"Mystery Babylon" REVELATION 17 From the Series: When The Lamb Stands.

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The Bowl Judgments closed with killing hail and blaspheming humanity, leaving us primed and ready to welcome our Lord coming with the clouds to rule and reign [Revelation 1:7]. The events of chapter 16 would seem a fitting end of wrath. But God’s purpose is more perfect and complete. There are yet two areas of profound judgment that demand particular attention in the next two chapters. They have been saved for the end of the narrative because they represent the final form of an ancient and historic rebellion against God’s rule and authority. The bottom line? God’s purpose in chapters 17 and 18 is to destroy rebellion where it began!

Chapter 17 details the destruction of Mystery Babylon, Antichrist’s religious system.

Chapter 18 details the destruction of Babylon, the capital of Antichrist’s economic/political system.

MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT—The One-World Religious System of Antichrist, Revelation 17:

In the year it has taken to reach this point in our series, heresy and apostacy in what identifies itself as the Christian church has increased exponentially. I took the time to review the Seven Letters to the Churches from Revelation chapters 2 and 3. Every error and false teaching found in these churches can be identified today—in post-modern Christianity. These errors have reinvented themselves under different labels, but they are basically the same liberal, humanistic, works-based, licentious lies Satan has always told and man believes. This error manifests itself in its accumulated apostacy in the final Church age known as Laodicea. I believe we are there—the final days of the Church. What comes next? The Rapture of those in Christ.

When the Church is taken out [1 Corinthians 15:50-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; John 14:1-3], those left who profess to be “Christian” will easily assimilate into the false, one-world religion of Antichrist and his False Prophet. Their understanding of truth is quickly transferred to the religious unity the world believes will solve all humanity’s problems. The “world” will embrace syncretism—the lie that there are many paths to heaven/God. Because they reject Christ, who limits truth to His narrow way [John 14:6], they are doomed to destruction, and so is the self-righteous system they follow. [Revelation 13]

The global religious system will quickly take shape in the void left by true believers. Corruption spreads when salt and light are absent.

In chapter 17, our Lord describes this unified religious structure as Mystery Babylon, pictured as God sees false religion. He presents her as a lewd but successful prostitute, dressed to seduce and impress. She sits on many waters, a symbol of her power over the nations of the world. The angel says to John, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot…” She is not just a harlot, just another Jezebel. She is a GREAT harlot—the epitome of her profession. She represents not only the last apparition; she is the embodiment of the accumulated lies of all the ages. Mystery Babylon is the ROOT of all false religion, the beginning and the end; and the Lord determines it is time to destroy the tree at the root.

THE ROOT OF ALL FALSE RELIGION

The key to understanding why God summarizes false end-time religion in this image is the name of the woman riding the Beast in Revelation 17—

MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

The woman represents Mystery Babylon, a pagan, occult religion that surfaces throughout history and can be traced back to Babel in Genesis 11. Tim LaHaye notes that the religion began at the Tower of Babel under the leadership of Nimrod who rebelled against God. In defiance of God’s command to spread out and repopulate the earth after the great flood, Nimrod led a spiritual rebellion to make a name for himself and his people by rooting himself to the plane of Shinar and growing great in numbers and power. He built a ziggurat or pyramid to reach heaven without looking to the one true God. This tower was possibly a temple for worship of the stars accord to Mark Hitchcock. What irony that the European Union uses the Tower of Babel as a POSITIVE symbol in their publications. A search of internet sources will even reveal another popular symbol of a woman representing Europe, riding a beast. The globalists see unity as positive and pragmatic—not as something that received the judgment of God at Babel.

After the death of Nimrod, his queen, Semiramis, secured for herself a place with the people by creating a mother-child cult. She claimed her child, Tammuz, was conceived miraculously and that the child was raised from the dead after a wild animal attack. The legend of Semiramis and Tammuz spread from Babel throughout the world, possibly when God dispersed the people by creating multiple languages. Their names were changed in different cultures, but the roots of the religion were the same. In Assyria, the mother was Ishtar and the son was Tammuz. In Phoenicia, she was Astarte and he was Baal. In Egypt, she was Isis and he was Osirus or Horus. In Greece, she was Aphrodite and he was Eros. In Rome, she was Venus and he was Cupid [Hitchcock, p. 42]. In this way Babel and its queen, which evolved into ancient Babylon, became the “mother of harlots”—the root of all the religions that followed. This infectious occult religion began because one man defied God’s command and unified civilization against Him.

UNITY IS SATAN’S PLAN—NOT GOD’S

Satan continually seeks to unify mankind against God through false religion. At Babel, the Lord scattered men by confusing language. Population then naturally migrated into regions or nations. God orders mankind by national boundaries to establish a kind of checks and balances system against syncretism, universalism, and the abuse of power through the domination of empires [Deut. 32:8; Acts 17:26]. When man unites, he quickly thinks himself greater than God. Satan’s purpose is to bring the world together globally so that mankind can be controlled through one man, Satan’s man, Antichrist [Hitchcock, p. 43].

ROME AND THE REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE

Daniel 2 reveals that the final empire in place at Christ’s return will be a revived form of the Roman Empire with the world divided into ten regions. Rome was the empire that existed at the time of Christ’s first coming. It is elegantly satisfying to God’s perfect plan that many of the conditions of Christ’s first coming will come around again at His second coming, including a revived form of the Roman Empire.

Just as the Babylonian Mystery Religion took hold in ancient Rome, so it will be manifested again in the Revived Roman Empire of Antichrist. Clarence Larkin in his book The Book of Revelation, p. 151-152, describes just how prominent Mystery Babylon was in ancient Rome: “Julius Caesar was made Pontiff of the Etruscan Order in BC 74. In BC 63 he was made ‘Supreme Pontiff’ of the ‘Babylonian Order,’…Thus the first Roman Emperor became the Head of the ‘Babylonian Priesthood,” and Rome became the successor of Babylon.” The plot thickened in the early days of the Christian church, when Caesar Constantine introduced Christianity into popularity. The spread of Christianity threatened the pagan Babylonian practices of Rome. In order to UNIFY the empire, a system was created to infiltrate Christian religion with pagan rites and symbols, including the worship of the Virgin Mary as a type of Semiramis, the Queen of Heaven, whose worship is forbidden in Jeremiah 44:17. Many see parallels in chapter 17 with the Roman Catholic Church as the foundation of Antichrist’s religious system, or a strong contributing element. Larkin also believes the symbolism of the “city” in 17: 17-18 is evidence the prominent city central to the religion in the Tribulation is present-day Rome because the city is built on seven hills.

John MacArthur cautions that the Tribulation one-world religion should not be limited to the Roman Catholic Church. All religions, including all Protestant Christian denominations, will be apostate existing structures—devoid of true believers—after the Rapture because all true believers within their walls will be gone. However, the colors and wealth of the woman of chapter 17 do parallel the color of the vestments of Catholic ritual; and the city of Rome, the seat of the Roman church, does sit on seven hills. Because the Catholic church is the largest denomination in the world and is growing rapidly in the Latin American countries, and because the Roman church has great wealth and infrastructure in place, it likely will have great influence in the final system. Pope John Paul exerted much effort during his papacy to unite Europe under the banner of peace—and the Holy Roman Church. He saw the church as the most logical means to bind diverse peoples of Europe together. Constantine identified the same logical approach. The result was the Holy Roman Empire where the church and the government became one and the same.

HISTORY WILL REPEAT ITSELF WHEN ANTICHRIST’S ONE-WORLD GOVERNMENT, ONE-WORLD ECONOMY AND ONE-WORLD RELIGION BECOME ONE BEAST SYSTEM.

MYSTERY BABYLON DEFEATED:

• Revelation 17:1—“one of the seven angels”: The reference in verse one to these angels links chapters 17 and 18 to the Bowl Judgments. Just as the Bowls extend to the Second Coming of Christ, so these final judgments will finish wrath. The judgment of Babylon, both the economy and the religion it represents, is previewed in 16:19 and also in 14:8 as a key purpose of God. Babylon is significant as a symbol of man’s rebellion against God. God’s wrath CANNOT BE RESOLVED without attention in particular to Babylon.
• Babylon’s judgment, especially the city of Babylon in Iraq [Rev. 18], is linked to the “great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth” in Revelation 16:18. “And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.” [16:19]
• We will look at Babylon as both a historic root of false religion and as Antichrist’s Tribulation capital city. But both are part of a greater Beast system that is not limited to any one spot on earth. Chapter 17 is also referred to as Religious Babylon and chapter 18 is called Commercial Babylon.
• “the great harlot who sits on many waters”: A prostitute is used to symbolize the false religion. She is not just a harlot; she is a great harlot. The Greek word for “great” is also translated “exceeding great.” In our Western culture, we tack the word “great” onto anything we want to emulate. What does it mean to be a great harlot? We can only imagine she represents the highest pinnacle of her profession, debase as it may be, and the wealth she drapes on her body is proof of success at what she does [vs. 4]. Prostitution symbolizes idolatry or religious apostasy [Jer. 3:6-9; Ez. 16:30ff; 20:30; Hos. 4:15; 5:3; 6:10; 9:1]. Therefore, she is exceedingly successful at converting followers. She sits on many waters, symbolizing she has authority/influence over the nations of the world. This is a global system of religion. Syncretism will blend all religions, which would seem impossible except for the level of compromise we now witness. For the sake of peace and unity, belief systems are centering on what they DO agree on rather than what they do not. Only true Christianity will be too dogmatic and narrow to “fit,” because truth cannot accept compromise. The persecution of true believers will be a logical progression because our truth will threaten world unity. Believers will be guilty of hate crimes, divisiveness and treason.
• 17:2—“kings…committed adultery”: The great harlot will align herself with the world’s political leaders by skillfully seducing them with her wealth and ability to put mankind into spiritual bondage. The kings will use her to further their own hold on power. Every great world leader seeks a spiritual hold on his people to put their hearts in bondage as well as their lives through military and government control. Adultery is a spiritual image of idolatry. The world rulers will be captivated with an ideology that furthers their political ambitions. Truth will be inverted [Isaiah 5:20], as the prophet foretold, replaced with pragmatism and relativism. As it was in Noah’s day, everyone will do what is right in their own eyes because religion will be based on whatever works and truth will be whatever man wants it to be [Matthew 24:37; Genesis 6:5].
• 17:3—“in the Spirit”: The Holy Spirit transports John into a wilderness place, a deserted, lonely wasteland, perhaps to give him perspective regarding the vision. She is presented on a backdrop of desolation, a reflection of her true nature, rather than the splendor she attributes to herself.

1. a woman—As we have seen, organized false religion had its roots in Babel/Babylon of Genesis 11 through the devices of Semiramis, a pagan ancient queen. Because of her institution of goddess worship, the woman has become a symbol of paganism. Fallen women such as Jezebel reinforce the symbolism.
2. scarlet beast covered with blasphemous names—She rides Antichrist and his global system [Revelation 13:14], which is a picture of dominance by the harlot. The religion will ride for a time, enjoying Antichrist’s support, but only for the first half of the Tribulation, or until the world’s masses are enslaved. Religion has been used historically to influence peoples; the False Prophet will orchestrate this deception and turn it into Antichrist worship after his false resurrection [Rev. 13]. The Beast is a beast, a horrible monster, because he cannot be identified with any one animal; he is a composite of many animal body parts, like Frankenstein’s monster [Revelation 13:2]. Past Gentile empires, identified as a lion, bear, or panther, contribute to Antichrist’s final form, along with Satan, the red dragon. He is a composite of all the best and all the worst of man’s power.
3. names of blasphemy—His pride manifests itself in names of blasphemy he flaunts arrogantly, names he takes for himself and wears to promote his self-deification [Revelation 13:1; Daniel 7:25; 11:36; 2 Thess. 2:4]. Will he call himself Pope, Christ, Messiah, Caesar, Czar, President of the New World Order, Buddha, Madhi, God—or all of the above? His blatant heresy seals his condemnation. Antichrist’s blasphemy is destroyed at Christ’s return when Christ Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, returns to take His rightful place, Revelation 19:16. The brightness of His holiness will annihilate the Beast’s claim to any authority.
4. The seven heads and ten horns are explained beginning in verse 7.

• 17:4—she is arrayed in purple and scarlet, the colors worn by royalty and high-ranking clergy—expensive clothing because of the rarity and expense of the purple and red dyes in John’s day. The gold, precious stones, pearls and golden cup are also trappings of great wealth and evidence of her power and success. But the cup is “full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.” Whatever is in the cup is abhorrent to the Lord because it represents the intoxication of her idolatrous system. What is sweet in the cup to the world is putrid to God.
• 17:5—Mystery Babylon—We know she is the end-times equivalent of all other Mother Goddess religions, but her exact final form is a New Testament “mystery,” or truth once hidden in scripture that will be revealed. Although we can only speculate, this final Goddess religion of the Tribulation will surpass all others [2 Thess. 2:9-10]. Mariology, the worship of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, is already gaining popularity in religions that have little else in common. Mary may be emulated and promoted to Goddess status by modern Mystery Babylon worshippers.
• 17:6—drunk with the blood of the saints: The harlot religion finds the blood of innocent martyrs, probably Tribulation believers, to be as intoxicating as wine. She celebrates her corruption, completely without remorse. John is amazed at a religion that thrives on the murder of the righteous. He is shocked that man could sink so low after the Jesus he knew so well paid the ultimate price for man’s eternal redemption. Compare with verse 8 where the lost marvel in adoration and worship for the so-called “risen” Antichrist [Revelation 13:8]. In both 17:8 and 13:8, those who are deceived by Satan’s whores and Antichrist’s lies are called those whose names are NOT written in the Book of Life. The point is clear. ONLY those elected to salvation, whose names ARE written in the Book of Life, will be able to resist the Antichrist’s deception—it will be that intoxicating.

THE ANGEL EXPLAINS:

The Lord does not leave the reader without an explanation of something so significant as the relationship between Mystery Babylon and Antichrist [17:7-15].

· 17:8, 11—“The beast that you saw WAS, AND IS NOT, AND WILL ASCEND OUT OF THE BOTTOMLESS PIT [THE ABYSS] AND GO TO PERDITION [DESTRUCTION].” MacArthur sees this as a reference to the Antichrist’s false resurrection [13:3,4, 12-14]. After his resurrection, the Antichrist will become possessed by a great demon from the abyss, which changes him into Satan’s demon-possessed man, destined for eternal damnation. The Beast is also the Beast system. MacArthur: “The Antichrist’s kingdom is said to be both the seventh and eighth kingdoms because of his supposed demise and resurrection. He is the seventh king before and the eighth king after his resurrection when he destroys the harlot’s religious empire and demands exclusive worship of himself.” In verse 10, as the eighth king, Antichrist and his empire will “continue a short time,” the last half of the Tribulation, before he and his system are destroyed by Christ at His return.

· 17:9-11: seven heads/seven hills/seven kings—[also vs. 7]: The seven heads of the Beast are the seven hills on which the woman sits while on the Beast, and they represent seven kings. This multiple meaning is to present a composite of the history of the Babylonian Mystery Religion. Just as the Beast system is composed of parts of the Daniel 2 empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, so Mystery Babylon is composed of a heritage from seven historic empires dominated by the Mystery Religion from its origins. Seven is the number of completeness. The seven empires are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and the final stage—the Revived Roman Empire of Antichrist. This explains verse 10: “five have fallen” which are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, because they were PAST in John’s day. “One is,” would be the Roman Empire of John’s first century; “the other has not yet come” refers to the Revived Roman Empire of the Tribulation that is yet future. [Ref. MacArthur].

· 17:12—ten horns/ten kings: The ten horns on the head of the Beast represent the division of power under Antichrist in the Tribulation when the Revived Roman Empire will exist. The kings of these global regions will receive their authority for “one hour,” which represents a short time for such authority [12:12; 13:5]. The key to the swift rise of Antichrist is that he assembles a base of men who “are of one mind” with him. They are unified in their purpose and their worldview, and in their devotion to Antichrist as their leader. This “one mind” is global unity. They declare war on the Lamb, Christ, which means they are already defeated.

· 17:15-17—Although the “harlot” religion now controls peoples from all nations, when the Antichrist demands worship of himself, his minions are eager to destroy the religious system of Mystery Babylon and turn all attention to Antichrist. Eating her flesh may refer to plundering the wealth of the system in order to finance Antichrist’s global aspirations.

· 17:18—“the woman whom you saw is that great city…” Mystery Babylon is also a city, but not the city of Babylon in Iraq. LaHaye, Froese and Dyer believe Babylon is the candidate for Antichrist’s commercial capital because of the description in chapter 18 and Old Testament passages of the final destruction of Babylon yet to be fulfilled [Isaiah 21:9; Jer. 51:64]. As mentioned earlier, the descriptions of the religious system make the city of Rome a logical choice for the religious headquarters of the end-time religion. There are two cities that serve as headquarters for global operations. The city in chapter 17 is destroyed by the beast and his ten kings [17:16], but the city in chapter 18 is destroyed as a direct result of the judgment of God [18:5-7].

· In Beth Moore’s study of Esther, she points out the use of a literary device known as a reversal of fortunes. As our Lord reconciles all things to His original purpose and intention in The Revelation, we witness many reversals of fortunes as an elegant method of judgment:

The harlot, so accustomed to luxury and importance,

is reduced to shame—desolate, naked and burned with fire.

The very leaders who elevated her, depose her.

The Lord uses those closest to her perversion as pawns to judge her.

The old evil is cut off at the root.

In the next chapter, Antichrist’s cosmopolitan capital of Babylon is described as it is being destroyed. All the material promises of the Beast system are burned up in “one hour.” Antichrist’s grandiose plans last a very short time when overcome by the Lamb.

In Him We Wait, Work, and Watch,

Luke 12:35-59

Sharon Clemens

[Prophecy Chat is a commentary of current events in light of Bible prophecy. Sharon L. Clemens is an evangelical, premillennial, pre-trib teacher of eschatology. She can be reached for comment or questions by e-mail at farmgrove@frontier.com]