Blog to discuss the book "The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Revelation" and current events that point to the events described therein.
Note: The book "The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Revelation", by Steven Paul essentially makes the same claim as this wacko from Hamas, that Rome will eventually be overrun by the kingdom of Antichrist and the Church will have to flee for safety. Isn't it ironic that this member of the Palestinian Parliament, an sort of oxymoron, sends this message while the pope is in the US?
Hamas Cleric Predicts 'Rome Will Be Conquered by Islam' Monday , April 14, 2008
A sermon last Friday by a prominent Muslim cleric and Hamas member of the Palestinian parliament openly declared that "the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital," would soon be conquered by Islam.
The fiery sermon, delivered by Yunis al-Astal and aired on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV, predicted that Rome would become "an advanced post for the Islamic conquests, which will spread though Europe in its entirety, and then will turn to the two Americas, even Eastern Europe."
"Allah has chosen you for Himself and for His religion," al-Astal preached, "so that you will serve as the engine pulling this nation to the phase of succession, security and consolidation of power, and even to conquests through da'wa and military conquests of the capitals of the entire world. "Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our prophet Muhammad," he added.
Al-Astal last June preached how it was the duty of Palestinian women to martyr themselves by becoming homicide bombers.
"The most exalted form of jihad is fighting for the sake of Allah, which means sacrificing one's soul by fighting the enemies head-on, even if it leads to martyrdom," he said in a June 23, 2007 interview.
"When jihad becomes an individual duty, it applies to women too, because women do not differ from men when it comes to individual duties," he said, calling Jews "the brothers of apes and pigs" who should "taste the bitterness of death."
Friday's rant repeated that theme: "Today, Rome is the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital, which has declared its hostility to Islam, and has planted the brothers of apes and pigs in Palestine in order to prevent the reawakening of Islam.
"I believe that our children, or our grandchildren, will inherit our jihad and our sacrifices, and, Allah willing, the commanders of the conquest will come from among them.
"Today, we instill these good tidings in their souls – and by means of the mosques and the Koran books, and the history of our Prophets, his companions, and the great leaders, we prepare them for the mission of saving humanity from the hellfire at whose brink they stand."
Whenever Easter comes around, like most Christians I greet it with joy. But I also note that in the book, The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter, my brother-in-law, Steven Paul showed how the Book of Revelation has many puns and hints at relationships between terms in different places in the book. In this passage, Steve showed how the third woe, the final battle between good and evil is likely to take place in the 49 days between the Christian holidays of Easter and Pentecost. Indeed, I feel slight trepidation every time Easter comes around. But I know from the book what events precede this and that they have not yet occurred. Note: I omitted the original Greek because Blogger does not support that font. From Chapter 20: John did not indicate when the great Battle of Armageddon would be fought. However, bear in mind that the three Divine Persons in one nature, though they are not dunces for redundancy, have, in the past, evidenced a penchant, if you will, for repetition.
Now, the festival of Passover commemorates the exodus of the Jews from Egypt; it begins on the eve of the 14th day of the month of Nisan, the first month of the Jewish calendar, and is celebrated for seven days by Reform Jews and Jews in Israel.
The festival of Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ; it is observed on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox [as calculated on the Gregorian calendar, not the Julian, which the Orthodox churches use].
Well, the way it works out, Passover and Easter come about the same time in the spring, the time of renewal. In Matthew 24:32-33, Christ said,
"And from the fig tree learn the lesson: when already its branch is becoming tender and it is sprouting its leaves, you know that summer is near: so also you, when you see all these things, know that he is near, at the doors."
In Apocalypse 3:20 [the seventh letter, Laodicea], Christ used the expression [epi ten thyran], "at the door," which is similar to [epi thyrais], "at the doors," in Matthew 24:33. Jesus punned on the noun [theros], "summer," and [rypa], "door, gate," to make the point memorable.
Now, the critical time for crops in Israel [if this old brain remembers faithfully] comes between Passover and the festival of Shavuoth, that is, during the Omer, the period of 49 days [7 weeks] from the 2nd day of Passover to the 1st of Shavuoth [the 6th day of the month of Sivan]; for, if the hot winds blow from the desert, too early, there will be little or nothing to harvest.
The festival of Pentecost comes 49 days [7 weeks] after Easter. The first Pentecost was the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles; and that Pentecost is regarded as the birthday of the Church.
So, first comes Easter/Passover, then 7 weeks later comes Pentecost/Shavuoth. To these facts, relate three more:
(1) The "fig tree" is the symbol for the nation of Israel. (2) The "birth pangs" mentioned by Christ in Matthew 24:8 will end when the seventh plague [in the Apocalypse] ends. (3) The period of the seven Apocalyptic plagues will be, at least, several weeks long, especially, because it will take a few just for the armies under the kings from the East to travel westward, cross the dried-up Euphrates, and move into Palestine--even if the armies are totally mechanized.
All these things together, plus the fact that...
(1) the noun for "harvest" is [therismos], (2) and the verb for "reap" is [therein], both relevant to the [thërion] or [thër], the Beast to which the nouns [theros] and [thyra] bear similitude, ...
give me the impression of being a big hint. Aye, whereas Apocalypse 4:1 reads,
"After these things I looked, and behold, an opened door [thyra] in heaven!";
and whereas 15:5 reads,
"And after these things I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of the witness [martyrion] in heaven opened, and out came the seven angels having the seven plagues from the sanctuary...";
and whereas 19:11 reads,
"And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse and the one seated on it called faithful and true...";
I am compelled to assert that Christ's phrase, "at the door," or "at the doors," refers to the door(s) of the sanctuary, and that it means he is about to issue judgment.
Hence, I strongly, very strongly, suspect that:
(1) The Two Witnesses will be in Jerusalem for Easter/Passover at the end of their 1260 days. (2) The conversion of the Jews will be when the "fig tree sprouts its leaves." (3) During the 7 weeks until Pentecost/Shavuoth will come the 7 last plagues [martyrion] to the nations. (4) On or about Pentecost/Shavuoth, there will come, to Armageddon, the Great Day of Almighty God.
