John’s Apocalypse Part Three: The End of Days
HOW THINGS WORK - BOOK II SCIENCE & RELIGION – CONSIDERATION #156 (Special Edition)
Be a Part of the Conversation!
TUESDAY OCTOBER 1, 2024
“Apocalypse does not point to a fiery Armageddon but to the fact that our ignorance and our complacency are coming to an end… What is the kingdom? It lies in our realization of the ubiquity of the divine presence in our neighbors, in our enemies, in all of us.”
– Joseph Campbell
PREFACE
Welcome Everybody!
This is our final consideration regarding the Biblical narrative – and it’s a doozy! The seven seals previously considered utilized the “Messianic” metaphors of Judaism and the “Sacrificial Lamb” metaphors of Christianity to demonstrate, or explain, one facet, or perception, of ultimate redemption. The final, or seventh, seal introduces a new apocalyptic consideration of ultimate redemption based on Exodus and the Law of Moses. This unfolds through the heralding of seven trumpets.
At this point, we know that the “seven angels” represent the angels of the seven churches John is addressing in his letter.
“Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.”
– Revelation 8:6
The first five trumpets are essentially a re-enactment of Mosses and the plagues of Egypt from Exodus chapters 7-11 with a few updates and twists.
“The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up…
The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood…
The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— the name of the star is Wormwood...
The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: ‘Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!’”
– Revelation 8:7-13
This perception of the apocalypse is a reminder that even the judgements of God are not enough to bring mankind to a realization of the “truth.” Despite God’s wrath, the Pharaoh refuses to release the Israelites, or “God’s” people. Even direct judgment by God is not enough to cause the wicked to repent.
However, the next three trumpets expand on the plagues of Egypt; into a kind of science fiction horror story based on apocalyptic images, allusions, and metaphors.
“The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months… During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces… They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months...
The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.”
– Revelation 9:1-12
The apocalyptic metaphors and allusions in this chapter alone would require an entire book to breakdown and explain. But, hopefully you are getting a sense of it by now. Not everything is meant to be taken literally; it is a symbolic apocalyptic interpretation of John’s spiritual vision that would have made sense to those reading it at the time. It also reflects certain universal truths that are equally applicable to the future, and even to the present. Such as “power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
The sixth trumpet rekindles the metaphor of the four horsemen from the first seals.
“The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind…
The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths...”
– Revelation 9:13-21
However, despite these horrific judgements, like the Pharaoh, the evil nations and people of the world do not repent.
“The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands... Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
– Revelation 9:20-21
The remaining survivors not only deny the rational morality of Jesus, they are also incapable of following the “basic” empirical Laws of Moses. Many of the strangest images and events associated with the apocalypse occur just prior to, and just after, the seventh trumpet is sounded.
CONSIDERATION #155 – The End of Days
Prior to the heralding of the seventh trumpet, an angel declares that “There will be no more delay,” and John is shown a “little scroll” and told to eat it; a reference to multiple Old Testament stories and prophets. John eats the little scroll and is told to prophesy about many peoples, languages, and kings. His prophecy refers to the Two Witnesses who possess great power and are appointed to bring the truth to mankind for 1,260 days without fear of death or retribution.
“And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.… and they stand before the Lord of the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die.”
– Revelation 11:3
The “fire” coming from their mouths to defeat their enemies is much like the “sword” coming out of the mouth of Jesus that he uses to defeat his enemies. These are metaphors for “truth,” the “truth” that comes from their mouths is what defeats their enemies. However, after this allotted time they fall victim to the evil in the world.
“Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where also their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate…”
– Revelation 11:7-10
However, after three days they are resurrected before an astonished world.
“But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here.’ And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed...
The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.”
– Revelation 11:11-14
In typical apocalyptic fashion this prophecy can be applied to specific situations focusing on the past as well as a being a predictor of future events. However, John’s reference to these witnesses as “lampstands” suggests he is talking about “two churches” as indicated previously in the opening of the book.
They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.”
– Revelation 11:4
The “beast” that kills the two witnesses is a reference to Daniel chapter 7:
“Daniel said: ‘In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea…’”
– Daniel 7:2-3
The end result is that the witnesses to the truth are vindicated through their resurrection which brings many nations and people to repent. Metaphorically, it is the “truth” that is resurrected, just as the “truth” was resurrected with “Christ.” In this apocalyptic explanation the scroll reveals the ultimate mission of the church; to imitate the sacrifice of the Lamb and bring redemption and the Kingdom of Heaven to earth thereby re-establishing “Truth.” Again, the army of the Lamb is an army of “martyrs” not an army of soldiers. The ultimate victory is manifested through the ultimate sacrifice.
“The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:
‘The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever…The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
both great and small—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.’Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.”
– Revelation 11:15-19
The sounding of the seventh trumpet completes the series of warnings and brings the Kingdom of Heaven to earth after destroying the wicked who continue to do evil on the earth.
POSTSCRIPT
John describes a series of signs, or symbols, moving deeper into the meaning and message of the scroll. The first vision is a reference to genesis 3:15 related to the original serpent in the Garden of Eden.
“And I will put enmity
between you [the serpent] and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”– Genesis 3:15
However, in Revelation the serpent is depicted as a dragon waging war against the Kingdom of God:
“Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.”
– Revelation 12:7-9
The Dragon seeks to destroy any possible future for mankind.
“A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads... The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born…”
– Revelation 12:1-4
However, her son was a powerful ruler who was snatched by God from the Dragon before the Dragon could harm him.
“She gave birth to a son, a male child, who ‘will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.’ And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.”
– Revelation 12:5
The essential metaphors in this symbolism are the Dragon, referencing the original serpent who deceived mankind, the woman, referencing Eve, and her son, referencing Jesus. Thus, fulfilling the original prophecy in Genesis that her offspring, Jesus, would eventually crush the serpent’s head in final victory over its deception. But, the serpent would also bruise “his” heal; a reference to Jesus’ suffering and crucifixion. However, Jesus’ resurrection overcomes death, or the consequence of the serpent’s deception. The Garden of Eden is restored as the new Kingdom of Heaven.
One of the fundamental messages of this symbolism is that no particular or specific nation or human being is the “real” enemy. There are dark spiritual powers and influences, such as the devil and his angels, affecting the world and its people. Therefore, simply killing them will not defeat the real enemy. The way to ultimately defeat the real enemy, or real evil, is through sacrifice and redemption; which leads to revelation of divine eternal Truth.
The second sign is perhaps the most famous metaphor of John’s vision, again a reference to Daniel and his vision of the beasts. The “Beast,” or the “Antichrist” reflects the essence of evil in the world.
“And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name… The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”
– Revelation 13:1-4
However, there is also a second beast, who was given power by the first beast and demands that all human beings receive the “mark” of the Beast.
“Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth … It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast… It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.
This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.
– Revelation 13:11-18
The Dragon empowers two Beasts. The first beast symbolizes national military power who conquers through violence. The second Beast symbolizes the economic power that supports the military power of the other Beast. Therefore, the “Dragon” and the “Beasts” symbolize the corrupt political, military, and economic power of corrupt nations.
All Hebrew letters are also directly connected to numbers. When the Hebrew letters spelling out the words “Caesar” and “Nero” are added up they each equal 666. The “mark” on the forehead and hand is a reference to the “Shema,” an ancient Jewish prayer proclaiming allegiance to God that was written on the forehead or hand, as referenced in the book of Deuteronomy; making the new mark of the Beast a metaphor for the “anti-Shema.” Forcing a clear choice related to who people will follow: God or the Beast.
John is not saying that Nero, or Rome, or any other nation or ruler, is the Beast: all nations of power eventually become corrupted and become a Beast, it is an eternal pattern. Babylon, Egypt, Rome, and Germany are all examples of this apocalyptic metaphor. However, in John’s time, and in the time of the seven churches he was writing to, Rome and its emperors, such as Nero, were manifesting the corrupted power of the Beast. Nations become “Beasts” when they advance their own military and economic power to demand total allegiance and commitment from their subjects as if they were God.
The next symbol reflects the final victory of good over evil and the re-establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth. From the “New Jerusalem” the song of victory John calls, the “eternal gospel,” invites everyone still clinging to evil to repent and abandon Babylon before it is too late. Which brings us to the final sign, or symbol, the final judgment.
“Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come’…
A second angel followed and said, ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.’
A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath.”
– Revelation 14:6-10
The final symbol focuses on two harvests. One, a good harvest of grain; the other a harvest of wine grapes. The harvest of grain is a metaphor for God’s people who Jesus has come to gather together. The harvest of wine grapes is a metaphor for mankind’s intoxication with evil. These grapes are taken to the wine press, where they are trampled.
“‘Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.’ The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.”
– Revelation 14:18-20
It is in this final set of seven judgements that good and evil meet on the final battlefield called Armageddon.
Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
– Revelation 16:16
Armageddon is an actual place in the plains of northern Israel where many ancient battles were fought. Armageddon is believed by some to be the actual physical location where the final battle of the empirical world will take place; others believe it to be a symbolic metaphor for a final spiritual confrontation. It is also a direct Old Testament reference to Ezekiel and God’s battle against Gog.
After this final sign, John completes the “three cycles of seven” with the final seven bowls of God’s wrath. However, the pouring out of the final bowl brings the war between good and evil to a close.
“The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’ Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.”
– Revelation 16:17-19
The three repetitions of this cycle of seven is meant to make clear to the seven churches the importance of the choice that must be made; stay faithful to the end and reap the benefits of God’s grace or give in to evil and suffer the inevitable consequences of God’s wrath.
P.P.S
John ends his book with a consideration of three key themes critical to the narrative. The fall of Babylon, the final defeat of evil, and manifestation of the New Jerusalem. Each of these themes explores the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven from three different perspectives.
The first consideration, references Babylon as a symbol of rebellious nations; riding on the back of the Dragon while drunk on the blood of the martyrs. In John’s metaphor, Babylon is considered a “whore” or “prostitute.”
“Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. The name written on her forehead was a mystery:
Babylon the great
the mother of prostitutes
and of the abominations of the earth.
I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people…”
– Revelation 17:3-6
In this metaphor, John uses words and images from virtually all of the Old Testament passages related to the downfall of not only Babylon, but of Tyre, Edom, and other corrupted nations as well. Rome represents the current archetype of this eternal pattern of corruption during John’s time. This type of corruption is not limited to the past, present, or future; it is a pattern of corruption throughout history. It is a reflection of the human condition. Babylon is dead; long live the new Babylon!
The second consideration involves the final battle of good and evil. Jesus, as depicted by the Lamb, begins the battle already bloody, from his crucifixion. John reconnects the Jesus in his vision to the Jesus of the logos in his reference to Jesus being the Word of God. He rides into battle with only one weapon: a sword coming from his mouth. Another Old Testament reference to Isaiah.
This metaphor suggests that the war between good and evil will not be won through using weapons of violence, but through using the weapon of truth. Jesus will bring “justice” to the world by holding those who brought evil into the world accountable through the implementation of truth.
“I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war... He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations...
Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse…”
– Revelation 19:11-21
In the end, evil is defeated with the “weapon of truth” and exiled from the “New Jerusalem” where it no longer affects God’s world. The original covenant between God and mankind is re-established.
The final consideration expresses a metaphor related to the marriage of Heaven and earth, symbolizing the new eternal relationship between God and mankind. God will now, as originally intended, live with mankind and make everything “new again.” However, it is not a return to the original Garden of Eden; it is a transcendence into the New Jerusalem. A place where all mankind works together in peace and harmony within the presence of God forming a new unity of righteousness. Ironically, there is no temple in the New Jerusalem, because the eternal presence of God and “the Lamb” now endlessly permeate this new reality. A return to the truth of divine “completeness.”
“One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God…”
– Revelation 21:9-10
“I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it… Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
– Revelation 21:22-27
The deception of the serpent in Genesis has been vanquished and the unity of God and mankind restored in a new Garden of Eden called the New Jerusalem. The statement that there is no longer a sun or a moon, suggests that the “end of days” directly connects to the end of time, however it could also reflect a metaphor symbolizing the end of a specific cycle, that is endlessly repeated throughout time; such as the rise and fall of Babylon or Rome. With the end of time comes the end to our consideration of the Biblical narrative.
Next week we will consider some of the empirical and rational consequences of this narrative…
Unique Content Makes “Untangling the Knots of Reality” One of the Best Podcasts about History!
Click Image to Learn More…
Upgrade to Reality by a Thread and Receive the Free Weekly Newsletter PLUS the Untangling the Knots of Reality Podcast, Reality by a Thread Discussion Thread, and Other Additional Benefits. Only $7.00 a month or $70 annually. Makes a Great Gift for the right person!
