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And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
THIS SHIT ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE
It's so on-the-nose that I don't even Trump is the parody anymore, it's evangelical Christianity that's the real parody. A group of folks who make a story about a socialist day laborer from the Middle East and use it to justify white supremacy, unfettered capitalism, and wealth as a measure of God's love falling in line behind a cartoonishly accurate representation the "bad guy" in their book...exactly like their book said they would.
Out of context it sounds like something.
But add the lines right before and it's more clearly fever dream gibberish of a dying old man:
And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads were blasphemous names. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority.
Did Trump come out of the sea? Does he look like a leopard with bear feet and a lion mouth?
People have been misunderstanding and trying to extend parts of that text to contemporary events since it was written.
I've not seen his feet, but he certainly has a lyin' mouth
Mar-a-lago Spanish - sea to lake
There are 9 current trump towers. Moscow would make 10
7 heads with blasphemous names - TRUMP on the top
Feet of a bear -Russia is known as the bear in the west since early 20th century.
Lion mouth - have you heard him speak? (Who hasn't, he's loud, boisterous, like a lion)
As this comment shows it's very easy to twist the meaning of something like this to suit your needs when viewing it through the lens of metaphor as the author intended. However, I'm fairly certain historians have figured out fairly definitively that the beast in revelations was always meant to depict Emperor Nero. I'm too lazy to look it up right now though so I could be wrong.
And some people believe this to be true.
And some peoeple are ACTIVELY TRYING TO BRING ABOUT THE END OF THE FUCKING WORLD.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Mountain_Mandate
"The movement was generally supportive of the presidency of Donald Trump, with member Paula White becoming Trump's spiritual advisor. White claimed that Trump "will play a critical role in Armageddon as the United States stands alongside Israel in the battle against Islam."
https://newrepublic.com/article/167499/new-apostolic-reformation-mastriano-christian
See also anyone trying to rationalize Nostradamus prophecies. People love contorting things like that to somehow vindicate them.
You're right, but it's also funny that Christianity has generally streamlined taking things out of context. I just say "Revelation 13:3 and boom, that verse is cited out of context. Endless pamphlets, posters, sermons, and so on focus on bringing some verse without context.
Apocalyptic literature isn't meant to be taken literally. It's a common mistake though, even among so-called Christians. "Mouth like a lion" could mean boastful, roaring, brave, loud, threatening, or any number of things.
And yet I've not seen anyone figure out that the locusts in Revelations was just a poetic taxonomy for the local middle eastern hornet, Vespa Orientalis, down to the golden crown on its face.
People like to interpret those texts in all sorts of fantastical ways as long as it titillates them, but shy away from actually looking plainly at what's being said.
So by all means don't take it literally. But also maybe don't think that a text written by a syphilitic old man in antiquity is talking about the 2024 United States presidential election without a more compelling case.
Oh I didn't mean there wasn't literal things in it. Absolutely I would agree with you there's a lot of playing around with stuff that is just plain. A lot of literal stuff that gets overlooked, and in no way talks about some future events but was talking about something that happened back then. Particularly in Matthew 24, which is clearly talking about two different events, but seems to always get rolled up into one.
But Daniel 8 paralleled with Daniel 11 (actually the entire prophetic last half of Daniel) is one of the best examples of apocalyptic literature paired with an interpretation that we have. Daniel's apocalyptic vision has more explanation attached to it than any other we have in the Bible, and it's very instructive as to how we're supposed to take apocalyptic writing.
By the way it's Revelation not revelations. I don't care because you obviously are well-informed about these things, but it will matter with some people and automatically discount your message if you don't say Revelation. Not trying to be a smartass.