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REVELATION - Behold, I am Coming Soon
Studies in the Book of Revelation
BOOK 6 - BABYLON THE HARLOT AND THE WORSHIP OF GOD(REVELATION 17:1 - 19:10)
PART 6.1 - THE JUDGMENT OF GOD UPON THE HARLOT BABYLON (REVELATION 17:1 - 18:24)

4. The Lamb of God's Victory Over the Antichrist - Proclaimed in Advance! (Revelation 17:9b-14)


REVELATION 17:9b-14
9 The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits. 10 They are seven kings. Five have fallen, the one is, the other has not yet come. When he comes, he must continue a little while. 11 The beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goes to destruction. 12 The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour. 13 These have one mind, and they give their power and authority to the beast. 14 These will war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings, and those who are with him are called, chosen, and faithful.”

Shedding Light on the Mystery of the Beast (v 9): The angel referred the prophet to the sphere of control of the Antichrist and described it as “seven mountains” (Revelation 17:9). These seven peaks represent seven kings, who reigned either successively or simultaneously, and who possessed above average quality and might. They stood over and above the other rulers of our world like the eight thousand meters and more peaks of the Himalayas dwarf the 5,000 meter surrounding mountains.

In the days of John five of these seven rulers had already passed off the scene or been killed, one was reigning at the time of the patriarch, and a seventh king, explained the angel, would still be coming (Revelation 17:10). These seven anti-Christian rulers do not symbolize the beast as an entire entity, but only represent some of his blasphemous heads. Since the last of these kings and princes did not live simultaneously, but successively, it is clear that the beast out of Revelations is a timeless, evil spirit, who again and again over the centuries brought forth famous and infamous rulers. The beast is not a single person, but, much more, continuously manifests its spirit in the governing monarchs and sovereigns it has “possessed”.

The beast does not leave these rulers to run things by themselves, but sets the Harlot of Babylon upon their heads. With feminine cunning and finesse the harlot manipulates and steers these executively-authorized slaves of the satanic son. Spirits from the deep control each other. There dwells no trust in the children of hell, and their mistrust frequently drives them to a thousand sorts of spying. One secret service controls the others!

The mighty rulers are not even certain of their own future. They come, therefore, to inquire at the hand of esoteric agents of religion, and expect of them binding answers from astrology or necromancy. They demand protective good-luck-charms, opinion from holy books, as well as blessings for war and peace. The scarlet clad woman controlled the heads of the beast by speaking promises of forgiveness; while at the same time threatening them with hell should they disobey. Some she controlled by forcing to confess their deeds. She enticed the frightened with vague promises, which would only come to fulfillment following death. Godless men of violence are often more religious than one imagines! They hope for answers from the spirit world. Seldom does one ask for God Himself. For many the name Christ is a hostile word, and taboo in their discussions.

The harlot of Babylon skillfully mixes truth with lies in her decrees, as well as divine revelation with her own strategies. She confuses kings and rulers thinking, and contaminates all areas of world politics with her plan to create a single world religion. The harlot plays out her power with intrigue.

Who are the Seven Majestic Heads? (v 9-10): Numerous commentators are of the opinion that in the “seven kings” (Revelation 17:9-10) John was reminded of the seven exceptional Roman Caesars of his time. Five of these Caesars already belonged to the past, a sixth was reigning in the day of the patriarch, and the last would appear shortly to be the terrible culmination in this row of frenzied antichristian demoniacs. John knew that worldwide persecution would unquestionably come upon him and his churches, and that a great departure from the faith was just around the corner. He wanted to warn his churches and prepare them spiritually for the inevitable suffering to come.

The problem with this interpretation is that no one knows for certain which seven in the long row of Caesars are intended, for from the time of the government of Julius Caesar to the days of John there were more than a dozen such rulers. Their names, dates of rule, and actual relationship to Christ and His church are given below:

46-44 B.C. Julius Caesar reigned two years as dictator. He granted, however, the Jews certain rights.
30 B.C. - 14 A.D. Octavian reigned 44 years in the heyday of Rome. In the provinces of his kingdom he was venerated as god. In Rome he was titled “Augustus” (the one worthy of exaltation and worship).
14-37 A.D. Tiberius reigned 23 years. He demanded discipline and old-Roman order, while rejecting special honor. Nevertheless, during his reign Jesus was crucified.
37-41 A.D. Caligula reigned four years. He showed an abnormal desire for power, demanded worship, and began to persecute Jews.
41-54 A.D. Claudius reigned 13 years, and again favored the Jews. He was stabbed to death by his wife, so that the son from her first marriage might become Caesar.
54-68 A.D. Nero reigned 14 years in unbridled rage. He killed his own mother, set fire to Rome, had Christians persecuted, and Peter and Paul killed.
68-69 A.D. This period of confusion is characterized as the “Four-Caesars Year”. The names of the first three Caesars were Galba, Otho and Vitellius.
69-79 A.D. Vespasian ruled ten years and lived modestly. In his time there was no persecution of Christians.
79-81 A.D. Titus ruled two years. As the son of Vespasian he was clever and tolerant, but had conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the second temple. He was poisoned by his brother Domitian.
81-96 A.D. Domitian reigned 15 years. He developed into a gruesome power-maniac, and had himself, as the first of the Caesars, officially worshipped as “God and Lord”. After 93 ‘A.D. began in the entire kingdom religious trials against Christians and Jews.
96-98 A.D. Nerva ruled two years. He again instituted tolerance of Jews and Christians.
98-117 A.D. Trajan ruled 19 years and brought about the greatest extension to the Roman Empire. Following Augustus, he was the most illustrious in the row of rulers. Being a Christian was fundamentally punishable under Trajan, since Christians rejected the emperor cult.

There followed 200 long years of bloody persecution of Christians at the hands of the Roman Caesars!

In the event the banishment of John to the Isle of Patmos occurred during the reign of Domitian, then possibly the names of the Caesars in the above table (in bold print) represented six of the seven kings of Revelations, in which the spirit of the Antichrist embodied himself.

This interpretation, however, because of its many weak points, is rejected by some commentators. Some even suppose Domitian had been the resurrected Nero.

Another interpretation begins the counting of the seven kingdoms with the prophecy of Daniel:

  1. The Egyptian Empire
  2. The Assyrian Empire
  3. The Babylonian Empire
  4. The Medo-Persian Empire
  5. The Macedonian-Greek Empire
  6. The Roman Empire (the time of the Patriarch John)
  7. The united Europe, out of which the last antichrist will rise

This view, however, totally neglects the rise of the Islamic world empire, which under the Umayyads, Abbasids, the descendants of Genghis Khan, the Ottomans and the Mongols built up greater antichristian empires than all the previously mentioned empires of the Romans and Greeks. The decimation and destruction of the once strong eastern churches in Syria, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and China has often been forgotten by most commentators, in spite of the terrible affliction in these countries. There has been and continues to be more suffering for Christ in Asia, but also in Africa, than we realize! We need to break out of our provincial European viewpoint, and recognize the entire global measure of Christian persecution. There have been many tears shed for following Jesus in the “Third World”, but even more faith, love and hope offered up.

The number seven, in any event as used in Revelations, speaks neither of seven specific persons nor of special empires, but of the totality of all demonized antichristian leaders, emperors, presidents and dictators. In the time following Christ, the evil spirit manifested itself in countless countries and cultures. Until now, only 32 percent of all people call themselves “Christians”! Many states in Asia show dwindling minorities of Christians, often less than three percent. Each year there die there and in Africa thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of Christians for their faith. The perspective of John encompassed them all. The timeless spirit of the Antichrist has brought forth many different heads, such as Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Khomeini, Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi. There continue to arise in our time charismatic leaders bent on destroying Christianity, viewing it as either a false development in Judaism, or as the forerunner of capitalism. The coerced war of the USA against Iraq brought about an increased hatred for all followers of Christ.

Which City has Seven Hills? (v 9): The allusion to the seven hills in the Revelation of Christ to John (Revelation 17:9) has engaged many expositors. J.A. Bengal related the location to Rome. He listed the hills of this city in his judgment: Palatinus, Capitolinus, Coelius, Exquilinus, Viminalis, Quirinalis and Aventinus. There stood previously, on each of these hills either a castle or a fortress. But later the picture changed:

  • Since Pope Gregory the seventh, the Lateran stands on the hill of Coelius.
  • Since Pope Bonifatius the third, the Vatican stands on the hill of Palatinus.
  • Since Pope Paul the second, the St. Markus Church stands on the hill of Quirinalus.
  • Since Pope Paul the fourth, the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore stands on the hill of Exquilinus.

Until the time of Bengel's writing there had been no sacral edifices built upon the other three hills. But Bengel was of the opinion that the time would also come when majestic papal buildings would also occupy these three hills.

To answer the objection that the hills mentioned in Revelation are not meant to represent concrete mountains, but refer to dominant rulers, Bengal gave the argument that many popes, since the time of Gregory the seventh, have understood themselves to be rulers over emperors, kings and presidents of our world.

At the time of the Prophet John there existed in Rome no majestic church edifices. But even at that time “The City of Seven Hills” was a well established term for the Roman capital. Since the patriarch could not openly write about the ungodly rulers in Rome he had to grasp known symbols to make it unequivocally clear to his readers that the beast out of the sea of nations was the spirit of the Roman Empire. The angel explained to John all too obviously that the harlot of Babylon sits on the seven hills of this city.

But since the name of the city is lacking in this verse other expositors have considered Jerusalem or old Babylon to be the “city with the seven hills”. In regard to Jerusalem, it is difficult to identify seven prominent hills. In this connection one might most easily name the Temple Mount, the Mount of Olives, Mount Scopus, the Mount of Offence, the elevation at the Mount of Herod, the steep sloping hill with the old city of David and Mount Zion, on whose slope stood the palace of the High Priest. But at the time the book of Revelation was written Jerusalem and the second temple had long since been destroyed. In addition, there never had been seven different kings enthroned on the hills of this city.

Concerning the city of Babylon there are no and never were any hills or mountains in the wide river plains of the Euphrates. At most there exists the possibility to throw up some sand hills or mighty ziggurats (pyramidal towers built with step-like stages!)

Although numerous expositors see in the words “seven hills” a clear indication of the Catholic Church in Rome, we should be careful with our conclusions. In the beast rising from the sea of nations John saw, firstly, the spirit of the Roman Empire, which by blasphemous self-deification of the Caesars went too far in its drunken craze for power. At that time the Harlot of Babylon was not yet the persecuted Catholic Church, but a seductive Christian-hating power which led the governing rulers into a maniacal rage, only to exploit them for its purposes.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we thank You and worship You because You are the Father of all the followers of Christ in truth and Spirit. We ask You to spread the spirit of humility and the fear of God in the hearts of the kings, presidents, and rulers of the world that they may not become open to the temptations of the antichrist and his false prophet. Help us not to deify human individuals, but to worship to You and Your Son, and obey Your commandments joyfully. Amen.

QUESTIONS:

  1. What is the significance of the seven heads of the beast out of the sea?
  2. Why can't we and why are we not willing to worship the rulers of worldly states?

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