Decoding the Apocalypse, Part 1
public domain; the woman and the dragon of Revelation 12 (15th century)
David Meade has been at it again, predicting the end of the world based upon his interpretations of various biblical passages. Well, he said that reports saying he predicted the end of the world on April 23, 2018 were “fake news.” April 23 was actually just the beginning of the end. On that date the sun, moon, and Jupiter were to align in the constellation Virgo, echoing Revelation 12:1-2. No wait … the alignment of the sun in Virgo was related to the beginning of the apocalypse on September 23rd, 2017, according to Meade. No wait; that seems to have been incorrect also. Welcome to the crazy world of David Meade’s end times prophecy.
The Express reported that according to conspiracy theorists like David Meade, the end of the world was imminent, “with Earth set to be destroyed TODAY, ” April 23rd. They went on to say Meade actually predicted the mysterious Planet X or Nibiru would appear in the sky on April 23. Then when it passes the Earth in October, the beginning of the Rapture would occur, heralded in by volcanic eruptions due to the gravitational force of Nibiru. Meade was quoted as saying:
The Sun appears to precisely clothe Virgo… Jupiter is birthed on April 08, 2018.During this time frame, on April 23, 2018 the moon appears under the feet of the Constellation Virgo.The 12 stars at that date include the nine stars of Leo, and the three planetary alignments of Mercury, Venus and Mars – which combine to make a count of 12 stars on the head of Virgo.Thus the constellations Virgo, Leo and Serpens-Ophiuchus represent a unique once-in-a-century sign exactly as depicted in the 12th chapter of Revelation. This is our time marker.
The alignment of the sun, moon and Jupiter in the constellation of Virgo supposedly echoes Revelation 12:1-2, where verse 1 reads: “And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” Meade interprets 12:2 as predicting the “birth” of an eventual global dictator who will play a role in the pending end of the world. However, as Live Science pointed out, Meade used the same passage to predict September 23, 2017 would be the beginning of the apocalypse. See “Beginning of The End?” But Jupiter was not actually aligned with Virgo on April 23.
Rather, it will appear from Earth to be within the constellation Libra. On that same date, the sun will appear to align with the constellation Aries and the moon in the constellation Gemini.
The existence of Nibiru has been repeatedly debunked by NASA. Read the Live Science article for more information on the origins of the mythical Nibiru. Astronomers are searching for a possible Earth-sized world in the outer solar system that they sometimes call Planet X, “but this is not the same Planet X described by conspiracy theorists. A rogue planet moving through the solar system would be pretty obvious to astronomers, who can detect planets far beyond our home solar system.” You can purchase one of Meade’s self-published books on Amazon (he’s written 14). When promoting his book, Planet X, on Amazon he said the following:
The jet stream of the northern hemisphere has shifted to the south of the equator for the first time ever. I believe that this shift is caused by an incoming dark star solar system, a binary twin of our sun, that is coming at us toward the south pole. This system also came in the days of Noah. It totally destroyed the earth’s surface and his civilization and world, but not the planet itself. This solar system has moons and/or planets orbiting it just as our sun has planets orbiting it. The dark star was called Nemesis by the ancient Sumerians. One of the planets orbiting Nemesis was called Nibiru by the Sumerians, a planet that will come by the earth with so much gravitational and magnetic pull that it will create the horrors described in the book of the Revelation. Our people are calling this Planet X. It’s a page-turner. Buy it now!
The Guardian reported Meade as saying the news reports where he claimed the world would end on April 23 were false. The Rapture will occur sometime between May and December of 2018. And that will usher in the seven years of tribulation, which will be followed by 1,000 years of peace and prosperity before the world is destroyed. “So the world isn’t ending anytime soon – in our lifetimes, anyway!”
David Meade’s beliefs are similar to another interpretive view of the Bible that can be broadly called dispensationalist. However, not all dispensationalists would agree with Meade’s interpretations of chapter 12 of the book of Revelation. Actually, hardly any would. But the Rapture, the 1,000 years of peace before the end of the world and other apocalyptic tidbits are all woven into other end times books like The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey. If you want to do a serious investigation of dispensationalism or the meaning of the book of Revelation, I recommend that you start with Understanding Dispensationalists, The Returning King and a Study Guide to the Book of Revelation, all written by Vern Poythress. The first two books are available in print through Amazon; all three are available as free ebooks.
Meade was not the first to predict the end of the world for April 23rd. Live Science reported that a Baptist minister named William Miller predicted the end multiple times in the mid-1800s, including April 23, 1843. Harold Camping said the world would end on May 21, 2011 … after being wrong about it ending in September of 1994. David Meade, Harold Camping and William Miller have all made the mistake of trying to “decode” the symbolism of apocalyptic Biblical passages.
Apocalypse is a literary genre that existed primarily in the time period between the Old Testament and New Testament. However, there are examples of apocalypse in both the OT and NT, as well as during the first few centuries of the Christian church. The second half of the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation are widely recognized to be apocalyptic. Several OT passages use apocalyptic techniques and content (Isaiah 24-27, 56-66, Ezekiel 38-39, Joel 2:28-3:21, Zechariah 1-6 and 12-14). Modern readers are often puzzled or frustrated with apocalyptic because of the unexpected imagery and seeming bizarre experiences that appear to be out of sync with most of Scripture. According to the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery:
Taking this literature at face value leaves many readers scrambling to determine “what will happen when,” thus missing the intent of the apocalyptic message. Yet apocalypticism, the perspective that informs apocalyptic literature, is in some ways very modern: current science fiction and space fantasy in both literature and movies use graphic and disturbing images similar to those in the genre of apocalypse.
So reading David Meade’s interpretation of Revelation 12 is like reading a space fantasy? Sounds about right.