Plan on frustration
Every student of
prophecy experiences frustration at
first. This frustration may be
compared to learning to play the
piano. At first, the sounds are not
very beautiful. However, persistence
pays off. In time, melodious music
(more or less) will come from all who
practice and put effort into their
music. The same is true of the study
of prophecy. It takes considerable
time and effort to find and
understand the harmony of the sum of
all the parts. But, harmony and
beauty will be found if you persist.
For those who already closely studied
my teachings over the years, you will
notice a few minor changes. I mention
this because many people are
unwilling to update their prophetic
views. This is sad, because truth is
ever unfolding and if we are
unmovable, we shall be left behind.
In short, truth is eternal and
unchanging, for God is both eternal
and unchanging. But, man’s
perception of truth is finite and
faulty and there is no greater joy
than climbing a little higher in
understanding the truths of God. If
we become content with what we know,
we are left with no other alternative
than to be stagnant. Stagnation leads
to fermentation and mental
fermentation leads to stupidity.
Given the diversity of
minds and beliefs, many will disagree
with my conclusions. And, it is not
necessary that the reader agree with
me. But, those who seek truth go
through a very fascinating
experience. The closer people get to
correctly understanding truth, the
more similar their views. There is a
sequence that shall bring us to the
end of the world and there is only
one correct explanation of the events
that shall come to pass. The
prophecies within Daniel and
Revelation have the answers.
Let your
interpretations be your own
Therefore, I ask the
reader to consider my conclusions-not
to accept my interpretations. Let
your interpretations be your
own-after all, you’ve got to
face the events ahead by yourself.
Remember, the prophetic equation is
not complete until all the pieces of
the puzzle are correctly placed. This
is perhaps the most difficult part of
prophetic study: You have to
understand the whole thing before you
can be certain about the elements of
the conclusion. For this reason,
I am often accused of saying things
without substantiation. I freely
confess to doing this because some
subjects are substantiated by other
facts not involved with the matters
at hand. Given the breadth of some
themes, it is not helpful to explore
supporting tangents at the time of
presentation because the matter
becomes so tedious or expansive that
it can be overwhelming. But, there
are two ways to comprehend. First,
the determined student can read and
reread this study. The second and
third reading of this study will be
more helpful than the first reading
because the threshold for
understanding the harmony of these
things is quite high. Secondly, if
the student is not able to comprehend
the material presented in this study,
there is solace knowing that time is
going to reveal the truth anyway. And
given the events before us, some
exposure to the prophecies of God
right now is better than hysteria and
terror then. Anticipating what
God is about to do, understanding why
He is going to do it and timely
preparation for His actions is
our privilege. These are the profound
functions of Bible prophecy.
The interlaced column
According to Webster,
a paraphrase is an attempt to clarify
the meaning of the author’s
words by restating his original idea
in different words. On the other
hand, a translation is quite
different from the paraphrase in that
a translation is a direct conversion
of the equivalent sense from one
language to another.
This study is
neither a paraphrase nor a
translation. The purpose of this
study is to explain the 18 prophecies
of Daniel and Revelation, as I
currently understand them. So, I have
taken the liberty of interlacing the
verses of the Bible with my own words
and thoughts so that the student
might quickly grasp the comprehensive
story that comes from the 17
prophecies. I realize that some will
heartily disagree with this practice.
But, whether my opponents will admit
it or not, all students of the Bible
practice interlacing. What scholar
ever presented an exegesis without
interlacing his own thoughts or
findings into the meaning of a text?
The better we
understand the Bible, the more
clearly we comprehend the larger
meaning of its verses. Even though it
is not a common practice to present
Bible texts with our own words
interlaced within them, such a
process may have some merit-for what
appreciable difference is there
between thinking interlaced thoughts
and writing down interlaced thoughts?
I certainly don’t
intend to corrupt the true meaning of
the Bible. In fact, I read in
Revelation 22:18,19 that if any of us
corrupt the message of Revelation by
adding to it or taking away from it,
God will deal accordingly with us.
I’ve though about these verses
for a long time and I understand them
to mean that if we willingly
alter the true message in the book,
God will hold us responsible.
As a minimum, there
are three ways to interpret the
meaning of Revelation 22:18,19.
First, the text could be applied to
ancient scribes. Since there were no
duplicating machines back then, the
warning could be interpreted as a
threat to those who made copies of
the original document. Secondly, the
warning could be applied to the
translators of the original text.
However, every bilingual person knows
that it is not possible to translate
directly from language to language.
For example, the English translation
of Revelation has more words than the
original Greek. Perhaps the best
application of these verses can be
understood in this sense: When the
prophecy of Revelation is fully
understood, its testimony must be
muted or altered by any person.
Penalties and consequences aside, let
the truth say what it must. I also
find in Revelation 1:3, a special
blessing for everyone who will study
and try to understand what Revelation
means. So, consider this study a
stepping-stone toward your
understanding. This study is by no
means, the final word on the meaning
of Daniel and Revelation.
Inherent danger
The greatest danger
with interlacing is that some of my
interlaced verses will either say
things contrary to what you already
believe to be true or things you
don’t yet understand. Because
people rarely explore things they
believe to be full of error, I’m
sure many copies of this study will
end up in the trash. However, to
those who are open-minded enough to
read this study through, I would like
to share a secret. The second time
you read through, you will appreciate
the content much more. You will be
amazed at the harmony within the 17
prophecies. You will also understand
so much more about each prophecy and
its role in the larger picture. The
third time you read through this
study, you will be amazed at how tiny
details in one prophecy align with
little elements in other prophecies
to form the prophetic matrix. This
matrix will then enable you to
understand things that cannot be seen
otherwise. Thereafter, each time you
study the 17 prophecies, you will be
amazed at how the 17 prophecies of
Daniel and Revelation are dependant
and integral to the entire
Bible. No pleasure on earth compares
with understanding God’s great
love and His purposes for His
children.
Additive nature
The study of
apocalyptic prophecy is additive in
nature. This means that you have to
accept some things as
possibilities before you can
proceed to understand the matter at
hand. For this reason, I highly
encourage the reader to read this
study in a chronological fashion.
Don’t succumb to the temptation
to jump around looking for this or
that until you clearly understand the
operation of the rules of
interpretation and the chronological
placement of essential elements. When
you find something disagreeable or
different than what you have
believed, go to the apocalyptic chart
in the back of this study and notice
the chronological location of the
event under discussion. Compare my
conclusions with other items that are
occurring at the same time. In fact,
you should often refer to the
apocalyptic chart so you can see the
chronological progression of each
story. Even more, you will behold the
intricate relationships between the
prophecies. For example, see if you
can locate the opening of the fourth
seal in Prophecy 7 and the casting
down of the censer in Prophecy 9.
By reading this study
in a sequential manner, the reader
should be able to see how the rules
are applied in simple prophecies
before trying to understand how the
rules apply in more difficult
situations.
If you disagree with
my conclusions, don’t waste time
arguing with me. Direct your energy
into the ultimate prophetic
challenge: Draw your won prophetic
chart and then, clearly outline your
prophetic conclusions in a study.
Properly identify where every
prophetic element belongs. Most who
disagree with my conclusions refuse
to do this and I am quite puzzled by
their eagerness to condemn my views
and their reluctance to openly reveal
their position. As my sales manager
Court McLeod, used to say, “The
proof is in the pudding.” So, if
you have a better conclusion, tell
everyone what you believe. Distribute
several hundred copies of your
findings. Time will reveal, by the
absence or presence of the things we
predict, the truth-full-ness of every
prophetic position. In fact,
this study is my response to you as
required by the challenge.
Larry Wilson
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