The 4 Persons Podcast

THE BOOK OF REVELATION PART 19

In chapters 17 and 18, we saw two images of evil that were connected. We saw the city of Jerusalem, depicted as a great whore and we saw the city of Rome (and it's empire) depicted as a 7 headed beast.
 
 
 
Now, we turn our focus to the entity that replaced them both- the church.
 
 
 
After this I heard what seemed to be the mighty voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying,
 
“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,2 for his judgments are true and just; he has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”3 Once more they cried, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”
 
4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And from the throne came a voice crying,
 
“Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.”
 
I have read that there are 260 chapters in the New Testament. Out of those 260 chapters, only 1 contains a very special word to Catholic worship.
 
 
 
The word is Alleluia or Hallelujah.
 
 
 
The Word literally means Praise the Lord, Jah, which is a short form of the name of God- Yahweh.
 
 
 
Praise the Lord comes from the Hebrew word Hallel.
 
 
 
This is a throwback to the Psalms. In particular, Psalms 108-110 which are literally known as the Hallel or praise psalms.
 
 
 
Psalm 110 is particularly relevant here
 
 
 
The Lord says to my lord: "Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool.”
 
2 The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes!3 Your people will offer themselves freely on the day you lead your host upon the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning like dew your youth will come to you.4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, "You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchiz′edek.”
 
5 The Lord is at your right hand;  he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth.7 He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore, he will lift up his head.
 
 
 
These Psalms were seen as prophesying the restoration of the nation of Israel. This is something many in our modern world are still pointing forward to as a coming event.
 
 
 
John, in Revelation 19, is heralding this moment as having arrived upon the fall of the city of Jerusalem.
 
 
 
How do we know this is the fulfilment? What is the binding tie?
 
 
 
Melchizedek.
 
 
 
Why does the Book of Revelation pick this particular time and place to hearken back to the Haleel psalms? It is because of this particular connection. We have already been told in this book that God is establishing a royal priesthood to reign on earth but Psalm 110- the last of the Haleel psalms tells us the particular order. It is the order of Melchizedek.
 
 
 
Who is Melchizedek? I'm glad you asked.
 
 
 
He is the first priest to appear in the Bible. He appears long before- centuries before- the priesthood of Aaron was even a thought, and he appears quite out of the blue. It's recorded in Genesis chapter 14
 
 
 
17 After his return from the defeat of Ched-or-lao′mer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 18 And Melchiz′edek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said,
 
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; 20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
 
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
 
 
 
The first thing that strikes you is that Melchizedek shows up out of the blue and is identified as a priest of God. At this point, you could rightly ask What's a priest?
 
 
 
Secondly, he is identified as the King of Salem. Salem would later become Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.
 
 
 
Much later.
 
 
 
Melchizedek is being called a priest about 500 years before the priesthood of Aaron and he is being called a King of (Jeru)salem literally 1000 years before David, the first King.
 
 
 
As if that were not enough, the offering Melchizedek offers- bread and wine- would not be seen for about another 1,000 years when Jesus Himself offered them on Holy Thursday, April 2nd, 33 AD, in the upper room on the last supper.
 
 
 
As we mentioned, we see Melchizedek appeared out of the blue in Genesis 14. However, the 'King of Salem' then vanishes from scripture for a thousand years until he is mentioned in Psalm 110 by the actual first King of Jerusalem, David.
 
 
 
When do we hear about Melchizedek again? Believe it or not, there is no mention of him until the Book of Hebrews, a book written about the same time as the Book of Revelation!
 
 
 
 
 
What is written about Melchizedek is in chapters 6 and 7 and it only adds to the mystery.
 
 
 
6 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchiz′edek.
 
7  For this Melchiz′edek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him; 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, and has neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest for ever.
 
4 See how great he is! Abraham the patriarch gave him a tithe of the spoils. 5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brethren, though these also are descended from Abraham. 6 But this man who has not their genealogy received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 Here tithes are received by mortal men; there, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchiz′edek met him.
 
11 Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levit′ical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchiz′edek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13 For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.
 
15 This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchiz′edek, 16 who has become a priest, not according to a legal requirement concerning bodily descent but by the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is witnessed of him,
 
“Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchiz′edek.”
 
18 On the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
 
20 And it was not without an oath. 21 Those who formerly became priests took their office without an oath, but this one was addressed with an oath,
 
“The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind,‘Thou art a priest for ever.’”
 
22 This makes Jesus the surety of a better covenant.
 
23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues for ever. 25 Consequently he is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
 
26 For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28 Indeed, the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect for ever.
 
So, in order to unpack this, we must summarize all that we know about Melchizedek.
 
A priest of God
The King of (Jeru)salem
Worthy of receiving the tithe
brought an offering of bread and wine
No beginning, no end, no genealogy
A priest forever, unlike the priesthood of Aaron.
 
 
 
If you cannot see Jesus, Himself here, you have to at least see the strongest typology imaginable, in this shadowy person called Melchizedek.
 
 
 
What is really powerful and fully catholic is the recognition of the true sacrifice of value in Melchizedek's order. Bread and Wine.
 
 
 
Bread and Wine which become the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus in the Catholic Mass.
 
 
 
This is the clear message John gives us right here.
 
 
 
6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying,
 
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;8 it was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure”—
 
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
 
9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”
 
and at every Catholic Mass, as the Sacred host is raised, the priest says these words Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
 
 
 
10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
 
There is Our God. Not the Angel announcing or the priest presenting on the altar. Our God, Our Lord, Our King. Fall down on your knees before the Sacred body, elevated by the priest.
 
 
 
Priest: The Body of Christ
 
Us: Amen!
 
 
 
The single most powerful act of worship available to us.
 
 
 
I do not know what a non-Catholic can even do with this. It is so obvious what the marriage supper of the lamb is.
 
 
 
The overpowering part of this mystery is how the harlot and the beast actually- and fully unintentionally- participate in the salvific plan of God. Through their persecution, through their brutality, the martyrs are saved. A brutality the martyrs are able to conquer, because of the sacrifice He bought with His blood. What the devil means for evil, God uses to save us.
 
 
 
If you are not moved by this, you do not have a pulse.
 
 
 
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself. 13 He is clad in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, followed him on white horses. 15 From his mouth issues a sharp sword with which to smite the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords.
 
Cue up "Onward, Christian soldiers"
 
 
 
The Kingdom of Heaven is established on earth. Israel is reestablished but in a whole new way. The 12 tribes are now the descendants of the 12 apostles. Mary is the New Ark of the Covenant and Jesus is the New Davidic King, The King of Jerusalem, The Priest in the order of Melchizedek. His armies are arrayed for battled, to conquer the world in a new and different way.
 
 
 
17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly in midheaven, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, 18 to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who sits upon the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had worked the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with brimstone. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword of him who sits upon the horse, the sword that issues from his mouth; and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.
 
God's church overcomes the Beast- Rome- just like it overcame the harlot- Jerusalem. This is not the end of time. This is the infancy of the church age being portrayed here. This is the Roman beast that is conquered here. The antichrist comes later, as you will see. This is the start of God's Kingdom on earth, initiated in 33 AD, now fully implemented with Jerusalem and Rome cast down.
 
 
 
Join us next time for part 20.
 
 
 
 
 

THE BOOK OF REVELATION PART 18

 1 And after these things, I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power: and the earth was enlightened with his glory. 2 And he cried out with a strong voice, saying: Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen; and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every unclean spirit, and the hold of every unclean and hateful bird: 3 Because all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her; and the merchants of the earth have been made rich by the power of her delicacies.
 
Verses 1 and 2 hearken to Isaiah chapter 21
 
 
 
7 And he saw a chariot with two horsemen, a rider upon an ass, and a rider upon a camel: and he beheld them diligently with much heed. 8 And a lion cried out: I am upon the watchtower of the Lord, standing continually by day: and I am upon my ward, standing whole nights. 9 Behold this man cometh, the rider upon the chariot with two horsemen, and he answered, and said: Babylon is fallen, she is fallen, and all the graven gods thereof are broken unto the ground.
 
 
 
Pretty tough not to see the imagery of the Lion crying out and the rider upon an ass as pointing towards Jesus. As you know, He rode an ass on His entry into Jerusalem. This is very important because it directly links the warning of the fall of Babylon with Jesus. Jesus' warnings about Jerusalem's demise were stark.
 
 
 
In Matthew's Gospel, chapter 24, verses 1 and 2, Jesus predicts the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, exclaiming that not one stone (Lithos meaning little pebble) will be left upon another. In verse 34, He predicts correctly that it will happen within one generation (40 years).
 
 
 
In verses 15-22, He gives His famous warning that those in Judea should flee to the mountains. This dire warning is echoed in Mark's and Luke's Gospels.
 
 
 
Luke 21
 
20 And when you shall see Jerusalem compassed about with an army; then know that the desolation thereof is at hand. 21 Then let those who are in Judea, flee to the mountains; and those who are in the midst thereof, depart out: and those who are in the countries, not enter into it. 22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things may be fulfilled, that are written. 23 But woe to them that are with child, and give suck in those days; for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword; and shall be led away captives into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles; till the times of the nations be fulfilled. 25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves; 26 Men withering away for fear, and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world. For the powers of heaven shall be moved;
 
 
 
The imminence of these warnings and their urgency cannot be overstated and John repeats them even more urgently in verses 4-8 of Chapter 18 of Revelation.
 
 
 
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying: Go out from her, my people; that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and the Lord hath remembered her iniquities. 6 Render to her as she also hath rendered to you; and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup wherein she hath mingled, mingle ye double unto her. 7 As much as she hath glorified herself, and lived in delicacies, so much torment and sorrow give ye to her; because she saith in her heart: I sit a queen, and am no widow; and sorrow I shall not see. 8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine, and she shall be burnt with the fire; because God is strong, who shall judge her.
 
These are yet more verses that anticatholics use falsely against us. Once again, every sentence proves the sins are past, the judgement is current, and the wrath is imminent. John is literally conveying the angel's message to get out now! This is not a warning for centuries down the road.
 
 
 
 
 
9 And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and were wanton with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning; 10 they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,
 
“Alas! alas! thou great city, Thou mighty city, Babylon! In one hour has thy judgment come.”
 
11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo any more, 12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.
 
14 “The fruit for which thy soul longed has gone from Thee, and all thy dainties and thy splendor are lost to thee, never to be found again!”
 
15 The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,
 
16 “Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, bedecked with gold, with jewels, and with pearls! 17 In one hour all this wealth has been laid waste.”
 
And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning,
 
“What city was like the great city?”
 
19 And they threw dust on their heads, as they wept and mourned, crying out,
 
“Alas, alas, for the great citywhere all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth!In one hour she has been laid waste.20 Rejoice over her, O heaven,O saints and apostles and prophets,for God has given judgment for you against her!”
 
Those who have tried to juxtapose the whore of Babylon on the Catholic church apparently missed these verses. Never has Vatican city even approached the riches that were Jerusalem's. The annual tribute paid to King Solomon for example was 666 talents of gold (1 Kings 10:14). The number is not a coincidence. By today's standard, that is just shy of $3 Billion dollars in annual tribute.
 
 
 
What is even harder to fit with the Vatican, and easy to fit with Jerusalem, is that the whore is a large import/export city dealing with the Kings, merchants and sailors of the earth.
 
 
 
Considering it's proximity on the Mediterranean, it's vast wealth and the specific products associated with this area, Jerusalem is the only fit of John's time.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,
 
“So shall Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and shall be found no more;22 and the sound of harpers and minstrels, of flute players and trumpeters, shall be heard in thee no more;and a craftsman of any craft shall be found in thee no more;and the sound of the millstone shall be heard in thee no more;23 and the light of a lamp shall shine in thee no more; and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall be heard in thee no more;for thy merchants were the great men of the earth, and all nations were deceived by thy sorcery.24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth.”
 
 
 
I alluded to this earlier. Though anti-catholics can falsely claim that the Roman Catholic church has the blood of saints inside her, even they cannot argue that it can be said the Catholic church is guilty of the blood of the prophets nor of the blood of all who have been slain upon the earth, up to at least the time of John. Remember, anticatholics claim the Roman Catholic church did not even exist at that point.
 
 
 
So, what city can be held to account for the blood of the prophets? What city can be held to account for all those slain on earth? I will let Jesus answer for you in His own words.
 
 
 
Luke 13
 
33 Nevertheless I must walk to day and to morrow, and the day following, because it cannot be that a prophet perish, out of Jerusalem. 34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent to thee, how often would I have gathered thy children as the bird doth her brood under her wings, and thou wouldest not? 35 Behold your house shall be left to you desolate. And I say to you, that you shall not see me till the time come, when you shall say: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
 
Matthew 23
 
31 Wherefore you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are the sons of them that killed the prophets. 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, generation of vipers, how will you flee from the judgment of hell? 34 Therefore behold I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them you will put to death and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city:
 
Verse 35 exactly parallels Revelation 18:24 and proves that all of this occurs to Jerusalem in 70 AD
 
35 That upon you may come all the just blood that hath been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just, even unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar. 36 Amen I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.
 
 
 
Revelation 18: 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
 
 
 
The case I just made is impenetrable. You now know the truth. God will not hold you blameless if you continue to persist in this slander. The whore of Babylon is Jerusalem. Period. Full stop.
 
 
 
Join us next time for Part 19

THE BOOK OF REVELATION PART 17

Just who is the Harlot of Babylon?
 
 
 
 
 
Chapter 17 :1 And there came one of the seven angels, who had the seven vials, and spoke with me, saying: Come, I will shew thee the condemnation of the great harlot, who sitteth upon many waters, 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication; and they who inhabit the earth, have been made drunk with the whine of her whoredom.
 
 
 
The first thing to note is that John is not just told by the Angel that he is simply about to show him the great harlot but that he will show him the condemnation of the great harlot. The Greek word is Krima and indicates a sentence that has already been handed down. The harlot has already been found guilty and John is present, not for the crimes, not even for the trial, but for the sentence. The harlot is being sentenced in 68 AD (I will demonstrate that that is when this is written).
 
 
 
This is the first proof that John's vision refers to an entity that existed in 68 AD when his vision occurred, and said entity had committed crimes before then.
 
 
 
The first premise of anti-catholic interpretation of these chapters is that this vision refers to something in the distant future, long beyond John's years. As you will see, that is a man-made construct that runs directly counter to the text.
 
 
 
Verse 1 says the harlot sits on the many waters (peoples, nations et v15) It is a combination of the Greek word Kathemi- meaning to sit and a modifier that specifically denotes present tense. Present tense, folks. 68 AD. Verse 2 says The Kings of the earth have had intercourse. Have had intercourse. This is from the Greek word porneue and a modifier indicating active tense. These things are occurring even as John sees the vision in 68 AD.
 
 
 
Anti-catholics who say the harlot is the Catholic church, literally must explain why John is using the wrong words here and this is actually a far-future event. The same is true with "they who inhabit the earth" Present tense. "Have been made drunk" Active tense. That the whore, the kings and the inhabitants of the earth all existed in the 1st century is unarguable from the standpoint of the etymology of the words.
 
 
 
Since the whore represents the religious world having spiritual intercourse with the pagan world, the allusion of Jerusalem and Pagan Rome, respectively, is impossible to escape and there are just pages and pages of Scripture to support this.
 
 
 
In Isaiah Chapter 1, the prophet heralds a warning that he specifies as pertaining to Jerusalem. In verse 21, He says:
 
 
 
21 How is the faithful city, that was full of judgment, become a harlot? justice dwelt in it, but now murderers.
 
Jeremiah 3:6 6 And the Lord said to me in the days of king Josias: Hast thou seen what rebellious Israel hast done? she hath gone out of herself upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and hath played the harlot there.
 
There are many others I could cite but the point is clear. In God's Holy Word, Israel in general and Jerusalem were referred to as the harlot too many times to count.
 
 
 
We continue.....
 
 
 
3 And he took me away in spirit into the desert. And I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was clothed round about with purple and scarlet, and gilt with gold, and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of the abomination and filthiness of her fornication. 5 And on her forehead a name was written: A mystery; Babylon the great, the mother of the fornications, and the abominations of the earth.
 
 
 
First, we must address the beast because this is a typology that cannot be missed. In Revelation 12, we first see the Seven-headed, ten horned beast that wages war against the Child of God and His Mother. That beast is specifically identified as Satan. Here again, in chapter 17, we see the seven-headed, ten horned beast but as we will see, it is associated with "Kings of the earth". In other words, this beast is a Kingdom that the Whore (Jerusalem) was currently riding upon in a spiritual sense. Again, the woman is sitting- present tense. This kingdom, by comparison, represents the very evil and malice of Satan himself as it is portrayed as the same dragon. This kingdom can be none other than pagan Rome.
 
 
 
Detractors of the Catholic church like to seize on verse 4 and the golden cup- which they allude to the communion chalice, and the purple and scarlet- which they infer to be the official colors of the Catholic church. Let me deal with the last point first. The official colors of the Catholic church are Gold and White. True, Priestly vestments have been Red and Purple but they have also been Gold, White, Black, Green, Rose and multiple other colors. This allusion is very tenuous at best. They have a slightly stronger argument in the inference of the golden cup but it is still only an inference. It doesn't hold up.
 
 
 
You will notice that they often do not even mention the precious stones and pearls? Did they forget about those or just couldn't make the allusion fit?
 
 
 
I'll tell you where you find all these things. In Exodus Chapter 25 in the materials for the Temple in Jerusalem.
 
 
 
The Purple and Scarlet yarn is found in many verses- verse 4 for example. The precious stones appear in verse 7. Look it up folks! The golden cups are right there in verse 29 and gold is throughout the chapter. The only clue missing is the pearls which seem to refer to the woman's vanity and certainly cannot be ascribed to the Catholic church. So, some ascribe Gold, Golden cups, precious stones and Purple and Scarlet to the Catholic church by inference. The Bible, however, assigns these things-specifically to Jerusalem and the Temple.
 
 
 
Wouldn't it be strange for so-called Biblical Christians to dismiss proof that comes straight from the pages of Scripture?
 
 
 
What about her name? Babylon?
 
 
 
The term is used derisively, of course. It is not referring to the actual historical nation of Babylon. Our opponents obviously concede this point because they try to juxtapose it to Rome and, by consequence, the Catholic church that they posit as an offshoot of that Roman empire. That's where the anticatholic paradigm hits a brick wall. Foundational to their refutation of Peter as the first Pope is the blanket denial that Peter was ever in Rome. This contention on their part is historically untenable but it also presents them the Biblical problem.
 
 
 
In Chapter 5 of his first epistle, Peter says
 
 
 
13 The church that is in Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you: and so doth my son Mark.
 
 
 
This puts our anti-catholic friends in quite a pickle. They either have to admit that Babylon refers to Jerusalem (the elected church) or admit that Peter was in Rome. That's their only 2 options. However, since pagan Rome, having never been God's people, could thus not be guilty of spiritual adultery, the conclusion is inescapable.
 
 
 
The Whore is Jerusalem, mother of all whores and abominations.
 
 
 
Let us continue:
 
 
 
6 And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And I wondered, when I had seen her, with great admiration.
 
 
 
This is another verse for anticatholics to latch on by inference. They will bring up the inquisitions and the crusades and all the killing done by crooked kings on all sides, multiply it by 10,000 and juxtapose it all on the woman as an indictment of the Catholic church.
 
 
 
They are once again hoisted by their own petard and the plain etymology of the words, for they would clearly argue that the Catholic church did not even exist in 68 AD. That the greek term portrays the woman's drunken state as present tense- 68 AD is inescapable. They can infer that this points forward centuries but the greek verbiage doesn't support that. However, a similar verse that comes later, really slams the door on their arguments.
 
 
 
For now, though they can argue that this verse can be applied to the Catholic church, there is no arguing that it can be applied to Jerusalem who had killed many Christians by this point, Stephen being just one.
 
 
 
Let's continue.
 
 
 
7 And the angel said to me: Why dost thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast which carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast, which thou sawest, was, and is not, and shall come up out of the bottomless pit, and go into destruction: and the inhabitants on the earth (whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world) shall wonder, seeing the beast that was, and is not. 9 And here is the understanding that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, upon which the woman sitteth, and they are seven kings: 10 Five are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come: and when he is come, he must remain a short time. 11 And the beast which was, and is not: the same also is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into destruction.
 
 
 
First, with respect to the Beast, John is again alluding it with the Devil. While He calls Jesus "He who was and is and is to come", the devil is he who was and is not. This is the demonic character of the beast in general, again reflecting back to chapter 12. Later, you will see him draw the lens in closer by looking at the heads of the beast.
 
 
 
Verse 9 is very important and the anti-catholics always get it wrong. I'm using an accurate translation that gets it right. The woman sits on 7 mountains (the Greek word Oros) not on 7 hills (the Greek word Boonos). This is not Rome. It certainly isn't the Vatican which sits on it's own, 8th hill on the other side of the Tiber river.
 
 
 
For people of John's day, it would have been automatic for them to recognize the city on 7 mountains- Jerusalem. They are the Mount of Olives, Mount Scopus, Mount of Corruption, Mount Ophel, the Original Mount Zion, the New Mount Zion and the Mount on which the Antonia Fortress was built.
 
 
 
Once again, the harlot is proven to be Jerusalem.
 
 
 
The Kings, on the other hand, belong to the beast, not the harlot. 5 have fallen, one is, one to come.
 
 
 
The first 5 Roman emperors were Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. All 5 were dead by the end of 68 AD. Nero is the beast whose name adds up to 666, the number announced in chapter 13. The sixth king, who was emperor when this book was written was Galba. The 7th was Otho. This proves that John wrote this book in 68 AD during the reign of Galba and the "Fall of Babylon" he was warning so urgently about was the destruction of Jerusalem by Vespasian who John allegorically calls an 8th king and a reincarnation of the fallen beast- Nero.
 
 
 
12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 13 These are of one mind and give over their power and authority to the beast; 14 they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
 
These 10 Kings seem to represent some type of temporary alliance with Rome. Conscripts, if you will. That they reign for an hour is a way of saying they are insignificant.
 
 
 
and, here is the evidence of this....
 
 
 
15 And he said to me: The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest in the beast: these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her with fire. 17 For God hath given into their hearts to do that which pleaseth him: that they give their kingdom to the beast, till the words of God be fulfilled. 18 And the woman which thou sawest, is the great city, which hath kingdom over the kings of the earth.
 
 
 
In verse 16, we see that the Roman Beast turns on the whore and burns her with fire. This happens in 70 AD. I am often amused when zealous anti-catholics call the church both the beast and the whore as if the church could wage war on herself!
 
 
 
The woman herself is identified as "The Great city" and that great city is identified in Revelation 11:8 as a spiritual Sodom and Egypt to go along with her derisive title of Babylon. The verse also clearly tells us that it is the city where Our lord was crucified, and we all know that that city was Jerusalem. By virtue of this one chapter, Jerusalem is proven to be the Harlot. We prove the case even more in Chapter 18 which will be our next episode.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

THE BOOK OF REVELATION PART 16

16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”
 
You recall that there were seven plagues on Egypt. Recall again, that Jerusalem is now the New Egypt and the plagues mirror the ones in Exodus. It could be argued, then, that the plagues of Egypt were a foreshadowing of the ultimate freeing of the slaves that takes place by the Old Covenant giving way to the New.
 
2 So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the earth, and foul and evil sores came upon the men who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
 
Too much effort is put into trying to figure out just how the mark of the beast is actually physically applied to the person. Like we said before, modern day theories abound such as microchips etc... What is important is allegiance and worship. The crime is that some of the people of the old covenant gave their allegiance and even worship to Rome. What the specific sores were is anyone's guess. What is important is the reality that is being portrayed of a stubborn impenitence.
 
3 The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a dead man, and every living thing died that was in the sea.
 
4 The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of water say,
 
“Just art thou in these thy judgments, Thou who art and wast, O Holy One. 6 For men have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink. It is their due!”
 
The seas and rivers turning to blood harkens back to Egypt except, this time, it is their own blood that pollutes the waters. As Barber points out (Page 197), this fulfils the prophecy of Isaiah that they will be as drunk with their own blood as with wine (Is 49:26). As the Roman Navy attacked through the Mediterranean, people dove in the waters from the boats in a desperate attempt to swim to the shores to safety. They were peppered with arrows and spears, turning the water red with their blood. Josephus recounts this in vivid detail.
 
 
 
This idea of a city drunk with the blood of saints and prophets will be seen again in the next 2 chapters.
 
7 And I heard the altar cry,
 
“Yea, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are thy judgments!”
 
8 The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch men with fire; 9 men were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory.
 
The Temple siege began with a fire that was initiated on the 9th of AV, the very same day as the attack on the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar in 537 BC. In 70 AD, the 9th of AV was July 28th. The temple rotation was set to begin on the 9th of AV after the 537 BC siege. This is why we know Zechariah was in the temple on September 25th, 3BC and that Jesus was born 15 months later, on December 25th, 2BC.
 
 
 
The intense heat of summer would be unbearable in consideration that the people were fighting and fleeing for their lives and there was no fresh water because of the widespread contamination of the seas and rivers by blood. Add the intense heat of the fire and it was a truly awful situation.
 
10 The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was in darkness; men gnawed their tongues in anguish 11 and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores, and did not repent of their deeds.
 
In the aftermath of the death of Nero, the Roman empire was plunged into confusion and many believed it was on it's way to crashing. Even during the siege on Jerusalem, the Roman soldiers were out of control. For example, Josephus claims that the soldiers actually defied the orders of Titus to put out the fires as to not completely destroy the temple. Madness and rage reigned and the soldiers lost all control. The darkness of sin leads naturally to madness and uncontrollable violence. Barber points out that Josephus records that the depravity of the Romans was met and even surpassed by the Jews. You can get his book and read for yourselves. I'll spare you the grotesque details.
 
 
 
12 The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great river Euphra′tes, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east.
 
As discussed before, Roman legions did indeed attack from the east, crossing the Euphrates River. recall that Famine and Pestilence and Death were 3 of the 4 horsemen.
 
13 And I saw, issuing from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet, three foul spirits like frogs; 14 for they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15 (“Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is awake, keeping his garments that he may not go naked and be seen exposed!”) 16 And they assembled them at the place which is called in Hebrew Armaged′don.
 
 
 
Armageddon is a place. It means Mountain of Megiddo. The multitude of Demonic frogs depict that this siege was driven by satan himself and those who took his mark were fully in his possession and acting under his control.
 
17 The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a great voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there were flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as had never been since men were on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered great Babylon, to make her drain the cup of the fury of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found; 21 and great hailstones, heavy as a hundredweight, dropped on men from heaven, till men cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague.
 
The hailstones that each weighed a talent (about 100 pounds) are surely an allusion to the huge rocks hurled by the Roman catapults. Notice that the phenomena are exactly the same (including the great "hail storm") that we see as the New Ark of the Covenant- Mary is shown to us in chapter 11.
 
 
 
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
 
 
 
I don't believe this is coincidence. This is a segue. The Old Covenant gives way to the New.
 
 
 
Notice also that it is said that the "great city"- Jerusalem- would be divided into 3 parts. Jerusalem today is indeed divided into 3 parts- Muslim, Jew and Christian.
 
 
 
I don't believe that this is coincidence either.
 
 
 
See us next time for part 17
 
 
 

THE BOOK OF REVELATION PART 15

15 Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and wonderful, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended.
 
2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
 
“Great and wonderful are thy deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are thy ways, O King of the ages! 4 Who shall not fear and glorify thy name, O Lord? For thou alone art holy. All nations shall come and worship thee, for thy judgments have been revealed.”
 
Michael Barber gives a fascinating insight (page 187). Moses and the Israelites sang a new song on the other side of the Red Sea and now we see the song of Moses and the Lamb sung in victory by the Sea of Glass. We also see the seven last plagues which remind us of the seven plagues of Egypt.
 
 
 
Shadow and fulfilment again.
 
5 After this I looked, and the temple of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, 6 and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure bright linen, and their breasts girded with golden girdles. 7 And one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives for ever and ever; 8 and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.
 
The Seven bowls could be translated seven chalices. Match that with the fact that the seven Angels are wearing robes and leaving the Temple and the image of the heavenly liturgical worship being connected to events on earth continues to be unmistakable.
 
 
 
This is another portent/sign like the Woman clothed with the Sun (chap 12). What is the teaching of this scene?
 
 
 
The lesson that I draw is that God's Justice will ultimately be fulfilled. In chapter 6, the martyrs cry out, asking how long God will wait to carry out His vengeance for their martyrdom. As we see in this scene and others, the machinery of heaven works, through God's Saints and Angels. It is through them that our prayers rise up to Him and it is through them that God's Justice is meted out.
 
 
 
At ground level, we need to constantly be reminded of this because, down here, it often seems like the wicked prosper while the good get beat up.
 
 
 
Ultimately, Justice answers the call.
 
 
 
Chapter XVI coming up
 
 
 

THE BOOK OF REVELATION PART 14

14 Then I looked, and lo, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpers playing on their harps, 3 and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are chaste; it is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes; these have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are spotless.
 
In chapter 13, we first saw those who symbolically had the name or mark of the beast on their forehead or arm. This signified obedience to the beast. Here, in the same way, we see those whose allegiance is to God by the mark on their foreheads.
 
 
 
This group of those who have been redeemed are chaste men who follow the lamb wherever He goes. Though the 144,000 is a figurative number, there is no question that this is the Catholic Priesthood of the New Jerusalem.
 
 
 
As Michael Barber points out (Page 178), Isaiah and the prophets even envisioned the restoration of Israel on Mount Zion. Even the apostles discussed just prior to Jesus Ascension.
 
 
 
Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theoph′ilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 To them he presented himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God. 4 And while staying with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me, 5 for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
 
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samar′ia and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
 
However, Jesus doesn't merely restore the Kingdom of Israel, He transforms it. Shadow is transformed into fulfillment. The Old Testament Israel was merely a type. The full, everlasting Kingdom of Israel is the Catholic church. It's arrival is announced by an Angel flying through the heavens.
 
 
 
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; 7 and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of water.”
 
and the downfall of the broken, earthly Jerusalem is decried by another Angel. Called a beast in the last chapter, and Sodom and Egypt in chapter 11, she is now called Babylon, the great as her demise is heralded.
 
8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of her impure passion.”
 
Then the condemnation turns to the Beast that is Rome. The center of earthly power and wickedness.
 
9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If any one worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also shall drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever; and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”
 
We are again warned about "the mark". which garners great speculation of how this situation foreshadows end times events. This begs the question. If the followers of the Beast receive a Mark on their forehead and the followers of the Father in heaven do, as well, how do you know you are getting the right Mark?
 
 
 
Recall that we dealt with this all the way back in chapter 7
 
 
 
7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascend from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand sealed, out of every tribe of the sons of Israel, 5 twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand of the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand of the tribe of Gad, 6 twelve thousand of the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand of the tribe of Naph′tali, twelve thousand of the tribe of Manas′seh, 7 twelve thousand of the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand of the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand of the tribe of Is′sachar, 8 twelve thousand of the tribe of Zeb′ulun, twelve thousand of the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Benjamin.
 
 
 
How are they sealed?
 
 
 
The Catholic Catechism gives the answer.
 
 
 
Baptism is God's most beautiful and magnificent gift. . . .We call it gift, grace, anointing, enlightenment, garment of immortality, bath of rebirth, seal, and most precious gift. It is called gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own; grace since it is given even to the guilty; Baptism because sin is buried in the water; anointing for it is priestly and royal as are those who are anointed; enlightenment because it radiates light; clothing since it veils our shame; bath because it washes; and seal as it is our guard and the sign of God's Lordship.
 
 
 
Read more here
 
 
 
At it's most basic level, Baptism seals the believer while He who refuses Baptism is frozen in the number 6, the number of man. Man becomes a beast in the model of the beast. In fact, the very word Beast adds up to 666.
 
 
 
Will there be some kind of end-times manifestation of this? Perhaps. Fear not, even then, Baptism is the answer. Get Baptized and live it out and no Beast can have your soul. Grace is how you will triumph.
 
 
 
12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
 
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord henceforth.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
 
How anyone can read those 2 verses and insist we are saved by "faith alone'' is truly a mystery.
 
 
 
 
 
14 Then I looked, and lo, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat upon the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16 So he who sat upon the cloud swung his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
 
17 And another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has power over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle on the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God; 20 and the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse’s bridle, for one thousand six hundred stadia.
 
This is without question one of the most gruesome passages in all of scripture and it's hard to know just what to make of it. A horse's bridle is about 5 feet high, a street is about 20 feet wide and one thousand, six hundred stadia is about 200 miles.
 
 
 
That's a lot of blood.
 
 
 
Over 1 million people died during the war between the Romans and the Jews but even that doesn't seem enough to satisfy the quantity of blood prescribed here.
 
 
 
Interestingly enough, that distance roughly corresponds to the dimensions of the entire nation of Israel. Could this judgement be for all those murdered in the entire nation's history up to that point?
 
 
 
It would seem so.
 
 
 
Matthew 23: 29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
 
34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechari′ah the son of Barachi′ah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all this will come upon this generation.
 
Join us next time for Part XV
 

THE BOOK OF REVELATION PART 13

13 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems upon its horns and a blasphemous name upon its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth followed the beast with wonder. 4 Men worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”
 
It is important to look at these beasts in the sense of a widening and narrowing lens. It's almost a reversal of what we see with God, then Angels, then Saints. We see the beast that is the devil, then the beast that is the Roman empire then the beast that is one of the emperors of that empire- Nero.
 
 
 
It is being illustrated how all the evil in the devil manifests itself through mankind through these ruthless men and regimes.
 
 
 
The image begins with the satanic image we saw in chapter 12 of a beast with 7 heads and 10 horns. Rather than flying through the heavens, sweeping down stars, this beast is rising up out of the sea which represents the gentile nations.
 
 
 
The beast displayed here is a composite of the 4 beasts shown in Daniel 7:3-7.
 
 
 
3 And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. 4 The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand upon two feet like a man; and the mind of a man was given to it. 5 And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side; it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ 6 After this I looked, and lo, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back; and the beast had four heads; and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrible and dreadful and exceedingly strong; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.
 
 
 
The 4 beasts are the 4 empires that oppressed Israel. They are the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks and- now- the Romans. Yet the horns and heads and diadems expand this definition outward to even future kingdoms so that Rome becomes a type of all political and tyrannical evil, through time. This will ultimately culminate in the antichrist.
 
 
 
The seven headed beast appears 3 times. It is seen in Revelation 12, here in 13 and again in 17 and there are different meanings given to what the 7 heads represent. One of those representations is of 7 kings. These kings are 7 emperors of the Roman empire. One of these kings receives a mortal wound that is healed.
 
 
 
Historically. the first 7 emperors of Rome are listed as follows (Source: Britannica):
 
 
 
Augustus (27 bce–14 ce)
 
Tiberius (14–37 ce)
Caligula (37–41 ce)
Claudius (41–54 ce)
Nero (54–68 ce)
Galba (68–69 ce)
Otho (January–April 69 ce)
 
 
 
These are the seven kings.
 
 
 
The significance of the mortal wound is that it represents on the kings that died but was symbolically raised from the dead. We will get more into that later. Suffice it to say that this particular beast was feared like no other before him.
 
 
 
5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months; 6 it opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and tongue and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, every one whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain. 9 If any one has an ear, let him hear:
 
10 If any one is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes;if any one slays with the sword, with the sword must he be slain.
 
Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
 
The Neronian persecution, under which John was exiled, was indeed 42 months long. Notice what John says at the start of this book:
 
 
 
9 I John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
 
 
 
This is to me, just one of my pieces of evidence that John wrote this book just after the death of Nero and during the short reign of Galba. The reader is being warned that another is coming who will be so terrible that it will be as if Nero had been reincarnated. The mortal wound healed.
 
 
 
The persecution of John and the other Christians was especially horrible because it was two-fold. There were two beasts in league with each other. One would eventually turn on the other.
 
 
 
11 Then I saw another beast which rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.
 
13 It works great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of men; 14 and by the signs which it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast, it deceives those who dwell on earth, bidding them make an image for the beast which was wounded by the sword and yet lived; 15 and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast should even speak, and to cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.
 
This beast rises from the land which means it is of a religious nature. We can tell that this is a false religious figure because it looks like a lamb but speaks like a dragon. Remember the references to Revelation 2:9 and 3:9.
 
 
 
Many people are obsessed with the end-times fulfilment of this symbolism rather than what is right at hand. I believe you have to understand the latter to have any hope of understanding the former. This very much provides a template that will reverberate through history.
 
 
 
The actual mortal wound that killed Nero was perceived to be a mortal wound to the Roman empire- the 7 headed beast.
 
 
 
Verse 13 seems to be symbolic that this beast imitates the power of Elijah in some way- literal or not. By virtue of this, it uses the authority vested in it by virtue of the Jewish Priesthood in order to actually betray God by promoting allegiance to His enemy. This could be what is meant by creating an image of the beast and bringing it to life.
 
 
 
Of course, this was virtually the entire history of the Jews under the Roman empire and even before. The Herods were nothing but Roman puppets and the Jewish leaders' willingness to sell out to Rome is well recorded.
 
 
 
John 19:10 Pilate therefore said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore he who delivered me to you has the greater sin.”
 
 
 
12 Upon this Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend; every one who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar.” 13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, and in Hebrew, Gab′batha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
 
 
 
Frankly, the fire coming from the sky is not nearly as important as this point. The Roman empire was actually brought back to life by the assistance of the so-called people of God. They forced allegiance to Rome and even cooperated with the persecution and killing of those who refused,
 
 
 
16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.
 
18 This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six.
 
 
 
Much print has been put down over centuries attempting to assign this number to various individuals that have lived through time. A lot of manipulation of numbers and twisting of titles have been used to assign this to the Pope. Even more print has been generated to show how this is some type of implanted microchip or something.
 
 
 
I remember as a kid being told it was the UPC product labels.
 
 
 
However, a clear reading of the text here, and in other places, shows that John is instructing his own 1st century audience that this is a person that they can identify and that he is one of the 7 Kings (Roman Emperors), one of which had a mortal wound. In chapter 17, we are actually informed that 5 of the kings had fallen.
 
 
 
666 has multiple meanings.
 
 
 
First, it is the number of the name of one of the Kings. In Hebrew, Greek and Latin, the letters have numeric values. The names of some persons were given as numbers in the event a Christian were caught with these letters. It was a code.
 
 
 
John's audience knew who he was talking about.
 
 
 
Source The Roanoke Times, 1996:
 
 
 
``Calling Nero a beast, an enemy of saints as is outlined in the Scriptures, was certainly not a positive image. So they wanted to use a code,'' explained Marianne Meye Thompson, New Testament professor at Fuller Theological Seminary. ``Christians of that era would have known to whom it referred.''
 
 
 
Thompson, who teaches a class on Revelation at the Pasadena school, says that a particular Hebrew acronym of Nero's name equals 666.
 
 
 
Another passage, Revelation 13:12, refers to the beast as one whose ``deadly wound was healed.'' That is thought to be a reference to Nero's suicide. Nero killed himself in A.D. 68, but legend had it that he fled to the east and would return.
 
 
 
Thus, in the first sense, John is referring to Nero who just recently died and someone who would come that be so horrible as to be Nero raised. More on that later.
 
 
 
The next meaning of 666. The Synagogue of Satan.
 
 
 
The number 666 appears only one other time in Scripture in a verse referring to King Solomon.
 
 
 
1 Kings 10:14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,
 
A coincidence?
 
 
 
I don't think so.
 
 
 
That's about 67,000 lbs of gold annually. At today's prices, that's about $3 Trillion of gold a year. We also know that Solomon had about 1,000 wives and concubines. No man in history exhausted himself more trying to satisfy the desires of the flesh with material things. In the end, he lamented it all as a chase after the wind. (Ecclesiastes 1).
 
 
 
No one person personifies the downfall of Israel more than this one man. He literally changed from King of Israel and a type of Christ to an idolatrous monster and a type of the antichrist.
 
 
 
The allusion to him is absolute and foundational to the conflict presented here.
 
 
 
Amos 5:26
 
And you carried the tent of your king— and Saturn, your star god idols that you crafted for yourselves.
 
 
 
Acts 7:43 And you took up the tent of Moloch,
 
and the star of the god Rephan,
 
the figures which you made to worship;
 
and I will remove you beyond Babylon.’
 
 
 
The star that both of these verses condemn starts with Solomon. It is a symbol of the occult called a Hexagram.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The star was associated with Solomon's idolatry and the occult. Is is the perfect pictoral depiction of the mark of the beast with it's 6 inner sides, 6 Triangles and 6 points.
 
 
 
I am absolutely convinced this is the Mark of the beast.
 
 
 
Depicted on the Israeli flag and called the Star of David, it has no connection with the Biblical King David. Here is a good article I found on the subject.
 
 
 
Remember, Revelation 2:9 and 3:9 says that these people say they are Jews but are actually a Synagogue of Satan. One of the other books written by John call those who deny Christ, Antichrists. The Bible case that the antichrist will eventually rise from this false Judaism is something I see as pretty much unimpeachable. The fact that it gets it's start by assisting the Roman beast is unarguable..
 
 
 
Join us next time for Part 14
 
 
 
 
 

THE BOOK OF REVELATION- PART 12

Until the last installment, each part corresponded directly to a chapter. However, we decided to stop at verse 14. You may not be aware that it was Catholic Bishop Stephen Langton who is responsible for separating the Biblical texts into chapters and verses, doing so in the 1200s.
 
 
 
It is easy to see why he assigned verses 1-19 to those we see in Revelation chapter 11 as all refer to The Temple. We have decided to split our presentation commentary at 11:14 because of a change we would like to emphasize.
 
 
 
Let's review those 14 verses again.
 
 
 
11 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told: “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months. 3 And I will grant my two witnesses power to prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”
 
 
 
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth.
 
 
 
5 And if any one would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes; if any one would harm them, thus he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war upon them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.
 
 
 
 9 For three days and a half men from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.
 
 
 
 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up hither!” And in the sight of their foes they went up to heaven in a cloud. 13 And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
 
 
 
14 The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.
 
 
 
As we pointed out, these verses show the severing of the bond between the Temple in Heaven and the Temple on earth.
 
 
 
After these scenes conclude, the replacement temple on earth is engaged.
 
 
 
15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,
 
“We give thanks to thee, Lord God Almighty, who art and who wast, that thou hast taken thy great power and begun to reign.18 The nations raged, but thy wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, for rewarding thy servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear thy name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
 
 
 
The Kingdom of the world is once again God's Kingdom. The connection that was broken in the Old Jerusalem, which is now called a spiritual Sodom or Egypt, is now established in a New Kingdom. Recall in chapter 5, we were told that this Kingdom would be a Kingdom of Priests who would reign on earth. Now, we are being told that it is Christ who will reign. Is this a contradiction? No, it is synergy, once again. Christ reigns through His Priests.
 
 
 
Some see this Reign of Christ as a future event, as in our future. They are wrong. It is established right here. Notice that Jesus before was called He who is and was and is to come now He is only called He who is and who was. There is no more is to come, because He has come.
 
 
 
As the text takes great pains to show you who the Old Jerusalem was, and why it's downfall fulfills prophecy, it is equally clear on who the New Jerusalem is and how it is also the fulfillment of what was foreshadowed.
 
 
 
It first showed it with the Priests and the worship but it is about to show us much more through a series of powerful signs
 
 
 
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
 
 
 
We move back from the vision of the earthly temple to a vision of the Heavenly temple and what is seen inside but the Ark of The Covenant.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
At the time of John's vision, the Ark of the Covenant (as seen above) had been missing for some 500 years. At first blush, his readers would have been astounded at the prospect that the Ark of the Covenant was taken up (assumed) in heaven.
 
 
 
However, as we have seen over and over, this book is about shadow and fulfilment.
 
 
 
This is why we separated the text here so we could show you that in consecutive verses, we see shadow and fulfilment. To get to the next verses, we flip to the first verses of the next chapter.
 
 
 
12 And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; 2 she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery. 3 And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; 5 she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
 
I must emphasize that the division between Revelation 11:19 and Revelation 12:1 was not created until about 12 centuries after it was written. The Ark of the Covenant seen in the Temple and the Woman clothed with the Sun follow as if they are a continuous thought.
 
 
 
and they are.
 
 
 
Verse 5 tells us who the woman is by hearkening back to the Christmas story.
 
 
 
5 she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,
 
Luke 2: 7 And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
 
 
 
8 And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; 11 for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
 
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!”
 
 
 
The entire Christian faith rests on that reality. A woman gave birth to God. Anyone who reads anything else into Revelation 12:5 is simply being too dishonest to even converse with.
 
 
 
Why here? Why is Mary inserted here?
 
 
 
It is because she is an essential and foundational fixture in the New Temple. The depth of what is revealed here is overwhelming and it will take some time to work through.
 
 
 
The Ark of the Covenant and Mary. What's the connection?
 
Let's examine what the Ark of the Covenant was. It was a special furnishing for the Temple in Jerusalem. I will start with the most obvious comparisons and then work from there.
 
 
 
First, let's examine what the Ark held inside it.
 
 
 
The 10 Commandments- The Word of God.
The Manna- The Bread from Heaven
The staff of Aaron- The Shepherd and High Priest.
 
 
 
The Word of God (John 1), The Bread from Heaven (John 6), The Good Shepherd (John 10) and The High Priest (Hebrews 7) are all titles given to Jesus.
 
 
 
So, the Ark of the Covenant held- symbolically- Jesus inside it. This made the Ark so holy that a man would be struck dead for even touching it. (2 Samuel 6)
 
 
 
What does this have to do with Mary?
 
 
 
She held the actual Jesus inside of her!!
 
 
 
John is telling us that the Ark of the Covenant is fulfilled in Mary! Jesus says this by telling us that He is the New Covenant!
 
 
 
Matthew 26: Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you; 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
 
 
 
If Mary is the ark of the New Covenant, we must carefully explore what that means.
 
 
 
The Ark was made with the purest gold
The Ark was made of Incorruptible wood
The Ark always went before Israel in battle.
 
 
 
I could write pages and pages on all those things but it is enough to confront what is revealed right here in the text.
 
 
 
First, as we have stated, Mary is seen in the Temple in Heaven!
 
 
 
There's more.
 
 
 
12 And a great portent appeared in heaven
 
A portent is a prophecy of something to come- a teaching sign, a warning.
 
 
 
a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;
 
Clothed with the Sun means resplendent with Heavenly light. Glorified, holy. The moon, representing creation, is under her feet. That is, it is subject to her authority.
 
 
 
Under her feet and upon her head are statements that show she has a body...in heaven. This confirms the Catholic doctrine of the Assumption of Mary.
 
 
 
A crown of 12 stars on her head show that she is a Queen over the 12 Tribes and 12 Apostles. This confirms the doctrine of Mary as the Queen of Heaven!
 
 
 
5 she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,
 
This confirms Mary's title as the Mother of God.
 
 
 
Let's explore these 3 themes before going any further.
 
 
 
The Assumption of Mary is not to be confused with the Ascension of Jesus. Jesus rose into heaven under His own power. Mary was taken into heaven body and soul just like Enoch, Elijah and Moses. Though with Moses, you have to glean it from Jude 9.
 
 
 
It is an event prophesized in Psalm 132:8 and we see it here, fulfilled. It is proven by Revelation 11:19-12:1.
 
 
 
Mary as Queen of Heaven is shown clearly by the fact that the Gebaria of the Old Testament points to her. Gebirah is a Hebrew word that appears in the Old Testament and refers to the queen mother of Israel and Judah. The title can be translated as "queen mother" or "great lady".
 
 
 
The Queen Mother was the Mother of The Davidic King and she was an intercessor before the King. She was second in command to the King. Luke 1 tells us that the Davidic Kingdom is fulfilled in Jesus, the King of Kings. That makes Mary the Queen of Heaven and the crown confirms it.
 
It is also confirmed by the word Chaire which means Hail. This is the greek word for the Angel's greeting of her in Luke 1. It is a salutation of royalty not unlike our modern "your majesty"
 
 
 
Finally, our entire Christian faith is based on the belief that Jesus is God (John 1:1) who became flesh (John 1:14). To deny that Mary is the Mother of God is to deny your own salvation. The sacrifice of Calvary was an eternal sacrifice because God was conceived in Mary's womb in Nazareth, born to her in Bethlehem and died in front of her in Jerusalem. Standing by the cross, she is called His mother.
 
 
 
There is more.
 
 
 
3 And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth;
 
In verses 3 and 4, we see the Dragon which is the Devil. His 7 heads represent the 7 deadly sins of Pride, Lust, Wrath, Envy, Greed, Sloth and Gluttony. The 10 heads represent Kings of the earth that are- or will be- under his influence. The third of the stars swept to earth represent the fallen angels. It should be no surprise to any Christian that the dragon sought to devour the child.
 
 
 
The flight into the wilderness is often understood as the flight to Egypt to escape Herod's wrath but I do not think that fits the text for 3 reasons. The first reason is that the text says the flight to the wilderness took place after her child was called up to God's throne. In other words, after Jesus Ascension. The second reason is that there is no mention of Joseph and it was Joseph who was told by the Angel to flee Herod.
 
 
 
The third reason is that we have done an intense study on the Christmas story. You should check it out! Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. I believe a careful examination of the facts eliminates the possibility that Mary was in Egypt for 3- 1/2 years.
 
 
 
There is another explanation and we will get to it in just a bit.
 
 
 
7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
 
Isn't the placement of this event strange?
 
 
 
In this book that many see as a handbook of the end times, and in the second half of the book, we see this scene that happened thousands of years in the past. Why is that?
 
 
 
Always remember.
 
 
 
Shadow and fulfilment.
 
 
 
By referring to the Devil as the ancient serpent, we are literally being taken all the way back to Genesis chapter 3 and the very first Messianic prophecy. This prophecy has become known as the Protoevangelium.
 
 
 
15 I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.
 
 
 
I quoted from the Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition because it gets this verse right.
 
 
 
Two enmities:
 
 
 
A. Between the Woman and thee (the serpent)
 
B. Between her seed and thy seed (the serpent's)
 
 
 
she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.
 
Who will crush his head? The one who he has the enmity with... the woman! The Hebrew and Greek pronouns are dependent on the subject for the gender and the woman is clearly the subject. Jerome, the first Bible translator understood this in translating to the Latin Ipsa and so it remained for almost 1600 years before protestant translations decided to change the Word of God.
 
 
 
Her seed?
 
 
 
Totally missed by many is the fact that this passage would seem an absurdity. Everyone knows that the seed comes from the man. Nowhere else in Scripture (or in all of history, for that matter) is it suggested that someone comes from a woman's seed- literally Sperma is the word.
 
 
 
Stranger yet, the word implies plurality. Not just a child but children.
 
 
 
What is this verse telling us and what is the connection between The dragon, the woman and the child in Genesis 3 and the dragon, the woman and the child in Revelation 12?
 
 
 
To answer that, we ask how the Serpent came to be in the Garden of Eden. He came to be in the garden of Eden after he was thrown out of heaven which we see in Revelation 12. He was thrown out after the war broke out.
 
 
 
When did the war break out and why?
 
 
 
Does Scripture tell us? We believe it does.
 
 
 
Verse 7 tells us the war breaking out in heaven was the next thing to take place after the portent of the Woman clothed with the Sun. A portent is a predictive vision....a warning if you will. This sign was seen in heaven. That mean's that Lucifer saw it and waged war because of it. The thought of a woman...a mortal... being Queen of Heaven was too much for his pride and he declared war.
 
 
 
From the very start, the Woman was his sworn enemy just as the text says.
 
 
 
What does that imply?
 
 
 
Romans 5: 6 While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man—though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. 8 But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
 
 
 
By our sin, we are enemies of God but Mary, from the start, is the enemy of Satan, not of God. Simple logic dictates that this means that, in Mary, there is no sin. This proves the Immaculate Conception of Mary. She was full of Grace from the moment of her conception. The Greek word attributed to the Angel in Luke 1:28 is Kecharitomene which literally translated means endured from the beginning with perfected Grace.
 
 
 
What about her other children?
 
 
 
The Bible addresses that too.
 
 
 
Did Mary have other physical children? No, she did not. That's a debate for another day. This we do know, though. In Matthew 12, Jesus says the following:
 
 
 
48 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?” 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brethren! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
 
 
 
Thus, Jesus is saying that the true believers are not only His brothers and sisters but they have Mary as a Spiritual mother. We see this again in John 19
 
 
 
26 When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
 
 
 
take careful note of the words. Jesus says to the disciple, Behold your Mother. That command is for every disciple.
 
 
 
We will revisit this in a minute.
 
 
 
10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
 
12 Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
 
The Witnesses (literally martyrs) gave up their own lives and their blood is united to the blood of the lamb, conquering the accuser.
 
 
 
13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had borne the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
 
 
 
The dragon pursued the woman but she was able to escape by the wings of a great eagle. Who is this eagle?
 
 
 
Remember chapter 4 and the 4 living creatures? Remember how this is considered an allusion to the 4 Gospel writers? Do you remember which one is the Eagle?
 
 
 
That's right. John.
 
 
 
John took Mary to Ephesus where she was safe from the Jewish persecution of Christians recorded in the book of Acts.
 
 
 
15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon had poured from his mouth.
 
The destruction of the Woman was Satan's job #1 but the Saints of the earth came to her defense and foiled his plans.
 
 
 
17 Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.
 
and there is the money line. The dragon's enmity with the Woman, prophesized in Genesis 3, is fulfilled in Revelation 12. The Dragon wages war against her children who are the true believers of God and keepers of the testimony of Jesus. You cannot get any more catholic than that.
 
 
 
We pick up part 13 with chapter 13 in our next episode!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

THE BOOK OF REVELATION- PART 11

As we get into the next few power-packed chapters, I need to go into the subject of multi-layered interpretation. In particular, I want to talk more about how a specific prophetic text can point to a specific event yet be a model of what will follow later. We have discussed, at some length, how Old Testament events foreshadowed New Testament realities. This can certainly happen going forward and there is strong reason to believe it will, in some way, at some level.
 
 
 
A lot of this deals with private revelations and non binding interpretations so I will not be making many predictions but kind of discussing what is out there.
 
 
 
We scratched the surface on this earlier in dealing with the tradition that the antichrist would come from the tribe of Dan (Revelation 7).
 
 
 
I said from the start that the Book of Revelation is not a play by play of end time events. I stand by that. However, the things that happen here absolutely reverberate through time so that the events that will take place then are established here and some of those events may actually mirror these events in some way or even blossom from them. In fact, there is reason to believe they already are.
 
 
 
In fact, it would be very fair to say that the very stage is set here for the ultimate showdown between the real and the false. A real Temple vs a false one, a real Jerusalem vs a false one. The showdown pits a real church personified by a mother against an apostate kingdom led by a great harlot. A church of God vs a synagogue of Satan.
 
 
 
True, these pages describe this battle as it was unfolding in 68 AD but everything suggests that these foes are going to meet again and many, once again, will be on the wrong side.
 
 
 
In John's Gospel, we recall that famous tussle Jesus had with the Pharisees when He said "Destroy this Temple and I will raise it up in 3 days" Clearly, they did not fully understand the manner in which the physical, earthly temple is connected to Heaven. Jesus is that connection. They severed it and they were about to pay the price.
 
 
 
11 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told: “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months.
 
A very clear distinction and division is being made between the Heavenly temple (called the temple of God) and the earthly one (called the court outside the temple)
 
 
 
The court outside reference should not be missed.
 
 
 
Matthew 22 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.’ 5 But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.
 
 
 
 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
 
 
 
11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment;12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.’
 
 
 
These verses declare the separation of the heavenly and earthly Jerusalems. The war against Jerusalem did indeed last for 42 months. Notice it is called "the holy city". This confirms that "the outer court" refers to the earthly Jerusalem.
 
 
 
3 And I will grant my two witnesses power to prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”
 
Before we get into the identity, notice the time frame of 1260 days. Also, the same 42 months? Or does this 3-1/2 years precede the other? If it is the latter, the preaching begins in 63 AD. I believe that is the case and that the clues in the text show it.
 
 
 
As I will show, I believe this book was written in 68 AD during the reign of Galba. Nero had just died literally weeks before. Nero took the thrown in 54 AD which meant he was the monster that the 2 witnesses preached against.
 
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if any one would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes; if any one would harm them, thus he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.
 
Dealing first with the image of two olive trees and 2 lamps, we make an appeal to Zechariah chapter 4.
 
 
 
4 And the angel who talked with me came again, and waked me, like a man that is wakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps which are on the top of it. 3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.”
 
 
 
 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerub′babel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7 What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerub′babel you shall become a plain; and he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” 8 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerub′babel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 10 For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerub′babel.
 
 
 
“These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth.” 11 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12 And a second time I said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the oil is poured out?” 13 He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
 
 
 
Who are the two who stand by the Lord of the whole earth?
 
 
 
Matthew 17
 
17 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Eli′jah, talking with him. 4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Eli′jah.” 5 He was still speaking, when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces, and were filled with awe. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
 
 
 
Shutting the sky down so no rain may fall, turning the sea to blood , fire called down to consume their enemies, turning loose every plague. Clearly these are associated with Moses and Elijah (Exodus 7, 1 Kings 17, 2 Kings 1)
 
 
 
They both prophesized and together, they represent the Law and the Prophets which were fulfilled in Jesus (Matthew 5)
 
 
 
So, I think it is clear that the 2 witnesses are Moses and Elijah but are they in a literal sense or figurative. Those who would say literal point to the transfiguration but those who would say figurative point to Jesus and John the Baptist as the new Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17).
 
 
 
Let's explore the last option first.
 
 
 
If Moses and Elijah represent the law and the prophets, which were fulfilled by Jesus, then they prophesized through Jesus for 3- 1/2 years then lie dead in Jerusalem for 3 days only to rise again. Indeed, the Biblical accounts tell us of many dead risen in the streets of Jerusalem after Jesus Resurrection. In this analogy the ability to cause plagues is only given to us to identify the witnesses.
 
 
 
 Some have identified this as pointing forward to Peter and Paul and verse 7 is very tempting in that regard.
 
 
 
7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war upon them and conquer them and kill them,
 
The Beast is Nero who does indeed kill both Peter and Paul. We will prove that Nero is the beast John is speaking of in the upcoming chapters. That John talks about a sort-of reincarnated Nero as the man who destroys Jerusalem in 70 AD is also true. That man is Vespasian. 
 
 
 
Many say that the Neronian type will be the template for the ultimate beast- the Anti-Christ. This may vey well be true but we have to take a foray into private Revelation and interpretation to get there. Nothing explicitly stated in the Biblical text gets us there. If Nero is indeed the template for anti-Christ than there may indeed be 2 end time witnesses in the model of Moses and Elijah who confront him.
 
 
 
All I can tell you is that is speculation and not what the text addresses here.
 
 
 
Since the Beast Nero did kill Peter and Paul, the temptation is to see them as a New Testament personification of these 2 witnesses. Verse 8 arrests that speculation.
 
 
 
8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9
 
Peter and Paul died in Rome, not the condemned city of Jerusalem where Our Lord was crucified. Jerusalem suffers the same condemnation as Sodom- which was burned with fire and Egypt- the place the true believers were driven out of.
 
 
 
9 For three days and a half men from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.
 
11 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up hither!” And in the sight of their foes they went up to heaven in a cloud. 13 And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
 
14 The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.
 
The writings of Josephus again seem to fulfill the account of the earthquake and the 2 witnesses, at least in large part.
 
 
 
 And now the outer temple was all of it overflowed with blood; and that day, as it came on, they saw eight thousand five hundred dead bodies there.
 
 
 
 But the rage of the Idumeans was not satiated by these slaughters; but they now betook themselves to the city, and plundered every house, and slew every one they met; and for the other multitude, they esteemed it needless to go on with killing them, but they sought for the high priests, and the generality went with the greatest zeal against them; and as soon as they caught them they slew them, and then standing upon their dead bodies, in way of jest, upbraided Ananus with his kindness to the people, and Jesus with his speech made to them from the wall. Nay, they proceeded to that degree of impiety, as to cast away their dead bodies without burial, although the Jews used to take so much care of the burial of men, that they took down those that were condemned and crucified, and buried them before the going down of the sun.
 
 
 
I should not mistake if I said that the death of Ananus was the beginning of the destruction of the city, and that from this very day may be dated the overthrow of her wall, and the ruin of her affairs, whereon they saw their high priest, and the procurer of their preservation, slain in the midst of their city.
 
 
 
 
 
 We are going to stop here and continue with the rest of Chapter 11 in part 12 of our special production.
 
 
 
 
 

THE BOOK OF REVELATION- PART 10

10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, 3 and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring; when he called out, the seven thunders sounded.
 
 
 
 
 
We are once again, confronted with an image that seems to be a contradiction.
 
Enveloped in a cloud (Daniel 7)
Rainbow over His head (Revelation 4:3)
Face like the Sun (Revelation 1:16)
Voice like a Lion (Revelation 5:5)
Legs as pillars of fire (Ezekial 13 & 14)
 
 
 
All of these attributes are applied rightly to Jesus but John is telling us this is an Angel.
 
 
 
Forgive me, but this side-bar really deserves some exploration.
 
 
 
One of the most fascinating things we have explored are the multiple times that the same images and symbols are used in different applications and applied to God, then to Angels, then to men.
 
Here we go, yet again.
 
 
 
One thing is different, however. This Angel is singled out and set apart. Why is that?
 
 
 
Michael Barber has a really interesting take. (page 134)
 
 
 
This figure is more than just a "mighty angel". This is Christ's own angel through whom His revelation is given (Revelation 1:1). He is so close to Christ that he radiates His glory and is therefore described in terms much like the Lord.
 
So..... is this Gabriel who we assume is the one described as 'The Angel of the Lord' (Matthew 1:20, 24).
 
 
 
There seems to be something more at work here.
 
 
 
The word 'Angel' actually means 'Messenger' and Gabriel is certainly the top messenger cited in Scripture. However, Gabriel always speaks as just that- a messenger.
 
 
 
Luke 1
 
26 And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth,
 
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
 
28 And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
 
29 Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be.
 
30 And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.
 
31 Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus.
 
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.
 
33 And of his kingdom there shall be no end.
 
34 And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?
 
35 And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
 
36 And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren:
 
37 Because no word shall be impossible with God.
 
 
 
The Angel of Revelation 10 seems very different. When he speaks, 7 thunders spoke. Who are these 7 thunders? Are they the 7 Angels before God or are they the 7 Spirits of God we have identified as The one, Holy Spirit?
 
 
 
Either way, this Angel speaks with great authority just as he shows great authority by his appearance. However, I think the text clearly shows that this Angel is not one of the 7 Angels but speaks for the 7 Spirits of God.
 
 
 
4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”
 
5 And the angel whom I saw standing on sea and land lifted up his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there should be no more delay, 7 but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God, as he announced to his servants the prophets, should be fulfilled.
 
The Seven Thunders speak in tandem with this Angel and it's clear that he speaks over and above the 7 angels on trumpets.
 
 
 
Jesus?
 
 
 
The temptation is great to say that the Angel is Jesus except for couple of things....
 
 
 
John knows who Jesus is. He was by Him while He hung on the cross. Why does John call this a mighty Angel if it's Jesus?
Why doesn't the Angel, Himself, identify as Jesus?
 
 
 
Psalm 91 says that God will command His Angels to watch over us, guarding us in all of our ways.
 
Matthew 18:10 tells us that the Angels of the little ones are always before the face of God.
 
 
 
Verses like this caused the church to deduce that every human person has a guardian angel.
 
 
 
Every human person?
 
 
 
Even Jesus?
 
 
 
It would appear so. Are we being shown here how intimately united our guardian angels are with us and how actively involved with our actions? Are we being shown God's power energized through this angel so that we can understand how it flows through our guardian angels?
 
 
 
It is something to ponder for sure.
 
 
 
Why is John told not to write what the Seven thunders instructed?
 
 
 
Like the important clue we are not given, in order to solve a mystery, it seems cruel that we are told that the Seven Thunders issued a message, and we are told that we cannot hear the message.
 
What this means, we can only speculate, So I will.
 
 
 
In order to impress upon John, the urgency of what he was being warned about, I think that perhaps the actual dates were revealed to John but withheld from us.
 
 
 
For example, the 1st temple was destroyed on 21 July 537 BC according to our calendar. By the Jewish calendar, that was the year 3223 and the date was the 9th of AV. In 70 AD, the temple was destroyed on August 2nd, according to our calendar but the date on the Jewish calendar was....
 
again......
 
The 9th of AV
 
 
 
(see more)
 
 
 
In verses 5,6 and 7, the announcement that the verdict has been handed down, that was recorded in the scroll, is about to be fulfilled. John was about 2 years from that date at the time of this writing.
 
 
 
Catch us next time for Part XI