The Revelation 17:  

                                  Reading #449  Babylon the great

This week we can read chapter 17 in its context.  Most of it we have already covered, but now we should be able to see extra points of interest.

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Revelation 17:

1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying to me, “Come hither; I will show to you the judgment [expose the character] of the great whore that sits upon many waters: 2 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”.

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It was important that John (and us) understand just who the “whore” is, and her position in the world.  God thinks of her as a dissolute woman because although she professes to be the bride of Christ (or sometimes just a follower of God), she maintains a relationship with politicians, and confuses the people who support her.  In the past most of us have thought of her only as the Roman Catholic church, but that is a very shallow interpretation, for here she is described as GREAT Babylon.  Because she rides the “beast” which represents ALL of Satan’s political forces on earth, she represents ALL of Satan’s religious forces wherever they may be and whatever they profess.  The Spirit wants us to know the character of these systems because although they always look attractive at first glance, in reality they are “ravenous wolves”.  There is NO religious organisation on earth which follows the God of mercy for long!  Even if the founders of such groups are sincere, all too soon the desire for supremacy leads the subsequent leaders of religions to begin to impose their views and ideas on the majority, and the pattern of clergy and laity emerges, which God “hates”, for we are all equal in His sight, and should be so in each other’s.  Revelation 2:6; Matthew 23:8. 

We should all be “endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace [for] there is [only] one body, and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling; one LORD, one faith, one baptism . . .”   Ephesians 4:3-5.  One of our messages as “Elijahs” of the last days is; “How long halt you between two opinions?  If the LORD [the Shepherd] be God, follow Him: but if [He is] Baal [the fighting god], then follow him’.  And the people answered him not a word [for they couldn’t tell the difference and had often been fooled]”.  1 Kings 18:21.

God tells us, for example, “And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon [the man of God] was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim [assorted Baals], and made Baalberith [the idol of the covenant] their [main] god”.  Judges 8:33.  Baal (aka Satan) manifests himself in many different ways, but all are designed to draw away from the God of love.  Most Bible students miss the fact that there are two gods operating in the Old Testament – the God of mercy and the god of force – and blame the actions and principles of one on the Other.  This pattern is easily seen when Joshua met the Captain of the LORD’s host outside of Jericho.    

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Judges 5:

13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a Man over against him with His sword drawn in His hand: and Joshua went to Him, and said to Him, “Are You for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And He said, “Nay; but as Captain [Leader] of the host of the LORD am I now come”.  And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said to Him, “What says my LORD to His servant?” [What do You want me to do?]  15 And the Captain of the LORD'S host said to Joshua, “Loose your shoe from off your foot; for the place whereon you stand is holy”.  And Joshua did so [thus showing that he acknowledged that this Person was the Son of God].  

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Even though the LORD had a drawn sword in His hand, it had been said,

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Deuteronomy 7:

20 Moreover the LORD your God will send “the Hornet” [a symbol of the Holy Spirit in convicting power] among them [which will cause them to destroy one another if they are not converted], until they that are left, and hide themselves from you, be destroyed [by self-destruction]. 21 You shall not be frightened at them: for the LORD your God is among you, a mighty God and terrible [who deals in mercy and strict justice]. 

     [Rahab and her family were saved when they followed God’s way. Joshua 6:23.] 

22 And the LORD your God will put out those nations before you by little and little: you may not consume them at once [or take over their land immediately], lest the beasts of the field [the wild animals] increase upon you. 

[Then He mentioned their part in the take over.]  23 But the LORD your God shall deliver them to [for] you, and [the Spirit] shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed. 24 And He shall deliver their kings [their kingdoms] into your hand, and you shall destroy their name [their memory] from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before you, until you have destroyed them [eliminated their memory in the land].

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So why the drawn sword?  Because the LORD knew that Joshua and the Israelites were determined to physically attack the city against His original word, and now He had to set certain ground rules for the war. 

(It is a principle of the kingdom of heaven that God first proposes a direction that will cover with fairness and justice all who are involved.  But when His people want their own way, He will then modify His approach to work in with them till they find out that their idea is not good, and He then gets His choice in another way. It is written, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all”.  Isaiah 53:1.  Because we often do not obey God, but choose our own way and follow our own perverted imagination, Baal (Satan) is permitted to set up his hellish banner over us temporarily, and this is what had happened to Joshua at that time.  He wanted to conquer!)

The Son of God had said to him, “See, I have given into your hand Jericho, and THE KING THEREOF, AND THE MIGHTY MEN OF VALOUR [the fighting population, which was fair and just in a mutually aggressive situation].  And you shall compass the city, all you men of war, and go round about the city once.  Thus shall you do six days”.  [And we all know what happened.] Judges 6:2-3.

But in zeal for his Captain, Joshua added to the words of the LORD on the day and told his army, “Shout; for the LORD has given you the city. And the city shall be accursed(?), even it, AND ALL THAT ARE THEREIN, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent . . .  And [in their blood-lust] they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old [babies!], and ox, and sheep, and ass [and maybe the canaries!], with the edge of the sword”.  Judges 6:16-21.  The LORD has been blamed for that influence of Baal ever since!  Not until we can separate them in our minds can we read the Old Testament correctly.

God’s representative group on earth constantly turned away from His guidance right from the beginning.  He says of them during the exodus, “Have you offered to Me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?  But you have borne the tabernacle of YOUR Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of YOUR god, which you made to yourselves.  Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, says the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts”.  Amos 5:25-27. Another translation puts it like this: “²⁵ Did you bring me sacrifices and grain offerings in the desert for 40 years, nation of Israel? ²⁶ You carried along the statues of {the god} Sikkuth as your king and the star Kiyyun, the gods you made for yourselves”. (God’s Word.)

Anyhow, back to John’s vision:

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Revelation 17:  

3 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. 4 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:

5 And upon her forehead was a name written,

MYSTERY,

BABYLON THE GREAT,

THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND

ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.  

  17:6   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. 

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Both the beast and the woman are clothed in “scarlet” which is the colour of sin.  “ . . . though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool”. Isaiah 1:18.  Thus God makes no distinction between the beast and its rider, for unregenerate nature wherever it is found (in church or out) is the same – all want to be “kings” and control the lives of others – most are just not successful.

We have already noted that the crowns are missing in this vision, which places the ruling systems in a vacuum, because (as more and more elections show today by their close figures), no one really wants a “boss” over them, but in national systems rulers are a necessary evil even though they all love power and money.  The electors simply can’t make up their minds which one is the least worse!  However, one day the time of Baals will run out, for God says, “You shall take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, ‘How has the oppressor ceased!  The golden city [the exactress of gold, margin] ceased!’”  Isaiah 14:4.

Satan’s religious systems have many variations, but one is usually called “mother” [not Father].  In the worldwide situation “Christendom” is that system, while within Christendom it is the Roman Catholic church which claims that title (and receives it from many other professed Christian churches – who are called by God its “daughters”).  That’s where our greatest danger lies today – we are prone to accept the churches claim that they are “living Christian systems” while ignoring God’s statement that they are not! 

He says:

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Revelation 3:

1 And to the angel of the church in Sardis [the Protestants] write; These things says He that has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know your works, that you have a name [amongst men] that you live, and [in My sight] are dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found your works perfect before God.

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While we should not deny the fact that most of God’s true-hearted people are in those systems today, we should be aware that they are not “obedient” Christians, because while the Spirit has been calling them since 1844 to “Come out of her, MY people” (and hopefully we have been adding our voices to the call), THEY ARE STILL THERE.  Think back to the days before you became a Sabbath-keeper and remember how the Spirit called you out.  When you responded you became “obedient” and therefore took one step closer to perfection.  Fortunately, their separation does not depend on hearing our voices, but on them accepting the Spirit’s call, for Jesus also says, “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd”.  John 10:16.

When John saw the “drunkenness” of the woman (and her daughters, for spiritual intoxication is a family matter) he was amazed and saddened at its effects upon his brethren, the Sabbath-keepers.  

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Revelation 17:

7 And the angel said to me, “Wherefore 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 ten horns.  

8 The beast that you saw was [ruling],

             and is not [now];

and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit [to rule again],

and go into perdition [in the end]:

and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder [admire], 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 [ruling again].  

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John’s angel guide explained that the woman and the beast would reappear in history and with their sophistries take over the world.  ALL the people of the world (except those who stay close to God’s word), will be taken in by Satan and will accept one of his rules in place of the love of God, for it suits their natures. There is nothing new in this, because Bible history has shown us that very experience being repeated from the “head” to the “toes” in the book of Daniel.  (See chapter 2.)  But the next manifestation will be the last!

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Revelation 17:

9 And here is the mind which has [spiritual] wisdom. 

The seven heads are [also] seven mountains, on which the woman sits.

   10 And there are seven kings:

five are fallen,

and one is,

and the other is not yet come;

and when he comes, he must continue a short space.  

 

11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition.

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By showing us the past, the Spirit explains the future.  Literal Babylon and the other kingdoms have come and gone, and God’s word proved correct.  After the present day hiatus, we can expect a new “ruler” which will only last a short time before handing over to the full domination of Satan’s kingdom.  The eighth “head” will not be different, only greater in scope.

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Revelation 17:  

12 And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength to the beast.  

14 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.

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In my library, the horns are described in this manner:

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What is it that gives its kingdom to this power? Protestantism, a power which, while professing to have the temper and spirit of a lamb and to be allied to Heaven, speaks with the voice of a dragon.  It is moved by a power from beneath . . .  (Letter 232, 1899).   {7BC 983.5}

“These have one mind”.  There will be a universal bond of union, one great harmony, a confederacy of Satan's forces.  “And shall give their power and strength to the beast”.  Thus is manifested the same arbitrary, oppressive power against religious liberty, freedom to worship God according to the dictates of conscience, as was manifested by the papacy, when in the past it persecuted those who dared to refuse to conform with the religious rites and ceremonies of Romanism.   

In the warfare to be waged in the last days there will be united, in opposition to God's people, all the corrupt powers that have apostatized from allegiance to the law of the LORD [which all men have done since Adam].  In this warfare the Sabbath of the fourth commandment will be the great point at issue; for in the Sabbath commandment the great Lawgiver identifies Himself as the Creator of the heavens and the earth. 

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When the leaders of the religions of the world get the opportunity to impose their views on the general population, they will not be slow to act, for the “horns” will wear the crowns in the last days!  Revelation 13:1.  Their energies will be devoted to forcing the views of their master “Baal”, and worldwide religious persecution will become the norm.  Fortunately, although it may appear hopeless to the Christians of that time, we have the word of the Son of God that He will win in the end. 

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Revelation 17: 

15 And he says to me, “The waters which you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues”.

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The “Euphrates” of “Babylon” is described as being representative of the peoples of the nations which will one day wake up the fact that it is their support (obtained by deception, - self deception) which keeps such systems operating. 

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Revelation 17:

16 And the ten horns which you saw 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. 17 For God has put in their hearts to fulfil His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

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When at last the voice of God can speak home to them with terrifying conviction, they will then use their learned hatred against their former masters, and will attempt to destroy the clergy of their systems.

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Revelation 17:  

18 And the woman which you saw is that great city [GREAT Babylon], which reigns over the kings of the earth.

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Here the Spirit confirms that great Babylon which speaks with many tongues, will eventually achieve a temporary harmony (but clay cannot stick to iron for long).  What happens then? 

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Daniel 2:

43 And whereas you saw iron [the nations] mixed with miry [wet and dirty] clay [the religions], they [the clergy] shall mingle themselves with the seed of men [the politicians]: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay [for they both want the same thing, supremacy].

44 And in the days of these kings [the ten toes/horns] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it [the stone] shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 45 Forasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain [of God] without [human] hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

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Bye for now, 

RonP

Some of the comments in these readings are adapted from books in my library.  No recognition is given because they are not intended as authorities, but are used because they express my understanding clearly.   All the ideas expressed in these readings, right or wrong, are my own.  Some of these readings are available at

http://www.oocities.org/weprotest.geo/BibleReadings/books_index.html

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