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.
I apologize to my frequent visitors for not posting or writing much the last few days. I've had a bit of writer's block. Or rather, the ideas and news articles have come so fast and furious lately that I haven't had time to thoroughly read them all and pick the ones most relevant to the Apocalypse.
But what has really been on my mind is the complete collapse of the Catholic way of life as seen through the prism of the local parish. I was contemplating that during the Triduum when we are at our supposedly most solemn. On Holy Thursday, a cell phone was vibrating in someones pocket behind me. It belonged to someone in the choir. On Good Friday, the Missal says to leave Church silently. But instead, I heard the usual chatter about every meaningless topic people could think of.
As a child, both before and shortly after the "reforms" a Church was a holy place, a sacred place. When you entered, even as a child, you knew to be quiet and respectful. You wore decent clothes there, especially on holy days. And you reverenced the priest, never questioning his holiness.
Now, the priest is treated like one of the gang. The building is almost constantly abuzz with chatter. The genuflect is hardly ever seen. The altar service is almost completely female now. Once reserved for young men who could later hear a call to the priesthood, now it's a social club for girls and boys have no interest. The same holds true for the foot washing on Holy Thursday, the initiation to the priesthood that Christ performed for his apostles. Now it's some sort of social status, missing the whole point of "the greatest among you must serve the least".
The pews are emptier now. So are the seminaries. Birth control is no longer enumerated as a sin in public. It has taken its toll. Homosexuality has compromised the priesthood even though only a small minority of priests practice it.
I went to confession on a Saturday in Lent at a fairly large parish. My wife and two of my seven children went with me. We were the only people there at first. As we left a very elderly couple arrived. That was it. As a child I remember long lines for confession on almost any Saturday. I remember a missal with words in Latin on one page and in English on the next so you could follow along. I remember an altar rail that we knelt at as an altar boy held a patten under our chins and the priest placed the host on out tongues.
I feel like I switched to a strange religion somewhere along the way, a protestant one. I long for the one from my childhood, the one where everything was sacred. Will I ever see it again?
I have to believe with all my heart that we are in a time when "the Sun is darkened and the moon does not give its light". Divine truth is no longer being taught. Strange doctrines have replaced it - radical feminism, environmentalism and relativism. Man has become his own God.
I also remember how full the churches were right after September 11, 2001. Catholic churches. People know the truth deep down. It is written on our nature. But we are being mislead and deceived. The time is drawing near when a false prophet, The False Prophet, will lead many away from the Church of Peter. And a leader will unite most of the world in a kingdom opposed to all the Church has taught for two millenia. And the only obstacle left will be the pope. And he will be assassinated shortly after his difficult election.
It's all in the book. And it seems more true today than when it was given to me a few years ago.
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.
