The
American
Wisdom Series
Please keep in mind as you read
these accounts in Revelation that our Lord took John spiritually into
the future (this is prophecy) and many of these events that he describes haven't happened
as yet in real time even though John has seen them.
We
will now see one of those 7 angels who poured out the vials come and
give
us a "close up" view of the judgment of the "Great Whore". Maybe we
should
update the terminology a little and call her the "Great Slut" because
the
Holy Spirit wants us to get a real good PICTURE of exactly how He looks
upon the false religious system that spews forth from of our churches, that great city
where
the "son of perdition" will sit claiming that he is God (2 Thes.
2).
Also, be it known that our Father deals in reality, so if the
terminology
used here is offensive then one can always go to a church where they
only
teach nice things like cute little bunny rabbits and Ishtar eggs, real
Biblical gems!!!
Now, if you have read all of
God's Word, then you are
already familiar with "whores" and "harlots" and how their actions are
used to describe "idolatry".
You see, idolatry is a far greater sin than
being a whore, for the latter is of the flesh but the former is of the
spirit. And while most whores know they are "whoring around" most
idolaters
of religion think they serve God, yet they violate the very 1st
Commandment
of God.
For those, however, who are not
familiar with God's Word,
for perhaps they are just beginning to study His Word, then it would
serve
them well, if they wish to understand this great chapter 17 of
Revelation,
to first read and understand the Book of Hosea in the Old Testament.
Hosea
means "salvation" which is what the Book of Hosea is about! That's
right,
the book titled "Salvation" is in the Old Testament. Then perhaps they
will SEE how our Father feels about and looks upon "idolatry"/false
religion.
As the apostle Paul documents in 2 Thes. 2:3, there's a Great Apostasy
about to be born and this Great Whore in Rev. 17 will be its mother and
give it birth.
So if you read the Book of Hosea
you will read that God
tells Hosea to go marry a whore! That's right! "Go marry a whore,
Hosea!
I want you to know what it is like being married to someone who is
unfaithful
to you!"
Hosea
1:2
The beginning
of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take
unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land
hath
committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.
Again, you must read the entire book.
Hosea's wife conceived
and bore him children, Lo-ruhamah and Lo-ammi, and they were told by
the
LORD to say unto their brethren:
Hosea
2:2
Plead with your
mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let
her
therefore
put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from
between
her breasts;
Many think they are going to attend the
marriage supper of
the Lamb, but are there not those to whom He will say "Get away from
me,
I never knew you?"
[3]
Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born,
and
make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her
with
thirst.
[4]
And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children
of
whoredoms.
[5]
For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath
done
shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my
bread
and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
Got the PICTURE? God hates idolatry,
spiritual whoredom.
And His children are too Biblically ignorant to know to whom they are
married!
Yes they are! They will jump in bed with the first Bridegroom that
appears
on earth claiming to be Jesus and they will be seduced! They are the
first
women (no gender intended) spiritually taken, by Satan's flood of lies, in the field in Mat. 24:40, just as it
was in the days of Noah when the flood took all but 8 (Noah and his family) physically by the flood of water. Is all this graphic enough? It is very
serious.
In this final generation you must have the seal of God (His Word) in
your
forehead (mind) in order to escape the vials from being poured out on
you.
Hosea
4:6
My people are
destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge...
One final comment before we begin chapter
17. Remember in
the first chapter of Revelation that which we learned regarding the
symbology
used in Revelation? It is either "old hat", i.e. we've seen it before
and
know what it means, or the Book of Revelation interprets it for us. For
example, we read about 7 stars and 7 candlesticks in the first chapter
and we were then told that the 7 stars were "angels" and the 7
candlesticks
were "churches". The explanation was therefore supplied and we did not
have to imagine what the symbols were or make up our own
interpretation.
We will see the same done here in this 17th chapter.
Here then is verse one of chapter
17:
Rev.
17:1
And there came
one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me,
saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the
great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
This will be easy on our part because the
angel is going
to show us the judgment! I believe that's called a revelation.
By the way, here's Strong's
definition of "whore". It
is from where we get the English word "porno".
porne, por'-nay, Greek
4204; feminine of Greek
4205 (pornos); a strumpet; figurative an idolater :- harlot, whore.
Also when we get to verse 15 we'll be told
exactly what the
"waters" are, just like we were told what stars were in chapter one. So
let's peek ahead: Rev. 17:15 "And he saith unto me, The waters which
thou
sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and
nations,
and tongues." No guesswork needed here, is there?
Now, looks who's has been
sleeping with this whore?
[2]
With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the
inhabitants
of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Oh wow! She's slept with just about
everyone. She must be
a real doll!
Now the angel makes good his word
and takes John in the
spirit to the desolate place, even the place of the desolator, and
shows
him a PICTURE!
[3]
So
he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman
sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having
seven
heads and ten horns.
What do we SEE? A "woman" sitting upon a
"scarlet coloured"
beast, full of the names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Hey, we know who the "scarlet
coloured beast" is. He's
the "Red Dragon" of Rev. 12:3 & 13:1. It is Satan and his power
structure.
We've identified these 7 heads and 10 horns before! Now, if
we just
knew who this woman was! (Let's scan the rest of the chapter and see if
we are told who the "woman" is, like we were told what the "waters"
were).
BINGO!
Don't you just love it?
Rev.
17:18 And the woman
which thou sawest is that
great city,
which reigneth over the kings
of the earth.
Now where does Satan set up his
headquarters when he's cast
out of heaven in Rev. 12:7-9? We know that from chapter 11. It's where
he sits in the temple with his angels! It is Jerusalem, where also our
Lord was crucified, and where the two witnesses shall be killed.
Rev.
11:8
And their dead
bodies shall lie in the street of the great
city, which
spiritually is called Sodom
and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
It is "spiritually" called Sodom and Egypt
which "spiritually"
means Idolatry and Oppression. It's the city of Jerusalem! That's the
great
city!
Let's return to Rev. 17 and learn
more about this woman.
Rev.
17:4 And the woman was
arrayed in purple and
scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls,
having
a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her
fornication:
Wow! This woman is "dressed to kill".
She's clothed with
Royal Colors (religion) and decked with enormous wealth and she has a
"cup"
in her hand. I'll bet she gives each and everyone of her "lovers" a
drink
from that cup! What do you think? I can just see it now. This beautiful
"Queen" flashes those beautiful eyelashes and cuddles up real close and
says "Here honey, this is for you, you sexy thing you!" GULP!
Ooooh! Did you see what was in
that cup? I don't even
want to describe it! Yeeeech!
You know what? We've seen this
"golden cup" before. Not
only that we've read of the "earth being made drunk with her wine",
too!
Have you read the entire Bible! Imagine how little we'd know if just
ran
around with half the book, like just the New Testament, and said "Just
believe, little ones, and you'll be safe. Why don't you know, you're
going
to fly away into a place of safety (the ushers will now pass the
collection
plate as we listen to the beautiful special music, now turn to song #666)."
So where did this golden cup come
from? Let's read Jeremiah
chapter 51 and find out.
Here's verses 6 & 7:
Jeremiah
51:6
Flee out of
the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in
her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD'S vengeance; He will
render
unto her a recompence.
The judgment of the great whore! The Day
of Vengeance of
the LORD!
[7]
Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the
earth
drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations
are
mad.
BABYLON! So you see, the beautiful woman
arrayed in Royalty
holds the cup of Babylon from which the earth has been made drunken!
False
religion! Confusion! The nations are confused!
Again, "confusion" is what
Babylon means. Here's Strong's
definition of Babylon:
Babel,
baw-bel', Hebrew 894; from Hebrew
1101 (balal); confusion; Babel (i.e. Babylon), including Babylonia and
the Babylonian empire :- Babel, Babylon.
So Babylon means "confusion" and Satan has
so confounded
the world's religions, including main stream Christianity though the
traditions
of men, that the world cannot see the pure water, the truth, of the
Word
of God. The nations indeed are mad! And their peoples do not have "eyes
to see" for they are blinded by traditions and have all sipped from her
cup.
She looks so religious and good and right and holy. She is arrayed
so beautifully in her robes and ornaments. But she is a WHORE! And the
people don't know it. They are spiritually drunken! Her cup is filled
with
filthiness! It is time to wake up to the reality of churchianity!
Here now is the woman's official
title shown to us by
the angel:
Rev.
17:5 And upon her
forehead was a name written,
MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF
THE
EARTH.
MYSTERY, BABYLON, MOTHER OF WHORES,
ABOMINATIONS!
Next we'll document the
simplicity of the meaning of this
name written upon the woman's forehead!
Have you ever read the book "Sargon
the Magnificent"
by Mrs. Sidney Bristowe? It is a remarkable work revealing
and tracing
Cain in secular history as Sargon of Akkad. It begins with his ousting
from the presence of God and his journey into the land of Nod, Sumer,
and
the founding of Babylon from whence originates the "golden cup" full of
abominations. He is reported to have lived 730 years and founded many
religions
of the earth in his travels including sun worship, dragon worship,
etc.,etc.)
We read of John's description of
a beautiful woman clothed
in purple and scarlet colours and decked with gold and precious stones
and pearls, having a "golden cup" in her hand full of abominations and
filthiness of her fornication. In other words, she was gorgeous, but
she
was a whore! She had a name on her forehead which we will look at again
shortly.
But first, haven't you
ever wondered how it could possibly be that Satan when he comes to
earth
is able to "deceiveth the whole world" (Rev.
12:9)? If
what "main stream" Christianity is teaching, i.e. their traditional
doctrines,
is true, then how could this be? Is the majority right when most
professing
Christians are completely Biblically illiterate? Think about it? If a
person
is deceived it means that they believe something to be true that is, in
fact, not so. Folks, it is "religion" that prevents our people from
seeing
the truth of God's Word.
So, while the majority of
Christianity today teaches that
Jesus Christ can return at any moment, both Jesus Christ and the
apostle
Paul WARNED about being deceived concerning His return. Jesus said
repeatedly
that many would come claiming to represent Him, i.e. as Christian
ministers,
and would deceive MANY, the multitudes, not just a few! Take a look at
what the majority of our Christian churches teach concerning our gathering back to Christ, then
read what Paul says in 2 Thes. 2.
Here it is:
2 Thes.
2:1
Now we beseech
you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our
gathering
together unto him,
The subject is the 7th Trump, the return
of Christ, and our
gathering back to Him.
2 Thes.
2:3
Let no man deceive
you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a
falling
away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
We are NOT going to gather back to Christ
until the son of
perdition is revealed. There is only one son of perdition, Satan
himself.
What does this "revealing" mean?
[4]
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that
is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing
himself that he is God.
What will he do when he is revealed? He
will take over God's
house, even the body of Christ (our churches) which results in the great apostasy, and
claims to be God, i.e. Jesus Christ. That's why he is called the
"instead -
of - Christ", i.e. His REPLACEMENT!
Satan will be revealed as Jesus
Christ! It is a mystery
to most. Hang on a few verses!
[5]
Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
Paul says "Don't you remember I told you
all of this?"
[6]
And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
"You know what Satan's status is now."
[7]
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth
will let, until he be taken out of the way.
What is this "mystery"? Let's look up the
Greek word in Strong's:
musterion,
moos-tay'-ree-on, Greek 3466;
from a derivative of muo (to shut the mouth); a secret or "mystery"
(through
the idea of silence imposed by initiation into religious rites) :-
mystery.
It's RELIGION! Hidden Religion! Even the
"Hidden (Secret)
Dynasty of Religion" that has crept into the churches.
It's
"Churchianity",
ceremony and religious rites, disguised as "Christianity". Do you not
remember
the 1st Seal in Rev. 6:2 and the rider of the first white
horse?
It is deception brought about by Satan, the rider of the white horse
which
looks like Christ's white horse, but it isn't! Don't be deceived! If
you
need a refresher then go back and re-read the 1st Seal!
Note: Many, way too many,
churches teach that the "only
he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way" in verse
7 refers to the Holy Spirit departing the earth when they are Raptured
away. That's because the "mystery" has already completely taken over
their
unlearned minds. They are not going anywhere before Satan as the
spurious
messiah is revealed. Paul just said so in plain and simple language.
The subject being discussed is
when will the "man of sin"
be revealed? The answer is when Michael let's him go in Rev. 12:7-9.
Michael
is holding him back!
Here's verse 7 from the Living Bible translation:
2 Thes.
2:7 As for the work
this man of rebellion
and hell will do when he comes, it is already going on, but he himself
will not come until the one who is holding him back steps out of the
way.
(Living Bible)
When Michael steps out of the way and
let's Satan go, he
will come to the earth as Jesus Christ.
Back to the KJV and continuing in
2 Thes.:
2 Thes.
2:8 And then shall that
Wicked be revealed,
whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall
destroy
with the brightness of his coming:
Most of Christianity is awaiting an evil,
Hitler like, Saddam
Hussein like butcher to be revealed. Don't you SEE the mystery at
work?
The Wicked one will be revealed as Jesus Christ. He won't appear to be
doing anything wicked at all! He's very religious. He heals the "deadly
wound". As Daniel shows us, the "little horn", Satan, brings peace and
prosperity to the world. The whole world will love him! They will think
Christ has returned! Is that hidden, or what?
[9]
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and
signs and lying wonders,
Even if you see "religious" miracles
performed by religious
leaders, especially by one claiming to be Jesus, don't be deceived!
[10]
And
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because
they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
If you "love truth" you will study the
truth, which is His
Word. Look out across the land. How many folks do you know that truly
study
His Word? You can tell by just listening to people that they have not
received
the "love of the truth", even though they may attend a church every Sunday!
[11]
And
for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should
believe
a lie:
What is the "lie" that they'll believe? It is
that Satan is
Jesus and that his "church systems", his "religions" are true
Christianity.
So let's look again at Rev. 17:5:
Rev.
17:5 And upon her
forehead was a name written,
MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF
THE
EARTH.
We know what every word in this verse
means:
Forehead = Brain
location
Mystery is "musterion" = Hidden
Religion
Babylon = Confusion
Mother = One who gives birth, brings
forth
Harlots & Whores (same Greek
word) = Idolaters
Abominations = Idolatries
Earth = World
It is Satan's religious system, that looks
like the real
thing, that causes great confusion (Babel) and deception, and brings
forth
multitudes of idolaters (those who worship Satan as Jesus) and
abominations
in all the world. That's what Rev. 17:5 says!
It is really quite
simple,
isn't it?
Rev.
17:6 And I saw the
woman drunken with the
blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and
when
I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
Remember now who this woman is from the
last verse of this
chapter: Rev. 17:18 "And the woman which thou sawest is that great
city,
which reigneth over the kings of the earth." It is where the son of
perdition, Satan,
sits in the temple, i.e. in the heart of most pro-claiming Christians!
Note: Did you know that our
Father chose Jerusalem to
become the Headquarters of the Universe? You can read of it in Ezekiel
16 where He "took to wife" that location, and in Rev. 21 we see the New
Jerusalem coming down out of heaven to that location. Is it any wonder
that Satan has so attacked this great city and has chosen it for his
headquarters
when he comes here with an "in your face" attitude?
It is true that the great city,
Jerusalem, has been filled
with the blood of saints and the blood of martyrs down through the
ages.
But the context of this chapter 17 is the judgment time of the great
whore,
when Satan and his angels will sit in the temple of that great city,
exercising
world domination both religiously and politically and shall kill the
two
witnesses as we learned in chapter 11. Then shall there be great
rejoicing
and merry making.
Rev.
11:7
And when they
shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of
the
bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them,
and
kill them.
[8]
And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which
spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was
crucified.
[10]
And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make
merry,
and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets
tormented
them that dwelt on the earth.
And when John saw the woman he marveled
with great wonder!
He was astounded!
Rev.
17:7 And the angel said
unto me, Wherefore
didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of
the
beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
"Relax
John", said the angel, "I'll tell you the mystery of both the woman and
the beast that carries that babe."
[8]
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the
bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth
shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the
foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is
not,
and yet is.
The beast was present on earth before. Of
course he was in
the 1st earth age but he was also present in the garden of Eden and at
the time of Christ. But he is not present, in person (here in person) now. We've
covered
many times already that he shall be cast from heaven (Rev. 12:7-9),
which
is to say released from the bottomless pit. And he shall eventually go
into the lake of fire and PERISH with the rest of the elements (2 Pet.
3:12), i.e. evil rudiments, when our Father, the consuming fire (Heb.
12:29)
comes.
And in verse 8 we also read for
the "umpteenth time" that
if you are not one of God's elect, if your name is not written in the
book
of life from the foundation of the world, then you are going to love
this
beast! (For a further explanation of "from the foundation of the world"
as also spoken of by the apostle Paul, visit Ephesians
here on this site.
We continue now with who the
beast is:
Rev.
17:9 And here is the
mind which hath wisdom.
The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
It's going to take just a little wisdom
and common sense
to understand this verse about the beast. We know from Rev 12 &
13
who the 7 heads, and the 7 mountains are. Mountains are symbolic of
governments
and nations. They are the 7 dominions, meaning the complete or whole
dominion
of the world, the one world political system, whom the beast controls
from
that great city of Jerusalem.
Note: Many people would like to
say that this means the
"great city" is San Francisco or Rome or some other city that is built
on 7 literal mountains. But first of all, the woman isn't even the
subject.
The subject is the beast and his political system. The angel doesn't change the
subject
to the woman until verse 18. That is why this verse is prefaced with
"here
is the mind which has wisdom". Wisdom comes from knowing God's Word,
all
of it. If you do then this verse and this chapter is a "no brainer". If
you don't, you'll probably get out a topographical map and look for
cities
built on mountains. It's your choice.
[10]
And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other
is
not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
Again, wisdom is required here. The
subject is still the
beast and these 7 kings have nothing to do with the 10 kings which we
will
get to in verse 12. The subject hasn't changed. These 7 kings are all
one
and the same person. Let's read verse 11 first and we'll explain.
[11]
And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of
the
seven, and goeth into perdition.
The 7 kings are sequential roles that
Satan has played [Verse 10] #s1-5, that are fallen(past) i.e. down through the ages even from the
first
earth age (#1)as a priest of God then still in the first earth age (#2)where he rebelled, leading 1/3 of us to follow him, he became the dragon. Then in this earth age (#3)in the garden of Eden as the
serpent,
(#4)at the time of Job as the accuser, and (#5)at the time of Christ as the
tempter. [still Verse 10] and one is, (#6)where he is alive and in heaven spiritually organizing his troops
while being physically restrained from earth. [still Verse 10] other is not yet come, (#7)when he is cast
out
of heaven and he comes here again as the spurious messiah and "must
continue
a short space" until Christ returns and Michael tosses him in the
abyss.
[Verse 11] even he is the eighth, (#8)when he will be released for the final time at the end of the
Millennium
and goes into perdition, i.e. is cast into the lake of fire.
Now, verse 11 makes it really
simple. Again, what is the
subject? We are talking about the beast that was and is not. The beast
is who? Satan! In as much as he will also have an 8th role at the end
of
the Millennium, he is of the seven, ALL SEVEN, because he was #1-5 and
is
now #6 and shall be #7, i.e. he is all seven kings. So just as the 8th is
of the 7, the 7th is of the 6, and the 6th is of the 5. The 7 kings are
the same king, Satan, in series of reigns not 7 contemporary kings.
Now here come the 10 kings who are
contemporary kings:
[12]
And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received
no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
One hour is the hour of temptation (Rev.
3:10). It is the
5 month reign of the false-christ, the time of the locusts of Rev. 9
and
Apollyon, Satan, their king.
[13]
These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the
beast.
[14]
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them:
for
he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are
called, and chosen, and faithful.
What are you called? If you are with Him
in this generation
then you (1) were called, (2) were chosen before the foundation of this
earth age, and (3) are faithful unto and through the final hour!
Rev.
17:15 And he saith unto
me, The waters which
thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and
nations, and tongues.
"Waters" = "the peoples of the world". If
you miss this symbol
you'll drown in uncertainty while trying to understand Revelation.
[16]
And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate
the
whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh,
and burn her with fire.
Don't
let this verse be confusing or seem contradictory. It is not. Just
remember
that in Rev. 9 all those who do not have the seal of God in their
forehead
are consumed away and made desolate. It is God's plan to use Satan and
his kings to fulfill His will.
[17]
For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and
give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be
fulfilled.
Yes, God
even calls the locust army "His army", for it exists only by His
permission. God is in complete control. He always has been, He always will be.
[18]
And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over
the kings of the earth.
We documented
previously that this great city is Jerusalem, where also our Lord was
crucified.
Next
we will get an even closer view of the Great Fall of the Great Babylon
of the end times. It is most fascinating indeed!
In chapter 17 we learned that the
great whore who "sitteth
upon many waters (peoples of the world)", is not a woman at all,
but
is in fact that Great City, (Mystery Babylon) which will reign over the kings of the
earth,
the city where the beast, Satan, sits atop the one world political and
religious systems, the city in which the son of perdition sits in the
temple
and claims he is Jesus Christ. The woman is that great city, Jerusalem,
where also our Lord was crucified.
Let's review the last verse of
chapter 17 so that no one
gets any brainy idea to identify the woman as something other than that
great city.
Rev.
17:18
And the woman
which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of
the earth.
We also learned in chapter 17 that this
great city, likened
to a sleazy whore who has been in bed with just about everyone, has a
special
name on her forehead. That special name is MUSTERION, the
Greek word
translated MYSTERY, which means "false religion" disguised as "true
religion",
i.e. it is hidden from being seen for what it really is.
It is really
BABYLON
which we documented means CONFUSION.
And so we see and understand why
people are confused!
They believe their religion, their church, is right and holy and pure
and
good! They cannot see that they have already been led astray from the
TRUTH
by the traditions of men, perpetuated by Biblically illiterate pastors
and ministers, though many are well meaning, who follow the doctrines
of
their church and NOT "THE BIBLE" , "HI SWORD", which means they lead our people astray from the God's Word and
let
them wander the hills of confusion!
Is something new?
Not a chance!
It's been going on since
ancient Babylon who "hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that
made
all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore
the nations are mad (Jeremiah 51:7)."
In order for us to more fully
understand this chapter
18 of Revelation we all need to go back and read the 50th and 51st
chapters
of the Book of Jeremiah. It concerns Babylon and it will read much like
that which we shall read in Revelation 18 and it is relative to TODAY!
The apostle Paul taught us a
principle that we must always
remember as we study God's Word. And that is that the history of the
events
that happened to our people occurred and are recorded as examples for
us,
in
these end times, TODAY, to LEARN from and SEE in detail the
types set
forth.
1 Cor.
10:11
Now all these
things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our
admonition,
upon whom the ends of the world are come.
The reason this needs brought to our
attention is that in
this 18th chapter of Revelation we are going to see the judgment of the
great city which is "Jerusalem", but is named "Secret Babylon" because
it is Satan's worldwide headquarters of the pagan, false religious
system
that deceives the whole world. In other words, the world will not call
Jerusalem "Babylon". The great city is not going to be renamed!
You
must
have the seal of God in your forehead, i.e. have an understanding of
God's
Word, to know that it will not be "Jesus in Jerusalem" when the
spurious
messiah arrives. It will be "Satan in Babylon". Do you have "eyes" to
see
that this is what we've been studying for 17 chapters?
Let me repeat
that
one more time!
It will not be "Jesus in
Jerusalem" when the false-christ
arrives. It will be "Satan in Babylon"!
The false messiah comes first but
he will "Look Like the
Lamb Slain", "With Two Horns", i.e. wielding both the power of King of
kings and Lord of lords, both the powers of the one world political
system
and the worldwide religious system with him as Jesus who performs
miracles
in the sight of men.
Do you remember chapter 13? Rev. 13:11 "And I
beheld
another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a
lamb,
and he spake as a dragon."
The "beast", the "dragon"!
Come on, you know
who that is! We've seen it revealed many times? In the last
chapter,
Rev. 17:8, we were even told that the beast is the son of perdition.
What
does it take for a person to "see"?
Satan is coming as Jesus Christ
and the whole world will
believe him! It is that simple, but the world doesn't see it. The
waters (people, even church attending pro-claiming Christians) are confused because they have sipped from the filthy, muddy, golden
cup
of Babylon. And if they don't wake up they will get to share the
whore's
name, which is the same as the beast's mark! Why? Because they'll be
a little HARLOT!
They'll be worshipping Satan!
You remember the "Scarlet Letter"
by Nathaniel Hawthorne?
Well, you'll get to wear (not literally, of course) the "Scarlet
Number"
by Satan the Beast, which is "666" !
So our people are confused and
led astray. Whose fault
is that, other than their own for not studying His Word? Have you read
Jeremiah 50 and 51 yet?
Live
Links to- Jeremiah
50 and 51
Jeremiah
50:6
My people hath
been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they
have
turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to
hill,
they have forgotten their restingplace.
How are the shepherds who lead your church
doing? I'm sure
they are nice people!
Now, with all that as background,
and if you understand
chapter 17, then you can read and understand chapter 18 all on your
own!
It is simply the judgment and fall of that great city. Sure, there are
a few English words that don't quite bring forth the full meaning of
the
Greek, which we will look up, but even as it is written in the KJV you
can read and understand this chapter.
Let's begin.
Rev.
18:1
And after these
things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power;
and
the earth was lightened with his glory.
The Truth from our Father is light. This
angel has great
glory and great authority, which means lots of "thumping power".
[2]
And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is
fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold
of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
"The show is over for you wicked whores
and sluts in Babylon.
Yes, that means you, Satan, and all your filthy, trashy, evil kings and
birdbrains that you have caged in this city."
[3]
For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,
and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the
merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her
delicacies.
The whole world is drunk and screwed up!
And the Rulers and
CEOs have become "Fat Cats" through your "miracle performances" and
"straining".
Here are the two words "abundance" and "delicacies" from Strong's.
abundance
dunamis, doo'-nam-is,
Greek 1411; from Greek 1410
(dunamai); force (literal or figurative); specially miraculous power
(usually
by implication a miracle itself) :- ability, abundance, meaning, might
(-ily, -y, -y deed), (worker of) miracle (-s), power, strength,
violence,
might (wonderful) work.
delicacies
strenos, stray'-nos,
Greek 4764; akin to Greek
4731 (stereos); a "straining", "strenuousness" or "strength", i.e.
(figurative)
luxury (voluptuousness) :- delicacy.
[4]
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my
people,
that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues.
Have you read Jeremiah 50 and 51
yet? What are you
waiting for? The type has been set forth. Babylon is going to
be
the recipient of the LORD's vengeance when He returns. The warning is
clear...
Come out of her!
Live Links to- Jeremiah
50 and 51
Jeremiah
51:6
Flee out of
the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in
her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD'S vengeance; he will
render
unto her a recompence.
[7]
Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the
earth
drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations
are
mad.
Come out of confusion! Do you remember
from chapter 16 who
it is that the vials are poured out upon, i.e. receives the 7 plagues?
It is those who are confused, deceived. It is those who do not have the
Seal of God in their foreheads! We just read Rev. 18:4 which documents
that people can come out of this religious confusion and escape the
plagues.
How is it done? By absorbing the truth of God's Word into their minds,
which is in their foreheads, thereby "sealing" themselves.
[5]
For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her
iniquities.
Her sins "stink to high heaven" and our
Father knows and
remembers what she's done to His children.
[6]
Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double
according
to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Boy is she going to get it!
[7]
How
much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment
and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am
no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
She glorifies herself in purple and
scarlet robes, and decks
herself with gold and precious stones, and houses herself with
magnificent
structures with stained glassed windows and cathedral ceilings. She's
quite
a religion! Looks great!
And she claims she's a
Queen! She says she is not
a widow, which means she has a HUSBAND (she doesn't even know he's Satan!). Did she wait until the great
wedding
feast of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to wed Him?
No,
she's a WHORE!
Is she married to the real
"Jesus
in Jerusalem"?
No, she's
married to "Satan in Babylon".
[8]
Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and
famine;
and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God
who
judgeth her.
That one day is the Day of the Lord, the
7th Trump.
For her
it will be the 7th Thump!
[9]
And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived
deliciously
with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the
smoke of her burning,
Gone up in smoke, the whole damnable
thing!
They've been
stripped of everything and now stand naked.
[10]
Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that
great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment
come.
Destroyed with the blast from the 7th
Trump!
[11]
And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no
man
buyeth their merchandise any more:
It shall be a sad day for those whose god
is filthy lucre!
[12]
The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of
pearls,
and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood,
and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most
precious
wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
[13]
And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine,
and
oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and
chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
Did you
catch those last two items? Satan wants your soul and he's willing to
buy
it! Is that something new, like a new revelation or something? Hardly!
How much are you willing to sell your soul to the devil for?
Do
you recall from chapter 12 that the dragon (you know who) drew a third
of the sons of God (we/us, our brothers and sisters) away from God in the 1st earth age, i.e. "the reason for Lucifer's Flood"? Do you
know
how he did that? Have you ever read Ezekiel 28 concerning the prince
and
king of Tyrus, Satan?
Live Link to- Ezekiel 28
Live Link to- Lucifer's Flood
Ezekiel
28:2
Son of man,
say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine
heart
is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the
seat of God,
in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God,
though thou
set thine heart as the heart of God:
This is
in the "world that then was", the 1st earth age. This should remind us
of what Satan will do when he is cast out of heaven (Rev. 12:7-9) and
comes
to earth. Here's the apostle Paul in 2 Thes. 2:4 "Who opposeth and
exalteth
himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he
as God
sitteth in the temple of God,
shewing himself that
he is God."
He hasn't changed a bit!
[3]
Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can
hide
from thee:
[4]
With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee
riches,
and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
Remember
his power structure in Rev. 12:3 was basically the same as he will have
when he comes here (Rev. 13:1)?
This guy buys friends and
influences
people with the gods of money and power and ego. (Just look at how he's influencing Politicians, Preachers, Teachers & the Media, and Bankers, etc) in this present earth age!
By golly Ned; I believe we covered all four of the "Hidden Dynasties" that make up our current "NEW WORLD ORDER"! & He is not even here in person as yet!
He's leading these happenings spiritually through his Kenite grandchildren right now! But, just you wait until Micheal kicks him our of heaven! "Woe" to us, when we have to deal with him and his angels in person!
Daniel records that he
will do the exact same thing when he arrives. Like we said, he hasn't changed a
bit!
[5]
By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches,
and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:
He was
really something in the world that then was. People just loved his
trafficking
and riches. And it all went to his head! But the point is that he will
operate the same way when he gets here, in this earth age!
So the question is... "How much
will you take for your soul?" The "Anti-Jesus in Jerusalem" will
prepare
a mansion for you, and give it to you! If you'll follow him! "Most of
the
world will!
Will you?"
Written
by the hands of Jeremiah and John, are the words from the Lord our God,
"Flee out of the midst of Babylon", "Come out of her my people!" Babylon
the great is fallen, is fallen. The end of all religious confusion has
come, for Jesus Christ has returned.
And so it is that we are reading
in chapter 18 of Revelation
the advanced news report about the fall of Babylon the great. We
continue
now in verse 14 with the lament of her lovers over her demise.
Rev.
18:14
And the fruits
that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which
were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them
no more at all.
The "ripe fruit" (even the hope of
salvation), i.e. all of
your heart's desires, are gone along with all its luxuries and
splendor!
You've been harvested out of season!
[15]
The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand
afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
The merchants are those great men or lords
(see vs.
23 & Strong's) who became "Fat Cats" by
peddling her "musterion",
her false religion.
They ought to stand in fear because they are
gettin'
it next!
[16]
And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine
linen,
and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and
pearls!
So beautiful she was! She looked so
pretty! Yes, there's
no doubt about it, Packaging Sells!
In other words, you can dress up a
religion
(even call it a Christian one) to look so good and holy with
fancy
buildings and priests in flowing robes, that people will just flock to
it to partake of her golden cup!
[17]
For
in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster,
and
all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea,
stood
afar off,
You should check out the word "hour" used
here. It is translated
"season" in 2 Cor. 2:7, "short time" in 1 Thes. 2:17, as well as
"hour",
both literally and figuratively which can be determined by the context
wherein it is used. In this case it means "instantly" or as we say "in
an instant" or "just like that".
hora, ho'-rah, Greek
5610; apparently a primary
word; an "hour" (literal or figurative):- day, hour, instant, season,
× short, [even-] tide, (high) time.
Those shipmasters, the captains who steer
the whore's "love
boats", and all those who have been participating in the orgy, now try
to distance themselves from Babylon!
Too late though,
the party is over!
[18]
And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is
like unto this great city!
Holy smoke, look at her burn!
[19]
And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing,
saying,
Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships
in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made
desolate.
To "cast dust on one's head" is an
expression meaning to
"mourn". And what a "pity party" we see going on
here, weeping
and wailing. Lament, lament, lament! That great city of whores, run by
none other than "Puff the Magic Dragon" himself, is "gone up in smoke".
Poof! She's gone!
[20]
Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for
God
hath avenged you on her.
The battle is finally over. The good guys
win! Praise God!
[21]
And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it
into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon
be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
Babylon (FALSE RELIGION) will disappear forever, just like
taking a big stone
and casting it into the middle of the ocean.
Got the PICTURE?
"Then a mighty angel picked up a
boulder shaped like a
millstone and threw it into the ocean and shouted, 'Babylon, that great
city, shall be thrown away as I have thrown away this stone, and she
shall
disappear forever.' (Living Bible)
[22]
And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters,
shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever
craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a
millstone
shall be heard no more at all in thee;
If you have studied the book of Daniel
then you should remember
that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, a type of the king of Babylon
to come, had "set up" a golden image to be worshipped by all the people
of the world.
Here's the decree:
Daniel
3:7
Therefore at
that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute,
harp,
sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the
nations,
and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that
Nebuchadnezzar
the king had set up.
Of course, those lads Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego who
had the Seal of God in their foreheads, would not bow a knee to the
image.
So the king threw them into the fiery furnace which was heated "7
times"
hotter, but the fire of that great tribulation that they endured did
not
singe one hair on their heads!
Sound like Revelation chapter 9 to you?
It should. It was a type that happened
to increase our understanding of these
end time events!
We have studied in this Book of
Revelation that the beast,
Satan, "sets up" his image, i.e. that he is Jesus, and the people who
go
to church regularly, but are never taught any of the meat of our "Lord's Word" will believe he is God when they will hear the sound of the music and they will sing praises to Satan, the one
sitting in the temple claiming to be God.
(They know not that he is the
son of perdition). Yes, they will kneel to and worship Satan, who will
appear in the image of Christ.
Well guess what? It's going to
end with the fall of Babylon!
His music shall be heard no more!
[23]
And
the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice
of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in
thee:
for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries
were all nations deceived.
There will be no more flickering light
trying to imitate
the real light of truth. It's over.
Now, do you remember in the last
chapter what we read
concerning the great whore? Rev. 17:2 "With whom the kings of the earth
have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been
made drunk with the wine of her fornication."
The analogy is also made here
that they have been drugged
by her poison, i.e. deceived by her sorceries.
Here's Strong's
definition
of "sorceries".
pharmakeia,
far-mak-i'-ah, Greek 5331; from Greek
5332 (pharmakeus); medication ("pharmacy"), i.e. (by extension) magic
(literal
or figurative) :- sorcery, witchcraft.
pharmakeus, far-mak-yoos',
Greek 5332; from pharmakon
(a drug, i.e. spell-giving potion); a druggist ("pharmacist") or
poisoner,
i.e. (by extension) a magician :- sorcerer
Satan has a great many people in the world
and in our nation
strung out on booze and drugs. He's already got their souls in bondage
with literal poison. The rest are in worse shape, for they are poisoned
from the doctrines of men swirling in the golden cup of the beautiful
looking
whore which when they "sip from it", they "hallucinate" into imagining
that they are seeing and worshiping Jesus, when in fact it's just the
disguise of the beast, a mere image!
Oh the awesome power and
deception of religion! It is
ever so intoxicating. Our people are spiritually drunk already but they
know it not, for they are in denial! They think they are OK! That is
what
deception is. Their church is so big and beautiful and the people are
so
nice and friendly.
Let us go sip from the cup!
And they do Sunday after Sunday after Sunday to hear their "ONE VERSE REV." talk about anything and everything except what they need to know to "SAVE THEIR SOUL FROM SATAN'S DECEPTION"!
[24]
And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all
that
were slain upon the earth.
Oh the awesome power and deception of
religion!
It is ever
so deadly.
We
now conclude this study of chapter 18 with the words of Jesus Christ
direct
from His explanation of the first of the 7 Seals in Mark 13 and Mat.
24.
Here is the #1 WARNING:
Matthew
24:4
And Jesus answered
and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
[5]
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive
many.
Many,
not just a few ministers and preachers, but MANY, who claim to
represent
Christ and go around proclaiming "Jesus is Lord" and "Praise the Lord"
will then hand you the golden cup!
So
next time, before you take a sip, look in the golden cup and see if
what's
in it is from the "Word of God". Of course you'll have to know what the
Word
of God says to make that determination, won't you?
We've reached the 19th chapter in
the great Book of the
Revealing and there's about to be rejoicing in heaven. The 7th Trump is
still sounding as Jesus Christ returns to this earth having judged the
great whore and avenged the blood of His servants.
Babylon the great is
history!
However, before we begin chapter 19 let's take a preview
look at some of the terminology and symbols used in this chapter. You
see,
if you have studied line by line with us from the beginning of this
book,
then you will have no problem understanding most of this chapter
because
you already know what most everything means. For example, here
of some the symbols and phrases used that we've read of and learned
about
to this point in the Book of Revelation:
vs. 2 The great whore
vs. 4 The four and twenty
elders and the four beasts (living
beings)
vs. 6 The voice of many waters
vs. 8,14 Fine linen, clean and
white
vs. 11 A white horse
vs. 12 "Eyes as a flame of fire"
vs. 15 Sharp sword proceeding
from Christ's mouth
vs. 15 the winepress of God's
wrath
Plus, if you've studied, i.e. read with
understanding, the
entire Bible from the beginning, from Genesis on, line by line then you
will completely understand this chapter, for as we said from the
opening
study, there is nothing really new in the Book of Revelation that
hasn't
been discussed before in God's Word. It's just that in this Book of the
Unveiling, this PICTURE BOOK, prophecy is all tied together and
simplified
for our understanding.
Therefore the rest of the words
and phrases in in this
study, such as Lamb, Word of God, Kings of kings and Lord of lords,
etc.,
are to be found previously in God's Word.
The point is that if a person
were to pick up the book
of Revelation and try to read and understand it without the foundation
from the Word, you just can't imagine what kind of scenarios they would
come up with. On second thought, you've probably seen some of the wild
and crazy interpretations of this book. I actually heard one nationally
televised preacher tell the viewers that there are going to come "huge
locusts, come down out of the sky, the size of horses, with stingers in
their
tails, and when they sting you it will hurt for 5 months".
Confusion, confusion! And it all
comes from not studying
the Word of God! And so it is written that the time is fast
approaching
when the whole world will be confused about who the true Christ is.
Will
you? Not if you are sealed with His Word in your forehead.
Chapter 19 verse 1:
Rev.
19:1
And after these
things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying,
Alleluia;
Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:
After seeing the fall of "Babylon the
great" John hears much
rejoicing in heaven. "Alleluia" is the Greek word for the Hebrew word
"Hallelujah"
which means "Praise ye Jah" or "Praise the Lord". "Jah" or "Yah" is
God's
name. So now when someone asks you if you speak any Hebrew say "Yes,
Hallelujah".
By the way, this is the first
time this word "Hallelujah"
is used in the New Testament and it is connected with the punishment of
the wicked. Do you know what? The first time it is used in the Old
Testament
it is connected with the same thing.
Psalm
104:35
Let the sinners
be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou
the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.
"Praise ye the LORD" is the translation of
"hallelujah" as
opposed to just converting the Hebrew letters to English, which is a
process
called transliteration.
So John observes them praising
God in heaven.
[2]
For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great
whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath
avenged
the blood of his servants at her hand.
We've read of it all.
[3]
And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.
Praise ye Yah! The great whore who
corrupted the earth by
committing fornication, which is idolatry, with all the nations is GONE!
Don't let the phrase "and her
smoke rose up for ever and
ever" conjure up some image of an ever burning hell fire. It simply
means
that when something is burned and it "goes up in smoke" it is gone for
ever and ever.
[4]
And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and
worshipped
God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
You should know who these people are. This
verse should bring
back a vivid and beautiful scene of heaven in your mind from chapter
four.
If it doesn't then go back and re-read chapter four.
[5]
And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his
servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.
The word "fear" means "reverence", i.e. to
"revere" or to
love God.
[6]
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice
of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying,
Alleluia:
for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah!
[7]
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of
the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Note to the advanced student: If you are
familiar with those
who were chosen "before the foundation of this world" spoken of by Paul
in Ephesians chapter 1, and their calling and justification also spoken
of by Paul in Rom 8:29-30, then you will know that the wife (Greek
#1135
gune)
is not the same as the bride (Greek #3565 numphe).
Read the marginal
note in The Companion Bible on Rev. 21:9.
Rev.
19:8 And to her was
granted that she should
be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the
righteousness
of saints.
The fine linen is the righteousness or
"righteous acts" of
the saints (look up the word righteousness in
Strong's). Your "works",
your righteous acts, will be your clothing in heaven. If you have no
righteous
acts you'll be very, very naked!
How embarrassing would that be?
"Yes, but salvation is of grace
and not of works", you
say. True, but you are rewarded by your works, so will you be saved
with
your clothes on or will you saved stark naked.
Rev.
16:15
Behold, I come
as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest
he walk naked, and they see his shame.
So get some clothes and keep them on.
Now John is given some
instructions. Back to work John!
Rev.
19:9 And he saith unto
me, Write, Blessed
are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he
saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
[10]
And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do
it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the
testimony
of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy.
This angel was one of John's brethren only
he was in his
spiritual body, not his flesh. And the angel said "Never, never, never
worship angels. Worship God".
What is the testimony of Jesus?
It's the entire Word of
God. We could say it's both the Old Testimony and the New Testimony.
Yes,
I like it!
[11]
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon
him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge
and
make war.
Heaven opened! Hey, the veil, that
spiritual dimension that
we can only see through darkly, has been parted. Of course we know that
when Christ returns at the 7th Trump, the last trump, we are changed
from
our flesh bodies to our spiritual bodies as Paul documents in 1 Cor.
15:52:
"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the
trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall
be
changed."
The rider on this white horse is
Jesus Christ, and He
is coming to make war with His enemies, who we read in Rev. 17 are
preparing
to make war with Him. Rev. 17:14 "These shall make war with the Lamb,
and
the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of
kings:
and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful."
[12]
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and
He had a name written, that no man knew, but He himself.
Remember the description of Christ in Rev.
2:18 "And unto
the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son
of
God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like
fine brass;" Wait until His enemies look into His eyes!
Yes, He will have many crowns on
His head for all the
crowns of the earth will have been surrendered to Him.
The word "knew" used here is
"oido" which means to "know
intuitively without effort".
Do you know His name?
[13]
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is
called
The Word of God.
He shed His blood for you and me.
He is
the Word of God!
Always has been!
John
1:1
In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Rev. 19:14
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses,
clothed
in fine linen, white and clean.
The return of Jesus Christ with His
saints!
Let's sing now:
"Onward Christian Soldiers, Marching as to War!" Ok, that's enoughDid you notice that everyone who
rides with Him is fully
clothed in white linen.
[15]
And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite
the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth
the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
The Sharp Two-edge Sword cuts right
through the confusion
and brings into submission all nations and peoples and tongues! We know
from Rev. 1:16 that the Sword is the Word of God. He shall rule with
correction,
a rod of iron, treading that winepress where those who didn't make the
first harvest were cast.
[16]
And
he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS,
AND LORD OF LORDS.
Now the very fitting the words of the
apostle Paul in the
Book of Timothy concerning our soon coming King of kings and Lord of
lords:
1 Tim.
6:11-16
But thou, O
man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness,
godliness,
faith, love, patience, meekness.
[12]
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou
art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many
witnesses.
[13]
I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and
before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good
confession;
[14]
That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the
appearing
of our Lord Jesus Christ:
[15]
Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only
Potentate,
the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
[16] Who
only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach
unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power
everlasting.
Amen.
Amen.
Christ is coming to make war
(Rev. 19:14-15) and to subdue
all nations, taking all their "crowns", and placing them all under His
rod of correction. We observed Him returning with His armies, who rode
upon white horses, and were clothed with fine white linen, meaning
their
righteous acts.
Just wait until you see this army
of the Host of Heaven
led by the King of kings! It will truly be an awesome sight to behold!
Of course when we read about the horses we wonder if these horses are
real
horses like "Trigger" or "Secretariat" or "Silver". Well, not exactly.
Do you remember in 2 Kings chapter 6 when Elisha and the young man were
surrounded by a host of enemy horses and chariots, and how Elisha
prayed
to the Father to reveal the heavenly army to the young man?
2 Kings
6:17
And Elisha prayed,
and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the
LORD
opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain
was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
These "horses" and "flaming chariots" are
the same as the
highly polished metallic flying circular vehicles described by Ezekiel
in chapters 1 and 10 of his book. To describe them as high-tech, even
using
the terminology from the knowledge we possess in this space age, would
be a gross understatement.
Live Links to- Ezekiel chapters 1
and 10
In any event, when Christ returns
to make war at the sound
of the 7th Trump, we read that His armies will follow Him. It is at
this
time that His Kingdom will be ushered in, which is to say that His
Millennial
reign will begin. This is one statement to which most everyone agrees.
But there is something which happens at Christ's return which is a
"mystery"
to most.
Do you recall how many times
we've said that an understanding
of the rest of the Bible is essential in order to come to the fullness
of the understanding of the Book of Revelation? That makes sense,
doesn't
it? You can't just pick up a book and read the last chapter or two and
understand the whole book, can you?
Here's what we said:
"Plus, if you've
studied, i.e. read with understanding,
the entire Bible from the beginning, from Genesis on, line by line then
you will completely understand this chapter, for as we said from the
opening
study, there is nothing really new in the Book of Revelation that
hasn't
been discussed before in God's Word. It's just that in this Book of the
Unveiling, this PICTURE BOOK, prophecy is all tied together and
simplified
for our understanding."
And so it is that we are about to SEE
another very graphic
PICTURE of what happens when Jesus Christ returns at the 7th Trump.
That
event is that ALL of mankind will be instantly changed from flesh (terrestrial) to
spiritual (celestial)
bodies. The apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 15 spoke of this event which he
called
a "mystery".
Of course he then revealed it, i.e. explained it, in very
simple language so that it is a "mystery" no more. And here in
Revelation
that same "mystery" is revealed in PICTURE format (for this picture
oriented
final generation).
So before we see the picture, let
us first understand
what Paul said. The subject is he is addressing is the death and
resurrection
of the body from flesh to spirit:
1 Cor.
15:44
It is sown a
natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body,
and
there is a spiritual body.
Paul has gone to great lengths in this
15th chapter to let
us know that we have two bodies and that when we die, the flesh is gone
and we are then elevated, raised, resurrected, born again, into celestial bodies, just as Jesus said we must be, in John 3:3, to see the kingdom of God.
1 Cor.
15:50 Now this I say,
brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;
neither
doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Remember, Paul is about to show us a
mystery, an event that
will occur at the 7th Trump when Jesus returns, but he first wants to
prepare
our minds and remind us that flesh bodies cannot enter into
the Millennium,
i.e. the kingdom of God, which will begin on this earth when Christ
returns.
So the question is "How will Christ handle all the people who
are alive
and remain when He returns?"
Paul explains it and makes it
very simple for us to understand,
which I guess is why it is a "mystery" to most.
[51]
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all
be changed,
We are not all going to die (as we know
natural death). But
we will ALL be changed (born again) into our spiritual bodies! We will document that
ALL means everyone when we return to Revelation.
And about how long, and precisely
when will this change
of bodies take place?
[52]
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the
trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall
be
changed.
"Just like that" at the "last trump", i.e.
instantly when
Jesus Christ returns!
Now don't let the phrase "the
dead shall be raised incorruptible"
cause you to switch subjects in the middle of a sentence.
The subject
is
the change of bodies from flesh to spirit. We read in verse 51 that it
is ALL who are changed and here in verse 52 Paul breaks it down into
two
categories. (1) The "dead", who are the "spiritually dead", i.e. the
figuratively
dead, as in still liable to die the second death (the death of their soul) (see appendix 139 in the Companion Bible regarding the different
use
of the word nekros translated "dead" in the NT).
They too will be
elevated, or raised to incorruptible bodies, and (2) we Christians also!
Paul is simply saying both the
good and the bad, those
who are saved and those who aren't, will be changed into celestial bodies, i.e. ALL, EVERYONE!
[53]
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put
on immortality.
You see documented in this verse that the
change of body
from flesh to spirit, i.e. from corruptible to incorruptible (which
happens
to ALL), is not the same as receiving eternal life which is to be
elevated
from a mortal soul to an immortal soul, which happens only to those who
partake of the 1st Raising to eternal life, or the 1st Resurrection to
Immortality. In other words there is a "resurrection" from the flesh to
the spiritual body, and there is also a "resurrection" from mortality to
immortality!
The resurrection from flesh to spirit bodies happens to ALL at Christ's
return, but the resurrection from mortality to immortality happens only
to those who are His at His coming. The rest must wait until the 2nd
Resurrection
to immortality after the Millennium, and though they also will be in
spiritual
bodies throughout the Millennium, they will be referred to as the
"dead".
You see, the "dead" (spiritually) will still STAND before judgment.
"Dead" is
a reference to the condition of their soul, not the status of their bodies.
They are not
corpses who stand, they are still mortal souls!
They just didn't make it in
the
1st resurrection.
It is that their soul is still liable to die for it is
still
mortal and subject to the second death, and that is where they are
headed
if they don't shape up during the Millennium.
We will read of them in
chapter
20 of Revelation.
And so there is much confusion in
the ranks of Christianity
concerning the subject of "resurrection" because of the lack of
understanding
of the use of the word "nekros" and the failing to understand the
simplicity
of the "mystery" that Paul explains in 1 Cor. 15.
So we have learned from the
apostle Paul that ALL flesh
will be changed when Christ returns, and it is at that point to which
we
have arrived in Rev. 19.
Here then is the PICTURE of the end of all
flesh
at the sound of the 7th Trump:
Rev.
19:17
And I saw an
angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to
all
the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves
together
unto the supper of the great God;
The circling buzzards and birds are going
to have a great
feast at this event! There will be flesh and blood bodies lying all over the place!
The original texts read "to the
great supper of God".
The word "supper" used is here is the Greek word "deipnon"
which comes from "dapane",
dap-an'-ay, Greek #1160; from
dapto (to devour); expense (as consuming) :- cost.
Again, don't be confused and
bring in subjects that are
not being discussed. This verse is not talking about the marriage
supper
of the Lamb which takes place later. Jesus Christ is returning and the
flesh age is over; all mankind will be changed into their spiritual
bodies. Some changed into their spiritual bodies, already having received immortality, i.e, eternal life & some changed into their spiritual
bodies, but still mortal, i.e. not yet receiving eternal life. Their condition will remain as such for the Millennium, after which time, they will be judged at the "Great White Throne" by their works, during the Millennium. Some will be awarded eternal life at the end of the Millennium & some will perish in the "Lake of Fire"! And they will be no more.
[8]
That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the
flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on
them,
and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
Here is the verse that documents that the
word "all" in 1
Cor. 15:52 means "everyone" both small and great and not just
Christians.
So do you get the PICTURE that
there will be a lot of
carcasses lying around for the birds to feast on and clean up? Pretty
graphic
isn't it?
[19]
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies,
gathered
together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his
army.
We see here the 10 kings and the armies
which Satan has gathered
together in Jerusalem to make war with the Lamb. Let's switch to the
Book
of Zechariah and SEE a PICTURE of their fate at the 7th Trump.
The 14th chapter of the Book of
Zechariah gives us this
same account of Christ's return when His feet touch down upon the Mount
of Olives. Remember we just read in Rev. 19:18 that "ALL FLESH" is
going
to be consume away at His return and that includes the earthly kings
and
their armies which Satan has gathered at Jerusalem to make war against
the Lamb.
Zech.
14:12
And this shall
be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have
fought
against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon
their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their
tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
Yep, their flesh is gone too! (Perhaps
this was a bit "over
dramatized" by the translators in 1611 but we've got the PICTURE.)
Rev.
19:20 And the beast was
taken, and with him
the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he
deceived
them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped
his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with
brimstone.
Again, be careful not switch subjects
here, but to rightly
divide the Word. We are reading about the events surrounding the return
of Jesus Christ, and not of the judgment after the Millennium and "the"
lake of fire which causes the second death. For the sake of clarity in
understanding, reading "a" lake of fire as it is translated here
instead
of "the" lake of fire will help. Why? Because
this verse is simply saying that the "one world political system", i.e.
the political beast, and the false prophet, which is Satan's role as
the
false-christ, will also be consumed away for ever and ever, GONE!
This
is Babylon the Great being "utterly burned with fire" as we read in
Rev.
18:8!
Now let's think for a moment. We
know that Satan will
be loosed for a short time after the Millennium to be used as a final
test
for those who go through the Millennium. But he will NOT be
given
a one political system again (for Christ is taking charge as King of
kings
forever when He returns), nor will he afforded the role as false
Messiah
again, i.e. the false prophet
Here's verse 21 to complete the
19th chapter:
Rev.
19:21 And the remnant
were slain with the
sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his
mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
This verse concludes the narrative
contained in the three
verses 19, 20 and 21 which all begin with "And". John is
simply telling
us (vs. 19) that he saw the beast and the armies gathered together to
make
war, (20) and Babylon the Great was "utterly burned with fire" as we
read
in 18:8, and (21) everyone else was changed from flesh (terrestrial) bodies to
spiritual (celestial)
bodies.
Again, I hope you can see that
there is nothing new here
that we haven't read of before! We are reading the final chapters of
the
Word of God. We should know all of this before we get to this point.
Revelation
is simply the uncovering, a final Pictorial Look at the events
consummating
the end of this age, i.e. it is mostly summary material.
In chapter 20 we will go into and
even pass through the
Millennium to that final judgment when all that is evil and wicked is
consumed
away in the lake of fire and the 3rd Heaven and 3rd Earth age, which
will
exist for all eternity, is finally come!
How truly exciting is the
Revelation from our Father to
those who have eyes to see and ears to hear!
To study the Bible
is the noblest of all pursuits;
to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the
guidance of the Holy
Spirit, you accomplish both.
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