Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible ® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission.
www.Lockman.org
REVELATION CHAPTERS 16 & 17
KJV
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1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God."
Rev 16,1-21
(49c) Judgment
>>
Enemies of God’s righteousness are destroyed
(Armageddon) – Remember that some of the plagues from the
seals and trumpets are still affecting the earth, causing different effects
that the bowls will claim. Also keep in mind that the iconic image of
endtimes, a darkened sky where the sun no longer gives its light and where the
moon turns blood red, is stated many times throughout the Old Testament, also
in Revelation chapter six. This image of endtimes is not iconic to the bowls,
because the Church is already gone, but it is iconic to the seals and
trumpets. Nevertheless, these plagues still afflict the earth during the bowls
and will come back to haunt the inhabitants of the earth in a couple very
disastrous ways. Recall that the sixth seal was a massive earthquake, and
after that the first trumpet called for “hail and fire mixed with blood, and
they were thrown to the earth…” (Rev 8-7). The earthquake triggered a huge
volcano that erupted, spewing red soot into the air, which fell to the earth
with the appearance of blood wherever it rained. Once the bowls began to
unfurl, some of the same plagues of the trumpets were repeated, only on a
grander scale. Some plagues of the past have had the sound of asteroids
hitting the earth (Rev 8-8), which would have the effect of triggering very
large earthquakes that God has prepared for this particular day and hour,
which in turn triggered super volcanoes, that too for thousands of years were
on the verge of erupting and finally did. This explains the oceans turning
blood red. Many of the asteroids > earthquakes > volcanoes occurred
during the trumpets, when it says it did not rain on the earth for 3 ½ years.
Therefore, the second bowl is the result of rain finally returning, but
instead of it blessing the earth, it became a curse, pulling this red soot
from the air and dropping it into the oceans, turning them blood red, lowering
the PH levels so that every living thing in them died. When the rain returned
to the land, it did the same thing to the springs and rivers, poisoning all
the fresh water of the earth, so that no one had anything to drink. This soot
is so fine an ash that when it enters water it becomes colloidal, meaning
permanently suspended, so that no filter is fine enough to filter it out of
solution.
(49h)
Judgment >> God judges the world >> The last days >> The day
of judgment – Judgment belongs to God only, and He is
unwilling to share this authority with anyone, so in many respects this was
God’s way of becoming intimate with the unbelievers of the world who received
the mark of the beast and worshipped his image and refused to receive the
cleansing blood of Jesus Christ for their sin or worship the living God of
heaven. Even though this was a display of His wrath, yet it was a way of
cleansing the people outside the blood of Christ. However, pouring these seven
bowls of wrath on them will not cleanse them to an acceptable manner with God,
since this was the blood of the saints and their blood is not perfect like His Son, who
alone can cleanse from sin. He will have to send them to hell and continuously
cleans them for an eternity before they will be pure enough for God’s
standards. Fortunately for the people of God, we took a shortcut and let Jesus
cleans us with His blood, which purified us sufficiently for God’s standards,
so we have bypassed the eternal sentence of hell.
(250h)
Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Sequence of priorities
>> The first is a precondition for what comes after it (Cause and effect)
– Keep in mind that the seals, the trumpets and
the bowls are all additive, meaning just because John the revelator quit
mentioning them doesn't mean they have gone away. In other words, now that the
world is experiencing the bowls doesn't mean the consequences of the seals are no longer plaguing the world. Also, throughout the book of Revelation we
have seen a cause and effect system at work. For example in the seals, the world
economic system collapsed, causing the global monetary
system came to a screeching halt, which brought about riots and unrest, and then
hunger and death, and then wars and desperation, until people were willing to
receive the mark of the beast just to live. The trumpets were also based on a
cause and effect system; they tried killing God's two witnesses, who were
raining plagues on them, sounding the trumpets. The bowls are no different; people developed a malignant sore
as a result of receiving the mark of the beast. The word “malignant” means this sore
was
capable of spreading throughout the body and was probably fatal. Basically,
everyone developed cancer who took the mark, inferring that the
mark inadvertently gave them this sore. They apparently did not do enough
research on this microchip, which may have released toxic chemicals into their system, possibly heavy metals like
mercury, causing malignant sores.
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Rev 16,1-12
(15j)
Servant >> Angels execute Judgment >> In regard to the world – These verses go with verse
17
(47f)
Judgment >> God Judges the world >> Hell is a place of torment –
The people cursed God and grumbled that it never rains; then God said, ‘Do you want rain? Here
it is.’ Man has become thirsty from a lack of rain on the earth, then
the waters are poisoned and his thirst continues, though groundwater is
unaffected if there is any, since man has been pumping it from the earth for
the last 3 ½ years without its supply being replenished. During some of the
plagues of the trumpets, God has allowed hell to manifest itself, being so
anxious to receive its inhabitants that it can’t wait any longer, crawling
out of the bottomless pit that emits smoke and soot, while death drags its
victims into its lair of darkness (Revelation chapter nine). So again during
the bowls, God allows hell to manifest in the form of a deep thirst as Jesus
described in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16,19-31). By taking
away all the fresh water of the earth, man will become parched with no water
to drink. The rich man was in
pain being burned with fire, yet this was nothing compared to the thirst he
suffered as a result of the flame. There is no water in hell, so he longed
for Lazarus to dip his finger into the water that he saw across
this impassible chasm, that Lazarus might touch a single drop of water to
his tongue “…for I am in agony in this flame.” This judgment of
excessive thirst is reminiscent of their future, when death claims their
lifeless bodies and pulls their souls into a hellish thirst they will never
satisfy throughout all eternity. The plagues of the trumpets and bowls
depict hell reaching up
and tormenting mankind before the time.
(49f) Judgment
>>
Enemies of the prophets are destroyed
(186h)
Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate
>> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> Being unable to
repent – It says that they did not repent, but they
could not repent because they had received the mark of the beast, which
automatically carries the sentence of hell. Everyone who receives the mark
has a reprobate mind and are incapable of repentance. They are just like the
Pharisees in Jesus’ day, who also were incapable of repentance no matter
what Jesus said or did. Jesus told them, “How will you escape the sentence
of hell” (Mat 23-33).
(245g) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestations >> Manifestation of God’s
righteous judgment >> Manifestation of God’s
justice -- These verses go with verses 18-21. God is executing judgment against the world from
the standpoint of the temple in the Holy of Holies, as mentioned in Rev
15-5, “the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened,”
meaning there was a temple in heaven, which is a temple in itself, referring
then to the Most Holy
Place. All of God’s people are welcome in the Holy of Holies; in fact,
prayer is designated to leads us into His Most Holy Presence. However, no one was allowed in the temple during this period of
judgment. Not even the seven angels who had the seven plagues were allowed
in the temple while God was executing judgment against the world, as it says
in Rev 15-6, “The seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the
temple.” God reserves the right to judge His creation and shares that
authority with no one.
Rev 16,1-7
(189f)
Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man
>> Martyr >> Martyrs bring about the judgment of God – Take verses 5&6 from Revelation chapter
16 and the entire book of Revelation would just be a hodgepodge of strange
occurrences, terrifying wars, weird descriptions of creatures, scenes in heaven
and mystifying judgments from God. Verses 5&6 explain the reason behind the bowls. The world shed
the blood of the saints for the opportunity to participate in Satan’s money
system powered by the mark of the beast. This is why God is judging the world;
this is why there is endtime prophecy. Martyring the saints is what closed the
curtain on the age of grace. The point of Revelation is: don’t mess with
God’s worshipers. There have been many dark and evil days in the past, such as
during Hitler’s reign of terror, but the world didn’t come to an end, why?
God’s worshipers were left out of the mix. Hitler didn’t martyr the saints.
He may have martyred many Jews, but they were unbelieving Jews. They may have
been Abraham’s offspring, but they weren’t God’s people, spiritually
speaking, for God’s people have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. God's true
worshippers have incorporated Jesus Christ into the very fabric of their being,
whereas unbelieving Jews are the same as unbelieving gentiles in that both
don’t believe in Jesus. Had Hitler murdered Jews who actually believed in
Jesus, everything that is written in the book of Revelation would have taken
place then instead of in the near future. The difference between murdering unbelievers and murdering the saints is huge. Faith in
Jesus was the only thing missing from the fulfillment of endtime prophecy during
the days of Hitler.
Rev 16-1,2
(50k)
Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations
>> bowls of God's
judgment
>> First bowl - Loathsome and malignant sore
Rev 16-1
(106c) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Hearing from God >> Attaining the hearing ear >>
Knowing the sound of His voice >> Flowing with
the wind of His voice
(115e)
Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through your
ministry >> By the word of God
– It was not actually the seven angels who were
executing judgment; rather, it was God, and He was using the seven angels to
pour out the bowls of His mighty wrath. God’s wrath was not actually
contained in the bowls; they merely symbolized His wrath, yet had the angels
not poured out the bowls on the world, God would not have executed His wrath.
Therefore, God performs all His works through faithfulness and obedience that
He expects from in
His creation. It wasn’t the angels who did the work; it was God who
did the work through the angels.
(231i)
Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Body of
Christ is the organism of God’s kingdom >> Jesus is the head of His
body’s kingdom >> To be in Christ is to be in the great city
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2-11 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image. 3 The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea died. 4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying, "Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; 6 for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it." 7 And I heard the altar saying, "Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments." 8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire.
9 Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory. 10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, 11 and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds.
Rev 16-2
(194f) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Turn from sin to God >> Hate evil >>
Condemning sin >> Judging evil –
This sounds like skin cancer. Some say it is the result of taking the Mark of
the Beast; whatever materials were used in this chip gave the people cancer.
It is also just as possible that it is the result of a nuclear holocaust with
all the radiation that was spilled on the earth. Either way, it is the first
of many bowls to come that God will pour on the ungodly. The world has been
evil in the past; look what man did in the two great world wars; millions of
people lost their lives, and everybody lived in abject misery during those
times, but God did not judge mankind for those wars; rather, war was itself a
judgment from God. Basically man was judging himself for disobeying God and
rejecting His Son. If the world will not receive the Son of God, then it will
go to war, but if it receives Him, wars will end, and they did end for a
season; there were no wars in the first and second century, but in the third
century war resumed and has continued to this day. The reason God will judge
the world in the last days is because of the unanimous decision to martyr the
saints. That is something that has never been done; there has always been
persecution; many Christians have lost their lives in the past; even today
Christians are being murdered for their faith, but never has the entire world
come into agreement to exterminate the Church. Many thousands of Christians
will lose their lives in the last days, and God will judge mankind for doing
it. He did not judge the world for the holocaust against the Jews, His chosen
people according to the flesh, because they did not believe in Jesus, but
those who are chosen according to the Spirit, no one better lay a hand on
them, lest they receive the full brunt of God's fury.
Rev 16-3
(50k)
Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations
>> bowls of God's
judgment
>> Second bowl - Sea turned to blood, killing everything in
it
Rev 16,4-7
(50k)
Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations
>> bowls of God's
judgment
>> Third bowl - Poisoned all the fresh water of the
earth
Rev 16,5-7
(40l) Judgment
>>
God is glorified >> God defends His
righteousness through judgment
Rev 16-5,6
(75d) Thy kingdom come
>>
Motives of the heart >> God’s motives
(189d) Martyr
(Key verse)
(218d) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over
man >> Reaping the harvest >>
We choose our actions, not their consequences >>
God controls the consequences of our actions – Definition of
Martyrdom: God's people
who are given an early pass into the Kingdom of Heaven with honors. Not only is God judging
the world with thirst,
He’s judging them with a surrogate blood of the saints, proving that God is
pouring His wrath on the world because they poured out the blood of His saints
during the seals of Satan’s wrath. Just like disciplining a dog, you spank him as he is disobeying so he makes the connection between his behavior and
the consequences.
(242a) Kingdom of God
>>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the
death >> Killing God’s prophets
Rev 16-5
(133a) Temple
>>
Your body is the temple of God >> Holiness >>
God is holy >> The Father is holy
Rev 16-8,9
(50k)
Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations
>> bowls of God's
judgment
>> Forth bowl - Sun scorched the earth with fire
(104c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Purifying process >> Purified by fire >>
Purified through fiery judgment
Rev 16,9-11
(18i) Sin >>
Twisted thinking >> Unable to distinguish between good and evil >> God’s
purpose is evil – The fourth bowl was the sun scorching the
earth and the very next bowl, the fifth bowl, dictates that it no longer
shines on the earth. I can just hear man grumbling and complaining
that the sun is too hot, and God saying, 'Ok, I'll turn it off for you.' All
these plagues contained in the bowls of God's judgments are depictions of
what it is like to be in hell, which is where most of the inhabitants of
earth are going, shortly. God has introduced them to loathsome sores that do
not heal, then to severe thirst, then to fierce heat, and now to a darkness
that makes man gnaw his tongues because of pain. It is unlikely that anything happened to the
sun to darken Satan’s kingdom, so most likely it is something here on
earth that caused the sun to no longer shine, and the most likely cause is
described by a couple verses of Scripture that virtually defines the last
days, Joel 2-30,31 “I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth,
blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and
the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the
LORD.” Now Joel is speaking of a time before the Church is raptured, but
John the revelator is referring to a time after the catching-up of the
saints. The thing about endtime prophecy is that many of the same plagues that
occurred during the seals and trumpets will occur again during the bowls, only
with greater intensity, and this includes Joel’s description of smoke. Being
that smoke and ash, emitted from super-volcanoes, is the most likely cause of this darkness, inhaling this polluted air would
burn people’s lungs to the point of making them gnaw their tongues because
of pain. This plague is reminiscent of some of the biblical descriptions of
hell (smoke and darkness), so again we have hell reaching up and tormenting its inhabitants before
death pulls them into its lair of eternal damnation. Some people think God is evil for doing this, but He is only giving
people what they want. They wanted Satan's darkness and now God is giving it
to them.
(157i) Witness
>>
Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being
hell-bound >> Having a reprobate mind
(181b) Works of the devil
>>
Practicing witchcraft >> Rebellion >>
Rebelling against God >> Rebelling against the
witness of God -- These verses go with verses 17-21
(186b) Works of the devil
>>
The result of lawlessness >> Blasphemy >>
Cursing the Holy Spirit >> Consider the work
of the Holy Spirit to be sin -- These verses go with verse 21
(201i) Denying Christ
>>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >>
Running from God >> Man’s will over God >>
Man is unwilling to repent
(202i) Denying Christ
>>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >>
Running from God >> Running from walking in
faith >> Running from God through disobedience
-- These verses go with verse 21
Rev 16-10,11
(50k)
Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations
>> bowls of God's
judgment
>> Fifth bowl - Throne of the beast was darkened
(53k) Paradox
>>
Opposites >> What I used to think >>
I thought sinners liked darkness – The Bible teaches that the devil dwells in darkness; since the devil
likes darkness so much, God thought He would give Him a little to accommodate
his kingdom, but apparently he doesn’t like God’s version of darkness.
This is God giving sinners what they want only on His terms. Sinners worship
Satan's darkness, so God is giving them darkness, and they gnawed their
tongues because of it. So, if
Satan and his servants get what they want, will it make them happy? Absolutely
not! So many of the things that we lust for and desire could never make us
happy. This is why it is important to serve the Lord, though we may not always
be convinced He can make us happy, it is one of God's promises that He will
fill our lives with purpose and joy if we persevere in our service to Him.
Satan is just the opposite of serving God. He promises to make us happy and
for a season it seems true, but ultimately the world, the flesh and the devil
lets us down if we serve them, so we might as well stick with serving
God.
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12-14 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east.
13 And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; 14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
Rev 16,12-16
(50k)
Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations
>> bowls of God's
judgment
>> Sixth bowl - Preparations for the war against
God – The bowls of God’s fierce wrath have upended the
dragon's empire, financed by the false prophet, and as a result, the
antichrist went from ruling a highly sophisticated society to controlling a
lot of spear chuckers. It says out of their mouths proceeded demons,
“three unclean spirits like frogs.” Here again is an occurrence of
demons in the book of Revelation as creatures of various shapes, sizes and
deformities with the appearance of animals, often ugly and grotesque. It
says that frogs held the closest resemblance to them. These demonic spirits
of deception targeted the leaders of nations and confused them to come
together against Israel to wipe Jerusalem off the map in the war of Armageddon. This war would be fought just outside the city. Jesus Himself
will ambush them in the valley of Megiddo and make war with them with the
sword of His mouth, meaning that He will say something to His enemies, just
like He did at His capture on the night of His betrayal, and they all fell
to the ground (Jn 18,4-6). It was as though he shot blanks at them
that night because His hour had come and the power of darkness was theirs,
but this hour belonged to Jesus and the power of God was behind Him, so when
He spoke (probably the same words, "I am He") they all fell to the
ground as before, but this time they will not get up. The sixth bowl seems
the least severe of all, just like the seventh trumpet, yet it is the
precursor for the war of Armageddon, which is iconic to endtime prophecy.
Anybody who does not go to war against Jerusalem (those who are absent in the valley of
Megiddo on that day) will be saved, but everyone there will be destroyed.
Rev 16-12
(8i)
Responsibility >> Responsible to defend God's cause
>>
Preparing for Judgment
– The sixth bowl does not seem very severe, yet
ironically the ramifications of this bowl will later become man’s greatest
downfall. The sixth bowl enables the army of the nations to cross the
Euphrates River in order to access Jerusalem for the purpose of destroying it,
except that God is protecting the holy city, so that when this last tyrannical
army of man comes against the city of God, He will destroy them, which will
account for most of the men on earth. The River Euphrates dried up as a result
of past plagues, such as in the days of the two witnesses when it did not rain
on the earth for 3 ½ years, supplemented by the fourth bowl of a scorching
sun, we have the Euphrates River turning to a trickle. This indicates how
technologically civilization has declined, starting at a point of
advancement to being able to implement a world-wide computerized system of
keeping track of every man, woman and child with the mark of the beast, which
is basically a description of our own day and time, to now attacking Jerusalem
only because the Euphrates River inadvertently dried up, otherwise they would
not have been able to cross it. Today, if we wanted to make war, we wouldn’t
care if there were a River Euphrates in the way; it would not have even been
an issue. We would just send our F-16s and bomber planes over there and bomb
them into oblivion. Therefore, the sixth bowl is a depiction of man regressing
to the Stone Age.
(65c) Paradox
>>
Anomalies >> God helps Satan >>
God unites Satan’s efforts to make war with Jesus – There has been no other time in history when
man has been capable of implementing the mark of the beast until now.
Even in the eighties we weren’t sophisticated enough to do this, so the book
of Revelation is depicting quite a fall of mankind in a very short period of
time, approximately a decade. Here we are in the 21st century and
the big push in society is technology; this shouldn’t surprise those who are
following biblical prophecy, but by the time the sixth bowl comes along a
technological society is no longer feasible because of the havoc that Satan
has reeked against mankind and because of God’s judgments that have pummeled
the earth, making the conveniences that we enjoy today impossible. At this point man is
living as in the days of approximately 13th century, standing along
the Euphrates River scratching their heads, wondering how to get such a large
army across it, then suddenly it dries up, and they say, ‘Well, that solves
that problem.’ They probably said, ‘Look how stupid God is to let the
river dry up so we can cross it to get at His people to destroy them and His
holy city.’ Does this sound familiar, how about Moses parting the Reed Sea?
It is just about the same scenario repeating itself. In other words, God
is helping Satan to accomplish his goals, but instead of Satan accomplishing
his will, God will completely fulfilled His plans as usual.
Rev 16,13-16
(160g) Works of the devil
>>
Essential characteristics >> Satan’s attitude
determines our direction >> Led by the devil to
fight against God –
The
war of Armageddon happens near the end of the Book of Revelation, the
so-called war against God, which is just a slaughter, fought by reprobates
after receiving the mark of the beast, having committed themselves to obeying
Satan, who will use his accursed people to try one more time to somehow kill
Jesus, though both man and demon failed while He was clothed in the weakness
of human flesh, how less likely are they to kill Him in His glorified state?
(215g) Sovereignty
>>
God controls time >> Suddenly >>
The judgments of God come suddenly >> Without
warning –
Jesus said, “For the sake of the elect those days will be cut short” (Mat
24-22). He didn’t say that the numbers of martyrs will be shortened but the
number of days, so the antichrist simply won’t have time to kill everybody.
This means he will be behind schedule, on the run, always trying to catch-up.
The War of Armageddon occurs just before Jesus returns to the earth and sets
foot on the Mount of Olives. Those who remain on the earth will all come
together in one place, just outside of Jerusalem, and they will fight against
God, and their numbers will be small. It doesn’t say they will be a cloud of
humanity or numbers that cannot be counted; maybe just a few thousand will
remain from the once great populations of the earth but have dwindled from the
Trumpets and the Bowls of God fierce wrath. They will be coming against
Jerusalem, but when God intervenes, they will turn their attention on Christ
in effort to somehow destroy Him. They will be out of their minds, having only
swords and clubs for weapons to fight against God. By this time, people’s
reasoning ability will have left them.
Rev 16-13,14
(65h) Paradox
>>
Anomalies >> Satan unites the world for the
cause of deception -- These verses go with verse 16
(145j) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Demon possession >>
Human state >> Their behavior >>
Immoral spirits
(163k) Works of the devil
>>
Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >>
Entertaining demons >> Disciplined by the devil
as a son -- These verses go with verse 16
(164d) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >>
Satan rules the world >> Satan is a tyrant over
the world -- These verses go with verse 16
(183d) Works of the devil
>>
The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >>
Witchcraft >> Anointing of error
Rev 16-13
(159k) Works of the devil
>>
Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >>
Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit anointing >>
Counterfeit signs and wonders
(245k) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestations >> Manifestations of the
devil >> Manifestation of sin
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15&16 ("Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.") 16 And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called
Har-Magedon.
Rev 16-15
(4j)
Responsibility >> The choices you
make >> Accountable for your deeds –
The
last days are a unique time; they cannot be compared with any other time in
history. Being a Christian in those days will not be a cakewalk, but will be
one of the most excruciating times to be alive. It will be the opportunity to view
the world through the eyes of Christ. As you can see in this verse, losing your robe will not be
an uncommon thing. Garments are a symbol of our deeds. The garments that
Jesus is advocating is in reference to the statement Jesus made in Mat 24-12, “And because lawlessness will
abound, the love of many will grow cold.” Although the Church will no
longer be on the earth at this time, the remnant will still be here (those who
did not take the mark of the beast, but did not believe in Jesus at the time
of the Rapture, but have since believed in Him). Jesus is therefore speaking
directly to the remnant, telling them to make
sure to stay in touch with Holy Spirit who lives in their hearts, who will
direct them in the ways of love in a loveless world.
(49i) Judgment
>> Judgment day
>>
It will come like a thief in the night
(69b) Authority >> Discernment >> Discerning the
Truth
(84a) Thy kingdom come
>>
Be on the alert >> Remain on duty >>
Stay awake – He is talking to the post-Rapture people,
saying there is still hope for some so long as they haven’t taken the mark
of the beast.
(92d) Thy kingdom come
>>
The narrow way >> Trail of good works >>
Putting on His good works – Clothes,
in the Bible, represent our good works that are acceptable to God. Nakedness
therefore represents a person who is not saved, who has no acceptable good
works. Consequently, God cites the unbeliever with public nudity, but they are
unaware that they are naked because they are sleepwalking. They need to
develop a God-consciousness, and the first step in doing that is to get saved.
This first warning, “Blessed is he who stays awake,” suggests that God
equates falling asleep to indecent exposure. Imagine the shame of public
nudity, and then imagine the shame of standing in front of God without a
stitch of clothing.
Jesus
said, “Behold, I am coming like a thief,” meaning He cannot tell us when
He will arrive. For this reason Jesus said more often than anything else in
the gospels, “Stay on the alert,” especially in reference to endtime
prophecy. Falling asleep takes us back to the parable of the Ten Virgins, when
both the wise and foolish fell asleep during the night (obviously, this
passage is talking about the foolish virgins). Instead of napping and keeping
one eye open, they bedded down for the night. They got comfortable and took
off their clothes, and were committed to getting a good night sleep. Their
consciousness of God fell asleep. On earth, clothes represent the knowledge of
God and righteousness, not the righteousness of God but our righteousness that
we derive from working with His grace. Conversely, in heaven clothes represent
the knowledge of sin and righteousness, not our righteousness but God’s
righteousness, in that He had to clothe Adam and Eve after they sinned and
learned the meaning of evil, and God had to kill an animal to clothe them,
symbolizing Christ (Genesis 3-21,22). In heaven we will have the knowledge of
sin, yet we will be without sin, for God has forgiven us and made us holy.
(93a) Thy kingdom come
>>
The narrow way >> Keep yourself on the narrow
way
(99d) Thy kingdom come
>> Endurance (Thorn in
the flesh) >> Enduring the will of God >>
Endure abiding in Him
(100e) Thy kingdom come
>>
Diligence >> Diligence in the sight of God
(102a) Thy kingdom come
>>
Ambitious to fulfill God’s calling >> To see
God’s will in your life
(113a) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> The anointing >> Heaven’s clothes >>
Protection >> Covering
(127k) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Goodness >>
Rewards for doing good >> Doing good hides your
shame
(153d) Witness
>>
Validity of the Father >> God bears witness
against the world >> Shame >>
Hiding under a cloud of guilt >> Your sin will
find you out
(190g) Die to self (Process of substitution) >>
Separation from the old man >> Circumcision >>
Undressing >> Naked before God
(206k) Salvation
>>
God makes promises on His terms >> Eternal
security? >> Perish in your sin >> Perish in your omission
of righteousness –
Jesus said, “Bless is he who… keeps his garments [on].” This paints a
word picture of a person falling asleep and then taking off all his clothes
and publicly walking in the buff. The fact that they were wearing clothes
indicates they were Christians, and then they spiritually fell asleep and were
unaware that they had taken off their clothes in the night and were publicly
naked, until the angel sounded and they suddenly awakened to find themselves
naked in front of everybody. The Christian who loses his consciousness of God
is the first step to falling asleep and exposing himself before God and man.
Many people think it is impossible to lose their salvation, but they can. They
must modify half the Bible in order to continue believing their Eternal
Security doctrine. We are all naked before God for that matter, but this
verse clearly has a negative context. Eternal security advocates will have to
say about this verse that born-again Christians took off their clothes and
stood naked before God. They might say they were disobedient. If we take off
our shirt, we could put it back on, and if we take off our pants, we could
always put them back on, but if we take off all our clothes, it indicates that
we quit believing in Jesus.
Rev 16-16
(65h) Paradox
>>
Anomalies >> Satan unites the world for the
cause of deception -- This verse goes with verses 13&14
(163k) Works of the devil
>>
Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >>
Entertaining demons >> Disciplined by the devil
as a son -- This verse goes with verses 13&14. In
Mat
24-22 when
Jesus said that if He didn’t intervene, all life would be destroyed, almost
all of life was destroyed anyway, and in this war of Armageddon, those who
remain will be destroyed, so who is left? There will be a yet smaller group
living in Jerusalem consisting of a few hundred, hiding underground in the
catacombs, but as things grow dim for their enemies, they will surface and
await the arrival of their Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. These are the real left-behind
ones from the Rapture, who survived the Bowls of God’s judgment, and these
will be the people who will repopulate the earth during the Millennium. These
are the ones he meant when He said no life would have been saved had He not
intervened, the handful of people that were alive at His return.
(164d) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >>
Satan rules the world >> Satan is a tyrant over
the world -- This verse goes with verses 13&14
KJV
NAS
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17-21 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, "It is done." 18 And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.
Rev 16,17-21
(49b)
Judgment >> Nations are destroyed >> God judges the nations
through the Church
–
There is mention of this earthquake in Heb
12,25-29, verse 26 saying, “At that time his voice shook the earth, but now
he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the
heavens.’” Note that the angel of the seventh bowl poured it upon the air,
the atmosphere, that is, upon the heaven surrounding the earth, where Satan once ruled the
world, suggesting that it will simultaneously kick-off a lot of volcanoes in
the process, further suggesting that when God said, “It is finished” the whole world
heard it in the same way that they once heard the voice of the devil echoing
in their minds as the prince of the power of the air. The writer of Hebrews is using this earthquake as a metaphor
for shaking sin from the Church, referring to a time from the seals to the
bowls, specifically this terrific earthquake, using it as a gradient of
severity intrinsic to endtime prophecy from less to greater intensity, also
standing for a gradient of manifestations from a figurative shaking of the Church
to the most powerful earthquake the world has ever seen. This
earthquake is the ultimate judgment of God, yet God promises to judge the Church
before He judges the world, according to1Pet 4,17-19, “For
it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with
us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And,
‘If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the
ungodly and the sinner?’ So then, those who suffer according to God's will
should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”
In other words, God has already shaken His people long before this earthquake
occurs. In fact, you could say that the seals stand for God’s shaking
judgment on the Church, since it is the complacency of the Church that allowed
Satan to manifest himself in society in the first place.
(50k) Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations
>> bowls of God's
judgment
>> Seventh bowl - Greatest earthquake in human history
(181b) Works of the devil
>>
Practicing witchcraft >> Rebellion >>
Rebelling against God >> Rebelling against the
witness of God -- These verses go with verses 9-11. It would seem unlikely that it would hail on
the entire face of the earth, but then that might not be necessary; the entire human
population will have decreased dramatically so that people will be camped in
regions around Israel. This seventh plague is extremely severe, holding to the
pattern of greater intensity with each broken seal, blown trumpet and poured-out
bowl. Through the hell that has been unleashed upon the earth there are people
still amazingly alive. Many of them will lose their lives in the war of Armageddon, the
war against God that is about to come, but there will be others who will not take
part in this war, who have not received the mark of the beast, who have sought
refuge in Jerusalem, and others who have been in hiding from the dragon, from
the beast, from the antichrist and the false prophet and anyone who would want
to turn them in to Satan’s kingdom since the mark of the beast was
initiated, though they were not believers in Jesus at the time of the Rapture;
their deliverance is coming in the advent of Jesus' second coming. This earthquake is the greatest earthquake that
man has ever seen. There was an earthquake at the end of the seals prior to
the trumpets that was also very severe, but not of this caliber. The one that
occurred between the seals and the trumpets (Rev 6,12-17) moved the
islands and mountains, but did not remove them like this one will,
literally changing the topography of the earth in preparation for the
millennium.
Rev 16-17
(15j)
Servant >> Angels execute Judgment >> In regard to the world – This verse goes with verses
1-12
(38f) Judgment
>>
Jesus defeated death >> God judged the world,
the flesh and the devil
Rev 16,18-21
(245g) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestations >> Manifestation of God’s
righteous judgment >> Manifestation of God’s
justice -- These verses go with verses 1-12. The seventh angel poured out his bowl on the air,
which is the medium that once belonged to Satan, the prince of the power of
the air, and his message was broadcast to the whole world, just as Satan’s
broadcasts were once heard throughout the world. The cities of every nation fell, indicating what God thinks
of human civilization, and suggesting that this earthquake had an epicenter in
Jerusalem, splitting it into three parts, representing three types of Jews in
the last days: the
orthodox Jews who became the 144,000 believers in Jesus who have already been Raptured,
the talmudic Jews who sided with the antichrist, and the undecided atheistic/agnostic Jews.
KJV
NAS
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Rev 16-18,19
(64a)
Paradox >> Anomalies >> Limits of God >> God cannot tolerate
sin >> He cannot allow unbelief in His presence
Rev 16-21
(108e) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> Balance >> God's sovereignty balances
good from evil
(186b) Works of the devil
>>
The result of lawlessness >> Blasphemy >>
Cursing the Holy Spirit >> Consider the work of
the Holy Spirit to be sin -- This verse goes with verses 9-11
(202i) Denying Christ
>>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >>
Running from God >> Running from walking in
faith >> Running from God through disobedience --
This verse goes with verses 9-11
_________________________________
Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible ® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission.
www.Lockman.org
REVELATION
CHAPTER 17
KJV
NAS
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1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters,
Rev 17,1-18
(50f)
Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations
>> First half of the tribulation
>> The seals of Satan's wrath >> Mystery Babylon, mother of harlots –
In
Genesis 3-15 God judges the serpent and says to him, “I will put enmity
between you [Satan] and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He
[Christ, the fruit of woman] shall bruise [crush] you on the head, and you
shall bruise him [Christ] on the heel.” When, Rev 13-3 says, “I saw one of
his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the
whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast,” we know this is a
deception, because it is all Satan knows. At one time Satan had the entire
universe as his inheritance, and he was stripped of it and thrown to the earth
that God used as a prison. He was confined to the earth and was not given
authority over it, until Adam gave his authority to Satan through
disobedience. Whatever man gives to Satan belongs to him, because God has
given man authority over the earth to do whatever he wants, and if he wants to
give his authority to the serpent, he can. God initially judged Lucifer for
rebelling in heaven and cast him to the earth, then once more in the Garden of
Eden, and once again on the cross (Jn 16-11), according also to Col 2-15,
“When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display
of them, having triumphed over them through Him.” Now in Revelation we have
Satan saying, ‘I have recovered from the effect of the cross; I no longer
have the curse of Christ over me; my fatal wound has been healed.’ Then in
verse 8 it says, “The beast that you saw was and is not and will come.”
“It is not;” that is his current status, even though he was at one time
the great and powerful Lucifer who owned the universe and then lost it to
rebellion. He has no power to influence anybody or anything, except that man
gives him power through rebellion, and for this reason he is about to come out
of the abyss, though he will not last long, and go to destruction (hell). When
we talk about fallen angels, some of them roam the earth, while others are
chained in the abyss, which is a spiritual place reserved for the damned, a
prison where these demonic entities exist, where they are kept from running
free and influencing the human race, until the day set by the Father. Then
these entities will be unleashed on mankind in the last days as the Trumpet
Judgments, and so these demons will wreak havoc on the earth destroying it as
they go about destroying man, as judgment for martyring the saints.
(134i) Temple
>>
Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the
body >> Immorality >>
Adultery >> Spiritual adultery – This chapter (seventeen) is a spiritual
description of the seals of Satan’s wrath against mankind. The wine
contained in the gold chalice in the harlot's hand represents the blood of the saints,
suggesting that the harlot was not alone in her guilt, but needed the
participation of “peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues”
to accomplish her goal. Everyone had blood on their hands after the whole
world condemned the saints by taking the mark of the beast, representing
their vote to murder the saints. Satan could not have formed a campaign to rid
the world of Christians without the people’s support.
Therefore, her immorality refers primarily to martyrdom, since it is unethical
to martyr the saints, but her immorality also takes the many forms of her
greed, lust and pride that she practiced. In general, the word
“immorality” refers to spiritual adultery.
Rev 17,1-8
(19c) Sin
>>
Mocking God Without a cause >> Motivated by
demons – These verses go with verses 14-18. The doctrines of Catholicism, the
Holy Roman
Empire and mass genocide of Christians are all tied together in the
picture of this woman who sits on many waters.
Rev 17,1-7
(160c) Works of the devil
>>
Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >>
Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit body of Christ --
These verses go with verses 15-18. Catholicism
is the counterfeit body of Christ. Over the last few generations the pope has
had no more influence on the world than the queen of England, who herself is a
puppet ruler, but a time is coming when a man will fill the position of pope
and will not be content with mere pomp and circumstance, but will seek world
dominance and achieve it, just like the Church had it during the dark ages. It says
about these seven kings, “five have
fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes he must remain a
little while.” The multi-layered symbolism of these seven heads refers to
seven leaders of nations.
KJV
NAS
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Rev 17,1-6
(3j)
Responsibility >> To the Family
>>
God addresses both genders >> Evil women – These verses go with verses. See:
Rev 2,20-24, the woman Jezebel
(173f)
Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism
>> Unholy sacrifice >> Offering sacrifice without God’s
approval >> Sacrifice against the word of God –
This golden cup represents the
Catholic version of communion, where the bread and wine mysteriously turn into
the body and blood of Christ, only if an official Catholic priest blesses
it. This is a clear case of witchcraft, an incantation. The fact that it
requires the blessing of the priest means that the people are beholden to
the Catholic Church for their eternal salvation. In fact, the Roman Catholic
Church still preaches to this day that all defectors from their religion
damn themselves to hell. Actually, the opposite is true; those who take the
mark of the beast, endorsing Satan's evil empire, will be damned to hell. These verses show that there is an indelible
connection between the satanic doctrine of transubstantiation and the blood
of the saints, suggesting that the harlot shed their blood as a direct
result of this doctrine, not really from the doctrine itself, but from the
spirit behind the doctrine. That is, to the degree that the Catholic Church listened to the
dragon at the very beginning of this age thousands of years ago and invented the
doctrine of transubstantiation, so she listened to the dragon in at the
end
of the age and martyred the saints. In other words, there is one cause that established
both: worshipping and serving demons. This can only
mean one thing; God hates the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, this
chapter ironically tying it to the literal manifestation of Satan, as
opposed to manifesting Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist as they purport. Note that the protestant
movement began around the 16th century only after the doctrine of
transubstantiation was discovered false, but before then the Catholic Church
successfully held the whole world captive to its tyrannical reign of
religious terror.
(195g) Denying Christ
>>
Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Worshipping men >>
Worshipping the idol of pleasure
– John wondered in curiosity at the beast, and it
says that the world wondered about her too, only not in curiosity but in
astonishment, that is, they were lost in wonder about her, as one looks into a flickering
flame. They thought she was wonder-full. They saw her as the messiah, but
she more resembled Medusa. This is the effect that money has on the human soul.
The adulteress woman is depicted in John's
vision as being very wealthy; that is not a metaphor to mean something
else; she essentially had all the wealth of the world. The angel is showing
John that there is an unavoidable connection between her wealth and the
blood of the saints, even though there is nothing that ties them together,
suggesting that it reflects conflicting interests between the harlot (the
antichrist) and the beast (the false prophet). The harlot’s interest is in
being worshipped by the whole world, which entails murdering the saints who will
not bow the knee to her, corresponding to King Nebuchadnezzar's theatrics
from the book of Daniel, while the false prophet’s
interest was in getting unfathomably rich. At the same time it also suggests
growing tensions between these two entities (the antichrist and the false
prophet) within this last world empire that will become an element
of their downfall, another being God Himself.
Rev 17,1-5
(21m)
Sin >> Greed tries to satisfy man’s need for security >> The
love of money – When it says, “Mother of harlots and of the
abominations of the earth,” The primary abomination is this doctrine of
transubstantiation, but there are many other
abominations, and Catholicism either invented
them or gave birth to those that did, suggesting that Catholicism is mother to everything about
Christendom that is false. The doctrinal inventions of Catholicism were
designed to funnel money into the Church's coffers. Catholicism has corrupted the world
since its onset (around 300 A.D.). God has held His anger all these centuries,
all the while charging sin to her account, saving it until the end of the age
when He will release it in one explosive demonstration of wrath. Note that
Catholicism does not acknowledge endtime prophecy. They don’t acknowledge it
because it is all about them and about their wars they fought in the name of
God for the purpose of amassing their wealth. He has held His tongue and has
not come down to fix anything, because these are the issues of men. God has
given man a right to do whatever he wants; it was the promise He made when He
first created man, that He was created in God’s image who has a right to
fully exercise His will, and He will not go back on His word by interfering,
at least not until the end of the age. For God to fix things would be an
infringement on man’s God-given right to create the world however he sees
fit. If He tried to fix us, He would inadvertently turn us into robots. He doesn’t want that and neither
do we, so He has allowed Catholicism to go on for thousands of years. There
were those who were saved in spite of the Church. Back then, people were not allowed to read the
Scriptures for themselves, so what genuine faith
people had toward God albeit skewed by the falseness of Catholicism, God
honored their hearts. God is forgiving, but what He can’t forgive is blatant
misuse of spiritual authority, risking and often sacrificing the faith (and
ultimately the faithful) for the sake of amassing the unrighteous mammon.
Catholicism’s doctrinal goals have always been to bring money into the Church, to tie humanity to clergy, making them dependent on the Catholic
Church for their eternal destiny for the purpose of fleecing their pockets.
(117i)
Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Eyes of your spirit >> Seeing visions – John wanted to know who she was and what she
represented, and the angel who accompanied John told him plainly the answers
to his questions, yet we have since haggled over the understanding of what the
angel said in his description. This is a good example of being required to
interpret our visions. We can have a vision well enough, but then misinterpret
what we have heard and seen. This suggests there are multiple
layers of a vision. If we get it right it can change our lives in very
positive ways, but if we get it wrong in can change us in very negative ways,
suggesting also that there is great responsibility and accountability in
receiving a vision. The most important thing we must do when receiving a
vision is to never pick it up with our bare hands, that is, with our flesh,
but always handle it with prayer. We must make sure God is involved in every
aspect of the vision, in our interpretation of it, and in applying it to our
lives.
(245k) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestation of the
devil >> Manifestation of sin
– The most popular interpretation of the harlot
as to whom she represents is Rome, and there are many reasons this is actually
true. Also, if the harlot is Rome, then her religion must be Catholicism. While it does say later that the waters “are peoples and multitudes
and nations and tongues” (v15), there is reason to believe these waters
literally mean water. If you look at Italy, it is a peninsula, meaning that it
is surrounded by water. The book of Revelation speaks of a beast, consisting
of seven heads and ten horns; it speaks of an antichrist figure and the false
prophet, but the angel promised to specifically show John the harlot in this
chapter. The beast upon which the harlot sits is therefore secondary, even though it serves as the basis for the harlot’s glory and
authority.
Rev 17-1,2
(161g) Carried Away
(Key verse)
(161n) Works of the devil
>>
Essential characteristics >> Satan’s attitude
determines our direction >> Carried Away >>
Carried away by lust –
There are a couple things that stand out here. First, the person responsible
for martyring the saints is a woman; and second, she is a harlot, and not an
adulteress. If she were an adulteress, she would be married, and if she were
married, the implication would be that she was married to Christ. Instead, the
wording is “harlot”, meaning she is the false bride of Christ and leader
of the false church, and that false church is Catholicism. The woman
represents the Pope, not that the antichrist is a woman but that she is
counterfeiting the bride of Christ. This is where the Scriptures are headed; a
couple chapters later John will speak about the bride of Christ. It says that
this counterfeit bride made the kings of the earth commit acts of immorality,
and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her
immorality, and this wine is in reference to communion, but instead of wine
being in the chalice, the blood of the saints fills the cup. The word
immorality is a metaphor to mean idolatry, meaning that the whole earth was in
agreement with martyring the saints. It wasn’t just the rulers and leaders
of nations, but the people themselves conspired against the saints to
exterminate the Church from the earth. It is their goal to rid the world of
the Church, the Bible, faith, the name of Jesus, and anything to do with the
truth of God, to completely extinguish it and make it extinct. Satan will use
the Pope to do this, though the antichrist will come in many forms in the last
days, in at least four. The last form he will take will be a false Messiah,
and it says that He will attempt to enter the temple of God and display
himself as God. The antichrist will use the Pope as the false Messiah because
a Great Endtime Revival will occur, and Satan will use the Pope in attempt to
quell this revival by offering a counterfeit revival, but it will not work.
(164f) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >>
Satan’s system of authority >> He is the
prince of the power of the air
Rev 17-1
(15h) Servant
>>
Angels have authority >> They have the power to decree an order – This verse goes with verse 7.
Normally the Holy Spirit reveals His word to His people, but angels are
often dispatched when God’s plan is to transition into a new age, in this
case the age of Millennium.
(49g) Judgment
>>
God judges the world >> Enemies of God’s
will are destroyed
(189f) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>> Separation from the old man >>
Martyr >> Martyrs bring about the judgment of
God -- This verse goes with verse 6
KJV
NAS
/ Navigation Bar
2 with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality."
Rev 17,2-6
(159i) Works of the devil
>>
Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >>
Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit anointing >>
Drunkenness >> Having a party spirit –
This harlot is a spiritual woman, guilty of spiritual immorality. Her imagery
describes a composite of both man and demon. Satan himself is called the
dragon, but when he mixes himself with man, the description is that of an
immoral woman, a harlot. She is committing spiritual adultery with the Church,
and how do we know that she has ties with the Church? The Church is Satan’s
primary target for his power of destruction. It says that this woman is drunk
with the wine of her immorality, and it turns out this wine represents the
blood of the saints. This harlot primarily represents the Catholic Church, but
it doesn’t stop there; she also represents the Protestants and anybody who
would decide that being a worldly Christian is acceptable to God. The
term “worldly Christian” is an oxymoron, meaning “idolater”. Ezekiel
chapter 16 equates this kind of Christian to a harlot, people who would commit
spiritual adultery against God. Since this harlot represents the false church
as an individual, then the true Church must also represent a woman in unity.
What the Church doesn’t seem to understand is that we are the bride of
Christ. Anybody who seeks to fit into the ways of the world as a Christian is
an idolater, and the imagery of idolatry is that of a harlot committing
spiritual adultery against God. So this adulterous woman is representing the
false church, but not just the false church, also satanic forces that have
been working against the true Church ever since the ascension of Christ, and
in the last days she is in the position to turn the entire mainstream false
church against the true saints in order in attempt to remove faith from the
earth.
Rev 17-2,3
(55j) Paradox
>>
Opposites >> He carried me away like lust does
to show me what lust is –
This woman is picturesque of the world military powers of this darkness,
government forces of wickedness and the counterfeit church wound together into
a single image of the harlot. She was clothed in purple and scarlet, which are
the colors of royalty, indicating that she is queen of the earth. All the
forces of wickedness rally to focus their energies on the true Church who
remains faithful to Jesus. The entire world, its government, the wayward
church, and the false brethren all have a single agenda to corral the faithful
who serve God in spirit and truth and sending them to concentration camps for
extermination. The entire world will become the enemy of those who love and
obey Jesus Christ. There won’t be anymore sympathetic non-Christians who
want to live-and-let-live. All who receive this mark will lose their
motivation to be kind to Christians.
Rev 17-2
(162h) Works of the devil
>>
Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >>
Bondage >> Addicted to sin >>
Being a slave to the nature of sin –
Turns out this woman is a man that people have called the “antichrist”
ever since John coined the word in his first epistle. The antichrist will
represent all people who hate God and receive the mark of the beast, who are
trying to rid the world of faith. The fact that she is called a harlot means
that every Christian who is straddling the fence, having never made a genuine
commitment to seeing their calling from God fulfilled bears her image. These
idolatrous Christians will have no choice but to join the harlot who shares in
a common spirit by receiving the mark of the beast. There are many Christians
today who boast they would never take the mark, but when that time comes, if
they are still complacent, they will not suddenly have a change of heart, not
when they are being threatened with death if they support the saints, but
promised a reward if they follow the antichrist, which they were doing before
he was manifested.
(168f) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world listens
to itself >> The world receives itself
KJV
NAS
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3&4 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality,
Rev 17,3-11
(65h)
Paradox >> Anomalies >> Satan unites the world for the cause of
deception –
The
harlot is Rome, subsequently her religion is the Roman Catholic Church. It says that five nations “have fallen,
one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little
while.” Starting with seven nations, doing the math [(7-5)-1=1], there is only one country in power at the time of John’s
prophecy. However, there is another nation coming ("an eighth"), so that makes two: the
antichrist and the false prophet. When the seventh nation comes (Rome), it will
give rise to an eighth (Jerusalem), and this eighth king will be the antichrist,
though there are many antichrists, this one most concerns endtime prophecy,
because he will be the antichrist responsible for committing mass genocide on
the people of God. That will be his undoing, for it will unleash the Trumpets
and the Bowls of God’s wrath against his kingdom, putting an end to this age
and establishing the thousand-year reign of Christ. This last antichrist will
unite Catholicism with Judaism.
Rev 17,3-8
(185j) Works of the devil
>>
The result of lawlessness >> Blasphemy >>
Responding with contempt to the Holy Spirit >>
Replacing the Holy Spirit –
Many people today have a wrong concept of faith, what it means to believe in
God. “Faith” and belief are two different things. To believe
in God means to obey Him, but “faith” is a spiritual substance that comes
from God. Faith is a God-given ability to believe in Jesus; it refers
to those who posses an anointing from heaven. The name “Christ” is
literally translated as the anointed one, making “Christians” the
anointed ones. We think that only a select people can have an anointing,
but we are all expected to posses and maintain an anointing from God, and this
anointing is the very essence of faith, and it is what the antichrist is
trying to exterminate from the world. Believing refers to our behavior,
whereas the anointing is a composite of our faith and obedience. Anybody
without an anointing from God will join the antichrist in the last days. The
anointing is God’s mark on His elect, but this is what the mark of the beast
means: “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of
the earth.” Everybody who receives this mark will be endowed with a
counterfeit anointing and deemed a child of the devil and a citizen of her
one-world government, centralized in a pseudo-city called Babylon.
Rev 17,3-5
(164c) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >>
Satan rules the world >> The world is his
kingdom – This beast of seven heads and ten horns is
referring to a conglomeration of nations. These seven heads represent
seven mountains, referring to Rome, the city that is built on seven hills
(see: American Heritage Dictionary-Seven hills of Rome).
However, that is not the end of the meaning of these seven heads. They also
represent seven puppet rulers that belong to the ten horns, being
symbolic of power. What
seems clear based on the book of Daniel is that these nations are historically world empires. That would include England, France, Spain,
Italy, and Daniel specifies Greece and Iraq/Iran (as a pair), known in ancient
times as Media and Persia, and there’s one more, the United States. That
makes seven; it says, but there is also an eighth, Jerusalem. That takes care
of the kings, but who are these horns and what do they represent? The Bible
signifies horns to represent power, so if there are seven heads and ten horns,
then power is clearly separate from the heads of nations, meaning that these
nations' governments do not have power to rule, but the horns have power, and are using these
governments to interface with
the public as puppet rulers, suggesting that the horns prefer to remain in the
shadows, covertly ruling humanity. This sounds like leaders of the global
economy. Going back to the great harlot, she’s filthy rich, suggesting that
these horns represent economic power. These ten horns control all
the wealth of the world, and this harlot is riding on the glory and power of
the global economy (the beast), meaning that
the beast is the basis of her empire. This
is happening throughout society as people over spend and raise debt ceilings
for the next generation to pay, sacrificing their children’s future. There
is a self-contradiction within the human thought pattern within whole
societies that is sabotaging humanity, while the Bible sets on a shelf and
collects dust.
Rev 17-3
(95a) Thy kingdom come
>>
Perspective >> False perspective in the world
(105lb)
Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Led by the Spirit into the
fire >> Into the wilderness >> Wilderness is the true nature of this world
– The angel
led John into the wilderness, the same place where God led the Church during the period of the
trumpets. The wilderness depicts the nature of Satan, though it can also be a
place of safety, like the boxer who holds his opponent when he is being
out-boxed. He gets too close for his opponent to hit him. Although the
wilderness is the nature of Satan, the devil cannot access it, because he is using a computer system
that only works within the parameters of human civilization. It doesn't work
in the wilderness, and so ironically the wilderness off-limits to the
antichrist and is the safest place
during his reign of terror.
(160a) Works of the devil
>>
Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >>
Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit (Body of) Christ –
How ironic it is for the Catholic priests during the Eucharist to drink from
the cup but not offer it to their congregation. In the description of the
great whore (Vs 3-6), it shows her drinking the blood of the saints from a
chalice, reminiscent of celebrating communion. Revelation is saying that
God’s judgment is not directed toward Catholic parishioners per se, but toward
Catholicism, toward the leaders of this cultic religion, of those who
perpetuate it and of those who have given themselves authority to change the
teachings and doctrines of Scripture. God has not given anyone authority to change
the truth, but they do it by their own authority, and when they happen upon a
new idea that they think would benefit their religion, they pass it into law
as it were, the law of Catholicism, and it gets entered into their books to
become a new statute of their religion, and God is never conferred on the
subject, nor do they use the final authority of Scripture to make these
determinations. Basically, Catholicism has not changed since the dark ages when
they had near absolute control over the entire known world.
(162c) Works of the devil
>>
Essential characteristics >> Satan’s attitude
determines our direction >> Carried Away >>
Carried away by the Holy Spirit –
This wilderness experience that John had, depicted in this verse, was a
microcosm for the wilderness experience of the Church in the last days, and it
will resemble Jesus’ wilderness experience. Jesus was led by the Spirit to
be tempted by the devil (Mat 4-1), and he was there for forty days and forty
nights, and He was tempted at least three times at His weakest point. His
wilderness experience occurred immediately after He was baptized, which means
that the Church will undergo a baptism of anointing prior to its wilderness
experience in the last days, indicating a great persecution. The moment the
devil left him, the angels came and ministered to Him, giving Him food and
water, because He was too weak to have walked from the wilderness on His own.
In the same way the angels will care for the Church in the wilderness for 3½
years. What we should take from this is that Jesus’ ministry was an
extension of His wilderness experience. That is, His wilderness experience was
still in effect throughout His ministry, so in essence Jesus’ wilderness
experience lasted 3½ years, ending at His crucifixion. Jesus’ death,
continuing the analogy that John is trying to show here, indicates that there
will be many martyrs in the last days (v6). Then he rose from the dead,
formally ending the old covenant age and ushered in the new covenant era in
His blood, just like the Church’s wilderness experience in the last days
will precede the First Resurrection that will formally end the age of grace
and usher in the Millennium.
Rev 17-4
(128n) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Bearing fruit >>
Evidence of your fruit >> Bad fruit is proof
that God is not working in you
KJV
NAS
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5-7 and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." 6 And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly. 7 And the angel said to me, "Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
Rev 17,5-13
(185e) Works of the devil
>>
The origin of lawlessness >> Mystery of
lawlessness >> The mystery of sin --
These verses go with verse 16. The woman ‘was, is not and is about to come;’
what does that mean? Since we have already determined that this woman fits the
description of Catholicism, which implicates Rome by association, we can see
how this phrase ‘was, is not and is about to come’ is highly suggestive of
the return of the Holy Roman Empire. Catholicism has been a world religion for
centuries, at one time virtually ruling the world, having sunk its talons deep
into the human conscience during the dark ages, and then lost most of its
power and influence once the scientific world began to flourish in the 14th
century, the Renaissance period. People lost confidence in the Catholic Church
after indisputable scientific findings made it impossible to continue
believing in their
religious assertions. Whatever science was disproving, its effect on the Church
was exponentially multiplied through their claim of infallibility,
which served them well for many centuries but has now turned to haunt them,
pulling attention off the Church and placing it squarely on science, simultaneously exposing
the Catholic Church as charlatans with such men as Galileo debunking their claim that the
earth was flat and that the sun revolved around the earth. This phrase ‘was, is
not and is about to come’ is therefore referring to Catholic world
dominance. Catholicism once enslaved the world in its religious web of deceit,
has since lost its position of affluence, but is about to regain it.
Rev 17-5
(61g) Paradox
>>
Two implied meanings >> Babylon—Capital city
of the abominations of the earth / Home town of the Jezebel spirit
Rev 17-6,7
(68j) Authority
>>
Discernment >> Judging truth and error >>
Perceiving a wicked heart – John the revelator made a distinction between
the saints and the witnesses of Jesus, referring to the 144,000 including
the two witnesses. The distinction was made between the Jewish and the
gentile church, though on a spiritual level there is no distinction between
them, for all are one in Christ (Gal 3-28). In the last days, however, God
will make a
distinction between them by calling the Jewish believers to lead the
gentiles into salvation and victory over the dragon. To do that we need pure
doctrines, otherwise we will fall into the devil's trap as we have done over
the last 2000 years.
God gave the Jews this endtime ministry, because the gentile church
certainly does not know the difference between truth and error. They may know
many facts about the Bible, but they don’t know much about the true
knowledge of God as delivered to them by the Holy Spirit.
Rev 17-6
(82f) Thy kingdom come
>>
Three elements of prayer >> Our approach >>
Meditation -- This verse goes with verse 8
(144b) Witness >>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> The Church bears witness of Jesus >>
It bears witness of the
cross
(164j) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world is at
enmity with God >> The world hates the Church
(189f) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>> Separation from the old man >>
Martyr >> Martyrs bring about the judgment of
God -- This verse goes with verse 1. There
are some Catholic churches that only offer the bread to the congregation,
maybe because they don’t want to buy so much wine or grape juice, being
cheap; or maybe because they are trying to avoid spills, getting their
chairs and pews stained, or maybe because they don’t think the people
deserve it. Either way, the wine is reserved for the priests alone. This
they determined by their own authority, for there is nowhere in Scripture
that speaks of this; in fact, Jesus taught us to drink the wine along with
the bread. Perhaps the Catholic priests say that when they drink the wine,
this influence disseminates from them to the congregation, making the people
beholden to the priests for their spiritual health and well-being. The
people need to go to church to be blessed by the priest. They scarcely go by
the Scriptures, saying that the word of God is constantly being revised, so
if their revelations contradict Scripture, they just say it is a
revision, and people just nod their heads and go back to sleep. The great
harlot who carries a chalice full of the blood of the saints, representing
the wine of communion that the Catholic priests do not share with the
people, when she drinks the cup, she drinks judgment to herself, and since
the priests do not offer the cup to the parishioners, they have positively
identified themselves as this whore, indicating that God is not angry with
the parishioners of Catholicism compared to His perfect rage against the
priests. The spirit of antichrist is already working in the world, preparing
it for the fulfillment of endtime prophecy that speaks about establishing a
kingdom for the purpose of destroying every person on earth. It has always
been his goal to destroy the human race; this is why he starts war after
war. In the last days when endtime prophecy is fulfilled and the antichrist
rises to power, and his plan proceeds, he would have accomplished his goal,
except that God will not allow it, for God always saves a remnant for
Himself.
Rev 17-7
(15h) Servant
>>
Angels have authority >> They have the power to decree an order – This verse goes with verse
1
(109e) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> Revelation of the word of God >> Revelation of
the meaning of God’s word
(164e) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world
system >> Satan’s system of authority >>
Satan’s hierarchy of evil -- This verse goes with verses 12&13.
These
seven heads and ten horns represent kings and economic leaders respectively.
The seven kings represent seven nations and the ten horns are ten people who
each have trillions of dollars, and they control the global economy that
runs on the Mark of the Beast. The antichrist is really just a pawn in the
hand of these globalists, but the antichrist will betray them and not share
her glory with the beast. The agreement between the woman and the beast was
that she would be the beast’s religion and the beast would be the
woman’s financial power, an amalgam of church and state, very similar to
the arrangement of the world in the dark ages, when certain European nations
allied with Catholicism to keep the people from revolting against the
state's oppressive taxation, working hand-in-hand to enslave the people. In
the last days this same tyrannical alliance will return between the religion
of antichrist and the New World Order. This alliance will be a manifestation
of Satan; and instead of cooperating with each other, she will act
treacherously with the beast and desire all the glory for herself, and there will be internal strife between them. The woman
represents Babylon the city of Satan, which is Rome, namely the Vatican.
(183f) Works of the devil
>>
The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >> Nursery for the Spirit of error >> Ignorance
–
In the book of Revelation there are two women, one is the Church and the
other is the antichrist, and her followers are the institution of
Catholicism. Actually, this woman is a man, but John depicts him as a woman,
because he is posing as leader of the True Church who will require members
of his religious institution to receive a mark that will end any hope of
eternal life for them. This woman, the antichrist that represents the
institution of Catholicism, will be riding on a beast, and the beast is the
false prophet, and the false prophet represents the global economic system.
The false prophet dictates what the antichrist says to the people, ‘Life
will soon return to normal as it was before the Christians upset the world
with their revival.’ The promise they were given when they took the Mark
of the Beast was that they would get their life back by joining this
economy, making people wealthier than ever, an economy that is robust and
free of all shysters, forgers, and financial tricksters. None of these
things would exist in this new economy, he will claim, but these are the
very things that define their leader, and his attitudes and values will
trickle-down to every facet of life. The devil never makes good on his
promises; that’s why he is the devil; instead people will be paupers
working for the antichrist, who will deeply tax the people to finance her
lavish lifestyle, and in this way she will siphon the beast’s wealth from
him and into her own coffers, which will enrage the beast.
KJV
NAS
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8&9 "The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. 9 "Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits,
Rev 17,8-18
(181k) Works of the devil
>>
The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >>
Self deception >> Deceiving and being deceived – This harlot who sits on the beast makes you
ask, where is the false prophet in this picture? The false prophet is the beast!
The false prophet represents the global monetary system, and the woman, this
mother of harlots and Babylon, is the antichrist using it to glorify herself. The beast uses
the harlot to help establish a one-world economy, and the harlot uses the beast to
help establish a one-world religion/government, but as we see in this depiction, their
relationship is no more mutual than a horse is to its rider. Rather, the horse
is forced to submit to its rider. The harlot is using the beast as its
slave to seek nations and force them under submission as she does the
beast. The idea is to create a one-world religion so that the world religious
leaders can use it as a sort of lattice structure upon which to establish their
one-world economy. The harlot would channel the world’s wealth back to these
economic leaders and assign them kingdoms, except that she
refuses to share her wealth with them and betrays these economic leaders for the
opportunity to be both rich and famous. Since Satan’s kingdom was entirely built on
corruption, the empire turned on itself and collapsed. These global monetary
leaders give their power and authority to the harlot in order for her to
accomplish her objective, which was to amass a world-government around a single religion,
using the mark of the beast. Once she establishes this one-world
religion/government, these
economic powers were prepared to rule the nations. That’s in theory because
the harlot betrays the beast and keeps their glorious wealth to herself and tries to
rule the world on her own, like Hitler who overrode his generals and made
military decisions that caused Germany to lose the war. The harlot refuses to
relinquish her authority, causing a rift that splits the empire down the middle
and the whole thing collapses. All these things happened during the seals of
Satan’s wrath, and then God’s judgment commences, so we can understand why
Jesus said these were the worst times in human history.
Rev 17,8-13
(46f)
Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Fall of Satan >> Resisting
Satan’s deception – This is a depiction of Satan being
self-destructive. For this reason Satan is incapable of accomplishing anything:
whatever he attempts to do will undo him. We know that the antichrist will set up
shop in the Vatican, and we also know that Jesus and the apostle Paul taught
that the man of lawlessness will enter the Jewish old covenant temple and
display himself as being God, but he will not do this as the Pope because it
would not convince the Jews of his divinity, since they have rejected Jesus
Christ as their messiah, and Catholicism claims to be a Christian religion.
Therefore, we have two antichrists, one in Rome and one in Jerusalem, only not
at the same time. Remember that in Daniel chapter seven it says there will be an
11th horn that will come from one of the ten, uprooting three horns
in the process, and in this chapter v11 it says, “the beast which was and is
not, is himself also an eighth, and he is one of the seven, and he goes to
destruction.” This too is referring to one coming from another, or one that is
assassinated and through trickery rises from the dead. The 8th head of
Revelation is the antichrist, and the 11th horn of Daniel is the false
prophet.
Rev 17-8
(38j) Judgment
>>
Jesus defeated death >> Resurrection of the
wicked -- This verse goes with verse 11
(47d) Judgment
>> God Judges the world
>>
Hell is a place of destruction
(60f) Paradox
>>
Two implied meanings >> The beast whose fatal
wound was healed / The sinful nature of man –
This beast whose fatal wound was healed represents the sinful nature of man,
meaning Satan and his minions are a reflection of man as it pertains to his
sinful nature. These are demonic entities that are serving man and giving
his heart’s desire as it pertains to wickedness and evil, but what man
doesn’t understand is that these demonic entities hate him and want to
destroy him. This so-called friend of man, Satan and his cohort of
demons, are on a mission to destroy mankind, because he has come into
possession of Lucifer’s inheritance of the creation, and what is more, man
has been invited to share God’s throne, which was never offered to
Lucifer, and for this reason Satan hates mankind. Satan is always happy to
oblige man’s lust for evil and rebellion against God, because it works to
liberate him. When man cries for demonic intervention rather than divine
intervention, it unleashes powers of wickedness upon himself, which will
ultimately destroy him. God would potentially defend man against his demonic
enemies, except that at the same time the world is martyring His saints in
the last days, showing that man prefers Satan over God; and so God will
allow these demonic entities to mall the human race because of the martyrdom
of His saints, these being the Trumpet Judgments of Revelation chapters 8
and 9, which will be extremely severe and satanic in nature, a malevolence
that has been since unknown to mankind. The sinful nature of man is
incomprehensible even to man himself; that is why Paul called it the mystery
of lawlessness (2The 2-7), and will forever remain a mystery as to why man
would love demonic entities that hate them, above God who loved them with a
perfect love.
(82f) Thy kingdom come
>>
Three elements of prayer >> Our approach >>
Meditation -- This verse goes with verse 6
(219hh) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> The elect >>
God chooses us as we choose ourselves >> The Lamb's book of life
(220a) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >>
Predestination >> Predestined before the
foundation of the world
KJV
NAS
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10-13 and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. 11 "The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. 12 "The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. 13 "These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.
Rev 17,10-18
(3j)
Responsibility >> To the Family
>>
God addresses both genders >> Evil women – These verses go with verses
1-6. See also: Rev
2,20-24 for commentary.
This harlot is the woman Jezebel. In verse 18 it says that she represents
the great city of the world, referring to Jerusalem. This is true for a number of reasons, first because Jerusalem has
been a historical city that has always been at the heart of fulfilled
prophecy. Secondly, to adhere to the truism of similitudes, analogies and
ironies of the Bible, the second coming of Christ will receive
about the same welcome as the first by the ones who are waiting for Him, that
is the Church. The world will miss His second coming just like the Jews missed
His first coming. According to the New Testament, the people who followed Christ in the
flesh were expecting Him at any time to begin to reign as their messiah and
deliver them from their enemies, that is the Romans, but He
never did. The false Christ, however, will arise and deceive the nations
about his identity and will take his seat in the Jewish temple, and will not
only deceive the Jewish community, but the Church and thus the whole world,
because of their lack of knowledge of the Bible.
This is a dark description of men and women, but I think it is important to
understand that these are the conditions that will exist between them in the
last days according to the prophesy of Scripture. The book of Revelation
paints a bleak picture of the beast playing second fiddle to the Harlot.
Although she is part of himself the beast resents the harlot and destroys her, thus
destroying himself, illustrating Satan's self-destructive nature (like the demon-possessed
man of Gerasene).
Rev 17,10-12
(215e) Sovereignty
>>
God controls time >> God’s timing >>
God views time in eternity >> God sees eras as
moments
Rev 17-11
(38j) Judgment
>>
Jesus defeated death >> Resurrection of the
wicked -- This verse goes with verse 8. Dan 7-7,8 speaks of an 11th horn, just
like John speaks of an 8th head. Both of these
entities are not technically counted with the beast, in that they betray
their respective alliances to become an entity in itself, the antichrist and the false
prophet, depicting the antichrist’s forged death and resurrection as a means
of remaking himself in the process of changing hats from the pope to Israel's
false messiah. He then migrates to Jerusalem for the purpose of stifling the
great endtime revival, led by the two witnesses,
and also by the 144,000, whose ministry is to the gentiles.
Rev 17-12,13
(164e) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >>
Satan’s system of authority >> Satan’s
hierarchy of evil -- These verses go with verses 16-18. These ten horns in Revelation are also the ten
horns of Daniel’s dream in chapter seven. They were never depicted as kings
until now. It says they are not yet kings, but are leaders of the global
economic system, and they are waiting to be appointed kings by the false
prophet. Note that the message of the false prophet is financial prosperity,
which obviously never comes. Note also that these heads and horns are
different in number (ten horns and seven heads), but later become eight
apiece. Dan 7-7,8 says that an 11th horn grew out of one of them,
uprooting three horns in the process, thus making 10+1-3=8. This word
“beast” is flippantly used as a generic term to mean different aspects of
Satan’s kingdom, creating some level of confusion, probably because every
aspect of Satan’s kingdom is beastly, so if we don’t assign the word
“beast” to any one part of Satan’s kingdom, rather consider his whole
empire a beast, it allays some of the confusion. These ten horns do not have
kingdoms, but they do have the authority of kings, suggesting they are ruling
covertly, as does the global economic system, which currently is more in
control of the nations than their respective governments.
Rev 17-13
(131k) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
Working together for one cause -- This verse goes with verse
17
(213h) Sovereignty
>>
God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >>
We are his instruments >> We are clay in the
potters hand -- This verse goes with verse 17
KJV
NAS
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14&15 "These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful." 15 And he said to me, "The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
Rev 17,14-18
(19c) Sin
>>
Mocking God Without a cause >> Motivated by
demons – These verses go with verses 1-8
(48n) Judgment
>>
Jesus’ enemies are destroyed >> Enemies of
His glory
Rev 17-14
(39ja) Judgment >>
Jesus defeated death >> Jesus defeated this world
system >> Jesus defeated people who serve Satan
(66a) Authority
>>
Lordship of Christ >> He is Lord over all
creation >> over life and death
(91i) Thy kingdom come
>>
The called >> God’s calling transcends the
will of man >> We are called by God through His
choice of us
(102m) Thy kingdom come
>>
Faithfulness (Loyalty) >> Loyalty is unswerving
(112b) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> Light >> Jesus’ light overcomes darkness >>
The light of His power –
The kingdom of antichrist will wage war against the Lamb of God; it doesn’t
say he will wage war against the lion of Judah. Jesus is considered both a
lamb and a lion, which are opposites of each other in that the lamb is prey to
the lion. In this case it says that the antichrist wages war against the lamb.
In other words, Christ will not directly fight against the Kingdom of
antichrist; rather, He will just sit back and watch Satan’s kingdom destroy
itself; He won’t have to lift a finger to defeat Satan’s empire, though
John reminds us that Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings. God lives by
the principle that righteousness and holiness and truth always win in the end
and that defeating sin, wickedness and evil is merely a waiting game; give it
time and wickedness will judge itself. This is the beauty of God: He has sown
into the fabric of creation that if it should rebel against Him, it becomes
evil and vile and putrid and eventually divvies to itself the consequences of
its own actions. God is not a tyrant running around stepping on everybody, but
believes in Himself enough that given time, and it doesn’t take that
long, sin will eventually bury itself in its own wickedness. Those who are
with Him are the called, chosen and faithful, because they live by the principles
of their Lord in that they too wait-out sin, instead of
seeking revenge and becoming guilty with the wicked. Instead, they use
the fruits of the Spirit to judge their enemies, such as long-suffering and
patience.
(206i) Salvation
>>
God makes promises on His terms >> Conditions to
promises >> Conditions to doing the works of
Jesus
(219h) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> The elect >>
God chooses us as we choose ourselves >> God
chooses us through our faithfulness
(245i) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestations >> Manifestation of God’s
righteous judgment >> Manifestation of Jesus’
victory over sin
Rev 17,15-18
(160c) Works of the devil
>>
Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >>
Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit body of Christ --
These verses go with verses 1-7. There
is a false unity, and it belongs to Satan. It is based on different
principles that break down through corruption. The one who is spiritual can
see through counterfeit unity and knows that its existence signifies the
activity of Satan in a congregation and high tails it to a safe environment
of godliness among the true brethren. When Satan counterfeits God’s unity,
he replaces the principles that make for peace and the building up of one
another (Rom 14-19) with his own principles, which are opposite of God, and so
false unity is destined to fail. The devil can’t get along
with himself, let alone with anybody else, and so genuine unity will never come
near him. In the last days the antichrist will turn against himself, the
dragon, the false prophet and his minions will all turn against each other,
because they know nothing about unity. They only know to care for
themselves. His lies and deceptions may be somewhat unified, but because
they are not based on God’s truth, they will not remain.
Rev 17-15
(240e) Kingdom of God
>>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Hindering the kingdom >> Natural disadvantage >>
Beware when all men speak well of you >> Natural
disadvantage of seeking popularity –
It says that the harlot is sitting on a beast and that the beast is floating
on water, giving the idea of a sea serpent, leviathan as it were. It says
that this beast has its origins from the sea, suggesting that the antichrist
is a constituent of the sea of people who live in the world. The antichrist
was a human being like everybody else, not special or unique in any way, but
when the opportunity arose to become the antichrist, he took it and rose from
the sea of people to become a leader of nations who adopted the philosophy of
the devil. Satan once ruled man as Prince of the Power of the Air but was
removed from his place and thrown to the earth and now rules mankind through
the agency of human flesh, and it doesn’t go very well.
KJV
NAS
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16-18 "And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. 17 "For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. 18 "The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth."
Rev 17,16-18
(65i)
Paradox >> Anomalies >> Satan Glorifies God
(164e) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >>
Satan’s system of authority >> Satan’s
hierarchy of evil -- These verses go with verse 7
Rev 17-16,17
(24d) Sin
>>
Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Pursuit of happiness
creates anxiety
(24h) Sin
>>
Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Being envious of your brother
(46i) Judgment
>>
Spiritual warfare >> Satan falls by his own
wickedness –
These two verses are the culmination of the entire word of God pertaining to
endtime prophecy, and they are also two of the most difficult passages to
interpret. If we get them right, they will open the scriptures to us from
Genesis to Revelation to help us see God's spiritual enemy in a whole new light. The statement we can derive from these verses is that Satan is
self-destructive. We know from Scripture that God will destroy Satan's
kingdom, but at the same time we have these verses saying that Satan will
attack himself and destroy his own kingdom, like a disease that causes the
body’s immune system to attack itself. It says that the ten horns, referring
to the beast, will hate the harlot and make her desolate. That is like one
body part attacking another, like the demoniac in Mk 5-5, “Constantly, night
and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing
himself with stones.” The various entities of Satan’s kingdom do not
cooperate, showing the fact that he has been dividing the Church for centuries
through the attributes of his own nature, suggesting that he cannot have a
kingdom of his own without dividing it and subsequently destroying it. Satan
only understands competition, and once he defeats his enemies, he will turn on
himself. It is a spiritual law written into his very nature; he can't help
himself. The kingdoms of this world including nature itself are ruled by the
principles of Satan.
(62o) Paradox
>>
Anomalies >> Righteous deception >>
God deceives the world
(158f) Works of the devil
>>
Essential characteristics >> Divide and conquer >>
Division (Cliques) >> Jealously seeking
prominence in the body –
The very thing that God is trying to show Satan (and us) is that if he were
given a kingdom, it would not stand, because he would destroy it trying to be
first. God has been showing His people and even Satan since the original sin
that the Kingdom of God will last forever because it is based on seeking the
position of a servant, and caring about other people more than ourselves. This
is the only way the Kingdom of God can stand the test of eternity. Through
this single principle God’s kingdom will last forever and ever, but
Satan’s kingdom cannot even be established, just like Hitler failed to
establish his dominance over the world using the principles of Satan. God has
given us World War II and an insane dictator to show us the veritable sequence
of endtime prophecy. The world will follow the antichrist without qualm,
because it operates by the same principles of Satan and understands his mind.
Man who fails to remember his past is doomed to repeat it; history repeats itself because of various spiritual
principles that are at work within the human genome that keeps pushing man
into war with himself and destruction of every kingdom he has built, until the
final war transpires and God is able to demonstrate to his creation that the
ways of God are the only way that work.
(240h) Kingdom of God
>>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Hindering the kingdom >> Natural disadvantage >>
Natural disadvantage of the world
Rev 17-16
(25b) Sin
>>
Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Hate evil with hate
(104c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Purifying process >> Purified by fire >>
Purified through fiery judgment
(146c) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Demon possession >>
Human state >> Their behavior >>
Masochism
(185e) Works of the devil
>>
The origin of lawlessness >> Mystery of
lawlessness >> The mystery of sin -- This
verse goes with verses 5-13
(190b) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Separation from the old man >> Masochism
(Self-made martyr)
>> Taking your sinful nature by force
(245ll) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestations >> Manifestations of the
devil >> Manifestation of the spirit of murder
KJV
NAS
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Rev 17-17
(40j) Judgment
>> Judgment of Christ
>>
God’s word judges the devil
(65c) Paradox
>>
Anomalies >> God helps Satan >>
God unites Satan’s efforts to make war with Jesus
(131k) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
Working together for one cause -- This verse goes with verse
13
(213h) Sovereignty
>>
God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >>
We are his instruments >> We are clay in the
potters hand -- This verse goes with verse 13
(217l) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> God’s will
over man >> You cannot control the judgment of
God >> You cannot control how God responds to
sin
See
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