First of all, we see that the wrath of the seventh bowl has fulfilled God’s wrath, and that His time has come to judge the great city of Babylon. We once again see how hard the human heart is. Second, the Bible clearly says that the great harlot is Babylon the great. The scripture describes her, and we also explains what the woman riding on the beast means. It shows that the time has come for God to avenge the souls under the altar. Third, we discussed the mystery of the great harlot sitting on the beast. Once again we see that there are things that the Bible does not clearly say, and there will be different opinions if we try to guess. We also gave an example, saying that if people think they have guessed correctly, it can only confuse people. Finally, we talk about the victory of the Lamb and the ending of the great harlot. We saw that even if the ten horns and the beast work together, they will still be defeated by the Lamb and the church. This is a destined outcome. We have also seen the harlot and their fratricide. Judging from the consistency that God tells us through the Bible, it is clear that God allowed the kings to choose to agree instead of making them agree.
1. The wrath of the seventh bowl and the great city of Babylon
“Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.” And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.”(Revelation 16:17-21)
“It is done” is what was said before, “…seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.”(Revelation 15:1) The great earthquake and so on also represent the coming judgment, which completely destroyed the great city of Babylon.
“Was remembered” does not mean that God has forgotten the evil done by the great city of Babylon, “…God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” for a time for every matter and for every deed is there.”(Ecclesiastes 3:17) The time has come for the judgment of the great city Babylon. Once again we see how hard the human heart is. The results of the judgment cannot make people repent, but they only blaspheme God even more.
2. The description regarding the great harlot is Babylon the great
“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. …”(Revelation 17:1-6)
This paragraph begins with a clear explanation of the reason why the great city of Babylon was punished, and from now on the woman will be used to describe what the great city of Babylon did. So what does it mean for a woman to ride on a beast? Let us first see that the beast should be a sea beast. In the past, it was said that the sea beast had “ten horns and seven heads, …and on his heads were blasphemous names.”(Revelation 13:1) It is indeed full! But now it is said that the beast is scarlet, which was not said before. We saw the woman riding on the beast, so if the sea beast goes in that direction, the woman can only go in the same direction. From the fact that God tells us what through the Bible is consistent, it is clear that it is not saying that the woman controls which way to go for the beast. We first talk about the function of the sea beast, and then the great city of Babylon is under the control of the beast.
From the perspective of the world, everything about that woman was gorgeous and she was admired by others, but she did abominable things, including killing the saints. Didn’t it say before, “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”(Revelation 6:9-11) Now it is the time to judge the world and avenge them. It is clear that “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.”(Ecclesiastes 3:1) There is no point in being anxious, God has His own time.
3. The great harlot sitting on the sea beast
“…When I saw her, I wondered greatly. 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. “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. Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, 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. The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. 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. These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.”(Revelation 17:6-13)
We have seen the mystery of the woman and the sea beast. At that time, Rome was the whole world and was located on seven mountains. The religious part of the world had been dealt with by the false prophet of the beast of the earth. This woman refers to the political power of the world. As for what the seven kings refer to, the Bible does not clearly say it, so there are different opinions. We see again that if the Bible does not say anything clearly and has no corresponding concept, we would not have guessed the only conclusion!
The important thing is that at that time, one is still there, and the other has not yet come, and then there will be the eighth beast who will eventually perish. The ten horns are for a time to have the same authority as the beast and to be the same as the king, so they refer to things in the future. The Bible does not say it clearly, and people can’t guess it. It is better not to guess. If you think you have guessed correctly, it will only confuse people. It is like someone saying for sure about the time of Jesus’ return, but no one is right. The Bible clearly says, “Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”(Revelation 16:15) There are still people guessing! Of course you can’t guess. It is very clear that we are required to be alert at all times, just as Peter said, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”(1 Peter 5:8)
4. The victory of the Lamb and the end of the great harlot
“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.” And he said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.””(Revelation 17:14-18)
We see that even if the ten horns and the beast work together, they will still be defeated by the Lamb and the church. This is the destined outcome. We see that the harlot sitting on the waters refers to the government of the world, and this is made clear in the last verse. We also see that the use value of the harlot is over. The harlot, the beast and the ten horns are fighting each other. The beast and the ten horns are on the same side. We can see this from the fact that they gave their kingdom to the beast. This, and this is all under God’s control.
The Union Version translation says that God “made” all the kings to be of one mind. This word “make” is incorrect. We talked about it last time. Starting from Adam and Eve, God allowed them to make decisions of their own free will instead of interfering with them to make them make correct decisions. The same was true when Pharaoh suffered the ten plagues. In “5. Jacob struggled with God and men and prevailed” of “1103 Reflections on the first issue of “With Thee” – Man can defeat God Genesis 32:23-26,” we explained this in detail. Those who are interested can go to the website “https://a-christian-voice.com/” and click “Understanding of Spiritual Life” to find this article.
Therefore, according to what God tells us is consistent, and it is very clear that there is a problem with this translation. So what does the Bible say? According to the original text of Strong’s Concordance, it is “put” (put G1325 in G1519) in their hearts the idea of accomplishing God’s will. Even though God puts this idea into their hearts, they still have free will. God allows them to make their own decisions, so they can make decisions that are different from God’s will, but they just make the decision that is in line with God’s will. This is different from Adam’s situation. God even gave him commands, but allowed him to make decisions, but the results of his decisions were contrary to God’s will. Don’t forget, what God tells us through the Bible is consistent!
(Verses refer to those in NASB95 unless otherwise specified.)
(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)
aChristianVoice 一個基督徒的聲音 