PT-2 Introduction to Rev. 18 (Rev. 18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/29/2015 8:59 AM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  PT-2 Introduction to Rev. 18

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation chapter 18

            Message of the verses:   In Today’s Spiritual Diary we continue to look at the introduction to the 18^th chapter of the book of Revelation which tells us about the economical Babylon, the Babylon from which the Antichrist will be ruling the world as it is the head of his empire.

            John MacArthur writes “From the beginning to the end, the Bible warns of coming judgment on sinners who reject God and blaspheme His holy name.  Job declared that ‘the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity; they will be led forth at the day of fury’ (Job 21:30).  David noted that ‘the Lord…has established His throne for judgment, and He will judge the world in righteousness’ (Ps. 9:7-8).  Psalm 96:13 warns that God ‘is coming to judge the earth.  He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.’  Isaiah wrote ‘According to their deeds, so He will repay, wroth to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; to the coastlands He will make recompense’ (Isa. 59:18).”

            This time to judge this system is spoken of by our Lord in Matthew 13:40-50 in the form of a parable.  You see that in the 12^th chapter of Matthew the Pharisees accused of Jesus of doing miracles by the power of Satan (Beelzebub), and so at that time Jesus began to speak in parables so that His own would understand them, but those who opposed Him would not and the following is one of those parables:  “40 “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41  "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42  and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 “Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

    “44 "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45  "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46  and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. 47  "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; 48  and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. 49 “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

            John MacArthur writes “The apostle Paul declared to the Greek philosophers gathered on Mars Hill in Athens that God ‘has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man who He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead’ (Acts 17:31).  To the Thessalonians he wrote:  ‘the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8  dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9  These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10  when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed-for our testimony to you was believed (2 Thess. 1:7b-10).”

            As we have learned in our study of Revelation that this book speaks of this judgment more than any other book in the whole of the Word of God, especially chapters 6-18.  As we have learned these chapters have taken us through the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments given by the Lord.  We have learned that these judgments were on a worldwide scope, but they were mostly focused in on the kingdom of Antichrist, his world empire centered in Babylon.  MacArthur writes “That empire will involve both a religious and a commercial aspect.  At the midpoint of the Tribulation, Antichrist will destroy the false Babylon religious system, which will be absorbed into commercial Babylon.  Religion will not cease to exist, but will be restricted to the worship of Antichrist.  The Babylon in view in chapter 18 is Antichrist’s worldwide commercial empire, which will rule the world during the last three and a half years of the Tribulation.  That Antichrist will be able to build the greatest commercial empire the world has ever known in the midst of the devastating judgment of the Tribulation reveals his incredible power.” 

            The theme of chapter 18 is the destruction of this commercial Babylon, and as we study this chapter we can look back at the little book that John ate making his mouth sweet, but his stomach bitter and telling of this judgment is a portion of the bitter part of prophecy, and yet we have to be glad that God is a God who judges evil and evil is what this section is about.

            I just want to say that there are commentators who say that what is being written about here is a system, and not a city, however the chapters reveals that it is a city and this city will be destroyed.  I will go more into this aspect in our final introduction to this chapter.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “By the river Ulai” (Daniel 8:23).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who interpreted a dream about a vine with three branches?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/29/2015 9:32 AM

             

Introduction to Rev. 18 (Rev. 18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/28/2015 8:17 AM

My Worship Time                                                                          Focus:  Introduction to Rev. 18

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Revelation 18

            Message of the verses:  In our last series of Spiritual Diaries we have been focused in on “Religious Babylon,” which is what Revelation chapter seventeen is all about, but now in the next series of Spiritual Diaries we will focus in on ecumenical Babylon, a side of Babylon that has also been around for many thousands of years and will come to its climax in this chapter of Revelation.  Just as the religious Babylon began in Babel so the ecumenical Babylon began there also as man wanted to conquer the world in a God-rejecting society that has been seen throughout the ages by men and nations, some of whom we have seen in our own life time or just before our life time.  Some have been crying for “world peace” when all they wanted to do was to conquer the world. 

            One of my favorite things in this world to dislike is the theory of evolution and in the pages of my Spiritual Diaries I have stated why I have such a dislike for it, the main reason is that people who fall into this religious trap, and yes it is a religion can say in their hearts that there is no God, for all we see around us is a great big accident which had no creator.  People can build buildings, watches, computers, and any other thing they want to build and they all have to have a design, and designs have to have a designer.  So it is true with the world and the universe, and the Bible shows us that God is that designer, but because of sin people don’t see things the way that they should, and this is what happened in Babel which was later named Babylon as the false religion that started there is still around today, so that false idea of doing things without God is still around today.  John MacArthur writes “Having taken control (se they think) of their own destiny through science, sinners have no use for God and haughtily replace Him as self-styled gods devoted to their own sovereignty.

            “But God cannot be so easily replaced, nor His plans thwarted by the whims of sinful men (Isa. 43:13; 46:10).  In fact, in a profound, if brief, statement in Acts 14:16, Scripture says that God ‘permitted all the nations to go their own ways.’  In Psalm 2:2-4 the psalmist recorded God’s reaction to man’s impotent fury against Him:  ‘The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying ‘Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!’  He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them.’  Compared to the glorious, indescribable majesty of the omnipotent God, all of man’s vaunted empires are a mere ‘drop from a bucket’ (Isa. 40:15), so insignificant that they ‘are as nothing before Him, they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless’ (Isa. 40:17).  The inescapable reality is that God, not man, will have the last word in human history, and that word will be a word of judgment.”  Now as we begin to unfold what we see in this 18^th chapter of Revelation we will see that just as God judged the great harlot, as we learned that He actually used Antichrist to do this, that He will also judge this last empire which is headed up by Antichrist and as we will learn in chapter 19 of Revelation that when the Lord comes back to planet earth He will very quickly judge those who have come out to fight against Him, and it was even in His plan, as we have learned to have these nations come to Armageddon for that exact reason, to fight against the Lord so that He can quickly destroy them with the Sword of His mouth.  But before that happens we will look at the contents of chapter 18 to see how Babylon the great city will be destroyed as alluded to in chapter sixteen. 

            From the beginning of God’s Word to the end of His Word God has warned that judgment was coming on sinful man and as we begin to get closer to the third part of the outline that the Lord Jesus gave us in 1:19 we will see how this outcome of judgment will take place.  I still go back to the little book that John had to eat which was sweet in his mouth, but made his stomach bitter, and it also pains my heart to tell all about these judgments that are soon to take place on planet earth and realize that there are so many people who fall into the category of rejecting God, of believing that the world was just some kind of cosmic accident so that they can live their lives the way that they want to without the fear of God and His coming judgment, and I want to cry out to them and tell them the truth, the truth that is found in the pages of God’s Word of how a person can be made right with God.  The truth of God becoming a man in the Person of Jesus Christ, who came to earth over 2000 years ago in order to pay the price of sin, a price that pleased the Father so much that when it was done He raised Him from the dead and brought Him back to heaven to seat Him at His right hand in glorious victory.  Telling this story brings sweetness to my mouth, telling the story of judgment that will soon take place on planet earth brings bitterness to my stomach.  We will continue to look at more of the introduction to Revelation 18 in our next SD.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Paul” Romans 1:16).

Today’s Bible question:  “In Daniel’s vision of the ram and the goat, where was Daniel?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/28/2015 8:51 AM

"The Extermination of the Harlot" (Rev. 17:16-17)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/27/2015 9:14 AM

My Worship Time                                                            Focus:  The Extermination of the Harlot

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 17:16-17

            Message of the verses:  “16 “And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. 17  "For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.”

            On October 7, 2005 I wrote the following on Revelation 17:16-18, and although we have already covered verse 18 in an earlier SD I will include what I wrote on that verse from this SD in October of 2005.   “I believe that verse 16 is saying that the Antichrist and those ten rulers under him have ridden this religious beast into power and now that they are in power they no longer need this religious system and so it is time to get rid of it, and this will be the beginning of the worship of the Antichrist, which will take place in the last half of the tribulation period.  In verse 17 I can see something that is woven throughout the entire Word of God and that is that God is over all and in control of all, and His plan for this world and the people in it will take place.  It is God’s plan that this Antichrist will be in control of all the earth for this short time in order to work out His plan.  God’s ways are at many times very hard to understand, but He never makes any mistakes, ever.  Verse 18 identifies this woman or harlot and John says that this woman is the city which reigns over the kings of the earth.  At the time John wrote this it was Rome, but it is possible that John is writing about Babylon, because it was there that all of this false religious stuff began, and although it is still centered in Rome he could well have been writing about Babylon.”

            As we look at verse sixteen and the phrase “will make her desolate and naked” we can see that this religious system was very wealthy, for people were giving money to this “harlot” for probably three and a half years and this would make her very rich, but now Antichrist will cause her to become “naked” shows that he will steal from her the wealth that she has to make her desolate and naked.  You only have to look at some of the false religious systems that are in place today and see that they have a great deal of wealth, for example just travel to Utah and see how much control the Mormons have there and how rich their false system of worship has to get an example of what we will see during this time of the Tribulation period.  John MacArthur writes on this section:  “That graphic language of extreme violence is used to make clear that Antichrist and his henchmen will utterly and completely obliterate all vestiges of the false religious system.”

            He goes on to write:  “Antichrist’s self-serving, satanically inspired actions are, however, precisely in the scope of God’s sovereign plan.  In fact, it is God who will ‘put it in’ the ‘hearts’ of Antichrist’s followers ‘to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast.’  God’s power is behind the destruction and consolidation of the evil empire; as always, Satan is the instrument of God’s purposes.  The one-world unification government so long sought by the humanists will have finally arrived, only to be destroyed in one great act of divine judgment.  All ‘the words of God’—every prophecy of Christ’s return and the setting up of His kingdom—‘will be fulfilled’ completely.”

            As I was writing this I could not help but think of an OT prophet Habakkuk and how he was complaining to the Lord about the sinfulness of God’s people Israel and God told him that he was going to use the Babylonians to discipline His people to which Habakkuk had a great deal of problems with.  However in the end of his writing Habakkuk understood what and why the Lord was going to do what He says that He would do and writes “17  Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, 18  Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. 19  The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places.” 

            Now as we look at what we have seen in Revelation 17 we have to believe that all of what happened was in the plan of God.  When you go back to the book of Genesis and chapter three shows how sin entered mankind through Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God, and then after the flood we see the first false religious system at what would be known as Babylon and now in chapter 17 we see that it is in the purpose of God to completely destroy this system we can say with Habakkuk that no matter what happens we know that God is in charge, for He is God and He cannot do wrong.

            John MacArthur concludes:  “God hates every form of false religion and wil not tolerate those who seek to rob Him of His glory (Isa. 42:8).  Antichrist’s religious empire will be judged and destroyed.  So also, as chapter 18 of Revelation reveals, will be the political and economic aspects of that evil world empire.”   We look forward to begin looking at that chapter in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have once again been reminded that God has a plan and that nothing will stop His plan from going forth, not even Satan and his henchman the Antichrist, in fact they will be used by God to complete His plan.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love and to trust the Lord.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “I you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ?’”

Answer in our next SD.

8/27/2015 9:53 AM

Review of Revelation

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/26/2015 9:44 AM

My Worship Time                                                                            Focus:  Review of Revelation

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Unknown

            Message of the verse:  As promised I want to quote from a sermon by John MacArthur that he gave in March of 1994 on the 17^th chapter of Revelation entitled “The Destruction of the Final World Empire PT-3.”  This will be all that we have for this Spiritual Diary today.

            “Revelation 17 is our text tonight in our ongoing study of this great apocalypse. I feel like I need to make a brief apology to those of you who have not been with us in our study of Revelation because you're going to get dropped right in the middle here and you may feel a little bit suspended because you don't know what has gone before for several weeks, many months and even into the years that we've been studying this great, great book.

We turn again to this marvelous chapter and we will pick up where we left off last time as we concluded the first six verses. Some introductory comments, I think, are appropriate as we set the context.

We have learned repeatedly through all of the months of our study of Revelation, the apocalypse, the unveiling of Jesus Christ, that the theme of this book is Christ Himself. And that the truth of this book is not to be avoided but it is to be understood and it is to be incorporated into life. The life of every Christian exposed to this book will be dramatically altered,

dramatically changed. And so it should be.

The promise of our Lord Himself in chapter 1 verse 3 is, "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it, for the time is near." That is a beatitude, that is a blessing. We have indeed been blessed as we have studied, as we have read, as we have heard, as we have heeded the great truths of this book. We have seen its three major divisions...the visions of the exalted Christ in the glory of His

resurrection life as He ministers in His church in chapters 1 to 3. And the vision of the glorious and exalted Christ as He appears in heaven in chapters 4 and 5. The visions of the exalted and glorified Christ as He unleashes judgment on the earth, punishing those who are ungodly and reject the gospel, at the same time preserving unto eternal life those who believe and belong to Him. And that in chapter 6 and right on through chapter 18. So that's the section we're in, we're in the section of the unfolding of the judgment of Christ as He takes back the universe which is in the hands of the usurper, Satan himself.

            We are already now coming to the end of this period of judgment. It ends in chapter 18. And then in chapter 19 the climactic return of Jesus Christ and that ushers us into the final part of this book which is the glorious vision of the returning, conquering Lord as He comes with His saints to destroy the ungodly, to rescue His own, to establish His Kingdom which will usher in the eternal new heavens and the new earth...all the way on right out to the very end of chapter 22.

And throughout the months that we have been studying this great book we have learned so much.

We know where history is going and why it's going there and how it will get there. We know how man's final years on earth will be lived out. We have seen previews of holocausts of judgment that make any other earthly catastrophe a small and insignificant thing. We know that the universe will fly apart into unregulated chaos and the sky itself will fold up. We know about earthquakes and pestilences and famine. We know about the destruction of all of the seas and the death of everything that is in them, the destruction of the fresh water and the death of everything is in them. We know

about hailstones of a hundred pounds that will hit the earth. We know about fire.

We know about signs and wonders. We know about miraculous resurrections. We know about

preachers in the end time, great powerful witnesses. We know that there will be angels like satellites flying across the mid-heaven in the latter days, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ so that all the world may hear and no one will have an excuse. We know with exact information the future deaths of millions of people and how they will occur. We know how the career of Satan will transpire and how his millions of demons will operate, and how they will be released systematically at the end time. Some belched up out of the pit itself, others released from their captivity somewhere near the river Euphrates. We know about the future of Israel

and its redemption. We know also about the deadly persecution of the Jews. We know about the

anticipated joys of the church, the bride of Christ and what awaits them. There is so much we know, so much applicable to life, so much that brings us joy and gives us responsibility. We know the ultimate price of sin and we know the ultimate reward of holiness. We know that the rejected Jesus is coming again, not to be rejected, but to be exalted. We know the One who came in humility will come in glory, and the One who came and left will come never to leave

again.

We know the people of God who belong to Christ will triumph over all persecution, all disaster, all death and all judgment. We know where our eternal state is, it's up. How far up, we're not sure. We know what it is like. It is marvelously described to us and we'll get more into that description as we march on through the remaining chapters.

We know where the universe, the world, and everything that is in it and everyone who is in it is headed, where it's going, how it will end. And that's just a little bit of what we know. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could go into every history class and every philosophy class in the world and tell them all that we know?

One specific truth that we know which we are addressing in chapter 17 is that there is coming a time on earth just before the return of Jesus Christ when there will be a worldwide religious system. Everybody will, in a sense, be bowing down to the same shrine. A time when there will be given to Satan a greater control of the world than he has ever had, certainly than he even has now. A time when Satan and all of his demons in the heavens will be cast down to earth, when a certain number of temporarily bound demons in the pit will be released, when two hundred million demons bound at the Euphrates River will overrun the earth. We know there is coming a time when Satan's domain on the earth will reach its apex, its high point.

In the midst of that overrunning of Satan and demons in the world, there will be the collecting together of a one-world empire, ruled by the Antichrist. At the same time there will be a final form of world religion. The final empire of Satan, as we have seen, which will be directed on earth by his demon possessed leader called the Antichrist, the son of perdition, the man of sin, the little horn, the willful king, whatever of the prophetic terms you want to use, will be the expression of Satan's greatest impact as he makes a final attempt to wrest the world from God and to prevent Christ from establishing His Kingdom and receiving His proper glory.

Now this final satanic world empire ruled by Antichrist, the man of sin, is called here in the book of Revelation by the name Babylon...Babylon the great. That is the name given to this empire, both in chapter 17 and in chapter 18. Chapter 17 and 18, however, though they both deal with this great empire of Antichrist called Babylon do differ.

Chapter 17 looks particularly at the religious side, the spiritual side of Babylon whereas chapter 18 looks at the economic and political side of Babylon. So as we engage ourselves in the

study of chapter 17, we are studying the religious side of Satan's final world empire. As I told you last time, the world is not going to become more and more irreligious, it is going to become more and more religious. People are going to become more and more involved in religion...not the true religion, but the false religion of Satan himself. The closer we get to the end, the more religious they will become. Satan's empire, then, has two sides initially. We'll talk more about how those two sides resolve into one, but two sides initially...a religious side and a political side, a spiritual side and an economic side.

Looking down at verse 5 in chapter 17 we get the name of the worldwide form of religion. The name of it is "MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." Now that's quite a name for a religion. I don't mean by the name of the religion that someday someone will say to you that I go to the First Mystery Babylon the Great, Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth church. I don't think you'll see it on the marquee and I question whether it will ever show up on the stationery.

But that is really what it is. It will have a much more subtle and deceptive name. But what it is, is, first of all, mystery, that is it is more than physical, it is more than geographical, it is more than a human organization. There's something deep and demonic and supernatural and even as yet hidden about it. It is Babylon. Why? Because it is the final form of religion when all the world's religions roll into one. And in so doing it is appropriate to call it Babylon because Babel is where all the world religions really began. They were all spawned out of a tower of Babel, that is why Babylon the Great is the Mother of all Harlots. Harlotry in the Bible always refers, when not referring to an actual harlot, to idolatry. Every form of idolatry and false religion was spawned out of that original false religion that developed at Babel. And when God scattered the people all over the globe in different languages, He scattered their cult, their Babylonish cult as well. And so Babylon was the originating place and all the harlot children of Mother Babylon will come home to mother in the end. And the same Satan who spawned

them all will regather them all into one final form of world religion under the name BABYLON THE GREAT.

The term "mother of harlots" because all false religion and idolatry is characterized in Scripture as prostitution and harlotry. And then this is called also "the mother of the abominations of the earth" because nothing so offends God as false religion, nothing is so abominable. It is the supreme blasphemy. So, a supremely blasphemous kind of idolatry will come to pass that has deep demonic and hidden concepts involved in it and that demonic kind of religion will reform itself around its Babylonish origins. The system will be the spiritual side of Satan's world empire. Jesus, of course, warned about this all the way back in the wonderful sermon that He preached on His own return, the Olivet Discourse. In

Matthew chapter 24 and verse 21, "There will be a great tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall." Jesus predicted this time called the Great Tribulation. "A time that unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved, but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, `Behold here is the Christ, or there He is.' Do not believe him, for false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders so as to mislead if possible even the elect. Behold I have told you in advance." They're going to be so powerful, these satanic

deceptions, these satanic seductions, the harlot the whore is going to seduce people into her bed to catch her fatal disease and die there with her, they're going to be able to do that because of massive worldwide deceptions based upon demonic signs and wonders that will deceive the whole world. And so well-orchestrated are they that were it possible they would even deceive the elect.

Now, this is a very essential element of Satan's final form of world rule because it is only religion that can unite the world. Politics, economics can't do it. Culture is too diverse. It has to be something transcending the physical, the geographical, the historical. It has to be something in the realm of the supernatural. Satan, who gave birth to all the counterfeits from one source, certainly has the power with all of his minions to pull them all back. That one who is disguised as an angel of light and whose ministers are as well angels of light, that one who originally deceived Adam and Eve and deceived the people at Babel will again deceive the world and collect them together.”

 

In our next SD we will look at “The Extermination of the Harlot,” which covers the remaining verses in Revelation and then it will be on to chapter eighteen which speaks of how “Babylon” will be destroyed, something we already know will happen, for it is seen in one of the bowl judgments.

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Works” (James 2:25).  “In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?”  I have to say that James is speaking of both Rahab and also Abraham in this section of his letter and what he is saying is that both Abraham and Rahab demonstrated the proof of their salvation by doing the works that they did.  In Abraham’s case it was to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering, which the Lord stopped and gave him a lamb instead, and in the case of Rahab she had trusted God for salvation and then demonstrated her faith by hiding the spies.

 

Today’s Bible question:  “What did Jesus say would cause the world to know that we are his disciples?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

8/26/2015 11:04 AM

PT-4 The Explanation of the Harlot (Rev. 17:13--14)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/25/2015 10:26 AM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  PT-4 The Explanation of the Harlot

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Revelation 17:13-14

            Message of the verses:  “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."”

            I want to mention again that in our next SD I plan to use a portion of one of John MacArthur’s on this chapter of Revelation in which he gives a review of what we have been studying so far in Revelation.  It will be brief for what we have been covering, but helpful to anyone who has not followed the entire study on Revelation.

            I have two quotes to begin this SD from two different Spiritual Diaries from October 3, and 4 of 2005.  “It seems that Antichrist will have ten kings who will be under him, and these will rule ten parts of Antichrist’s empire.  There has been some thought that these kings will rule different parts of the old Roman Empire, but others have divided up the entire world into ten parts with each of these kings ruling one part.  Verse 13 speaks of these ten kings being completely under the authority of Antichrist.  As far as the “one hour” from verse 12, it seems that this means the 3 ½ years of the tribulation period, or it could mean for the whole 7 years.”

            “The verse is saying that these ten kings or kingdoms will make war against the Lord Jesus Christ when He returns during this battle that will take place in Armageddon.  This is recorded in Revelations 19 and at the end of this verse there is a reference to what I believe is the Saints who have gone to be with the Lord at the Rapture of the Church, which was described in Revelation 4.”

            We have to go back to verse ten to explain a section from that verse “when he comes he must remain a little while.”  We can compare this verse with Rev. 12:12 which speaks of the short time that the devil has on earth after getting kicked out of heaven:  “"For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time."”  Short time or a little while seems to add up to three and a half years as Rev. 13:5 states “There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.”  Next we read a very mysterious statement “the beast which was and is not, is himself also an eight and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction.”  John MacArthur states that this is an “enigmatic” comment.  He then writes “How can the ‘beast’ (Antichrist) be ‘an eight’ king and also one of the seven?  The answer lies in the phrase ‘the beast…was and is not.’  Antichrist will be one of the seven kings before his supposed demise and resurrection and ‘an eight’ king afterwards during the second phase of his rule.  As noted earlier in verse 8, Antichrist will go to ‘destruction’—eternal damnation in the lake of fire (19:20; 20:10).  Unlike the first six empires, his empire will be destroyed by a direct act of God.” 

            Next we have to look at the ten horns and we have to realize that these ten horns that John sees cannot be known to any earlier generation because they have not yet received a kingdom, and they have not received a kingdom because they are a part of Antichrist’s reign. The verse says that they will receive power with him for one hour, as seen in verse twelve, and I believe that this is speaking of the brief 3 ½ years we spoke of earlier.  Now as far as the ten kings I mentioned that in my earlier SD from 2005, as some believe it is a part of the renewed Roman Empire and some believe it is a division of the world into ten kingdoms headed up by Antichrist.  These kings will have a short lived kingdom, but will be devoted to Antichrist during this short period. 

            These kings will have the same agenda as Satan and the Antichrist and that is to wage war against the Lamb as we have learned from the sixth bowl judgment “13  And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; 14  for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. 16 And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon (Rev. 16:13-14, 16).”  We will learn more about this ill-fated battle when we get to chapter nineteen.  Here is the good thing to remember about this short lived battle as it will be Christ defeating all those opposed to Him at His second coming, but there will be many with Him when He returns including what I believe are the raptured saints who went to be with him before the tribulation begins.  John MacArthur writes of these chosen ones with Him:  “With Christ when He returns will be ‘the called and chosen and faithful’—a reference that can only apply to believers (cf. 19:14; Matt. 22:14).  The terms are rich in their definition of believers as the eternally elect, ‘chosen’ in the Son before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4); the ‘called,’ summoned in time by the Father to repentance and faith, the genuine eternal life that endures by the power of the Spirit (Rom. 8:9).  The Lord Jesus Christ will effortlessly crush the greatest armed force ever assembled when He returns with His elect and the holy angels (Matt. 24:30-31; 2 Thess. 1:7).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The promise that I will be with Jesus Christ when He returns to planet earth is mindboggling to me, but it is something that I look forward to and want to do my part to make sure others will be there too.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Do my best to show others their need for the Savior.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Six” (Genesis 19).

Today’s Bible question:  “James believed that Rahab was justified by what?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/25/2015 11:17 AM

 

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