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Revelation #35

            To all who love the word of God, have you all been peaceful in the Lord during the week? As God continues to inform us through the apostle John, it is time to study the Lord’s message about how we should live in our modern times and what we should wait for. Today, we are going to study Revelation 17, but the fact that ‘Revelation 17 and 18 are quite difficult’ means that there can be various pains and misunderstandings in witnessing. This chapter is about Babylon the Great. We have already studied a lot in chapter 13 Regarding Babylon the Great. We will repeat a little bit of what we have studied, and then we will read, listen, and meditate on individual verses from chapter 17 verse 1.

            To put it simply, Babylon the Great is expressed as a woman. Revelation 17:18 says that this woman is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth. Also 17:9 says this city sits upon seven mountains. In chapter 13, We have already heard the words to be learned in chapter 17, but allow me to summarize what will be developed in chapter 17. (Revelation 17:6 KJV) says the woman is drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus… Then in (Revelation 17:4 KJV)…the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand… Upon hearing this, folks, do you ever wonder who this woman may be? If you know the words of the Bible and even a little bit about the history of Christianity, the Holy Spirit has already told you who this is in your heart. For reference, A bronze papal medal of Pope Leo XII was minted to commemorate the QUEEN OF HEAVEN on the second year of his reign in 1825. Again the Roman Catholic Church is portrayed as a woman seated on the globe with a cup in her hand. The inscription on the reverse reads SEDET SUPER UNIVERSUM, declaring that her seat of authority is universal, i.e., over the entire globe. The Bible says, She is a religion that is full of mysteries which does not understand the Bible. (Revelation 17:5 KJV) says she is MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. We have already seen it in Revelation 16:13. Isaiah 57:3 also speaks about this as well. John was persecuted by the Roman Empire and was exiled to the isle of Patmos because he testified of Christ during that time, so naturally he thought the Roman Empire would martyr many Christians in his days. However, he was surprised to learn that yet another Roman religious group, not the Roman Empire of his time, came out and killed so many saints. He wouldn’t have been so surprised had it been the Roman Empire of his time, but he was surprised to see in advance that a great number of Christians and Jews would be killed by the Roman religious institution during the tribulation 2,000 years later. 2,000 years ago, John went ahead and witnessed everything in the Holy Spirit 2,000 years forward into the Day of the Lord, the era of the Lord’s second coming to earth. He witnessed what will happen starting with the two thousand year church age. He was particularly astonished when he foresaw that a group would appear to kill the church, the bride of Christ. Therefore, if we know this in advance and study verse by verse, the Holy Spirit in our hearts will teach us the true identity of the Roman Catholic church.

            Let’s start from (Revelation 17:1-2 KJV) ¶ And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 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. If we compare 1 John 2:15 and Jeremiah 51:7 here, you will also hear the voice of the Lord in them. First (1 John 2:15 KJV) Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Then in (Jeremiah 51:7 KJV) Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. The Babylon that will appear in the world has been told in advance through the prophet Jeremiah. That’s why we will be able to open our eyes to the great political capital. The Bible describes this woman as a harlot, a whore and we can see here in advance that this political power, religious institution claims to be Christian. We can see that the Roman Church has adopted this look. The following books, American Freedom and Catholic Power by Paul Blanshard and The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop will let you know how the Babylon of the past appeared and the Babylon that will appear during the tribulation and how they are the same. For those who want to read these books, please do so. Their contents are historically proven.

            (Revelation 17:3-7 KJV) So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 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 didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. We all need to know that the present Church of Rome is an organization that confesses to be the “Holy Mother Church”. Verse 5 calls her THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And we need to compare how similar this beast is to the beast described earlier in Revelation 12. Revelation 12:3 says that the beast is the red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven crowns. The old serpent, Satan, and the devil. We have no doubt as to who this scarlet beast is in chapter 17. Like the beast in Chapter 12, he has seven heads and ten horns. This beast is not communists. This beast, which we have already heard in chapters 12 and 13, is the antichrist. Satan manifested in flesh, who will enforce the mark of the beast (666). As a review, (Revelation 12:9 KJV)  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Everything is clear now. He is the devil, Satan. Now we know that the Roman Catholic Church is a satanic religious institution that imitates the bride of Christ, and its leader is Satan, the god of this world. Let’s keep reading (Revelation 17:8-9 KJV) The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. This beast is the devil manifested in some form. The devil will be appearing in human form. Christ is God incarnated in human form, but the antichrist is Satan, the dragon, the devil incarnated in human form. We must keep this in mind.

            And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. (Revelation 17:10-11 KJV) Although Satan is the dragon, the devil, he is called the beast, Satan incarnated in human form. We have already seen this in chapter 13, but if you look at 17:11, And the beast that was… He is a man who once lived on earth. A man who lived before the Apostle John was exiled to the isle of Patmos. Apostle John had already seen it….and is not; as he wasn’t there when Apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation. But in the future, he will fall into the bottomless pit and then come out again. He will come a second time as Jesus Christ will return. Just as the incarnated Jesus Christ will return to judge at the Second Coming, he will be in the bottomless pit and will come out again in human form and go into destruction. In summary, who is the beast? He is currently in the bottomless pit. According to (Revelation 9:11 KJV)  he is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. Therefore, we can know that Antichrist will definitely come through the Jewish lineage, as The Lord said this in (John 5:43 KJV) I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. So the Antichrist will come of Jewish descent and the Jews will receive him. The Antichrist during the tribulation. The Bible says during the tribulation he will rise out of the bottomless pit again, remain for a short time, and finally be destroyed, falling into the lake of fire.

            In (Revelation 17:8 KJV) 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. Isn’t this a mystery? The mystery is simple if we remember the Satanic Trinity. In Revelation 16:13, we learned that Satan is the Trinity of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. Just as our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are the Trinity, we can confirm that the devil is an imitator. We cannot explain how Jesus Christ could be in heaven and on earth at the same time, but He was. We cannot explain how Heavenly Father sent down God the Holy Spirit to come upon God the Son when He was baptized in the water, but He did. Likewise, we cannot explain how the Antichrist is Satan incarnate, and furthermore he does not exist on earth, he is now in the bottomless pit. Nevertheless, in imitation of God the Father, the dragon is in the bottomless pit, and the beast, the antichrist disappeared and is here on earth, and that beast is the dragon. That is why we must know that just as the triune God always exists, Satan can always exist in those three forms. that was, and is not, What was there before? He was a man on this earth, but is no longer here. The man went into the bottomless pit, and he will reappear according to John’s testimony. He is not incarnated as the Son of Perdition, but he will soon appear. This is the message we are given today. But Satan is still here today. Also, the beast is still active. We see many satanic activities through various media outlets. Many people are infected there as they perform various evil things and sexually promiscuous activities. Satan is actively working like this even today. But in the future he will definitely appear in human form. That is why the Bible tells us in (Revelation 13:18 KJV) Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. 666 already exists through bar-codes and VeriChip. However, in the future, the antichrist who will use this to conquer the entire world will appear during the tribulation, so we must now wake up and hear this word. Jesus Christ is in heaven, but just as the Holy Spirit is now working on earth, the antichrist has not yet come, but the evil spirit is also working now. That’s why (1 John 4:3 KJV) says…that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. The Bible clearly says it’s been here 2,000 years ago. However, Satan’s  time is just around the corner for him to show up in human form and reign over the entire world for a short time, viciously persecuting God’s people. So if anyone is not born again by the Holy Spirit and is not caught up in the air at the Lord’s coming, those who are left behind will be under subjection of the antichrist as he will enforce receiving the mark as they will all be bound to worship him. This has been around under the names of VeriChip and BioChip, and is being injected into many people around the world lately in the form of vaccines. It is injected for convenience to young children and hospital patients, and such technology is conveniently already included in many luxury vehicles. However, the antichrist will enforce it upon all during the tribulation. The Bible says that he will control the population through satellite technology and anyone who receives the mark will worship the beast, the antichrist. That’s why you should never accept such device or other forms of injections from now on, as this would be wise. 666 is present today. The Bible warns us through Apostle John never to receive it.

            Verse 10 mentions seven kings. The seven kings are spoken of here in addition to the seven mountains. These seven kings have already been explained when we studied about the seven heads in Revelation 12:3. These seven kings are historical. The first was Nimrod, king of Babylon; the second, Pharaoh, king of Egypt; the third, Sennacherib, king of Assyria; the fourth, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; the fifth, Darius, king of Persia; the sixth, Alexander, king of Greece; seven kings: five are fallen. By the time of the apostle John, five had already been destroyed. The five defeated kings are Babylon, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece. Since Babylon appears twice, the two Babylons can be seen as one of the five. Five have already perished and one remains. Who is the sixth? The Roman Emperor Caesar remains. The Roman empire ruled in John’s time. One king has not yet come, but when he does, he will have to stay for a little while, that is, for latter three and a half years of the tribulation. The last king will appear during the tribulation. He didn’t show up during Apostle John’s days. But when he comes, the Bible says he will reign for three and a half years the second half of the 7 year tribulation. Caesar was ruling when John wrote these words. John was persecuted and exiled to isle of Patmos by the Roman emperor Domitian, as John wrote the book of Revelation around AD 90…and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. (Revelation 17:10 KJV)

            (Revelation 17:11 KJV) And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth… He is talking about the king who comes after Caesar, the Roman emperor. He is of the seven. He is the sixth head of Satan, and the sixth head of Satan is mentioned in the book of Daniel as the Antichrist, likened to Alexander the Great in history, but he is not mentioned by name in the book of Daniel. His number is 666 according to Revelation 13, and is the sixth head of the dragon, and when he comes, he will be the eighth king after the fall of the Roman Empire. This means that when Antichrist comes, the Roman Empire will take over as the Roman catholic Church. Just as the ten toes on the great image expanded into the Roman Empire which Daniel saw grew in Daniel 2, the ten kings in Revelation 17:12 will rule the Roman Empire together with Antichrist. We must realize that the beast, the antichrist, is the eighth king to come and one of the seven heads of Satan.

            And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. (Revelation 17:12 KJV) The ten horns represent ten kings. And it connects with the ten toes in Daniel 2. Daniel and Revelation connect with each other. As we learned in Daniel 2, when Jesus Christ comes, the last kingdom on earth will be ruled by ten kings, as there will be ten kingdoms composed of ten demonic kings. We know that the ten toes of the last kingdom that Daniel saw correspond to the ten horns before the Second Coming of Christ, and they will receive authority as kings. They do not need to be called kings, but they receive the authority of kings. We must pay attention to these expressions. They cannot be called a king under the reign of the Antichrist. Because there is only one King, the Antichrist himself. But they will receive authority as kings… for one hour. Perhaps they will be referred to by some other title, such as ambassador, prime minister, governor, etc.,as the word implies they will receive the power of kings. But only for an hour. One Hour. Period as the Bible says so. However, the Bible says the antichrist will ultimately have total control over them and become a dictator in the latter three and a half years. Next time, we will continue to study about the mystery of this woman from verse 13 onward. Who exactly is this woman? We’ll continue the study through the words. These words we learn are things that will happen during tribulation, and brides who have received Jesus Christ wholeheartedly and are born again by the Holy Spirit will be raptured without anyone noticing when the Lord comes. All saved saints are raptured without the people of the world knowing about it. Therefore, now is the time to be saved by grace and to be sealed by the Holy Spirit. If you still do not have the assurance of salvation, I hope you will be saved today. You must have assurance. The Bible says Those who believe have witness, and that witness is eternal life. Christ is inside. The Holy Spirit is also within. God the Father also resides within us and hopes for us and works. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ that today will be the day for all of you to receive salvation and to be assured. Amen.