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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Revelation Lectures(74) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Revelation 17:7-18 |
Date |
2008-08-29 |
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Revelation 17:7-18
[7] And the angel said to me, "Why do you wonder? I shall tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
[8] "The beast that you saw was and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth will wonder, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.
[9] "Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits,
[10] 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.
[11] "And the beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is [one] of the seven, and he goes to destruction.
[12] "And 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.
[13] "These have one purpose and they give their power and authority to the beast.
[14] "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."
[15] And he *said to me, "The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
[16] "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.
[17] "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 should be fulfilled.
[18] "And the woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth."
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
The 17th chapter of Revelation explains about the beast that had ruled over the earth during 7 Year Great Tribulation and about the woman who had the real control over the beast.
The beast directly refers to the Unified Government, and the woman to Lucifer.
But in a broader sense, the beast doesn't refer only to the Unified Government.
But it also refers to the computers that will be used as instruments for the Unified Government.
The woman doesn't refer only to Lucifer but also the heads of the forces of the antichrist that will be under the control of Lucifer.
Now the Apostle John is realizing the entity of this beast and the woman.
And he cannot but wonder greatly.
It is because he realized once again that God had allowed and given the evil spirits the authority to accomplish the plan of human cultivation, and that everything had been accomplished exactly according to the providence of God.
When they look at the world, those who don't know about the providence and justice of God say, 'Where is the justice? The wicked people live better lives."
Psalm 37:1-2 say, "Do not fret because of evildoers, be not envious toward wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb."
Evildoers and wrongdoers seem to prosper, but in the end the result is not so at all.
Their prosperity is not long lasting.
Even though they seem to prosper while living on this earth, they will surely be punished in an everlasting realm for what they have done.
It is the same with the forces of evil spirit of which the head is Lucifer.
They have been given the authority to control darkness during the history of the cultivation of mankind.
So, they do their works during that time as if they were in their own kingdom.
But they have the authority over the darkness alone, and can work only through those who are in darkness.
And the authority is given them only during the God-allowed period.
So, when the time has all passed, they will have to be repaid for what they have done.
The authority that seemed to cover the whole world will pass from them, and they will be judged in the strict justice of God.
The apostle John is looking at all these procedures.
When he found the providence of God had been fulfilled exactly in His Justice, he couldn't but being amazed.
Of course, he knew the fact that God is almighty and all-knowing, and He governs everything.
Now, he realized the fact once again, when he saw all the things that would happen during the 7 Year Great Tribulation.
And he was amazed at the mysterious providence and plan of God that has been displayed for the cultivation of mankind.
When he was amazed at this, the Scripture in Revelation 17:6 says, "He wondered greatly."
Then, God continues to explain through the angel about the things that will happen after that.
The following from verse 8 says, "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
I explained about this briefly at the last session.
When the time allowed for the evil spirit comes to an end, then the 7 Year Great Tribulation also comes to an end on earth.
The Unified Government collapses, the Lord who will come down unto the earth and the evil spirits that have ruled over the earth will be expelled and finally be chained into the Abyss.
From that time the Millennium Kingdom will start on the earth.
The Unified Government that ruled over the world and the evil spirits that controlled it 'used to be' but now they disappear.
But these evil spirits that are confined into the Abyss will be set free once again in the last moments of the Millennium Kingdom.
And the forces of evil spirits will tempt those who have survived on earth during the Millennium Kingdom and lead many of them into destruction.
Not only will the evil spirits go into the destruction, but they will tempt countless people once again and lead them into eternal destruction.
These acts of the enemy devil and Satan will be the same until the last moment.
They tempted Adam and Eve and caused them eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and have continued to lead as many people as possible into the path into destruction.
Not only during the 7 Year Great Tribulation, but also during the last moments of the Millennium Kingdom just before the Great White Throne Judgment, the enemy devil and Satan tempt people.
"Those whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will wonder when they see the beast" means "countless people who will not be saved will fall to the temptations of the enemy devil and Satan."
The enemy devil and Satan have tempted people in various ways from the foundation of the world.
The Unified Government that appears during the 7 Year Great Tribulation alone does not refer to the beast. The enemy devil and Satan have appeared as various beasts in accordance with the situation of each time.
The beasts don't refer to various animal likenesses.
The beasts refer to all the forces that play the role of the servants of the enemy devil and Satan that are hostile towards God.
The beasts, the servants of the enemy devil and Satan, have opposed God, hindered the kingdom of God, and persecuted and killed the men of God. They have done all these evil things.
By the way, people fall into the temptations of the beasts when they see the beasts.
Because the beasts appear with acceptable-looking appearances, many people are tempted.
The people are greatly surprised, saying, "It's amazing! Wonderful!" and fall into their schemes and go to destruction.
That's why 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 say, "No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds."
So, we have to discern everything by the truth and examine it by its fruit.
Matthew 7:18-20 warn us, saying, "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits."
The following verses 9-10 teach us to discern everything by the truth and not to fall into temptations.
And it explains to us once again about the entity of the beast that will come up in the future.
The two Verses say, "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."
I explained to you above that at different times the beasts have appeared with various forms each time.
Among these, the beasts have appeared in the forms of kingdoms or empires and opposed God and persecuted the people of Israel.
The empires of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Mede, Persia, Macedonia, and Rome are representatively included (among these forms of the beast).
And along with the Unified Government that will arise during the Great Tribulation the total is seven.
The form and background of each of them is different but Lucifer was, is and is to be behind them.
"The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits" refer to those representative forces controlled by Lucifer.
At the time of the apostle John, some of them had already disappeared.
And some others were present at that time, and still others would come up in the future.
The force that will happen in the future is the Unified Government, and it will rule over the world for a little while.
They will rule over the world for the short time of 7 years.
"Here is the mind which has wisdom" means that you have to realize all these providences of God and should not be tempted.
Without wisdom, you will fall into temptations of the beast and go to destruction.
God has always awakened people at each age through men of God concerning what the will of God is, and what His wisdom is.
Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."
God always says the fear of the LORD God is the beginning of wisdom, but many have failed to gain wisdom because they have not feared God.
So, they fell into the temptations of the beast, opposed God, lived in sins and evils and finally had no other choice but to go into destruction.
This will continue until the last moment of 7 Year Great Tribulation.
In the Bible God recorded the things in detail that will happen at the last moment of the 7 Year Great Tribulation.
Verse 9 and the verses that follow read with detailed account of what will happen at the last moment of the Great Tribulation.
From the historical standpoint, the verses are explaining about the forces of the beast that have been in each age.
And these verses are speaking about the result of the Unified Government and the forces of the antichrist that will exist during the 7-year Great Tribulation.
The phrase "Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come" is explaining how the Unified Government will collapse.
When the 7-year Great Tribulation ends, most of the forces of the Unified Government will be destroyed.
But some forces will still remain.
Those people will survive on earth even during the Millennium Kingdom.
During this time, evil spirits including Lucifer will not be able to do their work because they are confined in the Abyss.
That's why the wicked people who have constituted the Unified Government will never demonstrate their evils at all.
Their evils are not revealed outwardly, but in their insides will be hidden evil attributes through which Lucifer had controlled them.
The evil spirits including Lucifer are released once again at the closing moments of the Millennium Kingdom, and cause those people to take the lead in opposing God.
It will be like the time when the 7-year Great Tribulation comes to an end, the Unified Government collapses and the Millennium Kingdom begins, yet the forces of antichrist maintain an existence.
Because no force of darkness can work during the Millennium Kingdom, evil attributes will be calmly suppressed. But when God allows, the moment when their evils are revealed will come.
The representative force of antichrist in the time of the Millennium Kingdom is a religious force.
Verse 11 says, "The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction."
"The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth" refers to the religious force that acted as a puppet in having laid the mental foundation for acceptance of the antichrist.
Of course, this religious force was allied with the Unified Government and constituted the foundation of the antichrist.
And the following says "The beast is one of the seven." It means that the beast is fundamentally one with the Unified Government that rules over the world at the 7-year Great Tribulation.
The reason that this religious force is also an eighth is because they have played a great part in the forces of antichrist.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Bible many times speaks about the identity of antichrist.
1 John 2:22 says, "Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son."
And 1 John 4:3 says, "And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world."
2 John 1;7 says, "For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist."
As recorded above, the antichrist refers to those who deny the Father God and the Son Jesus Christ, and those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh.
The forces of antichrist that play this role at the 7-year Great Tribulation is the Union's religious party.
The Unified Government rules over the whole world, and persecutes and kills Christians.
The force that opposes God and persecutes Christians outwardly is the Unified Government.
But the force that makes the foundations and establishes the grounds for this is the religious party.
This religious party seems to seek God and the Lord outwardly.
But, they will change the truth in a very crafty manner, and bring the bait to persecute those who believe in God and the Lord.
For example, they will say, "The truth is anywhere. It is the will of the Lord to cooperate with those who follow other religions and accept them."
And at the same time they will condemn as being 'impure' those people of this world who follow only the Lord and refuse to compromise with anything in the world.
They will persecute those real Christians and cheat the world.
They will cause many who profess to be Christians to deny the Lord, fall down before idols and compromise with the world.
This is the hidden entity of the antichrist.
The main force to do this is the religious party and its head.
So, the spiritual head of the beast is the religious party and its head.
But the eighth will finally go to destruction.
The following verses 12 & 13 say, "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."
There are many countries that make up the Unified Government.
Each country in itself has no power to rule over the whole world.
But those countries will come together for one identical purpose, and afford opportunity to rule over the world as a whole.
So, each country actively supports the forces of antichrist that is in the center of the Unified Government.
Each country thinks it is the only way for their survival, so they help the Unified Government with every means available to them.
The one same purpose is to become united for their survival and to rule over the world, and for this purpose they spend all their national wealth, power and might in collaboration and support with the Unified Government.
Because they have fully supported it, they receive kingly authority and act with those powers during the 7-year Great Tribulation.
But their power and strength are just temporal and so when the 7-year Great Tribulation ends, their power disappears.
Verse 14 says, "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."
The ultimate purpose of the forces of antichrist including the beast is to oppose God and the Lord.
They are used as instruments by Lucifer and the evil spirits to oppose God and the Lord.
But they cannot wage war firsthand against the Lord.
So, they persecute those who believe in the Lord and try to wage war against the Lord who is the Lamb.
But they can never overcome the Lord.
When the time allowed the evil spirits comes to a close, the forces of antichrist collapse and the evil spirits including Lucifer are confined into the Abyss.
But the forces of antichrist never stop persecuting the believers in the Lord even up to the point of the end of the Great Tribulation.
As a result of this persecution a great number of people among the believers in the Lord deny the Lord.
But there are some believers who endure the persecutions to the end and overcome it.
The following verse reads about this: "Those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful"
It means that those who are with the Lord overcome.
Who then are those who are with the Lord?
First of all, they are the called.
They were chosen, and entered into the Lord in obedience to the calling of the Lord.
But no matter how many times the Lord calls him, unless he obeys and enters, it profits nothing.
Among those who fell into the 7-year Great Tribulation but repent and turn away later are some who obey the calling of the Lord to the end.
They surely overcome persecutions and torments at any cost, and then they find victory in reaching salvation.
At that time the Holy Spirit has been taken away, but God gives them His grace to the end.
Secondly, they are those who are chosen.
They were chosen by God to be specifically used for the will of God.
For example, the 144,000 evangelists belong to the chosen.
Because God saw their inner hearts, and chose and called them, they surely walk the way of martyrdom and reach salvation and glory.
They achieve salvation through martyrdom, and gain the qualification for eternal glory.
They are found to be at a different level than that of those who were called and martyred.
Thirdly, they are the faithful.
In other words, they are those who are neither sly, nor false, nor evil, nor unrighteous.
They didn't know the Lord or failed to believe in Him properly because they didn't hear the truth.
But since they came to know the truth, their lives totally changed.
Because their hearts were truthful, since they knew the truth, they keep the truth even though they may be burned to death.
It is the same with the Two Witnesses.
Of course, the Two Witnesses knew and believed in the Lord, but remained on the earth for the special task of God.
But because their hearts are faithful, they fulfill their God-given tasks to the end despite any kind of difficulties and persecutions.
In fact their burden to fulfill their tasks is so great that no one else can even imagine doing it.
Their hearts for the Lord whom they met are so faithful, so that they completely fulfill their special tasks and sit on the glorious position in heaven.
We will continue explaining the text next time.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
This lecture on Revelation is going toward the end of the 7-year Great Tribulation.
How do you feel when you hear the messages about the end time at each session?
You have to think, "I will stay more awake! I will be more faithful! I will enter into the level of spirit and whole spirit more quickly!"
You should not lose the heart because of the flow that seems to be repeated.
Even though the same messages sound to be repeated, you have to make up your mind more strictly.
If you find something to repent, you have to repent. It is not long before it will be too late.
If you have something to determine and throw away, please determine to throw it away.
According to the level of your faith, some of you will do it because you are afraid of the 7-year Great Tribulation and so that you may not remain on the earth. But you have to harbor bigger goal than this.
Now how strong is the faith that you are you have in listening to the words of the 7-year Wedding Banquet, the Millennium Kingdom, and the eternal kingdom of heaven?
The day will surely come quickly.
On the day when our Lord comes to take us back, are you going to receive Him with joy and ecstasy?
Until that day I will lead you with all my heart.
I ask all of you not to fall from behind me but to follow me to the end.
I am sorry to say this; but I eagerly wish to take all of you to Him even if it is with a bridle on your neck and bit in your mouth so that none of you falls behind.
May this desire of mine be surely fulfilled and all of you stand before our Bridegroom Jesus Christ, in the name of our Lord I pray!
[Amen] |
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