23. John Eats the little Book
In the Book of Revelation, the story of “a time, times, and half a time” begins in Chapter 10. Here, we meet a strong angel with a face like the sun, clothed with a cloud, and His feet were like pillars of fire. He raised “His hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever . . . that there should be no more delay.”Rev 10:5-6
He was the one who was clothed in linen in Daniel 12, who “held up His right hand and His left hand toward heaven and swore by Him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time….”Dan 12:7
Daniel’s vision of the Christ as the man clothed in linen in Daniel 10 was also seen by John in Revelation 1, in his vision of the Spirit of Christ in the Lord’s Day. He had a face like the sun.Rev 1:15 He was the angel who led the Israelites by cloud by day and by fire by night.
and swore by Him who lives forever . . . there should be no more delay
Revelation 10:6
When the angel cried out, seven peals of thunder spoke, and a voice was heard from heaven, saying, “Seal up the things that the seven peals of thunder have spoken, and do not write them.”Rev 10:4 It seems that John, like the apostle Paul, heard “words from heaven that were inexpressible, that a man is not permitted to speak.”2 Cor 12:4
The angel then presented John with a little book and asked him to eat it. It was as sweet as honey but became bitter in his stomach.Rev 10:10 Ezek 3:3 It is exciting to be able to see the future, but when we understand it, we are distressed.
The little book began the prophecy of “a time, times, and half a time.”
In Chapter 11, we are told that the Gentiles will trample the Holy City underfoot for 42 months,Rev 11:2 and we meet the two witnesses who wear a sackcloth for 1,260 days.Rev 11:3
In Chapter 12, we meet the woman who fled into the wilderness for “a time, times, and half a time,”Rev 12:14 and in Chapter 13, we meet the little horn from Daniel 7, who held the saints in his hand for 42 months.Rev 13:5
24. The Dragon Persecuted the Woman
In Revelation 12, Christ ascended to God and was made the Lord of Heaven and Earth. Then the Spirit of Christ as the angel Michael cast down Satan and his angels.
John said, “When the dragon saw that he was thrown down to Earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.”Rev 12:13 Satan persecuted the saints through the red dragon, the military power of Rome. The persecution of the saints came to a climax in verse 15: “The dragon poured water like a river out of its mouth after the woman, so that it might cause her to be swept away by the flood.” This flood was prophesied by Daniel: “He shall destroy the City and the Sanctuary, and the end of it shall be with a flood.”Dan 9:26 The meaning of “a flood” was described in Dan 11:22. Satan was swept away by the flood of forces from Antiochus Epiphanes when he attacked Egypt. Satan will likewise use the armies of Rome to sweep away the saints in the Great Persecution, a ten-year attempt to destroy Christianity.
The Dragon poured water like a river out of its mouth after the woman, so that it might cause her to be swept away by the flood.
Revelation 12:15
Eusebius, the bishop of Constantine, was an eyewitness of the Great Persecution. He wrote, “We saw with our own eyes the houses of prayer thrown down to the very foundations, and the Divine and Sacred Scriptures committed to the flames in the midst of the marketplaces…. A great many rulers of the churches eagerly endured terrible sufferings…. The body of one was scourged with rods. Another was punished with insupportable rackings and scrapings.”1
But John said, “The Earth helped the woman.”Rev 12:16 In 313, the emperor repented and commanded that the persecution of the Christians be immediately stopped. This ten-year testing of the saints was foreshadowed in Daniel 1. Daniel and his friends were tested for ten days. In Revelation 2, the Spirit of Christ said to the Church of Smyrna, “You will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days.”Rev 2:10 These ten days were actually ten years.
25. The End Shall Be with a Flood
An angel told Daniel the end of it would be with a flood.Dan 9:26
Revelation 12 brings us to the end of the Great Persecution, the “flood” that came out of the mouth of the dragon.Rev 12:15 Now, we are in the year 313, in the beginning of the 4th century, when the saints enter Mystery Babylon.
John said the “Earth helped the woman.”Rev 12:16 The Roman emperor urged the Christians to rebuild their churches and offer up prayers on behalf of the emperor, but the repentance of the emperor did not result in salvation.
In the last verse of Revelation 12, John said, “The Dragon went off to make war with the rest of her children who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.”Rev 12:17 Satan used the red dragon, the power of Rome, to bring the saints completely under his power. This is what Daniel meant by “the end was with a flood.”
The Dragon went off to make war with the rest of her children who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.
Revelation 12:17
The saints were taken captive in Mystery Babylon, a state-controlled church that enforced all the deceptions of Satan using the military power of Rome and the power of the kings of Europe. It prevented the saints from rebuilding the temple of the Lord, just as the Israelites were unable to rebuild the Temple of God when they were in captivity in Babylon. Jesus said that they “will be led captive into all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot until the time of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”Luke 21:24 By Jerusalem Jesus meant “New Jerusalem.”
The 4th century was significant for several events: the universal “Catholic” Church was established through the Nicene Creed; the Church stopped the practice of the washing of the feet after baptism; the bishop of Rome named Sunday “the Lord’s Day”; and most significantly, the Church prohibited rest on the Sabbath Day. Satan prevented the saints from keeping the commandments of God.
In 381, the Trinity doctrine was declared the official doctrine of the Church. Rome fell in the Gothic War of 376–382. The beast was wounded by the sword and lived as the power of the beast continued through the bishop of Rome.
26. Mystery Babylon
Dan 1:1-2, Dan 3:1-29, Dan 4:1-25, Dan 5:1-30
In the first chapter of Daniel, we are told that King Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and took some of the articles of the house of God, which he kept in the treasure house of his god.Dan 1:1-2
This helps us understand the meaning of “Mystery Babylon” in the Book of Revelation. Just as the Israelites and their religion were taken into captivity in Babylon, the saints were taken into captivity in “Mystery Babylon” by the beast, the bishop of Rome.
In the Book of Daniel, the beast was represented by King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. In Chapter 4, he became as a beast until seven times passed over him: “a time, times, and half a time.” In Chapter 3, he set up an image for everyone to worship: the image of the beast. In Chapter 6, we learn about the law that cannot be changed, not even by the king. Finally, in Chapter 7, we are told that the beast will even “intend to change time and law.”Dan 7:25 The changing of time and law in the Sabbath day would be his mark.
And on her forehead a name was written, MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT
Revelation 17:5
Chapter 5 describes the fall of Babylon after the king makes all his subjects intoxicated with wine from the cups of God’s house. This imagery depicts Mystery Babylon in the Book of Revelation.
Mystery Babylon was the final kingdom prophesied by Daniel: the kingdom of the beast with ten horns. The beast with ten horns, ten powers, prevented the saints from rebuilding God’s temple, which had to be built according to His measurements before His glory could come in. Until this day, many of Christ’s saints remain in Mystery Babylon. The Angel still cries out, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!”Rev 14:8
- Church History, Book VIII, Chapter 1 ↩︎