For the marriage of the Lamb has come. Revelation 19:6-9.

Posted on 03/22/2022 by remso

Revelation 19 opens with the declaration that His judgments have come to pass; the logical assumption is that this is after the wrath of God has been poured out upon Israel for their rejection of God and upon nations – this should be thought of as the controlling bodies, for abuses committed against humanity. Apparently, evidence of this judgment is the smoke rising from “Babylon,” which is symbolical of Israel. The passages from Revelation 18 do not clearly explain, as I have stated in previous posts, why this is Israel, but it does emphasize Babylon’s burning and the speed with which it falls.

“And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.” (Revelation 18:2 NASB)

“And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.” (Revelation 18:9-10 NASB)

Why talk about judgment?

Well, if you have spent your life in the church, as I have, then you have heard about forgiveness and how Jesus took all sin upon Himself at the cross. Only to have someone, just minutes later, remind you of your sinful past. Unfortunately, this is the typical pattern among religious people. I am not telling you this to keep you out of fellowship, you need that, but they have to be safe people willing to address when you are perpetuating some sin.

His judgments?

Honestly, I am not positive about how this judgment stuff is supposed to work, seeing as my years of immersion in the Bible have demonstrated Jesus to be a merciful God. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5 how we, the believers, are immediately present with the Lord upon our death. If a person was driving drunk and had given their life to Jesus at some point and crashed into a pole. We often assume little more than Jesus took them to heaven if they die. If they lived, we would tell them what a sinner they are and that they are going to hell because of their sins, which we are sure would be many. Do you see something wrong with the logic here? Me too, and I do not think it can be both ways. Either the price Christ paid on the cross is valid and authentic, or it is not, and we have been duped. What God did through His Son was very real and valid. But I have people in my life that I struggle with. I suppose God’s answer to that is I am NOT the judge, He is, and His judgment is faithful and righteous.

Here is how I understand it.

If you have given yourself to God through Christ, then you are considered a part of the body of God’s Son, Jesus. God, through Jesus, has taken all of the wrath that we deserved because of sin upon Himself, and that is why we, the church, are NOT subject to the wrath that is coming (Read 1 Thessalonians 5:9). Most of humanity has chosen to ignore the price Jesus paid to bring us back into the relationship and, therefore, fall under the category of those who have rejected Jesus. Because of your actions, you will be included with Israel in this retribution. If you merely warmed a church seat on sporadic Easter Sundays, this, in my opinion, does not qualify as a relationship with God, and you have simply fulfilled some legalistic motivation; and, therefore, might be included among the nations and have to suffer through the wrath that was meant for others.

The NASB and many other translations entitle this next section.

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

Over my many years in church, I have heard it said, multiple times, that we should find our gifting or calling. Paul covers these gifts of the Spirit extensively in 1 Corinthians 12, and you can read that information at another time. In my own life, and after much struggle to shed the legalism that comes through the church, I have learned that I have a gift of teaching, and hopefully, I make the Word of God understandable. I also have come to understand that my calling is to the body of Christ. I believe that because we, the church, have allowed ourselves to be misled by our own false teachers, and yes, the church is full of them.

Why tell you that?

Because while I can probably explain Biblical things to the degree that anybody with an open mind could understand what I am saying, one of the things I have heard repeatedly is preaching and conversation about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. If you search for the phrase, this passage below is the only place to find it.

Revelation 19:6-8 MKJV “And I heard as the sound of a great multitude, and as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of strong thunders, saying, Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigns! (7)  Let us be glad and rejoice and we will give glory to Him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has prepared herself. (8)  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.”

Those there with Jesus during the seven years of God’s wrath may all be shouting Hallelujah!

Why?

Because the promised end has finally come. Again, we are about to see who brings that end and what it looks like. Those absorbed in protecting their masculinity may struggle with this, but we are the bride of Christ. When we accepted Jesus Christ, we accepted that His blood sacrifice was also poured over us, which caused us to be clothed in fine, white linen that was washed in His blood. This is also the description of the 24 elders, and they are deemed symbolic of the church.
(Read Revelation 4:4)

As for the crowns.

“Do not at all fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the Devil will cast some of you into prison, so that you may be tried. And you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10 MKJV)

I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no man may take your crown. (Revelation 3:11 EMTV)

Although I occasionally struggle with the once saved, always saved concept, I can see multiple references that help to convince me. The problem I have is with the “Christian” that lives like Christ has little or no place in their life. Paul told us we can know the tree by its fruit; well, to be truthful, some people’s fruit is inedible.

“… for the tree is known by its fruit.” (Matthew 12:33b NASB)

So, either God is a liar, or those people put on an excellent show. If it isn’t a show, then I will just have to let God sort out the wheat from the things that kind of look like wheat, but they are not.

Can you see now why I spent more than a few minutes talking about things that I don’t really understand?

Here is something I can understand.

  • How you judge is how you will be judged.

Having already experienced some of that judgment firsthand, I want NO part of my harsh judgments coming back at me. Instead, I want God’s mercy.

If some of us will be in heaven shortly, due to the catching away of the church, and since many play out the Revelation as though it is chronological, then wouldn’t we, the church, still have to wait seven more years to be married to Christ? Perhaps my question is more rhetorical, and perhaps scripture will answer the question. So with verse nine, we are encouraged as we have been waiting for such a long time for Jesus to return.

Revelation 19:9 EMTV “Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ “And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

Look at those words, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb!”

I thought that we had already been invited back into a relationship with the Father and, therefore, invited to the marriage supper?

Indeed, both are true, but that relationship gives us the freedom to sit a the table with Him.

I was publicly accosted by a man I called a brother in Christ, as he called me a firebrand – one who tries to get people excited only to let them crash with disappointment because we, as a church, have been looking for Christ to come back for us, for over two-thousand years. Well, that is true that we have been looking for Him for a long time; but the Apostle Paul did not seem to be concerned about the expediency and emphasized that we are to live as though His arrival, for a waiting church, could happen at any moment.

A pastor that I listened to emphasized Jesus’ words when he said, “when you see these signs beginning to happen, then know that the time is near. Well, guess what? We have been watching the signs occur for the last couple of years (It is currently 03/15/22.)

What things?

“There will be signs in sun and moon and stars,

and on the earth dismay among nations,

in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,

men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world;

for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

“Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory.” (Luke 21:25-27 NASB)

  • There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars.

    This sounds like Joel 2:30-31. We have already seen many of those signs in the stars. An example of this would be the astronomical sign of Virgo giving birth.

    “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:30 NASB)

    1 Thessalonians 5:3 tells us that they will be saying peace and safety.

    While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. (1 Thessalonians 5:3 NASB)

    Just this morning, 03/16/22, I saw a report that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in addressing the congress (presumably the American version,) has called upon Joe Biden to be the leader of peace.

    A March 1, 2022 headline from the UN states, “As Russian Federation’s Invasion of Ukraine Creates New Global Era, Member States Must Take Sides, Choose between Peace, Aggression, General Assembly Hears.”

    The cries for peace are out there, and if you are a purist and think that this conversation should only be about Israel, then know that Israel is telling refugees from Ukraine to come to Israel because there is peace.

    So, the general theme is peace, just as the scriptures tell us.

  • Still in Luke 21:25. “and on the earth dismay among nations.“

    The word dismay, in essence, means to fall, a loss of courage; a sinking of the spirits; or depression.

    Dear Lord, have you watched what is going on with Ukraine and the retribution against Russia? Nothing can explain what we see any better than the word dismay. I know I am. And yet, the dangerous situation is heating up globally – North Korea is testing more missiles; China is siding with Russia, and this bully of a president we have in the US is telling China to keep out of Ukraine – like they are going to listen to him. And Russia has armored vehicles patrolling on Mount Hermon, which happens to be a part of the border between Israel and Syria.

  • “in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves.”

    Perplexity is the Greek word aporia. Some of the other usable words are doubt and uncertainty.

    Today is Wednesday, 3/16/2022. Yesterday I would have said, how would something like an earthquake cause embarrassment?

    In just the last few hours, there was a 7.3 earthquake in Northern Japan. Tsunami alerts have been going off everywhere, but the worst of it is that Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant once again had a fire alarm triggered off, as one of the spent rod cooling pools had to be temporarily shut down. Fukushima, because of the tsunami disaster of 3/11/2011, where the plant was damaged, and explosions practically demolished four of the reactors. This was embarrassment.

  • Men swooning away or expiring with fear and dread and apprehension and expectation of the things that are coming on the world; for the [very] powers of the heavens will be shaken and caused to totter.  (Luke 21:26 AMPC)

    The Amplified typically gives you an overabundance of definition; it almost needs no further explanation. I really cannot see such fear happening yet, but then I live in a quiet neighborhood in America and not in Ukraine or one of the other violence-filled nations, where the odds of you living to the end of the day are limited.

So, where are we in terms of Jesus’ return?

We are right there.

“But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28 NASB)

Again, redemption is a matter of perspective, and dependent upon where you live, it makes more sense. But, the general idea is that we don’t have to be neck-deep in the things coming upon the world.

If you lean toward God removing His church body from the earth so that they do not have to experience His seven-year outpouring of wrath, you can consider yourself a pre-tribulation believer.

Should you allow others to convince you that we should endure God’s wrath, perhaps because of sin, you are ignoring that Jesus took all sin on Himself and purchased our redemption and lives back to God. Not everybody accepts that grace, and many will follow Satan to his reward, but that is their choice. This theological position is often deemed to be mid-tribulation.

If you are among those few who believe we must endure the same punishment as the nations and only gain anything close to salvation if you survive and enter the millennial reign, you can call yourself a post-tribulation supporter. These people, by their own standard, will not gain any relief from oppression until Jesus comes back and sits as the ruling Messiah during the thousand-year reign.

As a side note, you may have heard this already, but the things we are dealing with, though deadly for some, are NOTHING compared with the slaughter coming.

I had to laugh recently as I watched the news talk about police abuse with that thought in mind.

Do you think the Russian police give a thought to your personal freedoms and how they should NOT beat you up?

Not at all, and since the Ukrainian invasion, people in Russia, who thought they could, speak their mind about how Putin is running things, were rapidly and abusively hurried off to an awaiting prisoner bus. The day is coming; after the church has been removed, abuses will quickly reach deadly levels.

Amir Tsarfati frequently states how the scriptures tell us that approximately 4 billion people will be dead soon after the church is removed. The majority of deaths will come at the hands of humanity.

I like to focus on particular words, and redemption is good. It is the Greek word apolytrōsis and means deliverance, procured by a ransom payment. Wow, we just talked about that because Jesus’ actions on the cross purchased our ransom. So perhaps it would be a good time to ask Him into your life.

Posted in Babylon, bible study, crowns, judgment, Revelation, Thoughts on scripture, thrones, wrath. | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A great multitude in heaven, saying. Rev 19:3-5.

Posted on 03/10/2022 by remso

One of the things we talked about in the last post is that God’s judgments are true and righteous. You need to settle this in your mind – no matter what the judgments look like in your own life, God’s judgments are always appropriate and righteous; this of course applies to Israel and the nations.

If you were, to be honest when you read about the judgments that are coming against Israel and the nations, many of you have entertained the thought that God is out of control and just angry.

How do I know that?

Because this is what Satan does, and we saw it in the Garden when he said to Eve, did He really say that? The question/challenge to Eve might as well have accused Adam of lying about what God said, and, it challenged the veracity of God. This scenario with Eve only makes sense because, when God gave the instructions about the tree of knowledge, Eve had NOT been made. Somewhere down the road, Eve is made from Adam’s rib. She was cloned. The typical process of cloning has to allow for “natural” growth. Mind you, God does not have to operate on the normal time frame, because, He is God.

Adam had been given dominion of the earth.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. (Genesis 1:26-28 KJV)

Dominion, according to Strong’s concordance, is the Hebrew word râdâh. It is a primitive root that means to tread down, that is, subjugate; specifically to crumble off: – (come to, make to) have dominion, prevail against, reign, (bear, make to) rule, (-r, over), take.

For me, the two words that stand out and make sense is to reign and rule. It does not take much of a stretch to comprehend that Adam’s role was to inform Eve of the rules and there was only one – don’t touch that particular tree. So, when Satan approached Eve with that lousy play on words, he challenged both Adam’s honesty and God’s wisdom and “law” giving.

Question?

Remember I said that Eve was not present, and yet, here in Genesis 1:26 it appears that both Adam and Eve have been created.

How do you explain that?

Perhaps the best way to understand what transpired, is that the spiritual entities called ‘âdâm, that is, a human being, mankind have been set into motion. Neither the man or the woman, have been created as yet.

Note what Genesis 1:27 tells us.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27 KJV)

Do we have a definition of what God is?

Yes, we do.

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
(John 4:24 KJV)

So everything created in Genesis 1:27 looks like God, a Spirit.

  • We do not have a physical man, made from the earth, until Genesis 2:7.

  • The explanation of the Garden and the plants in it, particularly the tree of knowledge, are not made known to us until Genesis 2:9.

  • And, we are not introduced to the woman, Eve, until Genesis 2:21-23.

If man had dominion, then why and how did someone else gain that control?

Awe, now that is the million-dollar question, and it falls back on Adam and God’s righteous plan to regain humanity and to have Christ rule over the earth once again.

BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.” (Revelation 19:2 NASB)

God, nor I, can say “He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her,” unless we can see that the seven-years of wrath have been God’s judgment.

Once again, who is the her in this sentence?

Chapter 18 of Revelation called her Babylon, that great city. But we learned that Babylon was, like Damascus, to be destroyed and useless; so we are NOT talking about the physical kingdom of Babylon. We are, however, talking Jerusalem, and by extension Israel.

And thus we continue with Revelation 19, starting at verse three.

Revelation 19:3 NASB “And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER.”

Who is the “they” we see in Revelation 19:3?

It was something like the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven. If I tried to base my assumption that these were the previously martyred saints, on Revelation 19:1 alone, I could incorrect and misleading, therefore need more information.

“After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God;”
Revelation 19:1 NASB

Previously, in Revelation 7 there is a reference to One of the elders asking John, who this great multitude were. The response was,

“Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”  (Revelation 7:13-14 NASB)

One more witness. Revelation 12 tells us,

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. (12:10 KJV)

This is almost word for word what we see in Revelation 19:1. The safe proclamation then is that it is the martyred saints that are cheering as salvation and the end of God’s wrath has finally come. Even if I get this declaration wrong and it turns out to be the angels shouting out the praises of God, it is not a life-altering mistake.

Consider what the voices say.

And a second time they shouted, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever!” (Revelation 19:3 TLV)

I can find NO reference to the first time they shout like this and with the same terminology.

So, again I ask you, what kind of mentality rejoices over such destruction?

Perhaps, these in heaven can see what has been happening here on earth and know that Israel will sustain two major attacks. Wait a minute, I thought that our entrance into heaven required a change, which for the church is associated with the Bema seat. As I sit here, unchanged, I know that I am a broken human being (thanks to Adam,) and that my brokenness often longs to revel in the destruction of the wicked. So, the logic doesn’t work.

If one of those attacks was a part of Nebuchadnezzar’s capture of the nations of Israel and Judah, then I have to incorrectly assume that he sacked both cities, and the smoke from those actions ascended forever. But that did not happen. Don’t get me wrong, the land that is attributed to God’s people, did get sacked, but it was after repeated attacks, from various Assyrian leaders. In none of those cases did the smoke go up from her forever.

I might note that nothing burns forever except for hell, and that, for most is an imperceptible concept. The “Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary” tells us that the Greek word aiōn represents a period of time of significant character; or a state of things marking an age or era. With that knowledge, I can see plainly that it burns until this time period comes to end. The in question is the end of God’s wrath, which most refer to as the Great Tribulation.

As I sit here ( March of 2022) Israel seems to believe that she is in control of her destiny. Scripturally, Ezekiel 38, 39 predicts a massive and deadly attack on the nation of Israel, in which a prominent world leader titled Gog and his armies will die in the Megiddo valley. Two-thirds of Israel will be destroyed and killed, but not all by weapons, as some will die because of manufactured pharmaceuticals.

Revelation 19:4 NASB “And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!”

I walked away from a church. The final straw came during a seven-week, crash course in the Revelation. When the pastor, in the third session, stood before the audience and authoritatively said, the twenty-four elders are representative of the church. He gave no explanation and moved on as though he were educated and we were not. When he did that I was done with him and I walked out. This is not the time or the place to flesh that out, but there had been a build-up of reasons and one of those had happened only weeks previous, when something this pastor said, brought many in the audience to their feet in applause. Me, I said out loud, you should be booing such a statement. Internally I was screaming, as your response demonstrates that you will fall for the lies that are coming. Sure enough, the Covid and its associated lies came, and that church shut down for a long time.

In time, I came to understand from Pastor John MacArthur, why the twenty-four elders are representative of the church, and let’s just say that the answer stems from Revelation 4:4.

Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads. (Revelation 4:4 NASB)

Pay attention to how they are attired, as this is the description of the church after the catching away.

Revelation 19:5 NASB “And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.”

Verse five may come across as insignificant because we have seen loud exuberant accolades about God. It almost seems as if the heavens are getting ready for a great party. We, however, are directed to give Him praise, as we are included among the bond-servants and those who fear Him.

The way I was taught about God was commingled with fear and an inappropriate fear at that. It was demanded that when we say our prayers at night, we explicitly ask God to forgive us for childish sins, and apparently, by mom’s standards, they were many. The premise was that if we died during the night, our failure to repent would send us to hell because we had made God mad. Can you imagine the imagery I had of God and how that might have impacted me for the rest of my life? As an adult, I had to make a decision to change that attitude, and that is how and why we found each other.

In the current world we live in, where the Marxist ideals of the BLM movement and the goals behind Critical Race Theory, nobody wants to hear the words bond-servant. I would like to say, there is no slavery, but slavery is alive; it thrives in the Muslim world, and sex trafficking, which involves the capture of young children for sexual perversion, plays into slavery.

The Apostle Paul, a Jew who could have easily, said like his Jewish brethren, that I have been the slave to no one, introduced himself in his letters, on several occasions, as a bond-servant of Jesus Christ. Bond-servants typically have no rights and yet we, as believers, have the right to walk away from the Lord, if we were so foolish. And yet, guided by the moral standards of God, that is written upon our hearts, we have overwhelming freedom and liberty; and, it is all because of this relationship with Christ.

A – Admit you’re a sinner.

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

B – Believe Jesus is Lord.

John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

C – Call upon His name.

Romans 10:13 “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Posted in 24 Elders, Abaddon, Abyss, Antichrist, Assyrians, Babylon, bible study, End times, fire, gentiles, Gog, Gog, Harlot of Revelation, Hell, invasion, Israel, Jews, judgment, judgment, rapture, Revelation, the nations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

So that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous bloodshed. Rev 18: 20-24.

Posted on 02/27/2022 by remso

This dive into Revelation 18 begins with verse 20.

Revelation 18:20 NASB “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.”

When you think about the judgment and what that horror looks like for the nations and Israel, why would you rejoice? 

One answer might be because this means that the beginning and the eventual end of this fury, from both humanity and God, is close and peace is finally near. Another train of thought occurs to me, for as you migrate through the Revelation, you see the martyred saints crying out, how long, oh Lord. It is difficult to see this question as anything other than a cry for vengeance. Considering that these are before the throne when they say it and that those who have been martyred, which are now in heaven, cannot stand before the throne without this change we see in 1Corinthians 15:22. It does not make sense that they would be seeking an eye for eye justice since the drive to sin has been removed from them.

Look at what Revelation 6 tells us. 

and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also. (Revelation 6:10-11 NASB)

Completion?

Sadly, our religious training drives us to look at the Great White Throne, as a place where many teachers send all who come to this throne to their final, inescapable day of justice.

Do I rejoice over the idea that we can so easily send people to hell?

No, I mourn, as many have foolishly chosen to follow Satan to his eternal punishment and they don’t need our help. Ah, but there is a high point in this throne of judgment, for many will be found worthy to enter the kingdom. You see, this Great White Throne is the same throne we see in Matthew 25, and there Jesus, the gentle shepherd, separates the crowd into two groups. One He calls the sheep and the other goats. Jesus tells the “sheep” to enter the kingdom, while those referred to as goats get sent to the eternal hell meant for Satan and his followers. So, there is hope even in this.

Justice/judgment began with the breaking of the first seal in Revelation chapter 6 and comes to completion approximately seven years later when Jesus returns as the conquering king at the end of the seven years. As you begin to read Revelation 6 you see a rider on a white horse and another on a red horse. The rider on the white horse represents the antichrist and he comes conquering. The red horse rider takes peace from the earth. If you can understand that God just used two humans to fulfill His prophecies, then you are on your way to understanding the Revelation.

‘He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS; AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father; (Revelation 2:26-27 NASB)

The only one who has overcome and kept God’s deeds until the end is Jesus. He is the one who has the authority over the nations.

Note the ominous words, He (Jesus) shall rule them with a rod of iron, as he breaks the vessels to pieces.
God is the one who made every vessel (that includes you and me,) and He is the one who has the right to destroy those vessels.

What did the Holy Spirit say in Revelation 18:20?

God has pronounced judgment for you against her.

So, who is the “you” in this sentence?

The verse itself tells us that it is the saints, the apostles, and the prophets.
Saints, in the context of the Revelation, apply to those who have been martyred during the time of God’s wrath.
If the application applies to all saints, then wouldn’t they already be in heaven, with the Father; they would.

“For indeed, while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord–” (2 Corinthians 5:4-6 NASB)

Assuming that we, the church, fit into one of these categories, saints, apostles, or prophets then the potential is here for at least a couple of these as being descriptives of the church; and, I could then say, yes, we are saints.

Use 1Corinthians 1:2 as a definition of a saint,

To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours: (1 Corinthians 1:2 NASB)

Secondly, as the prophetic, in the Revelation, is defined like this, the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, then believers fall under this category as long as you are testifying of the work of Jesus in your life, as described in the Word. In a sense, you are prophesying every time you proclaim Jesus. Let that sink in.

Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he *said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (Revelation 19:10 NASB)

I am bypassing the term apostles as it is saturated with controversy and misuse. It effectively means sent ones, and according to Jesus’ commission, we have all been sent to spread the good news of the kingdom.

A former pastor used to say, in heaven, we will be looking down over the edge of the balcony, able to see what is going on here on earth during the time of wrath, and we will rejoice with those who come to know Jesus and enter into the kingdom because they are martyred. That pastor seems to forget that there will be no more sorrow in heaven. Being able to witness the horror and suffering that those on earth will continue to experience until that Revelation 19 moment when Jesus comes back to end all fighting seems rather sadistic and bizarre.

If I can find the church among those rejoicing, it is only because God has pronounced judgment.

Revelation 18:21 AMP Then a single powerful angel took up a boulder like a great millstone and flung it into the sea, crying, With such violence shall Babylon the great city be hurled down to destruction and shall never again be found. [Jeremiah. 51:63, 64; Ezekiel. 26:21.]

There is that phrase once again, the great city. One dramatic verse is Revelation 11:8, where it says.

And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.(Revelation 11:8 NASB)

The context of Revelation chapter 11 has much to do with God’s two witnesses coming back to earth and giving testimony of God, His power, and Jesus Christ. That last one, Jesus Christ, will still only be marginally acceptable to the Jews.

Notice that their dead bodies lie in the street of that great city. The only place God puts these men is in Jerusalem, so the city is Jerusalem. Verse 8 continues on by identifying Jerusalem as Sodom and Egypt, spiritually. Obviously, it is NEITHER of those two places.

So, if Jerusalem can be referred to as Sodom and Egypt, then what is to prevent it from being called Babylon?

Well, nothing really. Revelation 18:21 says,

“with such violence shall Babylon the great city be hurled down to destruction and never be found.”

In the book of Lamentations, we find this.

“The Lord has rejected all my strong men In my midst; He has called an appointed time against me To crush my young men; The Lord has trodden as in a wine press The virgin daughter of Judah.(Lamentations 1:15 NASB)

It is the Lord that is doing the crushing and He is doing it because of sins.

For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, Because their speech and their actions are against the LORD, To rebel against His glorious presence. (Isaiah 3:8 NASB)

More evidence for why they are fallen.

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity. (Hosea 14:1 NASB)

In the book of Amos, we again see a direct address against Israel.

Hear this word that I take up against you in lament, house of Isra’el: The virgin of Isra’el has fallen; she will not rise again. She lies abandoned on her own soil with no one to lift her up.(Amos 5:1-2 CJB)

Continuing through chapter 18.

Revelation 18:22-23 NASB (22) “And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer, and no craftsman of any craft will be found in you any longer, and the sound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer; (23) and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer, and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.

If this is the definitive telling of the end of Jerusalem then where and when is this new city going to come and sit?

At the end of the seven years, after Jesus has ended the fighting and bloodshed, the New Jerusalem will come down. It will sit upon the entirety of the land God promised to Abraham – 1500 miles square, and it will be filled with the sound of music, laughter, water running, merchants, and joy.

At the end of this morass and punishment, the new Jerusalem will be filled with the opposite of the curse. Within the city, there will be no deception and sorcery.

Sorcery?

For me, my imagination turns to something that looks like a scene from Harry Potter. No, I have never seen any aspect of Harry Potter except for commercials. This word sorcery seems so simple and self-explanatory, and it is unless sorcery was a poor choice for a translation.

Sorcery is the Greek word pharmakeia and means medication. The word also conveys the idea of using or administering drugs and poisoning people by drug usage. What do you think the so-called vaccinations are?

You might ask, what does this have to do with Israel and Jerusalem?

Are you not aware that Israel was in full agreement with this globalist agenda of population reduction and made it very difficult for anyone that was not fully inoculated. After they noticed, that many of their population were having horrid reactions to the vaccines and that the majority of Covid cases we coming from fully vaccinated people, they dropped the mandates. Don’t worry, the propaganda has had the desired effect and many, even in the church, are enveloped in fear and will probably comply with all future attempts to control the populace.

The last verse in chapter 18, and my last attempt at convincing you that we are NOT looking for a rebuilt Babylon speaks about the fact that the blood of saints and prophets have been found in her.

Revelation 18:24 NASB “And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.”

I have pointed out, on several occasions, that the primary source of information we have on Babylon is from the Prophet Daniel and the three Hebrew young men who were taken captive with Daniel. Every attempt to kill these young men failed, so surely these are not the subject of verse 24.

Since Babylon is a continuation of Babel, then we know even less, and what we do know is wholly extra-biblical.

What do the scriptures say about this blood?

“Also on your skirts is found The lifeblood of the innocent poor; You did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things, (Jeremiah 2:34 NASB)

I suggest you read all of Ezekiel 22.

“You have despised My holy things and profaned My sabbaths. “Slanderous men have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood, and in you, they have eaten at the mountain shrines. In your midst, they have committed acts of lewdness. (Ezekiel 22:8-9 NASB)

And I will end this with Jesus’ words from Matthew’s gospel.

“Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous bloodshed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. (Matthew 23:34-35 NASB)

Did you get that?

“ so that upon you (Israel) may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth

How badly some want to see Babylon rebuilt. I suppose it comes from a need to validate their false prophecies.

Do you understand that I want you to be able to understand the Revelation and the words you find here? It is not that difficult when you realize that the majority of the prophecy is derived from the Old Testament and that figuring out what the context is, is key.

I was accosted by one of my pastors, several years ago, when he said, NO ONE understands the Revelation or the prophetic. I later learned that this pastor’s anger was triggered by another brother in Christ who pushed his theories with the insistence that the pastor allow him to teach his theories.

I have written to believers who wish to understand God’s word, as I do. If you are not a believer and want to be, then follow these simple words.

A – Admit you’re a sinner.

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

B – Believe Jesus is Lord.

John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

C – Call upon His name.

Romans 10:13 “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Posted in apostles, Babylon, bible study, COVID 19, Daniel, Egypt, Israel, judgment, Revelation, Rule the nations, the nations, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture, two witnesses, wrath. | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

To the degree that she glorified herself. Revelation 18:6-20.

Posted on 02/20/2022 by remso

We ended our last look into Revelation 18 on verse five. So what does verse five say?

For her iniquities (her crimes and transgressions) are piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her wickedness and [her] crimes [and calls them up for settlement].
[Jeremiah. 51:9.] (Revelation 18:5 AMP)

If you are unfamiliar with the Amplified Bible’s logic, things in brackets [ ] are meant to give you deeper insights into the verse at hand. Not that the brackets are inappropriate but occasionally, I struggle to understand the point they are trying to make. The other thing that affects my understanding is that Revelation 18:5 is NOT a standalone verse, as the context is lacking. The context begins in verse two and immediately begins referring to Babylon. As I said in my previous post, Babylon is little more than a ghost town, much like an old, forgotten mining community that you find in our American deserts. I realize that what I am telling you is in opposition to Dr. Andy Woods, but Babylon, the physical city, will never rise again.  If what I am saying is valid, then Babylon represents something else.

Ah, the next question is, what is that something else?

In the previous post covering Revelation 18:1-5, I gave examples of how Babylon references Israel. I am not going to cover all those references here but merely say that the references to Babylon are indicative of Israel.

In the passage above, there is a clarifying statement [and calls them up for settlement] that is apparently found in the words of the Prophet Jeremiah. So let’s pursue Jeremiah for a moment.

We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her and let us each go to his own country, for her guilt and the judgment against her reach to heaven and are lifted even to the skies. [Gen. 18:20, 21.] (Jeremiah 51:9 AMP)

  • “We would have healed Babylon,”

    If it’s not Babylon, to whom is the speaker referring? 

    I could say that the speaker is Jeremiah; if that is the case, then I have to assume that Jeremiah and company are the ones that attempted to heal Babylon.

    Why would they do that, as Babylon was perceived as the enemy?

    Any healing would have to be through a conversion to being Jews, and we know that wouldn’t happen. The other possibility would be that Jeremiah and company would infuse thousands of dollars into Babylon so that they could see how horrible their techniques and prisons are. I am being facetious because you know that neither of those things happened. So the healing assumption doesn’t work unless I apply this reasoning to Israel, and then I can see Jeremiah’s heart as he hopes the words he speaks can bring about healing to Israel.

    I opened my MacArthur Study Bible to read the introduction to the prophecies of Jeremiah, and here is what I found.

    He was known as the weeping prophet because of his conflict over predictions of judgment against Israel by the invading Babylonians. For these prophecies, he was threatened, tried for his life, put in stocks, forced to flee from Jehoiakim, publicly humiliated by a false prophet, and thrown into a septic waste pit.  Once the invasion of Judah was inevitable, he pled with Jewish leaders not to resist the Babylonian conqueror to prevent Jerusalem’s destruction.

    And, he called on delegates of other nations to heed his counsel and submit to Babylon. When Babylon invaded Egypt in 568, 567 B.C., Jeremiah was taken captive to Babylon. Jeremiah was from Judah, the Southern kingdom, and the last to go into captivity. My MacArthur commentary tells me that Judah was engrossed in blatant idolatry. I bring this bit of history into the equation as it is difficult, at best, to heal an invading nation.

    I began to look through my commentaries to see what they had to say, especially since my first assumption is that “We represents the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” One comment, in particular, caught my eye when it said, remove the word would.

    My immediate reaction was why, and based upon what?

    I began looking into the Strong’s concordance a short time later, and I found this.

    The word translated as “We would have healed” by most is the Hebrew word râphâ’  or  râphâh; they both mean the same thing. It is a primitive root; properly to mend, to cure, cause to heal, make whole.

    So Jeremiah 51:9 could be read like this.

    “We tried to heal Babylon, but she cannot be healed. So let us leave her and let each of us go to our own country. God in heaven will decide Babylon’s punishment. He will decide what will happen to Babylon. (Jeremiah 51:9 ERV)

If I contrast Babylon with Israel, this statement, “she cannot be healed,” is immensely harsh. If you are a Bible student, then you know that the entirety of the Revelation shows us God’s punishment upon Israel for their sins and their rejection of God; and it is also a punishment against the nations for similar reasons.

So what do we see next?

Revelation 18:6 CEV  Treat her as she has treated others. Make her pay double for what she has done. Make her drink twice as much of what she mixed for others.

If this is Israel, then watch this.

Jeremiah 16:14-18 NASB “Therefore behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ (15) but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.’ For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers. (16) “Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen,” declares the LORD, “and they will fish for them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks. (17) “For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes. (18) “I will first doubly repay their iniquity and their sin because they have polluted My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with their abominations.”

The people in the land of Israel have been brought back from the land of the North and from all the countries where He had banished them. And, He has restored them to their land.

If Revelation 18:6 is speaking about Babylon, don’t you find it peculiar that Jeremiah 16:18 uses comparable language specifically against Israel?

Revelation 18:7 NASB “To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘I SIT as A QUEEN AND I AM NOT A WIDOW, and will never see mourning.’

But we are not to make accusations with two or three witnesses. So how about this.

“Yet you said, ‘I will be a queen forever.’ These things you did not consider Nor remember the outcome of them. “Now, then, hear this, you sensual one, Who dwells securely, Who says in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me. I will not sit as a widow, Nor know loss of children.‘ (Isaiah 47:7-8 NASB)

Does the context of Isaiah 47 cover Israel?

Absolutely, and yet the impulsive translation writers titled this chapter “the humiliation of Babylon;” and yet, look at this verse.

“Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; Sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no longer be called tender and delicate. (Isaiah 47:1 NASB)

It appears that God is talking to the virgin daughter of Babylon. Now, I have to figure out who might fill this role.

Babylon had no virgin daughter, although some might argue that the conquering nations, such as the Medo-Persian empire, could have filled that function, or perhaps the Chaldeans were entitled to carry that name. If that is your belief or understanding, then prove it by your Biblical witnesses. There aren’t any. So the characterization of the virgin daughter of Babylon falls upon Israel. (Consider that I use that term lightly as they were NOT the unified nation of Israel when they went into captivity – the kingdom was split into the Northern kingdom of Israel and the Southern kingdom of Judah. Judah is where we found King David, and then even that was not without struggle.)

Consider what Jeremiah 14 tells us.

“The people also to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to bury them–neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters–for I will pour out their own wickedness on them. “You will say this word to them, ‘Let my eyes flow down with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow, With a sorely infected wound.” (Jeremiah 14:16-17 NASB)

Consider how the captives of Babylon – those of the faith camp, had false prophets telling them, God will deliver us quickly from this vile place. In opposition to those claims was Jeremiah the prophet, who told the captives, which included himself, to build houses, plant gardens and eat the fruit, and take wives for your sons and daughters because we will be here for a long time. (Read Jeremiah 29 in your spare time.)

Is it possible that this seventy-year span is where Israel became the daughter of Babylon?

Perhaps, but there was to be an end to the captivity. The daughter would then be freed to marry herself to whoever; this seems like a redundant statement considering how Israel had married themselves to many nations and their gods. So why should their time in Babylon be any different?

‘Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the LORD, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation. (Jeremiah 25:12 NASB)

Consider that Daniel chapter 9 tells us that Daniel ascertained by books that the seventy years had been completed.

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans–in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. (Daniel 9:1-2 NASB)

That means that Israel’s freedom from Babylon’s captivity; and the eventual, everlasting desolation of Babylon was only a short time away.

And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation; Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there. But desert creatures will lie down there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there. Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers And jackals in their luxurious palaces. Her fateful time also will soon come, and her days will not be prolonged. (Isaiah 13:19-22 NASB)

In 2022, many of us are focused on Damascus, as this city has a drastic prophecy declared against it; yet there it stands, receiving air shipments of weapons for usage against Israel. Hmm.

Revelation 18:8 NASB “For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong.

As I read through the Revelation and Daniel’s prophecies, it seems that so much of the damage that Israel is to sustain can quickly come in an hour, but do we talk about it? No, for it is too uncomfortable and challenges previous false teachings. One of the dramatic moments in time that gets spoken of frequently is Revelation 18:9-20. This monumental passage speaks of Babylon being destroyed in an hour.

Verse eight above tells us that Babylon is destroyed in a day, and yet here, in verses 9-20, it is destroyed in an hour. I am not sure the amount of time matters, as devastating loss is still a loss.

“And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour, your judgment has come.’ “And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more–cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble, and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives. “The fruit you long for has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you, and men will no longer find them. “The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls; for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!’ And every ship-master and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance, and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What city is like the great city?’ “And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!’ “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.” (Revelation 18:9-20 NASB)

I have introduced several things for you to think about, so what did Revelation 18:7 say?

“To the degree that she [Israel] glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘I SIT as A QUEEN AND I AM NOT A WIDOW, and will never see mourning.”

Since we have a comprehension that Revelation 18 is also referring to Israel as well as a “spiritual” Babylon, you may not be aware that many Jews, to this very day, will say we have NEVER been in captivity or slaves to anyone.

Are you serious? What about Egypt, and what about Babylon? Perhaps Israel should have tried repentance and mourning. Now, here comes perspective. Though an analogy of Israel, Babylon is speaking about an empire, perceived as a beast and shown to be a harlot that motivates the current financial greed, idol worship, and blatant adultery against God.

What does verse 8 tell us? 

Not only will the “governmental and economic” system collapse in a day, but so will Israel. Ezekiel tells us that only a third will survive what is coming. Ezekiel 5:12 is the passage that tells me that only one-third of Israel survives, and quite possibly makes it into the millennial kingdom.

‘One-third of you will die by plague or be consumed by famine among you, one third will fall by the sword around you, and one third I will scatter to every wind, and I will unsheathe a sword behind them. (Ezekiel 5:12 NASB)

Merely because the verse says that one-third will die by plague does not mean this will happen in a day. In contrast to what we think it means, an interesting aspect of the word plague is that it is the Hebrew word deber and means pestilence – in the sense of destroying. In a sense, our first introduction to plagues was those placed upon Egypt to force Pharaoh to let God’s people go.

Webster’s dictionary describes plagues as acute, malignant, and contagious diseases. The black plague was associated with filth and rats in the dark ages. The plagues upon Egypt included boils, gnats, and frogs, among other things.

Since our word deber originated from another word, dâbar, perhaps we need to include this definition to clarify our understanding. The Hebrew word dâbar is assumed to properly mean arrange, but this does not make sense in the context of plague or pestilence. One of the other meanings is to subdue. If you use the word subdue in conjunction with contagious diseases, you should be able to make the connection between the C19 injections and this unprecedented population reduction program, that eventually, for Israel, kills off one-third of its population.

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The earth was lit up by his radiance. Revelation 18: 1-5.

Posted on 02/12/2022 by remso

We ended Revelation 17 talking about the scarlet-clad harlot who rides the beast and how the nations allied with the beast/antichrist will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and will burn her up with fire.

The harlot is this cluster of people who think they have the right to lord over the rest of us, as they impose medical mandates and mask rules, all for the purpose of gaining more riches and an unlimited supply of food while many of us starve. According to scripture, these people are using the nations that fall under the category of beast nations. If these are Islamic nations, who are being driven into battles with each other, then these same nations will, in time, destroy the beast; this is the majority of the message in Revelation 18, so let’s dive in.

Revelation 18:1 NET. After these things I saw another angel, who possessed great authority, coming down out of heaven, and the earth was lit up by his radiance.

Jesus is the radiance of the Father’s glory, but this is NOT Him. This angel is a messenger, as many of them are. An intriguing piece of information: the first time we see an angel mentioned by name is in Daniel 8:6, Gabriel. What a surprise, as it is Gabriel who brings the message to Mary of the impending birth of Jesus (Luke_1:19). 

In Daniel 10:6 Gabriel shows up once again to give Daniel a much-needed explanation. Here I want you to pay attention to what this angel looks like.

Daniel 10:5-6 NASB I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphaz. (6) His body also was like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult.

Gabriel reflects an amazing amount of light and produces some of his own. We have nothing that tells us that this angel in verse one is Gabriel; I am only giving you some interesting information, and, it is what this angel says that makes the difference, as the message changes everything.

Revelation 18:2 NLT  “He gave a mighty shout: “Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen! She has become a home for demons. She is a hideout for every foul spirit, a hideout for every foul vulture and every foul and dreadful animal.”

As I sit here typing out this post, I can see the pictures taken by American service members of the town and the location of Babylon in my mind’s eye. It looked very similar to several of our California desert communities. Contextually, in what seems to be chronological telling of the events during the time of wrath, Babylon is fallen. In case you missed my point, as far as I am concerned, Babylon fell several thousand years ago.

The passage (Revelation 18:2) emphasizes the word fallen (piptō) by using it twice. This is meant to draw your attention to the importance of what is being said. In Greek, the word Fallen. or Piptō, means to descend from a higher place to a lower, to fall, to be thrust down, and metaphorically to fall under judgment or condemnation. 

I have gone over the subject of Babylon several times in the last couple of weeks, but there are always new readers. Israel is called Babylon, and so is the physical place where we find Daniel, formerly of Israel.

There is a fascinating reference to Babylon, the great city, in Revelation 16. There it speaks of a great earthquake splitting the city into thirds.

The obvious thing about Babylon is that it is little more than a spot on the map; in other words, it doesn’t exist anymore except when it represents spiritual debauchery.

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. (Revelation 16:19 NASB)

Is it any coincidence, in speaking of this same period, that the Prophet Zechariah says,

Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
(Zechariah 13:7-8 KJV)

Revelation 11 speaks of the two witnesses God places back on the earth. Upon their death, they lie in the streets of Jerusalem but pay attention to how it is described.

And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. (Revelation 11:8 NASB)

Our Lord was crucified in Jerusalem, and here it is being called the great city, just as Babylon was in Revelation 18:2. The allusion to Sodom and Egypt is associated with the sexual and religious perversions that will be predominant sins ending this age (Matthew_24:37-39; Luke_17:26-30).

This may come as a shock, but we have been talking about Israel all this time.

Revelation 18:3 NLT  For all the nations have fallen because of the wine of her passionate immorality. The kings of the world have committed adultery with her. Because of her desires for extravagant luxury, the merchants of the world have grown rich.”

  • “For all the nations have fallen because of the wine of her passionate immorality.”

I want to touch on something before we continue. Israel, having come out of Egypt, at least that is how their migration is described, did not leave that junk behind; they brought it all with them. And what they did not bring with them, they adopted.

I will let you in on an aspect of my struggle to create a bible study that is based on the word and a bit more relational. I have always understood that Balaam said something to Balak, which was then used to bring down Israel. So, I did a word search for Balaam. Did you know that his donkey spoke to him, and he was not shocked, and Israel killed Balaam in one of their battles? Proof that even if God talks to you, you don’t have His protection, as some would try to imply. The Revelation has one of the most significant clues, proving that Balaam fed Balak information that eventually brought down Israel. The craziest thing is that Israel was more than willing to bring about its own downfall.

Revelation 2:14 MKJV  But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the teachings of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication.

Typically, if I use a cross-reference, I will find a word that links a revealing statement like this back to its origin. However, this one is tough as everything seems to allude to something being said but not the specifics. The passage that is the most defining in terms of how Israel went down is Numbers 25:1-3.

While the Israelites were camped at Acacia Grove, some of the men defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local Moabite women. These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab. In this way, Israel joined in the worship of Baal of Peor, causing the LORD’s anger to blaze against his people. (Numbers 25:1-3 NLT)

Yes, this next one is long, but I want you to see a few things in it. I will highlight them.

Numbers 31:6-16 MKJV  And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe. He sent them and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments and the trumpets to blow in his hand.  (7)  And they warred against the Midianites, as Jehovah commanded Moses. And they killed all the males.  (8)  And they killed the kings of Midian, besides the rest of their slain: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam, the son of Beor, with the sword.  (9)  And the sons of Israel took all the women of Midian captive, and their little ones, and the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.  (10)  And they burned with fire all their cities, their homes, and all their towers.  (11)  And they took all the spoil and all the prey of men and animals.  (12)  And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, to Moses and to Eleazar, the priest, and to the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are beside Jordan, at Jericho.  (13)  And Moses and Eleazar the priest, and all the rulers of the congregation, went forth to meet them outside the camp.  (14)  And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, who came from the battle.  (15)  And Moses said to them, Have you saved all the women alive?  (16)  Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit sin against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and the plague was on the congregation of Jehovah.

Here is an example of what the cross-reference gives you.

Balaam. Num_22:5; Num_24:14; *Num_25:1-3; *+Num_31:8; >Num_31:16, Jos_13:22; Jos_24:9, Psa_68:21, +2Pe_2:15, *Jud_1:11.

While most of these speak about Balaam, none tell us how he instructed Balak to destroy Israel.

If Babylon refers to a physical city, which it doesn’t, how and where are these present-tense sins taking place? 

For most, including many of those who call themselves “Christians” because they will not read the Bible with an intent to learn, this means there is no physical place for this to happen. 

So, when God says come away from her, my people, you have to answer the question as to who He is talking about and where they are coming out of. Try to get a Jew to confess that Israel is neck-deep in sexual and spiritual sins, and it won’t happen.

If you wish to take this quest for a physical Babylon back to Babel, then you have to include Nimrod and the plains of Shinar. (Search for scriptural references to Nimrod, and you will find three.) 

Why am I pointing out this lack of information?

Because there are those, who feel they are biblical purists and will not accept extra-biblical information. That kind of position seems rather odd when virtually everything we are asked to understand about Babylon is extra-biblical.

  • Genesis 10:8-9.

    Here we learn his ancestry and that he was a mighty hunter. Don’t be deceived by the simplicity of the word hunter, as this has some horrifying darkness attached to it.

  • 1Chronicles 1:10, and again, we have a bit of Nimrod.

  • And finally, the Prophet Micah. In Micah 5:6, a somewhat confusing and dark statement says, “They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, The land of Nimrod at its entrances.” A statement like this masks the context and forces us to find out who and what is doing the shepherding. 

Not much in the way of information is there. Yet, Babylon, the extension of Babel, the creation of Nimrod, seems to have an extensive history, including Babel’s tower, a wife, a son, and a false religious system. What we can gather about this religious system we learn from Josephus, how Nimrod persuaded people to ascribe their happiness to him rather than God.

Ah, but this is another example where we move into extra-biblical information, and, as one brother in Christ stated, we should NOT expose ourselves to extra-biblical information. 

Are you kidding me?

We merely pick and choose which extra-biblical information we choose to cling to, such as Jesus being a carpenter when the reality is that NO ONE said Jesus was a carpenter. A similar statement was made about Joseph that goes like this – they said, isn’t this the son of Joseph, the tekton. Tekton is the Greek word for craftsman, which includes poets, and yet no one perceives Joseph as being a poet, but then neither was Jesus. So we have reasoned that this hostile statement about Joseph being a carpenter applies to Jesus because Jewish tradition says that the Son followed in the father’s career path. Considering that both Joseph and Mary were informed about Jesus’ role on earth and who His real Father is.

Revelation 18:4-5 NLT  Then I heard another voice calling from heaven, “Come away from her, my people. Do not take part in her sins, or you will be punished with her.  (5)  For her sins are piled as high as heaven, and God remembers her evil deeds.

An examination of Babylon, and the sensuality we are informed of, can easily be compared to Israel, who, soon after coming out of Egypt, started offering their children as sacrifices on the altar of Moloch, at the base of Mount Sinai; all this immediately moves the conversation over into the spiritual side and enforces the idea that Babylon is an all-encompassing spiritual entity.

But, the entity did not stay in the plains of Shinar, did it?

It, alongside the people of Israel, got brought into the present-day country of Israel.

An obvious question. Who are God’s people?

The answer to this lies in understanding that the overall context of the Bible is a Jewish book, which tells the story of a specific people, that came through Abraham and his son, Issac. So yes, nations also came through Ishmael, but it is clear that most of these nations became the enemies of Israel and God.

  • “Come away from her, my people.”

    So “my people” are talking about the Jews and, through adoption, followers of Christ.

  • “Do not take part in her sins, or you will be punished with her.”

    “Her” is equal to Israel, and the entirety of Revelation is about the punishment against the nations and Israel.

Let’s camp here for a moment. I have been trying to convey that Israel represents a considerable aspect of Babylon on several levels. The Prophet Jeremiah explains.

Jeremiah 51:1-9 AMP THUS SAYS the Lord: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon and against those who dwell among those rebelling against Me a destroying wind and spirit; (2) And I will send to Babylon strangers or winnowers who will winnow her and will empty her land; for in the day of calamity they will be against her on every side. (3) Against him who bends, let the archer bend his bow, and against him who lifts himself up in his coat of mail. And spare not her young men; devote [to God] and utterly destroy her entire host. (4) Thus, they shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans and wounded in her streets. (5) For Israel has not been widowed and forsaken, nor has Judah, by his God, the Lord of hosts, though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel. (6) Flee out of the midst of Babylon! Let every man save his life! Let not destruction come upon you through her [punishment for] sin and guilt. For it is the time of the Lord’s vengeance; He will render to her a recompense. [Jer. 50:28; II Cor. 6:17; Rev. 18:4.] (7) Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, making all the earth drunken. The nations drank of her wine; therefore, the nations have gone mad. [Rev. 14:8; 17:4.] (8) Babylon has suddenly fallen and is shattered (destroyed)! Wail for her [if you care to]! Get balm for her [incurable] pain; if [you do] so she may [possibly] be healed! [Jer. 25:15; Rev. 14:8-10; 16:19; 18:2, 3.] (9) We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her and let us each go to his own country, for her guilt and the judgment against her reach to heaven and are lifted even to the skies. [Gen. 18:20, 21.]

Did you pick up on the idea that this conversation initiated about Babylon? This place is a skeleton of what it once was, and then inserted the character and nature of Israel in as the target of God’s wrath and vengeance.
Yes, Babylon encompasses the monetary and governmental systems, and finally, it replaced a system of worship based upon Elohim with the worship of everything but God.

Posted in bible study, End times, Harlot, Harlot of Revelation, Israel, Revelation, sexual sin, sin, unrighteousness, Vengeance, wickedness | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Because He was the Son of God, really?

Posted on 02/04/2022 by remso

A brother in Christ was reading a passage in Revelation and it prompted him to make the declaration that Jesus would have known the Old Testament. My friend took his claim one step further by asserting that this knowledge would have been instilled from the womb because He was the Son of God. His assertions were posted in a group chat that is part of a devotional several of us take part in.

This is my response.

If I approach my understanding of Jesus through the word “learned,” the rabbit hole, as one “brother in Christ” put it, takes me to Joseph, the husband of Mary.

Let’s stop here for a moment and see if we can figure out where or how Jesus obtained His education.

For me, the obvious observation was that Jesus was NOT operating within the same educational patterns that we humans have to deal with. We gain some defining expressions from Hebrews.

Hebrews 5:7-9 MKJV  For Jesus, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong cryings and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death and was heard in that He feared,  (8)  though being a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.  (9)  And being perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him,

He was flesh from the moment God placed that embryo in Mary, with her permission of course; and, these two humans (Joseph and Mary,) had to teach Him who He was according to what was written and spoken about the Father. Now, consider that even one scroll, of perhaps Deuteronomy, would have been extremely expensive and so valued that you probably would not have touched it.

Here is something you rarely hear a preacher say, to make matters worse Jesus was deemed an illegitimate child, and the law of God forbade an illegitimate child from entering the Synagogue or Temple (Deuteronomy 23:2.) With that in mind, all that Jesus came to understand was from the oral traditions. As Jesus grew beside Joseph all the law, stories, and history were recited at every opportunity.

Another consideration is that silly game we played as children where a sentence is whispered into the ear of the person next to you. The sentence has typically changed its meaning drastically by the time it hits the fourth person. Now add thousands of years to these stories; it could only be the Holy Spirit of God that could have preserved the truth and details of these epic adventures God has taken with us.

How is it that I should have an impulse such as this, for I find myself constantly telling these same stories of and about God?

So let’s break down Hebrews 5:7-9.

  • “in the days of His flesh.”

    In a human frame or body, humanity.

  • “Though he were a Son.”

    Generally used of the offspring of men, but, in the case of Jesus, he was deemed a male offspring. But it is also used to describe one who depends on another.

  • “Yet learned obedience“

    Obedience also means to be affected or have been affected, to feel, have a sensible experience, to undergo.

  • “By the things which he suffered.”

    Suffered means to be affected or have been affected, to feel, or to have a sensible experience, to undergo.

So, it is clear that Jesus had to undergo life as a human, but without the drive to sin.

If you cannot understand this concept of being without sin, then you have missed the importance of God having Mary carry a fertilized embryo that bypassed the genetic damage sustained through Adam; damage that apparently pushes us to lust. Remember, the lamb (Jesus) had to be unblemished.

The plan of God to redeem humanity had to work this way to be legal. This legality goes back to the garden and Adam’s treason as Adam relinquished the dominion of the earth to Satan with his actions. Therefore, everything we see in scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, is part of God’s plan to redeem the world and humanity; and thus we have Jesus being born of man.

Because Mary stood her ground, saying that God was the father of Jesus, she was scorned, and Jesus was deemed an illegitimate child. Give me a break, none of those neighbors in Bethlehem bought into the idea that this baby was the product of God doing an in Vitro fertilization, they did not even have terminology like that. So Mary was thought of as nothing less than a liar. Joseph’s acceptance of Mary’s claim made him just as unbelievable.

Do you struggle with this, too bad because this is reality?

Did you notice that when Joseph went back to his hometown, with his betrothed wife, a wife that apparently continued to hold her belief and understanding of what transpired, NONE of Joseph’s kinfolk would take him and his betrothed into their homes?

Continuing down the rabbit hole, as one brother in Christ puts it.

How did Jesus learn the Old Testament?

Well, Matthew 1:19 gives us one of the greatest clues about Jesus’ education when it says Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man. Righteous, according to Thayer, is one who observes divine laws, and, keeps the commands of God. Jesus, being a Mumzer (an illegitimate child according to God’s law,) would not have been allowed into the synagogue or their schools to learn the scriptures, therefore, it was the father’s role to teach the young Jesus, and he did just that; he was qualified.

Want proof?

At age twelve we find the young Yahshua (Jesus) in the Synagogue in Jerusalem, a place where he was not known, intelligently discussing scriptures with the scribes and elders.

Posted in Bethlehem, bible study, character study, Dispelling myths, Hebrews, Jesus, Joseph, Mary, Nazareth, Wife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is it possible that the image causes those who do not worship the image to be killed? Rev 13:15.

Posted on 02/01/2022 by remso

 A recent internet post attempted to make the argument that the image of the beast, that has been given breath, causes those who do not worship the image to be killed. My immediate reaction is that this is not right; I have never heard that the slaughter of Christ-followers is due to a direct command of the image of the beast.

If you have followed my posts for any length of time, then you know that I am willing to tell you that growing up in church I have heard many things that are wrong, but at least I am willing to tell you, and, at the same time make myself vulnerable to criticism.

In this rapidly changing world, we live in, the only way I can see an image come to life and order people to their death would be through artificial intelligence; you know, something along the lines of the Mr. Lincoln attraction at Disneyland (I say this as though most of know that the Disney engineers, built a metal frame, put a flexible skin on it that looks like images we have of President Lincoln and made it talk. It was, for a time, quite impressive.) Well, we are practically there, and the engineering is much more elaborate.

Keep in mind that if the governments are allowing you to see any aspect of advanced technology like this, then they are already years ahead of what you are seeing. I say this because, for years, we did not know there was a plane like the U2, flying at classified speeds until they had already replaced the U2 with the SR71 spy plane that could fly even faster. By the time we were aware that we had the SR71, it was on the verge of being replaced with spy satellites; at least that is what we were told. As far as the world is concerned, we, the masses, are out of the loop when it comes to the evil plans our rulers have made. Fortunately, God has shown us what they are doing in the dark.

One more thing before we jump into the passage at hand. If someone says to me, I have an image, my mind immediately thinks of a picture, perhaps even a sketch. Think about the practicality of making a sketch breath; it doesn’t really work does it. So it has to be something more elaborate than a mere picture. That kind of thinking moves us into the realm of a bust of a head. Madame Tussaud’s wax museum takes multiple measurements of the real person in order to make the wax image. The problem here is that the bust is of whom Allah, or perhaps the Mahdi, which Islam is expecting; then there is NOTHING on which to base this image, so the general public will be made to worship whatever they wish to make. Even Mr. Lincoln’s head started as a clay bust. And thus we have things like Revelation 13.

Revelation 13:15 NASB And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

Assuming I have nothing but verse 15 to decipher what is being said, then

  • I can see immediately that it is the second beast – the false prophet that gives the image breath.

  • I can also determine that someone or something else is giving the false prophet this power.

  • It is the breath that allows the image to speak.

    Right here is where the difficulties begin.

    Breath is the Greek word pneuma. This is the same word used for the spirit of God and/or the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 3:16 the pneuma descended upon Jesus; and, in John 16:13 pneuma is used in reference to the Spirit of truth, and in both instances are references to the Holy Spirit.)

    The false prophet is NOT giving this image the spirit of the living God, but perhaps he is throwing some switch that gives the image a false soul, capable of making life-changing decisions about people. Since any empowerment it has seems to be from Satan, then it is a deception at best.

  • And, the verse tells me the breath was given for a purpose. That purpose is to speak, and, as the NASB states, it causes those who do not worship the image to be killed.

    The passage in the NASB, with NO punctuation, does not promote an understanding which allows me to say, it is the now speaking image that kills, therefore, it could be the false prophet that is causing those that do not worship the image to die.

    Whether the CEV is a reliable translation is debatable, even to me, but they added a period that plainly changes the meaning. Take note.

    “It was allowed to put breath into the idol, so that it could speak. Everyone who refused to worship the idol of the beast was put to death.” (Revelation 13:15 CEV)

    It is the second beast, which we know to be the false prophet that is implied to be the purveyor of death. Note the period in the sentence, this allows for a pause and a redirection of thought that tells us that everyone who refuses to worship the image was put to death. There is nothing here that tells us who is doing the killing.

    The Moffatt translation is rather reliable and it maintains that “he,” the false prophet, is the one who is doing the killing.

    “and to this statue of the Beast he was allowed to impart the breath of life, so that the statue of the Beast should actually speak. He has everyone put to death who will not worship the statue of the Beast,” (Revelation 13:15 Moffatt NT)

    The Williams translation puts Revelation 13:15 this way.

    “Permission has also been given him to impart life to the statue of the wild beast so that it can speak, and to have all who do not worship the statue of the wild beast killed.”

    When it speaks of “him” it is talking about the false prophet who gives the statue the ability to speak; and, it is the false prophet who has the non-worshipers killed.

    The problem is that most of us are still struggling with the possibility that artificial intelligence could play a role in this scenario. Many translations are very definite when they indicate that the image or idol is the one who is ordering the deaths of non-worshipers.

A good deal of information about the false prophet comes from Revelation 13 starting at verse 11.

What do we see here?

Revelation 13:11 NASB Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon.

  • There are two strong distinctions. For example, the harlot sits upon many waters.

    Those waters are defined as people groups, nations, rulers, and empires. In Revelation 13:1 the first beast comes up out of the sea. There is an interesting parallel between the harlot and this first beast, as the harlot rides the beast.

    And yet, the harlot has little to do with the second beast except that the second beast may play a role in the demise of the harlot, which has close ties to Israel.

  • The second beast comes up out of the earth.

    I pondered this for a moment and I heard this in my spirit, this guy comes from Israel. As usual, the thought entered my head so quickly that I ignored it.

    A few minutes have passed since I started this and I decided to look at Dr. McGee’s commentary. He says

“the earth is symbolic of Palestine, and it is naturally assumed that the second beast comes from Israel. He (the second beast) is a Messiah, and Israel would not accept him unless he had come from their land and was one of them.“

As of 2016, the Temple Institute had such a man. His name is Rabbi Baruch Kahane and he is trained to function as the high priest in the NEW temple. He is well thought of and has no pushy ambitions of being the high priest. The most recent information on him informs us that he does not want the job.

At some point in time (1240 days into this morass called God’s wrath,) a man like this will change teams and exhibit bizarre powers, just as the two witnesses had been doing.

Some examples of what the two witnesses have been doing.

“If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.”(Revelation 11:5-6 NIV)

Revelation 13:12 NASB He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.

  • We are told that the second beast exercises all the power of the first.

    What witnesses do we have to go on?

“There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.” (Revelation 13:5-7 NASB)

  • So this person has an arrogant mouth;

  • He blasphemes God and the tabernacle;

  • He makes war with the saints and overcomes them;

  • And, he has authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation.

These are the same things that this second beast will do. Now that means that the second beast, the false prophet, will also make war with the saints and overcome them. It doesn’t matter what Islam thinks at this point, but they deem this man to be the enforcer of sharia law which is devoted to beheading infidels – those outside of Islam.

At this point, who is doing all the killing?

Well, it was the first beast but now it is the second.

This may be the time that Jesus was telling the disciples about when He said,

“For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.”
(Matthew 24:21-22 NIV)

  • “And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.”

This is the same beast that we saw in Revelation 13:3. Here it tells us that it appeared to be killed.

Revelation 13:3 CJB  One of the heads of the beast appeared to have received a fatal wound, but its fatal wound was healed, and the whole earth followed after the beast in amazement.

In a previous post, I elaborated on how the Ottoman empire, which was a Muslim empire was effectively put to death in 1924. Silenced, perhaps, as the Muslim Brotherhood emerged from the ruins; and, in 1979 we witnessed the Islamic revolution in Iran. So, this beast is quite alive.

Posted in antichrist, Antichrist, Babylon, bible study, COVID 19, End times, false prophet, Harlot, Islam, mortal wound, Prophetic, Revelation, Revelation 13:3, seven headed beast, ten horns and seven heads, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Where the whore is. Revelation 17:15-18.

Posted on 01/26/2022 by remso

In the previous post, I tried to give you a commentary on Revelation 17:12-14 based upon logic, scripture associations, historical evidence, and a bit of influence from other commentaries. I ended on Revelation 17:14. This is what verse 14 says.

“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.” (Revelation 17:14 NASB)

The “these” is referring to kings that rise up – use that term kings lightly as it also refers to rulers and ruling bodies.

Waging war is in this case, limited to the time when Jesus comes back to earth as the warring Messiah that Israel has longed for. Verse 14 says “and those who are with Him are the called, the chosen, and the faithful.”

The word called is the Greek word klētos and means the invited or appointed.

Called, this word works, especially if you picture God looking over the earth and all who have been born or unborn and called them all to come back to Him. Not only were we all invited, but God takes it one step further, in that we have been appointed.

Appointed, according to Webster’s dictionary means fixed; set; established; decreed; ordained; constituted; allotted. 2. Furnished; equipped with things necessary; as a ship or an army is well appointed.

Try this on for size.

You have been decreed and ordained, before you were ever thought of, to be equipped with the things necessary, to function as an emissary for and to God.

For those who wish to argue.

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I separated you for myself...” (Jeremiah 1:5a CJB)

Chosen is the Greek word eklektos. Other, more dominant usage options are select; and by implication favorite.

And the final word used to designate those who will be with Him is faithful.

Faithful is the Greek word pistos. Pistos also means a trusty person who shows themselves faithful in – the transaction of business, the execution of commands, or the discharge of official duties.

It also applies to:
– One who kept his plighted faith;

Plighted ranges between pledged and difficult. Some, after some missionary comes back and gives the entire church their field report, may decide to make a faith pledge that they will never keep. On the other hand, it seems this life of faith we live is filled with difficulties.

– One who is worthy of trust.
– And, those that can be relied on.

The first two terms (called and chosen,) can easily be seen as characteristics of a believer in Jesus Christ, as these terms are frequently applied to a Christian; this does not mean that the “Christian” will follow after or walk in their calling. The last term, faithful, can apply to a wide variety of people, and many of them are not in your church body. Consider Matthew 25 and the sheep and goats.

As we saw in the last post scripture interprets itself.

Revelation 17:15 CJB  Then he said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the whore is sitting, are peoples, crowds, nations, and languages.

As I talk with people in church few understand what the nations are. Perhaps this will help your understanding. There are only three people groups in the Bible.

  • The Jews

    This is also deemed to be Israel.

  • The nations

    The Jews call anyone outside of Judaism, the Gentiles. We, believers, are considered Gentiles, but we are NOT.

  • And the church.

    To the Jews, the church is nonexistent, however, to the believer in Christ we are the church, and the church is in Christ Jesus. If a Jew comes to Christ then they are a part of the body and can also be a Jew. And, in a sense, we were all from the nations but are now in Christ. Very soon the church will be caught up to be with Jesus in the air, at that point there will only be two people groups on earth.

“The waters that you saw, where the whore is sitting, are peoples, crowds, nations and languages.”

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, (Revelation 17:1 NASB)

So the whore of Babylon is truly dealing with the nations – the Gentiles. Remember, if you are NOT a Jew, you are a Gentile; this includes the Ishmaelites – the Islamic nations, and all other third world nations.

If the whore represents the filthy rich, then how and why would they have anything to do with the downtrodden, the poor, the dirty, and the enslaved, you should be getting the idea?

Revelation 17:16 NASB “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.

  • “ And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast,”

    These are two different entities, although they worked toward what we consider a common goal. Remember, the horns represent kingdoms or empires; this applies to both physical and financial empires.

    This is why God is causing them to go astray so that they will believe the Lie.
    (2 Thessalonians 2:11 CJB)

    Context, Paul wrote this letter to a Jewish community of Christ-followers. So when Paul says “them”, he is including the Jews in this group of people that can and will go astray and believe “the lie.”

    What is the lie?

    Paul does not define it, and yet, like in the movie “The Matrix,” the lie is all around you. I hear this in my spirit, many will read this statement and say, you stupid conspiracy theorist. Let me show you something.

    Do not love the world or the things of the world. If someone loves the world, then love for the Father is not in him; because all the things of the world—the desires of the old nature, the desires of the eyes, and the pretensions of life—are not from the Father but from the world. And the world is passing away, along with its desires. But whoever does God’s will remains forever. (1 John 2:15-17 CJB)

    There, in 1 John 2, is the Matrix analogy.

    It is the drive to dominate, the lust for money, and the power they think it brings. It is intertwined throughout our governing bodies. It is an intricate aspect of “the swamp” that former President Trump described. And worse yet, for the beast, which will, in the last minutes of time will be a man, it will be the false belief that through his deceit and power grab, he believes his ideologies will overthrow God.

    The beast, while playing the game, will seem to have the same goal, global domination, but with an Islamic background, one that claims to abide by the Quran, his goal will be to make everyone a follower of Allah or they die. For the horns, the goal is global domination where they are treated in the manner in which they have become accustomed. Add this to the drive to bring the population down to a manageable level of about 400 million. Just for the fun of it, there are approximately 7.7 billion people on the earth today. Consider food for a moment, here in America it has become quite obvious that food shortages (an event that the Bible tells us will happen,) are man-made.

    Do you think for a moment that those who hold the power will do without?

    Not a chance. While we eat veggie burgers, they will dine on prime rib.

  • “they will hate the whore, bring her to ruin, leave her naked, eat her flesh and consume her with fire. “

    We are still on Revelation 17:16 talking about the whore that rides the beast. As you might have noticed, I gave you the Complete Jewish Bible translation, and this is the language that they have used. “They,” in context, is the beast, however, the usage of the term they certainly move this beyond a singular man as the beast.

    Look at what the “they” do to these “rich” people do.

    • They hate the whore,

    • Bring her to ruin,

    • Leave her naked,

    • Eat her flesh,

    • And, consume her with fire.

What kind of backing would it take to take down George Soros, Bill Gates, and Klaus Schwab at one time?

A massive economic collapse might do it.

Revelation 17:17 CJB  For God put it in their hearts to do what will fulfill his purpose, that is, to be of one mind and give their kingdom to the beast until God’s words have accomplished their intent.

  • “ For God put it in their hearts”

    “Their hearts,” is referring to the people who have already aligned, and those who will align themselves with the beast/antichrist.

  • “to do what will fulfill his purpose,”

    So the question is, whose purpose? Well, the answer is both; God has a purpose, and it will be fulfilled. The beast has a purpose that will also be fulfilled but there is a catch, it is all God’s purpose. Let me show you.

    In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.
    (Proverbs 16:9 NIV)

    Another place where we see God’s purpose demonstrated is in Genesis 37.

    Joseph’s brothers threw him into a dry well with the apparent intent of killing him.

    Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? (Genesis 37:26 NIV)

    When a band of Ishmaelites came by the brothers opted to sell him. The Ishmaelites took him into Egypt and sold him. None of them had any idea that a massive drought was coming. Joseph rises to power and ends up serving God’s purpose as he saves the entire family during the years of drought.

  • “that is, to be of one mind and give their kingdom to the beast until God’s words have accomplished their intent.”

    God’s purpose is to cause them to be of one mind; to give their kingdom to the beast; and, for that to happen until God’s words have accomplished their intent.

In finishing Revelation 17 we have this.

Revelation 17:18 NASB “The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”

  • “And the woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”

    What or where is the great city?

    I strongly suggest that it is Israel. Evidence for that, and it should be scriptural, although even scripture has a historical aspect to it.

    A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, In the city of our God, His holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion in the far north, The city of the great King.
    (Psalms 48:1-2 NASB)

    Another piece of information that feeds into this great city being Israel.

    When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. (Revelation 11:7-8 NASB)

      • When it refers to “they” here it is talking about the two witnesses that were sent from God.

      • Finished – having been here for 1240 days, they are done speaking and God allows them to be killed. They will be resurrected but not for three days. Quite symbolic, don’t you think?

      • Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

        Where does God put the two witnesses? Right in the middle of Jerusalem. The passage calls Jerusalem the great city.

        So, are the two witnesses lying in physical Babylon? NO, they are lying in the streets of Jerusalem.

        Did you notice that Jerusalem is referred to as Sodom and Egypt? This should be eye-opening, but there is a problem because it (sarcastically) says, where also their Lord was crucified.

        Where was Jesus crucified? On a hill called Golgotha, the highest point in Jerusalem.

Revelation 17 closes with “The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.” Merely because the harlot has a name associated with Babylon through comments like “the great city” which most assume to be physical Babylon; and, the idea that this great city rules over the kings of the earth, does not mean it is Babylon. We have more evidence in scripture that tells us this is Israel. One of those examples comes from Ezekiel 16.

Everyone who makes up proverbs will say of you, ‘Like mother, like daughter.’
(Ezekiel 16:44 NLT)

Here again, most will assume this is referring to Babylon. If you chose to investigate the context of Ezekiel chapter 16, you would find that God is talking about Israel. This showing of evidence can drag out for pages, so I will leave that to you.

As I started pursuing an understanding of Revelation 17:18 I became aware that some will allow this to fire their prejudice and antisemitism, and go on rants against Israel and the Jews. I am saying this because I have heard it, and the majority has come out of the mouths of “Christian” folk. You should know that Israel is the center of God’s heart and He will never forget Israel and His people. How fortunate we Gentiles are that we have been allowed to be grafted into the vine. Oh, and that Bible you are reading is a Jewish-oriented book. Maybe it’s time we adjust our thinking?

Posted in Babylon, bible study, eat, End times, gentiles, Harlot, Islam, Israel, Jerusalem, judgment, Prophetic, Revelation, Rule the nations, seven headed beast, ten horns and seven heads, Thoughts on scripture, two witnesses, wrath. | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The ten horns which you saw. Revelation 17:12-14

Posted on 01/21/2022 by remso

In studying Revelation 17:10, we saw the term seven used multiple times about the mountain on which the harlot sits, which also represents seven kings. Those kings are the final and fourth kingdom. I realize that may be hard to grasp, but it is there in the dream statue of Nebuchadnezzar.

Everything that appears after Alexander the Great works to fulfill the fourth empire and begins with both the Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires that rose after the death of Alexander. Just because the composition changes from brass to iron only serves to modify the leadership and direction of the beast.

I tend to emphasize Islam as a leading player in the end times, but I do not exclude a majority of our global leadership. For example, suppose you per-chanced to look at an ancestral association map that includes the beginnings of America. In that case, you will observe a relatively common heritage that will take you back to the Seleucid and Ptolemaic empires. Coincidence, I think not.

As we progress, we find out that there is the eighth beast, and he is one of the seven.

Revelation 17:10-12 MKJV And there are seven kings; five have fallen, and one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. (11) And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition. (12) And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have received no kingdom yet, but will receive authority as kings one hour with the beast.

Because I have pushed Islam as part of the answer, you have to ask a logical question.

When does Islam show up? 

Not until sometime around 600 A.D.

When does the Apostle John write the Revelation?

Somewhere around 95 A.D. So, John knew nothing about Islam or Mohammad as that was 500 years into the future. So Islam does not fit into the passage above.

Revelation 17:10 gave us one more massive clue as to who this king is in that it tells us that he must continue a short time. It was not that difficult to associate this “king” (king equals a dominant leader) with the antichrist or the false prophet. We assume that the antichrist reigns for at least seven years. However, Daniel 11 demonstrates that this character does not fully cooperate with the world’s leaders. The ships of Kittim, which happens to be the coastal nations of the Northern and Western Mediterranean ocean, will come against him and cause him to back down; this is when we see the false prophet step in; and, though it seems as though he is following this ruler, he seems to take the lead and initiates a slaughter of anyone who demonstrates allegiance to Jesus Christ.

I hope you understand that this break in allegiance, the possible attack by the ships of “Kittim,” and the entrance of the false prophet all happens at the midpoint of the seven years of God’s wrath upon the earth. The wrath of God and the entry of the antichrist initiated with the removal of the church from the world.

Back to Revelation 17:11.

The beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition.

  • So “the beast was.”

These kings that we refer to were discussed in Daniel 11, albeit in terms that make no sense to most unless you validate them through historical accounts.

Undoubtedly, you can comprehend the range of years that they covered. https://www.faimission.org/wire/special-report-ships-of-kittim

  • But “now, is NOT,”

    An obvious factor is that many of the rulers that make up the fourth beast have been defeated, displaced, and are physically gone. 

    If I was trying to focus on Islam as a motivator, I am hard-pressed to see the relationship; unless I consider that the iron legs of this statue are primarily Assyrian. 

    So, if I ask the question, what aspect of these “empires” is NOT gone, I believe the answer would be that they are descendants of Ishmael, whom God promised would also be as the sands of the sea and great nations.

    We are frequently told that a technique used to study the Bible is to let scripture interpret scripture, so here is an example of that. A passage that speaks to a powerful empire disappearing is Revelation 13:3. 

    I saw that one of the heads of the beast seemed wounded beyond recovery—but the fatal wound was healed! The whole world marveled at this miracle and gave allegiance to the beast. (Revelation 13:3 NLT)

    The empire that fits this description all too well is the Ottoman Empire which effectively ended November 1, 1922. The known world breathed a sigh of relief as the piracy on the Mediterranean sea and wanton slavery of its victims was rampant.

  • “he is the eighth and, is of the seven, –”

    He is the eighth what, a king, an empire, or a beast? The answer is yes, and this will all become clear momentarily.

    I could take the easy way out and call him a part of the Roman Empire, merely because that is a common but misguided argument. In my opinion, this argument is irresponsible because it demonstrates that they are not willing to do the work or accept historical testimony.

    Look, according to Josephus and Tacitus, historians who documented the influence of Rome in Jerusalem during the destruction of the temple, both told us that it was Assyrian conscript troops that destroyed the temple, against orders from Titus, the Roman General.

    Because I know from Revelation 17:11 that the eighth “king” goes into perdition, then I know that he is either the antichrist or the false prophet.

    We rarely visualize the false prophet as a global leader, but there is no doubt that this persecution of Christ-followers and those who refuse to worship the beast, will lead to death. Perhaps he does have a global influence; this global power makes sense if you can see it from the perspective of an Islamic follower.

  • “and, goes into perdition.”

    Verse eleven helps us to understand what this person is as it tells us that “he goes to destruction.” We religious folk consistently proclaim that there are people already in hell, with more to come. However, according to scripture, that is NOT a true statement. The only place we humans are sent to hell, up to this point, is in Revelation 19 when Jesus comes riding back to the earth to do battle. Here, only two humans are sent to the lake of fire, the beast, which is the antichrist, and the second beast, the false prophet.

    So the defining piece of information comes from Revelation 19:20 below, where we see the antichrist and the false prophet being thrown into the lake of fire.

    And the beast was seized, and with him, the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. (Revelation 19:20 NASB)

    Having had these discussions, I know that arguments will come, so I will show you the evidence.

    And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. (Revelation 19:21 NASB)

    The rest?

    All those who chose to fight with Jesus and the armies of heaven on that day. Remember, this Bible is context-oriented and the contest has, at this moment, everything to do with Jesus coming

    So where are they and what has become of them?

    They are merely sleeping in their graves.

    They have left me among the dead, and I lie like a corpse in a grave. I am forgotten, cut off from your care. (Psalms 88:5 NLT)

    The dead cannot sing praises to the LORD, for they have gone into the silence of the grave. (Psalms 115:17 NLT)

    The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing…
    (Ecclesiastes 9:5 NLT)

    Matthew 25 tells us that the nations will be gathered for the final judgment.

    All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. (Matthew 25:32 NLT)

    Some will say, this passage in Matthew 25 has nothing to do with the dead; that assertion is wrong since Matthew depicts the final judgment.

    “Then he will say to those on his left (the goats,) ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
    (Matthew 25:41 NIV)

    Since we do not accept the testimony of one witness then there has to be another example from scripture, and there is, you find it in Revelation 20. Here, instead of saying nations, He calls them the dead.

    And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. (Revelation 20:11-12 NLT)

Revelation 20:15 spells out plainly, that those NOT found in the book of life are cast into the same lake of fire.

Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15 NIV)

If you are honest, then you must admit that both Matthew’s account and Revelation 20 are the same scenarios just from different points of view. In one, we see God sitting on the throne, while in the other we see Jesus sitting on the throne. In one case He is the shepherd and in the other, He comes across as the ominous judge. Since Jesus told us that He and the Father are one, then it is God in both instances.

Revelation 17:12 NASB “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.

The Greek word for an hour is hōra and can mean a limited portion of time, a season of the year, or a destined period.

If it is a destined period, who has established the time?

God.

Whether it’s ten mountains or ten kings, we are being directed to the same ruling bodies. Horns emerge from these seven empires and they are ten more rulers. We know little about who these are except that they have yet to receive authority as leaders of the people for one hour. Revelation 12:3 tells us that there were seven heads but ten horns. Obviously, some of these empires have multiple rulers. Daniel chapter two is where we find the dream statue of Nebuchadnezzar. Here we have these final kings detailed as toes. Daniel 7 speaks of one of those horns, the antichrist.

“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.”

(Daniel 7:8 NASB)

These have one purpose.

Revelation 17:13 NASB “These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

The ten horns that emerge from the seven heads, have one purpose, to give their power to the beast.

Revelation 17:14 NASB “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.”

They give their power to the antichrist and they, in union with the antichrist, wage war against the Lamb.

When does the antichrist and these horns wage this war?

At the end of the seven years when Jesus comes back as the warring Messiah. Read Revelation 19 for the details on this war.

The ABC’s of Salvation

A stands for “admit.” We must admit that we are sinners and that we are therefore under God’s judgment.

B stands for “believe.” We must believe that God loves us in spite of our sin and that he has acted in Jesus Christ to remove sin and restore us to himself.

C stands for “commit.” This is an act of faith by which we give up trying to run our own lives and instead place ourselves in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us and rose again.

Posted in antichrist, Antichrist, bible study, Daniel, End times, Hell, Islam, Israel, Matthew's gospel, Millennium, Nebuchadnezzar's statue, New World Order, Prophetic, Revelation, seven headed beast, ten horns and seven heads, the fourth kingdom, the little horn, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

This calls for wisdom and understanding. Revelation 17:10.

Posted on 01/13/2022 by remso

To bring you up to speed, let me take you back to Revelation 17:3.

So the angel took me in the Spirit into the wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that had seven heads and ten horns, and blasphemies against God were written all over it. (NLT)

We are given a rather detailed description of this woman.

The woman wore purple and scarlet clothing and beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls. In her hand, she held a gold goblet full of obscenities and the impurities of her immorality. (Revelation 17:4 NLT)

  • “She wears purple and scarlet clothing.”

    This is highly symbolic and, among other things, represents the blood of the saints who will be martyred during the time of wrath.

    A friend read my last post on Revelation 17 and did what I wish most of you would do, analyze the symbolism and begin to grasp how the governing bodies, many of which seem to operate above the law, are actually doing us harm and creating the shortages that will play a role in the deaths of millions.

    So what can we ascertain of this woman?

    • It is NOT a woman but an attractive entity that feeds our lusts.

    • Purple is representative of power.

      In a previous post,   I broke down a simplistic word – king. These days it leans more toward a ruling body. There are very few countries that still have a king as the ruling body, but there are many that have multi-body voting groups, that often exclude the public’s opinion. Perhaps men like Putin can fill the role of a king because to cross him means that you disappear. Emanuel Macron and Justin Trudeau are apparently striving to hold those supreme positions should they become available.

      Along the lines of people who have power. Just this morning 01/07/22 I read a quote from Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada. He said, shall we tolerate those who refuse to get vaccinated. A website called the Pulse (https://thepulse.one/2022/01/03/prime-minister-justin-trudeau-calls-the-unvaccinated-misogynistic-racist-extremists/) tells us that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on a Quebec television station that “people who do not get vaccinated against COVID-19 are often racist and misogynistic extremists.” I looked up the definition of misogynistic and this is what I found. “Someone who is strongly prejudiced against women.” Where did that kind of hateful comment come from? The Pulse website added this assertion. “What type of reasoning is being used to label the unvaccinated as racist and misogynistic? This clearly has no basis in fact and simply continues what seems to be a coordinated political campaign to demonize the unvaccinated.”

    • “ and scarlet clothing”

      We are told that the scarlet clothing is covered in the blood of martyred saints.

      And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s people and the blood of those who were killed because they had been loyal to Jesus. When I saw her, I was completely amazed. (Revelation 17:6 GNB)

      How much blood does it take to soak your clothing? Revelation 7:9 answers the question.

      (NASB) “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; “

      This group is defined in Revelation seven, verses fourteen and fifteen.

      (NASB) “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; (GNB) He who sits on the throne will protect them with his presence.”

      The point here is that the woman, clothed in scarlet, is clothed in this color because she is stained with the blood of those this entity or ruling body has killed. I am not suggesting that this is a contest, and yes the majority seems to happen during the seven years after the church is gone, but many will pay for the babies we have allowed to be murdered.

  • “and beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls.”

    The harlot, called a woman, is an entity. We are NOT to be looking for some woman, as there are NO women listed as a world leader in end times eschatology. I will say that while all these things; jewelry made of gold, along with precious gems and pearls, tend to be associated with women’s jewelry, they are representative of financial gain.

    I learned, years ago, that the Rothschild family financed both sides of virtually every “modern” war; and made serious money because of their financial decisions. We are in a war now, and for the most part, we, the general public, will be the bodies left lying in the fields. I see so many more than the Rothschild family involved in this pathetic way of life they are feeding us.

So much for an introduction. Let’s move on to verse ten and beyond.

Revelation 17:9-10 GNB  “This calls for wisdom and understanding. The seven heads are seven hills, on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings:  (10)  five of them have fallen, one still rules, and the other one has not yet come; when he comes, he must rule only a little while.

    • The seven heads

      These are rulers, whether they be an individual or a tribunal.

    • Are seven hills

      I have looked at commentaries and most have the same foolish assertion, that we should be looking at Rome. That is hogwash in my mind. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary answers this as I might.

      “The seven heads can hardly be at once seven kings or kingdoms (Rev_17:10), and seven geographical mountains.

      (My comments will be bracketed and italicized as I segment this JFB quotation. The hills and the heads are two different things.)

      “The true connection is, as the head is the prominent part of the body, so the mountain is prominent in the land. Like “sea” and “earth” and “waters … peoples”” (Rev_17:15),

      (Revelation 17:15 tells us “…The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.”) (NASB)

      “so “mountains” have a symbolical meaning, namely, prominent seats of power.”

      (This assertion makes the most sense.)

      “Especially such as are prominent hindrances to the cause of God” (Psa_68:16, Psa_68:17; Isa_40:4; Isa_41:15; Isa_49:11; Eze_35:2);

      (Many interpreters speak of this process as being a hindrance to the cause of God. While I contend that followers of Jesus Christ may be targeted, this all changes when I consider this through the scope of the goals of Islam, which declares everyone who lives in America to be people of the book, where the book is thought to be the bible. They don’t care if you are an atheist, there will still be a target painted on your back. Another consideration is the denial that we are forced to absorb, as speaking as I am, is considered hate speech.)

      “especially Babylon (which geographically was in a plain, but spiritually is called a destroying mountain,” Jer_51:25),

      (I get upset when bible teachers insist that physical Babylon will be rebuilt. Babylon is a spiritual entity. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown refers to Jeremiah 51:24, 25. “But I will repay Babylon … O destroying mountain, Who destroys the whole earth,” When in fact, this region is known as the plains of Shinar, the opposite of a mountain.)

      “in majestic contrast to which stands Mount Zion, “the mountain of the Lord’s house” (Isa_2:2), and the heavenly mount; Rev_21:10, “a great and high mountain … and that great city, the holy Jerusalem.”

      (As I progressed through the Revelation I could see Satan’s actions attempting to mock God. For example, God has sealed us with the Holy Spirit, and Satan sees to it that everyone must take the mark of the beast, the antichrist. God, as you can see in Jeremiah 51:25 and Revelation 21:10, that God has His mountains as well.)

    • Upon which the woman sits

      We have seen that Babylon is now a spiritual entity that sucks in people and represents power. It is the killing force, and these vaccines may play a role in that killing. We have also seen that hills or in some cases, mountains, are also representative; the evidence for that comes from Babylon being called a mountain, and there is a reference to something like a burning asteroid to strike the earth and it too is called a burning mountain.

      So, the woman, which is representative of power, wealth, and lust sits somewhere. If you are going to make the false assumption that this harlot is a person, then how does she sit in multiple locations at the same time?

      The statement forces you to begin asking how can this be understood?

    • They are also seven kings

      Daniel 11 tells us of the “kings of the north and the south.” More specifically the beginnings of the fourth kingdom.

      Several years ago I tried to do a study on Daniel 11 with the men I sit with. I can tell you it was tough, to say the least. Effectively, some of the players in Daniel 11 sound like the old movie Anthony and Cleopatra, as the story is filled with war, assassinations, and inter-marriage for peace.

      If you choose to read Daniel 11, keep in mind that you are reading about the fourth kingdom and that the story projects into our current time frame, but it doesn’t exactly spell that out for you. This means you have to read Daniel 11 with intelligence and an open mind and considerations of Daniel’s explanation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream statue, and Daniel’s chapter seven and eight.

      One of the best discussions about Daniel 11 comes from the Frontier Alliance Mission and can be found here.
      https://www.faimission.org/wire/special-report-ships-of-kittim

      Portions of Daniel 11 that stand out.

      “Now in those times many will rise up against the king of the South; the violent ones among your people will also lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they will fall down. “Then the king of the North will come, cast up a siege ramp and capture a well-fortified city; and the forces of the South will not stand their ground, not even their choicest troops, for there will be no strength to make a stand. (Daniel 11:14-15 NASB)

      “Those times” are the times that we are living in. The only thing lacking is Gog (seen in Ezekiel 38) swarming upon Israel. Gog will be slaughtered on the hillsides of the Valley of Achor – Meggido.

      We are told that they, both the North and the South, will attack and capture Israel, the well-fortified city. I know very few people that can comprehend that Israel will just about be wiped out in this battle. Ezekiel 38,39 tells us God will come to Israel’s aid destroy many in a firestorm.

      “He will set his face to come with the power of his whole kingdom, bringing with him a proposal of peace which he will put into effect; he will also give him the daughter of women to ruin it. But she will not take a stand for him or be on his side. (Daniel 11:17 NASB)

      If you are a student of eschatology then you know that the antichrist/beast comes to make a peace treaty. He never says that this treaty is a treaty with Israel; that does not mean it can’t happen.

      If there was an orchestrated attack on Israel, given what you can see in the news coming from the Mideast, who do you think will attack Israel? I suggest that anything with Islam attached to it will answer the question.

    • five of them have fallen, one still rules,

      If John, as we assume, is aware of one of these rulers, then the last has to have a relationship, whether it be politically, nationally, or spiritually with the previous kingdoms. And, the last clue which directs our point of view is the amount of time in which he rules.

    • and the other one has not yet come; when he comes, he must rule only a little while.

Forty-two months, or 1260 days.

How or why his tenure is so short is not clearly spelled out in scripture, however, it is spelled out in the prophecies of the Muslims. It is evident that the “false prophet”, or, as the Muslims call him, ʿĪsā ibn Maryam will step in as the enforcer of Sharia. This opens the door to the drastic increase in deaths that Jesus spoke of. 

Sorry, if this disappoints, as I would have liked to gotten farther in the Revelation, but I hit my limit in terms of the amount of information.

The ABC’s of Salvation

A stands for “admit.” We must admit that we are sinners and that we are therefore under God’s judgment.

B stands for “believe.” We must believe that God loves us in spite of our sin and that he has acted in Jesus Christ to remove sin and restore us to himself.

C stands for “commit.” This is an act of faith by which we give up trying to run our own life and instead place ourselves in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us and rose again.

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