The following verse seems pretty straightforward to me....in other words you would have to work at it to make it say something that it is not saying....Revelation 1:3...."Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near."
Now I'm not saying that Laura Ingalls of Little House On The Prairie should have been prioritizing Bible prophecy all the time...."Pa....what does 666 mean"....but in today's world with artificial intelligence and world wars and violence literally everywhere and Israel miraculously returned after the Holocaust....and the hatred for Jews returning in full force....and with more 'signs' of judgment than neon on the Las Vegas strip....yeah....I think that verse is directed more to us today.There are a couple similar verses that go along with that. As Daniel was concluding the book under his name....he was told...."Go your way Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed....till....(spacing and emphasis mine)....the time of the end"....that seems to indicate a time when the words will be....opened up! (Daniel 12:9, 12)
Here is what I wanted to bring up in the post....Revelation 17: 9a, 11...."Here is the mind which has wisdom....there are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven..."
I'm not including any of the many equally mystifying symbolic phrases all around this verse....only the verse itself....five 'kings'....are past....and this message seems to begin in the time of the sixth 'king'....but there will be a seventh....'king'....of somewhat shortened a time or realm....and then the eighth....who somehow returns....or is of the previous seven?
Now this axiom or theorem or formula....however you look at it....has been applied at various times to Roman emperors and the world eras....and can be applied to things such as....General Secretaries of the United Nations....go to number six....and that would be the period of importance....or to communists leaders.....or to popes or anything really. My point here is....when God's Word makes a statement such Revelation 1:3 or 17:9 ....or in Revelation 13:18...."Here is wisdom. Let him who hath understanding count the number of the beast"....then that is an encouragement....more than an encouragement....to look into these things....and if we should happen to live in that day....which we do today....then we will have the wisdom to understand it....piece by piece....in the timing that God opens these things up to us.
