What are your guys view on Revelation and the end of the world?
I recently read the Book of Revelation on my Ignatius Catholic Study Bible and was fascinated by what I read in the commentary section.
It talks about the view that bases the majority of the events in Revelation as stuff that has already taken place, like the Mark of the Beast referring to Emperor Nero (or alternatively Emperor Domitian).
This was news to me as I’ve always viewed that supernatural apocalyptic vision (meteors falling into oceans, poisoning the water, a third of the forests burning up, blood as high as the horse’s bridle etc.,) as something that is YET to happen.
PS. I understand that it’s a highly controversial book with mile high layers of symbolism … still, it would be nice to know if I was “roughly in the ballpark” of understanding it correctly.
Well…I don’t think the world is going to end, at least not anytime soon. I mean, planets do have the ability to cease to exist, but I feel like Earth has a lot more time yet.
Personally, I think Revelations is basically alluding to how the Golden Age will come. And this stems all the way back in Daniel I think….not 100% sure, but it was the story in The Bible about the statue with like a Golden head, and a silver chest, something along those lines, and how we’re basically going to be entering the Golden Age (or the Gold part of the head of the statue).
As far as when things will happen, in all honesty, no one really knows. And really, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Yeah, eventually things on Earth are gonna get pretty ugly, but there’s like a whole list of stuff that’s supposed to happen before we get into the Golden Age. I like to think of it as, huemanity is experiencing birth pains right now. People are struggling to make ends meet, and inflation just keeps getting out of control, and things are only gonna get worse before they get better, and it has to be this way. The 3rd Dimension is structured for learning, and right now huemanity has to go through a chaotic period before we get to the good stuff! And lemme tell you, there’s a LOT to look forward too! I personally am excited when we’re evolved enough as a race to where we’ll be able to instantly manifest anything into existence. Think Astral Plane and the Physical Dimension marrying, it’s going to be SO COOL!
As far as where we’re at in Revelations is beyond me. All I know is, the part where it talks about 1/3 of the Stars of Heaven came down to Earth, that’s where I come in. So, what they’re referring to when they talk about 1/3 of the Stars of Heaven, is they’re referring to the 3 waves of volunteers of pure alien souls going down to Earth to basically prevent us from killing eachother. I am one of those volunteers. I was part of the second wave of volunteers that came down here. My soul origin actually comes from a planet in another Universe (cause we’re part of a Multiverse) called Val-Terra, which is similar to Earth. I’m here to help huemanity evolve and for the hueman race to continue to prosper.
That’s all I can tell you at this point in time. Just be ready, Huemanity is in for a rude awakening.
Matthew 11
Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
This is the one about whom it is written: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way before you.
Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
Peace to all,
Christ’s self-revelation
In response, Jesus does not offer a theoretical definition of his identity. He invites people to look at what he does. “It is the least among us, the poor, the sick, who speak for him,” the Holy Father stressed, noting that the Messiah is recognizable by his deeds, which are visible signs of salvation at work: “The blind see, the mute speak, the deaf hear.” Pope Leo
What logically all can understand is the Christ is from Jesus through Mary becoming The Two Nature Christ in all mankind.
Saint John the Baptist is greatest born on Earth yet least in the Kingdom born sanctified from the Power of the Incorruptible Holy Spirit through His Born Baptized Immortal flesh for His Sanctified Immortal and Incorruptibly Soul on Earth yet unable to become again not yet knowing The Christ becoming again now for all Glorified and Transfigured from Sacrifice in Penance through the Christ becoming for all in Jesus, The New Adam.
The Christ is from The Baptized New Eve through Holy Spirit Incorruption for Jesus in the New Adam becoming the Christ in all mankind. The Christ is more than Just Jesus becoming Baptized Immortality through The New Eve from The Catholic Church becoming for Jesus in the New Adam from Holy Spirit Incorrution in One Body for all through The Christ becoming again in all from Sacrifice through Penance forgiven in all becoming again in all One Holy Spirit Family One God in being.
Even Jesus is Baptized by Saint John in the Christ on the Epiphany and the manifestation of God in all mankind through the Baptized Christ to be able to become from death through immortality in the flesh resurrection from the Power of the Incorruptible Holy Spirit becoming for all in the Christ becoming again glorified and transfigured in all One Holy Spirit Family One God in being.
And Jesus Baptized His Mother Mary for Her Glorious Assumption becoming again Queen of Heaven now in Two Natures from where Mary Came.
My impression is that there are worldwide cataclysms prophesied that have not yet taken place. (Could I be wrong? Certainly.)
Here are just a handful of Bible verses that I recalled and looked up (there are many more, involving the Great Tribulation, the Antichrist, the Beast, and so on).
All nations will make war against Israel (Zechariah 14:2), and many dead will lie unburied (Jeremiah 16, 33). The prophecies may refer to the same event. My guess as to a possible meaning: Israel will be attacked by so many enemies, even if not all the countries in the world, that it resorts to weapons of mass destruction, with so many attackers killed that they are not buried.
Stars falling from the sky: I think that this refers to actual astronomical objects if not actual stars (for example, in English, the expressions “falling star” and “shooting star” refer to meteors, not actual stars but looking like stars). A great mountain burning with fire will fall into the sea, and a burning star called Wormwood will fall from heaven; these things will destroy much of Earth and the life on it (Revelation 8). People will collapse from fear of what is coming upon the world (Luke 21:26). People will call to the mountains to fall on them to protect them (Luke 23:30, Hosea 10:8). I don’t think I’m stitching together unrelated verses. I take them to mean that an inescapable disaster will approach from space—maybe a huge asteroid or meteor—and people will see it coming.
There will be plagues, and those not killed by plagues will not repent of worshipping devils and idols, murder, sorcery, fornication, or theft (Revelation 9).
I highly recommend reading the book titled The End Times, which contains the words of Jesus spoken to and written down by Maria Valtorta. In it, Jesus explains various verses in the Book of Revelation, the anti-christ, and so on. Or, you can read these dictations and others by Jesus on the end times in the following main God-Authored Works through His “pen”, Maria:
Rather Jesus through Maria Valtorta has spoken about the end times. When referencing Maria Valtorta’s God-Authored writings, you always want to make sure you don’t give the impression it’s Maria’s own words when it’s actually Jesus’s or another heavenly person.
Yes, this is what I hold as well. The numbers of the mark of the Beast add up to spell out the name of Nero in both translations (in some Biblical translations, the mark is 666 and in other translations the number is transcribed as 616).
But, just because these things may have already taken place does not mean that they cannot also point to things to come. History tends to rhyme as the saying goes : )
Nor dies it necessarily mean that everting prophesied has occurred.
We are called to be ready no matter what (2 Peter 3:14). The Catholic Church would say that we are living in the tribulation.
A few books with varying viewpoints if you are interested:
“Will Catholics Be Left Behind” by Carl E. Olson (More about the Rapture, but still relates)
“Antichrist and Apocalypse” by Dr. Taylor Marshall (an Anglican Priest turned Catholic)
“Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life” by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (who would later go on to become Pope Benedict XVI)
“Latin Commentaries on Revelation” compiled by William C. Weinrich (a Lutheran Professor) He also put out a follow-up of the Greek Commentaries on Revelation.
Jimmy Akin put out two booklets, “20 Answers: The End Times” and “20 Answers: The Book of Revelation”
While I’m not sure if Emperor Nero fits all the descriptions of what goes on in these passages, it does clear up an obvious anachronism (is that the word?)
Namely, that whatever these events are referring too, the author says (at the beginning and end) that these events will “happen soon”. Which makes the urgency of writing these letters to seven churches much clearer.
Hello I know I’m crazy one on here but I look at two different layers of meaning.
There is idealism, in which the symbolism of Apocalypse is an image of the trial tribulation and Triumph and that occurs many many sequential times as church history progresses.
But I also see something even more profound which is a multidimensional image of the greater ages that the church passes through, which is to say ages characterized by spiritual doctrine and qualifications.
But I obviously don’t read the book from beginning to finish as though it was completely chronological. That would be absurd, rather there can be entire sections of the book, that within themselves contain a certain way to delineate ages either of the church or of a certain great chunk of ages within the greater trajectory.
If you want to check out a summary of a lot of the things I look at, I have a longer article on Catholic 365 which kind of gives an overview of a lot of the things I’m seeing in the book, in the book that I’m really going to try to complete soon, because I think it’s quite appropriate given what’s going on in the world and the types of questions that people are going to ask. I think that just shifting the book back to mostly the first century and leaving the great ages of the church since then which have no spanned some 1700 years and, with the prophecy of Fatima that a period of Peace before the great apostasy is coming, extending the book as continuing beyond the early Century of the martyrs and into the trajectory of ages and movement, you’ll be giving the Catholic Church a far greater answer to fundamentalism than the end of the current view of preterism.
Here’s the link to the article
Taking a Balanced View of Apocalypse: The Ages of the World
The website of the book
Theology of the ages
Assortment of articles related
Hope this helps there is obviously unbelievably more there than to handle
Hi, Mazrocon, I posted a response below if you’re interested, is long, but it shows a layer that nobody really mentioned above which is the idea that the apocalypse is a multi-dimensional revelation of the ages of the world and of the church. You want to check any of it out see below thanks.
