Revelation is an understandable story, where the angel explains the vision of the woman sitting upon the beast (Revelation 17:7 KJV). The following only highlights aspects of the description of the Whore, who represents the False Prophet, and the Beast, who represents the Antichrist. “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth” (17:9). The mountains represent kingdoms, i.e., like the “great mountain” (Daniel 2:35) of Daniel’s vision. “And there are seven kings: five are fallen [Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece] and one is [the Rome of John’s day], and the other is not yet come [Revived Roman Empire]; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space” (Revelation 17:10). “And the beast [Antichrist] that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition” (17:11). The Antichrist political system existed at one time, disappeared, and reemerged. “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings [Ten regions of the world, not just the European Union], which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive no power as kings one hour [possibly only 15 days] with the beast [Antichrist]” (17:12). “These shall make war with the Lamb [Battle of Armageddon at the end of the Seventieth Week of Daniel], and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful” (17:14). “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire [the religious system of the Great Whore will be destroyed by the Antichrist, who got tired of taking directions from the Great Whore]” (17:16). The chapter ends identifying the whore with Rome. “And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth” (17:18).
Rome
The Great Whore and the Beast (Revelation 17:7)
Religion in bed with politics is the one world ecumenical movement riding the Antichrist. In the Revelation, John shows us the final development of the world’s religious aspirations fully engaged with the power of the world’s governments. “I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters” (Revelation 17:1 KJV). In A Woman Rides the Beast (56:28), Dave Hunt historically connects papal Rome with ancient Babylon — though often ignored or discounted by modern scholarship — then he prophetically links Rome’s ecumenical leadership — “that they may be one as we are one” (John 17:22) — with the whore riding the beast.
In the Book of Revelation, John describes a woman: (1) of great power and spiritual corruption, i.e., “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” (Revelation 17:4), (2) with a harlot’s forehead, designating her as the explanation for the occasion, source, and widespreadness of spiritual corruption, i.e., “And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (17:5), (3) responsible for the martyrdom of countless True Believers, i.e., “And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration” (17:6), (4) sitting at ease at Rome, the City of Seven Hills, i.e., “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth” (17:9), and (5) reigning and influencing world governments from papal Rome, i.e., “And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth” (17:18). If Babylon the Great is here identified with the religious world system, then papal Rome would be more representative of the beast “out of the sea” (13:1), which is the False Prophet, and would not be the Antichrist. Hence, the Whore rides the Beast. Father, the signs of Your Son’s soon appearing are around us and ominous. Cause us to walk carefully but powerfully. Come quickly. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen and amen.
Greatest Earthquake of All Time (Revelation 16:18)
Earthquakes are God’s signature judgment disaster, since earth dwellers generally reside on solid ground that God can shake. The final judgment of the Seven Vial Judgments is the greatest earthquake of all time. “And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great” (Revelation 16:18 KJV). This unprecedented shaking of everywhere on planet earth at the same time would be akin to heavy artillery softening things up, but worse, before invasion, as well as, ensuring no one will be ignored in the judgments of God. Once poured out, “there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done” (16:17). This is the Almighty declaring the last judgment of the Tribulation completed, just as the Messiah announced His atoning work was completely accomplished, “It is finished” (John 19:30). “Voices” (16:18) along with “thunders, and lightnings” (16:18) accompany the “great earthquake” (16:18). Those voices (Revelation 4:5; 8:5; 11:19) belong to a great “cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) of humans and angels, voicing their agreement, approval, encouragement, congratulations, fascination, and interest in Jehovah’s “work, His strange work” (Isaiah 28:21) of judgment. God is schooling us for our future judgment of angels (1Corinthians 6:3).
Babylon is the “great city” (Revelation 16:19) that will be “divided into three parts” (16:19), in other words, destroyed. Since the Revelation narrative proceeds immediately to a description of Babylon the Great (Chapter 17) and the Fall of Babylon (Chapter 18), then Rome would be most likely the great city named. “And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath” (16:19). Additionally: (1) “the cities of the nations fell” (16:19), all cities are destroyed, like WW2 Stalingrad, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dresden, or Berlin, (2) the topography of every “island fled away” (16:20) existing no longer, (3) “mountains were not found” (16:20) laying down, and (4) “gigantic hailstones, weighing about a hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people, but they blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, since it was so horrendous” (16:21 NET).
LORD, my mind reels from the description of the total devastation of just this Seventh Vial Judgment. We always knew You could do something so horrendously different, but now we can see why You have held back Your hand. Fulfill Your prophecies and faithfully pour out Your judgments. I give You thanks for delivering Your Church from the wrath to come and from all these things that will come to pass. May a righteous seed come even out of all of this. May Israel be that nation born in a day. Lord, come quickly, in Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen and amen.
Antichrist: Leopard, Bear, Lion (Revelation 13:2)
Antichrist, the villain of this story, is illuminated by the imagery of the leopard, bear, and lion. “And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority” (Revelation 13:2 KJV). The swiftness of the leopard, ferocity of the bear, and domination of the lion are all empowered by the dragon, who is the “god of this world” (2Corinthians 4:4). If disciples do not fully appreciate they are “not of this world” (John 8:23), they will become confused by the gatekeepers of the world system represented by the leopard, bear, and lion, whose master said (without Christ’s contradiction), “All the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them” (Matthew 4:8) are his. Though we are “in this world” (12:25), God’s “kingdom is not of this world” (18:36). Our “citizenship is in heaven – and we also eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20 NET). As “strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13 KJV). this status only troubles the world, if they do not understand we pray for the peace of wherever God sends us (Jeremiah 29:7). Our power is the recognition, “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).
Just as John outlined a story concerning a leopard, bear, and lion, similarly, the Old Testament prophet Daniel was given a vision of “four great beasts [of prey, which] came up from the sea” (Daniel 7:3). Daniel described the Babylonian Empire as a “lion, [that] had eagle’s wings” (7:4). A second kingdom, the Medo-Persian Empire, was represented as a bear, i.e., “And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs [i.e., dominating Media, Persia, Babylonia] in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh [i.e., subduing Lydia, Egypt, etc.]” (7:5). A third world empire, Greece, was depicted as a leopard, which speaks of the swiftness of Alexander the Great’s conquests, i.e., “After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it” (7:6). Finally, the Roman Empire was likened to a dreadful beast with ten horns, i.e., “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns” (7:7). And so, Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a “great image” (2:31) agrees with both Daniel’s vision of “four great beasts” (7:3) and John’s vision of the “beast which… was like unto a leopard… a bear… [and] a lion” (Revelation 13:2).
“Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time” (1John 2:18). Understanding the Antichrist as being a man, yet he embodies the history of world systems of many antichrists building up to his emergence on the world stage. Christ’s First Coming was initially noticed only by humble shepherds, but at His Second Coming, “every eye shall see Him” (Revelation 1:7). How will the Devil so effectively position the Antichrist to be received by all? Conquering, war, famine, death, martyrdom (Revelation 6), prepare for the Temple to be built in Jerusalem, where three major monotheistic religions worship. The most noticeable and acutely felt event in the world, since the Flood or the Tower of Babel, would be the removal of the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit through the Rapture of the Church. “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way” (2Thessalonians 2:7 NKJV).
LORD, we do not pretend to have answered all the questions You must answer to bring this grand story to its conclusion. As much as we desire understanding of Yourself and these End Times, we know the Kingdom of God is not simply “in word, but in power” (1Corinthians 4:20 KJV). May that power rest on the presentation of Your story in the Gospel message (1Thessalonians 1:5). Magnify Yourself in the salvation of sinners and sanctification of saints. In Jesus’ name, we pray, come quickly. Amen.
Center of the Earth
Is Jerusalem the center of the earth? We know Creation took place in the Middle East at the confluence of four named rivers, one of which was the Euphrates (Genesis 2:14) in a region once called the Cradle of Civilization and still identified as the Fertile Crescent. Biblical history establishes Jerusalem as the “city of David” (2Samuel 5:7), the capital of Israel and where Solomon built the Jewish Temple. For Jews, Jerusalem is the center of their earth. And, for Christians, the Gospel would spread starting from Jerusalem “unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8 KJV). Jesus ascended back to heaven from the Mount of Olives east and just outside of Jerusalem (1:12) and will descend to the same spot at His Second Coming (Zechariah 14:4). Rome destroyed the Jerusalem Temple (70 AD). The Crusades took and lost Jerusalem. Islam built the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Three of the main religions of the world are monotheistic and Jerusalem centric. Modern Israel claims Jerusalem as its capital, and the United States moved its embassy to Jerusalem in the 21st century. Any wonder David the Psalmist enjoined, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6)?
We Need A Miracle 