Grecian art, Persian knowledge, etc), which clearly is the reason the Beast of Revelation is made up of the three former beasts in Dan. 7.
I can understand the confusion we have when trying to determine the identity of the beast when we are using our own wisdom and knowledge, but when we use God's word, the identity comes clear, the beast is, without a doubt, Rome. If you have any questions about it, problems, or whatever, I'll be glad to go in more specifics, as the whole imagery of the sea, and such adds even more weight that this beast is Rome.
As far as the beast's heads, we recall that Daniel says they are kings. This is clearly a reference to the 7 evil emperors of Rome (see also Rev. 17 which goes into more detail that is in this paragraph, I'm running out of time though, so I'll just put the things in quotes, and you can look them up in Rev. 17), the "five fallen" refer to Augustus, Tiberius, Gaius, Claudius, with the one who has a "mortal wound" being Nero (this fits perfectly as Rome seems to have been defeated when Nero commited suicide, as there were a few emperors after him that lived for a very short time, but despite its wound Rome rose again), the one "that is" being Vespasian, and the one who is yet to come being "Titus." The empror who "was but is not" is the an eight emporer, i.e. Domitian.
I have to get goin' pretty soon here, so I''ll leave it at this, basically: the beast is not Satan, he's not some human antichrist or anything like that, he's rome with his seven heads being emperors of Rome. I could go on in much greater length about persecution under Rome, emperor worship, and the like, but this should suffice for now."
Is this true?
As far as other things, just having a basic concept of Old Testament history helps, the plan of Redeption, and so forth.
In regard to an all out study on Revelation, you need to study Daniel as a book in itself (as well as the other apocalyptic scriptures), before going through Revelation. And when going through Revelation, constantly looking for the tie ins with the OT.
Let me give you an example that I posted in another thread, of how this is incredibly helpful.
Have you ever wondered who/what the Beast is in Revelation? If we don't know our Bibles well, we can make it "the antichrist," "the Pope," or any number of things. But comparing it to the OT makes it extremely clear and obvious: (this isn't a copy and paste of a website, this is my own writing on an older thread)
"We read, "And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, 'Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?'" (Rev. 13:1-4).
The problem that I have with most futurists and premillenialists, is that they have very little knowledge of the Bible as a whole, and simply turn to Revelation and start imposing their own goofy views that they have gleamed from such heretical books as the left behind series, and totally neglet the genre that Revelation is in, and it's historical and Old Testament backround.
If we look back into our Old Testaments, we don't have to guess at who the beast is, we don't have to say he's some antichrist, some politician, or genetically engineered superhuman. The Old Testament tells us, fairly flat out, who the beast out of the sea is.
We read in Daniel 7:2-7, "'I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion and had eagles' wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, 'Arise, devour much flesh.' After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.'"
Clearly, the beast out of the sea from Revelation is not Satan, but rather the "fourth beast" of Dan. 7. Notice further that the beast is said to be made up of the three beasts of Dan 7. Why is this signifigant, we'll move to that in a moment.
Daniel goes on to say in verses 23-27, "Thus he said: 'As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it to pieces. As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings. He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. But the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end. And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them.'"
The fourth beast isn't Satan, he isn't "The Antichrist," he's a kingdom, with his heads being kings. Why force our own interpretations, when Daniel under inspiration gives us his? What man's interpretation can be better than God's?
So which kingdom is this fourth kingdom? Judging off of the prophecy of the giant in Dan 2, it is obvious that the order of the kingdoms are as follows: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and then Rome. This is interesting, as Rome, historically, had in fact defeated Greece (which defeated Medo-Persia, which defeated Babylon), and though had overcome those nations, had much from those nations in it (like Grecian art, Persian knowledge, etc), which clearly is the reason the Beast of Revelation is made up of the three former beasts in Dan. 7.
I can understand the confusion we have when trying to determine the identity of the beast when we are using our own wisdom and knowledge, but when we use God's word, the identity comes clear, the beast is, without a doubt, Rome. If you have any questions about it, problems, or whatever, I'll be glad to go in more specifics, as the whole imagery of the sea, and such adds even more weight that this beast is Rome.
As far as the beast's heads, we recall that Daniel says they are kings. This is clearly a reference to the 7 evil emperors of Rome (see also Rev. 17 which goes into more detail that is in this paragraph, I'm running out of time though, so I'll just put the things in quotes, and you can look them up in Rev. 17), the "five fallen" refer to Augustus, Tiberius, Gaius, Claudius, with the one who has a "mortal wound" being Nero (this fits perfectly as Rome seems to have been defeated when Nero commited suicide, as there were a few emperors after him that lived for a very short time, but despite its wound Rome rose again), the one "that is" being Vespasian, and the one who is yet to come being "Titus." The empror who "was but is not" is the an eight emporer, i.e. Domitian.
I have to get goin' pretty soon here, so I''ll leave it at this, basically: the beast is not Satan, he's not some human antichrist or anything like that, he's rome with his seven heads being emperors of Rome. I could go on in much greater length about persecution under Rome, emperor worship, and the like, but this should suffice for now."
Is this true?