Using Occam's Razor to Understand the Book of Revelation


"Occam's razor states that the explanation of any phenomenon should make
as few assumptions as possible." A paraphrase is; "the simplest
explanation which accounts for all the evidence is most likely to be
correct."

To apply Occam's razor to the Book of Revelation, we need to consider
several Key pieces of evidence, and make no assumptions:

Jesus described the signs of His Return. Mat 24:29-31, Luke 21:25-28. The
events described in these scriptures are found in other End Time
Prophecies and in several places in the book of Revelation.

a) 1. The Day of the Lord, 2 Pet 3:10
2. That Day, Isa 2:10-21, 10:27, 11:11, Jer 25:33, 30:7-8
3. The Day of God, 2 Pet 3:12

b) 1. The Sixth Seal, Rev 6:12-17
2. The Seventh Vial, Rev 16:17-21
3. The Seventh Trumpet, the Last Trumpet, the Trump of God
1 Thes 4:14-17, 1 Cor 15:50-54, Rev 11:15-19

c) 1. The Harvest of Earth, Rev 14:1-5, 14-20
2. The Word of God in Battle, Rev 19:11-21
3. The battle for the Camp of the Saints, Rev 20:9-15

2 Peter 3:10, 12
10 "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the
which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are
therein shall be burned up.

12 "Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the
heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat?

Both the Day of the Lord and Day of God depict the destruction of Earth
and Universe in fervent heat.

Since this earth and universe will be destroyed on The Day of the Lord,
which is the Day of God, then nothing will happen on this earth after the
Day of God, which is the Day of The Lord.

On this earth, there will be no 'day after' the "day of the Lord," the Day
of God.

Since this earth and universe is destroyed on the Day of God, the Day of
the Lord, then this is also the day that His Kingdom, His People, inherit
the Kingdom, the New Heaven and Earth.

The events described with "That Day," The Day of the Lord, and The Day of
God, are found in several places in Revelation, among them:

Compare events below with: Job 40:9-14, Psalms 21:8-13, 96:10-13,
102:25-26 Isa 2:10-22, 10:20-27, 24:18-23 and 26:20-21. Isa 27:13, 34:2-5,
42:13-15, 51:6, 66:15-16.

Also compare with: Ezekiel 28:18-19, 37:12-14, 38:17-23. Dan 7:26-27,
12:1-3. Hosea 2:14-23. Joel 2:1-32. Amos 1:2. Oba 1:15-18. Mic 5:8-15. Nah
1:4-8. Zep 1:15-18. Hag 2:6-9. Zec 2:6-13, 9:14-15, 11:17, 13:2, 14:1-4.
Mal 3:2-3, 4:1-3.

Sixth Seal
Compare the events described in Rev 6:12-17. The Sixth and Seventh Seals
are a list of events which occur over the last 40 days of earth's
existence. Therefore everything written in Revelation after 6:12-8:1 must
occur before or concurrent with these events. Nothing happens on this
earth after the events of 6:12-8:1.

Seventh Vial
Compare the events of Rev 16:17-21. These events occur on the Last Day of
this earth's existence. Therefore everything written in Revelation after
this, must occur before, or concurrent with, these events. Compare with
6:12-17 and 11:15-19. Nothing happens on this earth after 16:17.

Seventh Trumpet
Compare the events of Rev 11:15-19, these events are on the Last Day of
this earth's existence. Therefore everything written in Revelation after
this, must occur before or concurrent with these events. Nothing happens
on this earth after 11:19. Compare with 6:12-17, 16:17-21. Nothing happens
on this earth after 11:19.

Harvest of Earth
Look at the events described in Revelation 14:1-5, 14-20. This is the
"Harvest of Earth." Compare with Rev 11:15-19. After this day, no people
remain alive on this earth, therefore nothing involving human life can
happen on this earth after this event. Since 14:14-20 depict the end of
human life on this earth, then nothing written in Revelation after
14:14-20 can occur on earth.

Word of God in Battle
Compare the events of Rev 19:11-21. This is the Battle of Armageddon. In
verse 19-21 all earth's people are killed. There are no living people left
on this earth after That Day. Compare the described events with Rev
14:1-20 and Rev 11:15-19.

Battle of "That Day of God"
Rev 16:14 "For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go
forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them
to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." The Battle of
Armageddon, then, is fought on That Day of God.

Camp of the Saints
Look at the events described in Rev 20:9-15. This is the battle of
Armageddon. These events are the same as described in Rev 14:1-20 and
11:15-19, 19:11-21. There are no people remaining alive on this earth
after That Day.

CONCLUSION
Two sets of three events depict the end of the World and coming of the
Lord. Since this world cannot end six times, or three times, or twice
(once by water, once by fire; 2Pe 3:3-12), there must be a justification
of these descriptions. There must be an explanation which accounts for the
evidence that the world ends six times. According to Occam's razor, the
simplest explanation is that it does not end six times, but that these are
six different metaphors of the world ending one time.

The First set is The Sixth Seal, the Seventh Vial and the Last Trumpet.
Because the Sixth and Seventh Seals depict the end of this World, then all
events described in the Seventh Vial and Seventh Trumpet must (because
they cannot occur prior to or after) occur concurrently.

The second set is the Harvest of Earth, the Word of God in Battle, and the
Battle of Armageddon. Because the Harvest of Earth depicts the end of this
World, then the events depicted in the Word of God in Battle, and the
Battle of Armageddon must (because they cannot occur prior to or after)
occur concurrently.

The two sets of described events depict a single event from two
perspectives: the first considering the event on the world and the world’s
peoples; the second considering the event between The Lord and His enemy,
Satan. The Consummation of God's Plan and Purpose for His Creation is so
complex that a single 'story' can not explain it all. This explains the
need for multiple perspectives and descriptions.

All these (and others) depict the last day of this earth's existence. 2
Peter 3:3-12, Mat 24:29-31, Luke 21:25-28, 1 Thes 4:14-17, 1 Cor 15:50-54,
Rev 6:12-17, 11:15-19, 16:17-21, 14:1-5, 14-20, 19:11-21, 20:9-15. After
these events the Elect, We Who Remain, the Saints and the servants of God
inherit the New Heaven and Earth.



owd
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What Is A "Doctrine Of Devils?" http://tinyurl.com/s68xk
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"There is no sound exegetical basis for the doctrine which teaches that
the 'millennial reign of Christ on earth' is in Revelation 19-20."
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