(Author’s Note: Ten parts were originally planned for this series. But there is still more to come.)
Visions and dreams in prophecy: Real or Literary Devices?
The proposition ought to be considered in referencing the “dreams and visions” of biblical writers, is whether they are real or whether the author has contrived them as literary devices?
In other words, when the prophet says, “And I saw,” was he really experiencing a vision in a trance, or did he mean by the expression, “And it seemed to me . . .” as a parabolic expression? We have already shown that the entire Book of Enoch (p. 10, et al) uses prophetic language as parable. Could this be true of the other prophets, as well?
If they are real, we should wonder if sometimes the prophets are simply deranged individuals?
I do not pretend to know whether the Prophet Daniel actually saw scary goats and sheep in his dreams. I do not pretend to know whether St. John of the Apocalypse really saw visions in a trance involving seven-headed monsters and other freakish creatures. I’m inclined to think that they were literary devices to teach doctrine to the elect of God. I do not necessarily discount the notion that these dreams and visions were real. However, it would run counter to my belief that truth is meant to be discovered through rational thought, rather than through altered states of consciousness. The impairment of rational thought seems to promote demonism and mental illness. I prefer the scientist over the shaman.
If literary devices, why would they write their thoughts in such a manner?
Two reasons:
1) Prophetic language can serve as a kind of encryption. The obscurity of its symbols would separate the vulgar from adepts. This would be for the purposes of “winnowing” the listeners from those who are meant to be punished from those who are being warned to get out of harm’s way.
2) It lends credibility in a superstitious world which believes that this is the way the gods communicate with humans. It indulges a misconception that somehow irrational sources of information are superior to rational sources because it represents “unfiltered” communication with the gods. Consequently, the result would be that on the surface – the cover story – a certain path of reaction will occur by the simple-minded, and a different one induced upon the “wise.”
But again, the wise would know better.
If the timelines in the book of Daniel are real, it is worth asking whether they come from visions or whether there is some scientific or historical chronology to which Daniel was privy. If these revelations came by visions, they would be arbitrary and we would be at a dead end in our inquiry. The angel elected not to tell him how these time periods were calculated.
If, however, they are based upon some knowledge of cycles in nature or in the cosmos, then it would be worth investigating what might be the cause of those cycles.
We have some awareness, now, for the 1,260 days and the 1,290 days based upon historical events. This seems unsatisfactory and the possibility that they are really based upon cosmic cycles will be addressed directly in our next installment.
What might be the meaning of the 1,335 days is our topic of concern here.
We have already mentioned comets as harbingers of doom which have come from the Capricorn constellation and have punctuated this current age of the Capricorn: a mystical Roman reviving of the Hellenistic world view.
We know that Comet BB is to make its closest approach in the House of Capricorn in 2032 AD, and the planet Saturn will return to that location in 2046 AD., in which it is speculated that it might nova – being a spent star – and light up our night sky. This would be on the eve of our predicted solar nova, but I have weighed the odds at 1-in-3. It might be that another Gleissberg Cycle must occur, which would take us to 2134 AD, which would be the end of a different prophetic period.
All that we know is that if anyone attains to this time period, he is considered “blessed” or “happy”: “Happy is he . . .” There are two words associated with reaching it: “Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh . . .” (12:12). These seem to be innocuous terms with a blandness that is easily overlooked.
But a closer look at the Hebrew words produces startling results. The Hebrew word for “waiteth” is “chakah” which means to wait or tarry but is known to be translated also as “to angle” and “to hook.” The patience of the fisherman or the trapper is in view here as someone who is using bait to capture a prey.
The Hebrew word for “cometh” adds to the nuance which is “naga” (originally spelled with the obsolete Hebrew letter ghah, which means in its paleo: “twisted” or “entangled”). Thus, “naga” has come to mean “touch,” “lay the hand upon,” “to arrive, acquire” as in to become entangled with or entwined. It is also used most frequently with a sexual meaning throughout the biblical text as “to lie with” a woman. Thus, the notion of grasping a woman for sex is perhaps the primary association of this word.
With the use of this word in conjunction with the one for “waiteth,” we might envision a violent criminal “lying in wait” to “seize a woman” for purposes of raping her. This is certainly a jarring use of the Hebrew words to describe such a “blessed” period. Considering that these words have such a negative meaning, it is difficult to understand why the heavenly messenger would have used them in this context. It is like saying “Happy is he who patiently waits to seize his prey.” Or even worse, “Happy is he who patiently lures his rape victim.”
But we don’t have to go there because the Babylonian kingdom depicted in Daniel is an evil empire. It suggests that “the Saints” may be called upon to use the same “dirty” tactics to destroy that kingdom, as are used by the wicked against “the Saints.” In other words, patient deceit is necessary to lure the evil empire into a trap.
Like Jesus who deceived Satan into thinking that he was winning because he was crucifying Jesus upon the Cross, we envision that the persecution of the Saints by “Mystery Babylon” is a way of luring the “Harlot of Harlots” into a trap. Its overreach results in blowback and rebellion.
Consequently, Newton’s interpretation of Daniel 8 then suggests that the period of destruction of mystery Babylon, the Harlot of Harlots, begins with a break-up of its governance, then proceeds during a period of self-destructive wars, as the Ten Kingdoms rebel against her, followed with the normal calamities of famine, pestilence, and anarchy which come in the aftermath of total warfare.
Then “the Saints” pillage what remains of the civilization and prepare themselves for God’s “Great Eschaton,” in which, as we believe, a solar nova catastrophe renovates the Earth. “The Saints” which have prepared themselves, then, are able to be enter the “blessed” period of the 1,335 days.
Regardless, this period of 1,335 days represents a thing which requires action on the part of the person who wishes to survive the 1,260 days and the 1,290 days. To attain oneself to this period of blessing, one must be willing to participate and “dine” at this “marriage supper of the Lamb.”
(to be continued)
James Wesley Stivers 10/22/23
To See A Facsimile Copy of Newton’s handwritten notes under review in this discussion, click here:
