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Antichrist and the End Times

Antichrist and the End Times. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon (Revelation 17). Revelation 17 - Babylon.

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Antichrist and the End Times

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  1. Antichrist and the End Times AET-069 and 070 – Babylon (Revelation 17)

  2. Revelation 17 - Babylon • ONE OF the seven angels who had the seven bowls then came and spoke to me, saying, Come with me! I will show you the doom (sentence, judgment) of the great harlot (idolatress) who is seated on many waters, [Jer. 51:13.] • 2 [She] with whom the rulers of the earth have joined in prostitution (idolatry) and with the wine of whose immorality (idolatry) the inhabitants of the earth have become intoxicated. [Jer. 25:15, 16.] AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  3. Revelation 17 - Babylon • 3 And [the angel] bore me away [rapt] in the Spirit into a desert (wilderness), and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet beast that was all covered with blasphemous titles (names), and he had seven heads and ten horns. • 4 The woman was robed in purple and scarlet and bedecked with gold, precious stones, and pearls, [and she was] holding in her hand a golden cup full of the accursed offenses and the filth of her lewdness and vice. [Jer. 51:7.] AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  4. Revelation 17 - Babylon • 5 And on her forehead there was inscribed a name of mystery [with a secret symbolic meaning]: Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes (idolatresses) and of the filth and atrocities and abominations of the earth. • 6 I also saw that the woman was drunk, [drunk] with the blood of the saints (God’s people) and the blood of the martyrs [who witnessed] for Jesus. And when I saw her, I was utterly amazed and wondered greatly. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  5. Revelation 17 - Babylon • 7 But the angel said to me, Why do you wonder? I will explain to you the [secret symbolic meaning of the] mystery of the woman, as well as of the beast having the seven heads and ten horns that carries her. • 8 The beast that you saw [once] was, but [now] is no more, and he is going to come up out of the Abyss (the bottomless pit) and proceed to go to perdition. And the inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been recorded in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will be astonished when they look at the beast, because he [once] was, but [now] is no more, and he is [yet] to come. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  6. Revelation 17 - Babylon • 9 This calls for a mind [to consider that is packed] with wisdom and intelligence [it is something for a particular mode of thinking and judging of thoughts, feelings, and purposes]. The seven heads are seven hills upon which the woman is sitting; • 10 And they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one still exists [and is reigning]; the other [the seventh] has not yet appeared, and when he does arrive, he must stay [but] a brief time. • 11 And as for the beast that [once] was, but now is no more, he [himself] is an eighth ruler (king, head), but he is of the seven and belongs to them, and he goes to perdition AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  7. Revelation 17 - Babylon • 12 Also the ten horns that you observed are ten rulers (kings) who have as yet received no royal dominion, but together they are to receive power and authority as rulers for a single hour, along with the beast. [Dan. 7:20-24.] • 13 These have one common policy (opinion, purpose), and they deliver their power and authority to the beast. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  8. Revelation 17 - Babylon • 14 They will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them; for He is Lord of lords and King of kings—and those with Him and on His side are chosen and called [elected] and loyal and faithful followers. [Dan. 2:47.] • 15 And [the angel further] said to me, The waters that you observed, where the harlot is seated, are races and multitudes and nations and dialects (languages). AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  9. Revelation 17 - Babylon • 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will [be the very ones to] hate the harlot (the idolatrous woman); they will make her cheerless (bereaved, desolate), and they will strip her and eat up her flesh and utterly consume her with fire. • 17 For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His own purpose by acting in harmony in surrendering their royal power and authority to the beast, until the prophetic words (intentions and promises) of God shall be fulfilled. • 18 And the woman that you saw is herself the great city which dominates and controls the rulers and the leaders of the earth. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  10. Revelation 17 - Babylon • Baker Exegetical Commentary: In the sixth vision John shows the defeat of the woman called the great prostitute and Babylon the Great (chap. 17). • The next chapter is an account of the fall of Babylon and its empire (chap. 18). • These two chapters are followed, first, by the celebration of the wedding of the bride and the Lamb; next, by the battle the victorious Christ wages against the forces of the evil one; and last, by the beast and the false prophet who are cast into the lake of fire while the rest of Christ’s opponents are killed with his sword (chap. 19). AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  11. Revelation 17 - Babylon • How does this sixth vision relate to the preceding chapter? • To get an overview we have to go back to the three cycles of seals, trumpets, and plagues. • These cycles show similarities with respect to the seventh one in each series, because each seventh one has its location in heaven. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  12. Revelation 17 - Babylon • The seventh seal introduces a period of silence in heaven (8:1); when the seventh trumpet was blown, loud voices were heard in heaven (11:15); and after the seventh bowl was poured out, a loud voice from the throne in heaven said, "It is done" (16:17). • At the end of these seven-part cycles there is further information on the end of time. • But even though the seventh plague is the last one for all three series, there are still more details. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  13. Revelation 17 - Babylon • Hence, chapters 17 and 18 provide a detailed discussion on the sixth and seventh plagues (16:12–21). • Chapter 17 presents a description of the great prostitute and the spiritual war that the kings of the earth fight against the Lamb, while chapter 18 describes the economic downfall of the world. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  14. Revelation 17 - Babylon • The name Babylon the Great appears in both chapters 17 and 18. • With the help of an ancient Roman coin depicting the goddess Roma sitting on seven hills and quotations from Roman historiographers (17:9), [some] scholars interpret Babylon as a reference to Rome.2 • But identifying Babylon with Rome as the great prostitute is by itself restrictive and time-bound. • To illustrate, the woman in chapter 12 is a symbol of [Israel] and in chapter 19 she is the bride of the Lamb. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  15. Revelation 17 - Babylon • By contrast, the woman in chapter 17 is called Babylon the Great, the mother of prostitutes, and the mother of the earth’s abominations (v. 5). • This woman is the great temptress, seducer, and liar in the service of Satan and the beast. • She has been in this service not only during the days of John but from the time of the Fall and will be until the consummation. • Also, at the same time this woman appears as a great metropolis that in consequence of God’s judgment loses all her commercial and financial riches (18:11–24). AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  16. Revelation 17 - Babylon • In view of Satan’s short time on earth (12:12), I interpret chapter 17 as a picture of the beast’s forces pitted against God but losing the battle in the end. • The prostitute rides on this beast that has seven heads and ten horns: "[We] see the beast that was and is not and will come" (v. 8). • In short, the beast has a long history, is present today, and eventually will go to his destruction. • This beast transcends the successive empires of the world, including the Roman empire, while all along the prostitute is sitting on his back. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  17. Revelation 17 - Babylon • John first depicts the great prostitute who with the kings of the earth revels in her adulteries (vv. 1–2). • Then he outlines her association with the beast of seven heads and ten horns (vv. 3–8). Third, he presents a time frame during which the kings of the earth war against the Lamb, who will conquer them (vv. 9–14). • And last, John gives an explanation of the symbols of the waters on which the woman sits, and of the woman herself as "The great city which has a kingdom over the kings of the earth" (vv. 15–18). AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  18. Revelation 17 - Babylon • A. Introduction • 17:1–2 • 1. And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came, talked to me, and said, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters. 2. The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her and the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk with the wine of her fornication." AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  19. Revelation 17 - Babylon • a. "And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came, talked to me, and said." • Here is an indication that this chapter gives a further elaboration of the sixth and seventh plagues presented in the preceding chapter (16:12–21). • One of the seven angels who poured out the bowls of God’s wrath addresses John. • We have no indication whether this angel was the sixth or the seventh one, but this is insignificant. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  20. Revelation 17 - Babylon • b. "‘Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters.’ " • The angel invited John to come with him to view the judgment scene in which the verdict had been handed down to the notorious harlot representing Babylon. • The verdict indeed was an accomplished fact, for her doom was sealed. • The Old Testament prophets brought God’s judgments against Babylon in terms of utter destruction and being forever uninhabited (see Isa. 13:19–22; Jer. 50:39; 51:37). AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  21. Revelation 17 - Babylon • The prophets attached the name prostitute to the cities of Tyre (Isa. 23:15–17), Nineveh (Nah. 3:4), and Jerusalem (Isa. 1:21; Jer. 2:20; Ezek. 16:15), but not to Babylon. • Yet here the angel portrayed Babylon the Great, called the mother of prostitutes (v. 5), [maybe] not as a rebuilt city but as a symbol of all evil directed against God. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  22. Revelation 17 - Babylon • Ancient Babylon was situated along the banks of the Euphrates, where numerous canals provided water for transportation and irrigation purposes (Jer. 51:13). • But because this ancient city was completely destroyed and depopulated, the text should not be interpreted literally. • The text reveals symbolism, evident in the two expressions prostitute and many waters. • These two should be interpreted not literally but spiritually. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  23. Revelation 17 - Babylon • First, the great harlot’s goal is to lead people wherever possible away from Christ; hence, she is the exact opposite of the church that seeks to lead all people everywhere to Christ. • Next, John explains the term many waters as "The peoples and the crowds and nations and languages" of the world (v. 15). • They are the restless waves of humanity controlled by this vile harlot. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  24. Revelation 17 - Babylon • c. "The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk with the wine of her fornication." • Note there is repetition of the concept fornicate, which occurs three times in these two verses: the noun prostitute specifies the woman; the verb to fornicate describes the actions of the kings of the earth; and last, the noun fornication relates the medium that inebriates the inhabitants of the earth. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  25. Revelation 17 - Babylon • This unmarried woman actively engages in illicit relations with the kings of the earth who in turn lead their followers astray. • These kings are the heads of [the Satanic Spiritual] empire. • They belong to this earth and have no spiritual ties with God. • Further, the inhabitants of the earth are drunk with the wine of the woman’s spiritual fornication; and they are people who serve not God but Satan. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  26. Revelation 17 - Babylon • The difficulty in this chapter is to understand the multiple configurations of the woman. • She is called the great prostitute, is aligned with the beast, represents Babylon the Great, and personifies "The great city" (v. 18). • As a spiritual prostitute she stands diametrically opposed to Christ; she serves the beast who is the Antichrist (13:1); and she represents Babylon the Great, which is the anti-Christian empire with numerous kings of the world gathered for battle against God Almighty (16:14, 16). AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  27. Revelation 17 - Babylon • In other words, John is looking at this woman from various aspects in which the adjective great used for her and Babylon takes a significant position. • John mentioned Babylon already in 14:8, where he wrote that an angel cried, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the wrathful wine of her fornication." • Worldly Babylon should be seen as a universal force of evil that influences the multitudes of humanity to such an extent that the people are desensitized. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  28. Revelation 17 - Babylon • Babylon is "The archetypal source of every idolatrous manifestation in time and space." • Alan F. Johnson, Revelation, in The Expositors Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), 12:555. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  29. Babylon • The Tower of Babel – Genesis 11 • Now the whole earth had one language and few words. And as men migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."

  30. Babylon • And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."

  31. Babylon • So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the earth. - Genesis 11.

  32. Babylon • In the fertile Mesopotamian plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in what is now modern Iraq, is a mound, or tell, of broken mud-brick buildings and debris. This is all that remains of the ancient famed city of Babylon. • Babylon was one of a number of cities built by a succession of peoples that lived on the plain starting around 5,500 years ago.

  33. Babylon • There developed a tradition in each city of building a temple in the shape of a stepped pyramid. These temples, or ziggurates, most likely honored a particular god. The people of Mesopotamia believed in many gods and often a city might have several ziggurates. Over time Babylon became the most influential city on the plain and its ziggurat, honoring the god Marduk, was built, destroyed and rebuilt until it was the tallest tower.

  34. Babylon • Archaeologists examining the remains of the city of Babylon have found what appears to be the foundation of the tower: a square of earthen embankments some three-hundred feet on each side. • The tower's most splendid incarnation was probably under King Nebuchadnezzar II who lived from 605-562 BC. • The King rebuilt the tower to stand 295 feet high. According to an inscription made by the king the tower was constructed of "baked brick enameled in brilliant blue." • The terraces of the tower may have also been planted with flowers and trees. – unmusewum.com

  35. Babylon • In this classic story from the Old Testament of the Bible, the people of the Earth were building a colossal staged temple-tower or multi-storyed ziggurat - that would reach heaven. • But did they really believe they could reach their Gods? • Most likely the tower would be used as a place of worship. • Actually, the purpose of the tower was to provide a common religious center as a rallying point, lest the people be scattered. • The builders of the tower were in open defiance of God's command (Genesis 9:1) (53). • The builders in Shinar banded together for a common ecumenical purpose.

  36. Babylon • Genesis 9:18-19 and the entire tenth chapter of Genesis contain the Table of the Nations. • All of the people alive at the time of Babel were descended solely from the three sons of Noah. • Consequently, Shem, Ham and Japheth are the fathers of modern civilization. • Hayes remarks that Genesis 10 is specifically written to demonstrate that all humanity descended from these three men (146). • As Noah was a virtuous man in the eyes of God (Gen. 6:8-9), it is reasonable to presume that the commandments of God were passed on to his sons.

  37. Babylon • Genesis chapter 10, verses 5, 20 and 32 also suggest that the land of the Earth was physically divided at this time in response to Babel. • Genesis specifies: ". . . the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided . . ." (10:25). • Willmington comments that "Peleg" means "division" (53). • The coastal outlines of the Earth's continents suggest the likely prior unification of the various land masses. • The terra firma can be viewed as a once-unified puzzle now separated into its various fragments.

  38. Babylon • Accordingly, God separated the people to different lands and languages to frustrate their self-destructive plans. • Determined to stay faithful to His covenant, this was God's only merciful alternative in response to the tower. • If the people were punished, it was a light affliction administered. • The reproof was quite mild compared to the prior worldwide flood (Gen. 7:21-23). • Similarly, the rebuke of God at Babel hardly parallels the subsequent fiery obliteration of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:24-30).

  39. Babylon • Although at a casual glance this rebellion appears benign, it has been demonstrated that this autonomous or self-governing spirit would likely prove to be self-destructive. • Willmington points out that the first person plural pronouns "us" and "we" occur no less than 5 times in this King James Version rendering of one sentence: • And they said, Go to, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth (Gen. 11:4)

  40. Babylon • Nowhere in the entire passage referring to the Tower of Babel is there found the slightest indication that the builders considered God's will in their plans. • The Bible goes to great lengths to confirm God's disdain for society's self-ruling ecumenical pursuits. • The Psalmist writes of God's intervention into the affairs of humanity: • The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples (Psalm 33:10 NAS).

  41. Babylon • Babel's founder was Nimrod the Hunter (Gen. 10:8-12), who also was a "king of Shinar" (Webster's 798). • Nimrod was a ruthless conqueror of the ancient day with ambitious political aspirations (Willmington 53). • Willmington states: "Nimrod's name means 'let us revolt'" (53). • Genesis 10:9-12 shows that Babel was the first of many cities that Nimrod established.

  42. Babylon • Babylon is an apostate city frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. • From 2nd Kings 17:24 through Zechariah 6:10 there are at least 257 direct references to Babylon (Strong's 94-95). • Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines ancient Babylon as: ". . . a city devoted to materialism and the pursuit of sensual pleasure" (122). • In the 18th chapter of the Book of Revelation, Babylon epitomizes mankind's final organized rebellion against the sovereignty of God and is utterly destroyed. -crystallinks.com

  43. Revelation 17 - Babylon • B. Conflict and Judgment • 17:3–19:10 • 1. The Woman and the Beast • 17:3–18 • The picture that John presents to his viewers is dreadful because of the blasphemy against God, the blood of the saints, the power and authority of the beast, and the prostitute who rules over the kings of the earth. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  44. Revelation 17 - Babylon • But within this picture are also references to those whose names are written in the book of life, the Lamb who overcomes his enemies, the Lord of lords and King of kings with his faithful followers, and God, who accomplishes his purpose and is fully in control. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  45. Revelation 17 - Babylon • a. The Seductive Temptress • 17:3–6 • 3. And he brought me in the Spirit to a desert place. And I saw a woman on a scarlet beast that was full of names of blasphemy. The beast had seven heads and ten horns. • a. "And he brought me in the Spirit to a desert place." • The contrast between John, who is in the Spirit, and the woman, who rides the beast of blasphemy, is strikingly clear. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  46. Revelation 17 - Babylon • The Holy Spirit transports John to a desert much the same as he does when he takes him to heaven and to a great and high mountain (4:2; 21:10). • There are Old Testament parallels, for the Spirit of God lifted Ezekiel to Jerusalem, Babylon, the valley of dry bones, and the temple of the Lord (Ezek. 3:12, 14; 8:3; 11:1, 24; 37:1; 43:5). AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  47. Revelation 17 - Babylon • What is the significance of a desert place? • Various interpretations are presented, among them the following: the Arabian desert (Gal. 1:17); a place inhabited by demons (Matt. 12:43); a place of temptation (Matt. 4:1); an area shielded from the devil’s lies; and a suitable region to receive visions. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  48. Revelation 17 - Babylon • b. "And I saw a woman on a scarlet beast that was full of names of blasphemy. The beast had seven heads and ten horns." • The focus is on the woman, who has already been identified as the great prostitute (v. 1). • Now we see the supremacy of this woman, for she rides on the back of a multiple-headed beast whose horns exhibit tremendous power. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  49. Revelation 17 - Babylon • First, this scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns is described in the same terms as the red dragon, who is Satan, and as the beast coming up out of the sea (12:3, 9; 13:1). • In 12:3 the Greek uses a different word for the color red, namely, pyrros (fiery red). AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

  50. Revelation 17 - Babylon • Next, this language is based on the prophecy of Daniel 7:7, 20, 24 that alludes to the power of a beast with ten horns. • Third, the color scarlet portrays sin (Isa. 1:18). • In Revelation it stands for evil exhibited by demonic power. • And last, the beast is pictured as a man covered with blasphemous names directed against the Almighty. AET-069 and 070 – Babylon

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