Zephaniah 1:14 – 18

    14. The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD:           the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
    15. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of           darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
    16. A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
    17. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against           the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
    18. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the           whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all           them that dwell in the land.

     In order to see how God will deal with Babylon, we must read Revelation 17 & 18 as one event. Yet each chapter deals with Babylon from different perspectives. In Revelation 17, Babylon is seen as the mother of ALL false churches (spiritualism), which have caused mankind not to seek or see the true God’s love and concern for them. In Revelation 18, Babylon is being dealt with as a political power.

    Before we examine Revelation 17 & 18, remember that these two chapters are the more detailed examination of the following verses:

Revelation 14:8

    8. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all         nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

Revelation 16:19

    19. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came          in remembrance before God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

    In addition, read Jeremiah 51 and see that God is true to His word, no matter how long it takes. Nevertheless, remember up to these seven angels, God has been trying to get mankind to come home to him by their own will, their own decision.

    In this lesson, we will only be dealing with chapter seventeen. As you read Revelation 17:1 & 7, God allows one of the seven angels, which had the wrath of God, to show John the judgment that is to come to the great whore and the mystery of the woman and the beast. Remember that these angels were created for this purpose, to carryout the wrath of God. This angel invites John to join him so that he can expose to John’s eyes the condemnation of the great whore.

    We are told that Babylon is sitting on many waters and the angel tells John in verse 15, that these waters are many people from different races and languages. With this in mind, we can see that this great whore has used her false church (spiritualism) to affect the world. Even today, we see the affects of false spiritualism in the world and how it has hardened the hearts of mankind, keeping them from hearing the truth. As stated in Ephesians 4:18 – 19:

Ephesians 4:18 – 19

    18. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in          them, because of the blindness of their heart:
    19. Who being past feeling have given themselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with           greediness.

    This great whore has caused kings (leaders) to give themselves to worshiping idols and all that is involved in that worship. As the people see and get involved in this worshiping of idols, they become intoxicated and seek only to please that idol. Pleasing an idol can take you so deep that you will not hear or seek the true God.

    We are told in verse 4, that John is carried away in the spirit. Why is this important? We are seeing how the spirit affects the physical world. This is why Paul tells us II Corinthians 10:3 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:” and in Ephesians 6:10- 12 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11) Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the demon. 12) For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”. It is revealed that the woman (Babylon) is sitting on a beast and the beast (Antichrist) represents governmental powers. As we learned in lesson 30, the beast will execute brute force and persecution on believers during this time. Therefore, Babylon is affecting ALL areas of life for mankind.

    In the same verse, this beast is described as having seven heads and ten horns. We are told that these seven heads are seven mountains in verse 9. The government being talked about is that of Rome, because Rome was built on seven hills. These are Aventine, Caelian, Capitoline, Esquiline, Palatine, Quirinal, and Viminal.

    These seven hills also stand for seven kings and kingdoms as seen in verses 10 – 11. Since these kings are tied to the seven hills, they come out of a Roman type of government. If this is the case, they would be Gaius Julius Caesar (27BC – 14AD), Tiberius Claudius Nero (14 AD – 37AD), Gaius [Caligula] Caesar Germanicus (37AD – 41AD), Tiberius Claudius Nero (41AD – 54AD), Claudius Nero Caesar (54AD – 68AD), Titus Falvius Domitian (81AD – 96AD), and Antichrist (short time). The five kingdoms that have fallen are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. The one kingdom that remains is the kingdom or empire that put John in prison, which is the Roman Empire. The one leader to come will have a short time to rule. The one to come will be the Antichrist/beast (this is the first beast of Revelation 13). However, within this short time frame, the ruler of the seventh kingdom will share his kingdom with an eighth king. These two are the Antichrist and the false prophet. Remember, they will only have 1290 days or 3 ½ years.

    In Revelation 17:3, we are told that the beast has ten horns, so let us examine them. The ten horns are talked about in Daniel 7:20 – 22 & 24 – 26:

Daniel 7:20 – 22 & 24 – 26

    20. And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell;          even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout          than his fellows.
    21. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
    22. Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time          came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

    24. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;          and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
    25. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High,          and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the          dividing of time.
    26. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the          end.

    The horns represent kingdoms or federations which are controlled by the beast/Antichrist. Again, it is very important to understand that this Antichrist is a person and a form of government. With this in mind we can see that these kingdoms or federations owe their well-being to this beast. We are given more information about this form of government and about this beast in verse8.

            "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."

    We are told that the beast that John sees “…is and is not, and will come out of the bottomless pit.” What is being said here is that the form of the government which is seen will not exist for a time, but will come again in the Tribulation period. This period will include both phases of the tribulation, but emerges in the middle of the 7 years of tribulation with power. Now what is this form of government that is being talked about here? Remember, that John is living under the Roman Empire, so this is the form of government that is here in Revelation 17. The end of this Empire is believed to have occurred in 476 AD when Germanic Odoacer deposed the last Roman emperor to rule the western part of the Empire.

    We also know by this same verse 8, that this form of government will not come back until it comes from the bottomless pit. This will be the Antichrist and he will get his power from Satan. However, he will end up in hell like all those who will not come to God through Jesus Christ. In fact, it is these same people who will marvel at this beast (government / Antichrist). The other part of this verse shows that those folks with their names in the book of life are NOT fooled by the beast.

    Again, the ten horns represent kingdoms or federations, but verses 12 and 13 give us more information about them. They do not come into existence until the beast has power. So we know that they owe their existence to the beast. This means he controls them in everything. These are they which will make war with God Almighty (Revelation 16:14, 16). We are also told in verse 12 that this giving of power by the beast to these kingdoms will come with only one hour with the beast. This means that the rulers of these kingdoms will only be in the roles as kings for a short time. Could it be that the battle with God Almighty and his chosen and faithful will be short?

    In Revelation 17:16, there is more about these ten horns , and the whore (Babylon). She represents the mother of ALL false churches (spiritualism), which has caused mankind not to seek or see the true God’s love and concern for them. In Revelation 18, Babylon is being dealt with as a political power. We read that the ten horns turn on the whore who they love and then they hate. In this state of hate they will ruin her and strip her of all her gold, precious stones, elegant clothing. Moreover, they will feed on her. A question should come to mind. Why are they doing this to her? The answer is found in Revelation 17:17. “For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will…”