CHAPTER 17

Revelation 17:1-2

1 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute (whore), who sits on many waters.

2 With her the kings of the earth have committed fornication (adultery) and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated (made drunk) with the wine of her fornication."

So important were the previous plagues that God has sent one of the Angels who brought these plagues to explain them more fully to His servant John. The Angel told John he would show him the punishment or judgment of the great prostitute but before he did this he first will show him the reasons for this judgment. This great whore or harlot as she is later called is religious Babylon and she is described by the Angel and her judgment is assured at the very outset. The many waters she is sitting on are many nations that she presides over (v.15). The kings (nations) and peoples are made drunk with the wine of her fornication, she makes this system she presides over attractive and spiritual and even though it is immoral the people are seduced and readily accept it.

Revelation 17:3-6

3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.

4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.

5 This title was written on her forehead: MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.

John is now carried by this same Angel into a wilderness, a desolate place, where he is a witness to an awesome sight never before seen by man. John sees a women seated on a scarlet colored beast, this beast has seven heads and ten horns. This beast is the same beast we previously read about in chapter 13:1. The seven heads represent seven Empires or Kingdoms, the ten horns represent ten nations, the Antichrist and his One World System. The woman represents 'The Babylonian Global Religious System',

This is where the understanding gets heavy for much has been written about Mystery Babylon and many interpretations have been put forth. Our understanding of the Mystery Babylon is very important to our understanding Satan's work throughout the world. In chapters 17 and 18 there seems to be two sides or aspects to Mystery Babylon, there is 'Mystery Babylon Mother of Harlots', and 'Mystery Babylon the Great City'. There has to be a distinction made between the two so that they can be better understood.

We have already recognized 'Mystery Babylon Mother of Harlots' as a 'Global Religious System or Order' that operates under the power and authority of Satan to deceive the whole world religiously. 'Mystery Babylon the City' is an economical, commercial system, the One World Government of the Antichrist and it operates with or coexists with the 'Global Religious System' of the False Prophet.

This woman is clothed with emblems of royalty and authority, purple and scarlet were colors of splendor and magnificence worn by rulers. She was adorned with gold, pearls and precious stones, emblems of luxury and throughout church history these emblems most represented those who lusted for power in the religious systems. John sees all this and he stares in wonder and admiration at what it represents. She is drunk with the power she holds over the saints of God and those who have been martyred and the blood that has been shed. Some of the worst persecution ever conducted against the true believers in the past has been done by religious rulers in the name of the church.

Revelation 17:7

Then the angel said to me: "Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns

John is mystified, bewildered by what he sees playing out before his eyes and the Angel seeing this tells him not to be confused for he will explain it all to him and tell him who the woman is and who the beast that she sits on really is. Riding the beast would seem to indicate that the woman is in control but this is not so, she is one of the important tools he uses to accomplish his purpose and end.

Revelation 17:8

The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the (Lambs) book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come.

The Angel speaks to John with what seems to be a mystery, The beast, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Bottomless Pit. This beast is clearly the same one that is described in chapter 13 and we need to try and remember all that we have read and what we will read so that we can keep all of this in the proper order.

Revelation 17:9

This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.

God wants us to understand what we are reading and so if we first seek the wisdom of the Holy Spirit and allow Him to open our spiritual eyes and then meditate, study, reflect upon and ponder the Word we will eventually understand what we are being told through John's interpretation of what he is seeing. Many associate the seven mountains as the Seven Hills of Rome because Rome is known as the city which sits on seven hills. Even some Bible translations call them hills but the Greek translation means mountains not hills and the next verse describes them as seven Kings or Kingdoms.

Psalm 30:7

LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain (Kingdom) stand strong;

Daniel 2:35

But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

Daniel 2:40

Finally, there will be a fourth Kingdom, strong as iron-for iron breaks and smashes everything-and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others

In Scripture, a mountain is a common image or representation of a kingdom, an empire, an established authority. There is a connection seen by some between religious Babylon and the Roman Catholic Church that is too irresistible to ignore. While it is true that the Religious Babylon will form a partnership with Roman Catholicism in its One World Religion, it is also true that this world system is to huge and far greater than Catholicism could ever be. It will have the same kind of authority and power that One World Government has.

Revelation 17:10

There are also seven kings (heads). Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.

Five have fallen, again there are various interpretations of this verse such as they are successive Roman Emperors of John's day but I believe they are five world empires that existed before John and are no more. These empires are revealed in the Book of Daniel, 2nd & 7th chapters. During Daniels time of captivity he had a dream and he saw a huge statue which represented the world empires that would succeed from the time of the Babylonian Empire all the way until the end of time. The body parts of this statue represented each successive kingdom. The head represented Babylon, the shoulders and chest represented Medo-Persia; the hips represented Greece, the legs made of iron represented Rome. Then there were the feet which were made of iron and clay, two elements that do not mix together which represents the revived Roman Empire. He saw these same empires in another vision later on, this time they are represented by wild beasts. He saw Babylon as a Lion; Medo-Persia as a Bear; Greece as a Leopard; and Rome was different, he saw it as a beast with ten horns, these horns are represented by the ten toes of the Statue.

Daniel 2:31-33

31 "You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue-an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance.

32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold (Babylon), its chest and arms of silver (Medo-Persia), its belly and thighs of bronze (Greece),

33 its legs of iron (Rome), its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay (Revived Roman Empire which we today believe is the EC - European Community or Union)

'Five have fallen' five world empires that correspond to the first five heads of the Scarlet Beast. Here they are in the order of their ascension; Egypt - Assyria - Babylon - Medo-Persia - Greece. The 'one is', this is the sixth empire which existed in John's day and this was the Roman Empire. When he refers to, 'the other is not yet come' he is talking about the Seventh Empire from which comes the eighth spoken of in verse 11.

Revelation 17:11

The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going into perdition (damnation).

This eighth head is of the last seven, which means that it must have some of the characteristics of the previous seven empires, and as one reads the history of these previous empires the influence of Nimrod on them is clearly seen. At this time I want to bring your attention to the third Empire from the beginning, Babylon. There are two Babylonian Empires recorded in the Bible, the first was Nimrod's Babylon, which is found in the 10th chapter of Genesis, verses 8-10, which dates back to 5000 BC. The second Babylon was the Empire that rose and defeated the Assyrian Empire around 600BC. This was the Babylon admired for her great walled city built by Nebuchadnezzar and her 'beautiful hanging gardens' (In Iraq) that was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The first Babylon is the one seen by John sitting atop the Scarlet Beast and considered the precursor or source from which the One World Global System immerged. With this information we will continue and eventually find out who the seventh and eighth beasts or kingdoms are. We do know that they are headed for destruction.

Revelation 17:12-14

12 "The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast (Antichrist).

13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast (Antichrist).

14 These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful."

Ten horns, ten nations that will become allies of the Antichrist and his One World Government and allude to the ten toes of the image seen in Daniel 2:24,25 which is considered by most to be a ten-nation confederacy rising from the old Roman Empire. These ten nations will give their authority and power to the Antichrist and his government. The EC (European Community) which has already become a reality is believed to be the fulfillment of this, the revived Roman Empire. At the present time there are more than ten nations involved in the EC but it is being said (by them) that the other nations will be allowed to associate with them, do business with them, but will not be a part of the ruling authority. The scene is continually changing and we may yet see the required form take place. It is clear that they along with the Antichrist will make war against the Lord's Anointed One, the Lamb, Jesus Christ, and His Saints who are called here the Chosen and Faithful ones. This battle we read about in Chapter 6:12-21. The Lamb shall prevail over them for He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings and His Kingdom is forever.

Revelation 17:15

Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.

The harlot or prostitute is the woman seen riding on the beast and represents the religious Babylon that will seduce the nations and force them to serve the One World Government. The water depicted here stands for nations and multitudes of peoples of every language (tongue). This woman presides over all these and this tells us that her influence is world-wide through her connection with the beast she rides on, the Antichrist. It is the first, real, one world religion. In past history we have seen the church (not the true church) play a big role in the affairs of the world and in supporting the tyrants of the world. Here it is united under one banner, allied with the Antichrist and his dictatorship.

Revelation 17:16-18

16 The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.

17 For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled.

18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."

History sees this scenario repeated over and over, dictators and tyrants us all things to their advantage and when their usefulness is over they are discarded. Here we see that the ten horns, the ten nations allied with the Antichrist have turned on the harlot, the one world religious system, this most likely takes place at the mid-point of the Tribulation. Remember, it was this religious system that got the Antichrist to where he is at this point and now that he is secure in his role as the world dictator, he no longer needs the help of this religious entity, Religious Babylon. Now he and his allies are bent on dismantling and destroying her one world system so that there will be no chance of it becoming a problem to them. Once again we are reminded that God is the one in charge, it is He that has put into the hearts and minds of the nations to hate this religious system and is directing the judgment coming against it. Often in the Bible we have read were God has used evil men and corrupt governments to bring about his will and his judgments. It is God who has ordained that the ten nations are to give their allegiance and authority to the Antichrist and in the end they are getting what they wanted, a government free of God and ruled by man.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4

3 Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of law-lessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.

4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

The woman he saw is that great city, what city? We know who the woman is and the great city is the same city that was so prominent in John's day and had much control and authority over the rulers of the earth. The great harlot is identified with the Rome, the seat of religious power of his day. This association does not mean that the Roman Catholic Church is the Religious Babylon though this apostate church will have much to do with this system and will be a part of it. We are seeing that happening today with the great ecumenical movement by the Catholic Church to bring all faiths under one umbrella and one authority.