Jackson Snyder presents www.Bible-News.comThe Seeing Generation: Preparation for
The Second Coming Made Plain
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Revelation 13:1.
AND I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with
ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems upon its horns
Acts 21:18. On the following day Paul went in with us to James; and all the elders were present. 19. After greeting them, Paul related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20. And when the elders heard it, they glorified God. And they [James] said to him [Paul], “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed; they are all zealous for the law.” Psalms 110:1. Yahweh says to my master: “Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool.” 2. Yahweh sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes! 3. Your people will offer themselves freely on the day you lead your host upon the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning like dew your youth will come to you. 4. Yahweh has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” 5. Yahweh is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. 6. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. 7. He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head. I AM THE GATE John 10: 1. “In all truth I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a bandit. 2. He who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock; 3. the gatekeeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out. 4. When he has brought out all those that are his, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow because they know his voice. 5. They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him because they do not recognise the voice of strangers." 6. Jesus told them this parable but they failed to understand what he was saying to them. 7. So Jesus spoke to them again: “In all truth I tell you, I am the gate of the sheepfold. 8. All who have come before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep took no notice of them. 9. I am the gate. Anyone who enters through me will be safe: such a one will go in and out and will find pasture. 10. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full.” (NJB)
Review
This is the seventh in a series of messages I call “The Seeing Generation”; that is, the generation that would “not pass away till all has taken place” (Luke 21:32). {If time, have them look up and read Revelation 13:1,11; Revelation 17:10,11.} In the last installment, I shared with you the identity of the Beast of seven (or eight) heads of Revelation 13 – the Revelator plainly tells us that the Beast is the Roman Empire of his time, not our time – and that the seven heads Rome’s emperors. To clarify that the Beast was for his time and not ours, the Revelation tells us that “five emperors are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet” (Revelation 17: 10). These five dead heads were emperors from the family of Julius Caesar; namely, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero.
Sixth, Seventh, Eighth Heads
The “one who is” – i.e. the sixth head reigning at the time – was Titus Flavius Vespasianus, better known as Vespasian, who ruled from AD 69 – 79. This gives us the dating of the Revelation within ten years. The next, and seventh, head of the Beast, was Vespasian’s son, Titus Flavius Vespasianus Jr., known to most as Titus. The seventh head was to “remain only a little,” according to Revelation 17:10. This clue helps us stay on track, for Titus reigned only two and a half years (June 79 – Dec 81) – just a little while. Titus’ death was untimely – while incapacitated with a high fever, his brother treated him to a snow bath that killed him.[1] Titus’ last recorded words were, “I have made but one mistake.” That one mistake was to allow his murderous brother to live, for: Revelation 17 tells us that the Beast had “an eighth head that belonged to the seventh head” (17:11). That eighth head was Titus Flavius Domitianus, known as Domitian, Titus’ brother who snowed him.[2] So the final three heads of the Beast were emperors of a new family dynasty, the “Flavians”; namely Vespasian, Titus and Domitian – the sixth, seventh and eight heads of the seven-headed Beast.[3]
Mortal Wound Healed
Recall now that the first five heads of the Beast were all of one family – the “Julian” family – named after their forefather and god, Julius Caesar. When the cruel fifth emperor, Nero, committed suicide by mortally wounding himself, he ended the imperial Julian bloodline. No heir was acceptable, and a time of great confusion, uncertainty and bloodletting fell upon the city of Rome. Several tried to install themselves as emperor / head over the next year and a half (8 June 68 – 20 Dec 69), but all these were murdered or forced to suicide.[4] It was not until Vespasian, who had been commanding Roman legions in Palestine, was called back to Rome as emperor, that stability returned to the Beast. This break in the dynastic succession is what’s meant when the Revelator relates, “One of [the Beast’s] heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed” (Revelation 13:3). The death of Julian emperors was “healed” when the Flavians took over. The Beast therefore rose from the dead in a prophetic manner of speaking, just as the Roman Empire rose again after the death of Nero and ascension of Vespasian.
The Second Beast
Now, Revelation 13 tells us of two Beasts. This first Beast with the seven heads is seen arising out of the sea, for it’s by sea that the Roman legions arrived in Palestine to keep order at the request of King Herod. As for the second beast, here’s what’s written of it in: Revelation 13:11. Then I saw another beast which rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.
Correct the word “earth” with “land” (γης). This second beast arises in the land, speaking of Palestine, because the Land Beast is already on land, exercising the authority of Rome and imposing the worship of the Roman gods, the chief of which were the emperors. The second beast is easy to identify, for the mystery is history. The head and two horns of the Land Beast are the same people as the sixth, seventh and eighth heads of the Sea Beast; namely, Vespasian, the head, and his sons, Titus and Domitian, as the horns. As I mentioned, Vespasian and Titus were generals of the Roman army. They led several legions into Israel in 67 AD culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. In order to tell the full story of the Second or Land Beast, we have to drop back five years to 62 AD and visit the brother of Jesus during his final day few moments on the earth.
The Order of Melchizedek
Jacob, the son of Joseph and half-brother of Jesus, was a priest living
in Jerusalem thirty
Those who followed the James Gang way kept the Law of Yahweh and his appointed feasts. However, they didn’t sacrifice animals, believing Yahweh had called for an end to that system through the exhortation of the prophets.[7] The James Gang also believed Enoch prophesied that the Son of Man would descend from heaven. James believed that the Son had come, and the Son had prophesied, “I AM the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). For this saying, the wicked rulers of the Jews had the Son of Man impaled; but Yahweh considered him the final sacrifice for sin – the sin of the whole world. Hallelu-yah! For after his death, the Son of Man ascended back to heaven, and, by this time, was known by believers, including James, and us, as “the Gate of Heaven” (or the like).
James the Just (The Zedek or Zaddik)
James was the leader of the Son of Man’s followers; he was the “bishop (mebakker) of Jerusalem”[8]: he’d carried his younger brother’s torch and cross all these years. In Acts 21:20, we find Paul meeting James and the elders. Paul had come up to Jerusalem for Passover. James tells Paul, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews who have believed; they are all zealous for the law” (Acts 21:20). By 62 AD, thousands upon thousands of Jews had come to believe in Jesus through James and the Apostles – and though these converts continued to be zealous for the law, they no longer supported the economics of the sacrificial system. But, on account of James’ leadership, there had been a great revival of true holiness and spiritual worship throughout Israel. James had led a sinless life, consecrated a priest at birth, the people of Israel held him in extremely high esteem. James became a legend in his own time. And here’s his legend – his followers believed that as long as James lived, Jerusalem would live; but if James were to fall, Jerusalem and Israel would be destroyed. James became known as “Oblias,” which means “pillar.” He was the pillar that held Jerusalem up before the Almighty. If the pillar ever crumbled, the multitude believed, Jerusalem and all Israel would likewise fall. This was a common belief in 60 AD, reported so by historians – that the land of Israel would rise or fall with James. This belief may’ve originated in a question the Apostles put to Jesus a generation before: Gospel of Thomas 12: The disciples said to Jesus, “We know you will leave us. Who is to be our leader?” Jesus said to them, “Go to James the Just, for whose sake sky and land came to be.”
Same Old Enemies
But not everybody thought Jesus and James were so wonderful. The Levites, the Sadducees and Pharisees, the rulers of the temple and the rich, they despised James and the Order of Melchizedek. Why? Because, since multiple thousands no longer bought into the sacrificial system, and since James had written so vehemently about the sins of the rich and powerful, huge sums of money were lost to the affluent (James 2:6ff.). How do you solve a problem like Jacob the Just? Here’s how. In 62 AD, the governor of Syria, of which Jerusalem was a part, died. He was Porcius Festus, mentioned in Acts 24 & 25. Festus, you’ll remember, sent Paul to Rome in chains. His death presented James’ enemies an opportunity to put him to the test with impunity. Since the governor was dead, they reasoned, there was little risk of punishment. So the high priest, Ananus, son of Caiaphas, along with other whitewashed tombs, approach James the Just at the Temple steps at Passover, AD 62. We now turn to the Christian historians Hegesippus and Eusebius for an account of the conversations of devilish religious men concerning James the Just, the brother of the Anointed One, the Messiah: The Testimony of Hegesippus“There arose a riot among the Jews and Scribes and Pharisees, saying that the whole people was in danger of looking for Jesus as the Anointed. So they assembled, and said to James,
“‘We beseech you to restrain the people, who are going astray after
Jesus as though he were the Anointed. We beseech you to persuade
all who are coming to the feast of the Passover rightly concerning
Jesus; for all obey you. For we and all the people testify that you are
the Righteous One and do not respect persons. Therefore, persuade the
people not to be led astray after Jesus, for all the people and ourselves
have confidence in you.
“And one of them, a fuller, beat out the brains of Justus with the club
that he used to beat out clothes. Thus he suffered martyrdom, and they
buried him on the spot where his tombstone is still remaining, by the
temple. He became a faithful witness, both to the Jews and Greeks, that
Jesus is the Anointed.” {Listen to this:}
Books on James from Amazon
The Ten HornsThe most incredible part of this story is that Vespasian, Titus and their armies invaded at this time, because there was a riotous revolt in Israel sparked by the brutal murder of Jesus’ brother James. Jesus was indeed the Gate, just as James was the Pillar! Yet it was Nero, the brutal fifth head of the Beast, the hater, persecutor and murderer of Christians, who sent Vespasian and three Roman legions over land to suppress the Jewish rebellion caused by the peoples’ reaction to James’ death. By 67 AD, Vespasian’s legions crushed Galilee. A
year later, he finished the coastal towns, including Jericho and Emmaus.
Jerusalem was isolated as Vespasian and his legions began its
annihilation, which would take two years.
Revelation 13:1.
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 diadems, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. The ten horns represent the 10th Roman
legion, with “diadems” on their heads – helmets showing their rank and
allegiance to Titus. The Tenth Legion had been in Jerusalem since the
time of Jesus, and now, with the defeat of Jerusalem at hand, the heroes
of the tenth legion would be rewarded with “kingships.” They hadn’t
received power yet, but they would rule over Jerusalem as kings for a
short span of time – a short but infamous span.
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Jackson Snyder (801) 605-1715 Vero Beach, FL |
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years
after his brother had been crucified and risen from the dead. Jacob, or
“James” as we call him today, was not a priest of the Levites. He was of
another order – the priesthood of Melchizedek