govern point

Yonder Mtn. String Band provides a great way to look at the Devil and the saving of the soul. Not sure they meant it this way, but it play wells and my kids dig it.

About apocalyptic writings:

Revelation is the final entry in the bible – basic the whole world ends art. It describes a coming period of great danger, destruction, and transition. “The apocalypse…used a symbolic or allegorical language to convey the message about the imminent End…Christian apocalypses are thoroughly frightening for the sadistic punishments inflicted on the inhabitants of hell, for the inventions of extreme torture and dismemberment. The descriptions of Heaven are scarcely less awesome, with pictures of angel servants in the Heavens, singing eternal hymns of praise to a bejeweled Lord whose face is too bright to be perceived.”

Apocalyptic literature has been found throughout the Middle East. The first examples of this theme is found in the ancient writings of Babylon and Persia. According to theologian and author Tom Harpur, “British orientalist Gerald Massey wrote that Revelation itself…is really a Christian version of the Mithraic apocalypse ‘Bahman Yasht.’ Massey says the latter has the same drama drawn out as in Revelation and that all ancient Parsee or Persian sacred books referred to the original scriptures as apocalypses.” 2

Apocalyptic literature typically includes a number of concepts:

• Time is divided into 2 ages: the present age is ruled by Satan and his demons and the age to come will be ruled by God.
• the transition will occur very quickly
• the end of the present age will happen in the very near future
• the transition will include wars, plagues, famine, earthquakes and other natural disasters
• A general resurrection of the dead.
• A final judgment.
• Satan’s supporters will be annihilated.
• God’s supporters will enter a period of peace and happiness.

The first suggestions of an apocalypse within the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) is found in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, and  Micah. They discussed the coming “day of Yahweh.” Many dozens of apocalyptic books appeared during the period 165 BCE to the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 CE. One well known example is the “War Scroll” found among the Dead Sea Scrolls and probably written by the Essenes.  Another example is preserved in the Hebrew Scriptures as the book of Daniel.

Old Testament Apocalyptic Literature: The Book of Daniel

Chapters 1 to 6 describe Daniel’s interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream; the attempted execution of Daniel’s three friends in the fiery furnace; the handwriting on the wall of King Belshazzar’s banquet hall, Daniel survival in the den of lions, and Belshazzar’s feast. Chapters 7 to 12 describe a series of visions that he experienced: a dream about  4 beasts (a lion with eagles’ wings, bear, leopard, and a terrible beast); a vision of a ram and  goat; a prayer of confession to and trust in God, and a momentous vision of Israel’s future, leading to the end of the age.

Conservative Christians generally believe that Daniel was captured by the Babylonians circa 605 BCE, spent the rest of his life in Babylon, and wrote the book circa 540 BCE. Much conservative Christian prophecy concerning the second coming of Christ is based upon this book and in particular upon King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and Daniel’s dream of 4 beasts. The four empires in both dreams refer to the Empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. The Roman Empire exists in two parts. The first is the historical Roman Empire which has faded from the scene. The second phase has not yet risen to power; its foundation can be seen in the European Common Market. As we approach the year 2000 CE, many sermons by conservative Christians interpret the book of Daniel as predicting the end of the world as we know it. This book is one of the most important books in the Hebrew Scriptures to Evangelical Christians, next to Genesis.

Liberal Christians generally believe that the book of Daniel was written by an unknown person circa 169 BCE. It was based on stories probably transmitted orally from the time of the Babylonian exile until the 2nd century BCE. The 4 beasts in Daniel’s dream (Chapter 7) refer to 4 ancient civilizations:

• the lion/eagle vision is a blending of the most powerful land animal and the most powerful bird; it represented King Nebuchadnezzar’s Neo-Babylonian empire.
• The bear represented the Median Empire.
• The leopard is the Persian Empire.
• The terrible beast represents the Seleucid Empire.

Since the book was written after the rise of the final empire, the author had the advantage of hindsight; the book is a history of past events, not prophecy of the future.