Volume 2004/5
|
|
|
|
"He
will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner”
(Mat.3: 12)
(From radio broadcast of Bro. Julius Adewumi)
I’ve preached on chapter 12 before but chapter 13 is
what I’m going into today. I believe
the Lord will open your understanding to be able to comprehend what this
chapter 13 is talking about. This is
prophetic and we are seeing some of these already fulfilling itself in our generation. This was written almost 2000 years ago.
People could have said how will this take place? But I’m going to compare scriptures with scriptures in this
chapter and the book of Daniel. Revelations 13 is in symbols, and we see a
similar symbol used by prophet Daniel.
An angel manifested to Daniel and gave him the meaning of the symbol. We
are going to look at the meaning and use the same meaning of the symbols Daniel
gave.
Now
let’s read. Begin from verse one.
“And I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw
a beast rise up out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his
horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which
I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his
mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the
dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.”
The same
similar beast was revealed to Daniel, which had ten horns. I’m going to point to that in a few
moments. The message is singular. Let’s
read it in the book of Daniel chapter 7.
Verse two: “Daniel
spoke and said, I saw in my vision by night and, behold, the four winds of the
heaven strove upon the great sea. And
four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another”.
Daniel also said he saw these beasts coming
out of the sea just like we saw in Revelations chapter 13. Now the sea is actually symbolizing the
peoples and nations of the world. Now
let’s see right here in the book of Daniel
7, he saw 4 beasts one after the other.
This was prophesying of the kingdoms of the world from the time of
Daniel ‘till the end of the world. At
the end of the world was the fourth beast that Daniel saw. Verse 7 said: “after this I saw in the night visions,
and behold a 4th beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong
exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth:
it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet
of it: and it was diverse from all the
beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.”
Here it
said this beast had ten horns. And when
Daniel was looking at this beast he was able to see that this was a strange
beast to Daniel. He could see the others and say, well, this one is just like a
leopard he saw another one was like a lion; another one was like a bear. But this 4th one he didn’t know
what to call it. It did not look like a living beast that he knew. So that is why he called it a strange,
dreadful and terrible beast with ten horns.
And then he described what it does.
“I
considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little
horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots.”
Now the key thing here is that he saw a beast that had ten horns. Daniel saw another vision that was similar
in chapter 8. The meaning was given to him also. He said “ I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of
my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near unto one of them
that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the
things. These great beasts, which are
four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.”
The
beasts are representing kings or kingdoms.
Back to the book of Revelations 13 we see the beast with ten horns
described more closely. This beast has
seven heads and ten horns.
Verse
three: “And I saw one if his
heads as it were wounded to death.”
Before we go further the reason why I brought in the book of Daniel is
to say the fourth beast in the book of Daniel 7 and 8 was representing the last
kingdom of the world. Rev. 13 mentioned
this beast with seven heads and ten horns.
It is the last beast and the end of the world when this is manifesting.
Now
he said in verse 3: “I saw one if his heads as it were wounded to death;
and his deadly wound was healed: and
all the world wondered after the beast.
And they worshipped the dragon, which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, who
is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”
What
does this mean? Just like Daniel revealed, the beast was representing a
kingdom, a world government, a country, or a governmental body. Now it says it
has ten horns, which means it’s not just one country with one king, this is
going to be an alliance of ten kings. Since it has ten horns, each horn in the
book of Daniel was representing a king.
This beast has ten horns: it’s going to be an alliance of ten kings with
a joint power to make war. And we can
see it forming right now- just think of what is going on in the world right
now. I can name names of governmental
bodies. Think of the NATO (Northern
Atlantic Treaty Organization), which
comprises of so many European countries.
NATO became a power, governmental body, that has all those countries
joined to it, and they can wage war as a single country. And it said this particular one had ten
horns which means there are ten kings in alliance together so that they can
defend themselves and be so powerful that who can make war with this kingdom
that has ten kings to fight as a single entity. And that is what we are seeing
here. NATO has been formed since the second world war of 1940’s. You should think of them as ten or 11 countries
that have nuclear weapons and can defend themselves if another country wanted
to come against them. That is an example here.
Verse
5: “And there was given unto him
a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to
continue forty and two months.”
We
have mentioned in the earlier chapters where we have talked about the 42 months
that was revealed here. That was in the
book of Rev. 11: “I will give power unto my two prophets to testify for 42
months”, or 1000, 200 and 3 score days. Now 42 months is 3 and half years. This
is saying that this government will continue for 3 ½ years. That does not mean
that was when it started, or when it will end.
It’s just simply saying when this particular country will be well
recognized and much more powerful to dominate the world for about the space of
3 ½ years.
“And
he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his
tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.”
Is
any country in the world blaspheming God right now? In a way, whatever they’re doing that is anti-Christian is
blasphemy against God. Whatever any
country, any government is doing that is anti-Christian in their policies, in
their decision-making, will be blasphemy.
And
verse 7: “and it was given unto
him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds,
and tongues, and nations.”
What
does that mean to say he made war with the saints? This was prophesied since about 70 AD when this book was
written. This particular beast was symbolizing
the Roman Empire. According to history,
after the Roman Empire was dissolved, it disintegrated into the European
countries that we have right now. It
first formed the east and the west and then all the countries that were all
subject to Rome became countries of their own:
England, France, Germany, Italy, and so on. They all became countries of
their own. And these are the same
countries right now that are all in the European Economic Community that was
started sometime in the 1980’s and 90’s.
So this beast that was said to have ten horns is actually representing
the European countries. And now when it said he persecuted the Saints, Rome and early history of the Roman empire
was persecuting the saints. The saints
were heavily persecuted during the time of the Roman Empire—the Caesars. When apostle Peter, Paul and all the
apostles were killed in Rome and many others were killed everywhere. After a while it looked like it cooled down
and then the Roman Catholic system took over and was ruling as a national
religion. With a national religion, the
persecution continued all over Europe.
Anyone who tried to be anti-Catholic was also persecuted. That is why a lot of pilgrims migrated from
Europe to this western world of America when the new world was found because
there was persecution going on. Anyone that did not obey the Roman Catholicism
or did not pay allegiance to Roman Catholicism was persecuted and stoned to
death and killed all over Europe. The
beast was given power to wage war against the saints of God, the true
believers, and to overcome them. It
means they were killed, imprisoned, stoned all over Europe in the 300’s AD and
so on. Many true Christians were burnt
at stakes. Until Martin Luther started the reformation and revolted against the
Roman Catholic Church—he was a priest in that church and he revolted, and
Protestantism started. So this has
been fulfilling itself in the earlier centuries and will continue to fulfill
itself to the end of the world. And
verse 8 says: and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names
are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. Now what does this mean that
all the world will worship this beast?
Just think about this: the European countries and their civilization
seem to be controlling the whole world so to speak. It may not be a direct control but a form of worship. Every country is trying to play the games
with them. All the governments of the world are trying to trade with them and
they are doing everything almost like the way European countries are directing
things. We can remember many centuries
ago from about 1400 to 1960’s AD; European countries were colonizing the
nations—all the lands. That had been
prophesied that the entire world was worshipping this beast. They colonized all the African and Asian
countries. The European countries were doing all of those. If you look back into history, they were being worshipped so to speak. Because people never realized the worship
talked about here. People always assume
it is going to be a physical image, like an idol that people will bow the head
to, in a religious worship. But you
have to put everything in perspective.
Anyone that is dominating a land, the land is worshipping the
person. That was taking place when they
colonized many parts of the world. The
French, the Spanish, the British colonized many parts of the world. That is part of what is being said here: all
the people of the earth will worship them.
There are multiple meanings to this though.
It said
that those whose names are written in the book of life would not worship the
beast. With countries dominating other
countries, this is one form of fulfillment of this prophecy. Another
fulfillment of the prophecy is when there will be persecution at the end of the
world. This is two-fold. There is still
coming a fulfilling of these prophecies at the end of the world when there will
be a lot of persecution in the last part of this chapter when the second beast
is described here that will begin to mark the world, and people will be
persecuted for not taking the mark of the beast that is coming.
It continues: “If any man has an ear, let him
hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be
killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.”
Now why did apostle John write this? Because he was trying to give us a parable.
How would we know who this beast is?
When John was writing this it was the Roman Empire ruling the
world. And apostle John could see from
the spirit that it was the Roman Empire that this prophecy was talking
about. Apostle John was in exile during
the time he was writing this book. He
was exiled by the Roman Empire into the island of Patmos. He that leadeth into captivity—as apostle
John was captive to the Roman Empire and was sent away to the island of Patmos,
the Roman Empire will also be led into captivity. The Roman Empire is long gone, but the new revived empire is the
European Countries that are joining themselves at the end of the world as
European economic communities. The same thing. The same governments
represented.
Now he’s
going to tell us another beast that came up. “And I beheld another beast
coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb”. Now
watch for this particular beast. A
beast in the book of revelations is representing a government, a country, or an
alliance of countries. When it was a
beast with ten horns means that this government will be an alliance of ten
kings or ten countries because every country is headed by a king. Now here comes a new beast that has two
horns. This will be two great kings in
another separate continent. Now he said
this one came out of the earth having two horns like a lamb and he spake as a
dragon. Like a lamb means he looked
like a holy people. The bible said the
Lord Jesus Christ was represented as the Lamb of God. So this horn that came up right now with 2 horns was like a
lamb—looked like a Christian nation. A “Christian”
nation will be represented as a lamb because Christ was represented as the Lamb
of God in the book of Revelations. Now
he spoke also as a dragon, which means that even though he manifested as a
lamb—a Christian nation, but all his or her words are like the dragon—wanting
to dominate the world, wanting to rule everybody else. So they came as a Christian nation but are
using the tongues of the dragon.
Let’s go on
and see what this beast does because this beast really does the greatest damage
at the end of the world.
Verse 12: “And
he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the
earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly
wound was healed.”
By pointing the world to the first beast, “Europeanism”,
you can tell that this second beast has its root from Europe.
We need to
talk about what was this deadly wound that was healed. Just think of the European countries that we
mentioned. Many years ago there was the
east Europe and the west Europe that looked as if they could never agree
together. That was a serious wound to Europe. Now what do you see right now in
the year 2000. This wound has been
healed. There is no more Eastern Europe that is fighting against the Western Europe. Russia has joined them right now in NATO.
The wound has been completely healed. It was prophecy that the wound would be
healed; there would be no more east and west fighting one another, cold
war—there is no more cold war right now; it has been healed.
That is one
fulfillment.
Another fulfillment is this: Think of what happened
in the Second World War during the time of Adolph Hitler. After the Second
World War, Germany was split into two; East and West Germany. And there was a wall that separated
them—that was a deadly wound. But in 1989 and beyond, that deadly wound was
healed again when east and West Germany came back to become one single
Germany. And the wall was broken down
when the president of the former Soviet Union suddenly turned things
around. The deadly wound was healed.
That was fulfilled in this generation. The deadly wound of the European
countries was healed.
He said
this second beast was the one that was making the whole world to worship the
first beast. Now what does that really mean? I will tell you what the second beast represents. This second beast represents the American
continent. You will also see that there are two major countries, U.S. and
Canada. Those two countries presented themselves as Christian nations. USA and
Canada presented themselves as Christian nations like a lamb but all their
purposes will still be like a dragon because they’re just part of the
world. That is what the bible
prophesied. These are the two horns as the Lord has revealed to me. Those two horns
are Canada and USA.
Take note of what this second beast did or will do,
you will notice that it was this second beast that was doing all the miracles:
the scientific miracles and technological advancement coming from the western
world: from America and Canada. This beast was the one that made fire come
down—USA and Canada. It was from these nations of the western world that they
started the nuclear bomb. That was fire
coming down from the sky when it was first exploded.
And you
know, the two nations have their root from Europe. They also promote European “democracy”. That was the prophecy:
Kill those that will not worship the beast, just as non-democratic
countries are repelled today.
Verse 13 says:
“And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from
heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the
earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of
the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an
image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.”
Now the wound was by the sword and it was by war,
the second world war, when Russia and the European countries were broken into
two: east and west Europe, east and west Germany. But they were healed at the
end of the world.
<…to be continued…>
Friend,
If you are not conversant with the
scriptures in this book of Revelations, I admonish you to sit down and read
through it. All the prophecies therein
shall be fulfilled. It’s a matter of time.
All these governments shall be dissolved and Christ shall reign with his
Saints, as King of kings, and Lord of lords.
“Seeing all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of
persons ought ye to be? In all holy conversation
and godliness.”
As Christians, we are in
this world, but we are not to be part of this world. Our conversation is in Heaven, and our kingdom is yet to come.
Look up, your redemption
draweth nigh. Be ready! God bless you.
Bro. Julius Adewumi
Gospel Distribution
Ministry
+++++++++++++++++++
Internet homepage:
Email: webmaster@gospeldistribution.org
-------------------------------------
I want to thank those
that have been sending offering to this ministry. Your investment and mine send the literature to believers and
send the word on radio. That is one
sure way we can send our money ahead of us to heaven. The Lord said: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon
earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and
steal: But lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will
your heart be also." (Mat. 6: 19-21).
"For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can
carry nothing out." (1Tim. 6: 7).