Book of Revelation – THE EXILE OBSERVER

The Time of Jezebel: a Microcosm of the End

1 Kings 21:23 “And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.”

Revelations 17:16 “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.”

The time of Jezebel in Israel is a microcosm of end times. Hopefully the reader is familiar with the events surrounding Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 21) and can relate it to the parable of the wicked husbandmen (Matt 21:33-43) delivered by the Lord Jesus Christ.

I will point out this involves progressive revelation. The situation with Naboth is a real event and a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ. The orders Jezebel gave in order to seize Naboth’s vineyard align with the Jews accusations concerning Jesus Christ:

1 Kings 21:10 “And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.”

Matthew 26:65 “Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.”

Luke 23:2 “And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King.”

The builders rejected the chief corner stone (Jesus Christ). Throughout the Jezebel saga there are many items that correlate to the 1st and coming advent of the Lord Jesus. I believe the full scope of the prophecy eventually encompasses the whole world. Everyone who is not a Christian will worship the beast and the harlot rides the beast. The ten horns on the heads of the beast are ten kings (Rev 17:12) and they hate the harlot.

Jezebel was a Zidonian, the daughter of a king named Ethbaal (1 Kings 16:31). During the microcosm, Jezebel controlled the religion of Israel. She cut off the prophets of the LORD, brought in Baal worship & witchcraft. Note: some of the prophets were hidden from her.

During the course of Ahab & Jezebel there were two prophets–Elijah & Elisha. Some teach that when Elijah was taken up to heaven by a whirlwind in front of Elijah, that this represents the rapture of end times believers. I do not disagree, but I will display more. The Lord Jesus Christ was in the heart of the Earth for three days, rose from the dead and after 40 days ascended into heaven. Before this the Lord Jesus said:

John 14:16 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”

In this comparison I believe the succession event from Elijah to Elisha is a portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ ascending & sending the Holy spirit:

2 Kings 2:9 “And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.”

2 Kings 2:15 “And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.”

1 Kings 2:17 “And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not.”

In the last the verse provided, the prophets wanted to look for Elijah just in case he ended up on a mountainside. At first Elisha refused, but after they urged he allowed them to go. So in the provided OT verses, Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, it happened and the prophets searched for Elijah three days. All that correlates to the Lord Jesus Christ. Ah…you ask about the double portion:

John 14:12 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

King Ahab died (1 Kings 22) before Jezebel. His son Joram (aka Jehoram 2 Chronicles 22:6) became king of Israel, but Jezebel was still in Jezreel. Elisha sent a prophet to anoint Jehu as king of Israel. Joram was recovering from a wound at Jezreel and Ahaziah king of Judah was visiting him. Jehu rode to Jezreel and Joram & Ahaziah rode out to meet him. Jehu slew them. When Jehu reached the compound Jezebel readied herself:

2 Kings 9:20 “And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.”

Revelation 18:7 “How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.”

The aforementioned verses correlate well. Here is the end of the exchange between Jezebel (who stood at a window) and Jehu (who was on horseback on the ground):

2 Kings 9:32 “And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. 33 And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot.”

Revelation 18:21 “And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.”

Not only does the first part of Rev 21 correlate with the event, but also the last phrase. Jehu went inside the compound and dined. He told his servants to go outside and bury Jezebel. Just like Babylon shall be find no more, Jezebel’s remains:

2 Kings 9:35 “And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. 36 Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: 37 And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.”

After the fall of Jezebel (Babylon), Jehu destroyed the temple, altars & worshippers of Baal & the rest of Ahab’s kin:

2 Kings 9:7 “And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.”

Revelation 19:2 “For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.”

There are more correlation’s for the events. Earlier in the saga, Elijah was on the run because Jezebel threatened to kill him. There is more to that story, but Elijah thought he was the last of the true worshippers. Notice the correlation between the worship of an image of a false god:

Romans 11:3 “Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. 4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.”

Revelation 13:15 “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”

There are more correlations from 1 & 2 Kings that relate to either the 1st or coming advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, but this article provides quite a bit. From my reading Babylon falls first (via the ten kings) & then the Lord Jesus returns (Rev 19:11)–the battle of Armageddon occurs.

From my reading, Babylon falls during the wrath of God (the vials of wrath). There are saints that are overcome by the beast (Rev 11:7) prior to that. So believers do face tribulation, but concerning the wrath of God:

Romans 5:9 “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

Attitudes on the End of the World

For Bible believers, we know that the governments & eventually a government of men will never build the kingdom of Heaven on Earth. It will be the exact opposite–there will be a one-world kingdom of darkness before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ:

Revelation 13:7 “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

In the aforementioned verse “him” speaks of the beast from the sea. It is for this reason that many Christians adopt a laissez-faire attitude about things going on in their nation & world; it is going to happen anyway so why do anything about anything? The error with that attitude is that we do not know if it is the end of the world. There are signs that tell us it is near (Matt 24:33), but in the same chapter take note:

Matthew 24:8 “All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

The sorrows are akin to a birth pangs. Generally the frequency & intensity of the pangs increase as the birth draws closer. Items from Matthew 24 can be applied to the rise & fall of many civilizations. The larger the civilization, the larger the fall. Many saints of yesteryear were convinced that the fall of Rome was the apocalypse. Consider the frequency & intensity when considering the scale of Rome. We do not know if this is the last civilization, but while the cycles follow Matthew 24, the Lord Jesus was speaking of the end of the world in Matthew 24:

Matthew 24:30 “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

In Matthew 24 the claim that the Lord Jesus was speaking of the fall of Jerusalem & simultaneously speaking of the end of the world can be correct. Matthew 24 can be the model for the fall of civilizations and the final one-world civilization.

The main point of this article is that Christians should not let their country descend into a communist, atheistic state of darkness because they think it is the end of the world. It might not be and Christians may simply let their country transform into a miniature hell on Earth without a peep. Also, is that fair to our children?

I do believe that when the end does come, it will be undeniable for Bible-believing Christians. No prophecy in scripture will need to be worked or forced into a framework of a personal theory:

2 Thessalonians 2:1 “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”

I can say that there has been a great falling away in the U.S. Even many professed Christians propagate a “Jesus” that is contrary to or not found in scripture. Their “Jesus” is molded solely by popular morality & politics. Many professed Christians seemingly do not believe the Bible at all. They take the attitude that men authored the Bible and that men at that time did not understand the science that we know today. Make no mistake, Aristotle’s science had already been around for centuries before the letter to Timothy:

1 Timothy 6:10 “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:”

But again, the fall of the US is not necessarily the end of the world. I do not believe Christians should willfully let a free society where the Gospel of Jesus Christ can openly be preached descend into a society where we are persecuted for it. We are to preach it anyway, but why let those conditions develop if they can be avoided?

The Molten Calf

Exodus 32:1 “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.”

2 Peter 2:3 “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”

Many men have grown weary of waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ to return to Earth. Many lifetimes have passed during this wait. When Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, the Israelites surmised that he may never return. They convinced the high priest Aaron to make them an idol–the molten calf.

I view modern political systems much like the molten calf. I pay attention to politics because there are groups who would label my King James Bible as hate speech & introduce legal consequences for even owning it. I will not let that happen without a peep. However, I understand that we men & our political systems will not build the kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

Many Christians have been drawn away by socialism (communism). Do they believe we will build the kingdom of Heaven and then the Lord Jesus will descend to rule? Is their goal a Karl Marx sort of heaven? What a lousy heaven, I have much higher expectations. The communists/socialists only use for the Bible is to find choice fragments that support their political system. They do not believe the Bible at all–it is only a tool to draw Christians to chase after their molten calf. Their “Jesus” is never given the titles of Lord or Christ. His mention is more akin to Lenin, Stalin or Mao.

There will not be a building, but rather a falling away first (2 Thess 2:3) before the Lord Jesus returns–just like before Moses came down from the mountain. Love thy neighbour is good, but that is half the story. What about the first and great commandment? The communist often reduce everything to love your neighbor, but their love is based off democratic moral relativism. Communists have completely altered what is preached in many Churches nowadays. Climate Change, healthcare, psychology or obsessively preaching about racism or sexism. We are bombarded by those issues by every secular institution & media. The ad nauseam doctrine of the world is not going to help a soul who has hit rock bottom. We need the word of God.

Many professed Christians I have met do not believe the Bible. They treat me like I am crazy for believing the events were real. They have a molten calf of their own, the theory of evolution (amongst other things) & love your neighbor. I am not sure if this is only western civilization’s falling away or the final falling away? I expect things to become much worse. That is not a prophecy, that is observing the trend. Either way the patience of the saints is mentioned in the book of Revelation (Rev 13:10, 14:12).

Moses came down from the mountain & the Lord Jesus Christ will return. Keep reading the Bible and do not lose the faith.

“The Lord of the Flies”–Symbols

Often in our increasingly godless society, entities attempt to hide Biblical allusions that can be found in classic literature. The 1980’s motion picture The Lord of the Flies was decent, but from my perspective it set out to force a civic-minded-only interpretation of the book. For instance, instead of a beast–it was always referred to as a monster. Also their monster arrived & developed under completely different circumstances–which destroyed the Biblical symbolism that I believe William Golding obviously intended.

All civic-minded interpretations aren’t wrong; Golding wrote himself that a theme in the book was that political systems didn’t matter as far as society; only the ethical nature of individuals. The purpose of this blog is identify the Biblical allusions I perceived in Golding’s The Lord of the Flies:

Piggy’s glasses: The lenses represent the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. The glasses are the only means of lighting a fire on the island; thereby, the only source of light. One lens is broken early in the novel. This represents the absence of the first tablet or Commandments 1- 5. The first four commands deal with man’s relationship to God and the 5th is to honour your mother & father. There is no mention of God nor are their any adults (parents) on the island. When the boys establish their first (old) covenant on the mountain, their is no mention of God, the Bible or their parents when they make the laws. The boys are left with only one lens; Commandments 6-10, or how to love your neighbor. The battle for Piggy’s one lensed glasses represent the battle for control over morals on the island of neighbors.

Ralph & Piggy: Their relationship represents Aaron & Moses. Moses was worried about his stutter so God told him to have Aaron speak for him. When Piggy spoke he was always derided by the other boys; therefore, Ralph often delivered Piggy’s practical ideas to the assemblies instead. Piggy does not fully actualize the person of Moses, but some elements are present.

Jack: The main antagonist represents the beast from the sea. In the chapter named Beast from Water, an assembly is held at the shallow lagoon. Jack openly disrespects the law of the conch. The assembly is the first group mention a mythical beast on the island. Jack initially speaks against the beast tale, but as the novel continues more & more of his power relies on the beast myth. Later in the novel Jack attempts to democratically supplant Ralph as the leader of the group. When no one votes for Jack he is humiliated and cries. Figuratively, the beast from the sea was wounded. He leaves the group, but offers an open invitation for anyone to join his group. Initially only a few hunters follow him, but eventually his group includes everyone but Ralph, Piggy and a couple littluns. Jack can offer meat via the hunt, but not a continuous fire. He leads a raid to steal Piggy’s glasses. This represents that Jack now holds the power, via power, to direct the moral law on the island (one lens–Commandments 6-10). Eventually the law on the island degenerates into Jack’s power & his power and authority (his justifications) by the end of novel derive only from the beast from the air. For instance, the final hunt for Jack’s group is Ralph. Jack’s call to hunt Ralph contains zero moral justification & he has nothing to gain. He controls all the other boys on the island & has Piggy’s glasses. His only justification is that Ralph will be a sacrifice to the beast.

The Corpse of the Pilot: The corpse represents the dragon or the beast from the air. The book is set presumably during WWII. In the chapter Beast from Air, there is an aerial battle near the island. A pilot’s plane is shot down; he ejects & deploys his parachute, but dies from his wounds before he lands on the island. His corpse lands on the mountainside & his parachute is snagged on some rocks. Whenever the wind blows and catches the snagged parachute, the strings pull on the corpse and animate it in an odd manner–a twisted beast like leviathan. The boys only see the corpse & parachute in the dark or from afar. All the boys believe it is the beast–the earlier myth is confirmed in their minds. Of the whole event: there was war in heaven & Michael & his angels cast out the dragon & his angels. Thus, the fallen corpse represents the fallen dragon. In the Bible the dragon gives the beast from the sea his seat, power & authority.

Simon: Plays the role of a Christ-like figure. When Jack & the few hunters initially broke off from the main group, Simon witnessed their first hunt while he was concealed in the bush. Jack cuts off the head of the boar & places it on a pike. After Jack’s group sets up the first sacrifice for the beast, his group scurries off with the pigs body. Simon remains concealed & contemplates why the beast doesn’t claim his sacrifice. Flies swarm the boars head & Simon approaches it. The boar’s head is called the Lord of the flies by the narrator & Simon hallucinates that it speaks to him. The Lord of flies tells Simon that attempting to kill him (the beast) is folly & that there is a part of him in Simon & every man. The monologue indicates that Simon should not resist the beast within. This represents the temptation of Christ. Simon leaves the boar’s head & travels up the mountain (he injures his leg along the way). He encounters the beast from air & learns the truth: it is a corpse of a pilot. Simon staggers back to the group as fast as possible. He is the only one who knows the truth & if he can deliver this truth it will be like delivering a new covenant. Early in the novel all the boys established the first laws (old covenant) on the mountain, but now their behaviour & code was influenced more by the beast myth than anything else. Simon arrives on the beach during an inter-group pow wow. It is dark, a storm is raging, the boys are performing a pagan pig-stabbing dance & Simon crawls out of the forest. The boys mistake him as the beast & murder him. The storm winds had freed the parachute & corpse from the rocks. Immediately after the boys murdered Simon, the pilot corpse floated into their midst. They all fled in terror. In the movie the boys knew they murdered Simon, but in the novel they never knew they murdered Simon. After the boys flee, the pilot corpse & Simon are dragged out to sea.

The Conch: At first the conch is a symbol of the first moral law on the island. You could only speak during an assembly if you hold the conch. Later the conch is an idol or the molten calf. After Jack’s group steals Piggy’s glasses, Piggy still has faith in the power of the conch. He proposed that he & what is left of Ralph’s group will march over to Jack’s group & demand the return of his glasses. Piggy believes that Jack must hear him because of the power of the conch. With the conch in hand Piggy will tell Jack, “What’s right’s right.” When Ralph’s group does march over, there is scuffle, but Piggy temporary quells the struggle by yelling that he holds the conch & must be heard. He raises the conch aloft & begins his discourse. During his discourse, some hunters on a higher cliff roll a boulder off the edge. It not only strikes and kills Piggy, but also smashes the conch into a thousand pieces. This sequence represents Moses smashing the tablets of the Ten Commandments & grinding the molten calf into powder. Moses himself is not represented in the boys struggle. Piggy is the first deliberate murder on the island–there is no longer any law on the island written in stone. The conch is the grounded idol. The conch, the molten calf in this tale is faith in a system created by men.

The Soldier on the Beach: The absence of adults on the island represents the absence of God from a civilization. The soldier on the beach represents the unexpected return of God. Jack’s group engages in their final hunt–they hunt Ralph. After evading the hunters Ralph stumbles on the beach & encounters an adult soldier. The hunters emerge from the forest behind. When all the boys see the adult soldier on the beach, they begin to realize their state of total depravity. A civic irony Golding provided himself is that while the adult saved the boys from their war–he was also in the midst of a war. The adults were in a war over their own molten calf (political systems).

Ralph: His early status is covered; he is loyal to the old covenant, but by the end of the book he is transformed & represents the end time saints who refuse to worship the beast. He never loses faith that adults (God) will return.