Very often you tell us that we, bible-bashers, take scripture "out of context"....
What exactly does this mean? :
"Revelation 1: And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
2And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority."
Is this yet another metaphor that anyone can adapt to suit their purpose?
You keep telling us that "the Truth lies in the Bible"....so this seven-headed, ten-horned beast is supposed to actually exist? Or is it the subject of speculation?
....I never knew that "the Truth" could be subjected to speculation. BTW: I've heard countless interpretations (all different) of the verses above, from Christians.
Seems like "the path" has too many forks...
2007-11-05 05:25:21 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
No, No, silly you. The saying goes: "the Truth LIES in the Bible",
implying that, by their own admission, the bible is a fabrication.
2007-11-05 05:34:52 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
You have to understand the terms
The heads represent states, the crowns repesent kings and kingdoms
Roman empire was split into ten different tribal areas after its fall
The beast is an amalgamation of the four beasts of revelations
the first is the lion with wings which represent Babylon
go to the ruinsof babylon or iraq and you will see this statue everywhere
infact The king of babylon Nebuchadnezzar is on the back of the iraqi coin next to saddam
saddam idolised him, beleiving himself to be the reincarnation of nebuchadnezzar and tried to reubuild the kingdom of babylon
He restorednebuchadnezzars palaces and tried to recalim back the land he had lost to the meddites and the persians who were iranian
this is why there was an iran and iraq war
this is why there was a gulf war
babylon can never be an empire again, as the prophecy has said, so every other country went after him
The bear represents medo persia, the next kindgom after babylon, daniel prophesized the end of babylon low and behold it happened, historains have confirmed this and can't find an answer as to why the spriputral wiritings told of an event years before. This is prophecy
The leopard and its wings represent Greece, spear headed by alexander the great
The beast of 10 heads is rome
The antichrist and his kingdom (the vatican papal rome)
is an amalagamation of all these beasts
and the prostitute riding this beast is Jezzebel
The dragon is the devil who gave pwer to the antichrist
He is a blasphemer as he says he can forgive sin only God can do this, which is why the Jews executed Jesus.
A path has too many forks, that just means that all the forks go back to the handle that someone is holding
Further more a lot of global corporations have images of the beast and a woman riding it
2007-11-05 05:36:09 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I agree that the metaphors in the Bible can seem daunting! Revelations is no exception! I'm actually going through these chapters in a bible study with a bit of guidance from a book. I would love to forward the information on to you, if you would find it helpful or even interesting. As for the beast, no it does not necessarily exist. Though this book we've been going through advises against reading into the chapters, I have heard a few say that this beast is a metaphor for the end of times and as we are clearly not in the middle of them today, it would be hard to say that the beast can be found somewhere out there. I'm sorry you're frustrated, but I would be happy to send on what we've been reading if it might be interesting to you.
2007-11-05 05:34:58 · answer #3 · answered by Jen G 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The sea is many people
The beast with 7 heads 10 horns…is a nation or league of nations
Blasphemy…this is one who speaks against God
The leopard, bear and lion…Rome who took…Babylon, Media and Persia…Rome was swift, moved quickly and took all of the land it could.
Satan (dragon) will give his power to revise the " Roman " Gov't …if you pay attention to history you can see the future…Read Daniel…
You have to read the history of the Roman Empire…it’s not hard to understand once you understand the meaning of the words.
2007-11-05 05:39:55 · answer #4 · answered by ' 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Ya, I agree. Too many interpretations of what is written in black and white.
Your reference to the book of Revelation is interesting in that you recognize that it is a metaphoric writing but then demand that it reveal absolutes.
The seven-headed beast may just be the United Nations or it could be the council which stole Israel's land again to give it away.
We will find out soon enough.
BTW, the 'Truth' which seems to haunt you is that God's only begotten Son came to earth, was killed, then rose again from the dead.
If you will accept Him as your savior, then you will survive the approaching end of days.
In case you really do not know His name, it is Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah; the only begotten Son of God.
2007-11-05 05:36:03 · answer #5 · answered by credo quia est absurdum 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Not to be rude... but you obviously don't know what you are talking about.
One can only guess what your opening question has to do with the with the rest of your rant, but I'll attempt to answer your question regarding context.
To take Scripture out of context is to ignore who the author of a particular book was, to ignore who it was written to, to not understand the purpose of the specific book, and to not take into account the literary style of that book. By overlooking all of the above, people begin assigning their own meanings to what they're reading. Some even go as far as ignoring the verses that preceded the ones they're reading, and ignoring the ones that follow.
I'd say that you are guilty on all accounts. You picked one of the most obscure passages that you could find, and then threw it out there in attempt to prove your point. The only point you made is that you are woefully ill-equipped to deal with this subject.
2007-11-05 06:07:17 · answer #6 · answered by mt75689 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The symbolism of Revelation has been debated for centuries, no one is sure exactly what is being foretold in these verses, though most would take it as metaphor for some oncoming evil force, rather than a reference to some literal beast or chimera...
2007-11-05 05:32:39 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Please - of course it is a metaphor. If anyone had even passing familiarity with the tradition of the apocalyptic genre, particularly where it concerns first century Judaea and the Roman Empire, everyone involved in textcritical biblical scholarship knows that Revelation isn't literally talking about some sort of literal Cerberus type of animal that will arise somewhere.
I find it passing strange that the only people who are more literalist about the bible than the fundies - are the atheists!!!
2007-11-05 05:34:34 · answer #8 · answered by evolver 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
When ever you hear a beast mentioned in the bible it is most always not good "Taken into context with the rest of scripture". Just be ready and you won't have to worry about the beast. Do you know jesus?
God loves you....God bless
2007-11-05 05:50:56 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I believe the consensus is that the beast is a metaphor for powerful nations that come against God during the end times..............not a literal "beast" coming out of the water. Revelation is full of symbolism............
2007-11-05 05:35:39 · answer #10 · answered by fanofchan 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
To answer this question and be as brief as possible there are scriptures in the bible that are parrables or symbolistic, but that's where praying for understanding comes in, you should actually try it and see. Oh taste and see that the Lord is good, you won't be able to understand until you "taste and see". God Bless.
2007-11-05 06:06:05 · answer #11 · answered by madeam3 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋