Revelation 17 speaks of king’s, beasts and horns. The interpretation of these prophetic symbols is rarely understood correctly because people don’t use the Bible to interpret itself. They use outside ideas and sources which twist the real meaning. In this video, watch and listen to Seventh-day Adventist pastor Mark Finley share a brief teaching of Revelation 17 and the interpretation of the prophetic symbols.

<p>Revelation 17 speaks of king’s, beasts and horns. The interpretation of these prophetic symbols is rarely understood correctly because people don’t use the Bible to interpret itself. They use outside ideas and sources which twist the real meaning. In this video, watch and listen to Seventh-day Adventist pastor Mark Finley share a brief teaching of Revelation 17 and the interpretation of the prophetic symbols.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

HopeLives365

Mark Finley

The Little Known Truth of Revelation 17


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, 2 years, 3 years, 5 years? We can't predict that. This is no wild-eyed sensationalism, But based on Scripture, we are living in the last days of Earth's 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 4 great world empires that would rule. Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Then in that great image of Daniel 2, with that head of gold, breasts and arms of silver, thighs of brass, legs of iron, we see the dandos 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 breasts and arms of silver, the thighs of brass, legs of iron, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, it passed away.

The Roman empire has been broken up. Next event rocks might the image of the coming of Jesus. When you look at Daniel chapter 7, you have now not 4 metals but 4 beasts, a lion, a bear, a leopard, a lion, a leopard, a bear, and a dragon. When you look at those 4 beasts of the lion, the bear, the leopard, the dragon, again Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, you come to the last of those, you have 10 horns, not 10 toes, again the 10 divisions of 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.

Then 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, And Daniel chapter 11 and on into chapter 12 reveal once again these great nations that would rise, but 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 Here at Revelation chapter 17, we begin with verse 1. There came 1 of the 7 angels which had the 7 vials and talked with me saying, Come hither, I'll show you the judgment of the great whore that sits on many waters. What are the 7 vials? Who's the great whore?

What does it mean she sits on many waters? First, we know what the 7 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 7 angels, go your ways and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. The first went and poured out his vial. There fell a noise from an egregious source. So the 7 vials are obviously the 7 last plagues.

Revelation 17 describes the events that lead up to these 7 last plagues, the events that will take place before the 7 last plagues. So 7 vials, 7 last plagues. Then it says, I'll show you the judgment of the great whore. What's that mean, the great whore, the harlot woman? In the Bible, a pure chaste virgin represents the bride of Christ.

So virgin in the Bible, faithful to Jesus, 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 gone into apostasy, you have then a picture of a harlot woman. James chapter 4 says, you adulterers, and adulteresses, 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 that's committed adultery. So what does the great whore represent? A church in apostasy, a movement that has 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 has drifted from Christ or true lover, drifted from the Word of God, who's going to be ultimately a recipient of the 7 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 juice of the grape of truth, but rather the wine cup 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 till 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 1 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 7 heads and 10 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 538 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. 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, her forehead was a name written, Mystery Babylon the great, the mother of Harlot. So she's the great mother church, and 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 Waldensies during this period of time. You have the persecutions of the reformers, Hus and 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 7, 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 7 heads and 10 horns. Now notice 10 horns, 10 divisions, 7 heads.

What are those 7 heads talking about? The 7 heads are the great kingdoms upon which the ideology of the beast was built. Now is where we come to something very interesting, verses 8 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 united 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 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 7, here are the mind that has wisdom. The 7 heads are 7 mountains on which the women sit in.

Now some people have equated these 7 mountains to the hills of Rome, but I think there is a better interpretation of that because there were 7 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 7 kings, 5 are fallen, 1 is, the other is not yet to come, and when he comes, he must continue a small space. There are 7 kings, 5 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, Medo-Persia, Greece, pagan Rome, and then the papacy.

So you have 5 kings or 5 powers that ruled. Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, the papacy. But what happened in 1798? The papacy went into captivity. So that makes sense.

There are 7 kings, 5 are fallen, 1 is. What would the 1 that is be? 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 particularly in France. 5 are fallen, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, the papacy went into captivity.

1 is, what is the 1 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 and 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 beast that is 1 of the 7, but is 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 the eighth beast has to be 1 of the 7. You have Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, then you have the papacy, then you have the rise of atheism, France, then the United States, 7, then you have the eighth beast that rises, which is of the 7 and he's the 1 that went into captivity, namely the papacy. The beast that was and is not, even he is of the eighth and is 1 of the 7 and he goes into perdition. The 10 horns which sussed are 10 kings that have received no kingdom yet, but they receive power as kings 1 hour with the beast. These have 1 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 10 kings or the kingdoms of this world. That is a symbol of the world's kingdoms. So you have church and state uniting 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, 1 of the 7, the 1 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 Earth's 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're faithful. They're 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 1 end of the earth to the other as it says in Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 14, and the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will go from 1 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, 2 years, 3 years, 5 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's 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 call of God. Watching it with your family, but you hear the call of God, and you're saying, Lord, I wanna 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 and Revelation. We thank you that Jesus is coming soon. We thank you that we're living in the final, last days of verse history based on prophecy. And Lord, we've studied about the 5 kings.

We've studied about Babylon, Medo-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 1 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, 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 charm 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. This media was brought to you by AudioVerse, a website dedicated to spreading God's Word through free sermon audio and much more. If you would like to In Jesus' name, amen. Like to listen to more sermons, please visit www.audioverse.org.

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The Little Known Truth of Revelation 17

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