"Man has been trying to understand the book of Revelation for two thousand years and the reason so few understood is because they applied the natural, carnal mind to it. They tried by human reasoning to analyze it, work it out, and make it fit some events in the outer world, past, present, or imagined future. Throughout the centuries of history since John penned his words on Patmos men have made the visions of the book “fit” with just about everything there is in the world. Some supposed that it applied to events in Israel and the Roman Empire in the days of the early church, climaxing with the destruction of Jerusalem, the Jewish temple, and the priesthood in A.D. 70, followed by the gospel spreading throughout the earth. Martin Luther made the book fit the events of his day. Emanuel Swedenborg applied the book to events of his day. The Seventh Day Adventists' interpreted the book in the light of events of their early days. Charles T. Russell found the great world-shaking events leading up to and including the First World War in the Revelation. When I was a child, Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, the Pope, and Emperor Hirohito of Japan were believed to be, in differing interpretations, the beast, the false prophet, or the image of the beast. In this view the book of Revelation was being fulfilled by these world leaders and the events they precipitated, they were going to take over the world, and if you did not take the mark of the beast which they would impose, you would be killed. And in our day people are literally sitting on the edge of their seats, listening to prophecy teachers, reading news magazines, watching CNN and Fox News, expecting the book of Revelation to fit the dramatic events unfolding before our very own eyes. I am confident in saying, however, that all these prognosticators, prophecy mongers, and eschatological soothsayers will be just as disappointed and disillusioned, when proven wrong, as were all the other commentators throughout the centuries!"
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"It is not an activity of violence, but a ministration of love, concern, and wise purpose. When a person has a tumor the surgeon has to wound them in order to remove the tumor or that person will die. Thus, the “seven last plagues” may be characterized as the “seven last stripes” or the “seven last scourgings” or the “seven last chastenings” in which is filled up the passion of God to correct His children. The “plagues” poured out of the bowls bring the spirit of purification and transformation into the lives of men. This is not an act of judgment, that is, of punishment, as we think of it, but rather an activity of purification! “Last” plagues in which the passion of God is “filled up” or “complete” signifies that these are the last or final purifying dealings of God with a people. There is the same truth as it pertains to the individual — that is, each one of us in our journey into God. The unproductive natural life and human consciousness, the flesh with its lustful, sinful disposition, the soul with its emotional tendencies and its religious inclination, the carnal mind with its humanistic reasoning, planning, and scheming — all must suffer the seven plagues! Make no mistake about it — God will touch everything in the lives of His people! That is the final outcome of redemption, for He has redeemed us unto Himself and for His pleasure and purpose!"