Unraveling Revelation

The entity called Lucifer may not be who we think he is. We continue our discussion of the Day of the Lord in Isaiah with a look at the king of Babylon in Isaiah 13 and 14. We explain why Babylon may not mean the city made famous by Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar, and why Lucifer, a translation of the Hebrew Helen Ben Shachar (“Lightbringer son of Dawn”) may actually be the rebel Watcher chief Shemi...

Eclipses have been interpreted as a bad omen throughout history. In recent years, so-called “blood moons” have been taken as a sign of the imminent Apocalypse. We explore the Bible’s references to darkness during the Day of the Lord, the time during the Great Tribulation when God unleashes His wrath on an unrepentant world. (Don’t let the next lunar eclipse spook you. A lot of things have to happe...

Isaiah prophesied a terrifying scenario for the Day of the Lord, when God finally executes His judgment on an unrepentant world. Many Bible teachers interpret Isaiah 13:3–10 as referring to Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans of Babylon, who would destroy the Temple in 586 BC, more than a century after Isaiah’s prophecy. We explain why we believe this is also an unfulfilled prophecy of a supernatural...

Our study of the Day of the Lord continues in Isaiah 2 with a look at an entity known to the Hebrew prophets, Pachad—a name that’s translated into English as “terror.” We discuss Pachad, his role in history and in God’s plan for the end times, and other entities like him that have been buried in our English Bibles under words like “hail,” “plague,” “pestilence,” and “thunderbolts.”

We begin a study of the prophesied Day of the Lord with the Isaiah, who had more to say about the day of God’s final judgment than any of the Hebrew prophets. This week, we show how Isaiah coined a term usually translated into English as “idols,” but it’s derived from the name of the chief god of Mesopotamia, Enlil.

The prophet Amos warned the leaders of Israel not to desire the prophesied Day of the Lord because “it is darkness, and not light”—especially since Israel had begun to worship Sikkuth (the Mesopotamian god Ninurta) and “Kiyyun your star-god”, both represented in the sky by Saturn.

The “shepherd prophet” Amos had a warning for the northern kingdom of Israel: Be careful of what you wish for, especially when it’s God’s judgment.

The resurrection of the Two Witnesses 3-1/2 years into the seven-year Tribulation is followed by the sounding of the seventh trumpet, heralding the restoration of God’s kingdom on earth. Revelation 11:15 inspired George Frideric Handel to compose “The Hallelujah Chorus.” Derek gets emotional, and Sharon notes the parallels between Rev. 11:18 and Psalm 2:1–6—God’s response to the vain plots of the...

After three and a half years of tormenting the world with the gospel, the Beast is allowed to kill the two witnesses. But they don’t stay dead long. We discuss the significance of the 3-1/2 days the witnesses lie in the street, the earthquake that accompanies their resurrection, and why those who survive the quake give glory to God.

The letters from Jesus to the seven churches not only described conditions among those bodies of believers at the end of the 1st century AD, they also outline the history of the Christian church from the Resurrection through today. Also: Why the temple of Apollo on the island of Patmos is significant.

Moses and Elijah were present at the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Hermon. We explain why that’s significant and how it relates to the role of the Two Witnesses in Revelation 11.

A number of Hebrew prophets foretold destruction for the Philistines. We briefly discuss several of those prophecies and explain why the one in Isaiah 14 is unique. We also discuss the possibility that the events in Israel and Gaza since the end of Ramadan could be a precursor to a wider regional war—possibly the Psalm 83 war described by prophecy teacher Bill Salus.

The battle of Armageddon will be fought at, and for, Jerusalem. We explain how a mistake in transliterating led to the belief that Armageddon would be at Megiddo, why Jerusalem makes more sense than Megiddo, and why the “serpent” in Eden was not a talking snake.

Research for other projects leads us into unexpected territory this week: We discuss the strange connections between St. George, the patron saint of England, and mythical/supernatural characters “Green George,” the Green Man, Osiris, Kronos, and al-Khidr (or al-Khadir), a revered figure in Islam who is sometimes equated with the prophet Elijah, who we believe will be one of the two witnesses of Re...

This week, we explain why we think Moses and Elijah are the prophesied Two Witnesses of Revelation 11. We dig a little deeper into the Balaam Inscription that we discussed last week, and we highlight the connections between the Plains of Moab, Mount Hermon, and ancient Sodom, along with a prophecy from the Book of Malachi, that point to Elijah and Moses as the two dynamic prophets of the end times...

The king of Moab hired Balaam son of Beor to curse Israel. Instead, he blessed the Israelites, foretold the coming of Messiah, and spoke a cryptic prophecy of the ultimate death of the sons of the Titans. We also discuss the Balaam Inscription, a text found in 1967 at Deir Alla, Jordan that confirms Balaam as a historical character.

Several of the Old Testament prophets had harsh words for Israel’s cousins and next door neighbors, Edom. We look at Ezekiel 35 and the Book of Obadiah as more examples of “already but not yet” prophecies, fulfilled in the 6th century BC by Babylon and again during the end times.

Ezekiel 37:1–14 prophesies the return of Israel to the land, but it’s much more than that. We explain why this is a prophecy of God’s ultimate victory over the giants of the pre-Flood world, and why Ezekiel’s Valley of Dry Bones was probably the area between Mount Hermon and the Sea of Galilee.

A close examination of Ezekiel 31 reveals that it’s not just about Assyria, the nation, but Ashur, the chief god of the Assyrian pantheon, an entity connected to the Watchers of Genesis 6 and the things from the Abyss in Revelation 9.

We continue with Ezekiel’s tour of the underworld and explain why the “mighty chiefs” in the midst of Sheol are the Nephilim, the giants of Genesis 6.

Ezekiel gives us the most detailed description of Sheol, the Hebrew term for the underworld. This week, we discuss Ezekiel’s description of Pharaoh as a lion and a dragon, the Mesopotamian concept of dragons, and how the prophet’s description of the Egyptian king is connected to Mesopotamian creation stories and the Bible’s chaos-dragon, Leviathan.

The letters from Jesus to the seven churches not only described conditions among those bodies of believers at the end of the 1st century AD, they also outline the history of the Christian church from the Resurrection through today. Also: Why the temple of Apollo on the island of Patmos is significant.

One of the burdens of being a prophet is seeing things you would rather not. This week, we discuss Ezekiel’s vision of pagan worship inside the Temple in Jerusalem.

The prophets John and Ezekiel were commanded to eat scrolls that were as sweet as honey in their mouths. We discuss the reasons for the seemingly odd request, the differences between the effects the scrolls had on the prophets, and we take a brief look at temple measurements and whether the visions of John and Ezekiel were of the same temple.

A powerful angel appears before the blowing of the seventh trumpet with a voice like a lion’s roar. When he calls out, seven thunders sound—but we don’t know to this day what they said. We discuss the angel and the books in heaven, including one in which every one of your days has been written.