Heavenly Fire
“He performs great signs so that even he makes the fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.” comes from Revelations 13:13. I quote this verse because it relates to to the novel Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare. It is the conclusion of the Mortal Instruments Series. The novel has Clary chasing after her brother Sebastian, who is turning Shadowhunters. He uses the Dark Cup (Grail). Clary and Jace travel to the realm of demons to vanquish Sebastian forever.
Sebastian is much like the false prophet that Revelations speaks of. He is the Anti-Christ that those with Angelic powers must battle. Interestingly, the Revelations verse goes on to talk about the mark of the beast. The mark is a brand to show those who have become Satan’s slave. However, elsewhere, The Beast also denotes Rome and other political nations. That nation was a reference to an ancient nation and yet it could just as easily be about the US or, hell, even Russia or China. The six “evil” empires of the past were Syria, Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. The bible is very layered with symbolic meaning and specific references that most readers no longer get unless they are biblical scholars.
