16. Study of Revelation 17, Part-1. ||Sermons By Pastor Stephen Bohr.

well welcome back I trust that you had a good lunch today you all look awake and alert you know we only have one hour in the afternoon so I think we all should be able to keep awake at least I know I will and I hope that all of you will as well we are going to continue our study of Revelation chapter 17 and what I'm going to do is review the last five minutes or so of our last session and then we are going to go into some new material we're going to begin at the subtitle that says the perspective of Daniel 11 verses 40 to 45 in your syllabus now let's review what we studied from Revelation chapter 12 there we are told that the dragon persecuted the woman for 1260 years right but towards the end of this period what happened with the waters that the dragon was spewing out of his mouth the waters that he was spewing out of his mouth were dried up by the earth he is at the end of the story no do the waters flow again yes because it says the dragon was enraged with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed so we have these three stages in Revelation chapter 12 the 1260 years when the waters are flowing then the earth swallows up the waters the waters don't flow any more and then the dragon is enraged and the waters are flowing again to try and drown the remnant of her seed now in Revelation 13 we have a similar scenario do we have a beast that ruled for 42 months absolutely what happened at the end of that month I've got 42 months it received a deadly wound all of the heads no one of the heads was only functioning during the 42 months I had received the deadly wound how many mouths were spewing hot water in Revelation chapter 12 mouths one mouth see is that the same head the head that that has the deadly wound and the mouth that is spewing out waters during the 1260 years absolutely and then we find in Revelation 13 that the waters are going to flow again aren't they because the beast from the earth is going to join with the beast from the sea and there's going to be persecution people are not going to be able to buy or sell people are going to be subject to a death decree because they don't worship the beast or his image or receive the mark so do you see the parallel there now let's go to Daniel 11 where we have the same parallel because Daniel 11 is following the sequence of Revelation 12 and Revelation 13 the subtitle is the perspective of Daniel 11 4245 though this passage actually falls outside the immediate scope of the study of revelation 17 a few remarks I think would be helpful at this point Daniel 11:31 2:39 describes the king of the north persecuting the saints of the Most High it actually says so there if you read those verses you know there it says that their companions my fire they're imprisoned their goods are confiscated they die by the sword in other words it's the same period of 1260 years that God's people are being persecuted according to Daniel 11 31 to 39 but what happens at the time of the end at the beginning of verse 40 we already studied this it says that the King of the South which is the secularism manifested by the Spirit of France spiritual Egypt attacks the king of the north and gives the king of the north what it's deadly wound is at the end of the story no because you continue reading verse 40 41 42 and all the way to verse 43 and it tells us that the king of the north then recovers from his wound and actually the words are used the king of the north overflows is the word that is used so what what is it that overflows water so is the king of the north going to persecute again after the king of the south gives it it's deadly wound absolutely so does Daniel 11 follow the same pattern of Revelation 12 and revelation chapter 13 absolutely now we said that in Revelation chapter 12 the waters will flow again right in Revelation chapter 13 waters will flow again now where do we find in the book of Revelation a description of when the waters will flow again we have it in Revelation 12:17 where it says that the Dragon is enraged with the woman we have it in revelation chapter 13 where the land beast joins the sea beast in persecuting again but where do we find in Revelation the actual terminology of flowing waters we find that in Revelation chapter 17 are the waters flowing again in Revelation chapter 17 where is the harlot seated she has seated on many waters and what are those waters they are the river Euphrates and the Euphrates represents multitudes nations tongues and people's so are the waters flowing again in Revelation chapter 17 absolutely but is that the end of the story no what's going to happen with the waters according to Revelation chapter 16 at the time of this explain the waters that are flowing again that are persecuting God's people are going to be what the Euphrates is going to dry up to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus with the Angels the kings that come from the east are you with me so all of this fits together like glove in hand revelation 12 revelation 13 Daniel chapter 11 and Revelation chapter 17 all describe the same pattern and they need to be studied together are you with me or not now let's go to our next subtitle the harlots name you know I didn't go with a fine-tooth comb over every aspect of the subtitle the perspective of Daniel 11:40 245 but you can read it I described it for you now let's go to the harlots name the harlot that is sitting on many waters you know the waters are flowing again this is the same as the dragon being enraged with the woman and going after the remnant of her seed this is the same period as the and beasts join with the sea beasts to proclaim a death decree against God's people this is the same period when the king of the north goes out and overflows after it receives a deadly wound and now we're going to notice that this harlot has a special name let's go to this section the harlots name is what Babylon and she is called what the mother of harlots if the harlot is the mother of harlots then she must have what she must have daughters that were born from her at some point in the past her daughters are also described as the false prophet or the lamb horn beast and we need to compare of course the story of Elijah and John the Baptist which we already have done the Protestant churches that were born from Roman Catholicism in the 16th century failed to fully sever their relationship with their harlot mother instead of completing the Reformation they fell into an ever deeper apostasy teaching many of their mother's false doctrines is that true like mother like daughter do the Protestant churches teach that Sundays they were supposed to keep do most of them teach that hell burns forever do most teach that that dead know everything do most teach that it doesn't matter what you eat or what you drink absolutely so are they embracing many of the teachings of the mother absolutely the book of Revelation clearly teaches that the daughters will be anxious to join church and state just as the mother did remember the beast from the earth and how the beast from the earth is going to do the same thing as the mother actually the beast from the earth is going to do everything to help the mother recover her power now notice Ellen White understood this in great controversy pages 382 and 383 she explains Babylon is said to be the mother of harlots by her daughter's must be symbol churches that cling to her doctrines and traditions and follow her example of sacrificing the truth an approval of God in order to form an unlawful alliance with what with the world you know and I love the way Ellen White describes the relationship of Protestants to Sunday she says that Protestants have fed and cradled this child of the papacy when she refers to Sunday the Protestant churches have what they've cradled this baby that was born from Roman Catholicism and they fed this false doctrine from Roman Catholicism and what has happened to the baby whoa the baby has grown the baby is no longer a baby the baby is large and huge now I want to read a couple of statements one is by pope john xxiii you know pope Roncalli he was that that Pope that presided Vatican Council to at least the first part of a leak and council - which lasted from 1962 to 1965 and john xxiii at the opening of the second vatican council spoke these words to protestants observers that were present there she that is the Roman Catholic Church she desires to be an affectionate kind and patient what mother she has moved by compassion and goodness towards her alienated children interesting that he would refer to Protestants as what the children of the mother church also Paul the sixth who actually presided after John 23 died had these words to say because of their position separated brethren are the object of deep and tender affection on the part of the mother church see once again the idea mother and daughters it is a love that feels grief and sadness the love of a heart wounded by a strange Minh the estrangement pre-set prevents our brethren from enjoying so many privileges and rights and makes them lose so much grace but perhaps for this very reason its love is all the deeper and more burning well that sounds really conciliatory doesn't it but once again and I could give you other quotations we're at Vatican Council two Protestants were invited to be present as observers in time and again the Pope's that presided as well as Cardinal Agustin Bayer who was the in charge of this effort to bring unity in the Christian world they constantly refer to the Roman Catholic Church as the mother and to the Protestants as the separated children of the Roman Catholic Church thus revelation 17 describes a wicked threefold alliance between the harlot her daughters and the kings of the earth do we have all three of those in revelation 17 the harlot fornicates with the kings and she's the mother so she must have one daughters so is this a three-fold alliance at the end of time absolutely now Ellen White makes a very interesting statement actually this this is a passage that most Adventists don't know even exists it's in the Spalding Magan collection pages one and two and listen how this is going to transpire the relationship between the mother and the daughters she says I saw the two horned beast had a dragon's mouth is that in Revelation 13 yes and that his power was in his head and that the deso is this power a head is the word head used with this power yes so it says and that his power was in his head and that the decree would go out of his what out of his mouth how does this lamb beast the this beast that has two horns like a lamb how does it speak through yes the dragon it speaks for the dragon but actually it speaks through its legislature in other that speaks through Congress loss given by Congress then she says this then I saw the mother of harlots that the mother was not the daughters but separate and distinct from them that's important does it seem to indicate the catholicism and protestantism would be would cover two heads in revelation 17 it does she has had her day and it is past what time is that when she had her day and it is past the 1260 years and her daughter's the Protestant sects were the next to come on the stage and act out the same mind that the mother had when she persecuted the Saints during when they're in the 1260 years that the mother eventually I continued saying I saw that as the mother has been declining in power the daughters had been growing and soon they will exercise the power once exercised by the mother in other words they're going to please the mother is that in Revelation chapter 6 chapter 13 the second beast does everything to help what the first beast you know the daughters are going to say hey let's help help mom get her power back she continues writing I saw the nominal church and nominal Adventists like Judah this is Judas this is other groups of Christians like Judas would betray us to the Catholics to obtain their influence to come against the truth so our Protestants going to say hey let's have Catholics help us in this endeavor of establishing Sunday absolutely she continues writing the Saints then will be an obscure people little known to the Catholics but the church is in nominal Adventists who know of our faith and customs for they hated us an account of the Sabbath for they could not refute it will betray the Saints and report them to the Catholics as those who disregard the institutions of the people that is that they keep the Sabbath and disregard Sunday then the Catholics bid the Protestants to go forward but who comes up with the idea who comes up with the idea of the Sunday law and in uniting church and state yes it's the false prophet it's the United States and then what does Catholicism say well this is too good to be true go for it so then the Catholics bid the Protestants go forward and issue a decree that all who will not observe the first day of the week instead of the seventh shall be slain and the Catholics whose large whose numbers are large will stand by the Protestants so who is the dangerous figure here at the end time it's the daughters but really the real dangerous figure is who the mother because the daughters are simply going to do what the mother wants right that's the story of John the Baptist who's the dangerous figure in the story of John the Baptist who wants the death of John the Baptist all the mother does so so what does the mother do the mother by the way when the King was under the influence of wine hello the mother the daughter comes and says hey mom what should I ask for and the mother says the head of John the Baptist was the daughter just like the mother you know if this daughter was not like her mother she would have said mom what are you talking about but what did she say so okay and so basically they went and they beheaded John in prison that's the scenario that we're going to have in the end time and remember that John the Baptist is the New Testament Elijah so let's go back here then the Catholics bid the Protestants to go forward and it should decree that all who will not observe the first day of the week instead of the seventh day shall be slain and the Catholics whose numbers are large will stand by the Protestants the Catholics will give their power to the image of the Beast and the Protestants will work as their mother worked before them to destroy the saints do you see this coalition between mother and daughter and by the way are the kings also involved is a civil power also involved here absolutely now in this remarkable statement Ellen White clearly affirms that Protestants will make overtures and seek to gain the influence of the Catholics and then the Catholics will tell Protestants to go ahead and proclaim a Sunday law the present efforts of the Religious Right to enlist Catholics and you need to read those additional pages from yesterday because there it tells about how Protestants have drawn closer and closer to Roman Catholics through all of these social issues so the present efforts of the Religious Right to enlist Catholics in the fight against abortion gay marriage pornography poverty climate change and other social evils will come back to haunt them and the liberal fringe will fall into the trap as well by seeing in Sunday observance away to what to save the environment the family and to eradicate poverty are you starting to catch what how the scenario is gonna work out the spirit of prophecy makes it clear you have in the Bible you have you have the basic information Illinois gives us an amplification of how this is going to develop now in a related statement Ellen White gets her understanding actually it's God's understanding of revelation 17 verses 1 through 4 this is a significant statement and we're going to notice for several reasons in the 17th of Revelation is foretold the destruction of all the churches so do we know that revelation 17 has to do with the moment when the king of the north will come to his end with men to help him does this chapter deal with the time when God's people will be delivered everyone who has written in the book absolutely when the harlot will be made naked and desolate and she will be burnt with fire absolutely so she says in the 17th of Revelation is foretold the destruction destruction of all the churches who corrupt them by idolatrous devotion to the surface of the papacy so who are these churches that are being spoken of by Ellen White here these are the Protestant churches because they devote themselves to the service of whom of the papacy so these are the Protestant churches that are linked up with the papacy and then she continues saying those who have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication thus is represented the papal power in other words the harlot represents the papal power in revelation 17 which with all deceivableness of unrighteousness by outside attraction and gorgeous display deceives all nation all nations promising them as did Satan our first parents all good to those who receive its mark and all harm to those who oppose its fallacies the power which has the deepest inward corruption will make the greatest display and will clothe itself with the most elaborate signs of power now let me just make a parenthesis here a couple of weeks ago I was presented a series in in Milan Italy Ellen White was in Europe from 1885 to 1887 and one of the places that she visited on a tour was the city of Milan and she actually visited the Cathedral of Milan Steve went with me because I wanted him to take pictures in all of these sites because what we're going to do is a documentary about Ellen White's comments on the Cathedral of Milan Olympus has a long article in review and Herald where she describes her visit to the cathedral in Milan and she you know she describes the cathedral in my new detail and you know she's writing like she's really impressed about what she's seen the gorgeous display I mean Steve and I went to the top of the tower you know we toured the whole whole Cathedral and you know you can't help but be spellbound and your mouth falls open when you see the extravagance of this Cathedral which took 600 years to build and Ellen White when she writes you can tell she's impressed but then she ends by saying this was simply a vast pile of extravagance and that's exactly what it is but what does it do it was the world the music the vestments the ceremonies the imposing structures they impress the people in the world to think that this is the system that God has established that's what Ellen White is describing here once again the Bible plainly declares that this that this display covers a corrupt and deceiving wickedness upon her forehead was a name written Mystery Babylon the Great the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth now here comes a key part I'm gonna argue later on in this material and we'll probably finish tomorrow morning that the United States is a separate Kingdom it is one of the heads of Revelation chapter 17 because it is a separate Kingdom and the United States will give its kingdom to the last head in the series now listen to this part of a statement what is it that gives its kingdom to this power what is it that gives its Kingdom to the papacy in other words so is there a kingdom that's going to give its kingdom to the next Kingdom yes it's different than all the other kingdoms all the other kingdoms fought with the previous kingdom to gain the power but here it says that this kingdom is going to give its kingdom to the last hint notice it says Ellen White answers what this kingdom is that will give its kingdom she answers what Protestantism a power which while professing to have the temper and spirit of a lamb and to be allied to heaven speaks with the voice of a dragon it is moved by a power from beneath so is the United States going to actually lose its sovereignty and give over the kingdom to the next and last power according to this statement from Ellen White yes absolutely now let's take a look at the names of blasphemy what is blasphemy according to the Bible well we know it's when a human power claims to represent God on earth and when that human power claims to have the power to what to forgive sins is that true of the harlot is that true of the Roman Catholic papacy do they claim to have the Pope as the representative of Christ's vicarious Philly Day yes does the papacy claim to have power to forgive sins they are claiming to have the power and prerogatives of God the Bible defines that as blasphemy now let's go to our next subtitle the harlots attire or her clothing purple and scarlet are the colours of royalty are they not you can read that in John 19 verse 5 Matthew 27 28 it'll take you a while to negotiate this material if you read all those verses see we can't take the time to read all the verses that's why I gave you a syllabus so that when you go home or maybe here in the afternoons you read those verses look them up because they add information that'll give you a more complete picture so John 19 verse 5 in Matthew 27 28 tells us that they put a purple and scarlet robe on Jesus they were gonna hail him as what as a king yes royalty the harlot is attired with gold silver precious stones and pearls this indicates that this is what kind of a system a very rich and ostentatious power notably in the Old Testament Israel closed herself with all this paraphernalia to entice the kings of the surrounding nations to fornicate with her if you want to notice that read Ezekiel 16 and Ezekiel 23 God says to Israel you painted your eyes and you put on your earrings and you and you dressed yourself in nice clothing so that the kings would come and say wow we want to fornicate with Israel so are you catching the picture the ostentation of the Roman Catholic system Wowz the leaders of the world into thinking that this is God's system Ellen White explains what this fancy attire and the gold and silver and precious stones represent she says in great controversy page 382 the purple and scarlet color the gold and precious stones and pearls vividly picture the magnificence and more than kingly pomp affected by the haughty sea of Rome good Ellen White understand that this harlot represents the wrong girl Minh Catholic system she understands it clearly so does this have any relationship with Revelation chapter 12 the 1260 years yeah does it have any relationship with the Beast of Revelation 13 so can you isolate 17 from 12 and 13 now in short folks revelation 17 is describing the time when the deadly wound is healed it's that simple it's describing the time when the waters are going to flow again and God's people will be persecuted by this system as they were persecuted in the past incidentally what is God's color what is the color of God's law the color of God's commandments it is blue have you ever seen Roman Catholic vestments with blue never it is always purple and it is scarlet very significant now let's talk about the golden cup with the wine you see this this harlot has a cup and in her cup she has wine and what does she do with her wine she gives her wine to the Kings and to the inhabitants of the earth and what happens when she gives the wine Oh they say this is really good this is delicious wine is this is this side grape juice it's not grape juice it is fermented wine because it intoxicates according to Revelation chapter 17 the golden cup in the harlots hand contains the wine of Babylon the wine is identified as her abominations and the filthiness of her fornication now let me just share something with you know for many years I wondered what the wine represented you know the way that we apply Scripture the way that we study Scripture is you know if it says wine here we need to go to all of the passages in the Bible that mentioned wine to find out what wine symbolizes but I kept coming up with a blank because every text that I read was speaking about literal wine I couldn't find any text that really said that wine represents false doctrine or false teachings no matter how many texts I looked I looked them all up that speak about wine and it's always literal wine and so I said I know that Ellen White is right when she says that the wine of Babylon are her false teachings and her false concepts but that's got to be in the Bible somewhere so one day I was sitting there it is studying this and praying about it as I have done many many times and suddenly it struck me that in Revelation chapter 17 if you go with me there just for a moment Revelation chapter 17 I don't know how I miss this for so long it says in Revelation chapter 17 and verse 4 the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls having in her hand a golden cup now what does she have in the golden cup in other places that says she has wine right but here it says that in the cup was what Oh a cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication so I said maybe I ought to look up the word abominations because the wine is her abominations are you with me so I said let's look up abominations and a whole scenario opened up before me you'll notice here in your syllabus that this is the wine of the wrath of her fornication so she fornicates with the kings she gives the Kings wine and it's the wine of wrath why is it called the wine of wrath because whoever does not drink the wine will suffer the wrath of this system in a few moments we're going to come back to that but according to the Bible what is abomination here's the list number one idol worship is called explicitly an abomination is the papacy guilty of idol worship yes number two attempting to speak to and with the dead is called an abomination spiritualism there's a Roman Catholic system claimed to be able to communicate with the dead they pray to the dead they pray to Mary and they pray to all of the saints so the Roman Catholic system has this abomination the Bible says that whoever refuses to hear the law of God that is an abomination is that true of the papacy yes it sought to change the law the Bible says that adultery is an abomination does the papacy commit spiritual adultery absolutely the Bible says that eating unclean meats is an abomination does the papacy say anything about abstaining from eating pork and shrimp and lobster absolutely not anything goes Roman Catholics smoke and drink in the church has nothing to say about that also we are told that shedding innocent blood is an abomination does the papacy have a history of shedding innocent blood yes and finally the Bible tells us that Sun worship is the greatest of all abominations you know I've been to the Vatican Museum and too many cathedrals one of my favorite pastimes when I go to Latin America I tell the person that invites may say I want to visit as many cathedrals as I can I want to visit as many Catholic Church as I can and there's something that just you can't fail to see it and that is in Roman Catholic churches there are Sun bursts everywhere Sun the Sun is everywhere everywhere on chalices it is on you know on investments it is on cups it is you know on art it is everywhere the Sunburst why because the Roman Catholic Church inherited the day of a son from the Roman Empire from paganism even though they try to say that you know Jesus gave the church the right to change the day from Sabbath Sunday it has nothing to do with with a literal Sun the fact is that history proves just the contrary first in fact the first Sunday law was given by Constantine the Emperor of the Roman Empire and it didn't take very long for this civil Sunday law to become a religious Lummis law that same law that Constantine gave which was a civil law in the year 3 that was 3:21 in the year 336 at the Council of Laodicea the church converted it into a religious Sunday law the very same law that Constantine gave so is the Roman Catholic system guilty on all counts our protestants guilty on many of these counts absolutely now let me read you from Ellen White a very significant statement on what the wine is now that we've seen that the Bible tells us that the wine is all of these false teachings and all of these practices let's see what Ellen White has to say testimonies to ministers pages 61 and 62 the fallen denominational churches are babbling Babylon has been fostering poisonous doctrines the wine of error so what is the wine poisonous doctrines this wine of error is made up of false doctrines such as the natural immortality of the soul the eternal torment of the wicked the denial of the pre-existence of Christ prior to his birth in Bethlehem and advocating and exalting the first day of the week above God's holy and sanctified day these and kindred airs this only a tip of the iceberg the ones that she's mentioned these and other kindred errors are presented to the world by the various churches and thus the scriptures are fulfilled that say for all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication it is a wrath which is created by false doctrines now notice why it is the wine of the wrath and when kings and presidents is at the secular power so who is the harlot giving the wine to to the kings and presidents the political rulers and when kings and presidents drink this wine of the wrath of her fornication they are stirred with what with anger against those who will not come into harmony with the false and satanic heresies which exalt the false Sabbath and lead men to trample underfoot God's memorial so basically what has happened and we're going to look at this a little bit later is that the multitudes and rulers have swallowed this wine and they've really been happy with the wine how many of you have ever tried to give a Bible study to a drunk it's almost a lost lost cause right and so when you talk to people and you say you try to show them that the Sabbath is a day of rest and you read all of the Bible verses and say I don't get it why do they say they don't get it because I drunk they're drunk with the wine of Babel so somehow we've got to get them sober first and then when they're sober then they can sit down and things can make sense to their minds now people are going to people are going to enjoy the wine the presidents are going to enjoy the wine but the time is coming where they will become very sober and they're gonna turn against the harlot who gave them the wine next page in the above statement Ellen White blames the churches forgiving the rulers of the world the wine of Babylon but in the statement and great controversy that we're going to read now page 389 she is more specific it is the ministers the men of learning of the apostate churches who are guilty of the spiritual intoxication of the world listen to this statement that is found in great controversy page 389 when faithful teachers expound the Word of God there arise men of learning ministers professing to understand the scriptures who denounce sound doctrine as heresy and thus turn away in choirs after truth were it not that the world is hopelessly intoxicated with the wine of Babel and multitudes would be convicted and converted by the plain cutting truths of the Word of God but religious faith appears so confused and discordant that the people know not what to believe as truth the sin of the worlds in penitence lies at the door of the church who is to blame for what is happening in society today the church primarily the leadership of the church because as the leader is so will the people be the people will not rise any higher than their leader so somehow you know we have to we have to convince people to follow what the Bible says instead of following necessarily what their leaders say and that's so difficult because they love their leaders and that's understandable because they've spent years and years with their leaders in their churches and by the way many of these leaders are sincere you remember the testimony that we watched this guy what was it for for 30-some years or almost 40 years you know he was certain that he was right and that those who kept the Sabbath you know they were kind of lunatic fringe those are not his words but that's basically what he was saying and then through the witnessing of these students that went to his school he says wow you know I I was gonna teach them and hear these little kids are teaching me and so he and his entire Church decides to begin keeping God's seventh-day Sabbath are there many other ministers out there who are in the same boat yes I believe that there are thousands and thousands of them Ellen White in fact says so in great controversy that when the loud cry is given they will come out and they will be members of God's remnant Church and you know what lots of those who are in will end up going out and we have some of them that are already going out now notice Ellen White quoting Revelation chapter 17 verse 4 1 through 4 she already quoted this and she makes this comment and we already read it but let's read it again in this context in the 17th of Revelation is foretold the destruction of all the churches these are the Protestant churches who corrupt themselves by idolaters devotion to the surface of service of the papacy those who have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication thus is represented the papal power which with all deceivableness of unrighteousness by outside attraction and gorgeous display deceives all nations promising them as did Satan our first parents all good to those who receive its mark and all harm to those who oppose its fallacies so Babel and will do this through the wine that it gives to the nation's now the good news that we find in all of these prophecies is that God always has a faithful remnant in all of these chapters that we've studied God has a faithful remnant let's notice how they are referred to in these prophecies in Revelation chapter 12 verse 13 and verse 15 what are God's people called they are called the what the woman does the dragon persecute the woman yes is the woman the faithful church absolutely in Revelation chapter 12 17 they are referred to as what the remnant of her seed in Revelation chapter 13 verse 7 they are called what the Saints of the Most High and the Beast persecutes them in Revelation chapter 17 and verse 6 they are called the Saints and the martyrs of Jesus does God have a faithful people in all of these chapters that we find here absolutely and the Bible says he who endures unto the end the same shall be saved notice this statement from Ellen White once again revelation she's commenting on revelation 17 verse 6 which shows that she believes the harlot is the Roman Catholic system she wrote this in great Ghana vs. 382 the power that for so many centuries maintained despotic sway over the monarchs of Christendom is Rome see once again church and state there and no other power could be so truly declared and now she quotes revelation 17 6 drunken with the blood of the Saints as that church which has so cruelly persecuted the followers of Christ Babylon is also charged with the sin of unlawful connection with the kings of the earth so far so good are you understanding all the pieces of a puzzle see we're just looking at the pieces now we're classifying the pieces so that then we can take all the pieces put them together and then we have the complete picture now let's talk about the seven headed dragon took us quite a while to talk about the harlot didn't it good well let's notice now Revelation chapter 17 and the seven headed scarlet dragon why do you suppose the dragon is scarlet what is scarlet what color is scarlet it is a deep red why do you suppose this dragon is scarlet well must be communism because red is the colour of communism right and you know that's the way some people interpret scripture but in the Bible red is blood now why is this dragon beast red because the harlot uses it to what to slay the saints of the Most High this the blood of God's people now Jane Andrews whom I believe to be the greatest scholar in the history of the Adventist Church and it's not a coincidence that our highest seminary our seminary in our most famous school where people go from all over the world to get their education it's called Andrews University although I think that if if Jane Andrews resurrected today he might die of a heart attack but anyway I believe was a greatest he was the greatest scholar in the history of the Adventist Church and very committed to the church he loved the seventh-day Adventist Church in our message he quoted or he wrote in a book the three angels messages pages 77 and 78 what he understood to be the meaning of the of the beasts of Revelation 12 13 and 17 and I agree with him notice what he had to say about these three beasts the seven heads are seven forms of civil power which successively bear rule is that registering so in other words the seven heads represent seven successive civil powers that rule in succession he continues writing these seven heads belong alike to the dragon of Revelation 12 the Beast of Revelation 13 and that of revelation 17 so must there be a relationship among these three of course this shows conclusively says J and Andrews that the dragon and these two beasts are symbols of the same power under what different hence for there are not three sets of seven heads but it is evidenced that the heads are successive forms of its power one of them bearing rule at a time and then giving place to another the proper period of each seems to be this the dragon before the 1260 years remember the dragon that tried to kill the child is that before the 1260 years absolutely the Beast of chapter 13 during that period and the Beast of chapter 17 since the deadly wound and captivity at the close of that period are you are you seeing what he's saying he's saying that that these that these heads represent the these are actually the last three heads he's saying that they represent the dragon represents the Roman Empire the Beast of Revelation 13 represents papal Rome and the Beast of Revelation chapter 17 is papal Rome restored to power so three of those heads must be pagan Rome papal Rome and papal Rome what restored to power now we come to a point which is very important and we'll deal with this during the last ten minutes that we have and then we will continue expounding upon this in our first class tomorrow in order to comprehend the meaning of the seven headed dragon upon which the harlot sits we must first understand how the ancients perceived river dragons the ancients believed that mountains were heads of a great cosmic river serpent dragon according to their worldview the mountains or heads would spew out waters do we still refer to head waters yeah that's where you're originated right which would do we talk talk about a body of water talk about a body of water - right then those are remnants from this ancient concept so so according to their worldview the mountains or heads because they're the same thing it says the seven heads are seven mountains so they're interchangeable the mount in their worldview the mountains or heads would spew out waters which would flow down into the valley as the river twisted and turned tortuously in the valley it looked like the body of a great river serpent dragon according to their view when the river was at flood stage it overflowed its banks and sprouted wings that's quite exotic imagery now let's go to Isaiah eight seven and eight now Roisin 17 doesn't mention wings but were helped by Isaiah chapter eight verses seven eight which is speaking about the invasion of Sennacherib into Judah once again where did I say that we're going we're going to Isaiah 8 and verses 7 and 8 speaking about the invasion into Judah it says there the following now therefore behold the Lord brings up over them the waters of the river what is that River what happens when it says the river it's the Euphrates yes of the river strong and mighty and what are what do the waters represent here comes the explanation the king of Assyria and all his glory so what do the water symbolize here they they symbolize the invasion of the king of Assyria into the land of Judah what does he come into the land of Judah for what is he flooding for because he wants to destroy Israel he wants to destroy Judah and now notice what what he's compared to he will go up over all his channels and go go over all his banks this is the king the king of Assyria but he's being symbolized by what by a flooding River he will pass through Judah he were overflow and Passover he will reach up to the neck and the stretching out of his wings will fill the breadth of your land Oh Emmanuel incidentally the last part of Daniel chapter 9 also speaks about the wheat and the wing of abominations shall come the one who shall make desolate so so what happens if you look you know if you're up on a mountain and you're looking down at a valley and you see a tortuous river and you and the river has gone out of its banks what does it look like it looks like a dragon the mountain is the head where the water comes down and the waters formed the body of the serpent dragon and then the wings are the flood are you with me see we don't think this way and by the way I have a document if anybody's interested in in the full exposition of this in the ancient world I had a teacher at Andrews University probably the best teacher that I ever had his name is Douglas Waterhouse he lives in Hawaii and he wrote a whole article looking at all the archaeological sources and historical sources of this concept this concept was prevalent in the ancient world and so we're just basically using the concept that existed in that culture we're not used to talking this way but they were used to talking this way now let's go back here it is it is the up of the utmost importance to keep in mind that revelation 12 15 and 16 and 17 15 9 and verse 15 is drawing on this ancient concept but in Revelation the river dragon takes on a symbolic meaning the mountains symbolize what in the Bible mountains are Kingdom's folks in Daniel 2 what is the mountain the stone hits the feet of the image and it becomes a great mountain it has explained God will establish the kingdom which shall never be destroyed mountains in Scripture represent kingdoms in Jeremiah 51 it says that God is going to take 5125 God says he's going to take Babylon and it's gonna be like a burning mountain thrown into the sea so mountains in scripture represent kingdoms and so the mountains symbolize kingdoms and the waters represent what multitudes nations tongues and people's it is important to understand that the nation's multitude tongues in people's actually form the body of the dragon Beast are you catching the picture now this is the reason why the harlot is described as sinning now notice she's sitting on a scarlet beast right but she's also sitting on the waters now wait a minute how can she be sitting on the Scarlet Beast and on the waters at the same time because the Scarlet Beast is the body of the dragon which are the what the waters how you following me or not and it says it says the seven heads are seven mountains but they are also seven kingdoms so the mountains represent kingdoms and what are the kingdoms doing they're spewing out water at the behest of the harlot to do what to drown God's people are you getting the picture now let's go back here to the material in other words the waters and the Scarlet beast are interchangeable and the waters and dragon are scarlet because they are what they are filled with the blood of God's people the reliability of this ancient view as it applies to Revelation chapter 17 is seen in the fact that the seven heads are also identified as seven what mountains where do rivers originate they originate in mountains and if you don't understand that you don't live in Fresno because the waters that we get in Fresno come from the mountains from the Sierra Nevada as we have already seen in antiquity the mountains were conceived as the head of a dragon beast but the heads are also what mountains see the mountain spew out the water the heads beyond the water it's the same idea and the waters go down into the valley and they looked like the body of a dragon or the body of a serpent and the harlot sits on the waters it is crucially important to realize that while the heads are mountains this is very important our spewing out waters the dragon beast is what alive correct when the heads are mountains however cease to spew out waters the dragon beast is what dead is that true in Revelation 13 what happens what happens with the head that was spewing out waters in Revelation chapter 12 the waters are what dried up that's the same as the head receiving what a deadly wound so are the waters being spewed out from the head when the head has a deadly wound absolutely not now let's are you catching the picture this is different you know different than usually we think because we're not accustomed to be to work within that culture she continues we continue here thus the Beast is alive or dead depending on whether the harlot is able to use the head to persecute God's people that is to say when the harlot commands the Kings to order the multitudes to persecute God's people the dragon beast is alive but when the civil powers uphold democratic principles and keep aloof from the church the dragon beast is dead is that making sense it kind of brings it all together so to introduce what we're going to study in our first session tomorrow there are three seven headed beasts the first one rises in heaven the one in Revelation 12 the one in Revelation 13 rises from the sea the one religion seventeen rises from the abyss do you think it's important to understand why these three beasts rise in three different places you better believe it there's a reason why the Beast of Revelation chapter 17 does not rise from the earth it does not rise from the sea it does not rise in heaven it rises where it rises from the underworld it arises from the deep or from the abyss as it is translated in the book of Revelation so tomorrow in our first session we will attempt to finish this material visit secrets unsealed org for annual class dates and topics anchor is a seminary level course of study on the fundamentals of seventh-day adventists theology taught by pastor Stephen Bohr and guest theologians seating is limited [Music] [Applause]

Channel: Nelson Sparks.

Views: 3,354

Rating: 4.9344263 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: yzDOkR6rl0I

Length: 58min 34sec (3514 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 10 2020