PT-3 Explanation of the Harlot (Rev. 13:9-14)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/24/2015 11:24 AM

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  PT-3 Explanation of the Harlot

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 13:9-14

            Message of the verses:  “9 “Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, 10 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. 14 "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."”

            As we begin this third SD on this second main section of Revelation 17 we see John trying to get our attention in verse nine by stating “Here is the mind which has wisdom.”  It seems to me that he said something like this earlier in chapter thirteen:  “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six (vs. 18).”  A little different but wisdom is used in both verses.  Now that he has got our attention what is it that he wants to tell us?  We realize that what he wants to tell us will take much spiritual insight in order to understand what he is about to write.  John MacArthur writes “And perhaps only those alive at the time will fully comprehend it.” 

            Ok we move on to look at the next part of verse nine which states:  “The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.”  Now these seven heads belong to the beast, the Antichrist as we have already seen in verse three “3  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.”  We can see that the seven heads of the beast are seven mountains or hills as the Greek word can mean either and that this “woman” sits on these seven hills or mountains.  Now we will speak to what many commentators say about what this represents.  Now on the 29^th of September, 2005 I wrote the following in my Spiritual Diary “I have read in different commentaries that the seven mountains are referring to Rome, for Rome is noted for being built on seven hills, and according to the Greek dictionary on my Online Bible program this word for mountain could mean hill.”  Hal Lindsey, in his commentary on Revelation “There’s a New World Coming,” writes “I believe the seven mountains refer to the seven hills of the city of Rome.  Rome has been associated with her seven hills throughout Roman literature and on coins of her day.  What’s being said here is that the Babylonish religious system was controlling the Tome of John’s day, and indeed was synonymous with Rome itself.  Rome was the center of pagan worship.  However, John tells us that the seven heads also represent seven kingdoms:  five have fallen, one is, and the other is still to come.  Here he is referring to those great world empires from the time of the original Babylon of Nimrod’s day which have been dominated by the false occultic religion of Babylon.”  He is not the only one who believes that this false religion is associated with the Roman Catholic church, and it is something that has made a lot of sense to me over my years of studying the book of Revelation.  John MacArthur writes “But such an interpretation is too narrow; something more than just Rome must be in view, because Antichrist’s empire is worldwide.  Nor can the ‘woman’ be the Roman Catholic Church, since, as noted above, verse 18 identifies her as the city of Babylon.  Also ‘when the woman sits on the ‘many waters’ (V.1) this must be taken as metaphorical since it is interpreted in v. 15; when the woman sits upon ‘a scarlet coloured beast’ this again is symbolic; thus when she sits upon the ‘seven mountains’ this too must be figurative.’ (James Allen, What the Bible Teaches: Revelation [Kilmarnock, Scotland: John Ritchie Ltd., 1997], 424.  Finally, the angel’s call for spiritual discernment would have been pointless if the seven mountains were an obvious geographical reference to Rome.

            “All such speculation is unnecessary, because the text plainly identifies the mountains as ‘seven kings.’”  As I was reading his text today I thought that if there was not a comma at the end of verse nine and if the words “and they are seven kings” that it would be much easier to understand that the seven mountains are seven kings.  In the Old Testament mountains are at times used metaphorically for instance:  "Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, Who destroys the whole earth," declares the LORD, "And I will stretch out My hand against you, And roll you down from the crags, And I will make you a burnt out mountain (Jer. 51:25).”  “"Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Dan. 2:35).”  In our verses for today in Revelation 17 they refer to world empires, something that is explained from the quote by Hal Lindsey.  We look at what the angel tells John that “five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come,” and we can look back in world history at the five Gentile world empires that had already fallen by the time that John sees this vision and we come up with Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece.  The one that still exists in his day is Rome and the one to come is Antichrist’s final world empire.  John MacArthur quotes Henry Morris in his commentary on this subject.

            “Though none of these empires ever actually ruled the whole world, each was the greatest kingdom of its own time, particularly in reference to the land an people of Israel and these kingdoms’ opposition to the proclamation of God’s Word and the accomplishment of His purposes in the world…

            “These, of course, have not been the only kingdoms that have been at enmity with God and His purposes.  In this category could also be placed such kingdoms as Syria, Edom, Moab, Midian, and many others, but none of these were empires of great size and influence.  On the other hand, there were other great and powerful empires in the ancient world—China, India, and the Incas, for example—but these had only peripheral contact with the Word of God and the chosen people.  There were only six kingdoms that met bot criteria up to the time of Christ and the apostles.  Furthermore, all six of these were not only legitimate heirs of political Babel, but also religious Babel as well.  Babylonia, Egypt, Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome were all strongholds of the world religion of evolutionary pantheism and idolatrous polytheism.  Thus, they appropriately are represented as six heads on the great beast that supports the harlot.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have another thought that goes along with what Henry Morris writes and that is that all of these kingdoms that he and also John MacArthur mention are mentioned in the book of Daniel, not always by name but Daniel tells who the Gentile kingdoms will be after Israel had fallen in 586 BC, with the exception of Egypt which had actually fallen after God sent those ten plagues on her when He allowed the children of Israel to leave.  When you compare Scripture with Scripture you can see that God has a plan for how He is going to destroy evil in this world and put His Son on David’s throne in Jerusalem for 1000 years and then we will experience what people have cried out for, for such a long time “World Peace.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to live in His love today.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Synagogues.”

Today’s Bible question:  “How many times did Abraham plead for Sodom?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/24/2015 12:16 PM

PT-2 The Explanation of the Harlot (Rev. 17:7-14, 18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/23/2015 9:56 AM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  PT-2 The Explanation of the Harlot

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 17:7-14, 18

            Message of the verses:  Before I add the verses that go along with this section I want to give a quote from my Spiritual Diary dated September 28, 2005 which has to do with verses 7-8 and has a good definition of the word “mystery” in it.   “In verse seven the angel asks John a question and then he answers the question which I would imagine to some who read this is still a mystery.  The word “mystery” when used in the NT means that something was hidden, but is now revealed, and it can also carry the meaning that “the secret will of God: the secret counsels which govern God in dealing with the righteous, which are hidden from ungodly and wicked men but plain to the godly.”  This is why I said that this could still be a mystery to some who read it, because they are reading someone else’s mail, and therefore do not understand it. 

            “Verse eight speaks of the beast who was, and then was killed, and then brought back to life again and will then go to his eternal punishment in hell.  “Those who dwell on the earth will wonder.”  Those earth dweller’s will look at the antichrist with wonder thinking that he is the answer to all of their problems, but the elect, who are alive at that time will realize who he really is.”

            “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. 8 “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, 10 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. 14 "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."  18 “The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth."”

            We have mentioned before that the beast that is in this section of verses is the Antichrist, who is the satanic ruler of the last and the most powerful empire in human history.  Earlier in our study of Revelation we said that in the middle of the Tribulation period that a very strong angel will come up out of the abyss and will possess the Antichrist.  We have also spoken of the fact that Satan hates Israel and mentioned various reasons for this hatred, mostly because the Lord Jesus Christ was born through the people of Israel and has defeated Satan at the cross.  We also know that according to Daniel 7:8 which reads “"While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts,” that he is very intellectual.  Daniel 7:20 shows that he will be an outstand orator:  “and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts and which was larger in appearance than its associates.”  Daniel 7:23 shows he will be a great military leader:  “"Thus he said: ’The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.”  Daniel 8:25 and 11:21 shows that he will be a shrewd, calculating, manipulating politician:  “"And through his shrewdness He will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; And he will magnify himself in his heart, And he will destroy many while they are at ease. He will even oppose the Prince of princes, But he will be broken without human agency.”  “21 "In his place a despicable person will arise, on whom the honor of kingship has not been conferred, but he will come in a time of tranquility and seize the kingdom by intrigue.”  Then we see that Paul writes in 2 Thess. 2:4 that he will be the ultimate religious charlatan:  “who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”  John MacArthur writes that “The angel briefly reviews the detailed description of him given in 13:1-10.” 

            Now we need to look at a section from verse eight that reads “was, and is not, and is about to come” again.  Now to better understand this verse I wish to quote from the John MacArthur Study Bible:  “A reference to the Antichrist’s false resurrection (13:3, 4, 12-14).”  We have mentioned when we studied that section that there are some who believe that he will really be dead, and some that think he fakes his death in order to get more power.  I vacillate between the two options, but then I don’t think that it is that important for the results will be the same either way as the Word of God tells us.  We also know that the false prophet will use this “resurrection” to deceive the entire world into worshiping the beast (13:14).  However up until that point the Antichrist will be using this false religious system, that we have been writing about from the verses in chapter seventeen, he will use it to get to where he wants to be.  The entire world will be fooled by this false religious system which is called “Mystery Babylon, "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."  People have tried to rule the world through politics and through power, power of war, but in the end times there will be a one world religious system that will draw people together and most of the world will be fooled by it, with the exception of those that God has called for His own. 

            The exact timeline of how all of this takes place is not perfectly explained, but we know that in the middle of the Tribulation Period or near it that the death of the Antichrist will take place, whether real or fake, he will go into the rebuilt temple to commit the abomination of desolation which Daniel speaks of along with our Lord and then it will be near this time that this false religious system that would have been gone on for most of the first half of the Tribulation period will be ended as it is believed that when he comes out of the temple that he will declare himself god.  Chapter seventeen explains the sixth bowl judgment in more detail, along with chapter eighteen. 

            We will continue looking at this section in our next SD.  I want to also mention that as I was listening to John MacArthur’s sermon on a part of chapter seventeen that in the beginning of it he gave a fairly long review of what we have already covered so far in the book of Revelation.  It is important to understand that this book is entitled “The revelation of Jesus Christ,” as it is all about Him, as it should be.  It is my desire to quote this fairly extensive review once we get done with this section so that if anyone who has not been along our journey through this book that they will at least have a good idea of where we have been.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful that God has told us in His Word what will happen in the future of this world, and that He is in complete charge, and that all who are now believers in Jesus Christ will not have to go through the horrible things that we are reading and studying about.  I am thankful for the certain return of our Lord Jesus Christ as Scripture promises.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I am thankful that the things that I wrote about in this section yesterday went well.  It was good to catch up on those who I have not seen for many years, to hear what they were doing in their lives, and to have some small opportunities to tell others of what God has done in my life.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “The sin of Achan” (John 7:1).

Today’s Bible question:  “Besides the temple what places of worship did the Jews have in the New Testament?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/23/2015 10:56 AM

"PT-1 The Explanation of the Harlot" (Rev. 17:7-14)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/22/2015 9:56 AM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  PT-1 The Explanation of the Harlot

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation17:7-14, 18

            Message of the verses:  “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. 8 “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, 10 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. 14 "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."  18 “The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth."”

            This may be one of the most difficult passages in this book to understand, however it does not seem like that for the angel who is explaining it to John.  We can probably put ourselves in John’s place after he sees this very mysterious vision and in our minds be wondering what did I just see?  The angel understands what John is feeling and so he asks him “Why do you wonder?”  Well I suppose that John could have told him many reasons why he was wondering, but I don’t think that he got the chance for the angel keeps going.  John MacArthur writes “There was no need for John to remain puzzled by the relation of the beast to this beautiful yet bloody woman in the vision; the angel was about to explain to him ‘the mystery of the woman’ (v. 18) ‘and of the beast that carries her (vv. 8-17).  The apostle understood that the woman represented a false religious system, and that the beast was the Antichrist, as the reference to his ‘seven heads and…ten horns’ indicates (cf. v. 3; 13:1).  What he did not understand was the connection between the two figures.  It had been revealed to John in a previous vision that the whole world would worship Antichrist (13:4, 8, 12).  That may have been what raised the question in John’s mind as to how the woman fits into the picture, particularly how it is that ‘the beast…carries her.’”  This statement is undoubtedly true, but in my opinion there were additional reasons why John was wondering, and that is because of the sheer magnitude of the very vision itself as he sees a beautiful woman and an ugly beast would make anyone wonder.

            Since I am following the outline in John MacArthur’s commentary and he goes directly to verse eighteen at this time we will go there too and try to explain what is in this verse, for there is controversy in the interpretation of this verse, and that controversy has to do with whether or not this city is a literal city of just a religious aspect of Antichrist’s empire.  I have to remind you of the little statement “When the plain sense of Scripture makes sense, seek no other sense.” I can say that I have always been taught, and believed that this is a literal city and probably it is Babylon.  “John MacArthur writes The Old Testament predictions of Babylon’s total destruction (e. g., Isa. 13:1-14; 27; Jer. 50-51) also favor identifying ‘the great city’ with Babylon on the Euphrates.  The detail description those passages give of Babylon’s destruction was only partially fulfilled when the Medes and Persians sacked the ancient city of Babylon.  As in the case with many Old Testament prophecies, those predictions had both a near and a far fulfillment.”  He then goes on to quote Henry Morris whom he has quoted before in his commentaries on Revelation, and with that quote we will end this first SD on this second main point, “The Explanation of the Harlot.”

            “Babylon, indeed, will be permanently destroyed, as recorded in the very next chapter (18:21), but this has not happened yet.  The prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah also refer to this future destruction, not merely to Babylon’s present-day condition, as is evident from the following considerations, among others:  (1) The destruction will take place in the time that the stars and sun are darkened (Isaiah 13:1, 9, 10).  (2) The city will become as desolate as Sodom and Gomorrah, burned completely, with no remains whatever (Isaiah 13:19; Jeremiah 50:40).  (3) It shall become desolate forever, with neither man nor beast entering it any more (Isaiah 13:20; Jeremiah 51:62).  (4) It will be a time of judgment not only for Babylon, but for all nations (Isaiah 13:11-13; Jeremiah 51:49).  (5) Its destruction will be followed by universal rest and peace (Isaiah 14:7, 8).  (6) Its destruction is directly associated also with the casting of Lucifer into Sheol (Isaiah 14:12-15).  (7) Babylon’s stones will never be used in future construction elsewhere, whereas the present-day ruins of Babylon have been frequently plundered and reused in later constructions (Jeremiah 51:26).”

            I better give this one last quote to finish this section:  “The site of modern Babylon is strategically located at the crossroads of Asia, Europe, and Africa and is not far from the Persian Gulf.  It is also near the world’s richest oil fields and has a virtually unlimited water supply from the Euphrates.  Those considerations led the famed historical Arnold Toynbee to proclaim that Babylon would be an ideal site for an important political and cultural center.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful for the opportunity of being able to study the Word of God, to see the things that John has seen in the book of Revelation through his writings and to pass on what I have learned to others, which I pray God will use for His glory.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Today is kind of a big day for me as I am going to attend the 50^th reunion of my graduating High School Class.  I pray that I will be a good witness for the Lord and perhaps there will be someone who the Lord desires me to talk to about Him.  

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Nebo (Pisgah)” (Deuteronomy 34:1).

Today’s Bible question:  “Whose sin caused the defeat at Ai?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/22/2015 10:36 AM  

           

"More on The Exposure of the Harlot" (Rev. 17:4-6)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/21/2015 9:04 AM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  More on The Exposure of the Harlot

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 17:4-6

            Message of the verses:  In today’s SD I wish to cover two more of the sub-points under “The Exposure of the Harlot” which actually covers Revelation 17:1-6 and 15.

            The Apparel of the Harlot (Rev. 17:4a):  “The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls.”

            What we are looking at is how a prostitute usually dresses for her trade, as she wants men to see who she is so that they can pay for the pleasures that she will give to him, but if the woman was dressed in normal clothes then she would not stick out and would not get any business.  I think of Judah in the book of Genesis who had two sons who had married the same woman because the first son died and the second son was suppose to raise a family for his deceased brother.  He did not want to do this and so the Lord caused him to die.  Judah had one more son who was very young, too young to be married and so he told the woman that after the son grew up that they could get married.  Judah had already lost two sons and so he did not allow the third son to get married to this woman, and so she was upset about this.  The woman’s name is Tamar and the story is in Genesis 38, and it is important as this speaks of the bloodline of our Lord Jesus Christ, but the point that I want to make from this story comes from 38:14-15 which says “14  So she removed her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gateway of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, for she had covered her face.”  Prostitutes dress in certain ways so that men know who they are just as Tamar.  The story actually ends with Judah fathering a son through Tamar and all of them are in the bloodline of Jesus Christ.  Romans 8:28 in action.

            John MacArthur writes that “metaphorically the harlot Babylon will be no different.”  She will be no different than a regular prostitute.  “That she is adorned with god and precious stones and pearls portray her as a prostitute who is both attractive and has plied her trade successfully and become extremely wealthy.”

            The Abominations of the Harlot (Rev. 17:4b-5):  having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, 5  and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."”     

Prostitutes try and get what they can from the men that they do business with even trying to get them drunk so that, if possible they can steal and take things from them.  We see that this prostitute was rich as she has a gold cup and in that cup is abominations of the unclean things of her immorality.  The metaphor of a prostitute being like a false religion is very accurate as people get excited over their new found “religion” and give everything to it.  Donald Grey Barnhouse comments on this graphic description in John MacArthur commentary as he writes: 

            It is also highly significant that the abominations and filthiness should be spoken of as coming from a golden cup.  ‘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’ (Jer. 51:7).  To those who are acquainted with the history of ancient religions this significance is heightened by comparisons with the rites of the pagan religious mysteries.  A French scholar, Salverte, writing on The Occult Sciences, tells of the drinking in connection with demon ceremonies.  ‘To drink of mysterious beverages,’ he says, ‘was indispensable on the part of all who sought initiation in these mysteries.  These mysterious beverages were composed of wine, honey, water, and flour, with various other ingredients used locally.  From the nature of the ingredients avowedly used, wand from the nature of other not avowed, but certainly used, there can be no doubt that they were of an intoxication nature; and till the aspirants had come under their power, till their understandings had been dimmed, and their passions excited by the medicated draught, they were not duly prepared for what they were either to hear or see.’”

We can look at a few verses in the OT to show that all idolatry is abominable to God.  “22 Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked Him to jealousy more than all that their fathers had done, with the sins which they committed. 23 For they also built for themselves high places and sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and beneath every luxuriant tree. 24 There were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel (1 Kings 14:22-24).”  Next we will look at 2 Kings 21:1-9 “1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel. 3  For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem I will put My name." 5 For he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 He made his son pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD provoking Him to anger. 7 Then he set the carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the LORD said to David and to his son Solomon, "In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. 8  "And I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them." 9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh seduced them to do evil more than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the sons of Israel.”  There is not a lot written about Manasseh in the OT, and most of what is written is not good, however we do see that he did become a believer in his old age as 2 Chronicles tells us. 

            In this section of Revelation we have the name of this prostitute or harlot “Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth.”  That is some name for this false religious system that John takes one whole chapter in Revelation to tell us about, and how it was eventually destroyed.  Now the word Mystery should be added to this name:  John MacArthur writes “The harlot is called mystery Babylon to indicate that Babylon in this context does not refer to a geographical location.  This is not ancient Babylon, the Babylon of John’s day, or the rebuilt city of Babylon in the end times.  The details of this vision can’t be applied to any actual city.  Here is a previously undisclosed Babylon, a secret reality to be revealed in the end times.  This Babylon is the symbol of all worldly resistance to God; it is described as ‘The Great’ because of its far-reaching influence.  In fact, so great will be its influence that it is called “The Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth.  Babylon will be the source of all the false, idolatrous, blasphemous worship in the end times.  Her designation as the Mother of Harlots is appropriate, since harlotry in Scripture often symbolizes idolatry.  So Babylon, the city that spawned the system that corrupted the world with false religion, will do so again.”

Well we have one more sub-point that is not too long so I think we will tackle it too.

The Accusation of the Harlot (Rev. 17:6):  “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.”

            I would suppose that drinking is something that most harlots do as part of their trade, however this harlot was not drunk on wine, but on the blood of the saints and also on the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.  One of the goals of this false worship which is headed up by Satan is to make it so everyone has to take part in it the way that will cause those who are true believers not to be able to take part in it.  We have seen this kind of thing throughout the Old and New Testaments.  For instance in the book of Daniel we read of three Hebrew men who would not bow down to a statute of Nebuchadnezzar and so they were thrown into the furnace.  In the New Testament times we have seen those who would not bow to Caesar and were thrown to the lions.  This same kind of thing will happen in the Tribulation period and it will have to do with the mark that people will have to take to be a part of being able to buy and sell and to live, and those who don’t will be put to death.  I believe that this mark is a part of this false worship as it is the false prophet and the Antichrist who will cause people to take it.  When we look at this verse we can see that throughout history as I have tried to describe here in a brief way that people who stood up for the Lord were sometimes killed.  Today there are more people being killed for their faith in Jesus Christ than t any other time in the history of the world. 

            John MacArthur comments:  “While the world becomes drunk with the lust for her, the harlot becomes drunk with the blood of God’s people.  The vision was so appalling that when John saw her, he wondered greatly; expressing that he was confused, shocked, astonished, and frightened by the ghastly vision of such a contrastingly magnificent figure of the woman and such a deadly intent.”  Is it no wonder that when John had eaten the scroll with the prophecies on it and the fact that he had to see and write about these things that it caused is stomach to become sick?

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Jesus said in the 25^th chapter of Matthew as He spoke about this time on earth that for the sake of the elect that He would return to rescue them otherwise the entire world would be destroyed.  For the sake of the elect shows to me how much love that the Lord has for true believers and there are times when even the elect have a hard time not being fooled by the types of things that are going on as described in this 17^th chapter of Revelation.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Pray that God will give me the wisdom so that I will not fall prey to things that are not a part of His plan for my life.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jesus” (John 4:32).

Today’s Bible question:  “From which mountain did Moses view the Promised Land?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/21/2015 10:48 AM

PT-2 of The Alliances of the Harlot (Rev. 17:2-3)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/20/2015 10:19 AM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  PT-2 of The Alliances of the Harlot

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 17:2-3

            Message of the verses:  “2 With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries." 3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.”

            We did not get too far into this second sub-point from the main point “The Exposure of the Harlot,” and so we want to compete this section in our Spiritual Diary for today.  It would be good to make mention that John MacArthur entitles this chapter in his commentary, which covers the entire 17^th chapter of Revelation “The Destruction of the Final World Religion.”  We will see as we study this chapter that this is exactly what will happen to this final world religious system, something else that began in the book of Genesis and will end in the book of Revelation.

            Remember when we were looking at the 16^th chapter of Revelation and in the sixth bowl judgment we saw that it was demons who caused the kings of the earth to come to the battle of Armageddon as they deceived them into coming there where we saw that they all would die there.  Well it is easy to believe that it is also demons who deceive the kings of the earth to become obsessed with the Babylonian harlot as the false prophet is also involved in this deception.  In Revelation 13:8 we read “All who dwell on the earth will worship [Antichrist], everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.”  MacArthur writes “But having joined themselves to the harlot, economically, socially, militarily, politically, and religiously, they will share her disastrous fate.” 

            When we read that the harlot will not just be allied with the rules of the earth, but also “those who dwell on the earth,” we must remember that that statement is seen in other places in the book of Revelation and it speaks of unbelievers.  Paul tells us that believers are in the heavenly places.  Ephesians 2:6 “and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”  You get the picture that if we believers are seated with Christ in the heavenly places we are not those who dwell on the earth.  John MacArthur writes on this verse from his Study Bible:  “The tense of ‘raised’ and ‘seated’ indicates that these are immediate and direct results of salvation.  Not only is the believer dead to sin and alive to righteousness through Christ’s resurrection, but he also enjoy his Lord’s exaltation and shares in His preeminent glory.”  So this, to me, is something that helps me to understand why the phrase “those who dwell on the earth” speaks of those who are not believers.

            Those who dwell on the earth “were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.”  They will be caught up into this false religion as they will give their hearts and souls to what the Word of God calls the abominable “Babylonian harlot.”  This is not a drunkenness that comes from drinking alcohol, although that may be a part of it, instead “he is talking about those who are passionately intoxicated with Antichrist’s illicit false world religion. The imagery derives from Jeremiah 51:7, which says of ancient Babylon, ‘Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, intoxicating all the earth.  The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are going mad.’”

            John is now transformed once again carried away in the spirit and this time it is to the wilderness which MacArthur writes “translates eremos, which describes a deserted, desolate wasteland like the region where modern Babylon is located.  In that place John ‘saw a woman’—the Babylonian harlot whom the angel had just described (vs. 1-2).”  Now comes the kind of weird part as John sees her sitting on a scarlet beast, whose description identifies him as the Antichrist.  Let’s look at some verses we have already studied to confirm this identify as being the Antichrist.  MacArthur writes “That the woman was sitting on the scarlet beast signifies that he was supporting her.  The initial unifying and controlling factor of Antichrist’s kingdom will be religion.  With the heavens and earth being ravaged by God’s judgments, and the world’s political, economic, and military might crumbling, people will turn in desperation to the supernatural.  The beast and the woman will coexist for a while; that is, the religion will be separate from the kingdom of Antichrist at first.  But eventually ‘the beast…will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire (v. 16).  It will be at that point that the false prophet will make the whole world worship Antichrist (Rev. 13:11-14), and everything will be one in the beast’s universal and comprehensive rule.”  It seems to me that the Antichrist needs the harlot (the false religious system) to get himself firmly into power and then once he is in power my thoughts are that he will be possessed by a strong demon, (we have looked at this earlier) and it is then that he will desire to be worshiped and the harlot will no longer be any use to him.

            We see the word “scarlet” and this is the color that according to 2 Samuel 1:24 “"O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, Who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, Who put ornaments of gold on your apparel,” speaks with luxury.  There is a lot of scarlet used in certain “religions” of the world today, perhaps a sneak preview.  Next we see that there are many “blasphemous names” on this beast, and I think this indicates the kind of things that the Antichrist will be speaking about concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.  Daniel says that he will speak out against the “Most High” in Dan. 7:25; 11:36. 

            Now we will quote once again what John MacArthur says about “having seven heads and ten horns which is “showing the extent of his alliances.  As will be seen in the discussion of verses 9 and 10 below, the ‘seven heads’ are seven mountains on which the woman sits, 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’ (vv. 9-10).  They represent seven mountains, seven past, present, and future governments.  The ‘ten horns’ represent ten kings (v. 12), who will rule as subordinates to Antichrist (v. 13).”  These help to identify the harlots alliances, but as mentioned once firmly in power the Antichrist will destroy this false religious system and demand worship.  MacArthur concludes “Far from being separated, church and state will be united as never before in human history.”

            We still have three more sub-points under this first main point “The Exposure of the Harlot,” and we will look at perhaps two of them in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  John had to eat the “little book” which was what we are studying in Revelation and it made him sick to his stomach.  I can understand this as I wade through these judgments and have the privilege of better understand what the future holds, and also having a desire to share what I am learning with others.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Be faithful in spreading the truth of God’s Word.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  I want to quote the verse that has the answer in it for our question from yesterday and then explain what I have learned about it.  By the way the answer is “Like a dove” and it comes from Luke 3:22 “and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased."”  The word “like” is a simile and we have seen John use this word in Revelation many times.  When a dove lands it is softly and slowly and that is how the Holy Spirit landed upon Jesus, and one more thing and that is that the entire trinity is involved in the baptism of Jesus.

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said, ‘I have meat to eat that you know nothing of?’”

Answer in our next SD.

8/20/2015 11:29 AM

 

PT-1 Exposure of the Harlot (Rev. 17:1b, 15)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/19/2015 8:20 AM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  PT-1 Exposure of the Harlot

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 17:1b, 15

            Message of the verses:  In today’s Spiritual Diary we will be looking at the first part of the first main point from the outline of John MacArthur to which he has entitled “The Exposure of the Harlot” and the first sub-point he has entitled “The Authority of the Harlot.”

            The Authority of the Harlot:  “who sits on many waters….And he said to me, ‘The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. (17:1b, 15).

            My first comment has to do with how verse fifteen describes different people groups as being “peoples and multitudes and tongues.”  The media of this country has done everything to make us believe that there are different races of people on planet earth, mostly because they will call those who are black as the black race which stirs up many problems.  Now the truth of this is that every person on planet earth is from the human race, there are no other races of beings on planet earth.  Think of the problems that could be avoided if people understood this simple truth that the Bible teaches, that we are all one race as we all descend from Adam and Eve, and we are all made in the image of God.  Now back to Revelation as it speaks of this false religious system that it calls the harlot.

            As we look at our verses this morning we can see that this harlot, which John sees in his vision, is like a king sitting on a throne beside many waters.  It is true that cities, that is major cities have been settled beside waters, like oceans, or rivers, or lakes in order to have a source of water for things like transportation, and for drinking, and other things we use water for.  Babylon was situated by the Euphrates River as Jeremiah writes in 51:13 “you who dwell by many waters,” and this is the same phrase that is applied in our passage of today.  Babylon was a proud city that sits by many waters just as this harlot of the future takes her seat by many waters.

            No the waters of our passage is not h20 but as the angel explains “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.”  John MacArthur writes “The metaphor is an apt one, since a city situated in a commanding position on a great waterway would be highly influential.  The harlot will not merely influence, but will dominate all the unredeemed peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues of the earth (cf. the similar phrases in 5:9; 7:9; 11:9; 13:7; 14:6).  The harlot’s authority will be universal; the entire world will be committed to the false worship of the Babylonian system, rather than the true God.”

The Alliance of the Harlot (Rev. 17:2-3):  “2 With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries." 3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.”

            I suppose that this is one of the most mysterious sections of the book of Revelation as we see a woman sitting on a scarlet beast and the beast has blasphemous names on it along with seven heads and ten horns.  Sounds like a good script for a Hollywood movie, but it is a vision that John sees and writes about long before we had movies.

            The influence that this harlot has goes even to the kings of the earth which shows that her influence is immense indeed.  I suppose that we could say that everyone was drinking of the cool-aid, and doing it willingly.  John MacArthur writes “The phrase ‘committed acts of immorality’ translates a form of the Greek very porneuo (‘to commit sexual immorality’). It aptly describes the harlot’s interaction with the kings of the earth.  The symbolism of spiritual adultery, used in the Old Testament to describe Israel’s apostasy from Jehovah (cf. Ezek. 16, 23) is inappropriate here.  The unredeemed rulers and the nations they represent do not know God and are never pictured as His wife.”  Now this is something to think about as we look at two different things that the Bible teaches us, one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament, and the first one can be seen from the study that I am doing in the book of Amos.  In the first chapters of the book of Amos God is judging different Gentile nations for how they treated Israel.  There is a difference between how God judges these nations and how He deals with Israel, and the reason is that Israel belongs to God.  Our Pastor spoke two Sunday evenings on how discipline is to be done in the Church, the way that the Bible speaks of it.  The same principle applies here and that is that God has set this discipline up for His own people in order to bring them back to Himself, similar in the way He disciplines Israel in the OT.  The 12^th chapter of Hebrews speaks of this along with other books of the NT including what our Lord has to say in Matthew 18:15-17.  What we are looking at in this passage in Revelation 17 is people being involved with a false religion, something that all the people of the earth will be involved in during parts of the Tribulation period with the exception of those who come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

            We will continue looking at this second sub-point in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful that God loves me enough to cause me to grow up in the Lord even though at times He has to discipline me in order for me to grow.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Death” (Romans 6:23).

Today’s Bible question:  “In what form did the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus?” 

Answer and explanation in our next SD.

8/19/2015 8:58 AM

PT-2 Introduction to Rev. 17 (Rev. 17)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/18/2015 9:35 AM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  PT-2 Introduction to Rev. 17

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 17

            Message of the verses:  I think that perhaps that this 17^th chapter of Revelation is one of the most difficult chapters to understand in the book of Revelation and perhaps in the Word of God because of the symbolism that is found in it.  Another thing that makes it difficult to understand is where it is placed in the book of Revelation, along with the 18^th chapter.  We have just finished looking at the last bowl judgment in the 16^th chapter of Revelation and we read in the first verse of the 15^th chapter that when these seven bowl judgments were finished then the wrath of God would be complete and now when we look at the 17^th and 18^th chapters we see wrath still going on.  Now we had something similar when we looked at chapters 12-14 of Revelation as we went back to look at what was going on in another way, however this is a little bit different when we look at chapters 17-18.

            John MacArthur writes “Chapters 17 and 18 are inserted into the chronological flow of Revelation, which continues in chapter 19.  The pouring out of the seventh bowl (16:17) is actually followed immediately in time by the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to end the great world battle (19:11).  Chapters 17 and 18 digress to look not at God’s specific judgments, but at what is being judged.  Those two chapters go back to describe the world system led by Satan, Antichrist, and the false prophet, before recording its destruction.  John had already heard harbingers of Babylon’s destruction (14:8; 16:19); now the details of that destruction will be given in these remarkable visions.”    I for one am glad that he wrote this in his commentary, for it helps me better understand where and why these two chapters fit into this remarkable book.

            In his beginning commentary on Revelation 17-18 Warren Wiersbe writes “Beginning in Revelation 17, John describes the Lamb’s step-by-step victory over ‘the beast’ and his kingdom.  In Revelation 17, the religious system is judged; in Revelation 18, the political and economic system fall victim.  Finally, the Lord Himself returns to earth; judges Satan, ‘the beast,’ and the false prophet (Rev. 19:19-20); and then establishes His kingdom.

            “One reason John used symbolism was so that his message would encourage believers in any period of church history.  The true church is a pure virgin (Rev. 19:7-8; see also 2 Cor. 11:2), but the false religious system is a ‘harlot’ who has abandoned the truth and prostituted herself for personal gain.  In every age there has been a ‘harlot’ who has persecuted God’s people; and this will culminate in the last days in worldwide apostate religious system.” 

            Chapter seventeen is about this worldwide religious system that comes together during the tribulation period.  Now remember that after the rapture of the church there will not be any true believers on earth for a short while in order to combat a false religious system like there has been since the church age began.  As we review the seven different churches that are in chapters 2-3 we can see how much affect that this false religious system had on the church and how the Lord had instructed believers to react to this system.  I have mentioned that there are some who believe that the order of these churches is actually prophetic in nature as each church mentioned will be dominant during different periods of the church age and if that is the case the dominant church at this time would be the Laodicean church, and if we are close to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ then that would not be hard to understand at all.

            In our last SD we wrote about how this false religious system began as it actually began in the 11^th chapter of Genesis in what would be called Babylon and now I want to quote some OT passages to show how this system crept into Israel, which is actually what God had to judge them for and eventually take them out of the Promised Land.

            Jeremiah writes “15 Then all the men who were aware that their wives were burning sacrifices to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying, 16 “As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we are not going to listen to you! 17 “But rather we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, by burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves, our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had plenty of food and were well off and saw no misfortune. 18 “But since we stopped burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have met our end by the sword and by famine." 19 “And," said the women, "when we were burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?’”  (Jer. 44:15-19)

           

            Now I want to mention one thing more about this false religious system, something that I remember hearing from a long time ago and that is that Nimrod, who actually helped start this system was believed to be the Messiah and the reason was because of his mother.  This goes back to Genesis 3:15 which is the first prophecy of the coming of the Messiah:  “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.’”  What we see in this verse is a prophecy not only of the coming Messiah, but that the Messiah will be born of a woman, and we know that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary and thus she was a virgin as Isaiah foretells, but Nimrod’s mother felt that her son was the Messiah and that she was then the mother of God and this is where the mother/son cult false system of this false religion began, something that still goes on even today.  Mary was a very godly woman, but she was not God as some believe today.  Throughout history this mother/son cult has had different names to it with the last one being Mary/Jesus and I know that this may offend some who read this but the fact remains that Mary is not, and never was God.  Now since I have opened this can of worms I want to say that there is a booklet that was written many, many years ago and it has to do with Revelation 17-18 which is entitled “Two Babylon’s” “By the Late Rev. Alexander Hislop.”  You can search this booklet out that was first written in 1853 and then expanded in 1858.  In this booklet the author sites that the harlot that is found in Revelation 17 is actually the Roman Catholic Church, something that after doing some study on this subject I do not believe is entirely true.  We have mentioned that this false religious system got its roots in Babylon and that there have been different types of it that are around the world even today and throughout history and that it will come together as a whole in the Tribulation Period, so that shows me that even though some of the things about it can be found in the Roman Catholic Church that it would be unfair to say that this “harlot” is that church.  As far as being two Babylon’s there certainly are as we look at chapters 17-18 of Revelation as Dr. Wiersbe stated.   Now back to our next quote from the pen of Jeremiah as we see that God through Jeremiah pronounces judgment on those Jews because of their stubborn, defiant adherence to this Ishtar cult, which is a form of this false religion.

 

            20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women-even to all the people who were giving him such an answer-saying, 21  "As for the smoking sacrifices that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your forefathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them and did not all this come into His mind? 22  "So the LORD was no longer able to endure it, because of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations which you have committed; thus your land has become a ruin, an object of horror and a curse, without an inhabitant, as it is this day. 23  "Because you have burned sacrifices and have sinned against the LORD and not obeyed the voice of the LORD or walked in His law, His statutes or His testimonies, therefore this calamity has befallen you, as it has this day." 24  Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, "Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt, 25  thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, as follows: ’As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, "We will certainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her." Go ahead and confirm your vows, and certainly perform your vows!’ 26  "Nevertheless hear the word of the LORD, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt, ’Behold, I have sworn by My great name,’ says the LORD, ’never shall My name be invoked again by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, "As the Lord GOD lives." 27  ’Behold, I am watching over them for harm and not for good, and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will meet their end by the sword and by famine until they are completely gone.”  You can see from this passage what the Lord thinks of this false religious system and all of those who went to Egypt died in Egypt as the Babylonians went from Judah to Egypt to destroy it.

           

            In our study of the book of Ezekiel we looked at what he saw and it is recorded in Ezekiel 8:14 “Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.” 

           

            John MacArthur concludes his introductory comments on this 17^th chapter by writing “Throughout history, then, Babylon has been an important center of false religion.  In the end times, false religion will come back to where it started.  The devil who deceived the people of Babel, and from there launched false religion over the earth, will deceive the world once again.

            “The final world religion, depicted as a harlot, is the theme of this vision, which records the exposure of the harlot, the explanation of the harlot, and the extermination of the harlot.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The more that I understand about this false religion the more apt that I will not be caught up in any part of it.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to better understand how He wants me to worship Him in the way that He shows me from His Word.

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “In a burning bush” (Exodus 3:2).

Today’s Bible question:  “The wages of sin is what?”

Answer in our next SD.  8/18/2015 10:47 AM