Last of Rev. 16 and All of 17 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 In Rev. 16:17 we read, And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done! This vial is the last of the seven plagues, for in them is filled up the wrath of God, Rev. 15:1. This messenger will indeed have poured out his vial of truth when these documents have been posted to the Internet, into the air, for the entire world to read. Out of this vial comes forth an authoritative voice, a great voice, Deu. 5:22; Jer. 51:55; Rev. 1;10; 18:2; which voice came out of the temple of heaven, God s plan, from the throne, having God s sanction, because it was He who had caused it to be done. This message says, It is done! which speaks of the close of the Gospel Age high calling; the Church is now complete. Just as our Lord cried out on the cross, It is finished, (John 19:30) at the close of His sacrifice, so also here, the messenger cries out, It is finished! when the last of the Church, His Bride, shall have been sealed in their foreheads. Verse 18- And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, so great. The truths within the vial, poured out, become the impetus of so great an upheaval such that no such disturbance before in the history of man comes even close in magnitude to that of this one. These four: voices, thunders, lightnings and earthquake, are the same as what the four angels held back in the four winds of Rev. 7:1-3, having also the same four points of significance: social- voices (think: social media) religious- lightnings (think: occasional flashes of light, truth) financial- thunders (think: crash) political- earthquake (think: French Revolution, Rev. 11:13) Verse 19, Babylon, the great city of Rev. 17:18, divides into three parts. Because of the Scripture construction, it appears that the cities of the nations fall because Babylon was divided. Three parts are not four, but one less. Therefore, the three may be: 1) political, because Babylon will be united again, though temporarily, with earthly governments as Herodias was with Herod; 2) financial, because Babylon has great wealth and will do everything possible to preserve it, even to gain more; 3) religious, because she is a religious system and will seek to exert that influence again as in days of old. The fourth part is excluded because Babylon has no desire to appear social except when necessary, as when Jezebel painted her face, tired her head (wrapped cloth around it which looked like what we now call a tire) and looked out the window at Jehu, having put on her best appearance for the occasion. See 2 Kgs. 9:30-33. The last part of verse 19 tells us God remembered Babylon (not that He could forget her!) to render unto her the judgment due. This judgment is rendered by the Lord Jesus and His glorified Body members.
50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 In verse 20, the islands refer to people. See Gen. 10:5; Isa. 41:5. The adage, No man is an island, is true; however, according to Scripture, two or more are. People will flee when they perceive Babylon s judgment is begun. And, consistent with our foregoing presentation of Noah and the flood, entitled Prepare to Meet Thy God, the mountains, governments were not found, because they had been destroyed. Verse 21 declares that great hail fell upon men. Hail is solid water, hard truth! A talent represents ability. Therefore, when hard truths come out of heaven, it represents the truth which comes from God through His messengers on earth (the little sister class) about what they could have done, as well as what they have done. Therefore, when men are hit with the truth of the matter, they will react. Darkness hates the light. In this case, because their wrong way of life, their wrong deeds, their failure to perform as they ought to have done, has been revealed, manifested to them, it will greatly upset them. As a result, they will blame and even curse God, when in fact they are the ones that are to be blamed, because they have abandoned God s righteous principles. Chapter 16 ends a part of the revelation given to John, but it does not precede the events of chapter 17 as if that chapter was a sequential continuation of a story. In fact, Chapter 17 is not sequential itself as to the actual fulfillment of the details presented therein. Chapter 17 Verse 1: The angel (messenger) who is referred to here is the same as 16:17. The whore is the same as the woman later in the chapter. Compare verses 1, 15, 16, 3. Inhabitants is G2730, which is the same word translated dwell in 3:10; 11;10; 13:8,14; which refers not to the general populace but to the religious leaders. Note that their names are not written in the Lamb s book of life (17:8), why? because according to Matt 7:21-23, they were never recognized by the Lord as His body members. They were false Christians. In verse 3 we must note where John is carried to-- the wilderness, which is the same period of time as the 1260 days of Daniel which is the times, time and half a time (360 twice, 360 once, and half of 360 =1260) in Dan. 12:7; and forty-two months in Rev. 11: 2; and the 1260 days in Rev. 11:3. This is the wilderness period of the true Church when Papacy, the Roman Catholic Church, reigned supreme. In the wilderness John saw a woman (Church, but not the true Church) sit. From verse 1 we learn that the whore sitteth upon many waters. Verse 15 tells us who these waters are: peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues. To sit, then, means to have jurisdiction or control over. This woman (false church) has control over peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues, and, from verse 3, she also sits on a beast (government, Dan. 7:1-8) having seven heads and ten horns. Note that in Dan. 7:7 Pagan Rome, under the Caesars, had ten horns also.
95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130 135 In verses 4 and 5 the description given of the woman is not one of humiliation as was the first advent of our Lord ( If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household? Matt 10:24,25), but rather of exaltation. Note that she was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked (denoting extravagance) with gold and precious stones and pearls. This denotes royalty! Also note her filthiness. The true Church is a virgin, the false one is not. The true Church awaits her exaltation with the Lord Jesus to reign with him, the false church united with the kings of earth before our Lord s return to reign with them. In verse 6 the woman did not literally drink the blood of anyone (at least not to our knowledge!) but she went after God s true saints with a blood thirsty desire and caused their deaths by horrific methods. And having seen her, I wondered with great wonder (Emphatic Diaglott by Wilson). Verse 7- And the angel (messenger) said unto me (the John class), Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. Verse 8- The beast (government) that you saw was, (It existed as the nations of Europe that carried Papacy on their backs by funding her and performing all her behests from approximately 800 A.D. until 1799 A.D.) and is not (By the end of World War I, the monarchical governments of Europe came to an end, and thus, the beast is not. ) and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit (means that the beast will come back into existence again), and go (ultimately) into perdition (complete destruction with no return): and they that dwell on the earth (the religious leaders) shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life, from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was (past), and is not (currently), and yet is (to be again). Verse 9- And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains (kingdoms, Micah 4:1,2), on which the woman (whore, Papacy) sits (exercising jurisdiction or control). Verse 10- And there are seven kings (over those seven kingdoms): five are fallen (no longer exist), and one is (current to the then time of the late 1800 s, probably meaning England), and the other is not yet come (future); and when he comes (Hitler s Third Reich), he must continue a short space. Verse 11- And the beast that was (in the past), and is not (now), even he is the eighth (king), and is of the seven (having common origin), and goes (eventually) into perdition (destruction).
140 145 150 155 160 165 170 175 180 Verse 12- And the ten horns (powers) which you saw are ten kings (governments), which have received no (commonly shared) kingdom (power) as yet; but (they will) receive power (authority) as kings one hour with the beast. The European nations have been given no commonly shared kingdom or power until the European Union, the beast which they created, was formed. The European Union is an eighth king, and is of, or out of, the seven kings, who in the past supported Papacy. One hour in symbolic Scripture is the 24 th part of 1000 years, or 41.67 years. Thus the European nations who have come together will exercise a commonly shared power during a period of 42 years with the beast, the European Union. From another part of this composite message, we have demonstrated that the 42 years began in 1984 and conclude in 2026. Verse 13- These (kings) have one mind (goal or agenda), and shall give their power (authority) and strength (financial backing) unto the beast (European Union). Verse 14- These shall make war with the Lamb ( The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD [Jehovah], and against His anointed [the Lamb, the Messiah, our Lord Jesus], saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. Psa. 2:2,3. The leaders of government have taken counsel together to break the binding laws of God of right doing, and have quite well thrown out the restraints of morality, deeming them archaic, obsolete and inferior to their new and enlightened[?] ideologies.), and the Lamb shall overcome (defeat) them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him (His glorified Body members) are called, and chosen, and faithful. Verse 15- And he (the angel, messenger) said unto me, The waters which you saw, where the whore (woman, Papacy, the Roman Catholic Church) sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. (The Roman Church held sway over a vast array of nations, with its various peoples and languages.) Verse 16- And the ten horns (kings) which you saw, and* (* from Wilson s Diaglott translation) the beast (the European Union), these shall hate the whore (woman, false, apostate Church of Rome), and shall make her desolate and naked (bringing her to ruin and exposing her for what she is), and shall eat her flesh (destroy her as an entity), and burn her with fire (which indicates complete and utter destruction, leaving only ashes). Verse 17- For God has put in their (the kings) hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree (be united in purpose), and give their kingdom (powers) unto the beast (the European Union), until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
185 Verse 18- And the woman (whore) which you saw is that great city (of Mystic Babylon, the Roman Catholic Church) which reigneth (exercising power and influence) over the kings of the earth. Verses 15-18 occur in fact of time prior to verse 14 wherein the beast and the kings are destroyed. 190 Copyright G. Kuehmichel, Feb. 26 March 12, 22, 26, April 1, 2018