Unravelling Revelation

[ewq1938]

You have been told previously, but you blindly continue to go on down the same old deluded road. Biblical Israel is no longer the local literal nation in the middle east. Biblical Israel in the NT is still God's people, but I'm the form of a spiritual global ekklesia, the church.

Agreed.

You are looking in the wrong place, and it was the true antichrist that first led futurists down the rabbit hole.

Disagree. This is a misidentification of the true AC. It is one of the many AC but the true AC would be the last one, and he is one person who claims to be god and can do miracles as proof which will fool almost all.

 

[Douggg]

You have been told previously, but you blindly continue to go on down the same old deluded road. Biblical Israel is no longer the local literal nation in the middle east.

Go read Ezekiel 37:15-22. It is a prophesy that has been fulfilled in May 14, 1948. The nation of Israel over there in the middle east is the Israel of the Bible and end times.

The Gog/Magog attack of Ezekiel 38-39 on Israel in the latter days, latter years will be on the current nation of Israel over there in the middle east.

 

[ewq1938]

Go read Ezekiel 37:15-22. It is a prophesy that has been fulfilled in May 14, 1948. The nation of Israel over there in the middle east is the Israel of the Bible and end times.

The Gog/Magog attack of Ezekiel 38-39 on Israel in the latter days, latter years will be on the current nation of Israel over there in the middle east.

Who and what is Israel was redefined by the NT which would greatly affect old covenant, pre-Christ/pre-Cross prophecies.

 

[Douggg]

Who and what is Israel was redefined by the NT which would greatly affect old covenant, pre-Christ/pre-Cross prophecies.

That is a false premise.

The identity of Israel has not changed.

The Gog/Magog attack on Israel in the latter days, latter years is on the present nation of Israel in the middle-east. It is easy to see that most of the nations listed making up the Gog/Magog group are muslim nations.

 

[ewq1938]

That is a false premise.

The identity of Israel has not changed.

It has changed. The parable teaches those who deny Christ on the olive tree are removed, and faithful branches are grafted. That means unfaithful Jews are removed from Israel and faithful gentiles are grafted making them Israelites. Therefore Israel are Christians, the church. It is not the sons of Jacob/Judaism anymore.

The Gog/Magog attack on Israel in the latter days, latter years is on the present nation of Israel in the middle-east. It is easy to see that most of the nations listed making up the Gog/Magog group are muslim nations.

New prophecy has replaced that, found in Rev 20.

 

[Stumpmaster]

It is not used in triplicate. Studying the passage in Greek will show that.

Yes. When we do as Scripture says and calculate the number we are doing more than just observe 3 sixes side by side. The progressive multiple of 10 has a symbolic meaning in prophecy, and in general, for any multi-digit number, each digit has a place value determined by its position in the number. This system is called the positional notation or place-value system, a very important aspect to consider in this case.

 

[Douggg]

It has changed. The parable teaches those who deny Christ on the olive tree are removed, and faithful branches are grafted. That means unfaithful Jews are removed from Israel and faithful gentiles are grafted making them Israelites. Therefore Israel are Christians, the church. It is not the sons of Jacob/Judaism anymore.

No, the identity of Israel has not changed to the church. Ezekiel 37:15-22 was fulfilled on May 14, 1948. Israel a nation in the land again as one nation - no longer two nations of north and south.

New prophecy has replaced that, found in Rev 20.

No, Revelation 20 has not replaced Ezekiel 38-39. Gog/Magog will attack the current nation of Israel over there. Followed by the 7 years of Ezekiel 39:9 which correspond to the 7 year 70th week of Daniel 9:27 (as shown and noted on my chart below).

 

[Deborah_]

Now for the remaining four visions...

Revelation 14:1-15:4

There’s an alternative to the kingdom of the Beast - the Kingdom of God! The fourth vision (Revelation 14:1-5) is of Mount Zion, the New Jerusalem - which is where God’s people are assembled (Hebrews 12:22,23). The nation of Israel was preserved through 40 years of desert wandering (see Numbers 1:46; 26:51); and it will be the same for the Church. From the beginning of their salvation to its culmination, no-one who has been marked as belonging to Christ will be lost. On earth they may be suffering; but in heaven they’re singing the praises of their Redeemer (Isaiah 35:10). Their daily lives are characterised by consecration and commitment. Like David’s army (see I Samuel 21:4,5), they maintain themselves in a state of personal purity while waging war. But their holiness is not their own achievement; it’s all God’s doing!

The fifth vision (Revelation 14:6-12) is of three angels, each with a very important message to deliver to the human race. The first is a very basic Gospel, calling on all the nations of the world to repent and give glory to their Creator. Not all have heard of Christ; but all are capable of acknowledging that they have a Maker on whom they depend, and that they should give Him due honour. The second message is a proclamation of Babylon’s doom, which has been a long time coming. The original Babylon may be dead and gone, but it represents all that is rich, strong, and self-reliant; and its corrupt and sensuous materialism still characterises the society in which we live. The third message is the judgement decreed for the followers of the Beast (who are the inhabitants of Babylon). All those who drink Babylon’s ‘wine’ of sinful indulgence will also have to drink from the cup of God’s wrath (Psalm 75:8). This is a warning to us: choose wisely! It’s better to be persecuted by the Beast in the present age than to be punished with the Beast in the age to come!

Those who listen and respond to God’s word now are given a special blessing (Revelation 14:13). We are not to fear death, because it’s the doorway to the eternal rest that was foreshadowed by the weekly Sabbath (Hebrews 4:9-11). There we shall be free from all sin, temptation, sorrow, frustration and pain. And our service to Jesus will be rewarded with eternal blessedness.

The sixth vision (Revelation 14:14-20) shows us how the kingdoms of the Beast and the Lamb will be separated at the end of the age (Matthew 13:41). Jesus is the Lord of the harvest, and when it’s ripe (a moment determined by God), He will gather His people in. But after the wheat harvest comes the grape harvest, because the wicked will also be ripe - for judgement! After believers have been taken out of harm’s way, unbelievers will be gathered together for destruction (see Isaiah 63:1-6). God’s judgement will take the form of a final great battle - and the carnage will be so terrible that it will be as if the armies are swimming in blood.

In the final vision of this series (Revelation 15:1-4) the world as we know it is about to be destroyed; but the Church has been rescued, just as the Israelites were liberated on the night of God’s final plague on Egypt. And once again, the people of God will sing the song of Moses (see Exodus 15:1-18). The words may be different, but the theme is the same: God’s victory over the powers of evil, and the deliverance of His people. And just as Moses and the Israelites partied on the shore of the Red Sea after their escape from Egypt and the destruction of Pharaoh’s army, so we shall celebrate our redemption from the world and the final destruction of all wickedness. Truly we have a great, wonderful and all-powerful God!

 

[Deborah_]

Now for the seven bowls - the outpouring of God's wrath. We have had glimpses of it in the sixth seal and the sixth trumpet, but now we are given a grandstand view.

Revelation 15:5-16:21

Now we are shown how the end of the world will come about - not by a chance astronomical disaster or through the careless actions of human beings, but by God’s decree. His judgement will be executed by seven dazzling angels, whose gleaming white robes emphasise their utter purity and holiness. This is no outburst of bad temper on God’s part, but His perfectly just and righteous response to human sin. No longer is His terrifying holiness confined to a small dark room in an ancient city (where it can be ignored or avoided); it’s expanding to fill the whole universe! And Nature responds by acting as the mediator for His judgements, thus playing its part in the accomplishment of His purposes. Now that the time has come and the process of judgement has been initiated, nothing and no-one can stop it. The heavenly temple is sealed (Revelation 15:8): no more prayers will be heard, so there is no further opportunity for either intercession or repentance.

And so the judgement begins. These plagues are strongly reminiscent of some of the plagues of Egypt (boils, blood, darkness, frogs and hail). They also closely parallel the trumpet warnings - except that this time the destruction is not partial, but total. The first three plagues strike the land, the sea and the fresh water, devastating every aspect of mankind’s environment. God’s coming has convulsed the natural world, and brought human life to ruin; but this is no more than the wicked deserve for what they have done to His people. With the onset of the fourth plague, people finally begin to acknowledge (as the Egyptians eventually did) that their troubles are the work of God - but instead of repenting, they blaspheme. Their hearts have become irreversibly hardened in hatred of God.

The fifth plague is a direct attack on human civilisation (which has by now been completely taken over by the Beast). Like a global power cut, it paralyses the whole of society and plunges the world into chaos. At this point the normal social restraints break down; the sixth plague is global anarchy. The dragon and the beasts, in a final act of defiance against God, actively encourage the East to take up arms against the West. Each nation believes itself to be fighting for its own survival; they don’t realise that the End is imminent! In order not to be caught with our spiritual trousers down (Revelation 16:15), we must be living consistently holy lives (Romans 13:12,13). All around us, the rest of the world will descend into madness; and their armies will converge on the Middle East for the great battle that will bring human history to an end - the battle of Armageddon.

But at that moment the seventh bowl will be emptied and the world will end. Babylon will implode under the weight of her own wickedness, the whole world will be shaken apart, and everything that doesn’t draw its life from God will disintegrate (Hebrews 12:26,27). Yet even as the world falls apart around them, people will still refuse to surrender to God. They remain stubbornly rebellious, all the way to Hell…

 

[Deborah_]

The next section of the book is somewhat different from the preceding ones. It contrasts the destinies of two symbolic women: the “great prostitute” (Babylon) and the Bride of the Lamb (the Church). Babylon is to be found whenever and wherever the world idolises wickedness as a means to material gain. For wealth and power nearly always go together; and those who seek power are generally driven by greed!

Revelation 17:1-19:10

John is taken away into the desert (the place of spiritual detachment and clarity of vision), so that he can see things as they really are. There is the Beast (worldly power) again - but this time it’s being ridden by (and is therefore under the control of) a woman who embodies the characteristics of Israel’s two arch-enemies, Tyre and Babylon. The woman is dressed as a prostitute, advertising all that is luxurious and glamorous; but in God’s eyes she is loathsome, because her wealth is the product of oppression. She is Babylon, the moral and spiritual corruptor of the human race and the bait with which Satan hooks so many of us (I Timothy 6:10). And those she cannot seduce (because of their faithfulness to Christ) she will do her utmost to destroy. It was the spirit of Babylon that animated Jezebel (see II Kings 9:7) and Herodias (see Mark 6:19) - two women who would stop at nothing to silence God’s prophets.

This combination of wealth and power (“Beauty and the Beast”) is a recurrent feature of world history. Like Christ, the Beast lives, dies, and rises to live again - but unlike Christ (who lives for ever!), its final destiny is destruction. In John’s time, it was easily identified with Rome - the city that ruled over the whole of the known world, and was the first-century epicentre of paganism, political corruption, materialism and violence. The seven ‘kings’ (Revelation 17:10) could be Roman emperors, but are more likely to represent a succession of empires: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia and Greece have come and gone, Rome is currently mistress of the world, and another is still to come. The pattern will keep on repeating itself, because the spiritual undercurrents remain constant, but it will eventually culminate in the greatest world power of them all - the empire of the Antichrist and his allies. The combined forces of Babylon and the Antichrist will appear to be all-powerful - but the final victory will belong to God and His people (Daniel 7:18).

Whatever religion people may claim to follow, it’s materialism that dominates every part of the world. And yet it carries within itself the seeds of its own destruction. For eventually the Beast will turn against the Prostitute and kill her - because when people become violent out of greed or envy, they very often end up destroying whatever it is they’re fighting over (Revelation 17:16,17). Rome collapsed after being torn apart by internal factions, and Babylon will also come to a an ignominious and grisly end.

Babylon’s glory is temporary; she will be destroyed as completely as ancient Babylon was destroyed, never to be inhabited again, and all her decadent glamour will vanish away like a bad dream. So believers have no business being there! (Revelation 18:4)) If we want to escape the inevitable disaster, now is the time to leave! The original Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:4) has long been dwarfed by the pile of Babylon’s sins (Revelation 18:5), and it’s time for her to get a dose of her own medicine! (Psalm 137:8)

So entwined has the world become in Babylon’s tentacles that her demise will mean the end of life as we know it. ”Money makes the world go round”: nations and governments are obsessed with commerce, multinational companies pull the strings of power - and everything has become a commodity. But such unparalleled prosperity and opulent luxury for the favoured few comes at an enormous human cost - most obviously in the slave trade, but also in the oppression and exploitation of farmers and factory workers all over the world. And Babylon’s downfall, like the loss of ancient Tyre (see Ezekiel 27), will have catastrophic repercussions (Revelation 18:9-19). All those who have profited from her immoral trade will reel with anguish, knowing that their obscenely affluent standard of living can no longer be sustained. Everything that they’ve lived and worked for will go up in smoke, leaving them with nothing. It’s foolish to cling to what is doomed to destruction; we shouldn’t attach too much significance to the things that belong to the present age. One day, all will be gone forever: entertainment, industry, agriculture, social networks, and trade. All Babylon’s lights will go out when God flicks the switch…

And when Babylon has gone for ever, the time will have come for the Bride to make her entrance (Revelation 19:1-10). She is none other than the Church – who must prepare herself for her wedding day by faithfulness and obedience, so that when her Bridegroom returns to claim her she will be revealed in glory and beauty (Ephesians 5:25-27). Like Cinderella, she can’t afford a wedding dress of her own; but her Prince will give her everything she needs for her adornment! (Revelation 19:8) In sharp contrast to Babylon’s lewd gaudiness, the Church’s ‘wedding dress’ will be plain and simple: white linen, which represents righteousness. Although this outfit is bestowed on her, she still has to dress herself - by performing good deeds.

We are thus assured that the future belongs not to the godless world-system, but to Christ and His people. And what a wonderful future it will be! “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” (Revelation 19:9)

 

[Deborah_]

Revelation 19:11-20:10

We now know (if we’ve been paying attention) that world history is an ongoing conflict between good and evil. But how and when will it end? It will end when the rightful King comes to claim His Kingdom (Revelation 19:11-21). This all-conquering King is none other than Jesus; yet it is Jesus as we have never seen Him before!. There’s blood on His robe - but the battle hasn’t yet begun, so it must be His own blood (shed in sacrifice). He’s accompanied by an escort, a veritable army - yet they are unarmed, and are probably not angels, but saints (I Thessalonians 4:14). Truth is His only weapon (see Isaiah 49:2) - but it will strike terror into the hearts of sinners, and all resistance will crumble before Him. The outcome of this final great battle, the battle of Armageddon, is a foregone conclusion, and yet the followers of the Beast will refuse to surrender; like the inhabitants of Canaan (see Joshua 11:1-6), they believe that together they have the power to resist Christ’s “invasion”, and so they will fight to the bitter end. But the battle ends with the capture and execution of Satan’s agents, the two beasts - and this time the Beast will never come back! As for their vast army, it ends up as nothing more than bird food!

The next section (Revelation 20:1-10) concerns what happens to the devil and the saints. When Jesus was raised from the dead, Satan was bound and his activities were seriously curtailed (Matthew 12:29). This is what enables the Church to evangelise the nations. But it’s not all over yet, because Satan hasn’t been rendered totally powerless. Like an imprisoned Mafia boss, he’s alive and kicking, and still at work through his agents (especially the two beasts), disrupting and hindering the progress of the Gospel. But because he’s under restraint, evil is prevented from completely taking over the world. Meanwhile, those who have suffered and died for their faith in Jesus are not lost. “The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives bny believing in Me will never die.” (John 11:25,26) We still have to undergo physical death; but although our bodies will decompose, our spirits will go on living with Christ! Unbelievers, however, have nothing to look forward to after death; they won’t be resurrected until the final judgement. And what awaits them after that is the ‘second death’ (from which there will be no return).

But one day (a day determined by God) Satan will re-emerge to wreak havoc on the earth one last time. At his instigation, the whole world will rise up in a sustained and co-ordinated campaign against God and His people. But despite its ferocity and intensity, this final rebellion will be short-lived. The people of God (who represent Him on earth) will come under attack, and the enemy will seem on the point of obliterating us - but they’re the ones who will be destroyed, when God intervenes. And that will mark the end of Satan’s ambitions; he will suffer the punishment that he deserves. Along with the two beasts, he will suffer eternal conscious torment in Hell.

(NB In keeping with a generally symbolic interpretation of Revelation, the millennium is also assumed to be symbolic. I'm aware that other views are strongly held by many people, and all of them have their pros and cons.)

 

[Deborah_]

Revelation 20:11-21:8

After the battle of Armageddon, human history will be wound up with the Last Judgement (Revelation 20:11-15). When the Judge takes His seat, His presence will be so terrifying that nothing in this creation will be able to cope with it! The universe will collapse into nothingness, and the only Reality left will be God. Then the entire human race will come face to face with Him - and with the eternal consequences of the way we have lived our lives (Hebrews 9:27). No-one will be exempt from this final accounting. The lost, the long-forgotten, the unnoticed and the unknown, and even those whose bodies were completely destroyed - all will be brought before the Throne. (II Corinthians 5:10) God knows - and remembers - every thought, word and deed; every secret will be exposed and judged. And so His judgement will be totally comprehensive and absolutely fair. No-one will have grounds for appeal! Because all have sinned, all will deserve condemnation; only those whose names are in God’s Book of Life will be spared from destruction. And when all evil has been removed from God’s presence, Death itself will be put to death (I Corinthians 15:26). Hell will engulf all those who have taken the devil’s side; but those who are known to God will live for ever. When there is no more death, the world as we know it really will have come to an end.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth…” (Revelation 21:1) Like the other sections of the book, the sixth vision ends with a glimpse of the world to come - but this time the curtain is drawn back a little further and we can see something of the new creation. ‘New’ means ‘renewed’, not ‘brand new’; there will be a degree of continuity between the world we know and the world to come. However, there will also be many profound differences. To the Jews, the sea was a hostile environment, chaotic and violent, constantly threatening to overflow the land - and it was where the Beast came from. (see Revelation 13:1) But in the new world, all such threats will have vanished completely.

But John’s eyes are quickly drawn to the most important (and most wonderful) feature of the new earth. There will no longer be any distinction between heaven and earth, because earth will finally become what it was originally meant to be: the dwelling-place of God! This is our final destination, the place prepared for us: a city where we will truly be at home (Hebrews 11:13,16). The presence of God will be close as never before - the reality of which Solomon’s temple was just a symbol (see I Kings 8:13). And Death - the shadow that currently blights the whole of human existence - will be abolished! Here at last there will be complete healing of body and mind, with even the bitterest of memories erased.

The life that we have now is life in the “Shadowlands”; in comparison, the life to come will be life in full, glorious technicolour! And this is the continuation of a process of renewal that begins in each of us at our conversion (II Corinthians 5:17) . For God the Creator is also the Re-creator. He is the Source of life, and it is ours for the taking; all we have to do is acknowledge our need. “To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.” (Revelation 21:6) Although the invitation is free, its acceptance will involve costly struggle; for the world will do its utmost to prevent us from claiming our inheritance. If we persevere right to the end, our reward is certain (Romans 8:17). But if we don’t love and fear God enough to remain loyal to the end, we may lose it all. For the one thing that will not feature in the new earth is sin in all its many forms - and so there will be no room there for unrepentant sinners. Those who refuse to bow the knee to their Creator will discover that the independence they demand is destruction in Hell…

 

[Deborah_]

Revelation 21:9-22:21

But the centrepiece of the new creation is the Bride! John is taken to the top of a mountain, to ‘view the land’ from afar, as Moses did (see Deuteronomy 34:1-4) — and what he sees takes his breath away. For New Jerusalem and the Church are one and the same; the city isn’t so much the place where we shall live, as the community that we are! And whereas the Church now is weak, blemished and scruffy, John sees her as she will be: dazzlingly glorious, and humming with life. Indeed, we wouldn’t recognise ourselves; the Church as pictured here is no longer shabby and sinful, but shining with the glory of God Himself! (see Revelation 4:3) The city has a high wall for demarcation and for security, and many gates, for access. And there will be no more false teachers; the city rests firmly on the foundation of the true Gospel preached by the apostles (Ephesians 2:19,20).

New Jerusalem is vast and spacious - but don’t get bogged down in the measurements, because all of them are (significantly) multiples of 12. It is God’s people in their totality, old Israel and new Israel, combined together and brought to perfection. In shape, it’s a perfect cube – a new Most Holy Place, the dwelling-place of God Himself, no longer a ‘no-go’ area but somewhere where God’s people can live, unafraid, in His presence. As befits the city of the great King, she is made of the most beautiful and costly materials imaginable, and is very colourful! Every surface is adorned with precious stones, like those borne on the high priest’s breastpiece (see Exodus 28:17-21). And thus she surpasses even Solomon’s Jerusalem (see I Kings 10:27) in beauty and splendour!

The focal point of Old Jerusalem was the Temple, where God ‘lived’. But there will be no temple in New Jerusalem because the entire city is the holy dwelling-place of God, and is filled with His glory. No longer will we be flickering lampstands (Revelation 1:20); the glory of God’s presence in our midst will be so bright that the sun itself will become superfluous! The inhabitants of the city will be a vast, teeming, multiethnic crowd. Like the Queen of Sheba (see I Kings 10:1,2), a never-ending stream of people from all over the world will beat a path to its gates in order to proclaim their allegiance to the Lamb. In a very real sense, New Jerusalem will be the centre of the earth! (Micah 4:1) And God will keep ‘open house’; no-one will be turned away. (Isaiah 60:11) There will never be any need to lock the gates, because darkness (signifying ignorance and godlessness) will have been banished! Instead, New Jerusalem will incorporate the very best of human culture and invention (Revelation 21:26) - everything that is truly excellent, and everything that reflects the beauty, truth and love of God. Nothing that is of real and lasting value will be lost. The only thing missing will be sin! Access will be restricted to those who are known to God and are registered citizens of His Kingdom (Psalm 87:5,6). And so New Jerusalem will be a truly pure and holy city (Isaiah 52:1).

What will life in New Jerusalem be like? The prophet Ezekiel had been given a vision of God’s life-giving Spirit flowing out from His presence like a river to renew the world (see Ezekiel 47:1-12). This is the river that John sees flowing through the city, making it a place where every need is satisfied, so that its inhabitants lack nothing. The city is a new Eden, a source of life and healing for the whole world - because all will have permanent access to the tree of life. Our own attempts to re-create a paradise on earth were doomed to failure (see Genesis 3:17-19). But when God has undone the curse that made all human endeavour ultimately futile (Ecclesiastes 12:8), the human race can flourish as He originally intended. We need not fear monotony; there will be plenty for us to do!

In the present age, God’s full glory has always been veiled (see Exodus 33:20). To be able to behold His face is something that His people have always yearned for (Psalm 17:15); and in New Jerusalem, that longing will finally be satisfied (I John 3:2). Each one of us will be acknowledged by God as His own - which is the ultimate blessing. And what we have believed and accepted in faith, we shall finally experience in reality. We shall worship God, and reign with Him over the new creation, in everlasting day and overwhelming glory.

 

[Deborah_]

Revelation 22:6-21

We have now arrived at New Jerusalem, where “we will all live happily ever after.” There’s nothing more to add; we now know all that we need to know to sustain us on our journey.

Some prophetic revelations were not for immediate consumption, but were recorded for future generations for whom they would be relevant (see Daniel 12:4). But Revelation doesn’t fall into that category (verse 10); it is for us and for now, because the last days have arrived! Even now, we are by our choices and our actions determining our final destiny. But once we arrive at the gates of New Jerusalem, our choice becomes final. From that point, we will continue along the trajectory we have established - either to eternal glory inside the city, or to eternal shame outside it.

So shall we be dreading Christ’s return, or looking forward to it? Jesus is the Judge to whom all will have to give account - the Creator of space and time, the Eternal One (Isaiah 48:12). At His command all things began, and by His command all things will be wound up and brought to their conclusion.

But the overall message of Revelation is one of hope. The whole human race was barred from Paradise because of Adam’s rebellion (Genesis 3:24). But now the way has been re-opened! The only difference between the sinners who are ‘inside’ and the sinners who are ‘outside’ is that the former have been forgiven, and are accounted righteous through Christ’s death. Those who have spurned this offer and are determined to cling to their sinful ways will be excluded forever. Cut off from God’s presence and from the tree of life, they will die (though, like Adam, not necessarily immediately). The choice is ours! The invitation to join in is issued, through the Church, to the whole world. Anyone and everyone can come and share these blessings! No-one will be forced to come against their will; and no-one will be turned away. The only entry requirement is desire; the only disqualification is pride. Eternal life can be ours - if we want it.

Revelation ends with a solemn warning for anyone who dares tamper with its message. This applies only to the book of Revelation; but it’s probably no accident that it also comes at the end of the whole Bible. God has nothing more to say; and so the canon of Scripture is closed. All we have to do now is wait for Jesus to return - which could be at any time. So let us, by God’s grace, repent now; tomorrow may be too late.