06-13-2010, 07:57 PM
Hey Folks
Just a quickie... my brother and I were recently debating the precise meaning of the "ten days" in the verse below, and whether it was literal or not...
"Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer. Look! The Devil will keep on throwing some of you into prison that you may be fully put to the test, and that you may have tribulation ten days. Prove yourself faithful even to death, and I will give you the crown of life. Let the one who has an ear hear what the spirit says to the congregations: He that conquers will by no means be harmed by the second death." (Rev 2:10,11)
We were debating it because a video we were watching claimed it represented ten years of persecution in the early 100's AD. Personally, I didn't agree, and I fell back on the usual "ten days" being metaphorical.
Earlier today I bumped into a scripture which reminded me of another "ten days"... and I think Jesus was alluding to this:
"But Daniel said to the guardian whom the principal court official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah: 'Please, put your servants to the test for ten days, and let them give us some vegetables that we may eat and water that we may drink; and let our countenances and the countenance of the children who are eating the delicacies of the king appear before you, and according to what you see do with your servants.†(Daniel 1:11-13)
Here, Daniel and his three friends asked to be put to the test for ten days! The outcome was that their countenances appeared better and fatter in flesh than everyone else.
Later on, it was Daniel's friends who were tested until DEATH, when they refused to bow before Nebuchadnezzar's 60 x 6 cubits gold image (which we know is later alluded to in "wild beast" whose number is 600, 60 and 6). They were thrown into the fire, but preserved from this fire by one "resembling a son of the gods".
So it seems to me more likely that Jesus, in urging the congregation of Smyrna to prove faithful until death, warning of a "ten days" tribulation to be fully put to the test, and talking about being preserved from the "second death"... he was alluding to Daniel's friends, who were also tested for ten days, and thrown into the fire... only to be preserved by "a son of the gods"!
Just thought I'd share that with y'all, while it was fresh in the mind :D
Just a quickie... my brother and I were recently debating the precise meaning of the "ten days" in the verse below, and whether it was literal or not...
"Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer. Look! The Devil will keep on throwing some of you into prison that you may be fully put to the test, and that you may have tribulation ten days. Prove yourself faithful even to death, and I will give you the crown of life. Let the one who has an ear hear what the spirit says to the congregations: He that conquers will by no means be harmed by the second death." (Rev 2:10,11)
We were debating it because a video we were watching claimed it represented ten years of persecution in the early 100's AD. Personally, I didn't agree, and I fell back on the usual "ten days" being metaphorical.
Earlier today I bumped into a scripture which reminded me of another "ten days"... and I think Jesus was alluding to this:
"But Daniel said to the guardian whom the principal court official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah: 'Please, put your servants to the test for ten days, and let them give us some vegetables that we may eat and water that we may drink; and let our countenances and the countenance of the children who are eating the delicacies of the king appear before you, and according to what you see do with your servants.†(Daniel 1:11-13)
Here, Daniel and his three friends asked to be put to the test for ten days! The outcome was that their countenances appeared better and fatter in flesh than everyone else.
Later on, it was Daniel's friends who were tested until DEATH, when they refused to bow before Nebuchadnezzar's 60 x 6 cubits gold image (which we know is later alluded to in "wild beast" whose number is 600, 60 and 6). They were thrown into the fire, but preserved from this fire by one "resembling a son of the gods".
So it seems to me more likely that Jesus, in urging the congregation of Smyrna to prove faithful until death, warning of a "ten days" tribulation to be fully put to the test, and talking about being preserved from the "second death"... he was alluding to Daniel's friends, who were also tested for ten days, and thrown into the fire... only to be preserved by "a son of the gods"!
Just thought I'd share that with y'all, while it was fresh in the mind :D