1 THE DESTRUCTION OF RELIGIOUS BABYLON Revelation 17:7-18 July 26, 2015 Dr. Danny Forshee - Our text today is not an easy one to interpret but it is so fascinating, and my desire is that you ascertain and understand the fundamental truth of this text and you will take away with you this primary thought Jesus wins. He will overcome the Antichrist and all those associated with him. May this truth of the risen, victorious Jesus Christ make you love Him more and motivate you to live righteously before Him, and tell as many people as you can about Him. A proper understanding of Revelation will inspire and motivate you to witness. - My primary goal in preaching on the book of Revelation is not that we gain information or form a better interpretation of Scripture. My primary objective is that Jesus Christ will be revealed to you through the preaching of the Word of God and that you will meet Jesus and your life will be changed! - Read the text. 7 But the angel said to me, Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9 Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. 10 There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. 11 The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. 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. 13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. 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. 15 Then he said to me, The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth. - We will follow the same outline as we did last week the woman, the beast, and the saints of God. I. THE WOMAN (VS. 7, 15-16, 18)
2 - A. HER IDENTITY (VS. 7, 15, 18) - She is not a literal woman. She represents the religion of the Great Tribulation and that will be a one-world religion that will embrace every belief except biblical Christianity. This is an apostate religion. She will have powerful influence over those who dwell on the earth and for a time she may even have power over the beast, who is the Antichrist. - Her name is revealed in verse 5. The key word there is Babylon. She will be the epitome of spiritual apostasy and harlotry like Babel or Babylon of old. - Vs. 15 says her influence will be of worldwide proportions. - Vs. 18 shows us she is intricately tied to the city of Babylon and she reigns over the kings of the earth. I believe this city to be a rebuilt Babylon on the Euphrates River during the Great Tribulation where this apostate religion reigns over the people. The city s political leadership falls under the Antichrist. - Dr. Robert Thomas helps us in our interpretation when he writes, (p. 306-308) It is better to see the woman to be the whole anti-christian religious system of the future that will be bent on seducing the world s population away from the true religion. The many Old Testament allusions to Babylon in Revelation 17-18 indicate her tie to a certain geographical city, yet her primary function is not political, but religious.... John s angel-guide quite clearly alludes repeatedly to Babylon on the Euphrates throughout chapter 17-18. So the woman will be a religious system connected with that city.... This city will become the focal point for a religious system staunchly opposed to the truth of Christianity. The system will thrive for a time in gaining influence over the commercial and political entities of its time, until the beast and the ten kings determine that it no longer has usefulness for their purposes. They will then dismantle it. - B. HER DESTRUCTION (VS. 16) - The woman is destroyed by a coalition of kings gathered under the Antichrist s reign. These ten kings are referred to as ten horns. We will look more at these later. - She will be made desolate. Her great wealth seen in verse 4 is taken from her. She will also be made naked; her moral corruption is exposed for all to see. The phrase eat her flesh is a graphic description of her utter destruction by those with much hatred, vengeance, and hostility toward her. And she is destroyed by fire no longer able to exist and exert influence over others. (Thomas, p. 104) II. THE BEAST (VS. 8-14, 17) - In 13:3 we noted how the Antichrist would be fatally wounded and come back from the dead by the power of Satan. This mock resurrection of Jesus will cause the earth dwellers to worship him. This mock resurrection is alluded to in verse 8. It is within this timeframe of the beast s resurrection that he will turn on the woman and destroy her. The false prophet will make sure everyone directs his
3 or her worship and total devotion to the image of the beast, and he will insure this by making everyone take the mark of the beast. (Chapter 13) - Vs. 8 the beast or Antichrist who dies will come back to life out of the abyss or bottomless pit and he will be full of the hosts of hell. And the Bible tells us that eventually he will be destroyed; he will be thrown into the lake of fire where forever he will burn. See Revelation 19:20. Twice in four verses (vs. 8-11) the Bible tells us of his ultimate end he will be destroyed. - Vs. 8 those whose names are not found in the Book of Life will worship the beast. This Book of Life was written from the foundation of the world. God in His foreknowledge knows who will accept His Son Jesus Christ and who will reject Him. The followers of Christ on the earth during this time known, as the Great Tribulation will not be impressed with the Antichrist who lived, then died, and then came back to life. - A. THE SEVEN HEADS (VS. 9-11) - What are these seven heads? Obviously they are not to be taken as literal or physical heads. They must be taken figuratively or symbolically. - Vs. 9 says they refer in part to the seven mountains on which the woman sits. Some have taken this to be literal Rome of old because Rome was built upon seven hills. Also, some who view it thus see the woman as the Roman Catholic Church. But both of these interpretations fall short because as one writer put it, Something more than just Rome must be in view, because Antichrist s empire is worldwide. Nor can the woman be the Roman Catholic Church, since... verse 18 identifies her as the city of Babylon. (MacArthur, p. 169) - A better interpretation would be to view the seven mountains and the seven kings in verse 10 to be seven successive empires with the seven kings as the heads or leaders of those empires. In Daniel 7:17, 23 the beasts refer to both kings and kingdoms. The seven kingdoms are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medes and Persians, Greece, Rome, and finally this future kingdom of the Antichrist. (Thomas, p. 296-297) At this time of John s writing the first five kingdoms that have fallen are the ones we mentioned. The one that is would be Rome of John s time. And the one that has not yet to come is the reign of the Antichrist. End of verse 10 refers to the brevity of the Antichrist s reign. He will only have three and one-half years to reign in this undisputed, powerful way. - Vs. 11 adds another king and this is the eighth. Who is this person? Verse 11 says he is the Antichrist. How is this? Remember he dies and comes back to life and thus he is both the seventh and eighth. Pastor Rogers, p. 196, states, This seventh beast is the one that will go into the grave, and when he comes out he will be the eighth. He will enter the grave as a human, but he will arise a super human. This is the Antichrist. (See also Thomas, p. 299.) - B. THE TEN HORNS (VS. 12-13) - Vs. 12 tells us about the ten horns. In 13:1 John saw where the beast had the ten horns and on each horn was a crown. These are the ten kings who will join
4 in a confederation with the beast or the Antichrist during his three and one-half year reign. Notice verse 12 John is told that these kings had received no kingdom as of the time of John s revelation. Theirs is a future reign as is the Antichrist s. The duration of their reign is for one hour, another way of saying that they will not have a long reign. - Vs. 13 these kings will be of one mind and purpose and they give their authority to the beast. What will this confederation look like and of what will it consist? Some believe this group already exists in its basic form in the European Union. - Dr. David Jeremiah, p. 118, states, While some throughout history have tried to bring back the power of a Europe united under the authority and power of Rome, it has never happened. But one day we will see a coalescing of nations which will bind together in some sort of unified bloc of nations under the leadership of the Antichrist. This ten-nation confederacy will reign over all the earth during the latter part of the Tribulation. - This revived Roman Empire under the leadership of this ten-king confederation will make war against the harlot and overthrow her (vs. 16). Their fatal mistake comes however when this coalition of kings, under the leadership of the beast, goes to war with the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. This will be the cause of their sudden and swift demise at the Battle of Armageddon. III. THE SAINTS OF GOD (VS. 14,17) - A. VICTORY IN JESUS (VS. 14) - This is my favorite part of the chapter; I love verse 14. Pay close attention to these words The Lamb will overcome them. Amen! Jesus will win against this ungodly coalition. Why will He win? Because Jesus is King of kings and He is Lord of lords! - I received a pretty hostile letter from someone when I first preached on this text years ago; a Muslim from another country who took offense at me calling Islam a part of this future apostate religion. In fact, she said she was horrified by what she heard and how I was brainwashing the people who listened. We were able to dialogue with one another and I felt it was most healthy. I wrote and said both Islam and Christianity are exclusive religions, so both cannot be right. The Bible teaches in clear, unequivocal language that the victor is none other than Jesus Christ. His victory is directly tied to who He is. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords that settles it. I told her that if the Bible is true and I do not preach it, then that is horrible. - And interestingly I read this week that there is a branch of Islam that teaches that in their interpretation of the apocalypse or end of the world that Muslims will fight and win an important battle in Dabiq, Syria, but then they will suffer defeat at the hands of an anti-messiah; this person is known, as Dajjal in Muslim apocalyptic literature. Dajjal will come from Iran and kill many of the caliphate s warriors until only 5,000 remain. Then right before Dajjal wipes out the remaining Muslims, Jesus will come back to Earth and kill Dajjal and the lead the Muslims to victory.
5 - Notice another phrase that is absolutely incredible with Him. Following in Jesus royal and victorious train is His saints, His people, yes, the children of God. He further describes them as those who are called, chosen, and faithful. This reminds me of Jesus words in Matthew 20:16 and 22:14. 16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen. 14 For many are called, but few are chosen. - I believe that Jesus calls all to Himself to believe on Him and serve Him and live forever in heaven. However, most do not accept His offer of forgiveness of sins and eternal life in heaven. As a result many are called but only a few are chosen. But those who are truly called and chosen are faithful. Jesus genuinely saves them and by His sustaining and empowering grace, they are faithful. - A true defining characteristic of the children of God is they are faithful. If one has been truly called and chosen then they will be faithful. You have to have all three characteristics. The person who made a profession of faith but has nothing to do with God or His church and lives a life contrary to Jesus does not know Jesus. This helps me understand Jesus words in Matthew 7:13-14 about the narrow and wide gates, and 7:21, Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. - B. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD (VS. 17) - Vs. 17 reminds us that God is guiding the events. He is not aloof or removed from the dramatic events taking place on earth; rather, He is absolutely in control of everything. God takes the ugliness and the darkness and sin that the devil and unbelievers can muster and God uses it to bring about His will. What a mighty God we serve! CONCLUSION AND INVITATION - Were I not a follower of Jesus Christ I would be most worried and concerned about the events transpiring before our very eyes. I believe that what is happening in the Middle East today is of eschatological significance and importance. - On Monday night here at GHBC in the Great Hall, I spoke to a wonderful group of Asian pastors and their families. After I preached a couple got up and shared their story of having been pushed out of their home country of Pakistan by radical and militant Muslims. They were shot at and pursued but in 2012 were able to escape with their children but lost everything of material possessions. They helped however plant 650 house churches and built 25 church buildings in 4 provinces in Pakistan before they left. You cannot stop the spread and success of the gospel! - Now if Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords and He will win this ultimate, end-times battle against evil, do you not think that He can help you in your life and the issues, decisions, and obstacles you currently face.
- Vs. 14 describes believers as called, chosen, and faithful. Are you called? I can answer that question. Yes, you are called. The Bible clearly says that God loves the world. We know that because He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to come and die for our sins and arise from the dead and whoever believes on Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Are you chosen? The chose are those who have repented of their sins and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone for salvation. Are you faithful? You will be if you are genuinely a child of God. He will make you faithful. He will give you the strength to be faithful. - Fear not! God is on His throne. He is in control. Make sure you are on His side, for His is the winning side, and in this epochal, unprecedented battle between good and evil, there are only two results you either win or you lose. If you follow Jesus then you win. If you reject Him or embrace some other deity besides Him, then you lose, and lose for eternity. - Today, come to Jesus Christ and be saved. - Today, right now, follower of Christ be faithful, and live a life totally committed to Christ and be a part of a local church where you can serve. 6