Foreword to the Book of Revelation

The issue whether or not God exists is more an argument about wording than about facts. God is a model for the human brain to explain unusual facts, which would otherwise remain unexplainable. One of these mysterious facts is prophecy.

The Book of Revelation is certainly the most famous piece of prophetic literature. In crucial times of history Biblical predictions have often inspired revolutionaries giving them instructions in their struggle to change the world. The Revelation has also influenced legends. Examples are in England St. George riding on a white horse to kill the Dragon. According to Rev. 12:7 in Germany the Rider on the White Horse from chapter 6 and 19 was called St. Michael. Napoleon rode on a white horse and had an eagle according to Isaiah 46:11 as his heraldic symbol trying to conquer the "Islands" according to Isaiah 41, and 42, ff., Karl Marx tried the same thing. The Muslims and the Soviets adopted the sickle from Revelation 14 as their heraldic symbols. During the 17th century English Revolution the Puritans and later even the Nazis tried to create the Millennium, the empire of 1000 years predicted in Revelation 20. To some extent they all failed, because they had the wrong attitudes and the right time had not come yet.

Now the situation is different. As this book shows, never before have some many predictions from the Revelation been fulfilled as literally as these days. Humanity has reached a stage in history, where the enormous progress in science and technology requires radical changes in thinking and attitudes. The traditional creed of Liberalism is out of date: selfishness of the individual and unrestricted freedom of the rich and powerful is no longer beneficial to society to promote progress. Policies based on this ideology can no longer cope with social, economic and environmental problems but produce one disaster after another. We will either change fundamentally within the next few years or destroy ourselves. Many people have already given up hope for the future.

Therefore the message of the Revelation that our problems and their meaning have been predicted centuries ago will have a crucial impact. As individuals we may be able to make choices, as humanity we develop according to certain laws of history that nobody can change.

It is important to understand the meaning of all the bad news we can see in the media every day: The rich are getting richer the poor are getting poorer, more lethal weapons are being produced and sold to more irresponsible dictators, more innocent victims are dying of poverty, wars and other violence, environment pollution and freak weather disasters are getting worse, etc. Our world is not coming to an end. These are the birth pangs of a New Age. We are witnesses of historic changes: a better world will come out of these troubles, something worth fighting for.

And fighting is required. Don't wait for a Messiah, a kind of superhuman or God himself to solve all our problems. God has given us the Revelation in a form that had to be misunderstood for 1900 years. Nowadays fulfilment of these prophecies will guide us into the future. Understanding the opportunities of the future and the predicted disasters is crucial to help against destructive tendencies in our time. As these disasters are getting worse understanding will hopefully increase and ultimately prevent self destruction of humanity. These are critical times in history. Humanity is sitting for an exam. Together we can make it. With everyone looking only after himself we will surely fail and this planet will soon be written off as a home for intelligent creatures by the cosmic community. Now it is your turn. Read chapter 2 and 3, find out which of these "angels" represents your situation and act. Revelation 18 and the sixth seal are still looming above our heads.