Revelation 17:7-13

As was the study last week, this study has a great deal of reading and research, with older commentaries being decidedly anti-Catholic, and not without reason for us Protestants. You may already know I am a “no union with Rome” kind of preacher. Somewhere in my theological library, I have a book with that name. My son knew where it was and retrieved it from where it was under a precarious pile of my other books. Here it is. However, I do not think this is speaking only of Catholicism. I think it will be a part of it, especially the late Pope Francis the Illegitimate’s theology, where pretty much anything goes. There are forces today within Christendom (and that phrase alone should give you big red warning flags – forces and Christendom in the same phrase) that are trying to unite what they are calling “Christianity” (it isn’t) with Islam. There are already Chrislam “churches” (again, they aren’t churches) practicing the union of these religions. In places like Nigeria, where Islamic Fulani herdsmen terrorists are striking down believers and their families daily, and are beginning to move into Benue State (I have contacts there), to the world, this seems like a fantastic solution to the conflict. To me, it seems more like syncretism, the mixing of true religion with external ceremonies, traditions, and worst of all, doctrines. This is the kind of thing that the coming one-world religion will do, bringing a tension-filled peace to religion on the planet, at least for a short time.

Last week, we talked in detail about the woman riding the beast, and how she represents false religion, and compared her to a prostitute who has turned away from her pledged Groom, Christ. Her worldly possessions are from the idolatrous practices she imposes on those seeking to worship God, and we also saw that the people who dwell on the earth (a sort of euphemism for unbelievers in the book of Revelation) will not only buy it, but wholesale turn to it almost without exclusion, because, as we stated a moment ago, anything will be acceptable, except Christ and His cross, the thing all real believers know and follow as the truth. It will move from being the means of slow and torturous death for the follower of Christ to a bloodless stick in a watered-down, made-up religion, with no more power or significance than a work of Shakespeare, even as wonderful as those are. We still have more to say about the woman, but we will leave that when we get to verse 18 in the next study.

The reason we are making so much effort to detail the woman riding the beast is that, like Constantine I, the Antichrist will use religion to unify his empire. There is more of a comparison than many are comfortable making, but this is the religion that began in Pergamum and greatly expanded in Thyatira in Rev. 2. The video studies are in our archives, and I invite you to search out those two studies on the Official Berean Nation Rumble Channel. The problem with Pergamum and Thyatira is that they led to Sardis, the church with the reputation for being alive, but was really just filled with death. This woman, coming from demonic beginnings observed by the prophet Zechariah in the 5th chapter of his short letter, arrives at what we saw last time, bedecked in the clothing of a victorious Roman general, bedecked with finery and jewelry earned by her whorish idolatry with her metaphorical paramour, the Antichrist, with a cup full of abominations and uncleanness committed before God, not the least of which was the systematic persecution and execution of the saints of God, real believers, who followed Christ right through the end of their lives, where they entered eternity in His presence forever. However, as we will see, the harlot will not end peacefully. It is kind of the ultimate “fool around, find out.”

This evening, we examine the beast and its meaning more closely. We make some connections that we started to make last time to better demonstrate his character and role in the narrative of events. I remind you all that we have left the chronological order of events to examine some significant events in the story of the end itself. We will resume that when we begin chapter 19.

With all of that introduction, I broke the text down like this:

KV7: The Woman and the Beast

7: And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.

7-8: Followers of the Beast

9-11: Seven Mountains

12-13: Ten Kings

We will continue our study of the important characters and their relation to the heavenly drama that has been written from before the foundation of the world. I do not pretend to know the motivations and thoughts of the individuals that are represented or their purposes. Instead, we will do what we always do – examine the Scriptures to see what is so. With that, let’s get into the text.

KV7: The Woman and the Beast

7: And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.

John here is being questioned by one of the angels who had one of the final seven bowls of the wrath of God. When we left off last time, the Apostle was struck with an overwhelmingly sad and terrible astonishment at the woman riding on the beast, and the angel asked him why he was wondering. He did not wonder what he was thinking; he already knew. He asked why, not what. I do not think it was a sarcastic question, such as I have been known to ask. I think the angel had the additional duty to see to it that John knew what was going on, and he took that duty seriously. John had grasped the what, and could explain it in a clear way that his readers would understand back in that day. What he wondered was so surprising to John as to give him that level of astonishment, and perhaps with some divinely aided prescience, the angel declared that he would explain the woman and the beast, and proceeded to do just that. Let’s see what the text has to show us.

7-8: Followers of the Beast

The title for this paragraph of the text comes from the second half of verse eight, but we will say more about that when we get there. We will just begin to read out of the text here.

7: And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.

As I have already said, it is possible to hear biting sarcasm when this verse is read in the mouth of the angel, but I cannot assume that because it is more of a human failing than anything like charity in God’s grace and love. Instead, I hear in my mind a tone of gentleness and understanding, a being that is bearing with his human charge and making certain the message is not lost on John. It is like the angel is saying, “I see astonishment on your face, John. Allow me to explain the things you observe. I will explain what you do not understand, and you will after I do. We will speak of the woman and the beast she is riding on, and the significance of the seven heads and ten horns on those seven heads.

8: The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.

Last time, we made some comparisons between the woman with child (the mother of Israel) and the harlot on the beast. The first was clothed with the sun, the latter was clothed in material that could only reflect light, in this case, the false light of the one who is a mere light-bearer, not the source of all light itself. The description of the beast as the one who was, is not, and is about to come is, I think, a deliberate parody of the One who was, is, and will always be. In other words, this antichrist, in the sense of attempting to be a replacement for the real Christ, simply does not measure up. In this statement, the angel is telling John that this Antichrist beast is not the real deal, and the only real deal title belongs to God the Son, Jesus Christ. In fact, the angel even gives the destination of this great (mega) pretender: it comes out of the abyss and goes to destruction, which we will see in Rev. 19 when we get there. Hint: We trust he likes the smell of sulphur and heat. A lot of heat. He will be there for the rest of his immortal existence.
Those who dwell on the Earth. As we have already said earlier, this is a kind of euphemism for unbelievers throughout the Book of Revelation. It tells us exactly who those people are next. It is all those whose names have not been written in the Book of Life from before the foundation of the world. We will see more about that book in Revelation 20, but that is also called by a number of commentators, The Book of the Elect. It sounds kind of Calvinist, I know, but the fact is, the ones mentioned in Romans 8:29-30 are all written in that book, and no one else is. Romans 8:29-30 says, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” Beloved, Paul is speaking of that great body of real believers known as the church, the body of Christ on Earth, the Bride of Christ in Heaven. The angel is talking about every person on Earth who is not written in that book. But what will happen to them?
The text tells us that these will stand in awe and amazement at the beast. The Greek word used in the text here is θηρίον, the wild, toxic beast that comes up from the ἀβύσσου [bottomless pit] and rules the entire planet for a short time. They will see him as a mighty planetary saviour (the substitute Christ part), and they will pledge their loyalty to him alone, to him who was, is not, and will come; and in any way that matters to heaven and the saints of God, will not measure up. These people who have made this terrible choice will go with him eventually into his own doom for the rest of eternity. These are those who follow the beast.

Now, let me ask: Does this sound like something to be avoided at all costs? If it does, you need to repent of your sinful choices. You need to admit to God in Heaven that you are a sinner, one who has violated God’s holy standard and as a result, stands condemned before Him, worthy of eternal damnation. This is our default condition, friends. It says in John 3:18, “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” All of humanity stands under this penalty by default because of the actions of Adam and Eve in the Garden. Does this sound like the vengeful, angry God in the front part of the book? It is the very same God at the end, in the very back of the book. He is, among other things, a God of justice, and justice will be satisfied in your case, one way or another. You will either accept His free pardon, won for you by His death on a Roman cross about 2000 years ago, or you will choose not to take that, and face it on your own. The problem is that no action you could take, no price you could pay, no spell you can cast, no destination you can visit, and no indulgence you could ever buy at any price will ever be enough to pay the price for your violations of His holy standard. There is a reason you may hate what I’m saying, and for the angry pride that may be welling up in your chest, wanting to shut me up. Listen to me. It’s your choice. Yours alone. I encourage you to choose well, and I leave you with this quote from theologian F. B. Meyer: “Man does not like the religion of the cross, of faith, of self-denial, and each age has witnessed some false system from which all these objectionable elements are eliminated. Surely a false system has revelated itself successively in Babylon, Jerusalem, Rome, London, New York, and other great centers. Fashion smiles on it, wealth adorns it, human power unites with it, and in every age it has been intoxicated with the blood of martyrs.” I’ll leave you to think about that. All you need to do is turn from your sins and to Christ. Then believe in your heart, really believe, not just give mental ascent to the idea, that Christ rose from the dead to prove the price had been paid. Now that you have heard it, the choice and responsibility are yours.

All those who follow this poisonous and deadly damned beast will face the same fate. Moving on to the next paragraph.

9-11: Seven Mountains

I am surprised at the plethora of “interpretations” I have heard or read about the meaning of the seven mountains. Many are worthy of thought, but there are a few that were, well, out there. Most of the older commentaries, like Henry and Poole, are more fixated on the idea that this must somehow represent Rome, but there are other reasons that this may not be Rome, or any city at all, in the text. Let’s look.

9: Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits,

The beast here is described in detail, and we will start with its heads. Several older commentators seem to want to connect this to the city of Rome physically because Rome is known to be the city that sits on seven hills. In fact, there was once a festival called the Septimontium in Rome, literally from Latin, the feast of the seven-hilled city (which comes indirectly from Plutarch’s Dinner of the Seven Wise Men and Banquet of the Seven Sages if you want references). In fact, on the imperial coins minted by Rome during the reign of Vespasian, Rome is represented as a woman sitting on seven hills.
I think this may be a case for our multiple levels of meaning theory. There may be some level in which this includes Rome. Some have said Babylon, but that city is built on a plain beside the Euphrates. Others have said Jerusalem, and there is an argument here, because it is also built on seven hills, and has been equated with spiritual Sodom for its sinfulness before God in rejecting the Messiah at his first coming. The problem becomes all the fighting between the followers of the different factions.
My thinking is that it is at this time unknown, and for our purposes, unimportant. It is possible (though personally distasteful) that this is an allegory of some kind, though I do think overly allegorizing is intellectually lazy. The woman is an allegory of sorts, perhaps representative of the false prophet, perhaps also representative of the entire one-world religious system that will be used by the Antichrist to unify his global empire. When it develops, if the church is still here (and we have already talked about why I doubt that), we will know it. Instead of wasting time trying to figure out the location of the seat of the one-world religion, let us instead get on with the business the Apostle Paul concerned himself with: Walking in a worthy manner, as per Eph. 4:1. Look that up on your own.

10: and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while.

Well! Seven heads are seven mountains, and those seven mountains are seven kings! Again with the levels of meaning. Wherever this world city is, and it might literally be anywhere, though we have three strong candidates listed. Now we read that these aren’t administrators or rulers of the kingdom of Antichrist, but are historical kings. At the time John saw this, five of the historical ruling kingdoms and their kingdoms had fallen, and one ruled then, interestingly, the seven-hilled city of Rome. Those fallen kingdoms, in order, for the record, are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. A partial list of these occurs in Daniel 2:31-35, which reads, “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”
The seventh king has not yet come from the point of John’s writing under Roman rule. That seventh king, when he arrives, will remain a little while. That Greek word is ὀλίγον, the neuter of ὀλίγος, and is used here as an adverb meaning a short season or a small amount of time. He gets seven years, and he rules for 1290 days officially according to Scripture, as we have seen in previous studies. This seventh king is the Antichrist, and there is no reference in Scripture to say when he will appear in history, so stop trying to figure that out. We will, as real believers and followers of Jesus, if we are here (again, I do not think we will be), we will know who this is. Next verse.

11: The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction.

The reference to the Antichrist again modifies itself a bit. He was and is not. This is thought by most commentators to be some kind of reference to the apparently fatal wound that was apparently healed. At least one commentator thinks this will be a faked resurrection, meaning that the whole “assassination” thing will be faked and staged. (MacArthur, J., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Revelation 12-22, Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL., 2000. p. 170.) I am a little less clear on whether this would be a fake event or a lying sign and wonder, but it is fake in either event.
Why would we all say this? Because the beast, who is the Antichrist, is an EIGHTH king, and was one of the seven. In fact, the Greek says, ὄγδοός ἐστιν καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἑπτά ἐστιν, “an eighth is and out of [as in the source of something that happens, Vine] the seven is…” The only way most of us can imagine this is if it involves this false resurrection. I did, a long time ago, in a private conversation with my then-pastor, hear him speculate about how this might also be a soul who was one of these other previous kings “let out of hell” on a furlough of a kind by Satan himself because this one was so given to the destruction of the children of Israel that Satan felt he needed another chance at it under more favourable conditions. He went so far as to speculate that the most likely candidate for this might be Antiochus Epiphanes, but it was private speculation, and now, I think probably unlikely. I don’t think Satan has the authority to “release” anyone from their eternal sentence, or he would have already. Also, the king of Greece was Alexander the Great; Antiochus came later.
Regardless of who it is, and I think it is the actual Antichrist, not some previous satanic king, this ruler goes to destruction by the will of God and by His direct intervention in the situation at Basrah and then Har-Megiddo before setting down in Jerusalem to set up His earthly kingdom and reign for 1000 years. I DO think that Antiochus was a type of personal Antichrist that will rule over the Antichristian Empire. He is called “the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction” in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. There is only one other man in the New Testament who is named and called a son of destruction, and that is Judas. We know it cannot be him because of his suicide in the Gospels because of a guilty conscience and lack of repentance.

The description of the beast, which John names the Antichrist in his first of three general letters to the churches (and John is the only writer who uses that name and only in those letters), serves to define events by introducing the relevant characteristics of said character in the story. Much of the description here is allegorical, showing that there is allegory used in Scripture. I mean, how do you take a woman riding a beast with seven heads and ten horns literally? That would be a crazy CGI effect in movies today, but this will be a real set of events involving real people in real time. There is also the heavenly view of what is going on, and it supplies a more spiritual understanding that provides a larger context for what will happen. I am with that statement, trying to give you all a tool for future bible study. There is more than one level of understanding Scripture. There is at least the literary meaning (sometimes literal, sometimes metaphor), and there is a spiritual meaning (usually as a point or set of points being illustrated by the text). There can be a devotional meaning, like when a verse feels like it is reaching off the page just to speak to you personally. What is actually happening is that the Lord is pointing out to you a verse in context and showing you how it may apply to you, though you must be careful here. The Bible was not written about you, even if your name is in the text (mine never is). These descriptions of the harlot and the beast are to give you a spiritual understanding of why God emptied out His wrath on the entire planet. Next paragraph.

12-13: Ten Kings

The description of this wild and toxic beast continues here, but we move now from location in time and space to some of the supporting cast. What does that mean? Let’s have a look.

12: The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour.

This is one of the more interesting things in the story to me. The ten kings? Who are they? The text here says they have not yet received a kingdom. A king without a kingdom? How does that happen? There are at least a couple of possibilities. First is that these are not yet kings because the countries have not yet formed, and this seems to be a generally accepted understanding of this verse. Another possibility is that we are not understanding the term for “king” quite the way the text means. According to Vine, this word (βασιλεῖς) is most commonly used to refer to either the ruler of a nation (basileia, kingdom) or to Christ as King of kings. However, it could be “kings” of industry, or some such other thing. Some (like Stearman, Gonzales, Crone, and others) have suggested that these may be the “rulers” of things like the tech industry, such as Elon Musk. Think about this for a moment. All of these people have a special ability or technology (some have several) that can be used as a part of the control mechanism of the beast in his one-world economy. Such a system is already being used in China, and it is required on every cellular device by Chinese law. It is called an “everything app.” It deals with your banking and assets, your social media, and your location can be tracked by your cell phone, like that. If you buy things the government does not like, there is a social credit score attached to each user that can be manipulated by the government. If your social credit score drops below a certain point (I don’t know what that is, but what the previous US Presidential Administration called ESG was a part of it), then you can’t take money out of the bank to make purchases. Your car cannot be used to travel outside a 15-minute radius of where you live. Things like that.
Here is where I get the feeling that folks out there on the internet think I’m going off into conspiracy theory land. I am not. I have contacts that over the years have taught English as a second language in China, and I read between 600-800 news headlines every day. I read about this stuff in online newspaper articles, my friends, and I have watched with horror as people try to implement it here in the West. Were you aware that Elon Musk purchased Twitter with the plan of making it the integrated “everything app” named X? Or that Elon used to be involved with the payment system PayPal? The previous President of the US and his administration came very close to succeeding. Canada is already seven tenths of the way there. The US is about 10 years behind that, with its administration now making many of the same steps toward this goal. Cryptocurrency figures into this as well, instead of the Central Bank Digital Currencies that were the concern about a year or so ago. The big push now is implanted chips that will have a global ID number and carry all your banking information. That in itself is NOT the loyalty mark of the beast, because that mark will be an upgrade of sorts to form an implantable everything app that only those who pledge loyalty to the Antichrist will receive, and no one else will be at first permitted to participate in the regular economy. I suspect this will lead to a number of possibly localized parallel economies to beat that system for those who will not swear loyalty to this false messiah. This will, in turn, somehow cause these individuals to be systematically hunted down and given the choice of loyalty or death, all because the world leader wants everyone to worship him instead of God. It is coming, Beloved. Make your choice now so that you cannot be forced into a no-win choice then. I know it isn’t necessarily a no-win, but what if you are not a believer and you choose not to take the mark of the beast? You’re still just as dead and damned to hell as those who took the mark. As a follower of Christ, I have no desire to see that happen, even though I know it will.
Parenthetically, part of this is my burden for the lost and my need to keep people out of this where possible. I know it will not always be. I was chatting with my neighbour on Sunday this week as I got home from worship. He was trying to talk about how he was a good person, and how he tried to follow the golden rule and not judge people. He said this unbidden, without invitation on my part. The good person test may have been appropriate, but we were bringing groceries in from the car, and it was a 30-second conversation. Pray for my neighbour and his wife. They seem like decent folks with two teenage kids. Pray I would have an open door to share the gospel with them.
It says that these “kings” receive their authority (ἐξουσίαν), which amounts to legal permission to do things in this case, AS (ὡς) βασιλεῖς, kings, the word is plural, WITH (μετὰ) the beast (τοῦ θηρίου). It seems to me that this is some kind of trade deal. The man who is the Antichrist will say to the industry leader, “I need a control system, and I need it to reach all around the globe.” The best way to do that would be by satellite. In comes Elon Musk with SpaceX and Starlink. “I will give you system access and the control of the system in exchange for real power,” might be the reply. Suddenly, everyone on earth must be on X. Some who were protesting whatever will find themselves unable to pay for a meal or buy groceries. That’s the kind of thing I’m talking about. I am not saying that Elon Musk is a part of this, but it is a relevant real-world example of how this might be implemented. There is more I could say, but I had better not for the sake of time. However, the next verse is the reason I say things like this.

13: These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

It is interesting that all of these ten kings will have one purpose. This is an indicator, in my experience, of prior planning and recognition. They want to control the earth for their own maximum benefit, and will not care who gets hurt in the process, as demonstrated by the recent attempts to initiate the “great reset” by the World Economic Forum, actually a manifestation of the old guard in Nazi Germany, but I won’t get into that here. I have heard King Charles III say, with my own ears, that all of the work that they are doing globally through the World Economic Forum is to make sure all of the power can be handed over to “him.” Who is “him?” We call him the Antichrist. They view him as a specially selected brilliant world leader, specially bred and groomed for the position through their own brilliance. Pastor Billy Crone has produced audio recordings of their internal meetings. I have no idea of his sources, but I think it is very interesting that they are publicly available; they don’t think we are smart enough to look for and find out what is going on in the world, and in their thinking, even if we do, we cannot do anything about it. I think they are mistaking our intent; knowing what is coming, why would we stop the return of our Lord to Earth? Of course, they may not realize that part. They all bring this on themselves without any understanding of what they will be unleashing on Earth, all in an attempt to control everything and everyone on the planet for their own gain in greed and covetousness.
The result of their already decided purpose is that they will give their power and authority to the beast, because they believe he is the anointed one, but it was their anointing, not God’s. There is only one Anointed One, and it is Christ. The Greek word for “anointed one” is Χριστός, and we shorten that in English to Christ. In Hebrew, it is מָשִׁיחַ, which we Anglicize as Messiah. He is the only one whom God anointed for the purpose of “saving” the world. This one does not have God’s anointing to be sure. Yet, they will give their δύναμιν [explosive power to perform] and ἐξουσίαν [legal permission to use and control] to the beast. These individuals will do it because of something I am very familiar with as a salesman of more than 40 years – self-motivated self-interest. They will see what they get out of it and jump at the chance, all the while clapping themselves on the back at their genius for “genetically selecting” and “politically grooming” this individual so that they themselves will be able to reap the maximum benefits. There is an old saying we had on the farm regarding our produce garden: get all you can, and can all you get. This seems to be their modus operandi.
For some, it will not end well. Daniel 7:8 says, “While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts.” This is the Old Testament equivalent passage that discusses this beast we call the Antichrist. This little horn came up among three of the horns and tore out three of these ten kings by the roots. This gives a little information worth remembering. The ten kings, whoever they are, will come out before the arrival of the Antichrist on the scene; otherwise, how would the little horn tear the three kings out by the roots? I think these three kings may in fact be a kind of “scapegoat” for lack of better words, to show everyone the power and brilliance of the beast. Their destruction will be complete, and may in fact be fatal, not limited to the business or political realms. Personally, I think that if my understanding is correct here, this “tearing out by the roots” will snap the other kings into alignment with the beast’s plans and agenda.
There is a movie I have seen, maybe you have too, called Left Behind. The version released by Cloud Ten Pictures in 2000 had a scene where the Antichrist executes two of the men who were responsible for his rise to power.
[show 7-min clip]
That was a way it may play out. Personally, I think that was a little contrived, as was the whole storyline, but that’s futuristic fiction for you. What I mean you to see there was how two men, who were earlier outed to the UN Secretary General (the guy who did the killing), paid for their own greed in attempting to control the food supply for the world, things we have kind of touched on all the way through the book from chapter 6 on. The only one that remembered any of those events as the movie went forward was Buck, played by Kirk Cameron. He had been saved as he repented of his sins and believed on the real Jesus only moments before the events in that clip. He was, therefore, not subject to the manipulation of the Antichrist, unlike all of the other “dwellers on the earth” and the unsaved were. Personally, I do think that the Antichrist will have that sort of power. This was a decent dramatization of the kind of emotions that would be triggered by such events. However, I do think it would send a message: either fall in line with the beast, or suffer the same consequences as he does. In fact, the harlot on the beast in this chapter will also suffer similar things. I have no idea what those events will look like specifically, but we will look at that next study and through the end of chapter 18.

We have examined some rich text in this study. There are a number of different ways to interpret this, but I have tried to tell you what I believe, mostly the majority of the commentators agree on most of this, and where I have differed from the majority, I have tried to show reasons from the text or from the Scriptures themselves. If you do not agree, study it for yourself and then tell us in the comments. I will be deleting all “we can help you with your growth” type comments, and anything typed in all capital letters, as usual.

That is what I saw in the text this time. Next time, we will be looking at verses 14 through 18, finishing up the chapter. After that, we will be moving on to chapter 18, the first 8 verses, I think. We will go from there.