The REVELATION of Jesus Christ #12
Chapters 18 - 19
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Let's use the same common logic in this chapter as we did in
chapter 17. We will notice some key verses.
This Babylon has influenced kings, governments, all nations
in an overall of the word "all" and have been made drunk by the
wine of her wrongs, spiritual fornications. And "merchants" of
the earth have grown rich through her. So we are dealing right
away with MORE than just a "church" and its theology.
She sits as a queen, and thinks she is correct, and will see
no sorrow. She is going to suffer death in one day, quick and
deliberate death. Kings or government authorities will bewail
her, when the smoke of her burning is seen. They will need to be
far off, but will lament her destruction as it comes so fast
(verses 2-10).
The MERCHANTS of the earth will weep over her death, because
it's the end of her trading and economy. Again, much more than
just a "theology church" (verse 11). Notice the END of verse 13
... no more "slaves" (margin has "bodies") and lives of people
... Oh, indeed we are back into person's lives being handled.
Merchants who were "made rich by her" shall stand off and weep
and wail, at her torment of destruction. They will say, "Alas,
alas, the GREAT CITY, that was clothed in fine linen, and people,
and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and
pearls. For in one hour so great riches is come to nought"
(verses 15-17a).
All the shipmasters, and all the company in ships, and
sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried,
when the saw the smoke of her burning, saying, "What was like
unto this great city!" (verse 17b-18).
This is going to be such a massive and LARGE destruction
that people working in the ship industry will see from afar the
smoke of her burning. Those merchants that do their trading via
the movement of ships will weep and cry because their riches are
now over and finished (verse 19).
This is way more than just a "theological church" of some
religion.
This great city or power called Babylon will be thrown down
with VIOLENCE! (verse 21).
She will be a power that did proclaim the "bridegroom" and
the "bride - Jesus as the bridegroom, and the "church" as the
bride of Christ, but it was DECEPTION and all (certainly a very
large part) of the nations were deceived by her gospel.
And once more notice verse 24. In her was found the BLOOD OF
THE PROPHETS, and of SAINTS, and of all that were slain upon
earth (in the context of "Christianity").
She is guilty of killing God's true prophets and saints!
This is no mere "church theology" religious group. It is
THAT, yes indeed, BUT this account GOES WAY BEYOND, some nice
quiet little "religious" church.
This chapter is talking about AN EMPIRE! A massive
political/trading POWER in the world, that makes merchants RICH
and wealthy - literally! A power that deals in all kinds of
merchant good, even slaves and the lives of people. It is a world
power that kills God's prophets and saints!
Let's look at the world scene. Now granted, what I'm about
to say could be argued, if you perhaps think Jesus will not
return for another five hundred year, things would be drastically
different by then, on the world scene. But if you believe Jesus'
return if not hundreds of years away, then....
Could South America, very high in Roman Catholic religion,
be the global power to be this Babylon here spoken about? VERY
UNLIKELY indeed.
Could the African continent be this global power - even more
unlikely I would say.
Could this global power be Russia, a hundred years or so
back, Roman Catholicism was very prominent in Russia. I guess you
could argue given enough time, maybe Russia is the Babylon on
Revelation 18. Could this mighty power of this chapter be China?
They have right now a red hot industry as of 2007, but they are
not and never did have the history of worldwide Christian
deception, and mass killings of the saints of God.
What about the Arab nations, could they be this Babylon of
Revelation? Once more I guess if you argue and answer with "a few
hundred years or so before Jesus returns" - you might be able to
think the Arab nations will be this power of Revelation.
But finally what about Europe? With what we have seen from
Revelation chapter 17, this chapter would flow right along, as an
extension or further expounding of chapter 17 and Europe being
this end-time economical and deceptive "christian" power, that
has in its history killed the saints of God, and put forth
teachings, and customs and practices, that have indeed covered
much of the earth in DECEPTIONS.
Europe has finally come together, after many centuries of
certain nations and leaders of those nations WANTING to bring
Europe together by FORCE of warfare, and did NOT succeed. But
"economical" reasons have persuaded them to hook up-arms and walk
together. And it so happens that most of those countries are
predominately Roman Catholic.
I submit to you, that of all the "powers" in the world - the
United European Empire fits the description and the future
prophecy (taking all the centuries of the past into
consideration) of Revelation 18.
And so the reality at the end of the day is that this
prophecy of Revelation 17 and 18, is the BABYLON POWER OF EUROPE
with THE WOMAN "CHURCH" - THE BABYLON MYSTERY RELIGION OF ROMAN
CATHOLICISM, riding this last end-time
political/economical/religious system.
She will come to power relatively quickly, and be so great
on the world scene it will take your breath away. She will be the
world's greatest trading and economical power that will do
wonders in making some people very wealthy.
This end-time Babylon will be the "king of the north" in
Daniel 11, who will come and destroy the "king of the south" -
the Arab confederacy. Then march into the Holy Land, and take
Jerusalem - Daniel 411:40-45. THEN there shall be a time of
trouble as never was on the earth - Daniel 12:1. It is the same
time Jesus spoke about (Mat.24:24) and Jeremiah wrote about
(Jer.30:7). The GREAT TRIBULATION will begin. The Western world
will come under the heal of this end-time, 7th resurrection of
the Holy Roman Empire. It will deal in slavery and the lives of
people. It will kill many of the saints of God for one more time,
before Jesus returns. Other of the Lord's people will have to
flee to the wilderness. The two witness of God will preach in the
city of Jerusalem. Then into the Day of the Lord, this power will
try to conquer the people of the East (the 5th trumpet of
Revelation 9). But it will not succeed, just as it did not
succeed before in World War 1 and 2. The power to the East will
counter attack (the 6th trumpet of Revelation 9) and THAT POWER
TO THE EAST will be God's hammer to SMASH, BLAST, and bring
DESTRUCTION on Europe.
And so we are back in Revelation 18, at the time of this
Babylon Mystery Religion Empire being DESTROYED, and the
merchants of the earth wailing and weeping over her.
Chapter 17 and 18 are chapters that "clue us in" on this
mighty end-time Beast power and tell us about her destruction in
the blowing of the 6th trumpet. They are "clue us in" and
"destruction" INSET chapters that have taken us back to the 6th
trumpet sound.
The 17th and 18th chapters of Revelation are CONNECTED -
they are two parts of the WHOLE. And chapter 17th is proved by
history to be the Roman Catholic church - a woman whore - riding
the empire or Beast, which had SEVEN head resurrection (the 7th
yet to come in full reality) in history called the Holy Roman
Empire. Every one of those resurrection was in Europe. The 7th
and final resurrection will be in the same geographical area of
the planet - Europe! It's ALREADY THERE, but the woman/beast has
not yet reached full maturity, but it will, in God's time plan,
He can hold it back from maturing for as long as He wishes,
according to how long He wants the church of Jesus Christ to do
its work, before He closes the door on their teaching and
preaching of His word, to the nations of the world. The world
wide INTERNET is of the greatest tools to proclaim the full
Gospel, but when the woman rides the Beast for one last time, and
as I have been VERY PLAIN as to who this woman is, you can be
assured this Website will disappear off into outer-space, and
there will be a time of SILENCE, for the last 42 months of this
age, except for the Elijah to come, and the two witnesses
in Jerusalem.
There is one more important voice that comes from heaven
saying, "COME OUT OF HER MY PEOPLE, THAT YOU BE NOT PARTAKERS
OF HER SINS, AND THAT YOU RECEIVE NOT HER PLAGUES!" (verse 4).
Do YOU love God's Word, do you fear and tremble in the right
way, before the Almighty? Do you desire to DO HIS WILL and live
His commanments. The Eternal wants to give you eternal LIFE with
Him, but you must be willing to see the deceptions of Babylon
and COME OUT OF HER!
THE WOMAN THAT RIDES THE BEAST
If you need IN-DEPTH proof and reading material,
the Roman Catholic church being the "woman that rides the beast"
at the time of the end, then you need to read "A Woman Rides the
Beast" by Dave Hunt (no relation to me). This large, (over 500 pages)
book was published in 1994, by Harvest House Publications. It may
still be in print, or Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.com may have
copies, or your local Public Library may carry it. The book is
LOADED with facts and histories to prove the "woman whore" of
Revelation is the Roman Catholic church.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Now, in chapter 19 we are brought forward again to the very
coming of Christ IN THE CLOUDS with His army, to battle, and have
"the supper of the great God" (verse 17).
John hears the voice of "much people" (Green in his
English/Greek Internilear translates "a voice of a crowd") - not
human people for humans do not go to heaven at death - saying,
"Alleluia; Salvation, glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord
our God: True and righteous are His judgments: for He has judged
the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her
fornications, and has avenged the blood of His servants at her
hand." And again they said: "Alleluia." and her smoke rose up for
ever and ever, and the four and twenty elders and the four beasts
fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying,
"Amen; Alleluia"
(verses 1-4).
John hears another voice coming out of the throne area,
saying: "Praise our God, all you His servants, and you that fear
Him, both small and great." He hears as it were the voice of a
multitude, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of many
thunders, saying: "Alleluia; for the Lord God omnipotent
REIGNETH. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for
the MARRIAGE of the LAMB is come, and His WIFE has made herself
ready" (verses 5-7).
Here we are in the time frame and scene of Jesus coming for
His bride the true church of God, and the marriage feast is
taking place. What a BLESSED AND WONDERFUL time that will be.
Finally the saints of all ages are resurrected or if alive at
Jesus' coming, CHANGED from mortal to immortal, from human to
divine, from corruption to incorruption. It is the time of what
Paul was inspired to tell us about in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
It is the last trumpet sound, the RESURRECTION takes place, the
angels gather together the saints from the four corner of the
earth (Matthew 24:30,31). It is the time of 1 Thessalonians
4:13-18. The angels will gather the saints and lead them to
Christ in the CLOUDS, in the AIR of this planet. The BRIDEGROOM
and the BRIDE shall be together, the marriage of the Lamb to His
bride has come! What GLORY, what SPLENDOR, the angels sing, a
display of fireworks like no other display blazes away. The
HAPPINESS, the JOY, the PRAISES, the SINGING, the heavenly choir
thunders out the news and the approval. At last the time has now
come for Jesus the Christ, with His bride and the angels, to TAKE
RULERSHIP over the nations of the earth.
Jesus' bride, the Church of God, all of them, each
individual is dressed in CLEAN, WHITE, linen, which represents
RIGHTEOUSNESS! (verse 8).
They will be BLAMELESS before Christ and God the Father. No
sin will be found in them. No sins will be mentioned, they are
clean and white, pure and holy. You need to read my study (if you
have not done so) called "The Truth about Judgment Day" and
understand it correctly.
John says he was told: "Write, BLESSED are they which are
called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. These things are the
true sayings of God" (verse 9).
John falls at the angels' feet to worship him, but is told
not to do so, for the angles are like his fellow servants and
brethren, that have the testimony of Jesus; all are to worship
only God. And the testimony of Jesus Christ is the "spirit of
prophecy." Those in Christ, at the time of the end of this age,
will KNOW the prophecy of Jesus, they will understand, the truth
of the matter will be shown to them, they are the ELECT that
cannot be deceived. They will know the prophecy of Jesus, they
will know who the true servants of God are and who the false
teachers are.
JESUS COMES AS KING AND LORD
John sees heaven open, and behold a white horse and He that
sat upon it was called FAITHFUL and TRUE. He is coming in
RIGHTEOUSNESS to JUDGE and make WAR!!
This is not the little Lord Jesus in a manger in a stable,
this is not the bloody and battered Lord shedding His blood on
the cross. This is the MIGHTY, the POWERFUL, the ONE who can make
RIGHTEOUS WAR, who can JUDGE with righteousness the nations and
the people of the earth. He is the ONE who can perfectly decide
who are to be DESTROYED of those on earth who are destroying the
earth.
His eyes are as a FLAME of FIRE; on His head are MANY CROWNS
(He is King of kings); and He has a name that no human knows,
only He Himself. He is clothed with a tunic dipped in blood (He
will now spill the blood of the armies of the world who come to
fight Him); and His name is called "The WORD OF GOD." He is the
very living word of God, the PERFECT ONE!
Oh yes, He has His armies also, just like the world and the
Beast power and the people from the East, will have their armies,
so Jesus will come with His mighty armies of saints and angles.
What a scene, the armies of the Lord will ride white horses, be
clothed in white raiment, clean and white (verses 11-14).
Put yourself in the mind-eye picture, can you imagine the
scene? It is the battle of the ages. It is the battle like no
other battle. It is the battle to STOP men from destroying the
earth. It is the time as Jesus said, that unless those days were
CUT SHORT, no flesh would be saved alive, the people of the earth
would indeed obliterate themselves from off this planet.
But the days will be cut short. Jesus will come with His
army. At the command of His voice (a sharp two edged sword) He
will SHOUT the battle CRY! His army will come down from the
clouds with a mighty thunderous shout, the heavens will be
ablaze, the lightnings flashing here and there. What the world
(and especially the human armies at the place called Armageddon,
led by Satan, by the man "beast" general, the man "false
prophet") will believe is the forces from another planet, an
invasion from outer space, will in fact be the GLORIOUS,
POWERFUL, MIGHTY, SPECTACULAR, JUDGE of the nations, Jesus the
Christ, the Messiah, coming to RULE with a ROD of iron, and to
tread out the winepress of the fierceness and WRATH of ALMIGHTY
GOD!!
The prophecy of Zechariah 14 will be! It has now come to
pass, it is now a reality in our New Testament Bible Story.
Jesus has come. On His vesture and on His thigh is the name
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
The armies of the Beast power in the Holy Land, and the
armies of the Eastern powers, from the other side of the
Euphrates, will have collected themselves together at the plain
called Armageddon. They will have their state-of-the-art space
age rockets and tanks, and their fast nuclear weaponed planes and
all the latest war machines that man has invented, to that time
in history. They will be ready to DO BATTLE!
But it will be NO CONTEST! Jesus will say the word, and all
the people of the armies there to fight Him, all their flesh
shall MELT off their bones. The blood will flow from Armageddon
like a river for 183 miles, going south, passing Jerusalem, and
on down to the land below. Indeed the time has then come in
Revelation 19 that was foretold long ago by Zechariah - chapter
14 (verses 14-16).
THE END FOR THE BEAST AND FALSE PROPHET
We still step back a little in time. God wants to give
emphasis! An angel standing in the sun, cries out: "COME YE FOULS
OF THE AIR, GATHER TOGETHER FOR THE SUPPER OF THE GREAT GOD, That
you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and
the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and they that sit on
them. the flesh of all, both small and great, free and slaves."
Yes, that GREAT WAR of the end of the age has come. The
rubber is going to hit the road. The acid test has come. The
beast man and the kings of the earth, and their armies are
gathered together (verses 17-19).
The BATTLE is under way! THE BEAST MAN IS TAKEN, TOGETHER
WITH THE "FALSE PROPHET" MAN, who wrought miracles. Yes, Satan
will have his miracle working man on earth also, just as God will
have His two miracle working men - the two witnesses in
Jerusalem.
Jesus will take these two evil men - the beast man and the
false prophet man, and they will face capital PUNISHMENT. They
will both be THROWN INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE - they are now DEAD,
dead as a door nail!
The armies of these two end-time evil men with be slain. He
who sits on the white horse - Jesus the Christ, will speak the
word and the armies of mankind will be slain. The fowls of the
air will have their feast of the supper of the Great God (verses
20-21).
It only remains now for the Devil, for Satan to be chained,
and God's promised ONE THOUSAND YEARS of the age of RESTITUTION
will commence. The AGE TO COME, is about to start!
...................
To be continued
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