Ephesians 3:21 (KJV) – “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
Ecclesiastes 1:4 (KJV) – “One-generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.”
but what about these passages?
Matthew 13:39 (KJV) – The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
Matthew 13:49 (KJV) – So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
Matthew 24:3 (KJV) – And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
The Greek word for "World" is Aion, meaning AGE.
. It’s interesting to note that many Bible translations use the English word “age” instead of “world”:
Montgomery New Testament – “the end of the age.”
English Standard Version – “the end of the age.”
Holman Standard Christian Bible – “end of the age.”
Darby Bible – “completion of the age.”
Weymouth New Testament – “the close of the age.”
Young’s Literal Translation – “the full end of the age.”
Hebrew prophets prophesied in a special symbolic manner, sometimes employing apocalyptic language to describe earth shaking events.
What about the elements melting with fervent heat?
Hebrews 5:12 (KJV) – “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles [stoikion]of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.”
2 Peter 3:10 (KJV) – “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements [stoikion] shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
2 Peter 3:12-13 (KJV) – “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements [stoikion] shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise,>>> look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”<<<
In context stoikion never refers to the physical world or the elements on the periodic table, but always denotes the elementary principles of the Old Covenant. The Greek Word for “Elements” in 2 Peter 3:7-13 refers to the elements, principles or customs of the Law of Moses .
The Bible is a covenantal book from Genesis to Revelation and 2 Peter 3 is also covenantal. It is using symbolic apocalyptic language to describe the transition from the Old to the New Covenant in 70 A.D.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the sky and earth did not pass away after the Jewish War. In the same manner, the stars in the sky were not “dissolved and the heavens rolled up” at the fall of Edom in the sixth century B.C. as prophesied in Isaiah 34:4-5.
Now let's move on to a key event in Revelation. The 7 plagues.
Were they fulfilled ? Let's see!
1- Rev 16 gives us 7 judgments that will be poured out on the people that worship the beast. When in history do you find all 7 in a short span of time?
First lets take a look at what events transpired and also what was spoken of by Y'shua himself before the Jewish War culminating with the destruction of the Temple .
The Israelites took credit for his Y'shua's death, shouting >>>"His blood be on us and on our children! <<<Matthew 27:23-25 .
Peter had told them later that they had killed Y'shua, the one God made Lord and Christ Acts 2:36
What did Y'shua say before His death to the Pharisees?
Mt.23
13 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.
15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traverse land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
34Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute in town after town. 35>>>>>And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth<<<<<, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36>>>>Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.<<<<<
And here too..
Jesus Faces the Sanhedrin
Mark 14
…61 But Jesus remained silent and made no reply. Again the high priest questioned Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 “I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 At this, the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “Why do we need any more witnesses?…
He is arraigned as a criminal, standing in the midst of the chief priests and scribes,his bitter enemies; and it is AS THOUGH he said, "You, O Caiaphas, and you the chief priests and elders of the Jews, are now unjustly condemning me as a false prophet and a false Christ; but the day is at hand when I, who am now a prisoner at your judgment seat, shall sit on the throne of glory as the Judge of you and of all mankind. You are now about to condemn me to the death of the cross; but I shall then sit in judgment upon you, and condemn you for this terrible guilt of slaying me, who am the true God and the Judge of the world."
Do we agree that Y'shua is coming in judgement on those who said :
John 19:15
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
…14 It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, about the sixth hour. And Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” 15 At this, they shouted, “Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!” “Shall I crucify your King?” Pilate asked.>>>>> “We have no king but Caesar,” <<<<<replied the chief priests. 16 Then Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified, and the soldiers took Him away.…
And one more to seal it from Our Creator's own lips:
Mt 24
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
…33 So also, when you see all these things, you will know that He is near, right at the door. 34Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
So Israel was a w h o r e with Rome, piggy backing on it, demanding crucifixion of their true King which they did not receive. (see Revelation17- W h o r e on the Beast drinking blood of the martyrs.
4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5 and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 And I saw the woman >>>>drunken with the blood of the saints<<<<, and with the >>>blood of the martyrs<< of Jesus:
Remember Y'shua saying:
Mt 23
Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
Ok, hopefully you have grasped this.
Because I want to break down all 7 plagues and show it happened in the 1st century. It will take a while to put together so stay tuned.
The seven heads are SEVEN MOUNTAINS, on which the woman sitteth. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
The waters which thou sawest, where the w h o r e sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall HATE the w h o r e, and shall make her DESOLATE and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and BURN HER WITH FIRE.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that GREAT CITY, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
Jerusalem's seven hills are Mount Scopus, Mount Olivet and the Mount of Corruption (all three are peaks in a mountain ridge that lies east of the Old City), Mount Ophel, the original Mount Zion, the New Mount Zion and the hill on which the Antonia Fortress was built.
Rome geographically features seven hills: Esquiline, Palatine, Aventine, Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, and Caelian Hill.
So each has 7 hills. Interesting!
Luke 19:41-44 21st Century King James Version (KJ21)
41 And when He had come near, He beheld the CITY and wept over it,
42 saying, “If thou had known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which must be for thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes.
43 For the days shall come upon thee that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee around, and keep thee in on every side.
44 And they shall lay thee even with the ground and >>>thy children within thee<<<; and they>>> shalt not leave in thee one stone upon another<<<<, because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.”
Luke. 23:28-31
Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days ARE coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never gave suck!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’; and to the hills, ‘Cover us’. For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Mt 24
The Abomination of Desolation (spoken of by Daniel the Prophet according to y'shua)
…18 And let no one in the field return for his cloak. 19 How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not occur in the winter or on the Sabbath.…
Is the puzzle coming together? Some are blind so I ask.
**WE ARE ALL WAITING FOR THE NEW HEAVEN THE NEW EARTH AND THE ETERNAL NEW JERUSALEM**!!
Hebrews 12:26-28: God says, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens. The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken--that is created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a *KINGDOM* that can not be shaken let us be thankful...for our God is a consuming fire!
2 Peter 3:10-13: But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will **DISAPPEAR** with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and *EVERYTHING* in it will be burned up. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you {**CHURCH SAINTS*} wait eagerly for the Day of God to come. That Day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with His promise **WE** {Excluding the Preterists and the RC church} are looking forward to a New heavens and a New Earth, the home of righteousness.
I Corinthians 15:50--51: I declare to you brothers, that flesh and blood CANNOT INHERIT the *KINGDOM OF GOD*... Listen I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet."
John 18:36: Jesus says, "My *KINGDOM* IS NOT OF THIS WORLD**....But now, my Kingdom is from another place!!"
Matthew 25:31-34: Jesus says, "When the Son of Man comes in His glory , and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another..He will put the sheep on the right and the goats on His left. Then the King will say to those on His right, "Come you who are blessed of My Father, take your inheritance, the *KINGDOM* prepared for you!!"
**WE** ARE ALL WAITING FOR THE NEW EARTH, THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE HEAVENLY NEW JERUSALEM!!
Revelation 21:1-5: Then I saw a **NEW HEAVEN* and a **NEW EARTH**, for the {present} first heaven and first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the **NEW JERUSALEM**, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making **EVERYTHING NEW**!" Then He said, "Write this down, for these words are TRUSTWORTHY and TRUE!"
Hebrews 11:13-16: All these people {Abraham, Sarah Isaac, Jacob, Noah etc} were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were looking for a BETTER COUNTRY--a HEAVENLY ONE. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a *CITY* (The *NEW JERUSALEM*} for them!!
Galatians 4:25,26: Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the **JERUSALEM** that is **ABOVE** is free, and she is our MOTHER !!
The New Jerusaem is described in Revelation 21:9 to Revelation 22:5. The New Jerusalem will be 12,000 stadia long, high and wide as per Revelation 21:16. A stadia is 606 feet long which is the exact same length as the ancient Greek stadium. 606 feet times 12,000 equals 7,272,000 feet which is 1377 miles plus 1,440 feet. A mile is exactly 5,280 feet. {1377 times 5,280 feet equal 7,270,560 feet.} And so the New Jerusalem will be exactly 1377 miles plus 1,440 feet long, wide and high!!
Revelation 21:9-12,15-16,19,23,27; Revelation 22:1-6: The angel said to John, “Come, I will show you the Bride the Wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from from God It shone like the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel. It had a great high wall {1377 miles plus 1,440 feet HIGH!} with 12 gates, and with 12 angels at the gates.
The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the City, its gates and its walls. The City was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the City with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia {A Stadia is exactly 606 feet} in length, and as wide and high as it is long. {1377 miles plus 1,440 feet long, wide and high} The wall was made of Jasper, and the City of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone....... The great street of the City was of pure gold, like transparent glass...... Only those written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be able to enter the New Jerusalem!
Revelation 22:1-5: Then the angel showed me the river of the Water of Life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb {Jesus} down the middle of the great street of the City. On each side of the river stood the Tree of Life, bearing 12 crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month... The throne of God and of the **LAMB** will be in the City, and his servants will serve Him. They will see His face and His name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night!! They will not need the light of the lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign **FOR EVER AND EVER**. The angel said to me, “These words are TRUSTWORTHY and TRUE!!”
JESUS WILL WRITE ON US THE NAME OF THE CITY OF GOD THE **NEW JERUSALEM**!!
Revelation 2:18; 3:12,21: Jesus says, "To him who overcomes I will give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it... I will write on him the name of the City of My God, the **NEW JERUSALEM**, which is coming down out of heaven from My God....And I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne."
According to Revelation 22:3 the only 2 thrones in the **NEW JERUSALEM** will be the thrones of the **FATHER** and of the **LAMB** Jesus Christ.
1- Rev 16 gives us 7 judgments that will be poured out on the people that worship the beast. When in history do you find all 7 in a short span of time?
All the plagues afflicted Rome and Israel during the first four years of the Jewish war. The incense bowls turn into blood offerings. The Priests pour out bowls to the Lord. Y'shua referred to wine as his blood. In Genesis 49:11 and Deuteronomy 32:14 its called the >>>blood of the grape.<<<< The Israelites took credit for his death shouting "His blood be on us and on our children! Matthew 27:23-25 This symbolic pouring of blood may be on the people responsible for his death as Peter had told them later that they had killed Y'shua, the one God made Lord and Christ Acts 2:36
Rev 16:1
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”
Matthew 23:35 (AKJV)
35 that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
This may have taken place in A.D. 66 during Pentecost as it was customary for drink offerings to be poured out. See (Numbers 28:7; 28:31).
The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.
The word translated sores in v. 2 is plege (play-gay) which means “a blow, wound (Strong’s Definition: a blow, wound
Usage: a blow, stripe, wound; an affliction, plague.”. Thus the sores of v. 2 need not have been fulfilled in a literal disease. It is perhaps more likely that these sores were wounds caused by various blows inflicted upon the Jewish elite by their enemies the Zealots during the Jewish War. This physical molestation of the rich by their Zealot enemies appears to have occurred with some regularity from A.D. 66 to A.D. 70.
Of course take into account pestilence from dead bodies.
3 The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.
The Sea of Galilee was bloody . In describing the tragedy at Taricheae, Josephus echoes the point made in v. 3 that everyone in the sea died.
The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.
There was a massacre at the Jordan river as well as the Sea of Galillee.Many Jews fleeing from Gadara were cornered by the Romans at the Jordan River. Here a great massacre ensued. Regarding the aftermath, Josephus writes that the “Jordan could not be passed over, by reason of the dead bodies that were in it, but because the lake Asphatitis [the Dead Sea] was also full of dead bodies, that were carried down into it by the river.
The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. 9 They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control of these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
Josephus says that many died from intense heat that summer and there were many fires ignited by the Romans with them burning cities and surrounding areas throughout the course of the Jewish war.
Revelation 9:17-21: The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. A **THIRD OF MANKIND WAS KILLED** {Did this take place in AD 70??} by the 3 plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths!! The rest of mankind tat was not killed by 3 plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands, They did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze stone and wood--idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts!!
The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony 11and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
The beast, Nero, and his kingdom, Rome, are “plunged into darkness” is a Biblical metaphor of the beast being cast into the dark underworld of the dead
“plunged into darkness” is a symbolic expression of the death of the beast of Revelation.
The fifth trumpet and bowl span the year of the four emperors between the death of Nero, the sixth wounded head of Revelation 13:3, and the rise of Vespasian and the Flavian Dynasty. As a result of its wounded head representing the death of its king Nero, the Roman leviathan suffers a fatal injury, an injury in which Rome did not revive until the fall of Jerusalem and the rise of Vespasian. The rise of Vespasian and the Flavians represents the resurrection of the beast. The resurrection of the beast is depicted in the fifth trumpet of Revelation 9:1-12. Upon Vespasian’s coronation, both Vespasian and Titus were simultaneously granted the title Caesar. Immediately after Vespasian and Titus’ coronation as Caesar, Apollyon representing Titus, the second Caesar of the Flavian Dynasty and the general of the 15th Apollonian Legion, rises out of the Abyss.
The fall of Babylon was a direct result of the drying-up of the Euphrates to allow for the passage of the kings of the east, the Persians, in 539 B.C.
Both Sohaemus and Antiochus ruled kingdoms in eastern Turkey which was also the eastern edge of the Roman Empire. King Sohaemus ruled the kingdom of Sophene on the east bank of the Euphrates between Cappadocia and Armenia. Antiochus was the king of Commagene on the west bank of the Euphrates. These kings of the east offered their military and leadership to aid in the defeat of Jerusalem. In addition to the two kings mentioned above, three thousand Roman soldiers drawn from the legions guarding the Euphrates also reinforced Titus’ army on its road to Jerusalem. Thus the fall of Jerusalem, spiritual Babylon, mirrored the fall of ancient, historical Babylon: both cities having been conquered, at least in part, by the crossing of their enemies over the Euphrates.
The title “kings of the east” also appears to be an implicit reference to Babylon, the empire directly east of Israel that conquered Judah in the sixth century B.C.
Jerusalem is called Babylon in Revelation because she had an adulterous affair with Rome. This affair is symbolized in Revelation 17 as a prostitute sitting on a seven-headed beast. The seven-headed beast is Rome. The prostitute sitting on the beast is Jerusalem.
According to 1 Corinthians 6:16: “The one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her. For He says, “The two shall become one flesh.”
Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
According to the Roman historians Tacitus and Cassius Dio during Vespasian’s stay in Alexandria, a blind man and a man with a withered hand fell at the emperor’s feet begging to be healed. They claimed to have been told to do so by the god Serapis. Initially reluctant, Vespasian gave in to the fervent pleas of the surrounding crowd. Then according to these historians, Vespasian spit on the eyes of the blind man and stepped on the hand of the cripple, healing both men. Recording this miracle, Tacitus writes:
With a smiling expression and surrounded by an expectant crowd of bystanders, he [Vespasian] did what was asked. Instantly the cripple recovered the use of his hand and the light of day dawned again upon his blind companion.
This event is also recorded by the first century historian Suetonius in Lives of the Twelve Caesars 10.7.
During this period, called the year of the four Caesars, there were a multitude of recorded signs and miracles
At the entrance to the Capitol, it was said, the reins of the chariot in which Victory rides had slipped from her grasp; an apparition of superhuman size had suddenly emerged from the Chapel of Juno; on a sunny, windless day the statue of Julius Caesar on the Tiber Island had turned round so as to face east instead of west [symbolizing the fact that Vespasian who was in Judea to the east would supplant Vitellius from the west]; an ox had spoken in Etruria; there had been monstrous animal births and numerous signs and wonders[ Fearing a short reign ending with assassination, Vespasian arrived at the temple where he petitioned the god as to the length of his reign.
Interestingly, Vespasian did seemingly die of natural causes and was, in fact, succeeded by his son Titus.
Evil omens occurred. A comet was seen, and the moon, contrary to precedent, appeared to suffer two eclipses, being obscured on the fourth and on the seventh day. Also people saw two suns at once, one in the west weak and pale, and one in the east brilliant and powerful. On the Capitol many huge footprints were seen, presumably of some spirits that had descended from it. The soldiers who slept there on the night in question said that the temple of Jupiter had opened of itself with great clangour and that some of the guards had been so terrified that they fainted. At the same time that this happened Vespasian, who was engaged in warfare with the Jews, learned of the rebellion of Vitellis and of Otho and was deliberating what he should do.”
The Roman Kings, Generals and their Armies Assembled Near Mt. Megiddo before Attacking Jerusalem. The Hebrew for Armageddon Literally Means “Mountain of [Gathering] Troops.”
“Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.” Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
The Roman kings, generals and their armies gathered in the coastal city of Caesarea immediately before marching south to attack Jerusalem in A.D. 70.35 Caesarea is about eight miles east of Mt. Carmel, and Mt. Carmel is clearly visible from Caearea. Through this region ran a highway where goods were traded between Egypt, Asia Minor and the Middle East. This highway passed near Caesarea and continued northeast along the edge of Mt. Carmel through the Valley of Jezreel.36 Given the close proximity of the city of Caesarea and the valley of Megiddo, perhaps the mountain of Megiddo is the city of Caesarea itself? Throughout the Bible there are tons of examples in which mountains mean cities (Psalms 2:6; 48:1; Isaiah 66:20; Jeremiah 51:25; and Joel 3:17). It is interesting to note that Jezreel Valley where Mt. Megiddo is located and the Roman army met before beginning their siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was called “the great plain of Legio (meaning Legion)” after the second Jewish revolt (A.D. 132-35)
After the contents of this bowl are released into the sky, a thunderstorm and earthquake hit the city of Jerusalem, and shortly thereafter Rome began its attack. As stated earlier, Jerusalem is prophetically called Babylon throughout much of Revelation. The fall of this great city begins in the following verses: The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 Then there came flashes of lightening, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on the earth, so tremendous was the quake.Josephus describes an almost supernatural thunderstorm and earthquake that hit Jerusalem simultaneously before the arrival of Titus’ army. Concerning this event Josephus writes:For there broke out a prodigious storm in the night, with the utmost violence, and very strong winds, with the largest showers of rain, with continual lightnings, terrible thunderings, and amazing concussions and bellowings of the earth, that was in an earthquake. These things were a manifest indication that some destruction was coming upon men, when the system of the world was put into this disorder; and anyone would guess that these wonders foreshadowed some grand calamities that were comingThe great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.Revelation 16:19 says that Babylon split into three parts. In A.D. 69, Jewish refugees from the surrounding cities that had been destroyed during Vespasian’s campaign fled to Jerusalem to make their last stand. Shortly after the thunderstorm mentioned above a three-way civil war erupted.first century Jerusalem, outside of the Temple fortress, was literally divided into three parts by fortified walls just prior to the Jewish War. These walls were built to progressively encapsulate a city that continually grew over the centuries.
While Jerusalem was torn in three parts by civil war, the rest of Rome suffered the same fate. In A.D. 69, Rome underwent a similar three-way civil war in which Galba, Otho and Vitellius pitted the Roman legions against each other. When one Caesar seized the throne, his rule was contested by a rival aristocrat who also declared himself Caesar. During that year, Rome was ruled by four Caesars leaving three Caesars dead. Like a wildfire, civil war spread throughout Rome destroying many cities and threatening to collapse the empire. Hence, the cities of the nations also collapsed, as indicated in v. 19. The fact that the cities of the nations are said to collapse in v. 19 may also refer to all the cities of Judaea which fell to the Romans during the Jewish War prior to the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The fall of some of these cities were mentioned specifically by the previous plagues.Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. Isaiah 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. Many of the mountains or cities of Israel and Rome would be entirely demolished. Josephus describes cities so thoroughly destroyed by the Romans that virtually nothing remained. Concerning the destruction of Idumea, Josephus writes, “There was no sign remaining of those places that had been laid waste, that ever they had had a being.” The purpose of v. 20 is to illustrate the fact that after the war, the land, left desolate, would resemble the earth at its creation in Genesis 1:2, a water world without form, void and barren–thus, setting the stage for its renewal in Revelation 21:1 as the new Jerusalem.
Like I have been saying! The end from the beginning!!
Isaiah 46:10
>>>>Declaring the end from the beginning<<<<<<, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
