Ken Blue Ministries

CHAPTER 18

In the near future, ten political leaders will establish independent governments within the area of the old Roman Empire. There is no indication in Scripture when these will be established or how long they will remain independent of each other. From within the ten, a political leader will arise who will come from Syria and also from Babylon. He is called, in Scripture, among his many names, the “little horn.” He will assume power while in Babylon. We do not know when this will happen. It could happen years before the Rapture or the Second Advent of Christ. Babylon will become his new headquarters and he will take over the leadership of the ten independent powers within the revised Roman Empire. Their kingdoms will become his. The city of Babylon will be rebuilt and become a city of wealth, beauty, and idolatry.

Most of his rule will involve wars and battles with surrounding rival nations. At approximately the mid-point of the Tribulation, he will conquer Jerusalem and move his headquarters there.

From the beginning of their governments, the ten kings have been “in bed” with the whore (Babylon) and enjoyed “doing business” with her. We are not told what events transpired to cause the Antichrist and the ten kings to hate Babylon, but Scripture reveals that God put it in their hearts to destroy her (Revelation 17:16). See 2 Thessalonians 2:11, “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” Since the Antichrist will have no rivals, it is likely he destroyed Babylon because she was attracting too much attention from world leaders.

       Chapter 17 reveals who the woman is. She is the great city Babylon. Babylon’s influence over the kings of the earth has been, and is, universal. God will use the Antichrist and his government to destroy the city of Babylon. In chapter 18, the city itself, having been stripped and plundered will be completely destroyed.

It is important to understand that the city of Babylon and its system are spoken of in chapters 17 and 18. The similarities within the chapters cannot be ignored:

“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.   For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.”  (Revelation 18: 1-3).

The events in chapter 18 are a continuation and an extension of chapter 17. A different angel brings the message of Babylon’s final destruction. There is no such thing in Scripture as mystic Babylon. The Babylon of chapter 17 is the Babylon of chapter 18 and is a literal city.

These two chapters, along with many Old Testament prophecies assure us that Babylon must be rebuilt before it can be destroyed again. There is plenty of time for that to happen, and for it to rise to the height of idolatry and luxury before the Second Advent of Christ.  Thus, Babylon will become the haven for sorcery, witchcraft, and idolatry.

“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.   For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.   Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.”  (Revelation 18:4-8).

At some point in the Tribulation the remnant will flee to Babylon for protection. It will be, no doubt, safer in Babylon than in Jerusalem. This may be the flight of Israel recorded in chapter 12. It is only speculation that the remnant will flee to Petra. God calls for them to get out of Babylon before He pours out His cup of wrath to destroy her.

The Interpretation of the Vision of the Great Whore #58

“And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.”  (Revelation 17:7).

John was asked why he marveled at the sight of the woman and the beast that carried her. He was told he would be given understanding of their meaning. In the explanation, ten verses (8-17) are given to the beast and only one to the woman (18).

 “The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, 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.”  (Revelation 17:8).

Most of the disagreement in interpreting Revelation is over the identity of this beast. Many confuse it with the man who is the Antichrist. As pointed out earlier, there are many different beasts in Scripture. In Genesis 1:24 God called for the earth to bring forth “beasts” after its kind. This speaks of the animal kingdom.  In Genesis 7 we are introduced to the fact that there were clean and unclean beasts.

In Daniel’s vision we see that kings of the earth and their kingdoms are classified as “beasts”. (See Daniel 7:5-7). In Revelation 4:7 the four living creatures around the throne of God are classified as beasts. In 11:7 a beast comes out of the pit; in 13:1 a beast rises up out of the sea; in 13:11 another beast comes up out of the earth; in 16:10 there is the kingdom of the beast; in 17:3 there is a scarlet colored beast which supports the great city, Babylon. In 17:8 the beast “was” and “is not” and shall come from the “bottomless pit” and be cast into “perdition.” This beast, in this context we believe, is the prince of Greece, as stated earlier.  The word “perdition” means destruction and nothing more.

In verse 11, the eighth beast, which is the Antichrist, is a man who also goes into perdition. We know where he goes and what his perdition is by looking at Revelation 20:10, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”  This is their perdition or destruction.

  “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.  And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.  And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.”  (Revelation 17:9-11).

First, we are told that the seven heads on the beast are seven mountains. These are not literal mountains, but are seven kings with their kingdoms, which were contemporary with Israel’s history and practiced the corrupt religion of Babylon.

Mountains, in the Bible, are often called kingdoms. Nebuchadnezzar was spoken of as a “destroying mountain” (Jeremiah 51:25). When Jesus returns at the Second Advent, His Kingdom will be called a mountain. “Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth” (Daniel 2:35). (See also Isa. 2:2.) It should be remembered that the woman was sitting on the beast whose seven heads consisted of the seven kings, each of which is designated a mountain, and she was on each mountain as soon it came became a kingdom. Satan and the beast kingdoms, and the woman are blended into one system.

Five of the previous kings with their kingdoms had fallen. We believe these five are:

1. Egypt
2. Assyria
3. Babylon
4. Medo-Persia
5. Greece

       John said, “One is.” Rome was the sixth empire to oppress Israel in the times of the Gentiles and is the 4th empire in the book of Daniel. It is symbolized in Daniel as the legs of iron (Daniel 2:33, 40), the non-descript beast (Daniel 7:7-8, 23-24), and the 6th head on the beast in Revelation 17:9-17. Rome oppressed Israel over 200 years and dispersed the Jews in A.D. 70 (Daniel 9:26-27; Matthew 24:1-3; Luke 21:20-24). It is from the old Roman territory that the next two kingdoms will arise.

  “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”   (Revelation 17:12-13).

       The kingdom, which “was not”, is the seventh and will be revised Rome, and will oppress Israel in the end times of the Gentiles. It will be made up of ten kingdoms inside the territory of the old Roman Empire. It is revised, not revived. Ten kings will rule these kingdoms, with ten separate capitals formed inside the Roman Empire territory. This is symbolized in Daniel by the ten toes (Daniel 2:40-45) and ten horns (Daniel 7:7-8, 19-24), and by ten horns in Revelation 12:3; 13:1; 17:9-17.

The ten were not in John’s day, but will form a kingdom in the first half of the Tribulation. Out of these ten the Antichrist will arise. They will give their authority and kingdoms to his leadership, willingly, or by force.

The ten reigned before the Antichrist ever came on the scene. Their kingdoms, without him, formed the seventh. His will become the eighth.

  “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.”  (Revelation 17:14).

       These ten, with the Antichrist, fight against the Lamb of God at His Second Advent and are handily defeated. (Psalm 2.) They that are with Christ are those who were called, chosen, and faithful in the Day of the Lord.

 “And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.  And the ten horns which thou sawest 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.  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”  (Revelation 17:15-18).

       The ten kings, with the Antichrist, will hate the parasite city, Babylon, and will plunder and sack it. Afterwards, they will destroy it by fire. It was God’s will that it be destroyed. He found willing subjects to execute his will. Satan, no doubt, motivated them to destroy Babylon. The reaction of the kings of the earth, who profited from her wealth and enjoyed her corrupt religion, wail over her destruction. This is described in chapter 18.

   The “many waters” on which the whore sits consist of, “…peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” (Revelation 17:15).  “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.”  (Revelation 17:2).

An identifying mark of all heathen nations is idolatry and immorality. This indictment reaches far beyond, and before, pagan Rome or papal Rome. It existed thousands of years before Rome ever became a nation.

John says he saw, “…that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 17:18) – supported by the scarlet colored beast which “was, and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit…” (v 8).  The eighth beast is the Antichrist. He is a man and will be directed and empowered by the beast from the pit.  The beast, which ascends out of the pit, is a satanic angel which ruled over the kingdom of Greece.  You will notice that the beast, collectively, has seven heads and ten horns. The seven and the ten may be contemporaries during the last half of the tribulation.

Some commentators believe seven of the former demonic powers, or beasts, come from below and rule within the kingdom of the Antichrist, along with the ten kings. All would be ruling collectively, and each king would rule its own army. The beast would then have its seven heads and ten horns. This would form one superhuman power under the rule of Satan. It would be in its supernatural form.

 “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:” (Revelation 17:4).

The city, v.18, was adorned with purple and scarlet colors and garnished with precious stones.  The description of the city shows its wealth and luxuries. The metals and colors do not indicate anything else. Gideon, when asked to rule over Israel, declined. However, he did request that each warrior give him an earring of gold they had taken from their enemies.  “And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of  Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels’ necks” (Judges 8:26).  Note also the wealth of King Ahasuerus, which was displayed at his party. “Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble” (Esther 1:6).  Revelation 17:4 describes the wealth of Babylon. It is her luxuries and idolatrous worship that attracted the nations to her. The cup in her hand is not the mass offered by the Catholic Church. The golden cup symbolizes the abominations and filthiness of her idolatrous system, which she extends to the nations and of which they drink.

“And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”  (Revelation 17:5).

       The name of the woman was kept a secret until the end of the chapter. There, it is revealed that this is not any individual woman, but the great city, Babylon. Not only is the woman a material city, it is also its vast system of idolatry.

The woman is not Rome. She is much older and bigger than Rome. Rome is simply one of its many streams. Babylon is the fountainhead, the mother. Idolatry was in full bloom long before pagan or papal Rome ever existed. The corruption of Babylon had spread to the entire world hundreds of years before pagan Rome or papal Rome ever came into existence. Some examples are: “And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon” (Acts 7:41-43).  See also, Amos 5:25-26, “Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.”  See 1 Kings 11:5, “For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.”  For a shocking description of Babylon’s influence on Israel and an account of King Josiah’s zeal to clean up Judah, see 2 Kings 23:4-14. ^“And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.   And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.  And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.  And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.  And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man’s left hand at the gate of the city.   Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.  And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.  And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 

And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.  And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.  And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.”

Are we to assume that Rome is the mother of these idolatries?  As wicked and corrupt as Rome is, she cannot be the mother. Rome is but one of the many polluted streams of Babylon.

Many have wrongly identified the woman, spiritualized the text, and made her the Roman Catholic Church. Then they contrast her with a true church, which they say, was started by John the Baptist. They conclude that the only true churches are the ones which came from John the Baptist. According to them, all other churches are “harlot” churches which came from their mother, the Roman Catholic Church. This false teaching has led to the teaching of a Baptist Bride Church as the only true church, and a rejection of all baptism except Baptist Bride baptism.

 The Vision of the Great Whore

 Chapter 17 and 18 are parenthetical and they explain in greater detail what God has declared in the text below.

 “And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication”  (Revelation 16:19).  “And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath”  (Revelation 14:8).

 Chapter 17:1-6 – The Vision

Chapter 17:7-18 – The Interpretation

 “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:  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.”  (Revelation 17:1-2).
We are not told which of the seven angels came to show John the vision. John is invited to go into the wilderness with the angel to witness God’s judgment on the city of Babylon. The analogy of a “wilderness” is used to contrast her life style with the place of her judgment. The area surrounding Babylon was one of unparalleled beauty.  Two mighty rivers flowed through her lush fields and orchards making it a virtual paradise. It was, in appearance, like the Garden of Eden. However, it was full of foul, demonic spirits. The wilderness was a symbol of the place of judgment.

There are 286 references to Babylon by name in the Scriptures. Many Old Testaments prophecies foretold her destruction. The Medes and the Persians fulfilled some of them at their invasion of Babylon in 539 B.C. However, many prophecies were far reaching and are yet to be fulfilled in Revelation 17 and 18.

Chapter 17 is about the city of Babylon (see v. 18), which was the fountainhead of all religious idolatry. It was founded and fostered by Nimrod under the prompting of Satan in 2312 B.C.  (See Genesis 10.) The “secret” or mystery of the idolatry and the immorality associated with her religion is revealed in this chapter. “Mystery Babylon” was written on her forehead. The sealed 144,000 followers of Jesus have their Father’s name in their forehead. The followers of the beast have his name or number in their forehead; and the whore has her name, “Mystery Babylon,” on her forehead. This shows her obstinate and shameless nature. She is without a conscious concerning her immorality, and she prides herself in it.  The city of Babylon is called “The Mother of Harlots.”

Babylon is called “the great whore.”  Idolatry, in Scripture, was associated with all kinds of sexual immorality. This was a title given to any person, religion, or nation who forsook the true God and went after other religions.  Moses knew the people whom he had led from Egypt and was confident they would forsake God and embrace idolatry after his death.  “And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them” (Deuteronomy 31:16).

Vine says, “The act of harloting after strange gods was more than changing gods, however. This was especially true when Israel went after the Canaanite gods, for the worship of these pagan deities involved actual prostitution with cult prostitutes connected with the Canaanite shrines. In the Old Testament, sometimes the use of the phrase “go a whoring after gods” implies an individual’s involvement with cult prostitutes. An example might be in Exodus 34:15-16: “Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods…. And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.” The religious theory behind such activity at the Canaanite shrine was that such sexual activity with cult prostitutes, both male and female, who represented the gods and goddesses of the Canaanite fertility cult, would stimulate fertility in their crops and flocks. Such cult prostitutes were not designated as prostitutes but rather “holy ones” or “set-apart ones,” since the Semitic term for “holy” means, first of all, to be set apart for a special use. This is illustrated in Deuteronomy 23:17: “There shall be no cult prostitute [set-apart one] of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a cult prostitute of the sons of Israel” (RSV), (“…whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel” (KJV). This theme of religious harlotry looms large in the prophets who denounce this backsliding in no uncertain terms. Ezekiel minces no words as he openly calls both Judah and Israel “harlots” and vividly describes their backsliding in sexual terms Ezekiel 16:6-63; 23.” Vine’s Expository Dictionary of the Old Testament.

The “many waters” on which the whore sits consist of, “…peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” (Revelation 17:15).  “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.”  (Revelation 17:2).