Note: J. Preston Eby, in order to continue to devote his full energy to writing no longer works in the office and does not receive this email. He does, however, respond to any urgent correspondence via snailmail. |
|
To be added to the mailing list to receive the current issue of Kingdom Bible Studies each month: |
"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of
God..."
Part 197
MYSTERY
(continued)
“And
here is the mind which hath
As
we approach this portion of our study of Mystery
“And
there are seven kings: five are fallen,
and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue
a short space” (Rev. 17:10).
The
Revelation is a metaphoric drama. The
organization of the book is that of a drama in three acts. At first sight it does not appear to be a
practical or experiential book. Most
commentaries on it seem to be explanations of prophetic world history since the
cross or yet to come. There surely is
much in it that will inform us about history and there is foretelling in it as
well. But if all we see in it is history
and foretelling of events in the outer world, we will altogether miss the great
purpose in the fact that it proclaims spiritual
blessings upon those who “read, hear and keep what is written therein” (Rev.
1:3).
As
we consider this truth, we should notice that there are seven kings or
authorities associated with the woman, and we are particularly informed that five of
the seven are fallen. It is
significant to note that in the Greek
Bear
in mind that we are dealing here not with outward kings somewhere over in
Europe or the Middle East or in some imagined “end-time” confederation of
nations — ah, no, for this has to do with a
harlot — a “Christian church,” and the beast she rides, indeed a
“Christianized beast,” in whom grace has fallen! Does not church history and our own
experience confirm this fact? Do not 99%
of all Christian denominations in some way teach the limitation of God’s grace? Most Christians believe that once a person
dies, his or her fate is sealed forever. If anyone has been fortunate enough to have
repeated the “sinner’s prayer” moments before death stole the spirit away, he
is guaranteed that, according to the “orthodox” teaching, he will go straight to heaven. Matters not whether he was truly drawn to the
Son by the Holy Spirit; as long as he by faith muttered the correct words before
the final beat of his heart yielded to the stillness and silence of death, his
salvation is eternally secured.
The
question is, does physical death end
the availability of God’s grace? The
death that came to
I
do not hesitate to say that there is not one passage of scripture in the whole
Bible that
So
the church system concludes that God has both the will and the power to save a
If,
instead of bringing every sin into judgment — punishing that sin and correcting
the sinner — we imagine the poor sinner suffering the eternal torments of hell
with its unbearable anguish, the pangs of conscience, the taunts of fiendish
demons, one hour of which is more than all his earthly sorrows rolled into one
— lengthen this out to endlessness and season it with hopeless despair — and
its horrors will be absolutely inconceivable.
Though our lips may be afraid to frame the words, our hearts will whisper, “Can such be the final
fruit of God’s glorious plan?” Is this
the response for which He hungered when He purposed
that sin should estrange His creatures from Himself? (
If
the above scenario be true then something horrid must have happened to both God
and His saints in heaven. Before the
death of these people God loved them all, and in many instances they loved each
other, saved and unsaved alike, and would have performed a great number of
kindnesses for one another. Many of
these had Christian friends and loved ones who were very concerned about them
and prayed earnestly for them. But now
that both saint and sinner are out in “eternity,” God and all the saints in
heaven have either lost their love and compassion for their lost loved ones, or
else God has brainwashed all the saints so that they have erased from their
memories the fact that their beloved mothers and fathers, their lovely sisters
and brothers, their precious daughters and sons, and their dear friends and
neighbors are constantly suffering the most terrible pain and hideous torture
for all eternity. So we see this: there
is MORE LOVE, COMPASSION, AND GRACE in the physical world in God and His
saints, than there is in the spirit
world.
What
has happened to cause God and the saints to turn from love and pity for the
lost, to a feeling that the lost are now getting just what they deserve —
unendingly! What, I ask, has happened to
God and the saints to cause them to love and seek the lost as long as their
frail, mortal bodies endure, but to turn from that love for the precious
unclothed spirit of the very same man or woman?
Can we believe that God, having created all things for His pleasure, having so loved His creation that He freely gave heaven’s most precious
gift, after a few paltry years, the brief span of a man’s mortal existence,
throws up His almighty hands in futility and disgust, saying that He has done
all that He can and men would not respond, so He must cease all effort, seat
Himself upon His golden throne, consign His creation to everlasting hell, and
forever erase any feeling for them from His heart and from the hearts of the
saints? Yet this is exactly what we are
told today. But how foolish! God is not that fickle, God is not that weak,
and God does not give up that easily. In
fact, God does not give up! He started the whole program of creation and
redemption and, blessed be His wonderful name! He will not cease His work until
He is Victor — “All in All” throughout all the vastnesses of infinity for
evermore! “For He must reign, till He
hath put all enemies under His feet. The
last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
For He hath put all things under
His feet. But when He saith all things are put under Him, it is
manifest that He (the Father) is
excepted, which did put all things under Him.
But when all things shall be
subdued unto Him, then shall the Son
also Himself be subject unto Him that
put all things under Him, that God may be
How
often we have heard preachers warn people that “the day of grace will soon be
over forever.” Now where, in God’s name,
did they ever get such a ridiculous idea?
Nothing could be farther from the truth!
For as long as God exists the grace of God will be with us. The end of the grace of God, were it
possible, would mean the destruction of God Himself, for grace is one of His
eternal, immutable attributes. Please
notice that
Not
only does the above passage tell us of the great revelation of God’s grace in
the ages to come, but it also shows us that it is for this very purpose
that God is saving a firstfruit company now. The unveiling of the grace of God to the
whole creation is the true reason for the manifestation of the sons of God. God has no intention of bringing all
the world into the fold now. If that
were His purpose He would surely bring it pass, for He is the omnipotent God
who worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. The whole purpose of this present age is
to
Ray
Prinzing once wrote, “GOD’S PURPOSE ANTEDATES TIME, for He purposed it in
Himself before time began, and then arranged for the times in which He will
fulfill it. Therefore His purpose is not
in bondage to any man’s time, be it a day, or a thousand years, but all time
has to serve that purpose. Furthermore,
God’s grace, whereby this purpose shall be accomplished, also antedates time,
for we read, ‘Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not
according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world (ages) began’ (II
Tim. 1:9). The sufficiency of grace was
freely given before time began, hence God’s grace is not bound to time
either. Grace can take all the time it
desires for its manifestation, for it is not subject to the confines and
limitations of time. The religious
traditions of some speak of an ‘age of grace,’ as if all other ages would be
devoid of grace. This is utter
nonsense. You cannot possibly limit the
grace of God to any one age, for it is manifest in all ages, and is not bound
to any certain age alone.
“Since
man is saved by grace, and not of self-works, and grace is a gift of a
sovereign God, then obviously He can administer that grace to man whenever He
chooses. The length of time has no
claims upon that grace, but is a servant to His grace, to reveal by degrees the
wonder and glory of God’s bountiful grace and mercy. Should God so arrange this to be the hour
when He gives grace in your life, then bow low before Him in worship and
praise. Yet if you have loved ones who
have not yet been given this inflow of grace, do not despair, for ‘in Christ
shall all be made alive. But every man
in His own order’ (I Cor. 15:22-23), and God has fitted the ages so that there
is an appointed time for grace to work in every life. We do not know HIS times and seasons,
therefore we warn every man to turn to God now, knowing that we reap what we
sow, and to continue sowing to the flesh means more harvests of suffering and
sorrow. And we thank God for each heart
that is opened to receive of God’s grace now”
— end quote.
“And
there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when
he cometh, he must continue a short space” (Rev. 17:10).
The
description goes on to say, though the authority of grace has fallen within the
bestial religious systems of men (because first it fell within each man’s
heart) — there still exists some of this carnal religious authority. John is told that one king is yet to come,
exists for a short time — he being the seventh.
However, note that the one who IS, is the SIXTH! Five are fallen, and one is — 5 + 1 = 6. SIX IS THE NUMBER OF MAN! The message is just this — today, in the
church world, MAN IS IN CONTROL! Can any
deny it? Man is in control and grace is
fallen! Is not the
“And
there are seven kings: five are fallen,
and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he
is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition” (Rev. 17:10-11).
At
this point the scene becomes a bit perplexing and rather confusing to the
natural mind.
Then
the messenger explains that the seven heads are seven mountains, on which the
woman sits. By a sort of verbal
transubstantiation, now, instead of the woman sitting on the beast, she is
sitting on the seven heads, but the heads are mountains! And even before this we see the woman
sitting, not upon the beast, nor upon the heads of the beast, but upon many waters! (vs. 1). To
Is it not phenomenal that the Holy Spirit uses
precisely the same terminology in regard to understanding the mark of the beast. “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the
beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred three
score and six” (Rev. 13:18). Here is
“HERE
IS
There
is therefore only one word of advice that I can give. Do not try to figure out by much study the
marvelous mysteries of God’s word, but CONCENTRATE ON CHRIST. Christ Himself is the truth and beside Him there is no truth. Christ is also the
The
more intimate and vital your relationship with Him, my beloved, the more the truth of the deep things of God will
unfold within your heart. But like a
choir of bewildered voices, ascending in pitiful petition to God, so those who
try to understand the mysteries of God with human reasoning come to cry at
last, “Lord, how can we know the truth?
Which among this confusion of voices can we believe? Which among this conglomeration of
interpretations is right?” There is,
thank God! one answer and one only. It
is the answer given by Jesus centuries ago.
“I AM…the truth!” Seek
not the truth from the learnings of men.
Seek Christ, for He is the truth!
I spent the early years of my life and ministry praying and seeking God
for revelation. I did not then
understand that the revelation would not come by a sudden, sovereign
dispensation from God, but only as the result of my intimate communion with
Him. You see, it is in the fellowship of Christ that He day by day
whispers and breathes into our spirit of that truth which He is. If the Christ Himself does not bear witness
within you of the things written even in this message, then lay it aside, put
it on the shelf, or file it in file thirteen.
As you live in blessed communion with HIM, there will come that inward
sense of knowing; the words of life and light that then cross your path
from the pen or lips of God’s anointed servants will strike a responsive chord
in the deepest recesses of your spirit, bursting forth with the harmonious
melody of understanding! This much
is clear — the mystery has a spiritual meaning.
If we have the spirit of
We
must ever keep in mind that we are viewing things which are intricately
interconnected in the nature of the beast system. Whether it be the beast itself, the heads,
the mountains, the horns, the kings, or the harlot riding the beast — all are
parts of the whole and in various circumstances and at different times we
confront the beast, the heads, the horns, the mountains, the kings, or the
harlot riding the beast. In one
experience we come face to face with the issue of worldly wisdom, at another
time we are challenged by worldly knowledge, in another situation we confront
worldly authority or again worldly power.
Depending upon what aspect of this picture you meet in your experience,
you will recognize a head of beastly authority, or the five heads that are
fallen, or a horn of the beast’s power, or a mountain of his dominion, or the
spiritual harlotry of the brazen woman.
There are those experiences in which we encounter the beast’s wild,
ferocious nature as he turns on us to rend us to pieces. Then there is a different kind of experience
in which we are wooed, allured, and enticed by the cunning seductiveness of the
whore. And sometimes various
combinations of these! These manifestations
of the harlot and the beast we may discover personally within ourselves, or we may confront them in the church systems. And just as it was while John looked upon
it, the forms keep changing — though there are seven heads now the beast itself
becomes the eighth, but we find that the beast who is the eighth is of
the seven. Let us UNDERSTAND!
Eight
is the number of new beginnings. Every time there is new light, a fresh
moving of God, a mighty reformation, a great and glorious revival in the midst
of the Lord’s people who dwell in
It
is a great and terrible mystery — the eighth is OF THE SEVEN. There is the key to the mystery! It does
not mean that the eighth is “one of the seven.”
Oh, no! The preposition “of” is
from the Greek “ek” meaning “out of,” and must be understood, as so frequently
in John’s writings, to denote origin and
identity of nature; this eighth beast
is not different in nature from the seven, but is the concentrated essence of
them, and therefore destined to not maintain
its cuddly innocence and childlike purity, but to go into apostasy — into perdition. It should be very evident to us all
that this “eighth” beast, this new
beginning, when a people are drawn out of a religious system into a new
walk in the spirit, in most cases contains right within it the seed of
the Babylonish system out from which they came.
Thus they are the eighth — but
the new thing is of the seven — same
old business under a new regime — and the latter is of the same spirit as the
former! Now tell me that isn’t a mystery!
The new move has the same potentiality and proclivity for carnality
and sectarianism built right in from the very beginning because both the nature
of the harlot and the nature of the beast lurk within the heart of every man. So through the generations, rising up in many
expressions, the harlot and her beast are within us! And that, my beloved, is the mystery! The various religious kingdoms of man
have brought to the full (seven
heads, seven mountains, ten horns) the workings of Mystery Babylon the Great!
George
Hawtin elaborated on the truth of which I now write in his little booklet
titled Mystery
“Full
forty years
“So
here it is so very soon! A goodly Babylonish garment together with
the other two things that always go with it — silver and gold. Here is the garment of
“The
thing which fills my heart with consternation is this: no sooner has the
revelation of God delivered us from the power of
“The
call of the Lord today is, ‘Come out of
her my people, and be not partakers of her sins.’ But verily I say to you that you will need
much more
“And
the ten horns which thou sawest are ten
kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one
hour with the beast. These have one
mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the
Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and
they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful…and the ten horns
which thou sawest upon the beast, these
shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate, and naked, and shall eat her
flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put it in their hearts to fulfill
His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be
fulfilled” (Rev. 17:12-14,16-17).
When
the judgment of darkness within man and man’s systems has fulfilled its divine
purpose, there comes at last the wonderful hour of man’s full redemption —
spirit, soul, and body. The time arrives for man’s very nature to
be regenerated and all carnality, darkness, and death to be swallowed up in
victory in preparation for that race of men who throughout the centuries and
millenniums of time would be made in the image of God. When a man’s soul and body have been fully
quickened, regenerated, and transformed, all
the inward kings of his nature
are brought out from under the dominion of the whore and her beast and are
joined in willing surrender and happy union with the will of the spirit. Then it is, my beloved, that the same ten kings who had one mind and gave their
power and strength unto the beast, now experience a wonderful change of
mind, heart, and purpose and all the powers of man’s life turn on the harlot, and make her desolate and naked, and eat her flesh,
and burn her with fire. O my God,
how great are these things! Can we not
see the mystery?
The
ten kings in the mystery are but the governing powers of your natural life, the
ten inward kings of man’s flesh nature.
It is these which gather together in this spiritual battle of Gog and
Magog to MAKE
Special
attention must be paid to this word “overcome.”
The Greek word is nikao, the
word used in the peculiar statement of the elder in Revelation 5:5 wherein he
says that the Lamb has “prevailed” to open the book with the seven seals. The word means to “prevail,” to “overcome,”
or to “conquer.” It is the same word
used when the Rider on the white horse goes forth “conquering and to
conquer.” It is the same word used
repeatedly in chapters two and three of the overcomer where at the
termination of each of the messages to the seven churches the Spirit proclaims,
“To him that overcometh…” “ To him
that conquers!” “To him that prevails!” Ah, the Rider on the white horse is
going forth overcoming and to overcome, prevailing and to prevail, conquering
and to conquer! The term denotes
grammatically AN UNENDING SERIES OF CONQUESTS, UNINTERRUPTED BY ANY DEFEATS,
WHOSE VICTORIES SHOULD BE PERMANENT AND LAST FOREVER! That is the victory of the Lamb!
So
throughout the Revelation our Lord Jesus Christ is in an activity where He is
perpetually celebrating a victory. His
march is a victorious march! His warfare
is a winning warfare! His movements
always meet with success! His plans are
fulfilled, and His campaigns unfurl to the breezes the banners of triumph. The Lamb of God is going forth as a conqueror,
and He does so with great determination and power! The action in which He is engaged requires
the greatest power, even the power of the spirit. Ah, precious friend of mine, are there
ruling kings in your life which seem unconquerable? Have you struggled with attitudes, fears,
doubts, lusts, emotions, desires, circumstances, weaknesses, habits,
shortcomings? Have you despaired of ever
truly being conformed to the image of God’s Son; have you questioned whether
you can really share in the glory of manifest sonship? Hear the word of the Lord today! The kings within you have had one mind, and
have given their power and strength unto the beast. That is no surprise to you, is it?
The
purpose of your quickening by Christ was to make you consciously a part of
Himself, to give you a calling to glory, a place where God by His Spirit can
express Himself through you, so that you can bring righteous judgment in the
earth. That is what the battle with the
ten kings is all about! Your life and
everything that happens to you is given to train and equip you for a
The
manifestation of God through His sons which is immediately before us will turn
creation around! We shall manifest unto
mankind a life and victory and power that will shake the very foundations of
the earth, an action that will alter the course of the world, bringing
correction and righteousness. A people
in this hour is being raised, not out of the cemetery, but out of the grave of
their mind, out of the tomb of carnal, mortal consciousness, out of the crypt
of religion and vain traditions, raised up to the place where they can be the
manifestation of the totality of the personality of God. We are being raised to become the expression
of the substance of His Person. This
company is Christ the Head, The Lord of all the lords, the King of all the
kings, together with all who are with Him, the called, the chosen, the faithful
— all the holy sons of God by the strength of righteousness bringing the rule
of the kingdom of God among men. Oh, the
wonder of it!
Today,
however, the battle is within us, and
the Lamb is engaged on the battlefield
of our lives, in warfare with the kings of our flesh and soul. One of several methods of interpretation of
the book of Revelation is called the “symbolic and allegoric.” Now, I do believe that the Revelation is
symbolical and allegorical. But
according to this established view everything in the book is symbolic and
allegoric only in the sense of depicting the generic battle of God against Satan — of good against evil, of the
church against the world. I will tell
you why this is wrong. This system
contains some vital truth within it, but yet, as a foundation it misses the
mark. The book is much more focused and
specific than that! It is not about the universal conflict between the forces of
good and evil — it’s about THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST! It’s about what HE is doing to come forth
Himself in triumph within His people, not about what God is doing out in the
darkened world to cause good to triumph over evil. In connection with the revelation of Jesus
Christ there is no battle between good and evil — there is only the arising of
the Son of Righteousness with healing in His wings! The book of Revelation is
The
arrows of Divine Truth are piercing our hearts, and every ruling king within us
falls down before Him; all opposition is shattered to pieces; the strongholds
and defenses are torn away as paper walls; the radiant brilliance of His glory
flashes its dazzling light upon the eyes of the understanding, piercing
effectively every cherished tradition, human interpretation, and carnal
concept; swallowing up even every sin, all self-will, every fleshly desire, and
the sorrow, pain, sickness, fear, and death.
I see the Lamb conquering! Though
all men are His by right of creation and redemption, yet He must do battle to
make conquest of the human heart which has been occupied by the enemies of His
mind, His heart, His will, and His life.
He must fight His way inch by inch into the human soul until He
possesses that which He has purchased, until the citadels of mind, will,
emotion, and desire have been taken and led away under the dominion of Truth
and Divine Nature.
The
This,
then, is what it means when John the beloved is shown that the kings of the
flesh-life have one mind, and give their power and strength unto the beast, and
thereby receive power as kings for one hour, that is, a limited time and degree — with the beast. Thank God, our
beastly life, our servitude to the beast system, is as it were but for a moment — “one hour with
the beast.” “FOR GOD
HATH PUT IT IN THEIR HEARTS TO FULFILL HIS WILL, and to agree, and give
their kingdom unto the beast, until THE WORDS (PLAN, PURPOSE) OF
GOD SHALL BE FULFILLED!” (Rev. 17:17).
In this is the judgment of the Lord within them, that they should
altogether repudiate and hold accursed the harlot and the beast and destroy it
root and branch out from among themselves.
“And these (the ten horns, the ten kings within) shall (now that the
Lamb has conquered them) hate the whore, and shall make her desolate,
and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.” Great is the mystery! Thus shall be fulfilled all the things that God hath spoken! Has this happened within
you, my friend?
In
closing this article I cannot do better than to quote again from the true and
heart-searching admonition of brother George Hawtin wherein he exhorts:
“In
these days of confusion (
“I
suppose tens of millions of sermons have been preached to show people how they
ought to live, what they ought and ought not to do, what they should wear, what
they should eat, where they should go, and just about everything that can be
imagined. But there is a simple remedy
for all this that is utterly contrary to the multitudinous traditions and the
idle philosophies and teachings of our day.
It is found in Psalm 19:2-3.
‘Blessed are they…that seek Him
with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways.’ That is a simple answer to all godliness,
for men who seek Him with all their hearts will
“During
the past years a desire has come into my heart that has filled me with longing
to see a remnant of God’s people in this, the end of the ages, put the
To be continued… J. PRESTON EBY
Links to other ministry websites
Not finding what you need? SEARCH HERE
Search this site or the web powered by FreeFind |