Salt & Light Blog

Revelation 17 The Prostitute, Babylon the Great

1/3/2016

Revelation 17
In chapters 17-19 of Revelation John sees a vision of Babylon the great personified as a prostitute and the punishment that befalls her.
Chapter 17 verses 1-6 describe her.
“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
When I saw her, I marveled greatly.
She is sitting on the beast. She rides his power and is just as evil as he is. She is not a victim, she is a cohort. Her opulent clothes imply she is rich and corrupt in her wealth. She holds a golden cup full of abominations and impurities of her sexual immorality. She is full of sin, she is proud of her sin, and she leads others in sin as the mother of prostitutes and the earth’s abominations. But it is her sexual immorality that she is most proud of and she is most marked by. Remember John is not describing one woman here, he is describing a city, a people united in abominations, iniquity, and sensuality. The name on her forehead, the place where people are sealed with the mark of the beast is “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” She is not drunk on wine, she is drunk on the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. The pleasure she receives from torturing and killing the saints is so much she is drunk on it.
Does that city describe any nations today? I believe it does. I believe it describes many of the people in the world today. It could easily describe America, who becomes more and more hedonistic day by day. America celebrates sexual immorality, sensuality, and money to the point that men are given awards for their sexual perversion. If we call transgenderism, homosexuality, polygamy, adultery, or fetishes perverted, we are called haters and we are marginalized. It will soon come to a point when we are not only called racists and discriminated against but where we will be beaten and even killed for speaking out against sin, Babylon, or the beast.
Citizen of Babylon are described in Philippians 3:18-19.
“For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.”
Believer, do you seek to satiate your flesh or do you seek to be the image of Christ? Philippians 3:20-21 describes the citizens of Heaven.
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
In verses 7-18 the angel explains the vision of the prostitute to John. He tells us if we have wisdom, we will be able to discern the meaning. In other words, when the time is right we who have the Holy Spirit will be able to recognize the prostitute, the beast, and her relationship to him.
“But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. 9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
15 And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”
The beast is once again described in terms similar to Jesus. The beast was and is not and is about to rise. The Kings, Babylon and the world following her lead will see the beast as savior and god. They will worship him as such. But the beast and his kings will hate Babylon his prostitute, unlike Jesus who loves His bride. They will make the once rich prostitute desolate. They will strip her bare and devour her flesh. They will use her up. But her decadence, her selfish sensuality will have dominion over them. That is the way it is with people and prostitutes. There is no love between them just self-indulgent sin. The man uses the prostitute and the prostitute lets him. He is addicted to the sex and passion and she is addicted to the domination over him.
This too reminds me of America. The entire world hates America and yet longs for the selfish sensuality and opulence she is known for. Americans are considered arrogant lazy oafs but how many people across the world long to be as free, bold, and wealthy as Americans?
In this case it is not only the beast and the kings who are led by Babylon the Great and her great sin, but the whole world. The kings will willingly hand over all their power to the beast and his one great use of that power is hatred of and war on the saints.
We get to know this now, so that we can be aware, so that we can be prepared with full oil and trimmed wicks when it happens. We also get to be aware of how we are living now. Are we deceived by the false riches of the world? Do we eek the pleasure of the flesh or the fruit of the Spirit? Are we drunk with hatred? The love we think we experience in a sex act outside of the way God gave this beautiful gift to us, is not love, it is hate. A relationship of using one another and power over one another is not love and it does not mirror Jesus’ love for us. Believer, Beware. Are you a citizen of Babylon or a citizen of Heaven?

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Revelation 13:11-18 The Second Beast, The Beast from the Earth.

12/28/2015

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Revelation 13:11-18 The Second Beast
The second beast, later referred to as the false prophet is depicted as the PR guy for the first beast. His purpose is to make the people of the earth worship the first beast. He exercises the first beast’s power and he does the dirty work. He becomes the ‘religious’ leader to the first beast’s political leader role. But the religion is perfect blasphemy with the first beast, the antichrist as the object of worship.
Verses 11-12 read,
“Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.”
Let’s delve into scripture with the Holy Spirit to find out what all this means. What are the two horns of the second beast? Horns if you recall, are a symbol of power in the Bible (Deuteronomy 33:17). Horns symbolize royal authority (Jeremiah 48:25). Horns are the part of the altar where blood was smeared during the sacrifice of burnt offerings (Leviticus 4:7). So this beast has both political and religious power. People will see it as perfectly acceptable. Those who now cry out “separation of church and state” will not cry it then. Though by the end they’ll know why the United States of America felt it was so important for the state not to have power over the church that it was placed in the Constitution.
But his horns are like a lamb. What does like a lamb mean? The lamb is the symbol of innocence and purity. Jesus is the Lamb, because He is perfectly righteous, completely innocent. We get the impression of gentleness and quiet. But we also see him trying to distort the image of Jesus Christ. He wants to appear Christ-like in his nature, but the problem is, he does not have Christ’s nature, the Holy Spirit. He has Satan’s nature. People will be deceived by his outward nature of goodness and gentleness, but he speaks like a dragon. His nature is Satan’s nature as deceiver. His words and his actions are all illusory. Everything he does is to make people worship the antichrist. He not only speaks like a dragon but the dragon, Satan. Verses 13-15 describe his deceitfulness.
“It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.”
People like images. In the wilderness, Israel had God, but what did they do, they made an image of a golden calf. They chose to worship a golden lump of metal in a shape of a calf rather than worship and fellowship with the One True Living God (Exodus 32). So the false prophet increases the worship of the antichrist by telling people to make an image to worship. And he gives a false life to the image, allowing it to speak. This power of speech somehow kills anyone who will not worship it. In Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden image of himself and ordered all the people to worship it. Whoever did not fall down and worship it at the sound of music was ordered to be thrown into the fiery furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship this idol. The malicious voice of the Chaldeans spoke up, alerted the king to their refusal to bow down and they were ordered to be slain. They were thrown into the fiery furnace, but Jesus was with them and He saved them. As a result they were promoted in the kingdom. (Daniel 3).
Similarly when we are faced with false prophets or the false prophet forcing us to worship an image, we have a choice. We do not have to worship. What is the worst they can do, kill us? Big whoop! Jesus is with us! He saved us! We will simply be promoted in the Kingdom of Heaven and rule with Him eternally! (2 Timothy 2:12). Sounds great to me. If I have to have my head cut off, burn to death, or be run through with a sword, I can face the temporary pain for the eternal joy of Christ.
We have addressed so far the second beast’s religious power, but he also has some political power. Verses 16-17 describe that authority.
“Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.”
Most of the world will see this mark as a good thing, a way to ensure that everyone has access to food and goods, that the poor are not forgotten and that the rich do not have it all. But this is a way to weed out those who will not worship the antichrist. It is a way to make Christ’s followers suffer and starve, bring them out and have a charge worthy of the death sentence. Christians will know, because of what is written in Revelation, that the beasts will do this. We will know not to get that mark. We will know not to worship the image. We are warned. We know and we can do what must be done in order not to receive the seal of Satan.
The mark is described as the name of the beast. In another pale travesty of Holy God, Satan, the antichrist, and the false prophet orders the name of the antichrist on the right hand or forehead of the people. Christ’s name will be on the foreheads of the redeemed in New Jerusalem (Revelation 22:4). The antichrist’s name will be on the foreheads or right hands of the doomed in New Babylon.
We are given the information we need now to identify the name of the antichrist. It is a puzzle the wise man can solve when he is given all the pieces. For now, we do not have the final pieces but at the right time we will have what we need to know his name and warn people, even though they will not believe us. Verse 18 reads,
“This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.”
Somehow that number will tell us his name. But it also tells us something else about him. Seven is the number of completion in perfection and holiness. On the seventh day of Creation God rested (Genesis 2:2). On the seventh march Jericho fell (Joshua 6). Hebrew slaves released on the seventh year because their service was complete (Exodus 21:2). Three also speaks of completion in complete power, and witness. On the third day Jesus rose (1 Corinthians 15:4). There were three witnesses to Jesus transfiguration (Matthew 17). Paul prayed three times for healing (2 Corinthians 12:8). But the antichrist falls short of this perfection, his name is three sixes. He is given almost complete yet temporary power of the earth. He appears perfect to the blind, but to the wise, he is obviously the antichrist.
So Believer stay aware. Be alert. We have the Bible and the Holy Spirit. We know what to look for. The lost are blind. We are not. We can open their eyes. We know who Jesus is and we do not have to mistake a liar for The Truth, The Way, and The Life.

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Revelation 13:1-10 The First Beast, The Beast from the Sea.

12/27/2015

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Now you know and knowing is half the battle.-G.I. Joe! In other words, "If anyone has an ear, let him hear: If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints." Revelation 13:9-10

Revelation 13:1-10
Chapter Thirteen is best begun by reading the last verse of Chapter 12. Revelation 12:17 tells us,
“Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.”
Understanding the dragon, Satan to be standing on the sea shore, makes us understand the context of the beasts described in this chapter. Verse 1 describes the first beast.
“And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.”
Satan is the one raising the beast up and it is Satan who gives it his power (verse 2). The beast who we call the antichrist is the son of the Satan in the deceiver’s twisted attempts to be like God. Jesus Christ is God’s manifested will carry out His plan to completion. The beast from the sea is Satan’s feeble copy trying to bring his plans to fruition. Look at its description and compare it to the description of the dragon in Revelation 12:3, “behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.” Note the family resemblance. The beast from the sea and the dragon both have 10 horns. The dragon has seven heads and seven crowns while the beast has ten crowns on his seven heads.
Each of his heads has a blasphemous name written on it. Everything about his character is profane and an offense to the One True Living God.
Verse 2 reads,
“And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority”
What does this unusual description, a leopard with feel like a bear and a mouth like a lion tell us about the beast? In Daniel 7:1-8 Daniel describes a vision of four beasts rising out of the sea. Let’s look at their descriptions. “The first was like a lion and had eagles' wings” (Daniel 7:2). The “a second one, like a bear” (Daniel 7:5). The third is like a leopard (Daniel 7:6). This beast is reminiscent of these beasts but in reverse order. The beasts Daniel saw were prophesies great world emperors and empires. The first three, Greece, Medo-Persia, and Babylon have already been fulfilled. Daniel dreamt of the fourth beast at night. The fourth beast is described in Daniel 7:7-8.
“After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.”
The fourth beast empire has and has not happened yet. It represents Imperial Rome and yet represents future Babylon. The ten horns, ten world powers will yield a small horn a new world power, a man with a gift for speaking. This little horn will utterly destroy three of the ten horns, take their place and lead the remaining horns.
That little horn is dangerous. One might miss it, it might not even seem as important as the other horns but three of the crowns will be on one charismatic horn. People will not even realize the power they have given him until it is too late.
The beast from the sea will be greater and more powerful than any of the great empires that came before and shaped history. And his empire will not just be great it will be over the whole world. And he will destroy and devour everything. He will encompass the traits of the kingdom’s Daniel foresaw. The command and dominion of Greece, the leopard, the persecuting power of Medo-Persia, the bear, and haughtiness and blasphemy of Babylon, are all encompassed and magnified in the beast John described.
Verses 3-4 continues the description of the beast.
“One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”
When we first see the beast, one of his heads seems to have a mortal wound, but the wound was healed. This implies that the beast died or seemed to die, but was healed and brought back. It is his ‘resurrection’ which causes the whole earth to recognize his authority, follow him, and worship him. Once again Satan’s antichrist is a perversion of our Savior Jesus Christ. Even the praise the beast receives is a parody of the praise only God deserves. “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” Exodus 15:11 says,
“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
    Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
    awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?”
Proverbs 21:30 says,
“No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel
    can avail against the Lord.”
Satan may know scripture, but apparently he doesn’t believe it.
Verses 5-8 bring back to mind the powerful mouth of the little horn and the blasphemous character of the beast as he uses this power to lead the lost to hell and conquer the saints.
“And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.”
For seven years the beast will be allowed to rule. Although Satan gave him his power, it is Sovereign God who allows him to rule, and even to make war on the saints and conquer them. God will make it possible for every person whose name is not written in the book of life of the Lamb to believe the little deceiver. They’ll gladly give him their worship, power and freedom. They don’t know that glory, majesty, dominion, and authority all belong to Jesus Christ (Jude 1:25). In truth he and the lost will think he has conquered us, but it is the lost who are voluntarily conquered. We look forward to the real glory of Jesus Christ. Romans 8:18-21 reads,
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”
The beast may conquer, but we will resurrect with Christ. We are more than conquerors. Romans 8:33-39 remind us,
“Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The seven years is not going to be a good time. We need to remember who we are, who we belong to, and who our present and future are with. And the Word of God tells us what is going to happen, none of it should surprise us. As the old G.I. Joe PSAs used to tell us, “Knowing is half the battle.” We will be in a war. Yet we can persevere. We can travail. Death is not frightening to us because we know what the future holds. Verse 9-10 tell us to take note, remember, and trust God in order to persist through the terrible time we will face.
“If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
10 If anyone is to be taken captive,
    to captivity he goes;
if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
    with the sword must he be slain.
Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.”
Believer, the scriptures give us a clear picture of the antichrist and what he will do with Satan’s authority. We have nothing to fear. We have the armor of Christ, we have the ability to preach the Gospel and snatch people from Satan’s hands before his offspring rises from the sea to devour and destroy them. We have the hope of eternal life in Jesus Christ. We can endure through any tribulation in our lives.

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1 Kings 12:25-33 Beware False Prophets, the Spirit of the Antichrist is Rampant.

9/28/2015

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Matthew 7:13-14 on photo of Garden Trellis by Donna Campbell

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matthew 7:13-14

1 Kings 12:25-33
Not everything that looks like worship is worship of The One True Living God. Not everything that looks like Christianity is of Jesus our Christ. People can, even with good intentions, twist, misinterpret, or misunderstand scripture and make something out of it that is not there. Some people just flagrantly make up their own system of worship, rules, or rituals either for their own gain or out of misguided notions of “good.” Be careful! Looking and sounding Christian doesn’t make it Christian. If it does not proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, then it is not from God but from the enemy. (1 John 4:3).
King Jeroboam had a predicament. Israel needed to worship God, but to do that they had to travel to the Temple in Jerusalem which was in Judah. He knew when the people went there, they would want to reunite with Judah under the Davidic king and abandon and kill him. So he had a plan. Verses 28-30 read,

“So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” 29 And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30 Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one.”

Although clearly not the worship God had prescribed it looked and sounded like it could be godly. People didn’t question, people didn’t look to scripture, people didn’t remember that the golden calf Aaron had made was an idol and had caused war within Israel leading to the deaths of 3,000 people. (Exodus 32). Israel simply accepted Jeroboam’s word and it looked enough like their religion to seem okay. We are told to question. We are told to test what is being fed to us. 1 John 4:1-6 reads,
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”

But Jeroboam didn’t stop with the sin of the golden calves in place of The Temple. Verses 31-33 read,
“He also made temples on high places and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites. 32 And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. 33 He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had devised from his own heart. And he instituted a feast for the people of Israel and went up to the altar to make offerings.”

The feast Jeroboam instituted was a perversion of The Feast of Tabernacles, a feast that required the Temple which Israel no longer had access to. It was a celebratory feast of thanksgiving and fellowship and very prominent in proper worship of The Lord. Solomon had dedicated the Temple during The Feast of the Tabernacles and Jeroboam needed what he did to look godly in order to lead the people away from The Lord and to him and his new system. Jeroboam was not only king of Israel, but he set himself up as high priest of his new religion and appointed non-Levite priests who would not question or inquire of The Lord for the truth.
His actions are a shadow of the coming antichrist. Jeroboam seemed like a good king to the people of Israel. He made them believe that their lives under God’s appointed king Solomon had been terrible. He had made them think Solomon’s yoke had been heavy. (1 Kings 12:4). But the fact was that the prosperity in Israel had been great. (1 Kings 10:21). And even the forced labor of building the Temple and palace had not been drawn from Israelites. (1 Kings 9:22). Jeroboam lied to the people with a silk tongue and the people believed his lies because he spoke to their vanity.
Consider this, Jeroboam was king of the Northern Kingdom, ten tribes of Israel. Revelation 13:1-2 describe the antichrist, the beast this way,

“And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.”

The antichrist empowered by Satan will rule ten nations. This is not the only similarity. Jeroboam made a new festival to replace The Feast of the Tabernacles, he changed the date by a month.
Daniel 7:23-25 describe him like this,

“Thus he said: ‘As for the fourth beast,
there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth,
which shall be different from all the kingdoms,
and it shall devour the whole earth,
and trample it down, and break it to pieces.
24 As for the ten horns,
out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise,
and another shall arise after them;
he shall be different from the former ones,
and shall put down three kings.
25 He shall speak words against the Most High,
and shall wear out the saints of the Most High,
and shall think to change the times and the law;
and they shall be given into his hand
for a time, times, and half a time.”

The people didn’t have to fall for Jeroboam’s lies and so sin right along with him. They could have prayed. They could have asked the prophets to inquire of God. (There were prophets in the Northern kingdom, tomorrow we’ll read about one of them.) The prophets could have spoken up. The Levites could have spoken up. The people could have checked the scriptures with the help of the Levites to see that Jeroboam was distorting God and creating an idol.
But they didn’t. They would pay for their sin of deliberant ignorance. Be careful there are false teachers, false prophets, and false religions. They sound good, but are corrupt. They seem like they lead to Truth, but they are lies which lead to death. Jesus warned us in Matthew 7:13-23.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”

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Revelation 17 The Prostitute, Babylon the Great

Revelation 13:11-18 The Second Beast, The Beast from the Earth.

Revelation 13:1-10 The First Beast, The Beast from the Sea.

1 Kings 12:25-33 Beware False Prophets, the Spirit of the Antichrist is Rampant.

Donna Campbell

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