Hi! I'm finally here! After reading through this post, I'm thinking that you will either continue to love me or that you might be considering changin' your mind!
I am going to try to be as succinct as I can; hopefully explaining (from my own Bible Study notes) why I had you looking up the verses that you went over in class last Thursday. I just believe that if I leave as much of 'myself' out of this post as possible... the better. You may find a few new verses here (new to us...always been there!)
Remember to pray before you enter into this particular study time, trusting that God Himself will show you what you need to know, at this particular time.
OK, deep breath... and here we go!
In Matthew 24:15-16 we read...
"Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains."
According to the verses that I had you look up... you would have seen EDOM mentioned. This is a mountainous wilderness in Southern Jordan. You would have also read of Bozrah, this is a city mentioned in the Old Testament which is located in Edom... it's name means 'sheep pen'. There is a place called Petra, within this same area, that is a rock fortress, and which many believe to be the place of refuge for 'the woman' (Israel) during the 3 1/2 years.
Isaiah 33:16-17
"He will dwell on the heights, his refuge will be the impregnable rock; his bread will be given him, his water will be sure. Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; they will behold a far-distant land."
According to your study, do you think that it could be here that the LORD will provide a place in the wilderness for the 'woman', for the sheep of His pasture?
Read Micah 2:12-13
"I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together like sheep in the fold its pasture; they they will be noisy with men. The breaker goes up before them; they break out, pass through the gate, and go out by it. So their king goes on before them, and the LORD at their head."
(Just asking... did these verses remind you of your study in John... you know, the sheep, the Gate, the Water, the Bread? Like I said... just askin'!)
Read Isaiah 34:6...
"The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is sated with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom."
Now read carefully through Isaiah 34
Now read carefully through Isaiah 63. Think through all that you have read in Revelation regarding the 'winepress' and the garments of Jesus when he returns.
Ok, so after careful study of all the verses that I gave you for last Thursday and the few new ones of tonight, and after reading through Revelation, this is what I believe. You don't have to agree, I'm simply sharing what my study thus far has shown me...
The garments of Jesus are dyed with blood upon His return, but it is not His blood, but rather the blood from the war with the armies of the beast that have chased the 'woman' from Jerusalem to Edom.
Read Revelation 19:11-13, Jeremiah 49:13-16, 22
So here is what I am thinking...
Jesus returns first to Bozrah in Edom
He then goes to Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives
Then to the Temple Mount
I am purposely not including the details of His return; such as the separating of the sheep and the goats and going into detail regarding the 1,000 year reign. I think you have enough to keep yourselves busy with for now, and besides, there are still a few weeks left to cover all of that!
Looking forward to joining you, whenever I can, in the Study Room.
With love,
16 comments:
Jan said...
Hi Cathie,
I just finished your comments from today. It was incredible to see how it all came together. I will always love you; I am so grateful for all you do to help us along but now I think you much focus your energies on your family and rest, rest, rest as much as you can. The next few weeks will be very draining for you. I wish I could be there to wrap you in my arms and give you a great big hug. Please stay in touch as you are able. I know that all of your sisters in your home group are thinking of you with love and praying for your family.
Just a note, I was unable to leave a comment on your latest blog spot. It's no problem I can just leave everything here. I also agree with Margaret, We can slow down and spend a bit longer on this lesson. I think I will need more time to digest all this anyway. It's a big bite!
With much much love,
Jan
Hi Jan,
I just transferred you over to here, just in case some of the girls don't check the other posting.
Jan, honestly, from where I sit right now... you HAVE wrapped me in your arms and given me a great big hug... I feel it as surely as if you were sitting here right with me. I can never put into words how deep you, and all of the girls', prayers and thoughts mean to me. My cup surely does 'runneth over'.
And I agree, good digestion is crucial, particularly when the bite has been BIG! So go ahead and take all the time that you need!
I love you sweetheart.
Cathie
Hi Cathie..keeping you in my prayers & your mom.....love you!
.... after reading your refs and seeing what you see about Edom..I googled Bozrah and read a lot more about it and Edom etc. and others have come to the same conclusion as you....
What I'm wondering is, with all the "stuff" we have to study in Chap 16,17,28, re Babylon etc....does this bit about Edom really relate to our understanding of these chapters??or was this a bunny trail??? Respectfully & lovingly, puzzled Wendy
Chapters 16,17,18...not 28 (need to proof read better..lol)
Hi Wendy!
Thank you for your prayers!
You know, it could well be considered a 'bunny trail', but not all bunnies are dumb bunnies! This little cottontail took that particular trail so that when we come to chapters 19-20 we will have a better understanding of what has already transpired before...
Love you right back!
And good question by the way ;o)
just when I thought I figured out some of the answers....someone changed the questions.....and I am laughing out loud.
Prayers are with you Cathie. Rest much and often.
With love to you
Edna
Thanks Wendy, I never think to do that, the site on Bozrah was very interesting and helped me understand it more. Also the Scripture references came alive
more.
Thanks Cathie for all your teaching.
Love Margaret
Hi Cathie and all my sisters out there,
HELP!!! I have now read and studied chap. 18 and I think I know mostly what is happening there but I have returned to chap.17 and I'm still not "getting it."
Chap 17:8 baffles me a bit. I know the beast is beast #1 but I don't understand whaat the verse if trying to say. Then vs. 9-13 are a mystery to me. In vs. 16 the 10 horns (kings?) hate the harlot and seek to destroy her but are they not the same kings mentioned in vs. 2 who committed acts of immorality with her? So why do they now with to kill her? I understand (at least I think I do)that this is all God's plan but----------????????
Maybe this needs to wait until Thursday but Cathie, since you probably won't be able to be physically present, can you help me.
Bewildered again,
Jan
Hi again Cathie,
I found the information on Bozrah fascinating. When I read all the information from the various scripture it seems clear where Jesus returned. Thank you so very much for all the work you do to help us along in our studies. You are a phenomenal teacher!
Love,
Jan
Hi Cathie,
Thank you so much for your posting. I don't know how you do it with all that you have to deal with right now. You are truly in my thoughts and prayers. We went away for 4 days and it is a good thing because I was so confused and needed time to just think and think and think. I read and reread all the verses you gave us to read on Thursday and I started to understand a bit but it wasn't until we came home tonight and I saw your latest blog that things started to become clearer. I am still not were I think I should be but I certaainly have something to think about and will dig a bit deeper tomorrow. You have really made me stop and think this week and hopefully I come out of this with the correct ideas.
Just one quick question. Rev16:19 - I am mixed up when it refers to "The great city was split into three parts..." is that Babylon or Jerusalem?
Thanks so much for all your hard work
I just love seeing you girls here. You have no idea (or perhaps you do!) just what a blessing it is to me to be able to spend some time here with you. Thank you for your prayers, your love, your sisterhood... it means so very much to me.
OK, so Debbie, how about I answer your question first, which was... 'Just one quick question. Rev16:19 - I am mixed up when it refers to "The great city was split into three parts..." is that Babylon or Jerusalem?'
Let's go through it together, looking only at the phrase 'the great city'. From what we know so far in our studies...
1. Rev 11:8 refers to Jerusalem as 'the great city'
2. Rev. 16:19 'the great city' split into three parts
3. Rev. 17:18 refers to Babylon as 'the great city'
4. Rev. 18:10,16,18,19,21 refers to Babylon as 'the great city'
In my studies I have found it interesting that the only other time the phrase 'the great city' is used is in Genesis 10:11-12 and it is in the context of the sons of Ham of which Nimrod was a descendant. The beginning of Nimrod's kingdom was Babel (Babylon) and then later Assyria ( 250 miles north of Babylon) to which the title 'the great city' is given.
At this particular time in our studies I would be inclined to believe that Rev.16:19 means Babylon. There are some that will disagree with this, but that's OK!
There is more, but I will leave it at that for now, because as the next few lessons unfold I believe it will become more and more clear.
Love you Debbie!
Other references that could be considered are...
Rev. 14:8 Babylon 'the great'
Rev. 18:2 Babylon 'the great'
Hey Jan! Thank you so much for your encouraging words to me (and you too Margaret and Edna!) your sisters and I have heard your plea for help and so here we are!
Your question was... "Chap 17:8 baffles me a bit. I know the beast is beast #1 but I don't understand whaat the verse if trying to say. Then vs. 9-13 are a mystery to me. In vs. 16 the 10 horns (kings?) hate the harlot and seek to destroy her but are they not the same kings mentioned in vs. 2 who committed acts of immorality with her? So why do they now with to kill her?"
OK, about 17:8... WAS refers to the anti-Christ's rise to power; IS NOT refers back to 13:3 where he receives a fatal wound (dies) and WILL COME refers to Daniel 7 and Rev. 17:11-12 where the beast will arise as an eighth world kingdom, arising out of the 'seven'. (Maybe that will help with your question of v. 9-13)
In v. 16 the beast is now after all world power and worship which means that he needs to get rid of 'the harlot' so that he can declare himself as God. The kings which committed immorality with the harlot have no alliance with her as they have aligned themselves with the beast. And yes, you got it... it is all orchestrated by God Himself for the fulfillment of His Words... (by the way, you may want to look back at Rev. 2:20-23 to see the warning and instruction Jesus gave to church regarding drinking the cup of the immorality of 'the harlot')... He is getting ready to perform over His Words, for He is faithful and just.
OK girls, you can join in on this discussion too!
I'll be dropping in to the Study Room again tomorrow... see you then!
Cathie,
Thanks so much for answering my question. That is the way I interpreted it but wasn't too sure. That certainly helps me a lot when reading Rev. 17 & 18. I was out all morning but rushed to the computer as soon as I got home to see if you had responded. So you see how much we love to hear from you! Now I can go on with a bit more confidence that I am going in the right direction.
Love you
Hi Cathie,
Thanks so much for your explanations of chap 17. It makes much more sense to me now. Last night and this morning I spent a lot of time going over all the infor you gave us for last Thursday as well as the info from Sunday. I read and reread all the Bible references you gave us and it all seems to be coming together for me, esp. about where Jesus returns. I am still not sure about weather or not Bozrah is the "wilderness" where the woman takes refuge but,from all the reading, it surely does appear that Jesus returns there. It appears like he completely destroys Edom as well.
Looking forward to tomorrow with my sisters.
Hoping for more info from you when you can send it.
Love,
Jan
It was nice to sit with everyone in bible study this morning and listen to their questions and their interpretation of Chapter 17. All that being said I can say I was glad to move on. Thanks sisters, I left much wiser than when I came in. Most of it I figured out but some "not so" . As I said at times the light did not go on, maybe there was no light bulb!!!!!!.What I didn't get I'll get when I get there !!
Have a wonderful week ....
The opening ceremonies to the olympics---PURE PAGONISM!!! Talk
about Babylon!!
Sorry girls had to get it off my chest.
Margaret
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