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Revelation - Part 5

More numbers today.

Chapter 8 begins with the opening of the seventh seal. This is the big one. Doctrine and Covenants Section 77 talks about how the Lord created the world in seven days, and the seventh day in particular was of significance because it was the day that the Lord finished His creation and made everything finalized and complete. He then blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. Thus, the seventh seal and the seventh time period entered into at the opening of the seventh seal is important and parallels may be drawn between what happens here and the activities going on in the previous seventh time period (after the creation of Adam).

If that's a little confusing I understand. Just keep in mind that the first seventh day (at the end of the creation) was a time of rest and peace, while the opening of the seventh seal unleashes the scourges that will prepare the world for the millennial reign of Christ, when the earth may rest again. It will begin a second Sabbath for the earth.

But before that happens - watch out!

So the seven angels are now given seven trumpets. It's unclear if they set their lamps down or if they're playing with one hand while holding the lamp in the other.

Another angel comes with a censer. A censer (not to be mistaken with censor) is an object used for holding burning incense. Those I've seen are made of metal (so they don't burn) and have holes in them for the smoke to escape. They may be in the shape of a ball with a chain attached for handling it - the metal gets quite hot - or they may have a long handle extending from the bowl or incense holder. In LDS traditions, we are unfamiliar with the use of incense in religious rites, so this smacks of pagan rituals. In fact, the first time I became familiar with incense was when I was on my mission in Korea, where the Buddhist monks and faithful would burn incense in the temples before the statues of the Buddha. But the use of incense goes back further than that - the ancient Hebrews used incense in the Tabernacle and in the Temples they built. Further, the Catholic Church uses incense in some of its rituals as well. It is a powerful symbol of the prayers of the faithful ascending up to heaven (see Revelations 8:4 - "the smoke of the incense... came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God..."). Incense is usually unmistakably fragrant - pleasant, but smoky - and is therefore another sensory connection with religious devotion.

The angel takes the censer, lights it with fire from the altar, and then throws it into the earth. This unleashes voices, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. Remember, this is AFTER the calamity associated with the sixth seal, with all of its devastation - sun, moon, stars darkened or removed, mountains and islands moved, etc....

Then the seven angels begin to sound their trumpets. The first brings hail and fire mingled with blood, which burns up a third part of the trees and ALL of the green grass. The second hurls a great mountain of fire into the sea and a third part of the sea becomes blood, killing a third part of the aquatic life and destroying a third part of the ships. The third throws down the huge star - called Wormwood - poisoning the waters and killing many. The fourth angel darkens the third part of the sun, the moon, and the stars. I am not sure if there's a parallel between this darkening and the one associated with the sixth seal....

Then we get an angel telling us that this is only a warm up. Geesh.

Chapter 9 begins with the fifth angel sounding the fifth trumpet, and another star falls from heaven (remember that stars are being used to represent angels). This star has the key to the bottomless pit, which he opens and releases smoke and pestilence - crazy locusts the size of horses with lion's teeth in faces looking like men with crowns on their heads and scorpion's tails. These tails have stings which poison a person for five months.

This seems to be quite symbolic. These locusts do not run around willy-nilly infecting people. They are also not interested in vegetation. They are only interested in those who have not been marked with the seal of God in their foreheads.... As an aside - I wonder if this "seal" might refer to the phylacteries worn by Jews as a part of their worship.... I don't know much about it, but it seems to have some connection there. Further, there's a connection with the headdress worn by the High Priest in the time of Moses and the Tabernacle, where there was a plate set in the headdress above the eyes that said - Holiness to the Lord. Hmmm....

Then the sixth angel sounds, setting loose the four angels from under the river Euphrates. These angels call forth 200,000,000 of the scariest people I've ever heard of - riding on horses with lion's heads, they wear breastplates of brimstone and jacinth (a red stone) and spit fire, smoke, and brimstone. Wow. They kill a third part of the men on earth. I wonder if this is not symbolic of some of the modern military machinery - tanks, armored personnel carriers, helicopters, etc.

With all of this, at the end of chapter 9, it is noted that no one is repenting. This is interesting because the world has access to these things - they're written right here in this book. So how is it possible to see these kinds of things and NOT realize what's going on? How is that people can be so hardened? How are their eyes being occluded from seeing what's going on? Is it because they're looking for natural, logical reasons behind these events? Because the "locusts" look like helicopters and the "horses" look like military machinery? Because there are natural reasons behind the sky darkening and the stars falling?

Chapter 10 opens with another mighty angel, which brings him a little book. This book, according to D&C 77 represents John's mission, which at first seems sweet, but later becomes bitter to him. This is an interesting reaction. I've sometimes been asked to do something that at first I was eager to do, but later regretted it because it was difficult or tiring. John knew beforehand, though, what would happen and accepted the task readily. It is unclear from the text what this task would be, but the last verse in the chapter may shed some light. In it, John is told he must prophesy again before many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings. When he did this the first time is obvious - while he was on earth. Yet when and how he will do this the second time is not clear in Revelation. I guess that the book itself going forward to everyone could be a fulfillment of this. But if we apply the LDS understanding of John's mission, and how he is here on the earth still witnessing of these things, perhaps it is more clear. Perhaps, the mission to stay on the earth seemed like a great idea at first, but then having seen all of his loved ones pass away, he alone remaining on the earth to live and outlive, perhaps then it became bitter to him. The Lord told him he'd chosen the better path, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was the easiest or most pleasant...

Hmmmm.... Sounds familiar.....

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