Pray Thru the Bible

God Speaks

One of the seven angels who had poured out the plagues came over and talked with me. “Come with me,” he said, “and I will show you what is going to happen to the Notorious Prostitute, who sits upon the many waters of the world. ² The kings of the world have had immoral relations with her, and the people of the earth have been made drunk by the wine of her immorality.”

³ So the angel took me in spirit into the wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet animal that had seven heads and ten horns, written all over with blasphemies against God. ⁴ The woman wore purple and scarlet clothing and beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls, and held in her hand a golden goblet full of obscenities:

⁵ A mysterious caption was written on her forehead: “Babylon the Great, Mother of Prostitutes and of Idol Worship Everywhere around the World.”

⁶ I could see that she was drunk—drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus she had killed. I stared at her in horror.

⁷ “Why are you so surprised?” the angel asked. “I’ll tell you who she is and what the animal she is riding represents. ⁸ He was alive but isn’t now. And yet, soon he will come up out of the bottomless pit and go to eternal destruction; and the people of earth, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life before the world began, will be dumbfounded at his reappearance after being dead.*

⁹ “And now think hard: his seven heads represent a certain city built on seven hills where this woman has her residence. ¹⁰ They also represent seven kings. Five have already fallen, the sixth now reigns, and the seventh is yet to come, but his reign will be brief. ¹¹ The scarlet animal that died is the eighth king, having reigned before as one of the seven; after his second reign, he too, will go to his doom. ¹² His ten horns are ten kings who have not yet risen to power; they will be appointed to their kingdoms for one brief moment, to reign with him. ¹³ They will all sign a treaty giving their power and strength to him. ¹⁴ Together they will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them; for he is Lord over all lords, and King of kings, and his people are the called and chosen and faithful ones.

¹⁵ “The oceans, lakes, and rivers that the woman is sitting on represent

We Respond

Reflection

The scene of the Revelation pageant now shifts to introduce a new, X-rated character. The Notorious Prostitute (as TLB calls her) is a woman dressed in fancy clothes in purple and scarlet (rare and very expensive in bible times) with lots of expensive, gaudy jewelry riding a scarlet beast while holding a golden goblet filled with obscenities. “Babylon the Great, Mother of Prostitutes and of Idol Worship Everywhere around the World” was written on her forehead. She appeared to be drunk from the blood of the Christian martyrs. The woman represents a great city that rules over all the world (as Babylon once did). The scarlet beast, that had seven heads and ten horns, represents ten kings and their nations that the women tries to control. But they hate her and rebel against her. The Lord God Almighty will put a plan in the minds of these kings, a plan that will accomplish His purposes. In His timing God will sentence her (along with the scarlet beast and their followers whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life) to eternal destruction in the bottomless pit. This is because they continually waged war and rebelled against the Lamb. But, the Lamb wins because He is the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords, and His people are called the chosen and faithful ones.   

Prayer

Dear Lord God, thank You for giving Your followers this sneak preview of how Your plans and purposes intersect with (and thwart) the expectations of Satan and those aligned with him. Your will will always succeed even when it appears to fail. Satan thought that He had won with the crucifixion when he had actually lost, big time. Help me and others of Your people to remember that when things look bad or don’t go the way we thought they should. Help us to continue to trust, obey and thank You in the midst of everything. Please help us to count ourselves dead to the lures of the world (the culture in which we live), the flesh (our old sinful patterns of thought and behavior) and Satan and his forces (his lust for power, control and opposition to You, Lord God). You have shone me that the woman and the beast represent the people and systems that are opposed to You and Your loving and kind purposes for mankind. Praise You, Lord. that You are the ultimate winner. AMEN       

Action 
(Ask God, the Holy Spirit, which one of these He wants you to work on or something else more personal that He points out.)

• I will keep a notebook of the news and list (side-by-side if possible) how I see God at work in a particular situation and/or how I see Satan at work. 
• I will pray that God will strengthen, supply and support His workers for good.
• I will do something today to strengthen, supply and support whatever good I see being done.
• I will thank God for something, even in the midst of difficulty, great or small. I’ll thank other people as well.   

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I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.