History: Reformation to Present - by S. Jones

HISTORY FROM THE REFORMATION TO THE PRESENT

Nov 29, 2018 by Dr. Stephen Jones

https://gods-kingdom-ministries.net/daily-weblogs/2018/11-2018/history-from-the-reformation-to-the-present/

The Reformation first secured a foothold in Germany and Holland. England was next, although at first this was motivated more by King Henry’s political dispute with the pope than by a desire for biblical teaching. In fact, although he had broken away from Rome and had become the head of the Church of England, he had taken with him all of Rome’s doctrines and practices.

Nonetheless, the king saw that it was virtually impossible to keep the Bible out of the hands of the common people, so he allowed English translations of the Bible to be placed in every parish.

These were times of upheaval, especially on the main continent of Europe. Henry read Tyndale’s 1528 book, The Obedience of a Christian Man, and thought that Bible study would make the people docile and obedient. In actuality, it turned every tavern into a house of debate, where everyone questioned the traditions of both church and state. The ideas of rulers’ rights and people’s liberties were front and foremost on their lips.

The general consensus among the people was that rulers were stewards who remained under God and were responsible to rule responsibly and righteously. If not, they had no right to rule. From the king’s point of view (derived from papal doctrine), the ruler was to be obeyed regardless of his righteousness, because God had appointed him king or pope, and this meant he had absolute authority, for better or for worse.

Henry soon issued a second edict forbidding people to read the Bible. Yet it was too late, for although he had penned the edict in his own handwriting, it was never issued or published. King Henry died in 1547, and his ten-year-old son Edward VI took the throne. Under his rule England’s break from Rome was solidified, and the council took steps to ensure a succession of monarchs who would remain Protestant.

More often than not, however, the monarchs thereafter were Roman Catholic inwardly while Protestant outwardly. Hence, the struggle persisted but was largely hidden in the background. Perhaps more to the point, the kings of England never renounced their view of the divine right of kings, which they had received through papal doctrine. In this, they were opposed by the Puritans who arose with their more biblical view of the divine right of King Jesus to establish or depose His steward monarchs.

The short reign of Mary I from 1553-1558. As a Roman Catholic, she tried to reverse course and return England to submission to Rome, burning more than 300 Protestants in the course of five years. It was a time of great religious turbulence. Protestants called her “Bloody Mary.” After her death in 1558, her younger half-sister, Elizabeth took the throne, and her long reign is known as the Elizabethan Era.

The Geneva Bible

A year after Elizabeth took the throne in England, the Geneva Bible was published in 1559 in Switzerland. It was the first to be translated by a committee of English-speaking Calvinist scholars who had been exiled during the reign of “Bloody Mary.” Their notes reflected the conditions and events that were current in their time. Papal sovereignty had been fully ingrained in the minds of Roman Catholics since Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303). In his Unum Sanctum, he had written:

“Furthermore we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff.”

Protestants contradicted that, insisting that all must be subject to Christ to receive salvation.

Within a generation, this Bible, with its footnotes and explanations, transformed the thinking of the common people. However, it had been published in Switzerland, and its distribution in England was somewhat limited. Yet it was the Bible that was used by the Pilgrims who later came to America in 1620.

“It is no exaggeration to say that the Geneva Bible was the most significant catalyst of the transformation of England, Scotland, and America from slavish feudalism to the heights of Christian civilization.” (The History and Impact of the Geneva Bible, p.1)

But the Geneva Bible was not without its critics, the chief of which was King James I of England, who objected to its notes that denied the divine right of kings. For example, we see the time preceding the birth of Moses, when the Pharaoh had ordered all of the male Israelite children to be cast into the Nile. Exodus 1:17-21 says,

¹⁷ Notwithstanding the midwives feared God, and did not as the King of Egypt commanded them, but preserved alive the men children. ¹⁸ Then the King of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done thus, and have preserved alive the men children? ¹⁹ And the midwives answered Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the women of Egypt; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come at them. ²⁰ God therefore prospered the midwives, and the people multiplied, and were very mighty. ²¹ And because the midwives feared God, therefore he made them houses.

In the footnotes, the Geneva Bible comments on these verses, saying,

1:19 Their disobedience herein was lawful, but their dissembling evil.

1:21 That is, God increased the families of the Israelites by their means.

1:22 When tyrants cannot prevail by craft, they burst forth into open rage.

The King James Version

The Geneva Bible was revised and reprinted in 1599. King James I became king of England in 1603. He was furious with these notes in the Geneva Bible, which made disobedience lawful and calling the King of Egypt a “tyrant.” Hence, in 1604 he authorized the translation of a new Bible to replace the Geneva Bible. Published in 1611, the King James Version was first called the “Authorized Bible,” in 1814.

The 1611 Bible used the English letters that were standard at the time. Their “S” looked more like an “f.” Further, there was no letter “J” at the time, so Jesus was spelled “Iesus,” and Jew was spelled “Iewe.” The first use of the “J” was in the 1629 Cambridge revision, which also corrected about 1600 misprints, including the commandment, “Thou shalt commit adultery!” For that infraction, the earlier misprinted Bible was called “The Wicked Bible.”

The King James Version of today, though still somewhat antiquated in its language, is actually an update from 1873, known as the Cambridge Paragraph Bible, modernized and re-edited by F. H. A. Scrivener.

Although the KJV utilized much of the Geneva Bible translation, it left out the notes and simply gave the people an English text. Even so, nine years later the Pilgrims were still using the Geneva Bible when they came to America. Gradually, however, the KJV replaced the Geneva Bible and soon standardized the English language.

In the secular field of literature, we should also give credit to the final editor of the King James Bible, Sir Francis Bacon, the founder of two secret societies: Rosicrucianism for the upper class, and Freemasonry for the working class. He believed as well that good works should be done in secret, as Jesus suggested, so he wrote many great works of literature under the name of William Shakespeare, giving him credit for his plays.

He had a fine sense of humor and so in the middle chapter of the Bible (Psalm 46) he translated verses 3 and 9:

³ Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

⁹ He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder. He burneth the chariot in the fire.

This was a subtle signature of “Shakespeare,” who was 46 years old in 1610. At any rate, the literature of Shakespeare also shaped the language of literature and standardized the English vernacular.

Intellectual and Spiritual Skills

The Bible and Shakespeare’s plays not only provided motivation to become literate but also aided the development of cognitive skills. The tavern debates over the divine right of kings created an intellectual and spiritual revolution that previously had been limited mostly to academia. Protestantism had let the genie out of the bottle. Once men began to taste the freedom of thought and conscience, they took the responsibility upon themselves to learn the truth. No longer was truth determined by the pope or even by King Henry VIII.

They learned that all men were authorized to discover truth and to seek God for themselves. They learned that God wanted to have a personal (direct) relationship with each individual. Men did not have to know God indirectly from a distance through priests. Neither did salvation come through church membership or submission to men.

Of course, all authority comes with an equal level of responsibility. Protestantism gave authority to every individual to know truth. Catholicism had followed the earlier philosophies of the Greeks, which had come from the tradition that ultimate knowledge (truth) was not attainable. Hence, the church solution was to set apart a class of priests under a single head who presumably stood above ignorance and untruth. A thousand years of history, however, had produced only the Dark Ages, along with intellectual and spiritual oppression and bondage.

By restoring the right of individuals to seek God directly and to receive revelation directly from the word of God, the entire culture was turned on its head. But this new-found freedom was a mixed bag, because people were then free to believe lies as well as truth. True freedom, after all, is not the freedom to believe truth but to believe a lie. True freedom is not only the freedom to act wisely but also to act foolishly. Each person must take personal responsibility to the extent of his level of authority.

New Movements

Papal authority was never eliminated because Catholics continued to revere their popes. But they could not help but be influenced by the new-found freedom, especially as Rome gave up ground as time passed. In the Vatican II Church Council, it officially gave up its attempt to stop Catholics from reading the Bible.

Today, many Catholics, having been given much freedom, have less reason to be Protestant, although now there is a rising groundswell of opposition against Pope Francis’ refusal to deal with pedophilia in the priesthood. If the pope does not do something about these clear abuses, he will have another Protestant Reformation on his hands.

More broadly speaking, European culture took two paths: secular and religious. The rise of Secular Socialism in the 1800’s blossomed in the 1900’s. Protestantism as a movement lost its spiritual roots as it embraced Socialism. The Evangelical and Pentecostal movements replaced Protestantism as the carriers of the gospel of Christ, though not without internal disputes.

The success of Socialism has finally alarmed these Christians, beginning primarily with the legalization of abortion in 1973, followed by America’s bicentennial (1976), which began to create a nostalgia to reestablish the Christian roots of the American Republic. This, I believe, was the beginning of the next (third) Great Awakening, which is now erupting and causing consternation among the Socialists who claim that their latest version of “American values” is the valid one.

The current struggle has its roots in the two different paths of knowledge and truth that opened up to the common people during the Protestant Reformation. Those who sought the knowledge of God developed science in order to understand God through His creation. Those who sought knowledge as a secular matter sought to disprove the existence of God through Darwin’s theory.

Secularism won the battle in the past century, because over all, the beast systems of government, beginning with the fall of Jerusalem in 604 B.C., were still empowered by divine contract to bring judgment upon the world. The beast dominion, however, ended in October 2017, as I have explained so often previously. We now stand at the beginning of a major spiritual shift that will bring the next Great Awakening.

We now prepare for that seismic shift, for it will usher in the Kingdom of God in a greater manifestation than has ever been seen in past history.

Revelation 9: A History of the Church & Islam

REVELATION 9: A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH & ISLAM

11/29/2018

https://freedomfromdelusion.blogspot.com/2018/11/revelation-9-history-of-church-islam.html

Revelation 9:1-11 NET Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the abyss. (2) He opened the shaft of the abyss and smoke rose out of it like smoke from a giant furnace. The sun and the air were darkened with smoke from the shaft.

(3) Then out of the smoke came locusts onto the earth, and they were given power like that of the scorpions of the earth. (4) They were told not to damage the grass of the earth, or any green plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their forehead. (5) The locusts were not given permission to kill them, but only to torture them for five months, and their torture was like that of a scorpion when it stings a person. (6) In those days people will seek death, but will not be able to find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.

(7) Now the locusts looked like horses equipped for battle. On their heads were something like crowns similar to gold, and their faces looked like men's faces. (8) They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. (9) They had breastplates like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many horse-drawn chariots charging into battle. (10) They have tails and stingers like scorpions, and their ability to injure people for five months is in their tails.

(11) They have as king over them the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.

Although using highly symbolic words, images, and language, the 9^th chapter of the Revelation is actually a past prophecy of the Islamic invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire and the associated church.  The invasion took place around a period of 400 years.  There were invasions and counter-invasions; land area acquired and land area lost.  At various times the invasions occurred in North Africa, Spain, France, Ukraine area, Southeastern Europe, and some in Southern Italy.  The purpose of this article is to elucidate the visions displayed in Revelation 9 and not necessarily the history of the Islamic movements.

The rise of Islam began in 612 A.D., the year that Mohammed began to teach, and it peaked 150 years later when Islam’s religious and political capital moved from Damascus to the newly-built city of Baghdad in 762-763.

For most people aged 60 plus, who had an early interest in the prophetic scriptural revelations, most information came from the works of Hal Lindsey.  Mr. Lindsey (alive at this writing) is/was a graduate of the Dallas Theological Seminary institute.

With an actual Bible in their possession, the early Reformers never considered the Revelation to be anything other than a prophetic history of the Church.  When and how it became a blueprint or roadmap for the so-called tribulation period remains unknown although it is suspected the Dallas Theological Seminary based on the Scofield Reference Bible is the primary promoter

The prominent groundbreaker of dispensational theology is the Scofield Reference Bible first appearing in 1909 and revised in 1917.  It is said this Bible with it’s unique (at the time) reference system was financed and encouraged by Jewish bankers living in England, to enhance and further their goal of convincing the Christian church of their self-conceived “chosen people” status in light of their upcoming plan to retake Palestine which became the state of Israel in 1948.

Prior to its popularization by the Scofield Bible, the roots of Dispensational Theology are traceable to John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren group within England.  Darby’s teaching has become enshrined in the Scofield Reference Bible, the most popular of all reference bibles.  Dispensational Theology has been refined to some extent and tenaciously defended by Dallas Theological Seminary founded by Lewis Sperry Chafer.

Mr. Lindsey claims the Revelation account is to be taken literally as in:  there is an abyss within the earth; a fallen angel opens the abyss; from the abyss comes a swarm of demonic-like locusts; the locusts tortured people for 5 months similar to the sting of a scorpion; the locusts appears as horses; on their heads was a type of crown; they had faces of men but hair as a woman; they wore breastplates; they have tails and stingers like scorpions.

The Three Woes

Revelation 8:13 NET Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying directly overhead, proclaiming with a loud voice, "Woe! Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth because of the remaining sounds of the trumpets of the three angels who are about to blow them!"

Revelation 8:13 is an introduction to the various Islamic invasions and it represents the final three trumpet judgments: 5, 6, and 7. There is an interlude that separates the first four trumpets from the final three. The final three trumpets are also called “woes,” and they depict God’s call for Islam to judge the church:  #5 - The Saracens (612-762); #6 - The Seljuk and Ottoman Turks (1063-1453); and #7 - The Seventh Trumpet is subdivided into Seven Bowls (Revelation 16)

The First Woe - Abyss, Smoke, & Locusts

The rise of Islam began in 612 A.D., the year that Mohammed began to teach, and it peaked 150 years later when Islam’s religious and political capital moved from Damascus to the newly-built city of Baghdad in 762-763.

(1) Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the abyss.

The locusts (i.e. Islamists) exit the ground representing an earthly religion that is carnal.  This religion was to bring darkness into the world – not the true light of revelation.  The locusts were not the cause of this darkness, but rather that the darkness brought forth the locusts.

(2) He opened the shaft of the abyss and smoke rose out of it like smoke from a giant furnace. The sun and the air were darkened with smoke from the shaft.

http://freedomfromdelusion.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-locust-islamic-invasion.html

The revelation of Mohammed did not bring forth the light of Christ, but rather darkness.  The Koran of Mohammed did not bring forth sons of God.  It only brought forth a plague of locusts that left devastation in its path as it is producing now in Europe.

Matthew 6:22-23 NET "The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. (23) But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

The first two chapters of the book of Joel describes an invasion of prophetic locusts as the army God raised up in “the day of the Lord”.  Again, consider Europe.  If the girls were married and not running around half naked with their rear hanging out the bottom of their shorts, they might not be so susceptible.  God always has a message but few heed it.

Joel 2:3-11 NET Like fire they devour everything in their path; a flame blazes behind them. The land looks like the Garden of Eden before them, but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness -- for nothing escapes them! (4) They look like horses; they charge ahead like war horses. (5) They sound like chariots rumbling over mountain tops, like the crackling of blazing fire consuming stubble, like the noise of a mighty army being drawn up for battle. (6) People writhe in fear when they see them. All of their faces turn pale with fright. (7) They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. Each one proceeds on his course; they do not alter their path. (8) They do not jostle one another; each of them marches straight ahead. They burst through the city defenses and do not break ranks. (9) They rush into the city; they scale its walls. They climb up into the houses; they go in through the windows like a thief. (10) The earth quakes before them; the sky reverberates. The sun and the moon grow dark; the stars refuse to shine. (11) The voice of the LORD thunders as he leads his army. Indeed, his warriors are innumerable; Surely his command is carried out! Yes, the day of the LORD is awesome and very terrifying -- who can survive it?

The locusts are told not to hurt the grass or any green thing, thus they are not literal locusts.  Islam’s sacred color is green, and for this reason many flags from Islamic countries are green or contain green. Koran Law forbids harming trees and all green things. Hence, these “locusts” are not leaf-eating insects, and yet they leave devastation in their wake.

(4) They were told not to damage the grass of the earth, or any green plant or tree

Muslim policy was to conquer and convert people to Islam, and if they did not convert, they had to pay a special tax. In those days only non-compliance brought death.  Although not every European was invaded, it can be said that most suffered the aftereffects to some degree.  This time period was said to be “five months.” A prophetic month is thirty “days” (i.e., years), so five months (30 x 5) is a period of 150 years.

 (5) The locusts were not given permission to kill them, but only to torture them for five months

H. G. Wells, The Outline of History, Page 584,

 “. . . everywhere they offered a choice of three alternatives; either pay tribute, or confess the true God and join us, or die.”

More Information on The First Woe (612-762 A.D.)

Mohammed began his Islamic Koranic mission in 612, but ten years later (in 622) he had to flee for his life from the city of Medina. Later, Mohammed successfully negotiated the conquest of Medina, and the religion spread in the same Old Covenant manner that Christianity had spread after the fall of pagan Rome (i.e. by conquest through physical means).

Islam was a carnal (fleshly) religion but so was Christianity by this time.  When God raised up this new religion to bring judgment upon the church, it was by the principle of an “eye for eye,” where the judgment fits the crime.

This time frame of five months in verse 5 represents the first stage of political Islam, ending when the Abbasid Caliphate moved its capital from Damascus to the newly-built city of Baghdad in 762. This event was similar to what happened in the Christian Empire, when Constantine built Constantinople and moved the capital of the Empire from Rome to his “New Rome.”

Saracens of the First Woe

The first woe came through the Saracens, who swept through the Middle East, North Africa, and into Spain.  The Saracens were a specific and distinct tribe from the Arabs. They were among the early converts to Islam, and later many western writers called all Arab Muslims by the term “Saracens.” The Saracens themselves were noted for their horsemanship. (In earlier times the Roman army had included Saracen cavalry.)

The “locusts” in Revelation 9 were the Muslim armies in general, but more specifically, in Rev. 9: 7-10 John saw the Saracen horsemen and gave us a physical description of them as they rode into battle.

(7) Now the locusts looked like horses equipped for battle. On their heads were something like crowns similar to gold, and their faces looked like men's faces. (8) They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. (9) They had breastplates like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many horse-drawn chariots charging into battle. (10) They have tails and stingers like scorpions, and their ability to injure people for five months is in their tails.

The above description would be considered fairly accurate for the Saracen horsemen.

The Saracens wore colored turbans, or “crowns.”  Those in Rev. 9: 7 are said to be yellow to show that they were made of cloth. (i.e. their “crowns” were turbans).

(7a) On their heads were something like crowns similar to gold

They had the faces of men, but hair like that of women. They were men who wore their hair long. This describes the Saracens who were known for their long hair and full beards.

 (7b) their faces looked like men's faces. (8a) They had hair like women's hair

Their “teeth of lions” is a metaphoric description of their fierceness. They wore iron armor and had iron breastplates which made a great clatter as they charged their horses into battle.

(8c) and their teeth were like lions' teeth. (9) They had breastplates like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many horse-drawn chariots charging into battle.

Islamic Expansion

From the beginning of Mohammed’s mission in 612 until Islam’s height of power and glory, when the capital of the Islamic Empire moved from Damascus to Baghdad in 762 was 150 years. During that time of five prophetic months, as Islam was expanding, they swept across the Middle East and across North Africa. After taking Jerusalem in 638, they subdued Egypt in 641. In 668 they laid siege to Constantinople, but the city was saved by the use of an incendiary formula called “Greek fire.” Water could not extinguish it, and anyone sprayed with it would be burned to death.

The composition of Greek fire remains a matter of speculation and debate, with various proposals including combinations of pine resin, naphtha, quicklime, calcium phosphide, Sulphur, or niter.

In 700 they marched west and conquered Algiers.  By 707 they had taken all of North Africa, and from 711-713 they conquered most of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain). By 715 the Moslem Empire extended from the border of China to the Pyrenees between Spain and France. From 720-732 the Arabs ravaged southern France until Charles Martel finally defeated them decisively at the Battle of Tours in 732 and again at Narbonne in 736. This put an end to Islam’s expansion into Europe. But Islam had entrenched itself in Spain by this time,

The Islamic armies conquered most of the territory of the Eastern Roman Empire that had been ruled from Constantinople. In 718 the Arabs sent a large fleet of ships to attack Constantinople, but they failed and the fleet was destroyed. In 748 another Arab fleet was destroyed during an attack on Cyprus. Although Islam took portions of the Balkans, they were forced to bypass the city of Constantinople for centuries, until they finally took the city in 1453.

Apollyon And Abaddon

(11) They have as king over them the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.

Abaddon – a Hebrew word meaning “destruction”.  It is associated with sheol (i.e. the grave or death usually translated as “hell” in the New Testament).  The word is used to symbolically describe this particular king (i.e. Muhammed) with the abyss or bottomless pit as given in 9:1.

Apollyon is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Abaddon.

Apollyon, or Abaddon, is the name of the spiritual entity (i.e. principality) that is said to rule the general Muslim world. It is considered to be an evil entity, perhaps a demonic entity. His name identifies his character and his “calling,” as well as the nature of Islam that he inspired. Apollyon means “destroyer,” but the word is also used to mean “perish or lose”.

The Second Woe (1063-1453)

The second woe began with the Seljuk Turks, then extended through the Ottoman Turks, and finally concluded with the fall of Constantinople in 1453.

At the beginning of this period occurred the “great schism” between the Eastern and Western divisions of the Church which appears to unleash the Second Woe.

Toward the end of the 10^th century the Islamic Arabs lost much of their power which was replaced by the Turks beginning in Afghanistan and expanded into Iran and northern India and was finally replaced by the Seljuk Turks.

Revelation 9:13-16 NET Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a single voice coming from the horns on the golden altar that is before God, (14) saying to the sixth angel, the one holding the trumpet, "Set free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!"

(15) Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour, day, month, and year were set free to kill a third of humanity. (16) The number of soldiers on horseback was two hundred million; I heard their number.

The four angels are released to judge the Church through the Seljuk Turks and their successors (i.e. The Ottoman Turks).  The Seljuk’s conquered the Eastern Roman Empire by invading Georgia and Armenia from the Byzantines.  This represented a 391 year period until Constantinople for overthrown in 1453. 

The rise of this new Turkish Empire was temporarily interrupted by the Mongolian Empire which began in 1206 originally headed by Genghis Khan.  The Mongols conquered Baghdad in 1258, killing many people and destroying many of the Islamic libraries thus effectively ending the Islamic Golden Age.  The Mongols convinced the Western people that civilization existed beyond their known world.  This motivated the development of the “silk road” and attempts to establish sea routes.

The Mongol invasion also introduced the inventions of gunpowder and the printing press to the West.  When the Mongols lost power and retreated the Ottoman Turks came to power.  The use of gunpowder soon led to the invention of the cannon which was used in the overthrow of Constantinople.

The time frame of the second row is given in verse 15 which is 391 years:  1 year = 360 years; one month = 30 years; one day = 1 year; one hour = 15 days.  The time begins in 1063 with the crowning of Alp Arslan and ends in 1453 with the capture of Constantinople.

(15) Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour, day, month, and year were set free to kill a third of humanity.  

The 200,000,000 soldiers are not literal people although they may be demonic entities or unclean spirits empowered by God to judge the many sins of the Eastern section of the Roman Empire.  The second woe mostly pertains to the Eastern Roman Empire.  These entities killing a third of humanity does not mean the entire world but residents of the Eastern Roman Empire.

(16) The number of soldiers on horseback was two hundred million; I heard their number.

Constantinople was captured in 1453with the use of cannons and gunpowder. In those days the cannons were forged in the shape of a lion, and those operating them actually rode them. The cannons had wicks (“tails”) to light the gunpowder.

Pictured is a cannon used in the siege of the city of Constantinople, taken from the cover of the book, Marvels of Prophecy, by Howard B. Rand. Of course, the cannon has been disabled by plugging the opening, but it was meant to portray an open-mouthed lion. This is what John envisioned in 9:17

Revelation 9:17-19 NET Now this is what the horses and their riders looked like in my vision: The riders had breastplates that were fiery red, dark blue, and sulfurous yellow in color. The heads of the horses looked like lions' heads, and fire, smoke, and sulfur came out of their mouths. (18) A third of humanity was killed by these three plagues, that is, by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came out of their mouths. (19) For the power of the horses resides in their mouths and in their tails, because their tails are like snakes, having heads that inflict injuries.

The printing press was invented in China centuries earlier, and this technology was brought to the Mideast by the Mongols, who invaded in the 13^th century. They also brought gunpowder, which, in 1453, was used by the Muslims to conquer Constantinople, the last stronghold of the Eastern Roman Empire.

The Third Woe

The third woe or the 7^th trumpet is found in Revelation 16 and is presented as 7 bowls or vials of the wrath of God.  This historical section will not be discussed in this article and may be presented in the future.

Revelation 10 introduces the “little book” or the printed Bible courtesy of the printing press technology brought to the West by the Mongols.  http://freedomfromdelusion.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-little-book.html

Revelation 11 presents the “two witnesses” and the introduction of the 7^th trumpet.

Revelation 12 discusses the woman (i.e. the Church), the birth of Christ, Who established the Church, and the dragon (i.e. Satan or the instigator of the beast systems).  In 12:9, the dragon is called “the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.” He is the head of the evil triumvirate, for in Revelation 13:2 we read that the beast from the sea (i.e. the Papacy; Holy Roman Empire; the Vatican system) was given power and his throne and great authority by the dragon himself.

The woman flees to the wilderness and this could be the Protestant Reformation that was harassed by the Roman Church.  Later, in Revelation 17 we view the woman sitting (or riding) on the beast.  Thus, various denominations of the non-Roman church have become associated with the Mystery Babylon beast.

Revelation 13 introduces the “beast from the sea”, popularly referred to as the “antichrist”, but in reality it is the Roman Church after the Roman Empire collapsed and the Church acquired land and became the Holy Roman Empire.  The second “beast from the earth” began as the usurious banking system which shortly was controlled by the Rothschild family.  It is now the central banking system and the international banking system consisting of the vast majority (but not all) of the last beast system called Mystery Babylon.

https://freedomfromdelusion.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-beast-rising-from-sea.html

https://freedomfromdelusion.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-2nd-beast-from-earth.html

Revelation 14 presents the 144,000 and this is most likely not a literal number.  This group symbolically represents the elect / the firstfruits / the Saints of the Most High God (Daniel) / or the overcomers.  They represent the first resurrection, both dead and alive.

Revelation 14:4 NET ….. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from humanity as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.

The presentation of the elect is followed by an angel proclaiming the eternal gospel.  Next, is presented the harvest of the earth which is most likely the 2^nd resurrection.  It must be noted that the 2^nd resurrection does not occur until the end of the Millennial Kingdom of God.  Thus, chapter 14 represents a preview of events that are explained with more detail in later chapters.

Revelation 15 is a preamble to the seven bowls/vials/plagues of the wrath of God that will be further explained in chapter 16.

Revelation 16 is the actual execution of the wrath of God (i.e. plagues) explained with 7 bowls or vials.  It also reveals the legal claims against Babylon in the court of God.  The end of chapter 16 presents a climax of the sequence of decrees against Babylon.

Revelation 17 gives further information concerning the beast and a woman that sits on the beast.  John is taken, by an angel, into the wilderness to view this woman sitting on the beast.  She is identified as:  Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth. 

The pictured beast has the identical likeness of the beast rising from the sea in Revelation 13:1 … And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. The woman, then, rides the religious beast of Revelation 13, who is also the little horn of Dan. 7: 8.

The wilderness location is confusing:  Is this the same woman of chapter 12 that fled to the wilderness? Has this woman been seen before but was called by another name?  The word translated as “wilderness” can mean a desert but it can also mean, desolate, deserted, and lonely.

Taking the descriptive hints as a clue, it would appear this woman is the same as the “beast from the sea” or the papacy beginning with the Holy Roman Empire and then extending into the “beast from the earth” or banking system that became the guardian of the finances of the Roman Church. 

This woman is primarily identified as “Babylon”.  She is called a whore and also called the “mother of whores” which some have identified as Protestant denominations that have become corrupted through time.  She sits on many waters and is thus a worldwide system.  The scarlet beast is the equivalent of the waters.

As a summary the woman can be considered the established church, both Catholic and Protestant, which has become the unholy, “wanna be”, false bride of Christ.  The real bride of Christ is the redeemed true believers which will be revealed later.  Also, the great harlot of Revelation 17 is primarily an oppressive world system based on fallen man that ultimately traces back to the sin of Adam.  This woman is many things but is distinctly identified as BABYLON THE GREAT and the current Mystery Babylon is also many things detestable to the Lord.

All the daughters of Mystery Babylon are only specific manifestations of the flesh, all of whom have usurped control over men, governments, religions, and the earth itself.

Much debate has been wasted identifying the seven mountains mentioned in verse 9.  Rome is identified with 7 mountains and the papacy is located inside Rome.