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Understanding The Book of
Revelation
Keys to Unlock
End-Times Understanding in the Book of Revelation
Mark Biltz
In the case of the Bible, skipping to the
exciting ending isn't a wise course of action.
Author and pastor Mark Biltz, writer of the new
book, Decoding the Antichrist and the End
Times: What the Bible Says and What the Future Holds, says the
book of Revelation alone references over 600 verses from the Old Testament.
"How can we understand
Revelation if we don't connect the verses to the original Scriptures that were
used as a reference?" Biltz says.
"The book of Revelation
relies extensively on imagery and allusions from the Old Testament, which is
also known as the Tanakh, so the Christian view of the coming Messiah is
most properly understood by looking through the Jewish lens."
For example, Biltz says, John
1:1 states, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God."
John used the very first words from the book of
Genesis, "In the beginning," implying Yeshua is the
Word that was there at creation.
Then in the first chapter of Revelation, the
apostle John sees a menorah ("seven golden candlesticks"),
and Yeshua is standing in the middle with eyes like flames of fire (verses 12-14).
The Greek rendering states John is seeing the
Alpha and Omega.
But in Hebrew it is correctly rendered as
the Aleph and Tav, the first and last letters of
the Hebrew alphabet.
In Genesis 1:1 there are seven Hebrew words
representing the branches of the Menorah and in the middle is the word Aleph
Tav representing Yeshua at the beginning of creation!
"The most exciting
revelation I ever had concerning end-time understanding was when my eyes were
opened to how the feasts of the Lord were directly tied to the book of
Revelation and the unfolding of end-time events," Biltz writes in Decoding
the Antichrist.
"By the feasts of the
Lord, I am referring to Leviticus 23, where God lays out His divine
appointments according to His calendar for the timing of His feasts such as
Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, Yom Kippur, Tabernacles and
others. I say this because too many Christians portray the feasts of the Lord
as the feasts of the Jews and throw them into the trash bin of history because
of the anti-Semitic philosophy of the early church fathers."
Biltz said he first studied the feasts in the
1970s in Bible College, but they were taught from a replacement theology
perspective.
"To properly understand
who the Messiah is, we must look at His second coming and the book of
Revelation through the eyes of the feasts," Biltz says.
"God said He declared the
end from the beginning, so we must go to the beginning of the Bible to see what
God says concerning the end of times."
To start, in Genesis 1:14, God said He created
the sun and the moon for signs, seasons, days and years.
"All too often we think
this refers to our calendar made up of winter, spring, summer and fall as well
as our days of the week and numbered years," Biltz says.
"There are many calendars
in the world. The current pagan calendar most of the world uses today is only
2,000 years old, so it can't be an original. Our calendar is very scientific
and accurate, as it is based totally on the cycle of the sun. The Muslim
calendar is also very scientifically accurate, as it is based solely on the
cycle of the moon.”
"But guess what?" Biltz continues.
"In Genesis, God told us
the calendar He uses is based on both the sun and the moon. When He talked
about how they were to determine the days and years, He was referring to His
holy days such as Passover and Yom Kippur.
“The years referred to the
seven-year cycle in which Israel was to let the land rest and settle all
financial debts. It was known as the Shemitah year.
“There was also the Jubilee
year, which was every 50th year, when the land returned to its original owner.
Nowhere are any of these recognized on our regular calendar or the Muslim
calendar, so our calendars are definitely not God's calendar."
As an illustration, Biltz shares that he once
lived on the border between two time zones — Mountain Time and Central Time —
where it was helpful to have two clocks, especially when living in one time
zone and working in another, even if it is just a few miles away.
"It is the same for believers," Biltz says.
"We must realize that we
need to operate on two different calendars: the one God created, if we care
about His schedule, and the one man created, because we still live in this
world. The time is coming when our pagan calendar will be trashed, and all
believers will be following God's calendar, as it says we will be doing at the
end of Isaiah 66 when He creates the new heavens and new earth (verses 22-23).
“The Creator of the universe
ordained a calendar at creation that He would reveal to mankind at the
appointed time. In other words, He scheduled divine appointments to meet with
His children. But the problem lies when many believers don't show up for the
appointment because they are either unaware or don't care."
Many Christians are unaware this last weekend
was the Feast of Shavuot known as Pentecost. While most Pentecostals claim this
for their origins of their community, they don't celebrate it, and the Jews to
this day still do!
Other times when Christians do keep Pentecost,
they are a month off from the actual date to celebrate because they are still
on the Catholic calendar rather than the biblical one.
Decoding the Antichrist and the End Times, which released this spring,
takes an in-depth look at some of the deepest questions surrounding our culture
and the coming Antichrist, such as the following:
· What does the Bible say about
the Antichrist's tactics and his motivation?
· Will he be a Muslim, a Jew or
a professed Christian — or something else?
· Will the Antichrist work
through modern technology to seize control?
Mark
Biltz is founder of El Shaddai
Ministries and a well-known and popular commentator on the feasts of the Lord.
In fact, he has produced a series of DVDs on the feasts that have gone around
the world. Biltz is also the author of Blood Moons and God's Day
Timer. His research and theories have led to guest appearances on both radio
and television as well as being featured on the covers of magazines.
Decoding
the Antichrist and the End Times is published by Charisma House, which has
published books that challenge, encourage, teach and equip Christians,
including 14 New York Times' best-sellers.
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