The Book of Revelation

“The book known by the name of the Apocalypse, has seemed to be until now unintelligible, merely because people persisted to see in it a real prediction of the future, which every one has explained after his own fashion, and in which they have always found what they wanted, namely anything but that, what the book contained.”—Charles François Dupuis (1798)

The thing about the Book of Revelation is once you understand the key to deciphering it it's not very interesting.

The Book of Revelation is just astronomy. It makes numerous references to various constellations in the night sky.

It's all explained in Chapter XII of the rare book The Origin of All Religious Worship by Charles François Dupuis. (1798)[BL75 .D75213] The complete book is available offsite here. Chapter XII starts on page 408.


Revelation 4:7
And the first being was like a lion, and the second being like a calf, and the third being had the face of a man, and the fourth being was like a flying eagle.

"It also represents the SUN going through the four cardinal constellations, which are Leo, Taurus, Aquarius and Scorpio. The cardinal constellations are also the four beasts in the Revelations of St. John the Divine. Rev 4:7 states: "The first beast was like a LION, and the second beast like a CALF, and the third beast had a face as a MAN, and the fourth beast was like a flying EAGLE." In astrology, Leo is a lion, Taurus is a bull/calf, Aquarius is a man pouring water and Scorpio has three symbols, one a scorpion, one an eagle and one a serpent."
 — http://web.archive.org/web/20030214154545/http://www.knowledgefirst.org/freedom/jesus.htm

Zodiac

Thus the Book of Revelation is merely referring to the four seasons of the year and predicting that these four seasons will repeat themselves in the future.

(Also note: Ezekiel 1:10 — “Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a man, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle.")

(See also Robert Taylor's Devil's Pulpit lecture #22 on Mat Thew)


Revelation 4:10
The four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sits on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne.

The 24 Elders represent the 24 hours of the day. —Astral Worship pg. 57


Revelation 12:1
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.

The Gnostic adherents to the ancient solar worship, or those who were conversant with the teachings of the Esoteric philosophy, knowing that the dramatis personæ of the fable of incarnation were pictured with stars upon the azure vault, recognized the woman "clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars," referred to in Revelations xii. 1, as the Virgo of the Zodiac; they also knew that she was the true queen of heaven and mother of God; and that the infant, anciently represented in her arms, and with whom, in their day, she arose on the Eastern horizon at midnight on the 24th of December, was the same of whom the people were taught to sing at Christmas "Unto us a child is born this day." —Astral Worship pg. 41

The Gnostic adherents of the ancient solar worship, knowing that the drama of the incarnation was written in the stars, recognised the woman mentioned in Revelation 12:1 as Virgo of the zodiac. —Larry M. Wright Christianity, Astrology and Myth



Revelation 21:23, 22:5
And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it; for the glory of God gave it light, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

And there shall be no night there, and they will need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light. And they shall reign for ever and ever.

After the organization of a new heaven and a new earth it was taught that upon the latter would descend a beautiful city, with pearly gates and golden streets, called the City of God, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven or New Jerusalem, in which the host of the redeemed would, with their Lord and Saviour, enjoy the Millennium, or thousand years of happiness unalloyed with evil; and such was the Kingdom for the speedy coming of which the votaries of Astral worship were taught to pray in what is known as the Lord's Prayer. According to the teachings of the Allegories, there were to be no sun, moon or stars during the Millennium, their authors having arranged it so that the light of those luminaries would not be needed, as we find recorded in Rev. xxi. 23, and xxii. 5: "The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it," and "there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither the light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light." It must be remembered, when reading the fanciful ideas relative to the City of God, that they were composed by men who, living in a very ignorant age, gave free rein to fervid imaginations. —Astral Worship pg. 78-79

Revelation 22:18-21
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book: If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the Book of Life and out of the Holy City, and from the things which are written in this book. He that testifieth these things saith, "Surely I come quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

"This ending was added by Erasmus, who wrote it himself in Switzerland, in the year 1516."
— Bishop Marsh, vol. 1, page 320. [Quoted from Robert Taylor Syntagma, pg. 77]



“There has neer been a time when the book of Revelation was not discarded by many persons competent to judge. The churches to which it was addressed, those in Asia, are the very ones who rejected it. It was not in the Bibles of the Eastern Christians for more than one thousand five hundred years, and was incorporated into those Bibles less than three centuries ago. Dionysius said that many of the early Christians denounced it as being without sense or reason, and as the forgery of Cerinthus. Dionysius himself did not believe it was written by John the Apostle; he did not know who did write it, although in another place he intimates that Cerinthus did so, and forged John's name to it.”
Bronson C. Keeler A Short History of the Bible (Year: 1881) (References for the quote above are: Euseb., Eccl. Hist., vii. 25, iii. 23, iii 39.)



Russ Hicks’ "Flowchart for the book of Revelation" (http://revelationflowchart.home.comcast.net/)


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