Monday, December 28, 2015

We wait, we watch, we hope.

Daniel and Revelation - Revelation Chapter 17

CHAPTER -- XVII -- Babylon - The Mother   (Excerpt taken from Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897-1911 Editions)

VERSE 6. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.   7.   And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 

Cause of Wonder. - Why should John wonder with great astonishment when he saw the woman drunken with the blood of saints? Was persecution of the people of God any strange thing in his day? Had he not seen Rome launch its most fiery anathemas against the church, himself being in banishment under its cruel power at the time he wrote? Why, then, should he be astonished, as he looked forward, and saw Rome still persecuting the saints? The secret of his wonder was just this: all the persecution he had witnessed had been
p 704 -- from pagan Rome, the open enemy of Christ. It was not strange that pagans should persecute Christ's followers; but when he looked forward, and saw a church professedly Christian persecuting the followers of the Lamb, and drunken with their blood, he could but wonder with great amazement.

VERSE 8. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.  9.   And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.  10.   And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.  11.   And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

Rome in Three Phases. - The beast of which the angel here speaks is evidently the scarlet beast. A wild beast, like the one thus introduced, is the symbol of an oppressive and persecuting power; and while the Roman power as a nation had a long, uninterrupted existence, it passed through certain phases during which this symbol would be applicable to it, and during which time, consequently, the beast, in such prophecies as the present, might be said not to be, or not to exist. Thus Rome in its pagan form was a persecuting power in its relation to the people of God, during which time it constituted the beast that was; but the empire was nominally converted to Christianity; there was a transition from paganism to another phase of religion falsely called Christian; and during a brief period, while this transition was going on, it lost its ferocious and persecuting character, and then it could be said of the beast that it was not. Time passed on, and it degenerated into popery, and again assumed its bloodthirsty and oppressive character, and then it constituted the beast that "yet is," or in John's day was to be.

The Seven Heads. - The seven heads are explained to be, first, seven mountains, and then seven kings, or forms of government; for the expression in verse 10, "And there are seven kings," should read, and these are seven kings. "Five are fallen," says the angel, or passed away; "one is;" the sixth
p 705 -- was then reigning; another was to come, and continue for a short space; and when the beast reappeared in its bloody and persecuting character, it was to be under the eighth form of government, which was to continue till the beast went into perdition. The seven forms of government that have existed in the Roman empire are usually enumerated as follows:   (1)   kingly; (2)  consular; (3) decemvirate; (4) dictatorial; (5) triumvirate; (6) imperial; and (7)   papal. Kings, consuls, decemvirs, dictators and triumvirs had passed away in John's day. He was living under the imperial form. Two more were to arise after his time. One was only to continue a short space, and hence is not usually reckoned among the heads; while the last, which is usually denominated the seventh, is in reality the eighth. The head which was to succeed the imperial, and continue a short space, could not be the papal; for that has continued longer than all the rest put together. We understand, therefore, that the papal head is the eighth, and that a head of short continuance intervened between the imperial and papal. In fulfilment of this, we read that after the imperial form had been abolished, there was a ruler who for about the space of sixty years governed Rome under the title of the "Exarch of Ravenna." Thus we have the connecting link between the imperial and papal heads. The third phase of the beast that was, and is not, and yet is, is the Roman power under the rule of the papacy; and in this form it ascends out of the bottomless pit, or bases its power on pretensions which have no foundation but a mixture of Christian errors and pagan superstitions. 

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Now another view….

This beast is described as "was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition." (17:8) This past, present and future designation parallels the same description for "the Almighty" who "is, and which was, and which is to come" (1:8); but with distinct differences. In contrast to the One who "is to come," whose kingdom the dragon-beast has challenged, this beast goes into "perdition," or destruction (20:10) The kingdom of God is confirmed by the power of His Christ.

The first section (Chapters 2-11) of the book of Revelation closes with three Woes. During the time of the Second Woe, "the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit" is introduced. (11:7) He operates just prior to the Third Woe - which cometh, "quickly." The final Woe marks the close of all human probation, and the pouring out of "the wrath of God." (11:15 - 19) If then, the activities of the beast designated in Revelation 11 are amplified in Chapter 17, the time frame for the fulfillment of the events in Chapter 17 is established - "the last remnant of time."

"The beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven". Note carefully, that while the eighth, he is not of the seventh, but of the seven. He is the power which, though invisible, has operated through all seven heads. Now he assumes openly his claim of rulership of the kings of earth gathered together to a place called in the Hebrew tongue, Har-Mo'ed. (16:13-14, 16)

This brings us to a review of who are the seven heads.

Various interpretations have been set forth.

One must keep in mind that the controversy between the dragon and the woman who gave birth to the Man-Child goes back to the first gospel promise (Gen. 3:15) which is symbolically represented in the vision which introduce the second section of Revelation (12:1-3 ). Further, the scope of the book included those who sing the song of Moses as well as the Lamb (15:3).

This binding of the Bible together as a unit with Moses standing for the Old Testament times, and Jesus Christ for the New Testament is an established concept. (John 1:17; Heb. 3:5-6)

Thus the warfare of the dragon-beast against the people of God must begin with the persecution of the corporate body by Egypt.

Understanding the definitive declaration of the angel as being expressed from John's POINT OF TIME (17:10), the five which had fallen were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia and Grecia. One was, Rome - Pagan and Papal - and one yet to come, and he was to "continue a short space."

The reason I suggest the sixth head as pagan-papal Rome as a viable exegesis of this definitive declaration is that in the Book of Daniel, the two are placed as one. The "little horn" of Daniel 7, ever remains a part of the non-descript beast. The "little horn" of Daniel 8 represents both phases of Rome. But what is represented by the "head" that continues a "short space"? Is it the second beast of Revelation 13, or the "image" formed? Regardless which power is chosen, following this, the dragon - "that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan" - appears in person asserting his right of rulership - he "is."

We next turn our attention to the woman.

Instead of eisegetically reading into the symbol
p 3 -- the traditional concept from the Reformation and the Millerite Movement, let us see just what the Scripture is saying.

The "woman" is designated as "that great city" (17:18), or Babylon the great. By pursuing this avenue of revelation, we observe that "that great city" in its fall is to be divided into three parts (16:19).

Further, there are three symbolic powers, out of whose mouths come "unclean spirits" (16:13-14) which assemble "the kings of the earth and the whole world" to a place called in the Hebrew, Har-Mo'ed, or Mount of the Congregation.

Perceiving this scarlet-colored beast to be the symbolic representation of Satan's literal appearing as the long looked for Messiah of Judaism, and the "Coming King" of Christian tradition, coincides with God's revelation of Lucifer's intent. He purposed in his heart "to sit also upon the mount of the congregation (har-mo'ed), in the sides of the north." (Isa. 14:13) This is defined as mount Zion, "the city of the great King." (Ps. 48:2)

Again, you have a contrasting aspect of the prophecy of Revelation. While the rulers of earth are gathered on earthly Mount Zion, which Jesus declared to be desolate (Matt. 23:38), there is portrayed another gathering on the heavenly mount Sion - the 144,000 with the Lamb (14:1). Those who refuse to bow to the false Christ, are honored by the true Christ through Whom they overcome and by Whom they are delivered (12:11; 17:14).

Now let us return to the three parts of Babylon. As we seek to find an answer, we need to keep
in mind that any interpretation must be tentative, and can only be TRULY KNOWN AS THE SCROLL UNROLLS.

However, it is interesting to observe that the one which Bible prophecy designates as a key player in the final drama of earth - the Papacy - speaks not only of Jerusalem, but of that city as the source of reverence of three monotheistic religions - Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.  '

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As the scroll unrolls.

We live waiting for the scroll to unroll to the point of our Savior's return. We watch, we see the horrors of our world unfolding. We are told that our world has always been barbaric and yes, it has since sin entered. It was so incredibly barbaric that God destroyed all the evil people in a flood.  He didn't outright destroy ALL people because there was a promise made when sin entered the world- a promise of a redeemer. A Savior would save mankind as evil as it was and is. As it was in the days of Noah… it would be in the end. And it's not so much that we are creating coliseums and holding spectator sports of torturous murder, our evil is hidden under many disguises and not so blatantly exposed. We catch glimpses of that evil from time to time, serial killers are exposed, crime syndicates are revealed, every bit of horror that creeps daily into our news feeds, horrors we cringe from and quickly click away from, those are tiny bits of what has filtered to the surface and nothing of what is still hiding underneath.  Our evil is every bit as horrific as all previous generations, the worst of the worst.   We watch the signs we are told to watch, we are praying for deliverance, we long for our Savior to return.

I read something recently about God allowing the bad, the pain we live in (emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually) as it truly does remind us that THIS world is NOT the home we long for.  

As we continue our study we are waiting for the scroll to unfold and by the grace of God all we read will help us to be ready for our Savior. Prayerfully all we are studying now will aid us in our future leading us ever closer to our God.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior, now and forever! AMEN!




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