 |  |
Gentile dominion and Satanic counterfeit will both be headed up again in Babylon,
and there will be judge. Mesopotamia cannot be kept out of the world's politics any
more than Jerusalem could be kept out of the last great war. The sands of time are
running out. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh, and whether on the Mount of Olives,
in the air, or in glory, may we be ready to meet Him.
#50.
The Kingdom of Satan on Earth (17:).
pp. 57 - 60
Upon the expression of wonder with which John greeted the vision of the woman and
the scarlet coloured beast the angel said to him:--
"Wherefore didst thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the
beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns" (17: 7).
This is encouraging, for the mystery is great. At first sight the explanation seems
more difficult to grasp than the vision itself. The order in which the interpretation is
given is (i) the beast, (ii) the woman. So far as the beast itself is concerned, its
supernatural character is first put forward in verse 8. Then the meaning of the seven
heads and the ten horns follow (9-14). The waters upon which the woman sits are
interpreted in verse 15, and then finally the woman is explained in verse 18. This covers
all in the vision that needs explanation.
"The beast that thou sawest was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit,
and go into perdition" (17: 8).
These few words sketch the past, present and future of the beast.
1. He was.--He had therefore lived in the past.
2. He is not.--That is to say, when the time comes into which John had been
taken by the spirit, the beast will have been slain. Rev. 13: adds information
here. There the beast rises up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven
heads. One of the beast's heads had been slain as it were to death, and yet
was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast.
3. He shall be present.--He is about to ascend out of the abyss, and to go into
perdition. The A.V. reads "and yet is", but all the best MSS read kai parestai
= "shall be present" for kaiper estin = "and yet is".
There is in this statement an indication that the beast will counterfeit the parousia of
the Lord. In II Thess 2: 8, 9 we read:--