Revelation 17:15-18
And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”
Tag: God Uses Satan’s Evil Against Him.
In the above section we are listening in on the Apostle John’s discussion with “the angel.” “The angle” was sent to him to tell him and show him the things to come in regard to the final steps of God’s plan. The key characters in the section are:
1. The Beast - the right-hand man beside Satan
2. The Ten Horns - probably the “regional” leaders under the “Beast” and Satan.
3. The “prostitute” - the religious system that has turned its heart away from Christ and established a false system.
4. The “Woman” (Great City) - probably either the Capital of the World system; or the world system.
The “Beast” has just faked being raised from the dead. He has done so to show his power over the entire world. Satan wants power over the entire world and the entire world system. This is the Unified World and Satan is the king. That is what he wants. However, God uses the evilness in the hearts of the “prostitute” (False Religion) to be raised up against Satan. Satan has attempted to destroy any other power in the world (so that he can be the ultimate focus of worship). Remember, Satan wanted Christ to worship him in the temptation:
Luke 4:6-7
and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”
However, God turns that evilness in the hearts of false worshippers to destroy Satan. God is in complete control. When He acts He can, and does, create calamity using the evilness of those He will:
Isaiah 45:7
I form light and create darkness,
I make well-being and create calamity,
I am the Lord, who does all these things.
In the case of Job, we see God allows Satan to use the evilness of an entire nation to accomplish God’s purpose:
Job 1:17
While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
God uses the evilness of mankind to accomplish His own purposes.
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