So
far we have covered the seals, the trumpets, and the vials, all ending with the
return of our Lord and His last judgment upon the men of earth and we concluded
with chapter sixteen. If we were to jump ahead chronologically we would be at
chapter 19 and verse 11 where our Lord returns, but there is more information
for those who have wisdom, ears to hear, etc. In chapters 17 and 18 we will
learn, in a general way, a little bit more about the beast, the Great Harlot
that rides the beast, and the distress of men.
Chapter
17
The
Great Whore
Admittedly
this is a troublesome chapter to put into summary form. It is not because the
content is so hard to grasp but, rather, because there is so much that could be
said, but, for lack of space cannot. I will attempt, however, to take my
detailed study and reduce it down to an accurate, but easily digestible form.
We begin
with verses 1, 2 where we find an invitation to view God’s judgment of the “Great
Whore”. Just a few things we can note about this Harlot:
· She
“sits upon many waters”- this is a world-wide system (not a person).
· Her
associations have been kings of the earth, worldly powers with whom she has
fornicated. This is for mutual power and economic gain and as one might tell
from the text, with disregard for true honor and righteousness.
· She
is arrayed in beautiful garments and jewels but inwardly she is full of
abominations. Her appearance is pretense so while she appears to be holy she is anything but!
· Her
name is written upon her forehead for all to see, “Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of
the earth”. Note: It is said
that prostitutes in Rome wore headbands with their names written upon them as a
sign of their trade.
· She
was drunk with the blood of martyrs and saints. This is a religious system that
has been murderous towards the true saints of God, it has behaved irrationally,
controlled by lust for power and control.
This is a
religious system that began in the Garden of Paradise when Satan seduced to the
first couple to desire to be “gods” and it was seen in Cain’s false worship practices. It is seen in the false religion
of Nimrod and those of his day and the worship of Semiramis and her son Tammuz.
That same false religion spread to Babylon and every culture of the Old
Testament has some form of that false religion. It can be seen in various forms
the Apostle Paul addressed in his letters to the churches. It can be seen in
the letters to the seven churches in the Revelation. It can be found in the state religion of
Constantine when he mixed Christianity with the Babylonian cultic practices and
it can be found throughout the dark ages and in the deaths of Christian martyrs
throughout the world. This false religious system is alive and well today and
even though it is embraced by those who have neglected historical truth, it is
as dangerous today as ever! Keep in mind that false religions have always
demanded true believers accept their gods and recant of their faith in the True
God, Jesus Christ! And even, this religious system will have a pretense of
worshipping Christ, but in the end will hear His words, “Depart from me…I never
knew you”!
The
Beast
Verse 3 says, “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and
I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having
seven heads and ten horns.”
The woman is seen as sitting upon the beast that carries her and
supports her but at the same time, she dominates him and controls him. The
beast is scarlet colored, the color of blood, and full of names of blasphemy.
These blasphemies cover the beast and are not only for self-exaltation but for
indictments against true believers as well. So, while the Whore seems to be
religious in character the beast is political in character, but using religion
for his own ends. Let’s notice some more about the beast:
· He is empowered
by Satan (v.8)
· He is out of the
bottomless pit
· He has seven
heads and ten horns
Let’s look at the text of verse 8: “The beast
that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit,
and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose
names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world,
when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” Here we find that the Beast “was, and
is not, and yet is”. Makes us scratch our heads, right? Not really! The text
goes on and explains to us that the seven heads are “seven mountains” (v.9) upon
which the woman sits. There may be a double meaning here as most authorities
remind us that Rome is the “city of seven hills” (see v.18) but there has to be
more to it than that because there are seven kings as well “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.” (v.10) So now we have learned that
the Beast “was, and is not, and yet is” and there are seven kings, five of
which have fallen, one that is, and one to come for a short time. So the Beast
and these kings are related. But now, in verse 11 we learn something new, “And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth,
and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.” Now we learn, before we get to the “ten horns” that
there will be an eighth power!
What
Does This Mean?
Well, let me see if I can shed at least a
little light on this subject. The Whore is a religious system that is in bed,
so to speak, with the political systems of the world. There has always been
false religion and there has always been bad politics and governance. That’s
the way Satan likes it! Throughout history there have been a number of empires
and I will list them again: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and
Rome. These total six. At the time of the writing of the Revelation FIVE HAD
FALLEN AND ONE “IS”. Rome was in power at the time of the writing of the
Revelation but we know that Rome disintegrated from within and books have been
written about Rome’s fall. But there will be a revived Roman Empire, the “one
that is not yet come”. Though we can see elements of this revived
Roman Empire coming together even in our time, at the beginning of the
Seventieth Week of Daniel, also called the
Tribulation, the revived Roman Empire, led by the Anti-Christ will be in
power but will only last a short while. But wait! What about the Eighth? Well
as we can see there will be a turning point about the middle of the Tribulation
Period when the Anti-Christ will turn against the false religion that has
supported him and many of the powers that helped him and will set up the Eighth
and Final Empire, which will be very short lived. So, the Empires known to the
world are again: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Med0-Persia, Greece, Rome, the
Revived Roman Empire and the Empire of Anti-Christ.
The Ten
Horns
The ten horns are explained to be ten kings
(v.12) These ten kings are not manifested today for sure but will be when the
Tribulation period begins. These ten kings are a part of the revived Roman
Empire that launches the “Man of Sin” to power and will eventually end up
making war with the Lamb (v.14) and will be destroyed at Armageddon; but first
they will hate the “Whore” and destroy her. Again, we don't know for sure who these kings and nations will be but they will most likely be made up of those within the Roman Empire of Bible days. From these, one will emerge who will be prominent above all and will be the anti-Christ.
The
religious Babylon will enjoy great power during the first half of Daniel’s 70th
week but when the covenant of Daniel 9:27 is broken (Matthew 24:15; 2
Thessalonians 2:4) she will be hated by both the Beast and the kings. You may
want to look at Daniel 11:36-39 for a parallel passage.
Chapter
18
In the last chapter we saw Mystery Babylon
in its ecclesiastical sense but in this chapter we will also see it in its
political, economic, commercial aspects. Ecclesiastical Babylon is destroyed by
satanic controlled forces, as decreed by Sovereign God, but the political and
commercial aspect of Mystery Babylon is destroyed directly by the Lord.
Verses 1-10 will still refer to
Ecclesiastical Babylon, whom the Beast and the kings will turn against,
remembering that this is a judgment of God and that it takes place somewhere
around the time the anti-Christ proclaims himself to be God (Daniel 9:27;
Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:4).
Verses 11-19 give us a picture of human
lament over the loss of commercial enterprise. All sorts of commercial entities
are affected and the economic loss will be severe. Jesus said, “Lay
not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break
through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. ” (Matthew 6:19-21)
Heaven
Rejoices and Final Doom Announced
Verses 20-24 shift us to Heaven where the
Holy Apostles and saints rejoice because their blood is avenged by the Lord. So
while the earthlings lament the loss of Babylon all of Heaven rejoices! The
answer to the question, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our
blood on them that dwell on the earth?”
(Revelation 6:10) has come and it has come with great celebration!
Now on earth there is no more singing or
music, no more craft, no more light, and no more frolicking. The merchants of
the earth and those considered “great men” are judged because of their “sorceries”
(drugs, potions, and spells) which deceived the nations. Not only will Big
Pharma be judged, but all who entice in evil ways to make themselves rich!
Note:
The
next chapter and the chapters that follow will be of much more positive note. So far I have attempted to be slightly vague in exactly who I believe the Whore to be but just ask yourself, what has been the dominant ecclesiastical power for the last several centuries and you can most likely come to a pretty good conclusion yourself. Some today believe that the Muslims will be the Beast, but they just don't fit the description and even though they will probably be included in the false religious ecumenism of the day, I can't imagine them being cooperative with the rebuilding of the Temple, etc.
