Where on earth are we going

By Edwin Talbot

This book was twelve years in the making its purpose is to take the reader through the biblical Book of Revelation verse by verse and explains each section in contemporary language providing a chronological path through what, to many is jumbled up bunch of signs and symbols. It could be a great tool to us

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pen Culture Solutions
• Release date: Aug 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638122975

Book preview

Where on Earth are We Going

Treatise on the Book of Revelation

Copyright © 2022 by Edwin C. Talbot.

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-63812-296-8

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63812-297-5

All rights reserved. No part in this book may be produced and 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.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Published by Pen Culture Solutions 06/28/2022

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Foreword

I have read many books on the subject of the Book of Revelation and have always found that there are inconsistencies between events as described by the scriptures and the historical facts as they present themselves. There always seems to be the need to modify either historical facts or scriptural prophesy in order to get them to fit, and therefore the interpretation of the scriptures depended on the skill of the writer to manipulate these issues in order to get the best fit.

What I was looking for was a direct correlation between what the prophesies were foretelling and what has taken place historically or is about to take place. The two had to fit without having to manipulate either of them.

After spending many years studying this subject and much time in prayer, asking the Lord to reveal what He really intended to show through the scriptures. 2 Pet 1:20-21

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. What I was afraid of, was just another theory of my own making. If the result of my research was not the truth, then I did not want it and would throw it out and start again.

Having studied and discovered the wonderful accuracy of the scriptures, I now believe in the literal prophetic fulfillment of the bible. I also have no problem with the fact that there are very real spiritual meanings in the images and symbols used when the prophets spoke. However, I do not subscribe to the concept of purely spiritualizing everything in the bible, as I believe that there is room for both. I am also of the mindset that considers when the bible makes sense of something then that is exactly what is intended and therefore can be taken literally.

I am writing this to share what I believe The Lord has revealed to me and I claim no special position or status in this. I took the time to honestly ask for the answers, realizing that He was the one who wrote it all, and who better to give the answers. I trusted Him to give me those answers and so this book has come only came by the asking, I make no special claims, nor do I make any apologies for what is documented and will not spend any time defending any of the issues. This is not an attempt to convince or persuade anyone of anything, but rather to share the blessings and excitement in the discoveries of how the current global events are part of the final episodes of this world’s history as foretold by the scriptures.

It is my earnest desire that you will experience as big a blessing in reading this book as I have had in its writing.

Chapter One

First Principles

The Book of Revelation (In the Greek Apokalupsis) is the only book in the entire bible that promises a special blessing to the person who takes the time to learn and understand it. I have personally experienced this blessing every time I have spent time teaching or studying this book. In addition to the blessing there is also a curse on anyone who corrupts its message.

Before we get going it may be a good idea to set some fundamental concepts in place that will hold true, all the way through this book.

Where the word ‘mountain’ is used in prophetic statements, it almost invariable refers to a dynasty, or an empire.

It must be remembered that the story of the Bible is not yet finished and that the most important part of this story is yet to take place. The Bible is a love story of a woman and her prince, (the woman being the church and the prince being Jesus Christ). Where she waits a long time for him to come to her and when he eventually arrives the lovers are separated for a time, to be reunited for ever and ever at the end. It is the only true love story where we are told the ending in advance, and it is this ending that I will be focusing on.

In most cases, prophesies can be considered as having a long-and short-term fulfillment. These are often confused within a single prophesy because the prophet was seeing the events as though he were viewing them through a telescope of time and could not see the valley of time that separated the two events. This concept is graphically shown below and explains why there was so much confusion regarding Christ’s role when he came. The prophesies of the Old Testament depicted a suffering Christ and a victorious Christ in the same breath.

When Jesus appeared to the people, of his time, they were expecting a victorious Christ who would deliver them from the heel of their oppressors. They were disappointed, to being offered a suffering Christ and were unable to accept that their Messiah would be executed as a common criminal. This can be construed as the single most significant factor of their rejecting Jesus as the Christ. We now know that there will be close to two thousand years separating these two events. When reading the prophesies during the Old Testament it was not possible for the people to grasp this concept, as they had not seen the short-term fulfillment of these prophesies. We are now in a privileged position to have the complete Old and New Testament, so it is a little easier to see these matters with improved clarity.

Another point that is vital to understanding prophesy is that the majority of biblical prophecy centres on Israel and finally the church as its focal points and the events portrayed in prophecy depict how they affect the Nation of Israel and the church.

The need to read books like this one usually stems from the fact that you have read the book of Revelation. Having found that you could only guess at what it means and, also that your confusion turns to fear as some of the horrific symbols, signs and scenes are unfolded. You are now determined to find the meaning of it all and what the Lord is telling us. It is my prayer and earnest desire that this book will assist you in coming to some helpful and satisfactory answers.

At the outset of this book, I must convey to you the reader that to try to improve or make precise what God has presented in this prophecy would be both presumptuous and arrogant. He has done a magnificent work in what is already written, and I would not dare to attempt anything but to share that which He has shown me during my studies of His wonderous work. He has used such simple images in which He has portrayed issues of such importance, magnitude, and complexity that I can only marvel at the magnificence of it. I am sometimes saddened by how some attempt to explain some of the images and symbols trivially, applying them in a way that is superficial, to say the least.

NOTE: There is no substitution for reading the bible itself, never read books about the bible without reading it personally, letting The Lord speak to you through it.

Keys to the Book of Revelation

The keys to understanding the book of revelation are included in the whole Bible, the reader really needs to have at least read the Bible, in which there are some 300 prophecies predicting the first advent of Jesus Christ, in contrast to over 1000 references to His second coming. There is no other event in the scriptures that has so many references made to it. However! having said all this, there are some areas of prophesy that really assist us in attempting to unravel some of the mysteries. The first of these is Matthew chapter 24 (the whole chapter) which is sometimes referred to as the mini apocalypse. The Greek word apokalupsis really means a sudden revealing, as when lifting a curtain to reveal a stage and the scene on it, rather than the simple concept of bringing something into view as portrayed by the English word. The other very important book of the bible that gives us as an insight to the mysteries of the Book of Revelation is the Book of Daniel and we will be making many excursions there at various times.

The book of Revelation itself is not intended by God to spell out the doom and destruction of the earth, as so many people think it is. It is amazing to me that the word apocalyptic has become synonymous with doom and destruction. THIS IS NOT THE PURPOSE OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION. On the contrary it is to give the true Christian hope and direction. It is the revealing of The Lord Jesus Christ and how he is going to deal with His church followed by how He will take possession of the earth, which He has redeemed. We will see that after He has dealt with His church He turns to the matter of the earth and first pours out His judgement on those who have disobeyed Him and at the right moment returns to take possession of the earth. We will also see that the powers of this earth do not relinquish control without a fight. That He walks out of Jerusalem and faces the powers of this world again, and again he will do it alone but this time it is not His blood that will be shed but theirs instead.

The powers of this world do not hand the control of this world over to Him; He takes it! This is the story of how He is going to do it, a story that should fill us with hope and excitement and certainly not fear and dread. Certainly! those who do not know Him should be very fearful of what He is saying, but they do not believe it anyway, so it is plainly evident that the only people to whom the book of revelation has any value are those who have a close relationship with the living God, through His Son Jesus Christ (Jeshua Ho mashiach).

The God of this universe has gone to so much trouble to tell us about Himself, and what He is doing. He once again indicates His enormous love for us and for those who would put their pride away and would put their trust in Him and what He is saying, rather than in the technicalities of individual argument and intellectual deduction. What will become abundantly clear is that when anyone takes the parts of the scriptures that relate to each other and put them together as He has directed, a very clear picture emerges, and that is all that I have really done here. The work has already been done and all that He has shown me is how the bits fit together, and in most cases do not require much comment at all.

In this study I am highlighting what God is telling us in a structured way. I will divide the study into various sections:

We will start our studies as follows:

• The image depicted in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel Ch2. The nations they represent, the impact that they had on Israel and their involvement in the end times. Combined with the four beasts of Daniel ch:7

• The little more difficult Daniel ch:9

• The Rapture, the scriptures that relate to it and the effect it will have on the world.

• Thirdly we will proceed through the book of Revelation sequentially looking:

1. Briefly at the Introduction

2. The images of Christ

3. The seven messages to the seven churches and their prophetic nature

4. We will spend some time in the extremely important chapters 4 and 5.

5. We will look at chapters 6 and 7

6. Then we will