Daniel and
Revelation - Revelation Chapter 17
CHAPTER -- XVII --
Babylon - The Mother (Excerpt
taken from Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897-1911 Editions)
VERSE 12. And the
ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as
yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 13. These
have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 14.
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is
Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they that are with him are called, and
chosen, and faithful.
The Ten Horns. - On
this subject, see remarks on Dan. 7:7, where they are shown to represent the
ten kingdoms that arose out of the Roman empire. They receive power one hour
(Gr. wra, hora, an indefinite space of time) with the
p 706 -- beast; that
is, they reign a length of time contemporaneously with the beast, during which
time they give to it their power and strength.
Croly, in his work
on the Apocalypse, offers this comment on verse 12: "The prediction
defines the epoch of the papacy by the formation of the ten kingdoms of the
Western empire. 'They shall receive power one hour with the beast.' The translation
should be, 'in the same era.' (mian wran). The ten kingdoms shall be
contemporaneous, in contradistinction to the 'seven heads,' which were
successive."
This language must
refer to the past, when the kingdoms of Europe were unanimous in giving their
support to the papacy. It cannot apply to the future; for after the
commencement of the time of the end, they were to take away its dominion to
consume and to destroy it unto the end (Dan. 7:26); and the treatment which
these kingdoms are finally to bestow upon the papacy, is expressed in verse 16,
where it is said that they shall hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked,
eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. A part of this work the nations of
Europe have been doing for years. The completion of it, burning her with fire,
will be accomplished when Rev. 18:8 is fulfilled.
These make war with
the Lamb. Verse 14. Here we are carried into the future, to the time of the
great and final battle; for at this time the Lamb has assumed the title of King
of kings and Lord of lords, a title which he does not assume till his second coming.
Chapter 19:11-16.
*******
William Grotheer-
Attention must also be
directed to "the ten horns." (17:12) These ten horns are "ten
kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power (authority) as
kings one hour with the beast," not with any "head" but with the
beast itself when he appears with his "wife." The parallel prophecy
is not the ten horns of the nondescript beast of Daniel 7 - these were reduced
to seven - but rather with the ten toes of the image of Daniel 2. Again the
identification must wait the "final rapid movements" as they reign
only "one hour" with the beast.
The text states that
these "ten horns" have one mind and shall give their power (dunamis)
and strength (exousia) to the beast. One must ask with a bit of wonderment,
how do the "spirits of devils" effect such a unity when for more than
six thousand long years, Lucifer in his rebellion has sought to create
confusion and discord? In fact the very name of "that great city"
Babylon has come to mean confusion. The text gives the answer - a Sovereign God
"puts in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their
kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled."
(17:17)
The oneness of these
ten horns leads them to unite in "the war (polemos) of that great day of God Almighty" (16:14). In
this final phase they now join in the last battle of the "war in
heaven" where Michael and His angels fought against the dragon, when at
its climax there came the cry, "Now is come salvation, and strength (dunamis),
and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ." (12:7, 10) This
final battle of the war involves "the remnant of [the woman's] seed."
Trusting in the blood of the Lamb, they remain "called, and chosen, and
faithful." The Lamb, coming forth to rescue His bride, overcomes the ten
kings "for He is Lord of lords and King of kings." (17:14; 19:11)
When the powers of
earth see that they have been beguiled and deceived by the final religious
union, "these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked,
and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire." (17:16)
The name of the
"whore" that "great city" which reigned over the kings of
the earth - "Babylon the Great" - should be given consideration. The
name comes from Babel where God confused the languages and dispersed the
"gathering together" of man to defy the God of heaven. (Gen. 11:9)
Because of this, the name has stood for confusion. However, Brown Driver &
Briggs, in their Hebrew and English
Lexicon of the Old Testament, note that the Assyrian, written Babili,
means "gate of god." (p. 93, art. babel) While God uses strong language
in describing the departure from truth - harlotry - the deception in reality
will be so great that the whole world, apart from a small remnant, will be
swept through this delusive "gate of god" to perdition.
*******
I've said it before
and I need to say it again…
THE MAJORITY WILL DIE.
The majority of
CHRISTIANS will die.
FEW will be saved.
NARROW is the way.
ALL but the very elect
are deceived.
These are TRUTHS!
We have to ask
ourselves if we are in the majority, if we belong to the mainstream, if our
religion is one of popular belief, if we refuse to study in depth and
seriously, then perhaps we are going to be among the deceived.
The truth, the
Biblical truth is seriously that the majority of Christians are not Christ's
followers at all. And we know this because our Savior tells us this Himself. He
will utter the words- "I never knew you."
Mat_7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never
knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
We are studying
prophecy and no, we don't have all the answers at all whatsoever, but we are
studying and trusting in our Savior to reveal all the truth we need to know.
By His grace…we will
continue.
Please, Lord, let us
be among the few, the elect, among those You know.
All through Your
love and grace, now and forever!
AMEN.
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