Last time, we looked at the Great Harvest, that gathering of the unbelievers at the beginning of Christ’s return. Also, we witnessed the great magnitude of destruction delivered upon the earth and to the remainder of the godless – through the ‘7 bowls of judgment.’ (See The End of the World as We Know It 7).
In John’s vision, (now focused earthward and back in time, to reveal more of Satan’s schemes to bring humankind to ruin), he is now accompanied by an angel:
One of the seven angels who had poured out the seven bowls came over and spoke to me. “Come with me,” he said, “and I will show you the judgment that is going to come on the great prostitute, who rules over many waters.
The kings of the world have committed adultery with her, and the people who belong to this world have been made drunk by the wine of her immorality.” So the angel took me in the Spirit into the wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that had seven heads and ten horns, and blasphemies against God were written all over it.
The woman wore purple and scarlet clothing and beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls. In her hand she held a gold goblet full of obscenities and the impurities of her immorality. A mysterious name was written on her forehead: “Babylon the Great, Mother of All Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World.”
I could see that she was drunk – drunk with the blood of God’s holy people who were witnesses for Jesus. I stared at her in complete amazement. Rv. 1 7:1 – 6. NLT
These verses describe the destruction of the rebuilt city of Babylon, (originally destroyed in 539 B.C.), located by the Euphrates River; and of all the people in the world under her evil sway. The ‘harlot’ symbolizes the state of moral degradation of the same. ‘Many waters’ refers to the followers of Babylonian ways.
The harlot is also interpreted as a global form of ‘false religion’, that the Antichrist submits to at this time in history. The scarlet color of the beast she was astride, denotes sin (see Is. 1:18). The harlot is wealthy, influential, and drunk with immoral power.
Some biblical scholars understand the meaning of the seven heads as being six historically successive regimes: Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman, and a seventh one, that consists of the ten horns – representing 10 kings that are intimately involved and in cahoots with the harlot.
‘Mysterious’ comes from the Greek mustering, meaning a ‘secret’ or ‘mystery’ – associated with occult rites; and ‘Mother of all prostitutes’ depicts the immeasurable decadence of the harlot. ‘Babylon the Great,’ when not referring to that ancient empire, is always used in the Bible to represent false religion.
In the Bible, when the word ‘fornication’ or ‘adultery’ is not referring to sex out of wedlock, it always refers to idolatry, i.e., ‘false religion’, (an institution that perverts the word of God, to bring glory to itself). So, when the Scripture under our consideration says, ‘The kings of the world have committed adultery with her’, it is saying that all the world’s governments are conspiring with false religion to control its worldly followers.
The harlot has grown wealthy from her association with the world and is literally astride (being supported by) Satan’s beast, thus by the devil himself.
Finally, we see that false religion is responsible for many of the deaths of the saints throughout history.
The angel speaks to John’s amazement:
But the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
The beast that you saw was [once], but [now] is not, and he is about to come out of the abyss (the bottomless pit, the dwelling place of demons) and go to destruction (perdition). And the inhabitants of the earth, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, will be astonished when they see the beast, because he was and is not and is yet to come [to earth].” Rv. 17:7, 8. AMP
The beast (Antichrist) was and then was not, (i.e., was mortally wounded) and will appear to come back to life (to resurrect); but this is a deception, (see Rv. 13:3 & 14.), which will deceive many into following him – much to the destruction of the deceived (those who rejected Christ, and thus not found in the Book of Life). However, the Antichrist’s remaining time on earth will be short.
The angel offers further clarification:
“This calls for a mind with understanding: The seven heads of the beast represent the seven hills where the woman rules. They also represent seven kings. Five kings have already fallen, the sixth now reigns, and the seventh is yet to come, but his reign will be brief.
“The scarlet beast that was, but is no longer, is the eighth king. He is like the other seven and he too is headed for destruction.” Rv. 17:90 – 11. NLT
Some biblical scholars see the harlot as representing the Roman Empire. Some see it as the papacy. Still others see this Scripture to represent all kingdoms that rise up against the children of God.
The most sensible interpretation centers around the events that were occurring in the time (90 A.D.) that the apostle John was receiving his Revelation vision. This elucidation describes the seven mountains / kings as representing world empires – the five which have fallen being the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, and Greek.
The kingdom that ‘now reigns’ is the Roman Empire, (and there hasn’t been a ‘world empire since). The seventh kingdom will be Satan’s world system, and the eighth king will be the Antichrist, who uses false religion to bring himself to power, and then turns upon Babylon when he declares himself to be God.
The angel continues:
“The ten horns of the beast are ten kings who have not yet risen to power. They will be appointed to their kingdoms for one brief moment to reign with the beast. They will all agree to give him their power and authority. Together they will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because he is Lord of all lords and King of all kings. And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him.” Rv. 17:12 – 14. NLT
The ten horns are ten kingdoms who give their brief allegiance to the Antichrist – standing in battle with him, in his confrontation against Christ and His followers.
John’s angelic companion offers yet more revelation:
Then the angel said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her desolate and naked [stripped of her power and influence], and will eat her flesh and completely consume her with fire. For God has put it in their hearts to carry out His purpose by agreeing together to surrender their kingdom to the beast, until the [prophetic] words of God will be fulfilled. The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over and dominates and controls the kings and the political leaders of the earth.” Rv. 17:15 – 18. AMP
When the Antichrist declares himself to be God, he will destroy the institution of false religion, because they cannot support his claim of divinity and hold onto its supposed relevancy. Until the beast declares this, the false religion will reign supreme over the worldly systems and is personified as the ‘great city’.
What is happening here is that God is using the devil’s own devices to wipe out false religion.
John’s vision remains focused earthward, but shifts time-wise to the last of the mid-tribulations:
After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, possessing great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his splendor and radiance. And he shouted with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen [certainly to be destroyed] is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a dungeon haunted by every unclean spirit, and a prison for every unclean and loathsome bird.
For all the nations have drunk from the wine of the passion of her [sexual] immorality, and the kings and political leaders of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth and economic power of her sensuous luxury.” Rv. 18:1 – 3. AMP
So, Jehovah’s prophecy about the final destruction of false religion has come to fruition (see Rv. 14:8).
At this point, Jesus stops the flow of John’s visions momentarily, and speaks a warning to everyone to stay away from false religion:
Then I heard another voice calling from heaven, “Come away from her, my people. Do not take part in her sins, or you will be punished with her. For her sins are piled as high as heaven, and God remembers her evil deeds.Do to her as she has done to others. Double her penalty for all her evil deeds. She brewed a cup of terror for others, so brew twice as much for her. She glorified herself and lived in luxury, so match it now with torment and sorrow. She boasted in her heart, ‘I am queen on my throne. I am no helpless widow, and I have no reason to mourn.’
Therefore, these plagues will overtake her in a single day—death and mourning and famine.
She will be completely consumed by fire, for the Lord God who judges her is mighty.” Rv. 18:4 – 8. NLT
God will judge all people who persist in prideful and willful sin. That includes all the kings and merchants that were lining their pockets in their association with false religion. They were all devastated over the fall of Babylon.
However, the saints in heaven are called to celebrate God’s judgment:
Rejoice over her fate, O heaven and people of God and apostles and prophets! For at last God has judged her for your sakes. Rv. 18:20 NLT
Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a huge millstone. He threw it into the ocean and shouted, “Just like this, the great city of Babylon will be thrown down with violence and will never be found again…you deceived the nations with your sorceries. In your streets flowed the blood of the prophets and of God’s holy people and the blood of people slaughtered all over the world.’ Rv. 18:21, 23 & 24. NLT
Christ is coming! Next time…
Goodnight and God bless.