Steve Webb: That's just plain foolish.
This is the Lifespring! One Year Bible coming to you from
Riverside, California and podcasting since 2004. My name
is Steve Webb I am your OG Godcaster is prophecy Friday.
and our reading today is Revelation 12 through 17. The
website is Lifespringmedia.com. and I'll have contact
information at the end of today's show. Before we read,
let's pray. Our heavenly Father, Lord, we thank You for Your
Word. and we thank you for the book of Revelation. We pray,
Lord, that as we read this sometimes very difficult to
understand book, we pray that you would teach us, help us to
see what it is you want us to understand. Teach us we pray in
Jesus name, Amen. All right, beloved, are you ready? Let's
begin.
Revelation chapter 12, is a great sign was seen in heaven. A
woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and on
her head, a crown of 12 stars. She was with child, she cried
out in pain, laboring to give birth. Another sign was seen in
heaven. Behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and 10
horns, and on his head's seven crowns, His tail drew 1/3 of the
stars of the sky and threw them to the earth. The dragon stood
before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she
gave birth, he might devour her child. She gave birth to his
son, a male child, who was to rule all the nations with a rod
of iron. Her child was caught up to God and to his throne. The
woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared
by God, that there they may nourish her 1260 days, there was
war in the sky, Michael and his angels made war on the dragon,
the dragon and his angels made war. They didn't prevail.
Neither was a place found for him anymore in heaven. The great
dragon was thrown down the old serpent, he who was called the
Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown
down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with
him. I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, now the
salvation, the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the
authority of his Christ has come for the accuser of our brothers
has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day
and night. They overcame him because of the lambs blood, and
because of the word of their testimony, they didn't love
their life, even to death. Therefore, rejoice heavens, and
you who dwell in them, whoa to the Earth into the sea, because
the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that
he has but a short time. When the dragon saw that he was
thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave
birth to the male child. Two wings of the great eagle were
given to the woman that she might fly into the wilderness to
her place, so that she might be nourished for a time and times
and half the time from the face of the serpent. The serpent
spewed water out of his mouth after the woman like a river,
that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. The
Earth helped the woman and the earth opened its mouth, and
swallowed up the river which the dragon spewed out of his mouth.
The dragon grew angry with a woman and went away to make war
with the rest of our offspring, who keep God's commandments and
hold Jesus testimony.
Revelation chapter 13. Then I stood on the sand of the sea, I
saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having 10 horns and seven
heads. On his horns were 10 crowns, and on his heads
blasphemous names. The beast, which I saw was like a leopard,
and his feet were like those of a bear and his mouth like the
mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne and
great authority. One of his heads looked like it had been
wounded fatally, his fatal wound was healed, and the whole earth
marveled at the beast. They worshipped the dragon because he
gave his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast
saying, who was like the beast who was able to make war with
him, a mouth speaking great things and blasphemy was given
to him. authority to make war for 42 months was given to him.
He opened his mouth for blasphemy against God, to
blaspheme his name and his dwelling, those who dwell in
heaven. It was given to him to make war with the saints and to
overcome them. authority over every tribe, people, language
and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will
worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the
foundation of the world, in the book of life of the Lamb who has
been killed. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone has
to go into captivity, he will go into captivity. If anyone is to
be killed with the sword, he must be killed. Here is the
endurance and the faith of the saints. I saw another beast
coming up out of the air If he had two horns like a lamb, and
he spoke like a dragon, and he exercises all the authority of
the first beast in his presence, he makes the earth and those who
dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was
healed. He performs great signs, even making fire come down out
of the sky to the earth in the sight of people. He deceives my
own people who dwell on the earth because of the signs he
was granted to do in front of the beast, saying to those who
dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the
beast who had the sword wound and lift, it was given to him to
give breath to it to the image of the beast, that the image of
the beast should both speak and causes many is wouldn't worship
the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all the small
and the Great, the rich and the poor, the free and the slave to
be given marks on their right hands or on their foreheads, and
that no one would be able to buy or sell unless he has that mark,
the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is
wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate
the number of the beast for it is the number of a man his
number is 666.
Revelation chapter 14, I saw and behold, the Lamb standing on
Mount Zion, and with him a number 144,000 having his name
and the name of his father written on their foreheads. I
heard a sound from heaven, like the sound of many waters, and
like the sound of a great thunder. The sound which I heard
was like that of harpists playing on their harps. They
sang a new song before the throne. and before the four
living creatures and the elders, no one could learn the song
except the 144,000, those who had been redeemed out of the
earth. These are those who were not defiled with women, for they
are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever He
goes. These were redeemed by Jesus from among men, the first
fruits to God and to the Lamb. in their mouth was found no lie
for their blameless I saw an angel flying in mid heaven,
having an eternal good news to proclaim those who dwell on the
earth, and to every nation, tribe, language and people. He
said with a loud voice, Fear the Lord and give Him glory, for the
hour of His judgment has come worship Him who made the
heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of waters.Another a
second angel followed, saying, Babylon the Great has fallen,
which has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the
wrath of her sexual immorality, and another angel, a third,
follow them saying with a great voice. If anyone worships the
beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead, or on
his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God,
which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger, he will be
tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy
angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. The smoke of their
torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest, day and
night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever
receives the mark of his name. Here is the perseverance of the
saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the
faith of Jesus. I heard a voice from heaven saying, right, bless
it are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the
Spirit, that they may rest from their labors for their works
follow with them. I looked and behold a white cloud. and on the
cloud one sitting like a son of man, having on his head, a
golden crown, and in his hand, a sharp sickle. Another angel came
out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the
cloud, send your sickle and reap for the hour to reap his come
for the harvest of the earth is ripe. He who sat on the cloud,
Thrust his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
Another angel came out of the temple, which is in heaven, he
also had a sharp sickle. Another angel came out from the altar,
He who has power over fire, and he called with a great voice to
him who had the sharp sickle, saying, Send your sharp sickle
and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth. For the
earth, scrapes are fully ripe. The angel thrust his sickle into
the earth, and gathered the vintage of the earth, and threw
it into the great wind press of the wrath of God. The wind press
was trodden outside of the city, and blood came out of the wind
press, even to the bridles of the horses. As far as 1600
stadia in
Revelation, chapter 15. I saw another great and marvelous sign
in the sky, seven angels having the seven last plagues for in
them God's wrath is finished. I saw something like a sea of
glass mixed with fire, and those who overcame the beast, his
image and the number of his name standing on the sea of glass
having harps of God. They sang the song of Moses, the servant
of God and the song of the Lamb saying, Great and marvelous are
Your works, Lord God, the Almighty, righteous and true are
your ways you king of the nations. Who wouldn't fear you,
Lord and glorify your name, For you are holy, for all the
nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous
acts have been revealed. After these things I looked, and the
temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened,
the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out clothed
with Pure Bright linen, and wearing golden sashes around
their breasts. One of the four living creatures gave to the
seven angels, seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who
lives forever and ever. The temple was filled with smoke
from the glory of God, and from his power, no one was able to
enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven
angels will be finished.
Revelation chapter 16. I heard a loud voice out of the temple,
saying to the seven angels, Go and pour out the seven bowls of
the wrath of God on the earth. The first went and poured out
his bowl into the earth, and it became a harmful and evil sore
on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshipped
his image. The second angel poured out his bowl into the
sea, and it became blood as of a dead man. Every living thing in
the sea died, the third poured out his bowl into the rivers and
springs of water, and they became blood. I heard the angel
of the waters saying, you are righteous, who are and who were
you holy one, because you have judged these things, for they
poured out the blood of the saints and prophets, and you
have given them blood to drink. They deserve this. I heard the
altar saying, Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are
your judgments. The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun,
and it was given to him to scorch men with fire. People
were scorched with great heat, and people blasphemed, the name
of God who has the power over these plagues. They didn't
repent and give Him glory. The fifth poured out his bowl on the
throne of the beast and his kingdom was darkened. They nod
their tongues because of the pain and they blaspheme the God
of heaven because of their pains and their sores. They didn't
repent of their works. The six poured out his bowl on the great
river, the Euphrates, its water was dried up, that the way might
be prepared for the kings that come from the sunrise, I saw
coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of
the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three
unclean spirits, something like frogs, for their spirits of
demons, performing signs which go out to the kings of the whole
inhabited Earth, to gather them together for the war of that
great day of God the Almighty. Behold, I come like a thief.
Blessed is he who watches and keeps his clothes so that he
doesn't walk naked, and they see his shame. He gathered them
together into the place which is called in Hebrew Megiddo. The
sevens poured out his bowl into the air, a loud voice came out
of the temple of heaven from the throne, saying it is done. There
were lightnings sounds and thunders. and there was a great
earthquake, such as was not since there were men on the
earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty. The great city was
divided into three parts and the cities of the nations fell.
Babylon the grade was remembered in the sight of God to give to
her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. every
island fled away, and the mountains were not found. Great
hailstones about the weight of a talent came down out of the sky
on people. People blaspheme to God because of the plague of the
hail for this plague is exceedingly severe.
Revelation chapter 17. Then one of the seven angels who had the
seven jars came to me, he said, Come, I will show you how the
powerful woman who sells the use of her body will be punished.
She sits on the many waters of the world, the kings of the
earth have done sex sins with her, the people of the world
have been made drunk with a wine of her sex sins. I was carried
away in the spirit by the angel to a desert. I saw a woman
sitting on a red wild animal. It had seven heads and 10 horns.
All over the red wild animal was written bad names, which spoke
against God. The woman was wearing purple and red clothes.
She was wearing gold and pearls and stones worth much money. and
she had in her hand a gold cup full of sinful things from her
sex sins. There was a name written on her forehead, which
had a secret meaning it said, the big and powerful Babylon
mother of all women who sell the use of their bodies, and mother
of everything sinful of the earth. I looked at the woman she
was drunk with the blood of God's people, and those who had
been killed for telling about Jesus. Well I saw her, I
wondered very much. The angel asked me, Why do you wonder? I
will tell you the secret about this woman and the red wild
animal that carries her. It is the red wild animal was seven
heads and 10 horns. The red wild animal you saw was alive but is
now dead. He will come up from the hole without a bottom and be
destroyed. The people of the earth whose names have not been
written in the book of life from the beginning of the world, will
be surprised as they look at the red wild animal. He was alive
but not now, but will yet come. Here is where we need wisdom.
The seven heads of the animal or mountains where the woman sits,
they are seven kings, also. Five of them are no longer kings. The
sixth one is now King, the seventh one will be king, but
only for a little while. The red wild animal that died is the
eighth king. He belongs to the first seven kings, but he will
be destroyed also, the 10 horns of the red wild animal which you
saw are 10 kings, they have not become leaders yet, but they
will be given the right and the power to lead their nations for
one hour with the red wild animal. They agree to give the
right and the power to the red wild animal. and these kings
will fight and make war with a lamb. But the lamb will win the
war because he is Lord of lords and King of Kings. His people
are the called and chosen and faithful ones. Then the angel
said to me, you saw the waters where the woman who sold the use
of her body is sitting. The waters are people in large
groups of people and nations and languages. The 10 horns you saw
in the red wild animal will hate the woman who sold the use of
her body, they will take everything from her and even her
clothes, they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. God put
in their minds a plan that would carry out his desire, they will
agree to give their nation to the read wild animal until the
words of God had been completed. The woman you saw is the big and
powerful city that has power over the kings of the earth.
Ephesians 6:12 says, "...for our wrestling is not against flesh
and blood but against the principalities, against the
powers against the world's rulers of the darkness of this
age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the
heavenly places." In today's reading of revelation 12, we saw
more of that spiritual warfare with what John described as a
great sign in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and the
moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars. Most
commentators agree that the woman represents the church, the
bride of Christ, the son is Jesus, the crown of 12 stars as
the 12 apostles, and the moon is the Jewish people. Of course,
the dragon is Satan who has tried from the very beginning of
human history to destroy humanity in general in the
church and particular, this warfare will continue until
Satan is thrown into the pit. One thing we do know is that his
defeat is as sure as sure can be, the war has already been
won. The battles continue only because of God's great love as
He waits for the fullness of time, and the final soul to be
added to the role of believers. Until then our job is to
proclaim the gospel, the good news of a risen Savior. This is
what is meant in chapter 12 Verse 11, which says, they
meaning the believers overcame him meaning Satan, because of
the lambs blood, and because of the word of their testimony.
They didn't love their life, even to death. Yes, there will
be martyrs. But as we've already seen, God will dry their tears.
The important thing, beloved, is to remain faithful. Whatever we
go through here on Earth is temporary and fleeting. and an
eternity with God is certainly something glorious to look
forward to, don't you think? and then as we read Revelation and
try to understand the prophecies contained in it, like the fall
of Babylon and the mark of the beast to the 666, which is the
number of a man, it's natural. and this has been happening
probably since John wrote the book of Revelation to try to
understand them and put them into a familiar frame of
reference. For example, considering the number of 666.
Throughout history, believers have thought that it was Nero to
Mohamed to Henry Kissinger to Barack Obama to George Soros to
Klaus Schwab. I'm certainly not going to venture a guess because
until he is revealed to guesses just to guess, we can know this.
The number does represent a very real person, and when the time
comes, everybody's going to know who he is. Now, some people are
superstitious about the number. If the total at the cash
register comes up to 666 They'll buy something else to change it.
Athletes who are assigned entry number 666 oftentimes will ask
for a different number or they'll refuse to compete.
Listen. In my opinion, that's just plain foolish as all
superstitions are. So in terms of Babylon, who is this great
city, this one who sinned greatly caused others to sin was
rich and brought riches to those who threw in with her, and was
drunk with a blood of God's people. Are you ready? Here's
the answer. I don't know. I can speculate. But I'm not going to.
I just want to bring your attention to something that
should bring encouragement to your heart. When we see evil
arise, we can take heart knowing that God will bring justice and
judgment, even the harlot of Babylon, whoever she may be, he
will be destroyed. We do not serve an impotent God. We do not
serve a Deaf God. We do not serve a heartless God, we serve
a God who acts at precisely the perfect time. and when the time
comes for judgment, it will come swiftly and surely, all these
prophecies we read about in Revelation will happen just as
the prophecies of Jesus first coming did. The best thing for
us to do beloved in preparation for His Second Coming, is to do
the work he called us to do love God with all of our heart and
soul and mind, love others and share the good news until the
day of his coming, or until we're called home. What do you
think? Do you have thoughts or questions? Let me hear from you.
Send a Boostagram or call the Lifespring family hotline, go to
the comments page or write an email. Tomorrow we'll be gospels
Saturday, and our reading will be Acts 25 and 26.
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art thanks also to Timothy LaFontaine and Wayne Henderson
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rest of your day is great. Thanks for inviting me along
until tomorrow may God bless you richly. My name is Steve Webb.
Bye.
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