Rev 18:3, “For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.” (KJV)Įven in the early church, there was a premature desire to reign before Jesus returned. Rev 17:1-2, “And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I shall show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality." (NAS) Some church men full of ambition could not wait for their Lord to return and entered into these illicit relations with earthly rulers, kings. At His second coming, they would then be Jesus’ bride and receive kingdom power and glory from Him. This union was completely illicit, meaning that the true church of Jesus Christ, metaphorically “virgins”, were not supposed to unite with the kings of the earth… rather the true church was instructed to wait for their Lord Jesus to return. In its latter stages it was depicting the “Holy Roman Empire” which was a uniting of European monarchs with Papal clergy. These “beasts” historically were a combining of civil and religious authorities. In due course, they would both come under attack and under the governmental power of these beast-like entities. The “Lord’s people” would include the natural seed of Abraham, (the Jews) and the spiritual faith seed, (the Christian church). At various times and places, these powers would exercise dominion over the Lord’s people acting in a beast-like manner. What is the beast itself? Looking to the lessons found in Daniel chapters 7 & 8 we discover that the beasts are picturing Gentile, earthly powers, governments or empires.
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