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A study of Revelation 16. This is book 6 of an 8 part book series.
Category - Bible Commentaries
In 1948 the beast-controlled nations of the world, united under the name “United Nations,” created the state known as Israel. The debate began on November 21, 1947, and the vote occurred eight days later on November 29.
Our Jubilee Prayer Campaign was held 46 years later during those same eight days in 1993. At the time we recognized the close association between “Israel” and “Babylon,” because our divine court case was designed to overthrow the rulers of both. Both Jerusalem and Babylon were contending for world rulership, and so we were led to petition the court to give the Kingdom to the overcoming “saints,” to whom the authority was actually promised (Dan. 7:22, 27; 1 Cor. 6:2).
The number 46 is significant, especially in Jesus’ prophecy of the temple in John 2:19-21,
19 Jesus therefore said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews therefore said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” 21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
In 1993 we understood that the Jews had been given 46 years to build their “temple” (that is, their Zionist state) from 1947-1993. The numeric value of the Hebrew name Levi is 46. Furthermore, naos, the Greek word for “temple,” is used in the New Testament precisely 46 times. Hence, we knew by revelation that their time to build was finished in 1993, and that three years later, in 1996, God would raise up “the temple of His body” to declare the Jubilee.
We were obedient to the revelation, and we won our case before the divine court. Proof of this was seen one year after the prayer campaign on Nov. 29, 1994, when the Babylonian “tree” was defoliated and cut down, as seen in the defeat of House Speaker Tom Foley, who was beaten by Tom Nethercutt (“lower cut”). Foley then resigned on Nov. 29, 1994 after the GATT treaty was passed.
We already wrote about this in chapter 7, and a more complete account can be found in The Wars of the Lord, chapter 12.
The Jubilee Prayer Campaign in 1993 filed a complaint against Babylon and the final beast system, and this also included any and all rivals who laid claim to the Dominion Mandate. The Jewish claim is well known, especially in Christian circles, for a great many Christians have petitioned the divine court to give the Dominion Mandate to the Jews. They believe that all Jews are chosen by virtue of their race, or descent from Abraham, when in fact Paul says that only the remnant of grace is actually chosen or “elected” (Rom. 11:6). The rest are “blinded” (KJV) or “hardened” (NASB).
No one is “chosen” apart from Jesus Christ—and, in fact, one must go beyond simple faith to become an overcomer. Faith in Christ (the Lamb of God) allows a person to experience Passover, but to be an overcomer one must experience Pentecost and Tabernacles as well.
There is a strange idea held by many prophecy teachers that at the last minute Jesus will come and save the last 144,000 Jews from extinction, and that these few will be converted and will rule the world in the Age to come. Such Christians are largely ignorant of the feast days, for they assume that a Passover experience (i.e., getting saved) is all that is needed to qualify a person to reign with Christ in the Kingdom.
If 144,000 Jews are saved at the last minute, I would rejoice, but unless they also experience Pentecost and have the law written on their hearts, and unless they suddenly mature through a Tabernacles experience with God, they are still unqualified to rule the Kingdom.
Becoming an overcomer takes time, and furthermore, that path is not limited to Jews only. All have equal opportunity in this regard, because in Deuteronomy 16 God commands both Israelites and aliens to keep all three feasts. Passover is justification, Pentecost is sanctification, and Tabernacles is glorification. Hence, it is not the Jews, but “the saints” who will rule the world (1 Cor. 6:2).
So the prayer campaign in 1993 petitioned the heavenly Judge to give the Dominion Mandate of the Kingdom to the saints of the Most High. This necessarily meant that those currently holding this Mandate had had sufficient time to prove themselves to be unqualified to rule in the Kingdom. This certainly was the case with the beast nations, but it was also true in the case of the “Saul” church, whose time had also expired on Pentecost, May 30, 1993.
The beast nations were ruthless, but God had given them dominion (Jer. 27:5, 6, 7) as a matter of judgment for sin. Also, the church had been given a measure of dominion within the limitations of the beast system, according to the pattern of King Saul’s Pentecostal reign. These two contenders for world dominion enjoyed some legitimacy, even though they had abused their God-given positions as stewards of the Kingdom.
However, the third contender for world dominion (the Jewish leaders of Jerusalem) had usurped Christ’s throne by violence and force. They had followed the pattern of Absalom who usurped the throne of David a thousand years earlier. Hence, theirs was a special offense that made them more liable than either the beasts or the church.
Perhaps it was for this reason that the timing of the Jubilee Prayer Campaign was set according to the 46-year cycle from 1947. When we won our case (confirmed a year later in 1994), it became only a matter of time before Babylon would be taken intact by the kings from the east and before Jerusalem would be destroyed.
There are many prophetic stories in Scripture that shed light on the final overthrow of the beasts and the rise of the saints of the Most High. Jezebel is just one pattern, but it figures prominently in the book of Revelation. Jezebel is present in the church of Thyatira, representing the Roman church from 529-1517 A.D. But in the end, the great harlot, pretending to be the bride (but killing the prophets) is eaten by dogs (beasts). This is seen in Rev. 17:16. It suggests that the United Nations, representing the beast systems today who created the state of “Israel” will turn on her and “will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire.”
The reason for this, says John in Rev. 17:17,
17 For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom [Jezebel’s kingdom] to the beast, until the words of God should be fulfilled.
John then identifies this prophetic Jezebel in Rev. 17:18,
18 And the woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.
This is not only Babylon, but Egypt, Sodom, and Jerusalem (Rev. 11:8). The earthly Jerusalem is Hagar, or Old Covenant religion and carnal methods of ruling the earth by violence and force. It is more than just the earthly city itself. It is an entire mindset that is found to some extent in every heart, but which is currently being burned out of the hearts of the overcomers by the fiery law of God as He writes His law upon their hearts. The spirit of the earthly Jerusalem rules all of the kingdoms of the world by force and violence.
When the seventh bowl of water and wine were poured out in the old temple on the seventh day of Tabernacles, the priests sang Psalm 82:5-8.
5 They do not know nor do they understand; they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken…
This refers prophetically to the beast nations who rule in darkness and deceit. But when they are overthrown, “the foundations of the earth are shaken.” This shaking is described later in Hag. 2:6, 7,
6 For thus says the Lord of hosts, “Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations; and I will fill this house with glory,” says the Lord of hosts.
Hebrews 12:26, 27, 28, 29 comments on this prophecy, saying,
26 And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” 27 And this expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, in order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude… 29 For our God is a consuming fire.
We see, then, that when the seventh bowl of wine is poured out upon Babylon, God begins to shake the earth, so that anything that is not an expression of God’s Kingdom will collapse. Conversely, because the bowl of water is poured out at the same time, the heavens are also to be shaken, so that the Spirit of God can be poured out to replace everything Babylonian with the things of the Kingdom.
Psalm 82:6, 7 continues,
6 I said, “You are gods [elohim], and all of you are sons of the Most High. 7 Nevertheless you will die like men, and fall like any one of the princes.”
The Hebrew word elohim has a variety of applications. It literally means a “subjector” (The Concordant Version), that is, one who is in authority over others. Most of the time this refers either to the Creator Himself or to false gods who lord it over those who follow their religions. But sometimes it also refers to the judges in Israel. Exodus 21:6 KJV says, “his master shall bring him unto the judges,” while the NASB renders it, “his master shall bring him to God.” The Hebrew text reads Elohim.
See also Exodus 22:9, which says, “the case of both parties shall come before the judges [elohim]; he whom the judges [elohim] condemn shall pay double to his neighbor.” Here the NASB translates elohim as "the judges."
In Psalm 82, the term elohim is used to describe the judges who are mentioned earlier in Psalm 82:2,
2 How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?
The judges were supposed to represent God, the true Elohim, when they dispensed justice among the people. Hence, the judges were called and chosen by God as elohim, but because of their lawless judgments, they were to “die like men.” In other words, God vows to bring judgment upon the unjust judges. Psalm 82:8 then concludes,
8 Arise, O God [Elohim], judge the earth! For it is You who possesses [nachal] all the nations.
All nations are owned by God by right of creation (Jer. 27:5). The word nachal also carries the sense of being given an inheritance to possess, and the word is translated “inheritance” many times. When this psalm was sung as a prophecy while pouring out the seventh bowls, it meant that Babylon was being shaken and would fall by divine judgment, so that God could take possession of all the nations.
No doubt many of the carnally-minded priests thought that this prophecy was directed against other nations. This viewpoint, however, only reflected their misunderstanding of the divine law, which demanded impartial judgment. In fact, Psalm 82:2-4 brought up this point specifically, saying, “How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?”
The implication is that God is an impartial judge, and so when Jerusalem itself became lawless, God did not give them a free pass as if being “chosen” meant that God would tolerate their sin. For this reason, when God judges Babylon, He will also judge Jerusalem. He is impartial in His judgments. The earthly Jerusalem does not live up to its name as the “City of Peace,” but is instead “the bloody city.”
Yet God knew the end from the beginning, and so He created two Jerusalems, one earthly and the other heavenly, in order that His promises to “Jerusalem” would not fail. This was not understood clearly until the apostles wrote of it in the New Testament. As we will see later in our study of Revelation 21, John applied many of Isaiah’s prophecies about “Jerusalem” to the New Jerusalem, rather than to the earthly city.