Nestorians, or the Lost Tribes

[gbausc]

Shlama Akhi Albion,

I view Revelation as a highly symbolic prophecy, as was the book of Daniel and other OT prophecies. Zechariah mentions the two olive trees in chapter 4 as the two anointed ones (Lit. "sons of oil") who stand before The LORD of the whole earth. Oil is a Biblical symbol for the Holy Spirit. There are no two individual men who qualify as the sons of The Holy Spirit, or the only anointed ones.

If you read Rev. chapter nine carefully, you will see a prophetic description of the Muslim Turks with their long hair riding horses, whose teeth were like lions' teeth (Joe 1:6

For a nation (Goyim) is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion

.) , and are described as locusts -

4 That which the palmerworm has left has the locust eaten; and that which the locust has left has the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm has left has the caterpillar eaten.

Joel 1:4 & Joel 2:25

And I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.

and are yet "a nation" , so called twice. The army wear crowns (probably turbans) and lay waste to the land by fire and pillaging.

The Eastern Church (Assyrian & Syrian & Greek Orthodox) and the Western Latin Church were both witnesses for the Christ and the gospel in the early centuries. Both were attacked by the Muslim Turks and Saracens for centuries. The Assyrians in particular were witnesses to Asia Minor, India an China, building churches as they went. I cannot comment on the entire prophecy, but show here how it conforms to former prophecy language and also to was yet to come events. Yet those churches, though almost annihilated in whole regions, rose again and live today.

Halley's Bible handbook has a good overview of the different views on Revelation, but especially of the historical view, which Halley held, as did most of the Protestant commentators before the 20th century. Barnes' Commentary also espouses the older view of prophecy.

Blessings Albion,

Dave