Mystery, Babylon

Is it possible that America will be the new Babylon?

There have been some documentaries and hilarious YouTube videos suggesting America will be the new Babylon. That’s funny to me, since Babylon is a city, not a country. Remember how Rev_14:8 says the angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city?

It’s a city.

Could Babylon be the city of Rome? You know they have seven hills and Rev. 17 has seven mountains!

Well, those are hills, not mountains, and the mountains in Rev. 17 were part of a vision, which the angel interpreted for us. That angel told us those seven mountains only represented seven heads in the antichrist’s empire. The idea that Rome would be the new Babylon always went hand-in-hand with the idea that the antichrist empire will be a revitalized Roman Empire, which came out of, I think, a bad interpretation of Dan. 7 with the four beasts. People think the first of those four beasts is the king of Babylon, when Dan. 7:17 told us that these are kings which SHALL arise out of the earth. Babylon had already risen when Daniel had that vision. This means that the list of four beasts had to start with, not Babylon, but Media Persia, then Greece, then Rome, and then the antichrist empire. The Tribulation has nothing to do with a revitalized Roman Empire. It’s Babylonian in nature, not Roman, and it is also an amalgamation of all the previous Gentile world empires.

Will the new Babylon be located where the original Babylon was located?

The original Babylon was located near Baghdad along the Euphrates river. That city still existed during the time of the NT. Peter actually traveled to minister to a Little Flock church that was in Babylon (1 Pet. 5:13). There is an effort now to restore that old city of Babylon, but will that city become the great city Babylon in Revelation? I doubt it. I personally don’t see any reason why the new Babylon has to be in the same location as the old Babylon, although some think so, and I would fight with anyone over this topic.

Personally, I think Babylon is just a great city that’s somewhere in the Middle East, probably within one of those ten countries surrounding Israel who have an alliance with the antichrist, and that city in the Tribulation will actually call itself Babylon.

Some have suggested Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Maybe.

My dad used to tell me all about another city being built now in Saudi Arabia called Neom. This place is massive, almost 17,000 miles, about the size of Belgium. My money is on Neom. That definitely fits the bill of a great city. Plus, it’s coastal and there are references in Rev. 18 to ships of merchants sailing to Babylon.

Consider Rev 18:2. “And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.”

The angel gives John 3 major descriptions of Babylon. It’s the habitation of devils. It’s the hold of every foul spirit, and it’s a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

I’d suggest that all three expressions are variations of the same idea.

First, we’re told it’s the habitation of devils, the home base for the demonic realm, the fountainhead of all the abominations to take place in the last half of the Tribulation. It’s also the hold of every foul spirit. It’s the hold, the prison, a city literally haunted by demons. It has a hold over every foul spirit, every demon. It’s also a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.The word for cage is the same Greek word for hold. So instead of being a prison for demons, this expression is highlighting that it’s also a prison to every unclean and hateful bird, that is, every unrighteous and hate-filled unbeliever. Anyone anywhere who submits to the demands of Babylon will become spiritually imprisoned by that city.

Commentaries would compare Rev. 18:2 to verses in Isa. 13 & 14, as well as Jer. 50 & 51, in which we’d find prophecies related to the fall of Babylon in the near-future and the distant future. Jeremiah would write in Jer 51:37, “And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.” Isaiah would write in Isa 13:19-20, “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.” I suspect this means that even in the kingdom, the place where Babylon existed will never again be inhabited. Once Babylon falls at the end of the Tribulation, that location shall never be inhabited again.

We also learn in Rev. 18:11-16 that every conceivable luxury item will be sold in that city causing all the merchants to weep bitterly when she falls.

In vs. 22, we learn that there’s a kind of Bohemian flavor to the city, with an emphasis on the artistry that goes into all the luxurious products and in the music. There will be in the city the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters.

Another aspect of the nature of the antichrist capital city is that it’s very similar to any dystopian, authoritarian, God-hating government. In one documentary I watched about dictators, they said that dictators have one common trait. They don’t care so much if you love them so long as you fear them. I’ll bet the same could be said of the antichrist. One aspect of the nature of his kingdom is this constant peddling of fear, intimidation, and threats of death, to force people to worship the beast. He wants to keep everyone in constant fear of him. Plus, we know there will be a ton of surveillance of everyone through the images of the beast.

Now let’s consider Rev. 17.

Rev 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: Rev 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Rev 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. Rev 17:4 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:

The first thing we’re told in vs. 1 is And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters…

I’m doing this out of order in the book of Revelation, which is to be in chronological order, but that also goes against the narrative logic of Revelation. Chapter 17 follows the final seven judgments. Then we’re given this look back at Babylon as a whole before it’s final downfall at the Lord’s Second Coming. So when John writes that he saw one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, he’s talking about the angel who distributed all the vials, or bowls, to the other seven angels who carried out the final seven judgments. This angel tells John, I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters. He’s sharing all the reasons God’s fierce judgments have come upon this great city, Babylon, which gives us a picture of this kingdom as a whole.

The whore is Babylon itself. She’s called a whore because she has lured the world into committing spiritual fornication, which is to worship the devil instead of God. We’re told she sitteth upon many waters. Luckily, later in the chapter, the angel will be so kind as to interpret that vision for us. He says in Rev 17:15, “And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” We would point out hwew that this antichrist kingdom is global. The kingdom spans all people, multitudes, nations, and tongues. The angel would also tell us in Rev 17:18 “And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.” Again, this is a global kingdom. The antichrist doesn’t reign alongside of but OVER all the kings of the earth.

Then the angel says in Rev 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

Now we’re given the big picture heading of why these judgments have befallen Babylon: the kings of the earth have committed fornication, which is to say that all the unbelieving leaders of the Earth have participated in Babylon’s fornication, which is idolatry, which is to worship the devil himself in the person of the antichrist.

Not only that, all the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Again, we would point out that the antichrist kingdom is global. His kingdom is over all the inhabitants of the Earth, and we’re told that the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. When he says the inhabitants of the earth I suspect the implication is the unbelieving inhabitants of the earth.

What did it mean when he said made, that the people have been made drunk? How did she make them drunk? She didn’t betray their free will. She enticed them. She lured them. She also bullied and intimidated them into drinking her wine, that is, to take the Mark of the Beast, and commit themselves to worshipping the devil himself in the person of the antichrist. And now they’re drunk with that wine. I suspect this is drunk in the same sense as when Paul spoke of being drunk with wine. He said in Eph. 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” What Paul means is don’t be under the full influence of wine but be under the full influence of the Holy Spirit. When you’re drunk with wine, you talk differently. You act differently. And when you’re filled with the Spirit, you’re under the full influence of the Spirit, which means you talk differently than the world talks. You act differently than the world acts. The same is true for the people around the world who, under the antichrist kingdom, having taken the Mark of the Beast, they have now been made drunk with the wine of Babylon’s fornication. They’re under the full influence of Satan worship. They’re all now different. They’re acting differently. They’re speaking differently. They’re now drunk from her wine of fornication. They’ve been changed as people through this excess of Satan worship.

Rev 17:3 says, “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.”

First, we read that the angel carried John away in the spirit into the wilderness. How do you explain this expression? If he’s taken into the wilderness, why was it necessary to mention he was carried in the spirit? The last time we read about John being carried in the spirit was at the beginning of his vision of God’s throne room. We had read in Rev 4:2, “And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.” He said that immediately he was in the spirit. He apparently wasn’t in the Spirit when he was caught up into Heaven standing in front of the door to the throne room of God. But suddenly, after hearing the words of the Lord, he’s immediately in the spirit. We suggested that this was the moment John time traveled. When he became in the Spirit, that’s when he traveled into the future, and we said that because of Rev. 1:10. He said, I was in the Spirit in the time of the Lord’s day. John didn’t talk of a vision, although there are visions in Revelation. He said he was there on the Lord’s day in the Spirit. Not only that, John wrote about being in the future in the past tense. He says, I WAS in the Spirit ON the Lord’s day. That’s like saying, “Yesterday, I time-traveled by the Spirit into the future to witness the Day of the Lord.” Yesterday, I went into the future and came back. So the next thing John knows, he is in the throne room in the future viewing the throne of God on the eve of the Lord’s Day.

But here, in Rev. 17:3, John was carried in the spirit into the wilderness. I suspect what that means is that John was transported back in time to when Babylon was in full power before the final seven judgments were carried out.

Why a wilderness? Is it meant to symbolize something? I suspect this is wilderness in the sense of being in that place God had prepared for the Little Flock, which is to say that John was on the outside looking in on Babylon when she was in full power.

Then we read that John saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. This verse is important, because how you interpret beast here will determine how you interpret all the other references to the beast in this chapter. It’s important to get this right.

There are three beasts in Revelation. Both the antichrist and the false prophet are called beasts in chapter 13. The devil himself is also presented as a beast, a great red dragon in Rev. 12:3.

This verse couldn’t be talking about the false prophet because this beast has seven heads and ten horns. That was only said of the antichrist and the dragon. So which beast is this? The antichrist or Satan? This beast is given a color. It’s a scarlet coloured beast. It’s red and in the book of Revelation only one beast is given the color red, the great red dragon, Satan himself.

I would argue that the references to the beast in this entire chapter are all about Satan only, not the antichrist, and I found that everything fits perfectly in light of this view. Only Satan could be scarlet coloured. Only Satan is red. Why red? Because it’s the color of sin. You remember Isa 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow… You remember before Christ was crucified, the Roman Soldiers in Matt. 27:28 had stripped Him of everything and put on Him a scarlet robe. Little did they know that He’s being visually identified with the sins of the world being put on Him. So Satan is the beast here.

Plus, we’re told he’s full of names of blasphemy. I suspect that may be a reference to all the many titles given to Satan in the Bible describing his blasphemous character. He’s the Accuser of our Brethren, Adversary, Beelzebub, Devil, Enemy, Father of Lies, Murderer, Power of Darkness, Prince of this World, Prince of Devils, Prince of the Power of the Air, Ruler of the Darkness of this World, the Tempter, the God of this World, and the Wicked One, just to name a few. He’s full of names of blasphemy. He’s been given in Scripture many names describing his blasphemous character, which is a perfect fit for Satan, instead of the antichrist. The antichrist only speaks blasphemy, but Satan is full of names of blasphemy. He also has here seven heads and ten horns, which was said of the great red dragon in Rev. 12:3.

ThenRev 17:4 says, “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.”

This verse is pretty straightforward. The whore, the city of Babylon, is wearing purple and scarlet. She’s royalty, ruling over the kings of the Earth, and also full of sin. She’s also decked with gold and precious stones and pearls. She’s unbelievably wealthy. She’s also holding a cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. I’d suggest the cup is her dominion, her enticing influential power to deceive, the wine within the Mark of the Beast, which is why her cup is full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication, because the people of the world who drink her wine participate in her abominations and the filthiness of her fornication, which is spiritual idolatry in the form of Satan worship.

Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. Rev 17:6 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. Rev 17:7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. Rev 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Mystery, Babylon

Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

What is meant by Mystery, Babylon?

Some expositors, like Bullinger, would make the case that MYSTERY should not be in caps, that the meaning of the name for Babylon was a mystery until it had now been revealed here in Rev. 17. The problem for me with that view is that the structure of the sentence itself would mean that MYSTERY was part of the name on her forehead. This is no different than the way we write today. When we say something has a name, we may write, “that upon this thing was a name written, ‘name.’”

For me, the structure of the sentence necessitates that MYSTERY would be part of the name that’s on her forehead. Why? I would just suggest that she’s called MYSTERY, BABYLON because it’s in the same sense as mystery of iniquity or the mystery of Godliness. We know, for example, that iniquity exists in the world. But what we don’t know until we study Scripture is the great influence behind all that iniquity, which is Satan, tempting everyone by appealing to the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. He is at work in the world persuading people to greater heights of iniquity by appealing to the sin that’s in the flesh.

We also know that godliness exists in the world, and when we study Scripture, we learn that it’s saints manifesting the life of Christ yielding to the influence of the Spirit through the study of His Word. God is the reason, the source of influence for the existence of godliness in the world.

Likewise, Babylon is called MYSTERY, BABYLON, because we learn through the Word that she has always been from the beginning the great influencer in the world to commit idolatry and abominations, because she is THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

What the name MYSTERY, BABYLON is meant to convey is we’re now revealed the fountainhead of Satanic influence upon the world since the beginning of time. This is not merely the Babylon that will exist in the Tribulation. This is the Babylon that always existed. What John is seeing now in the physical is the Babylon that always existed in the spiritual. She has always in the spiritual realm been the home base of operations for Satan where every Satanic policy of evil was conceived and carried out in the world.

We learn in Rev 18:24 after her destruction, John writes, “And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.” She was always the source of influence that brought about the blood of prophets and saints and all murders since the beginning of time. She has always been THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

The OT is, in part, a tale of two cities: Babylon vs. Jerusalem, the city of Satan vs. the city of God. This name on her forehead is God revealing to all of us that Babylon has always been Satan’s home base of operations in the spiritual realm, which has now in the Tribulation been brought over into the physical realm. So MYSTERY, BABYLON is the revealing of what was always Satan’s home base of operations. His home base of operations is a mystery no more. It’s now revealed. Bullinger in his commentary on Revelation, would write, “Idolatry was no mere sin into which people gradually sunk; but it was the creation, by Satanic wisdom, of a mighty system, which he intended to us, and to lead up to his own worship. Nimrod was used as the great founder of this marvellous scheme of Satan. Babylon was his city…”

Rev 17:6 says, “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.”

First, we read that the whore that is Babylon is drunken with the blood of the saints. She’s intoxicated, deliriously addicted to, overjoyed by, the murder of God’s saints. Not only the saints, but also the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. I suspect we may be looking at two groups: the reference to saints being the believing Gentiles and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus being members of the Little Flock. It’s interesting to me that he writes “Jesus” here. Jesus is the name associated with His step downward into human flesh, His condescension, His humiliation, His incarnation by which He humbled Himself. So the people who were martyrs of Jesus are those who believed Christ was Israel’s Messiah.

Then, we read in Rev 17:7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. Rev 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

In this section, the angel offers an interpretation of that vision John just saw. He says in vs. 8, “The beast that thou sawest…” What beast is he talking about? The scarlet coloured beast in vs. 3, which I’d suggest has to be Satan, the great red dragon.

I know a lot of people would take this verse to mean it’s talking about the antichrist who goes through a death and false resurrection, but I would only suggest here he’s talking about the dragon, the dragon was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit. The beast that he saw at the beginning of this chapter is a massive red dragon upon whose back the entire city of Babylon rested. He was back then powerful, but now in Rev. 17 after the final seven judgments of God, he is no longer what he was. He is utterly defeated, and yet, we learn here that he shall ascend out of the bottomless pit. We know what he’s talking about.

At the Lord’s Second Coming, an angel will grab Satan, and we’d learn in Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. Satan is no longer what he was. He’s no longer powerful. He’s defeated by God, cast into the bottomless pit for the entirety of the Lord’s thousand-year reign, but after that he must be loosed a little season. He shall ascend out of the bottomless pit. We learn in vs. 8 that he’ll deceive the nations, which will lead to the final showdown at Gog and Magog. After that, he goes into the Lake of Fire.

Then we read in vs. 8, “and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” If ever there was a perfect cross-reference to this verse, it’s Isa. 14:15-16. After Lucifer said in his heart the five “I will’s,” the Lord said in Isa 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Isa 14:16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms. When Satan is in the Lake of Fire and all the unbelievers not written in the Book of Life are also in the Lake of Fire, they will look upon him and wonder, and just as the Lord said in Isa. 14, they will see him and say Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms? Even in the Lake of Fire, he will be the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. He is the beast that influenced every abomination in the world, that caused the Earth to tremble in the Tribulation, and yet, in the Lake of Fire, he is no longer that powerful beast he once was. He is now nothing. Yet, he still is that beast.

Rev 17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. Rev 17:10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. Rev 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. Rev 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. Rev 17:13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, 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. Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. Rev 17:16 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. Rev 17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Now we arrive at arguably the most difficult passages. Look at Rev 17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. Rev 17:10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. Rev 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. Rev 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

For me, these passages make the most sense when you view them in light of the beast being Satan himself. The power structure of Babylon is made up of seven kings. Five have died. That leaves two kings. One is. One still lives and the other seventh king has not yet come. How can that be talking about the antichrist when he has always been around and part of that alliance since the beginning?

Then the verse says, that when he cometh, he must continue a short space. For me, the best cross-reference here is Rev. 12:12, the casting down of Satan to the Earth and we’re told that he knoweth that he hath but a short time. In Rev. 12:12, Satan knows he has a short time. In Rev. 17:10, we’re told that he must continue for a short time. That, to me, seems more than coincidental.

Then we’re told in Rev 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not (the same beast who was and is not in vs. 8), even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. How can the antichrist be the eighth king and of the seven as well? The antichrist was always separate and distinct from the other ten kings. You remember in Dan 7:24 we read, And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. That verse is talking about ten other kings. They rise first. Then the antichrist shall rise after them. After he makes an alliance with those ten kings, three will be subdued by him. Three kings decided, “Forget this. We want out.” The antichrist goes to war with them and takes over those nations. In prophecy, the antichrist has always been distinct from the ten kings never of the seven.

So it started with ten kings, plus the antichrist. Three rebelled. The antichrist subdued them. Seven kings are left. Five are now fallen. Two are left. One is still alive, and the seventh comes for a short time who is the eighth and is also of the seven. Some would say that this means the antichrist was of the seven. He will die. Then he’ll be falsely resurrected. That doesn’t make sense to me in light of Dan. 7:24. He was always separate, distinct from the other ten kings. He was the eleventh king who rose up after the ten kings rose up.

Plus, the verse says, the other is not yet come, when the antichrist had been around since the beginning, and prophecy had always kept the antichrist distinct from the other ten kings. Again, I’m not dogmatic about this, but for me, Satan is the perfect fit here. How can he be the eighth and also be of the seven? Because all those other seven kings were under Satan’s influence, probably all demonically possessed. They were his marionettes, and he was the one pulling their strings. He was of the seven because he controlled the seven. Now he’s come down to the Earth after he was cast out of Heaven, and he’s here as the eighth king, in the sense that he’s the one new addition to the seven that had previously existed, and yet, he was also of the seven because he controlled the seven.

Then inRev 17:12 we’re told, “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.”

So we have a shuffling of leadership with ten new kings who form the power structure of Babylon, which is the power structure of the entire antichrist global system. They have no kingdom as yet. They’re not leaders of any kingdoms anymore because the entire globe is now the antichrist’s kingdom. They’re kings without kingdoms because there’s only one kingdom over the globe and the antichrist is king. They’re nothing more than a glorified global committee of “leaders” who can only do the antichrist’s bidding. They have power in this global kingdom, but they’re actually powerless, which I suspect is what ultimately leads to their disillusionment and betrayal of the antichrist.

Rev 17:13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, 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.

Here, we’re given some prophecy about the attempt of Babylon to make war with the Lamb at His Second Coming, which we’ll cover when we get to that.

Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. We covered this earlier.

But this next verse is fascinating.

Rev 17:16 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.

So it would seem that the downfall of Babylon is two-fold. We have a betrayal from within of the ten kings, who hate the city, and shall eat her flesh, kill the occupants and lovers of Babylon, and burn the city down with fire. We also have the destruction of Babylon from without, God Himself who sends plagues, famine, and fire upon Babylon in Rev. 18:8. He, too, will burn it to the ground.

I love this moment.

The ten kings will grow to despise the whore of Babylon. They will turn on the antichrist. They will kill her people. They will burn that city to the ground and make her desolate, which is exactly what the antichrist did to his own people in Jerusalem.

Dan 7:26 tells us “But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.” It is in part the betrayal of the antichrist’s own leaders that help bring him down, that will take away his dominion, and it will be destroyed unto the end.

This means that even in the Tribulation, even with the support of Satan himself with miracles, signs, and wonders, nobody wants to be under a fascist, totalitarian, dystopian nightmare. Just as the antichrist betrayed his own people and made desolate Jerusalem at the Abomination of Desolation, so too, his own ten heads will betray the antichrist and make desolate the capital city of his global kingdom. Just as we have in the antichrist the ultimate betrayal of a Jew to his own people, so too, we have in the seven heads the ultimate betrayal of a king’s closest allies. I love this. That’s perfect irony. Perfect justice. That’s practically Shakespearian.

Just as there’s no honor among thieves, there’s no honor among totalitarians.