"9 Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, 10 and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. 11 The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. 12 The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. 13 These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. We welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is my honor and great privilege to have you here with us today. We are especially grateful for those of you who have been sharing the ministry website with all of your family and friends. Thank you. Your faithfulness and commitment to share God's Word with others continues to bring about tremendous results. People are responding to God's Word! This is all so amazing. We ask you to p ray that God will continue to give us boldness to speak the truth in ministry in the face of adversity in the coming days! I want to let all of you know how grateful I am for all of you. We are so thankful your prayers and continue to pray for all of you. Prayer is such a powerful tool, and a mighty weapon against the adversary. And through your sharing, God continues to bring a number of people to faith in Jesus Christ. Praise God! May He continue to use you and this ministry mightily to effect change in even more lives. All for His glory!
Father, we thank You for Your Word and we are grateful that You have demonstrated Your faithfulness to us, even as we have not been faithful to You. We thank You that as the world will be living in mortal fear of what of what is to come, we can live in joyous anticipation of what awaits us, as those who love You and believe in Your truth. Lord, we rejoice in these prophetic truths, we pray that You would cause them to bear much fruit in our lives and bring conviction on the hearts of those who do not know You. We ask that they see the glorious truths of the gospel today, that they might be delivered from the wrath to come. May it be for Your glory and for Christ's sake.
Open with me your Bibles to Revelation chapter seventeen. Revelation chapter17. As we continue in our study of the magnificent book of Revelation, this chapter I invite you to follow along with me as I read to you these last ten verses, to set the text in our minds, as we prepare our hearts for what the Holy Spirit is saying. Listen for the voice of our Lord. Revelation 17:9-18.
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
14 These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.”
15 And he *said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. 17 For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. 18 The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth."
Conversion to many today has become a collaborative effort between
man and God, where we can have a personal relationship with Chris,t which
is ultimately translated into a concept of being self fulfilled. As a result, what has happened gradually over the years is man begins to move up on the stage
with God, sharing it with him; therefore, God is gradually diminished and man is
gradually elevated. Many Christians today, fail to see God as the transcendent, holy, merciful God who
has condescended to save helpless sinners who are utterly unable to help
themselves. Because they are deceived, they fail to understand the concept, that we are utterly incapable of even responding to the gospel apart from the regenerating power of the Spirit of God. The modern church is in desperate need of God's mercy and true salvation.
Far too often, Christians tend to trivialize the gospel of grace and it's transcendent glory, replacing it with a man centered gospel, a satanically controlled doctrine, that is religious deception that will satisfy their demand for a supernatural longing, offering them some kind of hope without any need to repent, and devoid of any need to submit to the sovereign Authority of God. The hypocrisy is astonishing. There has been a religious system created that will allow counterfeit Christians to continue to satisfy their
insatiable appetites for sexual immorality, materialism, idolatry and virtually every behavior that is condemned by God. As we look at the world today in which we live, I believe we can already see the clear evidence of Bible prophecy being fulfilled.
Here in this great prophetic book of Revelation, the Lord is disclosing to us his plans to judge sin,
to judge the people’s of the world and to establish His earthly kingdom,
which will ultimately be the consummating bridge between human history
and the eternal state. In our study, we have been learning about Satan’s final attempt to capture the minds and the souls of men, attempting to thwart
the coming of Christ, and prevent Him from setting up His earthly kingdom. This is a very significant study, as we learn where the world is headed.
Today, false religious systems all over the world. Satan, who is the source behind all false religion, is presently culminating a final one world religion. And, as a result, the world is going to become more increasingly religious. The force that will ultimately unite the world will be a religious one. A satanic deception of global proportions. Disguised as an angel of light, will lure all the religious systems of the world, who are currently at war against each other, will all come together in one final common form of worship.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
In Christ's precious name we ask and pray
Amen
Today's Message: The Mother of Harlots - Part III
As we come to our text, the angel is encouraging John, and all of us to "pay close attention, think very clearly." Rome and its Interfaith Councils, are very heavily involved in this global effort of pulling everybody together. All of which is being orchestrated by satanic deception. Satan has already begun to pull the world religions together into one.
To quickly review what we've studied thus far, in verses 1 to 6, we saw the exposure of the harlot. Then starting in verse 7, we began to look at the explanation of the harlot. In verse 8, we began looking at the description of the harlot and the beast she sits on. So, we have seen that the religious system rides on the Antichrist. The Antichrist and his satanic governmental system of the world support the false religious system. And, for a time, they will coexist.
"Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and
they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet
come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. 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. These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.
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.”
And he *said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. 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. For
God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a
common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the
words of God will be fulfilled. The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth."
You will remember, the beast was introduced to us back in chapter 11 and chapter 13. A description of the person who is called Antichrist. Last time, we began to see the relationship the beast has to the harlot and how that all plays out. Chapters 13 and 17 both speak about the "miraculous resurrection" of the this man, who will literally be indwelt by a demon from the abyss, when he arises. Those other than those who are saved, will be deceived, and it amazes the whole world. Then, he really begins to reign, rising as a world ruler empowered from hell. In the first half of the Tribulation, he’s still reigning and ruling in his natural human ability. Somewhere around the middle or the last half, he emerges infused with satanic power.
Let's look at verses 9-10, "Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while." The angels says in verse 9, "Put your thinking cap on." This is an invitation to a closer inspection. It also introduces to us a very difficult and a very complex aspect of this vision. In other words, the angel is saying only those with spiritual minds and spiritual wisdom are going to understand the revelation that is about to follow. "The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings." As I have stated many times, in order to interpret the Bible, you must allow the Bible to interpret itself.
Metaphorically, mountains and hills are commonly used to described great kingdoms and the dominance of their rulers. In John’s day five powerful, influential Gentile kingdoms that were all
birthed in ancient Babel by the mother of harlots all were kingdoms who
opposed the God of Israel and His covenant people. We see this further described in verse 10. These five kingdoms that had come and gone,were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo Persia and Greece. The beast, who is full of blasphemous names is depicted as having seven heads and ten horns. Seven heads and ten horns.
The "one is," of course is a reference to Rome, where Domitian was currently ruling and reigning, a foreshadow of the antichrist. Remember, John is in exile by the Roman government to the island of Patmos. Throughout the history of the city of Rome, it has been described as the
city of seven hills which rise from the banks of the famous Tiber
River. This satanic system called Babylon, the false religious system that exists in the
first half of the tribulation time, is going to be linked to Rome. However, I believe there’s got to be something deeper here. And, I believe the phrase "Here is the mind which has wisdom," clearly indicates that.
Remember, the beasts great empire covers more than just one city. In fact, it will be a worldwide empire. So, if this was just a geographical reference to a city with seven hills, we wouldn't need spiritual wisdom to understand it, would we? Because that is pretty straight forward. Obviously, we need some spiritual wisdom here. The religious system is one world unified religion. But the heads are on
the beast, and the beast is the political figure, not the religious
one.
In Daniel chapter 2, the descending weakness is depicted in the changing metals. Remember the image, the head was gold, and then the upper part was silver, bronze
was the midsection, and then steel or iron, and iron and clay mixed. Now, while none of these kingdoms ever ruled globally, each was the greatest kingdom of its time. Particularly in reference to their opposition to the proclamation of God’s Word and the accomplishment of His purposes in the world.
So, the angel tells John "the other has not yet come," this is the great world future kingdom of Satan and Antichrist. He will have his kingdom, but it will be for a brief time. In fact, chapter 13 says "It will be forty-two months in which he will blaspheme the name of God and His tabernacle." That is of course, the second half of the tribulation, when he speaks arrogant words against God, blaspheme God and demands the whole world worship him.
Now, look at verse 11, this in rather interesting. "The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction." This future kingdom is not only the seventh, but it is also the eighth. Because the Antichrist is going to appear to die then rise again. After he destroys every form of religion and demands the whole world to worship him. Remember, in the first half of the Tribulation, he will coexist with the harlot. This seventh kingdom will continue only for a little while, specifically, 3 1/2 year. Then, the revived Roman empire will take on the form of an imperial
dictatorship and by this change actually become an eighth kingdom, a
whole new and vicious form of government, the blasphemous form that we see in Revelation 13. Then, he goes to destruction. Which by the way, is the theme of this chapter. And, to destruction is exactly where he’s going.
In II Thessalonians 2, Paul calls him "the man of lawlessness and the son of destruction. He is going to be destroyed by God Himself.
Verse 12, "The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour." This is ten simultaneous kings. Bear in mind, these will be 10 subordinate rulers of 10 lesser kingdoms who
will join in a confederacy with the Antichrist and become a part of his
satanic empire. The prophet Daniel speaks about this in chapter 7.
This confederation will take place partly because of pressure from the
king of the north and partly because of a worldwide conspiracy led by
Satan in preparation for his end time bid to be worshipped by man and to control the world. A horn is an indication of power and authority. So, the ten horns refer to ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom. Perhaps the Antichrist is going to divide the world into ten zones, and he’s going to give certain men authority to rule on his behalf in those zones.Remember, Daniel describes the image as having ten toes.
In 2017, I believe it was, the UN divided the world into ten regional groups. It is not by accident, but by design. The creation of NAFTA had nothing to do with economics; rather, NAFTA is
Nation #1 of this 10-nation reorganization plan, of which the Bible
prophesies in Daniel and here in Revelation. So, when we see the President leading the global charge to a United Nations' government, we know that this is Satan's plan. We see glimpses of it today, but it will not yet be fully realized until the time of the Antichrist. The Antichrist hasn’t taken over yet. As we see in verse 12, "But they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour."Again, this emphasizes the brevity of it.
Over the years, I've noticed that some people have difficulty distinguishing between the kingdom as a governmental system and the king. One verse will speak of the kingdom and the next verse switches to speak of the king. Such is the case here. Also, the beast is sometimes the empire and sometimes the Satan controlled man.
Then, in verse 13, we see they will be devoted to the beast. "These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast." The Antichrist is going to take control of the world, divide it up, put
people in there who are sort of like sub-kings, who answer to him and serve his purpose. And, of course his purpose is to destroy Christ, to destroy Christians, to destroy Israel, to prevent the kingdom. They will give him their power and authority, thinking he can solve all the
world’s problems and provide a leadership which the world needs against
the Communist threat of the king of the north, his allies, the Orient,
and solve the Arab-Israel dispute.
Verse 14 describes their agenda, and the level of animosity that the beast and these 10 kings will have against the Lamb, against all who belong to him. "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." We know this is an ill-fated battle because the Lamb will overcome them. All the forces of hell, all the demons, and all the powers of evil men cannot defeat the Lamb. There will be much more detail in chapter 19, we'll see that when we get there. Notice the angel says "and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful." This can’t be angels. Because angels are not called and don’t operate by faith. This has to be the saints. Chosen in Greek is "eklektoi," from which we get the word elect. The angels will be there also, Matthew 24 tells us that. He may have control of the whole of the world, but it will all be destroyed.
In verse 15, the angel gives us further insight regarding the extent of the harlot’s
influence as she intoxicates the world with her spiritual seductions
prior to her destruction. "And he *said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues." In other words, the whole world is going to get sucked into this false religious system. Regardless of social, cultural, ethnic or language barriers.
Before we get to the extermination of the beast, let's look at what the beast does to the harlot. Verse 16, "And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire." Because he wants to be God, and wants the world to worship him alone, he doesn’t want the world having any other religion. He hates the harlot, making her desolate and naked and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. After the abomination of desolation, there will be no more need for the harlot church to help him advance his agenda.
This religious whore will have amassed enormous wealth, which he will obviously want for his coffers, in other words, because this religion has great seductive power over the world, he will not be able to stand the competition. And, if you think for a moment religion isn't a great power over politics, ask yourself why politicians can't resolve the issues in the Middle East, no matter how hard they try, it's because their religious roots run deep. The Antichrist will despise her power. I believe he will strip the system bare of its wealth and power "leaving her naked and will eat her flesh."
In verse 17, we see that God wants it just the way Satan is taking it so that God, in one great act, can destroy it all. "For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled." Satan is fulfilling God's will. Beloved, that a good reason not to meddle with Satan, he may well be doing the will of God. God wants the cup of iniquity to be full. All of these events are ultimately consistent with the purposes of a sovereign God. He wants to totally destroy all wickedness on the earth, in one sweeping act. What a contrast there is between the harlot of the church and the Bride of Christ. True genuine Christianity will not join their ranks and will pose a tremendous threat; therefore, they will be persecuted. We can see a dramatic increase of this occurring even today.
God is going to gather them all together, in one final place, which is Hebrew is called Har Magedon; which is where they will gather for the final battle. All that will be left is the beast and his world empire, which Christ will destroy.
That brings us to verse 18, "The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth."At the present time this appears to be Rome, though that is not the emphasis here in this chapter. This great city is archetype of the evil Babylonian system that has been opposed to God throughout history.
In Closing..
We live in a world where men foolishly think that they chart their own destinies, that they are in control of their own lives and that they order their own steps. But God who oversees them all to accomplish his purposes. All praise and glory to God, that we are a part of His glorious bride solely by His amazing grace. Therefore, we’re not looking for the Antichrist; we’re looking for Jesus Christ.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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