Book of Revelation Prophecy Fulfilled Now?
An A-O Report Special Focus
Book Of Revelation Prophecy Fulfilled Now?
Archaeologists Find Lost Christian Books
Could Pre-Date Apostle Paul's Writings!!!
Collection of 70 Books Written on Metal
Includes Pictures & Map of Jerusalem
With A Cross and Tomb Beyond City Walls
Words Refer to a Messiah and Crucifixion
It has been announced to the public that there has been a discovery of a cache of writings written on metal plates and bound with metal rings. The discovery came to light 5 years ago but has remained shrouded in secrecy due to a controversy over ownership and national jurisdiction between Israel and Jordan.
An Israeli claims ownersship dating back 100 years to a cave near the Dead Sea in an area known to have hosted Christians who fled Jerusalem during the Roman conquest of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The metal books were hidden in a cave, much like the caves which housed the Dead Sea scrolls. The metal books were reportedly discovered by a Jordanian Bedouin who in turn sold them to an Israeli Bedouin.
Much of the writing in the books is written in a Hebrew language 'code' suggesting the books may have been prophetically "sealed." They contain picture images of a cross, a crucifixion outside the walls of Jerusalem alongside an open tomb. The books are bound by metal rings and the book's metal plates are thought to be lead. Preliminary testing dates the plates to the First Century A.D. and hinting that they pre-date the Apostle Pauls writings.
The metal books are not the only items found. Also discovered with the metal books were scrolls, tablets and other artifacts including incense bowls.
Dr Margaret Barker, a former president of the Society for Old Testament Study, said: ‘The Book of Revelation tells of a sealed book that was opened only by the Messiah.
‘Other texts from the period tell of sealed books of wisdom and of a secret tradition passed on by Jesus to his closest disciples. That is the context for this discovery.’
For more on this story, check out the following article from the London Daily Mail newspaper - LINK HERE
Also to the BBC report, LINK HERE.
Also, a BBC story focusing on the battle by the Jordan government to obtain possession of the artifacts - LINK HERE.
The A-O Report Publisher's Comment:
The comment by Dr. Margaret Barker hints or suggests that these writings may contain additional Revelation from God that has been sealed up until the "end of the age." I would take great issue and exception with any such idea or inference.
Dr. Barker's comments are correct in that the book of Revelation speaks of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, and a book which is sealed and that can only be opened by Him. See Revelation 5: 1-9. An additional reference to a "little" book is found in Revelation 10: 1-10, but in this instance the book is 'eaten' by John.
There is also a reference to the Lamb's book of Life found in Revelation in Rev 17:8 and again in Rev 20:12-15 and also in chapter 21, verse 27. The term "book" is also found in chapter 1, verse 11 and again in 22, verse 7, but these last two instances refer to John's writing of the book of Revelation itself.
So what are we to make of these comments suggesting something prophetic may be involved in these written artifacts?
While we suspect that such artifacts may indeed be genuine and not merely a hoax or modern fraud, these writings are not additional revelation or prophecy on a par with Biblical Scripture.
These writings may indeed be helpful in assisting us in understanding the world of the First Century A.D. and the early Church and what it knew and perhaps how it operated, it cannot be equated with Divine Revelation.
Might these writings be very important? They may very well be important, IF, indeed they are genuine and date to the first century, but its hard to say much because the materials have not been examined completely or in detail. Apparently some books have not yet been opened due perhaps to their fragile condition.
One thing we can say is that the discovery confirms the idea of "books" as opposed to scrolls and the fact that they are 'small" in size confirms the Greek word in Revelation 10 which uniquely indicates that particular book to be small in size.
What is also interesting in the discovery are the drawings and a map of Jerusalem suggesting a Messiah crucified and risen from a nearby tomb outside the walls of Jerusalem. If these artifacts can be precisely, and scientifically dated to somewhere between 33 A.D. and 50 A.D. it would suggest that the Liberal Theologian's theories of a crucifixion and resurrection were not invented decades or generations later. Instead, the findings would tend to support the Gospel narratives. It is also possible that unexamined pages of the 70 books could yield further, historical information pertaining to the Gospel narratives.
The one thing I am most concerned about, is that these writings might be later artifacts, dating to the end of the First Century and are part of the Gnostic's movement which tried to subvert Christianity, the Gospel of Salvation and the doctrines taught by the Apostles. It wouldn't surprise me if these writings were later found to be of Gnostic origins and thus highly suspicious of an ongoing Satanic plot to subvert Biblical Scripture. So, keep this in mind as we may hear much more about this discovery in the coming weeks and months ahead.
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