Continued from:
This is speaking of the
reforming of the old Roman Empire. Presently the old Roman Empire has been
reformed by ten common market nations in Europe today. There are more
currently, but only 10 will come to prominence during the end time. In my
opinion, these "ten horns" are those ten common market nations. The
headquarters for these ten nations is in Rome.
These rulers of a ten
nation federation will unite to give their political authority and military
power to the beast to conquer the earth and make war against Christ (16:14;
19:19) The purpose of Satan through the Beast and fellow kings is to establish
an invincible kingdom that Christ cannot overcome when He returns. But Christ
is King of all kings, and will overcome the beast and his kingdom when He
returns (19:11-21). Those who follow Christ are called and chosen by Him, and
faithful to Him (19:7-8, 14).
At this point in his
career the Beast will have total control of the world, for he will command ten
"kings" who rule the nations of the earth: 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.
These are of one mind,
and they give their power and authority to the beast" Then the Beast's
kingdom starts to come apart. He hears rumors of insurrection, which fill him
"with great fury to destroy and annihilate many," in Daniel's terminology
(Dan. 11 v.44).
It is to fulfill
prophecy. Kings and Kingdoms, good and evil, have to do exactly what God wants.
Sometimes they are not even aware of why they are doing it. God puts the idea
into their head, while all the time, they think it is their clever idea.
He marches to the
Valley of Megiddo, where he meets other armies of the world, and there they do
an amazing thing as we see in the next scripture.
17:14 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.
These shall make war
with the Lamb. Make War with the Lamb This will occur when these kings kill His
faithful followers and come out to fight against Christ in the Battle of
Armageddon. Armageddon Those who join with Christ to overcome them are called
"chosen, and faithful," titles used in other Scriptures to describe
true believers (1 Pet. 2:9).
You see, as has been
said so many times before, we Christians are in a battle. Our leader is (Jesus
Christ). We are fighting a very real enemy. The devil and his demons are our
enemies. This war we are in is a war of the spirit. We must come against the
devil in hand to hand combat everyday. Our weapon is the two edged sword (Bible).
This war is fought by
an army of believers who always have their weapon (Bible) at their side.
Besides having it at their side, they have its contents inside of them (their
food is the Word of God). When they are in hot combat, the sword comes from
their mouth. They are willing to lay down their lives for the cause of Jesus.
The flag we Christians
fly is the banner of righteousness. It is red because of the blood of our
leader, it is white because of the righteousness of believers, and it is blue for
our heavenly calling. This is a voluntary army. This battle is in the final
hours before the return of the Lord. This army will be made up of boys, girls,
men and women. God has called a vast army, as He did in Gideon's day.
This group will be sold
out completely to God. They will be willing to give up homes, family, friends,
wealth, and position in their community to work for God. They will be loyal to
Jesus even to the death. They will have a peculiar uniform described in
Ephesians chapter 6. This uniform will be provided to us by our Lord (Jesus).
Loins girded about with truth, breastplate of righteousness, feet shod with the
preparation of the gospel, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and sword of
the Spirit which is the Word of God.
The big difference is
that this army will have patches on their knees. This battle will be fought
with much prayer (on our knees). You see this victory is the Lord's. We must
fight the good fight. Give it everything you have. The war is peaking now. God
needs good Christians who will not compromise for any reason. The battle is
hard, but the rewards are beyond comprehension; a home in heaven forever with
Jesus and the opportunity to hear Him say, "Well done thy good and
faithful servant".
You see, we soldiers
shall be kings and priests (Rev. 1 v.6; Rev 5 v.10), but He will be Lord and
King over all. We are the called, chosen and faithful. Hallelujah!
17:15 And he saith unto
me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and
multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
The Prostitute
Explained - Then the angel explains to John the meaning of the water on which
the woman is sitting: It is the peoples of the earth. Peoples, multitudes,
nations, and languages designate all humanity in the book of Revelation. As in
the saying, "sea of humanity"
Those who are followers
of the evil system will be from all nations. There will be hundreds of millions
lost.
17:16-17 "And the
ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and
shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with
fire." "For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to
agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be
fulfilled."
The Coming Destruction
of the Babylonian Prostitute Babylonian Harlot -The Antichrist will permit the
one world (apostate) church to govern his actions during the first three and
one half years of the Tribulation while he is gathering more and more power. One
World Religion But in the middle of the Tribulation, when he feels he can
become an autocratic ruler, he and the ten kings will throw off the prostitute
because, in reality, while being dominated by her, they "hate the
prostitute".
None of the world's political
leaders have enjoyed subjugation to religious leaders, but have continued in a
servile role only for expediency. When it is no longer necessary, the ten kings
will "bring her to ruin and leave her naked", meaning they will
confiscate her temples, her gold, and her costly apparel. In so doing, they
will unwittingly be the instruments of God in destroying this awful Babylonian
system once and for all: "For God has put it into their hearts to
accomplish his purpose."
Here, we see these evil
ten nations turning against the world and the world church. This power, these
evil nations have been, and are being used to rule the little people. This fire
speaks of war. These ten nations will do away with this church, even though it
is the apostate church.
When Will the
Prostitute Religion Be Destroyed - The religious Babylon of Rev. 17, which is
destroyed, comes in two parts. One occurs during the first part of the
Tribulation when the governmental system of Babylon (pictured as this ugly
"beast") is gaining world control but has to permit the
"prostitute" to sit on and ride the beast. We see this as meaning she
exercises a degree of control over the Babylonian system by bringing the
nations of the world under her idolatrous religious power.
During the first half
of the Tribulation she incurs the wrath of the ten kings who see her use the
authority of the Antichrist to advance her religious causes. So they plot to
kill her. The reason we know this killing of the prostitute of "mystery
Babylon" is done in the middle of the Tribulation is twofold:
"The deadly
wound" of Antichrist is healed by the indwelling of Satan himself,
simulating the resurrection of Christ, in the middle of the Tribulation.
From then on the world
does not worship mystery Babylon but the image of the beast. The False Prophet
will do away with all religion except the worship of Antichrist Satan, which he
will enforce. That begins in the middle of the Tribulation, that's described in
Rev. 13. This is the time when people will have to take the mark of the beast
and swear their loyalty to the beast of face death. No middle ground, either
accept Jesus or accept the beast.
Since the woman who
rides the beast gets her authority from the beast, the Holy Spirit uses this
description to show how religious Babylon and governmental Babylon are so
intertwined they are presented together. However, they are destroyed at
different times. The prostitute (religious Babylon) is destroyed by "beast
and the kings of the earth," who "hate the prostitute" and kill
her.
Next week is the last part of this series.
Written by Jennifer Auld
