ONE HOUR....? in Revelation 18

[tribeofjudah]

Sorry if this is a repeat subject: Newbie....

I've heard some theologians speak of this 1 hour in terms of being 15 days during the end times. 15 days of persecution? 15 days of suffering? 15 days of final judgement and the coming of the LORD? If you do the math: 1 day in prophecy is 1 year (365 days), then 365 divided by 24(hrs) = 15 days??? Makes you wonder, but please share your thoughts on this matter:

Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

Rev 18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

Rev 18:12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,

Rev 18:13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

Rev 18:14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.

Rev 18:15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,

Rev 18:16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!

Rev 18:17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,

Rev 18:18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What [city is] like unto this great city!

Rev 18:19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

[Fausto]

Hi brother

I truly understand sister white from being a guide unto the scriptures, so, based on this, here's what she says on her exhaustive commentary on the book of revelations (pgs. 1106/7).

When checking on the one hour she sends on eback to commentaries on verse 17:12 and 18:8, and here's what she says:

One day - Some say this to be a prophetic time, and thus represent one literal year (Rev 18:8, co-referenced with Rev 17:12), Others consider that the angel here either stresses teh suddenness and unexpectedness of the "plagues" upon mystical Babylon, particularly in view of her false sense of security (v. 7), or speaks of an indefinite period of time. In view of the fact that the same event is alos said to take place in "one hour" (vs. 10, 17, 19), the second explanation appears preferable(see Rev 17:12 cross reference Jer 50:29, 31)

Jer 50:29 Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.

Jer 50:30 Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD.

Jer 50:31 Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.

Furthermore, the Greek form of the words here translated "day" and "hour" (Rev 18:10) suggest a point - rather than a period of - time, and thus appear to stress suddenness and unexpectedness rather than duration. Compare Isaiah 47:9, 11; Jer 50:31, 51:8.

Isa 47:9 But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.

Isa 47:11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.

Jer 50:31 Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.

Jer 51:8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.

Hope this would help you to enlighten you, IMO, this particular part of prophecy does not make other sense than what sister White here refrs, basically because it is not revelevant whether we know this time period, but rather its suddenness! TU

[jasd]

QR frame:

Rev 9:5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: ...

The above “five months” equates to approximately 150 years in a day/year narrative. One is skeptical. It is more likely that those five months represent evidence of a point of departure from

the prophetic day/year formulation. Seemingly,

whether representing a literal hour or whether intending to illustrate suddenness,

there is so little difference – it matters little.

[John317]

QR frame:

Rev 9:5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: ...

The above “five months” equates to approximately 150 years in a day/year narrative. One is skeptical. It is more likely that those five months represent evidence of a point of departure from

the prophetic day/year formulation. Seemingly,

whether representing a literal hour or whether intending to illustrate suddenness,

there is so little difference – it matters little.

See discussion of this in the SDA BC in the additional note on Revelation 9. Also see Uriah Smith's The Prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, pp. 502-505. Ellen White's The Great Controversy also discusses it.

I have in my possession a copy of a book written by Josiah Litch, published in 1838. It is entitled, Christ's Second Coming. In that book, Josiah predicted on the basis of Rev. 9: 5 and other prophecies in Rev. 9 that the Ottoman Empire would come to an end in August of 1840. Later he said it would end on August 11, 1840. It did exactly as the prophecy said it would.

Here is Ellen White's comment on it:

In the year 1840 another remarkable fulfillment of prophecy excited widespread interest. Two years before, Josiah Litch, one of the leading ministers preaching the second advent, published an exposition of Revelation 9, predicting the fall of the Ottoman Empire. According to his calculations, this power was to be overthrown "in A.D. 1840, sometime in the month of August;" and only a few days previous to its accomplishment he wrote: "Allowing the first period, 150 years, to have been exactly fulfilled before Deacozes ascended the throne by permission of the Turks, and that the 391 years, fifteen days, commenced at the close of the first period, it will end on the 11th of August, 1840, when the Ottoman power in Constantinople may be expected to be broken. And this, I believe, will be found to be the case."--Josiah Litch, in Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, Aug. 1, 1840.

At the very time specified, Turkey, through her ambassadors, accepted the protection of the allied powers of Europe, and thus placed herself under the control of Christian nations. The event exactly fulfilled the prediction. (See Appendix.) When it became known, multitudes were convinced of the correctness of the principles of prophetic interpretation adopted by Miller and his associates, and a wonderful impetus was given to the advent movement. Men of learning and position united with Miller, both in preaching and in publishing his views, and from 1840 to 1844 the work rapidly extended.

[John317]

..I've heard some theologians speak of this 1 hour in terms of being 15 days during the end times. 15 days of persecution? 15 days of suffering? 15 days of final judgement and the coming of the LORD? If you do the math: 1 day in prophecy is 1 year (365 days), then 365 divided by 24(hrs) = 15 days??? Makes you wonder, but please share your thoughts on this matter:

Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

Rev 18:17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,

Rev 18:19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

The fact that in 18: 8 it says the same event comes in one day and in vvs. 10, 17, and 19, it says it will come in one hour, shows that it is speaking of an indefinite period of time. So, taking all the information we have, it appears certain that the text is giving emphasis to the suddenness and unexpectedness of the event rather than to a specific duration.

[Taylor]

I have heard people say that if it were to occure in one day...if it were prophetic it would mean all the major end time events would wrap up within one year. That seems realistic to me. But yes, it is probably an indefinate, short, sudden happening.

[John317]

Yes, I think there's no doubt that the end-time events are going to happen very fast. We can't be sure of the exact amount of time, of course, but given the fact that human probation will end just before the falling of the seven last plagues, there doesn't seem to be any reason for time to continue much longer. It's possible that most of the events we think of as "the closing" ones just before the Second Coming could happen within the space of a year.

[tribeofjudah]

Yes, I think there's no doubt that the end-time events are going to happen very fast. We can't be sure of the exact amount of time, of course, but given the fact that human probation will end just before the falling of the seven last plagues, there doesn't seem to be any reason for time to continue much longer. It's possible that most of the events we think of as "the closing" ones just before the Second Coming could happen within the space of a year.

Like the year 2012 right....hahaha j/k

"Evenso Lord, come quickly"

[Musicman1228]

During the Great Tribulation all time and timing is literal; one hour = 1 hour, one day = 1 day, 5 months means five literal months (new moon to new moon). 1335 days of Dan.12:12 is 1335 literal days. So are 1260 and 1290 days literal days. 3 1/2 years is literal years. This makes the outcome of the timing of these events much more understandable and consistent.

[John317]

Yes, I think there's no doubt that the end-time events are going to happen very fast. We can't be sure of the exact amount of time, of course, but given the fact that human probation will end just before the falling of the seven last plagues, there doesn't seem to be any reason for time to continue much longer. It's possible that most of the events we think of as "the closing" ones just before the Second Coming could happen within the space of a year.

Originally Posted By: tribeofjudah

Like the year 2012 right....hahaha j/k

"Evenso Lord, come quickly"

No, the year 1212 has nothing to do with it, at least not the way some people are claiming today. God isn't waiting for a particular year or time for Christ to return. He's waiting for the world to be ripe for reaping and for the church to be prepared for the last-day events and the giving of the Loud Cry message to the world. In order to give the message, the church itself must first accept those messages and practice them in their own personal lives. This is really what God is waiting for. He knows that if the events occurred before the church is ready, and if Christ comes before His people are prepared and sealed, they would be lost. So Jesus waits. He waits becasue He loves people and doesn't want them lost.

[John317]

Show us how you know this. How do you see the end-time events?

[Musicman1228]

Originally Posted By: John317

Yes, I think there's no doubt that the end-time events are going to happen very fast. We can't be sure of the exact amount of time, of course, but given the fact that human probation will end just before the falling of the seven last plagues, there doesn't seem to be any reason for time to continue much longer. It's possible that most of the events we think of as "the closing" ones just before the Second Coming could happen within the space of a year.

Originally Posted By: tribeofjudah

Like the year 2012 right....hahaha j/k

"Evenso Lord, come quickly"

No, the year 1212 has nothing to do with it, at least not the way some people are claiming today. God isn't waiting for a particular year or time for Christ to return. He's waiting for the world to be ripe for reaping and for the church to be prepared for the last-day events and the giving of the Loud Cry message to the world. In order to give the message, the church itself must first accept those messages and practice them in their own personal lives. This is really what God is waiting for. He knows that if the events occurred before the church is ready, and if Christ comes before His people are prepared and sealed, they would be lost. So Jesus waits. He waits becasue He loves people and doesn't want them lost.

John,

How long will it take for the church to get ready when Satan has control of the church and is doing everything he can to prevent the very thing you look to so that Jesus can come. The church IS NOT ready because the SDA church is sound asleep just as stated in the prophecy of Jesus in Matt.25:1-13. If it is up to the church to be ready under ANY conditions then we will never see Jesus come in the clouds, because Satan will see to it that the church and especially the modern priesthood (the pastors, teachers, evangelists) will be looking the other direction and will be sound asleep with their eyes wide open. Tell me that this is NOT the present condition of our church?

If God does not have a specific appointed time of the end that is scheduled by His command then evil will be on this earth forever, and we know this will not happen.