Hi recoverer,
here are some of my thoughts regarding some points you made...they are in light of my own beliefs and understanding, and merely here to clarify what I personally believe and think.
>>The article I provided explains about some of the things you brought up. >>
I did read that article, but it largely fails to address the reality that the "beast" was not overthrown with Nero and nor was Nero the only "anti-Christ", as Rome continued forward with persecuting Christians with emperors like Diocletian and Domitian. No 1000 year reign of Christ, no allowance for the final war with the Devil after that period, etc. This is where I depart from attempts to place revelations strictly in a contemporary sense. The writers may have written in a contemporary language, but like I said, they were expecting the second coming almost immediatley as well.
>>I don't believe that revelations is actually about a war in heaven, because I don't believe that negative minded beings could travel to heaven and start a war. Heaven is a realm which is reserved for evolved beings who vibrate with God's love energy. >>
Negative beings did not travel to heaven to start a war, they became self-willed in a negative sense and then fell, were cast out, etc. The war in heaven, referenced in Christian writings and the Bible, is really mysterious, and is largely a matter of interpretation and faith, but it does mesh with what seems to be quite evidential of "negative beings", demons, etc. There is a ton of evidence that these "negative beings" have a hierarchy and order...Malachi Martin's Hostage to the Devil provides some tremendous insights into this hierarchy as revealed in several independent exorcism cases.
>>Sometimes the Bible would mystify mundane things. At times durring later versions. For example, is you read the early Hebrew version of Isaiah you'll find that that it speaks of a fallen king of Babylon, not a fallen angel. It wasn't until Jerome was commissioned to do new translations around 400 AD that fallen angel language was added. If you look at the symbology that is used in Revelations, clearly it pertains to things that were physically going on at the time. >>
I know the verse you are speaking of, and this can also refer to a demonic prince. As Paul writes in the new testament, and also as Christ says, the adversarial forces are principalities, kingdoms, etc. With what is known of demonology, that verse in Isaiah could very well refer to a powerful fallen angel, who was confounding a lesser angel who had to seek assistance to overcome it. The issue of degrees of angels is very commonly suggested, even with evil spirits (as when one is cast out, it is said that it will return with others even greater than itself).
Book of Enoch, though Apocraphyl, was accepted as legitimate by old and new testament writers, and is referenced to in the bible. This has alot of information to suggest similar things.
>>Are there more holes in the futuristic interpretation or historical interpretation? And what would people from the time be more concerned about?
I believe that people who believe in the futuristic interpretation have a hard time thoroughly questioning it because 1) they are afraid that if they seriously open themselves up to a non futuristic interpretation, they'll open themselves up to satan; 2) they are attached to the idea that they'll be one of God's few chosen ones when the rapture supposedly happens; and 3) they consider the issue with preconceived ideas, and don't realize how much such preconceived ideas are influencing them. Even a bio computer has a tendency to limit its search to the information it has access to. >>
As in my statements about people not seeing that Christ fulfilled all the old testament prophecies concerning the messiah, it is more than possible that everyone misinterpreted what revelations was about, placing it in a more contemporary setting rather than seeing the far reaching vision that it seems to me to be. Starts with Genesis, ends with Revelations....makes sense for a world based on linear time.
>>I find it really hard to believe that a being of infinite love and wisdom such as God would set things up so that a minority percentage of the human population will be allowed to go with Jesus on a certain day while a majority of people will have to go through seven years of tribulation before eventually having to go to hell for all of eternity despite their good hearts and good intentions, simply because they haven't come around to believing in "a particular" religious philosophy. >>
This is a matter of faith for each person. The mystery of God is vast...I believe we have the chance to exercise freewill, in a world where because of the mystery of God and the largely hidden nature of the absolute answers, there is value with what we choose to do here. Hell is not necessarily for "eternity". The more accurate translation in the bible is Eon rather than Eternal, which is a world of difference. The Eon interpretation works pretty well with the idea that one can "pay the jailer the last farthing" and get out when they are ready.
The existence of evil in a world created by an omnipotent and all-loving God is truly one of the greatest philospophical challenges. I think evil was introduced after creation, whether you accept that it was done so by fallen angels or by humans, and God allows everything to come to fulfillment despite it.
>>How about the "love your neighbor as yourself" viewpoint? Can one really say that one is living in such a way if they feel happy with a belief system which suggests that many good hearted, well meaning people are going to end up spending all of eternity in hell simply because the circumstance of their life (for example the family they were born into) didn't lead them to the point where they took on a particular belief system?
>>
I don't believe that all, and as a Catholic, my particular church teaches in the Catechism that while the Catholic faith has a greater clarity, those in other faiths who discover God and lead Christ-like lives can certainly go to heaven. The Catholic heaven would have a multitude of buddhists, muslims, pagans, and more.
>>Can one say that one is really living in such a way when they feel as if they don't have to worry about things such as the environment and natural resources, because the rapture is going to bring everthing to an end anyway?
Can one say that one is really living in such a way when they feel it is okay to demonize entire groups of people simply because they don't believe in a particular way?
Is it loving to point fingers and accuse people of being 666? >>
I would suggest that people that do what you are describing are very misguided and have a little to learn.
>>If satan and his army actually exists, then why doesn't Michael and his army of angels take care of them right away, as opposed to allowing them to corrupt millions of innocent people first? Certainly God is too wise and loving to make life a big test that millions of people fail miserably. And if so many people fail, why? >>
Again, this is one of the great conundrums of philosophy---omipotent, good God and the reality of evil in the world. This is my personal opinion/belief here, but I believe that the power of the Adversary is very great...not great enough to overcome God, of course, but definitely something that can resist, cause a whole lot of trouble, etc. They (the Adversary) can still win battles and lose the war, so to speak.
This is one of the questions that gives me alot of trouble as well, by the way. I've always wished God would just clean house, but then I realize that to do so would be to have an intervention of such a nature that it truly would be an "end of days".
>>If the concept of satan is actually true, it may be that Jesus has already defeated him. Consider the below from Hebrews 2:14. Several translations have been provided.
Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, >>
Speaking from strictly a Christian theology, the death of Christ and Resurrection DID defeat the devil and death. All humanity saved, with eternal life and eventual resurrection of the body, bringing to full healing after the fall, sin, etc..
The devil, at that point, lost a high degree of authority in that he and his fellow demons could be "bound" by those following God, believers, etc. The string is being played out, but the end is a foregone conclusion. Remember that God is not in our time and space, while revelation occurs in our time and space on our linear progression here. Similary, the devil is "In time", here on the linear path.
I think that the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe does this very well in metaphor. When the kids question Aslan after he resurrects, he makes bold note of the fact that if the White Witch had truly understood the deep magic, she never would have manipulated his "sacrifice and death".
Similarly, the devil may have thought to slay Christ, not knowing that the slaying was what brought about the victory as the Perfect Sacrifice.