Understanding the Book of Revelation, Part 6

Well, brethren, I think most of you here know that we've been going through the Book of Revelation in a lot of detail in a series of sermons, and we will continue doing so today. And again, I will not disappoint you. I have some questions to ask you. So we have a little quiz to begin with as an introduction to today's sermon. I've been covering, I suppose you realize, questions from the last sermon each week. So all of these questions I'll ask you we covered in the sermon last week. They were all answered. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that you remember them. And I understand that because these are tough questions. But I think it does help cement into our minds some of these things when we ask questions and we consider these questions. So if you know the answer, great! That's wonderful. If you don't know the answers, don't be discouraged. Just try to commit them to memory a little bit more as we go through this series of sermons.

First question. What was to be completed in the seven last plagues? Revelation chapter 15 talks about what was to be completed in the seven last plagues. Or another way to ask this question, or what filled up the seven bowls of Revelation 15? What filled up the seven bowls of Revelation 15? The answer is the wrath of God. The wrath of God is what filled up the seven last plagues or what filled up the seven bowls of Revelation 15. So this is at the end, at the very end of the day of the Lord, the wrath of God is being poured out and completed in the seven last plagues.

Second question. Who did John see standing on the sea of glass? Do you remember who John saw standing on the sea of glass? Well, he saw those who had victory over, number one, the beast, number two, the beast's image, number three, the mark of the beast, and number four, the number of the beast's name. So total victory over the beast. That's who he saw standing on the sea of glass. So these are faithful men and women who have not bowed down before the image of the beast or the beast itself, the mark of the beast or the number of the beast. That's who John saw standing on the sea of glass.

Question three. What two songs were those on the sea of glass singing? They were singing a couple of different songs. One was the song of Moses, that was one, and the other one was the song of the Lamb, the song of the Lamb and the song of Moses.

Question number four. Who gave the seven angels the seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God? Who gave the seven angels the seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God? Well, it was one of the four living creatures. It doesn't say which one, but it was one of the four living creatures that it talks about in the book of Revelation.

Question number five. Describe what was going on in the heavenly temple at the time the seven golden bowls were given to the seven angels. See, these are kind of tough, aren't they? Describe what was going on in the heavenly temple at the time the seven golden bowls were given to the seven angels. Well, the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God at that time, from the glory of God and His power, and no one was able to enter into the temple until the seven last plagues were completed. So the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and His power, and no one was able to enter in until the seven last plagues were completed. Question number six. You knew this one was coming.

Describe the first bowl plague. Describe the first bowl plague. The first bowl plague, describe it. Those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped the beast's image were plagued with loathsome sores. Those who had the mark of the beast. So it's not a good idea to have the mark of the beast, is it? It really isn't. Even though everyone's going to think it is, not a good idea. Because those who have the mark of the beast and those who worship the beast's image will be plagued with loathsome sores. So there will be a great movement to get on the bandwagon with the beast and the beast's power. And those who do will be plagued. Because of it, God will plague them. On the other hand, those who resist will be protected by God or they will certainly be blessed by God in various ways.

One is they won't have the loathsome sores that will be poured out upon those who do have the mark of the beast. Question number seven, describe the second bowl plague. Describe the second bowl plague. The sea is turned to blood and every living creature dies. The sea is turned to blood and every living creature dies. According to the book of Revelation, chapter 15, 16. Question number eight, describe the third bowl plague. Describe the third bowl plague. The rivers and the springs of water become blood because man had shed the blood of the prophets. It says in the Bible that God used this plague because man had shed the blood of the prophets and God was giving them blood to drink, for it was their due. God says they deserved to drink this blood because they had killed the prophets.

So the rivers and springs of water will become blood. Question number nine, describe the fourth bowl plague. The angel poured his bowl out on the sun and power was given to scorched men with fire and so they were scorched with great heat. They were scorched with great heat according to the fourth bowl plague. Question number ten. Question number ten, what was the reaction of the people who were scorched with great heat? What was the reaction of the people who were scorched with great heat? Did they bow down and begin to worship the true God, ask for forgiveness, humble themselves? No, they did just the opposite.

They blasphemed God's name and they did not repent and they did not give God glory. Question number eleven, describe the fifth bowl plague. In this plague, the angel pours out his bowl on the throne of the beast. The beast kingdom is full of darkness at this point and there was also great pain upon the followers of the beast's power. Great pain and darkness upon the beast and those who followed the beast. That's the fifth bowl plague. Describe the sixth bowl plague. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the river Euphrates and its water dried up so the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. The sixth angel pours out his bowl on the river Euphrates, its water dries up so the ways of the kings of the east might be prepared. Question number thirteen, what was the purpose of the three unclean demonic spirits that came from the mouth of the dragon, the beast and the false prophets? Remember, there were three demonic spirits, one each coming from the dragon, the beast and the false prophet. Their purpose was to perform signs that would go to the kings of the earth to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

So this was a part of the sixth bowl plague around that same time period. They were being gathered to the battle of the great day of God Almighty. Question number fourteen, on whom is promised a blessing in Revelation 16? There's a blessing that's promised in Revelation 16. It is upon he who watches and keeps his garments white and clean. That's another purpose for me giving these sermons so that you will be watching and also keeping your garments white and clean. The book of Revelation is a fascinating book. It covers many prophecies as we know, but it also underscores the importance of righteous living, faithful living. There is a blessing upon he who watches and keeps his garments white and clean. Now, normally I would stop at 14, but I've decided to give you two bonus questions. Two bonus questions today. Number fifteen, where did the armies gather for that last great battle?

Actually, that's an easy one, right? We've all heard about this. Where did the armies gather for the last great battle? Actually, it's the Valley of Jezreel, isn't it? But the Battle of Armageddon. Question number sixteen, describe the seventh bowl plague.

This is when the seventh angel pours his bowl into the air, and a loud voice from the heavenly temple says, it is done. Then there were noises, thunderings and lightnings and a great earthquake, such as has not ever been seen on earth since man was created. I'm sure these little Oklahoma earthquakes are nothing in any way compared to the great earthquake that will take place when the seventh bowl plague is poured out. So at this time Babylon falls, the city will fall into three parts. Now, it's speaking about actually Rome, which is Babylon. The city will fall into three parts. Every island will flee away, and the mountains will not be found, and great hail will fall upon the earth.

So again, some very tumultuous, cataclysmic times coming in the future. How far into the future we have no idea, really. We can speculate. There's certainly a lot going on on the world seeing that will undoubtedly one day lead into these things, one way or the other. There are things happening now that will have an effect on these things that will occur in the future, no matter how long it takes. So again, today we're going to continue the book of Revelation. I believe this is part six of the book of Revelation, understanding the book of Revelation. So let's begin in Revelation 17. This is a very fascinating book. Revelation 17. Beginning in verse 1, Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with John, saying to me, Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters.

Now that would be pretty interesting, wouldn't it, to come and see that. I'm sure that John was quite intrigued by that. Come see the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters. I might point out in verse 15 of the same chapter, Then he said to me, The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues. Another example of the Bible interpreting itself. We may have a question about something. Oftentimes it's answered if we just read in context.

The waters that it talks about here are peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues. Many different nations, many different tongues. So the great harlot has a lot of influence.

Verse 2, With whom the kings of the earth committed fornication.

Sexual immorality. Now this is primarily talking about spiritual immorality, spiritual adultery to this great harlot. Instead of following God and the true church, following Christ as the head of the church, many nations, many peoples, many languages have been following the great harlot, a great religious leader and entity or system that has been followed for many, many years now. And this is the judgment that's going to come upon the great harlot who sits upon many nations and peoples with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication or idolatry. Instead of worshiping God, they were involved in this false worship, this system of worship. And the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So many peoples were deceived. They were made drunk. They were intoxicated by this great harlot, by this religious system, this false religious system. Just as Revelation 12 talks about a woman as the true church, Revelation 17 talks about a great false church.

Verse 3, So he carried me away, this angel carried John away in the spirit into the wilderness.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, these visions were being opened up to John. And he was taken here and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast. Now, Revelation 13, we talked about the beast and the image of the beast. We also talked about how the image of the beast is actually a religious entity or system. There's a combining of church and state. The state system, the Roman Empire, and also this great false church that's been around for thousands of years, one way or the other, in different forms. So I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast. So again, there's a union here of this scarlet beast, this beast power, and the woman, which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. So this, again, it relates to chapter 13, where it talks about the beast that has seven heads and ten horns.

And remember, the second beast was the one that was depicting this great harlot that we're talking about now. So there's many parallels here.

Oh, by the way, I might point out I forgot to go to Jeremiah 51, but in Jeremiah 51, back in verse 1 of chapter 17, where it talks about the great harlot that was on many waters.

If you've noticed, Jeremiah 51, it talks about Babylon dwelling by many waters. So there are a number of parallels. This was a physical parallel, the ancient Babylon. But also, these are prophecies that will be fulfilled. Jeremiah 51 verse 13. Jeremiah chapter 51 verse 13.

Notice in verse 12, it's talking about when he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon, "'O you who dwell by many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come.'" Again, this is a prophecy that's going to be fulfilled in the future, and it parallels the prophecy of Revelation 17 and 18. "'O you who dwell by many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come.'" See, Babylon actually had the river Euphrates running through Babylon.

It ran through ancient Babylon, and she was the center of a series of irrigation canals, spreading out in every direction. So there was a physical fulfillment that also is spiritual one, in that it's talking about all the nations that she influenced.

Now in Revelation 17 verse 3, we'll go back there, where it talks about full of names of blasphemy. This is a reference to the many gods of the Roman Empire. There were many gods of the Roman Empire that were being worshipped. And of course, this was just a continuation of Babylon mystery religion. In fact, if you've never seen the book Babylon Mystery Religion, this is by Ralph Woodrow, I think is the guy's name, yes. Ralph Woodrow. He wrote this book, and obviously this book is going to take a lot of heat. There's going to be many, many critics of a book like this, because it brings out actually many, many facts, but there's going to be a lot of opposition. So this book has been greatly maligned, you might say. And I'm not saying that everything in it is 100% accurate, either. I'm not saying that, but I'm pretty sure that a lot of it is pretty accurate and pretty on target. And he also, Ralph Woodrow, used Alexander Hislop and the two Babylons as one of the major sources.

But he has a huge bibliography in here, or a huge, yes, a huge bibliography, goes through many different notes and who he quotes from various chapters, goes to a lot of commentary.

So I think it certainly bears reading, and it's quite interesting indeed regarding Babylon Mystery Religion by Ralph Woodrow. So this, Full of Names of Blasphemy, has a reference to the gods of the Roman Empire. It's also a reference to the many titles of the emperors of Rome. And I think the last time we talked about some of those titles, they took upon themselves divine titles. The emperors did. They considered themselves gods. One even called himself the savior of the world. So there was a lot of those types of blasphemous names attributed to the Roman Empire and the emperors of that empire.

Also in the Revelation of John, Volume 2, by William Barclay, he says, if the woman is Rome, and he believes it is, if the woman is Rome, clearly the beast is the Roman Empire.

If the woman is Rome, we'll see that, but it's also indicative of the great church that came from Rome. So he said, if the woman is Rome, clearly the beast is the Roman Empire.

Now let's go back to Revelation 17. We'll continue reading here. Revelation 17. Revelation 17, verse 4, The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. So some very graphic language about this woman who was arrayed in various finery. It's a reference to the luxury of Rome, and anyone who studied the Roman Empire knows that there was tremendous wealth in the Empire. The golden cup full of abominations is reminiscent of Jeremiah 51, verse 7. Let's go back to Jeremiah 51, verse 7. The golden cup full of abominations is reminiscent of Jeremiah 51, verse 7. There are many other references in the Old Testament that could be brought out, but I don't want this series of sermons to last too long. In Jeremiah 51, verse 7, let's read verse 6 along with it.

It says, Flee from the midst of Babylon, and every one save his life. Do not be cut off in her iniquity, for this is the time of the Eternal's vengeance. See, the Bible is amazing because there are so many interconnections with Revelation, the Book of Revelation, and the prophets of Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Ozziah, Joel, Zechariah, and so forth. They talk about these things that are also referenced in the Book of Revelation.

For this is the time of the Lord's vengeance. He shall recompense her. Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand that made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine. Therefore, the nations are deranged.

Now, God is in control. God has allowed these things for a reason, to test people, because God is building a family. He's developing a family, and these are ways to test the people of God. All people are people of God, but some are more so than others at this time, obviously.

But here it says, they made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine. Therefore, the nations are deranged. They're intoxicated. They're out of their heads. They can't think straight.

Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed. Whale for her, take balm for her pain. Perhaps she may be healed.

We would have healed Babylon, it says in verse 9. But she is not healed. For sake her and let us go, everyone to his own country. For her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies.

Verse 10, the Lord has revealed our righteousness. Come and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.

So you can go back and read various references in the writings of the prophets and you'll find parallels, things that are written that coincide with those things that are written in the book of Revelation.

So in this verse we see again that Rome is a continuation of Babylon and Rome has spread immorality all over the world. Now this Babylon mystery religion goes into the beginnings of this Babylonian mystery religion which began in Babylon. Remember Nimrod was the leader of the first, basically the first nation that was organized and put together. And it talks about Nimrod and Semiramis, his wife. In fact, now might be a good time to read a little bit of this to you.

Basing his conclusions on information that has come down to us in history, legend and mythology, Alexander Hislop, I'm reading from page 9 of this book by Ralph Woodrow, he said, Alexander Hislop, who wrote the two Babylons, has written in detail of how Babylonian religion developed around traditions concerning Nimrod, his wife Semiramis and her child Tammuz. When Nimrod died, according to the old stories, these old legends, his body was cut into pieces, it was burnt and sent to various areas. Now we have read a particular instance in Judges 19 where a woman was cut up into pieces and sent around. Well, following his death, which was greatly mourned by the people of Babylon, his wife Semiramis claimed that he was now the sun god. So we're going back thousands of years into history to the time of Nimrod.

This goes back to chapter 10 in the Bible, Genesis chapter 10. Semiramis claimed that he was resurrected and that he was now the sun god. Later, when she gave birth to a son, she claimed that her son Tammuz by name was there, he wrote Nimrod Reborn. The accompanying cut shows a picture of Tammuz here and how she came to be represented in classical art.

The mother of Tammuz had probably heard the prophecy of the coming Messiah to be born of a woman, for the truth was known from the earliest times. Remember Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, was a prophecy of Jesus Christ to be born. Semiramis claimed her son was supernaturally conceived and that he was the promised seed, the Savior. So there was a counterfeit from the very earliest days with Nimrod and his wife Semiramis and their child Tammuz. In the religion that developed, however, not only was the child worshipped, but the mother was worshipped also. And we know there is still a great religion, a large religion, a big religion where the mother is even worshipped today and there are statutes of Mary. Much of the Babylonian worship was carried on through mysterious symbols. It was a mystery religion.

It is quite fascinating when you travel the world and you go to different museums and you see the art that's depicted and so much paganism and also sexual things that are intertwined.

This book makes a lot of sense, really, when you consider the holidays that we have today.

Where did they come from? Why the strange customs? Why Halloween? Why Easter eggs and the Easter Bunny? There are reasons for that. There are things that go on in today's modern society that have origins. We would be blind not to consider some of the reasons behind why we do the things that we do today. Why do we keep Christmas on December 25? Why, again, would there be a Halloween where there are witches and goblins and vampires and every other demonic thing? Werewolves? We think we live in a modern society today, but there are so many things going on today that have their roots in paganism. Again, this book is fascinating. Much of the Babylonian worship was carried on through mysterious symbols.

It was a mystery religion. The golden calf, for example, was a symbol of Tammuz, the son of the sun god. Since Nimrod was believed to be the sun god or bale, fire was considered as its earthly representation. Thus, as we shall see, candles and ritual fires were lighted in his honor. In other forms, Nimrod was symbolized by sun images, by fish, by trees, by pillars, by animals. Centuries later, Paul gave a description which perfectly fits the course that the people of Babylon followed. When they knew God, they glorified him not as God, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. They changed the truth of God into a lie and they worshipped and they served the creature more than the Creator. For this cause, God gave them over to vile affections. That's Romans chapter 1, 21 through 26. There are reasons why we see even some of the lifestyles that we see today. God gave them over to vile affections, things that were unnatural, which today this world is trying to make it seem natural. But it isn't. Homosexuality is not natural. It isn't. It's an aberration and it's because man has chosen to reject God and follow Satan. This system of idolatry spread from Babylon to the nations for it was from this location that men were scattered over the face of the earth as Genesis 11 verse 9. Remember the Tower of Babel? Babylon? You know, I'm not going to go into all of that, but as they went from Babylon, they took their worship of the mother and child and the various mystery symbols with them. There's so much that could be read in here. It is fascinating reading, but I'm not going to read it to you. If you want to study it, get the book. Study it. Get on the Internet. I'm sure there's tons of information regarding the origins of the pagan holidays and the Babylon mystery religion.

Okay, let's go back to Revelation 17 again. Revelation 17. But when you understand the Bible, the world makes sense. The world makes sense when you understand the Bible. When you understand what the Bible has in it in terms of history and also prophecy, the world really makes sense. You can understand why people keep Christmas, why they keep Easter, why there's a Halloween, and why the Bible talks about mystery, Babylon the Great. Those who have studied history a lot understand this better than those who haven't, because it's throughout history. You can see these things. There's this depiction of Semiramis and also the mother and child religion, and that type of thing. It's in all societies.

They just call them different names in different societies. Egypt has, I think it's Horus and Isis, and different societies have their own representation or depiction of these pagan ideas. Now verse 5 of Revelation 17. In honor of forehead, a name was written, Mystery Babylon the Great. This wasn't something someone dreamed up. It comes out of the Bible. Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth. Now it is a valid question to ask if this is a mother of harlots, who are the harlots? If this is the mother, then who are the children or the daughter of harlots? That is a good question to ask. So you've got a great false church, who is called the Great Harlot, or the mother of harlots. She is a mother of many others that have followed along in many respects. Maybe they don't keep everything the same way, but they've kept a lot of things like Sunday worship. Those religions that came out of the Great Roman Catholic Church, they keep many of the same customs that were kept in those days.

They keep many of the same holidays. So the Bible is here for those who want to read it and believe it. Verse 6, I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. So John sees this woman depicted here as drunk with the blood of the saints. So this is talking about persecution upon God's people. Certainly the church has persecuted the chosen ones of God, the true Christians of God. They have been certainly persecuted. This is very likely, speaking of what had taken place during the time of Emperor Nero. Nero was an emperor of Rome, and he had the Christians—in fact, I'll read a little bit out of here. This is from Barclay. I think it's page 145. Page 145 of Barclay talking about Nero. He says, No doubt John is thinking of the persecution which took place under Nero. The Neuronic persecution sprang from the great fire in A.D. 64, which burned for a week and devastated Rome. The people of Rome were convinced that the fire was no accident. They were also convinced that those who tried to extinguish it were hindered and that when it died down, it was deliberately rekindled. So someone wanted the city to burn. And they were also convinced that the instigator of the fire was Emperor Nero. Nero had a passion for building, and the people believed that he had deliberately burned down the city in order to rebuild it, so that he would be known as a great builder of the city. Nero had to find a scapegoat to divert suspicion from himself, and so he fixed on the Christians. This was the first great persecution and in many ways the most savage of all. Barclay now quotes Tacitus' description in full because it is one of the few passages in pagan literature where the name of Christ occurs. So I'd like to read from Tacitus, from the Annals of Tacitus. He says, All human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the Emperor Nero, and the propitiation of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration, talking about the fire in Rome, was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations called Christians by the populace. Christus, or speaking of Christ, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out, not only in Judea, the first source of the evil now it's speaking of the evil of Christ being the Son of God and so forth. Tacitus was no true Christian. So he's looking at this as another source of evil that started in Judea and was passed along about Christ being a Messiah. But even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular.

So he's saying that Rome is the center of all things. It was the center of shipping at the time.

All countries were shipping into Rome. At the height of the Roman Empire, it was said that anything that could be found could be found in Rome. In other words, anything on the earth that existed could be found in Rome because everything was brought to Rome. From the far-flung parts of the earth, ships would go and they would bring things back to Rome.

And people could go to Rome to see anything that existed on the earth because it was such a powerful city. It was the headquarters of the Roman Empire. Where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular.

Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty. Then upon their information an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city as of hatred of mankind. So they claimed that the Christians hated mankind. Hate crimes.

Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burned to serve as a nightly illumination when daylight had expired. Hence, even for criminals, in other words, they made human torches out of the Christians. Hence, even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion, for it was not as if seemed for the public good, but to glot one man's cruelty that they were being destroyed. So Nero was largely responsible for a great persecution, and John was aware of that persecution. And he could have certainly been having this in mind. But also there's going to be a fulfillment in the times ahead as well.

So I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, and when I saw her, I marveled with great amazements. I'm not going to go into the Crusades, but you're probably familiar that there were many Crusades that were put on in the name of Christianity, where many people were killed. Not that they were all true Christians, because they weren't in many cases, but certainly some were.

Verse 7, But the angel said to me, Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.

The beast that you saw was and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit. And go to perdition, and those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the book of life, from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was and is not and yet is. Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits. Now, it is well known that Rome has seven hills, so it certainly believe that this is a reference to the city of Rome that has seven hills. But it's obviously also talking about government. It's talking about governments, seven heads and seven kings, which were the heads of governments throughout history. And I don't have time to go through all the Roman history, and I'm no expert on the Roman Empire and the history. But if you want to study into that more, you can get Barclay's book on the Revelation of John.

And there are a number of other books that talk about the Roman empires, and go through the various emperors, and what this may have meant back in the time it was written. Because again, generally there is a former fulfillment and a latter fulfillment. So there are seven kings, five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.

The beast that was and is not is himself also the eighth and is of the seven and is going to perdition. The ten horns, which you saw, are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast.

So again, we see a union here of ten horns or ten kings who didn't have a kingdom, but then in the last days they will receive a kingdom, but they will give their authority over to the beast.

And it will be a short time. It uses the term one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. So we see a great unity here between another resurrection of the Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, and that great false church, and the leader of that great false church. All of this will come to pass in the future. And I'm sure those of us who have eyes that are open will see what is happening as it begins to develop in greater ways.

These are of one mind. They will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them. So in the end, of course, we do win. The Lamb will win. Those who follow the Lamb will win. But before that, there will be a time that will get real scary upon the earth, and there will be tremendous fear upon the earth, and there will be a great movement to join with the beast and the beast's power. Those who are Christians at this time will have to resist the temptation.

They will have to put their hearts and minds on spiritual matters and not on their flesh. Because if they are going to try to save their flesh, then as the Scripture says, they will lose perhaps even their eternal life.

So it is important, obviously, that we strive to prepare ourselves as much as we can for difficult times ahead. If we happen to be alive during these times, and we have to make choices regarding following the beast's power or not following the beast's power, protecting the flesh, or instead keeping our hearts and minds focused on the spirit, remember that in the end, the Lamb will overcome them, and those who follow the Lamb will overcome them.

And no matter how powerful this beast is, God is certainly more powerful, and it is God to whom we should show all of our allegiance. They will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful. So God is calling people, those who respond will be chosen by God, and they will need to remain faithful. So are you one of the called, the chosen, and the faithful? If you are, then you will be with Christ at His return.

If you happen to be alive and manage to survive physically through this, then you will be changed at the return of Christ, a spirit being. Regardless, you will be one who is called, chosen, and faithful. Then He said to me, The waters which you saw where the harlot sits are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. So this is a worldwide government. The beast power will rule over the world. And the ten horns, verse 16, which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot.

So evidently there will be a time in the beginning where there will be a unity, but they will turn on the church. The state will turn on the church. And the great false prophet. The ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot.

They will make her desolate and naked. They will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. Now this is symbolic writing, but it's talking about this beast power will turn against the image of the beast at a particular time here, and this harlot will be destroyed. Verse 17, for God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, so they will turn against each other. There will be a unity for a while, but it won't last. And they will turn against each other, because God is directing this.

For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose to be of one mind and to give their kingdoms to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled. So men that would normally not be willing to humble themselves and follow the beast will willingly give over their power to make the beast's power even greater and more powerful. And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth. This is talking about Rome, or primarily it's talking about the Babylon mystery religion, which Rome was a successor to Babylon.

Okay, let's go on into Chapter 18. I'm going to check my time here. I'll make sure I'm going to go a little bit further. Chapter 18.

After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven having great authority and the earth was illuminated with His glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit and a cage for every unclean and hated bird. It just shows how completely Babylon is going to fall and how it's going to be destroyed and is going to be everything ugly and hated.

Verse 3, For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.

Now Babylon itself was destroyed. The city was destroyed, but Rome was in a sense a resurrection of Babylon, of the Babylonian mystery religion. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, unless you receive of her plagues.

For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquity. Certainly God has remembered Babylon the Great. In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure, give her torment and sorrow.

I was reading about Rome and the power that Rome had. At the height of its power, it was talking about how there was so much wealth and so much money that they would actually they would melt down pearls and they would eat pearls.

I don't know if I can find that section in here, but it was talking about, I guess it was in here, they would melt the pearls down. I was talking about how Cleopatra ate an 80,000 pound pearl. It was worth 80,000 pounds in English. That would be a large pearl to eat. 80,000 monetary pounds. It was worth that much money and she had it melted down and ate it supposedly. This was from Barclay, who was English, William Barclay. He was writing in pounds. Let's see, I don't know if I can find this or not.

Let's see, chapter 18. Okay, I'll be there in just a minute. Oh, here it is. I had it marked. There we go. Okay, talking about the wealth of Rome, the long peace, the safety of the seas and the freedom of trade had made Rome the entry for all peculiar products and delicacies of every land from the British Channel to the Ganges. Pliny talks of a meal in which in one dish India was laid under contribution in another Egypt, Cyrene, Creed, and so forth. Juvenile speaks of the seas peopled with great keels and of greed during ships on expeditions to every land. Merchandise is brought from every land and sea, everything that every season begets and every country produces, the products of rivers and lakes, the arts of the Greeks and the barbarians, so that if anyone were to wish to see all these things, he would either have to go visit the whole inhabited world to see them or to visit Rome. So many great ships arrive from all over the world at every hour, at every season that Rome is like some common factory of the world, for you may see such great cargoes from the Indies or, if you wish, from the blessed Arabia's that you might well conjecture that the trees there have been stripped naked, clothing from Babylon, ornaments from the barbarian lands, everything close to Rome, merchandise cargoes, the products of the land, the emptying of the mines, the product of every art that is and has been, everything that is begotten, and everything that grows. If there is anything you cannot see at Rome, then it is a thing which does not exist and which never has existed.

The money possessed and the money spent was colossal. One of Nero's freedmen could regard a man with a fortune of 652,000 pounds as a pauper. Apopecisius swandered a fortune of 1,000,000 pounds in refined debaltory and committed suicide when he had only 100,000 pounds left because he could not live on such a pittance. In one day, Caligula squandered the revenues of three provinces amounting to 100,000 pounds, and in a single year scattered broadcast in prodigal profusion 20,000,000 pounds. Nero declared that the only use of money was to squander it. In a very few years he squandered 18 million pounds. At one banquet of his, the Egyptian roses alone cost 35,000 pounds. It was just under squandered. He had What I want to do is to just look at, of course, how glorious, how bountiful Rome was, and to see it fall. Now, how does that today, what do we see? We see the world economies. We see Wall Street. We see billionaires. People with basically, they couldn't get rid of all their money if they tried to. They've got so much money, a few people. There's a lot of money on the earth today as well. So there is a lot of parallels between ancient Rome and what we see today and what we're going to see in the future in terms of the wealth and the great fall that's going to happen when it does come down around our ears. In verse 6 it says, back to chapter 18, render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works in the cup which she has mixed, mixed double for her.

In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow, for she says in her heart, I sit as queen and am no widow and will not see sorrow. So again, we see someone that has a tremendous amount of pride and arrogance. Therefore her plagues will come in one day and she will go down very quickly, death and mourning and famine, and she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. God is the one who is judging Babylon. He is judging the United States of America and all the wealth that we squander today when people are starving, and in other lands people are dying, children are dying, and yet people live with great luxuriousness. The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her when they see the smoke of her burning. Standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour your judgment has come. So this shows a picture of people who have gotten behind the beast power, they've gotten behind the great harlot that had a union with the beast power. They saw them fight and destroy one another, but they also saw this Babylon falling completely as God intervenes and judges her. For in one hour your judgment has come, and the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more. Merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon and incense, fragrance oils and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flowers and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men. So it's talking about anything and everything, basically. They were filled, they were completely filled up with everything.

They had so much luxuriousness and things that they had that they were controlling on the face of the earth. Verse 14, The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all. So a complete devastation of Babylon, the merchants of these things who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing.

In saying, Alas, Alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, for in one hour such great riches came to nothing. Every shipmaster, all who traveled by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea stood at a distance, and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What is like this great city? They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, Alas, that great city in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she is made desolate. Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her.

Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and threw it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found any more. The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you any more. No craftsmen of any craft shall be found in you any more, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you any more. It's just talking about the complete devastation of Babylon. God is going to destroy Babylon completely, and of course Christ is going to finish anything that needs to be finished at His return. The light of a lamp shall not shine in you any more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you any more. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.

And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.

So again, it's just a it shows a description of the Babylon mystery religion that has been around for thousands of years, a counterfeit religion, and also a great state religion, along with a combination of church and state in these last days, as there was a combination of church and state during the time of the Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church doesn't have near the power that it once had, but it's still pretty powerful. There's still millions and millions and millions of people that are still a part of that faith.

And when times get hard, there will probably be many others who will join with that beast power and with the false prophet. So it's interesting to speculate on how this is all going to come about.

We can read the Bible, we can read it verse by verse, we can understand it to some degree.

We can know that it's true, that what it says is true, and that it will take place, that it will happen. Babylon is going to fall. We also know that the nations of Israel are going to fall before Babylon falls. The modern-day Israelites are going to fall, Judah is going to fall, but then God is going to have it all fall in the end, and only God will reign supreme. Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. We will read that in chapter 19. We're not going to go there today. But if you can take some time to read into Babylon, this book by Ralph Woodrow, or one similar to it, and also there's the Revelation of John by Barclay goes into some of the history. Of course, it may not all be accurate, either. It was his assessment of what these things meant.

The part about seven kings, five have fallen, one is, the other is not yet come. He goes into a description of that, but I'm not so sure it's 100% accurate, so I'm not necessarily going to go into that with you. But I know these scriptures will come to pass. They will be fulfilled.

I have faith that the book of Revelation is going to be fulfilled as God has written it.

Again, the most important thing for us to be doing is to show ourselves workmen that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Studying the Bible, going to God in prayer, asking for direction and guidance and wisdom so that we can understand these things as they happen around us. If we happen to be alive, some of us may be alive when everything begins to be fulfilled. Certainly, the stage is being set. There are earthquakes in various places around the world. There have been beginning of sorrows now for many years, but they are multiplied today.

The earth is a bit more precarious. If Israel does decide to strike Iran, there will be repercussions. Depending on how successful Israel is, when they do that, everything could really escalate very quickly when something like that happens.

We just don't know. All we can know is that God's word is true. Continue to study the Bible, and we'll continue to go through the book of Revelation, probably the next time we get together.