"The implication of the Greek word used is of a wild beast — untamed, unruly, and violent-natured. Now we know that we are not speaking of a literal animal — for what does a wild animal have to do with the great mysteries of God? Internally, this wild beast is the bestial nature of the natural man, the carnal mind and the fleshly nature of the unregenerate self. Externally, this wild beast is the world — the institutions, systems, and authorities created in human society by the fleshly wisdom and soulical power of natural-minded men. Thus, this woman, the false church, is carried — underwritten, supported, maintained, and sustained internally by the flesh, and externally by the world!"
Much more in the link:
I'm not sure where you're getting 10:7 from, bro
Revelation 17 KJV 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
See, already we've gone astray from what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell us here. He has already clarified that the water, not the beast, is the people of the world.
Revelation 17 KJV 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
The beast represents the nations, clearly showing that the world will be united against Israel. Babylon 1, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon 2, Persia, Greece and Rome are the seven heads. Add to them the US, Russia and England and you have the 10 horns.
See how this is all literally working out? And how it makes far more sense than a 10-step drug rehabilitation program?
I should add the deeper context to this. The seven headed beast is the world pagan or beast system. It is floating on, or being supported by, the people which is represented by water. So in reality, the people are harming themselves by supporting the beast system, which in turn, is supporting the religious harlot which leads them away from God. And leads them to their destruction. This message ties right back into the Old Testament book of Samuel, where the people desire to have King of their own instead of the leader that God had chosen for them.
Should have trusted God and we would have never had to went through Jacob's troubles.
See how much you miss when you don't take God's words literally?
Thanks Andy it should be Revelation 17:7
"And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns."
Not sure I can fix a post title?
"What, then, does it mean when it says, “…and the Lord which is to come”? The expression “which is to come” is from the Greek erchomai, meaning “the coming one.” Now, how is the Lord which was, and the Lord which is, also the coming One? What does it mean? It means that in our consciousness, in our experience, He is yet coming to be all that He is! That’s what the processing is all about! “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven…when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe in that Day” (II Thes. 1:7,10). There is no way that I could say it better!"
"God will not allow us to refuse to see Christ in each other and then look upon Him in some other form. Look not for the Christ who was, and do not cling to the Christ who is, yet know of a surety that the Christ in us is HIM all the way! We will have to recognize Him in our brethren. God will not satisfy our carnal nature by allowing us to see Jesus descending from heaven in clouds of glory, alone in that glory. We shall be glorified together, the scripture affirms. Why would I look for Jesus in clouds of glory in the sky while I pass by His body on earth and refuse to see Him glorified in them! It is this message that is coming to us today! If I want to see Christ I look at you, because that is where He is forming Himself, manifesting Himself, and glorifying Himself! The body of Christ is not something apart from Christ, not something that Christ has formed as a separate entity to use. Oh, no! The body of Christ IS CHRIST in the earth! “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: SO ALSO IS CHRIST” (I Cor. 12:12). Until I see, recognize, love, and honor Christ in you, my brother, my sister, I would not see, recognize, love, or honor One I would see riding upon a cloud! When this precious knowledge becomes sweet to our soul, we begin to look at one another and BEHOLD HIM! I now see Him who is and I shall look, and look, and look until in His temple which we are I see Him who is to come!"
"Now, against this backdrop of how terms such as was, is, is not, and is to come are used in the Revelation, let us return to our text. “And the beast which thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition (destruction)…and they shall wonder…when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is” (Rev. 17:8). Once we clear away all the speculations, imaginations, and absurdities that men add to this scene the meaning becomes very simple and wonderfully clear. Christ is the One who was, and is, and is to come! The beast is the one who was, is not, yet is, and shall go into destruction! What an amazing contrast! Christ and the beast are opposites — the one is eternal, the other is passing away no matter how diligently he seeks to survive! Christ is our spirit, the beast is our flesh! Christ was, is, and is ever coming — always shall be! The flesh was, is not, yet is, and shall finally be destroyed! What a message that is!"
"As we consider these things we come to a strange and astonishing statement regarding this beast. The messenger showing these things to John clearly says to him, “The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition.” How can we understand the beast that was, and is not; and yet shall ascend out of the pit, and go into perdition, that is, into destruction — for destruction is the meaning of the word perdition."
" To those who can receive it the following word penned by John earlier in the Revelation will give help and light as they contrast the nature of our Lord Jesus Christ with the nature of the Adamic man and the nature of the world systems of man. “Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come” (Rev. 1:4). In the realm of the spirit the past, present, and future co-exist. It is high and lifted up in the throne realm that we are given the ability to see the past, the present, and the future all at once. Again and again in the book of Revelation, where our Lord is mentioned, He is spoken of as He who is, He who was, and He who is to come — meaning that when we leave the earth realm we transcend time as we know it."
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (Rev. 1:8). That is awesome! You see, every time Jesus is mentioned in this book He is never mentioned in the past, or just the present, or in the future. Every time we meet Jesus in the book of Revelation it is the Jesus who is, and who was, and who is to come. The reason is that the book of Revelation gives us a view of the kingdom of God from the divine perspective — as God views it — and the past, the present, and the future encompass the outworking of God’s purpose in the earth through His wonderful plan of the ages. That is what is so powerful — in the spirit you can see the whole plan of God from beginning to end! The purposes of God in the earth embrace past history, present awareness, and future consummation. Everything in the universe, and everything in your life, precious friend of mine, exists in the past, the present, and the future. Jesus was doing something before the foundation of the world, Jesus was doing something at the dawn of creation, Jesus was doing something two thousand years ago, Jesus was doing something five hundred years ago, Jesus was doing something fifty years ago, Jesus was doing something yesterday, Jesus is doing something right now, and He will be working His great work in all of our tomorrows!"
in the spirit you can see the whole plan of God from beginning to end!
This dude can't even see the "whole plan of God" period. Revelation chapter 4 through chapter 20, which is what we're discussing today, is all about the kingdom of heaven, not the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God isn't spoken of until Revelation chapter 21. Basic Bible understanding, if you're not mutilating the scriptures.
"Oh, take me not back through the long ages to a Christ that walked the shores of Galilee, to a Christ that was! He is! He lives! He is here! In my today! I can never be alone, never grope in the dark for a hand, never be forsaken, never lack in the hour of need, never fail in His on-going purposes in me, never need a Saviour, a Guide, a Brother, a Head, a Leader, a Captain, a Father. I have Him, He who was everything in the yesterday of the past, and who will be everything in the tomorrow of the future, is mine today; and in each conscious moment of my existence here, and throughout all the ages, He is my life, my all! He is not a far-off, untouchable God, “inhabiting eternity,” as the King James Bible erroneously states, but a God made nigh, INHABITING THE AGES, involved in His creation, working tirelessly and unceasingly and unfailingly until His wonderful plan is brought to a successful conclusion and HE becomes gloriously ALL IN ALL!"
until His wonderful plan is brought to a successful conclusion and HE becomes gloriously ALL IN ALL!"
Now we're getting somewhere!
"The Lord which was is also the Lord which is! The present tense of God’s manifestation in Christ is expressed by the apostle Paul when he said, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20). Jesus Himself prophesied of this manifestation of God in His people, saying, “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with (in) him” (Jn. 14:23). “God is in you.” “God dwelleth in you.” When we think of God manifest in the flesh we at once think of the Man walking by the shores of blue Galilee, walking among humanity, in His humanity, demonstrating what humanity was intended to be. But God has raised our vision beyond He who was and is causing us to see He who is! Two thousand years ago God walked this earth in Jesus of Nazareth — but “NOW ye are the body of Christ.” Christ is no longer walking in that body that tread the sands of Galilee! He is walking in another body today, in your body, in my body, in all those blessed sons whom He is bringing to glory! In the realm of He who is we find a glory beyond the was which enables us to press into and participate in the is. While many still look for the coming of the was in the clouds, we have now experienced the One who IS COMING TO BE GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS!"
"The eternal God never changes, but this Lord who was, and is, and is to come does change from glory to glory!"