And understanding lift up her voice? She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, beside the way, where the paths meet. She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, at the entrance of the doors: To you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men.
O you simple ones, understand prudence, and you fools, be of an understanding heart. Listen, for I will speak of excellent things, and from the opening of my lips will come right things; for my mouth will speak right things; my mouth will speak truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; nothing crooked or perverse is in them. They are all plain to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge. Receive my instruction and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold; for wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her, ( Proverbs 8:1-11).
As we study chapter 17 of the Book of Revelation of Jesus Christ, what do we find here? Without the wisdom of God, found in and given by His Holy Spirit, this chapter is an enigma….
First, we see a woman as a symbol of the city that committed treason with God. How do we know that? Verse 6 of chapter 17 explains what John saw, I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her I marveled with great amazement.
As we look at the first verse:
John was approached by one of the angels who had the seven bowls, saying,
Come I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written; Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother of Harlots And Of The Abominations Of The Earth.
The response of the angel to John, in verse 7-8, was why do you marvel, don’t you get it yet?
But the angel said to me, why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns.
The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.
There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.
The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.
The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast.
These are of one mind and they will give their power and authority to the beast.
These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.
Then he said to me, the waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues, ( Revelation 17:7-15).
Psalm 2: Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and His Anointed, saying, let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.
He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord will hold them in derision, then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.
Back to Revelation 17:17: For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
The Lord had Pharaoh’s heart hardened also…. However, look at how the Spirit of God brings His people to the mind and purpose of Christ in the Book of Acts 1:14: These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
And Acts 2:1, When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And Acts 2:46, So continuing daily with one accord the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart.
The list of scriptures continues in Acts of His people being in one accord with His will and interest as their objective. Your will be done on and in this earth, Lord, as it is in heaven….. All of heaven seeks the glory of God…. And now the kingdom of glory is within us! The Holy Spirit is the Governor of the King over and in His people in Acts and should be now. Look them up yourself; Acts 4:24, 5:12, 7:57, 8:6, 15:25.
So we can conclude that the Lord instructs all hearts….. to His glory and His purpose…. The Son of God was led by the Spirit and so now the sons of God are led by the Spirit of God….. So we must remember when evil looks to be in the rise, we have to remember that all things are in the Lord’s hands and He renders all according to their works…. to His glory and purpose. As it is written in Proverbs 15:4, The Lord has made all for Himself, yes, even the wicked for the day of doom, (evil). His saints are not forgotten or left behind in any thought of our God. All is in the plan of God including the prideful rising their heads…. For He humbles the proud and exalts the humble to His glory.
So do not fear at the current age of darkness rising, stand strong in the might of the Lord against it, while bearing His fragrance to all. Also look up for our Lord draws nigh, He is watching everything.
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of the cross. And you, who were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight, ( Colossians 1:16-22).
I hope you noticed that the five kings have fallen……The Lord sits in heaven and laughs and holds them in derision! The beast that was and is not—- where did he go?
Could it be that he is imprisoned by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ’s name and all He represents through His death and burial and resurrection? He is kept imprisoned when His saints, Christ’s body use the authority of the name of Jesus Christ to bind evil and release heaven into their earth or hearts, the Light of the world.
Evil continues to plan to make war with the Lamb and His people…. These kings did before….These kings have been released during time…. the past, the present and future….. What was, is and will be until the end of the age…. Psalm 1 & 2 was written a long time ago setting the stage of the godly and ungodly…. Also the war against the Lord and His Anointed from the beginning has been engaging throughout time…..
The war in the heart of Cain striking his brother, Abel, who offered a better sacrifice…..Esau and Jacob……Then the envy of Joseph’s brothers led them to sell Joseph into slavery……They, God’s own, also sold Jesus into His death….. This has been going on through time…. however,…..
There is a final end. The Lord has and does and will overcome the ones that rise up against Himself and His people… That is the end of the story…. It is written…. There will be no Word of God left unfulfilled.
As it is written in 2 Timothy 2:11-13, This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall reign with Him, if we deny Him, He will also deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful, He cannot deny Himself.
Praise Him forever and ever…..God knew before time that He would be rejected and kicked out of His creation by His creation, but He still went on with the whole plan! Why?
Because of you and me, because He chooses to love and have mercy on those He has called and forgiven. His love never fails….. Before we allowed our love to fail, but we now have the capacity to allow His love never to fail through us…. His Love never fails.
We who have been chosen to be His, have a special appreciation and a grateful heart for His decision. He allowed His grace to be received in our heart, no matter how hard and stubborn we were in our ignorance. He still chose us and for this, we can live every day with a grateful, thankful, and humble heart. Sort of brings to light all “our work” for Him and who does it come from Him or us? Hmmmm……. Who gets the credit? Him or us? Hmmmmmm…….JESUS CHRIST IS OUR ONLY ANSWER AND SOLUTION!!!!!
As we think on Him, let us remember to tell Him- we love Him and want Him to invade all of our lives, so all that is left is His new creation, Christ all and in all. As Paul states, Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord, ( 2 Corinthians 3:16-18).
Thank You Lord! We Love You! We thank You Lord everyday that we go and grow in Your strength to larger strength in You, the Son of God. We thank You that Your love never fails!
Selah!
