War Against Truth

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War Against TruthWar Against Truth

Revelation 17Lesson 36

Revelation 17Lesson 36

22Milan Cathedral, Italy

33Cathedral at Cologne, FranceCathedral at Cologne, France

44Notre Dame, Paris

55Notre Dame, Paris

66Coronation of Napoleon & Josephine Notre Dame, Paris

77

Nimes Cathedral,

France

Nimes Cathedral,

France

After Ellen White’s visit to this cathedral, she wrote that the church was not the building,

but the people.

After Ellen White’s visit to this cathedral, she wrote that the church was not the building,

but the people.

88

Washington National Cathedral

99Screen around choir at Chartres Cathedral, France

1010Chartres Cathedral

1111

1212

1313

Rose Window Chartres Cathedral, France

141414

1515Notre Dame Cathedral, Montreal, Canada

1616

Washington National Cathedral

1717Winchester Cathedral

1818

1919

2020Notre Dame, Paris

2121Sistine Chapel

2222

Sistine Chapel

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But remember, the church is not the building. And . . .

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The power which has the deepest inward corruption will make the greatest display, and will clothe itself with the most elaborate signs of power. The Bible plainly declares that this covers a corrupt and deceiving wickedness. (Ellen White, Seventh-day Adventist Bible

Commentary, vol. 7, p. 983)

Could this principle also be true with our personal adorning?

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Half shyly the Church approached the WorldAnd gave him her hand of snow;

And the old World grasped it and walked along,Saying, in accents low,

“Your dress is too simple to please my taste;I will give you pearls to wear,

Rich velvets and silks for your graceful form,And diamonds to deck your hair.”

From the poem “The Church Walking with the World” by Maltilda C. Edwards

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Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of

apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet

spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

(1 Peter 3:3, 4)

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The book of Revelation describes two woman, and only two women.

The first is the pure woman of Revelation 12, “clothed with the sun, and the moon

under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars” (Revelation 12:1).

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The second is the woman of Revelation 17.

“So he carried me in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten

horns” (verse 3).

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Before we study the woman of Revelation 17, let us review our lesson from last

Sabbath--Revelation 11.

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In the first part of Revelation 11, we read

about . . .

In the first part of Revelation 11, we read

about . . .• The measuring of the sanctuary, the altar, and the people who worship therein in verse 1, which signifies an act of judgment.

• Forty-two months in verse 2 and 1,260 days in verse 3, which are the same time period as the time, times, and half a time in Daniel 7:25 (538-1798).

• The two witnesses, which are the Old and the New Testaments.

• A city in verse 8 which Sodom, Egypt, and Jerusalem symbolize. This is usually understood to represent France at the time of the revolution.

• Three and one half days in verse 9, which represents the time during the French Revolution when Christianity was rejected by the nation.

• The measuring of the sanctuary, the altar, and the people who worship therein in verse 1, which signifies an act of judgment.

• Forty-two months in verse 2 and 1,260 days in verse 3, which are the same time period as the time, times, and half a time in Daniel 7:25 (538-1798).

• The two witnesses, which are the Old and the New Testaments.

• A city in verse 8 which Sodom, Egypt, and Jerusalem symbolize. This is usually understood to represent France at the time of the revolution.

• Three and one half days in verse 9, which represents the time during the French Revolution when Christianity was rejected by the nation.

30

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In Revelation 17 we read about a woman sitting on a scarlet-coloured

beast.

In Revelation 17 we read about a woman sitting on a scarlet-coloured

beast.

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She . . .She . . .• Sits on many waters, which are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues (verse 15)

• Has an alliance with the kings of the earth

• Makes the inhabitants of the earth drunk with her fornication

• Is in the wilderness

• Sits on a scarlet-colored beast--more exactly on its 7 heads, which are 7 mountains (verse 9)

• Is arrayed in purple and scarlet

• Is decked with gold, precious stones, and pearls

• Has a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness

• Has a name on her forehead--MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH

• Is drunken with the blood of the saints and of the martyrs of Jesus

• Is hated by the 10 kings, and they make her desolate and naked, burn her with fire, and eat her flesh (verse 16)

• Sits on many waters, which are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues (verse 15)

• Has an alliance with the kings of the earth

• Makes the inhabitants of the earth drunk with her fornication

• Is in the wilderness

• Sits on a scarlet-colored beast--more exactly on its 7 heads, which are 7 mountains (verse 9)

• Is arrayed in purple and scarlet

• Is decked with gold, precious stones, and pearls

• Has a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness

• Has a name on her forehead--MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH

• Is drunken with the blood of the saints and of the martyrs of Jesus

• Is hated by the 10 kings, and they make her desolate and naked, burn her with fire, and eat her flesh (verse 16)

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And the beast . . .And the beast . . .

• Is full of names of blasphemy

• Has 7 heads and 10 horns--the 7 heads are 7 mountains with 7 kings and the 10 horns are 10 kings

• Is scarlet-colored

• Was and is not, yet is

• Ascends out of the bottomless pit and goes into perdition (destruction)

• Is wondered at by all those not written in the book of life

• Is the 8th king, is of the 7, and goes into perdition

• Is full of names of blasphemy

• Has 7 heads and 10 horns--the 7 heads are 7 mountains with 7 kings and the 10 horns are 10 kings

• Is scarlet-colored

• Was and is not, yet is

• Ascends out of the bottomless pit and goes into perdition (destruction)

• Is wondered at by all those not written in the book of life

• Is the 8th king, is of the 7, and goes into perdition

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A Woman is a Symbol for a Church

A Woman is a Symbol for a Church

•I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman. (Jeremiah 6:2)

•And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people. (Isaiah 51:16)

• For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.(2 Corinthians 11:2)

•I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman. (Jeremiah 6:2)

•And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people. (Isaiah 51:16)

• For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.(2 Corinthians 11:2)

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There are only two groups of people on the earth--those who obey God and those who

obey Satan.

Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom

ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? (Romans 6:16)

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So if a pure woman is a symbol of God’s people--the true church--as we read about in Jeremiah, Isaiah, and 2 Corinthians, then

an impure woman is a symbol of Satan’s people--his counterfeit to God’s true

church.

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And that counterfeit of God’s true church, represented by the impure woman of

Revelation 17, is the papacy.

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Why the Woman of Revelation 17 Represents the

Papacy

Why the Woman of Revelation 17 Represents the

Papacy•She holds a cup full of abominations

and filthiness

•She sits on many waters, meaning she derives her support from and controls many nations and peoples

•She is a harlot; in other words, she is not loyal to her husband, and this woman is not loyal to God.

•Go back to slide 32 and review her other characteristics.

•She holds a cup full of abominations and filthiness

•She sits on many waters, meaning she derives her support from and controls many nations and peoples

•She is a harlot; in other words, she is not loyal to her husband, and this woman is not loyal to God.

•Go back to slide 32 and review her other characteristics.

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“The purple and scarlet color, the gold and precious stones and pearls, vividly picture

the magnificence and more than kingly pomp affected by the haughty see of Rome” (The

Great Controversy, p. 382).

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“No other power could be so truly declared ‘drunken with the blood of the saints’ as that church which has so cruelly persecuted the followers of Christ” (The Great Controversy,

p. 382).

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“It was by departure from the Lord, and alliance with the heathen, that the Jewish church became

a harlot; and Rome, corrupting herself in like manner by seeking the support of worldly

powers, receives a like condemnation” (The Great Controversy, p. 382).

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Our memory verse tells us a time would come when people would not like the truth. What

would they do to avoid hearing truth?

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For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own

lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they

shall ___ away their ___ from the ___, and shall be turned unto ___. (2 Timothy 4:___,

___

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“In the seventeenth of Revelation is foretold the destruction of all the churches who corrupt

themselves by idolatrous devotion to the service of the papacy, those who have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication”

(The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 983).

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Council of Trent1545-1563

Council of Trent1545-1563

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Council of Trent1546-1563

Council of Trent1546-1563

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Futurism--Francisco Ribera, 1590

Preterism--Luis de Alcasar, 1611

Dispensationalism--John Darby, 1850s

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Credits:Slide 2: Jiuguang Wang

Slide 3: FJK71Slide 4: Edal Anton Lefterov

Slide 9: Tango7174Slide 11: Stanislav Traykov

Slide 12: Javier CarroSlides 8, 14: Thiago Santos

Slide 15: gapsterSlide 16: Bruce TutenSlide 17: Gerry Lynch

Slide 20: Eric ChanSlide 21: Patrick Landy

Slides 18, 22, 45: United States Public Domain