Prophecy Is a Political Act, Book Of Revelations
The Romans saw prophecy as a political act, they outlawed making prophecies that predicted the fall of The Roman Empire. The old testament of The Bible is filled with prophecies predicting the downfall of the enemy nations of Israel. The prophets of The Bible were ultimately political activists using their words in a political way, one indication that biblical prophecy is a political act is found in Ezekiel 37. In Ezekiel 37 Ezekiel is told to prophecy that Israel shall experience a national revival, a healing of their nation. An analogy of dry bones coming back to life is used to describe this national healing and simply speaking a prophecy over the "bones" that they are to come back to life is a political act on the part of Ezekiel that is an effort towards reviving the nation of Israel, bringing it back to life. This idea of words being actions is echoed in the creation story where God creates the world through speaking, humans are recognized as being made in the image of God with the power of naming things. The capacity for speech is the image of God. We create our realities with the words we speak.
The Valley of Dry Bones(Ezekiel 37)
1 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.
2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.
3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!
5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life.
6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.
8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’”
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’
12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.
13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.
14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”
An example of a more simple way of acting as a prophet of prosperity would be Ezekiel simply saying: "the nation of Israel shall live again!" or even more simply just saying "Israel lives!".
The book of revelations on the other hand is an example of prophecy being used in a destructive way rather than a way used for healing. When the prophets invoke God to predict national healing or national tragedy they are not trying to actually look into the future, they are simply using their words as political weapons and invoking God as a force that can be invoked and commanded. The prophets are invoking the power of God, they are not trying to listen to what God is saying, they are invoking the power of God.
In the book Malleus Malificarum, a medieval book on witch-hunting, it describes witches using prophecy without invoking God or any gods. It describes a witch saying to someone who wronged her that they "will soon get sick". That is simply using prediction not to see into the future but rather it is using prediction in an effort to choose the future.
Since The Romans outlawed making prophecies against Rome the author of The Book of Revelations used a code-word to describe Rome, he called Rome "Mystery Babylon". He predicted Mystery Babylon would be destroyed. It is clear he was talking about Rome because he mentioned the seven hills upon which Rome was built. Also in The Book Of Revelations are references to people being made to venerate images of The Beast, this is a reference to people having to prove they were not christian through venerating an image of The Roman Emperor in front of public officials. The use of prophecy in a political way was done not only by jews and christians but it was done by all peoples throughout the ancient world.
No one being able to "buy or sell" without the mark of The Beast refers to people not being able to buy or sell without Roman coins upon which was the image of The Emperor. Some ancient Roman coins have the image of The Emperor intentionally scratched, this is a form of black magic against The Emperor, expressing aggression through defacing his image.
If the author of The Book of Revelation had said that he was referring to Rome in his work he would have risked serious legal penalty, perhaps he would have been executed. This is why he used the code term Mystery Babylon.
At the very end of The Book of Revelation the author uses a very common type of Roman device. He writes in Revelation 22:
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Above is an example of a written curse common in style to written curses found on Roman tombs and Roman stones used to mark the length of a territory. Below is an example of a written Roman curse found on a boundary stone which marked the size of someones property:
"Quisquis hoc sustulerit aut læserit, ultimus suorum moriatur" which in english reads "Should any one remove or injure this stone, may he die the last of his race!", the second part of that could also be translated "he shall perish the last of his race".
The second part of Ezekiel 37 is an example of imitative magic, sticks are written upon to represent the different tribes of Israel and then held together to represent the coming together of the Israeli tribes and this action is a form of speech using symbols and gestures and therefore is also a type of political prophecy:
One Nation Under One King
15 The word of the Lord came to me:
16 “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’
17 Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.
18 “When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’
19 say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’
20 Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on
21 and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.
22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.
The last part of the chapter is the use of prophecy as a way of blessing a nation:
25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever.
26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever.
The war of words is the primary war happening in society, militaristic war is the secondary war. Where accusations are thrown is a war zone. A peace zone is where people use words in a pleasant way among each other.