Hi Kosonen,
A very important thing here is if Bible
prophecy is to be understood literally or not. As J.S. Russell said:
"The
slightest attention to the language of Old Testament prophecy must convince any
sober-minded man that it is not to be understood according to the letter. First of all, the utterances of the prophets
are poetry; and, secondly, they are Oriental poetry. They may be called the hieroglyphic pictures
representing historical events in highly metaphorical imagery. It is inevitable, therefore, that hyperbole,
or that which to us appears such, should enter largely into the descriptions of
the prophets. To the cold prosaic
imagination of the West, the glowing and vivid style of the prophets of the
East may seem turgid and extravagant; but there is always a substratum of
reality underlying the figures and symbols, which, the more they are studies,
commend themselves the more to the judgment of the reader. Social and political revolutions, moral and
spiritual changes, are shadowed forth by physical convulsions and catastrophes;
and if these natural phenomena affect the imagination more powerfully still,
they are not inappropriate figures when the real importance of the events which
they represent is apprehended. The earth
convulsed with earthquakes, burning mountains cast into eh sea, the stars
falling like leaves, the heavens on fire, the sun clothed in sackcloth, the
moon turned into blood, representations of great civil commotions, - the
overturning of thrones and dynasties, the desolations of war, the abolition of
ancient systems, and great moral and spiritual revolutions. In prophecy, as in poetry, the material is
regarded as the type of the spiritual, the passions and emotions of humanity
find expression in corresponding signs and symptoms in the inanimate
creation. Does the prophet come with
glad tidings? He calls the forest to
clap their hands. Is his message one of lamentation and woe? The heavens are draped in mourning, and the
sun is darkened in his going down. No
one, however anxious to keep by the bare letter of the word, would think of
insisting that such metaphors should be literally interpreted, or must have
literal fulfillment. The utmost that we
are entitled to require is, that there should be such historical events
specified as may worthily correspond with such phenomena; great moral and
social movements capable of producing such emotions as these physical phenomena
seem to imply. "
Full text
here:
http://www.preteristcentral.com/Symbolism%20of%20Prophecy%20-%20Russell.html
Revelation
quotes a lot from the old testament prophecies. Coming from JW background we
already know there is a lot of symbolism. In Matthew 24 there is no indication
of any shift. Jesus is consistently speaking of one future event; the
destruction of the old testament order and the establishment of the new.
What kind
of scenario does Revelation end with? An end to the world as we know it or
rather the Kingdom of God on a sinful earth where saints go to heaven after death?
Revelation
21:27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is
shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s
book of life.
There are
people outside the new Jerusalem just as in the old Jerusalem. It is the Church.
We should not expect a literal mark of the beast anymore than Jesus writing names on anyone (Rev 3:12). They are marked in non literal sense.
