Beast Sea

  One of our readers said, “As I read through your blog … I was struck to ask you one single question—so what?” We began our response in our last post (here). Our prophetic model—inmillennialism—makes a difference in five categories: Vision, Apologetics, Legacy, Understanding, and Experience. That post addressed the…

Revelation’s fourth vision—that of Seven Mystic Figures (Rev. 12:1–14:20)—ends without a full resolution. We have seen six of the seven figures. John has revealed the destiny of the Man-Child; he is in heaven on his throne (Rev. 12:5). The Lamb is on Mount Zion (Rev. 14:1). However, John will not reveal…

Our application of inmillennialism to this section of Revelation (Rev. 14:1–5) introduces the sixth mystic figure in this vision—the Lamb on Mount Zion (Rev. 14:1). The Dragon (Satan) has attempted to destroy the Man-Child (Christ) at his birth (Rev. 12:4; cp. Matt. 2:16). When the Man-Child ascended to heaven (Rev.…

We now come face-to-face with an evil triad. The Seven Mystic Figures vision has already revealed the Dragon (Rev. 12:3–17) and the Sea Beast (Rev. 13:1–10). Now John introduces us to the Land Beast (Rev. 13:11–18). “This second beast completes the triumvirate of evil—the dragon, the sea beast, and the…

We need to chat about prophetic beasts. Our interpretation of Revelation using the inmillennial model requires it. They will play a major role in the rest of Revelation’s drama. In an earlier post, we saw how the Seven Mystic Figures vision describes the generation between Jesus’s birth and the destruction of the…

666 conjures up mystical images of evil. That fact that 666 is the sum of the numbers on a roulette wheel, or that the Aryan Brotherhood uses it in tattoos, or that Apple, Inc. used it as the name of a wicked computer virus does not surprise us. Many Christians…

This post deals with the “two witnesses” John describes in Revelation 11. We are publishing it on Oct. 31, 2017. This day marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg. This act started the Protestant Reformation. We will recognize this historic…

In this post, we continue applying our prophetic model—inmillennialism—to John’s third vision in which he hears seven trumpets. The sixth trumpet and the following interlude pose several difficulties. Speaking of Revelation 11, which describes this part of the vision, Alan F. Johnson says: Some have considered this chapter one of…

God loves order and design. He often uses structure and repetition in his creation. The palm tree in this image is an example of both. As we apply inmillennialism to the book of Revelation, we see the structure God used. He instructed John to “write the things that thou hast…

John the Baptist was a metaphorical civil engineer. Isaiah had predicted his construction of a divinely ordained highway. He would cry out “in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Isa. 40:3; Matt. 3:3). The Baptist prepared the…