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Notes on John's Revelation
An Apocalypse of Jesus
February 18, 2006
(VizReport) In analysing these verses, I'll be using the King James Version (KJV) of the text because it's generally the most widely known of the translations from the original Koine Greek -- the language of the dream transcription penned by John on the island of Patmos. Although it's possible that his personal copy was actually written in Aramaic, no record of that document remains. Some proof to this claim, however, is represented in the interpretations below.
'Koine' is associated with meaning 'common' in Greek, but this stems from the fact that it emerged from the eastern realms of Greece and is often associated with Macedonia and therefore was the object of some derision by the inhabitants of the more westerly cities. Greek literature was usually composed in the Attic Greek form, but the prevalence of Koine Greek increased dramatically following the conquests of Alexander. This language was natural for John not only because its use was so widespread, but also because he spoke a version of the language that was a unique hybrid of Greek and Aramaic.
Notes: Aramaic itself was a hybrid of Hebrew and Syriac using the Hebrew alphabet and comprised of roughly 80% Syriac word content transliterated into Hebrew letters. The remaining 20% was pure Hebrew. The same development has occurred hundreds of times throughout the history of the Jews, even to the extent that dozens of Spanish dialects, including Catalan, are actually Hebrew hybrids. It is ultimately possible that Koine Greek was also developed in a similar fashion though native Greek and Macedonian speakers, not being familiar with the Hebrew character set, would have been inclined to use their own form of the Cyrillic alphabet to render it.
As with all prophecy, what follows is a product of three times; the time of its recording, the time of its interpretation, and the time of its fulfillment.
It should be noted that the failure of a prophesied event to manifest itself in reality, as with Jonah's prediction of the destruction of Nineveh, is not necessarily evidence of a flawed vision or seer. The Nineveh prophecy was very straightforward when compared with the visions of Daniel or John, to which--in the absence of hindsight--rigorous interpretation must be applied in order to fathom the most likely meaning.
Revelation 9:1 to 9:11
9:1. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
The star. A star that falls from heaven is often called a "shooting star" or simply, a "falling star". In the Farsi language of Persia (Iran), this is called a "shihab" or "shahab". The government of the Iranian Islamic Republic has, very fittingly, taken this name for their missile program. Their current series of missiles are named Shihab I, Shihab II and Shihab III. The Shihab IV, a longer-range missile capable of reaching much of Europe, is currently under development.
You can see, by reading the verses of this chapter, that the words "angel" and "shooting star" are used interchangeably. This is reasonable, especially where ancient mystical cultures are concerned. A person from that time would have very little knowledge of technology; the grist mill was then still considered a very remarkable invention. Missiles, aside from spears, were unknown.
The fifth angel. Iran is reported to have one more significant missile in its arsenal -- the air-launched, nuclear-capable, KH-55 cruise missile, which was apparently supplied covertly to Iran by Russia. It has a range of more than 1,000 miles and a sophisticated guidance & targeting system. Janes Defence Weekly refers to the Iranian KH-55 as the X-55, but it's rumoured that the country's Revolutionary Guard commanders refer to it as the Shihab V...the fifth "shooting star" or "angel".
The key. Just as knowledge can act as a key to unlock a prophecy, technical knowledge can be used as a key to unlock the secrets of the universe. In this case, a technological weapon is the key that opens the door to the bottomless pit of nuclear power. That's not just a poetic way of describing the dark side of atomic energy, but an apt technical description of the power and geometricity of matter.
The bottomless pit. A hole that's infinitely large could logically contain an infinite amount of stuff. Theoretically, the smaller the hole, the less stuff it should be able to contain. Now, imagine an impossibly small hole packed with an impossibly huge amount of stuff. Well, there's nothing impossible--or even improbable--about that...it's called an atom. It's not quite "infinite" or "bottomless", but it's the closest thing we can find to approximate it.
If you were to dig a hole in any spherical aggregation of matter, whether a ball, a planet, a sun, or an atom...that hole could not be bottomless because it would eventually exit the other side of the object. As a matter of fact, it becomes less and less "bottomless" as you pass the centre-point of the mass. The only way to be "bottomless" is to penetrate deeper and deeper into the "centre" of the object. There is no better description that I can think of for describing the breaching of the boundary that constrains the ultra-intense power of the atom.
9:2. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Needs no explanation. We've all seen movies of the immense, sky-darkening clouds generated by this sort of weaponry; a genuinely dangerous host of fallen angels.
9:3. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
While it makes sense that locusts might flee such a phenomenon, if they could, how would such meek insects be accorded the power of scorpions? I suppose they could mutate, but they would sooner die.
I think it's fairly clear that John's not talking about ordinary locusts here, but some type of war machinery that flies in stages like a locust horde, moving from one area to the next, but which can sting like a scorpion.
But who--in their right mind--would fly a helicopter through the fallout of a nuclear blast? They would have to be suicidal.
"The only tool against the enemy that we have with which we can become victorious are martyrdom-seeking operations and, God willing, our possession of faithful, brave, trained and zealous persons will give us the upper hand in the battlefield."
Mohammad-Reza Jaafari, Brigadier-General
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Commander, "Lovers of Martyrdom Garrison"
February 13, 2006
General Jaafari has been bragging that, at last count, he has more than 50,000 suicide operatives ready and willing to gain early entrance to Paradise. This doesn't include the country's paramilitary Bassij units whose members are claimed by officials of the regime to be in the millions. Now, some of this can certainly be ascribed to bravado...or machismo...or some other cool sounding word for "talkin' big", but this is the same government that has been sponsoring suicide operations in various locales for the past quarter century. When it comes to suicide, these guys have authored the most definitive text on the subject. And they've written it in red ink.
9:4. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
Since John describes these craft variously as locusts or scorpions, he must draw a distinction between the "things" from the vision and the everyday insects with which his average reader would be familiar. He does it by stating that these "creatures" aren't interested in eating the shrubs and grass of the best pasture land. Some interpreters have taken this verse to mean that the "beasts" will be environmentally conscious, à la... "Ooh, don't hurt the earth, or anything green." That's not it at all. He means that they are only given one instruction: "Attack the Infidel!"
9:5. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
The flying scorpions attack successfully and then are instructed to persecute the infidels for five months. I understand that the sting of a scorpion is similar to a highly acute burning sensation.
9:6. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
I don't think that there's any sort of "good" torture, but this sounds like the worst kind.
9:7. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
The word "shape" is one translation, but "form" is a better one. Like horses assembled for battle; arrayed as a group, armoured, and representing uniformity of purpose and action. These are not horses, though, but "flying scorpions". The faces of men will be seen at the front. And above them... an impressive circle of powerful metal.
9:8. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
Two translation issues here: This should be "manes" not "hair" to be consistent with the descriptive horse theme. And, as in a certain part of Zechariah, where the word "woman" is routinely substituted for "fire" (Hebrew/Aramaic:ishah vs. a'isha or isheh), the same thing is happening here.
These horses will have manes of fire, i.e., they will be military jet helicopters, with fire flowing out behind them.
And, like lions, they will be equipped to do battle.
9:9. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
Once again: armoured. And their blurred, locust-like wings would beat a loud rhythmic sound, like war chariots and their heavy horses charging to battle. (These verses really are beautifully written, but considering the content, it's a cruel sort of beauty.)
9:10. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
Long tails, like scorpions...or helicopters. And, like the scorpion, possessed of a blade at the tip. Imagine a blade so sharp that it can cut the air. The duration of five months is restated, in association with the word "power".
Now, let's see... that's the fifth angel, the Shihab V, which is really the Iranian X-55, but really the KH-55. Oh yes, and they'll be prosecuting their action for five months -- or so the verse keeps telling us. Interesting. If Revelation wasn't already so gung-ho on 6-6-6, there might be a case for 5-5-5 as an important feature of the story. The fundamentalist Islamic voting code is also usually 5-5-5, as demonstrated in the recent Iraqi election where that number received more votes than any other. But, I digress...
9:11. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
The king of all these weapons is the atomic. It is the door to the bottomless pit. In Hebrew, the word Abaddon means "destruction" or "destroyer", but phenomena are often named for the place at which they occur, like Hiroshima.
That name is synonymous with atomic destruction, as will be Abaddon.
***
Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, upon witnessing the first successful atomic explosion, mouthed to himself (somewhat regretfully) this short passage from the Baghavad Gita; "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds."
Until next time,
JEREBOA
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