Monthly Archives: August 2016

THE SHROUDED TRUTH

Posted on by
Reply

The Bible contains the greatest collection of written words ever assembled.  There has Rev Paul Hoffmasternever been, and there never will be, anything that can parallel its power and authority.  The problem is the Scripture has been shrouded from the minds of so many readers.  To help assist the inquiring minds are commentaries and Biblical helps that consist of “cliff notes,” CD’s, and interpretative books and study guides, as well as a plethora of translations.  Still, the difficulty meter continues to red line.  Bibles are handed out to the “whomsoever” with the hopeful intent that the reader will be led into a spiritual epiphany.  But so many times the potential believer becomes confused as to the implication of its content.  Soon the Bible becomes a dust catcher.  It is true that there have been people that were so moved by what they read that it led them to a life changing encounter with their Creator, but those are the exceptions instead of the norm.

The Disciples experienced the Word by hearing and seeing, yet they failed multiple times in illustrating its reality.  As we go through the Scriptures, we see a continuity of misunderstanding by His followers.  Time and time again, Jesus would expose their shallowness in implementing His truth.  From the Sea of Galilee to the hills of Judea, the Disciples lacked understanding of the things Jesus taught and did.  There were times when they introduced their own spiritual ignorance by their actions and statements.  Many of their questions were intended for their own self promotion.  As we read the Gospels, we need to be more aware of the actions of the Disciples.  As we do, we will soon be sympathetic to what Jesus faced in preparing them to carry on His ministry.

To simply read the Bible with the hope that the spiritual mysteries of life will be answered is to face disappointment.  The Bible is a closed book to the unsaved.  They will never understand Its truth until the Holy Spirit opens their heart.  The Ethiopian Eunuch, who had acquired a copy of the Scroll of Isaiah, was on his way back to his country when he stopped his chariot and tried reading from the Scroll.  A layman by the name of Philip was led by the Spirit to approach the Eunuch and ask him if he understood what he was reading.  The Eunuch simply said, “How can I, accept some man would guide me?” (Acts 8:31)  Philip, under the power of the Holy Spirit, led him into such an understanding of the Scripture that he turned his life over to Jesus Christ and was baptized in a stream not far from where they were.  After Jesus resurrection, He appeared to two confused and unbelieving disciples as they journeyed toward their home in Emmaus.  They had heard rumors that Jesus was alive, but there was no proof.  Jesus then gently led them through the Old Testament, beginning with Moses and then through the Prophets, showing how it applied to Him.  It was shortly after this revealing that their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus.  As quickly as He appeared, He vanished.  They shared, “Did not our heart burn within us…while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32)  The two disciples immediately ran back to Jerusalem to the locked upper room to tell their story.  While they shared their excitement, Jesus suddenly appeared to His assembled disciples and proceeded to fine tune His previous teachings.  The Bible says that “He opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:45)

Revelation Study – Chapter 18

Posted on by
Reply

The last book of the Bible - RevelationsBefore we get into chapter 18, let’s understand something. The Harlot or whore of Revelation is not a person; she is an institution; a great city according to 17:18. She confides, shares, and connives with government leaders to milk the public of wealth and uses great deceit. It is led by a religious organization located within this city; i.e. the Harlot. The false prophet is the leader of this religious deceptiveness; i.e. the false church and the false prophet.

Babylon is the reference only location from where this “governing association” with this false church organization functions or operates [17:18]. If one is to make an educated guess, this is probably Rome. It is all under the influence of Satan until he takes over directly during the second half of the Tribulation; either through the resurrected false prophet or through the beast. At that time Satan himself will call the shots. Recall in chapter 17 this Babylon falls out of grace with its associates and God destroys it in “in one hour.” Those who make great wealth from her existence mourn her loss as do many others who have made fortunes from her existence and their alliance with her will wail from a distance [Rev. 18:9]

The great John Walvoord wrote: “…two separate parts or stages of the fall, answering to the two aspects in which Babylon is contemplated, referring first to Babylon in mystery, as a system or spirit of false worship, and second to Babylon as a city, in which this system or spirit is finally embodied

burning cityThe burning of the “the woman whore” by the beast with ten horns in chapter 17 is probably the city itself (Rome?). Consider this. The false institution and religion during the first half of the Tribulation is only incited and encouraged by Satan. During the second 3 ½ years of the Tribulation, called “the Great Tribulation,” Satan steps in as the guy, the man, the one to fear and worship. The false prophet of the first three and one-half years in the Tribulation may still be around. Some theologians believe that he dies during this great scourge of “Babylon/Rome” and is resurrected but now possessed by Satan or one of his demons.

A wise person would also keep in mind that Isaiah 1:21; Jeremiah 2:20; Ezekiel 16:1–43; and Ezekiel 23, do refer to Jerusalem as a harlot. However, Jerusalem does not fit as cleanly as does Rome for this end time prophecy. Their partial destruction is coming but at the hands of Satan himself.

Chapter 18:

This chapter begins with an angel of great power and Illumination upon the earth… meaning those alive at this time will bear witness to this proclamation of:

“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’ She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.

3 For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”
Oddly, this does little to draw in more believers and followers of Jesus Christ at this time in end history yet to happen. However, verse 4 of Revelation 18 is the basis of how some believe to be the timing of the Church Rapture. “Come out of her, my people…” This may or may not be true of the church such as what is called The Rapture. There will still be those who are “God’s people” at this time. We also know some are still on earth at the end of the 7 year Tribulation. This may be the church (v4) or it may simply be those believers who are on location and are told to evacuate to avoid the judgment coming down from heaven upon her. To come out of her tells us that it is a location; probably Rome or perhaps Jerusalem but this website supports the likeliness that it is Rome. It is the great wealth and the fact that it is the false prophet and a place of great luxury that puts the hat of demise on Rome, not Jerusalem at this time. But, Jerusalem (Jews and other members of the 12 Tribes) still hangs in the balance and will suffer greatly for rejecting the Messiah of the gospels.

Revelation 17:15 – 19 describe how these merchants and great masses of wealth attributed to the whore lament over her demise. Verse 20 however tells us that there are “people of God” still on earth [and in heaven?]. They are told to REJOICE over her judgment.

Verse 21 is often misunderstood. It reads: “Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again” [NIV translation]. The second half of this verse says… “with such or similar violence.” It is a comparison, not a method of her destruction for it is quick. A human example would be like kicking a stool leg at night in your bare feet. It is sudden and without remorse. It is totaled! We see this in the remained of chapter 18; no more life in this city; no more business transacted; no more music or trade; no more weddings; no more… (You name it, and it will be forever gone). Actually with a literal view of this passage, there simply is no more Rome (city).

This is, in part, fulfillment of Revelation 6:10 and Revelation 14:10. One is the promised vengeance of those believers who are slain by the evil of this time and the other a warning by example of pending destruction. Both are found in the same ending verse of Revelation 18.

In our next chapter blog, C19, we get a better idea per the celebration of God’s destruction of the Revelation Babylon. It is all part of what God is recorded to say, “It is done;” Revelation 16:17 and again in 21:6.

Note:

Her judgment, Babylon, comes in one day. This reminds me of Daniel 5 where Belshazzar is destroyed within a day of Daniel telling him he is doomed.

 

The rich fool lost his possessions in one day according to Luke 12:16-20. This is the same for Babylon of Revelation.

miniJimRev. Dr. Jstark
August, 2016

Revelation 17- Part 1

Posted on by
Reply

miniJimThere is so much parallel between the Book of Daniel and Revelation, a simple blog could not begin to conclude. The truly amazing facts are not so much the content as the fact that both books speak to the same thing. God’s direction is powerful today (N.T.) and yesterday (O.T.). Simply put and without explanation in this blog is that Daniel sets the stage for the Book of Revelation. We get details in Revelation than Daniel can only infer. It is also a special note that what Daniel saw as individual creatures, Apostle John sees as ONE 10 horned beast; [Revelation 13:2] “And the beast which I saw was like to a leopard, and its feet as of a bear, and its mouth as a lion’s mouth.” Who might be the combined military or governmental forces that are represented as a leopard, bear and lion of Revelation? Recall that the Dragon and the Beast are two different entities.

Untitled

One Step Closer to Pulling Things Together

Chapter 17 of Revelation takes us a step closer to figuring this out. We have the dragon, beast 1 and beast 2, the image of beast 1, a red dragon with multiple heads and horns, a woman riding the beast which soon those in charge turn against it rider, four forces converging on Har Megiddo, the seventh bowl, kings in some symbolic adultery with the woman on the beast, blasphemous names, a mysterious Babylon the Great, a book of life and names not in it, three symbolic frogs hopping nation to nation to call to arms these ignorant arrogant millennial losers, a speaking image of beast #1, 10 unnamed kings (for an hour) who then hand over their authority to the anti-Christ…

…no wonder people’s heads spin when trying to put this all together as one orchestrated sequence of events leading the return of Jesus the Messiah.

We MUST remind ourselves that the mind of God is so far greater than ours, it should be a simple thing to understand that our mental capacities are not equal to God’s, but our faith and hearts should be totally online. If not, then we need to check with our spiritual internet provider; what I enjoy calling our spiritual GPS; Gods Provided Seal on our forehead.

The very first thing we see in C17 is Apostle John in a bit of a dither. This is when I default to Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) as it is probably the most “literal” translation of scripture; but often difficult to read just for that reason. We say, the boy went to the game. YLT in in its literal translation would write, the games is to which the by went. Other translations try to simplify their translation but often lose something(s) in the process.

For this reason I include the YLT of C17: (1898) – All emphasis mine

And there came one of the seven *messengers, who were having the seven vials, and he spake with me, saying to me, `Come, I will shew to thee the judgment of the great whore, who is sitting upon the many waters, *often meaning angels

2 with whom the kings of the earth did commit whoredom; and made drunk from the wine of her whoredom were those inhabiting the earth;’

3 and he carried me away to a wilderness in the Spirit, and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of evil-speaking, having seven heads and ten horns,

4 and the woman was arrayed with purple and scarlet-colour, and gilded with gold, and precious stone, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and uncleanness of her whoredom,

5 and upon her forehead was a name written: `Secret, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Whores, and the Abominations of the earth.’

6 And I saw the woman drunken from the blood of the saints, and from the blood of the witnesses of Jesus, and I did wonder — having seen her — with great wonder;

7 and the messenger said to me, `Wherefore didst thou wonder? I — I will tell thee the secret of the woman and of the beast that [is] carrying her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns.

8 `The beast that thou didst see: it was, and it is not; and it is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go away to destruction, and wonder shall those dwelling upon the earth, whose names have not been written upon the scroll of the life from the foundation of the world, beholding the beast that was, and is not, although it is.

9 `Here [is] the mind that is having wisdom; the seven heads are seven mountains, upon which the woman doth sit,

10 and there are seven kings, the five did fall, and the one is, the other did not yet come, and when he may come, it behoveth him to remain a little time;

11 and the beast that was, and is not, he also is eighth, and out of the seven he is, and to destruction he doth go away.

12 `And the ten horns that thou sawest, are ten kings, who a kingdom did not yet receive, but authority as kings the same hour do receive with the beast,

13 these have one mind, and their own power and authority to the beast they shall give over;

14 these with the Lamb shall make war, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because Lord of lords he is, and King of kings, and those with him are called, and choice, and stedfast.’

15 And he saith to me, `The waters that thou didst see, where the whore doth sit, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues;’

16 and the ten horns that thou didst see upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her in fire,

17 for God did give into their hearts to do its mind, and to make one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast till the sayings of God may be complete,

18 and the woman that thou didst see is the great city that is having reign over the kings of the land.

Before moving on I feel totally compelled to issue a warning by example. During this end falseamongrealof time Tribulation, Satan will confuse many with false prophets, so-called miracles, a silver tongue of persuasion, unmatched deceit and a look-good universal church. Look at the picture on the right. If you look real close one can see the weeds that have grown up so close to the real flowers, one can easily be deceived into thinking the weeds are actually part of the flower arrangement. This is what Satan’s church will look like during the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation. These fake flowers of beauty are so close in proximity to the genuine, one easily misses them.

Gradually more and more look-similar and delicate, but weeds grow up amongst the real thing. So close in proximity even the gardener will miss them. Eventually they overtake the garden while one stays politically and garden correct by watering, tolerating and wishing to be inoffensive to the garden saying it takes too much time to clean them out. They are allowed to be a part of the garden via compromise or failure to recognize they are plants but NOT flowers. This is precisely what is happening in our churches today.

Examples of what these weeds will look like:

  1. A song sung in church with a great tune but unidentifiable as a praise or worship song
  2. A person whose tithing is a goodly share of the church budget but demands political correctness be exercised within the church; not identifying or giving warning of sin.
  3. Pastors who fear calling out sin as defined in the Bible; Ephesians. Don’t be offensive.
  4. Board members who command weight and influence within the church, a community, city or politics but have little to no bible knowledge.
  5. Those willing to sit in the pews and not overtly stand on the promises of God.
  6. Inter and intra denominational bickering that leads to separation of church and church. There is but ONE CHURCH of which Jesus Christ is the head; not the pope or St. Peter.
  7. Churches that teach good living and self-improvement while ignoring the WORD.
  8. Beautiful buildings with debt that requires a congregation of several #2’s (above) to pay the debt.
  9. Singers and instrumentalists on the Praise Team who are really good but live lives unbecoming of The Church of Jesus Christ.
  10. Prayer that is not in the spirit as commanded in Romans 8 (study the entire chapter).

Take a moment of pause while using your weed-sin pulling tools and write in more cautions from which will come the universal false church.  [Mark 13:22, Matthew 24:24]

During the final 3 ½ years (Tribulation) there will no longer be any doubt. Satan sets himself up in the Temple of God in Jerusalem, slaughters Jews and those who refuse to bow the knee to him while claims to be God. Those who refuse to worship will be shrewdly eliminated.

Back to our study; C17:1 – 6 (we will pick up on more of 17 in our next blog)

The first six verses set the somewhat mystery stage of dragon, woman, fornicators, scarlet beast,…with their explanations in the remainder of C17. Let’s look at them.

The beast that was, is not, and is about to come up from the abyss then go away to potofdestruction is often identified with the Roman Church of the dark and pre-dark ages. It wasn’t until Napoleon disposed of the Pope who ultimately died in prison do we get the “then it was not.” The future and news worthy items today per the pontiff and his decrees show the Roman Church and its global influence is once again asserting [coming alive] itself.

Drunken (17:6) from the blood of the saints can be present or past tense. Most likely it is a continuum or revival of the Holy Roman Empire that replaced the original Roman Empire. Still considered the Roman Empire but with the innocuous word “holy” as the first word in the title. However we read “the blood of the Saints and of those who witness of Jesus.” The saints are those from the past and those who witness and are present at this time of bloodshed.