Prophecy seminars?????

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Hi all,

Someone brought up the issue of the study of the ashes of the Red Heifer 
being sought out by modern Israel a timewaster - and I must say I agree to 
a point.

Please consider the following overall view of prophecy as it has been
taught.  I have never felt anointing when listening to someone speak about
prophecy in the literalist sense with the thought of a seven year period
yet to come in which antichrist will rise.  Never anointing.  I began 
applying the words of Revelation to my personal life and the
stages anybody will go through in their personal relationship with Christ.
WHAT ANOINTING cam upon me when I taught that!!!!  Wow!  The Holy Ghost
fell so heavily and tears filled the eyes of believers as I taught, and arms
went into the air.  I felt a strong urge telling me that NOW I am on
the right track, and that all the "prophetic" versions I have heard
about red heifer's computer chips and so on were "outward" oriented and missing
the point.  Let me explain:

I look at the scope of the Book of Revelation as a roadmap to the Christian
life of every age. 666 is not a literal mark or computer chip, but a
representative emblem denoting a spiritual reality God is trying to convey to
us in order that we might avoid a certain satanic ploy.

I believe the emblems all through Revelation are to be spiritually interpreted,
and not literally. 

If Rev. 14:1-2 is symbolic, why do we say Rev. 13:18 is not? Both verses
speak of something being put on the foreheads of individuals. The 144,000
are the representative group depicting the Church, the Israel of God. And
having the Father's name on their foreheads depicts how the PEOPLE of
God are the TEMPLE of God. As much as the temple stood for God's name
in Jerusalem, so, too, are God's people called by Jesus' name, as the
temple of God.

In fact, John said that he who has understanding will be able to understand
what the number means. This is not referring to carnal understanding in
mathematics. These words are akin to Jesus' words in Matt 24:15. They are
warnings that we must see a spiritual application, otherwise we will not
correctly understand these words. God grants this understanding to those
living for Him. So, heathen, who can come up with the same literal,
materialistic ideas of Rev. that many so-called students of prophecy have
come up with, will not be able to truly understand the types. Look at the other
references to the need for a believer to seek UNDERSTANDING and find
what exactly is the nature of the UNDERSTANDING we are told to acquire. It
is surely not educational understanding, possessed only by those of high IQ.

I believe that counting letters in a man's name in order to figure who the
antichrist is does not fit with the biblical term of proper "understanding".
Heathens can guess such things as names. And if it WERE the case, and we
MUST count letters of an alphabet, it would not be the ENGLISH ALPHABET
with ENGLISH SPELLING. (Since God's people are no longer relegated to
materialism in the sense of how God deals with humanity, for example in the
Old Testament times when SABBATH DAYS were kept, I cannot see how
counting numbers of a certain language's variation of spelling a name can
apply to Revelation's most spiritual writings.)

What of the name of the Beast? Well, we know about the godly seal which,
according to Rev. 14:1, is the name of God in the forehead. God told Israel
that He would come to those places where His name has been placed. The
Temple was an inference. Each of us are lively stones united into a temple.
Jesus said, Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the
midst of them. The Devil's version would therefore involve a similar but
counterfeit naming involving people united in evil, much like the tower of
Babel united people in rebellion against God's commands. We are united in
Jesus' name - the strong and mighty Tower in which the righteous run and
are saved (Prov.18:10).

The uses of God's name in the Old Testament are in effect in the New
Testament regarding Jesus' name.

Also, the seven-sealed scroll seems to indicate the pattern of events that
occur when a believer grows in spiritual maturity. Recall that the Ten
Commandments were written on two small, palm-sized tables, and were
written on the front and back of the tables. The scroll is written within and on
the backside also!

We are to be written with the nature of Christ WITHIN and OUTWARDLY. And
it is not the Ten Commandments, but the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ
Jesus that we are concerned with (Ro. 8:2; 2 Cor. 3:3-11).

You will find that many parallels are seen in the Old Testament and the book
of Revelation, which shows, I believe, the typical aspect of Revelation, since
the Old Testament is looked upon today as typical of the Christian life.

For example, look how Rev. 12 parallels with the exodus story. The WOMAN
gives forth the manchild and flees into the desert. The dragon follows her as
Pharaoh chased Israel. The woman was given two eagle's wings as Moses
told Israel how God gave them eagle's wings to flee pharaoh - Ex. 19:5. The
Red Sea opened and Israel swiftly escaped Pharaoh. The dragon sent out a
flood after the woman seeing he could not catch her on foot. So, too, did
Pharaoh send his army after Israel through the Red Sea. The earth helped
the woman and swallowed up the flood, as the Red Sea swallowed up the
army of Egypt. The woman was fed in the wilderness for 3 1/2 years as Israel
was nurtured by God for entrance into Canaan. The 3 1/2 years is used often
in Revelation and seems to refer to the whole church age.

Matthew 1 shows three sets of 14 generations, making 42 generations. That
represented the Old Testament period. Then Jesus came. 42 is also used in
reference to the number of months which comprise 3 1/2 years. If the Church
Age was typically represented by 42 months (3 1/2) years and the Old
Testament was represented by 42 generations, altogether you have 42 and
42, or 3 1/2 plus 3 1/2, equaling SEVEN. And 7 is the number of completion
and fullness. Jesus is smack-dab in the middle of both 3 1/2's, between the
Old and the New Testaments.

And when you read Revelation with that in mind, you realize that it is more
likely the case to be interpreted, since the reasoning behind writing a whole
book for one single generation to benefit from at an "end-time" seems rather
ridiculous. It would seem more reasonable to look at the Revelation as a
book FOR ALL GENERATIONS of the Church to benefit from.

Reading literal economy of the world, or helicopters or suchlike into the
writing of Revelation seems to be carnalising the book out of its proper
place. The New Testament is not a thing which elaborates on the material
affairs of the world, but is concerned with our spiritual relationship with God.
Why should Revelation be any different?

One might argue that discussion of the DANGERS of material progress is
indeed applicable to the progress of our relationships with God. True, but
the other New Testament books deal with these issues in a more general
fashion, applicable to all ages. Discussing how the Love of money is the root
of all evil is certainly applicable but not in accord with the nature of the
pop-prophecy preachers of today who say that the locusts were
"helicopters."

I believe people have slipped away from the spirituality of things, and with
the carnal mind, that we all share, and that is naturally CURIOUS, it has been
a very successful venture for authors to throw in their two cents' worth of
carnal speculation, lacking in spiritual interpretation.

I believe Paul's words in 1 Cor. 2:14 apply when reading Revelation. The
natural man cannot receive the things of God. One must pray and ask God
for enlightenment and a state of spiritual receptivity, and then commence
reading Revelation. Otherwise the sayings seem ridiculous and
non-sensical.

All the carnal interpretations of Revelation, relegating them to material
items, and such, can be guessed at by any person, whether they be Christian
or heathen. And I cannot see how God would have John write a book that any
old heathen, who does not experience a revelatory relationship with God,
could use and come up with the same interpretations that Christian
"scholars" come up with, when the rest of the Bible clearly requires a
spiritual experience with Christ to fully interpret.

The common, popular interpretations people come up with today are so
materialistically-oriented that ANYBODY could come up with them. They lack
that special UNDERSTANDING that John refers to in Rev 13:18 which
accompanies true biblical interpretations which speak of the whole scope of
God's Word in dealing with sin, self, salvation and spirituality. I mean, the
Bible flows together. And if some of these material interpretations are
correct, the book of Revelation breaks the flow and continuity of the flavour
of Scripture. The NT writers, moved on by the Spirit of God to write, were no
more concerned with helicopters and suchlike, thus indicating that God's
inspiring Spirit also was not concerned with such things. But to look at
Revelation as practical lessons relayed through interpretative pictures is
more akin to reading, say, Romans, and Paul's analogies of slavery and
marriage used to illustrate freedom from sin.

Revelation is so popular over and above the rest of the Bible to many
believers since they feel they can relate to it better. The reason seems to be
that the carnal mind is curious. Future events are likewise carnally
fascinating. Its like Indiana Jones, or something or other, to these people.
Fantasy and revealing of our future is all these people are interested in, and
could care less for Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Commercial Christian
writers have capitalized on that and pumped out all the carnal interpretations
that feed such fleshly believers. To say that Revelation is not so much
futuristic as it is a spiritual picture of our present existence with Christ is to
pull out the carpet from such believers who would immediately drop their
interest in reading Revelation ever again. They are not concerned with
growing in Christ.

I became so disgusted with commercialization of Revelation that I about
forbade myself from reading studies of Revelation any more. But then, in my
humble opinion, I felt in my spirit that the writings in Revelation are not what
people were saying they are. They are, rather, spiritual lessons about my
own relationship with God and how that is enhanced through tribulation. All
believers pass through such a progression. I don't see Armageddon as a
literal battle on horses (in a day of scudd missiles) in Esdraelon, but a
spiritual climax in my journey to true Christianity being lived out practically
through my life. Its the "selling-out" point, as it were.

In fact, ALL EARLY BELIEVERS looked at Revelation as pertinent to their
day, and why cannot we, too? For, in this manner, it IS pertinent to OUR
DAY, and to every day of every generation of believers.

                                        

-- 
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In Christ,  
Michael F. Blume   
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/mfblume/mblume.htm
http://www.netdot.com/jwg7192/writings/mike.htm