Corona Chronicles - Crown of Gold

Well, we're going to look at Revelation chapter 17 again in our corona chronicles. We had got up to chapter 17 verse 6, but we're gonna start reading from verse 6 again and read the next few verses. So Revelation 17 verse 6, I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God's holy people. The blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.

Then the angel said to me, why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides. Which has the 7 heads and 10 horns. The beast which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast.

Because it once was, now he's not, and yet will come. Yeah. So in our last couple of sessions, we've been we've been thinking about these evil world powers, really. And we've thought a bit in 16 about Egypt and some of the some of the judgment miracles, which which kind of remind us of that story of the exodus. But now we're looking at Babylon in chapter 17, and who who is a little bit different.

She's not quite the slave master that Egypt was. She's a seductress, and she's an adulteress. And she wants to kind of lure God's people away from God. And to draw them in with simple temptations. And we've we've learned that although she kind of appears very strong and very enticing, actually, she is she is going to fall.

But there's this gross picture of her in verse 6, isn't there? That you know, she was drunk with blood. I mean, you you know, that that makes your toes curled, doesn't it? Yeah. Just just to just if you've got 1 of those kind of creative visual minds, you can't help but picture someone getting drunk on blood.

It's it's gross, isn't it? And not just any blood, the blood of God's holy people. So she particularly likes to see Christians killed and destroyed. That seems to be a big big driver. And there's just gonna be a big big difference between the Kingdom of God.

And the Kingdom of Babylon, which is standing for the world. Yeah. Because the kingdom of God is based on God, the king giving himself. The lamb of god that sheds his blood. So there's this giving.

And then the kingdom of Babylon or the kingdom of this world is about taking -- Yeah. Yeah. -- and like a sort of dracula suck. Yeah. It is exactly like a vampire, sucking the blood out of the earth.

Yeah. And particularly any anybody that's righteous. Yeah. Yeah. I think so.

And and I think, you know, John it John is kind of rightly astonished of that, isn't he's seeing the the kind of depravity and the violence, really. And he's astonished, you know, the wickedness. And yet the angel is saying, well, why are you astonished? Let me explain this to you. Let This is satanic.

This is evil. This is wicked. You know, why are you astonished? This is this is this is the this is the the lord of death and the lord of evil that's animating this woman. So he's been a murderer since the beginning.

Yeah. So what why are you surprised when that's the thing that's that's driving at? I mean, it is I I guess it's it's it's a it's a hard thing, isn't it? When you're in a a culture or a civilization or an empire or you know, you're part of a country. You're sort of living your life and you think, okay.

Well, I'm doing good, you know, I've got enough food and, you know, you feel like the country is a fairly just country. Yeah. And then when when you see the underlying lies and violence that have made a nation. Or sustains my lifestyle, then you you suddenly are astonished, you know, that the reason I can have cheap clothes. The reason that I can have cheap food is that someone somewhere is is being treated badly.

I just read a a little very, very short story, science fiction story. About this land that is just this. It's living good. It's everything is going well. They're very satisfied people.

But the only way they're satisfied people, the only way that they can be so rich is that 1 child has to be kept in the dark in torment. And that is the very sort of is amazing -- Yeah. -- little story. Yeah. And that's the sort of thing that's going on here.

Is that Babolon. Yeah. The Babylon is built on on this blood shed. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Absolutely. And so he's astonished at the wickedness of it. Yeah. He is.

Yeah. Because he's seeing it for what it really is. You know, he's not he's not seeing the glitter and gold and the precious stones anymore. You know, he's he's seeing the blood the bloodshed and the violence. And, you know, in verse 8, you you know, the beast who's behind all of this, which you saw once was now is not, and yet will come up out of the bitter go to its destruction.

You know, this this 1 of the things we've seen in revelation is that the beast is always trying to kind of mimic God, mimic God's authority. And that's been a real big theme, you know, the 1 who who was and who is and who is come. That's a description of the almighty. And that that kind of language is is being used. He once was, now is not.

So, you know, whatever that particularly means, it seems like for this particular time that John was seeing the revelation, the the influence and the power of this evil wasn't perhaps as strong or as intense as it was and would be. So perhaps he's living in a bit of a bit of a different time there. And yet, the angel is wanting to say, but it will go to its destruction. So despite the power that it has and was and will have its fate is finally sealed in in the end. And so you've got the astonishment of John at the wickedness and the evil.

Yeah. Let's get this beast is gonna be destroyed, as you say. We have to wait till sort of chapter 20, I think, or that sort of thing on that. But it's this beast that is behind this civilization, as we would as as it would call itself back on. Yeah.

But then there's another astonishment here as well. Yes. So you've got these people who have not had their names written in the in the book of life from the creation of the world. So these are actually not Christians. No.

Because Christians have have their name written in the lamb's book of life for the creation of the world. So these are non christians, but they're astonished. But it seems a different sort of astonished a different kind of astonishment. Yeah. And they seem to still be almost inverse 4.

You know, they're they're they're kind of dazzled. Still, you know, by the the purple and the sky, the precious stones and the gold. And you can imagine the light is sort of glimmering off those stones, and it's dazzling them that they're pressed to this wonderful It's like they're looking at the, you know, the crown jewels, and they're just seeing a beauty. But they they don't seem to have realized what the angel said at the end of Versy, which is that it will go to its destruction. So they know that it it was, and now it's not, and yet will come.

But notice that's left out at the end of chapter 8, that it will go to destruction. Mhmm. So they're astonished thinking, wow, look at this. This really is powerful. You know, this is the winning side.

Look at all we can do. Look at the influence that god. This is the team to be supporting. And those that are following God, look, they're the ones that are dying. Yeah.

They're the ones out of salt. They're the ones that are not you know, the they're they're not following this wonderful beach. Yeah. They're the foolish ones. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And yet, they don't realize that it's coming, it's it's all it's all gonna come down. So for us now, this is why we've got to to to really well, the next verse we're gonna see tomorrow is is that we need to be wise. And we need to think through our situation, not just imbibe the memes, and the thoughts, and the things that are going on on the outward, what's going on underneath.

So we'll come back tomorrow.