Revelation 17 and Commentary - Chapter 23

 

Revelation 17 and Commentary

And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sits upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.[1]

After becoming a Christian in 1971, I attended a three-month Bible course in Ellenville, upstate New York, which I mentioned in the beginning of this book. At the end of the course, we went on a faith-sharing weekend to Greenwich Village, a popular youth area of New York City at that time. We traveled by bus into New York City. Descending the Catskill Mountains some one hundred miles north of the city, the city loomed before us. It was night and the George Washington Bridge was decked with many brightly-colored lights. The lights also from the many high buildings of the city were awe-inspiring and we gazed with wonder upon this great city. One of our Bible teachers started to read from Revelation 17 and 18. A musician then followed with a song called Filthy City Babylon. At that moment, I felt as if I was traveling into the Biblical Babylon the Great. It was an ominous feeling.

And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore did thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that thou saw was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.[2]

Here we see that the beast has a spiritual element from the dark side as it ascends out of the bottomless pit.

And here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits.[3]

Are the seven heads or mountains the seven world empires which have carried this whore throughout the course of history? Some prophecy scholars, trying to fix the Vatican as the seat of the Antichrist, claim that since Rome was built on seven hills, this prophecy is therefore referring to those seven Vatican hills. I recently read an intriguing book about the Vatican titled The Jesuits: The Society of Jesus and the Betrayal of the Roman Catholic Church by Malachi Martin.[4] The author reveals the sad state of the Catholic Church and how the Jesuits have abandoned their traditional Christian faith for modernism. Fr. Martin has also written other revealing books about the Vatican. At the time of his death, he was working on a new book showing how the Catholic Church had become an instrument of the New World Order. His closest friends believed he was killed for the truths he was exposing.

Though the Catholic Church may very well be controlled by the New World Order masters, it is not the Whore of Revelation 17 and 18 at this present time. At the time the book was written around 90 AD, Rome may very well have seemed like the fulfillment of Babylon the Whore. But as it is today another entity seems to fit the description more accurately. The Bible says that the seven heads are seven mountains, and not seven hills. We need to use the Bible to interpret itself. Often the symbol of a mountain is used in the Bible to represent a kingdom. For example, Mount Zion is often used to refer to God’s kingdom or people. Isaiah, when talking about the future millennium reign of God on earth says,

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain.[5]

In Daniel, when Nebuchadnezzar has his End-time dream, he sees a stone strike an enormous image at its feet. The image represents the various world government of man.

Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.[6]

So again we see a mountain representing, in this case, the Kingdom of God. Mountains often represent kingdoms, and kingdoms have kings. So the seven heads which are seven mountains should have seven kings and that is exactly what we have in the next verse in Revelation:

And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he comes, he must continue a short space.[7]

Are these seven kings, the seven kingdoms or empires of world history? The five fallen kings or kingdoms could represent Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Media-Persia and Greece; the five nations who had been world empires before Rome. Rome was the world empire that “is” at the time Revelation was given. The final One World Government could be the one that “is not yet come,” which will exist for only a short time according to this prophecy.

And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seventh, and goes into perdition.[8]

Out of the One World Government, the seventh, will come the Antichrist totalitarian government, the eighth.

And the ten horns which thou saw are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the Beast.[9]

Could these ten horns or kings be ten nations or land areas or free trade regions which collaborate or form the Antichrist world government?

These have one mind, and give their power and strength unto the beast.[10]

“One mind” seems to indicate they are a collective or group or a political union of some kind, like the European Union or United Nations.

These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.[11]

The Lamb represents Jesus. So somehow, the newly-united nations make war with Christianity. Jesus Himself, when talking about the end of the world, predicted a period of Great Tribulation just prior to His return. He said,

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whosoever reads, let him understand:) For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days be shortened, there shall no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.[12]

In the New Testament, when it is talking about the “elect,” it is talking about the Church of believing Christians. It is not referring to the state of Israel, nor the Jewish people, but to believers in Jesus Christ, whether Gentile or Jew.[13]

Christians have been persecuted and killed by atheistic regimes such as Stalin and Mao. The false “Christian” church has also at times persecuted and killed true believing Christians. John Huss and many others protesters were burned at the stake as heretics by the Roman Catholic Church before the Reformation. The Inquisition period afterwards also persecuted believers whose ideas differed with those of the Church. Even in modern times true believing Christians have and are suffering persecution.

It should not surprise us to find that the Bible predicts another period of great worldwide persecution against Christian believers. The famous Romanian Christian Richard Wurmbrand, author of Tortured for Christ, who suffered years in prison under the communists, has warned the American church that persecution can and will come to Christians in America.[14]

In Revelation we read,

And he said unto me, The waters which thou saw, where the whore sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.[15]

The waters represent peoples or nations. We see here that the Bible will usually interpret itself. So from verse one we see that the whore Babylon sits or rides upon the nations of the earth and sucks their wealth from them and makes them drunk through their intercourse with her. Strangely enough, the term intercourse has had in the past economic significance. In early American documents, it was used when talking about inter-state commerce. In Portugal the term “fornecedores” is used for salesmen. It has the same root as the word “fornicadores” which means fornicators. The Latin root has to do with “buying and selling” which could apply to products as well as to sex.

And the ten horns which thou saw upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.[16]

If the Beast is the Antichrist and the whore’s modern fulfillment is the capitalistic, materialistic system epitomized today in the United States, then the Antichrist will destroy America in one hour with the help of the ten nations or political regions that align themselves with him. Let’s read the next verse.

For God has put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.[17]

Remember God’s judgments are falling on “Babylon” because she has forsaken her Maker. Like Israel of old, Babylon the Whore knew God, but has forsaken Him, for the gods of this world. America, once a great Christian nation, has forsaken her Maker and worshiped materialism and money. She has worshiped wealth, the traditional god of Mammon, and has influenced the rest of the world to do the same.

And the woman which you saw is that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.[18]

At the moment, the great city that seems to fit the bill both politically and militarily and financially is none other than New York City and the United States of America. But as every great nation or empire of the past has come to its demise because of moral and spiritual decay from within, it seems that America is headed for the same fate. As Toynbee, the great British historian said, quoting Hegel,

The only thing we learn from history, is that we don’t learn from history.[19]

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Notes:

[1] Revelation 17:1-4
[2] Revelation 17: 5-8
[3] Revelation 17:9
[4] Malachi Martin, The Jesuits: The Society of Jesus and the Betrayal of the Roman Catholic Church, New York, 1987. http://www.amazon.com/The-Jesuits-Malachi-Martin/dp/067165716X (accessed 03/2016)
[5] Isaiah 11:9
[6] Daniel 2:35
[7] Revelation 17:10
[8] Revelation 17:11
[9] Revelation 17:12
[10] Revelation 17:13
[11] Revelation 17:14
[12] Matthew 24:15-22
[13] http://www.faithfulwordbaptist.org/elect.html (accessed 03/2016)
[14] http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=18360&forum=34 (accessed 03/2016)
[15] Revelation 17:15
[16] Revelation 17:16
[17] Revelation 17:17
[18] Revelation 17:18
[19] http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/6188.Georg_Wilhelm_Friedrich_Hegel (accessed 03/2016)

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Is the Babylon of Revelation America? - Chapter 22

 

Is the Babylon of Revelation America?

The Book of Revelation talks about Babylon the Great, "that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth."[1] Some people believe that since New York City is one of the greatest commercial centers of the world, if not the greatest, that perhaps the destruction which takes place in one hour in Revelation is talking about her.

Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come.[2]

Couldn’t that verse have been referring to when the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001? I remember receiving various phone calls from different people at the time of the attack on the Twin Towers asking me if it was a fulfillment of the Revelation prophecy. Bill notes correctly that although the towers did fall “in one hour,” the following did not take place.

And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buys their merchandise anymore.[3]

Since world trade did not stop after the attack of September, 2001, Bill Salus dismisses the possibility that the Babylon of Revelation could be talking of America. Here’s my first disagreement with Bill. Yes, perhaps Revelation 18 was not talking about 9/11, but perhaps it is talking about some future event which 9/11 was only a foreshadowing of.

If we read carefully Revelation 17 and 18, we can find many parallels between Babylon the Great and the USA today. Pastor Mike Taylor from the Church of God organization makes a good case against Babylon neither being the Roman Catholic Church nor Iraq which are often chosen as possible fulfillments of Babylon the Whore. Taylor believes that the good old USA is a better interpretation.[4] If you go on-line, you can find others saying the same thing. Let us read from Revelation 17 itself and see how America compares with the imagery presented.

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Notes:

[1] Revelation 17:18
[2] Revelation 18:10
[3] Revelation 18:11
[4] http://www.prophecyupdate.com/can-america-be-mystery-babylon.html

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Is America in Bible Prophecy? - Chapter 21

 

Is America in Bible Prophecy?

But can we know America’s place in Bible prophecy? Bill suggests reading the following books: The Late Great United States by Mark Hitchcock,[1] American Apocalypse by Terry James[2] and America the Beautiful by David Reagan.[3] All these authors agree that America is under judgment. Bill says that if America is in prophecy, it is not the same America that we have now. Why is that? Because prophecy seems to indicate that America does not maintain its superpower status forever.

Bill notes that Israel is named over 2,300 times in the Bible, Egypt 565 times, Gaza 30 times, Russia 5, Libya 4 and China once. But where is America, the USA, the strongest military power the world has ever known? Bill gives five possible scripture references that might be referring to America, and then argues for or against their possibility.[4] Let’s take a look at one of them: Babylon the Whore of Revelation 17 and 18.

Notes:

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19Q8WelolsI (accessed 03/2016)
[2] http://www.raptureready.com/terry/newbook2.html (accessed 03/2016)
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCwZiXS7_OY (accessed 03/2016)
[4] Bill Salus, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKOKqCk5vuo (03/2016)

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Are You a Prophecy Nut? - Chapter 20

 

 Are You a Prophecy Nut?

Getting back to Bill Salus’ sermon, like myself, he believes that:

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.[1]

Apostle Paul tells us in the book of Acts,

For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the council of God.[2]

We, too, should therefore teach the full council of God. Part of the council includes Bible prophecy and the fact that the Bible says we are living in the Last Days. Most people may not want to hear about the future, especially if it is bad news. But as God’s representatives, it behooves us to share the truths found in God's Word with others, including Bible prophecy about the End-time events.

According to Bill, Bible prophecy is invaluable predictive information outsourced from a loving God with 100% accuracy and is intended to 1: authenticate His sovereignty, 2: equip humanity for the days in which they live, and 3: spare lives and save souls.

Bill says you are obsessed with Bible prophecy if: 1: You refuse to cash a US government tax refund for $666. 2: Wal-Mart’s barcode scanners make you nervous. 3: You won’t put a tracking chip in your pet. 4: You think the Church Fathers are Hal Lindsey and Tim Lahaye.

Tim Lahaye was co-author of the famous, though scripturally incorrect, Left Behind series,[3] while Hal Lindsey co-authored The Late Great Planet Earth [4] which also supported like Lahaye the scripturally weak pre-tribulation doctrine. We will get more into the pre-tribulation doctrine in a later chapter.

Bill’s wife laments the fact that her husband is a prophecy freak. She believes that it is the reason they have so few friends. Not everyone wants to talk about Bible prophecy most of the time. You might not be obsessed with Bible prophecy as such, but it is good to have at least a basic knowledge of some of the different theories concerning End-time events. You might just need it in the future. Knowing Bible prophecy can be both comforting and strengthening in times of tribulation. So it behooves all of us to study up on this topic as much as possible. Let’s continue our study.

Notes:

[1] 2Timothy 3:16
[2] Acts 20:27
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_Behind (accessed 03/2016)
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Late,_Great_Planet_Earth (03/2016)

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Christianity and the Press are Diametrically Opposed!

 

"If Christianity is really to be proclaimed, it will become apparent that it is the daily press which will, if possible, make it impossible. There has never been a power so diametrically opposed to Christianity as the daily press. Day in and day out the daily press does nothing but delude men with the supreme axiom of this lie, that numbers are decisive. Christianity, on the other hand, is based on the thought that the truth lies in the single individual." Søren Kierkegaard as quoted by Malcom Muggeridge in his The Third Testament, page 58. Muggeridge goes through various famous Christians in this short collection. Very much worth your while to read.

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The Genesis Messianic Prophecy - Chapter 14

 

The Genesis Messianic Prophecy

We have seen so far that the Bible is indeed a book of prophecy. One scholar has determined that 26.8% of the Bible is prophecy.[1]That’s over 8,000 verses. If God didn’t want us to know the future, why did He spend so much of His Word prophesying? In the Old Testament we have seventeen books which are almost nothing but prophecy and as such are called the Major and Minor Prophets. The other twenty-two books of the Old Testament, from Genesis to the Song of Solomon contain hundreds of specific prophecies within their histories and poetry.

The first Messianic prophecy, or prophecy about the Messiah, is found in Genesis, the book of beginnings. While in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve disobey God after listening to the Devil-serpent. God, when stating His judgment upon them says,

And I will put enmity between thee (the Devil-serpent) and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.[2]

Christian Bible scholars have interpreted this prophecy in the following way. The Messiah, the seed of the woman, would one day defeat the serpent, the Devil, although the serpent would be able to bruise, or kill the Messiah. The fact that the serpent’s head is crushed shows total defeat, seen in Christ’s victory over death in His resurrection and His ultimate defeat of Satan at the end of time. The implication of the woman’s seed being bruised by the serpent shows the Devil’s power to persecute and even kill the Redeemer and His representatives. However, because the bruise is to the heel, the defeat is minor and not an ultimate victory. As Jesus said,

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell.[3]

The non-violent protest movement to affect political change has been based on this idea of standing up for the truth even in the face of danger to one’s own safety or life, as exemplified by Christ. Many people have died in non-violent protests because of this principle. Mahatma Gandhi used it to change an Empire. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used it to change a nation.

In a more recent example, on March 16, 2003, a young American peace activist named Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer. Corrie was undertaking a non-violent protest to protect the home of a Palestinian family from being demolished. The Israeli military was destroying all buildings within one hundred meters of the security fence they had constructed. In 2005, the Corrie family took the Israeli military to court over the incident. However, in 2012, a lower Israeli court ruled in favor of the Israeli military. Rachel’s parents have appealed to Israel’s Supreme Court, who has yet to make a decision.[4]

Similar to Rachel, scientist Dr. George Ellis believes non-violence is the best path.[5] Ellis, who worked with Dr. Stephen Hawking on the Big Bang cosmology, is also a Quaker and against war. He believes that non-violence can even be applied in difficult situations. After winning the renowned Templeton Prize,[6] he received an e-mail from a former British soldier who had been on a peace-keeping duty in Aden, Yemen in 1967. The name of the man was Davie Christie.

Mr. Christie said he had been an officer in a Scottish battalion engaged in peace-keeping duties in Aden town in the year 1967, in what is now called Yemen. He compared the situation to that of Iraq where people were being killed daily, with those suffering the most being the innocent local population. Mr. Christie admits his battalion of the British Army had the military capacity to destroy the whole town of Aden if they wanted to. But something unusual happened that needs to be publicized.

They had a commanding officer who refused to let them return fire when they were attacked, unless they were absolutely positive the person they were firing at had been the person who had actually thrown a grenade or had fired a shot at them. He did not want to kill any innocent people. He didn’t want any “collateral damage.”

But that’s difficult to do, to hold your fire when you are under attack. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what this particular battalion did. They held their fire unless they were 100% sure they were firing at the perpetrator, that they were firing at the actual attacker. Even with over a hundred grenades thrown at them, they fired back a grand total of two shots, killing one grenade-thrower.

Did they suffer losses? Yes, they did. They had over 100 men wounded and even one killed. When they were the recipients of rock-throwing, they stood fast. When it was grenades, they hit the ground and after the dust settled, they got up, stood their ground and held fast. They did not react indiscriminately in anger.

Of course, their reaction was not anticipated. Their enemy wanted them to fire back. They wanted them to kill innocent people. If they did, the local people’s animosity would be raised against them, the British peacekeeping force. But that is not what happened.

Slowly the local people began to trust the peacekeeping force. The local people saw they were taking injuries and not firing back into the crowded streets filled with innocent men, woman and children. As a result, the local people themselves made it clear to the terrorists that they were not welcomed in that area of Aden town.

While Mr. Christie’s battalion was playing soccer with the local people, other British battalions who had not followed what I will call the “turn-the-other-cheek philosophy,” were having a very difficult time. However, that one Scottish battalion brought peace to their area. They brought peace by being peacemakers because they were willing to lay down their lives rather than kill innocent people. Though they held the superior physical power, they withheld using that power in the face of terrorist attacks in order to protect innocent lives. The peace they achieved came because of the faith and outlook of the commanding officer. He in turn passed on that faith and outlook to those in his command.

Mr. Christie testifies that the commanding officer was a man they admired. They knew he was ready to die for each and every soldier under his command. As a result, each soldier was prepared to die for their commanding officer. Some may say, as Christie notes, that they were merely obeying orders. But he goes on to say, he does not believe it was the case. He confesses that they actually came to love their commanding officer. His heart for peacemaking and his determination to succeed in cruel and unjust circumstances regardless of the cost began to gradually grow in the hearts of the men in his command. Only years later did the soldiers themselves realize what they had accomplished.[7]

Dr. Ellis believes that Christian principles can be applied even in areas of conflict, such as the one above. If we did, some of the most amazing things could occur.

Throughout history the prophets of God used non-violent protests and suffered ridicule, abuse and even death because of their faith and world outlook. But all the way back in the first book of the Bible, we see the first prophecy of the Messiah’s triumphant victory over evil and Satan. We see also the initiating of the spiritual warfare of good against evil which continues until today.

Notes:

[1] Salus, Bill; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKOKqCk5vuo (03/16)
[2] Genesis 3:15
[3] Matthew 10:28
[4] http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/ (accessed 03/2016)
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_F._R._Ellis (03/2016)
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Templeton_Prize (03/2016)
[7] http://www.onbeing.org/program/science-and-hope/transcript/1158#main_content (accessed 03/2016)

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The Big Reset is Coming. How Can We Prepare?

 

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Qualities of Character

 

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Our only Hope!

 

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Should Christians Embrace Critical Theory?

 

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