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5. The End of the Harlot of Babylon (Revelation 17:15-18)
Is the Harlot of Babylon a Great City? (v 18): The angel of judgment, in summarizing the mystery of the great harlot of Babylon, said the vision of the woman on the back of the beast in the wilderness represented only one side of her spiritual power. The other side is expanded on through the proper name of Rome, “the great city”. Indeed, the armies of Rome had already marched to destroy the state of Judah, Jerusalem, and the second temple. Furthermore, the massacre perpetrated by Nero was still fresh in their memory, in which the accusations and suspicions of fanatical Jew had caused Paul to be beheaded and Peter crucified. Thousands of Christians had died an agonizing death.
The phenomenon of the Antichrist, his false prophet, and his cunning harlot, cannot be described by just a symbol alone. From this verse on in the book of Revelation the picture of the woman is superseded by the picture of the great city (Revelation 17:18). “Rome” literally means: “the great”, “the mighty”, the city in which all knowledge, power, intrigue and spirits are massed together, working both with and against each other. From this point on in Revelation, whoever reads the name “Babylon” should think on Rome in the days of the Caesars.
By using the term “Rome” the Patriarch John was, without question, not designating the Catholic Church, which still had to eke out her existence in the underground catacombs of Rome for another 200 years. Furthermore, in the society of that day the church possessed neither political influence nor esteem.
But perhaps John had heard in Ephesus and on Patmos of numerous Jews in Rome, who, as before, resisted the gospel, firmly held to the Law of Moses, and consequently rejected Jesus as the Son of God (Acts 28:21-29). Some of them were reported to have denounced Christians to the Roman authorities, in order to stop and exterminate the spread of this “Jewish sect”. John may also have designated such fanatics, who at that time together with the kings and Caesars were fighting against Christ and His church, as the whore of Babylon in Rome.
In any event the Rome of John's time later broke apart as a result of mass people migrations. Upon the ruins of old Rome the Catholic Church proceeded to build up a religious-political world power. It held the reins of world politics in its hands for more than 1000 years.
The situation changed, however, as a result of the Reformation, and with the discovery of the sea routes to India and the Americas. The ideas of a philosophy set free from God, as well as the French Revolution, further undermined the power of the Catholic Church. Today the church still encompasses one billion members, yet this sum only constitutes one-sixth of the world population.
The Jewish population migrated into new centers of power, in Mesopotamia, Spain, Istanbul, Paris, London, Vienna, Moscow and New York. Their intelligence, competence in business and pragmatic insight made them indispensable for the ruling governments of the day. In the Ottoman Empire Jews occupied leading positions in economics and politics, a situation that has recently been repeated through a cooperation agreement between Turkey and Israel. Regarding the situation in America, the ex-American president, Clinton, is said to have had 60 Jewish staff workers in his government apparatus. George W. Busch, who followed him, still retained a third of this number. New York is reputed to be the largest Jewish city in the world, where more Jews live than in all Israel! Jewish specialists, with their solid expertise, ability to make quick, pragmatic decision, great imagination and creativeness, dominate American universities, press, film industry and television. But as before, the great majority of Jews see in the crucified Jesus of Nazareth a poor imitation and misunderstanding of their true calling and history. Wherever possible they resist all Christian influence, such as in their demand to abolish Christian religious instruction in government schools.
An entirely different interpretation for the “great city” was brought into play by Saddam Hussein, who years ago submitted an application to the United Nations to have the international community rebuild ancient Babylon. Religiously motivated speculation immediately shot up like rockets into space. In this event a great electronic super-brain center for all nations of earth could be established in Baghdad. Among other things, following worldwide centers and registries could be combined and coordinated there: global economic administration, international air security, center for combating epidemics and disease, scientific research, a universal judicial system, as well as the establishment of a new world-ethos in the framework of a syncretistic world religion, based on expanded human rights.
Others speculate that during this end time Jerusalem would become the political and military power center for the antichrist, from where he would rule the world with a rod of iron. His false prophet and the great harlot would continue feeding and controlling the brain trust from Babylon. But one day the Antichrist would recognize that the center in Babel had become too strong. He will respond with a single blow in order to exterminate the place of intelligence gathering and occultism, perhaps by using a hydrogen or neutron bomb!
Babylon is today a subject of great importance, as the place where worldly powers are steered and manipulated by an antichrist mindset. The Antichrist does not appear as a single person, but is a timeless satanic spirit, who again and again gives rise to power-hungry new antichrists. In like manner, the harlot of Babylon is also not a single person, but a proud, impure spirit, who calls forth a chain of cunning religious advisers in synagogues and churches, who lead their respective rulers to rebellion against God and His Christ. Just as the woman clad with the sun appears as a likeness for the true and faithful assembly in both the Old and New Covenant (Revelation 12:1-6; 13-17), in similar manner, the great whore of Babylon, in the vision of John, represented the exact opposite of her. Her liberal, as well as fanatic followers, consisting of both Jews and Christians, did not remain faithful to the word of God, but mixed truth with lies and conformed themselves to the ungodly world and its way of life. Their inspirer ignited a fire of hatred in them against the Lamb of God and His followers and incited the mighty of this world to battle to annihilate the coming Christ. In the end time the battle involving these spirits will return to its starting point, to Jerusalem. Babylon and Rome are not the secret centers of this world, but the cross of the Son of God in Jerusalem. This cross remains the great offence, in which all the unchristian powers will be shattered to pieces (1 Corinthians 1:18-24).
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, the hatred of the power-hungry antichrists is growing against the meek Christ and His humble followers in our days, but whether the leaders lived in Rome, New York, Moscow, Peking, or Jerusalem, Your spiritual kingdom will certainly come and Your will be truly done, and the great states will break over the gentle Lamb of God. Amen.
QUESTION:
- How can we recognize the antichristian leaders and their harlot and avoid them wisely?