The Book of Revelation-step by step

[patrick457]

COMMENTARY (part 3)
5.) Commentary by Andrew of Caesarea:

By the opening of Heaven and the vision of the covenant is shown the revelation of those blessings that have been prepared for the saints. According to the Apostle, these blessings are hidden in Christ in whom the fullness of deity dwells bodily (Col. 2:3, 9). And these things will be revealed when the punishments of Gehenna rain down upon the lawless and impious like terrifying voices and lightnings and thunder and hail. The earthquake signifies the transposition of present things.

We say that the Church is in birth pangs for each one of those who are being born anew through water and the Spirit, “until Christ is formed in them (Gal. 4:19),” as the Apostle says. Those who have fallen from the true light of Christ are regarded as miscarriages and experience death at the end of their life because of unfaithfulness.

6.) St. Hippolytus on the Woman of Revelation 12 (On Christ and Antichrist 61):

By the woman then clothed with the sun, he meant most manifestly the Church, endued with the Father’s word, whose brightness is above the sun. And by the moon under her feet he referred to her being adorned, like the moon, with heavenly glory. And the words, upon her head a crown of twelve stars, refer to the twelve apostles by whom the Church was founded. And those, she, being with child, cries, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered, mean that the Church will not cease to bear from her heart the Word that is persecuted by the unbelieving in the world.

7.) Commentary by St. Caesarius of Arles:

[The moon under her feet] refers to the hypocrites and evil Christians which the church has under her feet… to be interpreted as the twelve Apostles. That the woman is clothed in the sun signifies her hope in the resurrection. For this reason it is written, “*then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father *(Mt. 13:43).”

8.) Pope John Paul II on the Woman (From Evangelium Vitae):

The mutual relationship between the mystery of the Church and Mary appears clearly in the “great portent” described in the Book of Revelation: “A great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars (12:1).” In this sign the Church recognizes an image of her own mystery: present in history, she knows that she transcends history, inasmuch as she constitutes on earth the “seed and beginning” of the Kingdom of God. The Church sees this mystery fulfilled in complete and exemplary fashion in Mary. She is the woman of glory in whom God’s plan could be carried out with supreme perfection.

The “woman clothed with the sun”-the Book of Revelation tells us-“was with child” (12:2). The Church is fully aware that she bears within herself the Saviour of the world, Christ the Lord. She is aware that she is called to offer Christ to the world, giving men and women new birth into God’s own life. But the Church cannot forget that her mission was made possible by the motherhood of Mary, who conceived and bore the One who is “God from God,” “true God from true God.” Mary is truly the Mother of God, the Theotokos, in whose motherhood the vocation to motherhood bestowed by God on every woman is raised to its highest level. Thus Mary becomes the model of the Church, called to be the “new Eve,” the mother of believers, the mother of the “living” (cf. Gen 3:20).

The Church’s spiritual motherhood is only achieved-the Church knows this too-through the pangs and “the labour” of childbirth (cf. Rev 12:2), that is to say, in constant tension with the forces of evil which still roam the world and affect human hearts, offering resistance to Christ: “In *him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it *(Jn 1:4-5).”

Like the Church, Mary too had to live her motherhood amid suffering: "*This child is set…for a sign that is spoken against-and a sword will pierce through your own soul also-that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed *(Lk 2:34-35).2 The words which Simeon addresses to Mary at the very beginning of the Saviour’s earthly life sum up and prefigure the rejection of Jesus, and with him of Mary, a rejection which will reach its culmination on Calvary. “*Standing by the cross of Jesus *(Jn 19:25),” Mary shares in the gift which the Son makes of himself: she offers Jesus, gives him over, and begets him to the end for our sake. The “yes” spoken on the day of the Annunciation reaches full maturity on the day of the Cross, when the time comes for Mary to receive and beget as her children all those who become disciples, pouring out upon them the saving love of her Son: “*When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ *(Jn 19:26).”

 

[patrick457]

3-4: And another sign appeared in Heaven: and behold, a great fiery-red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns; and upon his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept the third part of the stars of Heaven, and cast them to the Earth; and the dragon stood before the woman who is about to bring forth, that when she brings forth he may devour her Child.

DEFINITIONS and CROSS-REFERENCES

Dragon: John would later identify this as the ancient serpent known as the devil or Satan (v. 9).

A great fiery-red dragon, having…ten horns: cf. Daniel 7:7.

Fiery-red: The Greek word pyrros (denoting the reddish-orange color of fire) is used here. Just as in 6:3-4 and 9:18, this word is usually translated in many English versions as merely ‘red’.

Seven diadems: cf. Rev. 13:1; 19:12.

The Greek word diadema comes from a verb meaning ‘to bind around’ or ‘to fasten’; and indeed the term originally referred to a white ribbon, ending in a knot and two strips often placed on the shoulders, that surrounded the head of the king to denote his authority. The term was also applied later to crowns which were generally in a circular shape.

The diadems on the dragon’s head signifies his authority and power to rule; later, the Rider on the white horse (the King of Kings and Lord of Lords) of chapter 19:12 would be also described as wearing ‘many diadems.’

His tail drew the third part of the stars of Heaven: cf. Daniel 8:10.

COMMENTARIES

1.) Commentary by St. Bede:

dragon. The Devil, blood-stained in his cruelty, is armed against the Church with the power of an earthly king. For in the seven heads he describes all his kings, and in the ten horns every kingdom.

tail. He intimates the power and malice of the enemy, whom the Church overcomes by the help of the Lord, for he has cast down an innumerable host of angels and men by deceptive testimony, as with a tail. For the tail is a part of the body which is removed from sight, and unclean; and which conceals the parts which are unclean by the covering which it affords, that they may not appear. Tyconius, as his manner is, interprets the third part of the stars which fell, to false brethren, so that another third would be the Church, and the enemies external to it a third.

devour. The devil plots against the Church, and strives to extinguish the faith of Christ in the hearts of the faithful, that he may, as it were, kill him who has been taught, and to whom by teaching he has given birth. And a figure of this deceit was shewn in Herod, who, like an intestine foe, pretends that he desires to worship the Lord, in order that he may put Him to death.

2.) Commentary by St. Victorinus:

He says that this dragon was of a red color; that is, of scarlet, for the fruit of his work gave him such a color. For from the beginning (as the Lord says) he was a murderer; and he has oppressed the whole of the human race, not so much by the obligation of death, as, moreover, by the various forms of destruction and fatal mischiefs. His seven heads were the seven kings of the Romans, of whom also is the Antichrist, as we have said above.

And ten horns. He says that the ten kings in the latest times are the same as these, as we shall more fully set forth there.

Now, that he says that the dragon’s tail drew the third part of the stars of Heaven, this may be taken in two ways. For many think that he may be able to seduce the third part of the men who believe. But it should more truly be understood, that of the angels that were subject to him, since he was still a prince when he descended from his estate, he seduced the third part; therefore what we said above, the Apocalypse says.

The red dragon standing and desiring to devour her child when she had brought him forth, is the Devil, namely the traitor angel, who thought that the perishing of all men would be alike by death; but He, who was not born of seed, owed nothing to death: wherefore he could not devour Him, that is, detain Him in death. For on the third day He rose again. Finally, also, and before He suffered, he approached to tempt Him as man; but when he found that He was not what he thought Him to be, he departed from Him, even till the time.

3.) Commentary by Oecumenius:

The vision now intends to depict more fully the events around the coming of the Antichrist, starting with an event even prior to those mentioned earlier (I refer to the birth of the Lord). “And another sign appeared in Heaven.” As though rebuking Satan, that author of evil, who although a heavenly being became base because of his pride, the passage shows him first in Heaven, so that the apostate might know from what heights to what depths he has fallen.

“Behold, a great red dragon,” it says. He calls Satan a “dragon” because of his deceitful ways. Isaiah also speaks of him in this way, saying, “*against the dragon, that twisting serpent *(Isaiah 27:1).” He is said to be red because of his thirst for blood and his angry nature. He had “seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems upon his heads.” The prophet also knew that he had many heads, and therefore he says to God, “*You have crushed the heads of the dragon; you did give him as food to the people of Ethiopia *(Ps. 73:14 LXX).” It refers to him as having many heads, since, as we have often noted, seven signifies many, for he exercises many dominions and performs many crafty plots against people by which he enslaves them. The diadem too is a symbol of tyranny, and the ten horns signify his very great power, for the number ten is perfect and the horn is a symbol of power.

For it is said, “My horn will be exalted like that of a wild ox (Ps. 92:10 [91:11]).” And one may learn that he is powerful by reading the book of Job.

“And his tail swept down a third of the stars of Heaven and cast them to the Earth.” Along with himself, [the Devil] cast down a very great number of Angels. For For he had persuaded them to apostatize from God and so made those who were heavenly to become earthly and those who were bright as stars to become dark. “By his tail” is as though to say “by his rear parts and his hindermost transgressions,” for at first devising rebellion and apostasy, he thoroughly reviewed this in arrogance of his mind and so came also to the corruption of the others.

“And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth.” He is speaking of events in the Lord’s life. Since he who was to destroy his [ie, Satan’s] dominion was going to be born, [Satan] watched with close attention, so that when the Virgin gave birth, he might kill the child. And so, too, he took no chances but incited Herod, a lascivious man with a harem of women, to destroy the male and manly child. For Isaiah proclaims to us, “Before the child knows how to cry ‘father’ or ‘mother,’ he will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of Assyria. (Is. 8:4)”

4.) Commentary by Andrew of Caesarea:

Here we think that “Heaven” signifies the air, and that the “red dragon” is that creature that was deceived and mocked by the angels of God, as it is written in Job (40-41). He is “red” either because of his murderous and bloodthirsty character or because of the fiery nature of his angelic essence, since he did fall from the Angels. The seven heads that he has are seven powers more wicked than himself and that are opposed to the [seven] powers of the Spirit. Or perhaps they correspond to the seven spirits of whom Christ spoke in the Gospels and that established themselves in the man who had a heart swept clean and emptied of good thoughts and deeds (Matt. 12:43-45).

Or perhaps they are the seven evils that Solomon says are in the heart of the evil one, who with a great voice deceitfully seeks followers for himself (Prov. 26:25). The horns signify either those sins that are in opposition to the Ten Commandments of the law, or they signify the divisions of the kingdom that bring credit to him who rejoices in seditions. And there are “seven diadems upon his heads,” since those who conquer the demonical powers receive again the crowns of victory, since they have gained victory with toils and sweat.

It is our opinion that this passage refers either to the former fall of [the Devil] from Heaven which through a final movement of envy — for elevation was first — brought down with him the apostate Angels, or to that movement of his tail which, after the crushing of his head, drags down those who are moved from their Heavenly minds. They are figuratively called “stars” because of the brightness of their Baptism.

(verse 4b) The apostate always arms himself against the Church, desiring to make those food for himself who are being born anew from her. Rather, through the Church he persecutes Christ himself, since he is [the Church’s] head, and he makes his own what belongs to the faithful. And therefore [Christ] said to Saul, “*Why are you persecuting me? *(Acts 9:4)”

5.) Commentary by St. Caesarius of Arles:

The tail symbolizes the evil prophets, that is, heretics who threw down to Earth those stars of Heaven who joined them through a repeated baptism. They are under the feet of the woman. Many believed that these are persons whom the Devil made his companions since they were of the same mind as he. Many believe that these are Angels who were thrown down with him when he fell.

 

[patrick457]

5-6: And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her Child was caught up to God and to His Throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that there they may nourish her for a thousand two hundred sixty days.

http://home.earthlink.net/~jorevel4/RELEASING-CHILD.jpg

DEFINITIONS and CROSS-REFERENCES

And she gave birth to a son, a male child: cf. Isaiah 7:14; 66:7-8; Micah 5:3-4.

Who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: cf. Psalm 2:9; Rev. 2:26-27; 19:15.

Was caught up to God and to His Throne: A reference to Christ’s resurrection, ascension and glorification. The period between His birth and ascension is skipped because at the ascension, He began to rule in a more formal sense than before, and ruling is the purpose for which He was born. Generally, in the ancient Near East, the ‘birthday’ of a king was the anniversary of his maturity and enthronement to do what he was born to do. Also cf. Ps. 2:7; Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:2-6; 5:5.

Also see the Odes of Solomon 22:1-7:

He who caused me to descend from on high, and to ascend from the regions below;
And He who gathers what is in the Middle, and throws them to me;
He who scattered my enemies, and my adversaries;
He who gave me authority over bonds, so that I might unbind them;
He who overthrew by my hands the dragon with seven heads, and set me at his roots that I might destroy his seed;
You were there and helped me, and in every place Your name surrounded me.
Your right hand destroyed his evil venom, and Your hand leveled the Way for those who believe in You.

Wilderness: God protects the woman (now having the attributes of the persecuted Church) in the wilderness, the traditional Old Testament place of refuge for the afflicted, according to the typology of the Exodus.

Due to this Exodus-wilderness theme, Jewish belief had it that at the end of time, the Messiah would gather his people in the wilderness (perhaps the reason why the Zealots and similar movements were associated with the wilderness is because of this Messianic expectation).

A place prepared by God: The wording here echoes that of Psalms 23 (22):5 and 78 (77):19-20 (quotes are from of the Septuagint):

23 [22]:5: You had prepared a table before me in presence of those who afflict me…

78 [77]:19-20: They spoke also against God, and said, Will God be able to prepare a table in the wilderness? Forasmuch as he smote the rock, and the waters flowed, and the torrents ran abundantly; will He be able also to give bread, or prepare a table for His people?

In the Jewish exegetical tradition, these passages are associated with God’s sustenance of Israel and establishing peace for them in the Messianic age, with God’s former care of Israel during the 40-year wandering in the wilderness as a pattern.

Another parallel is in John 14:2-3:

In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I am going to prepare a place for you. And If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you also may be.

A thousand two hundred sixty days: cf. Daniel 7:25; 9:27; 12:7, 11-12; Rev. 11:2-3; 13:5.

This length of time is equal to forty-two months. As previously mentioned, there is an echo here with Israel’s time in the wilderness for forty-two years (including the time before they were condemned to wander) or forty-two stages (cf. Numbers 33:5-49). The Pesikta Rabbati I also compares Israel’s time in the desert with the time it would have to wait for the coming of the Messiah. Other Jewish writings identify the time as equivalent with the time of Elijah’s ministry, and some link Hosea’s prophecy of Israel in the wilderness with the prophecy in Daniel.

These identify the time of the wilderness journeying with the last part of the three and a half years, when the Messiah will Israel in the wilderness but will subsquently be hidden so that Israel will remain wandering until his return (this, in turn, is identified with Moses’ hiding and subsequent return to Egypt). These are quite similar to here, where the woman goes and wanders in the wilderness after the male Child (the Messiah)'s ascension.

COMMENTARIES

1.) Commentary by St. Bede:

man child. Although the dragon oppose, the Church ever brings forth Christ. But he spoke of the man child as conqueror of the devil, who had conquered the woman. For who but the man child, who is “*to rule all nations with a rod of iron *(Ps. 2:9),” rules the good with inflexible justice, breaks in pieces the bad? And this is also promised to the Church, in that it is said above, “I will give Him power over the nations, and He shall rule them with a rod of iron.” For the Church, too, daily generates the Church, which rules the world in Christ.

caught up. Therefore ungodliness cannot apprehend Christ, Who is spiritually born in the minds of the hearers, because at the same time He reigns with the Father in Heaven, “*Who has raised up us also together with Him, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ *(Eph. 2:6).”

wilderness. The Church rejoices in her sojourning in this present wilderness, as living in hope of things eternal. For she has received power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the red dragon, like the Israelitish multitude which was fed with heavenly bread, and overcame the fiery serpents by the sight of the serpent of brass.

place. “Be thou to me,” he says, “*as God my protector, and as a place of refuge, that I may be safe *(Ps. 30:3 [31:2]).”

days. In this number of days, which makes three years and a-half, he comprehends all the times of Christianity, because Christ, Whose body the Church is, preached the same length of time in the flesh.

2.) Commentary by St. Victorinus:

And she brought forth a son, who begins to rule all nations with a rod of iron. The rod of iron is the sword of persecution.

And her son was caught up to God, and to His throne. We read also in the Acts of the Apostles that He was caught up to God’s throne, just as speaking with the disciples He was caught up to Heaven.

3.) Commentary by St. Hippolytus:

And she brought forth, he says, a man-child, who is to rule all the nations; by which is meant that the Church, always bringing forth Christ, the perfect man-child of God, who is declared to be God and man, becomes the instructor of all the nations. And the words, her child was caught up unto God and to His throne, signify that He who is always born of her is a heavenly king, and not an earthly one; even as David also declared of old when he said, The Lord said unto my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.’

4.) Commentary by Oecumenius:

Reveal to us more clearly, O John, who this is who was born, this male child! He says, “who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.”
O inspired one, you have declared clearly to us that he is our Savior and Lord, Jesus, the Christ. For His own Father promised him, “*Ask of me, and I will give to you the nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth as your possession. You will shepherd them with a rod of iron, and you will dash them like a potter’s vessel *(Ps. 2:8-9).”

“But her child was caught up to God and to His Throne.” The poisonous dragon lay in wait and incited Herod to kill the children in Bethlehem, thinking that certainly among them he would locate the Lord. But by the providence of the Father the child escaped the plot. For Joseph heard a warning from heaven and took the child and His mother and fled into Egypt, since Herod was seeking the life of the child (Matt. 2:13-23).

“And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that there they might nourish her for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” And so was the child saved from the plot of the dragon but the woman given over to destruction? Indeed not. But she too was saved by the flight into Egypt, which is a desert, and there was free from the plot of Herod. And there she was hid away and was nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, which equals three and a half years, more or less. Thus, for some such length of time the mother of God remained in Egypt, until the death of Herod, after which another message from an Angel brought them to Judea.

 

[patrick457]

COMMENTARY (part 2)

5.) Commentary by St. Caesarius of Arles:

We understand the wilderness to be this world where Christ feeds and leads the Church unto the end. In this world the Church herself tramples under foot through the help of Christ haughty and impious persons as though they were scorpions and vipers and all the power of Satan.

6.) From the Haydock Bible Commentary:

A man child; that is, a masculine race of Christians, willing to confess the name of the Lord, and to fight his battles; who, through the merits of Jesus Christ, should triumph over all the attempts of the world. (Calmet)

Her son (or children) was taken up to Heaven, guarded by the special favor of God. They always overcome the Devil, and all their adversaries, by reason of the blood of the Lamb, by the merits of Christ. And they loved not the life of the body, so as to preserve it, by incurring the death of the soul. (Witham)

The woman fled into the wilderness. The Church, in the times of persecutions, must be content to serve God in a private manner; but by the divine Providence, such persecutions never lasted with violence only for a short time, signified by 1260 days, or as the same is expressed here, (ver. 14) for a time, and times, and half a time, i.e. for a year, and two years, and half a year. (Witham)

The Christians were accustomed to fly during the times of persecution into the deserts, to avoid the fury of the pagans. This was done by the greatest saints; and St. Jerome remarks, that it was this which gave rise to the eremitical state of life.

7.) Commentary by Andrew of Caesarea:

Through those who are baptized, the church is always giving birth to Christ, since in them he is being formed unto the fullness of spiritual maturity, as the Apostle says (Eph. 4:13). The “male child” is the people of the church who are not effeminate in their desires, through whom Christ, our God, as though an iron rod has already ruled the nations by the mighty hands of the powerful Romans. However, also after the resurrection of the dead he will establish those strong in the faith as judges and will rule as with iron the nations who are crumbling and weak vessels. For by their unfaithfulness they did not possess the mystical new wine.

“But her child was caught up to God and to his throne.” The Saints are caught up in midst of temptations, lest they be subdued by difficulties beyond their powers. And “they will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:17),” and they will be with God and His Throne, that is, with the most excellent of the angelic powers.

When the Devil through the Antichrist in whom he works arrays himself for battle against the Church, those in the Church who are elect and preeminent will spit upon the tumults of life and the desires of the world and flee into that desert devoid of any evil, that life which bears every virtue, as Methodius says, and these escape the assaults of people and demons who war against them. It is likely that the physical desert will also save those who flee from the plot of the apostate to the mountains and caves and holes in the Earth, as was recently the case with the witnesses, for in the three and a half years are reckoned the 1260 days during which the apostasy will rage. And so we, fighting against the principalities and powers of darkness, may be decorated with the crown of righteousness and receive the rewards of victory.

For to Him who through those who are weak puts to flight the mighty principalities of the air, it is proper to ascribe victory and might, together with the Father and the life-giving Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

 

[patrick457]

7-9: And there was war in Heaven: Michael and his Angels made war on the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and they did not prevail, neither was a place found for him anymore in Heaven; and the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the Earth, and his angels were cast down with him.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/747/guerrefn6.png
And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.

COMMENTARIES

 

[ryanoneil]

I’ve only read a few pages and like all the commentaries. I’m posting to subscribe to the thread so I can find this later.

Was caught up to God and to His Throne: A reference to Christ’s resurrection, ascension and glorification.

If you don’t mind, I’ll add a little extra where Jesus uses Daniel’s language to refer to himself.

But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I order you to tell us under oath before the living God whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “You have said so. 35 But I tell you: From now on you will see ‘the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power’ and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.’” (Mt 26:63-64)

As the visions during the night continued, I saw One like a son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; When he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, He received dominion, glory, and kingship; nations and peoples of every language serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed. (Dan 7:13-14)

A place prepared by God: The wording here echoes that of Psalms 23 (22):5 and 78 (77):19-20

"When you see the desolating abomination spoken of through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, (Mt 24:15-16)

for at that time there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will be. And if those days had not been shortened, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect they will be shortened. (Mat 24:21-22)

"At that time there shall arise Michael, the great prince, guardian of your people; It shall be a time unsurpassed in distress since nations began until that time. At that time your people shall escape, everyone who is found written in the book. (Dan 12:1)

A thousand two hundred sixty days: cf. Daniel 7:25; 9:27; 12:7, 11-12; Rev. 11:2-3; 13:5.

This length of time is equal to forty-two months.

Nero declared the start of the Jewish-Roman War in February of 67 A.D. and Jerusalem’s Temple fell in August of 70 A.D. (forty-two months)

**As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace–but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” (Lk 19:41-44)**126

 

[LambofGod1]

Hello, Yes, I was throw into prison and I was tested for ten days while they beat me. I opened the door of Rev. 3-8. Do you know what is on the other side of that door? I do. Psalms 23 is on the other side of that door. I meet Satan and all the head demons of his army, I was scaried. You see there is no way out of the valley of the shadow of death, found out when I was older that this was God testing me. I’m sure that I died a few times, God kept bringing me back to life. In the valley you loose ninety five percent of all feeling in your body, not hard to get hurt real bad. There was one angel that went everywhere with me, his voice was very slouing to my soul. Satan is everything that the Holy Bible says that he is, he stands about five foot and seven inches tall, not a very big man, around one hundred and sixty pounds. His power is emence! After many months in the valley, I did not die! God gave me five angels to protect me, just like it says in the book of Thomas. When the two become the one and the one becomes the five, you will join me in Heaven. Yes, I had to cast a demon out of me.
Three or more times I was in a hospital over the next five years, heavy drugs brought me back earthside, but I kept going back in. It turned out that we were poor people, could not afford pork! So I was able to open the door of Rev. 3-8 because I followed the three and fifth books of Moses. Battle after battle went on, my personal life was a mess. I gave up everything for God. After six years my angels asked me to go to the sea, this is where they told me to be very respecible for I know not who I speak to. I was and the angels asked me to get on both bended knees and raise my arms. I did and a large book was put into my hands from a very large spirit, I pulled the book to my chest and it melted into my ribs and I knew what was in the book. The book measured, two feet tall by eighteen inches wide and around six inches thick, bonded in leather. The book ( Bitter Tummy Book) was simple in form and yet complex in style. It told of the valley of the shadow of death and that it used to be called the garden of eden. It said to leave the valley you must eat pork! Six years in a nightmare type place, after many broken bones and many bloody battles, I found my way home. That was back in 1978! At first the angels called me, J the Just, J the Warrior, then it was J the Great and I did bigger and greater battles. It was taken a vote in Heaven and I was given a new name. They called me the Lamb of God. Three hundred times or more I went back into the valley. Satan and his army learned to fear my Holy name. I’ve done six exorciusms so far, simple demonds are easy, just a wave of my hand. I once battle with Satan’s kind demon, that was a three month battle, almost lost on that one, that was 1988. Almost ripped his heart out, his name was Grindel. Four hundred pounds all mussel.
I am a tall man, was in the Marines and fought in Vietnam, carry a black belt in Karate, I am not someone to mess with eighter! God picked me before my birth. I am not Jesus Christ, but have come to prepare the way for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I have meet Satan over thirty times, our last visit I hurt him really bad. I am mankinds only hope, Pray I don’t fail it might be two thousand years before God sends another man like me.
Now there is a mis-spelled word in Rev. 2-17. Hidden man-na should be spelled, Hidden man-aw. Which is a three word noun. Yes, in those days they had four word nows and five word nouns. A four word noun for hidden man-aw would be " White Hidden Man Aw! " It is a medical term ( word ) from the time of John, which I have not found in any book, yet!
Now you know the two most powerful drugs on earth! It takes around fourteen months to burn pork out of your body and just a little pork two minutes to burn hidden man aw out of your body! One is to work with the other! Now you have the keys to Hell, or should I say the valley of the shadow of death.
Now in english it means that you have been geneticlly engineered to use only six percent of your brains. Jesus Christ and Moses knew this and now you know it!
The Catholic church wants mercy from me, for something that I have no control over! I have let loose a new brain wave, called the Omega wave, the same brain wave that Jesus Christ let loose. Like a large stone droped in a small pond, it’s wave will hit every shore on earth. Having mountains fall on you will not hide you from what I have let loose. Just another pass over… From the blood that I have shead to get this knowledge many will be saved. Thus it is called, by the blood of the Lamb. I guess the words that you are reading now is the mercy that I give the catholic church. I say to all that hears these words, the second death will pass you by if you follow the words of Moses!!! So say the Lamb of God!
There is a code in Rev. all you have to do is replace every word or group of words that anything to do with water and replace that word with scorn! A firerly lake would be( firerly scorn ) A great flood, would be a great scorn. etc!!
After this last battle, I will meet my bride! Those that fight by my side will be invited to my wedding! Those that are in my book of life will be inveted also! She prepares herself as we speak!
Holy means; Another demension Bible means; Everything that you want to know about that subject!
Another little note, I carry the mark of the beast on my forehead! All those that follow me will carry the same mark! The Anti-Christ are all Christians that eat pork!!! They will die!

 

[patrick457]

After a long time of hiatus, I’ll bump this one in light of the recent increase in Revelation-related threads.

7-9: And there was war in the heaven: Michael and his angels waged war against the dragon, and the dragon waged war and his angels; and they were not strong enough, and their place was not found any more in the heaven. And the great dragon was thrown out, the ancient serpent that is called Slanderer and Satan, who deceives the whole world – he was thrown out to the earth, and his angels were thrown out with him.

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And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.
DEFINITIONS

Michael and his Angels made war on the dragon: It is Michael who is depicted as fighting Satan in this struggle. In the book of Daniel (10:10-21; 12:1-4) Michael is depicted as the guardian of Israel who in the last days will deliver them from tribulation (cf. 1 Enoch 90:14). Somewhat later he is pictured as “a mediator between God and man” who will stand up against “the kingdom of the enemy” (Targum Daniel 6:2).

Slanderer: The Greek word is diabolos, coming from diaballein ‘to throw across/through’; i.e. ‘to oppose’ or ‘to slander’: dia- ‘across, through’ + ballein ‘to hurl’. This is itself a translation of the Hebrew satan. We get our ‘devil’ from its Old English equivalent dēofol (probably adopted under influence of the Latin diabolus).

Satan: The name may derive from a Northwest Semitic root śṭn, meaning ‘to be hostile’ or to accuse’, thus meaning ‘adversary’ ‘accuser’. The word can be used to describe adversaries and accusers who are apparently human (1 Sam 29:4; 1 Kings 5:4; Ps 109:6), as well as ones who are not human: for example, the angel in Numbers 22 identifies himself as a satan, an “adversary”, to Balaam. In the books of Job and Zechariah ha-satan (literally “the-satan”) is also the name/title of a being acting as the prosecution lawyer of sorts, pointing out the evil inclinations and actions of mankind and ‘accusing’ them of it, in the heavenly court.

He was thrown down to the earth: cf. Luke 10:18; John 12:31.

COMMENTARIES
1.) Commentary by St. Bede:

heaven. The Heaven signifies the Church, in which he says that Michael, with his angels, fights against the devil, for that, according to the will of God, he contends for the Church in her sojourning, by praying and ministering help; of whom Daniel (12:1) also said, that he would come to the aid of the Church in the last and most grievous affliction; from which they suppose that the Antichrist is to be slain by him. And they are said to be his angels in the same way that our angels also are. For the Lord says, “*Their angels do always behold the face of My Father *(Matt. 18:10),” the angels, that is, of those whose citizens they are.

fought. The angels of Satan are not those alone who are like him in nature and will, but men who are entangled in their snares are also to be understood.

prevailed not. That is, the prevailed not through all time.

found. It was not found, that is, in holy men, who by his expulsion from them, have already become a heaven themselves, and who through faith no more receive him back, who has once been expelled.

earth. The old enemy, who is expelled from the spiritual, is more closely shut up in the earthly. This is to be hurled down from Heaven, and sent into the Earth. For to him it is said, “Earth *shalt thou eat all the days *(Genesis 3:14);” and in this earth he is bruised by the feet of the saints, as it is written, “Thou shalt tread upon the asp and the basilisk (Ps. 90 [91]:13).”

2.) Commentary by St. Victorinus:

This is the beginning of the coming of the Antichrist; yet beforehand Elijah must prophesy, and there must be times of peace. And afterwards, when the three years and six months are completed in the preaching of Elijah, he (the dragon) also must be cast down from Heaven, where up till that time he had had the power of ascending; and all the apostate angels. And that the Antichrist is to be aroused from Hell, also Paul the Apostle says: “Except there come a falling away first, and the man of sin shall appear, the son of perdition; and the adversary who exalted himself above all which is called God, or which is worshipped (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).”

 

[patrick457]

COMMENTARIES, continued

3.) Commentary by Oecumenius:

The vision that is to explain the events concerning the Antichrist refers to a beginning earlier than the beginning just described. This earlier beginning … is the fall of Satan from heaven. The Lord also spoke of this, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven (Matt. 18:10).”

Why, then, does it say, “And there was war in Heaven”? The holy Scripture says that Satan exalted himself against God, that is, he lifted up a stiff and insolent neck to him and devised an apostasy. Although God, who is by nature good and forbearing, was patient with him, the holy angels did not tolerate the arrogance of their master and banished him from their ranks. This passage speaks of this event. Michael, one of the great leaders of the angels, made war against Satan and his followers, and Satan did not prevail in this war against him.

“And there was no longer any place” either for refuge or, indeed, for dwelling “in Heaven, and he was thrown down to the Earth.” [The dragon] either experienced this in a physical way, or, having been deprived of his Heavenly and angelic position, he was cast down to an earthly mind. Then, as though avenging himself on God because of his fall, he harms his servants and deceives people and tempts them to apostatize from God. Since he could not harm God Himself, he thinks that in this way he is harming the Master.

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4.) Commentary by St. Caesarius of Arles:

The devil, as well as every unclean spirit along with their leader, were expelled from the hearts of the saints to the earth, that is, to persons who are wise only in earthly things and have their entire hope in earthly things.

5.) Commentary by Andrew of Caesarea:

This is most proper. For Heaven has nothing to do with a base, earthly mind, since darkness has nothing in common with the light. If the term the Satan occurs here with the definite article, it does not suggest that he is someone other than the devil…rather he is named with two names. He is called “devil” because he accuses and slanders the virtues and those who love them, and he has even slandered God Himself to people, as he did when he suggested to Adam that God was envious. He is called “Satan” because he opposes himself against the Master and His servants.

It is therefore to be noted that the downfall of the devil did not only occur after the cross, as though he were inactive in former times. Rather, as he himself confessed to Anthony, the saying of the psalm is fulfilled in him, “The swords of the enemy have come to their end (Ps. 9:7 LXX).” Therefore, his banishment is the abolition of all his evil enterprises along with his total exclusion from Heaven and from his rank.

The blessed Justin Martyr noted that after the coming of Christ and after the devil’s sentence to Gehenna, the devil especially became a blasphemer, while in former times he did not blaspheme God so brazenly. And so it is accurately said about him, “His heart is hard as stone (Job 41:24),” since he is unyielding in his evil. And if the expectation of punishment makes him even more evil, how would punishing either him or his followers in Gehenna through tire wash out the filth of sin? And not attaining to this, how would there be a cessation of punishment against those who think vain thoughts?