After
showing John the apostle the “great
whore”
who was sitting upon a “scarlet colored beast” and was “arrayed
in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones
and pearls”, the angel asked him,
“Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and
of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten
horns. The beast that you saw was, and is not; and shall ascend out
of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on
the earth 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, and is not, and yet is. And here is
the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on
which the woman sits. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and
one is, and
the other is not yet come; and when he comes, he must continue a
short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the
eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition. And the ten
horns which you saw are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as
yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have
one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them:
for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with
him are
called, and chosen, and faithful.”
In chapter seventeen and verse fifteen of Revelation the angel tells
John about the “waters
which” he“saw”
where
we read:
And
he said unto me, The waters which you saw,
The
verse reads, “And
he said unto me, The waters which you saw, where
the whore sits, ...”
John began with the words, “and
he said”
which means “and the angel uttered, proclaimed and declared”
“unto
me”
or “to John”, “the
waters”
which means “the fountains, pools, deluge and seas” “which
you saw”
or “that John perceived, noticed, discovered and discerned”,
“where
the whore sits”
which means “in the place where the spiritually adulterous woman is
seated, occupies and dwells”. The “angel”
shared about these
“waters”
underneath the “spiritually idolatrous” woman.
The
verse continues, “...
are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”
John added the words, “are
peoples”
which means “and the human beings both male and female, tribes,
nations and all those who are of the same stock and language”, “and
multitudes” or
“and crowds, collections of people, troops and classes of people”,
“and
nations”
which means “ethnic groups, multitudes of men and women associated
or living together, tribes and people groups”, “and
tongues”
or “languages and dialects”. The “angel” told John these
“waters”
represented the people throughout the whole world.
When
we consider John's words in this verse, we know specifically what the
“waters”
were which he saw. The Bible is the best interpreter of the Bible,
and when the angel told John the “waters”
represented the “peoples,
multitudes, nations and tongues”,
we know that is exactly what they were. God knows every person in the
world, and He knows the differences between their cultures,
ethnicity, races and tongues. He desires for people all over the
world to have a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus, and
Jesus Himself declared. “For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life.” (John 3:16) May all who read these words receive Jesus
as their personal “Savior and Lord” by yielding to His invitation
to come to Him today.
Next
time the angel shares about “the
ten horns”
John saw “upon
the beast”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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