<p>17:3- see on Rev. 12:14.</p><p><i>And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness- </i>The wilderness is where the woman has fled in 12:14; but the dragon has chased her there, she is before &quot;the face&quot; of the serpent / dragon / devil, in his presence, but miraculously preserved from him. The same word is used of how the Lord likewise confronted &quot;the devil&quot; 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.</p><p><i>And I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet coloured beast</i>- 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.</p><p>Israel's neighbours confederated with Babylon in their invasion of Israel.&nbsp;Jeremiah describes this in beast language:&nbsp;&quot;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&quot; (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 &quot;scarlet coloured&quot; (Rev. 17:3). Whilst this may have had reference in its time to imperial Rome, let's note that &quot;The Canaanites... derived their name from the purple dye which was produced there and used for making an expensive cloth&quot; (R.E. Clements<i>, Exodus</i> (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. </p><p>Is. 13:14,15 shows the connection of Israel's neighbours with Babylon; people of these areas are urged to &quot;flee every one into his own land (because) every one that is... joined unto (Babylon), shall fall by the sword&quot; in the day of Babylon's judgment.&nbsp;This sounds like a hint that the Arab peoples will be given the opportunity to repent and avoid God's judgments.&nbsp;Their previously being &quot;joined unto&quot; Babylon is the language of marriage/intercourse, showing the brief intensity of their association (remember Babylon is called a whore in Rev. 17:5).&nbsp;The intensity of their joining together is shown by the fact that Babylon is spoken of as the 'hire of the north', although &quot;the north&quot; can refer to other neighbouring powers apart from Babylon (Jer. 1:14,15; 25:9; 46:24). Passages where &quot;the north country&quot; is Babylon include Jer. 3:18;&nbsp;6:22;&nbsp;10:22;&nbsp;16:15;&nbsp;23:8;&nbsp;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.&nbsp;This paves the way for Babylon being the whore who rides the beast (Rev. 17:3).&nbsp;In similar vein Is. 49:26 speaks of Israel's enemies being fed &quot;with their own flesh&quot;, whilst Babylon's flesh will be eaten by the powers confederate with her (Rev. 17:16).&nbsp;This shows their close association.</p><p>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).</p><p><i>Full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns- </i>The beast was &ldquo;full of blasphemous names&rdquo;. 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&rsquo; arrogation of divine titles; such titles could be found throughout the Roman world, inscribed on public buildings and monuments. The&nbsp;golden cup which the whore has (cp. 18:6; Jer. 51:7) has contents which would have been understood as&nbsp;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).</p><p>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.</p>