16:16 Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
Armageddon! This is another theme from Revelation that strikes fear into mankind - along with "the four horsemen of the Apocalypse", and the "mark of the beast".
John specifically points out that the place is called Armageddon (Har-Magedon) in Hebrew. This word literally means "mountain (or hill) of Megiddo".
According to Wikipedia, the "Battle of Megiddo" in the 15th century BC is "the first battle of which there is a detailed historical account. It is also the first recorded use of the composite bow and the first body count." It was fought between Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III, and "a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Kadesh".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Megiddo_(15th_century_BC)
"Mentioned in at least 6 separate books of the Bible, some historians believe that this city in the Near East was the site of more battles than any other place in history. The citizens of Megiddo, at different times in the city’s history, faced off against the various armies of Assyria, Canaan, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Persia, Philistine, and Rome. Even a decisive battle between English and Ottoman forces occurred near there in World War I."
http://siteofmegiddo.tripod.com/
"Megiddo controlled a narrow strategic stretch of road called the Via Maris, "the Way of the Sea," a major international highway in the ancient world. This road stretched from Egypt in the south to Babylon in Mesopotamia, linking the major empires and trade routes of the day. Megiddo's position on this highway made it a prime mercantile city. Whoever controlled Megiddo controlled access to trade all along this road. Megiddo was a choke point, therefore, for the empires of the ancient world. Control of Megiddo was crucial to controlling any regional empire."
http://www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn64/meggido.htm
During the time of Joshua's conquest of the Promised Land, Megiddo came under Manasseh's territory, but they failed to fully take it from the Canaanites. (Joshua 17:11,12)
The prophetess Deborah defeated the kings of Canaan at Megiddo. (Judges 5:19) Good king Josiah failed to listen to God and fought against Pharaoh Necho at Megiddo, and died in battle. (2 Chronicles 35:20-25)
In Zechariah 12, God foretells a war in which Jerusalem would become "an immovable rock for all the nations" (vs 3) - and "on that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem" (vs 9)
Jehovah says that "on that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo." (vs 11)
Many Preterists argue that this was fulfilled in the 1st century. However, I can't help but note that the tone is positive towards Jerusalem: God becomes a shield to its inhabitants, and "all who try to move it will injure themselves"! Furthermore, God "will blind all the horses of the nations".
Much of the language used implies to me that this war has not yet been fought!
There is a similar gathering to the one described by John to be found in Joel chapter 3:
"In those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will gather all nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I will enter into judgment against them
concerning my inheritance, my people Israel,
for they scattered my people among the nations
and divided up my land." (Joel 3:1-3)
In the Jewish war of 66-73AD, it was God's vengeance upon the Jews. However, this particular war seems to be the judgement of the nations, for their treatment of the Jews! This is at a time when God restores "the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem".
So then, both Zechariah and Joel seem to be foretelling a reversal of fortune for Jerusalem and Judah, and a time of judgement upon those nations that mistreated them.
In language similar to that of John's description of the winepress (in chapter 14), Joel says:
"Let the nations be roused;
let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit
to judge all the nations on every side.
Swing the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.
Come, trample the grapes,
for the winepress is full
and the vats overflow—
so great is their wickedness!”
Multitudes, multitudes
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision." (Joel 3:12,14)
Joel says this will take place in the "Valley of Jehoshaphat". Jehoshaphat was a good king of Judah, who provided a stark contrast with wicked Ahab (the husband of Jezebel) the ruler of Israel.
However, Jehoshaphat formed a marriage alliance with Ahab, and some years later was requested to go into battle as an ally with him. Jehoshaphat wanted to enquire of Jehovah whether they should go up to battle together, and 400 of the prophets of Israel gathered by Ahab agree they will get the victory - but Jehoshapat asked, "Is there not here a prophet of Israel still?"
Micaiah the prophet was brought before the kings, and agreed with the other prophets, but Jehoshaphat pressed him further. Micaiah then says that he saw Jehovah calling for "a deceptive spirit in the mouth of all his prophets", one that would fool wicked Ahab so that he would fall in battle - for, says Micaiah, "Jehovah himself has spoken calamity concerning you".
Jehoshaphat and Ahab do go into battle together, but just as Jehovah had foretold, Ahab died in the battle that day.
Jehoshaphat returned home and strengthened the people of Judah "back to Jehovah the God of their forefathers." Afterwards, Edom, Moab and Ammon gathered together to war against Judah. So Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast and gathered the people at the Temple to pray before Jehovah. "All the while all those of Judah were standing before Jehovah, even their little ones, their wives and their sons". (2 Chron 20:13)
The spirit of God came to be upon one of the congregation, and he declared that Jehovah will fight for them: "Do not you be afraid or be terrified because of this large crowd; for the battle is not yours, but God's". (20:15)
So the next day the people go out, while Jehoshaphat reminds them to put faith in God and his prophets. Meanwhile, Jehovah set men in ambush against Ammon, Moab and Seir... and they slaughter one another!
The people of Judah come to the wilderness and "when they turned their faces toward the crowd, why, there they were, their carcasses fallen to the earth without anyone escaping. So Jehoshaphat and his people came to plunder the spoil on them, and they got to find among them in abundance both goods and clothing and desirable articles; and they went stripping them off for themselves until they could carry no more. And it came to be three days that they were plundering the spoil, for it was abundant. And on the fourth day they congregated together at the low plain of Beracah, for there they blessed Jehovah. That is why they called the name of that place Low Plain of Beracah - until today." (2 Chronicles 20, 21)
So then, this Low Plain in which God granted the victory to Jehoshaphat without a fight, was a fitting symbol for another destruction upon God's enemies in Joel 3. And Jehoshaphat provided a wonderful contrast to wicked king Ahab, who was killed in battle, with "a deceptive spirit in the mouth of all his prophets".
All of this powerful imagery congeals together into John's vision of all the kings of the earth being gathered together to fight the ultimate battle, at Har-Magedon, prompted by demonically deceptive spirits.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
16:17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. 21 From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.
The seventh and last plague commences with yet another sequence of lightening, rumblings, thunder and an earthquake - as we saw at the opening and near the ending of the seven trumpets.
However, "no earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake." The implication is that this will be an actual great earthquake.
There is a mysterious passage in Ezekiel 38 that seems to be referring to a similar event - if not the same one. Someone called "Gog of the land of Magog" attacks the "soil of Israel", provoking God to express His anger:
"This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground." (Ezekiel 38:18-20)
This is particularly interesting, because most Bible scholars cannot identify this war with anything that has yet happened.
There are several unique features about this war. It involves Israel, but a restored Israel that "has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate". (Ezekiel 38:
They do not necessarily have a faith in God, because only "from that day forward" (the time of this war) will they know it is "the Lord their God". (39:22)
Furthermore, the purpose of the war is so that "the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to me". (39:23)
So then, we are presented with a remarkable picture of the nation of Israel back in its own land, and being attacked and protected - and only then, recognizing their God - and the nations knowing that the nation of Israel went into exile for their sin.
It is only in recent times that the land of Israel was returned to the Jews - after Hitler attempted to exterminate them from Europe. On May 14, 1948, the modern state of Israel was born.
However, only the western part of Jerusalem was controlled by Israel, until they recaptured the whole of the city after the Six Day War in 1967.
(Intriguingly, 2300 years previously, in 334BC, Alexander the Great conquered the Medo-Persian empire - the "great horn" of Daniel's prophecy in Daniel chapter 8. Daniel foretold that the "holy place" would be "brought into its right condition" after 2,300 evenings and mornings. This may be coincidence, or it may not.)
However, does this war at Armageddon have anything to do with Israel?
John says, "the great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath."
We have yet to identify Babylon the Great, but will have the opportunity in the next 2 chapters, which deal almost exclusively with her.
Many Preterists believe Babylon is Jerusalem, and so they argue the battle of Armageddon is the ancient fall of Jerusalem.
In John's day there were two great cities that stood opposed to each other: Jerusalem, and Rome.
And here, at Armageddon, I believe there are still two separate cities - Jerusalem, and "Babylon". The part about the "great city" does not need to be a reference to Babylon if there are two great cities present.
After all, this is a great earthquake - the greatest ever! It collapses the cities of the nations. So then, if there are two great cities to which God is referring here, both would be affected!
The imagery is consistent with the rest of scripture. Just before this final battle fought over Jerusalem, in which Jehovah defends the city according to Zechariah 14, Jehovah says:
"In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
“two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
yet one-third will be left in it.
This third I will bring into the fire;
I will refine them like silver
and test them like gold.
They will call on my name
and I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’
and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’ ” (Zechariah 13:8,9)
Jehovah then describes the warfare He fights on behalf of that city:
"This is the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. On that day men will be stricken by the Lord with great panic. Each man will seize the hand of another, and they will attack each other. Judah too will fight at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected—great quantities of gold and silver and clothing." (14:12-14)
So then, it appears the "great city" that splits into three parts is Israel, but as I will argue in the next two chapters, Babylon is altogether a different city, and gets annihilated.
At this point, John sees "every island fled away and the mountains could not be found".
John is drawing from Deborah's victory song about the victory at Megiddo:
"Jehovah, at your going forth from Seir,
At your marching out of the field of Edom,
Earth rocked, heavens also dripped,
Clouds also dripped with water.
Mountains flowed away from the face of Jehovah,
This Sinai away from the face of Jehovah, Israel's God." (Numbers 5:4,5,19)
Clearly this is an expression that symbolizes Jehovah fighting for His people.
Finally, "huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men". Still they curse God.
10-26-2007 08:14 PM
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Post: #127RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
REVELATION CHAPTER 17
17:1 One 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 on 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.”
After leaving us in suspense over the identity of Babylon the Great for so long (since chapter 14), the angel finally reveals her secrets. We get to see who she is, why she falls, and what her punishment is.
The angel describes her as "the great prostitute, who sits on many waters." She is the counterpart of the "woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head", as seen earlier by John.
With her "the kings of the earth committed adultery". The ancient city of Tyre was described as a prostituting city:
"At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the span of a king's life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute... At the end of seventy years, the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire as a prostitute and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth." (Isaiah 23:17,1
Similarly, the city of Ninevah was described as a prostitute and sorceress:
"Woe to the city of blood...
Many casualties,
piles of dead,
bodies without number,
people stumbling over the corpses—
all because of the wanton lust of a harlot,
alluring, the mistress of sorceries,
who enslaved nations by her prostitution
and peoples by her witchcraft." (Nahum 3:1-4)
So she is a prostituting city like Tyre and Ninevah.
Also, "the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries."
In describing ancient Babylon, Jehovah said:
"Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord's hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad." (Jeremiah 51:7)
So this later "Babylon" makes the inhabitants of the earth intoxicated - drunk!
10-26-2007 09:14 PM
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Post: #128RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
17:3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.
In the great sign given to John in chapter 12, he saw a glorious woman give birth to a son who was caught to heaven. A fearsome dragon then pursues the woman while she fled to the desert (or wilderness).
Now, John is taken to the desert, but this time he sees a woman sitting upon a beast!
John would have been familiar with this beast; it is described as "covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns" - the very same description of the first wild beast he saw earlier!
However, the woman had not been described before, and that the beast was "scarlet" was a new feature.
This is all very remarkable imagery, for it fits the history of the imperial pagan Roman power with absolute precision.
The beast persecuted and hounded Christians for some 300 years, and spilled their blood in abundance. So, that John saw this beast as "scarlet" could imply the abundance of blood it had shed.
Yet, shortly after 300AD, a remarkable reversal took place. The Roman imperial power embraced Christianity!
Let us recall those words of Eusebius, the Church historian who wrote in the 4th century, of Constantine's entrance into the Council of Nicaea (325AD). Constantine "himself proceeded through the midst of the assembly, like some heavenly messenger of God, clothed in raiment which glittered as it were with rays of light, reflecting the glowing radiance of a purple robe, and adorned with the brilliant splendor of gold and precious stones." (The Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine, Book 3, Chapter 10)
Now, I find this description by Eusebius remarkable, because it bears quite a resemblance to the "woman"! Not that Constantine was that woman, but his presence at the Council of Nicaea represented the beginning of the mix between Church and State - the imperial Rome with the church authorities in Rome.
So Constantine, as the Roman emperor, wore a purple robe adorned with gold and precious stones - as would be fitting for an emperor.
However, it should also be noted that in Israel, the high priest wore material of gold, purple and scarlet:
"These are the garments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. They are to make these sacred garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so they may serve me as priests. Have them use gold, and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen." (Exodus 28:4,5)
So this description of the woman is amazing, because she is arrayed in such clothes as befits both an emperor of Rome and a high priest of Israel!
However, she "held a golden cup in her hand". The ancient city of Babylon was a "gold cup in the Lord's hand", and made the whole earth drunk. So too, the Babylon John sees holds a golden cup.
It is "filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries."
Ancient Babylon was a city filled with pagan idols and temples. Jehovah has always seen idols as "abominable" or "disgusting" things.
In fact, this word "abominable things" (Greek "βδέλυγμα", "bdelygma") was only used 6 times in the New Testament - the first 2 of which was in reference to the "the abomination [bdelygma] of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place", by gospel writers Mathew and Mark. (Mathew 24:15, Mark 13:14)
Another 3 are used here in Revelation (verses 4 and 5 in relation to the woman, and again in 21:27).
There is one other use of this word, in Luke 16:15, where Jesus is conversing with the Pharisees. Just after, he reminds them of the law of adultery, then gives an illustration about a man clothed in "purple and fine linen"!
So it is not a common word in the New Testament, but when used, it carries much force - especially with reference to the famous "abomination of desolation" as foretold by Daniel, which turned out to be the Roman armies and their idolatrous ensigns, which were worshipped by the army itself.
10-26-2007 10:14 PM
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Post: #129RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
17:5 This title was written on her forehead:
Mystery
Babylon the Great
The Mother of Prostitutes
And of the Abominations of the Earth.
Some Bible translations do not include "Mystery" as part of her name, but is rather a description of her name, which is "Babylon the Great".
Either way, her name is a mystery - a word that occurs 27 times in the New Testament. A mystery is something that is hidden, a secret. For example, early on in Revelation, Christ interpreted the "mystery of the seven stars" to John. Later on, in Revelation chapter 10, we saw that the "the mystery of God" was "finished".
So God himself had a mystery, "the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints." (Col 1:26) This mystery was "hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him." (Romans 16:25)
However, another mystery was at work even in Paul's time: a "mystery of lawlessness". (2Th 2:7, NKJV)
This mystery was, according to Paul, being held back by something. But once that restraint had been removed, "then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing." (2Th 2:
So those 1st century Christians were aware that a mystery of lawlessness would have to develop and become manifest first.
Amazingly, in John's revelation, we see two wild beasts, the second one being very similar in description to Paul's "lawless one"! Furthermore, now we see John describing a prostitute, a "mystery" as sitting on top of the first wild beast.
She is called "Babylon the Great".
As a city, Babylon had an ancient heritage, being one of the cities founded by Nimrod, the son of Cush, the son of Ham, the son of Noah. Nimrod was described as "a mighty hunter before the Lord." The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in Shinar. (Genesis 10:9)
However, according to the book of Jasher, it was at Babylon that idol worship first developed. And the book of Genesis reports that the people of the land attempted to build a tower, "so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth". (Genesis 11:4)
There, God confused the languages of men. "That is why it was called Babel - because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world." (11:9) However, the Babylonians held it to mean "Gate of God".
Babylon rose again to prominence during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and it was this power that took the Jews into captivity, and destroyed their Temple.
Now in the 1st century, was another city which fitted the description very well: Rome. For Rome had become the home to the world's gods, and it had become a second Babylon in that it had sent the Jews into exile, and destroyed their Temple, once again.
We already saw how Tyre and Ninevah had been described as prostitutes - Tyre in connection with her trade, and Ninevah as a prostituting sorceress. But Rome exceeded them both, for she was now the pre-eminent city of the largest empire to date.
She was also the mother of "the Abominations of the Earth". The city was full of pagan idols, her emperors were worshipped as gods, and even her armies worshipped their own ensigns, which were viewed as the "abomination of desolation" when they surrounded Jerusalem and entered into the Temple area.
However, before we can establish Babylon's identity for a certainty, the angel will give us plenty more identifying features.
10-27-2007 10:19 PM
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Post: #130RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
17:6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. 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.
The woman is drunk with holy blood - of "those who bore testimony to Jesus"! This causes John to be "greatly astonished".
If John was writing his Revelation during the reign of Domitian (in the 90's of the 1st century), then he might have been less astonished, for the Roman power had by that time established itself as antagonistic towards Christianity.
However, if he were writing it during Nero's reign (in the 60's), then this would perhaps account for John's astonishment, because the Roman empire had only recently shown some hostility towards Christians, and then in the cruelty of Nero. Before then, Rome had shown toleration.
Yet this woman is drunk with blood!
Incidentally, Preterists generally believe that this woman is Jerusalem. Jesus himself said that Jerusalem was to be held responsible for "all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar." (Mathew 23:35)
Certainly it is true that righteous blood - the blood of over 2,000 years of holy bloodshed - was charged to Jerusalem. And that is partly why it suffered its "great tribulation" in 66-73AD.
However, a question I would ask Preterists is: to whom or what would we charge all the holy and righteous blood from after that time?
While Jerusalem was indeed "you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you", her bloodshed was a drop in the ocean compared to the slaughter of righteous blood authorized by Rome! Furthermore, Jerusalem's bloodshed promptly ended when she suffered vengeance from God at the hands of the Romans. (Mat 23:36)
But Rome's bloodshed has never yet received divine vengeance in full - and continued for some 300 years in the form of imperial pagan persecution. And the persecution and slaughter was eventually taken up again by the hand of the new authority in Rome, the Papacy!
Where is the vengeance for the hundreds of thousands or millions who were killed by imperial Rome for their faith in Christ?
What about the the estimated 2 million Waldensians who were martyred, by Papal authority, during the first half of the 13th century in France alone?
Or the "nearly one million of Protestants"... "proved by national authentic testimony"... that "were publicly put to death in various countries in Europe, besides all those who were privately destroyed, and of whom no human record exists"... "From the year 1540 to 1570". (J.P. Callender, Illustrations of Popery, 1838, p. 400)
Catholic historian Vergerius admits gleefully that during the Pontificate of Pope Paul IV (1555-1559) "the Inquisition alone, by tortures, starvation, or the fire, murdered more than 150,000 Protestants."
This is just a small sample of the bloodshed caused by Rome, of which more can be gathered at the following link.
But if Jerusalem suffered its vengeance in part because it killed the prophets, what of those who died after Jerusalem's downfall in 70AD, and who died at the hands of Rome?
Jerusalem sipped the blood of prophets, but Rome splashed the blood of Christians across the whole of their empire.
That at least makes Rome a candidate for being Babylon the Great.
However, the angel now explains the mystery to us.
10-27-2007 10:56 PM
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Post: #131RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
17:8 The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his 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 he once was, now is not, and yet will come.
Here the angel confirms to us that the beast the woman rides is the same as the seven headed and ten horned beast in Revelation 13.
It causes astonishment to those "whose names have not been written in the book of life", which we discussed earlier - because the war was basically between those in the book of life (who worshipped God), and those not in it (who worshipped the beast).
However, they are astonished at the beast because "he once was, now is not, and yet will come".
What does this mean? We saw earlier that the first wild beast was to receive what appeared to be a fatal wound, which was healed.
This is quite a clever allusion to the prophecy of the seed in Genesis 3:15:
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
Jesus was struck in 33AD, as a victory for Satan - a strike in the "heel". However, God reversed this victory by resurrecting his Son, and then shortly after, between 66-73AD, there was a war in heaven in which Satan was thrown out - a crush in the "head"!
So the beast's wound appears to be a subtle allusion to the crushing in heaven. However, on earth, the Roman empire suffered a period of turbulence and near anarchy during this time.
The line of Caesars going back to Julius Caesar was about to end, and it was only the sudden and unexpected rise of Vespasian that brought the Roman empire out from the brink of self-destruction.
So this is a form of imperial resurrection, a parody of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
10-29-2007 02:28 PM
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Post: #132RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
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 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."
Finally the angel gives us a direct interpretation of some of the symbolism of the beast, so we are not left in suspense. With the information already given to them, John's readers would already have had a good idea at the identity of the beast, but now the angel makes it certain.
The seven heads, says the angel, "are seven hills on which the woman sits."
Way back in chapter 1 I argued that when we are given a direct interpretation, we should not try to then provide an alternative - the angel is interpreting it for us! Here, the angel tells us that the seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits.
We should note that there is only one city that is, even up until today, called "the city of the seven hills" - and that is Rome.
Preterists argue that Jerusalem also sits on seven hills. And so, too, does London. However, neither of these other two cities were called "the city of the seven hills".
Indeed, according to Robert Gentry (himself a Preterist), archaeologists have discovered the Coin (or Medallion) of Vespasian that exhibits a picture of the goddess Roma (a deity personifying the Roman state) as a woman seated on seven hills!
At this point I should point out that some interpret these hills (or mountains) as symbolic of empires, and thus she sits on seven world empires - namely Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome and an Anglo-American alliance (although the supposed identity of the 7th king is disputed).
However, I believe the angel has already given the interpetation, plain and simple - seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits.
Rome, the "city of the seven hills" sits on seven hills.
On the other hand, the angel says they also represent something else: they have a double interpretation, for "they are also seven kings", of which "five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come".
Josephus, the Jewish historian, called Augustus Caesar the "second emperor of Romans", and Tiberius "the third emperor". (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, Chapter 2) That would make Julius Caesar the first emperor, and the first to whom the title Caesar applied.
Thus, as the book Days Of Vengeance points out, if John was writing in Nero's day, there would have been five previous emperors that had "fallen": "The first five Caesars were Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius". (Days Of Vengeance, p175)
That would make the 6th Caesar, Nero, the one who "is", in John's day.
"The other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while." Galba, the seventh Caesar, reigned for less than seven months, during the time the empire was plunged into trouble.
However, the beast itself is an 8th king. This was personified in Vespasian, who "resurrected" the Roman empire when it was about to collapse - and although he was not of the Julio-Claudian line, he continued the line of emperors, so he "belongs to the seven".
But Vespasian wasn't himself the beast - the beast was the empire itself - which sprang from the line of the Caesars and took on a life of its own, under the guidance of Satan, the "dragon".
Thus, it is the beast itself that "is going to his destruction" - although it is not specified when.
It is also worth noting that this kind of seven even eight pattern already existed in the Bible. Just after the famous prophecy about a governing one from Bethlehem, Micah records:
"When the Assyrian invades our land
and marches through our fortresses,
we will raise against him seven shepherds,
even eight leaders of men.
They will rule the land of Assyria with the sword,
the land of Nimrod with drawn sword. (Micah 5:5,6)
Assyria was the nation that harassed God's people and sent Israel into exile. So just as Rome was a latter-day Babylon, it was also a latter-day Assyria.
So here in Revelation, the beast was to have 7 heads, even 8.
Thus, if the woman is Rome, the symbology fits beautifully - for Rome sits on seven hills and is and was known as the "city of the seven hills", and she was the capital of the imperial beast of which, in John's day, 5 of its "heads", or Caesars, had fallen!
10-29-2007 03:28 PM
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Post: #133RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
17:12 “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. 13 They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings–and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”
The angel now interprets the "ten horns" - they are "ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom".
This fits in very well with the statue dream given to Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. In it, he saw himself as the "head of gold", an inferior kingdom after him as the "chest and arms of silver", a third kingdom as "belly and thighs of bronze", and a fourth kingdom, as "its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay". (Daniel 2)
In the interpretation of the dream given by Daniel, the "iron" extends into the toes, although it is mixed with clay in both its "feet" and "toes" stages.
So then, in John's day, history had reached the "legs of iron" stage, with the Roman empire as "strong as iron". No wonder that people said of the Roman empire, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?"
Even the Jews, who claimed God as their backer, couldn't stand up against the might of imperial Rome!
So in John's day, history had not yet progressed to the stage of the statue where the kingdom was "divided", where the "clay" had weakened it, and where 10 toes would emerge. Hence, as the angel says, the 10 horns have "not yet received a kingdom".
But at some point in time future from John's day, they "will receive authority as kings along with the beast" for "one hour".
We must understand the reason the angel is giving this interpretation: it is primarily so John can understand why Babylon falls.
During the time of their kingdom ("one hour"), they "give their power and authority to the beast".
This could have been fulfilled during the period of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted about 1,000 years (a mere "hour" to God? Compare this to the "hour" of judgement!). Even though there were many kings, they were united in their allegiance to the Papacy, and warred with Christ during those "Dark Ages".
This would certainly explain why Christ's followers are also "with him" (the Lamb) in this war - they do not literally fight, but theirs is a fight for the faith of Christ.
However, this also helps to explain why Babylon is eventually destroyed...
10-29-2007 03:56 PM
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Post: #134RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
17:15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. 16 The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled. 18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."
The woman, Babylon, sits on "many waters". Now the angel gives the interpretation of these waters: "peoples, multitudes, nations and languages".
Just as we did not need to then interpret the angel's explanation that the seven heads meant seven hills, we don't need to here - this is the interpretation.
However, the beast and the ten horns "will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire."
I believe we have already witnessed a partial fulfillment of this! For as it's 1,000th year of temporal power was drawing to a close (and as many Historicists would argue, it's 1,260th year of authority), revolution broke out in France, Napoleon rose to power and swept across Europe, toppling the Papal power at Rome from her perch!
In a remarkably fitting symbol, the Pope is dragged away to prison: "In the last few days of 1797 a disturbance outside the French embassy in Rome results in the death of a French general. This is made the pretext for a French army to occupy Rome and to seize the pope, who is taken off to captivity in France - where he dies in 1799."
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/Plai...oryID=ac65
So Rome, the seat of imperial authority, and later also the seat of spiritual authority and the "chair of Peter", the "vicar of Christ on earth", the mouthpiece of God, becomes hated by the "ten horns" that formerly served her!
So much so that by 1870, the Papal states are swept away, and Rome returns to the kingdom of Italy.
The "mouthpiece of God" is boxed into the small parcel of land within the city of Rome known as Vatican City.
Yet amazingly, while all this is going on...
"The first Vatican Council convenes in Rome in December 1869. Seven months later, on 18 July 1870, the prelates assembled in St Peter's accept an uncompromising dogma - that the pope, when speaking from his throne on a matter of faith or morals, is inspired by God and is therefore infallible."
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/Plai...oryID=ac65
So I suspect what happened to the Papal power during those times was but a foreshadow of its final destruction. Their hatred of the prostitute was evident in their desire to remove temporal power from the Papacy. Yet they left her alive, because they still acknowledged her spiritual authority.
Thus, they were to share in her plagues. The very same realms were quickly engulfed in two World Wars, scorched by tyrants such as Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin, and afterwards Communism darkened much of Europe under its "Iron Curtain" for many decades.
Yet the Papal power still lives and speaks, in Rome. Thus, Rome is still the spiritual capital for the beast. Yet, as the "waters" of the Euphrates dry up, who is going to defend her?
She is "naked", but has yet to be burned "with fire". God may appear to be slow, but when He acts, He is decisive.
The angel says that these ten horns will be "agreeing" to "give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled." This is not a forced unity any more, but an agreement - it is their desire! This will happen "until God's words are fulfilled".
Is it therefore a coincidence, that the same realm of the "ten kings", principally Europe, is now attempting to unite into a European Union - and have, in many ways, succeeded?
Regardless or not of whether this is relevant, the angel confirms the identity of the prostitute. She is "the great city that rules over the kings of the earth".
So she is a city. She cannot be anything else but a city, for this is the angel's own interpretation. And it is the city "that rules over the kings of the earth".
In John's day, there was only one city that was the "city of the seven hills", and that ruled "over the kings of the earth", and that had "heads", of which 5 had fallen: Rome.
So then, now we are in a better position to understand the broader scope of John's prophecy. The two great cities of John's day were Jerusalem and Rome.
Jerusalem was punished by God in the tribulation of 66-73AD for its apostacy and bloodguilt.
Rome was the capital of the Roman empire, the kingdom of iron. It shed Christian blood in abundance. Then, in a bizarre twist, the empire embraced Christianity, and Rome soon became the home of a twisted version of Christianity in which the bishop of Rome grew in authority and claimed to be essentially Christ on earth.
So the woman is Rome, the city. She rode upon the imperial Roman empire, and even the "Christian" version! Just as Jerusalem was charged with the blood of ancient prophets and early Christians, Rome was responsible for the shed blood of Christians under the empire.
Rome sat as physical queen amidst the kings of the earth, until around 1798, when her Pope was dragged away to prison, and her Papal states were seized, leaving her only Vatican City by 1870. This was a partial fall.
Still, Rome proclaimed herself spiritual queen, even stating in 1870 that the Pope, on the seat of Peter, was infallible!
Her complete "fall", I believe, has yet to come.
10-29-2007 04:53 PM
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Post: #135RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
REVELATION CHAPTER 18
18:1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 With a mighty voice he shouted:
“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!
She has become a home for demons
and a haunt for every evil spirit,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.
3 For all the nations have drunk
the maddening wine of her adulteries.
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,
and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”
By the pouring out of the seventh plague, Babylon the Great receives the "cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath" and is completely burned with fire.
However, when "Babylon" suffered her initial downfall at the beginning of the 1800's, the churches under the authority of Rome began to be abandoned. Some churches quite literally became "a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit". In fact, some ancient churches now derive revenue from the tales of hauntings.
Now, many of the traditional churches are tourist spots, relics from the age of Church domination. They have become the homes of birds and bats, and stories of hauntings.
"All the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries". This "maddening wine" combined her spiritual teachings with her adulterous lust for power. So there is hardly a place on earth that has not somehow been affected by the wine of Rome.
The imperial Rome sent its authority far and wide. The Papal Rome sent it even further, with Crusades into the Middle East, and missionaries to "convert" the heathen in South America and Africa. That is why today, much of South America is Roman Catholic.
"The kings of the earth committed adultery with her". Both Tyre and Ninevah were portrayed in scripture as prostituting cities, but Rome was unique, in that she claimed to be the "seat of Peter", and thus (it was claimed) her authority to rule came from Christ himself, who gave the "keys of the kingdom" to Peter.
And so the Papacy viewed itself as literally having the authority to pluck up kingdoms, for what was bound or loosed on earth was bound or loosed in heaven. It exercised this authority by issuing Papal Bulls.
"As a specimen of the lofty style of these fulminations -the mouth speaking great things -we give the Bull of Excommunication issued by Sixtus V. (1585) against the King of Navarre and the Prince of Conde, whom he calls the "two sons of wrath." It runs thus:- "The authority given to St. Peter and his successors by the immense power of the eternal King excels all the power of earthly princes: it passes uncontrolled sentence upon them all, and if it find any of them resisting the ordinance of God, it takes a more severe vengeance upon them, casting them down from their throne, however powerful they may be, and tumbling them to the lowest parts of the earth, as the ministers of aspiring Lucifer. We deprive them and their posterity of their dominions for ever. By the authority of these presents we absolve and free all persons from their oath of allegiance, and from all duty whatever, relating to dominion, fealty, and obedience, and we charge and forbid them all from presuming to obey them, or any of their admonitions, laws, or commands." (The Papacy Is The Antichrist, p34)
The power of Rome, during the height of the power of the Church, was such that she could bring kings to their knees - literally.
"And when she deposes monarchs, stripping them of crown and kingdom, and compelling them, as she did Henry IV. of Germany, to stand with naked feet at her gates amid the drifts of winter, it is with the make-believe of a kind father administering salutary chastisement to
an erring son." (The Papacy Is The Antichrist, p34)
Given that so much power was vested in one person (the Pope), the kings of the earth would attempt to court favour with the Papal authority. During the Middle Ages there was barely a war fought in which the Papacy did not a hand in.
"The merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries." Rome was the capital of the empire, and so naturally was rich. However, as its spiritual authority grew, so did its wealth... for the Roman system introduced tithing laws, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia:
"In the course of time, however, as the Church expanded and various institutions arose, it became necessary to make laws which would insure the proper and permanent support of the clergy. The payment of tithes was adopted from the Old Law, and early writers speak of it as a divine ordinance and an obligation of conscience. The earliest positive legislation on the subject seems to be contained in the letter of the bishops assembled at Tours in 567 and the canons of the Council of Maçon in 585. In course of time, we find the payment of tithes made obligatory by ecclesiastical enactments in all the countries of christendom. The Church looked on this payment as "of divine law, since tithes were instituted not by man but by the Lord Himself" (C. 14, X de decim. III, 30).... the earliest instance of the enforcement of the payment of ecclesiastical tithes by civil law is to be found in the capitularies of Charlemagne, at the end of the eighth century."
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14741b.htm
So by the beginning of the so-called Holy Roman Empire, tithing to the Church became compulsory, and enforced, just like the rest of its sham imitation of Christianity.
However, "abuses soon crept in. The right to receive tithes was granted to princes and nobles, even hereditarily, by ecclesiastics in return for protection or eminent services, and this species of impropriation became so intolerable that the Third Council of Lateran (1179) decreed that no alienation of tithes to laymen was permissible without the consent of the pope."
And yet the Church was soon selling indulgences, as pardons of sins!
So these are just two of the ways in which the merchants of the earth "grew rich" from her excessive luxuries. We will consider some more in time.
18:4
Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
“Come out of her, my people,
so that you will not share in her sins,
so that you will not receive any of her plagues;
5 for her sins are piled up to heaven,
and God has remembered her crimes.
6 Give back to her as she has given;
pay her back double for what she has done.
Mix her a double portion from her own cup.
7 Give her as much torture and grief
as the glory and luxury she gave herself.
In her heart she boasts,
‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow,
and I will never mourn.’
8 Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her:
death, mourning and famine.
She will be consumed by fire,
for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
One of the arguments put forward by Preterists for why Babylon is Jerusalem is because of the call by the angel to "Come out of her" - just as Jesus Christ told his disciples to flee from Jerusalem when they saw the "disgusting thing", the Roman armies, come upon her.
However, the same cry was also told to the Jews who were in ancient Babylon, after the city had fallen:
"Flee from Babylon!
Run for your lives!
Do not be destroyed because of her sins.
It is time for the Lord's vengeance;
he will pay her what she deserves." (Jeremiah 51:6)
"Come out of her, my people!
Run for your lives!
Run from the fierce anger of the Lord.
Do not lose heart or be afraid
when rumors are heard in the land;
one rumor comes this year, another the next,
rumors of violence in the land
and of ruler against ruler." (Jeremiah 51:45,46)
Rome became a second Babylon, when it exiled the Jews from their homeland a second time. However, in a sense, Rome also captured Christianity when it hijacked it in the 4th century!
For over 1,000 years, "Babylon" kept its subjects in spiritual darkness - the Bible being kept in Latin, and out of the hands of the common person.
So during this time it was all but impossible to come out of her, since most people would not have been aware they were "in" it in the first place! And those who perceived the sham Christianity and so attempted to draw away from it were brutally murdered, by Inquisitions, and by burning at the stake - including some of those who attempted to translate the Bible!
However, with the Reformation of the 1500's, the power of the Church was weakened, and by the 1800's, the Papacy had been reduced to a spiritual authority. People were fleeing from Babylon - some literally (as perhaps with the ones who fled to America from the persecution of the Church), while others came out of her spiritual authority.
"Her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes."
I suspect there is an allusion to the original Babylon here, the original builders wanting to build it "with a tower that reaches to the heaven". (Gen 11:4)
The Preterist has no answer to the crimes committed against God by Rome - crimes which make the ancient Jews look like petty thieves.
For it was Rome that slew Christians throughout the empire for over three centuries. It was Rome that then controlled Christianity for several hundred more years. It was Rome that instigated the tortures, the inquisitions, the crusades, the compulsory worship and conversions - doing all this while claiming the authority of Christ!
I can't think of anything that would be more despicable to God and Christ, and worthy of judgement, than the fact that these things were done in the name of Christ.
Thus, she is to receive "a double portion from her own cup" - "as much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself".
In her heart, she boasts: "I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn."
The ancient Babylonian empire had been all-but conquered by Cyrus, and yet right up until the end, Babylonian king Belshazzar was feasting with his grandees - after all, the walls of Babylon were mighty. Even though his empire was captured, he was safe. Or so he thought.
On that very night, Cyrus drained the waters of the Euphrates, and the city walls were of absolutely no use, since the city gates had been left open by the guards, so that Cyrus entered the city and captured it virtually without a fight!
As history repeating itself, the new "Babylon" lost its own territories in 1870, yet declared the infallibility of the Pope in that very year. In 1929 she made a treaty with Mussolini, to preserve her authority by making Vatican City an independent state within the city of Rome.
There she sits, up until today, still confident of her position as the representative of God on earth.
Yet God says, "in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire".
This is to take place after the gathering to Har-Magedon, in the pouring out of the "seventh plague", when "God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath". (Rev 16:19)
10-29-2007 09:56 PM
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Post: #137RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
9 “When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. 10 Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry:
“ ‘Woe! Woe, O great city,
O Babylon, city of power!
In one hour your doom has come!’
Babylon was a "great city", a "city of power". Yet she is to receive her doom in "one hour", as it were - at Har-Magedon.
We saw how Napoleon devasted the temporal power of Rome in the early 1800's, but he did not destroy the Papacy because he recognized its authority. Even the Fascist government of Mussolini in the 1920's thought it advantageous to ally with the Papacy rather than destroy it - and so Vatican City was made an independent state in the Lateran Treaty of 1929.
Kings, emperors and dictators throughout history have courted the authority of Rome for political advantage. So when her "doom" comes, they "will weep and mourn over her".
10-30-2007 08:40 PM
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Post: #138RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
18:11 “The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more - 12 cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13 cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men. 14 “They will say, ‘The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.’
At the height of her imperial power, Rome was the capital of the world, and no doubt all of these things were traded in her - including the "bodies and souls of men", quite literally.
She was also the home of the gods, and of the temples that required such fine materials.
However, as Rome's spiritual authority grew, so did her spiritual realms. And so she acquired riches from every realm. The "gold, silver, precious stones and pearls" fitting for her imperial royalty. The "fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth", for her priestly authority.
"Ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble" for the very finest of buildings. Indeed, the Rome of the Renaissance saw Michelangelo paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and Raphael to decorate three rooms in the Vatican, and the rise of St Peter's basilica - the richness of the Church providing one of the catalysts for the Protestant Reformation!
"Cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep". The fruit she desired resembles the fruit of ancient Jerusalem under the Law covenant - and this is perhaps another reason Preterists see Babylon as Jerusalem.
However, when Rome embraced Christianity, the "light load" of Christ quickly became replaced with an imitation of the original Law covenant - including sunday laws (an imitation of the sabbath), and compulsory tithing to the Church. The Law covenant had effectively been re-introduced - the Scribes and Pharisees of the 1st century being replaced by Bishops, Priests and Cardinals.
So then, imperial pagan Rome and "Christian" Rome desired these fruits also - particularly for worship, and also as luxuries.
"Horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men". Ancient Rome in particular traded in the bodies of men - being particularly notorious for its slave trade. As time went on, its desire became for the "souls" of men. It sent out missionaries to convert the world to its Papal and Trinitarian form of Christianity - persuading and forcing its authority upon whole groups of people. Those people who dared to defy its authority felt the force of the Inquistion, the Crusade, or the Papal Bull.
Here is yet another example of a Crusade against other Christians:
"In the 13th century, during the pontificate of Innocent III, there are two crusades which differ from their predecessors in one major respect. The crusaders use their might against fellow members of the Christian community. In the earlier of the two, the fourth crusade, this is a flagrant travesty of the official intention. The crusaders divert from their journey east to capture and pillage the Greek Orthodox city of Constantinople - an act immediately and strongly condemned by Innocent. But the second unusual crusade is specifically preached by the pope. He launches it against heretics in the south of France - the puritanical sect of Cathars, who now have close links with the Bogomils of eastern Europe."
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/Plai...oryID=ac65
10-30-2007 09:13 PM
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Post: #139RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
18:15 The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn 16 and cry out:
“ ‘Woe! Woe, O great city,
dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet,
and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!
17 In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’
We are reminded again that this city wears the garb of a priest (fine linen, purple and scarlet), and of an emperor (gold, precious stones and pearls).
She is wealthy, and made others wealthy too, for the "merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her" stand far off from her, terrified at her torment!
Although we don't specifically know who these merchants are, the Church has made many people rich in its time. Here is just one example, of how the funds were raised to pay for St Peter's basilica:
"The need for funds for the vast new project, together with the unscrupulous manner in which Renaissance popes are willing to raise them, provokes the great central crisis of Europe in the 16th century - the Reformation. The flash point proves to be Germany. And it is not hard to see why...
Germany provides a context in which materialism within the Roman Catholic church is offensively evident. Some of the principalities, which together make up the Holy Roman empire, are ruled by unscrupulous prelates living in the style of Renaissance princes. Foremost among them is Albert, archbishop of Mainz and one of the seven imperial electors.
By the age of twenty-four Albert holds a bishopric and a second archbishopric in addition to Mainz. Such plurality is against canon law. But the pope, Leo X, agrees to overlook the irregularity in return for a large donation to the building costs of the new St Peter's.
Both pope and archbishop are men of the world (the pope is a Medici). Leo makes it possible for Albert to recover his costs by granting him the concession for the sale of indulgences towards the building of St Peter's. Half the money for each indulgence is go to Rome; the other half will help to pay off Albert's debts (he has borrowed the money for the original donation from the Fuggers of Augsburg).
This secret arrangement might distress the faithful if they knew of it. But more immediately shocking to some is the behaviour of the friar Johann Tetzel, whom Albert employs to sell the indulgences.
Tetzel is a showman. When preaching to gullible crowds in German towns he goes far beyond the official doctrine of indulgences. He promises the immediate release of loved ones from the pain of Purgatory as soon as a purchase is made. He even has a catchy jingle to make the point: 'As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, The soul from Purgatory springs.'
In October 1517 some parishioners return to Wittenberg with indulgences which they have bought from Tetzel - indulgences so powerful, some have been led to believe, that they could pardon a man who had raped the Virgin Mary. News of this travesty reaches the ears of a professor at the university of Wittenberg [...Martin Luther]."
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/Plai...oryID=ac65
Throughout its long reign, it has undoubtedly made many people and families rich - some of them doubtless are still rich men and merchants today.
These will be terrified when they see the wealth of Babylon swept away in "one hour".
10-30-2007 09:33 PM
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Post: #140RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
18:17 “Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. 18 When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’ 19 They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out:
“ ‘Woe! Woe, O great city,
where all who had ships on the sea
became rich through her wealth!
In one hour she has been brought to ruin!
20 Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you."
Some have argued that Babylon cannot be either Rome or Jerusalem, since neither of them are coastal cities.
However, the account does not say that Babylon is a coastal city, but simply that those who "earn their living from the sea" will "stand far off" as they "see the smoke of her burning". This is simply the equivalent of what the "kings of the earth" do, and "the merchants of the earth" - all three groups "stand far off" her, not wanting to be associated with her any more, for fear of her torment.
So although Jerusalem and Rome were not coastal cities, Rome most definitely traded by sea. In fact, much of Rome's food supply relied on ships bringing grain from Egypt. This is why Vespasian, upon being declared emperor by his troops, went to Egypt before Rome - to secure the food supply! It is also very likely that the vessel used to escort Paul to Rome for trial was an Egyptian grain ship, because Roman soldiers would have had authority over these ships, as representatives of the State.
Indeed, it is perhaps a foreshadow of this event in Revelation that Paul's journey to Rome in the book of Acts is by ship. The writer of Acts does not complete the story by telling us of the outcome. According to tradition, Paul is acquitted in Rome - but later, upon a second trial, is executed.
However, if Babylon is actually Rome, then the uncompleted story of Acts finds its completion in the book of Revelation. For the account says:
"Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you."
Paul was put to death in Rome - and, according to tradition, so was Peter.
Indeed, the fact that "apostles" are told to rejoice for God's judgement on her "for the way she treated you", indicates that, really, only Rome or Jerusalem could possibly be candidates for Babylon - for what other cities mistreated the apostles in the way that Rome and Jerusalem did?
That "prophets" were mistreated by Babylon, is argued by Preterists to be evidence that she is Jerusalem. Certainly Jerusalem was responsible for the blood of the prophets. However, the Christian system had its prophets, too. One of those, for instance, was Agabus, who foretold the famine that came about in the time of Claudius. (Acts 11:27-30) And "in Antioch there were prophets and teachers in the local congregation". (Acts 13:1) In fact, one of the gifts of the spirit was the ability to prophecy. (1 Corinthians 14:26-33)
So these Christian prophets were to be mistreated by Rome.
In an ironic twist, Vatican Hill (the home of the "mouthpiece of God") was said by the Church to be the very grave of the apostle Peter - the ultimate symbol of the way it treated "saints and apostles and prophets": its seat of power was their grave, as it were!
10-30-2007 10:22 PM
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Post: #141RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
18:21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said:
“With such violence
the great city of Babylon will be thrown down,
never to be found again.
22 The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters,
will never be heard in you again.
No workman of any trade
will ever be found in you again.
The sound of a millstone
will never be heard in you again.
23 The light of a lamp will never shine in you again.
The voice of bridegroom and bride
will never be heard in you again.
Your merchants were the world's great men.
By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.
24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints,
and of all who have been killed on the earth.”
The prophet Jeremiah was told to write the words against ancient Babylon in a book, and then throw the book into the Euphrates, while saying against her: "So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring upon her. And her people will fall." (Jeremiah 51:64)
For Babylon the Great, however, it is not the words in a book, but a boulder - the angel picking up a boulder and throwing into the sea means Babylon the Great is to be thrown down "with violence", never to be found again.
At this point, someone might ask: How could a Preterist possibly think this is referring to Jerusalem's destruction in 70AD, given that Jerusalem is standing today?
I will let a Preterist answer this question:
"How was this fulfilled in A.D. 70, if “Jerusalem” is still standing in the twentieth century? In a physical sense, of course, Jerusalem was not destroyed forever in A.D. 70, any more than Babylon or Edom or Egypt was destroyed “forever.” But prophecy is covenantally and ethically oriented; it is not primarily concerned with geography as such. For example, consider Isaiah’s prophecy against Edom:
Its streams shall be turned into pitch,
And its loose earth into brimstone,
And its land shall become burning pitch.
It shall not be quenched night or day;
Its smoke shall go up forever;
From generation to generation it shall be desolate;
None shall pass through it forever and ever. (Isa. 34:9-10)
This is evocative language, associating the desolation of Edom with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. In a “literal,” physical sense, the prophecy was not fulfilled; but it has been fulfilled, in terms of its actual
meaning and intent. The ancient territory of Edom still contains trees and flowers, portions of it are used as cropland, and travelers continue to pass through it. As Patrick Fairbairn observed, “Edom was to be stricken with poverty and ruin: Edom, however, not simply, nor chiefly as a land, but as a people. This was what the prophecy foretold, and it has been amply verified. . . . The Edom of prophecy – Edom considered as the enemy of God, and the rival of Israel – has perished forever; all, in that respect, is an untrodden wilderness, a hopeless ruin; and there, the veracity of God’s word finds its justification.”" (Days Of Vengeance, p184)
While this is a reasonable explanation for things like the land of Edom, I find it unsuitable for Jerusalem, because Jerusalem has been re-populated with Jews, and with unbelieving Jews at that!
That Babylon is a city is emphasized with all the things that cease upon her fall: music, work, lights and marriage - the typical things that go on in cities. They will never be found in her again, just as she herself is "never to be found again".
Her merchants "were the world's great men". As the capital of the world, Rome controlled much of the world's wealth. And once it became the spiritual centre of Christendom, it found yet more ways to generate wealth. Many of her princes received money, power and priveleges from the Church. The Knights Templar, an order of the Church, developed a sophisticated banking system in the Middle Ages, and Crusades to the Holy Land would plunder great wealth.
By her "magic spell all the nations were led astray." To ancient Babylon, God said that her widowhood would come upon her in one day, "in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells." (Isaiah 47:9)
Babylon was pagan, and worshipped idols and practiced magic. So too, did ancient Rome - but when Christianity came to Rome, paganism and Christianity became fused into a Christianized paganism.
The idols were gradually converted into saints, and appealed to by the people, in a similar fashion as were the pagan idols!
The Roman bishop became the Pontifex Maximus, the ancient title given to Caesar in his position as mediator between the gods.
The "queen of the heavens", and even the goddess Roma, found a new form of expression in the Mother of God.
And even the Vestal Virgins, whose "primary task was to maintain the sacred fire of Vesta", which if it went out "was a serious offense and was punishable by scourging", found a new form - Nuns! (Take a look at the picture on Wikipedia's entry if you doubt this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestal_virgins )
Thus, this unholy blend of Christianity and paganism went out from Rome into the earth, and the earth fell under Rome's "magic spell" and "were led astray" - for that was its purpose - to mislead!
John says, "In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints,
and of all who have been killed on the earth."
Preterists point out that this is what Jesus said of Jerusalem:
"This language cannot be used of Rome or any other city. Only Jerusalem was guilty of “all the righteous blood shed on the earth,” from Abel onward. Historically, it was Jerusalem that had always been the great Harlot, continually falling into apostasy and persecuting the prophets (Acts 7:51-52); Jerusalem was the place where the prophets were killed: as Jesus Himself said, “It cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her!” (Luke 13:33-34)." (Days Of Vengeance, p185)
While this is true, the author fails to point out that a similar expression was used in reference to Babylon to describe the slain in ancient times:
"Not only was Babylon the cause for the slain ones of Israel to fall, but also at Babylon the slain ones of all the earth have fallen." (Jeremiah 51:49)
Thus, the "slain ones of all the earth" are, in this passage, laid at the feet of ancient Babylon - because it was the ruler of the world at the time, as well as being the one to send the Jews into captivity.
So then, this passage of John charges Babylon the Great with both! Just as ancient Jerusalem was charged with the blood of "all the righteous blood shed on the earth" from Abel until its destruction in 70CE, and Babylon was charged with "the slain ones of all the earth" in its day, Babylon the Great is charged with both!
That's because it is not ancient Babylon, nor ancient Jerusalem. It is the only other entity in John's day that could possibly bear responsibility for both holy blood, and blood in general - and that is Rome: the ruler of the world in John's day, and the one to send the Jews into captivity a second time.
Rome became the second Babylon.
The 1st century Christians would have understood all this symbology. Ironically, it is only since we become more remote from 1st century thinking that the difficulties arise!
The two great cities that played a key role in John's day were Jerusalem, and Rome. And remarkably, they are the same key players today... for a restored Jerusalem now sits in a turbulent and generally hostile Middle East, and Rome is still the seat of the "mouthpiece of God", the "vicar of Christ on earth".
And that, I suspect, is what Revelation has been telling us all along. The scene of the world continually changes, but the key players have remained the same.
10-30-2007 11:46 PM
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Post: #142RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
So let's recap the evidence in favour of Babylon being Rome.
(a) The 4th kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Daniel 2) is that of the Romans, which extends from the "legs of iron", and into the feet and toes of iron and clay. It is the last kingdom before God's kingdom crushes them all.
(b) John's first wild beast fits the imperial pagan Roman empire like a glove - its subjects worshipping the dragon (via idols) and the beast (Caesar worship). It trampled Jerusalem for 42 months between 70 and 73AD, and it warred with the "saints". "Babylon" (Rome) was thus the capital city of that empire.
(d) The city of Rome sat on seven hills, and was known as "the city of the seven hills". A medal of Vespasian has been found, picturing the goddess Roma as a woman seated on seven hills.
(e) Five Caesars (heads) had fallen during the time of Nero (with Julius Caesar being the first), perhaps fulfilling the "five have fallen, one is" requirement.
(f) Rome was the second power to exile the Jews, Babylon being the first. She was like a second Babylon.
(g) The woman was dressed in garments befitting an emperor (see Eusebius' description of Constantine entering the Nicaean council), and a high priest - a good description of Rome which was the seat of the Pontifex Maximus both during pagan Rome, and it's "Christian" version.
(h) She is the mother of abominations - those abominations stood in 70AD as the "abomination of desolation" in Jerusalem, as the Roman armies and their idolatrous ensigns.
(i) "Ten horns" are connected to her, but eventually hate her. I don't take this as a literal number, but is ten because there are ten toes in Nebuchadnezzar's statue. In particular, the Holy Roman Empire was a bunch of kingdoms under Roman Papal authority - but these kingdoms eventually turned against her from Napoleon onwards, reducing her (to date) to a parcel of land in Vatican City.
(j) Rome sits on "many waters", as a spiritual authority.
(k) Rome is a city, as the angel interprets the woman to be "the great city that rules over the kings of the earth." In John's day she most definitely ruled over the kings of the earth - Rome was the head of the Roman empire!
(l) Kings of the earth commit adultery with her, just like ancient Ninevah. Many kings have courted Rome (both pagan and Papal) for political advantage, and she has, in turn, used that advantage for her own purposes.
(m) Merchants of the earth grew rich because of her. She was immensely wealthy by the 16th century and the Renaissance, with many of her princes growing fat from her luxury - partly causing the Reformation.
(n) In Rome "was found the blood of prophets and of the saints" - the apostles Peter and Paul being executed at Rome. Vatican City is also alleged by the Church to be the grave of Peter!
(o) "All who have been killed on the earth" can be charged to Rome, as capital city of the ruling Roman empire in John's time, just as Babylon was charged with all deaths on the earth during the height of Babylonian power.
(p) Unlike Jerusalem, which suffered divine vengeance during the period of 66-73CE, Rome has never yet suffered the same destruction for her bloodshed, although her temporal (worldly) authority has been decimated - the "mouthpiece of God" still sits at Rome.
(q) In her heart, Rome sits as queen, saying she will never know mourning. As her temporal authority was being removed in 1870, she declared the doctrine of the infallibility of the Pope!
11-01-2007 07:12 PM
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Post: #143RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
REVELATION CHAPTER 19
19:1 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting:
“Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
2 for true and just are his judgments.
He has condemned the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.
He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
3 And again they shouted:
“Hallelujah!
The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”
Babylon has been destroyed in the seventh last plague, and now a chorus of "Hallelujah" is sung in heaven!
She was "the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries". The mix of Christian truth and pagan idolatry at Rome sent the world into a drunken stupour for hundreds of years that resulted in untold bloodshed.
God has "avenged on her the blood of his servants". From Abel until the time of its destruction, Jerusalem was charged with this blood. But from 70AD onwards, Christian and Jewish blood was to be charged upon Rome.
This is in accord with divine justice, and also with prophecy. God weighed Babylon in the balance for its treatment of His people, and found her wanting.
The prophet Joel assures us that...
"In those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will gather all nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I will enter into judgment against them
concerning my inheritance, my people Israel,
for they scattered my people among the nations
and divided up my land." (Joel 3:1,2)
So just as God will judge the nations for their treatment of his people in exile once he has restored "the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem", he will also judge Rome for her shedding of vast and unmeasurable quantities of Christian blood.
The smoke from her "goes up for ever and ever." This literally means "ages of ages", and while Preterists argue this does not mean forever (after all, Jerusalem still exists today), I find it difficult to see how the angel throwing a boulder into the sea could mean anything but something that will sink to the bottom, never to rise.
That is the fate of the Babylon that persecuted true Christians in various ways for nearly 2,000 years.
11-01-2007 07:46 PM
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Post: #144RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
19:4 The twenty‑four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried:
“Amen, Hallelujah!”
5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying:
“Praise our God,
all you his servants,
you who fear him,
both small and great!”
6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
8 Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”
(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)
There are yet more praises to God from the 24 elders, the 4 living creatures, and even from the throne itself.
Babylon was the counterpart of the pure woman of Revelation 12. She was a prostitute, mixing the pure faith of Christ with the idolatry and paganism of Rome, to create a weak, enforced version of Christianity.
With the harlot swept away, it is time for "the wedding of the Lamb"! The weeds have been gathered and burned, and what is left is the fine wheat. (Mathew 13:30)
The bride has "made herself ready" and been given "fine linen" to wear, meaning the righteous acts of the holy ones.
She is about to get married!
11-01-2007 08:04 PM
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Post: #145RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
19:9 Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he added, “These are the true words of God.” 10 At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
The "wedding supper of the Lamb" is an allusion to Jesus' own illustrations.
For instance, in Luke 14, Jesus tells the illustration of a certain man that was "preparing a great banquet ["evening meal", NWT] and invited many guests."
The invited ones are called, but they beg off with excuses. So the slave goes out to the "streets and alleys of the town". There is still room, so the master commands the servant to go out to "the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full."
"I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet." (Luke 14:16-24)
Jesus said this illustration to the Pharisees and "experts in the law". (Luk 14:1) Their nation had been invited to the banquet, but had excused herself. So the message of Christ went out to the nations.
In Mathew's version of the illustration, this is even more explicit, for the king destroys the city of those first called, who killed his messengers:
"The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’" (Mathew 22:7-9)
This happened in 66-73AD, when Christ came against that city through the Romans. The banquet was ready, but "those I invited did not deserve to come" - so he sends his servants out "the street corners" as it were.
So then, the destruction of Jerusalem was not the "wedding supper" - it could not have been, because the ones invited (the Jews) were not worthy! Hence, the invitation goes out to the nations.
This invitation has gone out for nearly 2,000 years now. In the meantime, a great stumbling block developed... the Roman papacy. Christ himself said,
"He said to His disciples, "It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble." (Luke 17:1,2, New American Standard Bible)
The ultimate stumbling block for the bride of the Lamb was the false and pretended Christian system known as the Papacy and the authority of Rome. Yet that city, "Babylon", had just been cast down, the ultimate "boulder like a millstone", the ultimate stumbling block - and thrown into the sea - just as Jesus warned would happen to all stumbling blocks! (Rev 18:21, NWT)
John is so overwhelmed by all this that he falls at the feet of the angel to worship him. Yet the angel prevents him! "Do not do it!" he says. He is just a servant, too. "Worship God!" he says.
This is a complete contrast to the actions of the false bride, those who saw in the Papacy the "vicar of Christ on earth" and who kissed his feet and his ring, and who kiss the idols who had been fashioned in the form of saints - the false Christian system was nothing but a deception, a giant stumbling block for all people - it was worship of the beast in Christian guise! Even during the great split of the Church around 800AD, when the East opposed idolatry, the political manouevring of the Pope ensured that idol worship won out - and no wonder, for the Pope wanted to be known as God on earth! Who would bow down to him if idolatry was abolished?
The angel says that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." The book of Revelation, and indeed all prophecy, is ultimately about Christ.
The unveiling of the seven seals was the unveiling of the New Covenant, with Christ's shed blood as its mediator.
The seven trumpets was about the tribulation that would come upon Jerusalem, in fulfillment of Christ's words, and as a result of their rejection of him as the son of God and their Messiah. It was foreshadowed by the fall of Jericho at the hands of Joshua (who was himself a foreshadow of Jesus!)
The two wild beasts arose because of Satan's opposition to the "saints", the Christians.
The seven last plagues are God's anger expressed upon the worshippers and kingdom of the beast, and upon the city that was political head of the beast for much of the last 2,000 years, and spiritual head for nearly all of it, claiming to be such by Christ's authority - Rome.
So the "testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy", because all prophecy ultimately revolves around Jesus!
11-02-2007 10:59 AM
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Post: #146RE: Revelation, chapter by chapter
19:11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14
The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Christians have long waited for the return of Christ. He "came" against Jerusalem in 66-73AD, but this was not the "wedding supper of the Lamb", because the ones invited were found not worthy- their city was destroyed. The call went out again to the nations, as foreseen by John in Revelation chapter 10: "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings."
The book of Revelation is, at the very least, a masterful work of literature - for several times it reaches a peak, leaving the reader expectant. So, at the sixth seal, there is a pause of anticipation - even a half hour pause in heaven! - but the seventh seal does not bring the return of Christ, but instead reveals seven trumpets.
At the end of the sixth trumpet, there is another "pause", this time to recount the story of the birth and rise of the Messiah. However, Christ does not return here either, but instead John sees the rise of two horrific wild beasts, one of which acts as a kind of false Christ.
Even after the seventh plague is poured out, the account first describes the fall of the false - Babylon. Now, finally, the account describes what Christians have been waiting for - "heaven standing open", and "there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True".
The "faithful and true" witness is Jesus Christ. (Rev 1:5) He is being unveiled from heaven!
Christ rides a white horse. Earlier on in the seven seals we saw the first seal unveil a rider on a white horse, but its rider was unidentified. I argued this was perhaps Christ, but at the beginning of his actions. (It would be fitting that the first and last prophetic actions would be taken by Christ himself.) Others argue this is anti-Christ, or perhaps symbolic of the authority of Rome.
Regardless of who the first horseman was, there is no ambiguity with the last. "With justice he judges and makes war." Christ was given "all authority in heaven and on earth" since 33CE. Since then it has been warfare between Satan and Christ - culminating during the tribulation of 66-73CE, and then extending during the long reigns of the wild beasts.
We could ask at this point, why has it taken so long for all these things to take place?
God promised Abram the land of the Amorites, but it would not happen immediately. In fact, God told him:
"“Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions... In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." (Genesis 15:13-16)
So then, God would not give Abram's descendants the land of the Amorites just yet, because their sin "had not yet reached its full measure". In fact, Abram's people would be enslaved and mistreated for "four hundred years"!
So there is an important principle here. God only destroyed the Amorites when their sin had reached "full measure" - and God would only destroy Babylon when "her sins are piled up to heaven" (Rev 18:5).
This also squares with Jesus' illustration of the wheat and the weeds. The owner's servant asks the master if he should pull out the weeds to prevent them from growing, but the master answers, "No,...because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn." (Mathew 13:28-30)
So then, God, in His patience, has allowed the wheat and the weeds to grow together. However, by Har-Magedon, Babylon's sins are piled to heaven, and the harvest of the earth is ripe - it is time for Babylon's sins to return upon her own head, and for the earth to be harvested. God's patience has run out.
John sees Christ with eyes like a blazing fire, and "on his head are many crowns". The kingdom of the world is to physically become Christ's.
"He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself." This is similar to what Jesus promised his followers in Pergamum: "I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it." (Rev 2:17)
"He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God." The only other books of the New Testament that use the title "Word" is the gospel of John, and the letters of the apostle John. Thus, although many people suspect that the author of Revelation is a different John from the apostle, he happens to be the only other one to use the title "Word"!
Indeed, this is not the only allusion to the gospel of John. For in John's gospel, chapter 19, we see the Christ impaled. He wore a "crown of thorns" and a "purple robe", and the soldiers mocked him, saying "Hail, king of the Jews!" and they struck him on the face.
Then Pilate sat down on the judgement seat, and he had Jesus impaled, with a sign saying, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." They even cast lots over his garments.
Now, here in the 19th chapter of John's book of Revelation, is the ultimate picture of divine justice.
The crown of thorns is replaced with a true crown, the mocking purple robe is replaced with a true "robe dipped in blood". The sign saying "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews" which was nailed to the cross has been replaced with his true and real title upon his robe and thigh:
"King of Kings and Lord of Lords".
Thus, John's description of Christ in Revelation 19 is the glorious and divine response to the miserable and terrible depiction of Christ in John's gospel, chapter 19.
The "armies of heaven were following him", riding on white horses and wearing "fine linen, white and clean". Clearly then, Christ is a leader of angels. That these angels are depicted as holy is to contrast them with Satan's angels, depicted as "evil" and "unclean" spirits - the same ones that goad the kings of the earth to gather at Har-Magedon.
The soldiers of Rome mockingly struck Christ on the face, but Christ is to "strike down the nations" with a sharp sword, and to rule them with an iron scepter.
In fact, "he treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty". This is the same winepress that was first described in chapter 14. This is the harvest of the world. The seven last plagues are, in my opinion, a detailed description of events that lead up to that great harvest.
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