A Recapitulation –
A reinforcement, a necessary theory in understanding the Apocalypse first introduced by Victorinus of Pettau. It holds that the visions are not necessarily in chronological order and possibly a repetition of other visions. Many interpretation errors are a result of assuming the chapters are in chronological order.
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A Need To Listen –
A need to understand. Now that I can’t, I understand the importance of hearing. The only good thing about not being able to listen is that you get more time to think which is just as important. Don’t let listening get in the way of thinking. An ear to hear and mind to think about what you hear.
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A Conjecture –
A reasonable explanation to address what is not settled. Who wrote it? When was it written? Why was the Apocalypse written? The Apocalypse has “a decidedly Jewish complexion” and it was suggested that John the Baptist was the first writer. Others have suggested multiple writers. All named John.
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A New Jerusalem –
A Church on a rock. Rome with twelve gates and one river running through it. Don’t wait for it to cometh down out of heaven. It is here now. Just as Jerusalem was the center of the Jewish religion, Rome, the New Jerusalem is the center of the Christian religion. See the map. His Church.
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A Necessary Thing –
A need to listen. More than once my dad, who knew me well, reminded me, “Don’t forget to listen”. Something I often forgot to do. Now that I am old, I don’t hear so well and can’t do it.
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A Date for the Apocalypse –
A bishop, John Chrysostom, is the writer according to the astronomer Nikolai Alexandrovich Morozov who sets the date as 395. At this time five of the seven dynasties of Rome had fallen. Chrysostom was in Ephesus at the end of the fourth century. Would he not look for evidence of the most famous book of the bible? Was Chrysostom the third John of the Apocalypse?
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A Candlestick –
A church and a state represented by the olive tree. The Apocalypse and Zechariah are connected by “two olive trees”. This leads to Zerubbabel, the state, and that leads to Joshua, the church, and together they built the second temple. The Holy Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire are the two witnesses of the Apocalypse.
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A Third John –
A confirmation that the apostle wrote the Apocalypse was necessary to get it in the Bible which was being translated and defined by Jerome. Just before the Vulgate was completed John Chrysostom was in Ephesus replacing seven corrupt bishops. Jerome needed a reliable version of the Apocalypse. A third John who also am your brother.
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A White Sea –
A bow, a covenant between God and man. Not from the White Sea but from the Aegean or Mediterranean Sea aka the white sea. Constantine is the rider of the white horse who made the world safe for Christianity. This artist has a rainbow in his hand. Constantine started the thousand years where they reigned with Christ.
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A Tough Call –
A first and second. Simon & Garfunkel and The Mamas & the Papas. The clear winner is Simon for this passage: In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of every glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
“I am leaving, I am leaving”
But the fighter still remains
Over 50 years later it still haunts me.
An honorable mention to “Jesus Christ Superstar”
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