SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/22/2015
9:56 AM
My Worship Time
Focus:
PT-1 The Explanation of the Harlot
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation17:7-14,
18
Message
of the verses: “7 And the angel said
to me, "Why do you
wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that
carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 “The beast that you
saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to
destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written
in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see
the beast, that he was and is not and will come. 9 “Here is the mind which has wisdom. The
seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, 10 and they are seven
kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes,
he must remain a little while. 11
"The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is
one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. 12 "The ten horns which you saw are ten
kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings
with the beast for one hour. 13 “These have one purpose, and they give their power
and authority to the beast. 14 "These will wage war against the Lamb, and
the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and
those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful." 18 “The woman whom you saw is the great city,
which reigns over the kings of the earth."”
This may be one of the most
difficult passages in this book to understand, however it does not seem like
that for the angel who is explaining it to John. We can probably put ourselves in John’s place
after he sees this very mysterious vision and in our minds be wondering what
did I just see? The angel understands
what John is feeling and so he asks him “Why do you wonder?” Well I suppose that John could have told him
many reasons why he was wondering, but I don’t think that he got the chance for
the angel keeps going. John MacArthur
writes “There was no need for John to remain puzzled by the relation of the
beast to this beautiful yet bloody woman in the vision; the angel was about to explain
to him ‘the mystery of the woman’ (v. 18) ‘and of the beast that carries her
(vv. 8-17). The apostle understood that
the woman represented a false religious system, and that the beast was the
Antichrist, as the reference to his ‘seven heads and…ten horns’ indicates (cf.
v. 3; 13:1). What he did not understand
was the connection between the two figures.
It had been revealed to John in a previous vision that the whole world
would worship Antichrist (13:4, 8, 12).
That may have been what raised the question in John’s mind as to how the
woman fits into the picture, particularly how it is that ‘the beast…carries
her.’” This statement is undoubtedly
true, but in my opinion there were additional reasons why John was wondering,
and that is because of the sheer magnitude of the very vision itself as he sees
a beautiful woman and an ugly beast would make anyone wonder.
Since I am following the outline in
John MacArthur’s commentary and he goes directly to verse eighteen at this time
we will go there too and try to explain what is in this verse, for there is controversy
in the interpretation of this verse, and that controversy has to do with
whether or not this city is a literal city of just a religious aspect of
Antichrist’s empire. I have to remind
you of the little statement “When the plain sense of Scripture makes sense,
seek no other sense.” I can say that I have always been taught, and believed
that this is a literal city and probably it is Babylon. “John MacArthur writes The Old Testament
predictions of Babylon’s total destruction (e. g., Isa. 13:1-14; 27; Jer.
50-51) also favor identifying ‘the great city’ with Babylon on the
Euphrates. The detail description those
passages give of Babylon’s destruction was only partially fulfilled when the
Medes and Persians sacked the ancient city of Babylon. As in the case with many Old Testament
prophecies, those predictions had both a near and a far fulfillment.” He then goes on to quote Henry Morris whom he
has quoted before in his commentaries on Revelation, and with that quote we
will end this first SD on this second main point, “The Explanation of the
Harlot.”
“Babylon, indeed, will be permanently
destroyed, as recorded in the very next chapter (18:21), but this has not
happened yet. The prophecies of Isaiah
and Jeremiah also refer to this future destruction, not merely to Babylon’s
present-day condition, as is evident from the following considerations, among
others: (1) The destruction will take
place in the time that the stars and sun are darkened (Isaiah 13:1, 9,
10). (2) The city will become as
desolate as Sodom and Gomorrah, burned completely, with no remains whatever
(Isaiah 13:19; Jeremiah 50:40). (3) It
shall become desolate forever, with neither man nor beast entering it any more
(Isaiah 13:20; Jeremiah 51:62). (4) It
will be a time of judgment not only for Babylon, but for all nations (Isaiah
13:11-13; Jeremiah 51:49). (5) Its
destruction will be followed by universal rest and peace (Isaiah 14:7, 8). (6) Its destruction is directly associated also
with the casting of Lucifer into Sheol (Isaiah 14:12-15). (7) Babylon’s stones will never be used in
future construction elsewhere, whereas the present-day ruins of Babylon have
been frequently plundered and reused in later constructions (Jeremiah 51:26).”
I better give this one last quote to
finish this section: “The site of modern
Babylon is strategically located at the crossroads of Asia, Europe, and Africa
and is not far from the Persian Gulf. It
is also near the world’s richest oil fields and has a virtually unlimited water
supply from the Euphrates. Those
considerations led the famed historical Arnold Toynbee to proclaim that Babylon
would be an ideal site for an important political and cultural center.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I am
thankful for the opportunity of being able to study the Word of God, to see the
things that John has seen in the book of Revelation through his writings and to
pass on what I have learned to others, which I pray God will use for His glory.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Today is
kind of a big day for me as I am going to attend the 50th reunion of
my graduating High School Class. I pray
that I will be a good witness for the Lord and perhaps there will be someone
who the Lord desires me to talk to about Him.
Answer
to yesterday’s Bible question: “Nebo
(Pisgah)” (Deuteronomy 34:1).
Today’s
Bible question: “Whose sin caused the
defeat at Ai?”
Answer
in our next SD.
8/22/2015
10:36 AM
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