Just a Thought on Revelation 17! Part 2

Revelation 17:7-18

Just a Thought on Revelation

Part 2

Revelation 17:7-18

Introduction: John has seen the woman that is “drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” He wonders at the sight of her and is not able to identify her at that time. The angel Then goes on to identify her to John and to us.

1. The Angel’s question to John. (Vs. 7)
   1. “Wherefore didst thou marvel”: A certainty that this does not just deal with pagan Rome of John’s day.
      1. No question as to pagan Rome’s opposition to believers in his day.
   1. “I will tell thee the mystery of the woman…the beast”: No guess work needed, God’s words identify them both.
2. The identity of the beast. Vs. 8
   1. “The beast that thou sawest was…is not…shall ascend out of the bottomless pit…go into perdition”
      1. A person that was in the past, is not in John’s day, shall come out of hell in the future and shall return to hell.
         1. Satan the imitator.
         1. Judas (?) was, is not alive in John’s day, is in hell shall come out of hell and return to hell.
            1. Judas is called a devil (John 6:70)
            1. Judas is called the son of perdition (John 17:12 cp with 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4): direct connection to antichrist.
            1. Judas is said to go to his own place (Acts 1:24-25)
      1. Devil incarnate (Isaiah 14:15-19; Revelation 13:18)
   1. “Earth shall wonder”: the lost in the Tribulation astonished to see this person resurrected.
      1. Are deceived by wonders and signs (Matthew 24:24; Revelation 13:14; 19:20)
      1. Mystery of the satanic trinity (counterfeit trinity)
      1. Devil busy operating now in this world.
3. The identity of the “seven heads” (vs. 9-11)
   1. “The mind which hath wisdom”:Wisdom comes from God (James 1:5)
   1. Identifies the heads as to geological location.
      1. “Are”: no question, or guess work.
      1. “Seven mountains on which the woman sitteth”: Rome.
   1.  “There are seven kings” (vs. 10 cf. 12:3): Nimrod, Pharaoh, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Alexander, Caesar (last kingdom seen in Gospels).
      1. The Lord counts by sevens.
   1. “Five are fallen”: Two kings of Babylon (Nimrod, Nebuchadnezzar); Pharaoh (Egypt); Sennacherib (Assyria); Cyrus (Persia); Alexander (Greece).
   1. “One is”: Caesar (Rome)
   1. “The other is not yet come”: restored Roman, another king of Rome to come.
      1. “When he cometh, must continue for a short space”: antichrist.
   1. “Is of the seven”: identity of the beast as part of the past world empires
      1. 6th head of satan (number 666)
         1. Incarnate devil.
      1. “Goeth into perdition”: Judas back to hell.
4. The ten horns. (Vs. 12-14)
   1. “Are ten kings…no kingdom as yet”: kingdoms to come.
   1. “Give their power and strength to the beast”: join up with the devil.
   1. “Make war with the Lamb”: gladly fight the Lord
   1. “The Lamb shall overcome them”: victory ahead.
   1. When Jesus comes there will be a revived Roman Empire.
      1. It is agreed in bible interpretation that the whore is Rome (even by the Roman Catholic Church)
         1. Pagan or today?
5. The identity of the waters. (Vs. 15)
   1. “The waters…peoples…multitudes…nations…tongues”: clear identification the world today.
      1. “Where the whore sitteth”: she is in authority and living off of this world.
6. Response of the world powers to the whore then (vs. 16)
   1. “Shall hate the whore”: no love; a marriage of convenience until then
   1. “Shall make her desolate..eat her…burn her”: This is the antichrist and his crowd.
      1. The world is cannibalistic eats their own
      1. The world hates the phony religion
      1. When the devil runs the dhow he will turn on Rome.
      1. Will occur at the time when the worship of the beast is set up.
7. The world only thinks itself in control. (vs. 17)
   1. “For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will”: God is in control.
      1. He is the mover of men, even though they know it not.
   1. “Until the words of God shall be fulfilled”: Note “words of God” (its the words brother its the words)
8. The identity of “the woman” (vs. 18)
   1. “Is that great city that reigneth over the kings of the earth”: Rome rules today and she will join up with the antichrist then.

Conclusion: This then identifies for us what men would prefer to keep hidden. But God reveals the truth whether we like it or not.