Revelation Chapter 17

Notes
Transcript
Chapters 17 and 18 focus on the destruction of Babylon
Babylon is depicted as a women and as a city
A religious system and a political system
The false profit and the anti christ
In the scripture a women is often symbolic of a church
Why is some much time spend on Babylon?
All forms of occultic practices have had their origins in the original city of Babylon (Isaiah 47) which was founded by Nimrod
All paganism and its many traditions come from Babylon and many of these traditions have been adopted by the church today via Rome
The original religious system of Babylon was transplanted first to Pergamos (Rev 2:12-17) then to Rome and from there the world
Babylon is mentioned over 300 times in the Bible and is even alluded to three times in Christ’s genealogy. It was the capital of the first world dictator and will be also the capital of the last world dictator.
The Great Prostitute and the Beast
Revelation 17:1–4 “1 Then 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 who is seated on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.”
When John wrote this Babylon was desolate, without world power
In the OT (500BC) we have evidence of her return
Zechariah 5:6–11 “6 And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the basket that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity in all the land.” 7 And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! 8 And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening. 9 Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. 10 Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” 11 He said to me, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.””
This women, this city will reemerge
She will return riding the beast - who has all political power
Her Description
She is described as prostitute, sexually immoral, fornicator and full of abominations
The spiritual symbolism is false devotion, spiritual fornication and idolatry
Her colors represent the colors worn by Jewish priests, Roman Imperialist and Roman Catholicism
She is the world church of the end times will deceive many
Let’s look at some examples of this behavior from world history:
Deuteronomy 31:16“16 And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them.”
Isaiah 1:21–23“21 How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. 22 Your silver has become dross, your best wine mixed with water. 23 Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow’s cause does not come to them. “
Jeremiah 2:20 “20 “For long ago I broke your yoke and burst your bonds; but you said, ‘I will not serve.’ Yes, on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed down like a whore.”
James 4:4 “4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
Her Name: Mother of prostitutes & abominations
Revelation 17:5–7 “5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly. 7 But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her.”
Mystery in this sense - it will not be obvious to many she is a church, not the church (Eph 3:3-9), but rather a false church
She is drunk on the blood of God’s people which makes sense because she’s systematic evil
But why does John “marvel”?
If John was shown the blood of the martyrs at the hand of pagan Rome, he would not be surprised, as this is the known enemy. But if John was shown the “Christian” church guilty of murdering martyrs and the blood of the saints, this would cause John to “marvel”.
There are clear links to the woman and the Vatican. This does not mean it is limited to the Vatican, but it definitely would qualify. To understand the Bible, you need to know the history of the Roman Catholic Church. There is no organization on the planet that has murdered more Christians than the Roman Catholic Church (One pope, one afternoon murdered more Christians than all the Roman Emperors combined). When you understand the history of Medieval Europe and read verse six, there is an immediate recognition of the abuse of Christians, specifically by the Roman Catholic Church. There is no second choice of an identity here, no organization even comes close!
The Beast She Rides
Revelation 17:8–11 “8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. 9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.”
The beast (anti christ) represents the world’s political system and its leader - king & kingdom
This system and individual existed in the past, was stuck down and in the future will reemerge
The trick to understanding this is realizing they are on different timelines
Seven Heads = Mountains = Kingdoms & Kings
Five have fallen: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece
One is = Rome
One is to come = Revised Rome (10 horns)
This represents the world timeline in relation to Israel’s oppressors
The anti christ has his own timeline - the last week
He was, was not and will be again
Revelation 13:3–4 “3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?””
The 10 Kings with no power, yet?
Revelation 17:12–14 “12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
These kings will have future power - they represent the future revised Roman Empire
The 7th Kingdom that is to come, that once was but then fell into desolation
Remember the 10 toes on the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream?
The statue includes 5 distinct empires but they are all born out of Babylon - this is key to proper understanding of these prophecies
They give all their power to the beast, make war with the lamb and are defeated
The End of the World Church
Revelation 17:15–18 “15 And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 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, 17 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. 18 And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.””
This women (Babylon) has control and influence over the entire earth until her end