2007-09-19 Being a student of eschatology for a number of years now I have read and studied many points of view. Some of which are pretierist, futurist, pre, mid, post rapture theories, and a slew of others. I have read numerous articles of people claiming to be prophets, the messiah, and the anti-Christ. But never have I read many articles on what I would call “eastern interpretation” of eschatology. That is why I will try to endeavor to write a series of articles of this point of view.

I feel that there are some things that we as believers may have misinterpreted along the way. We first need to establish the basics of this eastern point of view.

Symbols:

Mountains:

Many times in Biblical eschatology we find mountains symbolic of nations and empires. This is especially true of the mountains described in Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Not all mountains in scripture are empires and kingdoms, but the list below shows what in my humble opinion examples of mountains symbolically representing empires and kingdoms.

1. Jeremiah 17:3 (New King James Version) O My mountain in the field, I will give as plunder your wealth, all your treasures,  And your high places of sin within all your borders. Here we have a great example of Jeremiah using the symbol of a mountain and equating it with Israel.

2. Isaiah 65:25 (New King James Version) The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, The lion shall eat straw like the ox, And dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,” Says the LORD. Here we have another classic example of Israel being equated to a mountain.

3. Isaiah 66:20 (New King James Version) Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the LORD out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. Here we have Isaiah directly calling Jerusalem a mountain.

4. Jeremiah 31:23 (New King James Version) Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I bring back their captivity: ‘The LORD bless you, O home of justice, and mountain of holiness!’ Here we have Jeremiah calling Judah a mountain of holiness. It is also a great prophecy of Israel’s return to the land.

5. Jeremiah 51:24-26 (New King James Version) “ And I will repay Babylon And all the inhabitants of Chaldea For all the evil they have done In Zion in your sight,” says the LORD. 25 “ Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, Who destroys all the earth,” says the LORD. “ And I will stretch out My hand against you, Roll you down from the rocks, And make you a burnt mountain. 26 They shall not take from you a stone for a corner Nor a stone for a foundation, But you shall be desolate forever,” says the LORD. Here we have an example of God calling Babylon a destroying mountain and says it will become a burnt mountain.

6. Ezekiel 28:14 (New King James Version) “ You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. Here is an example of God calling his kingdom a holy mountain.

7. Ezekiel 28:16 (New King James Version) “ By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. Here we have another example of God likening his kingdom to a holy mountain.

8. Ezekiel 34:6 (New King James Version) My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them.” Here we have an example of God calling the nations of the earth mountains.

9. Daniel 2:35 (New King James Version) Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Here we have an example of possibly Christ being the mountain the destroys the whole image.

10. Daniel 2:45 (New King James Version) Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.” Here we have the continuation of the above verse with Christ as the mountain not cut out with human hands destroying the image.

11. Micah 4:1 (New King James Version) Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And peoples shall flow to it. Here we have a great example of the Lord calling his kingdom a mountain that shall rule over all the other mountains.

12. Zechariah 4:7 (New King James Version) ‘ Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’” Here we have a great example of Zechariah saying a mountain shall become a plain.

13. Matthew 17:20 (New King James Version) So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief;[a] for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. Many have misinterpreted this passage of scripture thinking that because they told a literal mountain to move and it didn’t meant that they had little faith. But in reality the church has changed the world. Could it be that Christ was taking about peoples and nations and not literal mountains?

Here we have had many examples of the Lord calling kingdoms and nation’s mountains. There is definitely a pattern here and I would say that in certain instances a mountain is most certainly a kingdom or nation. Now let’s take a look at another symbol “trees”.

Trees:

Many times in scripture we see that Satan and his minions are referred to as trees. Let’s take a look at some of the verses that would refer to Satan and his demons as trees.

1. Ezekiel 17:24 (New King James Version) And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD, have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish; I, the LORD, have spoken and have done it.” What could the Lord mean by the high tree and the low tree? Could he be symbolically referring to Satan and his demons being brought low and Gods tree being made the high tree?

2.      Ezekiel 31:4-18 (New King James Version) The waters made it grow; Underground waters gave it height, With their rivers running around the place where it was planted, And sent out rivulets to all the trees of the field. 5 ‘ Therefore its height was exalted above all the trees of the field;  Its boughs were multiplied, And its branches became long because of the abundance of water, As it sent them out. 6 All the birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs; Under its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young; And in its shadow all great nations made their home. 7 ‘ Thus it was beautiful in greatness and in the length of its branches, Because its roots reached to abundant waters. 8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; The fir trees were not like its boughs, And the chestnut[a] trees were not like its branches; No tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty. 9 I made it beautiful with a multitude of branches,
So that all the trees of Eden envied it, That were in the garden of God.’ 10 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Because you have increased in height, and it set its top among the thick boughs, and its heart was lifted up in its height, 11 therefore I will deliver it into the hand of the mighty one of the nations, and he shall surely deal with it; I have driven it out for its wickedness. 12 And aliens, the most terrible of the nations, have cut it down and left it; its branches have fallen on the mountains and in all the valleys; its boughs lie broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the peoples of the earth have gone from under its shadow and left it. 13 ‘ On its ruin will remain all the birds of the heavens, And all the beasts of the field will come to its branches— 14 ‘So that no trees by the waters may ever again exalt themselves for their height, nor set their tops among the thick boughs, that no tree which drinks water may ever be high enough to reach up to them. ‘ For they have all been delivered to death, To the depths of the earth, Among the children of men who go down to the Pit.’ 15 “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘In the day when it went down to hell, I caused mourning. I covered the deep because of it. I restrained its rivers, and the great waters were held back. I caused Lebanon to mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted because of it. 16 I made the nations shake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to hell together with those who descend into the Pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the depths of the earth. 17 They also went down to hell with it, with those slain by the sword; and those who were its strong arm dwelt in its shadows among the nations. 18 ‘To which of the trees in Eden will you then be likened in glory and greatness? Yet you shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the depths of the earth; you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude,’ says the Lord GOD.” It doesn’t quite make sense that God would through trees into hell if they were just regular trees like in our own yards does it? This really is a prime example of God speaking about Satan and his minions as trees.

3.      Zechariah 1:8-12 (New King James Version) 8 I saw by night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and it stood among the myrtle trees in the hollow; and behind him were horses: red, sorrel, and white. 9 Then I said, “My lord, what are these?” So the angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what they are.” 10 And the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are the ones whom the LORD has sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth.” 11 So they answered the Angel of the LORD, who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked to and fro throughout the earth, and behold, all the earth is resting quietly.” Remember when the Lord asked Satan in the book of Job where have you come from? He answered I have come from walking to and fro in the earth? Here is a great example of tree’s being fallen angels.

So we have looked at three examples of tree’s symbolically representing Satan and his demons. I think we can now establish that in certain instances that tree’s are Satan and his minions.

Beasts:

Here I feel we have made another great mistake. We have in most eschatology mistaken the beast of Revelation for the Anti-Christ. I feel this one mistake has lead us to make many more mistakes. Let’s see what the word of God has to say about beasts.

1. Daniel 7:3-7 (New King James Version) And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. 5 “And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: ‘Arise, devour much flesh!’ 6 “After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. Here we have a prime example of beasts being kingdoms. Here we have the four kingdoms described in Daniel chapter 7.

2. Daniel 7:23 (New King James Version) “Thus he said: ‘ The fourth beast shall be A fourth kingdom on earth, Which shall be different from all other kingdoms, And shall devour the whole earth, Trample it and break it in pieces. Here we have a great example and the interpretation of the above passages. There is no doubt that in this instance these beasts are kingdoms.

3. Revelation 13 (New King James Version) 1 Then I[a] stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns,[b] and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. 4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” 5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue[c] for forty-two months. 6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe,[d] tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. 11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. 12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 14 And he deceives those[e] who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. 15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or[f] the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. If a beast is a kingdom and the beast described here is a combination of the beasts of Daniel then the beast described here is related to one another. We will take a deeper look at this in another article. But at the moment we can see the beasts of Daniel and revelation are related and are kingdoms not a man.

Seas:

Many times in scripture seas are a description of nations and large groups of people. Not necessarily a sea of salt water. Let’s take a look at some examples of where scripture is describing seas of people.

1. Isaiah 23:11 (New King James Version) He stretched out His hand over the sea, He shook the kingdoms; The LORD has given a commandment against Canaan To destroy its strongholds. Here we have a good example of the Lord speaking to the sea and shook the kingdoms when he spoke to them. The Lord would not be speaking to water, but many people.

2. Isaiah 24:14 (New King James Version) They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing; For the majesty of the LORD They shall cry aloud from the sea. Here is another example of people being a sea lifting up their voice and singing to the Lord.

3. Isaiah 60:5 (New King James Version) Then you shall see and become radiant, And your heart shall swell with joy; Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you. Here we have a great example of the seas of people turning over their wealth to Israel.

4. Jeremiah 50:42 (New King James Version) They shall hold the bow and the lance; They are cruel and shall not show mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea; They shall ride on horses, Set in array, like a man for the battle, Against you, O daughter of Babylon. Here we have a description of a army roaring like a sea and destroying Babylon.

5. Jeremiah 51:42 (New King James Version) The sea has come up over Babylon; She is covered with the multitude of its waves. Here once again we have an example of Babylon being destroyed by a sea. Of course this sea must be a sea of people since there is no ocean by the city of Babylon.

6. Ezekiel 26:3 (New King James Version) “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up. Here we have another example of seas of nations coming against Tyre.

7. Ezekiel 26:16 (New King James Version) Then all the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, lay aside their robes, and take off their embroidered garments; they will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground, tremble every moment, and be astonished at you. Here all the prices of the sea, which is the kingdoms of the earth.

8. Ezekiel 28:2 (New King James Version) “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “ Because your heart is lifted up, And you say, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods, In the midst of the seas,’ Yet you are a man, and not a god, Though you set your heart as the heart of a god. Here the midst of the seas is another example of the nations of the world.

9. Daniel 7:3 (New King James Version) And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. Here we have a primary example of seas being nations of people.

10. Revelation 13:1 (New King James Version) Then I[a] stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns,[b] and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Here once again we have a primary example of seas being people and beasts being kingdoms.

11. Revelation 18:17-20 (New King James Version) For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance 18 and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’ 19 “They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’ 20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles[a] and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!” Here we have another example that does not make sense if we take it literally. If the merchants of the sea or really sailers looking at Babylon the literal city from the “sea” then they must have some really great eyes. Because Babylon is far and away from any ocean. Could it mean that merchants from the earth were saddened because Babylon, the beast, the nation is destroyed.

Horns:

When the Bible is speaking about horns it does not most likely mean a literal horn. Although there are instances that a horn is a literal horn of a ram or some other animal, horns are generally rulers and kings. Below we will look at some examples of where the Bible uses the symbol of  a horn to describe a ruler.

1. Daniel 7:8 (New King James Version) I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words. Here we have a talking horn. The last time I looked a horn did not talk. Could this be a ruler speaking?

2. Daniel 7:11 (New King James Version) “I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. Here we have an example of the Horn speaking on behalf of the beast. So could this be a ruler speaking on behalf of his kingdom? Remember the beasts describe above are empires and kingdoms. So the Ruler (the horn) is speaking on behalf of his kingdom, and his kingdom is destroyed.

3. Daniel 7:20 (New King James Version) and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows. Here it looks like we have ten rulers and the other horn appearing greater then the other rulers.

4. Daniel 7:21 (New King James Version) “I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them. Here we have this ruler warring against the saints of God and he is winning.

5. Daniel 7:24 (New King James Version) The ten horns are ten kings Who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, And shall subdue three kings. Here we have confirmation that the Horns are rulers.

6. Daniel 8:20 (New King James Version) The ram which you saw, having the two horns—they are the kings of Media and Persia. Here again we have a great example of the horns and a beast representing rules and a kingdom.

7. Revelation 12:3 (New King James Version) And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. Here we have another example of horns that rule over beasts connected to the dragon (Satan).

8. Revelation 13:1 (New King James Version) Then I[a] stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns,[b] and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Here we once again have a prime example of horns (rulers) ruling their kingdoms (Beasts) coming out of a sea of people.

9. Revelation 13:11 (New King James Version) Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. Here we have our last example of  horns ruling and coming from a beast ( kingdom).

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