Deeper Commentary
CHAPTER 17
17:1 And
there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls and spoke with
me, saying: Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great
prostitute that sits upon many waters- Babylon is another form of the
beast which arose out of the sea (13:1). The same Angel which had just
poured out the final judgment upon Babylon at the end of chapter 16 now
gives more detail about this "Babylon" entity. The waters represent
nations and peoples; but I suggested on 13:1 that if the earth refers to
the land promised to Abraham, then the sea would be the territories
immediately adjacent to it- areas we now know as Egypt, Iran and Turkey.
But "Babylon" has influence upon many such waters. Historically, Babylon's
"sea", i.e. the nations local to Israel whom she had power over, dried up
from her- i.e. she no longer controlled them (Jer. 51:36; Rev. 17:1,15),
"the sea" (those same peoples which were once her power base) will then
come up against Babylon to destroy it (Jer. 51:42). This all looks forward
to such support for the beast system of the last day. There may be a
difference between the whore and the beast she rides; or within the genre
of apocalyptic, we could simply take her as symbolic and representative of
it. It could be that "Babylon" the whore speaks of some charismatic
individual who will control the beast system- the personal anti-Christ
which so many scriptures hint at, the chief prince of Ezekiel 38, the king
of the north of Daniel 11, the man of sin of 2 Thess. 2 etc. This
individual sits upon "many waters" (= peoples, :15), upon the beast (:3),
upon the seven heads of the beast (:9). The beast is therefore a coalition
of peoples, with seven heads- perhaps a succession of leaders, or seven
leading elements all contemporary with each other. But upon all these, the
whore sits; she is supported by them. She "sits" as a queen over them
(18:7).
Daniel's
fourth beast with the ten horns equates with the legs or iron and ten toes
of the image of Daniel 2. This entity will be in existence at the time of
Christ's return, because it is to be destroyed by His coming. And we have
that same picture in Revelation. Historically, the legs of iron represent
Rome, but the beast is not a historical entity, it exists in the last
days. So although there are parallels and outline similarities between the
metals of the image and the beasts, this is not to say that they are all
one and the same. The final beast has elements of all the previous beasts,
it is a composite entity including all the elements of the previous
systems which have dominated the land and people of Israel. Just as the
image stands complete in the last days, so the final beast stands
complete. The whore sits on many waters, representing various languages
and peoples; and yet she sits upon the beast (Rev. 17:1,3,15). The latter
day beast is therefore not one nation but an amalgam of peoples.
17:2 With
whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that dwell on
the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication- The
imagery of being drunk on her wine / teaching is similar to the idea noted
on 16:13,14 of the propaganda from the beast system making men crazed and
fanatically obsessed. This clearly fits the results of Islamic extremism.
The kings of the earth / land suggests that there will be a fast sequence
of different rulers over the latter day territory of the earth / land
promised to Abraham; or maybe a group of such leaders who exist all at the
same time. They along with those dwelling in the "earth" will be
radicalized with the fanaticism of her teaching. This is exactly the
picture of Islamic extremism.
17:3- see on Rev. 12:14.
And he
carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness-
The wilderness is where the woman has
fled in 12:14; but the dragon has chased her there, she is before "the
face" of the serpent / dragon / devil, in his presence, but miraculously
preserved from him. The same word is used of how the Lord likewise
confronted "the devil" in the wilderness, and overcame. That struggle will
be reflected in the struggle of the Lord's people against the devil /
dragon / beast in the last days. There is a difference in Revelation
between the dragon and the beast, but the beast gives power to the dragon.
Perhaps we are to see them as a sequence of entities which dominate the
earth / land of the last days, or simply different takes on the same
entity, true to the apocalyptic genre.
And I saw a
woman sitting upon a scarlet coloured beast- This is the fourth of the four beasts
we meet in Revelation; the dragon, the sea beast, earth beast and now this
scarlet beast. They are different but similar, perhaps incarnations of
each other which arise in quick succession in the earth / land promised to
Abraham, or different images of the same reality, which only appear
separate from each other because Revelation is a kaleidoscope of revolving
images. The four beasts of Daniel 7 are the four metals of the image of
Daniel 2; and they all co-exist in the last days. Likewise the four beasts
of Revelation co-exist, or are different angles on the same entity.
Israel's
neighbours confederated with Babylon in their invasion of Israel. Jeremiah
describes this in beast language: "I have given all these lands into the
hand of Nebuchadnezzar... the beasts of the field have I given him... to
serve him... to serve him... all nations (around Israel) shall serve him"
(Jer. 27:5-7; 28:14). Ps. 79:1,2, a passage whose links with Rev. 11 give
it a clear latter-day application, speaks of the beasts of the surrounding
Arab nations being confederate with Babylon. As the horns hate the
Babylon/whore and turn against her to destroy her (Rev. 17:16), so the
beast nations once confederate with Babylon will come and lie down in her
(Jer. 50:39; Is. 13:21). Beasts lying down in a ruined city is
representative of nations dominating another one (Zeph. 2:14,15). Note
that the beast is "scarlet coloured" (Rev. 17:3). Whilst this may have had
reference in its time to imperial Rome, let's note that "The Canaanites...
derived their name from the purple dye which was produced there and used
for making an expensive cloth" (R.E. Clements, Exodus (Cambridge:
C.U.P., 1972) p. 21). In the light of all this, it is difficult to read
the latter day beasts of Revelation as referring to anything other than a
conglomeration of Canaanite powers under the leadership of a revived
Babylon, between them constituting the most powerful system of opposition
to God's people which there has ever been.
Is. 13:14,15 shows the connection of Israel's neighbours with Babylon;
people of these areas are urged to "flee every one into his own land
(because) every one that is... joined unto (Babylon), shall fall by the
sword" in the day of Babylon's judgment. This sounds like a hint that the
Arab peoples will be given the opportunity to repent and avoid God's
judgments. Their previously being "joined unto" Babylon is the language of
marriage/intercourse, showing the brief intensity of their association
(remember Babylon is called a whore in Rev. 17:5). The intensity of their
joining together is shown by the fact that Babylon is spoken of as the
'hire of the north', although "the north" can refer to other neighbouring
powers apart from Babylon (Jer. 1:14,15; 25:9; 46:24). Passages where "the
north country" is Babylon include Jer.
3:18; 6:22; 10:22; 16:15; 23:8; 31:8; 46:10. The conclusion to be drawn
from this is that these powers became part of 'the king of the north' for
the purposes of Israel and Jerusalem's invasion and judgment. Jer.
51:20-23 speaks of Babylon as an individual controlling others, i.e. the
other neighbouring jihadist nations - e.g. a rider of a horse, a shepherd
over a flock, a ploughman over his oxen. This paves the way for Babylon
being the whore who rides the beast (Rev. 17:3). In similar vein Is. 49:26
speaks of Israel's enemies being fed "with their own flesh", whilst
Babylon's flesh will be eaten by the powers confederate with her (Rev.
17:16). This shows their close association.
The woman
sits upon the beast; she sits as a queen (18:7), whereas the Lord is
repeatedly presented in Revelation as sitting enthroned as a King (4:2,3,9
etc.). He is the real power, and not her. The seals of chapter 6 have
presented Israel's jihadist invaders as seated upon horses; now there is a
charismatic antiChrist individual seated upon a beast, far more powerful.
She sits upon seven mountains (:9), headquartered in Jerusalem, the city
of seven hills. As explained on 16:19, latter day Babylon makes her
capital in Jerusalem; and we note the shift in jihadist theology away from
Mecca towards Jerusalem as the key city in their theology. And from there
she sits upon all the nations and peoples of the land promised to Abraham
(:15).
Full of
names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns-
The beast was “full of blasphemous
names”. Not only the heads of the Beast (13:1), but its whole body is
covered with them, indicating that the entire empire sanctioned the
emperors’ arrogation of divine titles; such titles could be found
throughout the Roman world, inscribed on public buildings and monuments.
The golden cup which the whore has (cp. 18:6; Jer. 51:7) has contents
which would have been understood as idolatrous cults and the vices of
Rome-all in sharp contrast with its outward beauty and the splendour of
the woman. These prophecies were therefore in direct and open criticism of
the Roman empire which surrounded the early ecclesia. And yet we can also
interpret the whore in line with the Old Testament presentations of
apostate Jerusalem and Israel as a whore (Ez. 23, Hosea etc.). The Lord
has earlier stated that He considered the Jewish satan / opposition to the
Christians as being blasphemy (2:9).
In the
latter day application, the beast system is full of blasphemy in that it
persecutes God's people (13:6). Jihadist theology insists that the Jews
and Christians are not the people of God and therefore should be
persecuted and killed, claiming they are acting as God in judging His
people. That is blasphemy indeed. The seven heads and ten horns (as noted
on 13:1) could refer to how this beast is the composite summary of all the
previous beasts of Daniel's visions; perhaps there will be seven leaders,
or a succession of such leaders; and a coalition of ten groups who
comprise the strength of the composite beast. But the seven heads are here
understood as seven mountains (:9). Mountains can refer to nations or
peoples. But a literal application would point to Jerusalem, well known at
the time as the city of seven hills or mountains. The claim that Rome was
such a city might have been relevant to those living under Nero's
persecution; but there are many cities famed for being built on seven
hills, not least Istanbul / Constantinople, and even my beloved Vilnius. I
made a strong case on 16:19 that Babylon is headquartered in Jerusalem;
and this is a city of seven hills, and was recognized as such in John's
time. But within that city, wherever it is geographically, there may be
seven heads / mountains / spheres of control or leaders.
17:4 And
the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and
precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of
abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication- The
materials listed here were all associated with the tabernacle, and we can
understand how for first century Christians under Jewish persecution this
would have encouraged them. The Judaist system, with all its wealth, based
in Jerusalem, was nothing but a whore in God's eyes.
Whilst the
purple may have had reference in its time to imperial Rome, let's note
that "The Canaanites... derived their name from the purple dye which was
produced there and used for making an expensive cloth" (R.E. Clements,
Exodus (Cambridge: C.U.P., 1972) p. 21).
Babylon is
given a cup of condemnation to drink (16:19); but here she is pictured
holding such a cup and passing it to others in order to make them drunk as
she is. The wine would refer to her teaching, whipping up those who drink
it into a rage of anti-Jewish and anti-Christian madness. This is clearly
appropriate to the effect of jihadist propaganda. Babylon is therefore
living out her own condemnation; the cup of wine she offers to others is
that of her and their condemnation. Babylon is a cup, so closely
identified is she with her teachings and condemnation; and she has made
all the nations of the earth / land promised to Abraham drunk with her
madness against Israel, both natural and spiritual (Jer. 51:7). The
teaching / wine she gives is not only propaganda; it is an invitation to
fornicate with her, to closely and intimately associate with her
personally.
We can
observe that the description of the beast in Rev. 17 is very un-Islamic-
in fact, the very opposite. The beast is ridden by a prostitute who is
drunk- both abominations to radical Islam. The woman has a golden cup-
drinking from golden cups is specifically forbidden to Moslems by the
Quran. The cup is full of idolatry- and Sunni Islam particularly is
passionately against any idolatry or worship of anything apart from God.
An image is set up to the beast and worshipped- also abomination for
Moslems. The false prophet does miracles- whereas Moslems claim that
Mohammed did no miracles and the Quran itself is the one supreme miracle
of Islam. The gaudy decoration of the beast and whore of Rev. 17 is far
from the sobriety of jihadist Islam. Why the apparent contradictions? The
similarities with what Islam is not are so pronounced that a point
is surely being made. The beast of Revelation is how God views the
jihadist entities and radical Islam. From His perspective, they are the
very and exact opposite of all they are claiming. And as has often been
observed, the supposed 'religion of peace' is responsible for huge
destruction and mass murder. Another possibility is that the more opulent
descriptions of the beast actually match well with the Islamic conception
of Paradise- as defined, e.g., in the Encyclopaedia of Islam
(Article 'Jannah'): "One day in paradise is considered equal to a thousand
years on earth. Palaces are made from bricks of gold, silver, pearls,
among other things. Traditions also note the presence of horses and camels
of "dazzling whiteness", along with other creatures. Large trees are
described, mountains made of musk, between which rivers flow in valleys of
pearl and ruby". It may be that the jihadists seek to portray their
caliphate as paradise come on earth.
The image is
clearly presented as an idol- this is how the word translated "image" is
usually used in the Old Testament. The chief deity of Babylon was Marduk
who was considered to be the “god of gold”. Herodotus described the image
of Marduk as a golden statue seated upon a golden throne before a golden
table and a golden altar. Pliny also notes that the robes of Marduk’s
priests were interlaced with gold. The word used for the breaking in
pieces of the image (Dan. 2:34) is that used frequently about the breaking
in pieces of idols (Ex. 32:20; Dt. 9:21; 2 Kings 23:6,15; 2 Chron. 34:4).
The sequence of metals (gold, silver, brass and iron) is found again in
Dan. 5:4,23 in describing the materials used by the Babylonian kings for
their idols. It's as if they wanted to show that actually all the metals
of the image were comprehended within their empire- and they would last
for ever. The latter day entity will be distinctly religious, too. The
jihadists are passionately against any idols or memorials, hence their
destruction of any Shia shrines they take control of. But in a turn of
irony which can only be Divine, their religious system is of itself an
idol, which is to be destroyed by the Lord's second coming. The entity
represented by the image of Daniel 2, which I suggest refers to an Islamic
state established in the land promised to Abraham, is destroyed by the
return of Christ as of a stone cut out without hands. But the Kaaba stone,
the black stone of Mecca which is the central point of the grand mosque in
Mecca towards which Moslems pray, is believed by Moslems to have been cut
out without human hands and to have come to earth from Heaven, and will
reappear at judgment day. And yet this stone, which serves as the focal
point of Islam, will be shown to be but a parody of the ultimately true
stone cut without hands, the Lord Jesus, who will return from Heaven as
the stone to smash the image.
17:5 And
upon her forehead a name written of a mystery: Babylon the great, mother
of prostitutes and of earth's abominations- The allusion is to how
prostitutes had such names on their foreheads; but this name is that given
her by God. The "abominations" of the earth / land were spawned by her.
She will set the abomination which will bring about the desolation of the
temple mount right there on the temple mount in Jerusalem (Dan. 12:11; Mt.
24:15), and this surely refers to something like a mosque complex or other
visual symbol of jihadist Islam. The plural "abominations" may be an
intensive plural referring to the one great abomination- that which brings
her to desolation. In this context we must read 21:27 which says that
there shall be no more abomination allowed in Jerusalem, the holy city of
God. For the Islamist abomination there is to be utterly destroyed. The
limited AD70 fulfilment was in the icons of Roman gods being placed there
by the legionaries. Again, the location for her abomination is Jerusalem.
She is clearly set up on the pattern of Jezebel, a woman from what is now
Lebanon, who persecuted the Elijah ministry of her day, just as this
latter day individual will do according to chapter 11. Radical Islam
claims to be against all kind of prostitution and immorality, but the
point is that in reality that abusive system is itself a prostitute.
See on 1
Cor. 9:27 for a Jewish / Roman interpretation of “Babylon”. The images and
applications unite together is that Babylon is enthroned in Jerusalem at
the last day, and the fall of Jerusalem is thereby that of Babylon; see on
16:19. There are other similarities with the apostate Jewish system:
|
17:6 And
I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of
the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder-
Hab. 2:16 describes how Babylon is punished at the Lord's return because
of her drunkenness. Rev. 17:6 defines this as being "with the blood of the
saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus", as if to imply that
it is the Babylon/ beast's mad, drunken persecution of the saints in the
last days that results in the Lord's return in judgment. The "saints" may
refer to natural Israel as in Dan. 7:25 and the "martyrs of Jesus" to the
witnesses for Him who are killed by the beast, as in chapter 11.
Drunkenness is a process; the wine refers to the teaching of Babylon, but
it is here the blood of Israel, natural and spiritual. There is the
development of a progressive blood lust, the teaching is to kill Israel,
and this is exactly the teaching of Jihadism. Once blood is tasted, it
becomes the more addictive. Note how after all he has already seen, John
marvels at this awful system he now sees portrayed. Although :7 could
suggest that the marvelling is a reference to incomprehension.
17:7 But the angel said to me: Why do you marvel? I will tell you the
mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that
carries her- John himself wrote: "Marvel not if the world hate you" (1
Jn. 3:13). Perhaps this is why he is gently rebuked for marvelling [s.w.]
when he now sees the real dimensions of the world's hatred for the
believers; for it is those who then dwell on the earth / land who will
"marvel" whereas the Lord's people, armed with the book of Revelation,
will not (:8). John "wondered with great admiration" at the scarlet beast
(:6), just as the world had wondered after the sea beast (Rev. 13:3). And
yet we can read John's "marvel" or wonder more positively. The fear or awe
of the Lord, our wonder at Him, is the beginning of wisdom. Wonder isn't a
kind of intellectual resignation, giving up on the study of God and
retreating into numb feelings. Quite the opposite. True wonder leads to a
more earnest seeking after wisdom. The Angel told John that John had
'wondered' in amazement at the visions so that God could now reveal the
mystery to him (:6,7). In our wonder we sense we are at the beginning of
things of infinite significance, we feel we are starting to grasp
something ultimate. And we wish to go further. We will glory in the
understanding and knowledge of God which that wonder stimulates us to
search out (Jer. 9:22,23)
17:8 The
beast you saw was and is not, and is about to come up- The allusion is
to the Yahweh Name, He who was, is and is to come. The Name of blasphemy
on Babylon is therefore a take on His holy Name. Babylon will think: "I
am, and there is none else beside me" (Is. 47:8). She appropriates to
herself the Name ["I am"] and characteristics of Yahweh; this is her
blasphemy.
Out of the
abyss, and to go into destruction- This beast which arises out of the bottomless pit
is therefore connected with the same beast from the bottomless pit as in
Rev. 11:7. The three beasts [sea beast of 13:1, earth beast of 13:11 and
now this scarlet beast] are all in the spirit and power of the dragon of
chapter 12. I suggest the visions may be revealing different aspects of
the same entity; or we may have the idea that the beasts will each be
judged by God, or damaged by Israeli or Western attacks upon them, but
regroup and reform into another incarnation of the same Jihadist
principles. This kind of thing is quite imaginable given the geopolitics
of the earth / land promised to Abraham.
And they
that dwell on the earth shall wonder, they whose name has not been written
in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the
beast, how that he was and is not, and shall come- As noted on :7, those armed with the
book of Revelation will not "wonder" at the beast as they will understand
it. Perhaps only that generation will fully understand what we read here;
because the purpose of prophecy is so that when it fulfils, then we
perceive the meaning of the original prophecy. The idea is not that
prophecy enables us to work out a timeline of events ahead of time.
13:3,12 explain that the world [here called the earth dwellers, those
within the earth / land] shall wonder after the beast because it recovers
from a deadly wound; a wound which led to death. Here we read that the
beast was, is not [the deadly wound], and yet has revived. That deadly
wound is upon one of the heads (13:3), which is identified with the beast;
just as the little horn of Daniel 7 and 8 is spoken of as the whole beast.
That little horn takes a stand against the Prince of princes and then is
destroyed “but not by human power” (Dan. 8:25), i.e. he will be destroyed
by the stone [Jesus] cut out without human hands. So the deadly wound
could refer to Western or Israeli victory against the beast, but it likely
is the result of direct Divine intervention and judgment.
Like the
Lamb, who was killed and then raised up (5:6), the Beast seems to
disappear and then return to life. This passage may be a reference to some
definite event, such as the murder of Caesar and the healing of the empire
under Augustus, the legend of Nero redivivus, whereby Nero was
believed to have returned from the dead. The marvellous cure of the Beast
excites admiration and leads to the adoration of the dragon and the Beast
(17:8). This is an allusion to the rapid progress of the emperor cult and
to the ready acceptance of the immoral example of the emperors. Thus
Caesar is set up as the very antithesis of the one true Lord and Master,
Jesus. The latter day application is likewise to a specific individual,
the equivalent of Nero in the very last days.
17:9 Here
is the mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are the seven mountains on
which the woman sits- As discussed on :3, the city with seven hills
may have in its time referred to Rome, and also to Jerusalem, the seat of
the Jewish satan which so persecuted the early church before AD70. But the
latter day reference is to the "great city" where Babylon shall be
enthroned; and I have argued on 16:19 that this is literal Jerusalem. But
the seven mountains may refer also to a system of seven supporting
elements within the beast system which are to be found within the beast
headquarters in Jerusalem.
17:10 And
they are seven kings. The five are fallen, the one is, the other is yet to
come; and when he comes, he must continue a little while- The seven
mountains refer to seven leaders within the beast system, headquartered in
Jerusalem, the city of seven hills. They may refer to a sequence of seven
kings, or to a group of seven rulers gathered within Jerusalem. But they
are photographed, as it were, at the point of the sixth king. The one yet
to come provides the connection with how the beast was, is not, and yet is
to come. The deadly wounded head will revive in the form of a seventh
head. He continues "a little while", the same Greek used in 12:12 for how
the dethroned devil / dragon furiously persecutes God's people, knowing
that he has but "a little while". His dethronement would correlate with
the head receiving a deadly wound in 13:12, the beast 'not being' due to
Divine judgment, and then reviving. The judgment and yet revival of
Babylon is for a reason; and I suggest that the God who in judgment always
remembers mercy does it this way because He seeks even Babylon's
repentance. And that is why in the midst of the prophecies of Babylon's
judgment, we read that God "would have healed Babylon", of her "deadly
wound", but she would not; she refuses the ointment offered (Jer. 51:8,9).
A pre-AD70
date for Revelation has been well argued by J.A.T. Robinson, H.A.
Whittaker and Paul Wyns. John would've been pretty old if it was indeed
given in AD96 as claimed by some. The many connections between Revelation
and the Olivet prophecy and 2 Peter 3 all suggest that it too is a
prophecy of AD70. The historical connections are too great to ignore, and
seem of little value if the book is simply alluding at a later date to
what happened in AD70. Rev. 17:10 speaks of the leadership of the Roman
empire, speaking of “five that are fallen”- clearly referring to:
1. Julius Caesar the first Roman Emperor (44 BC-26 BC).
2. Augustus (27 BC – AD 14).
3. Tiberius (AD 14 – 37).
4. Gaius (AD 37 – 41).
5. Claudius (AD 41 – 51)
The leader who "is" would therefore refer to Nero (AD54-68), and the
context of persecution would then be that of his reign. The sixth, Nero,
was alive when John was given the Revelation; and the seventh was Galba
who reigned only 7 months (June 68 - Jan 69). This order of the Caesars is
that taken from standard works: Suetonius (Lives of the Twelve Caesars);
Dio Cassius (Roman History 5); Josephus (Antiquities 19.1.11
cp. 18.2.2; 18.6.10). The beast's war with the saints for 42 months
(13:5-7) would then refer to the Neronian persecution. Note how 13:12,14
interchanges the head with the whole beast. Mosheim confirms this: "The
dreadful persecution which took place by order of this tyrant, commenced
at Rome about the middle of November in the year of our Lord 64… this
dreadful persecution ceased but with the death of Nero… in the year 68
[June], when he put an end to his own life" L. von Mosheim, Historical
Commentaries vol. 1, tr. Robert Vidal (NY: Converse, 1854) pp 138,139.
In the same way as the first century believers could not have accurately
predicted how all this would come about, but would have been wonderfully
encouraged as they saw it all happening, and perceived then the
interpretation- so we will see the Revelation come true, rather than be
able to predict its precise fulfilment, in our final "last days".
The problem
with the application to Roman Caesars is that the five kings "fall", the
same word soon to be used about the fall of Babylon (18:2). The word
doesn't mean to die, but to fall from power to destruction. The idea is
that five kings will be killed, either together or in quick succession.
Any application to the deaths of a succession of Roman Caesars is only a
very shadowy fulfilment of the clearer, fuller reality which will be seen
in the last days.
17:11 And
the beast that was and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the
seven; and he goes into destruction- We have noted several times the
identity between the horns and the beast. The 'seventh which is the
eighth' may mean that the final incarnation of the beast is in its seventh
horn' as the horns were, are and shall be (:10), so with the beast itself.
The apparent confusion between seventh an eighth in Hebrew thought is
found in Lk. 9:28, where "an eight days" means seven days, a week. The
idea may be that he is the seventh, and even the eighth, reckoning
inclusively, because after this 'seventh' there shall be no 'eighth' to
follow. Going away into destruction is the same idea as in Mt. 25:46,
where the rejected one-time believers "go away into everlasting
punishment". Their destruction will be along with the beast; those who in
their deepest heart identify with the world shall share the world's
judgment.
17:12 And
the ten horns you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet,
but they receive authority as kings with the beast, for one hour-
These ten kings would correspond with the ten toes of Daniel's image which
stand upon the earth / land promised to Abraham just before the "little
stone" of the returning Lord Jesus destroys them; the ten nations of the
latter day confederacies of Psalm 83 and Ez. 38, the ten Canaanite nations
which had to be driven out of the land / earth. The focus here is on the
leadership; these ten kings may be located in Jerusalem along with the
beast. Their actual possession of power over the land is very brief- just
"one hour". And it is in "one hour" that Babylon is destroyed
(18:10,17,19).
Radical
Islam has a lot to say about the land promised to Abraham- what the Bible
prophecies refer to as the eretz or land / earth. The Islamic State
and al-Nusra Front speak much about it; their definition of the Levant or
Sham is pretty much that of the land promised to Abraham. ‘Nusra’ is an
acronym standing for the Front for the Defence of the Levant. They claim
to be fighting to prepare the way for the coming of the Mahdi to establish
God’s Kingdom worldwide; they call the land promised to Abraham “Land of
Malahim,” or “epic battles”, and they expect there to be the
al-Malhamah al-Kubra, the “Great Battle of the last hour”, at
Jerusalem. This is what the Bible calls Armageddon. When the true Jesus
appears in Jerusalem, all nations in the earth / land will be gathered
together to battle at Jerusalem. And the jihadist theology is preparing
them for this. They consciously speak of their caliphate as being extended
over the land promised to Abraham, and they are urging people to leave
their native lands as Abraham left his, and journey to live in the
caliphate, comprised as they wish it to be, of the territory promised to
Abraham. They call their caliph or leader ‘Caliph Ibrahim / Abraham’, and
urge migration or hijrah to the land promised to him. The pieces
are all falling into place to fulfil the Biblical pictures of the last
days. Jihadist theology makes much of ‘signs of the times’, leading up to
the coming of the Mahdi and the final battle against the antiChrist. These
‘signs of the times’ they look for are often the same signs which are to
be found in the Bible, e.g. the re-establishment of Israel as a nation
before Armageddon. So as they apparently come true, Islamists are the more
convinced that antiChrist [who they call Dajjal and understand to
be a Jew] is about to appear in Jerusalem, and they must fight him in the
last great battle, in order to enable the Mahdi to return. Who they
consider to be the antichrist will in fact be the true Christ. They will
rush to fight Him, believing Him to be the antichrist they are expecting.
Their destruction by Him will presage the establishment of God’s true
Kingdom on earth, the revived and restored kingdom of Israel. This would
explain why many Biblical terms used about the very last days are also
found in Jihadist theology. They speak of the events of the very last days
before the Mahdi returns as being “the hour”; and yet Revelation speaks of
how the kings of the earth / land will have power for “one hour” and be
destroyed likewise in “one hour” (Rev. 17:12; 18:10,17,19). These
similarities are unsurprising because Mohammed clearly plagiarized the
Bible and Judaism for his teachings.
17:13
These are of one mind; and they give their power and authority to the
beast- Their "one mind" is another point of connection and contrast
with the believers, who are of "one mind" with each other and their Lord,
giving Him all power and authority in their lives. This is very much the
language of John's other writings, and 4:11 and 5:12 speak of how
believers will have given power and authority to Him. The beast is a
veritable antiChrist, a fake Kingdom of God. Their unity is based upon
their common acceptance of the Jihadist doctrine of destruction of Israel
and Christianity within the earth / land. When that is achieved, they then
start to squabble amongst themselves, just as the iron and clay elements
of the 10 toes of Daniel 2 do not otherwise get along with each other.
17:14 These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome
them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and they that are with
him, called and chosen and faithful, these also shall overcome-
Overcoming is a major theme of the opening letters of Revelation. Those
who overcame in their lives will now have been resurrected and will along
with the Lord now overcome this final manifestation of sin. The "war" or
(Gk.) battle is that for which the jihadist locusts of 9:7,9 are prepared-
by the propaganda from the three sources of 16:13. This is the final
battle against the Jews and Christians in the land spoken of in 11:7;
12:17 and 13:7, a kind of "final solution". But it is effectively a
gathering together to battle against the returned Lord Jesus (19:19;
20:8). The same word for war / battle is used in all these references.
17:15 And
he said to me: The waters which you saw, where the prostitute sits, are
peoples and crowds and nations and tongues- Babylon "sits" upon the
kings of the earth / land; these are the ones she makes drunk with her
teaching. The peoples and nations therefore primarily refer to those
within the land promised to Abraham and the "sea", the 'waters'
immediately surrounding that land, over which the beat has dominion. It is
out of these very peoples that there will arise some genuine Christian
converts during the tribulation; see on 5:9; 7:9; 11:9 and 14:6.
17:16 And
the ten horns which you saw: they and the beast, these shall hate the
prostitute and shall make her desolate and naked- According to the
prototype of the Old Testament invasions of Israel, their enemies turn
against each other. We are to expect this in the last days, so that, e.g.,
Ethiopia will turn against Assyria as happened historically at the time of
the Assyrian attack upon Jerusalem. This may be part of the process
whereby the horns "hate the whore" of Babylon/Assyria during the final
stage of their persecution of God's people (Rev. 17:16 cp. Hab. 2:8). Nah.
3:9 points out that the real strength of Assyria against Israel was on
account of the support she received from the smaller surrounding
powers. Likewise the ‘Romans’ who destroyed the temple in AD70 were
largely Arab and Persian mercenaries. Similarly no one nation presently
has any likelihood of dominating the Middle East in terms of military
power. Iran and Iraq (geographical 'Assyria') will need the assistance of
the other surrounding nations to realistically invade Israel. "Tidings
out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him" (Dan. 11:44) uses
the same word translated "rumour" in 2 Kings 19:7, concerning the 'rumour'
Sennacherib heard of his Ethiopian allies turning against him. These
'tidings' can be interpreted in a last-days context as referring to news
reaching 'Assyria' of her smaller allies turning against her - the horns
hating the whore.
Historical
Babylon was not destroyed simply by "the Medes" but by her own former
allies turning against her. In the same way as God puts this idea into the
hearts of the ten kings (:17), so Jer. 50:9 says of Babylon's destruction:
"I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great
nations from the north country". Babylon has just been pictured as sitting
upon many waters, the nations within the land promised to Abraham (:15).
But these waters are to be dried up from her, and those very waters come
upon her in destruction. Thus Jer. 50:38,42: "A drought is on her waters,
and they shall be dried up... The sea has come up on Babylon; she is
covered with the multitude of its waves". The nations who destroy her were
from the borders of the earth / land promised to Abraham: "Many kings
shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth (Jer. 50:41).
These are the ten kings of Rev. 17 who hate the whore and destroy her, the
"nations" of "all the earth / land" whom Babylon had made drunk (Jer.
51:7). Her destroyers are likened to locusts (Jer. 51:14), a figure for
the jihadist invaders in Rev. 9 who were once supportive of her. There is
large emphasis in Jer. 51 that these destroyers of Babylon will have been
"prepared" by God, raised up by Him; just as we read in :17 that God puts
this idea into their hearts: "Prepare the nations against her, call
together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz...
Prepare against her the nations" (Jer. 51:27,28).
And shall
eat her flesh and shall burn her completely with fire- Eating the flesh of a victim is a
Hebraism for total hatred. But within John's thought, the connection is
with his record of the Lord's teaching that His followers are to eat His
flesh (Jn. 6). The idea may be that although they hate her, yet they are
participants in her, as we are in the Lord, and they shall therefore not
be saved on account of this but rather judged. Judgment by fire is very
much the language of Divine judgment, but we see here how this judgment
will actually be brought about by the infighting within the beast system.
Under the law, prostitutes were to be burnt to death. So the idea seems to
be that indeed Babylon refers to a charismatic individual who leads or
rides the beast. As Babylon burnt Jerusalem with fire, so she must be
burnt (Jer. 21:10; 51:58).
The animals
and birds were even under Babylon's control according to Dan. 2:38. But it
is the beasts and birds of the sky who later are prophesied as feasting
upon Babylon (Rev. 19:17). This is the equivalent of the horns on the
beast hating the whore of Babylon who rides it; the destruction of the
Babylon system will ultimately be more by Muslim infighting than direct
bolts of destruction from God. Indeed, this was historically God's
preferred method of destroying Israel's invaders in Old Testament times.
17:17 For
God did put it in their hearts to do his mind and to be of one mind, and
to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God should be
accomplished- We see here clear evidence that God can act directly
upon the hearts of people to make them be of one mind and do His mind. How
much more is He willing to do so through the gift of the Spirit to His own
people who wish to do His will. We noted on :16 that the nations under
Babylon turn against her because God gives them a mind to do so- just as
He initially gave them a mind to be supportive of her. We note that they
gave their kingdoms to the beast, but the beast does not give them a
kingdom until the final "one hour", which is the "one hour" of their
destruction; see on :12. Perhaps it is an argument about power sharing and
reward, how to carve up the earth / land promised to Abraham, which leads
to their bitter hatred of Babylon.
God will
make the various nations under Babylon’s rule to “agree” (Rev. 17:17)-
there will be an unprecedented unity amongst those nations located within
the land promised to Abraham. Pan-Arabism will triumph in the end. This
union will lead to economic prosperity for the region (Rev. 18:3)- easy to
imagine, given the huge oil wealth of these areas. Babylon will become a
fake Kingdom of God; hence she is described in terms elsewhere applied to
the people and land of Israel (Rev. 18:22,23). Babylon is arrayed in fine
linen (Rev. 18:16) as a pseudo-bride of Christ.
The final
"day of the Lord" will contain elements of all the previous 'days' of
God's manifestation in the affairs of men. It will be the time when "the
words of God are fulfilled" (Rev. 17:17), when "all is fulfilled" (Lk.
21:22,32) - presumably referring to the prophetic word. It is therefore
fitting that there are many Old Testament historical backgrounds to the
prophecies which relate to the Lord's return; those events were types of
the final last day. See on Mt. 24:15. The last days will be the time when
every prophecy has its ultimate fulfilment (Lk. 21:22; Rev. 17:17);
the ultimate climax of prophecy. Therefore we are justified in seeing
every prophecy concerning Israel and her neighbours as having at least
some latter day application.
17:18- see on Rev. 14:6-9.
And the
woman whom you saw is the great city which reigns over the kings of the
earth- "Which
reigns" returns us to the immediate reality which John is watching, and
the reality of the moment experienced by God's people under Gentile
domination at all times. That great city is now reigning; but we have just
seen how she shall come to an end. As noted on 16:19, the "great city" in
its latter day sense is Babylon enthroned in Jerusalem.
As in
Hezekiah’s time the Assyrians likened captivity in their land to the
wonders of being in God's Kingdom, so too Babylon is likewise depicted as
a fake Kingdom of God. All the nations flowed together unto her (Jer.
51:44), as they will to the true Kingdom of God (Is. 2:2). She is called
"that great city, which reigns (Gk. 'basilia') over the
kings of the earth" (17:18). 'Basilia' is normally used about God's
Kingdom. When Jesus described His Kingdom as a tree "greater than all
herbs" with "great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under
the shadow of it" (Mk.4:32), He was actually quoting from the description
of the kingdom of Babylon in Dan. 4. By doing so, He was pointing out that
Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, legendary as it might be, was but a fake replica
of His.
When the
mountains flee in Rev. 16:10, Babylon loses the support base of the
coalition she leads. These kings are described in Rev. 17:18 as the kings
of the land- that promised to Abraham. And within the boundaries of that
land we find seven such nations- Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan,
Iraq and Iran. The appeal in Rev. 14:6-8 and Rev. 18:4 for Christian
believers to “come out of her” would imply that there are believers within
those nations and that there will be a major witness made to her- and it
is surely highly significant that there has been a great growth in
conversions in those areas in recent times! This is a sure sign that we
are approaching the time of the end. Sadly Rev. 18:24 implies that
believers will be murdered in these areas in the final tribulation- and
already the persecution and murder of Christian converts is in full swing
there. The description of Babylon sitting upon various peoples, nations
and tongues is to be connected with the same use of the phrase in Rev. 5:9
and 7:9 to describe the world from which Christian believers are drawn
out. And significantly, the same phrase is very commonly used in Daniel to
describe the area ruled over by historical Babylon (Dan. 3:4,29; 4:1;
5:19; 6:25; 7:14).
Issue number
3 of the Islamic State magazine Dabiq frequently talks of the call
to follow Ibrahim [Abraham] in making hijrah [migration] to the
land promised to him: “Islam in the end of times will be more manifest in
Shām... So the best of the people on the earth in the end of times will be
those who keep to the land of Ibrāhīm’s hijrah, which is Shām”
[Majmū’ul-Fatāwā]. Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullāh) also said, “So he informed
that the best of the people on the earth are those who keep to the land of
Ibrāhīm’s hijrah, in contrast to those who pass through it or leave it.
The land that Ibrāhīm made hijrah to is Shām... the land of Ibrāhīm’s
hijrah... And the land of Ibrāhīm’s hijrah, has been made for us equal to
the land of our Prophet’s hijrah. The best people on earth will be those
who keep to the land of Ibrāhīm’s hijrah”. Note how the theology of these
jihadists effectively replaces the land of Saudi Arabia and the city of
Mecca with that of the Levant, the territory promised to Abraham; and
Mecca is replaced in their focus by Jerusalem. With Saudi Arabia now
supporting the Western coalition against the jihadists, such a shift in
emphasis isn’t surprising. But it means that all is being prepared for the
last days- for the Bible prophecies focus upon the domination of the land
of Israel and Jerusalem in particular. It’s significant that the Caliph of
the Islamic State Caliphate is referred to by his followers as Caliph
Ibrahim / Abraham; the idea is that the faithful will follow him in
migrating from their homelands to the land promised to him- which is the
very same eretz which is the focus of the Bible’s latter day
prophecies, and which is to be dominated by an antiChrist figure and his
beast.
Previous Chapter
Next Chapter 
