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PART 1: A MYSTERY WRAPPED IN AN ENIGMAINTRODUCTIONRevelation 17:1-6 is one of the most enigmatic passages in all of Scripture. It's a parable, a mystery wrapped in an enigma - and it's meaning is hidden to all those who brazenly and unblushingly call themselves by Christ's Name for advantage or convenience, but whose lives betray that calling. Specifically, I speak here of the leaders of today's American Church - the Pharisees and Sadducees of our time; the same people about whom Jesus spoke when He told His disciples:
WHICH DIVIDE DO YOU FALL IN?The question is, which divide do you fall in? - are you capable of understanding these "mysteries," or has that ability been stripped from you? If it has, then nothing that I can say will do you any good in understanding them. You no longer have "eyes to see" and "ears to hear." Your heart is "waxed gross," and your "ears are dull of hearing, lest at any time you should see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and understand with your heart, and ... you should be healed" (Matt. 13:15). You are in danger of being cast away by God. And don't think that can't happen to you. Jesus plainly says that it can; that's clearly what happened to the "unprofitable servant:"
Jesus said:
DO YOU LOVE GOD?Do you love God? Do you really love Him? If you do, your love will be manifested by your obedience. Do NOT say that you love God when you refuse to obey Him. Do NOT say you have faith in Him when you refuse to be obedient to His commands. The Apostle James wrote:
All this to say, if you do not possess the will to obey God, then the "mysteries of God" will be forever hidden from you - and though you diligently seek to unlock these mysteries through much study and perseverance, you will be unable to do so - even if they should be explained to you by an angel of God. AND THESE ARE NOT MY WORDS, BUT CHRIST'S. If, however, you are willing to obey God, then your eyes will be opened and your ears will be unplugged, and the meaning of these "mysteries" will be revealed to you - and I speak especially concerning their application in today's world and in this present time; and most particularly as they pertain to the American Church, the American New World Order System and the kind of avaricious and imperial Christianity it has spawned throughout the world. PART 2: THE WHORE OF REVELATION 17Revelation 17:1-6 portrays a Woman - a religious system - sitting on a Beast full of names of blasphemy (cursings, profanities, impieties and irreverence) towards God. So intertwined are these two - i.e., the Woman and the Beast - that they seem to be one, though in fact they are two separate entities:
THE OVERWHELMING PRESENCE OF THE
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NOTEThere are many who see Revelation 17:9 ("And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads [of the Beast] are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth") as a reference to ancient Rome (i.e., the "Seven Hills of Rome"), and HENCE TO THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. But Revelation 17:10-11 makes clear what these seven mountains are: THEY ARE A REFERENCE TO SEVEN KINGS which will precede the AntiChrist in their headship over the American New World Order System - a system that has been "in the works" for many years now. They have nothing to do with the so-called "Seven Hills of Rome:" "And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short time. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven [i.e., he comes out from one of the seven], and goeth into perdition" (Rev. 17:10-11). The word, "mountain" as used in Revelation 17:9 is a translation of the Greek word, "Oros." The Hebrew word for "mountain" is "Har." Strong's Concordance says; "In the poetical literature of the Old Testament, the view of the world held by men of that era finds its reflection. One can speak of the foundations of the 'mountains' as rooted in the UNDERWORLD." So what we have here is a reference to the actual place where the Woman derives her strength: the UNDERWORLD, a place where the DEMONS dwell, and all those who have been cast out of the presence of God. Again, what's that say about the United States and the church that is connected to this great nation? Finally, I must tell you this: While I do not defend the heresies of the Roman Catholic Church, you should understand that there is probably more hope for the "Liberation Theologians" of the Catholic Church - people like Gustavo Gutierrez, Juan Luis Segundo, Leonardo Boff, Clodovis Boff, Carlos Meister, Frei Betto, Oscar Romero, Dom Helder Camara, Paulo Evaristo Arns, Ernesto Cardenal, etc. - than there is for people like Jerry Falwell, D. James Kennedy, Charles Stanley, Rick Warren, Tim LaHaye, Pat Robertson and all the other "leading lights" of the Protestant evangelical community. |
As to the identity of Religious Babylon (i.e., the Woman), she is without a doubt the false Super-Church of the "last days" which will lend to Commercial Babylon and the Antichrist the religious legitimacy that they require in their headlong pursuit of world domination.
And what church is that? - the American Church, of course: The church of Paul Crouch, Jack Hayford, Charles Stanley, D. James Kennedy, Tim LaHaye, the late John Wimber, Juan Carlos Ortiz, C. Peter Wagner, Beverley LaHaye, Ern Baxter, Kenneth Copeland, the late Kenneth Hagin, Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Chuck Colson, Robert Stearns, Mike Bickle, Reuven Doron, Che Ahn, Frank Hammond, Cindy Jacobs, Bill Hamon, John Eckhardt, Bobbie Byerly, Dutch Sheets, Jim Goll, John Paul Jackson, James Ryle, Frank Damazio, Ed Silvoso, Carlos Annacondia, Claudio Freidzon, Roger Mitchell, Ted Haggart, Paul Cain, Chuck Pierce, Rick Joyner, Kingsley Fletcher, Jim Laffoon, Barbara Wentroble, ad infinitum.
For example, take the fawning, pathetic words of C. Peter Wagner - who presumptuously styles himself as the "PRESIDING APOSTLE" of the "INTERNATIONAL COALITION OF APOSTLES;" Commenting on Bush's "War on Terrorism" that is now threatening to "morph" into a war against all of Islam, Wagner writes:
"The United States and the world are attempting to emerge from a history-altering catastrophe [by which Wagner means the destruction of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001 by al-Qaeda]. President Bush used well-chosen (and appropriate) language when he characterized this conflagration as a conflict between good and evil ... For the first time in 50 years our nation is now unified, in heart and in voice, READY TO SHIFT FROM AN ERA OF PEACE TO AN ERA OF WAR." [Please see our article on the Twin Towers entitled "The Events of September 11, 2001: What's Going On?" Please also see our article, "Radical Islam"]
Wagner seems to actually revel in the fact that Bush is taking the nation into a war against Islam; he says that the church too must ready itself for this war: Moreover, like Bush, Wagner sees this war as a conflict between "GOOD" and "EVIL;" between "GOD" and the "DEVIL" - a war that must be prosecuted both physically and spiritually.
Now it might fairly be asked, Exactly what kind of a Christian would arrogate unto himself the right to speak for the church in this manner? The hubris and titanic impertinence of Wagner and his ilk in styling themselves "apostles" and "prophets" with the RIGHT to speak for the church give some idea of what the Apostle Paul meant when he said:
"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
"And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
"Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works." (2 Cor. 11:13-15)
Sandy Simpson writes,
"I'd like to know who made Wagner the 'PRESIDING APOSTLE' of the church ... That he and a few others want to be the papal voice of Christianity (as if we needed a larger cacophony of voices at this point) is an indictment on Christianity as a whole. (It's) because the true church has not cast these people out and called them cultists and heretics long ago that we now have to contend with them claiming absolute authority over the churches."
Jesus warns us about these so-called "apostles" and "prophets" - i.e., about the kind of people who have the temerity and effrontery to appoint themselves as such:
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." (Matt. 7:15)
And Jesus goes on to say that such people are,
"... false Christs, and false prophets, ... (who) shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." (Matt. 24:24)
What is it that the Bible is saying here? - it's warning us against allowing these men to substantiate their claims to "apostleship" by (1) the supposed "sanctity of their lives" [i.e., "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing ..." (after all, by this standard, Ghandi and "Mother Theresa" could claim "apostleship" in today's church despite the fact that they were NOT Christians by any standard evangelicals would accept)], and (2) "great signs and wonders" (by that standard, the prophets of Baal and the magicians of Egypt could be called apostles). But these are EXACTLY the means that Wagner and his ilk use to verify their "apostleships;" it's certainly not by recourse to the Bible.
The very real fact of the matter is, these men - all of them - are CHARLATANS and FRAUDS - impostors and pretenders posing as leaders of the church, and calling on it to support Bush in his endless "War on Terrorism" and his attempt to construct a "National Security State." The blindness of Wagner and his crowd here is staggering! - "blind leaders of the blind" - that's what they are. (Matt. 15:14) [Please see our articles, "The Utility of Police Brutality in Controlling the Poor;" please also see our article, "The Watchers Are Watching You."]
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Concerning the relationship that has developed between the church and the state in America, George Monbiot of the British newspaper, The Guardian, writes:
"The United States is no longer just a nation. It is now a religion. Its soldiers have entered ... [the Middle East] to liberate its people not only from their dictator, their oil and their sovereignty, but also from darkness. As George Bush told his troops on the day he announced victory: 'Wherever you go, you carry a message of hope - a message that is ancient and ever new. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, "To the captives, 'come out', and to those in darkness, 'be free'."
"SO AMERICAN SOLDIERS ARE NO LONGER MERELY TERRESTRIAL COMBATANTS; THEY HAVE BECOME MISSIONARIES. THEY ARE NO LONGER SIMPLY KILLING ENEMIES; THEY ARE CASTING OUT DEMONS ... LIKE ALL THOSE WHO SEND MISSIONARIES ABROAD, THE HIGH PRIESTS OF AMERICA CANNOT CONCEIVE THAT THE INFIDELS MIGHT RESIST THROUGH THEIR OWN FREE WILL; IF THEY RESIST, IF THEY REFUSE TO CONVERT, IT IS THE WORK OF THE DEVIL ... IT IS NOT JUST THAT THE AMERICANS ARE GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE; AMERICA ITSELF IS NOW PERCEIVED AS A DIVINE PROJECT ..."
"SO THOSE WHO QUESTION GEORGE BUSH ... ARE NO LONGER MERELY CRITICS; THEY ARE BLASPHEMERS ... (AND) THOSE FOREIGN STATES WHICH SEEK TO CHANGE THIS POLICY ARE WASTING THEIR TIME; YOU CAN NEGOTIATE WITH POLITICIANS; YOU CANNOT NEGOTIATE WITH PRIESTS. THE U.S. HAS A DIVINE MISSION, AS BUSH SUGGESTED IN JANUARY: 'TO DEFEND ... THE HOPES OF MANKIND', AND WOE BETIDE THOSE WHO HOPE FOR SOMETHING OTHER THAN THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE."
Speaking concerning the discipline that the "government of the church" must be prepared to impose on believers who "vacillate" as the church prepares itself for war in conjunction with Bush's American New World Order System, Rick Joyner writes,
"SOME PASTORS AND LEADERS WHO CONTINUE TO RESIST THIS TIDE ... MUST BE REMOVED FROM THEIR PLACE."
And again,
"... there will be many 'stumbling blocks' circulating in the church ... . Those serving in leadership must trust their discernment and REMOVE the 'stumbling blocks'."
Of course, in saying this, Joyner is unwittingly fulfilling the words of Christ when He said:
"... THEY SHALL SEPARATE YOU FROM THEIR COMPANY, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake." (Luke 6:22)
And again,
"... take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the ... (churches) ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them." (Mark 13:9)
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