Tribulation Comments

Tha:yo:nih

Tha:yo:nih

Member
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● Rev 1:1-3 . . The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his
servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his
servant John, who testifies to everything he saw-- that is: the word of God and the
testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy,
and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because
the time is imminent.

To my knowledge; nobody knows the exact date nor hour of Jesus' personal return
to rule the world, but the events depicted in the book of Revelation will serve as
early warnings to alert folks that his arrival is extremely close-- sort of like the act
by-act synopses used by folks interested in operas like La Bohème, Hamlet, Madam
Butterfly, Porgy and Bess, South Pacific, and Don Giovanni. If folks stuck in the
tribulation era use Revelation like that; they'll have a pretty good idea when to
expect Jesus' arrival; and begin preparing themselves for it.
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● Rev 6:5 . . And when He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature
saying: Come! And I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a
pair of scales in his hand.

Scales (a.k.a. balances) were mechanical devices used in the application of
commercial weights and measures. Modern electronic scales are quite a bit more
sophisticated.

The black horse in this case indicates hunger. (compare the pale horse's
assignment in Rev 6:8)

● Rev 6:6a . . And I heard as it were a voice in the center of the four living
creatures saying: A measure of wheat for a denarius, and three measures of barley
for a denarius;

The Greek word translated "measure" is roughly equal to 1.09 liters or 2.3 US pints.
The denarius is widely assumed to have been equivalent to a day's pay for soldiers
and/or laborers.

It's a pretty good guess that what we're looking at is hand-to-mouth existence due
to inflationary pricing caused by the simple fact that there just won't be enough to
go around; for example:

"When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake your bread in
one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not
be satisfied." (Lev 26:26)

● Rev 6:6b . . do not damage the oil and the wine!

Oil made from olives was common in just about everybody's kitchen and served as
a shortening. (cf. 1Kngs 17:8-12) Wine was a common first aid treatment, likely
due to its alcohol content (e.g. Luke 10:34) and also useful as a sedative (Prov
31:6-7)

NOTE: The oil used in Luke 10:34 was likely an essential oil rather than olive, e.g.
Myrrh, Clove, and/or Frankincense.
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● Rev 6:7-8 . .When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the
fourth living creature say: Come!

. . . I looked, and there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named Death,
and hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of
the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

Those lethal sources are common throughout the world today; but never have they
harvested so many souls as they will in the future. For example:

The current global population is roughly +/- 8,048,534,890 souls. By the time Mr.
Death finished his work, something like 2.012 billion of those people would be
rubbed out by war, hunger, disease, and the animal kingdom; which consists of a
fair number of poisonous species along with toxic critters like vampire bats and
mosquitoes.

* In perspective: 2.012 billion people adds up to nearly 6x the USA's current
population of 336,455,026 souls.

We don't usually notice someone's passing unless they're famous or one of our
friends, associates, and relatives. Well; when Mr. Death goes to work, the dead will
be all around and impossible to overlook. I rather suspect funeral homes will be
overwhelmed; if open for business at all.

And ER? Well, it's Mr. Death's intention that people die rather than survive, so I
should think that any and all medical attention the hospitals are able to provide will
be quite ineffective, viz: they'll likely serve as morgues instead of treatment
centers.
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● Rev 6:12 . . I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great
earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon
turned blood red

Astronomically, that depicts a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse simultaneously;
which nature by itself cannot produce due to specific alignment requirements.

● Rev 6:13 . . and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree
when shaken by a strong wind.

Those will likely be shooting stars (a.k.a. meteors) and possibly asteroids too,
rather than solar bodies like Polaris, Sirius, Betelgeuse, and/or Rigel which would
cause impacts that the Earth simply cannot accommodate due to its Lilliputian size
compared to the mass of those kinds of celestial objects. Many of the stars seen in
the sky are quite a bit larger than the Sun; whose diameter is 109x and its volume
1,300,000x the Earth's.

● Rev 6:14a . .The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up

Whether that pertains to the entire cosmos or limited to the Earth's atmosphere is
uncertain, although it does seem a preview of Rev 20:11.

● Rev 6:14b . . and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

No doubt previous centuries of theologians were curious about that prediction, but
thanks to the relatively new science of plate tectonics, we now know that the
movement of mountains and islands has been occurring all along; just not as
noticeable as the shuffle depicted by Rev 16:14b.

Anyway, those events will quite naturally cause a world-wide panic.

● Rev 6:15-17 . . .Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich,
the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks
of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks: Fall on us and hide
us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For
the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?
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● Rev 8:1 . .When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for
about half an hour.

A reason for the silence isn't given, but I suspect the one in charge will be thinking
about what He has to do next, and reluctant to bring it on; because the next round
of horror will be devastating beyond belief-- and once started, won't be stopped.

"Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die-- saith the Lord God --and
not that he should return from his ways, and live?" (Ezek 18:23)
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● Rev 8:7 . .The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire
mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was
burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned
up.

There's quite a bit of destruction depicted in that verse; and I suspect it's all aimed
at agriculture.

First a portion of the soil's organic material is destroyed which will greatly impact its
fertility.

Next a portion of the trees are destroyed so that foods derived from trees— e.g.
nuts, and fruits— will become in short supply.

And finally all the green grass; which is translated from words that suggest crops
will be just starting to mature and produce grain, e.g. corn, beans, wheat, spelt,
barley, oats, and rice; et al.

* Rice is a staple food for over ½ of the world's human population, particularly in
Asia and Africa.

NOTE: Although crops will be burned, they'll bounce back. (Rev 9:1-4)

Anyway, when the availability of food stuffs become limited; demand exceeds
supply; and with that prices go up, thus increasing the cost of living.
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● Rev 13:4 . . And they worshipped the Dragon which gave power unto the Beast:
and they worshipped the Beast, saying: Who is like unto the Beast? Who is able to
make war with him?

* The Dragon is identifiedby Rev 12:9 as the Serpent, the Devil, and Satan; so
there can be no doubt who this creature really is. (cf. Rev 20:2)

It's quite possible that the people of that day will honestly believe the Beast is
empowered by a divine being; and unaware they are actually giving glory to a
demonic being instead. For example:

● 2Thess 2:9-12 . . .This evil man will come to do the work of Satan with
counterfeit power and signs and miracles. He will use every kind of wicked
deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction because they refuse to
believe the truth that would save them. So God will send great deception upon
them, and they will believe all these lies.

Worship of the Beast will be universal, mandatory, and strictly enforced regardless
of age, race, gender, and/or ethnic identity— a one-world mega religion that blows
all others out of the water, e.g. Islam, Mormonism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism,
Baha'i, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, etc. (This situation would amount to circumstances
somewhat similar to Hab 2:14 only quite in opposition to Yahweh's purpose.)
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● Rev 13:5a . . And there was given unto the Beast a mouth speaking great things

That pretty much describes the rhetorical bombast of most every politician, viz:
promises of a better world under the auspices of their own administrative practices.

● Rev 13:5b . . and blasphemies

In this scenario, the Beast is God's political opponent, no doubt scoffing at the
notion of Christ's return to rule the world.

Well political opponents in today's world make it their mission in life to destroy the
other guy's reputation and call into question his motives. I suspect the Beast's
tactics will be no different because it's to his advantage to emphasize the old God's
perceived faults and failures and show how himself as the new God can do a much
better job managing the world's affairs.

"He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is
worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be
God." (2Thess 2:3-4)

NOTE: I would imagine that a first order of business for the Beast will be to come
up with a plausible explanation for the world-wide extraction described by 1Thess
4:13-18 wherein nigh unto 2,000 years of deceased Christians will appear out of
thin air all over the globe and join those alive to go up and rendezvous with Christ
in the clouds.
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● Rev 13:5c . . and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

Prophetic months aren't the same as calendar months. Prophetic months are thirty
days each; so that forty-two such months add up to 1,260 days, i.e. 3½ prophetic
years, e.g. Rev 11:2 & Rev 12:6

Prophetic months and years are sort of like baker's dozens and a metric tons.
Though a baker's dozen isn't a dozen of twelve, and though a metric ton isn't 2,000
lbs; they're both true values in their own way: the same goes for mean solar time
vs sidereal time, and geographic north vs magnetic north.

* Scripture introduces prophetic months in Genesis relative to the Flood where a
period of five months adds up to exactly 150 days.

Scripture also reckons time by means of heptads; which are units of time
consisting of seven prophetic years each. For example Daniel 9:25-27.
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● Rev 13:7-8 . . And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to
overcome them; and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and
nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not
written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Because we're talking about all kindreds, and tongues, and nations; then I think we
may safely assume that the "saints" in this case are possibly anyone and everybody
that can be counted as loyal to God; both Jew and Gentile. This may or may not
refer to armed conflict but for sure it's related to oppression; and it's going to be
very effective if we reckon these saints to be the innumerable crowd depicted at
Rev 7:9-17.

The Beast's management practices are extreme, but not all that unusual. Take for
example modern communist China. It's very dangerous to be openly religious in
that country, and/or hold values that differ with the regime's, where they harvest
the organs of Falun Gong adherents without their consent. The situation in North
Korea is little better where God is second place to Kim Jong-Un.

* The Lamb slain "from the foundation of the world" reveals that Jesus wasn't a
stand-by paramedic sent to an unexpected train wreck, rather; he was designated,
and scheduled, to die on a cross for the sins of the world prior to God creating even
a single atom for the current cosmos. In other words: the cross was anticipated.
(cf. 1Pet 1:18-21)
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● Rev 13:8 . . All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast-- all whose names
have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from
the world.

Everything is a foregone conclusion with God; nothing surprises Him. God foresaw
the forbidden fruit incident, He foresaw Cain and Abel, He foresaw the Flood, He
foresaw the Tower of Babel, He foresaw Sodom and Gomorrah, He foresaw the
Exodus, He foresaw the Holocaust, He has seen all the folks who will bow to the
Beast, and He has seen the Lake of Fire and the end of the world as we know it.

There are no new believers to God. He foresaw every one of them back at the very
beginning just as He's seen everything else ahead of time before it comes to pass. Ergo:
if somebody's name isn't already in the lamb's book of life, then their name will never
be in there because the book is closed; it's finished.

● Eph 1:3-5 . . Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He
chose us in him before the creation of the world . . . in love He predestined us to be
adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will.
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● Rev 13:9a . . He who has an ear, let him hear.

This particular ear refers to paying serious attention rather than merely auditory
perception. For example:

● Deut 29:2-5 . . Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them:

. . .Your eyes have seen all that The Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials
and to all his land. With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those miraculous
signs and great wonders. But to this day The Lord has not given you a mind that
understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.

In other words: Moses' people were attentive to God's providence; and at times
even took it for granted, but were indifferent to His counseling-- oftentimes His
words went in one ear and right out the other, so to speak. Samuel was just the
opposite.

● 1Sam 3:20 . . And Samuel grew, and The Lord was with him, and did let none of
His words fall to the ground.

During the awful circumstances depicted and described in the book of Revelation,
quite a few folks are going to wake up and begin looking to the Bible for answers.
I'm guessing it will be difficult, and dangerous, trying to locate copies as I suspect
the Beast will initiate something similar to Mao Zedong's cultural revolution and/or
Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 to eradicate competing ideologies.

Nevertheless; just as certain agencies at the Federal level have failed to totally
suppress so-called misinformation relative to the Covid thingy, so the Beast will fail
to prevent every last ear from hearing.
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● Rev 13:9b-10 . . If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if
anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the
perseverance and the faith of the saints.

I think that just might be a reiteration of the perseverance and the faith of Job;
where it's said:

"In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing." (Job 1:22)

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him" (Job 13:15

That of the prophet Habakkuk:

"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor
of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off
from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in The Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation." (Hab 3:17-18)

And that of the apostle Paul:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or
persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: For your
sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
(Rom 8:35-36)

It's generally agreed among conservative Christians that no saved person will enter
the Tribulation; but there will be a large number of lost souls saved out of it;
though at great cost to their welfare. They mustn't allow their misfortunes during
that era to persuade them that they've bought into a fraud.

* Believers are not a protected species; nor are they insulated from the slings and
arrows of outrageous fortune.

When there's a pandemic, they get sick the same as everybody else. When there's
war, they get caught up in it. When there are economic catastrophes like the Great
Depression and the housing bubble of 2008, they lose their jobs and sometimes
their nest eggs. When there are shortages of goods and services, they have to
make do with what there is the same as everybody else. When the weather
becomes disagreeable with tornadoes, hurricanes, and flooding, they lose their
homes right along with non believers. Wild fires in California burn the homes of
believers the same as everybody else's homes. Believers get cancer, they get in car
wrecks, they get taken by crime, nature drops tree limbs on them, and the
postman delivers their mail to the wrong address, etc. etc. etc.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you
will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say:
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
(Horatio P. Spafford, 1828-1888)
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● Rev 13:11 . . .Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two
horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.

This particular beast will be, from all appearances, a seemingly harmless individual,
viz: he won't have the look of a menace.

For example; German SS officer Heinrich Luitpold Himmler had the look of a classic
Mr. Milquetoast; but underneath that facade was an astonishing capacity for
cruelty, subterfuge, and murder on a grand scale. In other words: you couldn't tell
at first glance that Himmler was a monster in whose opinion human lives are
inconvenient.
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● Rev 13:11-17 . . .Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth . . . and he
performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from
heaven to earth in full view of men . . . he deceived the inhabitants of the earth and
ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast . . . He was given power to
give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who
refused to worship the image to be executed.

The dimensions of the image aren't given but I should think it will be large enough
to be imposing.

For example: side by side statues of former North Korean leaders Kim IL Sung and
Kim Jong-IL, located on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang, are 22 meters (72+ feet) tall. If
one of those statues ever came to life, it would make quite an impression because
something that big would be very difficult to fake for even a top-notch magician like
David Copperfield.

* The Greek word translated "beast" refers to dangerous animals as opposed to
peaceful critters like goats, sheep, prairie dogs, and squeaky little gerbils.
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● Rev 14:6-7 . . And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every
nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, announcing with a loud voice: Fear
God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him
that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

The everlasting gospel is a bounce from the very first chapter of Genesis; and
reiterated at Ps 19:1-4 and Rom 1:19-20. It's very elementary; pretty much all it
says is:

1) There's a supreme being.

2) People should not take Him lightly.

3) He deserves to be held in very high esteem.

4) There's a reckoning looming on the horizon.

5) The cosmos-- all of its forms of life, matter, and energy --is the result of
intelligent design.
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● Rev 14:9-12 . . A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: If anyone
worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the
hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full
strength into the cup of his wrath.

. . . He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and
of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. There is no
rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who
receives the mark of his name.

The holy city depicted at Rev 21:9-27 will never experience nightfall nor darkness.
On the basis of that, some have proposed that Rev 14:9-12 is entirely symbolic
because it says that the folks assigned to the burning sulfur will be given no rest
day or night in a place where supposedly there will be no night.

However "in the presence of" doesn't necessarily mean the site of the burning
sulfur is located inside the city's walls, mostly because Rev 21:27 says: "Nothing
impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,
but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." And also Rev
22:14-15 which says: "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have
the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are
the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the
idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood."

Though there will be neither day nor night inside the city that doesn't preclude the
possibility that there will be day and night outside. At any rate; I think we have to
expect there will be no breaks in the torment but that it will be perpetual 24/7/365
with neither intermission, nor interruption, nor time off for good behavior. That will
be an awful scene; quite possibly a rather ghastly tourist attraction. (Isa 66:23-24)

● Rev 14:12 . .This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey
God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.

People will find themselves caught in a sort of Catch 22, so to speak. If they follow
the Beast, they'll be safe from execution but end up in the sulfur. If they follow God
and His son Jesus, they'll be safe from the sulfur but end up executed.

● Rev 14:13 . . .Then I heard a voice from heaven say: "Write: Blessed are the
dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they will rest from their
labor, for their deeds will follow them."

One of the deeds sure to follow those folks is their decision to remain true to God
and His son Jesus instead of following the Beast. (cf. Matt 10:22)
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● Rev 16:3 . .The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into
blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.

Fresh blood is tolerable as far as odor goes, whereas the blood of a dead man is in
a state of putrefaction; and then adding to that the carcasses and the stench of
dead fish, and everything else, will make for quite a chowder to behold.

The Mediterranean is notable in the Bible; but whether that's the sea spoken of
here is uncertain. However, in Gen 1:10 "sea" pertains to the entirety of Earth's
oceans.

A rather curious sea is located at 1Kings 7:23-26 which suggests that any
accumulation of water, whether in an ocean or on land, can be called a sea, e.g.
ponds and lakes.

● Rev 16:4 . .The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of
water, and they became blood.

The two passages tell of water pollution on a scale quite a bit more severe than that
of Egypt because this is global rather than limited to one specific country. Even so;
Egypt's was pretty bad because there was no clean water anywhere for either
cooking, drinking, laundry, hygiene, or sanitation. (Ex 7:19-20)
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● Rev 16:8-11 . .Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, causing it to
scorch everyone with its fire. Everyone was burned by this blast of heat, and they
cursed the name of God, who sent all of these plagues. They did not repent and
give Him glory.

. . .Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his
kingdom was plunged into darkness. And his subjects ground their teeth in anguish,
and they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they refused to
repent of all their evil deeds.

"give Him glory" could be something as simple as an expression of admiration for God's
amazing achievements.

Some of the above is a pretty good description of a really serious Carrington Event.

Pharaoh stiffened his resolve during those miracles in the book of Exodus, but to
my knowledge he never once cursed God. Well these folks in Revelation show just
how hostile and militant the human heart can really be in its resistance to God's
requirements. Pretty amazing, but not all that surprising. Human nature is such that
it doesn't like to be forced: it much prefers compliance to be voluntary no matter
who's in charge; either God or Man.
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● Rev 16:12 . . And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river
Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the
east might be prepared.

That is curious because in modern warfare; rivers, and even oceans, present no
obstacle to military aircraft. But where are the airplanes in Revelation; and where
are all the mechanized conveyances? Well; there are none, and in point of fact, war
in Revelation is portrayed as fought on horseback, and armies move on foot.

I have an uneasy feeling that the way of life with which us modern folks are
accustomed is coming to an end primarily because oil isn't a renewable resource,
and the Earth's supply is being used up at an alarming rate; something like 95
million barrels every twenty-four hours; and the demand isn't static: it's increasing.

For example: global demand for oil in 1960 was 21.4 million barrels per day. Today
it's 4.44x that amount whereas projections indicate global demand will be 5x that of
1960 by 2035 i.e. approximately 107 million barrels every twenty-four hours which
rounds out to roughly 4.49 billion gallons @ 42 US gallons per barrel.
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