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
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/)