Some Biblical scholars believe that the War in Heaven is yet-to-be fought or that the entire book was fulfilled by the end of the Third Century; the 7 seals on the 7 scrolls describe things yet to come; the tribulations are all future events as God smites the earth; the locusts with tails like scorpions are either literal or stand for such modern warfare as nuclear bombs or Apache helicopters and these are just a few ideas. Some have said that it has so many symbols that it either finds a man crazy or leaves him that way!
LDS scholars disagree. The Prophet Joseph Smith, while working on his translation of the New Testament took many such questions to the Lord (See Doctrine and Covenants Section 77.) When other Christian scholars and leaders are saying that Revelation is the most confusing book ever written, the Prophet Joseph stated that is it the plainest book God ever caused to be written. Some LDS punsters say that is because Joseph saw the same vision as John and once you've seen the movie, the book is simple!
I'll take my tongue out of my cheek long enough to say that while the Book of Revelation is a challenge, it is one worth taking: He who hath an ear, let him listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. In truth, I believe God wants us all to see this book as He sees it, with our spiritual eyes and hearts. It took the Spirit of Revelation for John to write the book and it will take the Spirit of Revelation to seek understanding of the messages. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I also have modern-day scriptures to help me understand, from Nephi's vision in the Book of Mormon to the words of modern-day prophets at General Conference.
The Book of Revelation doesn't speak of a finite moment it time: it is the scope and sequences of the entire history of the human race, from it's beginning before the Creation to it's final chapters as God's great plan to bring His children home again is fulfilled.
The War in Heaven is not some future event we need fear; it happened already, millennia ago, after Heavenly Father presented His plan and asked for a volunteer to be our Savior. Two spiritual beings responded. The first born, Jehovah, said He would be our Savior and would give all of the glory to the Father. Another son, whose name was Lucifer, said he would go down and save everyone and, because he would do that, he wanted the Father's glory and power.(That is not a stance to take to the Great God of the Universe!) The resulting war was not a war of swords and shields, but it was a war of testimony. The angel, Michael, lead the Jehovah's forces against Lucifer's forces and prevailed. Lucifer (whose name means son of the morning) was cast out of heaven and into the earth, along with roughly a third of the hosts of heaven. He became known as Satan or the devil. He is our adversary and wants to make all of mankind as miserable as he is. He is our accuser before God.
The scroll with seven seals is mankind's history. No one on earth or in Heaven could remove the seals and reveal the contents of the scroll, except for Jehovah, Who is Jesus Christ, the Anointed One. He is our Advocate with the Father and with other men. He will defend us individually against Satan's accusations. He purchased us with His blood.
As Christ removes each seal and unrolls the scroll, He unlocks a period of time in earth's history. The first four seals are accompanied by horses - the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The first is a white horse. It corresponds to a millennia wherein the war changes venues from heaven to the earth. It is the same war between Jehovah and Lucifer. The forces for evil were gaining ground until it culminated in the destruction of mankind in the flood. We know that only Noah and his wife and three sons and their wives were the only ones who survived, being kept safe in the ark.
This leads us to look at this time period as completely wicked. But, while this was going on, the Prophet Enoch, was creating Zion, a culture so pure and righteous that they were taken into heaven before the floods came. The contrast between good and evil was strikingly a struggle of darkness versus light.
The second horse was red and stood for war. In the decades after the flood, there were wars and rumors of wars. That battle begun in heaven continues with ferocity to this day. This was also a time when the worship of false gods led to human sacrifice, a heinous practice that continued for centuries.
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| Note the alluvial fan on the Nile. |
The third horse was black and stood for famine. Weather was unpredictable and rainfall inconsistent. Abraham left Ur. Jacob (Israel) left his home due to famine. Both spent time in Egypt where the Nile River created a lush and fertile alluvial fan.
The final horse is described as pale, actually a sickly pale green, and stands for death. This was the age of the great warrior empires of the Middle East, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece. They were, in fact, the first terrorists on a grand scale. Assyria, for example, publicized the torture they would inflict on an enemy who refused to capitulate.
As we move into the fifth seal, the Roman Empire was growing and subjugating the entire known world. John wrote a lot about this seal because it was the time of his ministry. There were many things from the growth of Christianity to the advent of Islam, but the thing that stood our in John's mind were the Christian martyrs, many of whom he had known and known well. That may have been why, in the beginning of the revelation, John see 24 elders crowned in heaven, men whom he had known.
When the sixth seal opened (the times in which we live.) It opens with an earthquake and continues with the promises of tribulations that we associate with the Book of Revelation. Some have occurred, some are occurring, and some will yet occur. All of the plagues of the first seals seem to find fruition in this millennium. There is famine and pestilence, war and rumors of war, an increase in number and magnitude of earthquakes and other such natural phenomenon. The wicked are called Babylon and are pictured as the mother of all harlots.
Once again, there are two diametrically opposed forces at work. On the one hand the world has become as evil as it has ever been. In this time, spiritual Babylon prospers and is presented to us as a whore who sells, among other things, the souls of men. There is prophesied beast risen from the sea, a lamb with horns who spoke with the voice of the beast, and an antichrist. These are a counterfeit godhead. Men are sealed with the mark of the beast with the number 666 on their foreheads. All of this is a counterfeit for the other power in the world; the power of Jesus Christ and His gospel.
Just as in the days of Enoch, as Babylon grows in her evil, Zion grows in her goodness. While Babylon is portrayed as a scarlet woman of the night, Zion (the Church) is seen as a beautiful and pure bride, arrayed in white. 144 elders are sealed with the tokens of the Holy Priesthood. (The number may represent total priesthood power as the number of the priesthood is 12 and 12 times 12 is 144.) They are dressed in white, as are the women, because they are righteous. They are endowed with power from on high. Living prophets administer to the needs of the Church, over which Christ Himself rules and reigns. These are they who come out of the great tribulation and have had their robes washed clean in the blood of the Lamb.
© December 28, 2019, Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson
In Hebrew numbering, the number 6 stands of incomplete and unholy (remember 7 means complete or perfected) I think that the number 666 is symbolic of the greatest unholiness, Satan and his counterfeit plan
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