Close up:
Babylon’s Description
(17:1-7, 15-18)
Scholars have speculated about the differences in chapters 17 and 18, theorizing that there must be two different Babylons being described. But careful analysis does not support that notion. There is too much similar. What is different about the two chapters is intent, not geography. The intent of the first angel (chapter 17) is to give a no-doubt identity of the woman who rides the beast. In doing so he also gives some clear clues about the beast whom we first met in chapter 13. The intent of the second angel (chapter 18:1-19:6) is to describe in detail the judgment of Babylon, and the reaction of earth and Heaven to that judgment. This horrendous but justified event takes place just before the return of Jesus.
First, the description. I confess here that the identification of Babylon still contains mystery for me. Some see the entire book as mystery, but this mystery is labeled such (17:5). I spent from 1992-1996 researching and writing about Babylon, tracing her history from the infamous tower of Genesis 10 to these very chapters in Revelation (Scarlet Threads). My conclusion was that there has always been a “Babylon”, a holder of the Satanic mysteries, a promulgator of false teaching and man’s religion. I further concluded that those mysteries and falsenesses were passed to the institution in Rome that still exists as a world power. I hesitate to speak of the Roman “Church” for the people of God wear that title. “Church” must not be used glibly. The church is the called out of God. Yes, even associated with Rome are those who know Jesus Christ. But when we speak of Babylon, we are really speaking of the ongoing Roman Empire, the political machine that seized power by means of the church, added Babylon’s teachings, wielded Babylon’s sword, donned Babylon’s garb. The 17th chapter identifies a city ruling over the kings of the earth and sitting on seven hills in John’s day. There is no question of her identity.
And yet even in the book I wrote I had to honestly admit into evidence a parallel series of facts which are equally viable. The prophecies concerning physical Babylon have yet to be fulfilled perfectly. The city now in Iraq never died abruptly as prophesied. It continued on and on. Even in Jesus’ day many Jews lived in Babylon. But the record is sure. Babylon is to be extinguished, as prophesied yet again in the chapters before us. Let us proceed carefully through these two plus chapters. Every detail counts. Notice just how much space is given to this mystery compared to all the others.
Lest we become content with too general an explanation of this passage, we follow the text carefully and listen to the wisdom given by no less than an angel of God. First he invites John to come along and see the following person:
Babylon is a woman (17:1) . In Scripture the two best known women, spiritually speaking, are Israel and Christ’s own bride, the church. The woman before us has long lost her virginity and is not married to God at all, but to everyone willing to pay her price. Her description reminds us of another woman in the prophets. Zechariah speaks of a woman sitting inside a basket, carried through the air and deposited in the land of Shinar, old Babylonia, where a house is to be built for her. We say with Zechariah, “This is Wickedness” (Zechariah 5:5-11).
She sits on many waters. Interpretation for this is clear from verse 15: The waters stand for all the people over whom she has spiritual authority.
Babylon is a harlot (17:1-2). She has spiritual intercourse with the rulers of the world. She rises to power on her back, in bed with the powerful. Take away the power of men, and she has nothing. She is not only a fornicator herself, but spreads her wine via the golden cup she carries (17:4). The cup of her fornication brings us back for the first time, but not the last in these chapters, to the prophets who saw Babylon before. Nothing has changed but location. Jeremiah 51:7 reminds us that “Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, that made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations are deranged.” They did it then. They did it in John’s day. They are mad still. They are drunk with the wine of her falseness.
Now we are in the “wilderness” (17:3). Why is this woman, later called a city, seen first in a “wilderness”? I believe the tie-in here is to Zechariah’s Shinar prophecy, mentioned above. In this wilderness, John is for the first time seeing what the angel was describing. The woman is riding on an animal. Whoever the animal is, he is the one responsible for her power, and when he decides to throw her off (17:16), she is history.
More about the woman (17:4). Her personal colors are purple and scarlet, the regal colors of Rome’s powerful. She is unquestionably rich. As is Rome. And she has the aforementioned cup in her hand. It is filled with things God hates, poisonous errors of word and life-style and worship.
On the forehead (17:5), in her mind and soul is imprinted the title of Babylon. She alone is responsible for all earth’s abominations. Those who preach another Gospel, another God, another Book, another way of salvation, shall bear the blame for all eternity for earth’s woes. God created an earth that was pleasant and manageable by man. It is out of control now because from the beginning man wanted to go his own way. Babylon’s religion is based on this will of man, in direct opposition to the will of God.
This woman is bloodthirsty (17:6). She desires to kill the people of God whether in old Israel, the covenant Jews, or in the church of God. Saints, martyrs, all fall slain before her. The history of Roman religion from the Caesars to our own day is a history of blood. I feel no need to document this fact at present. My book Scarlet Threads may be a resource for those who wish to investigate further.
John is aghast (17:6–7) . He can’t believe it. Could it be that the reason for his horror is that this woman reminds him of someone he knows well? Is it Christianity without Christ that shocks him so? Oh may it be a shock and a horror to us! The angel offers to solve the mystery. After the following verses then, we ought to come away with a perfect understanding of who is the woman, and who she is riding to power. May the Lord clear away the dullness of our vision so that this outcome truly results.
A clear statement (17:18). Before we begin probing into the mind of the Spirit about the “beast”, let us find yet one more identification of the woman on him: She is the city reigning over the kings of the earth in John’s day. She is Rome. Could anything be clearer? Rome rules, in a greater or lesser way, until the end of time. Has any world power since Rome ever dominated the earth? Do not one in every six persons to this very day on the planet claim some sort of allegiance to Rome? Is not the direction of Christendom beginning to go back toward that city? Is not European politics dependent on what happens there? May God awaken his people!
But having said all of this, I still reserve the right to look to the prophets for something else. Think me not double minded here. “Babylon” has worn many faces and may yet wear another one. More of this Old Testament connection in chapter 18.
Close-up:
Once more, “the beast from the sea”
17:3, 8-14
We saw earlier that chapters 13 and 17 might indeed be companion pieces, both telling of the two entities, beast and rider, that will in harmony do the will of Satan in the last hours of history. Certainly, if this is true, there is added significance to the fact that the woman “sits on many waters” (17:1), and the beast, correspondingly, rises “out of the sea” (13:1). So, though chapter 17 is widely thought of as being about “Babylon”, equal space is given to Babylon’s chief client, “the beast.” Likewise the beast shares chapter 13 with “the false prophet”, quite possibly Babylon’s head.
Antichrist is first mentioned in 17:3 as being a scarlet beast. The woman herself is clothed with the same color (17:4). Only One Other wore scarlet in the New Testament, Jesus Himself, in His humiliation at the hands of Herod’s men (Matthew 27:28). Though He is and was a King, and shall reign forever and ever, how unfitting it seemed for the Christ to be clothed in kingly garb before the time. How unfitting to see His followers so bedecked. How clearly these excesses of dress and things material identify the professing church as of the beast!
Next in 17:3 comes the indication of the “names of blasphemy”, tying him squarely to the beast of 13:5-6. Likewise the reference to seven heads and ten horns takes us to 13:1 and portions of Daniel.
The description of the beast then continues in 17:8. We have explained that this passage relates that a man who has already lived on this planet is even now awaiting to be released from the bottomless pit. Paul agrees in II Thessalonians 2, and John’s record of an angel in charge of that pit adds light (Revelation 9:1). He will come back to the earth, do his work, be destroyed and be lost forever.
In 17:9 we are told that the seven heads on the beast have a double meaning. First, they stand for seven mountains or hills (the word in the Greek can mean either) on which the woman sits. Tie this to 17:18, and of course we have located the city of Rome: “The woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.” Here is established that “heads” represent rule, the present rule being on this seven-hilled city.
But the angel takes it a step forward (17:10): The seven also means seven “kings”. I stated earlier the traditional way that commentaries connect this to world Empires. And it is true that there cannot be a King without a Kingdom. But the word is King, not Kingdom. Perhaps it would be profitable to look closer at these Empires and single out the King being considered by the Spirit. It is obvious from even a short study of history that not every ruler of every Empire was dead set against God and God’s plan. It seems to me that there could easily be one man in the major Kingdoms that rose up and fit the description of the man of sin for that generation. One man who from time to time pushed Satan’s agenda until it became the world’s agenda. He would have to be a blasphemer. Anti-God or anti-Christ. He would have to have a serious hatred for Jews and/or Christians. A dictator with all authority over his people. And as we shall see, a King of Babylon. By John’s day, five such men had fallen, says the angel. One ruled on the Roman Throne. One is yet to come in our own future.
And then one more (17:11) . That is eight. The man of sin is one of those seven, who rules a second time! He was, in John’s day. He is not on the earth in John’s day. And yet he lives, somewhere. He arises from the Pit, synonym in many Scriptures for the grave, though the angel is restraining him for now, says Paul. He arises in his “resurrection body” like Jesus did. He fools the world. He goes to perdition.
Now we must certainly stop and look back into history to find the other men. If I have discovered the truth about this matter there are surely seven men from whom the Spirit can give us grace to choose the very one being exposed here as number eight. Did I say exposed? Oh yes, we are to know this mystery. The facts are all out there. John marveled at it all but was mildly rebuked! He was told (17:7) that the mystery is solvable! The Book before us is not the Book of unanswered mysteries, but the Book of Revelation! Those who seek these answers must surely find them.
Seven men. I cannot begin my study in Egypt, though I understand the thinking of those who do. The mysteries of the Enemy began at the Tower of Babel, with one “Nimrod.” I have seen him labeled “the first antichrist”. In Genesis 10 we read of his greatness and how he actually founded the cities of Babylon and Nineveh, the two capitals that would rule the world from his day until near the end of Old Testament history. Even Persia, which rounds out the secular history that serves as Old Testament background, has legends of one who “hunted” with dogs and leopards. His fame as a world leader has given rise to myth and fable in many cultures. Should not the founder of nations be considered the first of the “men of sin” ? Josephus, Jewish historian, in his Antiquities I, 4 says about those early days:
“...the sons of Noah…descended from the mountains into the plains and fixed their habitations there; and persuaded others...who were very loath to come down from the higher place, to venture to follow their example...God commanded them to send colonies abroad, for the thorough peopling of the earth...but they did not obey God [since they had] the suspicion that they were ordered to send out separate colonies, that, being divided asunder, they might the more easily be oppressed. Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such affront and contempt of God….He also gradually changed the government into tyranny…[bringing] them into a constant dependence on his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if He should have a mind to drown the world again…”
Fausset’s Bible Dictionary tells more of this historic and legendary figure. Read also Alexander Hislop’s Two Babylons.
Before moving to man number two, let me point out here that since the first man in the chain is the founder of Babylon, and the last one supports Babylon intimately, it is possible to search, I believe, for the successors of the King of Babylon only, to find the men we are looking for. I discovered that there are 133 such men. They date from Babylon’s early beginnings in the 2000’s B.C. to and past the end of Babylon proper, through Assyria, Persia, and even Greece! Yes, Alexander the Great and his successors all called themselves the King of Babylon.
Moreover, Isaiah pinpoints a man with this title in his apocalyptic message recorded in chapter 14. Here one called “King of Babylon” is somehow related to Lucifer! He is said to have weakened the nations. His pride exalts him to exaggerated thoughts of his own deity. Yet he is brought to the pit. Sounds a lot like Revelation’s accounting of the details. Written 800 years before John.
Man number two. Historically, the Kingdom of Assyria with Shalmanezer I at the helm, rose up and overpowered Babylonia around 1300 B.C. Nineveh now rules. But Nineveh is also from Nimrod. And Assyria’s men will call themselves King of Babylon also. It’s in the blood. Babylon is the mother of all abominations and must give her name to them. Historical records assist us with this label through the Grecian Empire. John the Revelator adds Rome to the list.
One of Assyria’s most powerful rulers was Sennacherib. His reign is mentioned briefly but with great significance in God’s Word. Through his men he actually challenged the God of Israel and the Israel of God in the 700’s B.C. (II Kings 18), as he was snatching up real estate all around the Promised Land. In fact he was successful in the overthrow of the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and felt he could lay claim to the South (Judah) also. His pride and self-assurance turned him into a blasphemer, one of the prime requisites for Satan’s men (II Kings 19:22). His hatred for Israel and plan to destroy them, also revealing his character and its source, was intercepted by God through the intercession of Judah’s king Hezekiah and the prophetic utterances of none other than Isaiah (II Chronicles 32).
Both Micah and Isaiah speak of one they call “the Assyrian”, a true enemy who will be defeated by the Lord. Like Isaiah’s words about “the King of Babylon” it seems almost like an end-time statement in both cases, leading some to believe that the man of sin will indeed be an Assyrian. I can almost believe this myself, but of course only in the light of a resurrected King as John predicts, not as a revival of the Assyrian nation today, a notion that seems a bit too far-fetched and that is not demanded by any specific text.
For the record though, Micah does say that the one born in Bethlehem, the Messiah, is going to be the one who will deliver Israel from “the Assyrian” (Micah 5:2-6). And Isaiah, in the same chapter that he speaks of the “King of Babylon” and Lucifer (14), later refers to the “Assyrian”, who will be broken, removing the yoke from Israel.
Now I have suggested earlier that it is Antiochus Epiphanes waiting in the Pit of Revelation 17:8, and I think I have good reason. But I can understand the reasoning that would lead people to think it is Sennacherib. One other item that points to this Assyrian: To my knowledge he is the only one of the seven who was slain by the sword, (II Kings 19:37). Now, the wording of Revelation 13 does not in my opinion demand a sword wound to a human, but I still find Sennacherib intriguing and worth more study. I refer interested persons to a helpful book known as The Assyrian Connection.
Who then is third of the five kings that have already fallen? Babylon returns to power in the early 600’s B.C., and of the Neo-Babylonian kings, the greatest by far is Nebuchadnezzar. He is so great, and so powerful, and so creative, and so against Israel at times, that our modern ruler Saddam Hussein was convinced that Nebuchadnezzar should be brought back to life in his (Saddam’s) own person! To this end he “rebuilt” Babylon on a miniature scale, and placed his own name on every brick.
Nebuchadnezzar’s reign is well documented in Biblical and extra-Biblical sources. He is in Kings and Chronicles and Isaiah and Daniel. He beseiged Jerusalem, and took King Jehoiachin prisoner, as now backslidden Judah is not even to be protected from the invader. Their sin is just too heavy a burden around their neck, and they must go down. He carries away first much of Jewish treasure and people, leaving only the poor (II Kings 24:13-14). He builds a siege wall around Jerusalem (25:1), kills King Zedekiah’s sons , even blinding Zedekiah in the process (25:7). He burns the temple (25:9), captures the rest of the people (25:11) and actually places in the Temple of Marduk at Babylon, the treasures from the Temple of God (II Chronicles 36:7). Marduk is a mythical descendant of Nimrod, and one can even see three letters of Nimrod’s name in the later manifestation.
Now it should be seen that, as Jeremiah recounts in chapters 21, 22, and 27 of his prophecy, Nebuchadnezzar is a “servant” of the Lord, even though unwittingly and for his own reasons. He is God’s whipping-boy for His people. But as Pharaoh was raised up for the purposes of God and later drowned in the Red Sea, so judgment will fall on Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon for their treatment of Israel (Jeremiah 50-51).
Daniel recounts incidents in Nebuchadnezzar’s life, subsequent to the fall of Jerusalem. His insights into the varying degrees of that monarch’s devotion to Yahweh are helpful in our understanding of his heart. Nebuchadnezzar seemed to be pleased with Daniel and his Jewish companions, as he had been with Jeremiah before them, yet he continued on in his idolatry and especially his unbearable pride. The image of gold (Daniel 3) which by the way previews the image of the beast (Revelation 13), was erected to remind citizens of the greatness of the King. This statue became the reason for the punishment of the three young Hebrew friends of Daniel. Yet God breaks through into Nebuchadnezzar’s life by saving them from the fiery furnace. Earlier, Daniel’s revelation of the meaning of a troubling dream, had likewise awakened him to the greatness of the God of Israel. His respect grows from including the true God with his own gods to honoring that God as supreme, but never to worshiping Yahweh alone.
Later in the story (Daniel 4) we see Nebuchadnezzar thinking back on his glory with satisfaction and pride. At this point he is humbled before the Empire, but is later restored. Altogether then, a proud, sometimes blasphemous, idolatrous , anti-semitic King of Babylon was this Nebuchadnezzar, and for that reason we include him in the list of antichrists.
Babylonia falls again, and is replaced by Persia whose Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon in 536 B.C. Here it becomes more difficult to find a man who fills the bill as “man of sin” of the hour. Yet, judging from the description of the Revelation 13 beast in terms of animals, there is no doubt that the bear, or Persia, must be included in the history of the man of sin. Now, the Persian Emperors were despotic and often cruel, and definitely worshiped the wrong god. However, they were by and large friendly to Israel. Cyrus, who inherited the captive Jews, immediately released them. Succeeding rulers tried to support the growing state of Israel against foreign elements of that day who did not want her to prosper.
And were the Persian kings also “King of Babylon”? Yes, until the coming of Xerxes, several Emperors later, this was the honorary title they claimed. And Xerxes? Though he is a legitimate King of Babylon, it is said he “illegitimized” several generations of coming rulers by storming the Babylonian Temple of Marduk, aka Nimrod. The idea is that it is Nimrod who gives authority to the King. No Nimrod, no King. Knowing that that was the feeling, even in Persia, lets us believe that we are on the right track in looking only at these Babylonian kings as candidates for the man of sin. Alexander the Great, it is said, restored Marduk to his place, and for many generations the Greek Rulers wore the title again. So, for example, the Bible’s Artaxerxes (Ezra 4) is not a King of Babylon, whereas Ahasuerus (Xerxes, Book of Esther) and Cyrus (II Chronicles 36:22-23) are, for the above reason. Could either of them be the “antichrist” of the Persian Empire?
Consider the book of Esther, and the wicked plot of Haman, the highest ranking official in the court of Xerxes (if indeed Ahasuerus and Xerxes are the same person, as many believe). Though the Persian ruler was not possessed of hatred for the Jews, he did submit to Haman’s Hitler-like plot that all Jews be destroyed. Genocide we call it today. Through the intervention of Esther, the wickedness of Haman and Xerxes was superseded by a plan for Jewish self-defense. But it would seem that any ruler who, as King of Babylon, decreed the extinction of God’s people, whatever his ignorance or motivation, would qualify as a candidate for “beast.”
Next the great Alexander storms through the Persian Empire in the name of Macedonia and Greece. The Greek Empire follows. Alexander is King of Babylon in name, and yet he favors and spares Israel in his conquests. When he dies, his kingdom is divided four ways, as prophesied by Daniel . Out of one of these splits (Daniel 8:8-9) comes “the little horn.” Bible scholars who are convinced the Bible is not totally true tell us that that horn must be Antiochus Epiphanes, ruler of the largest portion of the Greek domain. Bible believers, however, point out that, no, this cannot be Epiphanes, for the passages about what happens are always couched in an end-time setting. Perhaps it is time for these two positions to merge and declare that it is possible for one man to live in two eras. Of course, he must be resurrected to do that. As you know now, this is what I believe happens.
Consider the wickedness of Antiochus and see if he qualifies to be an “antichrist”. He was treacherous and deceitful. He wore the title “King of Babylon.” He was driven out of Egypt by the Romans and in fury he unleashed evil on Jerusalem. He broke a treaty with that city in order to plunder the Temple for its wealth. He forbade Jewish sacrifices, according to Josephus, for three and one-half years. He slaughtered many Jews. He burned buildings, knocked down city walls. He built an idol altar on God’s altar, and sacrificed pigs on it. This is the Old Testament version of the “abomination of desolation.” But Jesus in his day said that that abomination was still future. He referred people to the book of Daniel. But it had already happened. But it will happen again. Do you see the confusion regarding this man Antiochus? Is he the once and future king?
Antiochus compelled Jews to forsake their worship, making them build temples to his gods. He allowed no circumcision. Many yielded to these pressures. Those who did not were whipped. Or torn to pieces. Or crucified. Or strangled. The Book of Law was destroyed. He was a proud man obsessed with his own worth and deity. On coins you will see his name as Theos Epiphanes “God Manifest”, the very description of the Son of God (I Timothy 3:16 ).
We mentioned above also the strange case of Daniel 11. No one questions that 11:21-35 has to do with the wicked reign of Epiphanes. But 36-45? With hardly a clue we are suddenly in the end times, even on into chapter 12 where history is climaxed. From 11:36 to the end is antichrist, all say. But if you blink you’ll think for sure it is Antiochus, though none of these things ever happened in his life! Can you see that perhaps the Spirit is saying right here in plain sight that this latter-day figure is also Antiochus, raised from the dead?
Nimrod, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, Xerxes, Epiphanes. These five have fallen. One is. Now, since we live in the same Roman era in which John lived there is a sense in which that “one” still is! The Empire that ruled in John’s day has never been replaced, only greatly diminished. If we were to use Daniel’s statue vision (Daniel 2) as an outline of history, it would begin with Nebuchadnezzar’s Neo-Babylonia, according to the interpretation, continue to Medo-Persia, then Greece, and finally Rome, the “two legs” (of Daniel's vision statue)which would attach to the feet kingdom of the last days. We still live in the “legs” days of Rome. When the Spirit opens the eyes to this revelation, my but does one’s world view change!
One is. But we were saying that up until now there are men who represent these various ages and Empires, through whom Satan revealed seven heads. If they are indeed the same as Daniel’s seven, there must be bear, lion and leopard components, not to mention the ten-horned beast portion. Put together all the kingdoms of men and Satan’s power, and you have this man of sin.
The man chosen to represent the Roman days is the Emperor who placed John on Patmos: Domitian. Because of the movies and other knowledge of these days we tend to look at Nero as the typical antichrist figure coming out of Rome. Nero was a mad man and an antichrist of sorts, for sure. But consider this Domitian: To the embarrassment of his peers he was the first of the Roman Emperors to suggest, then demand, his own self-deification while he yet lived. Prior to Domitian the Emperors had the courtesy to advise their people to wait for their death before allowing them to be called a god.
And, by virtue of the fact that John the Revelator has equated Rome with Babylon in this very 17th chapter, we must see Domitian as “King of Babylon” also, though the phrase was not used by men after the Greek rulers. His hatred of Jews likewise qualifies him. It was so strong that Christianity was persecuted severely because it was considered a Jewish cult .
Domitian levied a tax among the Israelites to equal the amount they normally would have given to their Temple, destroyed some 25 years before by the Roman general Titus. He demanded, further, that Christians and Jews alike recognize the Emperor as God, or pay the price. Those who refused either were killed or banished. Even the Emperor’s own cousin Flavius Clemens was killed, charged with atheism for embracing the one true God.
Five have fallen. Domitian is. One is still to come. He will be number seven. It is here that we are struck with a little-recognized revelation in the book: The next world leader will be neither the Christ or the antichrist. Number seven (17:10) is distinct from number eight (17:11). Seven rules a “short time”. Granted, the antichrist, eight, rules a short time also (12:12) but I wish to emphasize that these two men are as distinct from each other as the number seven is from the number eight.
We have established that number eight is the man of sin. He is the one (17:11) who is going to perdition after he rises from the pit He is, further, a resurrected form of one of the first seven. These facts are indisputable. Many who have come this far in their understanding have jumped to the conclusion that number eight is simply a resurrected number seven. I believe that will not work. Let’s do the facts of 17:8 again: The beast was (from John’s perspective). He is history already in John’s day. "Eight" cannot therefore be number seven or number six. He must be somewhere in numbers one to five. I have given evidence above that points to five or perhaps to two. In this regard remember Paul’s testimony also, in an already-quoted passage . Paul says that even in his day (II Thessalonians 2:7) someone is restraining the man of sin. When that restrainer is taken out of the way, the lawless one will be revealed.
Who then is number seven? He must be a “king of Babylon/Rome”, a world conqueror, anti Jewish, anti-Christian, very powerful. Perhaps the opening four seals of chapter 6 define this man and the trouble he starts. Those four seals do seem to be disconnected from the other three. It is quite possible that their time span is the first three and one half years of Daniel’s 70th week (Daniel 9). That would be a short time equal to the “short time” of antichrist. Here would be the time for Israel to be given all it wants politically, in exchange for all the world wants from it. The masterpiece of all political deals, following a time of world strife. Yet, somehow he brings a measure of peace to the Middle east as Europe rises to power, gradually swallowing up all vulnerable nations in its path, Hitler-like. It seems that America by this time will be second-rate, or worse.
This is the man who could also fill Daniel’s description of “the prince who is to come” (Daniel 9:26 ff). He seems to have conquered the city of Jerusalem, then brought it to terms, confirming a peace treaty of seven years with Israel. But in the middle of this “week” he is forced to cut the relationship, take away Jewish sacrifices, and another man is introduced: “on the wing of abomination shall be one (not the prince!) who makes desolate…”
There are other clues in Daniel. 8:11-12 tells us that the little horn is given an army to “oppose the prince of the Host” and the sacrifices. Could it be that number seven is here being threatened by number 8? See also 11:31. The “prince”, it seems, confirms the treaty but the little horn brings it down.
Could it be that antichrist’s appearance will first be in the Temple itself? Paul says he will be there, claiming to be God. That would certainly put an end to Jewish sacrifices! I believe this is what Jesus means when he says that there will be yet another “abomination of desolation” in the last days. He says it is the one spoken of by the prophet Daniel. It is an abomination so great that neither the former Antiochus who sacrificed pigs on the Temple altar, or the Roman Titus, who raised up idols there, could fulfill it. The final abomination is a man himself claiming to be the Lord God.
Another word about number seven. If Babylon is Rome, and the Pope is the head of Babylon, is it possible that the seventh king is the last Pope, a political master-mind who aggressively spreads religion by the sword in connection with other great religions such as Islam? And rather than killing him, will the antichrist, number eight, ask him merely to join his team? Will number seven in fact become the false prophet? We read of no murder. There are two men who rule the world at the end, beast and false prophet. Could they be number seven, and eight together?
Number eight (17:11). He is a composite of all the evil men who have blasphemed God, grabbed authority, ruled from Babylon, and hated God’s people. He will have direct infusion of Satanic power, claim to be God, sit in God’s temple. He rises from the dead, reigns three and one half years with incredible world-wide power, and is then slain by Christ himself, and dumped in the lake of fire.
The “ten kings” (17:12) have been with us since Daniel’s prophecy also. Sometimes they are ten toes, sometimes ten horns, but always they are the final world government. Most have theorized them to be a revived Roman Empire with ten nations. In light of the fact that the beast rises from the sea, that is, the Mediterranean, we may look for a Mediterranean alliance composed of European and Islamic nations, or worse, a Europe too that is Muslim by then.
Some see Rome as the capital of a world divided into ten districts. In John’s day, the entity itself (ten nations) did not exist, only the parent (Roman Empire). This will be a new thing, but somehow connected to and growing out of the old, as feet are connected to ankles, but are not ankles. Ruler seven will, I believe, be the first ruler of this domain, but then the short reign of antichrist will follow, as the ten (17:13) are either mesmerized or intimidated into turning the kingdom over to him.
Now the narrative moves ahead of the present considerations to that tragic decision of antichrist, fed by demon spirits who collect men from all over the world, to oppose Jesus upon His descent from Heaven (17:14. 16:14, 19:19). Notice here John’s persistent usage of the term “Lamb” when speaking of Jesus (5:6-13, 6:1&16, 7:9-17, 12:11, 13:8, 14:1-4, 15:3, 17:14, 19:7-9, 21:14-23, 22:1-3). Here he also mentions the church that is with Him, for by this point in the story, namely the war against Jesus (19:14-19), all the people of God from all time will be with Him in the air. What a formidable army! The Lord of Lords with His redeemed and empowered saints! And the angels! Oh how “I want to be in that number.”
The angel returns to a description of the harlot and her relationship to the beast (17:15-16). The woman is, for a long time, spiritual head of the planet, all its tongues and divisions. But at the end, as antichrist desires all men to worship him alone, all other religions are destroyed and re-programmed for a more direct channel to himself.
Next we see all of the Empire, totally under the grasp of Satan and his man, turning on Babylon, the former glory of the nations, and burning her (17:16-17). All of the next chapter (18) is a description of this tragedy. It is God filling the hearts of these evil men so that they desire to do His will. Pharaoh experienced such a “change of heart”.
Now we go to a study of the fall and funeral of the “great city”, followed immediately by the return of Jesus.
Close Up
The Fall of Babylon
18:1-19:10
What begins in 18:1 is a separate vision from chapter 17, but not a separate subject. Another angel is used. In this chapter there is no imagery, only facts. The fact of Babylon’s fall, the fact of those who mourn her. The announcement is made by an angel of great authority. May I suggest that this could be the great archangel spoken of by the apostle Paul in I Thessalonians 4:16? In connection with Paul’s description of His coming, a full account of which immediately follows in 19:11-16, there is the “voice of the archangel.” The message of that Voice only lasts through verse 3. Then another voice reminds people of God of all generations to stay clear of Babylon. Now that same destruction, seemingly already past in verses 1-3, is back to the future in most of the rest of the chapter.
In 18:2 the angel says what we heard in 14:8 and 16:19. Consider the echoing of the phrase “is fallen.” The original, in Isaiah 21:9, is the same. Babylon is fallen, is fallen. Could it be that this double announcement is to lead us to believe that there are two Babylons? There was that original city, now in ruins, yet never destroyed as God had promised, with violent suddenness. Then there is Babylon on the Tiber, according to chapter 17. Rome, and the kingdom centered there. Are they both to fall at this time? Of course Babylon would have to be rebuilt. Has not Saddam been working on that? Is the war against Iraq going to cause Iraq’s expansion, and a new day for her?
Or has Rome been so taken over by Islamic culture that she is christened "Babylon" in the last days?
It seems odd to hear in the 90’s A.D. a prophecy about a city that was supposed to have been finished centuries before. Here is a mystery indeed for believers to continue to investigate. Wrestle with God until every syllable of every text involved is crystal clear. It is not good enough to have most of the mystery resolved. There are answers for every riddle. I believe those who want to know these things will know them more and more as the Day draws near.
A continuing description of Babylon’s destruction, as the chapter progresses, sometimes matches word for word the picture painted by Isaiah of the original city in Isaiah 13, 14, 34. Read them and see for yourself! One significant difference in the angel’s words, however, is the addition of demon spirits to the mix. This coming horror is not just a human tragedy. Babylon will be Satan’s masterpiece. It will now bear Satan’s mark. It will be on earth the gathering place of all that is evil, a veritable prison holding the enemy captive until its new home, the Lake of fire, is prepared to receive him.
18:3 takes us back to 17:2, and explains to us how the evil centered in Rome/Babylon has infected, as with a deadly virus, all the nations.
Another voice (18:4). Back from the future, and into the present again. People of God! Come out of her! As the prophet Isaiah warned (48:20, 51:45, 52:11), and as the apostle Paul echoed, also using Isaiah (II Corinthians 6:17). Notice that Paul’s quote from Isaiah is not exact. He is speaking as the Spirit gives him utterance here. He says, Do not even touch what is unclean. Distance yourself from this world except where absolutely necessary!
18:5 continues the rationale for separation from the evil of this world. The cup of iniquity is full. It is time for judgment. Don’t be anywhere near that which God hates so much.
The request for judgment (18:6-7). The announcement has already been made. The innocent are being asked to step aside, so that judgment can fall. Though it seems that believers themselves are being told to do the judging of Babylon, looking at the end of verse 8 lets us know that it is God who does this, and in 17:16 we find His servants for this destruction: the antichrist Kingdom itself throws Babylon off and tramples her. Jesus, though He is very near at this point, has not yet come and rendered direct judgment. He is using forces of nature and forces of war.
Here in verses 6 and 7 we get more insights into who this woman is. Her demeanor is that of a proud queen that cannot be removed from the Throne. She believes she is God’s representative on earth and therefore deserves every luxury and every privilege. How mistaken she is. God’s true representatives on earth are like Jesus, and the mind that is in them inevitably leads them to wash disciples’ feet and die on a cross. Let us beware the evil of our hearts that wants to think in terms of deserving blessings. Let us always approach the Throne of Mercy as humble subjects of the King, knowing we are friends of the Court, but knowing also how undeserving is that friendship.
Note the quickness of the judgment to come (18:8): In 8, “...her plagues will come in one day.” In 10, “...in one hour your judgment has come.” In 17, “...in one hour such great riches came to nothing.” In 19, “...in one hour she is made desolate.” Sounds very much like the instant end of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or even much worse. One day Babylon flourishes. The next she is gone.
Then begins the pitiful lament, the funeral song by the great men of earth for the great city of Babylon (18:9). These world leaders obviously have no part in her destruction, as this is a work of the ten horns Empire. This separation of powers is one clue that the ten-district theory of end-time government will not hold. Why would world powers mourn Babylon’s fall if they all were responsible for it? Better to think in terms of the “United States of the Mediterranean”, a confederation of ten states located roughly in the territory once called the Roman Empire. However the worldwide connection to the beast and the harlot becomes obvious here. When she is gone, their own status is ruined. She was the supplier as well as the recipient of their goods, the supreme trading city of earth.
Before we continue we must take a look at this New Testament Babylon, the city of Rome, today. She does not seem to be all that powerful now. Here at the beginning of the twenty-first century , in fact, where is there anywhere, except America, a metropolis that fits the words of Revelation 18, soon to follow in our reading? We are looking for an unequaled center of trade (18:11-20), a center of music, commerce, religion, military might (18:21-24). One can imagine why some have thought that Babylon is really America today! Elements of Babylon are certainly in this country. But we are looking for a city that meets the description. New York? Washington? Los Angeles?
If we look at our world and do not see what the Bible says, let us be careful not to invent something for God. The Bible still mentions only one candidate, in two forms, for this final city. The city must be Babylon or that which became Babylon in the eyes of the Revelator of this book, namely the city of Rome. If neither of those candidates match up today (Rome or a re-built Babylon), we need to give them time to blossom. God’s Word cannot be inaccurate. I believe that either one or both of those cities will ultimately rise to fulfill their place in history.
Now, can Rome rise again? When the Pope is able to convince all religions to come together, Rome can rise. When the Pope can persuade the people of Jerusalem that he indeed is the one who can successfully solve the Middle east conflict through internationalizing Jerusalem, Rome can rise. When the nations of earth look for a return to the glory years, and financial prosperity, in a United States of Europe, Rome can rise. It was at the treaty of Rome, in 1957, that Europe began a rise to modern power. That cannot be a coincidence.
A curious insight is related in 18:10-11: The kings of the earth all seem to be near while Babylon is being destroyed, but they deliberately “stand at a distance.” Is this because the sixth-bowl demons (16:14) have gathered them in one place for the coming battle against God Almighty? It would seem so. This is, after all, the last of the last days. Antichrist is furiously releasing every evil force at his command and has just “dropped the bomb” on Babylon. In verse 15 the earth’s merchants, many of them on hand to trade, also have to step back.
“Alas” , an expression of sorrowful shock, is used only in this chapter of the New Testament. Even sin-minded plague-devastated humans will be shocked when they see Babylon fall.
A catalog of the merchandise about to be lost to the world system (18:12-14) Strange creatures, these humans. The sun has been darkened. Millions of people are dead all over the earth. Nature and human nature are at their worst, and yet their greedy souls are concerned more about the money they will lose on things than that the world is falling apart. Come to think of it, that is not far from the description of our own world. The love of money drives the hearts of men in the face of world catastrophes even now.
Here is the list of grieved merchandise in the categories given:
(1) gold, silver, precious stones, pearls,
(2) fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet,
(3) types of wood, ivory, bronze, iron, marble,
(4) cinnamon, incense, fragrant oil, frankincense,
(5) wine, oil, flour, wheat, fruit,
(6) cattle, sheep, horses/chariots,
(7) the bodies and souls of men! (slavery, which never ended),
(8) “rich and splendid things” covers all else.
This is a list of products to be found in the final capital of the world. How stands that description at this hour? Rome must surely rise again. What about now? Is she a major trading city today? Is slavery there, other than the spiritual bondage for which she is famous? The word of God, every word, is pure. When this city exists, it will be obvious.
18:15 echoes verse 10 , but speaks of merchants instead of world leaders. The same pattern for naval personnel is found in 18:17. 18:16 brings us back to 17:4 and reminds us that indeed, chapters 17 and 18 speak of the same place.
The funeral song neatly divides into three portions. The kings of the earth, 18:9-10, the merchants in 18:11-17a , and the navy in 18:17b, 18-19. Political, financial, and military grief. Babylon is gone. Notice the similarity of their songs: They all start out “Alas, alas that great city…,” and then they add their own personal perspective of the description of that place. Following this it is, “for in one hour…” God has destroyed her, and the city has come to desolate nothingness.
Heaven responds with three categories of worshipers, rejoicing in the moment (18:20-21)! The holy apostles, the prophets, the angels of heaven. There is no sorrow. For the happiness of man was never the purpose of Heaven. Rather, the glory of God! God has gotten glory from this vengeance. Let no voice of sympathy for those “poor humans” be voiced! Mercy is now being expressed in new ways: A merciful God has rid the earth of this cancer that once poisoned all it contacted. Earth is being purified, God is being glorified. So be it!
The angel’s pronouncement (18:21). And is this any different from what the Old Testament writers saw of Babylon? Did they see some gradual falling away of the city? Jeremiah 51:8 : “Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed.” More to the point, the finality and speed of Babylon’s fall are explicitly demonstrated by the command of Jeremiah to Seraiah the quartermaster(Jeremiah 51:59-64) to take his book of prophecy about Babylon, tie a stone to it, and throw it into the Euphrates River. This was to be the sign that Babylon would not recover from its tragedy.
But wait! Babylon only slowly drifted away from prominence, being for scores of years after its takeover a coveted jewel of world conquerors. As John wrote these words on Babylon, a strong Jewish community lived there!
Babylon’s full fate seems to be yet future as Revelation 18:21 points out again: Here Jeremiah’s picture is revived. This time it is not the quartermaster but a master angel who picks up a stone and throws it. The sea is the recipient now (and there is no sea around old Babylon!) but the message is the same: Babylon is to be thrown down once and for all and never be found again!
Time and nature eventually took ancient Babylon from power. But this was not God’s final plan. The spirit ruling old Babylon entered the city and governance of Rome, raising it to prominence among the earth’s billions, and thus making her ripe for judgment as though she were indeed Babylon! This will not be a repeat performance, for the original sentence was never carried out. This will be the first and last time. Yes, when all that is Babylon is scheduled for judgment, that judgment will be swift and sure, “for strong is the Lord God Who judges her” (18:8).
Next comes yet another list, this time of things which shall never be in this city again (18:22-23): all manner of musicians, craftsmen of every sort, light, weddings and all of human life. It is finished.
Perhaps the most fascinating statement of all is saved until the end of the chapter (18:24): The blood of prophets (God’s spokesmen), saints (all of God’s people), and all of earth’s slain too, is somehow tied to this city of Babylon. Back to Jeremiah 51 for light on this. 51:49: “As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall…” God never forgot what Babylon did to His people. That same spirit of Babylon entered Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, Romanism and kept hurting God’s people and God’s spokesmen. Always the descendants of Nimrod have hated God’s men and even caused all the other problems of earth. Everything Babylon has done is now being judged in one fell swoop, one mighty moment of power and destruction and vengeance.
Perhaps it is permissible to think of it this way: When God spoke to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, he was really speaking to Satan, His enemy. And when God spoke to old Babylon about judgment, perhaps it is possible He was speaking to the spirit of that city, personified in Revelation as a Harlot. He knew that evil personage inside the city would regroup and eventually form a Babylon greater and more powerful than the first. That city would then be destroyed as Babylon the first never was.
The response to Babylon’s fall is continued in chapter 19, where (19:1-3) the multitudes of Heaven including the 24 elders and living creatures (19:4) we met at the beginning of the story, shed not one tear for the world-corrupting prostitute. The lady who had the reins of the beast for all these centuries is down and out (19:2). Yet her people will never be “extinct” (19:3) as we are reminded again here of the eternity of God’s judgment. Now remains only the beast himself, seemingly running wildly out of control, but his day is soon to arrive .
In 19:5, an angel, we assume, commands worship to the Lord, reminding us that the eternal focus of Heaven and Heaven’s would-be citizens is to be the Lord God Himself, not even His justice. 19:6 is the response of the multitude of verse one to the angel’s orders.
The announcement of the Marriage Supper (19:7-10). In verse 7 is the book’s first mention of a Marriage Supper. No, it did not already happen somewhere three and a half or seven years ago. No, it was not a secret banquet, hidden from “Tribulation saints” because of their lukewarmness. Where did we get these ideas? The banquet is here initially announced, and it looks as though it will take place in the immediate future. But first things first. There will be another less tantalizing supper before it. Just for the record, the actual celebration of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb itself is nowhere recorded in Scripture.
Here once more is a demonstration of the indefensibility of a pre-tribulation rapture during which believers are feasting around a table with Jesus while some lower-life tribulation saints bear horrible burdens. I think it is clear by this time in the story that the tribulation is past. Babylon is fallen. Heaven is rejoicing. Now let’s celebrate with the church, says the Lord! By the way, that celebration will be on earth! Jesus promised the same to His followers.
Matthew 26:26 ff relates the institution of the memorial supper, to be celebrated for the duration of the church age. What strange things have been done with what could not be simpler to understand: take some bread, take some wine, let them symbolize what I did for you, so you won’t forget it! And Jesus lets us know in this original statement that, not only is this a memorial of what He did, but a preview of what is coming. Yes, there is a spiritual wine, a spiritual fellowship, a spiritual table, in this Spirit-filled age of ours. But I am speaking as I believe Jesus was, of a literal fulfillment of this prophecy. The angel is here summoning all to a feast. Jesus the man will actually return and eat and drink real food, as he did once before in His resurrected Body. This will be “when the Kingdom of God comes,” Luke 22:18. Jesus even told a story about a wedding feast (Matthew 22). He implied there that fathers giving banquets for their about-to-be-married sons is the norm. It is not mere allegory that calls us the Bride of Christ. That is how he views us and that is how He will receive us on that day. Our union will be celebrated before the entire world!
Notice (19:8) that this bride is dressed in fine linen, and that this clothing is said to represent the righteousness of the saints. There will be real clothing but the thing represented is even more important: the fact that Christ has given us of His righteousness and caused us to be righteous like Him. God had promised (Romans 8:29) to conform us to the image of His Son, and now it is accomplished.
In the next scene (19:14) of this drama, this same linen-clothed multitude is sitting atop white horses, prepared to invade earth. As always they have no fear of dirtying their garments, for the Lord God Who is strong to save and to judge will be doing all the work, and cutting a path through the heavens and the horrors of earth, directly to the Holy City and the Place where the Banquet Hall will soon be prepared.
Why does John fall to worship (19:9-10)? The “he” of verse 9 is either one of the 24 elders or, more likely, an angel. He is a fellow-servant of John. He, like John, serves the Lord God. He has the testimony of Jesus, and so does John, as John himself witnessed in his letter (I John 5:10) . In 22:9 a clearly-defined angel describes himself in the same way to the apostle, just after John –again– tries to worship him! The citizens of that land have so much of the brightness and glory of Jesus in them that, for an un-changed earthling, they must all seem like gods! Within a few years, John himself would wear that glory!
So this angel, who has called him to write (19:9), thus consistently being the dictator of Christ’s message (1:1), stops John’s attempts cold, then gives us a thought worth pondering, worth applying to our own lives lest we fall into a similar problem. Too often we enter into hero-worship, or even delude ourselves into thinking there is something intrinsically wonderful about our own person, when God begins to use us and speak to us and through us . Oh we have the message of the Lord flowing through us, the “testimony of Jesus.” But remember the angel’s word: Worship God! Don’t look at me! The message of Jesus that we are proclaiming is the very essence of the prophecy you are hearing at our lips. But, the source of it all is God. Worship Him! In ourselves we do nothing, know nothing. God is all, and is in all.
