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 cometh, 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 goeth 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.”
In chapter seventeen and verse thirteen of Revelation the angel tells
John how “these
have one mind”
where
we read:
The
verse reads, “These
have one mind, ...”
John began with the word, “these”
which refers to “the ten
kings”
“have
one mind”
or “a single faculty of knowledge, reason, view, judgment, opinion,
resolve, purpose, intention and advice concerning what ought to be
done”. John was told how these “ten
kings”
are united in “thought and intention” toward their activities.
The
verse continues, “...
and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”
John added the words, “and
shall give”
which means “and the ten
kings
will grant, bestow, furnish and supply” “their
power” or
“their ability, resources, riches and wealth” “and
strength”
which means “and power of choice, liberty of doing as they please,
authority and right” “unto
the beast”
which means “toward the ferocious being which is the antichrist”.
The angel declared to John how these “ten
kings”
will surrender all their “ability, riches, wealth, authority and
right” to the antichrist.
When
we meditate upon John's words in this verse, we see how much power
and control the antichrist shall have over these “ten kings”.
Not only will he have power throughout the earth, but he shall rule
the “rulers” of the earth as well. God knows these things in
advance and has provided them for all who read this book, and it is
certain He desires to have a relationship with every person through
His Son Jesus Christ who is the “King of kings” and the
“Lord of lords”. All who are wise shall submit themselves
to Him in advance of these things which are certain to come to pass,
and all who are foolish shall reject His offer to be “saved”.
Next
time John shares what the “these
shall make war with the Lamb”,
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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