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00:35 Hello, friends, welcome again to Sabbath School Study Hour
00:38 here at the Granite Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church 00:40 in Sacramento, California. 00:42 We'd like to welcome our online members, 00:44 and I know there are number of other folks joining us 00:46 across the country and around the world, 00:49 part of our extended Sabbath School class. 00:52 Thus we'd like to welcome 00:53 our regular members and visitors 00:55 who are joining us here in person this morning. 00:57 And even though we're in California, 00:59 it feels little bit more like Oregon this morning, 01:02 doesn't it with all the rain? 01:03 We're glad you braved the rain and are here to study with us. 01:08 Through the last few weeks, 01:09 we've studying through the Book of Revelation, 01:10 that's been our Sabbath school quarterly. 01:12 And today, we're nearing the end of our study together. 01:15 We're actually on lesson number 12, 01:16 so we have one more lesson left on the Book of Revelation. 01:19 Today's lesson is entitled, "Judgment on Babylon." 01:23 I'm looking in Revelation Chapter 17, 01:25 it's the principal passage that we'll be studying. 01:28 We do have a free offer 01:29 for those who are joining us online. 01:31 If you'd like to learn more 01:32 about these important prophetic themes, 01:34 our free offer today 01:36 is an Amazing Facts study guide, 01:37 it's entitled, "The USA in Bible Prophecy." 01:41 And this is our free offer, all you need to do is 01:43 call the number 866-788-3966, 01:47 and ask for the offer 181. 01:49 And we'll be happy to send this to anybody 01:52 who calls and asks, 01:53 and you'll be able to learn more 01:55 as you study this free offer. 01:57 If you'd like to receive 01:58 a digital download of the study, 02:01 you'll need to text the following code 02:04 "SH093" 02:06 to the number 40544, 02:10 and you'll be able to download the study guide, 02:12 "The USA in Bible Prophecy." 02:15 Well, before we get to our study this morning, 02:17 let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. 02:19 Dear, Father, once again we're grateful 02:21 that we have this opportunity to open up Your Word 02:23 and study the last book of the Bible, 02:26 the Book of Revelation. 02:27 And in particular, a very important subject 02:29 relevant for the time in which we're now living. 02:32 And so, Father, we ask for Your Holy Spirit 02:34 to come and guide our hearts 02:35 and lead us into a clearer understanding 02:37 of these important truths, for we ask this in Jesus' name. 02:41 Amen. 02:43 Now, if you've been following our Sabbath School Study Hour, 02:46 we've been studying the Book of Revelation 02:47 over the past few weeks. 02:48 You've noticed from time to time 02:50 Pastor Doug Batchelor and myself, 02:52 we've been sort of tag teaching some of the lessons, 02:55 and we've been having a good time. 02:56 I know Revelation is the favorite book 02:57 of Pastor Doug, 02:59 it happens to be one of my favorites as well. 03:01 And so this morning 03:02 we gonna try to do that again, Pastor Doug. 03:04 We will and this is not scripted, 03:06 so Pastor Ross is gonna jump in, 03:10 he'll give me some kind of signal. 03:12 And we're gonna go 03:14 through this very important presentation, 03:16 and if you've not heard the study 03:19 on Revelation 17, 03:22 I suggest you have a little prayer. 03:26 And you ask God to give you grace 03:28 to understand this. 03:29 I know when some people first hear this, 03:31 it kind of knocks their socks off. 03:34 So we're gonna start with the memory verse, 03:36 and the lesson, of course, for today, 03:38 we're dealing with the Judgment on Babylon. 03:42 And we have a memory verse, it's from Revelation 18:4-5, 03:46 and we invite you to say that with me. 03:48 This is from the New King James Version. 03:50 Are you ready? 03:51 "And I heard another voice from heaven saying, 03:56 'Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, 04:01 and lest you receive of her plagues. 04:04 For her sins have reached to heaven, 04:07 and God has remembered her iniquities." 04:10 Several times it says, come out of her, her sins, 04:13 her iniquities. 04:15 What does a woman represent in prophecy? 04:18 A church. 04:20 And so a good, pure, bright woman 04:23 represents the Church of God, Revelation 12. 04:26 This is the antithesis of that. 04:29 Revelation 17, 04:30 evangelists call this 04:31 The Sermon on the Scarlet Harlot. 04:34 And she is drunken with blood, it's not a pretty picture, 04:38 abominations and plagues. 04:41 And this is talking about a church 04:43 that became unfaithful 04:46 as a bride who cheats on her husband. 04:49 You find that story appearing many times 04:51 in the Old Testament, the Book of Hosea. 04:53 It talks about how God's people have played the harlot, 04:56 and they were his wife 04:57 and they ran off with pagan lovers. 05:00 This happened to the church 05:02 not too long after the time of the apostles. 05:05 And so, we're gonna delve into this, 05:07 and we'll be going from the screen. 05:09 The first section in the lesson here, 05:11 it's called, The Harlot Babylon. 05:14 And, you know, what I like to do, Pastor Ross, 05:16 is I'm just gonna read, tell you what, 05:17 I'll read verses 1 through... 05:19 Why don't you do it? You get your Bible open. 05:21 Why don't you read verses 1 through... 05:23 Revelation 17:1-6? 05:26 This will set the stage for what we're gonna study 05:28 in the next few verses. 05:29 If you have your Bibles, Revelation 17, 05:32 beginning in verse 1, it says, 05:33 "Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls 05:36 came and talked to me, saying, 05:37 'Come, and I will show you 05:39 the judgment of the great harlot 05:41 who sits on many waters, 05:43 with whom the kings of the earth 05:44 have committed fornication, 05:46 and the inhabitants of the earth 05:47 have been made drunk 05:48 with the wine of her fornication. 05:51 So He carried me away in the Spirit 05:53 into the wilderness. 05:55 And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, 05:58 full of names of blasphemy, 06:00 having seven heads and ten horns. 06:03 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, 06:05 and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, 06:08 having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations 06:12 and the filthiness of her fornication. 06:15 And on her forehead was a name written: 06:17 Mystery, Babylon the great, 06:19 the mother of harlots 06:20 and of the abominations of the earth. 06:23 And I saw the woman, 06:24 drunk with the blood of the saints, 06:26 and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. 06:28 And when I saw her, 06:29 I marveled with great amazement." 06:32 All right, John is shocked by the scene, 06:36 and he is marveling this woman as a persecuting power. 06:40 She's drunk with the blood of the saints. 06:43 And if you want to find out right away where this woman is, 06:47 the last verse in the chapter, it says, 06:50 "The women that you saw is that great city," 06:52 and that's verse 17, I believe, "that's reigns over..." 06:55 Verse 18. 06:56 "The woman that you saw 06:57 is that great city that reigns over the kings of the earth." 07:00 All right, so, what great city 07:02 was reigning over the kings of the earth 07:04 when John wrote Revelation? 07:06 Rome. 07:08 Hence here you have a woman and what does woman represent? 07:13 A church. 07:14 In what city? Rome. 07:17 Right there, you can figure out what this is talking about, 07:20 and most of the great Protestant Reformers 07:22 were in total agreement 07:23 that Babylon represented this woman. 07:26 Now, before we delve into that, 07:28 just give you a little background 07:29 so that we can understand what we're talking about. 07:33 Babel, Babylon appears way back there in Genesis 11, 07:39 when they built the Tower of Babel, 07:40 and it was something that it was manmade salvation. 07:44 You know, build the tower to save ourselves 07:45 in cases of flood, can't trust the Word of God. 07:48 Don't want to be scattered, 07:49 let us make a name for ourselves, 07:51 about making the name for ourselves, 07:53 saving ourselves, work our way to heaven, 07:56 and so Babel and Babylon sort of become... 07:59 The word Babel means gate of God. 08:03 Babel. 08:04 But it later became known as Babilim, 08:07 because of the tongues were confused there as well. 08:10 So, it's one of those words that's got two histories. 08:14 Now, when you read about Babylon in Revelation, 08:18 keep in mind 08:19 that these are Old Testament prophecies 08:22 coming to life. 08:23 I just pulled one here from Jeremiah 51:6-8, 08:27 "Flee from the midst of Babylon, 08:29 and everyone of you save his life! 08:31 Do not be cut off in her iniquity." 08:34 Let us flee, 08:35 it says in Revelation from her plagues. 08:38 "For this is the time of the Lord's vengeance, 08:40 He shall recompense her. 08:42 Babylon was a golden cup." 08:44 We just read about a golden cup." 08:45 In the Lord's hands, that made all the earth drunk." 08:48 So she's drunken with the blood of the saints. 08:50 "The nations drink her wine." 08:52 We just read about wine. 08:53 "Therefore the nations are deranged." 08:55 It says the nations were drunk. 08:57 "Babylon has suddenly fallen." 08:59 We read about Babylon fallen in the second angel's message, 09:02 in Revelation 18. 09:04 So all you're reading in Revelation 09:06 is drawn from the prophecies of Jeremiah, 09:10 Isaiah, Ezekiel, 09:12 they talk about Babylon and the fall of Babylon. 09:14 So the better you're acquainted 09:16 with those Old Testament prophets, 09:18 Revelation is like a kaleidoscope 09:19 of those different prophecies. 09:21 You know, Pastor Doug, 09:22 it's interesting to note in the Old Testament, 09:24 you have, some are referred to it 09:26 as the tale of two cities. 09:27 Two cities standing in opposition 09:29 one to the other, 09:30 both of them have to do with worship. 09:32 You have Babylon as mentioned representing false worship, 09:35 and then you have Jerusalem 09:36 which is a symbol of true worship. 09:39 And throughout Old Testament you see these two cities, 09:42 at times Babylon conquers Jerusalem, 09:44 at other times the people come out of Babylon 09:46 back to Jerusalem, 09:48 and so this back and forth between Jerusalem and Babylon. 09:51 In Revelation, we have two women. 09:53 In Revelation 12 is a pure woman, 09:56 representing the true church, 09:57 being persecuted by this false church 10:00 that we read about in Revelation Chapter 17. 10:03 So the parallels are rather interesting 10:05 that we find both in the Old Testament 10:07 and in the New Testament. 10:08 It's interesting to note that 10:10 the church power in Revelation 17 10:12 is called Babylon. 10:14 And we go to the Old Testament, we have a city called Babylon, 10:17 that was persecuting God's people. 10:19 That's right. Amen. 10:21 All right, we got a lot to cover. 10:23 Now, what mother daughter teams 10:26 persecuted God's people in the Bible? 10:28 Now, follow me. 10:30 We just read about Babylon, the mother of harlots. 10:32 I mean, she has daughters. 10:34 So you got in Revelation 17, a mother and her daughters. 10:38 Do you remember reading in the Old Testament 10:39 about someone named Jezebel, 10:41 who persecuted the prophets of the Lord 10:44 during a three and a half year period? 10:47 You know, how long three and a half years is 10:48 in Hebrew calendar? 10:50 One thousand two hundred and sixty days. 10:53 Remember, there's a famine for three and a half years 10:55 and then Elijah prayed that it wouldn't rain, 10:57 then he prayed it would rain. 10:58 She had a daughter named Athaliah, 11:00 who killed all the royal seed of David. 11:04 So you got Jezebel and Athaliah. 11:06 And three and half years of famine, 11:09 Elijah's fled, he's in the wilderness. 11:12 Then you go to the New Testament, 11:14 and here's where it talks about 11:15 where Athaliah saw her son was dead, 11:17 she destroyed all the royal seeds. 11:19 She was a persecuting power as well. 11:21 You go in the New Testament, 11:22 you got someone who came in the spirit 11:24 and power of Elijah, what was his name? 11:27 John the Baptist. 11:28 During the three and a half year ministry 11:30 of Jesus, 11:31 Jesus preached for 1260 days. 11:34 There was another mother, daughter team. 11:37 You got Herodias and her daughter dance, 11:40 so that where John the Baptist lost his head. 11:43 And people often ask me, 11:45 is there anything wrong with dancing? 11:46 I say it depends on what kind of dancing, 11:48 wrong kind of dancing you can lose your head. 11:52 And so here you got that. 11:54 Then you get to Revelation, 11:55 you got Babylon and her daughters 11:57 and there's a 1260 year period, 12:00 where the people flee into the wilderness 12:02 and they're persecuted. 12:04 This is a pattern 12:05 that is playing out through history, prophetically. 12:07 Any thoughts on that? 12:09 Yes, it's also interesting to know that 12:10 in the examples that Pastor Doug gave, 12:12 in the case of John the Baptist, 12:14 you have Herodias working through her daughter 12:17 to influence the King Herod to persecute the prophet. 12:21 So in Revelation, you have the mother church 12:23 called Babylon, 12:24 but she works through her daughters, 12:26 and eventually persecutes God's people in the last days. 12:29 So there is that parallel once again 12:31 between these Old Testament types 12:33 relating to prophetic things. 12:34 Yeah, you've got apostate Protestantism 12:38 that will influence apostate Catholicism 12:42 to persecute the faithful during that time period. 12:47 All right, now the next section, 12:49 the harlot riding the beast. 12:51 How does God symbolize Babylon in Revelation 17? 12:54 We're using some question answer program. 12:56 Frankly, we comingled our evangelistic slides 13:00 to make it match up with the Sabbath School lesson. 13:03 Revelation 17:18, "And the woman that you saw 13:06 is that great city that reigns over the kings of the earth." 13:09 Now, just so you know that even in Christ time, 13:14 they looked upon Rome as spiritual Babylon. 13:17 If you look in the first letter of Peter, 13:21 1 Peter Chapter 5, 13:23 when he concludes his letter, he says, 13:25 "She who is in Babylon, 13:27 elect together with you, greets you." 13:30 What it means, she who is in Babylon? 13:32 The church? 13:33 There were some Christians that were in Rome. 13:36 He's not talking about Babylon, 13:38 there's nothing going on in there. 13:39 They're talking about Christians that were in Rome, 13:41 they called it Babylon, even back then 13:43 they understood the spiritual analogy of that. 13:47 Now, this is review. 13:49 A couple of weeks ago, 13:50 we talked about the mark of the beast, 13:52 and we said, we want to make sure you understand, 13:54 what was the view of the reformers 13:56 regarding Babylon 14:00 and who was this woman? 14:02 Universally, they believed it was the papacy 14:05 or what we would call the Catholic Church. 14:06 We're not trying to say anything, 14:08 people gonna say, that's hate speech, 14:09 you're bashing the Catholic Church. 14:11 Some of the finest Christians in the world 14:13 are in the Catholic Church, they do a lot of great things. 14:15 We're talking about a system of organization 14:18 that became unfaithful to the scriptures, 14:21 that's what we're dealing with, 14:23 and this is... 14:24 Keep in mind, the quotes we're going to quote, 14:27 maybe you can read this one, Pastor Ross, 14:28 and this is John Wycliffe, a Catholic priest. 14:30 Listen to what he said. 14:31 He said, "We suppose that the Antichrist, 14:33 the head of all these evil men, is the pope of Rome." 14:38 Here's another one by another Catholic priest. 14:41 Says, "The pope is the true Antichrist, 14:44 of whom it is written, 14:45 that he sits in the temple of God, 14:47 amongst the people where Christ is worshiped. 14:50 'The vicar is in the place of the absent chief, 14:54 that is such a vicar, but Antichrist.' 14:57 'I know and am certain 14:59 that the papacy is the kingdom of Babylon.'" 15:01 Right, now, the former one I read was John Huss, 15:03 that we hold up there. 15:05 This one, of course, is Martin Luther. 15:06 All three of these were Catholic priests, 15:08 through the study of Scripture, they said, 15:09 "We have become that unfaithful woman 15:12 in Revelation 17." 15:14 They protested it. 15:16 That's why they get the name Protestants. 15:19 Here's one, John Knox also... 15:21 He was a Catholic priest, 15:22 until he was evicted or excommunicated. 15:25 "Yea, we do not doubt to prove the kingdom of the Pope 15:27 to be the kingdom and power of Antichrist." 15:31 And here is one you want to read John Wesley. 15:32 John Wesley said, 15:34 "He it is that exalteth himself 15:35 above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, 15:38 claiming the highest power, and the highest honor, 15:40 claiming the prerogative which belong to God alone." 15:45 And, then here's one by Charles Spurgeon. 15:47 You want to read that? 15:48 Says, "Behold upon her forehead is the name, 15:51 Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots, 15:53 the Abominations of the Earth. 15:54 The Church of Rome and her teachings 15:57 are a vast mountain of rubbish covering the Truth of God!" 16:00 So you don't have to wonder how Spurgeon felt. 16:03 But this is what all of the Protestants 16:05 used to preach. 16:07 You don't hear it very much anymore, do you? 16:09 They said, you know, we're drifting from Scripture. 16:12 This is what happened to the church. 16:13 And I think, 16:15 and this is from a book, I'll read this one, this is a, 16:18 just a book called A Cloud of Witnesses. 16:20 "Wycliffe, Tyndale, Luther, Calvin, Cranmer, 16:23 in the 17th century, Bunyan," John Bunyan, 16:26 who wrote Pilgrim's Progress, 16:27 "the translators of the King James Bible, 16:30 the men who published the Westminster 16:32 and Baptist confessions of faith. 16:34 Sir Isaac Newton, John Wesley, George Whitfield, 16:38 Jonathan Edwards, and more recently Spurgeon, 16:41 Bishop J C Ryle, Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, 16:44 these among countless others, 16:46 all saw the office of the Papacy 16:48 as the Antichrist." 16:50 They all read Revelation 17 and said, 16:53 if there is a slam dunk prophecy 16:54 in the Bible, this is it. 16:57 You can't confuse it. 16:58 Now, let's, with that background, 16:59 let's go on to our next question here. 17:02 What other evidence from Revelation 17 17:04 proves that Babylon refers to papal Rome? 17:07 Well, now we're gonna go through a list of criteria. 17:10 And Pastor Ross and I'll take turns. 17:12 I'll go to A and you can do B. 17:14 One, she's guilty of blasphemy. 17:16 Blasphemy means when you either claim the right to forgive sin. 17:19 They accused Jesus of blasphemy when He said, 17:21 He could forgive sin, they claim that. 17:24 Or blasphemy is when you put yourself 17:25 in the position of God. 17:27 They accused Jesus of blasphemy when He said that He was God. 17:30 I Am that I Am. 17:32 Here's B. 17:33 Oh, here's some of the quotes, sorry. 17:35 "Pope is of so great dignity and so exalted, 17:37 that he is not a mere man, but 17:38 as it were God and the vicar of God." 17:41 That would be technically a definition of blasphemy. 17:44 Point number B, it says, 17:45 she is dressed in purple and scarlet. 17:48 It's interesting the colors, that colors 17:49 that are specifically mentioned, 17:51 they were colors of royalty back in Bible times. 17:54 But if you look at some of the official colors 17:56 of the papacy, 17:58 it's pretty clear that purple 18:00 and scarlet play prominent roles. 18:03 The cardinal, what color is a cardinal bird? 18:06 It's red. 18:08 So the cardinals always wear red. 18:09 The bishops wear purple. 18:12 And you know, in inference 18:13 we should say that in the priests, 18:14 in the temple, the priest in God's temple, 18:18 there was also scarlet and purple. 18:19 But here, it's talking about unfaithful church 18:22 is also using scarlet and purple. 18:25 Go ahead. 18:27 Say, she's adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls, 18:30 very wealthy church as I think we all know. 18:32 Yeah. 18:33 I think the Catholic Church is the largest private owner 18:38 of rare and precious gems in the world. 18:42 And also, I think they own, 18:45 largest private owner of silver, 18:47 not gold but of silver too. 18:50 She's called the mother. 18:53 Now, it's Interesting. 18:54 Do you know the pope, 18:55 while he's the head of the Catholic Church, 18:56 he is also the pastor of a specific congregation. 18:59 It's a church in Rome. 19:01 It's called the Lateran Church. 19:03 And here is a plaque that you find today, 19:06 that is in marble on the Lateran Church in Rome, 19:09 where the pope is the pastor. 19:12 It's like, you know, I direct Amazing Facts, 19:16 but I also pastor a church. 19:18 Where the pope is the head of a Catholic Church, 19:20 but he also has a congregation. 19:22 This is the church and it says here, 19:23 this is the Latin translation, "The sacred Lateran, 19:26 mother and head of all churches of the city and the world." 19:30 So they claim the title, mother. 19:32 And here's the next one. 19:34 But number D, It says, 19:35 she has harlot daughters who also are fallen. 19:38 Revelation Chapter 14, it says, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen," 19:42 and she said to be the mother of harlots. 19:45 So if a woman represents a church 19:47 that which would constitute her daughters, 19:49 would be those churches that are holding 19:51 to the teachings and the doctrines 19:53 of the mother church. 19:55 And so we're talking not only about the papal power, 19:58 but we're also talking about those Protestant churches 20:01 that are holding to the same doctrines 20:03 and teachings that originate 20:05 from the mother church and are not found in the Bible. 20:08 Yeah, if you have a daughter 20:11 is gonna usually resembled her mother, 20:12 maybe not completely 20:14 because the father hopefully had some influence. 20:17 But in the same way the Protestant churches 20:19 though they came out 20:20 and tried to come back to the Bible, 20:22 they still as one pastor put it, 20:24 they still had 20:25 in their bosom relics of popery, 20:26 they still clung 20:27 to a lot of those foundational teachings. 20:30 Says that, "She's a persecuting power 20:33 and martyred the saints." 20:34 We read in verse 6, it said that, 20:37 "She's drunken with the blood of the saints." 20:39 And so the Catholic Church freely admits 20:43 that they persecuted. 20:45 And during the period of the Dark Ages, 20:47 especially during the Spanish Inquisition, 20:50 estimates range anywhere 20:51 from 20 to 50 million Christians and Jews 20:55 or anyone branded a heretic was killed by the church, 21:00 burned at the stake, buried alive, drowned, 21:03 you name it. 21:05 And it's a shocking history. 21:07 Karen and I were in Spain last year, 21:10 and we were in a little gift shop. 21:11 And we saw in the back of the gift shop, it said, 21:13 you want to see the torture room? 21:16 I said, "How much to see the torture room?" 21:18 It was like $2 or whatever. 21:20 And so she said, "Sure, 21:21 we'll go and look at the torture chamber." 21:22 And so they took us down and they showed us 21:24 under all the churches all around Toledo, 21:26 Spain and different cities. 21:28 They got these places and they got the implements 21:30 where they tortured Christians who did not comply 21:34 or they called them heretics. 21:37 And it was most frightening. 21:39 You want to read that? Yes. 21:40 From the book, History of the Popes, it says, 21:41 "Great numbers were driven from the habitations 21:43 with their wives and children, stripped and naked, 21:46 many of them inhumanely massacred." 21:49 All right, it says, "She rules over the kings of the earth." 21:52 And what's meant by that, this. 21:54 Any of you ever played chess? 21:56 If you know, if you played chess 21:58 that to the right of the king, queen, 22:00 a game that was developed during the Dark Ages, 22:03 you always have the bishop, 22:04 two bishops, one king, one queen, 22:05 two bishops, to the right and to the left, 22:07 because that's the way things were all throughout Europe. 22:10 They had to sort of check with the church 22:12 regarding any activity. 22:13 The priests and bishops were the counselors 22:16 of the monarchies. 22:17 And they had great power in the church, 22:20 still has great power today. 22:22 This is just one picture I threw in of Pope Francis 22:25 who is negotiating peace between the president of Israel 22:30 and the Palestinians. 22:32 I think we all know that Pope Francis 22:34 inserted himself in helping to open things up for Cuba. 22:38 Maybe you've heard in the news recently, 22:40 the pope offered to mediate between the two presidents 22:42 that are fighting in Venezuela right now. 22:45 Did you catch that piece of news? 22:47 And so, it's not just a religious figure. 22:49 It is a political figure that has influence 22:52 over the kings of the earth. 22:55 Go ahead. Yes. 22:56 The next one that we have is identification 22:57 of the scarlet beast. 23:00 All right, so how do these beasts 23:02 of Revelation 12, 13, and 17 compare? 23:06 So now we're talking about the woman, 23:08 now it says the woman's riding a beast. 23:10 Now typically, the one riding is in control. 23:13 If you've ever ridden a horse and you're not in control, 23:15 I'm sure you remember that. 23:19 Any of you ever have some of those experiences 23:20 where the horse thought he was in control? 23:22 I'm waiting for your hand to go up, Vickie. 23:26 But yeah, 23:27 so typically that means that they're the ones 23:29 that are in power 23:31 and there's some similarities that you find 23:34 when you look at Revelation 12, 13 and 17. 23:37 We're going to look at those verses now. 23:38 First of all, Revelation 12, you can read that for us. 23:40 Says, "And there appeared another wonder in heaven, 23:42 and behold a great red dragon, having," 23:44 here's the point you want to note, 23:45 "seven heads, ten horns, seven crowns upon its heads." 23:50 Now when you go to Revelation 13 23:52 next chapter, you can read that. 23:53 "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, 23:55 and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, 23:57 having seven heads and ten horns, 23:59 and upon his heads the names of blasphemy." 24:03 So there's some similarity. 24:04 Now before we go to the third beast, 24:07 you know, in Daniel Chapter 7, 24:10 Daniel's given this vision of the future 24:13 in beast through years. 24:15 And lion represents what kingdom? 24:18 Babylon. 24:19 And a bear? 24:21 Medo-Persia. 24:22 And a leopard? 24:24 Greece. 24:26 And then this is fourth beast that it can't find a word 24:28 for it, just tells its characteristics, 24:30 but it's not like anything we know now 24:32 is the exceeding dreadful fears. 24:34 So you got a lion, a bear and a leopard. 24:37 Now, when you go to Revelation 13, it says, 24:39 "This beast comes out of the sea," 24:42 and it says that "He's like a leopard, 24:44 a bear and the lion." 24:46 In Daniel it's lion, leopard, bear. 24:48 In Revelation it's leopard, bear, lion. 24:51 Why? 24:52 Daniel has this vision, 24:53 he's looking forward these kingdoms. 24:56 John now has this vision, 24:58 those kingdoms of Greece, Persia, 25:01 and Babylon are backwards. 25:03 So the perspective is exactly as it would be in history. 25:06 So this second beast in Revelation 25:08 or the first beast in Revelation 13 25:10 that comes up right away, you see, 25:12 it's a composite of these former kingdoms. 25:15 And I should pause here and just mention that... 25:18 You just interrupt me if you get a thought. 25:20 I should pause here and just mention that 25:23 what's happened is through history. 25:26 When Persia conquered Babylon, 25:29 Persia embraced some of the things 25:31 they learned from the Babylonians 25:33 and kept it. 25:34 When the Greeks conquered the Persians, 25:38 Alexander the Great, and the Greeks, 25:40 they kept certain things that the Persians 25:42 had learned that work well and they got stronger for it. 25:45 And, you know, each of these kingdoms reigns 25:47 longer than the one before it. 25:49 And then when the Romans conquered the Greeks, 25:50 we all know, 25:51 they call it Greco-Roman because the Romans 25:53 adopted many things from the Greek government, 25:55 which was very good. 25:56 They adopted Greek architecture. 25:58 They adopted Greek learning, 26:00 but they developed some new things 26:01 that made them stronger. 26:03 Their military was stronger. 26:04 It's like the vision in Daniel of the statue. 26:09 The top metal is the most precious, 26:10 but it's soft. 26:11 Gold is softer than silver. 26:14 Silver is less valuable, 26:15 but it's more valuable than bronze, 26:17 which is more valuable than iron, 26:18 which is more valuable than clay. 26:21 Each one of these goes down in value, 26:23 but they go up in durability as far as hardness. 26:27 Each kingdom last longer than the one before 26:30 because it's learned. 26:32 So they're all building on each other. 26:33 That's why this beast you finally get 26:35 to the end of time. 26:37 It's learned from all these empires 26:38 that persecuted God's people 26:40 and has become stronger through it. 26:42 Just to add to that Daniel 2 image, 26:43 you've got the image head of gold, 26:45 chest and arms of silver. 26:47 The two arms representing the Medes and the Persians. 26:50 Belly and thighs are brass representing Greece, 26:53 and then you got the legs of iron. 26:54 It's interesting there're two legs 26:56 and two arms. 26:57 The two arms are two parts of the empire, 27:00 the Persians and the Medes 27:01 and then when it gets to the legs, 27:03 we recognize that the Roman Empire 27:05 also consisted of two parts, you have pagan Rome. 27:08 And then pagan Roman eventually moves into 27:11 what we call papal Rome. 27:13 The pagan Roman ruled longer than any other former kingdoms 27:16 in Daniel 2 in the image, 27:17 but we find papal Rome 27:19 ruling even longer than pagan Rome. 27:22 So again, these patterns are established 27:23 that we see in the Old Testament 27:24 now in the Book of Revelation. 27:26 Yep. 27:27 All right, and so now when we get to Revelation 13, 27:30 we saw in Revelation 12, 27:31 we're talking about the beast again. 27:33 Saw in Revelation 13, Revelation 17, it says, 27:37 I saw a woman on the beast, seven heads, ten horns. 27:41 Now, who is the beast? 27:42 Well, we know in Revelation 12, 27:44 the devil was working through the Roman power 27:46 to kill the babies. 27:48 It's what it said, trying to devour the man-child 27:50 as soon as it was born. 27:51 It was Roman soldiers 27:52 that went to Bethlehem to kill the babies. 27:55 It was Rome that crucified Jesus. 27:57 It was Rome that killed Paul and Peter. 28:00 So Rome was that power. 28:01 Rome imprisoned John. 28:04 But the devil is working 28:05 behind the scenes through this power. 28:07 And so it's a woman sitting on the Roman power. 28:12 You'll notice, it says, 28:13 that this beast receives its power seat 28:16 and great authority from the dragon. 28:19 And so ultimately, 28:20 when the woman comes into power, 28:22 she gets her power seat and authority 28:24 from the Roman power. 28:25 They move the capital to Constantinople. 28:27 They tell the Bishop of Rome, you're large and in charge, 28:30 and how that fits so perfectly. 28:33 You know, what's interesting is a beast in Bible prophecy 28:35 clearly represents a political power. 28:37 A woman represents the church. 28:39 Revelation 17 describes the union of church and state, 28:44 but it's interesting that the woman, 28:45 the church is directing the state. 28:49 Well, that's exactly what history tells us 28:51 occurred during the Dark Ages or the Middle Ages. 28:54 You have the church controlling the states, 28:56 not just one power, 28:57 but all the powers of Western Europe. 29:00 The church was dictating the kings 29:03 and the different battles that were to be fought. 29:05 So you find the woman riding the beast in Revelation 17. 29:09 All right. Amen. 29:10 What is the meaning and origin of the word "Babylon?" 29:14 You read in Genesis 11:4, 6, 7, 9, 29:17 "Let us build a city and a tower, 29:18 whose top may reach unto heaven. 29:20 And the Lord said, let us go down, 29:22 there and confound or confused their language, 29:25 their tongue." 29:26 Babylon became a symbol of confusion. 29:29 And this is what happened to the church 29:30 during the Dark Ages, 29:31 there was a lot of confusion in its doctrines. 29:34 "That they may not understand one another's speech. 29:37 Therefore the name of it is called Babel, 29:39 because there the Lord did confound or confused 29:42 the languages of all the earth." 29:44 Number six. 29:45 How does God describe Babylon urging His people to leave? 29:49 You want to read that one? 29:51 Revelation 18:2 says, 29:53 "And he cried mightily with a strong voice, 29:54 this is an angel coming down from heaven, saying, 29:57 Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, 30:00 and is become the habitation of devils, 30:02 the hold of every foul spirit." 30:04 And then the next verse says, 30:05 "And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, 30:07 Come out of her, my people, 30:09 that ye be not partakers of her sins, 30:11 and that ye receive not of her plagues." 30:13 Interesting to note that God has got faithful people 30:15 in this power described as Babylon. 30:18 In the last days Jesus is calling His people 30:20 to come out of religious confusion 30:22 to make they stand upon the truth of God's Word. 30:25 So come out of her, my people, is the call in Revelation 18. 30:29 This happens all the way through the Bible. 30:31 When it talks about Babylon, 30:32 it meant the lands beyond the river Mesopotamia. 30:36 Where does God call Abraham? 30:38 That people turn to idols, 30:39 he calls them out of Ur of the Chaldees, 30:42 the Babylonians were called the Chaldeans. 30:45 Brings them to the Promised Land, 30:47 then a wife for Isaac is called out of Mesopotamia. 30:50 Like the church, 30:51 the bride into the Promised Land. 30:53 Jacob goes to get his Wife, he crosses Euphrates again, 30:56 gets four wives, 30:58 they were on sale and he brought them back 31:00 to the Promised Land. 31:01 Then God's people are carried into Babylon. 31:05 During the time of Jeremiah 70 years there, 31:10 then they're called out. 31:11 But, you know, they didn't want to all come out. 31:13 They've been there 70 years, they were comfortable. 31:15 You read the Book of Ezra. 31:16 And when he found out how few were willing to come, 31:18 he says, we don't even have enough priests 31:19 to man the temple. 31:20 And he issued another appeal, 31:21 please come back to the Promised Land 31:23 while the doors are open. 31:25 And they said that there would be persecution 31:28 that would happen to God's people, 31:29 who stayed in Babylon. 31:30 After they got out of Babylon, 31:32 and they were allowed to rebuild the temple, 31:33 a new king came to Persia that restricted 31:36 the religious freedom in Babylon, 31:38 and they suffered for that. 31:39 And during the time of Esther, 31:40 there was a decree that was gonna annihilate 31:42 all the Jews that had stayed behind. 31:44 So he said, "Get out of Babylon. 31:46 It's gonna be tough for those that stay behind." 31:48 So there's a theme in Revelation that you see 31:52 that's going on. 31:53 All right, let's see what we got going next. 31:55 Babylon is guilty of making the world drunk with her wine. 31:58 What is the wine? Now, we're gonna go through... 32:00 How do you know you're in Babylon? 32:02 How do you know 32:03 if you're in a church that's in Babylon? 32:05 What are some of the characteristics? 32:07 And maybe you want to help me read some of these. 32:09 Revelation 17:4 says, 32:11 "Having a golden cup in her hand 32:13 full of abominations." 32:15 Again, wine in the Bible, 32:16 just to give you an idea of what the symbol represents 32:19 pure wine or unfermented wine. 32:21 We refer to that today as grape juice 32:23 would represent Christ's sacrifice 32:26 and Christ's teaching, which are true, 32:28 trustworthy. 32:29 Fermented wine or alcoholic wine 32:32 represents false teaching or false doctrine, 32:36 a counterfeit of the genuine. 32:38 So here in Revelation Chapter 17, 32:40 this is a counterfeit wine because all nations 32:43 are made drunk with the wine. 32:44 So what are these false teachings 32:47 that the Bible is describing in Revelation 17? 32:50 Now Jesus said, 32:52 you put new wine speaking of His gospel in new wine cans, 32:56 said the old wine cans represented the false teachings 32:59 or traditions that had crept into Judaism. 33:02 So even Christ compared His teachings to new wine, 33:05 something, just a footnote here, 33:07 "The chalice, the golden cup 33:08 is the most important of the sacred vessels." 33:11 And this woman who is holding that it's... 33:14 You know, the Protestant Reformation 33:15 had a big battle over something called transubstantiation. 33:19 That the priests claimed he had the power 33:20 to actually turn the wine 33:22 which was fermented into the blood of Christ. 33:26 And the Reformer said, no, you don't have that power. 33:28 You cannot create God's, it's the symbol of His blood. 33:32 So that was a big battle. 33:34 Another. 33:35 Well, how do you know whether or not these teachings 33:37 are part of wine? 33:38 Number one, the Ten Commandments 33:40 are not binding. 33:42 So any church or entity that says, 33:43 you know, the Ten Commandments, 33:45 they nailed to the cross, they're done away with, 33:46 you don't have to keep God's Ten Commandments. 33:49 Well, that's a sign right there, 33:50 there's something wrong. 33:51 Yeah, sin is the transgression of the law. 33:53 If you're in a church that said you don't need to keep 33:54 the Ten Commandments that God spoke with His voice 33:57 and wrote with His finger, you're in Babylon. 34:00 And then another one would be Sunday sacredness, 34:02 that would be connected 34:03 with the doing away with the Ten Commandments. 34:08 If a person is saying, well, 34:10 not only do you not need to keep the Sabbath, 34:12 but now Sunday's a new holy day, 34:13 and I always like to come back and say, 34:15 show me one verse in the Bible that says, 34:17 Sunday is the new Sabbath. 34:20 There's not one. 34:21 So yet there are millions of Christians around the world 34:24 that are led to believe that somehow 34:26 we're supposed to keep Sunday holy. 34:27 And I say, "Show me that commandment." 34:29 All they have is tradition. 34:31 They say, "Well, He rose on the first day." 34:32 I said, "That's true, but where does it say 34:34 that's the new Sabbath?" 34:36 He died on Friday. 34:37 Does that make it the new Sabbath? 34:39 The Lord's Supper was on Thursday. 34:40 Does that make it the new Sabbath? 34:42 So God never changed the seventh day Sabbath. 34:46 Point number C, is a teaching of a secret rapture, 34:49 which we find popular 34:50 not only amongst Protestant Churches 34:53 or many of them 34:54 but also amongst certain Catholic groups, 34:57 they are teaching a secret rapture. 34:59 And of course, the second coming 35:00 if we read about it in the Bible, 35:02 the rapture does not take place or they're catching away 35:05 until Jesus comes again. 35:06 And there's a great earthquake and the graves are open 35:09 and there is a resurrection. 35:10 The wicked are destroyed with the brightness 35:11 of Christ's coming. 35:13 There's nothing secret about the Second Coming of Jesus. 35:16 Matter of fact, the Bible says, 35:17 "It's the sound of a trumpet as lightning flashing 35:19 from the east to the west." 35:21 It's a glorious event when Jesus comes, 35:23 not a secret rapture, as we hear many saying. 35:26 Every eye will see Him, it's gonna be a roar. 35:29 The cities are broken down, 35:31 as the most visible climatic event. 35:34 If you're in a church that's teaching the immortality 35:37 of the soul, 35:38 nowhere in the Bible does it say 35:40 that you have an immortal soul. 35:41 It says that when Christ comes, 35:43 then this mortal will put on immortality. 35:47 The Bible says, "God and God only, 35:49 speaking of in our world, has immortality." 35:52 So the Bible actually teaches the sinner will die. 35:55 The wages for sin is what? 35:56 Death. 35:57 God said to Adam and Eve, "You will surely die." 36:00 The devil said, "You will not surely die." 36:02 Sad thing is many pastors are teaching 36:04 what the devil said to Eve in the Garden of Eden. 36:07 So if you're in a church that's teaching 36:08 that you have an immortal soul that you are God, 36:11 that's not what the Bible teaches. 36:14 Point number E is an eternal burning hell. 36:18 Now the Bible is clear that there is a hell. 36:20 A destruction of the wicked, 36:22 and you can read about that in Revelation Chapter 20 36:24 and some other places throughout the scriptures. 36:26 But the purpose of hellfire is to consume the wicked 36:30 and purify the earth. 36:32 The fires of hell do not burn without an end. 36:36 And that's the confusion. 36:37 There is a teaching which crept in from paganism 36:40 that there is an eternal burning place 36:43 even now. 36:44 And the souls of the wicked are burning in this place 36:47 of torment that has no end. 36:50 And many have been turned away from God, 36:52 thinking if that is what God is like, 36:54 if that is what a God of love is like, 36:56 I don't want anything to do with Him. 36:58 This idea of eternal torment in a place, 37:01 that's really not what the Bible teaches 37:03 on the subject. 37:04 Yeah. 37:05 Not only just some turn away, many people go to church, 37:07 not because they love God, 37:08 but they're just afraid of hell. 37:11 And they're just driven by fear all the time. 37:13 And so it's what you would call in the Bible, 37:15 a doctrine of devils that was used by the church 37:18 to manipulate people. 37:19 Now, there are a few difficult verses 37:21 that have been taken to teach this. 37:24 But there's a lot more in the Bible that says, 37:26 the wicked shall be consumed, they'll perish, 37:28 they're burnt up. 37:29 Never will they be any more. 37:30 There's no more pain. All things are made new. 37:32 They're devoured. 37:33 Mean, you read the whole panoply of verses 37:37 on the punishment of the wicked. 37:38 It's very clear. 37:39 Oh, one more thing on that, Pastor, like, 37:40 it's also interesting to note the Bible in Revelation 37:42 tells us that the devil 37:43 and his angels are cast into the lake of fire. 37:47 So it's not the devil in charge of hell, 37:49 but it's the devil that gets thrown 37:50 into the fires of hell, and the devil is consumed. 37:53 The Bible says, "He shall be no more." 37:56 So even the devil is destroyed by the fires of hell. 37:58 Babylon's called confusion. 38:01 Now wouldn't it be confusing 38:02 to have a person go right to hell, 38:03 and yet the judgment still in the future? 38:06 Why would you punish them before they're judged? 38:08 Pull them out then for judgment and put them back in. 38:11 I mean, that doesn't make sense. 38:15 Confessing your sins to a priest. 38:16 If you're in a church that says, 38:18 to find forgiveness, 38:19 you must confess your sins to a priest. 38:21 What does it say in the Bible? 38:22 Now it does say, 38:23 confess your faults to one another, 38:25 not priest, and pray for one another. 38:27 Doesn't say you have to confess your sins to a priest. 38:30 This inside knowledge has been used by church leaders 38:34 to manipulate people. 38:35 It's been used as a power to control. 38:39 The Bible says, "You can go directly 38:40 to the throne of grace 38:42 through Jesus as your high priest. 38:44 You do not need to go through an earthly man 38:46 or woman to confess your sins." 38:51 Jesus counterfeit baptisms. 38:53 The Bible says, "There is one baptism, 38:55 baptism by immersion." 38:56 And that needs to occur when a person is old enough 38:58 to make a decision to follow Jesus. 39:00 Christ was baptized at 30 years of age. 39:03 People making a decision to follow Jesus 39:05 are baptized by immersion. 39:07 The Bible does not talk about infant baptism. 39:10 It talks about dedicating your child or your baby, 39:14 but it's not talking about baptizing them. 39:16 That's right. 39:17 And another characteristic of ancient Babylon, 39:21 God confused their languages, a confusion of tongues. 39:24 Do we see in some of the charismatic Protestant 39:27 and Catholic Churches, 39:28 services where people are babbling? 39:30 And you don't know what they're saying. 39:31 And they'll confess, they don't know 39:32 what they're saying. 39:33 And you don't find this happening in the Bible. 39:36 When the Holy Spirit was poured out, 39:37 and they received the gift of tongues in the Bible. 39:40 They were speaking in a language 39:42 that others present understood. 39:43 And they knew what they were saying. 39:45 They were communicating the gospel. 39:47 Jesus said in Mark 16, 39:49 "You will speak with other tongues." 39:51 It is not the kind of a paganistic ecstatic 39:55 utterances that is now going through 39:56 a number of Protestant Churches and Catholic Churches. 40:01 If you're in a church where they're babbling 40:03 and no one know what they're saying, 40:05 you're in Babylon. 40:08 So there are some, 40:10 you know, I just drop that in there to remind me. 40:13 There's some notes here, I thought I'd read to you 40:14 as we summarize the teachings of Babylon. 40:16 There's a number of contradictions 40:18 between the Protestant view of Scripture 40:20 and the Catholic view. 40:21 Let me go through this real quick with you. 40:24 First of all, the Bible teaches 40:26 we're not to bow down to statues. 40:27 Is that clear? Exodus 20. 40:30 Catholic Church says that we should bow down. 40:33 Now, the Bible teaches that all have sinned, except Jesus. 40:37 Romans 3. Hebrews 4:15. 40:39 The Catholic Church teaches Mary was sinless. 40:43 The Bible says that Jesus is the only mediator 40:45 between God and man. 40:47 1 Timothy 2:5. 40:49 The Roman Catholic Church says that Mary is a co-mediator. 40:52 The Bible teaches that Christ offered His sacrifice 40:55 on the cross once for all. 40:57 Hebrews 7:27. Hebrews 10:10. 41:00 Catholic Church teaches that priest sacrifices Christ 41:03 over and over on the altar during the mass. 41:06 The Bible teaches that 41:07 all Christians are saints and priests. 41:09 Ephesians 1. 1 Peter 2:9. 41:12 The Roman Catholic Church says 41:14 that saints and priests are a special caste 41:16 within Christianity. 41:18 The Bible teaches that Christians can know 41:20 that they have eternal life. 41:23 1 John 5:13. 41:24 Catholic Church says that 41:25 Christians cannot and should not know 41:27 that they have eternal life. 41:29 The Bible teaches that 41:30 we should call no religious leader our father. 41:34 Matthew 23:9. 41:35 Catholic Church, of course, 41:36 calls the priest father and the pope. 41:39 Bible teaches not to pray in vain repetition. 41:41 Matthew 6:7. 41:44 The Catholic Church says that 41:45 you can say the Hail Mary or the Lord's Prayer 41:48 over and over in repetition. 41:51 The Bible teaches to confess your sins to God only for sin. 41:55 Isaiah 43:25, Luke 5:24. 41:59 Catholic Church says, you confess them to a priest. 42:01 We just talked about that. 42:03 The Bible teaches that before baptism 42:05 a person should be taught the gospel 42:07 and the commandments of Christ, 42:09 and believe and repent, and... 42:11 Matthew 28, and Acts 8, and Acts 2. 42:15 The Catholic Church says, little infants should be, 42:17 must be baptized or they can't be saved. 42:20 They'll be consigned to hell, 42:21 if they die and they're not baptized. 42:24 The teaching of purgatory, limbo, 42:26 prayers for the dead are nowhere in Scripture, 42:28 but they're relics of paganism. 42:30 The words of Jesus to the Pharisees apply well, 42:32 when you nullify the Word of God 42:34 in place for manmade tradition. 42:36 This is what happened with the growth of this harlot 42:39 in Revelation 17. 42:42 Go ahead. 42:43 Question number 8 says, 42:44 what is the second angel's message 42:46 in Revelation Chapter 14? 42:47 And we studied the three angels' message 42:48 earlier. 42:49 Revelation 14:8 says, 42:51 "And there followed another angel saying, 42:53 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, 42:56 because she made all nations drink the wine of the wrath 42:59 of her fornication.'" 43:00 So one of God's last warning messages, 43:02 they go out to all the world 43:04 just before the Second Coming of Christ, 43:06 is a warning of this religious system 43:08 that is fallen from the truths of God's Word. 43:11 Notice it's not only the mother that's fallen, 43:13 but it's those daughter churches 43:15 that are holding to these false teachings, 43:17 as we just mentioned, 43:18 they're part of Babylon in the last days. 43:20 And God is calling His people 43:21 to come out of this religious confusion. 43:24 And He doesn't just call them to come out and hover. 43:26 He calls them to come out of the false 43:28 into the truth. 43:30 Jesus said, "Many sheep I have," 43:32 John Chapter 10, "which are not of this fold, 43:35 them I also must call they will hear my voice 43:38 and there will be one fold and one shepherd." 43:40 So in the last days, 43:41 obviously there's gonna be two groups in the last days. 43:44 One's got the mark of the beast. 43:45 One has the seal of God. 43:46 There will be a shaking in the last days. 43:48 People are gonna be polarizing into one of two movements, 43:51 that's happening in the world today. 43:53 People are being called back to a biblical Christianity. 43:57 We believe the remnant church has this message 44:00 to call people out of Babylon into the remnant church 44:03 and based on the truth. 44:05 Now next section in the lesson... 44:07 This is very interesting, 44:08 is in dealing with the seven heads 44:10 of the beast. 44:11 What do they represent? 44:13 Well, go ahead for one time. 44:14 Verse 9 tells us, gives us a clue. 44:16 It says, "She sits upon seven mountains." 44:18 So the seven heads represent seven mountains 44:20 upon which the woman or the church 44:23 sits or is located. 44:25 I want to hear you read this as time permits. 44:27 You see, I wasn't gonna read all of them, 44:28 I was gonna pass it on to you, do we? 44:31 But you can see here on the note. 44:33 It says, Rome was founded in 553 BC. 44:36 And it's known as the City of Seven Hills. 44:39 You know, Pastor Doug, a few years ago, 44:41 I had the opportunity to actually go visit the papacy 44:43 and I was there in the Vatican. 44:45 We went up onto the roof of St. Peter's Basilica. 44:48 And we had a tour guide that was there with us, 44:50 and he was very excited to show us the seven hills. 44:53 You could see it from the roof, upon which Rome is built. 44:57 Of course, he wasn't aware of this passage 44:59 but I got to think of this verse 45:01 when he is pointing out the seven heads or seven hills. 45:04 And you know, to this day, if you just were to Google, 45:06 city of seven hills, 45:08 it would say Rome, is none of that. 45:12 Now, in your lesson, you're gonna find... 45:15 You know, we looked this up, our church says, 45:18 there may be five or six potential valid understandings 45:23 of what the seven heads represent 45:25 as kings or kingdoms. 45:27 First, the angel says, everyone's agreed, 45:29 she sits on a city of seven hills. 45:31 That's Rome, hills. 45:32 But the hills have a secondary meaning as kings. 45:35 And it goes on to say, "Five are fallen" 45:38 "one is" "one is not yet to come." 45:39 Here's where you're gonna see a lot of difference. 45:42 In your lesson for instance, it says, 45:44 that you start with Egypt, 45:46 Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece 45:49 then the one that is pagan Rome. 45:51 One is not yet is papal Rome. 45:54 Well, Pastor Ross pointed out that... 45:55 One problem with that is that, it says, 45:58 that he must continue a short time 46:00 speaking of papal Rome. 46:01 Well, papal Rome lasted the longest. 46:04 And so I think, you said the way you typically featured 46:07 is Assyria, the five that are fallen, 46:09 Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and pagan Rome. 46:12 Because John is looking back from the woman, 46:16 when she's established, pagan Rome's in the background. 46:20 And then you've got one is, 46:22 papal Rome was in power at that time. 46:24 One is not yet to come, 46:25 the United States which is the second beast 46:27 of Revelation 13. 46:29 By the way, that's our free lesson today. 46:31 And it's interesting to know 46:32 but talking about the one that has not yet come, 46:34 it says, shall continue a short space. 46:36 All these powers that described as being persecuting powers 46:39 against God's people. 46:41 According to Revelation Chapter 13, 46:43 the second beast, the lamb like beast, 46:45 representing the United States. 46:47 Does at the very end of time 46:49 persecute those who are holding to the truths of Scripture. 46:52 So it continues a short space. 46:55 Of course, that's a whole another study. 46:56 And you might want to go back and take a look at our study 46:58 on Revelation Chapter 13 46:59 about the US in Bible prophecy. 47:01 Yeah. 47:02 Now I just threw this in 47:03 because there's a spiritual analogy 47:05 in the Old Testament. 47:07 When it talks about the seven kingdoms 47:10 that are obstacles to God's people, 47:13 don't forget when the children of Israel 47:14 entered the Promised Land, 47:16 there were seven kingdoms that tried to keep them out. 47:19 Remember that? 47:20 That's mentioned not only in Deuteronomy, 47:21 but even Steven's or Paul's sermon in Acts 13. 47:25 "When he had destroyed seven nations 47:27 in the land of Canaan..." 47:29 Now, when they came into the Promised Land, 47:31 it says, there were seven nations. 47:33 When Abraham was there, there were ten nations. 47:37 So it talks about the judgment then that falls on Babylon, 47:40 which is our next section. 47:41 If you look in Isaiah 13:19, 47:44 "Babylon, the glory of the kingdoms, 47:46 the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, 47:48 will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah." 47:51 When he overthrew them, they never came back again. 47:54 And the fall of Babylon in the last days 47:56 in Revelation Chapter 17 and 18, 47:59 there's no recovery from that fall. 48:03 And do you just, I thought, I'll just throw this in here. 48:06 You notice that it says, there's seven heads, ten horns. 48:09 I told you, these kingdoms 48:10 that were adversaries to God's people. 48:12 You had seven kingdoms. 48:13 And then in Abraham's day, it's ten kingdoms. 48:16 Here you find it. 48:17 "On the same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, 48:19 saying: 'To your descendants I have given this land, 48:21 from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates. 48:25 The Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, 48:28 the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, 48:31 the Girgashites, the Jebusites.'" 48:33 Y'all try and do that. 48:35 Ten nations. 48:37 And so, when you see the seven and the ten 48:40 that were kind of opposing 48:41 or blocking God's people to the Promised Land, 48:44 that's being repeated in Revelation. 48:46 All right, in Revelation 17:16, you want to read. 48:48 It says, "Then he said unto me, 48:49 'The ten horns which you saw on the beast, 48:51 these will hate the harlot, make a desolate naked, 48:54 and eat her flesh and burn her with fire.'" 48:57 So we're talking about the destruction 48:58 of this power Babylon. 49:00 Revelation describes that there will be a time 49:03 where the nations that once supported her 49:05 will turn against her 49:07 and actually bring about her destruction. 49:09 Yeah. 49:10 Now, you know, I think we're running out of time 49:11 to go into three frogs. 49:13 We actually covered this couple of weeks ago, 49:15 so this would be a repeat. 49:17 Ultimately, three powers will unite the dragon, 49:20 the beast and the false prophet in the last days 49:23 that will become a persecuting power. 49:25 They go to the kings of the earth 49:27 and help try and form this confederacy, 49:29 this beast power confederacy to persecute the people of God. 49:33 Well, the bottom line is, yeah, they're going to organize... 49:37 Oh, I don't have time to read all this. 49:39 We're out of time. 49:42 But how do we stay safe in the last days? 49:45 It says in Isaiah Chapter 8. 49:47 "According to the law, 49:48 according to the testimony and the law, 49:52 if they speak not according to this word, 49:53 there is no light in them." 49:55 And so as long as we're basing our teachings on the Bible, 49:58 we're safe. 49:59 Don't have to be confused with the wine of Babylon. 50:01 Amen? Amen. 50:03 And we have a free offer, we wanna remind people. 50:05 We do. 50:06 Our study guide today's called the US in Bible Prophecy. 50:09 For those of you who are joining us online, 50:11 if you'd like to receive a free copy of our offer. 50:14 All you'll need to do is call the number 50:16 866-788-3966 50:18 and you can ask for offer number 181. 50:21 Or you can text the code "SH093" 50:25 to the number 40544. 50:28 And we'll be happy to send you a copy of the United States 50:30 in Bible Prophecy. 50:32 Did you want to say something about this 50:33 next quarter or the half? 50:34 Yeah, this is our second to last study in Revelation. 50:37 We've enjoyed this. Amen? 50:39 And we're gonna enter on a new quarterly talking 50:42 about family seasons. 50:43 Be talking about the Christian family. 50:45 Very, very important. 50:47 And Pastor Ross and I both said, 50:49 I don't know if I'm qualified to teach this. 50:52 But we're gonna be teaching about the Christian family 50:55 and you can get your quarterlies 50:57 at your church. 50:58 You know, one more thing I wanted to mention 50:59 before we close. 51:00 We've been talking about Revelation 17. 51:03 Amazing Facts has a study guide written by Joe Cruz 51:07 that you can download for free. 51:08 You can read it for free online. 51:09 It's called "The Beast, the Dragon and the Woman." 51:12 It outlines a lot of the material 51:14 we just shared with you. 51:16 If you go to the Amazing Facts website, 51:17 you can find that for free, 51:19 "The Beast, the Dragon and the Woman," 51:21 and that'll give you a lot more specific information. 51:23 Thank you very much for studying with us. 51:25 And God bless you. 51:26 We'll study His Word together again, 51:28 God willing next week. 51:30 Don't forget to request 51:31 today's life changing free resource. 51:34 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 51:36 you can download a digital copy straight to your computer 51:38 or mobile device. 51:40 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, 51:42 simply text the keyword on your screen to 51:45 40544 51:47 or visit the web address shown on your screen. 51:49 And be sure to select the digital download option 51:52 on the request page. 51:53 It's now easier than ever for you 51:55 to study God's Word with Amazing Facts 51:57 wherever and whenever you want 51:59 and most important, to share it with others. 52:14 On several occasions, scientists have demonstrated 52:17 that people and even creatures can struggle with depression 52:20 when exposed to continual darkness. 52:23 This can be seen every year in the winter months 52:25 in the Arctic regions. 52:28 The beautiful village of Rjukan, Norway 52:30 is situated in the deep valley 52:32 where mountains block the sun's rays 52:34 for about six months every year. 52:36 This, of course, keeps the 3,400 residents 52:38 in a state of shade, 52:40 and sometimes depressing darkness 52:42 throughout the winter. 52:43 Then the town leaders got a bright idea 52:46 to help illuminate their village 52:47 during the murky months. 52:49 In October 2013, 52:51 Rjukan installed an array of three gigantic, 52:55 550 square foot mirrors 52:57 on the nearby mountain at 1,000 feet above the town. 53:01 The computer control and solar powered mirrors 53:05 track the sun through the winter months 53:07 and reflect that giant beam of sunshine 53:09 down to the town square brightening their lives. 53:13 If you visit Rjukan in the winter months today, 53:16 you can often see the people gathered 53:18 or sitting on benches around the town square, 53:20 bathing in the reflected sunshine. 53:23 Like those mirrors on the mountain, 53:25 the Bible says that 53:26 Christians are to reflect the light of Jesus, 53:29 who is the light of the world into this dark planet. 53:32 Matthew 5:14 says, 53:33 "You are the light of the world. 53:35 A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 53:38 Nor do we light a lamp and put it under a basket, 53:41 but on a lampstand, 53:42 and it illuminates everybody in the house. 53:45 Let your light so shine before men 53:47 that they may see your good works 53:49 and glorify your Father in heaven." 53:51 So, friends, use today 53:53 to brighten the life of someone else 53:55 by reflecting Jesus. 54:06 Did you know Amazing Facts has a free Bible school 54:08 that you can do 54:09 from the comfort of your own home? 54:11 It includes 27 beautifully illustrated study lessons 54:14 to aid in your study of God's Word. 54:17 Sign up today for this free Bible study course 54:19 by calling 1-844-215-7000. 54:22 That's 1-844-215-7000. 54:33 Amazing Facts changed lives. 54:41 I met my ex-wife and her family were real big into drugs. 54:45 And it started out with them wanting me to go to the doctor 54:48 to help get them drugs. 54:50 And you know, I'm noticing they're going to the doctor, 54:53 they're coming back with like 60 pills 54:54 and they're selling these pills for like 1000 bucks. 54:57 And I'm thinking, "Wow! 54:59 This is a lot of money I'm giving these people. 55:01 So I'm just going to start selling it myself." 55:03 The problem with that was, 55:06 that we had all this money but we, 55:07 was absolutely miserable as she would go out 55:10 and sleep with other guys to get drugs 55:13 and that ended my marriage. 55:15 But during this time, 55:16 I have to get a job to build backup 55:19 to where I was at, to open my shop again. 55:21 So I get a job at Food City. 55:23 And when I get this job at Food City, there is my wife. 55:26 Now, Rebecca, she's a cashier there. 55:29 And when I walk in, 55:30 she's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my life. 55:33 I was like, "Man, 55:34 I could never have a girl like that. 55:36 Wow! She's so beautiful." 55:38 But as I'm working with her, 55:40 she's actually kind of mean to me. 55:43 And she's saying, 55:44 "I don't want anything to do with you, 55:45 get away from me," stuff like that. 55:47 But you know, I'll just keep being nice to her 55:49 and I keep trying to give her my phone number. 55:52 And it's around Christmas Eve, 55:54 we just been dating for a little while, 55:56 moved in together. 55:57 My ex-wife shows up with my three children 56:00 that I had by her. 56:02 And she's like, "Here's your kids. 56:04 Here's their birth certificate. 56:05 Here's your Social Security card. 56:06 I'm done." 56:07 And we're starting a family. 56:09 We have, already have three kids. 56:11 During this time, we spend the next year 56:14 watching nothing but Amazing Facts on YouTube. 56:17 I didn't even know, 56:18 they even had a website at this time. 56:19 I just knew that this little guy 56:20 on YouTube was super smart, 56:23 was teaching Bible and I wanted to follow him. 56:26 I wanted to be a Christian. 56:27 I gave my life to God now, 56:29 because of these truths 56:30 that I'm learning from Doug Batchelor. 56:33 Just because Doug told it, 56:34 didn't make me real sure about going to this church. 56:37 I really didn't want anything to do with it. 56:39 But I called the guy up and I'm telling him 56:41 and I'm not very nice about it, actually. 56:43 I'm telling him, "Look, 56:44 I was thinking about coming to your church." 56:47 And he's really nice, and he's like, "Well, 56:49 you're more than welcome too. 56:50 We'd like to have you come." 56:52 And I'm like, "Well, hold on. 56:53 I'm gonna lay down some ground rules." 56:55 I'm telling him, I said, "Look here, 56:56 I'm covered in tattoos. 56:58 And I'm a tattoo artist." 56:59 And you don't say, "Well, you know, wow, 57:02 I didn't know all that. 57:03 Don't come to my church." 57:04 He says, "You're more than welcome. 57:05 We would love to have you. 57:07 Please come." 57:09 He asked me what I wanna do. 57:11 And I said, "Well, I want to preach." 57:13 I said, "I have all these truths. 57:15 So I have all this knowledge stuff I never known before. 57:18 Stuff, if I had when I was younger, 57:20 that would have been life changing to me. 57:23 I said, "I got to share this with the world." 57:25 I said, "I wanna preach. 57:26 I wanna teach." 57:28 He gives me the book, says, "Study that." 57:30 Well, now that I'm a Bible worker, 57:31 I'm able to go reach people 57:33 that most of the normal churches 57:36 wouldn't even bother to even speak to. 57:38 I'm able to go out and reach to people 57:40 who have lived the life that I've lived. 57:42 I'm able to let them know that I am like you. 57:46 I've been there, I've done that. 57:48 I want to show you what my life is like now. 57:51 I want to teach you this Bible. 57:52 I want to show you what Jesus can do for you. 57:55 It's not too late. |
Revised 2019-03-13