29/07/18 Revelation 17:10-18 “Mystery Babylon’s
wickedness now dealt with”
Revelation 17:10 – 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.
These 7 kings clearly relate to the 7 heads of the beast of Revelation 17:3 which are also said to be the 7 mountains upon which the whore of Babylon sits (Revelation 17:9). (Mountains could also refer to chiefs or leaders, though.) The 7 mountains point to Rome as the city on 7 hills, and the apostate mystery religion is well supported by the catholic church. So these 7 kings (or empires) must be a 2nd meaning of those 7 heads, and if a 2nd meaning exists, then a 3rd meaning is also possible, that the 7 heads of the beast of Revelation 13:1 also refer to 7 kings who willingly rule under the antichrist. And this in turn is supported by the 3 horns being plucked out by the roots, leaving 7 in Daniel 7:8. It is too much of a coincidence to believe that these may all happen independently of each other; it is, in fact, more straight-forward to understand these 7 heads as having maybe 3 separate, yet connected, interpretations.
When John had this vision, five of these kings were already in the past; they have come and gone. One existed at that time, and one was yet to come. This 7th king would only rule for a short time (probably compared with the other 6 kings). It is clear that the 7th king refers to the revived Roman empire, and the prince who is to come from the Romans who destroy Jerusalem (Daniel 9:26) will be the antichrist, the beast of Revelation 13:1.
One calvinist theory says that if Revelation were written while Nero was emperor (it was written much later!), then these kings are 7 emperors of Rome, and Nero is probably the 6th, which fits in with some of them apparently believing that he has something to do with being the antichrist. However, they still have a lot of trouble trying to fit the 7th and 8th emperors into this framework. Or, that the current emperor would be Vespasian (6th) with Titus 7th and Domitian 8th. This though leaves out 3 emperors between Nero and Vespasian, but noting that Domitian did reign on behalf of his father Vespasian before Vespasian ruled. However, these sorts of explanations require far too many jigsaw pieces to be misplaced that they have to be dismissed as fanciful thinking at best, or even delusional.
Others (generally also with calvinist leanings) see these kings as popes of the catholic church, but vary in their interpretations of which popes are involved. However, all of these see these 7 kings as past events, with little connection with current events, or the future.
A more reasonable view is that these represent the empires of Egypt, Assyria, Chaldeans (sometimes referred to as Neo-Babylonia), Medo-Persia, and Greece, with Rome as the 6th king. Then the 7th is the revived Roman empire (the 10 toes – kingdoms – of Daniel 2:41) and the antichrist becomes the 8th as an extension of the 7th empire (see next verse, Vs 11). This view does fit in much better with Daniel’s list of empires, noting that each of these empires did rely upon false god worship. Egypt may be included if we see Babylon as a religious empire, rather than a purely physical empire. Or we could see Nimrod’s kingdom as the first; this is also reasonable. (But not as likely.)
The beast of Revelation 13:1 was described as having similarities with the previous empires of Greece (leopard), Medes & Persians (bear), and the Chaldeans (lion). Rome is left out here; however Rome would be the one existing during John’s time.
Revelation 13:1-2 – 1
And I stood upon the sand of the
sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns,
and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2
And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were
as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the
dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Daniel Ch.7, though, does have 4 empires and his golden image of Ch.2 refers to Chaldean, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome with a revived Roman empire of 10 kingdoms (which lines up with the 10 horns of our beast of Revelation).
Everything points toward these 2 beasts being the same, even though the number 7 (heads) does seem to represent different things in each case.
One view holds that the 7 heads of Revelation 13:1 still means these 7 kings or empires of Revelation 17:10, and that the 10 horns (with their crowns) are therefore on just one of the 7 heads, and that the seemingly mortal wound is on this head with the 10 horns (of the revived Roman empire). This is possible, but it doesn’t seem to take into account the removal of 3 of those horns by the antichrist in Daniel 7:8, leaving 7 horns. Note also that while the antichrist removes the power of 3 of those kings, it does not have to mean that there are only 7 kingdoms left. There will still be 10 kingdoms, but 3 of them will have to be subdued by the antichrist before he can use them to rule.
a short space – oligos (little; small; few; when used of time: “short”) We get the word “oligarchy” from this Greek term, meaning to rule by a small number of people.
Revelation 17:11 – And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
This beast who existed in the past, but not when John wrote Revelation, is the 8th king (who arises from the 7 kings) and then goes into utter destruction which consists of eternal misery in hell. This beast represents all the previous 7 kingdoms, their evil religion, their false worship, their rebellion against God. The beast is not just one of those 7 kingdoms (or empires); it is the power behind those 7 kingdoms (from which it has arisen). This beast is satan.
The 1st beast of Revelation 13:1 is the antichrist who is indwelt by satan, a man ruled and controlled by satan. So this verse is probably referring to satan’s power in ruling and taking control of the world that he lays claim to. Until Jesus came, satan had some measure of control, it seems, because Jesus claimed that he had overthrown (cast out) satan, the ruler of this world. (Also see notes on Revelation 17:8.)
John 12:31 – Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Satan had power before Jesus took the victory, then, in John’s day, satan was lacking in power because of the cross and resurrection, yet one day that which restrains (withholds) satan will be removed (the church?) and the man of perdition (the antichrist) will be revealed, or made known to the world (2 Thessalonians 2:6-9).
Satan, who is this beast, will then, after he has had his short time of power (7 years, it seems), will be judged and sent into perdition (utter destruction in hell). Satan’s power base was his mystery Babylon religion from which all other false religions of the world must spring (the mother of abominations). When Babylon is destroyed, satan is also destroyed, for he cannot continue in power without his power base of Babylon.
Revelation 17:12 – 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 are clearly those 10 horns of the beast of Daniel 7:7, and Revelation 13:1 & 17:3. They also represent the 10 toes of the golden image of Daniel 2:41 which are a continuation of the Roman empire, the revived Roman empire of the end-times. They will only really have authority and power during that time when the beast rules, the final 7 years of Israel’s timeline as per Daniel 9:24-27.
These 10 horns are rulers who are associated with that final 7th head (kingdom) which is yet to come, the kingdom that enables the beast (satan) to have the power and strength to rule (see Vs 13 below). They will not necessarily be rulers before this time, and certainly not to the extent of this power. These rulers will probably seem quite ordinary up until the time that satan the beast is permitted to take control for that final 7 years. Then they will be revealed as super-leaders, satanically empowered to rule.
They have the power of satan the beast (through his antichrist) and will then combine this power and strength to give support to satan/antichrist to rule.
They will rule together for only a short time, that final 7 years. This is the sum total of their existence in this form. Satan knows this: that he has only a short time to do what he must do or be destroyed in his trying.
Revelation 12:12 – Therefore rejoice, [ye] heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
Revelation 17:13 – These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
These 10 kings (rulers) will be of one mind; that is, they will all agree with the agenda that satan, through the antichrist, presents to them. Of course, Daniel says that 3 will be subdued, but that does not mean that these kingdoms will remain without rulers. Instead, it is clear that the antichrist subdues 3 of the horns, yet must then replace those kings with ones that he can and will control. Ultimately, while 7 original horns remain, those 3 plucked out will be replaced such that there will still be 10 horns ruling their kingdoms under the authority of satan the antichrist beast. They will all be of the one mind concerning the need to establish their rule and their religion upon the whole world without exception. Those who argue will be replaced!
Revelation 17:14 – 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.
The ultimate goal of the beast and his 10 kings is that they will oppose God’s kingdom. There can only be one kingdom, and the Bible prophesies this to be the millennial reign of Christ the Messiah. There can be no second kingdom as has happened throughout history so far. After this 7-year period, there will be one kingdom standing and the other kingdom destroyed. Christ the Lamb is their enemy and they are His enemy. The one with true authority will win, and that is Christ the Lamb. Only the Creator may have authority, and only the Lamb has created. Satan and his kings will never take authority over anything they have not created; thus the Lamb, the Creator of all the universe, will overcome satan and all that are his.
Lord of lords and King of kings aptly describes the Creator who has absolute authority over all the universe. Those who are mere kings can never overcome the King of kings! And satan who would like himself to be declared kurios (lord; he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master) over all (lord over all by right of might or power) cannot overrule the authority of the one who has authored all, created all, Christ the Lamb. And so satan will never be kurios (lord) of all!
Colossians 1:16-18 – 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all [things] he might have the preeminence.
The term “Lamb” signifies the means by which satan was defeated; God, who cannot die, did in fact die! He let Himself be sacrificed as the sacrificial Passover lamb in order to buy back all who were His by His act of creation: in particular, all mankind.
and they that are with him [are] called, and chosen, and faithful. – And they who are with Christ the Lamb are called (kletos: as those who are called or invited to a banquet or marriage feast) and chosen (eklektos: picked out by God; the elect of God; those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life) and faithful (pistos: trustworthy; faithful; ones who have trusted in God’s promises, especially of salvation).
Effectively, these are those who have accepted their invitations to the wedding feast of the Lamb, the marriage of the bride (the Church) to the Bridegroom (Christ). Christ will be accompanied in His victory by all those who have accepted their invitations to the feast because they trusted in the eternal promises of the One who promised.
Revelation 17:15 – And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest,
where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes,
and nations, and tongues.
In Revelation 17:1 we looked at this sitting upon many waters as all those people from all nationalities and ethnic groups of the world that gave their support to the whore of Babylon. These are those who have used Babylon and in return have been used by mystery Babylon religion to build this wicked apostate religious empire.
Revelation 17:1 – 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:
All these people are the foundation upon which mystery Babylon is built. Unless all these peoples of the world had given their allegiance to Babylon, then Babylon would not have existed. Babylon needed to buy the allegiance of the world in order to have the support it needed to rule.
Revelation 17:2 – 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.
Just like the beast giving power to those kings who would then give power to the beast, Babylon gives favour to those people who are necessary to permit her to exist. Babylon represents the emporium of satan, that storehouse of wickedness from which mankind may buy to satisfy the illusion of pleasure in sin (vanity). If no-one buys, then the emporium goes bankrupt. But many have indeed bought; Babylon has become rich by providing for the sinful pleasures of mankind for a long time now. But when Babylon is destroyed, she can no longer provide for that clientele.
Babylon built her empire upon selling sin, and those who bought from her paid the riches into her coffers that would make Babylon great. The process is called symbiosis, where each organism is dependent upon the support of the other organism for survival. Babylon was only great because it provided that which mankind desired, but only if mankind permitted her to grow strong and rule over them.
Revelation 17:16 – 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.
Those 10 horns (the kingdoms that give their allegiance to satan the antichrist beast) will hate the whore of Babylon probably because of her control over the world. Satan will take direct control if and when he can, because satan is never interested in making something else popular. Only satan may be served, according to him! Therefore, as soon as mystery Babylon has brought the allegiance of most of the world to satan’s door, satan will then dispose of the middle-man (Babylon) and demand that all that allegiance be paid directly to him and him alone. This is what satan is all about; it’s what he’s always been about. From the beginning, when satan tried to take some of God’s glory for himself, until now, satan has always wanted glory for himself. Babylon was set up in order to gain that glory, a means to an end, but Babylon has now become a monster that thinks it should have the glory for itself. In the same way that a small bush fire may get out of control later on, Babylon has become difficult to control and is demanding too much glory for herself. So as soon as satan and his kings can keep things going without Babylon, then Babylon has passed her use-by date, and will be destroyed.
make …. desolate – to make desolate; lay waste; to ruin; bring to desolation; despoil her; strip her of her treasures.
Satan will hate Babylon but will give the task of her destruction to his 10 kings who will strip Babylon of all her treasures and remove all her finery that is her glory. They shall consume everything tangible about Babylon, her possessions, her people, her riches, and shall plunder and burn her with fire.
Revelation 17:17 – 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.
God has required by His will that these kings should desire the destruction of Babylon. It is also God’s will that these 10 kings should give themselves and their kingdoms to the beast in order that satan should fulfil the will of God. This support from the 10 kings will continue by God’s will until God’s will is fulfilled in them.
James 5:1-4 – 1 Go to now, [ye] rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon [you]. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. 3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. 4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
For God has caused these kingdoms to fulfil His will as He did to Pharaoh in hardening his heart. God caused Pharaoh to continue until Egypt was destroyed, until the purposes of God were carried out and fulfilled. God has required these kingdoms to agree with satan’s desire that Babylon be destroyed, that the kingdom be given to satan the beast, until God’s purposes are fulfilled through the destruction of Babylon. God has willed that those who have benefitted the most from Babylon should be those who also destroy Babylon.
God requires that Babylon be destroyed by those who have set her up in the first place as a means of gaining the allegiance of mankind. Satan’s turn will be next when he goes to battle at Armageddon against God’s people.
God will send a strong delusion upon such people who will be made to think that they are achieving something when in reality they are ensuring their own destruction.
2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 – 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 [Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Revelation 17:18 – And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth
over the kings of the earth.
And that woman whore that this chapter has discussed is that great city, but which city? Most commentaries say it is Rome, but is that whore only Rome, or the mother goddess figure? Does that great city only represent Rome, or does it represent all that this one-world religion stands for? Are there actually 2 Babylons, one the spiritual Babylon which might be Rome, and another Babylon representing riches and trading which might be another city, such as London or New York? (This is thought by some people.) It is possible that Babylon is represented by more than one city, with the religious Babylon of Rome (or more specifically the Vatican) and the riches and immense wealth of the financial Babylon of London or New York. I still tend toward one city being Babylon, that city being London (more specifically, the City of London), working together with a one-world religion (mystery Babylon which is largely but not entirely comprised of the catholic church today), but nothing is certain here until it happens.
Certainly, this Babylon rules over all the kings of the earth, for no leader of world prominence may exist in power for long if those behind the scenes (the illuminati, club of Rome, Bilderbergers, round table group, etc) oppose that leader. Do not think for one moment that democracy exists in any significant amount anywhere in the world today, for those who are elected to government are ultimately going to be the chosen ones, the “elect” of the masters (both religious and financial) of the world. It is apparent that the pope has to be accepted by those rulers behind the scenes, or be executed seemingly like Pope John Paul I, who died suddenly in September 1978, 33 days after his election. Following contradictory reports about the circumstances of his death and apparent anomalies about the issuing of the death certificate and other procedures, several conspiracy theories have gained currency. (Wikipedia)
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