The Seven angels of the Seven Churches The first Church: was Ephesus: meaning “First” or “desirable” this period covered the time in which the apostles lived beginning at Pentecost 33 A.D. to about 100 A.D. “The angel of this Church is the Apostle Paul who wrote the greater part of the New Testament —ALL in the form of letters to the various churches and to the Hebrews as a group. Texts like 2 Cor 11:28 and Acts 9:15 demonstrate his…
The History of the Gospel Age Church The importance of history cannot be overestimated most especially as it pertains to the history of the Gospel age church. Unfortunately, the vast majority of professed Christians have little or no knowledge of church history. They may know something about the early days of the church its founding by the Lord and the apostles and its progress up until about the time of the fall of Jerusalem, but beyond that it all becomes…
Revelation Chapter 17 VERSE 17 “For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.” FOR GOD HAS PUT IT IN THEIR HEARTS: Somehow God will so arrange matters that the desires of men will be so strong toward this confederacy that it will be easy of accomplishment. TO EXECUTE HIS PURPOSE (MIND) –(See Psa 76:10 KJV) God’s…
Revelation Chapter 17 VERSE 15 “Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.” THEN HE SAID TO ME: From here to the end of the chapter we again have evidence of the angel’s commission toward us. He is saying, “Here are the symbolic tools for interpretation. I can’t give you the answers directly, but I’ve given you all you need.” THE WATERS WHICH YOU SAW WHERE THE HARLOT…
Revelation Chapter 17 VERSE 12 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast.” AND THE TEN HORNS WHICH YOU SAW: “Which you saw” is important. The Revelator is mopping up details. He has disposed of the heads, the eight kings, and the body of the beast in his predictions to this point. He realizes that we also “have seen” horns…
Revelation Chapter 17 VERSE 9 “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.” HERE IS THE MIND WHICH HAS WISDOM: The angel now invites the saints to reason. He DOES NOT explain to us the meaning of the following verses. He merely LISTS SYMBOLIC EQUIVALENTS. This was very much the thrust of Brother Russell’s work in regard to Revelation. He constantly reasoned with us on the symbols but stated clearly…
Revelation Chapter 17 Note: As we continue with this study, we will be following the outline of the second view mentioned in our previous posts. VERSE 8 “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was,…
Revelation Chapter 17 Before we move on lets us briefly review for a moment the differences, between the two views which we have just presented with regards to… The beast that WAS, and IS NOT; and IS ABOUT TO COME up out of the abyss. (Rev 17:8) According to the first view this “beast” represents a “religious government”, in this case the Papacy, the “man of sin”. “And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full…
Revelation Chapter 17 VERSE 8 continued “The beast that thou saw WAS, and IS NOT; and IS ABOUT TO COME up out of the abyss…” Point # 2: The PARTIAL beast (of Verses 8, 11-13, 16, 17) is THUS SAID to be “of the seven,” but NOT ONE of the seven.” (We should not look for a definition of this [partial] beast prior to the first head since Verse 11 says that it is “of the seven.”) Verse 11 “The…
Revelation Chapter 17 Now a second look at our subject from another perspective, one which when rightfully grasps seems just as plausible as the first. VERSE 8 continued “The beast that thou saw WAS, and IS NOT; and IS ABOUT TO COME up out of the abyss…” “All students of Revelation know the enormous complexities of Verses 8-13. These verses will remain complex no matter what we do to simplify them. Nevertheless, it is important to try to identify the…