There are two women throughout the Word of God who portray: 1. The true Church or Israel (the good woman) 2. The false church or Babylon (the strange woman) A woman in the Word of God signifies: 1. The epitome of goodness—the good woman 2. The epitome of evil—the strange woman Thus, here a woman will be used to represent the false church (or, as it is called, the false religious system, mystery Babylon). One of the seven angels (who pour out the last seven plagues upon the earth) shows the Apostle John the judgment of the great whore. This same angel is used to show John the Lamb’s wife. Thus we see the two women at the end of time in all their glory — the whore in all her filthiness and the Lamb’s wife in all her purity. This woman who sits upon many waters signifies, in one sense, a geographical place. Ancient Babylon was situated literally upon the waters of the Euphrates, which flows out into the Persian Gulf, while ancient and modern Rome are situated upon the Tiber. The emphasis upon the fact that the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her relates to the fact that all heathen religions were and are steeped in immorality of the most debasing kind. This certainly was true of ancient Rome, which was fittingly spoken of as “the glory of the Empire and the sewer of the nations.” However, there is the sense not only of physical immorality, but spiritual debasement too. Nimrod, the one who rebelled against God. It was called by its founder “bab- El,” meaning gate of God. Because of the desire to build a tower to gather rebels, it was smitten by God and became known as “Babel,” which simply means confusion. The wife of Nimrod, Semiramis, and her illegitimate son, Tammuz, introduced the concept of the worship of the mother and child. The image of the queen of heaven with the child is at the root of many heathen religions. Also, there are mysteries that involve priestly absolutions, cakes offered to the queen of heaven, and purgatorial purifications. Therefore, although Babylon had long since been destroyed, the mysteries of those rites had been preserved through the High Priest who had fled with his followers to Pergamos. Later, they went to Italy, and eventually Rome became the headquarters of these mysteries. The High Priest wore a mitre upon which was engraved the name Pontifex Maximus, meaning “bridge builder.” The High Priest claimed to be the bridge between God and man. This title was appropriated by Julius Caesar, and later, Constantine became both the head of the church and the bearer of the title of the High Priest of these Babylonian mysteries. Then the title became the right of the popes, which they hold to this present time. It is not the purpose of this note to enlarge upon the similarity of the Roman Catholic church and other religious systems with ancient Babylon; this has been eloquently accomplished by the late Rev. Alexander Hislop in his book entitled The Two Babylons. Our purpose is simply to identify from Scripture the woman whom John saw as mystery Babylon. We believe this will be very clear as we continue to examine the succeeding verses in this chapter.History does serve to teach us many lessons, as well as give us understanding of the future. History is not haphazard. It is guided and directed by an all wise God who is masterminding His redemptive plans, not only for individuals, but also for the nations of the earth. Thus, the angel intends to make the identity, not only of the woman but also of the Beast who supports the woman, very clear. He now concentrates on the clues to the identity of the Beast. First, we are told that the Beast was, which means that the Beast lived prior to the writing of the book of Revelation. We are then told that the Beast is not, meaning that he was not alive at the time of John. The Beast will ascend out of the bottomless pit. He is the counterfeit Christ. But whereas Christ was, is and is to come (descending from heaven), the Beast was, is not, and ascends from the pit. The Beast will, therefore, be clearly identifiable for Christians but will completely deceive those whose names were not written in the Book of Life before the foundation of the world. No one has ever returned from the dead; therefore, all the world will be enamored with the Beast and serve him. Now the angel returns to the identification of the woman. We are told in verse 18 that the woman is a city. What is the city that was known as the city that is built upon seven hills? Roman poets and writers have always alluded to Rome as the city built upon seven hills on the east bank of the Tiber. We must also remember that this was written at the time of the Apostle John when the Roman Empire held sway. That was the common name of the capital city in Latin, urbis septis colis, or the city of the seven hills. Identifying the woman, mystery Babylon as Rome, the Scriptures then state that she has drunk the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus (17:6). It is helpful at this point to give illustrations that support these allegations. We select a period known infamously as The Slaughter of the Innocents or The Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre on August 24, 1572. The Queen Mother of France, Catherine de Médicis and her son Charles IX signed a treaty with the Huguenots, the French Protestants, granting them religious freedom. Having lured them and their leader, Prince de Conde, into a false sense of security, they slew them. Thousands of Protestants were martyred. Pope Pius V celebrated this event in Rome by striking a medal. His successor, Pope Clement VIII, called the later toleration of the Protestants a cursed thing. Let us beware, dear ones, mystery Babylon will show her true colors again in these last days. The blood of the saints will again flow. There are, of course, many types of the Antichrist in history. I wish to mention just one at this juncture, namely Adolf Hitler, to illustrate how careful the Church must be at this time in the events of this world. Adolf Hitler persecuted the Jews and was responsible for the annihilation of, conservatively, some six million of them. We know, also, that he terrorized those who opposed him and his regime by placing even his own people in concentration camps. These facts alone, which were well-known not only abroad but also in Germany, should be sufficient to identify him as a monster.However, because he also virtually eliminated unemployment, brought the country back into a sound economic position, and furthermore instituted a system of law and order that ended all kinds of overt criminal activities that had plagued the country, many of the church pastors and leaders hailed him as their Messiah. They became brown-shirted followers of the Nazis, whose symbol was the crooked cross. When the Antichrist appears, I fear that many church pastors and leaders will likewise follow him because they have not fixed their sights upon Christ and Christ alone, nor have they made the Word of God their daily staple food. Ignorant of the Word, they will cry out with the crowds, “Peace, peace, peace” and blindly and willingly follow the Beast. There was evidence enough to show that Adolf Hitler and his Third Reich or kingdom was diabolical, but they chose to follow him for the loaves and fishes. May we, beloved, take earnest heed. Now, by the grace of God, we must seek to unravel the mystery of the seven kings. They are the seven heads of the Beast, but also of Satan himself. This passage suggests that it concerns those who have ruled at the instigation of or have been energized by Satan. The solution must be found in Scripture. The Beast is only one of the seven heads (he is of the seven but he is the eighth). Therefore, he represents a king who lived prior to the giving of the book of Revelation (that is, prior to the late first century A.D.), but is now dead. The Antichrist, therefore, is from one of the five kingdoms before Rome. The Seven Kings (Kingdoms): 1. Egypt 2. Assyria 3. Babylon 4. Medo-Persia 5. Greece 6. Rome 7. 10 Kings - Resurrected Roman Empire Satan, however, energizes all seven. Let us examine Scripture to see where Satan, the devil or the dragon, is associated with kings or kingdoms. Clearly, in Ezekiel 29:2-3: “Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt: Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.” Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is identified with the dragon. This is not the Pharaoh of the Exodus, but another Pharaoh. Thus we would say that Satan not only energizes this one Pharaoh, but in actuality the whole kingdom of Egypt. We also read in Jeremiah 51:34, “Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.” From this verse the king of Babylon is identified also as the dragon, meaning that he was energized by Satan. The Beast is likened to an hybrid animal with the feet of a bear, which represents Persia, and a lion which represents Babylon, as well as a body which represents Greece. Therefore, it would not be amiss to state that these seven heads represent the nations (and their kings) that have afflicted Israel—namely Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome (the present kingdom in the time of John). Rome is the sixth kingdom. Therefore, the one kingdom that must come would be the kingdom (singular) of the ten kings. They will be ten united nations in the confines of the Old Roman Empire. The Beast will be the eighth king, or the eleventh horn (Dan. 7:8,11,20,21). He is from one of the five fallen kingdoms. The Beast cannot be from Egypt because he is called the King of the North (Dan. 11:40). Egypt, which is south of Israel, is called the King of the South. The Antichrist is the eighth king. He is a king who lived during the time of the first five kingdoms. He is the eleventh horn who arises after the ten kings(the seventh kingdom). These ten kings are readily identified through Daniel 7:23-24: “The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. 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.” The Beast comes after the ten kings arise. These ten kings flow out from the fourth kingdom of Daniel’s vision. The vision Daniel received of four kingdoms begins with Babylon (the third kingdom to rule over Israel). Thus in Daniel’s vision the Roman Empire is the fourth kingdom, but historically it is the sixth kingdom that ruled over Israel. From within the confines of the Old Roman Empire these ten kings will arise. They are called a kingdom, meaning that they are very clearly joined and linked together—separate but united. They reign for one hour, or for a very brief time, and their power is derived from the Beast. These ten kings will give themselves to the Beast, who in turn will subjugate or subdue three of these ten kings, presumably because they do not wholly follow him (see Dan. 7:24).These ten kings within the confines of the Old Roman Empire will make war along with the Beast against the Lord at the battle of Armageddon. Those who descend from heaven with the Lamb are called, chosen, and found faithful. Called Being called is one of the foremost prerequisites of the ability to follow the Lamb. He Himself stated in John 6:44, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” We cannot presume to enter into His presence, for as with any earthly monarch, no one can enter into the presence of royalty unless he is bidden. This is illustrated Biblically in the life of Esther, Queen of Persia. Although she was the wife of the reigning King Xerxes she dared not enter into her own husband’s presence without being called first. Esther said, “All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days” (4:11). Chosen Christ declared in Matthew 22:14, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Therefore, many in this life are given the opportunity, but how few pass the tests, for we are chosen in times of testing and affliction. Isaiah 48:10 says, “Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” As with life in general, it is one thing to be called to a position, job, post, or to take up an appointment, but it is quite another thing to be retained in that place. One must prove, after getting an opportunity in a job, that one is able to do it. If we prove ourselves, then we are chosen to keep that position. Virtually everything in life is conditional upon being able to do the work for which one has been called, invited, or given an opportunity to prove oneself capable. Thus, it is in the kingdom of heaven. Many are given the opportunity to be saved, but how few continue in the way of light. Not only is this true in the maintenance of one’s spiritual level, but also of going on in the Lord. We need, by His grace, to go on to all that He has purposed for our lives. To be chosen requires long periods of trials, as Isaiah says, in the furnace of affliction. There are no easy paths to glory; and these trials are necessary to bring us to perfection, that we might be counted worthy to follow our blessed Lord wherever He goes. This brings us to our third qualification. Faithful Even when one has qualified for a post, the next question is this: Is one faithful in performing the duties associated with the position? In the Scriptures, we are told that two men in particular received the commendation of being faithful—Abraham and Moses. Abraham is actually called faithful Abraham (Gal. 3:9), and it was said of Moses that he was faithful in all his house (Heb. 3:2). These three levels of being called, chosen, and found faithful correspond to the three categories of Christians of whom the Apostle John writes in I John 2:12-14—little children, young men, and fathers. Another analogy would be the three sections of the Tabernacle of Moses—the Outer Court, Holy Place, and Holy of Holies. The first group know that they are saved, the second category of Christians are becoming the Word made flesh, while the third are those who are having the laws of God written upon their hearts of flesh. The angel now turns again to the woman, the whore— mystery Babylon. This reaffirms the fact already stated that mystery Babylon has influenced virtually all nations from the beginning of time. All have been contaminated with the mysteries of iniquities that have literally sent millions upon millions into a Christ less hell because they trusted in her sorceries for their eternal redemption. The saying of the Mass and the confessional stem from Babylonian rites. The appeal to and prayers to the queen of heaven have been in vain. Their adherents have been duped, and to their eternal chagrin, have fallen into the bottomless pit. How the wrath of God is reserved for her, with whom the nations committed fornication of every sort! But the Lord destroys her by His chosen evil powers. The very one in whom mystery Babylon trusts will be the one who will destroy her. Others trusted in her, and she deceived them. Therefore, in the poetic justice of God, she will be destroyed by the allies of the Beast—the ten kings. History only serves to confirm this fact. In his Decline and Fall of the Roman Church, Malachi Martin enumerates occasions when Rome and the Vatican were plundered by Spanish, German, and Italian troops. During the reign of Clement VIII in 1525, Malachi Martin tells how the only sounds that could be heard for ten days were the wailing of women, crying of children, and the screams of men being tortured. History, Holy Scripture assures us, will be repeated when the armies of the ten kings again invade Rome and destroy the whore and her followers. It is God who has purposed to destroy the whore, and has put within the hearts of the ten kings this desire to destroy Rome in order to fulfill His holy will. It will be the very ones whom the whore relies upon for her power that will destroy her. All through the history of the Roman Church, she has played politics with the rulers of those kingdoms around her. They, in turn, have often seen her treachery and marched against her. So will it be in the last days. And now, who is this whore, this mystery Babylon? The last verse of chapter 17 makes it abundantly clear. There can be no doubt about what is being said here. Only one city at the time of John reigned (present tense) over the whole earth, and that was Rome. It was that great city. And as verse 9 states so clearly, it was the city built upon the seven hills. Rome, and Rome alone, could fit that description. The woman, Mystery Babylon, is the Roman Catholic Church, centered in Rome. The anger of God is so great because both natural and spiritual Babylon have corrupted the face of God’s handiwork upon earth. She has slain the prophets and the apostles, and now God is avenging their blood that she shed. The judgment is so great that the smoke of her torment will arise forever and ever. This is an eternal torment. Beloved, in His patience and long-suffering, God has limited a day. In God’s appointed time, He will judge our enemies
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 21:23:39 +0000
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