So that you will know how to conduct yourselves. 1 Timothy 3:14-16

 The Mystery of Godliness

This is the caption that most translations use, but why, as it only seems to confuse most Christians.

Is Godliness a mystery?

Well, first, you have to answer the question, what is a mystery?

Webster’s dictionary tells us it is - “A profound secret; something wholly unknown or something kept cautiously concealed.”

Is that what God did, keep it concealed?

It almost seems as if He had to, and we see why in Genesis 3:1a.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. (NASB)

Satan immediately started in on Eve by crafting a scenario that could introduce confusion, doubt, and distrust, not just of Adam but also of God. God, in response to the deception and Eve’s reactions, tells her,

“...I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” (Genesis 3:15 NASB)

What does enmity mean?

Webster’s conveys that it is: ill will, hatred, and the opposite of friendship.

We see the strain of this hatred and ill will throughout the Old Testament. Revelation 12:4 tells us the dragon (Satan) stood before the woman who was about to give birth so that when she gave birth, he might devour her child. Italics mine.

And we see this attempt at destroying Jesus when we read about Herod killing all the boys in the region that were ages two and under. You can look this up at your leisure in Matthew 2:16-18.

Much was said in Genesis 3:15, and yet most of it is kept cautiously concealed. Paul talks about the whys' of this concealment in 1 Corinthians.

Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;  (1 Corinthians 2:6-8 NASB)

Consider how the Synagogue rulers had tried to kill Jesus on multiple occasions, and then, there was the frightened statement made by Thomas.

and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him." Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, so that we may die with Him." (John 11:15-16 NASB)

Thomas knew that the Jews were actively looking for Jesus and that they wanted to kill him. There would have been nothing to stop them from killing anyone associated with Jesus.

Now, ask yourself, what would have happened if they killed Jesus before He was meant to and consider how He was supposed to die?

Perhaps the entire plan might have been eliminated. I don't think God would have allowed that to happen, and therefore God's plan to redeem us all was shrouded in the form of secrecy. But all that changed the day He rose from the dead.

Who are the rulers of this age?

The Word Study Dictionary explains this Greek word árchontos as a ruler, chief, prince, or a magistrate, but it can mean a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin or the Synagogue.

What did the Apostle Paul tell us?

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12 NLT)

Just look around you at cities like Portland, Seattle, and now Louisville, Kentucky, where the town had to be boarded up. Why, because we have come to expect that the evil spirits and mighty powers of this dark world were going to show up on the city streets in an attempt to burn down another city.

So, back to our original question, Is Godliness a mystery?

Not to those who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

“But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.” (1 Corinthians 2:10 NLT)

The Spirit of Jesus Christ - the Holy Spirit, has revealed these things to us by His Spirit. Yeah, I know, some will whine as they say, but I don’t know anything. Just smile real big and say, that’s because you will not take any time to get to know Him through His word. It’s just that simple.

Having been a member of the body of Christ since I was a child, I have heard and read many things from scripture. Like pieces of a puzzle, they have, over time, come together to give me a picture of the nature and character of God; which, I found in Jesus.

“I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.”
(1 Timothy 3:14-16 NASB)

• From the NLT, “so that if I am delayed, you will know how people must conduct themselves in the household of God,”

I thought we were living in the age of grace, which means I can do anything and get away with it, right?

Wrong! God's Spirit has written His laws upon your heart, and you are therefore responsible for them. Besides that, we have laws that govern our actions, and the laws (used to) demand retribution; that means you might have to pay for your foolish act, which you thought was wholly covered by grace, with prison time. Many of these fools, some of which think they are “Christian,” are burning our cities down. You know what grace did for them, it bought their forgiveness of sin before the Father. Since you only get to the Father through Jesus Christ, then you would have to acknowledge Him as your Lord, and there in the problem lies. Sins are forgiven, but you are still held responsible for what you did with God's Son, Jesus. If that was nothing, then you have to throw yourself at God's feet and hope for mercy when you get to the Great White Throne. Good luck with that.

But 1 Timothy 3:15 is talking about how we are to act within the body of Christ.

I am looking at this phrase: how one ought to conduct himself.

How is the Greek word pos. It means in what way or manner.

Ought is the Greek word dei. It means it is necessary; it behooves; ought or should.

We could easily substitute the words acceptable, appropriate, and suitable.

Conduct is the Greek word anastrepho. It means to busy oneself; remain; live; abide, and behave.

The CEV translation gives us this, "how everyone who belongs to God's family ought to behave."

I find myself asking; I did not know we had standards of behavior within the church.

I suppose that it is reasonable and necessary to have standards, as we had rules of conduct in Celebrate Recovery. Considering all that goes on there, and the people who come in, even I could see a need. We had people on court orders attending our anger group as an alternative to an anger management program, and the group I was a leader of, fit that requirement.

But take this idea of behavior one step further. I have made “friends” with several people over the years who have worked security within the mega-churches I attended. I never thought we would see the day that we needed armed security, but then, I visited John Hagee’s church in Texas many years ago. There, a man had walked up the aisle toward Pastor Hagee while he was speaking that morning. The man emptied the revolver he carried, in hopes of killing the Pastor; however, not one bullet struck the Pastor. I remember being shown the bullet holes in the podium. I have never forgotten that scene. Now incidents like this happen with frequency, and one of those victims was a relative of mine. Fortunately, he lived despite sustaining multiple gunshot wounds and returned to his pulpit.

On a less severe note.

I am reminded of a brother in Christ, who fancied himself a bit prophetic, and one day, motivated by something we were not aware of, decided to give an angry word to the church body. It began by him announcing to everyone that “this man is called of God and that we should listen to him.” Well, that did not sit well with anyone. It was all very theatrical, and many people noticed. Upon arriving at the church's front, where everyone could see him better, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and proceeded to find the scripture that "the Holy Spirit" had told him to read. This phone thing was very discomforting as we now had to wait for the phone to respond. His reading was filled with emotion and a touch of rage. At one point, the pastor asks the brother to sit down and stated that he was out of line. That is when the man screamed out, you are a false teacher, and I can prove it. Seeing as false teachers are generally teaching contrary to the word of God, I do not think any of us could understand why he would shout such a thing.

A bit of background here.

Probably about a year before this event, I was invited to lunch with the previous pastor. Just a few bites into the meal, at a very public restaurant, and he asks me why I study eschatology. Not many people know what that means – it means end times events as they line up with the Bible. Mere seconds into my response, which included me saying because the Bible is relevant to the things around us every day. The pastor interrupted me and began to criticize me, saying, you prophesy guys are all like that; you overpower the listener and act like you know everything. It became quite personal. I waited until I thought he was done ranting, and then I challenged what he was saying by asking, is that what you think of me? To which he responded, yes. His answer and the tone of his voice pretty much ended the conversation. 

I was supposed to teach the Pastor's class on Christian discipline that night and had shown him the notes, merely to prove that I had done my preparations. He exclaimed, without hardly looking at it, you can’t teach that! I realize now that he thought it was too much information, as I always over-prepare. Nothing more was said about teaching that night. Thoroughly undone, I insisted that I needed to pick up my wife and tried to excuse myself. We left together, but he had to add that, under the premise of Godly wisdom,  I should never look at or speak of eschatology again for five years. He said that there was no need, as the Lord was not coming back for at least forty more years. Of course, we did not have this phony COVID 19 pandemic, which has changed everything as we know it.

How does the brother in Christ, who was eventually escorted out of the building, relate to me? I simply put two events together. One included my attempt to have a conversation with this man about some of the global events we had recently experienced. His response to me at the time was authoritarian, oppressive, and he left me no opportunity to talk or respond. At lunch that day with the Pastor, he had mentioned that someone had been trying to coerce him into teaching on Revelation and eschatology. The Pastor turned him down. The same man who was getting escorted out of the building was the man who had soured the Pastor, and he was now taking his anger out on me.

While I feel that was rather lengthy, I think it shows a potential reason for guidelines.

The church where this happened quickly set up guidelines and forced anyone who operated in the Holy Spirit by giving words to the body, to write the message down on a piece of paper and somehow get it to the Pastor. The Pastor may or may not approve your giving of the word, especially if he thinks you are angry.

Continuing with 1 Timothy 3:15, from the CEV translation,

“After all, the church of the living God is the strong foundation of truth.”

What does Dr. J. Vernon McGee have to say?

“What Paul is saying is that the church is the pillar, the bedrock—it is the prop and support of the truth. If the officers do not represent the truth, the church has no foundation, no prop, and it cannot hold up the truth of God.”

Wait a minute, here in California; our Governor told us that the church is non-essential.

How is it that the pillar, the bedrock, the prop, and support of truth have become non-essential?

That is an easy question to answer as long as we are still supporting the truth, but this man-made pandemic has caused the church to show its true colors, and it is clear that in the majority, we the church, do not support the truth.

To help make my point, the Pastor of the mega-church I attended used to rave about Pastor Tim Keller. Several years later, in September of 2020, Tim Keller has come to the forefront again and is being attacked as a false teacher. A blog which spells some of those details out can be found here: (https://churchleaders.com/news/382650-tim-keller-sparks-twitter-debate-over-political-comments.html),

Here is a quote from Tim Keller.

“The current political parties offer a potpourri of different positions on these and many other topics, most of which, as just noted, the Bible does not speak to directly. This means when it comes to taking political positions, voting, determining alliances, and political involvement, the Christian has liberty of conscience. Christians cannot say to other Christians ‘no Christian can vote for…’ or ‘every Christian must vote for…unless you can find a Biblical command to that effect.‘"

In my mind, our life and freedoms emanate from God, and then from the basis of our constitution, which was founded on a belief in God. Those amendments give us rights. Let me show you the first one. 

The First Amendment provides several rights protections: to express ideas through speech and the press, to assemble or gather with a group to protest or for other reasons, and to ask the government to fix problems. It also protects the right to religious beliefs and practices. It prevents the government from creating or favoring a religion.

But I have to agree with Pastor Tim Keller in that not everything is spelled out for us in scripture.

When it comes to abortion, whether you think that a nine-month-old baby can reason or not, it is still a living being, and we, as Christians, we are under a mandate from God to NOT commit murder. Brutally slaughtering a defenseless baby is murder, and I have little sympathy over what happens legally or emotionally to someone that openly brags about how they slit the baby's throat so that it won't scream. I honestly cannot see anything but a callous human being doing this.

Now, if your candidate endorses or tells us you that they will fund ghastly abortions, perhaps you should turn your brain back on and rethink who you are going to vote for.

There are other accusations laid against Pastor Tim Keller, and you can read about them in the article Four Theological Problems With Tim Keller and Why He Should Be Avoided, By Jeff Maples, September 19, 2019, From the website, (https://reformationcharlotte.org/2019/09/19/four-theological-problems-with-tim-keller-and-why-he-should-be-avoided/)

Although I am not a fan of Tim Keller's works, I did not want to get into a bashing session here but merely point out how the issues that erode our foundations can be subtle and come from venues we thought we could trust.

Let's try to finish this out.

1 Timothy 3:16 CJB. “Great beyond all question is the formerly hidden truth underlying our faith: He was manifested physically and proved righteous spiritually, seen by angels and proclaimed among the nations, trusted throughout the world and raised up in glory to heaven.

• “Great beyond all question is the formerly hidden truth underlying our faith:” CJB

Paul, in his letter to the church in Rome, wrote,

“Now to God, who can strengthen you, according to my Good News, in harmony with the revelation of the secret truth which is the proclamation of Yeshua the Messiah, kept hidden in silence for ages and ages,” Romans 16:25 CJB

There was a hidden truth, but it has been revealed through the preaching of the good news. It is the fact that Jesus is the Messiah. Paul says that even here in Romans, that information was kept hidden and silent for ages and ages.

Paul continues telling Timothy.

• “Christ came as a human.” CEV.

Many of us, having heard it for so long, merely say, yeah and?

Think about that fact for a moment.

The chain of humanity, extending from Adam outward, was tainted. Some would say yes, but God chose a virgin, Mary.

What does that have to with escaping the brokenness that passes through every human, including Mary – a virgin?

Not a thing, because God had a secret plan.

Cannot the inventor of the aspects that bring about a birth bring his own fertilized ovum into the picture?

And that is precisely what He did. Mary merely carried that fertilized ovum to its maturity.

This event was beyond human comprehension, and when you read about Mary's pregnancy, you can get a feel for how she may have been mistreated. Joseph, stepping up and marrying her, gave her some relief, but those in Bethlehem would not soon forget or forgive. Perhaps now you can understand why the family moved to a small, no-name town, where no one knows you.

Jesus, still to this day, sits as the Son of God, at the right hand of the Father, still a human, and ever making intercession for us.

Ask yourself, is Jesus limited in any manner because of His humanness?

Not in the least bit.

What comes next can be seen as a resume, but it is even better than that as it takes on the air of Royalty. Perhaps this is best understood if you have watched the movie, A Knight's Tale. In the movie, you could only joust if you had a royal bloodline. Now mind you, somebody could knight you, and eventually, the young man is knighted, ending a jealous dispute that prevented him from jousting, and so we have been.

He who was revealed in the flesh:

• “Was vindicated in the Spirit.” (The Father vindicated Jesus in the Spirit.)

Vindicated is to be rendered or shown to be just, innocent, free, and made to be righteous.

• Seen by angels,

Not only angels but also over 400 people could verify that He rose from the grave still a human and alive to God.

• Proclaimed among the nations,

An intriguing aspect of this is that Paul, while he was Saul, caused the church to disperse among the nations because of the persecution he put on them.

Is it possible that God has in hand in the trials we endure?

• “Believed on in the world,”

“because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth;” (Colossians 1:5-6 NASB)

In case you don't believe, read this,

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; (Revelation 7:9 NASB)

• “Taken up in glory.”

By convincing proofs, he showed the disciples not only who He was but that His word was true; and that included being taken up into Glory, to be with the Father.

Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, Hebrews 8:1 NASB.

Jesus did not return to heaven to be able to play golf without distractions; He sits at the right hand of the throne of Majesty, interceding on behalf of those who belong to Him.

This is my response to a Christian brother, on his post, “Why the Antichrist is not a Muslim.”

 It is not clear to me how or why the brother picked this topic, but I happen to believe that the Antichrist will be Islamic and not a Roman, as so many adhere to.

You opened by saying, “Obadiah, among others, tells us that the Muslims will be wiped out and that 'Esau will be left with no descendants;'” and you appear to have quoted from Obadiah 1:18 when you italicized the following words.

'The progeny of Esau shall be delivered only into the hands of the progeny of Joseph.'

If that was the end of it, this is a hopeless situation for the descendants of Esau.

Allow me an attempt at addressing one issue at a time.

I looked through the 40+ translations of the bible that I have in my computer program, and none of them use the term progeny in association with Obadiah 1:18. I am not asinine, and I understand what progeny means; however, many do not. I can see that Obadiah refers to descendants; subsequently, I can substitute the term progeny in place of descendants, but I do not have to do that as I can follow scripture.

I might add I do not believe that you got your 'scriptural' looking reference from any source which we would be aware of. I feel strongly about my assertion because you placed a link in the middle of your post that directs us to Chabad.org. There I found a somewhat cryptic article by Rabbi Immanuel Schochet. I also learned that he is “a renowned authority on Jewish philosophy and mysticism.” Call me narrow-minded if you wish, but his resume - especially the part about mysticism, which probably displeases God and helps to put Israel into the category of the wicked harlot, means nothing to me. I would never have written to my “non-Jewish” audience using his information.

That said, you did not quote scripture; you quoted the Rabbi, who tells us in his post that he also draws from the Targum and Midrash, writings only a Jewish scholar would use and understand. The Apostle Paul saw no need to quote from the Targum and Midrash in his writings, although he was well versed in them, as he wrote,

“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! (9) As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”
Galatians 1:8-9 NASB

Rather harsh words, wouldn't you say, and yet Paul seems to allow some margin of grace if the speaker holds to Jesus Christ as Lord.

“It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached—different spirit, different message—you put up with him quite nicely.” (2 Corinthians 11:4 MSG)

That being said, let's get back to Obadiah 1:18, and we will use a reasonable translation.

“"Then the house of Jacob will be a fire And the house of Joseph a flame, But the house of Esau will be as stubble. And they will set them on fire and consume them So that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau," For the LORD has spoken.” (Obadiah 1:18 NASB)

I often enjoy what Dr. J. Vernon McGee has to say. He often comes across much like a country Doctor trying to explain a vicious disease to people who will not understand elaborate medical terminology. Immediately Dr. McGee says, “There will be an ultimate, final judgment of Esau.” Italics mine.

Even I understand that statement, but the question that popped into my head is, when does this happen? Perhaps Dr. McGee has an answer to this question in his next statement.

“'I believe that "the house of Esau' is a kingdom that will not enter into the eternal kingdoms of this earth which will become the kingdoms of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Straightaway my mind goes to the initiation of our eternal kingdom, the millennial reign.

So Dr. McGee does not seem to think that Esau's progeny will enter the thousand-year reign and therefore be excluded from God's mercy. Now don't get me wrong, I take issue with Dr. McGee's assertion, much like I disagree with yours, but I'm afraid I have to disagree with some good reasons.

First, this ignores the complete work of the cross – the forgiveness of sin, as He was the sacrificial lamb offered up by the Jewish high priests that day. This forgiveness does not directly apply to Jesus' statement, forgive them, they know not what they are doing, as that happened before He died; that and, He was speaking specifically of those who put Him there on the cross. A piece of scriptural proof for this forgiveness can be found in Romans chapter six.

For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. (Romans 6:10 NASB)

We are all very adept at sinning, and this is not just in the big flashy stuff; this is things like taking an attitude toward your wife, things you think can be ignored. So, His dying to sin is something other than some physical change in us; this is a change in how God sees us and how we get judged.

Secondly, since an intelligent look at Obadiah would require an understanding of the context. The person studying this would also have seen that Obadiah is referring to the day of the Lord, a period that falls at the end of God's wrath.

"Will I not on that day," declares the LORD, "Destroy wise men from Edom And understanding from the mountain of Esau? (Obadiah 1:8 NASB)

“On that day” has several possibilities, but the primary one happens when He returns in Revelation 19 as the warring Messiah, and the wise can certainly refer to those who thought they could kill the Messiah sitting upon the white horse.

“From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.” (Revelation 19:15 NASB)

I get it. Obadiah 1:18 with its question “will I not on that day... destroy wise men from,” compels your argument. The problem with such logic is that the verse does not imply a complete obliteration as you have conveyed; that and, there are other instances of God/Jesus dishing out justice, which indicates that He only destroys those who fight against Him.

"Therefore her young men will fall in her streets, And all her men of war will be silenced in that day," declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 50:30 NASB)

Yes, I am well aware that Jeremiah speaks of Babylon, but Babylon was virtually gone by the time Daniel died. So, in reality, God is not speaking to Babylon, is he? If that is the case, then God is talking to and about those who still maintain the hatred and ideology of Not just Babylon, but of Nimrod and those who participated in the idolatrous ways associated with that tower, that came to be known as Babel.

In Revelation 19, we see the battle at the end of God's wrath.

And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. And the beast was seized, and with him, the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. (Revelation 19:19-21 NASB)

Note what the passage says: “ the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war.” After seizing the beast and the false prophet, and throwing them into the lake of fire, He kills the rest.

Who is getting killed here “in that day?”

Only those who came to fight. The general idea is that these are Esau's descendants, and yet NOT all are killed.

To continue on the side of mercy for a moment, the Apostle Paul said,

“... I would that all men were even as I myself am...” (1 Corinthians 7:7a MKJV)

What was Paul referring to? Sickness, the beatings, poor eyesight, or being a pharisee – an aspect of his life of which he was particularly proud? Hardly. He wanted all men to have the same deep, lasting relationship with the Messiah that he came to understand, and to know that Christ, because of this relationship, lives in them - this is the mystery that Paul speaks of in Ephesians.

“In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight, He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him.” (Ephesians 1:7-9 NASB)

It was Jesus who said,

"And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." (John 12:32 NASB)

Did that happen?

It did, as he was lifted up on that cross; that and, because He rose victoriously from the grave. God honors His Word, and we see that there is a massive effort by the Holy Spirit to draw ALL men to Himself.

Along that vein, I will tell you what happened to me several years ago on Halloween night. The wife, her mother, and I went to the Halloween festival in a nearby town. Mom was a bit feeble, and the crowds were typically rude, so I began to part the crowd with my walking stick, so mom would not get knocked down. A few seconds into this, a voice said, you are to be commended for helping her. I turned to see who was talking. He looked middle eastern, but then, so do a lot of people. I said I feel as if I am parting the waters like Moses. Well, that initiated the most amazing conversation, and I learned that this former son of Esau, a former Muslim, had Jesus come to him in his dreams many years ago while he lived in Iran. Jesus shared the gospel with him from a specific verse. This man found it so amazing that he told his brother, the Imam, who told him to keep his mouth shut or he would be killed. Many years passed, and he finds himself in France. There a person gave him the bible in Aramaic. Imagine that, the first verse he turned to and read was the same scripture that Jesus spoke to him about in the dreams. Right there, on the sidewalk in France, he accepted Jesus Christ into his life. Do you know what happened in that moment on the sidewalk? He changed teams and became a part of the body of Christ. He was no longer responsible for the sins of his forefathers, and no longer under the curse of Obadiah 1:18. He is NOT the only one this has happened to, and all those who have turned to the Lord will enter the eternal kingdom and be loved by the Father.

I feel impressed to point something else out at this juncture. One of those thieves being hung next to Jesus that day was admitted into the kingdom upon death. Why? Because of the simple words, he said, “do you not fear God?” “this man has done nothing wrong;” and “remember me.” These progeny of Edom/Esau have and will continue to make the simplest of acknowledgments, while the Father, on the other hand, will respond with, enter into the eternal kingdom.

Obadiah is only one chapter and opens with a command to the nations, calling them for battle against Edom.

“The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom--We have heard a report from the LORD, And an envoy has been sent among the nations saying, "Arise and let us go against her for battle"-- “ Obadiah 1:1 NASB.

• It is a vision given to Obadiah;
• concerning Edom;
• and, it commands those who have been sent among the nations
• who say, 'Arise and let us go against her for battle.”

Why would God command the nations to come against Edom?

The obvious factor is that Israel, once again, will sustain a grave and deadly attack. As of this moment in time, 09/16/2020, has Israel sustained such a fatal military attack? No, yet many will go back to June of 1967 and the Six-Day war and claim that this was just such a military operation. While Israel sustained losses, that war was much more deadly for others. In the process, Israel gained the Golan Heights, the entirety of Jerusalem, and the Gaza strip (although Israel later complied with the U.N. and relinquished the Gaza strip to the Palestinians. Another dominant war was the Yom Kippur War (October of 1973.) This war was led by a coalition of Arab states, which included Egypt and Syria, and ended in sound defeat for the alliance, so it does not answer the question.

Does scripture substantiate a deadly attack against Israel?

Absolutely and we can see this in Ezekiel.

“One-third of you will die by plague or be consumed by famine among you, one third will fall by the sword around you, and one third I will scatter to every wind, and I will unsheathe a sword behind them.” Ezekiel 5:12 NASB

In Zechariah chapter 12, we learn that all nations will be gathered against Israel.

"It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.
(Zechariah 12:3 NASB)

Zechariah 14:2 tells us that the city shall be taken, and half the city will go into captivity once again.

“For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished, and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.” Zechariah 14:2 KJV

I want to address one more point before I leave this thesis.

You indicated that Edom is the comprehensive designation of the enemies of Israel. Comprehensive by dictionary standards means the quality of comprising much, or including a great extent, extensive; or comprehending many things at once.”

I would venture to say that your use of the term, as it applies to Israel, says that all of Israel's enemies can be envisioned as Edomites. While your reference to Obadiah, where it says, “Will I not destroy wise men from Edom And understanding from the mountain of Esau?” is a question, it does imply that God will destroy, at least the wise-men, from Edom. If I must consider the rest of the statement as demonstrating a mass killing, then I would have asked, do all men have understanding? The answer is seen in our government today. The riots that allegedly started because of George Floyd began on May 26, 2020, and yet here it is September 18, 2020, and speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi just announced that riots are a bad thing and the people who are causing harm should be arrested and jailed. Do you see any understanding in that? I don't, especially since she waited months to make the statement.

If you were to look at The Historical Map of the Assyrian Empire and the Eastern Mediterranean about 750 – 625 B.C., what will you see is Assyrians blanketing Edom.

Since the days of Jonah, the Assyrians, or in Jonah's case, they were called Ninevehites, have been attacking, killing, and torturing the Northern and Southern kingdoms of the Jews. Wikipedia indicates that the Ninevehites were an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located on Mosul's outskirts in modern-day northern Iraq.

Where do we find Edom?

Out in the Negev desert, about as far south as you can go. Edomites were descendants of Esau, but so were almost all of Israel's enemies.

The Quora search website and Garry de Vries, a former expositor/teacher of scripture, say this about Esau.

“Esau had many descendants. Five sons and ten grandsons are mentioned (Please read Genesis Chapter 36). Teman, one of the descendants of Esau, gave his name to a district and a tribe of that name in Edom. The inhabitants of Teman were renowned for their wisdom (Jeremiah 49:7). Eliphaz, one of Job’s friends was called a Temanite (Job 2:11). He was a wise man who had a great respect for God. Job was instructed by God to offer sacrifice and intercede for him (Job 42:7–10). This is surely one example of people who did not belong to the line of promise (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), but who nevertheless participated in the spiritual blessings of the original promise to Abraham. One of Esau’s sons, Eliphaz, had a concubine, or secondary wife, called Timna. She was the sister of one of the leaders of the Horites in Seir (Genesis 36:22), and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz (Gen.36:12). Because Amalek did not have the same mother as the other sons of Eliphaz, it may be that he was ostracized by his brothers and that it was this that led him to live in a separate area (identified as the nation of the Amalekites). The Amalekites were the first nation/tribe to wage war on Israel after they had left Egypt (Exodus 17:8–13). As they ‘did not fear God’ but attacked a weary, defenseless people, Israel was directed to blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven (Deuteronomy 25:17–19).”

The last portion of this paragraph is the sole reason we see God ordering the Edomites' destruction. I am not here to argue whether they deserve to be wiped out or not. It is the realization that we all deserve to be wiped out because of sin, and that is why Jesus Christ came and paid the debt for us all. Jesus' blood was shed for the Edomites as well, and we seem to forget that fact.

In the prophecy of Daniel, we are told that the descendants of one referred to as the prince that will come, come and destroy the city and temple, just as it was destroyed in 70 A.D. Sadly, many have misled us into believing that this prince was Titus, the Roman general. It was not.

Daniel 9:26 NASB "Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.”

This prince, the one who will destroy the city and the temple once again, has many names, and the Assyrian is one of them.

Isaiah 31:8 NASB And the Assyrian will fall by a sword, not of man, And a sword not of man will devour him. So he will not escape the sword, And his young men will become forced laborers.

This man will fall by a sword not of a man, then what else is left?

The sword of the Lord and we have that picture in Revelation 19.

If Esau is the father of the Arabs, and he is, and, by oppression, the Arabs pretty much all became Muslims, then we, by extrapolation, can see where the Muslims will become the final and fitting players in the end times. These people do not listen to anyone that is not a Muslim, and therefore the only one who can get their attention and call for peace will be a Muslim; hence, the Islamic Antichrist.

Now you don't have to buy into any of this, nor do I expect you to. But when I found this information in Joel Richardson's book The Islamic Antichrist, my understanding of end-times events became very clear.

Will we see Babylon rebuilt? A study on Babylon, chapter 5. The end.

 The angel begins by expounding upon the beast.

Revelation 17:7b NASB states, “I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.”

 "The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come."  Revelation 17:8 NASB

While this may not be the definitive answer as to who the beast is, it makes sense to me. Obviously, the beast is first and foremost a fallen angel – a demon. Since we know that Satan is also personified as the dragon, we can exclude him. Secondarily, the beast is also assigned the title of the Antichrist, and therefore must be possessing the man who gains this title.

Again, the dragon gives his power and authority to the beast.

If this world leader is Islamic, then Revelation 17:8 makes all the sense in the world because this is the one entity, that seems to be under the control and leadership of some demon.

Followers of Islam, because of the Quran, have the drive to dominate the world with the compulsory worship of Allah. The ideology has been around since early 600A.D. and has practiced dominance and subjugation at every opportunity.

The Apostle John had NO concept of Islam, but he did have an understanding of Romans and Assyrians. When you think of Islam, think Assyrians.

So with Islam's annoying inclination toward world dominance something needed to be done, and the “modern” world did just that by going to war with the Ottoman Empire and outlawing their ideology in 1923. With that the world effectively thought the Ottoman Empire was dead; this was a logical thought seeing as the leadership was effectively cut off. I could say, the Ottoman Empire suffered a mortal head wound. Ah, but they refused to stay dead. The Muslim Brotherhood flickered with life in Egypt, and the world eventually witnessed the Islamic Revolution in 1979 when they took the American Embassy hostage in Iran.

So the beast, called Islam, lives once again.

 "Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits,"  Revelation 17:9 NASB

The Bible Knowledge Commentary gives us this explanation. “While Rome is often referred to as having seven hills or mountains, different writers do not necessarily name the same seven mountains. A close study of the passage does not support the conclusion that this refers to the city of Rome. Seiss, for instance, offers extensive evidence that the reference is to rulers rather than to physical mountains (The Apocalypse, pp. 391-94). This is supported by the text which explains, They are also seven kings (lit., “the seven heads are seven kings”). If the mountains represent kings, then obviously they are not literal mountains and refer not to a literal Rome but to persons.”

If you still don't believe it, then watch this.

 (10) "and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. (11) "The beast which was and is not is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction." Revelation 17:10-11 NASB

They are seven kings.

The word kings, in the Greek, is basileus. According to Thayer's definition, this person is a “leader of the people, prince, commander, lord of the land, king.”

These are leaders of the people.

If it is an Islamic leader, you can rule out a woman leading.

While we have presidents and prime ministers, most of us can comprehend that these “leaders of countries” are not making the decisions about how the world should run. Many call these unseen decision-makers, the shadow government.

If you really want to know who is running this world, then look at the Bilderberg group; the World Economic Forum; the Illuminati, and the NWO. One of the faces of the World Economic Forum is Bill Gates, another name that pops up frequently is George Soros. All of these combined is the personification of the harlot; they are idolaters of self, they are wickedness, and they are responsible for the deaths of many due to this COVID 19 at a minimum; and the godlessness that literally made up Babylon.

Qualifications for a deacon. 1 Timothy 3:8-13.

 Paul started this third section of his letter to Timothy discussing the qualifications for a Pastor; depending on the translation, you might see terminologies such as an overseer or a shepherd.

I am surprised anyone qualifies, as we are all so broken, and many people I know should quickly shy away from being a pastor. I struggled with being a group leader in the recovery group, but there was a leader who was brave enough to tell the crowd what got him into recovery, and this brother in Christ took me under his wing and calmed me down on several occasions.

Fortunately, God sees us in a better light than we do and believes better things for us; (I am speaking bluntly because, by Paul’s admonition, he forbids women from being overseer’s of the flock,) so if a man had problems in the past, they might not have those problems now, because that man has put his faith and trust in Christ Jesus, and allowed for God to change him.

Now when it comes to skeletons in the closet, I am not sure how you prevent those skeletons, some of which should never again see the light of day, from being made public. Perhaps making sure you only talk with safe people is one way, but my trust-er is seriously damaged, and believing that people can be safe is difficult. Another idea you can try is to keep your mouth shut; it works for me.

One of the methods of background checking, according to Paul, is to ask those that know the person what they are like. Many could see that as a problem especially if they saw you get hauled away in cuffs during the night. And even if you did not get arrested, what makes you think we neighbors can’t hear you screaming at your wife and kids. Look, WE ARE ALL BROKEN and have a propensity to blab/sin to make ourselves look better, and we will rat you out. Phenomenon such as this is highly prevalent in religious circles as we seem to be competing for promotions, I guess.

When we covered Pastors in the previous post on Timothy, I told you that I do not fully understand alcoholism. Oh, sure, I can comprehend the effects, and I have seen the damage it causes the person and their family. Now, I am not an alcoholic, but I had a terrible struggle with rage. The point of this is, having a cold beer, for me is NOT a problem.

Yeah, I can hear some of you whining now about how I am making you stumble in your walk Jesus. We will get into that shortly. First, look at this, just in case you did not see Paul’s advice on selecting potential pastors.

So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money.
(1 Timothy 3:2-3 NLT)

I am faithful to my wife, but I don’t always practice self-control, and my belly demonstrates that fact, however, I have seen what alcohol can do to me, and I must say, I don’t enjoy being out of control. I also know how much it takes for me to get out of control, and I make a conscious choice NOT to go there. So yes, when it comes to alcohol, I do practice self-control. By the way, I am not looking for a job, so I don’t care what you think about this startling revelation, but if you are a religious zealot and love to judge people, you need to know something.

God will be as hard on you as you are on others! He will treat you exactly as you treat them. (Matthew 7:1-2b CEV)

For the past twenty + years, I have gone out of my way to develop a sound and godly reputation.

Thanks to some terrible decisions many years ago, I ended up working for Home Depot; there, I quickly found out that cussing, among the employees, is a skill set, and I learned that skill. However, I had been straining to be the kind of Christian that my mother wanted me to be, and the internal emotional pressures were pushing me to my limits. To maintain my sanity while I worked there, I would exit the building at lunchtime. In a short time, I began taking my bible to the places I would stop for lunch. I spent at least thirty minutes at lunch, studying my bible, and I read every day, taking notes and writing down the questions and challenges I had for God about what I read. This reading program became a part of my morning breakfast stop before work. I would leave the house an hour earlier to spend the extra time in God’s word. And I would take my bible to dinner with me. I worked at Home Depot for seven years, and I operated on this pattern almost every day. The result of this behavior was that I became skillful with God’s Word and would respond to people’s questions about the Word of God, Jesus, and God’s nature and character.

Now I am up against another set of standards, but this time, for deacons.

1 Timothy 3:8-9 NASB Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, (9) but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

Let's start with this word deacon. First, there are a variety of translations, such as:

• Church officers (this makes sense to me as deacons, as far as I know, play a considerable role in church financial decisions.);
• Eugene Peterson's Message gives us this, “those who want to be servants in the church.” Well, that’s a rather broad definition as some servants, like a friend of mine who before he retired, was a school principal and teacher, but now, among other things, rearranges the chairs in church several times a week.
• And lastly, the Tree of Life Translation calls them Servant-leaders. They, like Stephen, should be servants and leaders.

These deacons have similar demands to the pastors.

• One that catches my attention is the statement that they are not to be addicted to wine.
• From the TLV, not greedy for dishonest gain.
• Men of dignity. The word in Greek is honorable.
• Not double-tongued. Don't change the rules to fit the status of the person. Be a person that people can confide in and trust.

1 Timothy 3:10 NASB These men must also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach.

Tested is to approve or examine. No, we are not merely talking about taking tests, it is watching how the person trying to be a leader performs under pressure. How do they respond to people in the church clamoring for their spiritual help and guidance. 

Note that Paul says these men must also first be tested, but gives no extensive definition like he did the pastors; however, he does give us tests we can use.

Reproach is the Greek word anegklētos and, according to Thayer, means that they cannot be called into account. In defining reproach, the dictionary tells us that this has to do with someone being able to censure you. To censure is the act of blaming or finding fault and condemning as wrong.

So, how or why would someone want to blame or find fault with your choice of a deacon?

Our first example has Paul speaking of women, but we can apply it to men as well.

1 Timothy 3:11 NASB Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.

We already covered dignity when we addressed the men. It is the Greek word semnos and means to be venerated for character, honorable. So nothing, in importance, has changed.

If we think that being a malicious gossip is reserved for women, then we are either naive or deceived as we men are quite skilled in this regard.

Temperate is another term that we covered, as it applies to abstaining from wine (in excess,) just like men.

Faithful applies to persons who show themselves faithful in business transactions, the execution of commands, or the discharge of official duties. This should be expected of anyone, especially since you are dealing with the church finances.

1 Timothy 3:12 NASB Deacons must be husbands of only one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households.

I included the emphasis (italics) provided by the NASB.

Note how it says only one wife. Many of the men I have known, and at least one pastor, have been married several times. There is no need to get all judgmental; simply remember that we are ALL broken. The hope is that somewhere over time, we get that brokenness fixed.

I will let you in on a little private information; I am on my third marriage.

How did my brokenness affect my marriages?

Well, with the first, I was a novice raised under highly religious legalism, and seriously co-dependent. If you don’t know what it is to be co-dependent, it means that you become dependent upon how others think and feel about you and, therefore, create a relational atmosphere in your mind based upon their perceived like or dislike of you. If a co-dependent marries a broken individual, this can be an explosive mix. Add to the marriage the fact that she cheated on me twice. I can only handle it once. Still not free of the co-dependency that affected me, I married a second time to a woman with two children. The short of it, I destroyed this one. I know now, that my psychological problems and inadequacies caused that marriage to fail. The third marriage only happened in the last few years, but my desire and attempts to be married were initiated over twenty years ago. With only two weeks before we were to get married, my brother-in-law, the associate pastor, told me that he was disallowed from marrying us and that we would have to obtain counseling from the lead pastor. Now mind you, that lead pastor and I had been involved in a strained relationship which initiated about ten years prior. The other part of this disaster came into play as he had also played a role in my wife’s ill-fated marriage to her first husband. Combined, he saw no hope for us and made hateful accusations concerning the fact that we had both been married previously and had failed marriages. That day he seemed to forget how he also had a failed marriage. Since a rather large religious organization ordained this broken man to be the pastor, I guess the fact that he had been married before was no hindrance to his being a pastor now.

So, this term only implies that you should NOT be married to more than one woman at a time.

“and good managers of their children and their own households.”

Again, I am looking at the italicized words, and the word “and” does not change the understanding of the sentence, however, the usage of the italicized word“their” creates the idea that these deacons should be able to handle children, period. What that means, I am not sure.

The word manager is proistēmi and means to be set over or rule. There is nothing here that means rule with an iron fist, but considering that parental attitudes, the influence of education; and, governmental themes and laws have created a generation of children that will refuse to comply with reasonable demands, like sit down. (And we get to watch children like this at the daily riot.)

We will finish this section with this.

1 Timothy 3:13 NASB For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

Well is defined as honestly.

And to obtain is to get possession of.

While there is the possibility that you may obtain some reward now, here on earth, but the greatest probability will be at the Bema seat.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10 NASB

On several occasions, I have talked about this idea of being recompensed. When you look at the Greek, it conveys the idea of rewards and wearing a victor's crown as you might in the Olympics.

So if you serve, do it with honesty, and then allow Him to pat you on the back and say, well done, my good and faithful servant.

• Holding to the mystery of the faith.
• He who was revealed in the flesh,
• Was vindicated in the Spirit,
• Seen by angels,
• Proclaimed among the nations,
• Believed on in the world,
• And taken up in glory.
•  

This is the Messiah Jesus that I serve.

 

Will we see Babylon rebuilt? A study on Babylon. Chapter 4.

 A symbolic Babylon does not have to be rebuilt because it never went away. So, there must be something that defines whether this is real or symbolic.

Revelation 18:1-2 NASB After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. (2) And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.

The peculiar thing about this sentence is that it is in the present tense. The piece of the puzzle that makes this understandable is that this is also talking about both Jerusalem and an ideology.

The NASB tries to tame the language by saying hateful birds. Since there are no hateful birds per-say, then there has to be more to the phrase; and there is. As the references in Revelation 18:2 are taken from Isaiah 13:21, then let's look there.

“But the beasts of the waste land will have their holes there; and the houses will be full of crying jackals, and ostriches will have their place there, and evil spirits will be dancing there.” BBE

Young's Literal Translation of the Bible makes this statement:

“Babylon the great, and she became a habitation of demons and a hold of every unclean spirit.”

Another of our associations is with the fallen angels/demons are those held in the Euphrates river.

Revelation 9:14-15 NASB (14) one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." (15) And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released so that they would kill a third of mankind.

The Complete Jewish Bible conveys that it, “be full of owls, ostriches will live there, and wild goats will dance there.” (Isaiah 13:21 CJB)

To the Jewish reader, there is an instant association with the restrictions seen in Leviticus, which warns them to stay away from this place - unfortunately, the place is Jerusalem.

Leviticus 11:13-16 CJB "The following creatures of the air are to be detestable for you—they are not to be eaten, they are a detestable thing: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, (14) the kite, the various kinds of buzzards, (15) the various kinds of ravens, (16) the ostrich, the screech-owl, the seagull, the various kinds of hawks... (the list continues.)

To make this even worse.

Leviticus 11:24 CJB “The following will make you unclean; whoever touches the carcass of them will be unclean until evening,”

So let's speculate that there are none of these things in Jerusalem. While this theory may work for ostriches, it will not work for most everything else, and it is the uncleanness that is worrisome to the Jew.

Revelation 18:3 CJB "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of God's fury caused by her whoring—yes, the kings of the earth went whoring with her, and from her unrestrained love of luxury the world's businessmen have grown rich."

If what we see here in Revelation 18:3 is to be a rebuilt city, then how is that the nations have drunk of the wine of God's fury caused by her whoring? A city, cannot of itself be a whore, nor can it create on its own the atmosphere conducive to such references.

From Dr. J. Vernon McGee, “"Have drunk" (or are fallen) are the two permitted renderings—both have good manuscript authority. Both are true. The normal rendering is "have drunk." This is God's judgment on big business which denies God's authority. This is the unholy alliance of government and business. We have seen some of this in our day and, frankly, it smells to high heaven. The word for merchants means "those who travel." It is not those who produce goods or manufacture goods, but those who are brokers, engaging in business for a big profit. Business is a sacred cow that nothing must harm or hinder. This is true today, of course. Man uses business as the biggest excuse for having no time for God, yet these same men must finally stand before God. God will judge godless commercialism.”

What about this angel who is saying, fallen is Babylon the great?

If I were to guess, I would say this is Jesus Himself. Did He not show up many times under the guise of The Angel of the Lord?

He did.

Revelation 18:1 NASB After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory.

He is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.

Habakkuk 3:3-4 NASB God comes from Teman And the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His splendor covers the heavens, And the earth is full of His praise. (4) His radiance is like the sunlight; He has rays flashing from His hand, And there is the hiding of His power.

We are still talking about Revelation 18:2 where it speaks of the destruction of Babylon by saying Fallen, fallen.

Fallen is the Greek word piptō, which means to descend from a higher place to a lower; to be thrust down, or to be judged.

[If Babylon is being judged, then here it is either an ideology, a belief system, or a place with people. Since we know that Jerusalem is called Babylon, then it makes sense that the people would be fallen because Israel is part of the judgment.]

Once again, we are not directed to a physically rebuilt infrastructure, but we are directed to Jerusalem.

“She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.”

Simply look up pictures of Babylon today and it looks like a typical desert town; sparse housing, little to no shade, it looks HOT and barren. If you were part of the World Economic Forum, where would you have your team meetings? Yeah, I thought so, Davos Switzerland, a place that is lush, green, and appeals to the lifestyles of the rich and famous. NO ONE is going to go there anymore.

•  

Will we see Babylon rebuilt? A study on Babylon. Chapter 3

 What do I know thus far?

That Babylon, in "the Revelation," is primarily symbolic.

Rev_14:8, "she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality." (During the time of Nimrod there was only one language and "nation." Therefore this statement is a projection to a future time. That future time is upon us.)

Rev_16:19, "The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell." (I used the term symbolic because it is still a future event; and, Jerusalem is also called "that great city.")

Rev_17:5, "on her forehead a name was written, a mystery." (Mystery is the word musterion - according to Thayer, "religious secrets, confided only to the initiated and not to ordinary mortals." In general, the church is initiated as we are no longer mere mortals. Still, the terms forehead and mystery are highly indicative of symbolism.)  

Rev_18:2, The CEV states "it is the den of every filthy spirit and of all unclean birds, and every dirty and hated animal." (So we are looking both to the future and the present to see this.)

Rev_18:10, quoting from the NASB we see this, " the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come." (We have seen that Jerusalem is also called the great city. The practical side of this is the question, how do you destroy such a great city in a day? And, why would the destruction of Jerusalem cause the world's wealthy to mourn? Unless we have not been told everything.)

Rev_18:21, "So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer." (These same words were used of Babylon, and yet, to a degree, it is inhabited. Does this make God a liar? No, but there is certainly some verbal painting with a broad brush, and that must be taken into consideration. So we might be looking for a nuclear attack.)

Simply said, we are seeing references to things such as the mother of harlots and the abominations. While most can understand the depth of perversion that is associated with Babel, but the Bible does not spell that information out for us. Since we are biblically based, then we need to lean toward sound doctrine when it comes to interpretation, and that is the Bible points to Jerusalem.

That Jerusalem, which is referred to as Babylon, will be split into three parts by a horrendous earthquake.

Revelation 16:19 NASB The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.

Since everything in the Revelation is based upon some statement within the Old Testament, what do we have as a witness to a massive earthquake? 

One of the most dominant, outside of Revelation, comes from the Psalms.

Psalms 114:3-8 CEV  When the sea looked at God, it ran away, and the Jordan River flowed upstream.  (4)  The mountains and the hills skipped around like goats.  (5)  Ask the sea why it ran away or ask the Jordan why it flowed upstream.  (6)  Ask the mountains and the hills why they skipped like goats!  (7)  Earth, you will tremble, when the Lord God of Jacob comes near,  (8)  because he turns solid rock into flowing streams and pools of water.

I chose the CEV as it describes several events that could easily be associated with a life-changing earthquake, such as the Jordan suddenly flowing upstream, and the mountains and hills skipping around. Note this effect as He turns solid rock into flowing streams. It is easy to associate this with a thermal event like a volcano erupting.

Jeremiah 4:24 might also be one of those references. 

Jeremiah 4:24-27 NASB I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, And all the hills moved to and fro. (25) I looked, and behold, there was no man, And all the birds of the heavens had fled. (26) I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a wilderness, And all its cities were pulled down Before the LORD, before His fierce anger. (27) For thus says the LORD, "The whole land shall be a desolation, Yet I will not execute a complete destruction.

At one time, I used this verse in Jeremiah to make a point about how or why the earth came to a place of destruction. While to most this seems irrelevant, but scripture tells us that the earth was perfect in the day He made it, and yet at some point, the earth became void and without form. Now try to explain that. 

The Harlot that rides the beast is the same harlot/whore that we find in the basket.

Zechariah 5:5-11 tells us of the “woman” in the basket, covered by a lid of lead. She is lifted from the basket and shown to Zechariah, and told, this is wickedness. That woman personifies wickedness.

The Apostle Paul wrote how Israel took pleasure in the wickedness.

2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 NASB (7) For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. (8) Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; (9) that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, (10) and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. (11) For this reason, God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, (12) in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in wickedness.

Isaiah tells how Jerusalem became a harlot.

Isaiah 1:21a NASB How the faithful city has become a harlot,

The prophet Ezekiel said, you played the harlot.

Ezekiel 16:14-15 NASB "Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you," declares the Lord GOD. (15) "But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your fame, and you poured out your harlotries on every passer-by who might be willing.

Revelation 17 tells us that the great harlot sits on many waters; it goes on to explain what the waters are.

Revelation 17:15-17 NASB (15) And he *said to me, "The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. (16) "And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. (17) "For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.

There is no doubt in my mind that the passages above are speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem/Israel, but not completely.

In Zechariah chapter five, the woman in the basket is wickedness, and she is being taken to Shinar, the place where Babylon began.

What then is Babylon?

• To Israel, under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon became their captor, their punisher, and their protector. You see, God often uses others to carry out His will. When we read about Babylon from the book of Daniel, we see that they too had their fair share of idols. During the time of Daniel's captivity, he tells us that Nebuchadnezzar had a massive statue of himself made, and he forced everyone to bow to it. Israel adopted Babylon's ways.
• Babylon is Jerusalem, "that great city". Since the woman, which equals wickedness is Jerusalem, then "that great city" is also representative of wickedness.
• Babylon is the whore and the harlot, as these terms are synonymous.
• Babylon is symbolic, and we see that as Jerusalem is called Babylon; and, referred to as the whore. If the whore/harlot is wickedness, and Jerusalem, in scripture is described as giving itself over to wickedness, then Jerusalem is wickedness and therefore the whore in the basket.
• She, Jerusalem, made all the nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. What does that mean? That the wrath reserved for Israel will also be poured out upon the world because we too are neck-deep in this money lust.
• Babylon represents the global banking system and the basis for this money lust.
• The two witnesses have finally been killed, after preaching in the streets of Jerusalem for 1,240 days. Revelation 11:8 tells us that their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city for three days. The great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

The harlot/whore is pure wickedness.

2 Thessalonians 2:7-10 NASB (7) For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. (8) Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; (9) that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, (10) and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.

Revelation 17:5-6 NASB, describes the harlot, but it does not define who or what she is very well.

At this point, with many clues and explanations, it is easy to see that Babylon, the Great, the Mother of Harlots, is Jerusalem, but we still get hung up looking for a rebuilding of some tower, and that leads us to our last point.

Will we see Babylon rebuilt? A study on Babylon. Chapter 2.

 Difficulties with Revelation 17:18.

Revelation 17:18 NASB, “The woman whom you saw, is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”

The woman – which we know to be symbolic, is the great city.

When we talk about a city’s greatness, aren’t we describing the beauty, the government, the art, the people, and the architecture?

While that may have been Babylon, it is no longer. There is little about the Shinar region, in the modern physical realm, that makes Babylon great, with possibly one exception, its location between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The former tyrant, Saddam Hussein, had initiated a restoration program on the hanging garden, but that came to an end with the US invasion of Iraq in the early 1990s. There is also one of Saddam’s palaces sitting atop a nearby hill, but that is also in disrepair.

In speaking of the woman, Zechariah has much to say.

Then the angel who was speaking with me, went out and said to me, “Lift up now your eyes and see what this is going forth.” I said, “What is it?” And he said, “This is the ephah going forth.” Again he said, “This is their appearance in all the land (and behold, a lead cover was lifted up); and this is a woman sitting inside the ephah.” Then he said, “This is Wickedness!” And he threw her down into the middle of the ephah and cast the lead weight on its opening. Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and there two women were coming out with the wind in their wings, and they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens. I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “Where are they taking the ephah?” Then he said to me, “To build a temple for her in the land of Shinar; and when it is prepared, she will be set there on her own pedestal.” (Zechariah 5:5-11 NASB)

We just saw that “they” are building that “wicked woman,” a temple in Shinar’s plain. Shinar happens to be the place where the tower was being built, and after God dispersed them all, it was called Babel. But we have a problem. Look at how the New Living Translation reads.

Zechariah 5:11 NLT He replied, “To the land of Babylonia, where they will build a temple for the basket. And when the temple is ready, they will set the basket there on its pedestal.”

They are building a temple for the basket. Perhaps our assumption should be that the woman is included in this deal, but maybe not.

The word bayith, translated temple, can mean any of several things ranging from a house to a prison.

The Bible in Basic English tells us that they are merely making a place ready and put her there in the place, which is hers.

The first piece of information we are given about this woman is that the woman is representative of WICKEDNESS. Wickedness in the Hebrew is rish‛âh and means moral wickedness. Secondly, the angel throws her back down into the basket and slams the lead lid down upon her, demonstrating God’s total lack of respect for this entity. The third thing we need to consider is these two “women” that are coming out to gather up the basket. Look at the description of the two, as they have stork wings. These are not angels, and Dr. J. Vernon McGee points out, “They had wings like the wings of a stork”—that is, powerful wings. In Scripture, the stork is not a picture of an angel. It is a dirty bird, an unclean bird.” (and therefore unacceptable to a Jew.) Emphasis mine.

Since we are plainly told in Revelation 17:18 that the woman is the great city, then what city is being spoken of?

In Revelation 16:19, we get an answer.

The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. (NASB)

Dr. J. Vernon McGee straightforwardly tells us, “This concludes the Great Tribulation period. There is a great earthquake, and it divides the “great city,” which is Jerusalem. The earthquake divides this city into three parts. Although the center of the quake is in Jerusalem, it is not confined to Jerusalem because we are told that “the nations’ cities fell.” This tells us something of the extent and the vast destruction of the earthquake.”

We already mentioned, Rev 14:8, where it says,

“And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”

To accept Babylon as a literal rebuild, as some would suggest, I have to set aside the bible’s clear communication that Jerusalem is referred to as Babylon. And, I have to ignore what Revelation 14:8 tells us, how that Israel/Jerusalem made all the nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornications.

How is that possible that the entire world must partake of the wrath?

Israel, even before they were called Israel, never stopped following after other gods. Evidence of this can be seen as Moses leads them out of Egypt. In short order, they had set up Moloch’s tent and had Aaron build them the god Moloch, upon which they roasted their babies in sacrifice.

Another possible example of Israel’s sins (fornications.) I have learned that not only is Isaiah 53 forbidden reading, but based upon an ancient Rabbi’s assessment, the book of Daniel is considered to be so holy that it defiles the one who touches it and is therefore forbidden reading material. In both these instances, we are dealing with prophetic books from the Tanakh that expressly define Yahshua as the Messiah. So there has been a united effort to keep the Jewish people away from the truth.

The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, tells us Babel or Babylon is the name of more than one city in the scriptures and other ancient writings.

The ISBE instructs us that Babylon is used in a literal sense and a symbolic sense. They continue by saying, “All the references to Babylon in Revelation are evidently symbolic. Some of the most important passages are Rev_14:8; Rev_16:19; Rev_17:5; Rev_18:2, Rev_18:10, Rev_18:21. In Rev_17:5, Babylon is designated as mustērion or mystery Babylon. “This undoubtedly indicates that the name is to be understood (in this instance) figuratively.” Emphasis mine.

The Greek word mustērion means a hidden thing, secret, mystery, and, according to Thayer, religious secrets confided only to the initiated and not to ordinary mortals.

I can associate this aspect of the religious secrets to the Rabbis prohibiting the reading of Isaiah53 and all of Daniel.

Will we see Babylon rebuilt? A study on Babylon.

 Isaiah13:1 NASB The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

Chapter one.

I recently attended a prophecy conference where both Dr. Mark Hitchcock and Dr. Andy Wood spoke. Both of these men have books about Babylon and take a position that says Babylon is a literal place that will be rebuilt. Dr. Mark Hitchcock has a book entitled The Second Coming of Babylon, but he did not speak on the subject during the conference; however, Dr. Andy Wood did.

I might be the only one that feels this way, but I have a tendency to listen to someone with the title Doctor in front of their name and wonder, is it appropriate that my heart and mind disagree with what they are saying.

The conference ended, and only days later, I started looking in my book collection, and there found Mark Hitchcock’s book on Babylon. As I began to reread the book, I paid particular attention to the statement that he also believes that Babylon, in some way, will be rebuilt.

Sorry, I just can’t see it, and I feel a need to ask why they do?

I heard Dr. Andy Wood at the conference speak expressly about Babylon. He reasoned that Babylon must be rebuilt, but like most other university lectures I have attended, I find it impossible to absorb the information given in such a short time and at such a rapid pace. Home, sometime later, and I have my E sword bible application active on my computer, and I just happened to have Smith’s Bible Dictionary opened. It says,

“Babylon, in the Apocalypse, is the symbolical name by which Rome is denoted. (Revelation 14:8; Revelation 17:18.)”

If I hold to the thought that Babylon is symbolic, my life will be more at ease, as neither one of these passages above, no matter the translation, speak of Rome.

So the idea that Babylon refers to Rome must come from some other source.

The common assertion is that the legs of iron, and the feet of iron mixed with clay, in Nebuchadnezzar’s statue dream somehow identify the fourth empire as the Roman empire. If that is the case, then why doesn’t scripture tell us, a little more directly, that we should be looking for Rome to fulfill the prophecies of the Revelation when Babylon and the Medo-Persian empires are clearly defined.

The Grecian empire takes a little more work. Biblical scholars and historians have concluded that the third empire was the Grecian empire under Alexander. Fortunately, Joel Richardson, in his book, The Islamic Antichrist, gives an in-depth explanation as to why we are NOT dealing with Rome when we look at the legs of iron and the feet mixed with clay. We do, however, have every reason to consider the Assyrians and those related to that empire.

By the way, one of the names of the Antichrist is the Assyrian, and the prophet Micah is one of our primary resources to support this statement.

Micah 5:5a. NASB When the Assyrian invades our land, …

Another prophetic writer that adds their voice in accord with Micah is Isaiah.

Isaiah 10:24b. NASB ...My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian who strikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you, the way Egypt did.

Isaiah 14:25 NLT I will break the Assyrians when they are in Israel; I will trample them on my mountains. My people will no longer be their slaves nor bow down under their heavy loads.

And finally, Isaiah 31:8b NASB where it says,

“And the Assyrian will fall by a sword, not of man,”

What does it mean a sword, not of man?

The answer is relatively obvious if you have read the Revelation.

Revelation 19:15 NASB From His mouth (Jesus) comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. Emphasis mine.

I do not want to take up space and time here, developing Daniel’s explanation to Nebuchadnezzar entirely because history and other sources define the statue dream, but I will give you a taste. Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that he is the head of gold. Under Belshazzar’s rule, we know that the Medo-Persian empire conquered Babylon; and the third empire was the Grecian under Alexander’s reign.

Ah, but what happened at the death of Alexander?

You have to study Daniel 11:3-45 to find the answer to this question. This section of scripture is filled with all the intrigue of a television soap opera, and fast forwards to the Antichrist and his power play. The two final, major kingdoms, signified by the legs of iron, were both initially ruled by two of Alexander’s former generals. By the time we get to the feet, neither of the empires remained true to their Grecian blood. The Seleucid empire in the north, which engulfed Jerusalem, became primarily Assyrian - the descendants of the Babylonian empire...

If you look up the word mixed, which you find in Daniel’s explanation to Nebuchadnezzar of the toes, you will find the word Arab.

Rome comes into the picture only because:

First, Rome conquered Jerusalem; Secondly, Herod’s temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. under the Roman rule of Titus. Sadly, few take this study of the destruction of the temple to the next step, as that is where we find Josephus and Tacitus. Both of these historians recorded that the destruction of the temple can be directly attributed to Assyrian conscript troops, who refused to follow orders to quench the fires that they had started because they had an open hatred of the Jews. Since we choose to read Daniel 9:26, where it says, the people of the prince that is to come, as Titus – the Roman, instead of what the historians provided – Assyrians. With such skewed information, we only have one logical conclusion, we must be looking for the Catholic Pope as the Antichrist, and that does not work.

Our entire concept of Babylon is then tainted by the false narrative of a final, Roman, world leader/Antichrist.