A Revelation :

How to solve a Russian Famine caused by Joseph Stalin et alia . . .

There is a long-time hobby of reading The Book of Revelation and deciding one of three things:

1. It’s already happened and describes the Fall of the Roman Empire;

2. It’s all bunk;

3. And finally, “It’s already begun, and we can deduce all of the actors in support.

Why? Because the details can be matched to the late Roman Empire, and then there is Nostradamus, and other notables in my lifetime — from Gorbechev to anybody who doesn't support Trump (in some circles).

The “Left Behind” series was a great “Last Days” promoter, but I have noticed that since their heyday in the 1980s, they have been thankfully relegated to the Fiction section in books and possibly to the fantasy section in films.

But this morning on Substack, I was introduced by Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, to the old program “Frontline”. They covered research from the 1930s about another qualified candidate for “The Anti-Christ”: Joseph Stalin and his successors. This information was just recovered and is worth a look — that is if you have a strong stomach.

Unearthed: The Original Holodomor Film - The Unknown Holocaust

The unexpected consequence of seeing what happened to Ukraine is that the lectionary reading this morning in Church was from “The Book of Revelation” (beloved by a few as “this is where we win and own the non-believers”) — I quote it in full here as pure text. Please read it as such and consider all of the genocides and holocausts you have ever heard of and realize: these words are not to reveal all the goodies that will be obtained by the faithful, but are the gifts to be received by those who were persecuted, starved, burned, shot — we could make this list go on for a long time, but there are many works of art to remind us even if we never look at these ancient words again.

NRSV: Revelation 7:9-17

A multitude sings before the Lamb

7:9

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.

7:10

They cried out in a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb!"

7:11

And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,

7:12

singing, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."

7:13

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?"

7:14

I said to him, "Sir, you are the one who knows." Then he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

7:15

For this reason they are before the throne of God and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.

7:16

They will hunger no more and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat,

7:17

for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."