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BREAKDOWN OF BIBLICAL ESCHATOLOGY (LAST DAYS OR END TIMES) ~ WHICH WERE REFERRING TO EVENTS IN THE 1ST CENTURY, NOT A CENTURY THOUSANDS OF YEARS LATER!

(Keep in mind, I am a Christian, as I believe the Bible was written AFTER all these events occurred [POST-DICTION], which made it seem as if Jesus and the disciples were predicting them to happen, when in reality, the events happened FIRST, and then later Christian authors wrote them into the Bible, as if they were being prophesied.

6th century B.C : Daniel 8:26 “Seal up the vision; for it shall be for the distant future.”

1st century A.D : Revelation 22:10 “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.”

In Daniel 8, it was describing the little horn who would come out of the 3rd of 4 kingdoms, which we know was Greece. The Little horn or ‘stern faced king’ was speaking of Antiochus Epiphanes IV (the big horn was Alexander the Great). Upon claiming the Seleucid throne, Antiochus compelled his subjects to worship the Greek god Zeus. The Greek king then sent a large army to Jerusalem in order to enforce his will. And as a result, the Greeks put an end to temple sacrifice for just over three years before the reconsecration of the temple by a rebel Israelite army in 164 B.C. That year Antiochus Epiphanes died of illness or accident. “Destroyed but not by human power,” he died in Tabae in Persia. Between the time of Daniel’s vision and the death of Antiochus Epiphanes there were approximately 387 years, yet God said that this was the distant future from when He gave that vision to Daniel. If 387 years was considered a ‘DISTANT FUTURE’ by God when He told Daniel to seal up the vision, then how can we conclude that God meant over 2,000 years when He told John not to seal up the prophecy, since it’s time was “NEAR”?

The author of the book of Hebrews told believers not to forsake the gathering together (Hebrews 10:25). But we must put this in context. If you read Acts chapter 2 and Acts chapter 4, you’ll see that the Church in Jerusalem met together DAILY in each other’s homes and in the temple at times too. They were all awaiting Christ’s return in their own lifetime, which is why the verse ends by saying “As you see the DAY (Second Coming of Christ) is NEAR (approaching). It was meant to be a daily thing, not just once or twice a week, because the DAY was imminent. (Read Hebrews 3:13 as well)

Look at the IMMINENCE of these statements. Also notice the AUDIENCE RELEVANCE.

In Revelation 1:3 John said the time was NEAR! In Revelation 3:11 Jesus told them to hold on to what they had, because he was coming SOON! He says it over and over again all throughout Revelation. (Revelation 16:15, Revelation 22:7 ; Revelation 22:12). John was writing to 7 real churches in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). He was speaking to them! Hold on! I’m coming QUICKLY! I’m coming SOON! I’m coming WITHOUT DELAY (Hebrews 10:37).

In Matthew 24:14 Jesus said the gospel would be preached throughout the WHOLE WORLD, then the end (of the age) would come.

COMPARE TO : (Colossians 1:6 ; 1:23 ; Romans 10:18 ; Acts 2:5).

The Apostle Paul said that the gospel had already been preached from one end of heaven to the other, while he (Paul) himself was alive! Read below :

Colossians 1:6 ; 1:23 “…the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world–just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.” (end)

Jesus told His disciples that He was coming back a 2nd time before His 12 disciples had gone through the cities of Israel (Matthew 10:23).

Jesus said He would come back a 2nd time before some of His 12 disciples tasted physical death (Matthew 16:27-28).

Jesus said He would come back before His own generation passed away (Matthew 24:29-34)

Jesus said He would come on the clouds of heaven (Matthew 26:64).

This wasn’t the first time we see an illustration of the Lord riding into a place on the clouds. In Isaiah 19:1 it said that the LORD WOULD RIDE INTO EGYPT ON A ***SWIFT CLOUD.*** Isaiah walked around naked for 3 years a sign and parable (metaphor / figure of speech) to Egypt and Cush, that they would be ‘stripped’ of their freedom and taken as slaves (Isaiah 20:3-5). This prophecy was fulfilled by the Assyrian King Sennacherib, but it took place around 701BC.

In Sennacherib’s annals for the year B.C. 701, twelve years after this prophecy was given, we find the following passage: “The kings of Egypt, and the archers, chariots, and horsemen of the King of Meroe, a force without number, gathered and came to the aid of Ekron. In the neighborhood of Eltekeh their ranks were arrayed before me, and they urged on their soldiers. In the service of Asshur, my lord, I fought with them, and I accomplished their overthrow. The charioteers and sons of the kings of Egypt, and the charioteers of the King of Meres, alive in the midst of the battle, my hand captured” (G. Smith, ‘Eponym Canon,’ pp. 133, 134).

Young and old. The intermixture of young and old, of full-grown males with women leading children by the hand or carrying them upon the shoulder, in the Assyrian sculptures, strikes us even on the most cursory inspection of them. Naked and barefoot. Assyrian captives are ordinarily represented “barefoot.” Most commonly they wear a single tunic, reaching from the neck to the knees, or sometimes to the ankles, and girt about the waist with a girdle. It is probable that Egyptian and Ethiopian prisoners would be even more scantily clad, since the ordinary Egyptian tunic began at the waist and ended considerably above the knee.

Ezekiel 30:3-4 said this about Egypt’s judgment around a hundred years later, “For the day is near, THE DAY OF THE LORD IS NEAR, a day of CLOUDS, a time of doom for the nations. A sword will come against Egypt, and anguish will come upon Cush. When the slain fall in Egypt, her wealth will be carried away and her foundations torn down.” (end)

This was already fulfilled through King Nebuchadnezzar in 605BC (read Ezekiel 30:10), yet it was known as THE DAY OF THE LORD and a day of CLOUDS.

. The ‘Cloud’ illustration was simply talking about the Lord coming into a place (invisibly/moving behind the scenes) to conduct JUDGMENT. The same way He conducted judgment upon Egypt in 701BC through the Assyrians and the Assyrian King Sennacherib (and then again in 605AD with Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar against Egypt), is the same way He conducted judgment upon Jerusalem in 70AD through the Romans, by coming on a cloud with his angels and chariots.

Roman Historian Tacitus, said this, in regards to what took place before the Romans attacked Jerusalem in 66-67AD (Histories book 5, verse 13) below:

“..In the sky appeared a vision of armies in conflict, of glittering armour. A sudden lightning flash from the clouds lit up the Temple. The doors of the holy place abruptly opened, a superhuman voice was heard to declare that the gods were leaving it, and in the same instant came the rushing tumult of their departure. Few people placed a sinister interpretation upon this. The majority were convinced that the ancient scriptures of their priests alluded to the present as the very time when the Orient would triumph and from Judaea would go forth men destined to rule the world.”

Jewish Historian Josephus said this before the Romans attacked Jerusalem in 66-67AD:

“Besides these [signs], a few days after that feast, on the one- and-twentieth day of the month Artemisius, [Jyar,] a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared; I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armour were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities. Moreover, at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner [court of the] temple, as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that, in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, ‘Let us remove hence.'” (Jewish Wars, book 6, chapter 5, verse 3).

In 65AD, there was a comet and a star in the shape of a sword, which stood over Jerusalem for an entire year. In 66AD, Historians Josephus and Tacitus reported that there were chariots and armies of soldiers (angels) running around in the sky above Israel. This correlated to what Jesus said about ‘SIGNS IN THE SKY.’ In Luke 21:11 Jesus said, “…..and there will be terrifying and great miraculous signs from heaven.”

Also, proper Biblical Eschatology would’ve already had Satan and his minions destroyed in the Lake of Fire by the end of the 1st Century (Paul said in Romans 16:20 that Satan would shortly be destroyed under their feet).

The Anti-Christ 666 Beast was Nero Caesar (Roman Emperor from 54-68AD). His name added up to 600-60-6 (666) in Hebrew Gematria. His name also added up to 616 in Latin, which was the number for the Beast in St. Jerome’s Latin Vulgate version.

Roman Historian Suetonius wrote ‘Lives of the Twelve Caesars.’ He describes Nero ‘acting’ very much like a ‘beast.’

“Nero created a game, in which they put an animal cloak (BEAST outfit) on Nero and then put Nero in a cage.
While Nero was in the cage, they tied boys and girls up to a stake. They released Nero from the cage and Nero ravaged them and mauled them (mainly their genitals) as if he were a wild animal or BEAST.”

Nero also claimed to be the Sun God Apollo and forced everyone in the world to burn a pinch of incense between their fingers and throw it on an altar (leaving a ‘MARK’ in their hand). Then they had to declare with their mouth ‘CAESAR IS LORD.’ Upon doing this, you were given a Libellus, which was a papyrus certificate you needed in order to ‘BUY AND SELL.’

Apollonius of Tyana (15-100AD ; Greek Philosopher) specifically states that Nero Caesar was called a ‘Beast.’

Apollonius writes, “In my travels, which have been wider than every man yet accomplished, I have seen many, many wild beasts of Arabia and India; but this beast, that is commonly called a Tyrant, I know not how many heads it has, nor if it be crooked of claw, and armed with horrible fangs.. And of wild beasts you cannot say that they were ever known to eat their own mother, but Nero has gorged himself on this diet.”

Slavery in Rome existed early on in its developing stages. For example, in the campaign against the Gauls (59 to 51 BC) it is reported that Julius Caesar and his army captured over a million people and turned them into slaves. Roman slave-masters would use a hot branding tool to imprint their name into the FOREHEADS of their slaves. New slave recruits all the way to gladiators in gladiator schools had Roman tattoos (stigma, from where the English word stigmatized derives) applied as an identifying mark on the face, legs and hands.

After Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, a law was passed in 319AD that made it illegal for slave-masters to brand their slaves on the face and instead had to put their mark (hot branded tattoo) on the hands and legs.

As a recap… : The actual “Mark of the Beast” was rolled out by Nero Caesar in the 1st Century (the Disciples were expecting Jesus to return in their own lifetime, not a lifetime thousands of years into the future). Nero’s name added up to 666 in Hebrew Gematria and also 616 in Latin (which was the Latin Vulgate Variant). Nero even acted like a ‘Beast’. Roman Historian Suetonius said that Nero created a game in which they dressed Nero in animal skins (BEAST skins) and put him inside of a cage. Then they’d tie people (men and women) to a stake, then they’d let Nero loose from his cage where he’d maul them like a ‘WILD BEAST’. Nero also was accredited as the first to force everyone to engage in the SACRIFICE TO CAESAR where everyone in the world had to burn a pinch of incense in between their fingers (leaving a MARK in the hand) and declare CAESAR IS LORD (leaving a MARK in the forehead). Upon doing this, you were given a papyrus known as a LIBELLUS which you had to have in order to BUY AND SELL. Also, during this time in Rome, slave-masters would brand their slaves with a hot branding iron on the hands, legs and even face. This was partially outlawed under Constantine in the 4th Century.

The Roman Siege on Jerusalem WAS the 2nd Coming of Christ, which lasted from 66-73AD (7 year Tribulation – which John the Revelator says he was already in Tribulation when writing to the 7 Churches). Jesus came back through the Roman armies to execute judgment on ‘THAT’ generation (Just as Jesus said he would do in Matthew 23 and Matthew 24:34), not a generation thousands of years into the future. Jesus even said that he would return before some of his 12 disciples tasted physical death (Matthew 16:27-28) and before his disciples had gone through the cities of Israel (Matthew 10:23). Then you have all the Apostles declaring that they were :

IN THE LAST HOUR,
THE TIME IS AT HAND
IT’S AT THE DOOR
HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME WITHOUT DELAY,
HE COMES QUICKLY
HE IS COMING SOON
DON’T TAKE A WIFE BECAUSE THE TIME IS ‘SHORT’

etc.. so you see here, even the Apostles themselves were convinced that Christ would come back in their own generation.

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In Matthew 24:7 Jesus said that there’d be earthquakes and famines in various places.

Compare to

Acts 11:28 which says “One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.)”

Many historians also wrote about earthquakes between 30AD and 70AD (the year of the destruction of the Jewish Temple)

1. a great earthquake in Crete, A.D. 46 or 47;

2. one at Rome on the day when Nero assumed the manly toga, A.D. 51;

3. one at Apamaea in Phrygia, mentioned by Tacitus, A.D. 53;

4. one at Laodicea in Phrygia, A.D. 60;

5. one in Campania. Seneca, in the year, A.D. 58, writes:—“How often have cities of Asia and Achaea fallen with one fatal shock! Show many cities have been swallowed up in Syria, how many in Macedonia! How often has Cyprus been wasted by this calamity! How often has Paphos become a ruin! News has often been brought us of the demolition of whole cities at once.”

6. Flavius Josephus (Jewish Historian ; 37-100AD), an eyewitness to the events surrounding Jerusalem’s destruction, describes an earthquake in Judea of such magnitude “that the constitution of the universe was confounded for the destruction of men.” Josephus goes on to write that the Judean earthquake was “no common” calamity, indicating that God Himself had brought it about for a special purpose.

Then of course the ‘supposed’ huge earthquake in Acts 16, which allowed Paul and Silas to go free.

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Matthew 24:21 Jesus said, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (end)

COMPARE TO WHAT JOSEPHUS SAID 40 YEARS LATER BELOW :

Preface, War of the Jews, verse 4 says :
“…because it had so come to pass, that our city Jerusalem had arrived at a higher degree of felicity than any other city under the Roman government, and yet at last fell into the sorest of calamities again. Accordingly, it appears to me that the misfortunes of all men, from the beginning of the world, if they be compared to these of the Jews are not so considerable as they were; while the authors of them were not foreigners neither. This makes it impossible for me to contain my lamentations. But if any one be inflexible in his censures of me, let him attribute the facts themselves to the historical part, and the lamentations to the writer himself only.” (end)

Josephus uses the same verbiage as Jesus (it appears the fortunes of all men, FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD, are not to be compared to this Roman siege on Jerusalem, etc.. etc.)! Essentially, Josephus was writing about how bad it was for the Jews, and the ‘Bible’ was supposed to have been predicting it beforehand (Jesus prophesying about what was coming within 40 years after his death. This would fulfill what Jesus said about THAT GENERATION not passing away until all those things be fulfilled in Matthew 24:34).

—-

Matthew 24 Jesus also said that there’d be wars and rumors of wars.

This could obviously be applied to any generation, but it was distinct in the first century because Augustus (Octavian) Caesar (the nephew of Julius Caesar ; Julius adopted him as his own son – 63BC-14AD) brought peace to the entire Roman World from 30BC to 180AD. It was known as ‘Pax Romana.’ So when wars, especially civil wars (including the Roman-Jewish War of 66-73AD) broke out all over the empire in the 1st Century, it would’ve been a nuanced ‘sign’ for the audience Jesus would’ve been addressing.

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Matthew 23 Jesus is up in the Temple reaming out the Pharisees, calling them every pejorative in the Thesaurus. He ends by saying that because they’d persecute and kill him (Jesus) and his disciples, that they (the 1st Century Jews) would be held responsible for the murder of EVERY righteous person who had ever lived, from Abel to Zechariah and that these calamities would come upon THEIR OWN GENERATION.

That sounds like quite the hefty judgment right? THE ULTIMATE ONE. And that’s what the 2nd Coming of Christ was referring to. Jesus coming back within their own generation through the Roman armies from 66-73AD (7 year Tribulation) to execute judgment on those first century Jews. (See Matthew 21 parable of the Vineyard owner and notice who understands that this parable is about THEM – not people living thousands of years into the future…, but *THEM*.).

—

I’m not a Christian, but your book was never talking about things happening thousands of years into the future. The prophecies that Jesus spoke during the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24-25 (you could even throw Matthew 23 in there where Jesus was in the Temple saying that the blood of all the righteous from Abel to Zechariah would fall upon the heads of those Jews in the first century ~ That would be quite the hefty judgment right? THE ULTIMATE ONE and that’s what the 2nd Coming Judgment was referring to, the first century judgment upon the 1st Century Jews during the 66-73Ad), Mark 13 and Luke 21 were speaking of things that would take place before their own generation passed (just as Jesus said in Matt. 24:34). An example, Jesus said that ‘THEY’ (audience relevance and time statements mean a lot) would see wars and hear rumors of wars. This could apply to almost any generation in history, but Augustus (Octavian) Caesar had brought PEACE to the entire known world at that time. It was known as Pax Romana which lasted from 30BC to 180AD. So when wars started breaking out over the empire from 40-70AD, (especially the Roman Siege in 66-73AD) that would’ve been a ‘sign’ that was significant to the Disciples in that first century.

MORE POINTS TO CONSIDER :

Revelation Chapters 17 and 18 speak about Mystery Babylon (which was 1st Century Jerusalem). In Revelation 17, we see a depiction of a HARLOT riding upon a BEAST. This Harlot was sitting upon the beast like a Queen, dressed very well in jewels, gold, pearls, and scarlet. The Mystery Babylon Harlot who dressed like a Queen with fancy clothes and jewels was Israel (particularly Jerusalem) and the Beast was Rome.

When Pontius Pilate asked the Jews if they wanted their king (Jesus) to be crucified, the Jews all said, ‘WE HAVE NO KING BUT CAESAR!” (John 19:15). The Jews made their allegiance to Rome and Caesar, which is why the harlot (Jerusalem) was depicted riding upon the Beast (Rome). Finally, the Beast (during the reign of Nero Caesar) turns on the harlot (Israel), when the Jews revolt against Rome. Rome devours her and burns her with fire in 70AD. The descriptions in Revelation are blatant and obviously speaking about Rome (The beast) and Harlot (Jerusalem).

God had married Himself to Israel in the Old Testament (Jeremiah 3:14; Jeremiah 31:32; Hosea 2), which is KEY to understanding why Israel was Mystery Babylon – The Mother of all Prostitutes (which God said was written on her FOREHEAD – Revelation 17:5).

Revelation 17:5 says the Harlot (Mystery Babylon) was dressed in purple, scarlet, glittering with gold, precious stones, and pearls, etc..

COMPARE TO THIS BELOW :

Jeremiah 3:3 Therefore the showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come, yet you (Israel) have the FOREHEAD of a harlot because you refuse to be ashamed.

Jeremiah 3:8 I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries and playing the harlot. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear. She also went out and became a harlot.

Exodus 28, God told the Jewish priests to wear clothing of PURPLE, SCARLET, BLUE, AND GOLD, and to attach to their turbans (FOREHEADS) a GOLD PLATE which read, ‘HOLY TO THE LORD.’ Josephus also says that the Temple (before it was destroyed in 70AD) was divided into two parts with huge golden doors, but before these doors was a huge ‘BABYLONIAN’ curtain (veil) embroidered with BLUE, FINE LINEN, SCARLET, AND PURPLE (“The War of the Jews” by Josephus, Book 5, chapter 5, verse 4).

God mocked the Israelites for their worship of (and sacrifices to) false gods (Ezekiel 20), and also, for Israel’s dependence upon powerful nations. God saw this as Israel cheating on Him, since HE married Himself to Israel. In Ezekiel 23 God says He was going to turn all of Israel’s lovers against Israel (such as Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar). This same illustration is applied to Israel and Rome during the 1st Century. Israel depended on Rome (John 19:15), and God turned Rome against Israel in the end (70AD).

Jesus describes this whole scenario by saying the Roman siege on Jerusalem supposedly 40 years beforehand (even though I’m starting to agree that Jesus was a fictional character) :

Matthew 24:21 Jesus said, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (end)

COMPARE TO WHAT JOSEPHUS SAID BELOW :

Preface, War of the Jews, verse 4 says :

“…because it had so come to pass, that our city Jerusalem had arrived at a higher degree of felicity than any other city under the Roman government, and yet at last fell into the sorest of calamities again. Accordingly, it appears to me that the misfortunes of all men, from the beginning of the world, if they be compared to these of the Jews are not so considerable as they were; while the authors of them were not foreigners neither. This makes it impossible for me to contain my lamentations. But if any one be inflexible in his censures of me, let him attribute the facts themselves to the historical part, and the lamentations to the writer himself only.” (end)

Josephus uses the same verbiage as Jesus (it appears the fortunes of all men, FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD, are not to be compared to this Roman siege on Jerusalem, etc.. etc.)!

Notice also there in the Preface to ‘War of the Jews’ by Josephus, that he makes mention of Jerusalem being the most FELICITOUS (prosperous) city in the entire Roman Empire. This ties in to Revelation 18 about Babylon the Great City, which had great wealth, great resources, etc.. and all the merchants of the sea were crying when they saw this great city destroyed, because they traded with her. This Great city of Babylon was ‘FELICITOUS’ (prosperous), which fits the description here of Jerusalem, according to Josephus.

Preface, War of the Jews, verse 4 says :

“…because it had so come to pass, that our city Jerusalem had arrived at a higher degree of felicity than any other city under the Roman government, and yet at last fell into the sorest of calamities….” (end)

Matthew 23:37 Jesus says, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you..,” (end)

Jesus clearly identifies Jerusalem as the ones who killed the prophets throughout antiquity. He also says in Matthew 23, verses 34-35 that the Jews would also kill, crucify, and persecute Him (Jesus) and all of Jesus’ disciples. So as punishment, these apostate Jews would be held responsible for the murder of EVERY RIGHTEOUS PERSON THAT HAD EVER LIVED (from Abel to Zechariah). That’s quite the hefty judgment which would happen in THEIR OWN LIFETIME! (verse 36). So Jesus identifies who would be held responsible for the murder of all the righteous saints, prophets and righteous men (from Abel to Zechariah) and in Revelation 17:6, it portrays the HARLOT (A.K.A. Mystery Babylon) being drunk on the blood of the saints and prophets (also read Rev. 16:6, Rev. 16:19, Rev. 18:24, & Rev. 19:2). The answer to this is JERUSALEM (1st Century Jerusalem to be exact).

Jesus told the Jews that Moses would be their judge (John 5:45) since they put hope in him rather than Christ. According to the Law of Moses, if a wife was caught in the act of adultery, she would be stoned to death. The Historian Josephus wrote that the Romans used catapults which launched white stones (color of hail) the size of a talent (75-100 lbs. each) into Jerusalem (compare to Rev. 16:21). God literally stoned his old adulterous wife (1st Century Jerusalem), just as Jesus said, they’d be judged by “Moses” (Mosaic Law).

Now that I’ve identified Israel as the Harlot – Mystery Babylon, let me try to drive the point home. The number ‘7’ is prevalent throughout the book of Revelation. 7 Angels, 7 cups, 7 vials, 7 seals, etc.. (mostly dealing with 7 different forms of JUDGMENT).

These 7-FOLD JUDGMENTS correlated to what God told the Israelites in Leviticus chapter 26, that if they obeyed Him, He would bless them, but if they continued to disobey, then He would punish them 7 TIMES OVER.
Leviticus 26:18 “If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over.” (also see verses 21, 24, 28).

In Revelation 19:2 , We see God being extolled, praised, venerated and exalted for finally destroying the harlot (mystery Babylon – the mother of all prostitutes, which was 1st Century Jerusalem). It ends the verse by saying that He has avenged and vindicated all of the saints and servants of God.

Why did I say the Mystery Babylon Harlot was 1st Century Jerusalem? Well, who did Jesus say would be held responsible for the murder of all the righteous and all the saints and all the prophets? You’ll find the answer in Matthew 23:34-37.

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The Roman siege on Jerusalem from 66-73AD (which was the 7 YEAR TRIBULATION BTW) *WAS* the 2nd Coming of Christ (in proper context, I do not believe Jesus ever existed in the first place, but I’m playing on YOUR FIELD to help you understand what your own book was referring to). Josephus (Jewish Historian of first century) said that this Roman siege on Jerusalem was worse than anything else from the beginning of the world (see : Preface of War of the Jews vs. 4).

The Whore of Babylon was referring to 1st Century Jerusalem, which according to Josephus was the most felicitous and prosperous nation within the Roman Empire during that time period. Read Revelation 17-18 about how wealthy this Whore was. The whore was sitting upon the Beast (This Beast imagery was a generic term referring to Rome). Remember what the Jews said when Pontius Pilate asked if Jesus was their king? The Jews all said that they had no king except CAESAR! (John 19:15). The Jews were depending on Caesar and Rome (which is why the imagery is of the Whore [Israel] sitting on the Beast [Rome]). We can see this same allusion in the Old Testament with God criticizing Israel from depending on the nations and kings around them instead of depending upon God for their strength and protection. The same was true for the 1st Century Jews, they depended on Caesar and Rome. The imagery then turns sinister when the Beast turns on this beautiful Whore, by devouring her and burning her with fire. Josephus writes that basically Israel and in particular Jerusalem, was turned into a huge fire pit. There were fires started by the Romans far and wide. Even the Jordan River could not be passed over, because the dead bodies of Jews were stacked so high in the River.

Revelation 16:20 The winepress was trodden outside of the city, and blood came out from the winepress, even to the bridles of the horses, as far as one thousand six hundred furlongs (1600 furlongs is about 200 miles which is exactly the length of the Jordan River).

Everything the Bible prophesied about in regard to these end times events, took place within 40 years after Jesus existed. Though it’s my contention that they were all written AFTER THE FACT (after the Roman siege on Jerusalem in 66-73AD) since they were all so spot on accurate. And there was no one contemporaneous author in the first Century who wrote anything about Jesus or his disciples after him. The only thing we have comes from the 2nd Century. Certainly, if Jesus and his disciples / apostles lived in the first century and did all those miraculous deeds, SOMEONE SOMEWHERE would’ve written about them but they did not.

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Also a side-note, Augustus Caesar was also known as the SON OF GOD or the SON OF DIVINE JULIUS (he was adopted by Julius as his son, but was really his nephew). And we also see that the Poets and Tragedians as well as the Historians were acting as PROPAGANDISTS (similar to FAKE NEWS MEDIA Today) for the elite rulers. In this instance, they wrote poetic literature for Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar for example and claimed that they descended from a family lineage that comprised of heroes of old who were half-human and half-god (in the case of Julius Caesar, they claimed he descended from Aeneas who was born from a human prince named Anchises and the Goddess Aphrodite – Venus. He was also of the same lineage as Romulus and Remus who were sons of the God Mars and the Vestal Virgin Rhea Silvia – making them half god and half humans – sons of a VIRGIN ~ The twin named Romulus was eponymous for ‘Rome’ since he eventually killed his brother Remus and founded Rome on his own).

Then the Poets such as Ovid (Metamorphoses) and Virgil (Aeneid) as well as the Historians (such as Suetonius) wrote that they saw a shooting comet in the sky after Julius Caesar’s death and they claimed that it was Julius’s soul being deified in the heavens. His adopted son (nephew) Octavian Augustus Caesar used this as propaganda to claim that this gave him (Augustus) the right to become Emperor since he was now the ‘Son of God Julius’ (Divus Julius) as well as the Son of the Sun God Apollo. The historians wrote that his mother Atia Balba was impregnated by God Apollo in the form of a serpent in the temple of Apollo – she was also said to be a very devout and innocent woman who could not stand to be around ‘sinfulness’. (SOUND FAMILIAR?). She and her husband Gaius Octavius both had dreams during that time. Atia dreamed that her vitals ascended to heaven and stretched out over land and sea. Octavius (Augustus’s father) said he dreamed that the “SUN” Rose from Atia’s womb. (Sound familiar again?) This propaganda worked! The reason the Senate killed Julius Caesar in the first place was because they thought he wanted to be King or Emperor. So their whole goal of killing him BACKFIRED because now, his adopted son Augustus Caesar became the first Emperor of Rome.

BTW, this story was clearly stolen by the Roman Propagandists from the ‘fake story’ surrounding Alexander the Great, three centuries prior. Alexander the Great was the son of king Philip of Macedonia and queen Olympias, who were obviously human, yet he claimed to be the son of a god. As a consequence, stories about his miraculous procreation were needed. In section 2-3 of his “Life of Alexander”, the Greek author Plutarch of Chaeronea shows us what was invented. Alexander the Great’s birth was also said to have had meteorological omens surrounding it. Plutarch tells us that both King Philip II of Macedon and Olympias (Alexander’s parents), were sent dreams from the gods announcing Alexander’s birth. Olympias dreamed that her womb was struck by lightning, while Philip dreamed that he put a seal on his wife’s womb in the image of a lion. Most significant, though, is the report that Philip spied on Olympias through a peep-hole in the door to her bedroom and saw a divine serpent sleeping next to her, which he took as a sign that he should avoid sleeping with her himself, since it was clear that she was to conceive from a divine rather than human source. They claimed that it was Zeus (in the form of a serpent) who lay with his wife Olympias and thus, it was Zeus who was Alexander the Great’s real father, and not Philip II.

Augustus was also known as the ‘PRINCE OF PEACE’
After he became emperor, Augustus then had brought PEACE to the Roman Empire. It was called PAX ROMANA which lasted from 30 BC to 180 AD. This is why Augustus Caesar was also known as the ‘Prince of Peace.’

(BTW, this is also why the warnings of Jesus in the Olivet Discourse about ‘wars and rumors of wars’ would’ve been significant to that first century audience. Those signs could apply to any generation but they were huge red flags in the 1st century during Pax Romana [peace in Rome] via Augustus Caesar. So when wars and civil wars broke out (which they did) that would’ve been the cue to flee to the mountains of Judea just as Jesus told them to)

By 6 B.C. Augustus Caesar’s subject had this inscribed on a government building (Priene Inscription) READ BELOW :

“The most divine Caesar . . . we should consider equal to the Beginning of all things . . . for when everything was falling [into disorder] and tending toward dissolution, he restored it once more and gave the whole world a new aura; Caesar . . . the common good Fortune of all . . . The beginning of life and vitality . . . All the cities unanimously adopt the birthday of the divine Caesar as the new beginning of the year . . . Whereas the Providence which has regulated our whole existence . . . has brought our life to the climax of perfection in giving to us (the emperor) Augustus . . .who being sent to us and our descendants as Savior, has put an end to war and has set all things in order; and [whereas,] having become [god] manifest, Caesar has fulfilled all the hopes of earlier times . . . the birthday of the god [Augustus] has been for the whole world the beginning of good news concerning him.” (Any of that sound familiar?)

And to put the Christian story in context wit the surrounding area. The Greeks and Romans were notorious for writing about mythical events long after the fact. For example, the Trojan War supposedly happened around the 13th or 12th Century BC, but wasn’t written about until 500 years later by Greek Poet Homer, and it’s obvious that this war (if it even happened) wasn’t as Homer or Hesiod details, since it incorporated a lot of mythological aspects, including heroes who were half men and half gods (demigods ~ just like Jesus ~ born of a god and born of a human). They most likely did the same thing with the Bible and New Testament especially with this Jesus character. They wrote about all those events AFTER THE FACT (Post-Diction) and then simply slipped a demigod character (Jesus) with some of his followers with mythical powers as well, into the story and made it seem as if Jesus and his apostles were prophesying about them beforehand. At the very MOST the gospels of the Bible were a literary work of ‘euhemerism.’

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