The Journey Home: Armageddon to Paradise

By Leonard Holst

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 17, 2003
• ISBN: 9781469108643

Leonard Holst

LEONARD HOLST, M. Ed., L I C S W (Ret.) An ordained minister, has served pastorates in three denominations, many years a licensed therapist with a private practice, speaker, storyteller, college instructor and counselor.

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Copyright © 2003 by Leonard Holst.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any

form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,

or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing

from the copyright owner.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations used in this book are from the Holy

Bible, the King James Version (KJV).

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Contents

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1

A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM GOD HIMSELF

CHAPTER 2

SEVEN CANDLESTICKS, SEVEN CHURCHES

CHAPTER 3

BEFORE THE VERY THRONE OF GOD

CHAPTER 4

THUNDERING HORSEMEN OF APOCALYPSE

CHAPTER 5

REASSURANCE AND REWARDS

CHAPTER 6

TRUMPETS OF WARNING

CHAPTER 7

THE VOICE OF THE SEVENTH ANGEL

CHAPTER 8

ONE OF SATAN’S WORST ATTACKS

CHAPTER 9

THE STORM BREAKS IN PARADISE

CHAPTER 10

RELIGION GONE MAD

CHAPTER 11

OMINOUS VOICES FROM THE SKY

CHAPTER 12

PLAGUES IN VIALS OF GOD’S ANGER

CHAPTER 13

ARMAGEDDON AND THE COMMAND TO DESTROY EARTH

CHAPTER 14

BABYLON THE HABITATION OF DEVILS

CHAPTER 15

A CHURCH CELEBRATES FINAL VICTORY

CHAPTER 16

JUDGMENT TIME AND VACATION TIME

CHAPTER 17

A BEAUTIFUL CITY FROM OUTER SPACE

CHAPTER 18

CONCLUSION OF THE MATTER

DEDICATION

To every person young or old, to every church where the priceless book of Revelation is read, wherever our Lord is revered and His abiding presence is sought, and its wondrous promises are believed, this outline of its truths is dedicated. To all the promise is sure that a perfect world and a perfect people will again become a part of the glorious universe of our Heavenly Father.

SPECIAL PEOPLE

To my family for years of patience, encouragement, and enthusiasm about this project. They, as much as I, saw the need for a practical, and understandable outline of the wonderful truths in The Revelation of St. John the Divine. To Eileen, who listened to the reading of the manuscript over and over again with so many excellent suggestions, and to Sharon, Rose, and Janice, a sincere and abiding thank you. They are very special people.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THE JOURNEY HOME!

It describes the history of planet earth. It identifies Intergalactic Armageddon. No theories, no novel, just the facts. It answers doubts about the holy Bible. It explains the meanings of all the symbols, animals, exotic creatures, angels, and devils. It describes the future of mankind. It verifies the existence of Paradise. It offers a world with no sickness or death. It promises the return of lost loved ones. It offers an opportunity to live forever.

WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT JOURNEY HOME!

Finally, I understand what Revelation really says. It is the Plan of Salvation, the Gospel in symbols. The information is just what I need. No wonder I was confused about Revelation. It is so clear to me now. It tells me how to prepare for a place in Heaven. I can see family members who have died. Written in symbols to hide it from its enemies. It is the wonderful final message for the world.

Amazing, it is a message from God, Himself. It explains how the world will end. It promises me a home in Paradise.

WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT REVELATION.

Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein; for the time is at hand.

Revelation 1:3

PREFACE

"I DON’T KNOW IF THERE ARE MEN ON THE

MOON, BUT IF THERE ARE, THEY MUST BE

USING THE EARTH AS THEIR LUNATIC ASYLUM."

George Bernard Shaw

The year was A.D. 31.

A stranger stood beneath a cross, blood spattering down in a strange sort of pattern on the stony pathway on a hill called Golgotha. A few drops even fell upon his tunic as he watched the intense and challenging panorama of a death by crucifixion. This was not his first crucifixion, for it was one of Rome’s more common ways of dealing with political and religious criminals. Consequently, there was often a group who showed up for the excitement of watching a criminal die. Today was different, and the hillside was crowded with the curious, the fearful, the religious and the military. The prisoner was a most unusual victim.

The prisoner was a man of the cloth, a religious, an excellent speaker, and odd, as interpreted by the common crowd. The man under the cross watched as the dreadful hours dragged by that Friday afternoon while the prisoner and two companions, thieves, slowly lost consciousness, and died. He was here for some very personal reasons of his own! A flood of memories and thoughts raced through his head, mostly about the doomed prisoner hanging above him. As this man of the cloth groaned, and at times cried out, the stranger remembered—indeed he remembered!

He remembered three years of excitement and challenge. This Rabbi had declared himself to be Messiah, and had convinced the stranger to join a new movement. It had happened in a remarkable way. He had gone to see an odd sort of man in the desert who claimed that God would send a deliverer to Israel and that the time was at hand. This ‘baptizer’ had stirred up a lot of excitement and anger among the Priests and Rabbis of the Temple in Jerusalem because so many people were going out to see and hear him.

The stranger happened to be present at one of these meetings when the baptizer was actually baptizing people in the Jordan river, and committing them to look for the coming Messiah. He was called John the Baptist. That day was unforgettable, for as one of the people came up out of the water the baptizer exclaimed, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. He actually called the man, Messiah!

The next time the stranger happened to see this Messiah, the Messiah called him by name and asked him to become a member of his group. Without hesitation, he followed, wondering what strange power the Rabbi had, to cause such an impulsive decision.

The next three years seemed like a blur of endless activity; walking, speaking, helping people and attending the temple services. This Messiah amazed his followers by performing all sorts of miracles, healing sick, giving sight to blind, feeding thousands of people, and building a very large following who believed he was a Messiah. One day he announced that he was the Messiah! He also created tremendous excitement when he announced that he was going to set up a kingdom. That announcement was to cause his death!

Now it had happened, the Messiah hung limp and lifeless on a cross with two thieves-criminals!

Sixty-five years later.

The same stranger who had stood loyally under a criminal’s cross, was now an old man, probably 92 years of age. He had suffered torture and punishment at the hands of his enemies and his tired body showed the strain. As far as his enemies were concerned he was finished. Imprisoned on a tiny bit of rock in the Aegean Sea, called Patmos, his work was seemingly closed forever.

But a shocking series of events were to happen to this former stranger, now a faithful warrior for God, before it was time to put down his pen and silence his voice. He was still to produce the most startling, the most challenging and the most significant manuscript ever to be offered to God’s faithful people. It was a manuscript that would be a guide book capable of leading them safely into the kingdom of God. The very same prisoner he had seen dying on Golgotha so many years ago, was now to appear in person, not as a Messiah, but as King of heaven and earth.

The stranger’s name was John, and the manuscript was that remarkable, amazing book of mystery, The Revelation.

The official title of this man’s book, as described in the King James Version of Holy Scriptures, is THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. Perhaps the title ascribed to him was given because of the intimate relationship he had with heaven, as he recorded what he was told and what he saw. However it is not the Revelation of St. John, for the scripture calls it The Revelation of Jesus Christ.

Who was this remarkable person? Why was the last written portion of the Bible entrusted to him? Why was he called the disciple whom Jesus loved?

John was one of the fishermen who heard of Jesus, soon after his baptism, when they were told that this was the Messiah. Scripture says that they followed him and became disciples. From that day forward, John and Jesus were inseparable. Through the years of Christ’s ministry to Israel, John and the other disciples were trained to care for the infant church that was developing as a result of their work. When Christ was arrested and condemned to death, it was John who courageously stood under the cross, with Jesus’ mother and several other women. When the other disciples fled in panic and fear, Jesus, tho he was dying, looked down from the cross, saw John, and asked him to care for his mother. John took Mary to his own home and tenderly cared for her for the rest of her life. Who, better than this John, former stranger, was better prepared by that closeness to Jesus, to record for the church, in every generation, the marvelous work of salvation of the human race.

Little is known of John’s later years. He was tortured by Rome, imprisoned on a rocky island called Patmos, off the coast near Ephesus, seemed to be in contact with some of his friends and the churches of Asia, and is said by some to have spent his last days in Ephesus with people he loved. This, then, is John, the writer of the God-sent messages of guidance and hope for a fallen race. With his pen he faithfully recorded the messages that would keep the church safe through the terrible years of struggle to come, and guarantee final victory over the powers of evil, to the very end of time, and the restoration of a perfect world, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

In this book, I have endeavored to make clear the plain truths, presented in a simple way, so that any who have limited insight into their meanings may be able to develop a serious interest in this remarkable book given to us by God. I have included with each chapter, or message, an imagined note of explanation, that John might have sent along so the churches would see clearly the circumstances under which the book was written. It, in no way, is to be considered any part of the messages presented. It is only to help the reader understand John’s concern for his beloved churches.

Before reading a chapter of this book, do read the message as it is recorded in Scripture and then consider explanations offered for your study. I hope you will see clearly the wonderful plan of salvation presented in John’s Revelation, neatly tucked in among exciting symbols, symbols used for the protection of the manuscript itself, given in the midst of a cruel and hateful enemy, Satan, who was determined to destroy all of God’s Word! This book, Revelation, is the story of Jesus, his life, his death, his resurrection and his victory over Satan, the arch deceiver.

A WAY TO STUDY THIS BOOK.

Ask God’s guidance in your study of each chapter.

Read the chapter to be studied, from the Bible.

Consider the imagined note of explanation at the beginning of each chapter.

Consider the list of symbols and their meanings.

Study the lessons.

Note the summary of the chapter listed at the end of the lesson. Give careful consideration to the meaning of each of the lessons, for the church, past and present.

Give thought to lessons that apply to yourself, personally.

It is my sincere hope that you discover that St. John’s Revelation is a veritable treasure house of truth, counsel, warning and promise, not just for churches and people in times past, but for you and me, personally, now! The apostle Peter makes very clear the remarkable value and helpfulness of prophecy. Note what he said.

We have also a more sure word of prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

2 Peter 1:19-21

Leonard Holst 2002

INTRODUCTION

"ALL HUMAN DISCOVERIES SEEM TO BE MADE

ONLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONFIRMING MORE

AND MORE STRONGLYTHE TRUTHS THAT COME

ON HIGH AND ARE CONTAINED IN THE SACRED

WRITINGS."

John F. Herschel

THE FUTURE?

The body came hurtling downward from above! In less that two seconds it would be nothing but a crushed and broken body on the sidewalk in front of a seedy hotel. If only! If only someone had been on the seventh floor of that hotel, had known that an attractive twenty-two year old young woman was going to throw herself out of the window! If someone had known! Depressed and deserted by her husband of only three years, she saw no future and determined to take her own life.

Only a lone photographer, who had happened to be passing by and observed someone clinging to a window-sill high above, saw what happened. Whipping out his camera, he snapped the photo. It showed the young woman falling, clutching at the air as the sidewalk loomed below. In the hotel at a large window sat people who were not aware that in one second a human being would streak down past that window to its death. A young couple stood only feet away at the entrance of the hotel and a policeman walked under the falling body totally unaware of what was about to happen.

The photo told the whole story. There, hanging in space, motionless, just ten or so feet above the sidewalk, an attractive young woman was to die in a second, but only the photographer knew what was happening. If only! If only her parents had known about her despair! If only a friend had been aware of her depressed condition! If only the policeman had seen her before she jumped! If only her husband had helped her solve their problems! If only!

What would it do to our plans for our dreams and hopes for ourselves and our families, if we knew? How would it affect our thinking? If it were possible to know our ultimate destination, whether to succeed in chosen goals or to fail to achieve useful objectives—before these things came to pass—would it be better for us, or worse? One of the most common cries of those of us who exist on planet earth is, If I had only known, I would have—. We certainly would have taken a different route, had we known that a drunk driver was going to smash into our automobile. No question about it, had we known that the plane we were going to fly to Cleveland would crash and kill everyone aboard—we would take another flight! It might be exciting to know the future of our lives but it might not be pleasant!

Throughout human recorded history there are evidences that people have tried to predict the future. Every so often someone has come along claiming the ability to see beyond the present. Michele Nostradamos, born in 1503 is one of the most familiar of these. A large number of books have recorded his strange and sometimes remarkable predictions in efforts to prove the validity of these mystifying quatrains. In some of these, researchers in the occults try to show that he was able to predict the future.

A PROPHET.

The fact of the matter is, that there was a person who was able to predict the future, and even more startling, he was able to foretell your future and mine. In reality, there is no book or author, or prophet, outside the Holy Bible, proven to be able to actually predict the future, and one of the most famous of these is St. John and his book The Revelation! John’s Revelation is a book that describes the future and the very end of civilization as we know it, with raging storms, earthquakes, and plagues in which many of the inhabitants of the planet will lose their lives. It is a remarkable plan by which God’s faithful children will be protected from the devastation and then transported in an unforgettable journey to the very gates of Paradise. That book, not only describes our ultimate future, but even more remarkably, offers information that can alter that future. The book is called THE REVELATION OF St. JOHN THE DIVINE! We will look at that book. It offers a choice between misery and death, and eternal life.

STORM PREDICTED.

It was a very close call! For days the weather experts had warned of its coming. It was a huge, spinning mass of weather such had not been seen since Hugo, Andrews and Camille, storms that had wreaked terrible damage all along the Gulf of Mexico and the eastern coast of the United States. The storm already was classed as a Category 4 hurricane and it was feared by the experts to be the greatly feared Hurricane X that the law of averages had been predicted to strike the coastal U. S. sooner or later. Millions of people were placed in serious danger and untold billions of dollars of damage were predicted as this terrible storm roared on to the coast. Officials did the best possible under the circumstances, and ordered between two and three million residents of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas to leave the shoreline that was predicted to be in the direct path of this storm called Floyd!

It was the most complicated and the greatest evacuation in the history of the Nation. A media frenzy followed. So many people in their cars attempted to leave at the same time that on some of the highways out of the areas had backups that stretched along Interstate highways for 200 miles! Bridges were torn out, homes smashed, phone and electric services destroyed and thousands feared for their lives.

A greater storm is coming! Not for the Eastern Coast of the U. S., this storm will strike the whole world, with earthquakes that level mountain ranges, sink islands in the oceans, and bring disease, plagues and sudden death to millions. Even more exciting is the fact that the struggles of God’s children are over, they are protected during this storm, and the wonders of salvation and eternal life are given to those who accept Jesus Christ as their friend and Savior.

The Revelation is a book that describes the coming storm, a book sent from Paradise, from the mouth of God, Himself, to a humble servant, imprisoned on a lonely island, an island called Patmos! It not only describes the greatest storm ever to descend upon a doomed planet, but it offers in clear and understandable language a safe way of escape from that storm.

NEED TO KNOW.

What I have written is not for professionals. It is for average people who may have difficulty understanding the symbolism of this most remarkable book, The Revelation of St. John the Divine. There are literally thousands of books written about this last book of the New Testament. If you are interested in trying to understand every symbol, mathematically discern every number described, and interpret each mystery or event in its actual historical place and time, there are many sources to be studied. Men and women from almost every religious denomination, perhaps much wiser than myself, have done remarkable work in bringing understanding and meaning to as many of these symbols as possible.

Most of these researchers agree that this amazing book traces the history of the planet earth from creation to the restoration, the entrance of Satan and sin, the terrible struggle for possession of the earth and the final return to Eden—all described by God Himself and sent to us! However, if you are like a lot of people, young and old, who have had no special training in the understanding of the mysteries of prophetic scripture, the Book of Revelation may seem to be a confusion of beasts, women good and bad, miracles, stars, candles, numbers and time periods! It is the purpose of this book to make clear to those who have an earnest desire to understand its major lessons, warnings and promises, it’s offer of salvation, the plan God has for his people.

No question about the vital importance of the book! Does it not begin with a shocking statement about its authors and its messengers? Note what it says.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John; Who bare record of the word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

Revelation 1:1,2

THE ORIGIN.

The statements made in the Revelation are specifically the words of the very God of Heaven! No other book comes with such an author—God!

We, as human beings, tend to treasure the signatures of famous people. Children and youth, as well as adults will go to great lengths to get the autographs of their favorite celebrities. A single baseball with a signature can be worth a million dollars. Because of this, a huge counterfeit ring has been selling signatures that later are found to be spurious. Several years ago conditions in our nation were difficult. There were conflicts in the government, politics in Republican and Democratic circles were confusing and embarrassing and the president, himself, had become involved in some upsetting personal matters. It occurred to me that some letters from citizens around the country might be a source of comfort and help. At the same time we were faced with the political explosion in Kosevo and our president struggled with the decision to involve the United States in war in that troubled Balkan area.

So, one day I sat down at the computer, composed what I thought would be a tactful and reassuring letter to the President of the United States of America. In it I also included some information I had gathered about the dangers inherent in interference in the Balkan political struggles, which history indicated had continued for nearly a thousand years. I assured the president that I and my family were including his family in our daily prayers, that we prayed that he would have strength and wisdom in making the awesome decisions that faced him. I also expressed our confidence in his leadership in both national and international matters. The letter closed with our thanks for his dedication to our nation.

With a bit of anxiousness the letter was dropped into a mail box.

A week or so later, to everyone’s surprise, there was a letter in my mailbox. I was shocked! The envelope return address was—The White House, Washington. The envelope was carefully opened, so not to damage it if it contained what I thought might be in it. My best hopes were that a secretary had answered with a form letter, noting that my letter had been received. But there was no form letter in the envelope, there was a personal letter! A personal letter from the President of the United States of America! In it he thanked me for writing, appreciated the information about Kosevo and said he truly appreciated our remembering him and his family in our prayers. Of course, as you would have done too, my first impulse was to look to see if it had been signed by the president, or only stamped with a rubber stamp of his signature. So I turned it over to see if there was an impression from the pen. It was a real signature! In his own handwriting!

I had a letter from the President of the United States of America, signed in the president’s own hand. How must John have felt when told he was to write out the very words of the God of Heaven, signed by His own hand! And that wasn’t all, for it was being delivered by God’s special angel, Gabriel, and presented to John by Jesus, Himself. It raises the question of how we should feel as we open this priceless document, a letter to us, personally signed by the God of Heaven!

STARTLING INFORMATION.

In 2001, in New York city, on the west side of Manhattan, a wonderful new Planetarium was opened, an amazing new instrument for visiting the stars. It is the Rose Center for Earth and Space. It is an 87 foot aluminum sphere that is the Hayden center, that seems to float inside a 10 story glass-walled cube. Its cost, a cool $210 million dollars. With it human beings can see what is going on much farther in space, than ever before. On October 12, 1992, the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America, NASA launched its age of discovery by switching on the biggest radio telescope on earth, a 1,000 foot-across aluminum bowl suspended over a chasm in the Puerto Rican jungle. At the same moment, in the Mojave Desert, NASA turned