Revelation Chapter 17 Lesson 23 Christ Independent Methodist Church 4078 Silver Lake Drive, Palatka, FL 32177 July 6, 2011 Michael K. Hudson Sr. Senior Pastor When one looks at the end of chapter sixteen, he understands that the next chronological chapter is chapter nineteen. Chapter sixteen is the very end of the Tribulation Period with chapter nineteen as the return of Christ, ending the Tribulation Period and beginning the millennial reign. This leaves chapters seventeen and eighteen as parenthesis. These two chapters are given to explain in greater detail what is happening in the Tribulation period with two specific entities: religious Babylon (chapter seventeen) and commercial Babylon (chapter eighteen). These two chapters are difficult in different ways. One of the difficulties is the lesson that it teaches in regard to religion. Religious Babylon is present in the world and The foundation of the Etemenanki, the enormous ziggurat of Babylon which is possibly to be identified with the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1 9). The name Etemenanki means temple of the foundation of heaven and earth. The foundation of the ziggurat measures more than 300 feet square, and ancient sources estimate its height to have reached nearly 300 feet as well. in the church, and identifying it may bring heartache and pain to the listener. Many will not realize just how much of Babylon is in the church today. However, a proper study of God s word will open a person s eyes to see the truth of the Scriptures and the counterfeit attempts of Satan. The following pages are to give a greater understanding to the attempts of Satan to deceive and discredit the Lord. He attempts to counterfeit everything that God has done. Religious Babylon is his attempt to continue to deceive the world with a false religion that offers no hope or future. In chapter seventeen, Babylon is mentioned as being the great whore, the mystery. The question must be answered is Who is this Babylon? Please understand that this Babylon is not a person but rather a system of false religions that began many centuries prior but continues today and will flourish in the Tribulation Period. I. Original Babylon In order to understand the Babylon mentioned in Revelation chapter seventeen, one must go back to the original Babylon and see its beginning. In chapter ten of Genesis, the city of Babel, our term Babylon, began under Nimrod, the great warrior. Genesis 10:8 10 KJV And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Nimrod who was the son of Cush, grandson of Ham, and the great grandson of Noah knew what
the Lord did to the world because of its sinfulness. Through ancient text, Nimrod is revealed as a violent man, murderer of innocent lives, and a rebel against the Lord and His authority. A loose translation of 1 Chronicles 1:10 in the Targum is translated, Nimrod began to be a mighty man in sin, a murderer of innocent men, and a rebel before the Lord. 1 Thogus Poppeisu said that Nimrod was the first to change moderation of ancient manners and incite new passions. He was the first to carry out war against his neighbors. He conquered all nations from Assyria to Lybia. 2 Josephus the historian records that Nimrod built the city and convinced the people to build a tower that would be higher than the waters that God sent to destroy the world. Nimrod was showing his defiance against God. This defiance attracted many others to him. He used this opportunity to cause the people not to fear the Lord but to rely upon him. As the people flocked to him, he realized that in order to keep their allegiance he must establish a new religion, which he did. He built a tyrannical system to get the people to worship him as god rather than worshipping the Lord. He used the tower to get the people to worship a host of gods rather than the true God. He got the people to worship the host of heavens, probably beginning with the planets. With the tower, ziggurat, of Babel, his Summerian priests could study the movement of the planets and begin the worship of astrology. Genesis 11:1 9 KJV And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach 1 Steve Gallagher, Intoxicated with Babylon, Pure Life Ministries, Dry Ridge, KY, 2006, p.37 2 Ibid unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another s speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. His influence grew greater as time went by, but was expanded by one of his concubines, Semiramis, who became his Queen of Babylon. His wife, Semiramis, had a son named Tammuz which was reported as being conceived by Nimrod, who supposedly had risen from the dead and fathered the child. Tammuz was revered as a god-man. He was supposedly killed by a wild boar. He finds himself in hell and with the help of the other gods who offer the goddess of hell a ransom for his release. She agrees but requires one condition that everything on earth must weep for him. This is why his mother said that she wept for forty days, shedding tears so he might return to life. This was done to set up the worship of the mother and child system that has come down through the ages in many different cultures under different names. This elaborate scheme of Semiramis evolved in many different fertility cults in different regions, such as Egypt, Greece, etc. It was done by Satan in order to counterfeit the prophecy found in Genesis chapter three and verse fifteen. Genesis 3:15 KJV And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall 2
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Tammuz was set up as the seed of the woman. This was Satan s counterfeit to deceive the world into believing a lie. Babel, which means gate to God, is the origin of the false religions of the world. It is the place where the worship of the Lord was replaced with the worship of idols. It is the place where the mother-child worship began that has continued down through the ages. It is the establishment of rituals to deceive and confuse the world into worshipping a false system rather than truly worshipping the Lord. In the Old Testament, several prophets warned about the worship of Tammuz. Jeremiah 44:15 19 KJV Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men? Notice the phrase queen of heaven. This is referring to worshipping the mother of the child. Ezekiel 8:13 15 KJV He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. Here is Tammuz being worshipped as the women supposedly weep for forty days. This is the Mother/Child cult that has been worshipped throughout the ages and is prevalent today. In the Roman Catholic Church, the mother/child worship is seen. However, nowhere in the Scriptures is Mary the mother of Jesus to be worshipped. Babylon is the apostate religious system that exists in the world, which deceives and keeps men and women from worshipping the true and living God. This apostate religious system will be very prevalent and prosperous in the Tribulation period. II. Religious Babylon in the Tribulation period Revelation 17:1 8 KJV And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, 3
THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMI- NATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 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. In the book of Revelation, there are two main women mentioned. One is righteous and the other is a harlot. One is pure and the other is full of abominations. One is of God and the other is of Satan. Both are splendidly dressed; one with heavenly garments and the other will worldly garments. The righteous one found in Revelation chapter twelve represents the nation of Israel. The harlot found in Revelation chapter seventeen represents the apostate religious system. The great whore is the one who committed spiritual adultery by leading the people away from the true worship of Jehovah. This woman is the system of false religions that have affected many different individuals all over the world. Notice that she is sitting upon many waters. The many waters are identified in verse fifteen. These waters are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues, which means that her influence extends all over the earth. Revelation 17:15 KJV And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. In verse two it describes an unholy alliance that she has with the world s political systems. She aligns herself with political figures and causes them to go into sinfulness. In verse three, it describes the unholy alliance that she forms with the Antichrist during the Tribulation Period. The scarlet colored beast is the Antichrist, the political power of that day. Revelation 17:8 KJV 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. The woman is identified as the city of Rome, the religious Rome. The headquarters or center of this apostate religious system will be established in Rome. Revelation 17:18 KJV And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. When John was on the Isle of Patmos, the city that reigned over the entire world was Rome. The great whore is the religious Rome that aligns itself with the Antichrist to rule the world. Revelation 17:9 KJV And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. Rome is known as the city that sits on seven hills. It is the city of the seven hills or mountains. In the first part of the Tribulation Period, religious Rome will form an alliance with the Antichrist to dominate the world. With the true church removed with the Rapture, the false religious system is all that remains. This false religious system will make an alliance with the Antichrist. It will be made up of all the religious systems of the world. They will combine together to form one great world religion. In this system will be Methodist, Baptist, Catholics, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and so many 4
more. It will be a religion of rituals and false worship. It will be a religion without Christ because true Christianity is not a religion but a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Redeemer. It will consist of all those who are in the churches and places of worship around the world that did not know Christ and were left here after the Rapture of the true followers of Jesus Christ. After the rapture, the churches will continue to operate. They will form a one-world religion, religious Babylon. Revelation 17:4 KJV And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: Purple is the dominant color of the Roman senators and consul. The Roman Emperor wore a purple robe. Scarlet is the chosen color of Roman Catholicism. The precious stones, pearls, gold all represent the financial status of this religious system. It will be rich in worldly treasures but lack any true value in God. It will have a golden cup that is filled with the filthiness and sinfulness of its system. Revelation 17:5 KJV And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. What a title for a false church. She is known as Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots. She is the church without Christ. She is filled with idolatry and lies. She is filled with sinfulness and wickedness. She has throughout the ages lead men and women into hopelessness and sin. She has deceived the nations into believing a religious lie. Revelation 17:6 KJV And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. It is hard to imagine any church as being drunk with the persecutions of the true Christians. But, if one will take the time to read Foxe s Book of Martyrs, they will understand how the Roman church killed thousands upon thousands of Christians in the name of religion. They had them killed so they would remain in power. The church during this time was drunk with the blood of God s people. Go back and read about the inquisitions were thousands were brutally killed for their faith in Christ. Religious Babylon is the world s religious system that is persecuting the Christians in the past, present, and future. It is made up of all those who reject Christ. In the Tribulation Period, it will be a conglomeration of all the religious system left behind after the Christians have been raptured. They will form a oneworld religion. Revelation 17:7 8 KJV And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 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. The beast has been identified as the Antichrist. He is the beast that has seven heads and ten horns. He ascended out of the bottomless pit and will go into destruction. The phrase was, and is not, and yet is speaks of the counterfeit death and resurrection of the Antichrist. The Antichrist receives a deadly blow to his head that the world believes he has died. He, through the power of Satan, will come back on the scene and be seen as being resurrected. The ones who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ will wonder and worship the Antichrist. Remember the Antichrist is the head of the revised Roman Empire that will come to power during the Tribulation Period. Revelation 17:9 KJV And here is the 5
mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. This is Rome, the city of seven hills. Revelation 17:10 KJV And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. The Roman Empire was under six emperors at the time John wrote the book of Revelation. There were: Julius Caesar (assassinated), Tiberius (poisoned or smothered), Caligula (assassinated), Claudius (poisoned), Nero (committed suicide) these are the five, which are fallen. The one who is was Domitian who was living in John s day but was assassinated. The other is not yet come is the Antichrist who will lead the revised Roman Empire. Revelation 17:11 14 KJV And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. In many ways, this is confusing with the Beast being the eight but of the seven. In the book of Daniel it speaks about the little horn that pulls out three of the ten horns. The ten horns are ten kings or rulers in the Revised Roman Empire. Their horns denotes their power. The little horn is not one of the ten horns but a separate one who overthrows three of these rulers. After this, the rest of the rulers fall underneath his authority. So, he is the seventh and last ultimate ruler over the revised Roman Empire. These will have one purpose to do what the Antichrist wants them to do. They will go to war against the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. And, Christ will overcome them because He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. III. The destruction of religious Babylon Revelation 17:15 18 KJV And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. The religious Babylon will have great influence over the people around the world. But, the Antichrist and the ten rulers will turn on the great whore, religious Babylon and destroy her. The Antichrist will use the alliance with religious Babylon as long as it suits him. But, then when the opportunity arises, he will crush this false religious system. The Lord will use the Antichrist to destroy that great and wicked religious system that has deceived so many throughout the ages. This will allow the False Prophet to set up the Antichrist to be worshipped. Even with the wicked false religious system destroyed, it will issue in the darkest time this world has ever seen when the Antichrist sets himself up as god. IV. Conclusion When Constantine was converted, Rome s paganism and Christianity became blended together. Babylonianism, which existed in Rome, had a great influence on the church when Constantine declared Rome a Christian state. Here is a quote from H. A. Ironside s book Revelation.
When Christ came into this world, the mystery of iniquity was everywhere holding sway, except where the truth of God as revealed in the Old Testament was known. Thus, when the early Christians set out upon the great task of carrying the gospel to the ends of the earth, they found themselves everywhere confronted by this system in one form or another; although Babylon as a city had long been but a memory, her mysteries had not died with her. When the city and the temples were destroyed, the high priest fled with a company of initiates and their sacred vessels and images to Pergamos, where the symbol of the serpent was set up as the emblem of the hidden wisdom. From there, they afterward crossed the sea and emigrated to Italy, where they settled in the Etruscan plain. There, eventually Rome because the headquarters of Babylonianism. The chief priests wore miters shaped like the head of a fish, in honor of Dagon, the fish-god, the lord of life another form of the Tammuz mystery, as developed among Israel s enemies, the Philistines. When the chief priest was established in Rome, he took the title Pontifex Maximus, which was imprinted on his miter. When Julius Caesar (who, like all young Romans of good family, was an initiate) had become the head of the State, he was elected Pontifex Maximus, and this title was held henceforth by all of the Roman Emperors down to Constantine the Great, who was, at one and the same time, head of the church and high priest of the heathen! The title was afterward conferred upon the bishops of Rome and is today borne by the pope who is declared to be, not the successor of the fisherman-apostle Peter, but the direct successor of the high priest of the Babylonian mysteries, and the servant of the fish-god Dagon, for whom he wears, like his idolatrous predecessors, the fisherman s ring. 3 Now, where does that leave the individual person? Even though a religious system can become infiltrated with pagan practices and false rituals, which do not mean that, each individual in that system is lost and does not know Christ. 3 H. A. Ironside, Revelation, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI, 2004, p. 168-169 Coming to know Christ is an individual decision whether to accept Him as his or her personal Saviour or not. Even though, religious Rome is defined, as the great whore in chapter seventeen does not mean that it is inclusively to one group, because the religious Babylon will be made up of a conglomeration of religious groups. Once the true Christians, those who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior, are removed through the Rapture, then the remaining false religious groups will bind together in one-world religion whose headquarters will be in Rome. Within that group will be Catholics, Protestants, and many other religious groups. The group will have Baptists, Methodist, Assembly of Gods, Nazarenes, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and so many more. The lesson is not to focus on the false religious systems but to make sure that one is part of the truth and that is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. John 10:9 KJV I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. John 14:6 KJV Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. One of the saddest truths is that immediately after the rapture of the church, the very next Sunday, church services will be held. There will be many attending the services. They have been associated with a religious institution but never in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The only way that a person can have eternal life is through Jesus Christ. Romans 10:9, 13 KJV That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.