The following verses are a harsh condemnation of a “woman” who committed “harlotry” with the world, co-operating with the beast with seven heads that sits on seven hills. Read these verses carefully. They speak of the same beast from the sea (Roman Empire) and the king who is yet to come (Domitian—The Land Beast) who will make war on Christ and Christ’s saints (Rev. 17:10).
REVELATION 17:1–18
1 And there came one of the seven angels, who had the seven vials, and spoke with me, saying: Come, I will shew thee the condemnation of the great harlot, who sitteth upon many waters,
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication; and they who inhabit the earth, have been made drunk with the wine of her whoredom.
3 And he took me away in spirit into the desert. And I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman was clothed round about with purple and scarlet, and gilt with gold, and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of the abomination and filthiness of her fornication.
5 And on her forehead a name was written: A mystery; Babylon the great, the mother of the fornications, and the abominations of the earth.
6 And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And I wondered, when I had seen her, with great admiration.
7 And the angel said to me: Why dost thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast which carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
8 The beast, which thou sawest, was, and is not, and shall come up out of the bottomless pit, and go into destruction: and the inhabitants on the earth (whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world) shall wonder, seeing the beast that was, and is not.
9 And here is the understanding that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, upon which the woman sitteth, and they are seven kings:
10 Five are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come: and when he is come, he must remain a short time.
11 And the beast which was, and is not: the same also is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into destruction.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest, are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but shall receive power as kings one hour after the beast.
13 These have one design: and their strength and power they shall deliver to the beast.
14 These shall fight with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because he is Lord of lords, and King of kings, and they that are with him are called, and elect, and faithful.
15 And he said to me: The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and nations, and tongues.
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest in the beast: these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her with fire.
17 For God hath given into their hearts to do that which pleaseth him: that they give their kingdom to the beast, till the words of God be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest, is the great city, which hath kingdom over the kings of the earth.
Think for a moment who Jesus Christ really is. He is the Savior promised by God to our first parents, announced again to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This Savior is the reason why God made a public revelation through Moses so that Jacob’s descendants might become a holy nation, knowing God’s precepts and living them so that other nations could perceive what God is like and what God can do.
The Israelites, Jacob’s descendants, were to be a light to all nations, a source of divine illumination to others not yet selected by God to knowingly participate in the Savior’s work. From within their nation, God would place the Messiah, the savior of all persons. This was a tremendous privilege given the Israelites. Rev. 17:1 calls them the great harlot because, when the promised Messiah came, the rulings class of Judeans had allied themselves with Rome and rejected the Messiah.
The tremendous privilege given the Israelites was also a serious challenge; once God is ready, they had better be ready. The salvation of all persons depended upon the Israelite acceptance of the promised Messiah. God had Moses tell the Israelites: “If therefore you will hear my voice, and keep my covenant, you shall be my peculiar possession above all people: for all earth is mine. And you shall be to me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:5–6). No wonder God is so harsh with their failure to believe and their willingness to abandon God’s precepts and follow the ways of the powerful, but spiritually ignorant, strong nations, including the Roman Empire.
Christ, the savior promised by God, was the person announced by John the Baptist. Christ announced it himself, and so did his apostles. Christ did not come to start his ministry twenty centuries after the persons he spoke to heard his words. The disbelief and opposition of some of Christ’s contemporaries did not compel God to reschedule God’s plan of salvation. When God was ready, they should have been ready.
The idea many people adhere to today, that the early Church founded by Christ betrayed Christ in the fourth century, and Christ cannot continue his ministry until that apostate church is destroyed, is simply not correct. The Church founded by Jesus Christ is still here. Hell’s gates never prevailed against the church Christ founded on Peter. Isn’t that what Christ promised Peter? “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it“ (Matt. 16:17–18).
This guarantee was not given to the Israelites when Moses established God’s original covenant. Moses, himself, was told to warn the Israelites that God knows that their descendants will turn away from the covenant: “And the Lord appeared there in the pillar of a cloud, which stood in the entry of the tabernacle. And the Lord said to Moses: Behold thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people rising up will go a fornicating after strange gods in the land, to which it goeth in to dwell: there will they forsake me, and will make void the covenant, which I have made with them, And my wrath shall be kindled against them in that day: and I will forsake them, and will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured: all evils and afflictions shall find them, so that they shall say in that day: In truth it is because God is not with me, that these evils have found me” (Deut 31:15–17). Moses wrote a canticle about this warning, and he instructed the Levites to read the canticle to succeeding generations as a testimony against them (Deut. 31: 22 & 26–29).
Later, the Lord spoke to Solomon giving a similar warning: “But if you and your children revolting shall turn away from following me, and will not keep my commandments, and my ceremonies, which I have set before you, but will go and worship strange gods, and adore them: I will take away Israel from the face of the land which I have given them; and the temple which I have sanctified to my name, I will cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb, and a byword among all people” (I Kings 9: 6–7).
Near the end of his life, Solomon offended God by building altars for the gods of his pagan wives. God reproached Solomon saying: “The Lord therefore said to Solomon: Because thou hast done this, and hast not kept my covenant, and my precepts, which I have commanded thee, I will divide and rend thy kingdom, and will give it to thy servant” (1 Kings 11:11). When Solomon died, the Kingdom he ruled was rent by civil war. The Israelites living in the land given to ten of the twelve tribes succeeded under the leadership of Jeroboam. Only people living in land apportioned to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to Solomon’s designated successor, his son Rehoboam. That smaller country was named Judah. The Romans called it Judea. Jerusalem was its capital. Jesus’ ancestors descended from Judah. Perhaps that is why God chose to preserve the tribe of Judah.
Jeroboam also offended God. God told Jeroboam: “But (thou) hast done evil above all that were before thee, and hast made thee strange gods and molten gods, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back: And the Lord God shall strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water: and he shall root up Israel (the northern kingdom ruled by Jeroboam) out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river: because they have made to themselves groves, to provoke the Lord” (1 Kings 14: 9, 15). Two hundred years later, Assyria destroyed Israel, scattering its people and moving in different people. These former inhabitants of the northern kingdom became known to history as the ten lost tribes of Israel. After Jesus was born, there was no further need to preserve his ancestral line, so when the contemporaries of Jesus rejected Jesus, the remainder of the Israelites were defeated and scattered as were the other tribes eight hundred and fifty years earlier.
Moses, the chosen prophet of the first covenant predicted the people would not remain faithful and God would destroy them. Jesus, the founder of the second covenant said that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church founded upon Peter. During the first covenant, God resided in The Temple. During the second covenant, God resides in those who are baptized (1 Cor. 12:12, 17). With baptism, the old human nature dies, and a new nature replaces it. The baptized literally become wedded to Jesus Christ, like two in one flesh, or really, many in one flesh. Jesus is their bridegroom. The baptized are all, male and female, his spouse. As long as they remain free of personal sin, Jesus lives within them. What they experience, he experiences. The good that they do is the good that he does. They are like his hands and feet, bringing him to everyone they encounter.
Continuous temptation makes casualties of people. There were many casualties among Christ’s followers, some, like Judas, deliberately betraying him. However, there always was, and still is, a core of faithful followers who kept themselves free from sin or sought forgiveness if they did sin. These people form the core of Christ’s Church, his body, through which he maintains a physical presence on Earth. This core has always remained intact. It is still with us today. It will still be on Earth when Christ returns at the end of time. The mission of Christ’s church is to bring Christ’s salvation all persons, all nations, and all tongues. This mission will literally bring those who were spiritually dead back to life again. This is far too important a mission to fail merely because some people don’t believe what the prophets had said all along and what Christ undeniably proved by the way he lived his life and by the way he was willing to die rather than disappoint his father. The final proof: he rose from death after he was killed.
No! The persons identified in Revelation are those who tried to destroy the early Church, not persons who will live twenty or more centuries after Christianity was firmly rooted. Those persons were some of Christ’s own fellow Judeans. They tried to destroy Christ’s church when it was weak and vulnerable. Those people allied themselves with Rome (they are the harlot on the Beast). As described in previous chapters, they had Christ killed and then tried to destroy Christ’s church. Shall God permit that? Shall everything God has done in previous centuries come to naught?
If it all comes to naught, then what will become of the billions of human beings who never heard any of God’s public revelation through Moses and the prophets? What would happen to the millions of persons today who never heard God’s public revelation? Their lives would be incomprehensible to them. They would have no idea why they experience sorrow and grief. They would remain like their ancestors: lambs led to the slaughter, knowing no reason for humanity’s plight. They are victims put in harms way by God so that, as described earlier, all persons have the opportunity to chose, even if they chose wrong. The willingness of God to allow innocent persons to suffer, because of the wrongs done by others, buys time for the oppressor so that those oppressors can reflect (when faced with the consequences of their disobedience) and hopefully come to genuine repentance and find salvation. That’s why people suffer in this life. That’s why Jesus suffered. This mission of Jesus and his Church is too important to allow it to be destroyed. The book of Job clearly reveals why even innocent people suffer.
Job 1:6–12
6 Now on a certain day when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, Satan also was present among them.
7 And the Lord said to him: Whence comest thou ? And he answered and said: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it.
8 And the Lord said to him: Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a simple and upright man, and fearing God, and avoiding evil?
9 And Satan answering, said: Doth Job fear God in vain?
10 Hast not thou made a fence for him, and his house, and all his substance round about, blessed the works of his hands, and his possession hath increased on the earth?
11 But stretch forth thy hand a little, and touch all that he hath, and see if he blesseth thee not to thy face.
12 Then the Lord said to Satan: Behold, all that he hath is in thy hand: only put not forth thy hand upon his person. And Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.
When Satan learned that Job pleased God, Satan wanted to show God that Job would rebel, if Job experienced sorrow. God gave Satan permission to afflict Job, but not harm Job’s body. Satan then caused Job to lose his property to thieves and his family through murders. Job experienced terrible grief. He didn’t know why God would permit such things. Job spent his days praying that God might hear his plea and explain what happened. Sometime later . . .
JOB 2:1–7
1 And it came to pass, when on a certain day the sons of God came, and stood before the Lord, and Satan came among them, and stood in his sight,
2 That the Lord said to Satan: Whence comest thou? And he answered and said: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it.
3 And the Lord said to Satan: Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a man simple, and upright, and fearing Cod, and avoiding evil, and still keeping his innocence? But thou hast moved me against him, that I should afflict him without cause.
4 And Satan answered, and said: Skin for skin, all that a man hath he will give for his life:
5 But put forth thy hand, and touch his bone and his flesh, and then thou shalt see that he will [not] bless thee to thy face.
6 And the Lord said to Satan: Behold he is in thy hand, but yet save his life.
7 So Satan went forth from the presence Of the Lord, and struck Job with a very grievous ulcer, from the sole of the foot even to the top of his head:
Since Satan still believed that Job would blaspheme if Job experienced more harm, God gave Satan permission to afflict Job’s body but not to kill him. Satan then destroyed Job’s health. Covered with sores, Job continued to ask God “Why?” Finally God spoke. God reminded Job that God is sovereign and has made all things, but God would not answer Job’s question “Why did this evil happen to me?” We know why the evil happened because we have read the verses about Satan. Job did not know, nor does any human being know why they suffer (unless God reveals the reason). Most human beings God created never know. Only the few who become aware of God’s revelation know. Once we die, then everyone will know.
Job’s friends began to tell Job that he must have offended God in some way, otherwise God would not have punished Job. Much of the book is their arguments. Job was not aware of any offense against God. His friends added considerable mental anguish to what Job already was suffering.
Finally, at the end of the book, God tells Job that his friends have offended God by saying things not true about God. Job can save them from God’s punishment by offering a sacrifice for them. God still did not explain to Job why Job, even as innocent as Job is, suffered so much. We who read the book know because the book is part of the public revelation about God’s nature and what God has done and why. Notice how God is offended by what Eliphaz and his two friends have said.
JOB 42: 7–8
7 And after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Themanite: My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends, because you have not spoken the thing that is right before me, as my servant Job hath.
8 Take unto you therefore seven oxen, and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer for yourselves a holocaust: and my servant Job shall pray for you: his face I will accept, that folly be not imputed to you: for you have not spoken right things before me, as my servant Job hath.
This contest between humans and fallen angels was revealed all the way through Scripture. The very first human being born from human parents, Cain, was jealous of his younger brother. God told Cain that sin stands before his door. It lusts for him, but he must resist.
GENESIS 4:3–7
3 And it came to pass after many days, that Cain offered, of the fruits of the earth, gifts to the Lord.
4 Abel also offered of the firstlings of his flock, and of their fat: and the Lord had respect to Abel, and to his offerings.
5 But to Cain and his offerings he had no respect: and Cain was exceedingly angry, and his countenance fell.
6 And the Lord said to him: Why art thou angry? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 If thou do well, shalt thou not receive? but if ill, shall not sin forthwith be present at the door? but the lust thereof shall be under thee, and thou shalt have dominion over it.
The New English Bibles states it more clearly: “If you do well, you are accepted; if not, sin is a demon crouching at the door. It shall be eager for you . . .” NEB Gen 4:7). Other translations say “You must conquer it.” The sad sequel to this revelation is that Cain, instead of resisting temptation, caves in and murders his brother.
The persons who tried to destroy what God wanted got destroyed themselves, as shown above. Rev. 17 describes it in more detail. The text of Revelation handed down to us was preached around sixty years prior to the Judea’s downfall, so, as severe as it sounds, it really is an effective reminder to those who still have time to reflect. If you think Revelation was composed in its entirety for the first time by John the Evangelist at Patmos in A.D. 96, it still preceded the downfall of Judea (in A.D. 135). It’s sorrowful that those who tried to destroy the Messiah’s mission did not heed it. Since God did not want Christ to fail in establishing his church, all peoples who were capable and willing to destroy his church were themselves destroyed. Read Chapter 17 again and see if it doesn’t apply more to 1st and 2nd century Judea than it applies to us or our children (or grandchildren) twenty or more centuries later. We are much closer to the end of the Church age, the final judgment, than we are to the beginning of Christ’s ministry.
REVELATION 18:1–24
1 And after these things, I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power: and the earth was enlightened with his glory.
2 And he cried out with a strong voice, saying: Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen; and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every unclean spirit, and the hold of every unclean and hateful bird:
The contemporaries of Christ, who did not believe, have fallen.
3 Because all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her; and the merchants of the earth have been made rich by the power of her delicacies.
Their unbelief and unfaithfulness (compared to fornication with Christ’s enemies) has misled other nations.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying: Go out from her, my people; that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues.
A heavenly voice calls the believers to depart from the unbelievers so as to escape the punishment.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and the Lord hath remembered her iniquities.
6 Render to her as she also hath rendered to you; and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup wherein she hath mingled, mingle ye double unto her.
7 As much as she hath glorified herself, and lived in delicacies, so much torment and sorrow give ye to her; because she saith in her heart: I sit a queen, and am no widow; and sorrow I shall not see.
8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine, and she shall be burnt with the fire; because God is strong, who shall judge her.
9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication, and lived in delicacies with her, shall weep, and bewail themselves over her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning:
Read this as the fallen angels who had molded the unbelieving Judeans into pursuing what they wanted. The fallen angels shall perceive Judea’s downfall and realize their own downfall is coming soon.
10 Standing afar off for fear of her torments, saying: Alas! alas! that great city Babylon, that mighty city: for in one hour is thy judgment come.
11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep, and mourn over her: for no man shall buy their merchandise any more.
12 Merchandise of gold and silver, and precious stones; and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner of vessels of ivory, and all manner of vessels of precious stone, and of brass, and of iron, and of marble,
13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
14 And the fruits of the desire of thy soul are departed from thee, and all fat and goodly things are perished from thee, and they shall find them no more at all.
15 The merchants of these things, who were made rich, shall stand afar off from her, for fear of her torments, weeping and mourning.
16 And saying: Alas! alas! that great city, which was clothed with fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and was gilt with gold, and precious stones, and pearls.
17 For in one hour are so great riches come to nought; and every shipmaster, and all that sail into the lake, and mariners, and as many as work in the sea, stood afar off.
18 And cried, seeing the place of her burning, saying: What city is like to this great city?
19 And they cast dust upon their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying: Alas! alas! that great city, wherein all were made rich, that had ships at sea, by reason of her prices: for in one hour she is made desolate.
20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her.
21 And a mighty angel took up a stone, as it were a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying: With such violence as this shall Babylon, that great city, be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
This is the end of the mission given to the Israelites. Christ, the appointed Messiah, will now give this mission to those who follow him. Actually, it’s the same mission, but the unbelievers do not accept it.
22 And the voice of harpers, and of musicians, and of them that play on the pipe, and on the trumpet, shall no more be heard at all in thee; and no craftsman of any art whatsoever shall be found any more at all in thee; and the sound of the mill shall be heard no more at all in thee;
23 And the light of the lamp shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth, for all nations have been deceived by thy enchantments.
24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
Rev. 19 (not discussed in this work) continues the explanation why Judea was cast down. The Judeans controlling the nation, after hearing so many warnings, tried to destroy the Messiah. God would not allow it, so Judea got destroyed.
Revelation: Fall of Judea, Rise of the Church
Copyright 2009 Maurice A. Williams
http://www.mauriceawilliams.com/
Labels: Genesis, Jeroboam, Job, Judea, Satan
posted by Maurice A. Williams @ 10:08 AM
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