Builders of Faith

Builders of Faith Explorer II:  Exploring End-Time Prophecy

Lesson 10—When False Religion Becomes Unpopular
 

1.    Is Babylon in the book of Revelation literal or symbolic?

“So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness.  And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.  The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.  And on her forehead a name was written:  MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.  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 marveled with great amazement.”  Revelation 17:3-6.

A.    Isaiah 13:1, 17, 19-20:  “The burden against Babylon….  Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them…. And Babylon…Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.  It will never be inhabited, Nor will it be settled from generation to generation….”—This prophecy declares that when the Medes begin their destruction of Babylon, Babylon will never recover again.  So literal Babylon will be destroyed, and its destruction will last forever.

B.    MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT:  The Greek word for mystery, which is part of Babylon’s name, has a particular meaning in the New Testament, where it normally represents a hidden truth which has only been revealed to God’s faithful believers—see Matthew 13:11; Romans 11:25; Ephesians 3:3; and so on.  IF end-time Babylon were literal Babylon, then it would never have been a mystery to anyone at any time.  Therefore, we conclude that end-time Babylon is a symbolic name for a wicked power opposed to the faithful people of God.


2.    What is the significance of a symbolic harlot?

“The Lord said also to me in the days of Josiah the king:  ‘Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done?  She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot.’”  Jeremiah 3:6.  “Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations….  But you [Jerusalem] trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your fame….’”  Ezekiel 16:1, 15.

Answer:  These are only representative samples of passages with this message.  The large majority of references to a symbolic harlot in the Old Testament are to the professed people of God who had gone spiritually astray seeking other “lovers”, referring to the heathen peoples’ gods.


3.    To which professed people of God does Babylon claim sisterhood?

“…And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.”  Revelation 17:3.  “‘I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches.’” Revelation 22:16.

Answer:  First, spiritual Babylon is essentially associated with the beast of Revelation 13:1, whom we associated in its end-time phase with false Christianity.  As we learned in Lesson #5, blasphemy is the sin of claiming God’s rights and authority, which also fits false Christianity.  Second, the entire book of Revelation applies to the Christian Era, as we see in Revelation 22:16.  Therefore, we conclude that spiritual Babylon applies principally to false Christianity—although in the end-time the whole world will become part of Babylon’s family through close cooperation with her.


4.    What else is spiritual Babylon, and who are her daughters?

“And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”  Revelation 17:18.  “…MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS….”  Revelation 17:5.

Answer:  A literal Greek translation of Revelation 17:18 would read, “And the woman whom you saw is that great city having a kingdom which reigns over the kings of the earth.”  Since Babylon is a harlot woman and a “city having a kingdom”, it must be a Christian institution and a political kingdom.  The only power that matches that description is the Papal Antichrist based in Rome.  Indeed, Babylon was a cryptic name believers used to describe Rome in the 1st century.  Rome is called the “Mother Church” because many Protestant churches came out of the Roman Church.  They are her daughters to the extent that they follow her example in any false Roman teachings.


5.    Why is Babylon pictured as sitting on the beast and on many waters?

“…‘Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters….’  And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast….”  Revelation 17:1, 3.  “…‘The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.”  Revelation 17:15.

Answer:  As we learned in Lesson #5, symbolic beasts represent political kingdoms.  Babylon is sitting on the beast to indicate that she controls this beast as a rider controls a horse or other riding animal.  But she also sits on multitudes of people and tongues to indicate the people who make up those kingdoms.  Thus there is no real contradiction; she controls the people through their governments.


6.    What is the relationship of Babylon to the Antichrist?

“There are also seven kings.  Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come.  And when he comes, he must continue a short time.”  Revelation 17:10.  “And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire.  For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.”  Revelation 17:16-17.

Answer:  Many Bible scholars admit that Babylon is a false religious system based in Rome in the end-time.  But their argument is that Babylon cannot be the Antichrist since he is obviously represented by the 7th head because “when he comes, he must continue a short time” (17:10).  We agree that the 7th head represents the end-time Antichrist.  However, not much should be made of the fact that Babylon and the 7th head are distinguished here because when the ten horns “receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast…and they will give their power and authority to the beast” (17:12-13), remember that Babylon is in control of the beast.  Then when those ten horns change their minds and turn against Babylon the harlot, note that verse 17 above says, “For [Because] God has put it into their hearts…to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.”  This does not mean that they turn against the harlot and toward the beast.  Instead, it means that when they turn against the harlot, they are also turning against the beast.  Therefore, we conclude that Babylon and the beast under the 7th head both represent the end-time Antichrist.  The 7th head especially represents the political aspect, and Babylon especially represents the religious aspect.  This is in full agreement with earlier prophecies declaring that the Antichrist is the Roman Papal Church.


7.    What do the seven heads on the beast represent?

“…The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.  There are also seven kings.  Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come.  And when he comes, he must continue for a short time.”  Revelation 17:9-10.

A.    First, the seven heads are also seven mountains and seven kings, with a better Greek translation being, “also seven kings are they”.  Many scholars translate the word for mountains as hills and declare that these are the seven hills on which the ancient city of Rome sat.  But that cannot be true since (1) the Greek word for mountains is usually translated as mountains; and (2) the seven heads, seven mountains, and seven kings are obviously identical.  

B.    Second, the only way these three items above can be equal to each other is to understand (1) the mountains as symbolic of kingdoms (see Isaiah 2:2-3; Jeremiah 17:1-3, and so on) and the kings as symbolic of representing their kingdoms (see Daniel 7:17, 23).  Therefore, we conclude that the seven heads represent seven kingdoms who have or will be known for their opposition to God and their persecution of His people.


8.    How do the majority of scholars identify the seven kingdoms?

Answer:  Most scholars assume that the explanation given to the apostle John is given from the perspective of John’s own day.  Therefore, most identify the following seven kingdoms:  (1) Egypt, (2) Assyria, (3) Babylon, (4) Medo-Persia, (5) Greece, (6) Rome, and (7) Antichrist.  Even many who identify Papal Rome as the Antichrist agree with these seven kingdoms.  But we do not.


9.    Why do you hold a different position from the majority of scholars?

“The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition….”  Revelation 17:8.  “…Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come.  And when he comes, he must continue for a short time.”  Revelation 17:10.

Answer: We agree that it’s a reasonable assumption that the explanation given to John would be given from the perspective of his own day—in which case, the five kingdoms that have fallen in John’s day are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, the one that is in his day would be Rome, and the last kingdom would be the Antichrist.  However, there is a serious flaw in this assumption.  It ignores the relationship between the seven heads and the entire beast, as shown by the verb tenses in the following chart:

                         Verse 8                                   Verse 10

PAST              “The beast…was…”                “Five [kingdoms] have fallen…”
PRESENT      “The beast…is not…”               “…one [kingdom] is…”
FUTURE        “The beast…will ascend…”      “…the other [kingdom] has not yet come.”

Interpreting Rome as the 6th head, “one is”, makes it equivalent to the period in which the entire beast “is not”.  How was it that the Roman Empire in John’s day “is” but that it also existed at the time the entire beast “is not”?  It certainly existed in John’s day, and it also existed as the major persecutor of Christians.  This presents an insurmountable problem.  But when the prophecy is viewed in light of the pre-wound and post-wound phases of the Antichrist in Revelation 13 (see Lesson #5), it harmonizes perfectly as follows:  (1) Babylon, (2) Medo-Persia, (3) Greece, (4) Rome, (5) Pre-wound Papal Antichrist, (6) Papal Antichrist between its deadly wound and its complete healing, and (7) Post-wound final phase of the Papal Antichrist.  Therefore, the perspective is given from our day, and the beast that “is not”, yet “one [kingdom”] is”, is our present time, when the Papal Antichrist exists, but it is not engaging in major persecuting work.


10.    Does the beast really have an eighth head?

“The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.”  Revelation 17:11.

Answer:  Some have been confused by this reference to the “eighth” when the rest of the chapter only speaks of seven heads.  First, there is no word for head in this verse.  Second, the Greek word for eighth here is masculine and therefore cannot be a head because the latter word is feminine in gender.  Finally, note that the verse declares the entire beast itself to be an eighth and part of the seven.  When you add seven numbers, the total sum is the eighth number.  Therefore, when this verse calls the entire beast the eighth, it is stating the truth that the sum and substance of the entire beast—representing persecuting powers throughout history—will be destroyed once and for all.


11.    Can we identify the ten horns on the beast?

“The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast.  These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.  These will make war with the Lamb [Jesus], 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.”  Revelation 17:12-14.

Answer:  All agree that the ten horns represent the international alliance that will give political support to the end-time Antichrist.  Some argue on the basis of Daniel 7’s ten horns (see Lesson #5) that these are either ten special European nations or as representing the totality of European nations.  Others point to the obvious international aspect of the end-time crisis and believe these are ten regional powers from all over the earth.  We know from Lesson #9 that the United States will play the most prominent role in reviving the Papal Antichrist.  But whoever these ten horns represent, they are also political nations who play an important role in supporting the Papal Antichrist in the end-time.


12.    When will this confederacy of false religion finally become unpopular?

“And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire.  For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.”  Revelation 17:16-17.

Answer:  The nations of the earth, undoubtedly in agreement with their citizens, will turn against the Papal Antichrist at some point after they have been supporting the mark of the beast.  For some reason, the wicked majority will see that they have been deceived, almost certainly late in the period of the Seven Last Plagues (see Lesson #13).  But by that time, it will be too late to be saved.  Unfortunately, they had earlier viewed Sunday observance as a necessity for global unity and Sabbath observance as an inconvenient truth.  Then when they perceive their spiritual decision to have been foolish, they will especially turn on the Papacy and on any other religious leaders who told them to follow after the beast.  Woe unto false religious leaders in that day!


13.    How can I avoid being deceived and not be a part of spiritual Babylon?

“…‘Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen….  Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.’”  Revelation 18:2, 4.

Answer:  First, have a healthy skepticism for popular Christian teachings.  Many are indeed true, but most spiritual truth will never win a popularity contest.  Even a minimal reading of the Old Testament should tell you that.  In other words, study for yourself and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you to the right person or persons to help your understanding of God’s Word.  Second, if you find yourself in spiritual Babylon, or in any of her daughter churches, remember that God has His people even in Babylon right now.  Please respond to His call to come out of Babylon and into His glorious truth!

 

Quiz for Lesson 10—When False Religion Becomes Unpopular

 

1.  Which of the following statements about Babylon in the book of Revelation are true? (2)

  Babylon is called “THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS”.

  Babylon is the confederacy of Eastern nations that will go to war with Israel.

  Babylon represents the region of modern Iraq that will be prominently featured at the end-time.

  Babylon is also called “MYSTERY”, which means it is a hidden truth and therefore cannot be a literal power in the region of Iraq.

 

2.  The large majority of references in the Old Testament to a harlot are to the professed people of God who have been spiritually unfaithful to Him. (1)

  True

  False

 

3.  What religion does Babylon claim to represent in the end-time? (1)

  Islam

  Judaism

  Christianity

 

4.  Which of the following statements about the relationship of Babylon and the Antichrist are true? (3)

  Babylon is a false religious system, but it cannot be the Antichrist since the Antichrist is the 7th head on the beast on which Babylon sits.

  Since Babylon is pictured as riding a beast, Babylon will control the persecuting nations at the end-time.

  Babylon and the 7th head on the beast will be the same Antichrist power—Babylon focusing on her religious leadership, and the 7th head on her political leadership.

  Babylon is primarily the Roman Catholic Church, but will eventually include all false religions under her umbrella of leadership.

 

5.  What are the 7 heads on the beast that Babylon rides? (2)

  They are the 7 hills on which the ancient city of Rome stood.

  They are equated with 7 mountains and 7 kings.

  The only way that 7 heads, mountains, and kings could be the same is that they represent 7 kingdoms or political powers that persecuted God’s people.

 

6.  The one kingdom that “is” and exists during the “is not” phase of the entire beast is: (2)

  The Papal Church between its deadly wound and the healing of its deadly wound.

  The Roman Empire.

  The 6th head.

  The 5th head.

 

7.  Which of the following lists the proper 7 heads in their chronological order? (1)

  Egypt—Assyria—Babylon—Medo-Persia—Greece—Rome—Papal Rome

  Babylon—Media—Persia—Greece—Rome—Papal Rome (1st phase)—Papal Rome (last phase)

  Babylon—Medo-Persia—Greece—Rome—Papal Rome (1st phase)—Papal Rome (exists but isn’t persecuting)—Papal Rome (last phase)

  Egypt—Assyria—Babylon—Media—Persia—Greece—Rome

 

8.  Who are the 10 horns on the beast that Babylon rides? (1)

  They are 10 European nations that will re-establish the old pagan Roman Empire.

  They are 10 individual rulers from all over the world who give their support to the Papacy.

  We do not now know specifically who they represent, except that they will give their support to the Papacy at the end-time.

 

9.  When will the confederacy of false religion finally become unpopular? (3)

  At some point late in the falling of the 7 Last Plagues

  Immediately after the 7 Last Plagues begin to fall

  When the wicked finally discover that they chose the wrong side

  After it is too late to be saved

 

10.  At this time, God even has some of His people in spiritual Babylon, and He calls them out of Babylon into His glorious truth before it is too late. (1)

  True

  False