No two books of the Bible have aroused more controversy or caused greater difference of opinion and confusion within the Body of Christ than those of Daniel and Revelation - yet there is no just reason why this should be so. These books go together for Revelation is the natural successor to Daniel in the same way as the New Testament is the complement of the Old Testament. Concerning the last 2600 years (i.e. from approximately 600 B.C. to now) in a broad sense we can say that Daniel gives about the first third in detail and the remaining two thirds in outline whilst Revelation gives the last two thirds in detail. In other words Revelation takes us from The First Advent through Tribulation to Armageddon and The Second Advent, the New Heavens and the New Earth.

The reason for the diversity of opinion regarding the understanding of the content of these books lies with the four different schools of interpretation:

FUTURISTS - who maintain that chapters 4 (or 6) to 22 of Revelation are still awaiting fulfilment and that Daniel`s 70th week is still future.

HISTORICISTS - who say that from John`s day, there has been a chronological fulfilment in history of the prophecies of the Book of the Revelation.(Open - Bible Ministries belong to this school)

PRAETERISTS - who maintain that all fulfilment of Revelation etc is past.

HARMONISTS - who try to reconcile these different views.

These last two groupings are so much in the minority as not to merit any further consideration.

The Futurists believe in a Secret Coming for Christ`s Own. After this Secret Coming (Rapture) there will be a period of three and one half(or seven!?) years when the Antichrist or Beast shall reign on earth causing Great Tribulation. During this period, chapters 4 - 19 of Revelation will be fulfilled.

This theory was evolved in 16th century by a Roman Catholic Jesuit priest, Ribera, to throw dust in the eyes of the Reformers, who recognised the Papacy as Antichrist and the Papal Church as the "woman.......drunken with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus" (Rev 17: 6). This view was adopted and enlarged upon by J N Darby who organised the Plymouth Brethren around 1830 - and it is sad to say that, today, a large body of Protestantism believes it.

The Historicists, to whom Open - Bible Ministries belong, have in their ranks such illustrious names of the past as Wycliffe, Martin Luther, John Knox, Newton, John Wesley, Charles Finney, C H Spurgeon, D L Moody etc. The Historicist Interpretation is based on fulfilled prophecy - in following it we tread the solid ground of accomplished facts. With the books of Daniel and Revelation in the one hand and the History book in the other hand, we are able to confirm the chronological fulfilment of the events foretold in these prophetic books.

This Historicist interpretation of prophecy was the catalyst which brought about the Reformation among God's true Israel nations in western Europe exactly as prophesied in Hosea 6:1-3. Careful and prayerful study of these books will not only reward the enquirer with a flood of light upon the whole Bible but will also confirm beyond any shadow of a doubt the absolute Sovereignty of the Lord God of Israel in the affairs of men. As the One Who knows the end from the beginning, He has never lost control of His Creation nor of His Chosen People Israel - nor indeed has He altered or changed His original Plans and Purposes as vested in those same people.This realisation will not only build faith and confidence in our loving Heavenly Father's Plan of the Ages, but the Word of God will also assume a new meaning, truly becoming "a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path."

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