Professor, author and researcher, Dr. Ken Hanson, spoke about biblical
history, prophecies, and discoveries, as well as shared his analysis of
the Middle East, and the potential for apocalyptic events. Having
previously lived in Israel and the Middle East for a number of years, he
has a foreboding sense that a cataclysmic war is on the verge of
breaking out there, possibly involving Iran and Israel. Interestingly,
he noted that Jews and Arabs have not always been at odds, and that the
current enmity is not based on ancient feuds or disagreement over
religion. He argued that the best solution to the Palestinian refugee
problem is for Arab governments to resettle this population in one of
the 22 states surrounding Israel; yet they refuse, because keeping them
where they are fills their political purpose, he said.
Hanson
talked about the prophecies in the Book of Revelation, noting that it
was written in Greek, yet he believes that it was a translation from an
earlier Hebrew or Aramaic text from the 1st century. The early believers
in Jesus thought they were living in 'End Times' as they were facing
down the Roman Empire, and Revelation directly spoke to them, he
commented. In the year 66 AD, Jews sought their freedom from Rome and
revolted, and many of the calamities described in Revelation relate to
the Roman's brutal attack on Israel, which was also described by the
historian Josephus.
While the Vatican has said that a recent
discovery of a 4th century papyrus that refers to Jesus' wife is a
forgery, Hanson noted that Carbon 14 dating and other testing has yet to
be done on the fragment, and it's possible that it is authentic. The
genuineness of the James Ossuary, an ancient burial box, with an Aramaic
inscription, translated as "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus," is
still being debated some 10 years after the discovery was announced, he
added. For more, check out Hanson's video Jesus' Lost Heirs, a
companion to his book, Blood Kin of Jesus.
Biography:
Dr.
Ken Hanson is a dynamic author, lecturer, and founder of "Treasures in
Time," an organization devoted to disseminating knowledge of the
Biblical and classical world. He has dug on archaeological sites in the
Middle East, lived in a politically volatile region of northern Galilee,
and taught Hebrew on an Israeli agricultural settlement. He has also
worked with a television news-gathering operation in a war zone in
southern Lebanon, at the height of the civil war that left the jewel of
the Mediterranean in ruins.
Wikipedia
The book spans three
literary genres: epistolary, apocalyptic, and prophetic. It begins with
an epistolary address to the reader followed by an apocalyptic
description of a complex series of events derived from prophetic visions
which the author claims to have seen. These include the appearance of a
number of figures and images which have become important in Christian
eschatology, such as the Whore of Babylon and the Beast, and culminate
in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The obscure and extravagant
imagery has led to a wide variety of interpretations: historicist
interpretations see in Revelation a broad view of history; preterist
interpretations treat Revelation as mostly referring to the events of
the apostolic era (1st century), or--at the latest--the fall of the
Roman Empire; futurists believe that Revelation describes future events;
and idealist or symbolic interpretations consider that Revelation does
not refer to actual people or events, but is an allegory of the
spiritual path and the ongoing struggle between good and evil.
The
Book of Revelation is the only apocalyptic document in the New
Testament canon, though there are short apocalyptic passages in various
places in the Gospels and the Epistles.
Using the Greek
Septuagint, John makes 348 allusions, or indirect quotes, from 24 of the
canonized books of the Hebrew Bible, predominantly from Isaiah,
Ezekiel, Daniel and Psalms. The narrative of the terrifying and boastful
beast that rises out of the ocean, has many horns which represent
kings, and which is thrown into the fire, derives from Daniel 7. The
beast from the Book of Revelation combines body traits from all four
beasts mentioned in Daniel 7. The description of the angel who gives the
revelation derives from Daniel 10:5-6; the four horsemen derive from
Zechariah
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