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I have heard some refer to Revelation 17 and 18 as John's vision of his present day destruction of Rome. I believe a closer look at Revelation 17 and 18 will certainly show that his visions were definatly about a much distant world empire.
It could not have been the Rome of his time or it would not have been referred to as "Mystery Babylon." I believe the term mystery Babylon is referring to a world empire, not a resurrected city of Babylon. If we take a close look at Revelation 17 and 18 I believe we can see who "Mystery Babylon" is and what its future is.
Let's look at it verse by verse;
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 judgement of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters;"
Now what do we learn from this;
first we see again Gods' love for the number 7 as it stands for spiritual perfection. God does everything in 7's
the great whore is symbolic of the last Gentile world power
and it sits on many waters
the angel is going to show John its future.
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."
This whore has influenced all the world leaders and the peoples of the world. I think most know what these meanings are. It will go into further detail in later verses.
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."
John was carried away by the angel and shown the woman(whore, empire)
17:5"And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."
Pretty harsh words, but let's look at them;"mystery Babylon" would have to be exactly that; a mystery, it could not have been a literal Babylon rebuilt on the site of ancient Babylon. It would be a direct conflict to the prophecy in Isa 13:19-22. Mystery Babylon will have the same ending as ancient Babylon as you will read in later verses.
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."
The whore ie., empire is the cause and blame for many deaths some would say that the USA is responsible for more deaths worldwide than any other country in the world either directly or indirectly; wars,abortions,disease,lifestyles, and etc.,
When he says he "wondered in great admiration" i think he was confused as to the seven heads and the ten horns as you will see in the next verse.
17:7"And the angel said unto me, wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns."
See, I told you. Now here is where the angel gets very specific as to who "Mystery Babylon" is. Only one nation can meet these requirements or descriptions.
Now the next several verses describe Mystery Babylon and the beast that John was shown;
17:8"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."
Now that is a mouthful, lets try to break it down;
The beast that was, and is not, and yet is (to come) the one that is to come is the Antichrist that we have all heard so much about.
It says that those on the earth (whose names are not written in the book of life) shall wonder. In other words, those that are blinded to Gods repeated warnings to listen to him, many will not. Some will be fooled, even the elect.
17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth."
Again the numbers 7, the woman being the world empire, the 7 heads being 7 mountains.
17:10"And there are 7 kings; 5 are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space."
At the time John was writing this (inspired by God) there had been 5 kings and one current one. The next one shall be the beast of Revelation bearing the number 666 the symbol uf human or secular perfection in independance of God and opposition to Jesus Christ.
17:11-12 "And the beast that was,and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth in to perdition. 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."
Now many people reffer to the 10 kings as the leaders of the 10 nation European Common Market, some reffer to it as the 10 Arab nations centered in and around the Middle East. (makes more sense to me, especially with the events of the past month with the terrorist bombings and our retaliation. You will see in 17:17 what I mean by that.
17:13 "These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength to the beast." Could be the Middle East area giving over authority to a United Nations peace force.
The Arab nations headed by Yasir Arafat are united in their hatred for our western culture and lifestyle. I am sure you have seen the chants of "death to the USA" on our TV lately.
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 those that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful."
The good guys win.
17:15-16"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."
once again the whore, empire, or nation shall sit on many waters.
it shall be inhabited with many nationalities,speaking many languages, are we the "melting pot" of the world?
the ten nations shall hate the "whore" nation or empire and shall make her desolate and burn her with fire
In my opinion, John would have had to been witnessing a total nuclear devastation of mystery Babylon. Read on
17:17 "For God hath put it in their hearts to fulfill will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfiled."
God has put it in the hearts of the 10 nations to destroy mystery Babylon, for them to join forces until his words are fulfilled.
The Arab nations have already joined forces with the help of Yasir Arafat to "make peace" to lull us to sleep.
Those who have ears to hear shall hear!
Now let's take a look at Revelation 18 and see what Mystery Babylons' future looks like.
We will start with 18:2 where the angel says;
"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."
Now, this could be describing a whole lot of places on this planet, but follow all other descriptions of her and decide who you think mystery Babylon may be.
18:3 "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 (grew or became) rich through the abundance of her delicacies."
What nation is responsible for the wealth of the rest of the world through trade and financial aid. What nation is the value of their money based on? What nation do all other nations need as a customer?
18:4" 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."
God always warns his people ie., Noah and Lot are good examples. Of course they all thought they were nuts, but God did warn them and they did turn out to be right.
18:5 "For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities."
18:6 "Reward her even as she rewarde you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double."
God is saying that he will give her double the wrath due to her sins and the influence she has over the rest of the world.
18:7"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, an am no widow, and shall see no sorrow."
A world power or empire certainly never believes it will come to an end. Since the end of the cold war what nation is considered the last world power?
18:8 "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."
Any questions or comments are welcome
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