ALONE WITH GOD------

QUESTION: Please explain Revelation 11:15.

ANSWER: I will explain this text to the best of my understanding, but I promise you that it will not be according to the general interpretation of this text in most religious circles. I do not understand this text to refer to a future time when Jesus Christ will come back to this earth and establish a universal kingdom which shall reign over all the kings and kingdoms of this world.

Before going further, I will insert the text which is to be the center of this discussion. "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." Please note that this was a permanent, eternal, unending reign (for ever and ever) referred to here; not just a thousand years nor any other measured duration.

This verse of Scripture refers to the glorious triumphs of the gospel of Christ over the entire world and in all nations. Paul said in Romans 10:18, "But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." Jesus gave the commission in Matthew 28:19, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,..." The commission of Jesus is recorded by Mark in Mark 16:15, "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." As this commission has been executed and the gospel has been proclaimed throughout the world and to all nations, it has had a profound effect and influence, and there have been converts to the Christian faith in all nations and among all people.

When John had a vision of the entire redeemed company in Revelation 7:9, he said: "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands." In I Peter 2:9 Peter referred to the people of God as "an holy nation." The "Holy Nation" of God is composed of the saved people out of all of the nations. In Ephesians 2:14-15, we read, "For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;...for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace." The "both" and the "twain" here refer to the Jews and the Gentiles, and the converts from among both of them constituted "one body" (verse 16) and make up the "one new man" or one holy nation, or one kingdom. In other words, the kingdom of God spread over the whole earth and to all nations and people through the effects of the gospel and there being converts to the Christian faith among all the nations.

The conversion of the Gentiles and their influx into the Church or Kingdom of God was prophesied throughout the Old Testament. God told Abraham in Genesis 22:18, "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;..." Paul refers to this covenant between God and Abraham in Galatians 3:16, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." Therefore, it is evident that this covenant was confirmed in Christ, and He fulfilled it and through Him the Kingdom of God extended over all the world because He tasted death for every man.

Isaiah 49:6 says, "And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth." In Isaiah 42:6 God was speaking to His Son, Jesus, and said, "I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles." Isaiah 60 contains a prophecy of the glories of the Church of God in this gospel age of time, and in verses 3-5 we read, "And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee."

In the 2^nd Psalm, all of which is a prophecy of the coming of Jesus and the attitude of the people toward Him, and the effects of His work, etc., verse 1 says, "Why do the heathen rage,...?" It has been the general pattern of the heathen throughout their history to "rage" against the true and living God Who gave them their being, by living in open rebellion against Him and His holy will by not honoring Him as God but setting up their own idol gods and worshipping them instead of the true God. By this means, they fell into the deepest depravity and degradation possible. Paul describes the depths of their degradation and the cause of it in Romans 1:21-32. Please read this entire passage. Psalm 2:8 says, "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession."

When the Jews at Antioch rejected the preaching of Paul and Barnabas concerning Christ, they turned to the Gentiles saying (Acts 13:47), "For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth." In Daniel 7:14, when Daniel had a vision of the kingdom of God, he said concerning Christ, "And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." In a prophecy concerning Christ’s kingdom in Psalm 72:8 it says, "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." Paul declares these prophecies to be fulfilled in his ministry.

The Kingdom of God was set up, set in order, and established on the Day of Pentecost, and soon afterward the gospel was preached unto the Gentiles and there were very many converts among them, and the Gentiles were received into the Church of God. So, it is evident that this was all fulfilled in the atonement of Christ and the ministry of the early Church and the converts to the Church throughout the succeeding generations, and that the kingdoms of this world became the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ through the effects and influence of the gospel.

QUESTION: Please explain Revelation 19:19 and Revelation 20:9.

ANSWER: (PART 1) Revelation 19:19 reads thus: "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."

The first point to consider in this text is the "beast" and what it represented. There are two beasts presented in the Revelation but the second beast is more generally referred to as the "False Prophet" and when the reference is to "The Beast" it always refers to the first beast. The first identifying mark of the beast is "seven heads and ten horns." In the 17^th chapter of Revelation this same beast appears again as "a scarlet colored beast full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns." In this case this beast is referred to as "A Beast" instead of "The Beast" as is common in referring to him but the identifying marks are the same seven heads, ten horns, and names of blasphemy (Revelation 17:3 and Revelation 13:1) so there can be no doubt of them being the same beast.

In this 17^th chapter of Revelation the beast has a gorgeous, glamorous woman riding upon it. However, this woman is just as corrupt and vile as she is gorgeous and glamorous. (Revelation 17:4-5.) Please read these verses. This beast with a woman riding upon it would symbolize a vast political religious combine. The kings of the earth have committed fornication with this woman which would signify that the political rulers and governments of the world exposed her cause, and supported her, and accepted her corrupt and apostate system of worship and worshiped at her shrine.

God chose a pure, chaste woman, exalted high above the world and adorned with the rich, glorious virtues and graces of His Son, Jesus Christ, to symbolize His true, pure Church. (Revelation 12:1.) Here He chooses a vile, corrupt, abominable woman decked out in all the gorgeous attire and ornaments of the world, living a corrupt, abominable, dissolute life to symbolize the corrupt, apostate church after which all the world wondered. (Revelation 13:3.) This 17^th chapter identifies this false church or religious system more clearly than the 13^th chapter in which she was first introduced.

In Revelation 17:9-10 the seven heads are identified as seven mountains on which the woman sitteth; and also seven kings of which five are fallen, one is and one is yet to come. Verse 11 identifies "The Beast" as the 8^th head but is actually of the seventh and his end is that he goeth into perdition. Here is described the city of Rome which actually is situated on seven mountains and also the kingdom or empire of Rome which actually had seven kings or forms of government during its existence. Five of them had already fallen at the time the Revelation was given and one was in existence then and one was yet to come. Then verse 12 identifies the ten horns as ten kings which had not yet received their kingdoms. This represents the 10 minor kingdoms which grew out of the Roman Empire during its decline and fall. Gibbon, in his history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, gives the details of all of this and the names of all the forms of government and of the minor kingdoms which I will not insert here for the sake of space. Then verse 13 says these all have one mind and give their strength unto "The Beast."

QUESTION: Please explain Revelation 19:19 and Revelation 20:9.

ANSWER, (PART 2): It is clear that the double symbol we have here (the beast and the woman riding on it) identifies a political/religious system and indicates that they are intertwined in each other. It identifies Rome as the seat of government and the Roman Empire as the vehicle and support of the religious system. Then the beast with its woman rider could represent no other than the Roman Catholic Church with its hierarchical government.

The beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies would signify the whole combine of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, with the kings of the earth that gave their strength to the beast with all the votaries of the religious system and even the support of the military arm of the empire which was sometimes used in enforcing the edicts of the Pope, the supreme head of the church. These all came together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army.

In Revelation 19:11-16, we have a description of the rider on the white horse. He was called FAITHFUL AND TRUE (verse 11). He judged and made war in righteousness (verse 11). He had many crowns on His head and His eyes were as a flame of fire (verse 12). He was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood and His name was called THE WORD OF GOD (verse 13). The name written on Him was KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS (verse 16). It would be impossible for anyone to fulfill all this description except the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. His army would be the great company of the redeemed, born again, blood-washed souls who followed the Lamb whithersoever He went. To get an idea of the bitter conflict that raged between the followers of Jesus Christ and this great false and apostate system in which many millions of the saints lost their lives in the most gruesome and hideous ways that the devil himself could conceive of at the hands of the beast power of Rome, read Fox’s Book of Martyrs. This went on for 1260 years which was the time allotted to the beast to rule. (Revelation 13:5.) The 42 months in this text would amount to 1260 days (30 days to the month) and according to the prophetic rule of calculating time (a day for a year) this would amount to 1260 years.

Revelation 20:9 says, "And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." Now who are "THEY"? Verse 8 says that Gog and Magog gathered themselves together to battle. Gog and Magog represent the entire combine of the false religions of the world. There have been three major systems of false religions in the world through the Christian era Paganism, Papalism (The Beast), and Protestantism (The Second Beast or The False Prophet). These have succeeded one another in the order given above. These have all been on the stage of action one at a time. However, in the final windup we see them all coming together in one mighty combine and all operating together at the same time to stamp out the Church of the living God (the beloved city) and to destroy the truth and the true saints from the earth.

Revelation 20:10 speaks of the devil that deceived them being cast into the lake of fire where the beast and false prophet are. The devil in this text refers to paganism which was represented by a great red dragon in Revelation 12 and in Revelation 20:2 was called the devil and Satan. This godless religion was concocted by the devil himself and permeated by him and through it he deceived the nations of the earth. However, this was put down by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the light of truth and is said in this verse to be bound, but down in the time of the end he is said to be loosed to go forth to deceive the nations again. (Revelation 20:7.) Verse 10 tells of his end in the lake of fire with the beast and false prophet to be tormented for ever and ever.

Both of these texts (Revelation 19:19 and Revelation 20:9) are related and refer to the same operation but in different stages of it. It is all contained in the battle of that great day of God Almighty also known as the Battle of Armageddon. This is a great spiritual conflict between the saints of God and the votaries of every false religion in the world, between truth and error, between light and darkness. Revelation 19:19 describes the mustering of these forces for the battle. We are in the very vortex of it now. Revelation 20:9 describes the battle as it comes to its roaring climax with the coming of the Lord who appears in flaming fire to rescue His saints who are hemmed in on every side and accomplish the complete overthrow and eternal destruction of the entire combine of false religions.