REVELATION
LESSON 40
Are We Living in the End Times?
Revelation 17:1 17 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:
In chapter 17 we will be looking at the
punishment of Babylon, the mother, the great religious harlot and what God plan
to do with this harlot religious system.
In the bible, seas and waters represent great
masses of people. They represent the people, nations and tongues. The fact that
this wicked woman is pictured as sitting upon these great masses is an
indication that she will be supported by them, and she will exercise control
over them. She will exercise control over them during the tribulation period.
An extensive study of the religions of
Babylon demonstrates that many of them were carried over in part into Roman
Catholicism, forming the background for some of the ceremonies. The Babylonian
influence however is always contrary to the truth. Her final hour will be
described in this chapter.
Revelation 17:2 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.
From the very beginning most nations have
been ruled by some type of religion. The harlot religious system will commit
adultery with the kings of the earth, she will conspire with world leaders to
produce a merger of religion and government. Here is a final religious system,
united with a political system to manipulate the people of the earth into a
false government approved religion.
The wine of her fornication is referring to
demonic possession. This wicked woman will cause people to be led astray by
deceiving spirits. Teachings of eastern religions have infected even the church
itself.
Driving it increasingly toward apostasy and a
false interpretation of Gods word. There will be world wide religious deception
so out of control that it is easy to understand how worldwide ecclesiastical
trends are even now leading to the dawn of a one world church controlled by
Satan.
The one world religion will have a lot of
Catholics in it but it will also have a lot of protestants and other religions.
The people that are saved regardless of religion or denomination will be
raptured and the lost regardless of their false religious beliefs will be left
behind.
Revelation 17:3 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 saw a woman on a scarlet colored beast
with seven heads and ten horns. We already know the beast with the seven heads
and the ten horns is the antichrist. Since the woman will be sitting on the
beast, we must assume that her harlot religion and the antichrist will exist on
earth at the same time. The political power of this day is supporting this
apostate church.
At first the antichrist will support her one
world religion and be under her authority. Things will eventually turn bad
between the two, the relationship will be hindered by the woman’s double
identity. Remember she is both mother, the false religious system and the great
city Babylon. We can see from this that all three, the false religious system,
the city of Babylon and the antichrist will exist during the first half of the
tribulation period.
Revelation 17:4 4 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:
When it peaks here of the woman arrayed in purple
and scarlet colors it pertains to Israel, with a carry over into the church
age. The purple represents the dominion of these religions over nations, the
scarlet color represents the persecution of Israel.
Decked with gold and precious stones and
pearls means this woman is a rich harlot of royal stature. Look at the golden
cup she will be holding. This cup will be filled with abominable things and the
filth of her fornication.
When the false religions drink from this cup
they will drink the wine of fornication. This is symbolic of deceiving spirts
and demons.
Today many people think our modern society is
too enlightened to believe in the existence of demons. These demons are no less
dangerous than Satan. They are his cohorts, doing his will. It is unfortunate
but this includes many of the worlds religious and political leaders.
Until our next lesson,
Stay in the word.
Brother Andy.
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