The Little Known Truth of Revelation 17 | by Mark Finley

according to the prophecies of daniel and revelation we are living in the last days of earth's history can we predict that jesus will come in a year two years three years five years we can't predict that this is no wild-eyed sensationalism but based on scripture we are living in the final days of earth's history when church and state will unite and god is calling men and women to be faithful to him he's calling men and women to be totally committed to christ the great lines of prophecy in the bible indicate that we are living in the last days of earth history the books of daniel and revelation are specifically designed to help us to understand where we are in the stream of time in daniel chapter 2 god reveals four great world empires that would rule babylon media persia greece in rome then in that great image of daniel 2 with that head of gold breasted arms of silver thighs of brass legs of iron we see the dentos of the image representing the breakup of the roman empire immediately after that a stone strikes the image indicating the coming of jesus so in daniel chapter 2 that first foundational prophecy we're not in the head of gold the breasted arms of silver the thighs of brass legs of iron babel and meter persia greece rome have passed away the roman empire has been broken up next event rock smites the image the coming of jesus when you look at daniel chapter 7 you have now not four metals but four beasts a lion a bear a leper lion a leopard a bear and a dragon when you look at those four beasts of the lion the bear the leopard the dragon again babylon meter persia greece rome you come to the last of those you have ten horns not ten toes again the ten divisions the roman empire then you have something new added a principle in daniel and revelation is a basic prophecy is given and then that prophecy is repeated and enlarged you have a little horn arising the great apostasy that takes place when church and state unite under papal rome then after that event you have the judgment of the coming of jesus daniel chapters 8 and 9 reveal the timing of that judgment in daniel chapter 11 and on into chapter 12 reveal once again these great nations that would rise but they re they also reveal that we're living right in the last days of earth's history so daniel 11 ends with a conflict between the king of the north and the king of the south between atheistic powers and false religious powers and the final time of trouble the coming of jesus in the book of revelation particularly from chapters 13 to 22. we have this same scene essentially repeated but we have the final details in our study today we want to look at revelation the 17th chapter that focuses in that zeros in on these last days of verse history so if you've been following us in our youtube ministry you know this is a bible study ministry so get your bible and we're looking at revelation chapter 17 we begin with verse 1. there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials and talked with me saying come hither i'll show you the judgment of the great that sits on many waters what are the seven vials who's the great what does it mean she sits on many waters first we know that what the seven vials are because when you go to revelation 16 the chapter before it says i heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels go your ways and pour out the vials of the wrath of god upon the earth the first went and poured out his vile their fellow noise from the grievous source so the seven vials are obviously the seven last plagues revelation 17 describes the events that lead up to these seven last plagues the events that will take place before the seven last plague so seven five seven last plagues then it says i'll show you the judgment of the great what's that mean the great the harlot woman in the bible a pure chaste version represents the bride of christ so virgin in the bible faithful to jesus not has not left her true lover she is loyal committed to jesus the church of god is represented as this pure chaste woman who has not left her lover jesus but when you have a woman that's going into apostasy you have then a picture of a harlot woman james chapter four says you adulterous indulgers the friendship of the world is enmity against god so in james chapter 4 you have again this illusion of this harlot woman this woman has committed adultery so what does the great represent a church in apostasy a movement that is drifted from god it says she sits on many waters what do the waters represent we don't have to guess verse 15 in revelation 17 and he said to me the waters that you saw where the horse sits are peoples multitudes nations and tongues so what does the water represent peoples nations tongues so what do we see in revelation chapter 17 verse 1. what we see there is a fallen or apostate church that is drifted from christ or true lover drifted from the word of god who is going to be ultimately a recipient of the seven last plagues the bible describes this scene even further with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication fornication is an illicit union a forbidden union so the apostate church unites with the kings of the earth the state rather than uniting with jesus the true church gets her strength her power her directions from jesus the true church knowing the word of god walking in the truth of the word of god is instructed by christ the true church walks in the truth of jesus and in the law of god the false church turning from jesus attempts to get her strength from the state powers now she passes around the wine cup of her doctrines and where wine affects the forebrain it affects conscience reason and judgment people get drunk with these false doctrines throughout the bible the idea of the cup is being passed around is the cup of salvation but here she passes around not the cup of the wine of truth the pure pure juice of the grape of truth but rather the wine cup of of error look at for example psalm and we're going back there and looking at the book of psalms chapter 116 and we'll look there at verse 13. he says i'll take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the lord what's the cup of salvation it's the word of god remember what jesus said when he instituted the communion service he said i'll not drink of this cup until i drink it new with you in my father's kingdom what did he mean by that the cup representing the wine of christ the wine of his blood his blood is shed it's pure juice of the grape illustrates that wine cup that jesus would pass around it's the wine of the gospel that brings life and joy and peace and gladness but this woman who unites with the state this apostate church does not pass around the wine of the gospel but she passes around a fermented wine a tainted gospel she passes around a corrupt doctrine and what happens the whole world gets drunk now verse 3 is a critical verse because it tells you the timing that revelation 17 is looking at revelation 17 as a laser zeroes in on one particular time in history if you miss revelation 17 3 you've missed the meaning of the chapter revelation 17 3 so he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness and i saw a woman sit on a scarlet colored beast full of names of blasphemies having seven heads and ten horns so what time period is this where is this apostate woman she is in the wilderness what period is that well revelation 12 verse 6 and onward tell us that the true church of god fled into the wilderness for a period of 1260 years so the wilderness period is 38 to 1798 so it's the dark ages the middle ages so what revelation 17 is focusing upon is the period of the dark ages and the church coming out of the dark ages and god is going to reveal to us what's going to happen so he looks there he says verse 4. the woman is arrayed in purple and scarlet color her the colors of this super church the colors of this apostate church the colors of this church that is ornamented with lavish wealth are purple and scarlet it says that on her name our forehead was a name written mystery babylon the great the mother of harlot so she's the great mother church in other churches that have come out of her have not come far enough they've gone into apostasy and they are noted as the daughters of the harlot woman so what we see in revelation 17 is a church during the dark ages that has drifted away from christ it's become the great unifier through power and coercion church and state have united and then out of this mother church from rome come the great protestant churches who become their daughters now when there were those that did not go along with the mother church revelation 17 6 i saw the woman drunken with the blood of saints and the blood of martyrs so there was martyrdom we know that to be factual you have the great persecutions of the waldenses during this period of time you have the persecutions of the reformers huss in jerome burned at the stake thousands of others tens of thousands died in dungeons many died as they were burned at the stake others were killed in various fashions now verse seven the angel said unto me why did you marvel i will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her which has seven heads and ten horns now notice ten horns ten divisions seven heads what are those seven heads talking about the seven heads are the great kingdoms upon which the ideology of the beast was built now is where we come to something very interesting verses eight and onward and that's where i want to concentrate the beast that you saw was and is not and shall ascend on the bottomless pit and go into perdition they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is what is a beast in bible prophecy it is a power what power are we looking at during this time we're looking at the roman church that unites church and state during the period of the wilderness period from 538 to 1798. what happened at the end of 1798 what happened in that year well revelation chapter 13 tells us after describing the beast's power the union of church and state after describing the papacy in clear terms revelation chapter 13 or verse 10 he that leads into captivity will go into captivity and he that kills with the sword must be killed with the sword so what happens in 1798 at the end of the wilderness period napoleon is the ruler of france he looks to the south he sees a rival ruler in the pope of rome he sends his general berthier down to rome the pope is taken captive he that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity he that killeth with the sword will be killed with the sword and the pope dies in captivity so we are who is the beast or the power that was and is not yet is that would be the papal power of course now verse 9 here is the mind which has wisdom now you want your mind that has wisdom it says there are seven here are the mind that has wisdom the seven heads are seven mountains on which the warmest women sit in now some people have equated these seven mountains to the hills of rome but i think there is a better interpretation of that because there were seven great powers that would rule the world and the papal power would be dominant over all of them it goes on to explain there are seven kings five are fallen one is the other is not yet to come and when he comes he must continue a small space there are seven kings five are fallen if you look at daniel now i realize that there may be some who have a little different interpretation of this but if you look at daniel i think it's very clear you have babylon media persia greece pagan rome and then the papacy so you have five kings or five powers that ruled babylon media persia greece rome the papacy but what happened in 1798 the papacy went into captivity so that makes sense there are seven kings five are full and one is what would the one that is b the power that took the papacy in captivity france at the time that represented atheism during the french revolution 1793 to 1797 so that would represent the atheistic powers in particular in france five are fallen babylon media persia greece rome the papacy went into captivity one is what is the one that is atheism of france the other is not yet to come what world power was not yet to come mentioned in the book of revelation chapter 13 the last part the united states then it says and when he comes he must continue a short space so according to this prophecy america would rise based on the prophetic word of revelation 13 11 to 18. she would rise after the papacy went into captivity she would rise as the seventh of these beasts or the seventh of these kingdoms but the united states would last only a short period of time indeed could we be living on the knife edge of eternity with america having its day in the sun and the decadence and immorality in the crime and the natural disasters that this nation is just eroding at the very foundation we pray god there will be a mighty revival but this is what we know from prophecy this nation will continue to deteriorate then it will rise to prominence when the eighth when the beast that is one of the seven but as actually the eighth rises again notice what scripture says it says verse 11 the beast that was that beast that was what was that the papacy is not it went into captivity he is of the eighth so that the the eighth beast has to be one of the seven you have babylon meter perch or greece rome then you have the papacy then you have the rise of atheism france then the united states seven then you have the eighth beast that rises which is of the seven and he's the one that went into captivity namely the papacy the beast that was and he's not even he is of the eighth in his and is one of the seven and he goes into perdition the ten horns which sourced are ten kings that have received no kingdom yet but they receive power as kings one hour with the beast these have one mind shall give their power and strength unto the beast so what do we have taking place here you have a revival of the papal power the eighth beast and you have the papal power uniting with the ten kings or the kingdoms of this world that is a symbol of the world's kingdoms so you have church and state united in an attempt at a time of great crisis at a time of natural disasters at a time of economic collapse at a time of international war and strife at a time rampant with disease the eighth beast the papacy the revived papacy one of the seven the one that went into captivity rises again he unites with the kingdoms of this earth the united states is prominent for a short period of time and the beasts that unite with the papacy the kingdoms that unite with it they give their strength verse 13 their power to the beast these shall make war with the lamb so in the last days of verse history there is this final conflict in the last days of earth's history there is this final war and this triumvirate of error the papacy united with spiritualism and united with false protestantism and united with the kings of the earth this movement makes war with the people of god how does it do that well it passes a decree that no man can buy or sell save he takes the mark of the beast it forces human beings into a forced worship with a death decree god's people though are faithful to him revelation 14 verse 12 in the light of the enforcement of this mark of the beast here are they that keep the commandments of god and have the faith of jesus so god has a people whose faith burns in their heart whose faith changes their lives and leads them as they trust jesus completely to keep his commandments verse 14 these shall make war with the lamb but the lamb shall overcome them for he is lord of lords and king of kings they that are with him are called they are chosen and they are faithful they are called by christ to redemption they are chosen as his special people to reveal his light to the world and they are faithful they do not yield the devil unites church and state the people of god are impressed they cannot buy or sell a death decree hangs over their heads it appears that the truth of god will be snuffed out but the work of christ arises and the workers of christ arise and the people of jesus arise and the light of god's truth shines from one end of the earth to the other as it says his in habakkuk chapter 2 verse 14 and the knowledge of the glory of the lord will go from one seed to the other jesus work is not going to be defeated jesus plans are not going to be defeated jesus people are not going to be defeated jesus purpose is not going to be defeated we are living according to the prophecies of daniel and revelation we are living in the last days of earth's history can we predict that jesus will come in a year two years three years five years we can't predict that this is no wild-eyed sensationalism but based on scripture we are living in the final days of earth's history when church and state will unite and god is calling men and women to be faithful to him he's calling men and women to be totally committed to christ he's calling men and women to live in harmony with his law and as jesus says if you love me keep my commandments christ is appealing to people to be faithful in this final hours of earth's history in these crisis hours of earth history when an overwhelming surprise will burst upon the world do you sense jesus calling you do you sense the spirit of god speaking to your heart do you sense god making an appeal to you right now wherever you are sitting in your home watching this youtube video watching it with a friend but you hear the the call of god watching it with your family but you're the call of god and you're saying lord i want to be faithful to you if that's your decision let's pray father in heaven we thank you with all of our hearts for these prophecies in daniel in revelation we thank you that jesus is coming soon we thank you that we're living in the final last days of history based on prophecy and lord we've studied about the five kings we've studied about babylon media persia greece and rome and the rise of the papacy we've studied about the papacy going into captivity we've studied about the rise of atheism in france the sixth king and the rise of the united states the seventh but then we've seen that the eighth would be one of the seventh that the papacy would rise again the church and state would be united that a decree would be passed that no man could buy or sell except he had the mark of the beast and a decree would be passed that a death decree but we've seen that god's people will be faithful that they will stand firm they will be filled with his love and charmed by his grace and changed by his power and they'll keep his commandments lord deep within our hearts we want to be faithful to you we want to walk in your footsteps oh god seal within our hearts and minds your divine truth and help us walk with you in christ's name amen if you have been appreciating these youtube videos and you want to support this ministry financially you can do that on our webpage go to our webpage it's very secure and multitudes of people are supporting this ministry this is a ministry of training pastors training young people it's a ministry with our retreat center where pastors can come and young people can come it's a ministry of classes and it's a youtube ministry to get the truth of god out if you appreciate it you want to support it send us your support also if you hear these messages and you're making eternal decisions for christ and you want to study the bible or you want to be baptized please contact us on our web page we will follow that up we'll discuss with you how you can be part of an active bible study group and in addition to that we will also help you to prepare for baptism god bless you my friend we're living in climactic times of earth history but god's not caught by surprise his prophecies reveal what's coming amen

Channel: HopeLives365

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Keywords: Revelation 17, Seventh day Adventist, SDA, Adventist, Adventists, Mark Finley, HopeLives365, Hope Lives 365, beasts, kings, horns, prophecy

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Length: 24min 22sec (1462 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 06 2021