Otherwise known as (in my Bible) "The Woman on the Beast" and (from my husband) "The church gone unfaithful".
I have a new appreciation for the separation of church and state. Just sayin'.
The wealth and power of the church becomes more important than the true work of the church.
This unfaithful church looks an awful lot like the faithful church. It can sound like the church. They can both use the same language but with different meaning. It seems familiar.
"This calls for a mind with wisdom." vs 9
Church and government are "in bed" with one another. Together they wreak havoc and fool minds and destroy lives.
I love the study of history. I've passed this onto my kids through our schooling and it's everyone's favourite subject. Right now my daughter and I are studying the beginning of the American government and establishment of the system. Did you know that when Washington was elected the first US President, he hired almost a thousand people to fill all the federal government jobs? I'm thinking the government looks a bit different today;) In my personal reading, I'm studying the history of China. I'm amazed at the similarities of their dynasties to the European monarchies and ruling families in history! It's really enlightening to study this within the context of reading Revelation and seeing history with those glasses on. ..."because he once was, now is not, and yet will come." ... is seen through the rise and fall of these leaders that act like they will live forever. In the end, God will destroy them.
I am encouraged by vs 14 "They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings - and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers." God will accomplish his purpose even through these beasts!
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I just wanted to mentioned an images I found of particular interest and of which I'm still thinking on/over...
The prostitute is drunk on the blood of the saints. This gives me a whole other thought process when I think of how there are no clever words to disguise the vileness of this whole scene. I don't think of prostitutes as pretty or object to watch, nor do I think of the act of being drunk as funny. Words like "blood thirsty"and disgusting come to mind instead. Yet, how crafty Satan is to disguise these things from our eyes, even today! This makes me think of the east in our present day. Again, the saints cry out from the altar "How long?" both in the text and from the far east in recent events (school slayings and executions all over the world, etc.). Daily.
Come Lord Jesus!
After reading Revelation 17, our devotional commentary chapter, and Rachel's blog post, I still felt like I was reading it through a clouded brain. The People's Bible, as usual, elaborated on more of the symbolism, but the bottom line is simply that evil has a lot of power in this world, and it often masquerades as something good.
In the midst of all this evil all around us, some masquerading as good and some so blatantly evil as cre8ev mentions, verse 14 is the real highlight for me. That's what I'll burn into my brain and hold onto for comfort.
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