Book of Daniel and Revelation: Prophecies are frowned upon

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The prophetic books of Daniel and Revelation are obviously avoided like the “devil avoids holy water”. Too revealing. That is why the once Protestant churches also pursue the strategy of defaming them to the point of complete irrelevance.

Prophetic books frowned upon

Prophecies are one of the topics that tend to be neglected in modern evangelical churches. Even most of the significantly smaller free churches do not take the predictions, some of which were written down thousands of years ago, very seriously. The prerequisite for this, however, is that the announcements for the future written down by the biblical prophets, which are particularly relevant for the present and the near future, are recognized as such.

The most important prophetic books for our time and also for the events to come are the book of Daniel in the Old Testament and Revelation in the New Testament. Both books treat the present and near future in such a consistent way that Daniel and Revelation can practically be seen as complementary to each other. The book of Daniel, written around 550 BC, also contains the keys to understanding some chapters in the book of Revelation, written by John on Patmos around 90 AD.

Doubts are sown scientifically

Both prophetic books have another thing in common. No other writings in the Bible are so doubted, declared unbelievable with sometimes unprovable claims and also completely irrelevant, like Daniel and Revelation. The “scientific” analysis of the book of Daniel went completely wrong and yet the thesis is still being spread that Daniel did not really exist, that there were several authors and that this was at the time of the Greek ruler Antiochus Epiphanes in the 3rd century BC.

Since the book of Daniel also contains predictions that were fulfilled during the prophet’s lifetime and afterward, a later date would indicate a retelling rather than a true prophecy. But this theory was quickly refuted when ancient writings were discovered, which, among other things, proved that a King Nebuchadnezzar actually existed. Daniel also wrote in the style of Aramaic/Hebrew that was actually written or spoken in his time. This can also be easily verified using extra-biblical finds (Info).

The book of Revelation, also called “Apocalypse” in Greek, is also criticized by liberal theologians and so-called biblical scholars. It is an incomprehensible work made of incomprehensible imagery. Furthermore, the depictions found there are completely irrelevant for our time; they are just homages from angels, relevant at best to the first Christian community. These or similar theses about the last book of the Bible are the rule. In fact, people definitely want to avoid reading the books of Daniel and Revelation at all, let alone understanding them. At this point it would be very interesting why this ignorance could actually be intentional.

The view of an evangelical expert

An interested reader of the “specialist magazine” of the Protestant churches wanted to know how far humanity had already progressed according to the descriptions of the apocalypse. There are 7 trumpets described in Revelation and it would be interesting to know which trumpet would apply to today. She asked for clarifying help.

The “expert” of this Protestant specialist magazine had an answer to that (Source).

“The Revelation of John (or Apocalypse) was not written to be used to calculate the end of the world. This final book of the Bible was written to communities that were suffering persecution and oppression at the hands of the Roman Empire. They should be told: “Hold on! Stick to your faith because what is happening to you is not forever. Forever is only what will come when God finally establishes his kingdom. The battle that rages around you is also a battle of God, and God will win it. Hang in there!“

Furthermore, the “evangelical expert” writes that there were always attempts to interpret the “many images and allusions” as well as the number symbolism. There were always people who used this book like an Advent calendar, where you could see the right signs at the right time.

Apparently on behalf of the Protestant churches, the “expert” asserts that it is “our mission” to “tell people how well God means for us.” But it doesn’t matter how much time is left, since it’s not in people’s control anyway how much “success” we have. We should therefore trust in God that things will turn out well for us. God gave this promise. “That is what the apocalypse was written for,” said the “expert”.

Revelation is declared obsolete

An interesting turnaround within the explanation, if one wanted to avoid the term contradiction. On the one hand, the “expert” describes that repeated attempts have been made to interpret the images and symbolism of this book of Revelation, but on the other hand, the “expert” wants to finally know what the Revelation was actually written for. Does he have a “mysterious epiphany” that he doesn’t want to share?

The responder from the circles of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) could have used his “expertise” more briefly. “Incomprehensible work for times long past, irrelevant today and to be classified in the category of sagas and legends.”

Overview of the chapters of the book of Revelation

The topics covered in the individual chapters in the book of Revelation already show that the claim that the apocalypse only applied to the first Christian community cannot be correct.

• Chapter 1: Greetings to the churches, the commission for this book, the exalted Jesus Christ

• Chapter 2: Letters to the churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira

• Chapter 3: Letters to the churches of Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea

• Chapter 4: The Throne of Divine Majesty, Worship of God in Heaven

• Chapter 5: The Worthy Lamb Opens the Sealed Book, Adoration of the Lamb

• Chapter 6: The Opening of the Six First Seals

• Chapter 7: The sealing of the 144,000, great host before the throne

• Chapter 8: Opening seventh seal, the first four trumpets

• Chapter 9: The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets

• Chapter 10: Angel with an open book

• Chapter 11: Holy Jerusalem and 2 witnesses, the seventh trumpet

• Chapter 12: The woman and the dragon, Satan is thrown to earth, dragon pursues the woman

• Chapter 13: The beast from the sea, the beast from the earth

• Chapter 14: The Lamb and his purchased ones, 3 angels announce judgment, harvest and vintage of judgment

• Chapter 15: The 7 angels and announcement of 7 last plagues

• Chapter 16: The 7 bowls of God’s wrath

• Chapter 17: The Great Whore of Babylon

• Chapter 18: The Judgment of Babylon

• Chapter 19: Rejoicing in Heaven, Marriage of the Lamb, Jesus Christ as King and Judge, Victory over Beast and False Prophet

• Chapter 20: Satan is bound for 1,000 years, first resurrection, kingdom of peace of the Messiah, Satan is released, final judgment

• Chapter 21: The new heaven and the new earth, the new Jerusalem

• Chapter 22: The River of the Water of Life, Final Exhortation and Promise

“Something” more than just community news

The overview of the individual chapters of Revelation points to significantly more than just messages to the first church. This applies to the first three chapters and even this content has a prophetic aspect to the course of history that actually happened, which is easy to understand from today’s perspective (Info). But what about the other 19 chapters? Is it all just slogans about perseverance, as the “evangelical expert” from the “specialist magazine” describes it?

Truth must remain hidden

It is obvious. It must no longer be possible to identify God’s adversary, described in the books of Daniel and Revelation and easily recognized by comparing history (Info). At least in the period between the beginning of the 14th century and the beginning of the 19th century, the symbols and corresponding attributions described in Daniel and Revelation were well known and this was also openly stated (Info).

Then, from 1800 AD, the so-called “New Protestantism” emerged. The insights of Luther, Zwingli and Calvin were thrown overboard. The Bible is now just a collection of historical records that could also contain God’s word. Like the Reformation in the 16th century, this wave came from Germany. A result of the so-called “Enlightenment” by “poets, thinkers and philosophers”. The French Revolution, which only recently ended, also contributed. The Protestant churches have fallen steeply away from biblical faith within just a few decades. The “spiritually very inspired Loyola Society” has done a great job here. The result can be clearly seen today in the representatives of the EKD. There is nothing left of the gospel. Instead, Catholic dogmas and a good dose of spiritism have long been added to this church.

Daniel and Revelation provide insight

The book of Daniel describes prophecies starting from Daniel’s time in Babylon, through the present, and into the near future. This applies, among other things:
Chapter 7,8 und 12 – Prophecies across the entire “bandwidth”
Chapter 9 – Already fulfilled prophecy of Jesus’ first coming
Chapter 11 – The time up to the present and near future.

Something similar in the book of Revelation.:
Chapter 11 – French Revolution and Near Future
Chapter 12 – Period of Jesus’ birth to the present
Chapter 13 – Early Middle Ages to near future
Chapter 17 – Description of the adversary

The Bible warns against forgery and deception

In the final stages of the book of Revelation it is described that the predictions are addressed to the churches, Revelation 22:16:
“I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.”
But how did the “expert” come up with the idea that this was only written for the first communities at that time. As a mouthpiece for the EV churches, doesn’t he count himself as a member of such a community? If not, then what do the EV churches actually represent? It is advisable to take heed of verses 18 and 19. This is especially true for those who not only censor the Bible (Info), but also declare entire books irrelevant.

Bible verses from King James Version