The Aussie governments $284,962 lunch next Thursday and the book of Revelation

by fulltimestudent 1 Replies latest social current

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  fulltimestudent

  Next thursday, 1800 people will sit down to a gala lunch in Shanghai's Grand Hyatt hotel. The guests comprising members of Australia's largest ever overseas trade delegation (1000 strong) and selected Chinese guests will be hosted by Australia's Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull.

  The trade delegation hopes to capitalise on the very favourable opportunities opened to Australian businesses by a recently concluded Free Trade Agreement,between China and Australia.

  The expense the Aussie government is prepared to spend, highlights the key place that modern China has come to occupy in modern globalised commerce

  Its a pity that Freddy F is not still alive to find a prophetic fulfillment of Revelation in the current rise of China. (grin)

  Few realise that when the author of Revelation speaks of the wealth made by 'travelling merchants' in their sale of luxury products to the Roman elite, (Revelation 18) the author was referring to the trade between Rome and west Asia and east Asia/south Asia (China and India), commonly called the 'Silk Road Trade.'

  Just how the mind of Freddy F. could've tied the Revelation texts to modern trade is a bit beyond my imaginative powers, but I have a lot confidence that Freddy could've found a way to do it.

  For anyone with a studious bent, and an interest in the historical reality behind the religious imaginings expressed in the Revelation, may I recommend J.Nelson Kraybill's, Imperial Cult and Commerce in John's Apocalypse, (Sheffield Academic Press, 1996). Kraybill attributes the hatred expressed by the Revelation's author for that trade to the fact that the Roman Imperial Cult was a patron of the Silk Road Trade.

  Of course, Freddy F's imaginings about Revelation may have missed the point. The early Christian church, disappointed by the failure of promises by Jesus to his immediately 'coming in power and great glory,' and the seeming undefeatable power of the Roman Empire when it destroyed the Jerusalem Temple (and turned Jerusalem into a Roman city), turned to imagining the 'Church' as the city of God. Perhaps the rise of China in modern commerce, and the great prosperity of Chinese people is a fulfillment of the reign of Jesus Christ. (slight giggle)
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  fulltimestudent

  The last paragraph in my first post (although a bit of nonsense) raises a question.

  The Silk Road Trade Network (mentioned in revelation 18) is about the only one of any of all the documents that comprise the Bible bothers to discuss anything to do with India and China, despite the fact that even in second temple times, they likely comprised nearly 50% of the world's population.

  Are YHWH and his JESUS sidekick, really so insular that they ignore nearly 50% of the people of the earth?

  So who does rate with the YHWH/JESUS combo God? Well, there's Egypt, and Assyria and Babylon and Persia and then Rome (OK, the Greeks only get a little bit of attention, despite the importance of Alexander defeating YHWH's champion Persia). Besides the above, there's lots of mention of itty bitty local groups like the Canaanites and the Philistines, and the Edomites, and the Moabites and the Midianites, etc.

  And when you take a hard look at these groups, plus the bigger world powers, what do they all have in common from the Biblical perspective?

  This, most of them were fighting against Israel and (particularly the world powers) defeating Israel/Judah. And YHWH and JESUS were unable to defend Israel.

  The Bible then was written by humans who were wingeing about some other nation fighting them and usually defeating them.

  So here's YHWH should've been taking notice of what was happening in Asia>

  Rush Doshi explains:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYaj8aqkdbA