Mystery Babylon (Rev. 17:5-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR

09/26/2005

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Mystery Babylon

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelations 17:5-6

            Message of the verse:  “5  This title was written on her forehead: MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.  6  I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.”  (NIV) 

            I can say for sure that there is much more in verse five than I will be able to write about, for there has been at least one book “Two Babylons” written on this subject, as the author in that book talked about the Babylon where all of the false religions came out of, which is what this verse is about, and also the Babylon of government that will someday rule the world for a short time.

            Way back in Genesis 10 and 11 is where this false religion had its roots, and although the names of the gods have been changed the system is still in place.  One of the things that has always been involved in this false religion is the mother son cult, which came out of Genes 3:15 where God first promised to send a Savior who would be born from the seed of the woman, and that is the only time that phrase is used in the Scriptures, for all other times it is the seed of the man.  Way back in Genesis 3 right after man first sinned God said He would deal with the sin issue through the One born of a virgin, Jesus Christ.  I believe one of the points that can be taken out of verse five is that all of the false religions have their roots in Babylon and that is why the word Prostitutes is used here.

            Verse six explains that this false religious system is responsible for the persecution of believers that has been going on for thousands of years, but in particular those of this seven year tribulation period.  John ends verse six by saying he was astonished after he saw her.  (The word means great wonder)

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I would like to write about the wonderful grace of God, and also about His abundant mercy, for without those, and also He great love, I too would be following one of these false religions that had their roots in Babylon.  My salvation in Jesus Christ was from the Divine plan of God and therefore I really had little or in fact nothing to do with it, and for this I am thankful for if I would have had anything to do with it I surely would have messed it up. 

The Word of God gave me reason to rejoice at His mercy, love, and grace for me, and sadness for those who follow the system originated in Babylon. 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to ask the Lord what it is that He is teaching me through this trial or trials I am in, and learn to trust Him with all that I am and have.

Memory verses for the week:                Psalm 27:1-5

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; in whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh;

My adversaries and foes, it is they who will stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;

Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after;

That I will dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.

And He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble;

He will conceal me under the cover of His tent;

He will lift me high upon a rock.

The Description of the Harlot (Rev. 17:3-4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR

09/23/2005

My Worship Time                 Focus:  The description of the woman

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Revelation 17:3-4

            Message of the verse:  “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.  4  The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.”  (NIV)

            John begins to describe what he sees as the angel carried him away in the Spirit into a desert where he sees a woman.  This woman is described as a harlot and she represents the pagan religious system that began in Babylon with Nimrod that is recorded in Genesis 10 and 11.  The woman is sitting on a beast and the beast had seven heads and ten horns.  The beast is the antichrist and he will make it a practice to blaspheme God as seen in the description of him here.  This woman, or religious system, will ride into power on the back of the beast, but as seen later on the beast will no longer need this religious system and make one of his own.  The dress of this woman and the beast represent someone who is both rich and powerful, and in the woman’s case the dress of a prostitute, for she will take many peoples hearts from the worship of the One true God.  The last part of verse 4 speaks of the abominations she does.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The things in these two verses, because of God’s grace, are not a big problem for me, as God has been kind and gracious to me showing me the truth of worshiping Him through His Son Jesus Christ.  However I have, as most men in the world today who are believers are more tempted by lustful things, which in some cases in pagan worship have their place.  God has been very gracious and forgiving through all of these temptations and also has strengthened me to overcome them on many occasions.

The Word of God has challenged my heart as I studied it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  I must continue to trust the Lord through out all of these trials that He is leading me through, trust Him that they will accomplish what He desires to through these trials.  I want to trust the Lord to write the script for my life that will bring honor and glory to Him.

Memory verses for the  week:             Psalm 27:1-4

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh;

My adversaries and foes, it is they who will stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp me, my heart shall not fear;

Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after;

That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life;

To gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.   

The Harlot (Rev. 17:1-2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR

09/22/2005

My Worship Time                 Focus:  The “Harlot”

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Revelation 17:1-2

            Message of the verse:  “1  Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, ‘Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2  with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.’”

            I want to begin writing about this chapter by saying that as of the end of the sixteenth chapter God’s wrath is complete as far as sending judgments upon the earth. 

            As I read through some of the commentaries on Revelation, especially Dr. Wiersbe’s, I begin to see this book in a somewhat different light, which I should have seen before.  There seems to be different systems which God is judging in this book, for instance in chapter seventeen He is judging the system of false religion which is called a harlot as compared to the chase virgin that describes the bride of Christ, the Church, however there has always been these false “religions” upon the earth especially in the Church age, so that makes this book relevant for the entire Church age.  There have always been governments that have persecuted believers and men in power who act like antichrist, for in John’s first letter he spoke of Antichrist and antichrists who are here now.  The book of Revelation’s judgments are a culmination of these false systems that God will judge in the future once and for all and then usher in a perfect system with Jesus Christ’s reign for 1000 years.

            In verse one of chapter seventeen John is spoken to by one of the angels who had one of the vial judgments and told to come and see the judgment of this “harlot” who sits on many waters and who the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with and also the earth dwellers have been drunk with the wine of her immorality.

            John is beginning to describe this false religious system which has been among the people, (sits on many waters) since the Church age began.  Jesus gave a parable of the wheat and the tears which spoke about this false religious system.  The Greek word for tare is darnel and this word means that these false wheat plants look just like the real wheat plants and so it is hard to identify the true wheat, just as at times it is hard to identify the false religious systems on the world.  The servant in the parable asked his master if he wanted him to pull up these darnel, but was told that if he did this that he might pull up some of the real plants too, and then his master told him to wait until the maturity of the plants so they would be able to tell for sure which was darnel because there would be no fruit for it and then they could burn it in the fire.  I think that this chapter could be the fulfillment of that parable. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am very thankful that the Lord has opened up my eyes to some of these hidden truths in the book of Revelation.  Hebrews 4:12 comes to mind here:  “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” 

The Word of God was challenging to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to give me the words He would want me to speak this Saturday morning and also this Sunday morning, and to trust Him to give me the strength to do it without the problem with my bowels. 

Memory verses for the week:              Psalm 27:1-2

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?  

When evildoers assail me to eat my flesh;

my adversaries and foes, it is they who will stumble and fall

Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after;

That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life;

To gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His Temple.

The Rest of the Last Vial Judgment (Rev. 16:19-21)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR

09/21/2005

My Worship Time                  Focus:  The rest of the last vial judgment

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 16:19-21

            Message of the verse:  “19  The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.  20  And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.  21  And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, *came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague *was extremely severe.”

            As stated in the last SD it is sometimes difficult to determine the time table of how all of this fits together, but looking at the end of verse nineteen and then looking forward to chapters seventeen and eighteen this to me, is a preview to what will be written about there when John will give more detail to the destruction of Babylon, both the government side of it and also the religious side.  Back to  verse nineteen where the first part of it is describing the city of Jerusalem and what these earthquakes will do to it.  The city is split into three parts and from earlier studies of Revelation I have learned that this could be the time when all Israel will be saved for this earthquake could be what the Lord uses to separate the believing Jews from the non believing Jews. 

            I am not sure if John is using hyperbole in verse twenty-one when he writes that every island fled and the mountains were not found, because this was the same type of statement that was made in an earlier judgment and the commentary on that verse that I read said John was using hyperbole, at any rate this will surely be a big mess on earth during this last judgment.  In verse twenty one Joh writes of giant hailstones falling on people and even throughout all of this awful judgment people will still blaspheme God and not turn to Him for forgiveness. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  These verses make me think about what Paul wrote to the Galatians when he said, “God is not mocked, for what so ever a man sows that is what he will reap.”  These earth-dwellers were surely not sowing righteous acts, in fact they were sowing unrighteous acts and not were reaping the fruit of them.  God does not always pay His bills at the end of the week, for He is gracious and kind, waiting for men to repent, but God always pay His bills, and I need to remember this for sure as I live out my life in His service here on planet earth.

The Word of God has been challenging to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord through the trials and stress that I am going through, for His Word has promised that He is in complete control and will work out things for my good and for His glory even if it is not the script that I would have chosen for Him to follow.  

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 27:1-4

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who will stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;

Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I see after:

That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

To gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.