Disciples Global Network

What was the original language of the documents that became the New Testament? For centuries, the scholarly consensus has been that it was written in the  Koiné  Greek dialect of the Eastern Roman Empire in the first century. However, there is a growing minority within the church that claims the New Testament was composed in the Hebrew or Aramaic language.

Revelation moves inexorably from the death of Jesus to the final day when God judges the wicked and vindicates the righteous .  At the conclusion of his ‘ Olivet Discourse ,’ Jesus gave his parable of the Sheep and the Goats. On the day when the “ Son of Man arrives in glory ,” his angels will gather all nations before him for judgment, and he will divide them into two groups. One will receive “everlasting destruction,” and the other, “ everlasting life .”

The “ Abyss ” was introduced when the “ fifth trumpet ” sounded and demonic hordes “ ascended ” from it. It is referred to next after the “ Two Witnesses ” complete their “ testimony .” On cue, the “ Beast ascends from the Abyss ” to attack and slay them, but only after they finish their prophetic mission.

The “ second woe ” does not end until the “ Two Witnesses ” have completed their “ testimony ” and their “ corpse ,” singular, lies on the streets of “ Babylon .” Only then will the final trumpet be heard as its ushers in the hour of the judgment. The martyrdom of the “ Two Witnesses ” puts the end into motion and seals the doom of the “ Dragon .”

The climax of the ‘Seventy Weeks’ prophecy is the appearance of the “ abomination that desolates .” But what is it? The reference to it in chapter 9 is neither the first nor the last word on the matter. Interpreting the “ abomination ” in isolation from the larger literary context produces incomplete and even false answers to the question.