|
Bible Study Subjects:
Millenial Man
Back to Jerusalem
The Coming King
The
Rebellious Prince
The Supreme
Sacrifice
The Law of the King
Bricks Without
Straw
The Glorious
Kingdom
Witch of Endor
Cities of Ash
A River of Life
Resting the
Land
Bowing to Baylon
A Heavenly
Model
Cleansing the
Temple
A Tale of Two
Women
Windows of
Heaven
The
Daughter's Dance
Ten Times
Wiser
Voice in the
Wilderness
Proving the
Prophets
A Jar of Oil
Above the Crowd
Home
Contact Us
| |
The Daughter's Dance
King
Herod's wife, Herodias, hated John the Baptist. The desert-dwelling
prophet had dared to call her an adulteress for leaving her husband
Philip to marry his evil but wealthier brother. Now the wicked queen
determined to use her influence over Herod to get even with John. First,
she persuaded him to have John imprisoned. Then she asked to have John
executed, but Herod refused. He knew that John was a true prophet and
feared political backlash from the people.
Finally, Herodias developed a fool-proof scheme. She threw a party for
Herod's birthday and invited all his friends and the nobles from his
realm, then she arranged for her beautiful daughter Salome to dance in a
seductive, captivating style. Herodias hoped that after Herod had a few
glasses of wine, he would ask Salome what reward she wanted for her
enchanting dance.
Her sinister plan worked. After Salome's dance, Herod made a pompous
oath: "Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the
half of my kingdom." Mark 6:23. As the inebriated guests were applauding
the king's generosity, the girl stood ready with her reply. Then she
shocked everyone by asking for the head of John the Baptist on a
platter! Herod was stunned by the gruesome request, but all of his
shocked friends were watching for his response. Afraid that he would
appear weak if he refused, the proud king reluctantly gave the order.
That very day the mighty prophet John was beheaded alone in prison.
This was not the first time that a mother and daughter team used the
government to persecute God's people. |
 1. What
other mother and daughter team persecuted God's people in the Old
Testament?
1 Kings
18:13 . ________ slew the prophets of the Lord.
2 Kings 11:1 And when Athaliah ... saw that her son was
dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.
Answer:
___________________________
Note: In
the Old Testament, Jezebel and her daughter Athaliah were known for
violently controlling the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel and
Judah, and for forcing pagan worship on God's people.
 2. What
is the second angel's message in Revelation 14?
Revelation
14:8 . And there followed another angel, saying, _________ is
fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations
drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Answer:
___________________________
Note: Revelation
14 contains an urgent three-point message that must reach the entire
world before Jesus' second coming. In this lesson we will look at the
second point of that message. God's indictment of Babylon is given
because she has made all nations drunk with her intoxicating wine.
This lesson will address some very straight, and perhaps disturbing,
messages to both Catholic and Protestant believers. Remember that the
second angel's message is from Jesus, the One we all love. Open your
heart to His truth, for His only aim is to save and to bless you.
 3. How
does God symbolize Babylon in Revelation 17?
Revelation
17:18 . And the _______ which thou sawest is that great city, which
reigneth over the kings of the earth.
Answer:
___________________________
Note: In
Bible prophecy, a woman symbolizes a church. A pure woman represents
God's true church as described in Revelation 12. An unfaithful woman
represents a church that has departed from the Scriptures. We can be
certain who this fallen woman is, because Revelation 17:18 says she
was ruling when Revelation was written. History tells us it was pagan
Rome (Luke 2:1) that eventually turned over its authority, capital
city, and power to papal Rome.
 4. What
other evidence from Revelation 17 proves that Babylon refers to papal
Rome?
Revelation
17:3 . ... I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of
names of _________,
A. She is guilty of blasphemy (verse 3).
B. She is dressed in purple and scarlet (verse 4).
C. She is called the Mother (verse 5).
D. She has harlot daughters who also are fallen (verse 5).
E. She persecuted and martyred the saints (verse 6).
F. She sits upon "seven mountains" (verse 9).
G. She ruled over the "kings of the earth" (verse 18).
Answer:
___________________________
Note: Papal
Rome fits every description. Its headquarters is in Rome--"the city of
seven hills." Scarlet is the color of cardinals' robes, and the pope
often wears the royal color of purple at important functions. The
Roman Catholic church freely admits that during the Middle Ages, she
persecuted the saints and ruled over the kings of the earth. (For
evidence that the papacy is guilty of blasphemy, review Lesson 13.)
God's symbolism fits perfectly--a fallen mother church whose fallen
daughters protested and thus began to be called Protestants. Notice
this quote from Father James A. O'Brien: "That observance [of Sunday
instead of Saturday] remains as a reminder of the Mother Church from
which the non-Catholic sects broke away."1
1The Faith of Millions (Huntington, IN: Our Sunday
Visitor, Inc., 1974), p. 401.
 5. How
do the beasts of Revelation 13 and 17 compare?
Revelation
13:1 . And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up
out of the sea, having seven heads and ten __________, ... and
upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Revelation 17:3 I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured
beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads
and ten horns.
Answer:
___________________________
Note: The
beast of Revelation 13:1-10 and the beast of Revelation 17 are
obviously the same. Both symbolize this Roman power. Revelation 17
points out the church-state coalition, with the church (the fallen
woman) riding and controlling the state (the beast). Revelation 13
also portrays two beasts involved in forcing others to worship. The
first beast is the same power as the "mother of harlots" described in
Revelation 17. This lesson will soon reveal the identity of the second
beast.
 6. What
is the meaning and origin of the word "Babylon"?
Genesis
11:4, 6, 7, 9 . Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may
reach unto heaven. ... And the Lord said, ... let us go down, and
there _________ [confuse] their language, that they may not understand
one another's speech. ... Therefore is the name of it called Babel;
because the Lord did there confound the language of all the
earth.
Answer:
___________________________
Note: The
terms "Babel" and "Babylon" both mean confusion. The name originated
at the Tower of Babel, built by defiant pagans after the Flood. They
hoped to build it so high that no future floodwaters could cover it.
But the Lord confused their languages, which created such chaos that
the project was abandoned. Babylon later arose to be an idolatrous
world kingdom that persecuted God's people. In the book of Revelation,
the term "Babylon" signifies a counterfeit religious kingdom that is
an enemy of God's spiritual Israel.
 7. How
does God describe Babylon in urging His people to leave?
Revelation
18:2-4 . And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon
the great is ________, is fallen, and is become the habitation of
devils, and the hold of every foul spirit. ... Come out of her,
my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive
not of her plagues.
Answer:
___________________________
Note: God
says that Babylon has fallen and has become the home of devils and
evil spirits. He warns that her sins are so offensive that Babylon
must be destroyed. God's people must come out quickly, or else be
destroyed with Babylon's plagues.
 8. Jesus
repeatedly indicts Babylon for making the world drunk with her wine.
What is this wine?
Revelation
17:4 . Having a golden cup in her hand full of ___________.
Answer:
___________________________
Note: Her
wine cup is full of intoxicating lies (Proverbs 12:22), or false
teachings that make people spiritually drunk. Here is a partial list
of her beguiling lies:
A. The Ten Commandments are not binding (see Lesson 6).
B. Sunday sacredness (see Lesson 14).
C. Secret rapture (see Lesson 3).
D. Immortality of the soul (see Lesson 9).
E. An eternal torment in hell (see Lesson 10).
F. Confessing your sins to a priest (see Lesson 13).
G. Counterfeit baptisms (see Lesson 11).
H. A confusion of tongues (see Lesson 23).
The sad truth is that once Babylon's messages are accepted, a person
becomes spiritually drunk and virtually unable to understand what the
Bible really says, because these false doctrines dull a person's
ability to comprehend the truth.
 9. What
power will support the beast in the end time?
Revelation
13:11, 12 . I beheld ________ beast coming up out of the
earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And
he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth
the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast,
whose deadly wound was healed.
Answer:
___________________________
Note: Brace
yourself! This second beast of Revelation 13 symbolizes the United
States of America. Consider the evidence:
A. The time it arose.
God described this power as rising up about the same time the first
beast goes into captivity and receives its deadly wound (Revelation
13:10, 11). The United States of America arose about the time the
papacy's power was broken at the end of the 1,260 years, which was in
1798. America declared its independence in 1776, voted the
Constitution in 1787, adopted the Bill of Rights in 1791, and was
clearly recognized as a world power in 1798.
B. It arose from the earth.
As we've studied before, the waters from which most kingdoms (beasts)
arose represent a densely populated area (Revelation 17:15). The earth
represents the opposite. The United States fits this point perfectly
because it was established on a sparsely populated continent.
C. It had two horns like a lamb.
In prophecy, a lamb represents Jesus and a horn represents power. The
two great horns represent Protestant principles upon which America was
founded--civil and religious liberty. The founding fathers fled from
Europe to escape religious and political persecution. They established
a society based on the principles of civil and religious
freedom-"government without a king and religion without a Pope."
 10. According
to the prophecy, what drastic change will take place in America?
Revelation
13:11 . And he ______ as a dragon.
Answer:
___________________________
Note: Speaking
as a dragon means that the United States, under the influence of
Satan, will reverse its original Protestant principles of the
separation of church and state. It will pass religious laws forcing
people to worship contrary to conscience or else be punished with
economic sanctions (verses 16, 17) and finally death (verse 15).
 11. What
three powers will unite against God's people in the end time?
Revelation
16:13 . And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the
mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast,
and out of the mouth of the false ________.
Answer:
___________________________
Note: The
dragon is Satan (Revelation 12:9), working through pagan religions.
The beast of Revelation 13:1-10 is the papacy. The false prophet in
Revelation 16 is apostate Protestantism in America, which is the same
power as the beast of Revelation 13:11-17 that has two horns like a
lamb but will later speak as a dragon. This is the power that does
"great wonders" and "deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the
means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the
beast." Revelation 13:13, 14. (Compare with the description of the
false prophet given in Revelation 19:20.)
 12. Will
these diverse organizations ever effectively unite?
Revelation
16:14 . For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which
go forth unto the _______ of the earth and of the whole world,
to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Answer:
___________________________
Note: Yes,
God says they will unite. Notice that they are united in their work of
spreading deception and building a confederacy against God's people.
The "battle of that great day of God Almighty" is the same event as
the dragon making war with the woman's offspring (Revelation 12:17).
 13. What
effective methods will this end-time coalition utilize?
Revelation
16:14 . For they are the spirits of devils, working _________.
Revelation 13:13, 14 And he doeth great wonders, so that
he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of
those miracles which he had power to do.
Answer:
___________________________
Note: This
end-time coalition will work mighty miracles by the spirits of devils,
and almost the entire world will be convinced (Revelation 13:3) and
deceived. Revelation 18:23 says, "By thy sorceries were all nations
deceived."
 14. What
will prevent God's end-time people from being deceived?
Isaiah 8:20
. To the _____ and to the testimony: if they speak not
according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Answer:
___________________________
Note: God's
people will need to test everything by the Bible. They will not be
deceived, because they will test the miracles and teachings to
determine whether they come from spirits of devils or from the Lord.
 15. Today
God is calling His people out of Babylon into the safety of His
remnant church. He says that those who remain in Babylon will partake
of her sins and receive her plagues. In Noah's day, only eight people
entered the ark God had provided for their salvation. All others
perished. Today He provides His remnant church as an ark of safety,
and millions are entering. Jesus is inviting you to "Come thou and all
thy house into the ark." Genesis 7:1. Will you say "Yes" to His
invitation today?
.
Answer:
___________________________
|
|
|
