December 23-29, 2019

REVELATION 17-19

Re 17:8—Explain how “the wild beast was, but is not, and yet will be present.” (re 247-248 ¶5-6)

5 “The wild beast . . . was.” Yes, it had existed as the League of Nations from January 10, 1920, onward, with 63 nations participating at one time or another. But, in turn, Japan, Germany, and Italy withdrew, and the former Soviet Union was dropped from the League. In September 1939 the Nazi dictator of Germany launched World War II.* Having failed to keep peace in the world, the League of Nations virtually plunged into an abyss of inactivity. By 1942 it had become a has-been. Neither before this nor at some later date—but right at that critical time—did Jehovah interpret to his people the full depth of meaning of the vision! At the New World Theocratic Assembly, N. H. Knorr could declare, in line with the prophecy, that “the wild beast . . . is not.” He then asked the question, “Will the League remain in the pit?” Quoting Revelation 17:8, he answered: “The association of worldly nations will rise again.” That is just how it proved to be—in vindication of Jehovah’s prophetic Word!

6 The scarlet-colored wild beast did indeed climb out of the abyss. On June 26, 1945, with noisy fanfare in San Francisco, U.S.A., 50 nations voted to accept the Charter of the United Nations organization. This body was “to maintain international peace and security.” There were many similarities between the League and the UN. The World Book Encyclopedia notes: “In some ways, the UN resembles the League of Nations, which was organized after World War I . . . Many of the nations that founded the UN had also founded the League. Like the League, the UN was established to help keep peace between nations. The main organs of the UN are much like those of the League.” The UN, then, is actually a revival of the scarlet-colored wild beast. Its membership of some 190 nations far exceeds that of the League’s 63; it has also taken on broader responsibilities than its predecessor.

Re 17:16, 17—How do we know that false religion will not simply fade away? (w12 6/15 18 ¶17)

17 False religion, however, will not just fade away. The harlot will remain a potent force, attempting to bend kings to her will until God plants an idea in the hearts of those in power. (Read Revelation 17:16, 17.) Soon Jehovah will cause the political elements of Satan’s system, as represented by the United Nations, to attack false religion. They will destroy her influence and devastate her riches. Such an event may have seemed unlikely just decades ago. Today, the harlot teeters on the back of the scarlet-colored beast. Even so, she will not slip slowly from her seat. Her tumble will be sudden and violent.—Rev. 18:7, 8,15-19.

What does this week’s Bible reading teach me about Jehovah?

Re 17:3, 5:  Only Jehovah “the wisdom from above” can help us to understand “the mystery of the woman and of the [scarlet-colored] wild beast that is carrying her.” (Jas. 3:17) The unraveling of this mystery should move us to be zealous in preaching the good news of God’s Kingdom and proclaiming the day of Jehovah’s judgment.

Re 17:8:  Jehovah has a figurative or symbolic book or scroll of life is to be view those who will rewarded with eternal life. Here we see those who are not written in scroll of life means destruction. Also the Scriptures indicate that a person’s name can be ‘wiped out’ of it, so we need to continue to be faithful to Jehovah. (Ex 32:32, 33; Re 3:5)

Re 17:9-10:  Jehovah has the ability to see and predicted world government changes and up till God’s Kingdom. That is why we need to put our trust in Jehovah who can save us through the great tribulation. (Da 2:36-44, 7:1-8) 

Re 17:17:  Show that Jehovah has the power to control hearts of men to carry out his thought or his will.  This show that no one can stop his will from being done on this earth or heaven. We should put our trust in the one who will free mankind of all wickedness and rewarding those who remain faithful. 

Re 18:4-5, 8:  Jehovah gives all true worshipers warning to completely get out of all false religions, if we do not want to be destroy with Babylon the Great. Those who stay will become a enemy of Jehovah as Jas 4:4 show and in the pass it shows all enemies were destroyed.

Re 18:20:  Jehovah the God of justice avenges his faithful worshipers who have suffered at the hands of Babylon the Great. A rightful cause for gladness and step closer of Jehovah vindicating his name and sovereignty.

Re 19:1-3:  Show that Jehovah still wants his name to be praise and has give us another reason to praise his name because he brought end to Babylon the great too it end killer of his prophets, apostles and holy ones and those of the great crowd. (John 12:28, 17:6. 26)

Re 19:4, 10: Show it is Jehovah we should worship not Jesus, and even Jesus told us at Lu 4:8 “It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.” (Ex 34:14; Isa 42:8; Mt 4:10)  

Re 19:6:  Jehovah is God “the Almighty,” which means that Jehovah is more powerful than anyone else in the universe. All his wonderful works of creation and dealings with mankind should encourage us to glorify his name and do his will. (Re 4:11)

Re 19:9:  Jehovah “saying” is true means “genuine” or “dependable.” Since these sayings are really from Jehovah, they are faithful and reliable. Also mean that all that Jehovah said he is going to do will happen and on time. (Isa 55:11; Hab 2:3) 

Re 19:15,17-20:   Jehovah has wrath or anger which is always justified, being based on principle dictated by his right to exclusive devotion and his constancy in upholding truth; it is governed by his love for righteousness and for those practicing righteousness. That why he must bring every trace of the rebellious world in opposition to his will to their end.

What other spiritual gems have you discovered in this week’s Bible reading?

Re 17:1, 6:  Babylon the Great has brought much reproach on God’s name. She has taught lies about God. She has prostituted herself spiritually by forming alliances with earth’s rulers. And she has spilled much blood, including the blood of God’s servants.

Re 17:2, 18:10:  The woman named Babylon the Great is not a political empire because God’s Word states that “the kings of the earth,” or the political elements of this world, “committed sexual immorality” with her and mourned her death. (Jas 4:4)

Re 17:4-6: Babylon the Great is dressed in “purple and scarlet,” the colors of royalty, and is adorned with precious stone, indication of riches made over those she dominate over. Also the oceans of blood she help spill with abortions, wars and attack on Jehovah’s servants.

Re 17:9-10:  Dealing with six world powers are mentioned as having an impact on the affairs of God’s people: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and the Rome is the present world power. The seven is the Anglo-American World Power has been proven from scriptures like Da 2:33, 7:1-8; Re 13:11. (Isa 46:10)

Re 17:14: Those with him who are called and chosen and faithful will do so,” are the 144,000 corulers in heaven with Jesus.  Jesus and they will come to the rescue of God’s people here on earth and will conquer all the evil on this earth. May we be encourage by this and stay close to Jehovah.

Re 18:3, 11:  The woman named Babylon the Great cannot be commercial and business elements of this world since merchants of the earth became rich by her and weep over her destruction. 

Re 18:23:  This verse helps us to clearly see Babylon the Great must symbolize a religious entity because of her “spiritistic practice” and sit on many water. Also because of previous verses show she is not a political empire and be commercial and business elements of this world so that leave only religions. (Re 17:2, 18:10 Re 18:3, 11)

Re 19:6:  Jehovah began to rule as king because he will no longer have that presumptuous rival to detract from obedience to him as the Universal Sovereign. Yes all false religions or Babylon the Great is destroyed.

Re 19:10:  These words “the witnessing concerning Jesus is what inspires prophecy,”    indicate that Jesus is the central figure in the outworking of the many prophecies in the Bible like Ge 3:15. Bible prophecies can be correctly understood only when the role of Jesus in connection with the Messianic Kingdom is taken into consideration. 

Re 19:11-12:  The rider of the whites horse must be Jesus because the ride is call “Faithful and True,” and at Re 3:14 Jesus is call “the faithful and true witness” (Re 1:5; 1Ti 6:13; John 1:14) Jesus makes war in order to execute Jehovah’s righteous judgments as a “Mighty God.”. (Isa 9:6)

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December 16-22

REVELATION 13-16

Re 16:13, 14—How will the nations be gathered for “the war of the great day of God the Almighty”? (w09 2/15 4 ¶5)

16:13-16. “Unclean inspired expressions” symbolize demonic propaganda intended to ensure that the kings of the earth are not swayed by the pouring out of the seven bowls of God’s anger but instead are maneuvered into opposition to Jehovah.—Matt. 24:42, 44.

Re 16:21—What message will we no doubt declare just prior to the end of Satan’s world? (w15 7/15 16 ¶9)

9 This will not be the time to preach the “good news of the Kingdom.” That time will have passed. The time for “the end” will have come! (Matt. 24:14) No doubt God’s people will proclaim a hard-hitting judgment message. This may well involve a declaration announcing that Satan’s wicked world is about to come to its complete end. The Bible likens this message to hailstones when it says: “Great hailstones, each about the weight of a talent, fell from heaven on the people, and the people blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, for the plague was unusually great.”—Rev. 16:21.

What does this week’s Bible reading teach me about Jehovah?

Re 13:6: Jehovah’s name is very sacred to him and will punish those abuse it and at the end he will destroy all who do not know. At Le 24:16 we are told: ”So the abuser of Jehovah’s name should be put to death without fail.”  Yes we are told at 2Th 1:8-9 they “. . . will undergo the judicial punishment of everlasting destruction.”  May we never disrespect Jehovah name.

Re 14:6:  Jehovah has a work for his faithful servants to preach to “all the inhabited earth for a witness.” (Mt 24:14) Yet because of Jehovah’s love and purpose he assigns his angels to help his servants to complete the preaching work. This should encourage us to preach because we are not alone; we have Jehovah on our side. (Ps 118:6; Isa 51:12; Ro 8:31)

Re 14:7:  Jehovah should be fear because he bring “the hour of the judgment.”  We need to recognize that Jehovah is the Universal Sovereign; we can honor him by willingly submitting to him, doing his will, and worshiping him the way he wants. (Pr 8:13; Mt 7:21-23; Jas 2:19-20

Re 14:9-10;15:7;16:1:  Jehovah has anger especially toward those who worship the “wild beast and its image,” which are symbols of human rulership, which does not acknowledge Jehovah’s sovereignty. True servants know that God’s Kingdom has already been set up in heaven, that it will put an end to all human rulerships, and that it will stand forever. (Da 2:44)

Re 15:3-4:  Jehovah is “the Almighty,” which means that Jehovah is more powerful than anyone else in the universe. And the title “King of eternity” means that he has always existed. (Ps 90:2) All his wonderful works of creation and dealings with mankind should encourage us to glorify his name and do his will.

Re 15:8:  Jehovah has now assign the seven plagues that he will get rid of the wicked on the earth so it will be cleans, so the righteous will no longer be plague by their works of Satan’s standards that he has set on the earth. (Pr 2:22; Ps 104:35)  

Re 16:4:  Jehovah is the true fountain of life, for it truths will give everlasting life to those who listen and apply it into their lives. While wisdom of this world can only bring only bring everlasting death. The wisdom of this world is foolishness with Jehovah.” (Jer 2:13; 1Co 3:19;1:19; 2:6; Ps 36:9)

Re 16:5:  Jehovah is call “the loyal One, because by destroying the wicked, Jehovah is displaying loyalty to his servants, many of whom have been persecuted to the point of death.

Re 16:7:  Jehovah is a righteous God and so we can count on Jehovah judgments to be righteous. For there is nothing hidden from Jehovah’s eyes and see all the wrong the wicked do and see all the good his servants do, (Ec 12:13-14; Ga 6:7)

Re 16:14, 16:  Jehovah has a plan to fulfil his prophecy of Da 2:44 of bring “end to all these kingdoms” of the earth. At Armageddon, God’s enemies will likewise perish, while those who love God will be saved.

What other spiritual gems have you discovered in this week’s Bible reading?

Re 13:1-4:  A wild beast” symbolizing human governments ascends “out of the sea,” that is, from the turbulent masses of mankind. (Isa 17:12-13; Da 7:2-8, 17) This beast is created and empowered by Satan. A warning for us: not to put our trust in Satan world, which is doom for destruction. (1Jo 2:17; 5:19)

Re 13:7:  We see that Satan is permitted to wage war with the holy ones for a short period of time, yet they and the great crowd must endure and have faith that Jehovah will rescue at his right time as he did with Job. (1Co 10:13; Mt 10:22)     

Re 13:8: “The scroll of life of the Lamb,” is a figurative scroll containing only the names of those who rule with Jesus Christ in his heavenly Kingdom. It includes the names of anointed Christians still on earth, who have the hope of receiving life in heaven.

Re 13:9-10:  Now we are in the Lord’s Day, God’s people must hold fast to Bible principles. There will be no final escape for unrepentant ones who worship the wild beast. We will need endurance with unshakable faith, in order to survive the persecutions and trials that lie ahead. (Heb 10:36-39; 11:6)

Re 13:16-17:  Despite the hardships we may encounter in carrying out such everyday activities as ‘buying or selling,’ we should not allow ourselves to be pressured into letting the wild beast rule our lives. Accepting ‘the mark of the wild beast in our hand or upon our forehead’ would amount to permitting the wild beast to control our actions or affect our thinking.

Re 13:18:   This wild beast has the number 666, denoting heightened imperfection. Understanding what the beast is helps us so that we neither follow it with admiration nor worship it as mankind in general does. (John 12:31; 15:19)

Re 14:1:  The 144,000 having the name of Jesus’ Father symbolically written are sealed ones made known they are Jehovah’s witnesses, His slaves. Having Jesus’ name indicates that they acknowledge being owned by Jesus and are his prospective “bride,” “a new creation” serving God with heavenly life. (Re 21:2, 9)

Re 14:3:  The 144,000 are the ones that are bought from the earth as firstfruits of the first resurrection, which the second death has no has no authority over them and “will be priests of God and of the Christ, and they will rule as kings with him for the 1,000 years.” (Re 21:6)  

Re 14:6-7:  The angelic proclamation teaches us that we should declare the good news of the established Kingdom of God with urgency. We should help our Bible students to develop a healthy fear of God and to give glory to Jehovah.

Re 14:8: Warning to stay clear of “Babylon the Great” if we do not want to be destroy with her. The apostles Paul and Peter warned that many would succumb and a great apostasy would result. (Acts 20:29-30; 2Pe 2:1-3) We need to remember that they don’t worship Jehovah, or preach and have many false teaching.      

Re 14:14-20:  When “the harvest of the earth,” will be time for the angel to hurl “into the great winepress of the anger of God” the gathering of “the vine of the earth.” That vine is Satan’s corrupt visible system of governments over mankind with its “clusters” of evil fruitage that will then be destroyed forever. We should be determined not to be influenced by the vine of the earth.

Re 16:2-3: There is a price to pay for those who accepting the mark of the beast. Unless they repent, this “hurtful” illness will be terminal, for it is Jehovah’s Day of Judgment. There is no neutral ground between being a part of the world’s system of things and serving Jehovah on the side of his Christ.(Lu 11:23; Jas 4:4)

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