How long revelations

Psalm When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble. Luke ,8 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? Psalm Lord, how long wilt thou look on? Psalm ,10 We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long….

Revelation And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;. Revelation ,4 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints…. Revelation And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

Revelation And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus…. Revelation ,24 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her….

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Synodical Officers This email address is being protected from spambots. Because they were convinced that the work of the Messiah must end in triumph and glory, they believed that this end could be accomplished only by a return of Jesus back to this earth from the heaven to which he had ascended. This second coming, occurring at the time when all the events connected with the apocalyptic program will take place, will inaugurate the coming of the new age, as well as the final destruction of all the forces of evil.

As time passed, many Christians — especially those who were suffering persecution at the hands of the Roman government — became deeply concerned about how long it would be before these events would take place.

Toward the end of the first century of the Christian era, emperor worship was fairly well established, not only in the city of Rome but in the outlying regions that formed a part of the empire. When Christians refused to worship the emperor, they were accused of all sorts of crimes and subjected to the most severe penalties.

Some of them suffered martyrdom rather than deny their faith. It was a critical time for the entire Christian movement, and many of its members wondered whether the persecution would ever end, while others were perplexed about the course they should follow.

Some were even tempted to abandon their faith or at least to make concessions to Rome sufficient to enable them to save their lives. Under these conditions, a Christian named John wrote Revelation, addressing it to the seven churches that were in Asia Minor. The purpose of the book was to strengthen the faith of the members of these churches by giving to them the assurance that deliverance from the evil powers arrayed against them was close at hand. John was confident that the great day of divine intervention would occur within a comparatively short time, but in accordance with the apocalyptic literature with which Jewish Christians were familiar, he knew that many terrifying events would take place first.

He wanted to warn his fellow Christians concerning these events and thus prepare them for the time when their faith would be put to a more severe test than anything that they had experienced thus far. In writing Revelation, John follows the pattern that was used in older apocalyptic writings in the Old Testament such as the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament, 1 Esdras in the Apocrypha, the Book of Enoch in the Pseudepigrapha, the Assumption of Moses , and many other well known writings, including sections of the Book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament and portions of the Synoptic Gospels.

In all of these writings, events appear as though they were predicted long before they actually took place. The revelations are usually through dreams or visions in which coming events are symbolized by strange figures, the meanings of which are sometimes disclosed by an angelic messenger who was sent for that particular purpose. The apocalypses were produced in times of crises, and they were written for the benefit of people who were suffering hardship and privation at the particular time when the writing was done.

At the beginning of Revelation, John tells us that while he was on the Isle of Patmos, where he was banished because of his religious faith, he heard a loud voice telling him to write what he saw and then to send the writing to the seven churches in Asia. The voice was that of Jesus Christ, who had been raised from the dead and who had ascended to heaven. Christ's messages are addressed to seven angels, each one of which is the guardian for a particular church: Ephesus, Smyrna, Thyatira, Pergamum, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

Christ commends these churches for the good works that they have performed, but for five of them, he also sends a message of warning and reproof. He is especially critical of those who tolerate the doctrines of the Nicolaitans, whose teachings he considers a real menace to the Christian community because they approve of the practice of eating meat obtained from animals that have been used as sacrifices to idols.

Although the apostle Paul and other Christians maintained that this practice was not a matter of vital importance and that everyone should be permitted to follow the dictates of their own consciences, apparently John did not share this attitude. As he understands it, the crucial test for all Christians, as it is for Jews, is strict obedience to all laws, and the rules pertaining to forbidden food are no exception.

Although it might appear to be relatively unimportant, people's attitudes toward matters of this kind indicate the way in which they will behave toward weightier matters. Christ commends those churches whose members have endured persecution and, in some instances, even death rather than declare their allegiance to Roman rulers, who proclaimed their own divinity and demanded that they should be worshipped along with the other gods of the empire.

He refers to Pergamum as Satan's home inasmuch as it was in this place that the cult of emperor worship was particularly strong.

Christ warns Christians to expect that their persecutions will be even more severe in the immediate future. Nevertheless, they are to remain faithful and regard these afflictions as tests of their character.

Those who remain loyal will be delivered from the hands of their enemies, and in the new order of things soon to be established, they will be given a crown of life and the assurance that the new order will last forever. The persecutions that are now taking place will last for only a short time, for the hour of God's judgment is close at hand. Following Christ's messages to the seven churches, John describes the seven seals, scrolls on which is written an account of the events that are about to take place.

The risen Christ, who is referred to as the Lamb of God, is said to be the only one who is accounted worthy to open the seals. When the first seal is opened, there appears a white horse, whose rider goes forth to conquer.

Other seals are opened, and three more horses — a red one, a black one, and a pale one — appear in rapid succession. These four horses and their respective riders symbolize the conflicts that will mark the beginning of the final destruction of the Roman Empire.

When the fifth seal is opened, John is permitted to look upon the souls of those who, in the midst of their distress, cry out, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood? Following John's vision of the impending disasters soon to be inflicted upon the world, the scene changes, and four angels representing the four winds of heaven are told to hold back these winds until the servants of God have had seals placed on their foreheads.

John then reveals the number of those who are sealed. Drawing an analogy between the twelve tribes of ancient Israel and the Christian community regarded now as the new Israel, he gives the number of ,, or 12, from each of the tribes of Israel. Before the opening of the seals is completed, another series of disasters is revealed in the appearance of seven angels, each one carrying a trumpet. The blowing of these trumpets announces such physical catastrophes as the coming of a great earthquake, the turning of rivers into blood, and the darkening of the sun and the moon, as well as the falling of the stars from heaven.