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UNDERSTANDING THE KINGDOM OF GOD
THE BOOK OF REVELATION - PART 23

John S. Torell

February 8, 2003

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

There are two cities in the world, which are going to play crucial roles in the end times, and they are clearly defined in the Bible. The first one is Jerusalem, which is defined in the book of Revelation 11:8. God is referring to Jerusalem as "Sodom and Egypt," which is telling the believers in Christ that until the time Jesus comes back, Jerusalem is a den of evil.

The city of Rome is defined as the city sitting on seven mountains ( Rev.17:9). Most people today, having a very limited education in geography, do not know that the city of Rome is located on seven hills (small mountains). Here are the names of the seven hills : The Aventine, Caelian, Capitoline, Esquiline, Palatine, Quirinal, Viminal. In ancient times the city of Rome was known as the city sitting on the seven mountains. Rome was founded around 1500 B.C., and by 1000 B.C. Indo-European people have moved into the region and developed Rome into a city state. By 600 B.C. the city of Rome expanded its political and military power to cover the entire Italian peninsula. At the time of Christ Rome had become an empire and had conquered all the nations around the Mediterranean sea.
        Jerusalem is going to be the seat of the Antichrist - 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4
        Rome is going to be the seat of the False Prophet - Revelation 17:9
Jerusalem is going to have the temple.  
Rome already has the governing center of the Great Whore, THE CHURCH OF SATAN!

Verse 1: The angel is now going to show the apostle John the judgment against the great whore.

Verse 2: In this verse we are told the influence and the power that this religious organization will have on the earth.

Verse 3: The wilderness described in this verse is the spiritual wilderness that this organization has created on earth and lured people by the millions into it.

Verse 4: Here we are told that the organization is financially rich, dressed in beautiful clothing, buildings and a majestic liturgy, but full of evil and filthiness. Matthew 23:25-28

Verse 5: The angel is now showing the apostle, that the church organization in Rome is the Mystery Babylon the Great, and the head of all other religious organizations on this earth. Revelation 13:11-15

It is the Great Whore that will be in charge of the Mark of the Beast - Revelation 13:15-18  The Mark of the Beast is first of all a religious symbol, which will give the bearer the RIGHT AND DUTY TO WORSHIP THE BEAST (The Antichrist).

Verse 6: In this verse we are now told of the emotion of the apostle. In the original text it does not say that the apostle" admired" the Great Whore, but that he was GREATLY ASTONISHED. The apostle now was shown the millions of men and women that this organization had murdered over the centuries.

The apostle received this revelation around 90 A.D. 20 years earlier he had witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem, the execution of tens of thousands of Jews, including the leadership of Judaism in Jerusalem, and the destruction of the temple and the city itself.  And now, in the very end time, a new temple has been built in Jerusalem, Judaism has been revived and the political and religious control is held by the Jewish Antichrist and the Jews who followed him. All Gentiles are now having to bow down to the Jewish World Government. What the apostle could not understand is how Judaism which had been destroyed, could have risen to total control over the entire world and all the people.

Verse 7: The Angel is now telling the apostle not to be astonished. He is now going to tell him about the beast that is giving the woman the power. Notice that it is the beast who is in charge of the Great Whore, not the other way around!

Verse 8: The beast is now identified as the Antichrist, who came (Revelation 13:1-2); he was killed (verse 3), revived again, and he was given power by the dragon (the Devil, verse 4).

Verse 9: This verse identifies the city as Rome

Verse 10: At the time of this revelation, five rulers have come and gone, one is currently ruling and one more is coming.

Verse 11: The Antichrist will be the eighth ruler.

Verse 12: The world is going to be divided into ten regions, each having a ruler over them. These ten kings or rulers, will be ruling under the dominion of the Antichrist.

It’s obvious, that the reign of this organization is not going to be for "one hour" human time. If we use the measurement given to us in 2 Peter 3:8, we find the following:
            One hour with God is 41.67 human years
                One minute with God is 8 months and 8 days for man
                    One second for God is 3 days and 22 hours for man
                        Thus the time of the reign of the Antichrist will be 41.67 years!

Verses 13-14: These political rulers will be in total agreement with the Antichrist, but in the end they shall be defeated by Jesus. Revelation 19:19-20

Verse 15: The waters which the woman (one world religion) sits on are people, which the organization is controlling.

Verses 16-17: Once the Jewish World Government has been firmly seated in power on the earth, the Jews will turn on the One World Religion Church, and strip it of its power.

Verse 18: The Roman Catholic Church is going to receive all religions on this earth under its control and will rule over all kings (political rulers) from its power center in Rome.  Is it a coincidence that when the Soviet Union broke up, that Gorbachev flew to Rome to have a conference with the pope? Or, that the foreign minister of Iraq asked for an audience with the pope to be held of the week February 10-15, 2003. Why is it that a number of political rulers and prominent American pastors and televangelist’s travel to Rome, to see the pope?

Do you have an ear to hear with?

To be continued...

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