Mystery

of

The Woman

 

 

By  Arlen L. Chitwood

 

 

 

{ON BACK OF BOOK }

 

This book MYSTERY OF THE WOMAN, identifies and deals with the harlot in Rev. 17: 1 - 19: 6 solely from the standpoint of that which Scripture has to say about this woman - both from the text and from related Scripture in both Testaments.  This woman can be quite easily identified from that stated in the text itself.  The text though, allowing it to be properly understood, is dependent on related Scripture - passages in earlier parts of the Book of Revelation and other parts of Scripture.  That is to say, the things identifying the woman in the text would be meaningless apart from connecting Scriptures from passages earlier in the book and related Old and New Testament Scriptures upon which the different statements are based.

 

 

In the preceding respect there is the inseparability related matter of the woman seen as “a mystery.”  This is dealt with extensively in the Foreword and parts of Chapter I in this book.  Suffice it to say, the fact that the woman is seen as “a mystery” necessitates commentary from corresponding Scripture if one is to arrive at a proper identification and understanding of this harlot woman - comparing Scripture with Scripture, particularly going back to the Old Testament Scriptures.  As previously stated, the woman in Rev. 17: 1 - 19: 6 can easily be identified; and this can be done apart from any question whatsoever, through several different means various places in the passage.

 

 

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{Page II}

And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? 

I will tell thee the mystery of the woman…” (Rev. 17: 7a).

 

 

 

{Page IV}

By the Same Author -

 

 

 

HAD YE BELIEVED MOSES

 

COMING IN HIS KINGDOM

 

WE ARE ALMOST THERE

 

THE MOST HIGH RULETH

 

FROM ACTS TO THE EPISTLES

 

IN THE LORD’S DAY

 

FROM EGYPT TO CANAAN

 

LET US GO ON

 

REDEEMED FOR A PURPOSE

 

JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST

 

PROPHECY ON MOUNT OLIVET

 

MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM

 

THE BRIDE IN GENESIS

 

SEARCH FOR THE BRIDE

 

SEVEN, TEN GENERATIONS

 

THE TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE

 

THE TIME OF THE END

 

DISTANT HOOFBEATS

 

ISRAEL - FROM DEATH TO LIFE

 

MIDDLE EAST PEACE - HOW? WHEN?

 

SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH

 

SALVATION OF THE SOUL

 

SO GREAT SALVATION

 

THE SPIRITUAL WARFARE

 

BROUGHT FORTH FROM ABOVE

 

THE STUDY OF SCRIPTURE

 

SIGNS IN JOHN’S GOSPEL

 

MOSES AND JOHN

 

RUN TO WIN

 

GOD’S FIRSTBORN SONS

 

BY FAITH

 

JUDE

 

RUTH

 

ESTHER

 

 

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{Page v}

 

CONTENTS

 

 

 

FOREWORD  {Page v}

 

 

I. MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT    [Page 1]

 

THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH

 

 

II. THAT GREAT CITY    [Page 21]

 

POSSESSING REGAL AUTHORITY OVER THE KINGS OF THE EARTH

 

 

III. THAT MIGHTY CITY, BURNING   [Page 37]

 

THROWN DOWN, FOUND NO MORE AT ALL

 

 

IV. BURNED IN FIRE, GROUND TO POWDER    [Page 59]

 

SCATTERED IN THE WATERS, THE PEOPLE MADE TO DRINK

 

 

V. AN ANGEL STANDING IN THE SUN   [Page 83]

 

ANNOUNCING THE GREAT SUPPER OF GOD

 

 

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APPENDIXES, I, II, III, IV    [Pages 99-122]

 

I. THE WOMAN IN REVELATION   [Page 99]

 

II. A PLACE IN THE WILDERNESS   [Page 105]

 

III. O SLEEPER, ARISE, CALL   [Page 111]

 

IV. WITH A ROD OF IRON   [Page 117]

 

 

SCRIPTURE INDEX    [Pages 123-126]*

 

[* Not included]

 

 

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{Page VII}

 

 

FOREWORD

 

 

This book has to do with the Harlot Woman seen in the midst of the kingdom of the Beast (Rev. 17: 1 - 19: 6) during that future time covered by Daniel’s unfulfilled Seventieth Week, “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30: 7; Dan. 9: 24-27).

 

 

The key to properly understanding all the various things revealed about the woman in Rev. 17: 1 - 19: 6 could be succinctly stated in a very simple, two-part manner; and, as well, this is the necessary two-fold key to properly understanding any passage of Scripture:

 

 

1) Find out, pay attention to, exactly what the passage states.

 

 

2) Then, let Scripture interpret the passage for you, referencing both the immediate context and related Scripture elsewhere.

 

 

First Part

 

 

On the first part of the preceding, the text singles out one thing about the woman which MUST be understood.  If this one thing is understood, the remainder of that stated about the woman will more naturally fall into place.  However, if this one thing is not understood, an individual will likely find himself/herself lost in a sea of misinterpretation in which so many seem to find themselves today when it comes to this section of Scripture.

 

 

And this one thing which MUST be understood at the outset is the word “mystery.”  The woman is referred to twice through the use of this word, both times in the introductory part of chapter seventeen:

 

 

And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH...

 

 

And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel?  I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carried her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns” (vv. 5, 7).

 

{Page VIII}

The word “mystery” is used in connection with the woman, not as a part of her name or title, but to associate the woman with that dealt with through the meaning of and the way this word is used in the New Testament.

 

 

The word “mystery” is used twenty-seven times in the New Testament.

 

 

It is used one time in each of the three synoptic gospels, for the same event - the mysteries of the kingdom (Matt. 13: 11; Mark 4: 11; Luke 8: 10).

 

 

It is used twenty times in the Pauline epistles.

 

 

Paul used the word numerous times to reference the gospel which he had been called to proclaim throughout the Gentile world (Rom. 16: 25; Eph. 3: 3, 4, 9; 6: 19; Col. 1: 26, 27).

 

 

He used the word to reference Israel’s blindness, awaiting the fulness of the Gentiles, to be followed by Israel’s salvation (Rom. 11: 25, 26).

 

 

And, among several other usages, Paul used the word to reference the coming resurrection of Christians and the corresponding removal of the living at the end of the present dispensation (1 Cor. 15: 51ff).

 

 

The word is not used in Hebrews or the general epistles, but it is used four times in the Book of Revelation.  It is used of the seven stars (1: 20), of God (10: 7), and of the Woman and the Beast (17: 5, 7).

 

 

The word “mystery” is an Anglicized form of the Greek word musterion.  The word has to do with something hidden, a secret.  It has to do with something beyond human comprehension, something which cannot be explained by human endeavours, human ingenuity.

 

 

In the light of the exact meaning of this word, note R. C. H. Lenski’s comments in his New Testament Greek word studies on the use of musterion in Matt. 13: 11:

 

 

These are ‘mysteries’ [the mysteries of the kingdom] because men by nature and by their own abilities are unable to discover and to know them.  It must ‘be given’ to a man ‘to know’ them.  This divine giving is done by means of revelation...”

 

 

In this respect, remaining within the first part of the two-fold key {Page IX} to proper Scriptural interpretation - first, finding out exactly what the text states - understand that the word “mystery” is used of the woman.  Then, understanding the meaning of this word and how it is used in the New Testament, one can proceed from that point and know that matters concerning things dealt with through the use of this word cannot be explained through human comprehension.  Divine intervention must be involved.

 

 

God must make things pertaining to a mystery known to an individual; and God makes things known today through one means alone - through His Word.

 

 

Thus, understanding what is involved in the use of the word “mystery” and that this word is used to reference the woman, one can know that the only possible way to identify the woman is through Divine revelation, i.e., through the Word of God, through comparing Scripture with Scripture.

 

 

Second Part

 

 

And, this is where the second part of the two-fold key to proper Scriptural interpretation comes into the picture.  After an individual has found out exactly what the text has to say, then the only proper way to proceed is to compare Scripture with Scripture, both in the light of that stated in the immediate context and related Scripture elsewhere.

 

 

Allow Scripture to interpret the passage for you.  Allow Scripture to deal with that designated as a mystery for you.

 

 

And, doing it this way, you won’t go wrong, for you will have a base upon which to work; doing it any other way, you probably will go wrong, for you will have no base upon which to work.

 

 

A mystery in the New Testament relies wholly upon other Scripture to explain the mystery.  And the “other Scripture” necessary to help explain the mystery could be other New Testament Scripture, though, of necessity, it would have to extend into Old Testament Scripture as well.

 

 

There is nothing in the New Testament that is not seen after some fashion in the Old Testament, necessitating that anything dealt with through the use of the word “mystery” in the New Testament have an Old Testament connection.

 

{Page X}

To illustrate the preceding, note the mystery of Israel’s blindness and ensuing events in Rom. 11: 25, 26. Different facets of this are dealt with throughout Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets (e.g., Gen. 11-19; 22-25; 37-45; the entire panorama of events extending from Exodus through Joshua; or the panorama of events seen throughout Judges or Esther, among numerous other places which could be referenced, concluding with the closing verses of Malachi).

 

 

And Old Testament revelation pertaining to the mystery of the woman in Rev. 17: 1 - 19: 6, as well, is seen numerous places throughout Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets.

 

 

Then, different Old Testament passages could be referenced relative to the manner in which the word “mystery” is used other places in the New Testament.

 

 

And that is what this book is about.  It is about interpreting and understanding the mystery of the woman through the only means possible to understand “a mystery,” or anything else in Scripture - through Divine revelation, through comparing Scripture with Scripture.

 

 

*       *       *

[Page 1]

 

CHAPTER I

 

Mystery, Babylon the Great

 

THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH

 

 

 

And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

 

 

With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

 

 

So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

 

 

And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

 

 

And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH (Rev. 17: 1-5).

 

 

 

The Book of Revelation is where many expositors and Bible students commit mayhem in Biblical interpretation, and that is especially true beginning with chapter seventeen and continuing through the first six verses of chapter nineteen.

 

 

These are chapters where interpretation, for the most part, has remained unchanged over the years, with expositors seemingly being unable to break away from an erroneous view which has been held by individuals in one form or another for at least the lost five hundred years, since the time of the Reformation.

 

[Page 2]

Among those expositors viewing the book in some semblance of the correct manner - referred to as “futurist,” understanding events in the book, particularly in chs. 6-19, as future and having to do with events during and immediately following Daniel’s unfulfilled seventieth week - almost all, when coming to chapter seventeen, seem to forget what the book is about and begin dealing with material completely foreign to the subject matter of the book.

 

 

And this foreign subject matter, more often than not, is the Church of Rome (or this Church as the centre into which numerous false religions will be drawn in that future day).  Individuals seek to understand and present “the harlot” in these chapters in this manner.

 

 

Then, if the preceding manner of mishandling Rev. 17: lff wasn’t enough in and of itself - i.e., attempting to see God dealing with the Roman Catholic Church during “the time of “Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30: 7), the seven-year Tribulation - there is still more.

 

 

The “harlot” in Rev. 17: 1 - 19: 6 is clearly identified in these chapters in several unmistakable ways (as other than the Roman Catholic Church), in complete keeping with the subject matter being dealt with in this section of the book (chs. 6-19).

 

 

Christians will be removed [i.e., those who are “accounted worthy to escape” (Lk. 21: 36, A.V..) cf.  Rev. 3: 10] from the earth, and dealt with at the end of the present dispensation, prior to “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (chs. 1-3).  And it is completely outside the scope of anything taught in Scripture to attempt to see God dealing with anyone or any group of individuals associated with Christianity (either true Christianity or a so-called false Church) during the Tribulation.

 

 

Misguided interpretation of the book of the preceding nature (which is not really interpretation at all) results in two things:

 

 

1) People are misled, causing them to believe that which is “not according to this Word” (Isa. 8: 20).

 

 

2) Proclaimed error at any point in Scripture invariably closes the door to a correct understanding of the passage being dealt with, which, many times will close the door to correctly understanding related passages of Scripture as well.

 

 

Thus, mishandling Scripture after this fashion is a serious matter.  The end result can and often does have far-reaching ramifications, moving far beyond one passage dealt with in an erroneous manner.

 

[Page 3]

Again, beginning with Rev. 6: 1, this book is dealing with “the time of Jacob’s trouble,” not the time of the [disobedient and unrepentant members (Rev. 2: 20-22) of the apostate] Church’s trouble (either the true Church or a so-called false Church).

 

 

God, at this time, will have completed His dealings with the Church during Man’s Day.  And beginning with Revelation chapter six, God is seen turning back to Israel and completing His dealings with the Jewish people during the last seven years of Man’s Day, fulfilling events which will occur during the final week of Daniel’s Seventy-Week prophecy (along with the nations to be dealt with through Israel at this time, with the Messianic Era to follow).

 

 

Subject and Structure of the Book

 

 

Note the subject matter of the Book of Revelation and how the book has been structured, given in the opening verse of the book.

 

 

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John.”

 

 

Then, with these things in view, the time element - “the time of Jacob’s trouble,” beginning in chapter six - can be dealt with and understood within its proper context and the manner in which the material has been put together in this book.

 

 

The first five chapters of the book deal with events which will occur immediately preceding “the time of Jacob’s trouble” - the Church removed and dealt with at Christ’s judgment seat (chs. 1-3), the twenty-four elders cast their crowns before God’s throne (ch. 4), and the search for One worthy to break the seals of the seven-sealed scroll (ch. 5).

 

 

And, beginning with chapter six and continuing through the first six verses of chapter nineteen, events are dealt with which will occur during or immediately beyond “the time of Jacob’s trouble,” a time when the seven seals of the scroll are broken - a period dealt with time after time throughout Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets.

 

 

1) Subject

 

 

The word “Revelation” in the opening verse of this book is a [Page 4] translation of the Greek word apokalupsis, which means to “disclose,” “reveal,” “uncover.”  And this word, along with its verb form (apokalupto), are together used forty-five times in the New Testament in passages such as Rom. 16: 25; 1 Cor. 2: 10; Gal. 1: 12; Eph. 3: 3, 5; 1 Peter 1: 7, 13; 4: 13.

 

 

The Book of Revelation, the Apokalupsis, the “Apocalypse,” is about a disclosure, an uncovering, an unveiling of that which the Father had previously given to and would accomplish through His Son (cf. John 3: 34, 35; 5: 20-22; 7: 16; 8: 28).  And that which the Father had previously given to and would accomplish through His Son is seen in both Old and New Testament Scripture as “all things” (cf. Gen. 24: 36; 25: 5; John 16: 15; Col. 1: 16-18; Heb. 1: 2-13).

 

 

Then, more directly, in the words of the book itself, that being made known pertains to a revelation of the Son Himself.  This book is an opening up of that which relates all that the Father has given to and would accomplish through His Son, revealed through a revelation of the Son Himself.

 

 

And the revelation of the Son, according to this opening verse, is going to be accomplished through a specific, revealed means - through revealing “things which must shortly [Gk., tachos, quickly,’ ‘speedily’] come to pass.”  That is to say, once this revelation of the Son begins through an unfolding of future events, the revelation will occur in a quick or speedy fashion - actually over time covering little more than seven years.

 

 

(On the translation of tachos in the opening verse as “quickly” or “speedily,” refer to a cognate word, fachu, used seven times in this book, translated “quickly” each time [2: 5, 16; 3: 11; 11: 14; 22: 7, 12, 20])

 

 

According to John 1: 1, 14, the incarnation was simply the Word (the Old Testament Scriptures) becoming flesh.  There is the written Word (which is living [Heb. 4: 12]), and there is the living Word (which is the written Word, inseparably connected with the Father, made flesh).

 

 

The Book of Revelation is thus an opening up of the Old Testament Scriptures through a Person, through the Word which became flesh.  And any thought of an opening up of the Old Testament Scriptures extending to and including an opening up [Page 5] of the New Testament Scriptures as well could only be completely out of place, for there is nothing in the New that cannot be found, after some fashion, in the Old.  If there were, there could not be the necessary corresponding completeness between the written Word and the living Word at a time before the New Testament even began to be penned.

 

 

The New Testament, at any point, of necessity, can only have to do with revelation which can be seen as having an Old Testament base.  Revelation in the New Testament must bear the same inseparable connection with the Word made flesh as revelation in the Old Testament bears.

 

 

Thus, the existence of the Word made flesh preceding the existence of the New Testament clearly relates the truth of the matter concerning the content of the New Testament.  The New can only be an opening up and revealing of that previously seen in the Old.  To state or think otherwise is to connect the Word made flesh with one Testament and disconnect Him from the other - an impossibility.

 

 

In short, the Old Testament is complete in and of itself; the Word made flesh incorporates this same completeness, and the New Testament adds nothing per se to this completeness.  Any supposed subsequent addition would be impossible, for this would be adding to that which God had already deemed complete through the incarnation, the Word made flesh.

 

 

The preceding is why Christ, shortly after His resurrection, began at “Moses and all the prophets” (an expression covering the whole of the O.T.) when He appeared to and began making Himself known to two disciples travelling from Jerusalem to Emmaus (Luke 24: 13-31).  The living Word, using the written Word, began putting together different facets of a word picture pertaining to Himself.  And He could have gone to any part of the Old Testament to accomplish the matter, for the whole of the Old Testament was/is about Him.

 

 

Through this means, those being addressed would be able to see one (the word picture) alongside the other (the Word made flesh).  And, comparing the two, they would be able to come into an understanding of not only the identity of the One in their midst but an understanding of that which had occurred in Jerusalem during the past several days as well.

 

[Page 6]

This is the manner in which God has put matters together in His Word, making Himself, His plans, and His purposes known to man.  And this is why the Son - God manifest in the flesh, the Word made flesh - undertook matters after exactly the same fashion when making Himself, His plans, and His purposes known to two disciples walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus on the day of His resurrection.

 

 

Then, the same thing is seen when He appeared to ten of the eleven remaining disciples (with Thomas absent) in Jerusalem a short time later (Luke 24: 36-45; John 20: 19-29).

 

 

And this is the manner in which the Book of Revelation must be studied.  Since it is an unveiling of the living Word, it is equally an unveiling of the inseparable Old Testament Scriptures, which, throughout, have to do with both of God’s firstborn Sons - Christ and Israel (Ex. 4: 22, 23; Heb. 1: 6), with one Son seen inseparable from the other Son (cf. Ex. 12: 1ff [John 4: 22; Acts 4: 12]; Jonah 1: 17 [Matt. 12: 39, 40]; Hosea 11: 1 [Matt. 2:15]).

 

 

Then, another person is seen throughout the Old Testament as well - the Beast, introduced in Gen. 3: 15 and dealt with throughout Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets.  And he, accordingly, is seen and dealt with extensively in Revelation chapters six through twenty.

 

 

Thus, understanding the Book of Revelation after the preceding fashion is the only way a person can come into a proper and correct understanding of the various things opened up and revealed in this book, which, of course, would be equally true of any other portion of Scripture.

 

 

2) Structure

 

 

The word “signified” in the opening verse of this book is a translation of the Greek word semaino, which is the verb form of the word for “sign” (semeion).  The Apostle John introduced, opened up, and developed matters in his gospel account through signs.  And in the Book of Revelation, matters are introduced, opened up, and developed in a similar manner.

 

 

God, throughout His revelation to man, shows an affinity for the use of types, numbers, signs, and metaphors to make Himself, His plans, and His purposes known.  And this must be recognized, else man will find himself failing to go beyond the simple letter of Scripture (cf. 2 Cor. 3: 6 - 4: 6).

 

[Page 7]

Man, for example, will find himself understanding Biblical history but failing to understand the God-designed typical significance of that history.  Or if numbers, signs, or metaphors are used - which they often are - he will fail to understand the God-designed significance of these as well.

 

 

At the very outset, God makes it clear that the Book of Revelation has been structured in a particular manner, closely related to the manner in which John was led by the [Holy] Spirit to structure his gospel.

 

 

The Gospel of John was built around eight signs which Jesus had previously performed during His earthly ministry, and these signs were recorded and directed to the Jewish people during the time of the re-offer of the kingdom to Israel (which occurred between 33 A.D. and about 62 A.D.).

 

 

And the Book of Revelation - dealing largely with the Jewish people once again (exclusively, along with God’s dealings with the nations through Israel, in chs. 6-19, covering time and events during and immediately following Daniel’s Seventieth Week) - uses the verb form of the word for “sign” at the very outset in order to reveal the manner in which this book has been structured.

 

 

To understand how the word semaino, translated “signified,” is used introducing the Book of Revelation, note how John uses this same word three times in his gospel, in John 12: 33; 18: 32; 21: 19.  The context leading into each verse provides an illustrative statement which allows that stated in the verse to be understood.

 

 

Note the first of these three usages, within context:

 

 

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.  This he said, signifying [from semaino] what death he should die” (vv. 32, 33).

 

 

Aside from Rev. 1: 1 and the three verses in John’s gospel, the only other usages of the word semaino in the New Testament are in Acts 11: 28; 25: 27.  And the same thought is set forth through the use of the word in these two passages, though the illustrative statement is inferred in the first usage.

 

 

Thus, “signified,” a translation of semaino, has to do with making something known through a manner which carries the [Page 8] reader from a somewhat indirect means to a direct means, using an illustrative statement as a means of explaining a matter.  And this is seen accomplished in the Book of Revelation centrally through the use of numerous numbers and metaphors, though other illustrative means are used as well.

 

 

In the preceding respect, all illustrative means of this nature in the book are, they would have to be, in line with the meaning of the word semaino and the manner in which this word is used elsewhere in the New Testament.

 

 

Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots...”

 

 

Note that the identification of the “harlot” in Rev. 17: 1ff with “Babylon” is associated with the word mystery (ref. the Foreword in this book).  And, as well, the identification of “the beast,” the last king of Babylon, is also associated with this word - the mystery of the woman, and of the beast (v. 7b).

 

 

1) A Mystery

 

 

The word, “mystery,” is not part of the harlot’s name - such as mystical, etc.  Rather, the word, “mystery,” states something about the harlot, aiding in the identification of the harlot.  And this would be equally true of the Beast as well.

 

 

A mystery” in the New Testament does not have to do with something completely new, something not dealt with at all or unknown in the Old Testament (a common misconception which is often taught concerning the meaning of the word).  This, of course, couldn’t be true, for, as previously seen, there is nothing in the New that cannot be found after some form in the Old.

 

 

Rather, “a mystery” in the New Testament has to do with an opening up and an unveiling of something previously introduced and dealt within the Old Testament.  A mystery” has to do with additional revelation, commentary, on that already seen in the Old Testament, allowing the Old Testament revelation to be fully opened up and revealed (e.g., note that a full revelation of the Son in the Book of Revelation allows the “mystery of God” [Rev. 10: 7] to be correspondingly fully opened up as well, for Christ is God manifested in the flesh).

 

[Page 9]

And the preceding is exactly what is in view through referring to “the woman” and “the beast” by the use of the word mystery.  There is an opening up, an unveiling of that previously revealed concerning the woman and the Beast, which, of course, would necessitate prior revelation on the subject.

 

 

This alone would tell a person that foundational material for both can, and must, be found in the Old Testament, for, again, there is nothing in the New that does not have its roots someplace in the Old.

 

 

And, as previously seen, a relationship of this nature between the two Testaments can be seen in the opening verse of the last book of Scripture, the Book of Revelation, stating at the outset the nature of the book’s contents.

 

 

The entirety of the Old Testament is about the person and work of Jesus Christ (Luke 24: 25-27; John 5: 39-47). And the New Testament, continuing from the Old - with “the Word” (the Old Testament Scriptures) becoming flesh” (John 1: 1, 2, 14) - must be viewed in exactly the same light.

 

 

The New is an opening up and unveiling of the Old; and the Book of Revelation, forming the capstone to all previous revelation (both the Old and New Testaments), completes the unveiling.  The Book of Revelation, by its own introductory statement - an introductory statement peculiar to this book alone - forms the one book in Scripture which brings all previous revelation to its proper climax.

 

 

2) Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots

 

 

Thus, “the harlot” being inseparably identified with Babylon is not something which suddenly appears in chapter seventeen, apart from prior revelation - revelation which would allow one to know who is being referenced and why an identification of this nature is being used.

 

 

The word “mystery” alone would tell a person that prior revelation exists, allowing the referenced identification to be easily understood.

 

 

Most of the prior revelation is in the Old Testament, but some can be found in the immediately preceding chapters of the Book of Revelation.  And, even without these immediately preceding chapters -  knowing that these are central entities dealt with during “the time of Jacob’s trouble” - plain common sense would seemingly tell any individual with a good grasp of the Old [Page 10] Testament Scriptures what and who is being dealt with, for that seen throughout Rev. 17: 1 - 19: 6 is a major subject of Old Testament Scripture.

 

 

Metaphors and other forms of figurative language are used extensively in these chapters, not only relative to “the harlot” and “the beast,” but numerous other places as well (e.g., the descriptive destruction of the harlot, “with fire,” the harlot referred to as that great city, Babylon,” or the great riches enjoyed by the nations at the harlot’s expense).  And the use of metaphors or other forms of figurative language is seen throughout the book, in line with “signified [semaino]” in the opening verse of the book.

 

 

And, with the preceding in mind, relative to the inseparable association of the harlot with Babylon along with the harlot’s identification, note three previous verses - Rev. 11: 8; 14: 8; 16: 19.

 

 

In the first verse (11: 8), where the first of nine references in the book to “the [or, ‘that’] great city” is found, this city is associated with both Sodom and Egypt and is identified as “Jerusalem”:

 

 

And their dead bodies [the two witnesses] shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.”

 

 

In the second verse (14: 8), where the second reference to “that great city” is found in the book, the destruction of the harlot is seen (detailed more fully in chs. 17-19a); and the harlot, previously associated with Sodom, Egypt, and Jerusalem (through an identification with “the great city”), is here associated with Babylon:

 

 

And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”

 

 

(The inclusion of “that great city” in this verse is often questioned on the basis of manuscript evidence.  But the question, in reality is mute.  Note Rev. 16: 19; 18: 10, 21, where no manuscript variance exists, with “Babylon” referred to as that great city in all three verses.)

 

 

In the third verse (16: 19), where the third reference to “the great city” is found in the book, the end of the harlot is seen again.  But in this verse, additional explanatory material is given.  The great city ... Babylon (cf. 18: 10) is seen separate from “the cities of [Page 11] the nations.”  And, with “the great city” having previously been identified as Jerusalem (metaphorically, also with Sodom, Egypt, and Babylon), a separation from the nations, as seen in this verse, could only be expected (cf. Num. 23: 9; Deut. 14: 2):

 

 

And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.”

 

 

(The identification of “the great city” [or, “that great city” (same structure in the Greek text throughout)] with Jerusalem is dealt with more fully and after a different fashion in Chapter II of this book.

 

 

Note also that “Jerusalem” is used a number of times in Scripture as simply another way of referring to the Jewish people.  Even “the land of Israel” is used this same way at times in Scripture [cf. Isa. 1: 21, 26; Lam. 1: 7, 8; Ezek. 14: 11-13; 16: 2; Matt. 23: 37; Luke 13: 33; 19: 41].)

 

 

Thus, to see “Babylon” used as a metaphor for Jerusalem - i.e., referring to the Jewish people - in the Book of Revelation, one could only expect to find a prior Jerusalem-Babylon association in the Old Testament, for, again, there is nothing in the New Testament that does not have its roots somewhere in the Old Testament.

 

 

In this respect, not only should a Jerusalem-Babylon association be found in the Old Testament, one which would allow “Babylon” to be used as a metaphor for Jerusalem, but an association of this nature should also exist as it pertains to the numerous other things dealt with throughout Revelation chapters seventeen through the first part of nineteen as well.  And this is exactly what one finds when going back to the Old Testament, comparing Scripture with Scripture.

 

 

Note again that “Babylon” in Revelation chapter seventeen is referred to as not just “Babylon,” but as “a mystery, [which is] Babylon…” (v. 5, NASB), and, as also previously seen, the word “mystery” is used of “the beast” as well (v. 7).

 

 

(Note how the preceding would negatively reflect on the false teaching that “the harlot” in Rev. 17-19a is a reference to the Roman Catholic Church.

 

 

The harlot” is a mystery, necessitating that the harlot be found in the Old Testament.  And to carry such a teaching pertaining to the harlot and the Roman Catholic Church through to its logical conclusion, this Church, of necessity, would have to be found in the Old Testament, which, of course, it isn’t.)

 

[Page 12]

Dealing with Babylon, Jerusalem, and the Beast in the Book of Revelation, one would naturally turn to the Book of Daniel.  Though Babylon, Jerusalem, and the Beast are first mentioned early in Genesis (3: 15; 10: 10; 14: 18), Daniel is the book which deals with the whole of the matter in relation to the beginning, progression, and end of the Times of the Gentiles.

 

 

The kingdom of Babylon is brought into full view in this book, Daniel deals with Israel and the nations in relation to this Babylonian kingdom, and Daniel places a particular emphasis on details pertaining to the latter days - details having to do with Babylon’s end-time ruler, the Beast, exactly as seen in the Book of Revelation (though this man had previously been introduced in different ways and places in the Old Testament, beginning in Genesis, then quite extensively in Exodus).

 

 

The complete period of the Times of the Gentiles is depicted through two main means in the Book of Daniel - through a four-part great image in chapter two (revealed through a dream) and through four great beasts in chapter seven (revealed through a vision).  That depicted by the great image in chapter two is Babylonian in its entirety (from the head of gold to the feet part of iron and part of clay), as is that depicted by the four great beasts in chapter seven (from the lion to the dreadful, terrible, and exceedingly strong beast).  The great image and great beasts present exactly the same picture, though from two different perspectives.

 

 

That seen through the great image and the great beasts centers around and sets forth Gentile world rule during the Times of the Gentiles, from its beginning to its end, as this period relates to Babylon.  The Times of the Gentiles began in Babylon, and this period of time will end in Babylon.

 

 

God used the first king of Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar [the first king during time covered by the great image, or the great beasts]) to complete the removal of the Jewish people from their land - because of their prior, continued disobedience, extending over centuries of time - resulting in an end to the Old Testament theocracy.

 

 

And God will use the last king of Babylon (Antichrist) to complete the reason for the removal of His people under the first king of Babylon - to effect repentance, resulting in a reestablishment of [Page 13] the theocracy at a future time.

 

 

The former theocracy was established under the old covenant, and the latter theocracy will be established under a new covenant (cf. Ex. 19: 5, 6; Jer. 31: 31-33).

 

 

The Visions of Zechariah

 

 

With these things in mind, note the eight visions in the first six chapters of Zechariah, for these visions deal with exactly the same sequence of events seen in both the Books of Daniel and Revelation, though from a different perspective yet.  These are visions revealed to and recorded by Zechariah following the return of a remnant from the Babylonian captivity.  And it is within these visions that possibly the best Old Testament basis for an association of “Jerusalem” with Babylon, as seen in the Book of Revelation, can be found.

 

 

1) Understanding the Visions

 

 

These eight visions are introduced by the Lord’s statement surrounding Israel’s past disobedience, the result of this disobedience, the call for repentance, and that which will result following Israel’s repentance (1: 1-6).

 

 

Disobedience resulted in the Times of the Gentiles, and repentance would ultimately be effected through Gentile persecution during this period.

 

 

Then, following the six introductory verses, the eight visions begin with verse seven and continue uninterrupted until part way through chapter six of the book.

 

 

These visions have to be understood in the light of the manner in which they are introduced.  They have to be understood in the light of Israel’s past disobedience, which has resulted in the Times of the Gentiles; and they have to be understood in the light of the reason for the Times of the Gentiles - Israel not only reaping the consequences of her actions, but ultimately bringing the nation to the place of repentance - and that which will occur once God’s purpose for this period is realized.

 

 

The visions, understood contextually, must be looked upon as having to do with Israel and the nations during and at the end of the Times of the Gentiles.

 

[Page 14]

(Note that one of the laws of the harvest has to do with the fact that a person not only reaps what he sows but he always reaps more than he sows. Israel has “sown the wind” [violating God’s covenant through centuries of disobedience, including harlotry], and they will, resultingly, “reap the whirlwind” [Hosea 8: 7; cf. vv. 1, 8-14].

 

 

Thus, with Israel occupying centre-stage, this law of the harvest would reflect upon the reason for the intensity of the judgments and related activity seen during the Tribulation [cf. Matt. 24: 14])

 

 

Though God drove His people out among the nations, to effect repentance, the principles set forth in Gen. 12: 3 remain.  God will not only use Gentile persecution to bring about repentance but He will also subsequently judge the Gentiles because of this persecution.

 

 

Summarily, these visions bridge the centuries of time between the first and last kings of Babylon.  They have to do with different facets of Israeli persecution at the hands of the Gentiles, with the principles set forth in Gen. 12: 3 ultimately being worked out and realized.  They have to do with Israel ultimately being brought to the place of repentance, the Times of the Gentiles being brought to an end, and Gentile persecution of Israel being fully dealt with.

 

 

Only then will Israel occupy her proper place at the head of the nations in a restored theocracy, with the nations being blessed through Israel.

 

 

That, in short, is how the eight visions in Zechariah must be understood.  Each presents a different facet of the matter, and all of the visions together form a composite picture of that which God revealed concerning Israel and the nations through Zechariah.

 

 

Then, immediately after the last vision (6: 1-8, dealing with the destruction of Gentile world power), Zechariah calls attention to the crowning of Joshua, the high priest, with reference then made to “the man whose name is The BRANCH,” which is followed by a reference to the building of the Temple (6: 11-13).

 

 

The name “Joshua” (Heb., Jehoshua) is an Anglicized form of the Hebrew name for “Jesus” (Gk., Iesous). The Septuagint (Greek translation of the O.T.) uses Iesous in Zech. 6: 11, and this is the reason that the KJV translators erroneously translated Iesous as “Jesus” instead of “Joshua” in Acts 7: 45 and Heb. 4: 8.  They are the same name, whether Jehoshua in Hebrew or Iesous in Greek. [Page 15] And the name, “The BRANCH,” in Zech. 6: 12 is a Messianic title applied to Christ elsewhere in the Old Testament (Isa. 4: 2; 11: 1; Jer. 23: 5; 33: 15; Zech. 3: 8).

 

 

Thus, note that which is in view immediately following the visions in Zechariah, immediately following the Times of the Gentiles, when Israel occupies her proper place at the head of the nations, in a restored theocracy.

 

 

Events surrounding the crowning of Joshua (at the termination of the visions), the high priest during Zechariah’s day, foreshadow future events surrounding the crowning of Jesus (at the termination of that set forth in the visions), Who will then be the great King-Priest.

 

 

And the building of the Temple following the restoration of a remnant during Zechariah’s day foreshadows the building of the millennial Temple by Messiah Himself, in that future day following Israel’s restoration.

 

 

2) The Woman in the Ephah

 

 

Now, with all that in mind, note the seventh of the eight visions - a woman seated in the midst of an ephah (5: 5-11) - immediately before the vision having to do with the destruction of Gentile world power (6: 1-8).  This vision of the woman seated in the ephah has a direct bearing upon a proper understanding and interpretation of Revelation chapter seventeen through the opening six verses of chapter nineteen, paralleling, in a number of instances, that seen in these three chapters.

 

 

The destruction of Gentile world power then follows in both Zechariah’s visions and that revealed to John in the Book of Revelation.  And the crowning of Joshua and the reference to “The BRANCH” building the Temple foreshadow and have to do with that which follows in the Book of Revelation - Christ appearing as King of kings, and Lord of lords (ch. 19b), with certain events then occurring both preparatory to and during His millennial reign (ch. 20a).

 

 

Thus, there is a parallel between the seventh and eighth visions and that which immediately follows in Zechariah with that seen in Revelation chapter seventeen through the first part of chapter twenty.  Both sections of Scripture deal with exactly the [Page 16] same thing, from two different perspectives.  They deal with Israel and the nations during the Times of the Gentiles, Israel brought to the place of repentance through Gentile persecution, Gentile world power destroyed, and the Messianic Kingdom ushered in.

 

 

And similar parallels can be seen between a number of other things in Zechariah’s first six visions and other parts of the book of Revelation as well.

 

 

Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.

 

 

And I said, What is it?  And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth.  He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.

 

 

And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.

 

 

And he said, This is wickedness.  And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.

 

 

Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.

 

 

Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?

 

 

And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base” (Zech. 5: 5-11).

 

 

There are numerous metaphors throughout Zechariah’s visions, and the vision of the woman in the ephah is no different.  Metaphors are used for practically everything in this vision, including “an house in the land of Shinar.”

 

 

However, metaphors, as used in these visions, or elsewhere in Scripture, do not lend themselves to fanciful interpretation.  Scripture uses metaphors after a consistent fashion (e.g., a mountain always has to do with a kingdom, the sea always has to do with the Gentiles or the place of death, a fig treealways has to do with Israel or showing a connection with Israel, etc.).  Metaphors found any place in Scripture are to be understood and explained contextually and/or through comparing Scripture with Scripture, in accordance with how Scripture deals with the metaphors being used.

 

[Page 17]

For example, three women are in view in this vision - one in the ephah, and two who transport the ephah (with a woman inside).  Since the manner in which the visions are introduced at the beginning of Zechariah has to do with Israel and the nations, ascertaining who these three women represent is quite simple, for a woman is sometimes used in Scripture, in a metaphorical way, to represent a nation (Isa. 47: 1-7; 62: 1-5; Rev. 12: 1; 17: 3ff).

 

 

Remaining with the subject matter of the visions and the metaphorical use of women elsewhere in Scripture, the “woman” in the ephah can only represent Israel, with the “two women” who transport the ephah representing Gentile nations.  The woman in the ephah is removed from one land and transported to another.

 

 

And though the matter has its roots in history, where exactly the same thing occurred, the vision must be understood relative to the end times, for the destruction of Gentile world power follows in the next and last vision.

 

 

That is to say, the same thing occurred through the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities, bringing about the Times of the Gentiles following the Babylonian captivity; and the same thing will occur yet future, bringing a close to the Times of the Gentiles.

 

 

During the end times, the Babylonian kingdom of the man of sin will encompass all the Gentile nations; and “the land of Shinar,” used in a metaphorical sense (in keeping with all the other metaphors used in the vision), would refer, not to one tract of land in the Mesopotamian Valley but to the origin (the land of Shinar) of a Babylonian kingdom which will then exist worldwide.

 

 

Thus, since the woman is moved to “the land of Shinar,” the only place from which the woman could possibly be moved would be the land of Israel, for any other part of the earth would be within the scope of the metaphorical use of “the land of Shinar” at this future time.

 

 

As previously stated, this occurred in history when the Jews were transported to the actual land of Shinar by the first king of Babylon (the first king as seen in Daniel’s image), and this will occur yet future, once again, when the Jewish people are uprooted from their land and scattered throughout a Babylonian kingdom which will then exist worldwide (though evidently with a Middle [Page 18] Eastern capital).  This disbursement of the Jewish people throughout the Gentile world, both past and future, is exactly what is seen in Rev. 17: 1, 15 - the woman, referred to as “the great whore” both here and in numerous Old Testament passages, seated in the midst of the nations, scattered throughout Antichrist’s kingdom (cf. Isa. 1: 21-24; Jer. 3: 1-14; Ezek. 16: 26-39; Hosea 2: 1ff).

 

 

The woman in the ephah is described by the word “wickedness [or, ‘unrighteousness’]” (v. 8), which would be in perfect keeping with her harlotry as she courts lovers among the nations, particularly as she continues to court the Gentile nations in the final form of the kingdom of Babylon.

 

 

The “ephah” was the largest measure for dry goods used by the Jews, though of Egyptian origin.  And the “ephah,” when used in a symbolic sense, would invariably be thought of as referring to trade or commerce. This was simply the manner in which the “ephah” was used, allowing it to be a natural emblem for merchandising.

 

 

The woman seated in the midst of the ephah, in this respect, would point to one characteristic of the Jewish people after being removed from their land - transformed from a nation primarily involved in agriculture to a nation primarily involved in merchandising.  Note that merchandising is a main realm in which the woman is seen involved throughout a large section of Revelation chapter eighteen (vv. 3, 9-23).

 

 

The vision of the woman seated in the midst of the ephah though could refer to something else as well.  As previously pointed out, the “ephah” was the largest of the measures used by the Jews for dry goods, though of Egyptian origin.  Egypt” is used in Scripture to typify or symbolize the world outside the land of Israel, the Gentile nations.  And, in this respect, the woman seated in the midst of the ephah could very well also call attention to the full measure of Israel’s sin of harlotry, as she finds herself seated in the midst of the Gentile nations (seated in the largest of measures, one of Gentile origin) in the kingdom of Antichrist.

 

 

The woman in the vision sought to escape from the ephah (ref. v. 8, NASB, NIV), probably realizing the fate about to befall her should she remain in the ephah.  But she was prevented from [Page 19] escaping, and she was cast back into the ephah and kept inside by a lead covering placed over the top, weighing a talent.  The woman was to realize her own inevitable fate, in the midst of the ephah in the land of Shinar, i.e., in the midst of commercialism, among the nations, in the kingdom of Antichrist.

 

 

This is where the harlot would be destroyed, as seen in Revelation chapters seventeen through the first part of nineteen.

 

 

A talent of lead placed over the opening of the ephah kept the woman inside.  A “talent” was the largest weight used among the Jewish people, and “lead” was one of the heaviest of metals.  Such a covering showed that there was no escape from that which must occur, for her sins had reached unto heaven,” and God had remembered her iniquities” (Rev. 18: 5).

 

 

The heaviest of weights (a talent of lead) was placed over the opening of the largest of measures (the ephah) to keep the woman (Israel) inside the ephah, for a purpose - to be transported from her land to a place among the nations.

 

 

Two women (which could only represent other nations, Gentile nations), with stork-like wings (the stork, an unclean bird [Lev. 11: 13, 19; Deut. 14: 12, 18]), lifted the ephah up from the land of Israel and transported it out among the nations (to that foreshadowed by the land of Shinar in that coming day).

 

 

And there, among her Gentile lovers, the woman, Israel, was to be established and dealt with by God in relation to the magnitude of her sin, with a view to repentance.

 

 

(The vision of the ephah could only span the centuries of time covering the entire Times of the Gentiles [some twenty-six centuries] as seen in Daniel’s great image or the four great beasts, though with a particular emphasis upon the latter days.

 

 

With Israel and the magnitude of her sin over centuries of time in view, note again the laws of the harvest relative to sowing and reaping.

 

 

Note, according to Zechariah’s vision of the woman in the ephah, that which must ultimately occur relative to the remnant of Jews presently in the land of Israel - approximately 6,000,000 today.  It is exactly the same thing seen in the Book of Jonah and elsewhere in Scripture.  The Jews presently in the land must be cast from the ship into the sea [a place typifying “death” and “the Gentiles”].

 

[Page 20]

They must be removed from their land and driven back out among the Gentile nations once again.  And among the nations [in the sea] the Jewish people will be viewed as dead [as Lazarus in the seventh sign in John’s gospel, John chapter eleven], awaiting God’s breath to bring about life [Ezek. 37: 1-14].  Then, and only then [after life has been restored], can they be removed from the sea, from the nations.

 

 

God drove His people out among the nations to deal with them there relative to repentance, and that is exactly where He will deal with them at the end of Man’s Day.  If for no other reason than this, the Jewish people presently in the land must be uprooted and driven back out among the nations.

 

 

That is not only the place where God has decreed that He will deal with them but that is also the place from whence God will regather them when He brings them back into the land, following repentance, belief, and the restoration of life.)

 

 

The Jewish people were carried away into Babylon by the first king of Babylon, which marked the beginning of the Times of the Gentiles.  This was also the beginning of the Jewish association with Babylon.  And most of the Jews carried away never left Babylon at the end of the seventy years to return to their land (Jer. 25: 11, 12; cf. 2 Chron. 36: 20, 21; Dan. 9: 1, 2).  They had found a home in Babylon.  In this respect, as long as Babylon remained in existence, the association of the Jewish people with Babylon could only have continued.

 

 

In the latter days, when the final form of Daniel’s image appears - the final form of the kingdom of Babylon - Israel will be left without a choice other than to see the nation’s harlotry brought into full bloom within the kingdom of Antichrist.  The things seen in the vision of the ephah will be brought to pass during the days of the last king of Babylon, with “Israel” enmeshed in the final form of this Babylonian kingdom to the extent that the nation is spoken of in synonymous terms with “Babylon” in Revelation chapter seventeen through the opening verses of chapter nineteen.

 

 

These are the things forming the Old Testament connection which allow “Babylon” to be used as a metaphor for Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation - as previously seen, a reference used more directly for the people of the city, the Jewish people (cf. Ps. 122: 6; Jer. 44: 13; Lam. 1: 7, 8, 17; Matt. 23: 37; Rev. 21: 9, 10).

 

 

*       *       *

[Page 21]

 

CHAPTER II

 

 

That Great City

 

POSSESSING REGAL AUTHORITY OVER THE KINGS OF THE EARTH

 

 

 

And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

 

 

With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

 

 

So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns...

 

 

And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

 

 

For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

 

 

And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over [lit., ‘which possesses kingly authority over’] the kings of the earth (Rev. 17: 1-3, 16-18).

 

 

 

Revelation chapters seventeen through the first part of chapter twenty provide a climactic sequence of events which brings about the only possible proper end to Daniel’s Seventy-Week prophecy - the conclusion seen in the prophecy itself, as laid out in a six-fold manner in the introductory verse of the prophecy, in Dan. 9:24:

 

[Page 22]

Seventy Weeks [lit., Seventy sevens’ (contextually, sevens of years - 490 years)l are determined upon thy people [the Jewish people] and upon thy holy city [the City of Jerusalem]

 

 

1) “To finish the transgression.”

 

 

2) “To make an end of sins.”

 

 

3) “To make reconciliation for iniquity.”

 

 

4) “To bring in everlasting righteousness.”

 

 

5) “To seal up the vision and prophecy.”

 

 

6) “To anoint the most Holy.”

 

 

Four hundred and eighty-three years of Daniel’s prophecy have been fulfilled.  They were fulfilled during the years preceding and leading into the time of Christ’s crucifixion (beginning with the decree referenced in the prophecy [issued in 444 B.C.] and ending with the crucifixion [in 33 A.D.], also referenced in the prophecy).

 

 

Time being fulfilled in the prophecy though stopped in 33 A.D.  On the day that God’s Son was crucified (fulfilling that set forth in the type in Genesis chapter twenty-two [Abraham offering his son at a particular place which God had revealed to him]), God, so to speak, stopped the clock marking off time in the prophecy.

 

 

God then set Israel aside (fulfilling that set forth in the type in Genesis chapter twenty-three [the death of Sarah, Abraham’s wife]).

 

 

And, anticipating that set forth in the type in Genesis chapter twenty-four (Abraham’s eldest servant sent to another land to acquire a bride for Isaac), fifty-three days later, on the day of Pentecost, God brought into existence the one new man in Christ.”

 

 

At this point in time, God began an entirely new dispensation, with the Spirit of God given the specific task of calling out a bride for God’s Son from among those comprising this new man (fulfilling that set forth in the type in Genesis chapter twenty-four).

 

 

But, seven years yet remain to be fulfilled in the prophecy, which MUST come to pass.  Once the Spirit has acquired the bride, God will remove the one new man in Christ (all Christians, as seen in the latter part of Gen. 24), turn back to Israel, begin the clock marking off time once again in Daniel’s Seventy-Week prophecy, and complete the last seven years of the previous dispensation.

 

 

And once this time has been completed (the full seventy [Page 23] weeks, 490 years), the six things listed in the opening verse of the prophecy, pertaining to Israel, will be brought to pass (fulfilling that set forth in the type in Genesis chapter twenty-five [Abraham again taking a wife, Keturah, who was far more fruitful than Sarah]).

 

 

In short, Israel will be brought to the place of repentance, a nation will be born in a day, Israel’s sins - all types of disobedience, including harlotry, resulting in and climaxed by the crucifixion of the nation’s Messiah when He came the first time - will be done away with, everlasting righteousness will be brought in, the mystery of God will be finished through a full revelation of the Son (sealing up [nothing more to be added, a bringing to completion] of the vision and prophecy), and the Glory will be restored to Israel within a Temple which Messiah Himself will build (anointing the most Holy).

 

 

This is what Revelation chapters six through the first part of chapter twenty are about.  They are about God completing His dealings with Israel during and immediately following the seven unfulfilled years of Daniel’s Seventy-Week prophecy, bringing the six things seen in Dan. 9: 24 to pass, with all that will accompany the realization of these six things being brought to pass as well.

 

 

(For additional information on Daniel’s Seventy-Week prophecy, refer to Chapter XII, “Daniel's Seventy Weeks,” in the author’s book, THE TIME OF THE END.

 

 

For additional information on the typology of Gen. 22-25, refer to Chapter II, “Isaac and Rebekah,” in the author’s book, THE BRIDE IN GENESIS, or in the author’s book, SEARCH FOR THE BRIDE.)

 

 

And, as well, all the various facets of this same end (that seen occurring at the completion of the time in Daniel’s Seventy-Week prophecy) are seen time after time in the Old Testament.  A corresponding parallel, as illustrated in the preceding paragraphs (a sequence of events foreshadowed in Gen. 22-25), can only be expected, for the structure of later revelation must always be in complete keeping with the structure of earlier revelation.

 

 

Later revelation must always be completely in line with and rest on the foundation set forth in earlier revelation.

 

 

This climax, seen in both Testaments - stated in a broad but succinct manner - has to do with:

 

[Page 24]

1) The realization of God’s purpose for driving the Jewish people out among the nations over 2,600 years ago (bringing all six things seen in Dan. 9: 24 to pass).

 

 

2) The corresponding destruction of Gentile world power.

 

 

3) The corresponding ushering in of the long-awaited Messianic Era.

 

 

Through the judgments and different events brought to pass during the Tribulation, seen in Revelation chapters six through sixteen, everything is set in place for these climactic events to be revealed and occur.

 

 

Then, beginning in chapter seventeen and continuing into the first part of chapter twenty, numerous details are given concerning these climactic events, with three individuals occupying centre-stage:

 

 

1) Israel’s true Messiah - the Lord Jesus Christ - Whom the nation rejected and crucified, though will one day receive (Rev. 19: 1ff; cf. Zech. 12: 10-14; Acts 2: 23, 36; 3: 15; 4: 10; 5: 30).

 

 

2) Israel’s false messiah - the Beast - whom the nation, as a result of their rejection of the true Messiah, is prophesied to receive during the interim (Rev. 17: 1ff; cf. John 5: 43).

 

 

3) Israel, the nation itself, around which everything revolves - seen as the harlot woman - brought to repentance, cleansed, never to be defiled again (Rev. 17: lff).

 

 

Most of this closing section of the Book of Revelation, leading into Christ’s return (19: 1lff), the destruction of Gentile world power (19: 17-21), and the Messianic Era which follows (20: 1-6), is taken up with detailed information pertaining to the Beast, his kingdom, and a harlot woman occupying a central place in this kingdom (chs. 17-19a).

 

 

This is the subject matter seen in this climactic part of the book immediately preceding Christ’s return, climactic dealings with Israel and the nations, the restoration of Israel, the destruction of Gentile world power, and the ushering in of the Messianic Era.

 

 

The Beast” and “the woman” are both referenced in metaphorical respects.  And that being referenced through the use of both metaphors is made clear in the numerous Old Testament passages dealing with the subject, in earlier parts of the Book of Revelation, and in chapter seventeen through the first part of chapter nineteen as well.

 

[Page 25]

Then, through the use of the word mystery,” any teaching surrounding that being dealt with can only be seen as inseparably connected with the Old Testament Scriptures, drawing from these Scriptures.  And both the Beast and the woman are referred to by this word (17: 5, 7).

 

 

(As previously seen in Chapter I of this book [pp. 8, 9], “a mystery” in the New Testament refers to something made known in the Old Testament which has yet to be fully opened up and revealed.  And the opening up and complete unveiling of that referred to as “a mystery” in the New Testament, referring back to something in the Old Testament, awaited the additional revelation seen in the New Testament.

 

 

Dealing with events foreshadowed in Gen. 22-25 in connection with Israel and Daniel’s Seventy-Week prophecy, previously seen in this chapter, would present a case in point.  Along with things related to the mystery of Israel’s blindness in these chapters in Genesis [chs. 22, 23, 25 (cf. Rom. 11: 25, 26)] there are also things related to the mystery revealed to Paul [ch. 24 (cf. Eph. 3: 1-6)].

 

 

And, as seen in Romans chapter eleven [vv. 1-26], one mystery is inseparably linked to the other mystery.  Israel’s blindness [one mystery] allows for and makes room for those things revealed to Paul [another mystery].  And placing both mysteries within the scope of Daniel’s Seventy-Week prophecy, one mystery [Israel’s blindness] fits within the scope of the prophecy itself [while time in the prophecy is being fulfilled]; and the other mystery [that revealed to Paul] lies outside the scope of the prophecy [between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks, while time in the prophecy is not being fulfilled].

 

 

There are numerous other places in the Old Testament which deal with things having to do with the mystery of Israel’s blindness and the mystery revealed to Paul, with the Old Testament Scriptures in this respect complete in and of themselves. But, a full opening up and revealing, explaining, these things awaited New Testament revelation.

 

 

In the preceding respect, note the folly of individuals having one Testament without the other, particularly the New without the Old [which would be somewhat akin to viewing a house without its foundation].  One Testament is to be understood in the light of the other - the Old in the light of the New, and the New in the light of the Old.)

 

 

Thus, not only must material in these chapters in the Book of Revelation (chs. 17-19) be in complete keeping with the manner [Page 26] in which matters are set forth in the Old Testament but this material must also be seen as a climactic opening up and unveiling of that previously presented in the Old Testament.  These chapters in the closing part of the Book of Revelation, leading into the Messianic Era, remove any remaining wrappings and present the Beast and the Harlot in full exposure for all to behold.

 

 

In Both Testaments

 

 

Again, the two central individuals seen throughout Revelation chapter seventeen and continuing through the first six verses of chapter nineteen are the Beast and the Harlot.  And both of these individuals are dealt with extensively in these chapters immediately prior to a third individual appearing, coming through an opened heaven on a white charger to take care of matters as they will exist on the earth at this time.

 

 

And conditions on the earth when this third individual appears - Israel’s Messiah, the Deliverer, the One Whom the nation rejected and crucified 2,000 years ago - are quite vividly described in Scripture.

 

 

Resulting from famine, various plaques and diseases, and the sword, one-fourth of the earth’s population will have died, or will shortly die (over one and one-half billion, by today’s count), which will include two-thirds of the earth’s Jewish population (some nine million, by today’s count).  And conditions in general at this time will be of such a nature that “except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved (Matt. 24: 22).

 

 

This is where things are headed for our so-called enlightened society of today, with all of its changing mores, political correctness, etc.  And that fast-approaching Day cannot be far removed from the present day.

 

 

(For more information in this realm, refer to the author's books, WE ARE ALMOST THERE, DISTANT HOOFBEATS, and ISRAEL - FROM DEATH TO LIFE.)

 

 

1) The Beast, Seen in Both Testaments

 

 

The Beast - the name used in the Book of Revelation for the [Page 27] man of sin, the Antichrist (Rev. 13: 1ff; 17: 8-14) - is presented a number of different ways throughout a large section of Scripture in both the Old and New Testaments.  Revelation concerning this man (first mentioned in Gen. 3: 15) begins with Nimrod, the first king of Babylon, in Genesis chapter ten; and it concludes with the last king of Babylon in the chapters under discussion in the Book of Revelation, chapters seventeen through twenty.

 

 

However, throughout Scripture, revelation concerning the Beast is NEVER solely about this man alone.  Revelation concerning “the Beast” is ALWAYS seen in conjunction with revelation concerning Abraham and his lineage through Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob’s twelve sons, - the nation of Israel and for Israel’s Messiah.

 

 

This is the manner in which revelation about the Beast begins in Genesis, continues throughout the Old Testament, continues into the New Testament, and concludes in the Book of Revelation.  When the Beast appears in Scripture, Israel and / or Israel’s Messiah appears someplace in the text or context as well (e.g., Gen. 9-11 [Shem in ch. 9, Nimrod in ch. 10, and Abraham and his lineage in ch. 11ff]; the Books of Exodus, Esther, and Daniel).

 

 

The preceding is an axiom in Biblical studies surrounding the Beast - unchangeably set in Gen. 3: 15 - which cannot be ignored.

 

 

Thus, when an individual arrives at Revelation chapter seventeen and sees the Beast and a harlot woman (both spoken of in the same metaphorical fashion) extensively dealt with together at the close of Man’s Day, at the close of that part of the Book of Revelation having to do with Daniel’s Seventy-Week prophecy - knowing that both are referred to as a “mystery,” and knowing that the Beast never appears in Old Testament Scripture apart from Israel and / or Israel’s Messiah - only one thing concerning the identity of the woman could possibly be uppermost in one’s mind.

 

 

2) The Harlot, Seen in Both Testaments

 

 

In Old Testament history, because of the Jewish people’s continued disobedience over centuries of time, God uprooted His people from their land and drove them out among the nations.  And the major part of this disobedience was harlotry, which caused God to divorce Israel (Isa. 50: 1; Jer. 3: 8; Hosea 2: 2).

 

[Page 28]

Israel, the wife of Jehovah, was having illicit relations - forbidden national relationships - with the surrounding Gentile nations.  And when Israel’s cup of iniquity became full (cf. Gen. 15: 16), God divorced Israel, uprooted His people from their land, and drove them out among the nations in order to effect repentance through persecution at the hands of the harlot’s lovers.

 

 

Revelation chapter seventeen through the first part of chapter nineteen presents, in detail, the end of the matter.  Israel, in these chapters, is seen at the height of her degeneracy - enmeshed in and having illicit relations with the most corrupt form of Gentile world power that has ever been or will ever be known by man throughout his 6,000-year history.  And it is within this setting, as Gentile persecution of Israel reaches heights heretofore unknown, that Israel is brought to the place of repentance and is cleansed of her harlotry (cf. Judges 19: 23-30).

 

 

The preceding though, as will be shown, is far from the only means of identifying the harlot woman.  Attention has been called to this means of identification first in order to show the unity of all Scripture surrounding revelation concerning the Beast and Israel, from an introduction in Genesis to a conclusion in the Book of Revelation.

 

 

In this respect, note a number of Old Testament references having to do with Israel’s harlotry:

 

 

How is the faithful city become an harlot!” (Isa. 1: 21a).

 

 

Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers... Thou hadst a whore’s forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed (Jer. 3: 1b, 3b; cf. vv. 6-14).

 

 

Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations.  Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians... Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan...” (Ezek. 16: 2, 28a, 29a).

 

 

And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom... So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness...” (Ezek. 23: 17a, 18a; cf. vv. 35-37).

 

 

And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand (Hosea 2: 10; cf. vv. 2ff).

 

[Page 29]

Then, viewing the end of the matter in the Book of Revelation, chapter seventeen through the first part of chapter nineteen has to do with Israel’s harlotry seen at its apex and then brought to an end.  And this is the ONLY PLACE in the book where this is dealt with.

 

 

If “the great whore” in these chapters is other than Israel, then a major subject of Old Testament prophecy relating to Israel is not even dealt with in the Book of Revelation.

 

 

Apart from understanding that the “woman” represents Israel, the final seven years of the Jewish dispensation is brought to a close in the Book of Revelation without this book even dealing with the main purpose for these seven years.

 

 

Apart from seeing Israel with the Beast in these chapters, that which could only be uppermost in God’s mind concerning Israel during the Tribulation - bringing His people, who have played the harlot over centuries of time, to the place of repentance - is not even mentioned in the book.

 

 

But, as previously stated, the preceding is just one way in which the woman can be identified.  As will be shown, this chapter goes on to state, in so many words, that “the woman” is Israel.  Then, other internal proofs are provided in the chapter concerning the same thing (along with the preceding and next chapters [Chs. I, III]).

 

 

The Woman Which Thou Sawest Is...

 

 

In that part of the Book of Revelation covering events on the earth occurring during and immediately following the last seven years in Daniel’s Seventy-Week prophecy (chs. 6-19), a woman is used in a metaphorical respect in two different places - in chapter twelve, and in chapters seventeen and eighteen, continuing into the first six verses of chapter nineteen.  And, in either instance, as previously seen in the latter section, one is not left to his own imagination to identify the woman.  In both instances the woman is clearly identified.

 

 

The woman in chapter twelve is easily identified through that stated in the first verse - clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars,” along with events dealt with in subsequent verses.

 

[Page 30]

Metaphors are used extensively in this “great wonder [‘sign’],” with the entire matter seen as regal.  The “sun,” “moon,” and “stars” have to do with governmental powers, from the greater (the sun) to the lesser (the stars), with the woman seen as crowned.

 

 

In short, the woman is seen in possession of all power, though not yet exercising this power (the latter - yet to exercise this power - is seen in the type crown which the woman has on her head, something discussed later in this chapter [ref. pp. 33-36]).

 

 

The woman” in the chapter is clearly seen to be Israel, with Satan throughout later verses in the chapter seeking to destroy the woman, to destroy Israel.  And the statement about the sun, moon, and stars, with regality in view, is an allusion back to the second of Joseph’s two dreams in Genesis chapter thirty-seven (v. 9).

 

 

In the type in Genesis, the reference to the sun, moon, and stars making “obeisance” to Joseph had to do with Joseph and his immediate family (v. 10).  And that being foreshadowed by this type has to do with Christ and His immediate family - Israel.

 

 

But in Revelation chapter twelve, material drawn from this type has to do with Israel and the nations (in like fashion to how the statement in Hosea 11: 1 is used of both “Christ” and “Israel”).

 

 

Christ” is presently King, for He was born King (Matt. 2: 2); but He has yet to exercise His kingly office. That awaits the Messianic Era, when Christ exercises the rights of the firstborn.

 

 

Israel” is presently the rightful possessor of the regality seen in Rev. 12: 1.  Israel is presently God’s firstborn son (Ex. 4: 22, 23); but the exercise of the rights of the firstborn awaits the Messianic Era.

 

 

And Israel cannot exercise these rights until one thing has been brought to pass - that seen in subsequent chapters in both the Book of Genesis (chs. 37ff and the Book of Revelation (chs. 12ff).  Israel MUST first be cleansed of her harlotry.

 

 

In the Genesis account, the complete story extending from Israel’s rejection of her Messiah to the nation’s acceptance of her Messiah is told in nine chapters (chs. 37-45).  And at the very first, following Joseph’s rejection by his brethren (foreshadowing Christ’s rejection by His brethren, the Jewish people [ch. 37]), an entire chapter dealing with harlotry immediately follows (having to do centrally with Judah in the account [ch. 38]).

 

[Page 31]

Then chapter thirty-nine picks up at the exact place where chapter thirty-seven left off, leaving the chapter on harlotry to seemingly be out of place.  But not so!  This chapter is exactly where it should be, the subject is correct, and the right brother among the eleven, Judah, is the one seen involved in the harlotry.

 

 

The reason why Judah is singled out in chapter thirty-eight in this respect is seen in chapter forty-four, immediately before Joseph reveals himself to his brethren in chapter forty-five.

 

 

In chapter forty-four, Joseph’s brothers, though not knowing Joseph’s identity, were brought to the place where they had no choice but to acknowledge to Joseph, in his presence, that which they had done years before - their rejection of him, followed by their selling him to the Ishmaelites.

 

 

And Judah is seen as the spokesman for his brothers at this time, exactly as he was the one seen in connection with harlotry back in chapter thirty-eight.  Judah,” in both chapters, is seen acting in the place of or on behalf of all his brothers, typifying Israel:

 

 

1) The one involved in harlotry between the two times in the type (between the time of the nation’s rejection [ch. 37] and the time of the nation’s acceptance [ch. 45]).

 

 

2) And the one driven to the place where there was no choice left other than to confess that which had been done years before to the very one to whom it was done (rejection, crucifixion).

 

 

And the preceding is exactly what is seen beginning in Revelation chapter twelve and continuing through the first six verses of chapter nineteen.  The woman in chapter twelve is the same woman seen in chapters seventeen through the first part of nineteen.

 

 

Regality is seen in connection with the woman in both sections.  This has already been shown in connection with the woman in chapter twelve (ref. pp. 29, 30), and it will be shown later in this chapter in connection with the woman in chapters seventeen through the first part of nineteen (ref. pp. 33-36).

 

 

As well, these chapters in the Book of Revelation are in exact accord with teachings pertaining to Israel’s harlotry as seen in Genesis chapters thirty-seven through forty-five, along with numerous other places in the Old Testament.

 

[Page 32]

With all of this information staring a Bible student in the face, one often wonders how so many people can go astray when it comes to a correct interpretation of the harlot woman beginning in Revelation chapter seventeen.  Possibly thoughts from what Andrew Jukes had to say over one hundred years ago about the neglect of the study of types by Bible students in his day might apply:

 

 

The real secret of the neglect of the types, I cannot but think may, in part, be traced to this - that they require more spiritual intelligence than many Christians can bring to them.”

 

 

1) The Woman Is That Great City

 

 

As the Beast is identified in chapter seventeen (vv. 8-14), the woman is identified in this chapter as well.  The woman is identified in a direct and clear statement after a manner which, contextually, no one could possibly question.  The last verse in chapter seventeen provides, beyond any question whatsoever, in so many words, the identity of the woman:

 

 

Andthe womanwhich thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over [lit., ‘which possesses kingly authority over’] the kings of the earth (v. 18).

 

 

The expression “the [or ‘that’] great city” is used nine times in chapters eleven through eighteen, with six of these usages seen in chapters seventeen and eighteen.  The first usage in 11: 8 identifies the city as Jerusalem, and the identification of “the great city” in this first usage must be understood the same way throughout the subsequent chapters where this expression appears.

 

 

Note how Rev. 11: 8 reads:

 

 

And their dead bodies [the two witnesses] shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.”

 

 

Jerusalem, in this verse, is associated with Sodom (sexual perversion) and Egypt (the world); and the next two appearances of the expression, “the great city” (14: 8; 16: 19), associates “Jerusalem” with Babylon (on the validity or non-validity of “the great city” being included in the text of 14: 8, refer to the note on p. 10 of Ch. I).

 

[Page 33]

Babylon was the place where the southern two tribes were taken captive, beginning about 605 B.C., beginning the Times of the Gentiles.

 

 

Over one hundred years earlier (about 722 B.C.), the northern ten tribes had been taken captive by the Assyrians (the world power of that previous day).  But between these two times, the Babylonians had conquered the Assyrian kingdom, shifting the centre of world power from Assyria to Babylon and, after about 605 B.C., placed all twelve tribes within a Babylonian kingdom.

 

 

Babylon is out in the world, typified by Egypt; and God allowed the Jewish people to be uprooted from their land and taken captive to Babylon because of their numerous transgressions occurring over centuries of time, with sexual perversion, associated with Sodom, among sins heading the list (cf. Jer. 22: 8, 9, 25).

 

 

And this is exactly where “the woman” finds herself in Revelation chapters seventeen through the opening verses of nineteen - enmeshed in the kingdom of the last king of Babylon, out in the world (scattered among the nations), and viewed as a harlot - exactly as portrayed in previous verses (11: 8; 14: 8; 16: 19).

 

 

Thus, according to Rev. 17: 18, the harlot, seen throughout these chapters, is identified as “Jerusalem.”  And there is no getting around this clearly stated fact.

 

 

(“Jerusalem” is used a number of times in Scripture as simply another way of referring to the Jewish people.  Even “the land of Israel” is used this same way in Scripture [cf. Isa. 1: 21, 26; Lam. 1: 7, 8; Ezek. 14: 11-13; 16: 2; Matt. 23: 37; Luke 13: 33; 19: 41].

 

 

The Jewish people, their land, and their capital city are looked upon and referred to in an inseparable sense in Scripture.  Thus, in an interpretative respect, Rev. 17: 18 would have to read, “Andthe womanwhich thou sawest is Israel…”)

 

 

2) The Woman Possessing Regal Authority

 

 

Then, Rev. 17: 18 also presents another means of identification.  This verse doesn’t stop with the identification of the woman as “that great city.”  Rather, the verse goes on to provide a second means of identification, which is in complete keeping with the first part of the verse.

 

[Page 34]

The verse continues by adding the words, “which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”  A better translation of these words from the Greek text would be, which possesses kingly authority over the kings of the earth(ref. Wuest’s Expanded Translation - which possesses [imperial] power over...”), limiting matters in the light of Ex. 4: 22, 23 to Israel and / or Jerusalem alone.

 

 

Thus, the woman is identified as possessing regal authority over the Gentile nations (17: 18b).  This identifying statement reflects back upon and draws from a similar statement about the woman earlier in the book:

 

 

“...a woman clothed with the sun [Israel, seen as the central governing authority] ... and upon her head a crown of twelve stars” (12: 1b).

 

 

Twelve” is the number of governmental perfection; and this verse from chapter twelve forms part of the contextual foundational material in the book upon which the identity of the woman in 17: 18 rests.

 

 

The word used for “crown” in the Greek text of Rev. 12: 1 is stephanos, not diadema, indicating that the woman, though possessing regal power and authority, was not exercising that power and authority at the time seen in the text (which is a time yet future, near the middle of the Tribulation, with the woman wearing a diadem and exercising regal power and authority following the Tribulation).

 

 

An individual presently exercising regal power and authority would wear a crown depicted by the word diadema, not a crown depicted by the word stephanos.  This is seen two verses later (v. 3), where the Greek word diadema is used - showing an exercise of regal power and authority in the kingdom of Antichrist by the one to whom Satan will one day give his power, and his seat [‘his throne’], and great authority (Rev. 13: 2).

 

 

(Regarding Israel in possession of regal power and authority over the Gentile nations, note that which Moses was instructed to make known to the Egyptian Pharaoh when God sent him to deliver the Israelites [an Assyrian ruler in Egypt, typifying the coming Assyrian who will rule the world (cf. Isa. 52: 4; Micah 5: 5)].  Moses was instructed to say unto Pharaoh, “Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn...” [Ex. 4: 22, 23].

 

[Page 35]

Sonship” implies rulership.  Only sons can rule in God’s kingdom [past, present, or future], and in the human realm, only firstborn sons can rule [only firstborn sons find themselves in a position to exercise the rights of primogeniture within a family, with regality being one of these rights].  In short, Moses, announcing to Pharaoh that Israel was God’s son, even His firstborn, was God’s way of making it known to the ruler over Egypt that He recognized Israel in the regal capacity implied by sonship, not Egypt.

 

 

And this recognition was made known while Israel was still in Egypt.  Israel, following the observance of the Passover and the festival of Unleavened Bread in Exodus chapters twelve and thirteen, was to be led out of Egypt under Moses.

 

 

Then, following certain events occurring while enroute to Kadesh-Barnea - the old covenant given through Moses at Mt. Sinai, the Magna Charta for the kingdom, containing all of the rules and regulations governing the people of God within the kingdom, along with the construction of the Tabernacle, the dwelling place of God among His people within the theocracy - Israel was to enter into and occupy the land previously covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and once the Jewish people had become established in this land, they were to rule the nations as God’s firstborn son, within a theocracy.

 

 

Again, note the latter part of Rev. 17: 18.  There is only one nation on the face of the earth that this can be referencing - the nation which is not to be reckoned among the nations” [Num. 23: 9]. Only one nation on the face of the earth possesses a position of regal authority over the kings of the earth [over all the Gentile nations].  This nation was identified in Ex. 4: 22, 23, immediately prior to Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt; and this nation is identified in Rev. 17: 18, after exactly the same fashion [previously introduced after this fashion in Rev. 12: 1], immediately prior to Jesus leading the Israelites out from a worldwide dispersion yet future.

 

 

Dating from Moses’ day, Israel has never lost the nation’s standing as God’s firstborn son.  Israel has been God’s firstborn son since the announcement was made in Ex. 4: 22, 23 [cf. Gen. 49: 10], remains God’s firstborn son today [though a disobedient son, scattered among the nations], and will one day exercise the rights of the firstborn [following repentance].

 

 

This is why, for the past 3,500 years, since the time this announcement was made, that the one who has held the sceptre since prior to the creation of Adam [Satan] has done everything within his power to destroy Israel.

 

 

Also, note that Israel is spoken of in both masculine and feminine respects in Scripture - as a son, and as a woman [cf. Hosea 2: 2; 11: 1], with [Page 36] both having regal implications.  Only sons can rule, and man cannot rule alone.  A man must rule in conjunction with a woman, or a woman in conjunction with a man - the man as king and the woman as consort queen.  This is a principle established in the opening chapter of Genesis, which can never change [Gen. 1: 26-28].

 

 

And exactly the same thing, for exactly the same reasons, is seen relative to the bride of Christ.  The one who will rule as consort queen with the Son is spoken of in Scripture in both masculine and feminine respects, with both having regal implications [cf. Rom. 8: 14, 15, 19; Gal. 4: 5; Eph. 5: 22-23; Heb. 12: 23; Rev. 19: 7-10].)

 

 

3) The Woman Guilty of Blood

 

 

Further, if Scripture is compared with Scripture, Jerusalem alone - referring to the Jewish people - is guilty of the blood of the prophets and of all slain upon the earth (Matt. 23: 34-37), which is said of the harlot in Rev. 17: 6; 18: 24; 19: 2.  The Jewish people alone carry this guilt.  It is not possible for any other city, nation, or segment of society to be looked upon in this manner.  This fact is clearly stated in Luke 13: 33:

 

 

“...it cannot be [lit .. .... ‘it is not possible’] that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.”

 

 

And it is clear from the subsequent verse (v. 34) that “Jerusalem” is used in verse thirty-three referring to the entire nation - the Jewish people - exactly as it is used in Rev. 17: 18.

 

 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee...”

 

 

Thus, according to Scripture, Israel alone can be considered guilty of blood in this respect.  And in keeping with this thought, Christ died in the capital of Jewry at the hands of the Jews (Matt. 16: 21; Acts 2: 23, 36; Rev. 11: 8); and the Apostle Paul, as well, was prepared to die in Jerusalem at the hands of the Jews, “for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21: 11-13).

 

 

Thus, Scripture is quite clear on the identity of the harlot in Rev. 17: 1 - 19: 6, and the next chapter in this book will deal with the future cleansing of the nation, as seen in these same three chapters.

 

 

*       *       *

[Page 37]

 

CHAPTER III

 

 

That Mighty City, Burning

 

THROWN DOWN, FOUND NO MORE AT ALL

 

 

 

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory.

 

 

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen...

 

 

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

 

 

For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities...

 

 

How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

 

 

Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

 

 

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning.

 

 

Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come...

 

 

And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all (Rev. 18: 1, 2a, 3, 5, 7-10, 21).

 

 

 

[Page 38]

The main thrust of Scripture seen throughout Revelation chapter seventeen into the first part of chapter twenty has to do with God’s plans and purposes regarding the Jewish people, the Gentile nations, and the Church of God being brought to fruition, leading into the Messianic Era (cf. 1 Cor. 10: 32).

 

 

In a larger sense, the working out of God’s plans and purposes for all three creations - Jew, Gentile, and Christian - has to do with ruined man and involves 6,000 years of restorative work, followed by the 1,000-year Messianic Era, a Sabbath rest awaiting the people of God.  And this is patterned after God’s previous restorative work surrounding the ruined material creation - occurring over six days time, with God resting on the seventh day (a Sabbath rest) - in Genesis chapters one and two (Heb. 4: 4, 9; cf. Ex. 31: 13-17; 2 Peter 1: 15-18; 3: 3-8).

 

 

In a narrower sense, regarding Israel and the nations, the working out of God’s plans and purposes in this respect dates back 4,000 years (to the days of Abraham, about 2,000 B.C.) and 2,600 years (to the beginning of the Times of the Gentiles, about 605 B.C.).

 

 

And in a narrower sense yet, regarding Christians, the working out of God’s plans and purposes in this respect dates back 2,000 years to the inception of the Church on the day of Pentecost in 33 A.D.

 

 

The complete scope of God’s plans and purposes is dealt with numerous places throughout Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets “line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isa. 28: 9, 10), with different facets of the matter being dealt with different ways in different places.  Each facet provides a different part of one complete overall word picture, with the complete picture presenting the matter exactly as God would have man view the whole of His plans and purposes regarding Israel, the nations, and the Church.

 

 

And, regardless of how or where these things are dealt with in the Old Testament, there is always a particular emphasis on concluding events - events which bring the whole of the matter to fruition, as seen beginning in Revelation chapter seventeen and continuing through the first part of chapter twenty.

 

 

Thus, when one arrives at this closing part of the Book of Revelation and begins reading extensively about a Beast and a harlot woman, he is not left to his own imagination and [Page 39] interpretation concerning that which is in view.  Scripture will reveal and interpret the matter for him.

 

 

All one has to do is go back to the Old Testament and see how God has previously laid the whole of the matter out, beginning in Genesis.

 

 

In this respect, through comparing that which is spiritual with that which is spiritual (1 Cor. 2: 9-13) - in this case, comparing numerous sections of the Old Testament with that seen beginning in Revelation chapter seventeen - the Old Testament will interpret the matter for the reader.

 

 

(Two Anglicized Greek words are sometimes used to call attention to correct and incorrect methods of Biblical study and interpretation - exegesis and eisegesis.  The Greek prepositions ek [meaning, “out of”] and eis [meaning, “into”] are prefixed to the same word, which, without the prepositions, means “to guide” or “to lead.”

 

 

Exegesis has to do with deriving out of a passage that which is within the passage.  In Rev. 17-19a, exegesis allows Scripture to comment upon and identify the harlot woman.  And, at every turn, Scripture [O.T. or N.T.], reveals that “the great whore” is a metaphor for Israel at the end of the Times of the Gentiles [ref. Chapters I, II in this book].

 

 

Eisegesis, on the other hand, has to do with reading into a passage that which is not in the passage.  Eisegesis, rather than allowing Scripture to identify the harlot woman in Rev. 17-19a, reads a foreign meaning into the passage, usually attempting to see “the great whore” used as a metaphor for a false religious system, often seen as the Roman Catholic Church.

 

 

And this type mishandling of the passage is no small thing.  Not only does such a teaching do away with the correct understanding of the passage but such a teaching has the Times of the Gentiles ending in the Book of Revelation after a fashion which is completely out of line with the way in which the Times of the Gentiles is seen being brought to a close throughout Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets.)

 

 

The Old Testament has already dealt extensively, in minute detail, with the whole of that seen beginning with Revelation chapter seventeen and continuing into the first part of chapter twenty.  A complete word picture has already been presented, for all to see.  And this part of the Book of Revelation, dealing with the [Page 40] same thing as previously seen in the Old Testament, places the emphasis exactly where Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets had previously placed the emphasis, which could only be expected.

 

 

The Emphasis and Divisions in Revelation 17: 1 - 20: 6

 

 

The emphasis beginning in chapter seventeen and continuing through chapter nineteen, preceding the Messianic Era in chapter twenty, is placed on Israel and the nations (17: 1 - 19: 6, 11-21).  And, within this section, the Church of God, as well, is brought back into the picture from the opening chapters of the book, though only taking up four verses throughout chapters seventeen through nineteen (19: 7-10).

 

 

Beginning with chapter seventeen and continuing through the opening six verses of chapter twenty, this section of Scripture could be divided into four parts:

 

 

1) In Rev. 17: 1 - 19: 6, though both the Beast and the harlot occupy centre-stage, the harlot alone, residing in the kingdom of the Beast, is the one centrally being dealt with throughout.

 

 

The subject matter of this section of Scripture is stated, in so many words, in the opening verse:

 

 

And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; and I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters.”

 

 

The harlot is dealt with at length pertaining to her identity and where she resides (leaving no possible room for anyone to question that being pictured [if Scripture is compared with Scripture]).

 

 

And then the harlot, within the scope of this section of Scripture, is seen being completely destroyed (again, leaving no possible room for anyone to question that being pictured [again, if Scripture is compared with Scripture]).

 

 

The Beast and his kingdom, on the other hand, are dealt with in this section of Scripture only with respect to identity [Page 41] and an impending destruction.  The harlot is the one dealt with in detail throughout, not the Beast.

 

 

2) In Rev. 19: 7-10, after dealing with various things concerning the harlot and her relationship to the nations, followed by the harlot’s destruction, attention is called to the bride and the marriage supper of the Lamb, occurring in heaven, prior to Christ’s return to the earth.

 

 

This is the first mention of anything having to do with the bride since chapters one through three of the book, anticipating the relinquishment of crowns (ch. 4) and the redemption of the inheritance (chs. 5ff - with the redemption of the inheritance being completed following Christ's return (ch. 19b), allowing the bride to then become the Lamb’s wife (cf. Ruth 4: 1ff).

 

 

3) In Rev. 19: 11-21, the heavens are opened, and Christ is seen returning back to the earth “with his mighty angels” - i.e., the armies of heaven - accompanying and following Him at this time (cf. 1 Thess. 1: 7; Rev. 19: 14).

 

 

Accompanying Christ, as well, will be Moses and Elijah (cf. Matt. 16: 28 - 17: 5; Luke 9: 27-32), who will evidently be instrumental in His dealings with both Israel on the one hand and the Beast and his kingdom on the other.

 

 

(For details on Moses and Elijah accompanying Christ at this time, refer to the author’s book, COMING IN HIS KINGDOM, particularly Chapters III, IV.)

 

 

The bride, from verses seven through ten, is not seen among those accompanying Christ back to the earth at this time.  In fact, Scripture is quite clear that the bride will not accompany Christ back to the earth when He returns.

 

 

Christ will be returning to complete His dealings with Israel and the nations, and the bride will have no more to do with this than she will have previously had with Christ’s dealings with Israel and the nations during the Tribulation.  The Bride simply will not participate in judgments occurring on earth when the seals of the seven-sealed scroll are being [Page 42] broken, and these judgments will not be concluded until after Christ returns to the earth to complete His dealings with Israel and the nations preceding the Messianic Era.

 

 

Note that Joseph’s wife, Asenath, was in another part of the palace when he dealt with his brethren at the time he revealed himself to them.

 

 

And note that Moses’ wife, Zipporah, only went part way with him when he returned to Egypt to deal with his brethren in this same respect.

 

 

Moses and Zipporah were reunited only after he had dealt with the Jewish people in Egypt, after he had dealt with the Pharaoh of Egypt, after the death of the firstborn, after he had led the Israelites out of Egypt, and after Pharaoh and his armed forces had been destroyed in the Sea.

 

 

And the same sequence will, of necessity, be followed in the antitype.  The bride, as Zipporah, may very well accompany Christ part way and remain in the New Jerusalem above the earth while He deals with Israel and the nations on earth.  Then, once these dealings have been concluded - which will be after Israel’s national conversion and restoration to her land, and after the destruction of Gentile world power (which, according to Scripture, will occur in this order) - Christ will be reunited with the one who will then have become His wife.

 

 

(At the time of the destruction of Gentile world power, all the judgments seen within the breaking of the seals of the seven-sealed scroll in Revelation chapter five will have come to pass.

 

 

This will complete God’s terms for the redemption of the inheritance - with the marriage of Christ to His bride and the re-marriage of God to Israel seen as part and parcel with the redemption of the inheritance [cf. Ruth 4:1ff]).

 

 

The preceding succinctly covers, in a somewhat general respect, the sequence of events which will occur when Christ returns to the earth, as seen in Rev. 19: 11-21.  Very few of these events are seen and dealt with in this brief section in the Book of Revelation, but all are seen and dealt with in prior Scripture, beginning in Genesis.

 

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Scripture must be compared with Scripture in order to put the complete word picture together, exactly as God has outlined and provided this information in His Word (1 Cor. 2: 9-13).

 

 

4) In Rev. 20: 1-6, all is brought to completion and fruition.  Satan is bound, cast into the abyss, individuals are assigned positions of power and authority in Christ’s kingdom, and the millennial reign - that toward which everything in Scripture moves - will then occur.

 

 

I Sit a Queen, and Am No Widow, and Shall See No Sorrow

 

 

There is only one possible way that a person could expect the Tribulation to draw to a close and end in the Book of Revelation.  And that would be exactly the same way it is seen drawing to a close and ending time after time in Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets.

 

 

Whether in the Old Testament or in the New Testament, Israel in the end time is seen enmeshed within and committing harlotry with the most corrupt form of Gentile world power man has ever known or ever will know.

 

 

This will then be followed by Israel’s repentance, the nation being cleansed of her harlotry (as presented in Rev. 17-19a, synonymous with the harlot being burned, destroyed by fire), the destruction of Gentile world power, and the ushering in of the Messianic Kingdom.

 

 

Though the nation will have paid a heavy price, one beyond human comprehension, Israel’s harlotry will be a thing of the past.  Israel’s sins will have been as scarlet,” “red like crimson; but, with these sins having been completely removed - “as far as the east is from the west” - where scarlet and crimson once existed, conditions will then be “as white as snow,” “as wool” (Isa. 1: 18; cf. vv. 21-26; Ps. 103: 12-22).

 

 

And a cleansed nation in that day will realize the rights of the firstborn, fulfilling the purpose for the nation’s existence (cf. Rev. 17: 16, 17; 18: 8-21; 19: 2, 3).

 

 

1) Material Wealth, Spiritual Wealth

 

 

The heavy price paid by Israel over centuries of time has been [Page 44] both to her detriment and the detriment of the nations.  Israel has been removed from her land, scattered among the nations, and has suffered immeasurably at the hands of the Gentiles.  And, at the same time, the nations have suffered as well, having been cut off from the spiritual blessings which could have been theirs through Israel.

 

 

But, though the nations throughout this time have found themselves separated from spiritual blessings, they have, at the same time, found themselves in a position of power and involved with materialism, becoming wealthy (18: 3, 9-19).  And Israel, having left her spiritual heritage and found herself scattered among the nations, has become inseparably involved with the world’s materialism and wealth as well (17: 4; 18: 16).

 

 

During the Times of the Gentiles (over 2,600 years), the nations have held the sceptre and have become wealthy at the expense of Israel (17: 2; 18: 19b).  And, as long as the Times of the Gentiles continues, the nations will continue to hold power and accumulate this wealth at Israel’s expense.

 

 

Or, viewing the matter from another perspective, as long as Israel remains in the nation’s present condition - a harlot, co-mingling with and having illicit, forbidden relationships with the nations - the nations will continue to accumulate their wealth at Israel’s expense, with Israel involved in and sharing in this wealth.

 

 

But once Israel is brought to the place of repentance, followed by Israel’s harlotry being done away with (burned with fire [17: 16, 17; 18: 8ff]), it will all be over for the nations.

 

 

The Times of the Gentiles will end, the sceptre will change hands, and the wealth of the Gentiles will be given to Israel (Isa. 60: 5, 11 [the word “forces,” KJV, should be translated “wealth”; ref. NASB, NIV]; cf. Ex. 12: 35, 36).

 

 

The preceding is what a large part of Revelation chapter eighteen is about (through the use of the type language specified in the opening verse of the book, in Rev. 1: 1 [ref. pp. 6-8 in Chapter I of this book, where this is explained]).

 

 

(When seeking to understand the book of Revelation, a major problem results from not understanding and interpreting material in the book after the manner in which God has structured this material - again, [Page 45] something stated in the opening verse of the book, though largely ignored.  Thus, when individuals attempt to understand things in this book from a western mindset, or through any other means different than the way that it was set forth in this opening verse, is it any wonder that they have trouble?)

 

 

Note particularly verses nine through nineteen in this eighteenth chapter.  The nations will have become rich, and these nations will be quite distraught when all of this is suddenly taken from them.  And it will all be taken from them through the loss of the harlot in their midst (again, note the symbolism and type language being used).

 

 

The nations can continue in their present fashion only as long as the harlot remains in their midst, for, the fact that Israel is playing the harlot is what allows them to live in this manner - accumulating material wealth, etc.  But once the harlot is no longer present, once Israel is no longer playing the harlot, things will change completely.

 

 

(God will use the Beast to do exactly the opposite of that which the Beast will set out to accomplish.

 

 

The Beast will set out to accomplish something wherein utter failure has always marked the path of any and all who have tried - the destruction of and doing away with the nation of Israel.

 

 

And, in line with that which has happened to all of his predecessors as well, the Beast himself will suffer that which he will set about to inflict upon the Jewish people - his own utter destruction instead.  Because of God’s unchanging promises to and regarding Israel, matters of the preceding nature must always work out in this manner [cf. Gen. 12: 1-3; Ex. 3: 1-7; Esther 5: 14; 6: 6-13; 7: 8-10; 9: 10-14].

 

 

God, turning matters around, will use the Beast to destroy the harlot [exactly as he used the Pharaoh of Egypt during Moses’ day to bring about His plans and purposes regarding Israel], with the nation of Israel subsequently existing apart from her harlotry and God’s complete purpose for calling this nation into existence then being realized [cf. Ex. 9: 15, 16; Ezek. 16: 37-42; Rev. 17: 16, 17].)

 

 

In that day, Gentile headship will be over, their wealth will be gone, but they will find that they will possess something far greater.  Spiritual blessings / spiritual wealth, which will be theirs through [Page 46] restored Israel, will far exceed anything which they will have possessed throughout the Times of the Gentiles (cf. Isa. 65: 19; Zech. 8: 20-23).

 

 

2) The Harlot Destroyed, The Nation Cleansed

 

 

The great whore” in Revelation chapter seventeen through the first part of chapter nineteen is seen being burned with fire (17: 16; 18: 8, 9, 17-21; 19: 2, 3). This is the picture which Scripture provides of Israel’s harlotry being done away with.  God is seen using the Beast and his kingdom to do away with Israel’s harlotry through a persecution of such an intense nature that except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved (cf. Matt. 24: 22).  And this will occur after 2,600 years of Gentile dominance and control.

 

 

Israel will be brought to the place where the nation will have nowhere to turn other than to the God of their fathers. (Rev. 17: 16, 17; cf. Ex. 3: 23ff).  Repentance and cleansing will then occur (Isa. 1: 16-21), Israel’s harlotry will be a thing of the past (Rev. 18: 8-10), and it will never again be an issue (Rev. 19: 3).

 

 

Note how Rev. 19: 1-3 is worded:

 

 

After these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia, Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:

 

 

For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.

 

 

And again they said, Alleluia.  And her smoke rose up forever and ever.”

 

 

(The words, “forever and ever,” in v. 3 are a translation of the Greek words, eis tons aionas ton aionon, and should literally be rendered, “unto [or, ‘with respect to’] the ages of the ages.”

 

 

The Greek language, as the Hebrew language, does not have a word for “eternal” per se.  And this is one of two different ways that the Greek text can express “eternal,” apart from textual and contextual considerations.

 

 

The other way is through using a plural form of the word aion, meaning “age,” as the word is used in Heb. 13: 8, where Christ is said to be “the same yesterday, and today, and forever [Gk., eis tons aionas (a plural, articular use of aion preceded by the preposition [Page 47] eis, meaning ‘into,’ ‘unto,’ or ‘with respect to’); lit., ‘unto (or, ‘with respect to’) the ages’,’ i.e., throughout the endless ages, forever].”

 

 

The thought set forth in Rev. 19: 3 by the smoke of the burned harlot continuing to rise up throughout the endless ages has to do with Israel’s harlotry never again being an issue.  The nation’s harlotry will be completely consumed by the fire, never to rise again [again, note the type pictorial language being used].)

 

 

This picture of the harlot being burned with fire was introduced in chapter seventeen (v. 16) and is dealt with extensively throughout chapter eighteen.  In fact, this entire chapter, one way or another, is taken up with the harlot’s destruction, with attention called to this destruction occurring through a burning with fire several places (vv. 8, 9, 18).

 

 

Fire” is seen in Scripture as a purifying agent (Zech. 13: 8, 9; Mark 9: 49, 50).  Fire” is seen as a separating agent, separating that which is of value from that which is worthless - by burning the latter, with the former enduring the fire (Matt. 3: 11, 12; 1 Cor. 3: 11-15; 1 Peter 1: 7).

 

 

Thus, the picture of the harlot being burned throughout these chapters has to do with the harlot - Israel playing the harlot - passing through a burning fire which purifies in one respect and destroys in another through separating that which is worthless from that which is of value.

 

 

Once this separation occurs, Israel’s harlotry will be completely destroyed by the fire; but, on the other hand, the nation itself will remain untouched by the fire.

 

 

Nebuchadnezzar tried to use fire in the latter respect in Daniel chapter three - in relation to three Israelites, foreshadowing the entire nation - and failed completely.

 

 

With an oven heated seven times hotter than normal and three Israelites thrown into the midst of this fire (“seven,” a complete number, showing the completion of that in view, probably indicating that the furnace was heated as hot as possible without destroying the furnace), not a single hair on the head of any one of the three was even singed.

 

 

Nor could Darius in the succeeding Medo-Persian kingdom get the lions to eat Daniel (Dan. 6).

 

[Page 48]

Israel has a God-given promise that the fire (or anything else) can’t hurt them (Isa. 43: 1-3).  They can remain in the fire (or anywhere else) forever and remain unconsumed (Ex. 3: 1-7).  And, as seen in the previously referenced passage, the reason is evident.  God resides in the midst of the nation, and to destroy the nation, God would have to be destroyed.

 

 

But still, Israel is going to have to pass through one more fire, for there is the matter of Israel’s harlotry, which has to be removed by the fire.  And the nation’s harlotry has no chance against the fire.  The harlot is going to be made desolate, naked, her flesh will be eaten, and she will be utterly burned with fire (Rev. 17: 16).

 

 

That is the picture which Scripture provides of God’s dealings with Israel’s harlotry.  The harlot will be utterly destroyed - consumed by fire on the one hand, and a nation purified by the fire will live on the other.

 

 

Then, and ONLY then, can God complete His dealings with Israel, then with the nations, Satan and his angels, and usher in the Messianic Kingdom.

 

 

Israel and the nations - Past, Present, and Future

 

 

The definition of and thoughts surrounding the use of the word “mystery” in the New Testament have been dealt with at length in the two previous chapters of this book (Chs. I, II).  And that which follows in this section - in both of the two main parts to the section - will deal once again with matters set forth by the use of this word, from different perspectives than previously seen.

 

 

The first will show the same statements used of Israel in Jeremiah’s prophecy that are used in the chapter under discussion of the harlot in the Book of Revelation, presenting matters from two different vantage points in these two books.

 

 

Then, the other will show sharp distinctions between Israel at two different times, before and after the nation passes through the fire, as seen in an Old Testament passage from Judges, foreshadowing and shedding light upon that under discussion in Rev. 17: 1 - 19: 6.

 

 

When these sections from these three books are looked upon and studied in the light of one another, the word picture - seen [Page 49] exactly as God has set it forth in His Word - begins to take shape in a far clearer manner than if only two of these sections were used.  And a grave problem can only arise if only one of the three sections is used and the person tries to figure matters out himself instead of letting Scripture do it for him.

 

 

Scripture must be compared with Scripture, allowing Scripture to interpret itself.

 

 

1) Jeremiah and John

 

 

Note that which is stated about Israel and the land of Israel in Jer. 25: 10, 11:

 

 

Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.

 

 

And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations [Israel, along with other surrounding nations, judged with Israel (v. 9)] shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.”

 

 

Then note that which is stated about the harlot in Rev. 18: 22, 23:

 

 

And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found anymore in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;

 

 

And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.”

 

 

Exactly the same thing is stated about Israel in Jer. 25: 10 as is stated about the harlot in Rev. 18: 22, 23.

 

 

In the Book of Jeremiah, the statement had to do with the Jewish people in relation to the land of Israel at the beginning of the Times of the Gentiles.

 

 

Israel had been removed from her own land and transported into the land of Shinar, from a theocracy into the world kingdom of Babylon.  And in the land of Babylon the Jewish people could no longer experience the things enumerated in Jer. 25: 10 in their own land.

 

[Page 50]

 

 

Then, in the Book of Revelation, the whole of that seen in Jeremiah is turned around and used in a completely opposite respect at the end of the Times of the Gentiles, over 2,600 years later.

 

 

In this book the some statement has to do with Israel playing the harlot among the nations in the Gentile lands where the nation had been dispersed throughout the Times of the Gentiles.  And the picture in the Book of Revelation, reversing the matter, has to do with Israel about to be cleansed of her harlotry, at which time the nation will be removed from these Gentile lands and transported back to her own land, with the theocracy restored to Israel.

 

 

Once restored to the land, Israel would no longer experience the things stated in both Jer. 25: 10 and Rev. 18: 22, 23 in Gentile lands, for God will have cleansed and removed the nation from these lands.

 

 

Then, at that time, God will restore these things to her, in her own land, in connection with the restoration of the theocracy.  That taken from the nation in Jer. 25: 10, 11 will be restored to the Jewish people.

 

 

2) Judges and John

 

 

The five books of Moses, the Pentateuch, end with the account of Moses’ death and Joshua assuming the mantle (Deut. 34: 1-12).

 

 

The Book of Joshua then begins with a reference to Moses’ death and continues with a history of the Israelites entering and beginning to take possession of the land, slaying and / or driving out the inhabitants, under Joshua’s leadership.  And the book ends about twenty-five years later with a reference to Joshua’s death and the Israelites burying the bones of Joseph, who had died about two centuries prior to that time in Egypt (Josh. 24: 29ff; cf. Gen. 50: 25, 26; Ex. 13: 19).

 

 

The next book, the Book of Judges, continuing from Joshua, begins with a reference to Joshua’s death, beginning a period of time lasting over three centuries (some 320 or so years) when the Israelites resided in the land apart from leadership of a nature previously experienced - extending from the death of Joshua to Soul being anointed the nation’s first king.

 

 

a) A Brief Summation of Judges

 

 

Two things marked the period of the judges:

[Page 51]

1) Disobedience on the part of the Jewish people.

 

 

2) God’s reaction to their disobedience (which had to do with anger, followed by a chastisement of the Jewish people to bring about repentance; and their repentance was followed each time by God raising up one or more individuals [one or more judges] to deliver His people).

 

 

During Moses and Joshua’s day, God had commanded His people to utterly slay, destroy, or drive out all of the Gentile nations inhabiting the land.  But, following Joshua’s death, the Israelites gradually began to cease destroying or driving these nations out (cf. Deut. 7: 1, 2, 16, 22-24; Josh. 23: 13; Judg. 1: 19, 21, 27-33).

 

 

Then, disobedience at this point resulted in other forms of disobedience - something which the Lord had previously called to the people’s attention and had warned them about (cf. Ex. 23: 33; Deut. 7: 4, 16; 12: 30).

 

 

God, through Moses, had laid down the rules and regulations (the Law, the Magna Charta for the kingdom) which His people were to follow within the theocracy.  But, after failing to drive the Gentile nations out of the land, that which God had warned His people about began to occur.

 

 

The Jewish people, over time, found themselves gradually being influenced by and conforming more and more to the ways and practices of the pagan Gentile nations dwelling in the land with them.  And, as a result, rather than the Jewish people following that which God had stated in His Word, this period is marked by a departure from the Word.

 

 

With the absence of the type leadership previously provided by Moses, and then Joshua, Scripture reveals one central manner of living on the part of God’s people during the time of the judges, lasting for over three centuries:

 

 

In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes (Judg. 17: 6; 21: 25; cf. 18: 1; 19: 1).

 

 

And God reacted accordingly.  God reacted in exact accordance with that which He had previously revealed in His Word through Moses.

 

[Page 52]

There is a repeated sequence in the Book of judges relative to the Jewish people’s disobedience and God’s reaction to their disobedience.  In chapter two, this sequence is introduced (resulting from the people’s previous actions, seen in chapter one), setting the stage for that seen throughout the remainder of the book:

 

 

1) Israel’s action:

 

 

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim.

 

 

And they forsook the God of their fathers ... and followed other gods...” (vv. 11, 12a).

 

 

2) The Lord’s reaction:

 

 

And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers ... and he sold them into the hands of their enemies...

 

 

Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them...” (vv. 14a, 15a).

 

 

3) Israel’s reaction:

 

 

“...and they were greatly distressed [which would lead to repentance]” (v. 15b).

 

 

4) That which the Lord then did:

 

 

Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hands of those that spoiled them (v. 16).

 

 

When the Israelites fell into sin, God reacted through using that which had resulted from His people’s previous failure - Gentile nations remaining in the land, contrary to His command - as a means to bring about their repentance.  He delivered the disobedient Israelites into the hands of the same pagan nations which they had previously failed to drive out (2: 21-23).

 

 

And, following His people being brought to the place of repentance through a judgment of this nature, God then raised up one or more individuals to deliver them out of the hands of the Gentiles.

 

 

Beginning in chapter three, when God raised up the first judge to deliver His people, repentance on Israel’s part is seen first.  That is, God delivered His people into the hands of the Gentiles, [Page 53] persecution at the hands of the nations followed, the people repented, and God then raised up an individual to deliver them out of the hands of the Gentiles.  And this same order is continued through eleven of the fourteen judges whom God raised up (3: 7-9, 12-15; 4: 1-4; 6: 1-14; 10: 6-18; 11: 1ff).

 

 

Then, following the death of the eleventh judge (12: 15), though the same sequence is seen beginning again (with Israel’s disobedience), certain changes occurred in the complete cycle of events this time:

 

 

And the children of Israel did evil again... and the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines forty years (13: 1).

 

 

For the first time there was a forty-year period in which the Israelites found themselves in subjection to the Gentiles.  Forty” is one of several numbers used in Scripture to show completeness, and the number appears numerous times in Scripture in this respect (e.g., Moses’ life is divided into three separate and distinct forty-year periods, Moses was on Mount Sinai forty days and nights, the disobedient Israelites under Moses wandered in the wilderness for forty years, each of Israel’s first three kings reigned for forty years, Christ was tempted by Satan for forty days and nights, and Christ had a forty-day post-resurrection ministry prior to His ascension).

 

 

In this respect, because of Israel’s disobedience, God gave His people into the hands of the Gentiles (the Philistines) for a complete period of time.  And this complete period could only have followed a completion of Israel's disobedience over the years.  That is to say, Israel’s cup of iniquity had apparently become full (cf. Gen. 15: 16), with God acting accordingly.

 

 

However, there is no record of the Israelites repenting and crying out for deliverance during these forty years. Nevertheless, God raised up Samson during this time as the twelfth judge, stating that he would “begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines” (13: 5b).  Full deliverance though could not occur until after the Israelites had repented, something not seen until the days of Samuel the prophet, the fourteenth and last judge (following Eli [1 Sam. 7: 3-15]).

 

 

The Book of judges, in the preceding respect, sets forth, in a repeated manner, the complete history of Israel - from the time of the inception of the nation during Moses’ day to modern times.

 

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And the nation is nearing the end of the final period of their disobedience, with the Jewish people about to find themselves in the hands of Gentile nations which will render such intense persecution that repentance, after millenniums of time, will be forthcoming.

 

 

And God, true to His Word, will then send the Deliverer.

 

 

b) The Epilogue to Judges (Chapters 17-21)

 

 

Judges chapters seventeen through twenty-one form somewhat of an epilogue to the book, taking the reader back several centuries to near the beginning of the period of the judges (note the mention of Moses’ and Aaron’s grandsons in this section [18: 30; 20: 28], which would place events back during the early years of this period of time).

 

 

And this would account for the summary statement concerning the absence of a king in Israel, with every man doing that which was right in his own eyes, not being seen until the opening part of this epilogue (17: 6).  Then, part or all of this statement is seen several other subsequent times in this closing section (18: 1; 19: 1; 21: 25).

 

 

As previously stated, this period covering the time of the judges follows the death of Joshua and ends with the inauguration of Israel’s first king (Saul).  And the period between these two times, in one respect, is exactly where world Jewry finds itself today.

 

 

The names translated “Joshua” and “Jesus” in the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Old and New Testaments are the same word in their respective languages, both meaning “Salvation.  This is why the KJV translators misused “Jesus” instead of “Joshua” in both Acts 7: 45 and Heb. 4: 8.  Rather than a mistranslation, there is a misuse of names, for, again, both are the same word in their respective languages.

 

 

(Note how the eight visions in Zech. 1: 7 - 6: 8 terminate in the verses immediately following the last vision - with the crowning of “Joshua” in connection with “the man whose name is the BRANCH,” Who will [after His return]  build the temple of the Lord” [Zech. 6: 11-13].

 

 

The BRANCH” is a Messianic title, used of Israel’s Messiah, Whose name is Joshua / Jesus [cf. Zech. 2: 8-10; 6: 11-13]. Note the Messianic nature of both of the referenced passages, along with the name “Joshua” used with the title “the BRANCH” in both passages.)

 

[Page 55]

The Jewish people are living today between these same two times - between the death of Jesus (rather than Joshua) and the Jewish people possessing their King (their great King-Priest after the order of Melchizedek rather than Saul).

 

 

That is to say, the Jewish people are living today between the time when they crucified their Messiah and the time when their Messiah will return as the great King-Priest after the order of Melchizedek.

 

 

As well, in the preceding respect, the Jewish people today are also living during a time when they are not only without a King, but a time when everyone is doing that which is right in his own eyes.

 

 

1) Judges Chapter Nineteen

 

 

But, as has been shown earlier in this chapter from Rev. 17: 1ff, things are about to change.  The harlot is about to be destroyed.

 

 

And exactly the same thing is seen toward the end of the Book of Judges, during the period of time between the death of Joshua / Jesus and the appearance of Israel’s King.

 

 

There is an account part way through the epilogue section of Judges which foreshadows exactly the same thing as seen by the harlot woman being burned with fire in Rev. 17: 1 - 19: 6.

 

 

In Judges chapter nineteen there is an account of a Levite and his concubine, his wife.  The Levite had taken her as his wife and moved her from Bethlehem to a place some distance north, to his home on Mt. Ephraim. But, his wife not only “played the whore against him” but returned to Bethlehem, “unto her father’s house” (vv. 1-3).

 

 

This was followed four months later by the man taking a hired servant and travelling to Bethlehem to get his adulterous wife.  And, after certain events in Bethlehem, a rather lengthy account follows of a journey which the man made with his concubine and the hired servant, travelling from Bethlehem back to Mt. Ephraim (vv. 5ff).

 

 

Enroute from Bethlehem to Mt. Ephraim, they entered the village of Gibeah, with a view to spending the night, which is where a main part of that seen in the account occurred.

 

 

After sitting in the streets of the city for awhile, waiting for someone in the city to befriend them and offer lodging for the night, an old man came in from his work in the fields, saw them, and offered them a place where both their animals (donkeys) and [Page 56] the three of them could spend the night (vv. 10-21).

 

 

Then, after all had been properly taken care of (the animals and the three travellers), the men of the city, certain sons of Belial (a reference to worthless men of the city), came to the house, and began to beat on the door, demanding that “the man” inside the house (evidently the husband of the adulterous concubine) be brought out so that they could have homosexual relations with him.

 

 

It is the same picture seen back in Genesis chapter nineteen after Lot had invited the two angels to spend the night in the safety of his home (vv. 2ff).  And that which then occurred in judges is also very similar to the account in Genesis.

 

 

In keeping with Eastern hospitality, protecting guests inside one’s home at all costs, in Genesis chapter nineteen, Lot had offered his two virgin daughters instead (v. 8); and the man in Judges chapter nineteen, did the same thing, offering his own virgin daughter, along with the man’s concubine.

 

 

The men of the city took only the man’s concubine, and they “abused her all the night until morning.”  And, when they had finished with her and the night was almost over, they let her go.

 

 

She made her way back to the house where her husband resided, and, at the dawning of the day, fell at the door of the house and evidently died (vv. 22-26).

 

 

At this point in the story, there are two women.  One was a harlot who had been sexually abused throughout the night by the men of the city; and the other was a virgin whom the men of the city had left at the house, untouched.

 

 

When the concubine’s husband came out and found his wife unresponsive, he loaded her upon one of the animals and continued the journey to his home on Mt. Ephraim.

 

 

Once there, he took a knife, cut the harlot into twelve pieces, and sent the pieces “into all the coasts of Israel,” evidently one piece to each of the twelve tribes of Israel (vv. 27-29; cf. 1 Sam. 11: 7; 1 Kings 11: 30ff).

 

 

And the account closes with this statement:

 

 

And it was so that all that saw it [a piece of the dead harlot] said, There was no such deed done nor seen from that day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day...” (v. 30a).

 

[Page 57]

2) Parallel Accounts, Judges and Revelation

 

 

Scripture presents exactly the same picture, from two different perspectives, in both Judg. 19: 1-30 and Rev. 12: 1 - 20: 6. In both passages you have:

 

 

1) Israel existing in the condition seen in judges - without a King and every man doing that which is right in his own eyes.

 

 

2) An account of both a harlot and a virtuous woman.

 

 

In Judges, the men of the city, seen as base men, took and abused the Levite’s wife, a harlot, throughout the night, bringing about her death as a new day dawned.

 

 

But the host’s virgin daughter remained untouched by the men of the city.

 

 

Then, the husband of the dead harlot cut her body into twelve parts, “together with her bones,” and sent one piece of the dead harlot’s body to each of the twelve tribes of Israel.

 

 

The harlot was gone, the virtuous woman lived, and the complete matter had to do with the entire nation (Judg. 20: 4-6).

 

 

Now, note how this is presented in Rev. 12: 1 - 20: 6.  Two women are seen.  In chapter twelve, a woman, clothed with the sun, in possession of regality is seen.  Then, beginning in chapter seventeen and continuing through the first six verses of chapter nineteen, the same woman from chapter twelve reappears, though now presented as a harlot, associated with the world, but in possession of regality, exactly as previously seen in Rev. 12: 1 (17: 18).

 

 

And, as in the account in Judges, the harlot is seen being abused throughout the night - throughout the time of “the darkness of this world,” prior to the time that “the Sun of righteousness” arises “with healing in his wings” (cf. Mal. 4: 2; Eph. 6: 12).

 

 

The harlot has been, is being, and will be abused at the hands of those to whom she was given - the Gentile nations.

 

 

God gave a nation already in the throws of harlotry over to the Gentile nations; He drove His people out among the nations, among her lovers, to effect repentance through persecution at the hands of her lovers.

 

 

Then, note how the nations have abused the harlot throughout the night in Rev. 18: 3:

 

[Page 58]

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.”

 

 

As Israel has continued to play the harlot, having illicit and forbidden relationships with the nations, the nations have become rich at Israel’s expense.

 

 

But all of this is about to change.

 

 

The men of the city killed the harlot in Judges.  And the complete picture has to do with a slain harlot subsequently cut into twelve pieces, with one piece sent to each of the twelve tribes of Israel.

 

 

In Revelation, the corresponding picture has to do with God using the Gentile power of that coming day to slay the harlot.  In this future instance, foreshadowed by events in judges chapter nineteen, the harlot will be burned with fire, the smoke of her burning will ascend up throughout the endless ages (i.e., the harlot will never live again; Israel’s harlotry will forever be a thing of the past), and this will have to do with the whole house of Israel, all twelve tribes (seen by pieces of the harlot sent to all twelve tribes in Judges, implicating the entire nation).

 

 

And, exactly as in the account in Judges, the Gentile nations, into whose hands the harlot has been delivered, cannot touch the virtuous woman (Israel’s status once the harlot has been destroyed and cleansing has occurred).

 

 

And in that coming day, because of that which will then ensue, Judg. 19: 30 can only, once again, be seen applying to all throughout the twelve tribes who witness that to which these two sections of Scripture apply.  That stated in this verse, projected out into that coming day, would read something like this:

 

 

And all that see it in that day [the dissected harlot/the burned harlot - the destroyed harlot, with only the virtuous, untouched woman then existing] will only be able to say, There has been no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day [throughout 3,500 years of Jewish history, with nothing like this ever seen during all that time; nor will it ever be seen again, for Israel’s harlotry will never exist again].”

 

 

*       *      *

[Page 59]

 

CHAPTER IV

 

 

Burned in Fire, Ground to Powder

 

SCATTERED IN THE WATERS, THE PEOPLE MADE TO DRINK

 

 

 

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

 

 

And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

 

 

And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them unto Aaron.

 

 

And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

 

 

And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.

 

 

And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings: and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play (Ex. 32: 1-6).

 

 

 

An equally graphic picture of Israel’s harlotry, as seen in Rev. 17: 1 - 19: 6, can also be seen in the Pentateuch - in the writings of Moses, in the Book of Exodus - 1,500 years before John penned the Book of Revelation.

 

[Page 60]

Moses had previously dealt with the subject matter at some length in Genesis chapter thirty-eight, somewhat introducing that subsequently seen in a more graphic and fuller respect in Exodus (refer to Chapter II, pp. 30, 31 in this book).  And, because of the overall subject matter in Exodus - dealing with Israel during the end times in a fuller and more detailed respect than previously seen in Genesis, completely in line with the Book of Revelation - this book, not Genesis, is where a graphic and fuller exposition of the subject belongs.

 

 

The foundation was laid in Genesis, and additional detail was then given in Exodus.  This was then followed by information on the subject in numerous parts of the Old Testament (e.g., Judges 19: 1ff; Isa. 1: 21ff; Jer. 3: 1ff; Ezek. 16: 1ff; Hosea 1: 2ff), culminating in three chapters in the closing book of Scripture, the Book of Revelation (17-19a).

 

 

The subject matter in Moses’ writings and the subject matter in John’s writings parallel one another.  Both form a Pentateuch, though John’s writings are not set together in the New Testament as Moses’ are in the Old Testament.

 

 

Genesis and the Gospel of John parallel one another.  Exodus and Revelation parallel one another. Leviticus and I John parallel one another.  Numbers and II John parallel one another.  Deuteronomy and III John parallel one another.

 

 

(For information on the preceding, refer to the author’s book, MOSES AND JOHN.)

 

 

And not only should it be quite natural to see Israel’s harlotry dealt with in a full and graphic respect in Exodus, as it is in Revelation, but something additional is seen as well.  Israel’s harlotry is seen being dealt with in both books within the same time-frame and place in the books - yet future, during and immediately beyond Daniel’s Seventieth Week (Dan. 9: 24-27).

 

 

In Exodus, attention is called to Israel’s harlotry while Moses is still in the Mount, immediately preceding his return.  And Israel’s harlotry is seen being fully dealt with following Moses’ descent [Page 61] from the Mount, immediately before the existence of the theocracy in the camp of Israel.

 

 

In Revelation, attention is called to Israel’s harlotry while Christ is still in the Mount (in heaven), immediately preceding His return.  And Israel’s harlotry is seen being fully dealt with following Christ’s descent from heaven, immediately before the restoration of the theocracy to Israel.

 

 

(Thus, comparing Scripture with Scripture, in both Exodus and Revelation, Israel’s harlotry is seen existing at an apex during the coming Tribulation - immediately preceding Moses’ return in the type, immediately preceding Christ’s return in the antitype.  Then Israel’s harlotry is seen being fully dealt with the same way in both type and antitype - fully, completely, resulting in an end to the matter.

 

 

Note that “a mountain” is used in Scripture, in a metaphorical respect, to depict a kingdom [cf. Isa. 2: 14; Dan. 2: 35, 44, 45]. Christ is today in the Mount, in heaven, seated with His Father on a throne from whence a universal kingdom is governed [Ps. 110: 1; Rev. 3: 21].)

 

 

As well, though the matter in Exodus has to do first and foremost with Israel, a secondary application pertaining to the Church is quite evident.  The whole of the matter has a parallel which can be easily seen not only in the condition of Israel as the nation exists today and will continue to exist on into the Tribulation (which will constitute a fulfilment of the last seven years of the previous dispensation, the Jewish dispensation) but also in the condition of the Church as Christendom exists at the end of the present dispensation.  And the end result for both Israel and the Church, as set forth in the type, is also the same.

 

 

Thus, after dealing with Israel, as seen in both Moses and John, a section of this chapter will then be given over to how the Church can be seen in all of this as well - prostituting her heavenly calling just like Israel is prostituting her earthly calling, And the Church is presently doing it exactly like Israel is presently doing it.

 

 

Overall scope of Exodus, Revelation

 

 

As previously seen, events in the Book of Exodus and events in [Page 62] John’s Book of Revelation parallel one another.  And, in this respect, “Exodus” could be called the Apocalypse of the Old Testament.

 

 

The complete Book of Exodus (minus the opening seven verses [connecting events in the book with those in the latter part of Genesis] and most of chapter two [an aside in the book, relating Moses’ birth and the first eighty years of his life]) parallels events which begin in Revelation chapter six and continue into the first part of chapter twenty.  However, as will be shown, each book provides an abundance of detailed information not seen in the other book.

 

 

1) The Assyrian, Post and Future

 

 

Following the introductory seven verses of the book, Exodus begins, from a typical standpoint, where Revelation chapter six begins - with Israel in the Tribulation, subjected to an Assyrian ruler.

 

 

In the historical setting in Exodus, the Assyrians had previously conquered Egypt and were ruling the nation at this time (cf. Ex. 1: 8; Isa. 52: 4; Acts 7: 17, 18).  Thus, the Assyrians, not the Egyptians, were the ones ultimately persecuting and seeking to destroy the Jewish people (Ex. 1: 10ff).

 

 

Then, the coming world ruler in the Book of Revelation is referred to a number of times in the Old Testament as “an Assyrian,” in complete keeping with the type in Exodus (Isa. 10: 5; 14: 25; 23: 13; 30: 31; 31: 8; Hosea 11: 5; Micah 5: 5, 6).

 

 

And there is a reason why this man is referred to as “an Assyrian” in this manner.  According to Daniel’s prophecy, he will arise out of the territory covered by the northern part of Alexander the Great’s kingdom, which was Assyria (as the kingdom was divided among his four generals following Alexander the Great’s death).

 

 

Territory covered during modern times by this division of the kingdom would include parts of northern Iraq, Syria, Iran, and Turkey).  This man will arise out of this part of the world, conquer three kings (the rulers over the other three parts of Alexander the Great’s kingdom following his death), and then rule the world through a ten-kingdom Middle East confederacy of nations.

 

 

(Reference to the preceding is seen in Dan. 7: 23-25; 8: 8-14, 21-25; 11: 3, 4, 21-45 [cf. Ps. 83: 1ff; Rev. 13: 1ff, 17: 8ff].  The future Assyrian, [Page 63] coming out of the northern division of this kingdom, must control the complete kingdom - not just the northern division - in order to become the world ruler seen in the fourth part of Daniel’s image [ch. 2] or the fourth great beast [ch. 7].

 

 

Thus, of necessity, he must conquer the other three parts of the kingdom, taking control of the complete empire that had existed under Alexander the Great.  This is the only way that he can become world ruler.  He must control the complete Babylonian kingdom depicted by the third part of the great image and the third great beast.

 

 

[In that coming day, when this is fulfilled, these three kings will be seen as still present, for the entire first three parts of the image will be seen as still existing (these three parts of the image have to do with a Babylonian kingdom which has never been destroyed, only conquered).  The whole of that depicted by the image (all four parts) is seen living, in a composite respect, at the time of its destruction (cf. Dan. 2: 34, 35, 44, 45; 7: 11, 12).

 

 

Thus this man can conquer the remaining three parts of Alexander the Great’s kingdom, for, as part of the complete image, they can only be seen as still present when he appears on the scene.]

 

 

The preceding is one of numerous reasons why Rome can’t be seen having any part in the matter in either history or prophecy. In relation to that revealed through the great image and great beasts, the future kingdom of Antichrist [the future Assyrian’s kingdom] emanates from, not a prior Roman kingdom, but Alexander the Great’s Babylonian kingdom.

 

 

This future Assyrian’s kingdom begins at and continues from this point in the sequence covered by the great image and the great beasts, becoming the fourth and final part of the great image [the “legs of iron’ and the ‘feet part of iron and part of clay”], the fourth and final great beast [the “dreadful and terrible” beast].

 

 

For additional information on the preceding, refer to the author’s book, THE TIME OF THE END, Chapter XXIV [“The Beast - in Daniel”]; or refer to the author’s book, MIDDLE EAST PEACE ‑ HOW? WHEN?, Chs. IX, X [“The Great Image, Great Beasts. I, II”].)

 

 

2) Structure of Exodus and Revelation

 

 

Though each book covers the complete panorama of events occurring during the same time seen in the other book, each book [Page 64] covers these events in a different manner, with numerous events seen in one book either more complete or less complete than in the other book.  And, in this same respect, some events seen in one book are not seen at all in the other book.

 

 

Thus, additions to a developing word picture from one book can be derived from the other book, forming a more complete picture.

 

 

(None of the sixty-six books in Scripture can be overlooked with respect to providing information of a similar nature to the preceding, with everything moving toward that coming seventh day, the Messianic Era.  Each book will provide some data not seen in any of the other books.  And only when all of the revelation in the different books is seen together and understood after the manner in which God structured the material can the complete picture be seen, exactly as God has revealed it and desires man to see it.)

 

 

As previously seen, both Exodus (chs. 1ff [following the first seven verses]) and Revelation (chs. 6ff) begin at the same place - the Israelites subjected to an Assyrian ruler.  In the type, this subjugation has to do with the Israelites in “Egypt”; in the antitype, this subjugation has to do with the Israelites in that which “Egypt” typifies, the world.

 

 

The latter-day Assyrian in the Book of Revelation will rule a worldwide kingdom.  He is seen aspiring to this position when the first seal of the seven-sealed scroll is broken in the opening two verses of chapter six, and he is seen coming into this position when the second seal is broken in the next two verses (vv. 3, 4).  And at this time he will turn upon and seek to destroy the Jewish people from off the face of the earth.

 

 

(For additional information on the preceding, refer to the author’s book, THE TIME OF THE END, Chapters X, XI.)

 

 

This section in the Book of Revelation (6: 1ff), after beginning at the same point as the Book of Exodus (1: 8ff), provides detailed information about Israel and the nations during the Tribulation (something dealt with in both books with respect to Israel being brought to the place of repentance through persecution at the hands of the nations).

 

[Page 65]

In Exodus though, this is dealt with very sparingly compared to Revelation.  Rather, Exodus, in its type-antitype structure, in the latter part of chapter three, moves all the way to events which will occur in connection with Israel and the nations at the end of the Tribulation, after Israel has been brought to the place of repentance.

 

 

These events will occur in connection with and following Christ’s return, as they occurred in connection with and following Moses’ return in Exodus.  As well, in the type, they occurred preceding the establishment of the theocracy (the kingdom) in the camp of Israel; and in the antitype they will occur, they must occur, preceding the restoration of the kingdom to Israel.

 

 

It must also be understood that the Book of Revelation, rather than being written in chronological order, is structured like much of the rest of Scripture.  A complete panorama of events is often given, followed by commentary.  Scripture begins this way in Genesis, and it ends this way in Revelation.

 

 

In the preceding respect, Christ’s return at the end of the Tribulation is seen three different places in that section covering the Tribulation and the time immediately following (6: 14-17; 14: 14-20; 19: 11-21).

 

 

(For more information on the preceding structure of Revelation, refer to the author’s book, COMING IN HIS KINGDOM, Chapter IV.)

 

 

3) Moses’ Return, Christ’s Return

 

 

When Moses returned at the end of his time spent in Midian, Aaron met and accompanied him when he appeared with signs before Israel’s religious leaders.  And this time, unlike before, he was accepted (cf. Ex. 2: 11-14; 4: 29-31).

 

 

Then Aaron accompanied Moses when he appeared in the Assyrian Pharaoh’s presence with the message which God had commanded that he deliver (Ex. 5: 1ff):

 

 

Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

 

 

And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me; and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn” (Ex. 4: 22, 23).

 

[Page 66]

When Christ returns at the end of His time in heaven, He will be accompanied by both Moses and Elijah (Matt. 16: 28 - 17: 5; again, refer to the author’s book, COMING IN HIS KINGDOM).  Both men will evidently be very instrumental in events with Christ, having to do with Israel and the nations at the time Christ returns (as both will have had to do with events pertaining to Israel during the previous first half of the Tribulation [Rev. 11: 3-12; cf. Zech. 4: 1-14]).

 

 

Elijah’s prophesied ministry to Israel (Mal. 11-3; 4: 5, 6) - having to do with that seen over 2,800 years ago on Mt. Carniel (1 Kings 18: 39), bringing about belief on the part of the entire nation in that previously recorded by the prophets - can occur only at a time following Christ’s return (for belief of a nature which Elijah will once again effect in the whole camp of Israel is not seen occurring in Scripture until this time).

 

 

Then Moses, very likely, will accompany Christ into the Assyrian ruler’s presence to announce exactly the same thing which he and Aaron announced to the Assyrian Pharaoh in their day.  And when the future Assyrian refuses to heed this statement and warning, God will possibly use Moses to execute judgments upon the Assyrian’s kingdom, exactly as He did in history (Ex. 5: 1ff).

 

 

The end result of the matter can only be belief on Israel’s part through Elijah’s ministry and a further decimation of and an ultimate end to the Assyrian’s kingdom, occurring possibly through Moses’ ministry.

 

 

Once Israel and the nations are respectively brought to these two places, that foreshadowed in the first of the seven Jewish festivals in Lev. 23: 1ff (the Passover) can occur, with that foreshadowed in the remaining six festivals subsequently occurring (Ex. 12: 1ff).

 

 

(For information on the fulfilment of that foreshadowed by these seven festivals, refer to the author’s book, COMING IN HIS KINGDOM, Appendix II, “The Seven Jewish Festivals.”)

 

 

The fulfilment of that foreshadowed in this first festival will bring about two things:

 

 

1) The salvation of the entire Jewish nation when they appropriate (through belief) the blood of the Paschal Lamb which they slew 2,000 years ago.

 

[Page 67]

2) An ultimate end to the Assyrian’s kingdom, seen in the national death of the firstborn in relation to Satan’s governmental rule through the nations.

 

 

In one respect, this is where the transfer of power actually occurs - Satan’s firstborn slain on the one hand, with the rebirth of a nation relative to God’s firstborn on the other hand.

 

 

Then that which awaits God’s firstborn is a removal from a worldwide dispersion, as occurred in a removal from Egypt in the type.

 

 

And that which awaits Satan’s firstborn is complete destruction, as seen in the destruction of the Assyrian Pharaoh’s armed forces in the Red Sea in the type (cf. Ex. 14: 13-31; Rev. 19: 17-21).

 

 

Beyond that, in the type, there was the giving of the Law (the Old Covenant), the instructions pertaining to the tabernacle and its worship, and the establishment of the theocracy (upon completion of the tabernacle, with the Glory indwelling the Holy of Holies), all occurring at Sinai (Ex. 20-40).

 

 

And beyond that, in the antitype, there will be a New Covenant made with Israel, along with a restoration of the theocracy - a restoration of the Glory in a temple which Messiah Himself will build (Jer. 31: 31-33; Ezek. 37: 26; 40; 1ff; Zech. 6: 11-13).

 

 

In the Mount, Then... (Moses and Israel)

 

 

The Book of Exodus, in its fuller scope, beginning with the opening seven verses, covers a period of time in Jewish history lasting slightly over two centuries - from the time that the Israelites came down into Egypt to one year following the Exodus.

 

 

The Israelites were in Egypt for 210 years, and the Book of Exodus ends one year following the Exodus under Moses with an existing tabernacle, the Glory indwelling the tabernacle, and, consequently, an existing theocracy in the camp of Israel.

 

 

(For information on these 210 years in relation to the 400-year or 430-year sojourn of Abraham’s seed in connection with the departure of the Israelites from Egypt [Gen. 15: 13; Ex. 12: 40, 41; cf. Gal. 3: 17], refer to Chapter VI, “The Selfsame Day,” in the author’s book, WE ARE ALMOST THERE.  Refer also to pp. 84-89 in Chapter V of this book.)

 

[Page 68]

As also previously seen, the Book of Exodus, in its overall type picking up in verse eight of chapter one - a new king arising over Egypt, an Assyrian - deals with Israel, yet future, during and immediately following the Tribulation.  In this respect, the complete book, save the opening seven verses and part of the second chapter, has to do with Israel yet future.

 

 

The Book forms one overall type dealing with Israel in the preceding respect.  And within this overall type there are numerous individual types, which is where material will be derived for the remainder of this chapter.

 

 

1) Arrival at Mt. Sinai, Moses’ Different Ascents and Descents

 

 

From Ex. 19: 1, when the Israelites under Moses arrived at Mt. Sinai in the third month,” following the departure from Egypt in the middle of the first month, Moses, over time, is seen making at least seven ascents and descents of Mt. Sinai (Ex. 19: 3-7; 19: 8, 9; 19: 20-25; 20: 1 - 24: 3; 24: 12 - 32: 15; 32: 31 - 33: 4; 34: 1-29).

 

 

(The exact number of ascents and descents is somewhat open to question, depending on how certain statements relative to the matter are understood. Some interpreter's see as many as nine ascents and descents.

 

 

In one respect, the exact number of ascents and descents Moses made at Mt. Sinai would be immaterial. But for purposes seen in this chapter, to place events somewhat in perspective, “seven” will be used.)

 

 

Whether all seven of these ascents of Mt. Sinai were all the way to the top of the mountain, into God’s presence, could be open to question.  But sufficient information is given on at least three (fourth, fifth, and seventh) which would show that Moses, on at least part of these different ascents and descents, evidently climbed up into the Lord’s very presence on the top of the Mount.

 

 

As well, there are forty-day periods in connection with the last three ascents and descents, with time involved in the first four unrevealed.

 

 

With the arrival of the Israelites at Sinai sometime during the third month following the Exodus from Egypt, followed by four unrevealed periods of time when Moses ascended and descended [Page 69] Mt. Sinai, followed by three forty-day periods (120 days, four months, showing three complete periods of time), the subsequent time involved in building the tabernacle (in existence one year following the Exodus) could have been no more than several months (a time less than five months).

 

 

The single type within the overall larger type, from which material in the remainder of this chapter will be taken - for both Israel (primary interpretation) and the Church (secondary application) - is Moses’ fifth ascent and descent of the Mount (Ex. 24: 15 - 32: 15).  This is the ascent when instructions were given for the building of the tabernacle and the carrying out of the priestly ministry.  Then these instructions were followed after the seventh ascent and descent, with the results seen at the end of the book, in chapter forty.

 

 

2) Moses in the Mount, Then...

 

 

At the time of Moses’ fifth ascent up Mt. Sinai, when he entered into the very presence of the Lord and spent the first recorded forty-day period on the Mount, the Lord provided two stone tablets.  And, through angelic ministry, the Lord inscribed in stone the previously revealed Decalogue (cf. Ex. 20: 1-17; 34: 28, 29 [given orally during the fourth ascent), which formed the heart of the Law, the Old Covenant, the Magna Charta for the theocracy about to be brought into existence (cf. Deut. 8: 1ff; 33: 2; Ps. 68: 17; Gal. 3: 19; Heb. 2: 2).

 

 

If the Israelites kept this covenant, they would dwell in a land flowing with milk and honey, be elevated above all the notions, and the notions would not only be reached by Israel with the message of the one true and living God but be blessed through Israel as well (Lev. 26: 1-13; Num. 14: 8; Deut. 14: 1, 2; 28: 1-14; Isa. 43: 9, 10; Jonah 1: 1, 2; 3: 1, 2).

 

 

However, if the Israelites failed to keep this covenant, they would be removed from a land left desolate, be placed at the tail of the nations, and the nations would be left estranged from both the message of the one true and living God and the blessings which God had reserved for them through Israel (Lev. 26: 18-39; Deut. 28: 15-67).

 

[Page 70]

Nations rather than individuals were being dealt with in the preceding respect - the nation of Israel on the one hand and all of the Gentile nations on the other.  And Israel, the only nation with a God, God’s firstborn son, was to remain separate and distinct from all the Gentile nations (Gen. 9: 26; 28: 13; Ex. 3: 6; 4: 22, 23; Num. 23: 9; Deut. 5: 24-32; 14: 2; Ps. 33: 12; 72: 18; 96: 5).

 

 

And Israel being dealt with in this respect sets the stage for a proper understanding of that seen occurring in the camp of Israel while Moses was in the Mount receiving instructions for the tabernacle, the priestly worship, and the heart of the Law on tables of stone.

 

 

The tabernacle formed the dwelling place of God within the theocracy; the priests ministered on behalf of the people, representing them to God; and the Law, the Magna Charta for the theocracy, formed the rules and regulations governing the nation of Israel within the theocracy.

 

 

Thus, Moses was in God’s presence, in the Mount, making the necessary preparations for God’s firstborn son down at the foot of the Mount to realize the rights of primogeniture within the theocracy about to be established.

 

 

a) The Nation of Israel, in the Interim

 

 

But the people of Israel at the foot of the Mount, growing tired of waiting for Moses to return from the Mount, began to conduct their affairs in a completely opposite manner to their high calling.  They began to look back to Egypt and sought to associate themselves with gods which they could only have known about through their prior association with Egypt.

 

 

And their association with these gods was to subsequently be realized through Action fashioning a golden calf for them to worship - an image, associated with gods, which, again, they could only have known about through their prior association with Egypt as well.

 

 

Thus, the eventual scene is that of a nation, having grown tired of awaiting the return of their deliverer from the Mount, forsaking the God of their fathers, turning back to a Gentile nation from which they had been delivered, and involving themselves [Page 71] in the worship of other gods through a pagan image which their religious leader (Aaron) fashioned and formed for them.

 

 

Through this means the people of Israel, the wife of Jehovah, not only found themselves associated with a Gentile nation after a forbidden fashion but associated with this nation in a completely inverse fashion to their high calling.

 

 

In a respect, they could not have sunk lower.  And their spiritual leader, during the time of Moses’ absence, not only acquiesced to their desires but took them down this path himself by building the golden calf for them to worship (Ex. 32: 2-6, 23-25).

 

 

(The calf which Aaron built was evidently formed through first carving a calf from wood.  Then the wooden calf, once finished, was overlaid with gold plating.

 

 

That the calf was evidently designed and built in this manner can be seen from the way Moses, upon his return, destroyed the calf [to be dealt with later].)

 

 

Aaron used gold collected from the people to build the calf.  And once the work had been completed, the people openly acknowledged this calf to be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.”  Aaron then built an altar before the calf, where the people “offered burnt-offerings” and “brought peace-offerings.”  And the people then sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play (Ex. 32: 4-6; Deut. 9: 16).

 

 

The people of Israel, led by their religious leader, involved themselves in a type harlotry seemingly without equal.  They had forsaken the one true and living God who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, began to worship pagan gods through an idol which their spiritual leader had built, ascribed their deliverance from Egypt to these other gods, “offered burnt-offerings” on an altar before these gods, brought peace-offerings to these gods, and celebrated before these gods in a manner which they had evidently witnessed among the pagans back in Egypt.

 

 

They celebrated “a feast to the Lord” through pagan rituals and pagan gods, seen in the words, the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play (vv. 4-6).

 

 

Thus, it is little wonder that the Lord, in His anger over the [Page 72] matter, singled Aaron out, sought to slay him along with the entire nation, and begin anew with a nation which would emanate from the loins of Moses (Ex. 32: 7-10; Deut. 9: 20)!

 

 

And, the only thing which saved Aaron and the remainder of the people was Moses’ intercession on their behalf (Ex. 32: 11-14; Deut. 9: 18-29).  In a respect, God placed the fate of the entire nation in Moses’ hands, which demonstrates how favourably God looked upon Moses at this time.

 

 

(During the forty-day period that Moses spent in the Mount following his fifth ascent of Sinai, evidently toward the end of this time, the Lord revealed to Moses what was occurring in the camp of Israel at the foot of the Mount.  And Moses, before he returned to his people with the Decalogue on the tables of stone, interceded for them relative to the matter at hand [Ex. 32: 7-14].

 

 

Then, following his return and taking care of matters, he ascended the Mount a sixth time and interceded with the Lord on the people's behalf for a period of forty more days and nights [the reason for the sixth ascent of the Mount].

 

 

Thus, there are at least two periods when Moses interceded for the people in this respect - an unrevealed period of time before he left the Mount with the Decalogue and a forty-day period after he ascended the Mount a sixth time [cf. Ex. 32: 11-14; Deut. 9: 18-29].

 

 

And Moses’ seventh and last ascent of the Mount was to receive once again the Decalogue on tables of stone which he had broken at the foot of the Mount following his return to the camp at the end of the forty-day period spent on the Mount during his fifth ascent.)

 

 

But, to see the complete account unfold exactly as Scripture lays it out, one needs to begin with Moses’ descent from the Mount at the time harlotry in the camp was seen running rampant, at an apex.

 

 

b) Moses’ Return, an End to Israel’s Harlotry, Then...

 

 

When Moses came down from the Mount following his fifth ascent of Sinai, he carried the two tables of stone, engraved with the ten commandments, the centrepiece for the Magna Charta governing the people within the theocracy.  And when Moses neared the camp with Aaron who had gone out to meet him, he heard [Page 73] the revelry among the people and then saw that which the Lord had told him about, concerning which he had previously prayed about, on behalf of the people, prior to descending the Mount:

 

 

And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh to the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

 

 

And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it (Ex. 32: 19, 20).

 

 

Note what Israel’s harlotry had caused, along with when and how the people were dealt with for their harlotry.

 

 

Their harlotry had brought about nakedness (v. 25), which is explained in the verse.  Nakedness in this verse has to do with what their actions had caused to occur throughout the camp, with no one excluded.

 

 

Looking back to Egypt and aligning themselves with that which was occurring in Egypt was a forsaking of the one true and living God, along with His plans and purposes for the nation; and, doing this, the people found themselves going in a completely opposite direction to their high calling.

 

 

This resulted in exposing them to “shame among their enemies” (which would be particularly the nations dwelling in the land of their inheritance), leaving them “naked” in this respect (the word used in a somewhat symbolic sense).

 

 

Seeing this, Moses in his anger, cast the two tables of stone to the ground, breaking them and showing in the account that which Israel had done.  They had broken God’s Law, particularly the parts about idolatry and adultery.

 

 

Then note the manner in which Moses destroyed the calf.  He “burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was small as dust” (cf. Ex. 32: 20; Deut. 9: 18).

 

 

As previously seen, the inner core of the calf was evidently wood, which was burned in the fire, leaving nothing but ash.  Then the outer gold plating was stomped upon and ground to fine powder, fine as dust.

 

[Page 74]

After the calf had been completely destroyed in this manner, the remains of the calf - now gold dust, mixed with ash dust - was cast “into the brook that descended out of the mount” (Ex. 32: 20; Deut. 9: 21).  And the people were then made to drink of their harlotry in connection with two things:

 

 

1) In connection with peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues (drinking the gold dust in the water of the brook [cf. Rev. 17: 1, 15 in association with the harlot as seen in the Book of Revelation]).

 

 

2) In connection with “the theocracy” (the brook descended out of the Mount).

 

 

That is to say, the nation of Israel had been called out of Egypt to dwell in another land, within a theocracy. And, within that theocracy, the nations of the earth - peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues - were to hear the message of the one true and living God from Israel, with unlimited spiritual blessings flowing out to the nations through Israel.

 

 

This is what Israel had stepped away from, going in a completely opposite direction.  And, bringing an end to the matter, bringing an end to Israel’s harlotry, Moses brought matters to pass in the described and associated manner.

 

 

Israel’s harlotry was dealt with and destroyed in the some manner subsequently seen in Rev. 17: 1 - 19: 6, or anyplace else that the matter is dealt with in Scripture (though different facets of the matter are seen different places).

 

 

The harlot, Israel’s harlotry, is seen burned with fire in the accounts in both books; and Israel not only still lives following this burning, but the nation lives free from harlotry.

 

 

In the type in Exodus, following the destruction of Israel’s harlotry and things being set right in this respect, matters in the book move toward the nation of Israel realizing why God had removed His people, His firstborn son, from Egypt.

 

 

Moses once again, and for the last time, went back up into the Mount.  He went up to receive once again the Decalogue on two tablets of stone.

 

 

After forty days and nights, he came down from the Mount [Page 75] and construction of the tabernacle with its priestly worship began in earnest.  And, in the lost chapter of the book, chapter forty, the work had been completed, the Glory indwelt the tabernacle, and a theocratic kingdom then existed in the camp.

 

 

Then, with Israel’s harlotry a thing of the past, with the people in possession of an existing theocracy and the Magna Charta for the kingdom, the nation was ready to travel to the land to which the people of Israel had been called - the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - and realize in that land all that the theocracy and their position therein portended.

 

 

3) Christ in the Mount, Then...

 

 

That foreshadowed by the type in the Book of Exodus, seen in all its fulness once again in the antitype in the Book of Revelation, deals, not with just Moses’ day but with the days of the coming of the Son of Man as well.  That seen in the type under Moses will find its ultimate and complete fulfilment under the One greater than Moses, under Jesus the Christ.

 

 

The settings in both accounts, as previously seen, are identical.  The scene has both Men (Moses and Christ) in the Mount at a time immediately prior to their descent from the Mount and return to the camp of Israel.  In both accounts, Israel’s harlotry exists while both Men are in the Mount and continues into the time of their return.  And in both accounts, Israel’s harlotry is dealt with in a full and complete manner after their return, with a complete destruction and a burning by fire seen in both accounts.

 

 

In short, one can read about Christ’s return to deal with Israel relative to her harlotry in Ex. 32; Deut. 9; Rev. 17-19a, among a number of other places.  There is no difference; all are different facets of the complete word picture.  And it takes all of the accounts together to present the complete picture in all its fullness.

 

 

Thus, the future account of that which will occur relative to Israel and the nation’s harlotry has already been told in the historical account, seen in Moses’ actions at the time he came down from the Mount with the two tablets of stone in his hands the first time.

 

 

Moses came down with the Old Covenant; Christ is coming [Page 76] down with the New Covenant.  But the harlot who has broken the Old Covenant will have to be destroyed, with the nation, which can’t be destroyed, rising like a phoenix from the ashes.

 

 

And, exactly as in the type, a theocracy in the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob awaits the nation following the destruction of the harlot.

 

 

In the preceding respect, if one wants to study about Christ and Israel, all he has to do is turn back to the opening five books of Scripture and study about Moses and Israel.

 

 

It’s all there, like a virgin forest, waiting to be explored.  It has been there for 3,500 years, and many over the years have passed this way, exploring and mining its treasures.  But no one has ever taken anything away; nor can anyone take anything away.  Everything is still there, exactly as it has always been for countless centuries, awaiting any and all who desire to mine its treasures.

 

 

In the Mount, Then... (Christ and the Church)

 

 

The preceding forms the primary interpretation seen in Exodus chapter thirty-two, along with the recap seen in Deuteronomy chapter nine, providing additional information.  But there is a secondary application which can be easily seen in that which Scripture reveals about the Church.

 

 

The type in Exodus deals primarily with Israel at the end of the Jewish dispensation and immediately beyond (at the end of Daniel’s Seventy-Week prophecy [fulfilling the last seven years of the previous dispensation, the Jewish dispensation] and immediately beyond), and a secondary application would be seen in the type dealing with the Church at the end of the present dispensation and immediately beyond.

 

 

Scripture presents the same bleak picture pertaining to both Israel and the Church at the end of their respective dispensations - a condition in which Israel presently finds itself, which will continue on into and through the Tribulation (Daniel’s Seventieth Week, ending the Jewish dispensation); and a condition in which the Church as well presently finds itself, which will, in like manner, continue to the end of the present dispensation.

 

[Page 77]

1) Two Places in the New Testament

 

 

To depict the picture pertaining to the Church as it currently exists, since Exodus chapter thirty-two is being dealt with, we’ll begin doing it from that chapter first.  Then we’ll go to Matthew chapter thirteen and Revelation chapter three to provide some complementary, additional information to help complete the picture.

 

 

Christ, following events seen at His first coming, resulting in the necessity of the Church being brought into existence (a new entity called into existence to be the recipient of that which Israel had rejected, which had been taken from Israel - the proffered ‘kingdom of the heavens’), has gone back into the Mount, back to heaven (cf. Matt. 21: 33-45; 25: 14ff; Luke 19: 12ff.  And He is going to remain in the Mount, for a complete period of time, exactly as Moses remained in the Mount for a complete period of time in the type (Ex. 24: 18; Deut. 9: 9).

 

 

Prior to the end of that complete period of time (forty days in the type, 2,000 years in the antitype), when Christ returns for the Church, exactly as in the type, the Church will be seen in the same state as Israel before Moses came down from the Mount.  And though this would not normally be seen and recognized in today’s Christendom, the Church presently existing as Israel existed at the foot of the Mount during Moses’ day can be easily and clearly shown.

 

 

There are two places in the New Testament where a succinct, overall history of the Church throughout the dispensation is seen.  And this history is seen from God’s perspective, not from man’s.

 

 

One account was given during Christ’s earthly ministry in Matthew chapter thirteen, and the other account was given by John, in the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation following Christ’s ascension.  And the two accounts present matters from the some perspective, centering on that which would occur in Christendom throughout the 2,000-year dispensation relative to the proclamation of ‘the Word of the Kingdom,’ along with why this would occur.

 

 

2) The Matthew Thirteen Parables

 

 

The first four parables in Matthew chapter thirteen, recording [Page 78] the first of the two accounts of the history of the Church in the New Testament, have their setting in the previous chapter.  In chapter twelve, Christ had performed a number of supernatural signs, which had been rejected by the religious leaders and consequently the people at large.  And this rejection had gone to the point of ascribing the supernatural power through which these signs had been performed to Satan (vv. 9-30).

 

 

Then after Christ stated a number of things pertaining to the consequences of this rejection and blasphemy (vv. 31-45), a rejection which had reached an apex in Christ’s ministry, matters move into that seen in chapter thirteen, which begins:

 

 

The same day went Jesus out of the house and sat by the seaside. And great multitudes were gathered togetherunto him...” (vv. 1, 2a).

 

 

The picture is that of Jesus, because of the type rejection which He had previously experienced, leaving the house (the house of Israel) and going down by the seaside (going to the Gentiles).  This not only sets the stage for the parables about to follow but anticipates the mention of the Church in chapter sixteen and the announcement concerning the kingdom (the proffered kingdom, the kingdom of the heavens, the heavenly sphere of the kingdom) being taken from Israel and being offered to an entirely new entity in chapter twenty-one (previously introduced in chapter thirteen and then identified in chapter sixteen).

 

 

Then in chapter thirteen, the first four parables present the complete history of this new entity throughout the dispensation relative to the proclamation of that which had been rejected by Israel, taken from Israel, and offered to this new entity.

 

 

And the parables carry the reader from the point of fruit-bearing at the beginning of the dispensation to a completely leavened Church at the end of the dispensation.

 

 

Both the fruit-bearing and the leavening process have to be understood in relation to the subject matter at hand, the Word of the Kingdom - which is not only the announced subject matter in the chapter but the subject matter seen contextually as well.  The work of Satan and his angels, by sowing tares among the wheat (second parable) and eventually taking Christendom into the very realm which Satan and his angels occupied (world government [Page 79] among the nations [third parable]), not only stopped fruit-bearing but ultimately brought matters into the state seen in the fourth parable - a completely leavened Church.

 

 

And note once again the subject matter in these first four parables, along with who is being dealt with (the subject matter and identity of the one being dealt with are seen both textually and contextually).  The subject matter has to do with the work of Satan and his angels in relation to the Word of the Kingdom’, and this work is seen being done among Christians throughout the [present and apostate] dispensation.

 

 

Thus, these four parables present a history of Christendom throughout the dispensation, from God’s perspective, not man’s.  And this history has to do with that which Satan and his angels would be allowed to accomplish throughout 2,000 years of Church history in relation to the proclamation ofthe Word of the Kingdom among Christians - complete, total corruption.

 

 

(For additional information on the preceding, refer to the author’s book, MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM.)

 

 

3) Revelation Chapters Two and Three

 

 

These two chapters in the Book of Revelation present a dual word picture.

 

 

The central word picture presented is that of the removal of the Church and the appearance of Christians before Christ’s judgment seat at the end of the dispensation, seen in chapter one (vv. 10-18).  Then the subsequent two chapters (two and three) simply continue with the same subject matter from chapter one and present different facets of this judgment, both negative and positive.

 

 

But, continuing on into chapter four, beginning at the same place seen in chapter one (the removal of the Church at the end of the dispensation, the rapture), it appears evident that there is a secondary word picture seen in chapters two and three as well (ref. Chapter VII in the author’s book, THE TIME OF THE END).

 

 

These two chapters not only present the Church before Christ’s judgment seat but present a history of the Church throughout the dispensation, beginning with the Church in Ephesus, which left its “first love” (2: 4), and ending with the Church in Laodicea, which is seen as wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked (3: 17).

 

[Page 80]

And all of this is relative to the same thing previously seen in the Matthew thirteen parables - relative to the proclamation of ‘the Word of the Kingdom’ among Christians throughout the dispensation.  It can be no other way, for the latter account of Church history throughout the dispensation must be in complete agreement with the former account.

 

 

And this can easily be seen throughout the account.  There is an overcomer’s promise to each of the seven Churches in the seven short epistles making up these two chapters, and it is evident that these overcomer’s promises are millennial in their scope of fulfilment.

 

 

That is to say, though presented from a different perspective, everything is exactly the same as previously seen in the first four parables of Matthew chapter thirteen, which move toward the same goal.

 

 

The work of Satan and his angels attacking the proclamation of the ‘Word of the Kingdom is the subject matter throughout, whether in Matthew chapter thirteen or in Revelation chapters two and three.  And that which Satan and his angels are allowed to accomplish is the same in both - taking matters in Christendom from fruit-bearing, to leaving one’s first love, to seeing total and complete corruption existing in the Churches of the land.

 

 

(For additional information on the preceding, refer to the authors book, JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST.)

 

 

4) Satan and His Angels

 

 

The introduction of Satan in Scripture, in Gen. 3: 1ff, in association with the first man, the first Adam, presents an individual well-versed in the ways of God and that which God had said.  And exactly the same thing is seen in his interaction with the second Man, the last Adam in Matt. 4: 1ff, or anyplace else in Scripture where Satan’s activities are seen.

 

 

Satan uses the Word; and he knows full-well how to use the Word in a deceptive manner, evident at the beginning in Gen. 3: 1ff, establishing a first-mention principle at this early point in Scripture on how Satan will always appear.  He will always appear in a deceptive manner, and he will always, after some fashion. use the Word of God in his deception.

 

[Page 81]

In this respect, God has His deep things, and Satan has his deep things (1 Cor. 2: 10; Rev. 2: 24).  Satan uses the Word in this manner to counter that which the Word actually has to say, centering his attack upon that previously dealt with in the Books of 1, 2 Samuel (cf. 2 Cor. 4: 3-6).  And, to accomplish his purpose through the preceding means, Satan appears, as “an angel of light,” and his ministers “as the ministers of righteousness” (2 Cor. 11: 13-15).

 

 

Thus, if you want to find Satan and his ministers, don’t go to the entertainment centers of the world.  Go where the Word is being proclaimed.  And don’t look for Satan and his ministers the way that they are often depicted. Rather, look for those advocating what may appear to be messages associated with light and righteousness, not with messages associated with darkness and unrighteousness.

 

 

Look for Satan and his ministers occupying the chair of Bible in colleges and seminaries; look for them occupying the pulpits of the Churches of the land on Sunday morning, Sunday night.

 

 

They occupy these places to make certain that the one message Satan doesn’t want proclaimed is not proclaimed.  And how well Satan and his ministers have succeeded over time can easily be seen from the almost universal absence of this message [of the kingdom] from the Bible colleges, the seminaries, and the pulpits of the Churches of the land today.

 

 

And because, over time, the deep things of God have become so watered down with the deep things of Satan, the Churches have been left so emasculated that they have had to invite the world into the Church to maintain some semblance of attendance - their music, their message, their inclusion of entertainment, etc.  Conditions have become so bad that one often doesn’t know what is Christian and what is the world.

 

 

Thus, if an individual wants to see “the world” in which Satan and his angels dwell, the best place to look today would not be in the world’s entertainment centers but in the Churches.  That seen out in the world in which we live is not really the world in its true form, i.e., a form with respect to that associated with the central work of Satan and his angels.

 

 

And with that in mind, go back to the accounts of the golden calf in Exodus and the Church in Laodicea in Revelation, noting the words “naked” and “nakednessin both accounts (Ex. 32: 25; [Page 82] Rev. 3: 17, 18).  Aaron, through his actions, “had made them naked.”  And it is no different in the Churches of the land today.

 

 

In the type, the naked condition of the Israeli people was caused by the actions of the people’s spiritual leader.  And the same thing can only be seen among Christians in the Churches of the land.  Their spiritual leaders, through their [false interpretations of unfulfilled prophecy and] actions, have “made them naked.”

 

 

The same picture of harlotry - a forbidden association with the world - is seen in both instances.

 

 

And the end of the matter is then seen in Exodus chapter thirty-two.  There will be a future accounting in which everything associated with the world will be burned.  And the accounting for [all duped and kept in the dark] Christians in that coming [millennial] day will be completely in line with the accounting which the Israelites experienced under Moses.

 

 

And the entire matter will be with a view to exactly the same thing seen in the type - the [messianic and millennial] kingdom [and lost ‘inheritance’ through the peoples’ disobedience (Gal. 5: 21; Eph. 5: 5)] which will follow.

 

 

Concluding Remarks:

 

 

As seen, Scripture does not present a pretty picture of harlotry, particularly as it exists [within the God’s Churches and] among the [redeemed] people of God, whether existing in Israel’s affiliation with the world or with the Church’s affiliation with the world.

 

 

The One Who will not tarry, when the time arrives for Him to appear can only be at the door, for the time when He will appear is almost upon us.

 

 

That representing the people’s gods is about to be burned, ground to fine dust, cast into the waters flowing from the Mount, and the people made to drink.

 

 

Saul [together with all of his duped followers] is about to be put down, with his crown taken and given to David.  And David, with his faithful followers, is about to ascend the throne.

 

 

In short, a complete change in the government is about to occur, not just in Washington, nor in London, nor in Rome, nor in any other single city, but worldwide.  And this change will occur within a kingdom of righteousness which will be established on and over the earth, with its centre in the present war-torn Middle East, in Jerusalem.

 

 

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Ps. 122: 6).

 

 

*       *       *

 

[Page 83]

CHAPTER V

 

 

An Angel Standing in the Sun

 

ANNOUNCING THE GREAT SUPPER OF GOD

 

 

 

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war...

 

 

And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

 

 

And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves unto the supper of the great God;

 

 

That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

 

 

And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

 

 

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

 

 

And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh (Rev. 19: 11, 16-21).

 

[Page 84]

The first four chapters in this book have dealt principally with the harlot in Rev. 17: 1 - 19: 6 residing in the kingdom of the Beast, followed by the harlot’s destruction.  The first part of this closing chapter in the book will continue with a number of related thoughts on the same subject as the previous four chapters, then move on to Christ’s return and the destruction of the kingdom of the Beast.

 

 

God’s Two Firstborn Sons in the Old Testament

 

 

The introduction of the nation of Israel in Scripture, along with the supply of a continuing wealth of information pertaining to this nation, is seen at a time much earlier than man might think or imagine.

 

 

For example, in Ex. 12: 40, 41, Israel is seen sojourning in a land throughout the four hundred thirty years leading up to the beginning of the nation’s existence - a sojourn which began at the time Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees, thirty years prior to the birth of Isaac.

 

 

Or, in Heb. 7: 9, 10, Levi is seen as having paid tithes in the loins of Abraham (his great, great grandfather), at the time Abraham met Melchizedek in Genesis chapter fourteen (vv. 17-24), again, prior to the birth of Isaac.

 

 

Thus, a nation which would not exist until four hundred thirty years had passed is seen in the loins of Abraham at the time he left Ur at the age of seventy.  And matters regarding Israel in this respect can be taken back even farther than the preceding, much farther (e.g., Shem, nine generations preceding Abraham).

 

 

(For additional information in the preceding realm, refer to Chapter V1, “The Selfsame Day,” in the author’s book, WE ARE ALMOST THERE.)

 

 

Information regarding the nation of Israel begins in Genesis much earlier than Abraham’s birth in chapter eleven, or actually even the account of that stated about Shem in chapter nine.  Information regarding Israel in Scripture actually begins at that time when the Spirit of God moved upon the ruined creation in Gen. 1: 2b and continues from that point throughout the first 2,000 years of human history, preceding the birth of Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel (Gen. 1: 2b - 11: 26).

 

[Page 85]

References to or events pertaining to the nation, centuries and millenniums prior to the existence of the nation, can easily be seen in passages such as Gen. 3: 15 (the Seed of the woman [Israel]), or the typology of Cain and Abel (Gen. 4: 1ff), or that of Noah and his family passing through the Flood (Gen. 6: 1 - 8: 22), or that stated about Shem in relation to Ham and Japheth. (Gen. 9: 25-27).

 

 

But how can things pertaining to Israel be seen beginning with the earth’s restoration and continuing into man’s creation in the opening verses of chapter one?

 

 

Note five verses of Scripture in four New Testament books:

 

 

Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews (John 4: 22).

 

 

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

 

 

And he is before all things, and by him all things consist [‘all things have been established,’ ‘all things hold together’]” (Col. 1: 16, 17).

 

 

Hath in these last days spoken unto us by [‘in the person of’] his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds [‘brought into existence (arranged) the ages’]” (Heb. 1: 2).

 

 

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [the Beast], whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13: 8).

 

 

In the first of the preceding references, “salvation” is clearly stated to be “of the Jews.”  This is the nation which brought forth the Saviour, Who, in the fourth and last of the references, was “slain from the foundation of the world” (which takes one back to the time of Gen. 1: 2bff [cf. 1 Peter 1: 19, 20]).

 

 

(How can one son [Israel] be present at a time prior to that son's existence?  That has already been addressed after one fashion, but it can also be addressed by asking, How could the other Son [Christ] have been slain at a time prior to His incarnation and the events of Calvary?

 

 

Then, who slew Christ at the time seen in Rev. 13: 8 - “from the foundation of the world” [i.e., from the time of events in Gen. 1: 2bff]?  Only one person could possibly be seen as the slayer; only the other son could have committed this act, as seen in the typology of Cain slaying his brother, Abel, in Gen. 4.

 

[Page 86]

Christ was the Paschal Lamb, the paschal lamb was given to Israel [Ex. 12: 1ff], and only Israel could slay the paschal lamb.  It matters not whether the event occurred at the time of the restoration of the ruined material creation or 4,000 years later at Calvary.  The same two individuals - the same two Sons - have to be involved.  There is simply no other way for the event to occur at any time in history [ref. the author’s article, “Salvation Is of the Jews”].

 

 

Suffice it to say that “with God all things are possible” [Matt. 19: 26])

 

 

Then note the other two previously quoted references, the second and third references, which have to do with God’s actions in relation to the whole of the matter, with nothing occurring apart from His Son.

 

 

Any time God’s work is seen in Scripture (e.g., His restorative work occurring over six days time in Gen. 1: 2bff), His Son, slain from the foundation of the world,” has to be seen as well, for nothing has ever occurred or ever will occur apart from the Son.  And this is the One Whom the nation of Israel would bring forth and slay, though the Son both existed and was slain prior to this time.

 

 

Salvation” is not only “of the Jews,” but “Neither is there salvation in any other [a reference to the One Whom Israel brought forth]” (John 4: 22; Acts 4: 12) - inseparable references to both of God’s two firstborn Sons.

 

 

To separate God’s two firstborn Sons in Biblical studies (Ex. 4: 22, 23; Heb. 1: 6) - dealing with one apart from the other - is simply not possible.  This is one reason that the same Scriptures are, at times, used of both (e.g., Hos. 11: 1; Jonah 1: 17 [cf. Matt. 2: 15; 12: 38-40]); and to see one Son (Christ) apart from the other son (Israel) in the restoration account, beginning in Gen. 1: 2b, can only be a completely improper way to view the matter.

 

 

Beginning revelation pertaining to Israel has to be seen in Scripture in Gen. 1: 2bff, for the work was done completely in connection with and through the One in Whom salvation (restoration) lies; and this Son (Christ) cannot be separated from the other son (Israel), in whom salvation (restoration) lies as well.

 

 

Then, note Genesis chapter two where details pertaining to man’s creation in chapter one are given.  And these details have to do with the ‘bride’ being removed from the ‘body.

 

 

In the historical account, in the type, Adam was put to sleep, [Page 87] his side opened, and God took from his opened side a part of his body (a rib), from which he formed the woman, Eve.  Then God presented the woman back to the man as a helpmate; and, through this act, the woman, formed from a part of the man, completed the man.

 

 

And the antitype is easy to see.  The second Man, the last Adam, was put to sleep on the Cross, His side was opened, and out of His opened side flowed the two elements which God is presently using to form the bride - ‘blood and water’ - pointing to the present high priestly work of the Son (a cleansing, on the basis of His shed blood on the mercy seat in the heavenly sanctuary).

 

 

Then, once the bride has been removed from the body (the Spirit’s work during the present dispensation), and the bride subsequently revealed (through decisions and determinations resulting from the judgment seat), the ‘bride’, formed from a part of the Son’s ‘body’, will be presented back to the Son as a ‘co-heir’, a helpmate, helping the Son in His millennial rule; and, through this act, in line with both the type and Heb. 2: 10, the bride will complete the Son [during His millennial reign, in “the age to come” upon and over this restored earth, (Luke 2: 32. cf. Rev. 2: 25 with Heb. 6: 5ff. ; Rom. 8: 17-23, R.V.].

 

 

Now, note something about the preceding.  None of this can exist apart from Israel.  According to Romans chapter eleven, Gentiles, who do not have a God (Eph. 2: 11-13), have been grafted into the only nation with a God (through being “in Christ,” a Jewish Saviour [v. 24]), the nation which brought forth the Saviour, the only nation which could do so, for “salvation is of the Jews.”

 

 

Thus, Israel is not only seen in Genesis chapter one, but in chapter two as well.

 

 

Then the notion is seen throughout chapter three in the account of man’s fall, necessitating salvation, with the account of Israel slaying Christ in the typology of Cain slaying Abel in chapter four.  And material in chapter four, both before and after the account of Cain slaying Abel, provides a complete history of the nation of Israel, 2,500 years before the nation even existed.

 

 

Then, none of the events in chapters five through eight could have occurred apart from Israel being seen throughout - Enoch being removed from the earth alive, with Noah and his family then passing through the Flood, foreshadowing the Church being removed prior to Israel passing through the Tribulation.

 

[Page 88]

 

 

As previously seen, nothing occurs apart from the Son, which, in reality, as also previously seen, would have to include both Sons - both Christ and Israel.  And aside from the preceding, the typology surrounding Enoch couldn’t exist apart from Israel, for, apart from Israel, there could be no Church[-bride] to be removed in the antitype.

 

 

And this could be continued through subsequent chapters leading to Abraham’s birth (chs. 9-11a), but the preceding material should be sufficient to get the point across.  God’s work through One of His firstborn Sons simply cannot occur apart from the Other firstborn Son being seen as well.

 

 

(Note how this takes care of a quite-popular, erroneous teaching in Christendom today - the teaching that the Church has supplanted Israel in God’s plans and purposes, with God being through with Israel.

 

 

If something such as the preceding has occurred, after any fashion, then Christians can forget about everything, including their very salvation.

 

 

God’s work through One Son is not seen, it cannot exist, apart from the Other Son.  Apart from a connection with both Sons - a Jewish Saviour, brought forth by a Jewish nation, with Christians seen grafted into a Jewish trunk - there can be no salvation, or anything else, aside from eternal ruin and damnation [Rom. 11: 1-26].

 

 

And the truth of the preceding can be seen throughout the first eleven chapters of Genesis, then continuing with the birth of Abraham in Gen. 11: 27 and progressively moving throughout the Old Testament.

 

 

Note just one example - that of Shem, in relation to Ham and Japheth in Gen. 9: 25-27.  Shem was the only one of Noah’s three sons possessing a God.  The other two sons, without a God, could only possess a connection with God one way - by going to the son in possession of a God, by going to Shem and dwelling “in the tents of Shem [the words used in Scripture to denote the only way of partaking of that possessed by Shem].

 

 

Shem’s lineage in this respect can be traced through Abraham nine generations later, then through Isaac, Jacob, his twelve sons, and the nation of Israel.  All of the other nations on earth can trace their lineage through either Ham, Japheth, or Shem’s lineage through individuals other than Abraham Isaac, Jacob, and his twelve sons.

 

 

And, exactly the same conditions exist today in relation to the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth - conditions which can never change.  Israelis the only nation on the face of the earth with a God, all of the other nations are as described in Eph. 2: 11-13 [without a God [Page 89] (cf. Ps. 96: 5)], and the nations are left with only one choice if they would have any connection with or access to God.  They must go to the one nation with a God, to a Jewish Saviour Who is God.  There is no alternative.

 

 

Now, note what would happen if Shem were removed from the picture in Genesis chapter nine, or if the nation of Israel were removed from the picture today [which are two ways of saying the same thing].

 

 

That needs to be thought through - thought about long and hard - before giving credence to what so many Christians are stating today about God being through with Israel, seeing the Church replacing Israel in God’s plans and purposes.)

 

 

Now, keep the preceding thoughts pertaining to Israel in mind when moving through that part of the Book of Revelation dealing with the Tribulation and beyond, extending into the Millennium (6: 1 - 20: 6).

 

 

Scripture specifically refers to the Tribulation as “the time of Jacob’s troubleJer. 30: 7).  And the purpose for the Tribulation, in relation to this time of trouble, is to bring Jacob (Israel) to the place of repentance, in order that the six things listed in Dan. 9: 24 can be brought to pass.

 

 

Israel occupies centre-stage during this time.  And not only does Israel occupy a position of this nature at this time, but also during the time immediately following when Christ returns, along with the ensuing Millennium, and even during all of the ensuing ages beyond.

 

 

In the Old Testament, Israel is seen as the wife of Jehovah, who involved herself in harlotry (among other forms of disobedience), whom God divorced, and drove out among the nations to effect repentance.

 

 

And, as well, Israel is also seen in the Old Testament as the one who will one day be brought to repentance, restored as the wife of Jehovah, with God’s plans and purposes ultimately being worked out through this nation.

 

 

This is the complete story of Israel as presented in the Old Testament Scriptures, stated in a very succinct manner.

 

 

With that in mind, and with Scripture spending quite a bit of time in the Book of Revelation dealing with a harlot woman during “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Rev. 12: 1-17; 17: 1 - 19: 6) - completely in line with God dealing with a harlot woman during the same time in the Old Testament (Lev. 26: 39-42; Isa. 1: 21 - 2: 5; Jer. 3: 1 - 4: 31; 30: 1 - 31: 40; Ezek. 16: 1-63) - the proper identity of the [Page 90] harlot woman in the latter part of the Book of Revelation becomes a simple matter to ascertain.

 

 

In fact, as evident from the preceding, through comparing Scripture with Scripture, the Scriptures will clearly identify the harlot, leaving no room for anyone to question the harlot’s identity (refer to the previous four chapters in this book).

 

 

Revelation 17: 1 - 19: 6 provides exactly the same picture seen so many times in the Old Testament.  And apart from seeing this section of Scripture in the Book of Revelation dealing with this subject - i.e., seeing this section dealing with Israel relative to the nation’s harlotry [which is inseparably connected with God’s central purpose for having Israel pass through this time - to effect Israel’s repentance] - then Israel’s harlotry is not even seen being dealt with in this book.

 

 

This would put “the time of Jacob’s trouble” in the Book of Revelation completely out of line with the reason for the existence of this time.  In short, as previously seen, this would put the Book of Revelation out of line with Old Testament revelation.

 

 

In this respect, a correct, proper understanding of Rev. 17: 1 - 19: 6 cannot be overemphasized, which is why so much time has been spent in this book dealing with this section of Scripture.

 

 

Error, particularly at this point in the book, can lead to error elsewhere.  And the whole thing can end up causing a person to possess erroneous thoughts on other related passages of Scripture, sometimes numerous related passages, literally closing the Scriptures in this whole overall realm to one’s understanding.

 

 

Or, on the other hand, a correct handling of this section of Scripture can lead to correctly understanding numerous related passages of Scripture elsewhere, opening the Scriptures in this whole overall realm to one’s understanding.

 

 

The Scene in Heaven, The Heavens Opened, Then...

 

 

The scene in heaven over the harlot’s destruction - burned with fire - is one of rejoicing.  Only after this has occurred can matters continue to the point seen at the end of the chapter - the destruction of Gentile world power, with God’s purpose for bringing Israel into existence then being realized in all its fulness.

 

[Page 91]

(Note that events in Rev. 17: 1 - 19: 6 present a complete picture of the harlot in and of itself, which, time-wise in the text, begins about the middle of the Tribulation [Israel residing in the kingdom of the Beast after all seven heads have been crowned] and extends to that time when Israel is cleansed of the nation’s harlotry.

 

 

And Israel being cleansed of her harlotry [the harlot woman destroyed by fire, with the virtuous woman arising as a phoenix out of the ashes] will not occur until after Christ returns and the nation is dealt with in a final sense in this respect [probably by Elijah, who, along with Moses, will accompany Christ back to the earth].

 

 

For additional information about Moses and Elijah accompanying Christ when He returns, refer to the author’s book, COMING IN HIS KINGDOM, particularly Chs. III, IV.

 

 

The order of events relative to Israel will be:

 

 

1. Israel brought to the place of repentance near the end of the Tribulation [calling upon the God of their fathers for deliverance, though not knowing the identity of their Deliverer at this time].

 

 

2. Christ’s return [accompanied by Moses, Elijah, and the armies of heaven (angels)].

 

 

3. Subsequent dealings with Israel then brought to pass [which will include Israel’s salvation when they look upon the One Whom they pierced (Zech. 12: 10-14), Israel’s harlotry becoming a thing of the past, never to exist again (Jer. 30: 14-17; Rev. 19: 3), the restoration of the Jewish people to their land, and the theocracy restored to the house of Israel under a new covenant (Jer. 30: 18-22; 31: 8, 9, 31-33)].

 

 

Thus, don’t attempt to read Rev. 19: 1-21 in a completely chronological fashion, for the material has not been structured this way.  Nor has the whole of that seen in Rev. 6: 1 - 19: 21 been structured in a chronological fashion, which is where so many go astray in this book - trying to see a chronological sequence of events in places where they don’t and can’t exist.

 

 

A proper chronological sequence of the events seen occurring different places in the book is not necessarily seen in and ascertained from the passages themselves.  Rather, this chronology of events can be seen by comparing Scripture with Scripture - seeing a chronology of events as revealed elsewhere, allowing one to then know the proper sequence of the different events in Rev. 6: lff.)

 

[Page 92]

Revelation chapter nineteen presents two suppers which will occur following the close of the Tribulation (deipnon, the Greek word translated “supper” in both instances, refers to the principle meal of the day, usually observed toward evening).

 

 

In the first part of the chapter, immediately following the shouts of hallelujah and praise in heaven at the end of the Tribulation (vv. 1-6) - a jubilation, mainly because of Israel’s repentance, the destruction of the harlot, and the Son’s impending [Messianic] reign - the marriage supper of the Lamb is seen (vv. 7-9).

 

 

Then, immediately afterwards the heavens are opened, and Christ, as King of kings, and Lord of lords,” comes forth with His armies to tread “the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”  And this treading of the winepress on earth allows “the supper of the great God [lit. the great supper of God’]” to occur (vv. 11-21).

 

 

Thus, two successive suppers are seen in chapter nineteen - one in heaven preceding Christ’s return, and the other on earth following His return.  And the two suppers are completely different in nature, though both are inseparably connected with the Son’s impending [millennial] reign over the earth.

 

 

(The adjective, “great” [Gk., megas] in Rev. 19: 17, describing a supper [describing God in the KJV] is used eighty-two times in the Book of Revelation, describing numerous things [e.g., 1: 10; 2: 22; 5: 2,12; 6: 4, 10, 12, 13, 17].  The word megas though is never used to describe God in this book, unless this verse in ch. 19 is the exception.

 

 

A couple of Greek manuscripts do have the word megas describing “God” rather than “supper” in this verse [including the Textus Receptus, the main Greek text used for the KJV, accounting for the KJV translation].  However, the vast majority of manuscripts have the word megas describing “supper,” accounting for the translation, “the great supper of God,” in almost any English translation since the 1901 ASV.

 

 

The word megas appears one-hundred fourteen times throughout the rest of the N.T. [Matthew through Jude], and the word is used only seven times throughout this part of the N.T. to describe Deity - three times to describe Christ in Messianic passages [Matt. 5: 35; Luke 1: 32; Titus 2: 13], twice to describe Christ as High Priest [Heb. 4: 14; 10: 21], once to describe Christ as the great Shepherd of the sheep [Heb. 13: 20], and once [Page 93] by the Jewish people to describe Christ as a great Prophet [Luke 7: 16].

 

 

The Septuagint [Greek translation of the O.T.] uses megas mainly for a translation of the Hebrew word gadol.  This word is used some five hundred times in the O.T., but, as in the N.T., the word is used only sparingly to describe Deity [e.g., Ex. 18: 11; Deut. 7: 21; 10: 17; Ps. 47: 2; 99: 2; 138: 5].)

 

 

In connection with Christ returning through an opened heaven as King of kings, and Lord of lords to tread the winepress, an angel is seen standing in the sun (v. 17).  And this angel cries out with a loud voice to all the birds of the air (land animals as well in the same scene from Ezek. 39: 17) to come, gather together, and partake of “the great supper of God” - a supper which will consist of “the flesh of captains ... mighty men ... horses ... all men, both free and bond, both small and great ... the kings of the earth, and their armies” (vv. 18, 19a).

 

 

(In both Ezek. 39: 17 and Rev. 19: 17, the cry is to “all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven,” not just the carrion birds. And the same is true of the land animals in Ezek. 39: 17 - “every beast of the field.”

 

 

According to the scene presented when the third and fourth seals have been broken in Rev. 6: 5-8, depicting conditions during the latter part of the Tribulation, extending into the time of Christ’s return, hunger existing at that time will evidently be such that even all types of non-carnivorous birds and animals will be found partaking of this “great supper.”)

 

 

The angel standing in the sun, uttering this cry, stands within that used in a metaphorical sense in the Book of Revelation to symbolize the centre of governmental power (cf. Rev. 6: 12; 8: 12; 12: 1; 16: 8).  And the symbolism used in Rev. 19: 17 is introduced by and reflects back on the previous six verses, depicting Christ returning through an opened heaven as King of kings, and Lord of lords.”

 

 

The right to take the sceptre and rule the earth at this time will have previously been given to the Son by the Father (Dan. 7: 13, 14; Rev. 11: 15; cf. Dan. 4: 17, 25; 5: 18-21; Matt. 20: 23).  And the angel standing in the sun - standing in that symbolizing the central governing authority - is seen announcing this fact.

 

 

(A similar scene occurring at the time of Christ’s return was depicted earlier in the book, in Rev. 10: 1, 2 - the angel with the seventh [Page 94] trumpet, whose “face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire,” coming down from heaven and placing “his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth.”)

 

 

Then, from this point, the call goes out to all the birds of the air and the beasts of the field to come and feast upon that which is about to remain of Gentile world power when it comes against the King in Jerusalem, seeking to prevent Him from taking the sceptre and assuming the throne, seeking to prevent Him from assuming that which will then be rightfully His.*

 

[*All Anti-millennialists take note!  This is precisely what your false interpretations and demonic teachings are seeking to do! Ps. 2: 8; 110: 1-3; Luke. 1: 32. cf. Ezek. 3: 17; Jer. 5: 30, 31, R.V. with Col. 2: 8; 3: 25; Acts 20: 30ff. R.V.).]

 

 

Following this call, both the Beast and the False Prophet are taken and cast alive into the lake of fire.  Then the Gentile armies of the earth - which will have dared to follow the Beast, as he led them against the King in Jerusalem, along with restored Israel in the land - will be trodden under foot as Christ treads the winepress (vv. 19-21; cf. Rev. 14: 14-20; 16: 13-16).

 

 

These armies will consist of such vast numbers in that day - myriads of myriads, referring to large indefinite numbers (Rev. 9: 16) - that blood will either flow in places or be splattered to a depth or degree coming up to a horse’s bridle.  And this slaughter will extend over a distance of about one hundred and eighty miles (Rev. 14: 20).

 

 

This is how the Times of the Gentiles will be brought to a close when Christ returns - centrally because of the outworking of the principles set forth in Gen. 12: 1-3 and Israel’s God-appointed position among the nations in Gen. 9: 26, 27; Ex. 4: 22, 23.  And the manner in which this will occur results in that which Scripture refers to as “the great supper of God,” with trampled Gentile world powers left on the mountains and plains of Israel for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field to devour.

 

 

A Succinct Account, A Previously Detailed Account

 

 

It may appear strange to some reading Rev. 19: 17-21 that no more space or detail has been given at this point in the book to that which will occur relative to Gentile world power when Christ returns.  After all, this is the grand climax of some 2,600 years of Gentile rule with Israel about to take the sceptre and realize her [Page 95] God-appointed position among the nations, which was made known through Moses almost 3,500 years ago (Gen. 9: 26, 27; Ex. 4: 22, 23).  But the whole of the matter at this climactic place in the Book of Revelation is stated in a very succinct manner - five verses, or a total of eleven verses if one begins with Christ returning through the opened heavens in verse eleven.

 

 

Previously in this book, the same subject was dealt with several times after somewhat the same succinct manner (ref. 9: 13-21; 14: 14-20; 16: 12-16).  Just the bare facts are given any place in the book, with very little added detail.  Again, the lack of space and detail given to this climactic end of the Times of the Gentiles in a book which brings Scripture to a close, completing God’s revelation to man, may appear strange to some. But that should not be the case at all.

 

 

The space and detail concerning the matter has already been given throughout numerous passages in the Old Testament, passages covering whole chapters at times.  In fact, this is the direction toward which everything moves throughout all ten chapters of the Book of Esther, or all twelve chapters of the Book of Daniel, with Israel emerging in the end as the nation holding the sceptre once again.

 

 

The whole of the matter is a major subject of Old Testament prophecy, and everything about how the Times of the Gentiles will end has already been covered by prophet after prophet in minute detail.  If all the Scriptures written about this subject in the Old Testament were brought together, one would have a word picture so complete and detailed that it would defy description.

 

 

Thus, when arriving at this closing place in the Book of Revelation - the book closing the complete canon of Scripture - nothing needs to be given beyond a simple announcement and description, connecting that stated with the Old Testament Scriptures.

 

 

The same thing could be said about the 1,000-year reign of Christ in the following chapter.  The whole of the matter - from events which will occur following the binding of Satan at the beginning of the Millennium to events which will occur preceding the loosing of Satan at the end of the Millennium (vv. 1-3, 7ff) - is stated in three verses (vv. 4-6).

 

 

Why only three verses to cover events during 1,000 years of [Page 96] time which the whole of creation has been moving toward since the restoration of the earth and man’s creation and fall 6,000 years ago?

 

 

The answer is the same as that previously seen concerning the lack of detail in this book surrounding the end of the Times of the Gentiles.  All of the events surrounding the coming 1,000-year reign of Christ have already been covered by prophet after prophet in minute detail throughout the Old Testament, beginning in the opening two chapters of Genesis.  And all that needs to be stated in this closing book of Scripture is simply an announcement that the time which the prophets had previously spoken about has now come.

 

 

And exactly the same thing could be said concerning a word picture drawn from the Old Testament Scriptures pertaining to Christ’s millennial reign that was previously said about a word picture drawn from the Old Testament Scriptures pertaining to the end of the Times of the Gentiles.  If all the Scriptures in the Old Testament bearing on Christ’s millennial reign were brought together, one would, as well, have a word picture so complete and detailed that it would defy description.

 

 

Thus, if details are needed about the end of the Times of the Gentiles, as well as Christ’s millennial reign, the Old Testament is the place to go, not the Book of Revelation.  By the time John wrote the Book of Revelation, the prophets had already spoken and provided all of the details which God wanted man to know.  And, accordingly, the Spirit of God simply moved John to provide, in a very brief manner, comments on that which had already been provided in great detail.

 

 

These comments would be comparable to placing a brief epitaph on a tombstone on the one hand (the end of the Times of the Gentiles) and placing a brief caption on a picture of a sunrise on the other hand (the beginning of the Son’s millennial reign).

 

 

The Old Testament closes in Malachi chapter four after a manner covering the same subject in essentially the same succinct way that it is covered in the Book of Revelation.  And this would be for the same reason seen in the Book of Revelation. When one arrives at this chapter in Malachi, the prophets have already spoken, [Page 97] and nothing further needs to be added.

 

 

The first verse of this final chapter in Malachi reflects on the end of Gentile world power, and the second verse reflects on Christ’s subsequent reign, with the remaining four verses dealing with both, but ending with the latter.

 

 

And that is exactly what is seen in chapters nineteen and twenty of the Book of Revelation, preceding the eternal ages beginning in chapter twenty-one.

 

 

Israel and the Nations - Old Testament, New Testament

 

 

The picture concerning Israel presented by Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets throughout the Old Testament is that of a nation separated and set apart from all the other nations for purposes having to do with these nations.  And these purposes had to do with the salvation and blessings of those comprising all the other nations, as Israel became God’s witness to these nations and exercised the rights of the firstborn, within a theocracy, in the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (cf. Gen. 12: 1-3; 13: 14-18; 15: 5-21; Ex. 4: 22, 23; 19: 5, 6; Isa. 43: 1-10).

 

 

All of this was in the offing under Moses and Joshua as Israel was led out of Egypt and established in the land within a theocracy.  This is how Israel was to serve God as His firstborn son (Ex. 4: 23).

 

 

And that which occurred over centuries of time (about eight hundred years) - a refusal to be God’s witness (e.g., Jonah in the type, refusing to go to Nineveh), further disobedience, harlotry - resulted in God eventually uprooting His people from their land, driving them out among the nations to effect repentance, and removing the sceptre from Israel’s hand and giving it to the Gentiles.

 

 

This is one major subject seen throughout the Old Testament.  But there is another major subject seen throughout the Old Testament as well, having to do with Israel’s repentance and restoration, followed by a realization of the nation’s calling as set forth in the beginning.  And this, of course, necessitates the end and destruction of Gentile world power, with the theocracy being restored to Israel and the sceptre being returned to Israel.

 

[Page 98] All of the different facets of this whole overall story - past, present, and future - can be seen different places throughout Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets.  Each writer presents different things about different parts of a word picture which can be seen in its completeness, exactly as God desires man to see it, only by comparing Scripture with Scripture.

 

 

No one book presents the complete picture.  This is seen only by bringing together that which the Spirit of God moved all of the Old Testament writers to record (cf. 2 Peter 1: 20, 21).

 

 

This is what the Old Testament is about, and there is an emphasis throughout the Old Testament on the latter part of the story - Israel’s restoration, the nation realizing her calling, and the Gentile nations of the earth subsequently being reached by and blessed through Israel.  And this emphasis, of necessity, involves a previous end to the Times of the Gentiles and the destruction of Gentile world power.

 

 

This is seen in typology beginning as early as the Flood during Noah’s day in Genesis chapters six through nine, or the destruction of Nimrod’s Babylonian kingdom in Genesis chapter eleven, or the battle of the kings during Abraham and Melchizedek’s day in Genesis chapter fourteen.  That seen in later Scripture in Psalms chapters two and eighty-three would be two other accounts, presented in a different manner; and that seen in Isaiah chapter fourteen would be another.  Then there’s the Book of Daniel, which presents different facets of the matter throughout, continuing through the minor Prophets.

 

 

An almost endless list of other similar references could be cited, and many are dealt with in earlier parts of this book.

 

 

The Old Testament, in this respect, is a treasure trove of information revealing the mind of One with infinite wisdom and knowledge - the One Who created and exercises sovereign control over all things - as He makes known His plans and purposes regarding man, the earth, and ultimately the universe.

 

 

It has all lain in the bosom of the Old Testament for millenniums, and all who have mined its treasures throughout this time have taken nothing away.

 

 

All is still exactly where Moses and the Prophets left it after penning this Word, and all is still exactly where any and all who have mined its treasures have left this Word as well.

 

 

*       *       *

[Page 99]

 

APPENDIX I

 

 

The Woman in Revelation

 

A Regal-Clad Woman, a Harlot Woman

 

 

 

And there appeared a great wonder [‘sign’] in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars...

 

 

And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three score days” (Rev. 12: 1, 6).

 

 

And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

 

 

With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

 

 

So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns...

 

 

And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

 

 

For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

 

 

And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over [lit., which possesses kingly authority over’] the kings of the earth (Rev. 17: 1-3, 16-18).

 

[Page 100]

Revelation 6: 1 - 19: 21, a section comprising most of the Book of Revelation, has to do with events surrounding Israel and the nations - events which will shortly occur on the earth, lasting slightly over seven years.

 

 

Events during and immediately following these seven years - having to do with events immediately preceding Christ’s return (events during the seven years, during the Tribulation) and with events immediately following Christ’s return (events immediately following the Tribulation but preceding the Millennium, evidently during a 75-day period [Dan. 12: 11-13]) - will bring matters to completion during Man’s 6,000-year Day, ushering in the Lord’s 1,000-year Day.

 

 

These events, bringing Man’s Day to a close, had previously been seen throughout Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets; and these events dealt centrally with a woman, Israel, the wife of Jehovah, who was given regal authority over the nations within a theocracy (Ex. 4: 22, 23; 19: 5, 6), with this woman seen to have later departed from her exalted position, becoming involved in a forbidden, adulterous relationship with the nations (Isa. 1: 21; Jer. 3: 1-11).

 

 

The Old Testament is replete with information pertaining to God dealing with this harlot woman, over centuries and millenniums of time, with a view to the woman ultimately being cleansed of her harlotry and then realizing the regal position to which she had been called (Isa. 1: 25 - 2: 4; Jer. 3: 12-25).

 

 

Then, in complete conformity with the preceding, the Book of Revelation - dealing with events during and immediately beyond the last seven years of Man’s Day, events toward which all Scripture regarding Israel and the nations move (whether O.T. or N.T) - this closing book of Scripture could only be seen dealing extensively with the same woman previously seen throughout the Old Testament.

 

 

No other central subject could possibly be in view and remain in line with that previously set forth time and time again throughout the Old Testament.

 

 

And, in complete conformity with the preceding, this woman in Revelation - exactly as set forth in the Old Testament, for it can only be the same woman - could only be one possessing a God-given regal authority over the nations, though one not presently exercising that authority, but, instead, estranged from God and involved [Page 101] in harlotry, with cleansing ultimately occurring.

 

 

And the former part of the preceding is exactly what is seen in chapter twelve (also in ch. 17), and the latter part of the preceding is exactly what is seen beginning in chapter seventeen and continuing through the first part of chapter nineteen.

 

 

Placing the information in these four chapters together after this fashion is, for it can only be, in complete conformity to any and all things in the Old Testament having to do with this same subject matter.

 

 

The Woman in Revelation 12: 1-17

 

 

The woman in chapter twelve is identified several different ways.  One way is seen in the opening verse, through ascribing to the woman regality in relation to the nations (exactly as seen of Israel in the O.T. at the time of the nation’s inception [Ex. 4: 22, 23; 19: 5, 6]).

 

 

Another way is seen through the woman giving birth to the manchild (the 144,000 Jewish evangels in chs. 7, 14, who will proclaim the gospel of the kingdom to the nations worldwide during the last half of the Tribulation [Matt. 24: 13, 14; Rev. 12: 17; 14: 1-7]).

 

 

And a third way is seen through the woman fleeing into the wilderness in the middle of the Tribulation, shortly after giving birth to the man-child (in complete keeping with that seen happening to Israel at this time in the three synoptic gospels [Matt. 24: 15ff; Mark 13: 14ff; Luke 21: 20ff]).

 

 

Metaphors are used extensively throughout Scripture, which is one of the ways God has structured His Word, and Revelation chapter twelve is filled with this type language.

 

 

Note the three central personages - the woman, the dragon, and the man-child.  The woman” is not a literal woman, but is used referring to Israel; the dragon” is not a literal dragon, but is used referring to Satan; and “the man-child” is not a literal man, but is used referring to the 144,000.

 

 

(“The man-child” is identified far more often than not as Christ by expositors, but such an identification can only be seen as erroneous by the use of metaphors throughout.  Aside from that, textually, the man-child is seen brought forth during the Tribulation, just before the [Page 102] middle, following Satan being cast out of heaven but before the Jews in the land flee into the wilderness.)

 

 

Then note the use of heavenly bodies - the sun, moon, and stars - in this same metaphorical respect.  The manner in which the woman appears in verse one - clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars upon her head - forms an allusion back to Joseph’s second dream in Gen. 37: 9, 10, depicting regality in both Genesis and Revelation.

 

 

The sun, moon, and stars are used in this same metaphorical respect both places.  In Genesis, they are used relative to Joseph ruling over his family; in Revelation, they are used relative to the woman, Israel, ruling over the nations (possessing regal authority over the nations at this time, with a view to occupying that position yet future).

 

 

Regality, as seen in the preceding, is a position which Israel has not only held since the inception of the nation during Moses’ day, 3,500 years ago, but will always hold.  And the Book of Revelation - dealing with over three millenniums of Israeli history brought to fruition, in complete conformity with that previously seen in Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets - takes the matter on into that coming day when Israel ascends the throne and rules the nations.

 

 

For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance [without a change of mind, irrevocable]” (Rom. 11: 29).

 

 

God will not, He cannot, change His mind concerning the reason that He called Israel into existence - something which will be worked out and realized in the immediate future, for we are almost at the end of Man’s Day.

 

 

In line with the preceding, Bible teachers who deal with the Book of Revelation today, with few exceptions, correctly identify “the woman” in chapter twelve as Israel.

 

 

However, exactly the opposite is true when it comes to the identity of the woman in Rev. 17: 1 - 19: 6.  Almost without exception, not a single one of these same Bible teachers will identify “the woman” in these chapters as Israel.  In fact, there is often an [Page 103] overt aversion to this type identification among these individuals, usually attempting to identify “the woman” with the Church of Rome, or with some other type false religious system in the end time.

 

 

But, suppose we stay in line with Rom. 3: 4, which, contextually, is about Israel - “yea, let God be true, but every man a liar” and see what Scripture has to say instead!

 

 

The Woman in Revelation 17: 11 - 19: 6

 

 

The woman reappearing in chapter seventeen is, as back in chapter twelve, identified several different ways. And, in one respect, this identity is made even clearer when the woman reappears in this chapter.

 

 

Scripture does something in chapter seventeen concerning the identity of the woman which is not seen in chapter twelve.  In Rev. 17: 18, the woman is clearly identified by name - “And the woman which thou sawest is...”  Then, the verse goes on to connect this woman with the same regal authority seen back in chapter twelve.  The verse in this respect states, “which reigneth over [lit., ‘which possesses kingly authority over’] the kings of the earth.”

 

 

The woman is first clearly identified in a direct statement: “The woman which thou sawest is that great city...” (v. 18a).

 

 

That great city” is used nine times in chapters eleven through eighteen; and the first usage identifies the city as “Jerusalem” (11: 8), with “Jerusalem,” seen inseparably related to its people in Scripture and often used as a synonym for the Jewish people, for Israel (cf. Isa. 1: 21; Lam. 1: 7-9; Matt. 23: 37-39; Luke 13: 33-35).

 

 

In short, in the light of related Scripture, Rev. 17: 18 should be understood as, The woman which thou sawest is Israel.”  And the remainder of the verse - “the one possessing kingly authority over the kings of the earth” - further substantiates this identity, for this statement, completely in line with Rev. 12: 1, could not possibly be used of anyone on the earth at this time other than Israel.

 

 

Then note another connection from chapter twelve, seen earlier in that stated about the woman in chapter seventeen.  In chapter twelve, the woman flees into “the wilderness” in the middle of the Tribulation (vv. 6, 14).

 

[Page 104]

But, where is “the wilderness” - from a Greek word (eremos) used in Scripture of places both in and out of the land of Israel (e.g., John 1: 23; 3: 14)?

 

 

In chapter seventeen, the woman is seen in “the wilderness,” the eremos (v. 3), which is identified with Gentile nations in the kingdom of the Beast (vv. 1, 15).

 

 

And this is completely in line with the place where the woman flees in Matt. 24: 16 (cf. Luke 21: 21) - “into the mountains” - with “mountains” used in Scripture as a metaphor for “kingdoms” (i.e., Gentile nations in this case [Isa. 2: 1-5; Matt. 16: 28 - 17: 5]).

 

 

Or this is completely in line with the type in Jonah - Jonah, in the fish, out in the sea, with “the sea” used as a metaphor for the nations (Dan. 7: 2, 3; Matt. 13: 1; Rev. 13: 1).

 

 

And it is clear that the time element beginning chapter seventeen is during the last half of the Tribulation. Thus, chapter seventeen simply continues where chapter twelve left off.

 

 

And chapters seventeen through the first part of nineteen take one to the end of the matter - the harlot ultimately burned with fire, bringing about a final and complete end to Israel’s harlotry (17:16, 17; 18: 1 - 19: 3), allowing the nation to realize her calling (12: 1; 17: 18), resulting in rejoicing in heaven (19 : 4-6).

 

 

(For more information on the preceding, refer to Chapters II, III, and Appendix II in this book.)

 

 

*       *       *

 

[Page 105]

Appendix II

 

 

A Place in the Wilderness

 

The Place Where Israel Will Flee in the Tribulation

 

 

 

Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation [the Tribulation] be overpast.

 

 

For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity...” (Isa. 26: 20, 21a).

 

 

Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.  And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights (Jonah 1: 17).

 

 

When ye therefore see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

 

 

Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains” (Matt. 24: 15, 16; cf. Luke 21: 20, 21).

 

 

And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

 

 

And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three score days...

 

 

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

 

 

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent” (Rev. 12: 5, 6, 13, 14).

 

 

[Page 106]

The preceding Scriptures - from four different books, two from the Old Testament (Isaiah and Jonah) and two from the New Testament (Matthew and Revelation) - are the main verses one would normally go to when dealing with that which will happen to the Jews in the land of Israel (presently about 6,000,000) when events surrounding the man of sin, the Beast, breaking his seven-year covenant with Israel begin to occur.

 

 

The Scriptures, or That Often Taught?

 

 

First, it is important to understand that the Jewish people are not back in the land in fulfilment of any type Old Testament restoration promises.  That is, they are not back in the land through any type fulfilment of promises pertaining to God regathering His people back to the land.

 

 

(The preceding would be contrary to much present popular thought in Christian circles.  Most Christians today, seeking to deal with and understand things about Israel and the nations in the Middle East - many aligning themselves after some fashion with what is often called “Christian Zionism” - see the establishment of the Jewish nation May 14,1948 and the continuous migration of Jews back to the land since that time as God restoring His people to the land in accordance with His numerous promises in the O.T. to one day do so [Ezek. 39: 25-29; Amos 9: 11-15].

 

 

And many of these see a gradual reclamation of parts of the land, mainly for agricultural purposes, as God also restoring the land as well, again, in accordance with His promises to do so [Lev. 26: 42; 2 Chron. 7: 14].

 

 

A number of other Bible students though would somewhat draw back from the all-inclusiveness of the preceding - because of the Jewish people’s present unbelieving and unrepentant state - and see God restoring His people to their land only in accordance with certain, particular O.T. promises to do so.  They would see God restoring His people in accordance with a handful of promises which they look upon as a restoration of the people in unbelief, to then be dealt with by God in or near the land [e.g., in Petra] relative to their salvation, with the Messianic Era in view [e.g., sections such as Isa. 11: 11, 12; Ezek. 20: 33-38; 22: 17-22; 36: 22-28; Zeph. 2: 1-3 are those usually referenced].

 

 

Thus, one might say that there are two groups within the one larger group.  Both though are making the same basic mistake, for THERE ARE [Page 107] NO SCRIPTURES having to do with God restoring any of the Jewish people prior to the time of Christ’s return.  Both groups take different Scriptures having to do with events surrounding Israel following Christ’s return and seek to apply them to events occurring since May 14, 1948.

 

 

[The verses previously cited, used by those seeing God regathering a segment of the Jewish people in unbelief, are actually verses pertaining to God dealing with the Jewish people either during or following the Tribulation, mainly with activities following the Tribulation, having to do with a fulfilment of the things depicted by the seven Jewish festivals in Lev. 23.

 

 

These verses, in this respect, have to do mainly with the national conversion and cleansing of the Jewish people, among other related things, at the time of Christ’s return.  And these things will occur following Man’s Day, at the beginning of the Lord’s Day].

 

 

All of this misunderstanding, misrepresentation of Scripture - resulting in an erroneous teaching of Scripture - could have been prevented had these individuals paid attention to the O.T. types, the Jewish festivals, and the plain reading of Scripture in the light of that revealed by the Prophets concerning the matter.  But all has seemingly been thrown to the winds, with the result in the matter where we are today.

 

 

The heavens remain closed relative to God’s dealings with the Jewish people today, and they will not again open until He has concluded His dealings with the Church during the present dispensation and has removed the Church.

 

 

[Note, for example, the typology of Jacob and Laban, when the heavens remained closed from Gen. 28: 15 to Gen. 31: 3, during the entire time of Jacob’s exile - extending to a time when he had acquired all of Laban’s wealth (cf. Isa. 60: 1-12). ONLY THEN did God speak to Jacob relative to a return to his land].

 

 

Thus, with the heavens closed, the return of Jews back to the land since the establishment of the nation in the late ’40s can, of course, have NOTHING to do with any type restoration of the people in accordance with any of the O.T. Prophets.  God simply is NOT dealing with [speaking to] Israel in such a respect today, which His having a part in any type restoration would necessitate.

 

 

Rather, the present migration of Jews to the land has to do with [Page 108] God allowing the Jewish people to rise up and seek to emancipate themselves - apart from their Messiah, in their present unbelieving and unrepentant state - and re-enter an “empty, swept, and garnished” house.  And God has allowed this to occur in order to bring about end-time events relative to Israel and the nations [Matt. 12: 43-45; 23: 37-39].

 

 

But, seeking to relate all of this to any type O.T. prophecies concerning God speaking to Israel at a time when the heavens are closed is an entirely different matter.  It hasn’t happened and it’s not happening for the simple reason that, from a Biblical standpoint, IT CAN’T HAPPEN!

 

 

[For additional information on the preceding, note the author’s books, ISRAEL - FROM DEATH TO LIFE and MIDDLE EAST PEACE -HOW? WHEN?].)

 

 

Now, dealing with the subject of the Jewish people being uprooted from their land and fleeing into “the wilderness” in the middle of the Tribulation, when the man of sin turns against them (i.e., the Jews presently in the land, some 6,000,000 today), why has so much time been spent on the way a large segment of Christendom looks upon that which has been happening since 1948?

 

 

The answer is because of a major way that these individuals, on both sides of the issue, view Scriptures pertaining to the woman fleeing into the wilderness, along with the reason why they view them this way.

 

 

These individuals see the Jewish people presently in the land - not necessarily all of those in the land, but large numbers - forming some type remnant which will flee to a designated place in the land, there be protected from harm, be furnished with the necessities of life, and be dealt with by God during the last half of the Tribulation.

 

 

And they, in a respect, find themselves somewhat forced into this position, for they see God having brought the Jewish people back into the land in order to deal with them, after a particular fashion, in the land (or nearby, e.g., in Petra) rather than out among the nations.

 

 

Then, beyond that, as previously stated, some see the present returning Jews as a people who can never again be uprooted from their land.

 

 

Scenarios concerning any of the preceding though are built on previous error and are as far removed from that which Scripture [Page 109] has to say about the matter as the previous error - i.e., their prior position concerning God speaking to the Jewish people today, when the heavens are closed, restoring them to their land (whether in unbelief, or in any other fashion).

 

 

And since the preceding is what so many [duped] Bible teachers believe and teach, and what so many Christians are confronted with by these numerous Bible teachers today, it has all been laid out before presenting the simple truth of the matter.

 

 

So, What Does Scripture Say?

 

 

The matter regarding Israel fleeing into the wilderness, where they will flee - i.e., the location of “the wilderness” - is quite plainly stated in Scripture.  And one wonders how anyone could ever miss it, though the reason so many miss it is obvious.

 

 

When the manner in which God has structured Old Testament history is ignored (which is highly typical), leaving one ignoring a large section of God’s Word, one reason is provided.  How God uses metaphors, which in this case are ignored as well, another reason is provided.  Then there is the matter of comparing Scripture with Scripture, which, in this case, is also ignored.

 

 

Thus, without using the means which God has provided in His Word, what can one expect but the error which has resulted?!

 

 

The truth of the matter is all very simple.  Take the type in Jonah, the reference in Matthew, the reference in Revelation, compare Scripture with Scripture, bring in other related Scriptures, keep in mind how God uses metaphors, and Scripture sets forth the whole of the matter for you.

 

 

In the middle of the Tribulation the Jewish people in the land are said to flee into “the wilderness” in Rev. 12: 6, 14.  The word “wilderness” is a translation of the Greek word eremos, and “wilderness” is a good translation.  The word is used in the New Testament referring to desolate places both in and out of the land of Israel (John 1: 23; 3: 14).

 

 

And, aside from the two usages of the word in Revelation chapter twelve, it is used only one other time in this book, referring to the same regal woman, though now seen as a harlot, out among the [Page 110] Gentile nations (Rev. 17: 3; cf. 12: 1ff; 17: 1, 15, 18).

 

 

The scene presented in Rev. 17: 1ff is clearly that of Israel following the nation’s flight into the wilderness back in chapter twelve - now out among the nations, in the kingdom of the Beast.

 

 

And both Matthew and Jonah present exactly the same picture, seen from different perspectives.

 

 

In Matthew, instead of “the wilderness” it is “the mountains,” with “a mountain” used in Scripture to metaphorically signify a kingdom (cf. Isa. 2: 1-5; Matt. 16: 28 - 7: 5).  And with “mountains” (plural) in view, the text can only point to the Gentile nations.

 

 

And this is perfectly in line with Jonah, typifying Israel, being swallowed by the great fish and there protected by God.  The fish was in the sea, with “the sea” used as a metaphor for the Gentile nations (cf. Dan. 7: 2, 3; Matt. 13: 1; Rev. 13: 1).

 

 

And, as Jonah, so Israel - in the sea, out among the nations, in the place which God had originally prepared for Israel, where He will protect and care for the nation.

 

 

Thus, Scripture is quite clear.  In the middle of the Tribulation when the Beast breaks his covenant with Israel, the Jews in the land will be driven back out among the nations, where God had originally driven them in order to deal with them relative to repentance.

 

 

They will be driven back out where the remainder of world - Jewry resides - some 7, 000, 000 to 8, 000, 000 more Jews, and there God will deal with all of them together - the complete nation, in the kingdom of the Beast.

 

 

And it is here, out among the nations, in the Diaspora, that God will bring His people through the fire, providing for and protecting them, as seen in Rev. 12: 14 - not necessarily as individuals, for over 9,000,000 (by today’s count) will perish - but as a nation.  For the nation, with God residing in the nation’s midst, where He has always been, cannot perish, else God Himself would have to perish as well (cf. Ex. 3: 1-7; Dan. 3: 19-27).

 

 

*       *       *

 

[Page 111]

Appendix III

 

 

O Sleeper, Arise, Call...”

 

Unrest in the Middle East - the Cause, the Solution

 

 

 

The reason” for all of the unrest in the Middle East, which has spilled over into the world at large, is singular.

 

 

And “the solution” for what appears to be an intractable problem existing in that part of the world, though seen to some extent worldwide, is singular as well.

 

 

Then, there is something else.  This unrest, with all which it creates and fosters (fear, destruction, death, etc.) is not going to somehow go away over time.  In fact, exactly the opposite will occur.  Because of the reason that this unrest exists, it can only continue to get worse with time.

 

 

Then, beyond the preceding there is something else.  No one can do anything about the existing unrest, except possibly make it worse by trying to do something.

 

 

All of man’s best efforts (e.g., present peace efforts of the U.S. Secretary of State) can only go for naught, possibly even worsening the existing situation (something which will become evident when one understands what is really happening in the Middle East and the world at large today).

 

 

Though the preceding is true, there is a solution to the problem.  And that solution was given during a storm by the person in charge of a ship out on the Mediterranean Sea 2,800 years ago, recorded in the Book of Jonah.

 

 

The solution - echoed by this mariner to a Jewish prophet, Jonah, after being awakened from his sleep down in the hold of [Page 112] the ship - is made up of ten words in the English text (KJV), seven words in the Hebrew text: What Meanest thou, O Sleeper? Arise, Call upon thy God!” (1: 6b).

 

 

History, Non-Understanding of All the Unrest

 

 

The complete history of all the unrest centered in the Middle East and extending out from there into the world at large - extending through past centuries into millenniums and continuing down to the present time - was told in a very succinct manner 2,800 years ago by Jonah in the opening five verses of the small four-chapter book bearing his name.

 

 

But, who pays; attention to a Jewish prophet who lived and wrote almost three millenniums ago?

 

 

The world at large, of course, couldn’t be expected to read and understand the Book of Jonah, for this book has not been written to or for them.  Scripture has been structured in a particular manner; and, because of its origin and the manner in which it was given, Scripture is spiritually discerned, written to and for those capable of understanding it.

 

 

But, shouldn’t those capable of spiritual understanding, particularly the Bible teachers, be seeing the truth about the matter and at least be calling attention to what is really happening in the world today?

 

 

They should, but, almost without exception, they’re not doing so.  And the reason that they are not doing so is very simple.  Because of an existing problem, they, in reality, know little more about what is actually happening than the world knows about it.

 

 

In fact, many of today’s Bible teachers often, unknowingly, teach things militating against any type correct understanding of the existing problem by some of their false [prophetic] teachings in this realm.

 

 

This would particularly be true concerning their teachings about present-day Zionism and the Jewish people in the Middle East - proclaiming that this Zionistic movement has to do with God presently restoring the Jewish people to a restored land in accordance with Old Testament prophecy.

 

 

Possibly no other teaching militates against and destroys the [Page 113] truth about the matter more so than does this one false teaching, for it places the Jewish people in a completely wrong light.  And when this is done, one might as well forget about correctly understanding numerous things having to do with Israel and the nations in end-time Biblical prophecy.

 

 

And there is a reason why the situation exists in the preceding manner.  Numerous Bible teachers today have little to no understanding of the different ways God has structured His Word, particularly the Old Testament.

 

 

Old Testament history, for example, is highly typical.  And this structure of Old Testament history is often not understood at all, leaving one disdaining or ignoring the types.

 

 

And disdaining or ignoring this central way in which God has structured His Word - revealing innumerable things concerning His plans and purposes through this means - leaves one, in actuality, disdaining or ignoring large parts of God’s revelation to man.

 

 

And any Bible teacher following suit does so not only to his own detriment but to the detriment of any and all sitting under his ministry.

 

 

Oh what blessed truths people deny unto themselves by their refusal to study the types of the Bible.”

 

- A. Edwin Wilson.

 

 

A Case in Point

 

 

Note the book at hand, the Book of Jonah, as a case in point.  This book, among certain other books such as Ruth and Esther, is often used only as a source from which to draw spiritual lessons.  Drawing spiritual lessons from Old Testament history is all good and well, for Old Testament history lends itself to this type usage.  But the problem is that drawing spiritual lessons from these parts of Scripture is often as far as one takes the matter, missing the real Meat of the Word in the way God has structured His revelation to man.

 

 

With the preceding in mind, the remainder of this article will be taken up mainly with the typology of parts of the Book of Jonah, noting particularly what the previously mentioned words involve:

 

[Page 114]

What meanest thou, O Sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God!” (1: 6b).

 

 

And, within this account, it will be a simple matter to note that anyone properly understanding the typology of this book (along with related types) couldn’t possibly be confused by the false teaching concerning Zionism and the Jewish people which is rampant in Christian circles today.

 

 

As well, it will be a simple matter to note that the converse of that is equally true.  Anyone failing to properly understand the typology of this book (along with related types) will find himself quite open to deception concerning the previously mentioned false teaching.

 

 

Reason for All the Unrest

 

 

So the shipmaster came to him [to Jonah, asleep in the hold of the ship], and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not...

 

 

Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; what is thine occupation?  And whence comest thou?  What is thy country?  And of what people art thou?

 

 

And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven...

 

 

I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you (Jonah 1: 6, 8, 9a, 12b).

 

 

The Book of Jonah forms a dual type of God’s two firstborn Sons (Israel and Christ [Ex. 4: 22; Heb. 1: 6]).  As Jonah, so Israel; and as Jonah, so Christ.  Jonah, Israel, and Christ are all seen being raised after two days, on the third day (cf. Hosea 6: 1-3; Jonah 1: 17; Matt. 12: 40; Luke 24: 7, 21), for purposes having to do with the point toward which all Scripture moves, the Messianic Era.

 

 

Jonah though, in its overall scope, has to do more centrally with Israel, with Jonah’s experiences throughout foreshadowing those of Israel in not only history but in present and future time as well.

 

 

Thus, to read Jonah is to read the complete history of Israel - from God’s viewpoint, not man’s - from the time of the nation’s inception to that yet future time in the Messianic Era when Israel fully realizes the reason God called the nation into existence.

 

[Page 115]

One reason God called Israel into existence was to be His witness to the nations.  Israel was to take the message of the one true and living God to all of the nations of the earth.

 

 

But Israel refused to go to these nations, and, instead, went in an opposite direction.  And, through continued disobedience over centuries of time - reaching an apex through unlawful affiliations with the nations (harlotry) instead of proclaiming God’s message to the nations - God eventually drove Israel out among these same nations to effect repentance through persecution by the nations.

 

 

The preceding is what the first chapter of Jonah is about.  Jonah, a Jewish prophet, typifying the entire nation, was commanded to go to a Gentile city with God’s message.  Jonah refused, went in an opposite direction, and unlawfully affiliated himself with the Gentiles (harlotry) rather than proclaiming God’s message to them.  And Jonah eventually ended up in the sea (“the sea,” used in Scripture as a metaphor for the nations), with a view to repentance.

 

 

And with Jonah moving in this contrary direction - on board a ship out on the Mediterranean Sea, headed in an opposite direction to where God had commanded him to go - God sent a great storm on the sea, so tumultuous that it was about to destroy the ship.

 

 

Then, it is plain from Jonah’s statement after he had been awakened - I am an Hebrew ... I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you - that he knew exactly why this storm existed and why it was so tumultuous.

 

 

Jonah, was a disobedient prophet, fleeing from the Lord’s face, and asleep to his calling in the hold of the ship. He was out of the sea, on the ship (which could only typify Israel, out of the nations, in the land - the only place on earth where the Jewish people can go and be removed from the sect, from the nations).

 

 

Thus, here is the picture of Israel in the land today, in unbelief, apart from repentance, and asleep to their calling.

 

 

The sect is tumultuous in the type, the nations are raging today in the antitype; and all of this is occurring for one reason alone - because of a disobedient Jewish nation which has taken it upon herself to re-enter a house left desolate (Matt. 12: 43-45; 23: 37-39).

 

[Page 116]

Solution to All the Unrest

 

 

The solution to the existing problem is seen in the Book of Jonah as well, a solution provided by a Jewish prophet (cf. Ps. 147: 19, 20).  As long as Jonah remained on the ship in a disobedient and unrepentant state, the tumultuous storm on the sea would continue.  And as long as Israel remains in the land in a disobedient and unrepentant state, the tumultuous state among the nations will continue.

 

 

As Jonah was cast from the ship into the sea, Israel must be removed from the land and driven back out among the nations.  And as God then dealt with Jonah in the sea, He will then deal with Israel out among the nations, as clearly delineated in His Word.

 

 

And, to bring the latter to pass, God is going to use the man of sin in the middle of the coming Tribulation to effect His purpose in this respect.

 

 

Until that time, the tumultuous state among the nations, centered in the Middle East and extending out into the world at large, is going to continue.  And it all has to do with Israel being back in the land, in an unbelieving and unrepentant state, before the time.

 

 

Since God is the One Who has “torn,” He is the only One Who can “heal.”  God clearly states in His Word, I will take away, and NONE shall rescue him.  GOD ALONE will rescue Israel, as he did Jonah, from the sea, “after two days ... in the third day” (Hosea 5: 13 - 6: 2).

 

 

And Israel, while out among the nations, MUST heed the words of and do EXACTLY as the shipmaster told Jonah 2,800 years ago: What Meanest thou, O Sleeper?  ARISE, CALL upon thy God!” (cf. Jonah 2: 1-9).

 

 

(For additional information on the typology of Jonah, Zionism, and related teachings, note the author’s book, ISRAEL - WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?)

 

 

*       *       *

 

[Page 117]

Appendix IV

 

 

“...With a Rod of Iron

 

God’s Three Firstborn Sons, to Exercise Regality

 

 

 

Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion...

 

 

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen [the Gentiles] for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

 

 

Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel (Ps. 2: 6, 8, 9).

 

 

“...he shall smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” (Rev. 19: 15b).

 

 

And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.

 

 

And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father” (Rev. 2: 26, 27).

 

 

And there appeared a great wonder [sign] in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

 

 

And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered...

 

 

And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne” (Rev. 12: 1, 2, 5).

 

[Page 118]

God presently has two firstborn Sons (Christ and Israel [Ex. 4: 22, 23; Heb. 1: 5, 6]), and He will one day have a third firstborn son (the Church, following the adoption [Rom. 8: 14-19, 29; Heb. 12: 23]).

 

 

Sonship,” as seen in Scripture, implies first and foremost rulership.  Scripture, essentially, is a regal book. Scripture, throughout, has to do with salvation; but salvation is for a revealed purpose, which has to do with regality.

 

 

The earth upon which man resides is a province in the kingdom of God.  The earth is a province among other provinces, evidently multiplied billions of other provinces in multiplied billions of galaxies forming the physical universe, which is the kingdom of God seen in its complete scope.

 

 

And these provinces are governed and ruled by Divinely appointed angels who rule under fixed laws, allowing their actions to be viewed as God’s actions.

 

 

This is the manner in which God, in a very personal manner - i.e., God Himself, personally - rules the universe which He, in time past, brought into existence.  And these angelic rulers, relative to this rule, are referred to as “the sons of God” (referenced in this manner because of creation - each angel forming a separate and individual creation [Job 1: 6; 2: 1; 28: 7; Ezek. 28: 13, 14]).

 

 

Sons alone occupy regal positions in God’s kingdom - past, present, and / or future.

 

 

Angels alone are seen holding these regal positions over provinces during post and present time.  But, this is about to change, first relative to this earth, then relative to the universe at large.

 

 

Man is about to take the earth’s sceptre, ruling the earth instead of angels (Satan and his angels) for 1,000 years.

 

 

Then, beyond this time, Man is seen moving out into the physical universe, out into our galaxy and undoubtedly the numerous other galaxies, occupying regal positions out in the universe itself.

 

 

However, when the matter is projected out into the future, something beyond just the thought of “sonship” is seen.  When Man is brought into the picture, not just “sons” are in view (as seen in the present angelic world) but “firstborn Sons” come into view (as seen with Israel in the O.T. theocracy).

 

 

That is to say, all of God’s rulers in the angelic world, at any [Page 119] point in time, at any place in the universe (including Satan and his angels presently ruling the earth), are referred to as sons of God,” ruling under God (Satan and his angels in a rebel capacity).

 

 

But, when Man is brought into the picture in this regal respect, only firstborn Sons are seen, for only firstborn Sons can rule in the human realm in the kingdom.

 

 

In the preceding respect, firstborn Sons are about to replace the present order of sons ruling over this earth.

 

 

And beyond that, when the universe is in view, firstborn Sons will rule in the realm beyond this earth, evidently among the present sons of God already ruling throughout the universe and possibly under God over these sons of God.

 

 

(For detailed information on the preceding, refer to the author’s two books, “God’s Firstborn Sons” and “The Most High Ruleth.”)

 

 

Firstborn Sons in the Millennial Kingdom

 

 

There will be a triad of Rulers, a triad of firstborn Sons, during the Messianic Era.

 

 

1) God’s firstborn son, the Church, will rule from the heavens (Gen. 22: 17, 18; Eph. 1: 3-14; 3: 9-11; 6: 10-18).

 

 

2) God’s firstborn son, Israel, will rule on the earth (Gen. 22: 17, 18; Ezek. 37: 21-28).

 

 

3) And God’s firstborn Son, Jesus, will rule both in the midst of his people Israel here on earth (seated on David’s throne [2 Sam. 7: 4-17; Joel 2: 27; Luke 1: 31-33]) and with His bride in the heavens (seated on His Own throne [Gen. 24: 2ff; Rev. 2: 26, 27; 3: 21]).

 

 

And the rule from each of these firstborn Sons will be after exactly the same authoritarian fashion - ruling with a rod of iron.  And not only is this stated in so many words in Scripture concerning each of these three Sons, but it would be untenable to think of one Son not exercising the same authoritarian power as the other Sons, though the exact function of each of the three Sons will be different.

 

[Page 120]

A converted Israeli nation, under a new covenant - the cleansed and restored wife of Jehovah - will dwell in a healed land, the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

 

 

And in this land, with the nation’s Messiah in their midst, they will not only rule all of the Gentile nations but these same nations will be blessed through the nation ruling over them.

 

 

The Church, seen in that day as the bride of Christ, will also dwell in a healed land.  The bride will dwell in that heavenly land presently occupied by Satan and his angels.

 

 

And this land will evidently have to be cleansed / restored, exactly as the land of Israel on earth, which is seemingly what Job 15: 15; 25: 5 alludes to.

 

 

Then, as [restored] Israel rules the nations after one fashion on earth, the Church will rule the nations after another fashion from the heavens.

 

 

And Christ in that day will exercise a dual reign - seated on David’s throne in the midst of His people on earth, and seated on His Own throne with His bride in the heavens.

 

 

Thus, the entire rule will be authoritarian - a rule with a rod of iron.  This is stated concerning Christ in Rev. 19: 15; this is stated concerning Christ’s bride in Rev. 2: 26, 27; and this is stated concerning Israel in Rev. 12: 1, 5.

 

 

(Little needs to be said about the first two in the preceding paragraph [Christ and His bride, ruling in this manner from the heavens], but, because of the prevalence of all the false teaching throughout Christendom concerning the man-child in Rev. 12: 5, time needs to be spent on this facet of the matter.

 

 

Revelation 12: 5 has to do with the regal-clad woman [Israel] in verse one bringing forth “a man child, who was [lit., who is about to’] rule all nations with a rod of iron.”  The entire scene is a metaphorical depiction having to do with Israel during the Tribulation, in relation to regality and the earth.

 

 

The regal-clad woman in verse one is presented as an individual [metaphorically depicting Israel] in possession of kingly authority but not yet reigning [seen by the use of stephanos rather than diadema (as in v. 3), two different words used for “crown” in the Greek text], which is completely in line with Israel’s position dating back 3,500 years to the days of Moses in Ex. 4: 22, 23.

 

[Page 121]

[For information on differences between the use of stephanos and diadema in Scripture refer to Chapter VII, Crowns Cast Before God's Throne, in the author’s book, “The Time of the End”].

 

 

And after 3,500 years [including some 2,600 years during which the Gentiles have held the sceptre], Daniel’s full Seventy Weeks are about to be fulfilled, with Israel then seen occupying the regal position which the nation has held throughout all these centuries of time.

 

 

[The woman in Rev. 12: 1 is “clothed with the sun,” depicting supreme regal authority, with “the moon under her feet” (cf. Ps. 110: 1; Isa. 2: 24), which would depict lesser regal authority and could only refer to the Gentile nations.

 

 

The picture is that of Israel about to hold what is rightfully hers - the sceptre - and rule the nations].

 

 

This is how Revelation chapter twelve opens, announcing who is at hand and what is about to occur.  And this woman brings forth a man child,” contextually, immediately before the middle of the Tribulation.

 

 

The woman gives birth following Satan and his angels being cast out of their place in the heavens [which has yet to occur and is seen occurring near, but before, the middle of the Tribulation] and immediately before the woman flees into the wilderness [which occurs in the middle of the Tribulation].

 

 

[The man-child is clearly identified, both textually and contextually (ref. Chapters I-IV and Appendixes I, II in this book, and Chapters XXI, XXVI in the author’s book, “The Time of the End”)].

 

 

But, regardless of this clear identification, the man-child is often misidentified by Bible students as either a select group of Christians being raptured yet future or as Christ being born 2,000 years before the events in this chapter occur [the position held by most, mainly on the basis of the man-child about to rule all nations with a rod of iron].

 

 

But, to hold either of the preceding views of the matter only serves to destroy that which the text is actually dealing with.  Such will only serve to close this part of the Book of Revelation to one’s understanding, which closes the part relating how Israel will rule during the Messianic Era - “with a rod of iron.”

 

 

The man-child has to do with a first fruit of the nation - 144,000 Jews, 12,000 from each of twelve tribes, who will carry the gospel of the kingdom [Page 122] to Gentiles worldwide during the last half of the Tribulation - [Rev. 7: 1ff; 12: 17; 14: 1-7].  And this first fruit of the nation depicts the position and activities of the entire nation during the Messianic Era, carrying the message of the one true and living God to all of the Gentile nations and, at the same time, ruling these nations “with a rod of iron.”

 

 

Israel’s Messiah, in that day, will rule in the midst of the Jewish people, allowing for both of God’s firstborn Sons, Christ and Israel, to rule the Gentile nations after the same fashion - “with a rod of iron” [as His rule with His bride in the heavens allows the same].)

 

 

Thus, the Resulting change in the Government

 

 

The world is living on borrowed time; Man’s Day is almost over; major changes beyond almost anyone’s comprehension (unless, of course, that person has read and understood the Book) are in the offing.

 

 

In that coming day, the present unrest in the Middle East and the world at large will not exist.

 

 

The political sphere will be totally void of any type corruption.  Perfect justice and righteousness will, instead, exist throughout the earth’s government.

 

 

There will no longer be an LGBT segment of society, for there will be no homosexuals, lesbians, same-sex marriages, or individuals seemingly questioning their own sexual identity.

 

 

There will be no more crime, drugs, or need for the type law enforcement that we have today.

 

 

And the preceding is to name only some of the central things presently plaguing our society which will no longer exist.

 

 

Everything is about to change.  The world as we know it is about to end, with a new world dawning. And this new world will see God’s firstborn Sons taking the sceptre and ruling the nations in perfect justice and righteousness.

 

 

In that day:

 

 

“...kings shall shut their mouths at Him [at the presence of Israel's Messiah]: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider” (Isa. 52: 15b).

 

 

-------

 

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