A little study of Rev. 17
Rev. 17:1One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. 2 With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”
Now, a symbolic harlot in Scripture indicated a false religion or false church. So we see God's object is to show the punishment of a false church here.
Rev. 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
We see that many kings of various nations have participated in that false church's evils.
Rev. 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
We see the harlot has riches, & is attractive to men. More about the beast later.
Rev. 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth.
Now, the old Babylon had fallen long before that, but Rev. 18 shows there'll be TWO Babylons to fall. One already had, but not the 2nd one. And this one is called "the mother of harlots", meaning 'she' gives rise to many other false doctrines & churches.
Rev. 17:6 I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.
Yes, this harlot has slain a lotta saints !
Rev. 17:7 Then the angel said to me: “Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come.
These passages need CLOSE READING ! The beast was then NOT, so it isn't the Roman empire as it was in John's time. It was the empire of Alexander the Great, all of which later became part of the Roman empire The Seleucids were great persecutors of the Jews. The descendants of those Macedonians & Greex will become strong again in the antichrist's empire. The world will marvel at the rise of those peoples again. The vision of that beast John saw was of a future empire.
Rev. 17:9 “This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. 10 They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. 11 The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.
The 7 hills are those of Rome, italy, which was, even then, called "the city of the 7 hills". The kings which had fallen were those of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, & Greece. The one that then was, was the ruler of the Roman empire. The one yet to come will be the antichrist.
(Cont. Next Post)
Rev. 17:1One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. 2 With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”
Now, a symbolic harlot in Scripture indicated a false religion or false church. So we see God's object is to show the punishment of a false church here.
Rev. 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
We see that many kings of various nations have participated in that false church's evils.
Rev. 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
We see the harlot has riches, & is attractive to men. More about the beast later.
Rev. 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth.
Now, the old Babylon had fallen long before that, but Rev. 18 shows there'll be TWO Babylons to fall. One already had, but not the 2nd one. And this one is called "the mother of harlots", meaning 'she' gives rise to many other false doctrines & churches.
Rev. 17:6 I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.
Yes, this harlot has slain a lotta saints !
Rev. 17:7 Then the angel said to me: “Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come.
These passages need CLOSE READING ! The beast was then NOT, so it isn't the Roman empire as it was in John's time. It was the empire of Alexander the Great, all of which later became part of the Roman empire The Seleucids were great persecutors of the Jews. The descendants of those Macedonians & Greex will become strong again in the antichrist's empire. The world will marvel at the rise of those peoples again. The vision of that beast John saw was of a future empire.
Rev. 17:9 “This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. 10 They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. 11 The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.
The 7 hills are those of Rome, italy, which was, even then, called "the city of the 7 hills". The kings which had fallen were those of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, & Greece. The one that then was, was the ruler of the Roman empire. The one yet to come will be the antichrist.
(Cont. Next Post)