The Victory of the Lamb
Book of Revelation Chapter 17
We should understand that Jesus is coming back to this earth for three reasons.
1) To get His church and take her home as His bride.
2) To rid this earth of wickedness and sin.
3) He is returning to reclaim this earth and rule for 1000 years from Jerusalem and again Jerusalem will be the center of all His creation.
Eze 5:5 Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.
Jerusalem has been the place the Lord has designed to be a godly influence on all nations and has been a failure to do so until King Jesus sits on His throne in that city.
One man wrote: "Jerusalem was set in the midst of the nations, to be as the heart in the body, to invigorate the dead world with a divine life, as well as to enlighten the dark world with a divine light".
Jesus Christ is not coming back riding a donkey this time but a white Heavenly Stallion.
Jesus Christ is coming back to bring righteousness to this earth, and we(the Bride, the Church) will be coming back with Him!
Jesus is coming back to fulfill the promise He made to Abraham.
Jesus is coming back to fulfill the promise He made to King David.
First, upon returning Jesus will destroy false religion forever.
It is false religion that has caused most all the problems in our world since the time of Nimrod and the city of Babel!
*****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.
False religion has caused more harm to this world than any other thing including all wars, all diseases, all plagues and all other things.
False religion had its beginning in Babel by Nimrod, and it has flourished ever since.
Gen 10:8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
Gen 10:9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.
Gen 10:10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
We know that the "Church" is the "Bride of Christ"!
Well the Antichrist has his own bride and it is the false church.
The Bride of Christ.
Eph 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Eph 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Eph 5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
Eph 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Eph 5:31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Eph 5:33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
We are now reading about the bride of the Antichrist, this woman who sits upon this Beast who we know by this description.
We know that Satan is a master counterfeiter. Everything that the Lord proclaims to be good, Satan has a duplicate that is wicked and evil!
God has His Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Satan has his false trinity. The Dragon who is the murderer Satan, the Beast (Antichrist) and the false Prophet.
Jehovah calls and ordains His preachers and pastors and other men.
Satan does the same.
2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
2Co 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2Co 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
All these years Satan has had his false church and they are gaining in strength!
Satan not only has his false church, but he sends out many of his followers to infiltrate the true church and many churches have lost their way and have forgotten our Savior.
In a previous lesson, we saw how Israel had brought forth a Son to be the Messiah and Satan immediately tried to murder that Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The church is built upon that Rock. That Rock is the Lord Jesus Christ and His loving bride is the Church that stands upon the Rock of Jesus Christ.
Here we see the false church built upon that evil, vile, Devil.
*****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:
Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
This woman is described as a "whore" because of her "Spiritual Adultery". She is a "prostitute" of evil and wickedness!
She is a harlot and the mother of all harlots, this to referring to "Spiritual Harlotry".
All those who deal with her, have to sell out their purity to serve the Devil!
Many without even realizing they work for the Devil!
What does God say to the Church?
Isa 42:6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
Isa 42:7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
Isa 42:8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
We already see that most of the entire world is given over to the false church.
This false church is given over to the Beast!
We know her by the seven heads and the ten horns and how she is arrayed.
You know all those churches that spend all their money on buildings and neglect the mission of the church, are already caught up in this work of false religion!
The Church does not need great ornate buildings!
The Church needs a people who are dedicated to the mission of the Church given by the Lord Jesus Christ
The truth of the church is, we cannot allow the world to get inside the church.
Jas 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Jas 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
Jas 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
We already know that by this time, the True Church will be in Heaven.
The "rapture" of the Church will be explained away by some means, so that it is not a good thing and people will be driven to the false church by the actions of the Antichrist, when both he and the false prophet are energized by Satan.
We can just imagine this false church sitting upon riches galore while the remainder of the world sits in poverty.
We already know that money is the root of "all" evil!
Feeding lines will be enormous but the doctrine of the false church will be all lies!
Just as it is today.
During the time of Nimrod, he had all the world convinced that they did not have to obey Jehovah God.
It is believed by many that he was building the Tower of Babel to be high enough to withstand another flood.
Many foolish people think they can defy God! Many others say there is no God to defy!
This is the same message of the false church today!
The mystery spoken of here is the mystery of iniquity.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
It is only those who are lost that are caught up in this mystery!
The Church is aware of the source of sin! (Satan)
Those who are lost will be even more energized once the Church is removed and the Antichrist steps out onto the scene.
He will not make his ways known until the church is gone because the true church will know him and who he is!
Again "Babylon the Great" means the false religion began by Nimrod who was influenced by Satan. She is this false church.
That word Babylon means confusion and Satan instills confusion upon all his followers.
Satan intends to cause confusion and destruction throughout this world!
I think back and I am so glad I am no longer confused about my Creator and my Savior.
Today the National Council of Churches, the World Council of Churches and the Federal Council of Churches, are still trying to build a new Tower of Babel.
What are the goals of the NCC?
* Ultimately, "a world government of delegated powers." (One World Government)
* Complete abandonment of United States. Total Isolationism. (A New World Order)
* Strong immediate limitations on national sovereignty.
* International control of all armies and navies.
* "A universal system of money, so planned as to prevent inflation and deflation." (Cashless society)
* Worldwide freedom of immigration.
* Progressive elimination of all tariff and quota restrictions on world trade.
* "Autonomy for all subject and colonial peoples" (with much better treatment for Afro-Americans in the US.).
* "No punitive reparations, no humiliating decrees of war guilt, no arbitrary dismemberment of nations." (No police force)
* A "democratically controlled" international bank "to make development capital available in all parts of the world without the predatory and imperialistic after-math so characteristic of large-scale private and governmental loans."
These goals are reworded but essentially have remained the same since its beginning in 1908.
Nowhere do you read about spreading the "Gospel"!
These are enemies of God's Church.
It is about man-made religion.
It is about false unity.
It has an earthly city in its center.
It has some man as an earthly representative. (We know this one man is the Antichrist)
She is the Mother of Harlots. In other words there will be one denomination at the forefront of the world church.
Many believe this to be the Roman Catholic Church.
This does not mean the true believers in the Roman Catholic Church but the Doctrine of the Church in general.
There could also be some other group who is this Mother of Harlots.
We should keep in mind that all denominations, but one, had there beginning in the Roman Catholic Church beginning with the Protestants at the time of Luther.
Today Rome looks at the Protestants as brothers and no longer heretics.
There is a great movement to bring all those denominations back under one roof so in this sense back to the Mother Church.
Everyone has feelings about all these things but the true Church, the Christians will all be in Heaven before the Tribulation and all these churches will continue on doing what they do which is not promoting the ''Gospel" of Jesus Christ.
It is this false church that has murdered the Saints and the Prophets of God throughout its beginning.
More Saints have died by the actions of the false church than in any other way!
*****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.
A look from the outside at the beautiful buildings and the ornate tapestries, and the regal services and great rituals, would seem to be something to be admired, but on the inside a wickedness that surpasses even the Antichrist.
It is the false church that will assist the Antichrist in causing the holocaust and the slaughter of all those who reject the sign of the Beast, and do their best to wipe out the Jews who will at this time reject the false church.
*****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.
What is the mystery of this woman?
We see it today!
If you walk the streets of America about 7 out of 10 will claim to know God and claim to be Christians.
To be Christian now has nothing to do with Jesus Christ.
Most of these people do not even know the "Doctrine of Salvation"!
The mystery is, that these same people will put leaders, and governments, and laws, and doctrines, and rituals in place, that do not honor God but actually go against God in every way.
They reject the authority of the Word of God!
They are hypocrites and counterfeits who hold to a false religion, and it is these that have allowed our nation to get in such bad shape as it is today, and they encourage even more rebellion against the Lord.
How can anyone who claims to be saved by Jesus Christ then go against everything He has taught us?
This is why John marveled at what he saw.
We should all take a step back and look at our church, to see if we are even coming close to serving the Lord the way He commanded us.
People think the Bible is a book of guidelines but in fact the Bible is a Book of Commandments!
Every time we put someone in place that does not honor the truth of the "Gospel", we jeopardize our children and grandchildren, those who follow after we are gone home to be with the Lord.
We have not left a good legacy for our children and grandchildren!
John marveled that the church no longer existed to serve the Lord, but they served a counterfeit wholeheartedly.
What did Jesus teach?
Joh 5:43 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
Joh 5:44 How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?
This describes our world today and it is only going to get worse!
This Beast is the Antichrist.
Verse 8 speaks of a resurrection or at least what will seem to be a resurrection.
This false religion will be resurrected from the bottomless pit.
This again points us back to Babel in the time of Nimrod.
The Greek Word used for "Bottomless Pit" is Abyss, which means without bottom.
In reality because of the rotation of the earth, someone could fall into the center of the earth and never reach the other side. A bottomless pit!
The word "perdition" comes from the Greek word "Apolia" which means a place where the death of the soul occurs as described in this Scripture from the Book of Hebrews.
Heb 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; "but of them that believe to the saving of the soul".
As Christians, our faith leads to the saving of the soul.
As non-believers, they are those who draw back into the destruction of the soul.
All those who have followed the Antichrist will wonder about their own destination when they see the Antichrist, the Beast tossed into the "Burning Lake of Fire" the place of death to the soul, created specifically for Satan and his angels!
*****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.
There may be more than one interpretation for this text.
Literally speaking, Rome is known as the city of seven hills. The Vatican sits on one side of the Tiber River, facing those seven hills.
In ancient times, hills were sacred high places, used to worship and offer sacrifices to deities.
The systems of worship were based on salvation by works, and also included a counterfeit savior or Messiah and mediators of both sexes.
The gods that were worshipped in these places were manifestations of the sun god who was androgenic in that he/she could manifest himself/herself in the male or the female form.
One further reason why the end-time religious confederacy, under the leadership of the Papacy, is called “Babylon”, is that the Babylonian system of worship has been passed down through history.
Its rituals and doctrines are present in Catholicism, as well as religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, earth religions, and even Islam.
So we see that spiritual Babylon is actually Rome. We have the false religious systems of Babylon joined with the revised Roman Empire!
The five great empires were probably Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece.
The Roman Empire existed in the time of John and it has ceased to exist but will be revived in the later days.
The Roman Empire was never defeated!
The one that is not yet come is the eighth empire of the Antichrist which will last only 7 years, or actually only 3 and a half years.
What is the truth? Here is the mind that hath wisdom - Only those who are wise will understand this. The seven heads are seven hills.
*****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.
The Antichrist is the leader of the eighth empire, but he will come from one of these seven empires. Many say he will come from Rome.
I believe we can get a picture of this empire from these Scriptures of Daniel.
Dan 7:7 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.
Dan 7:19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;
The ten horns on this Beast represent ten kingdoms which represent the revived Roman Empire!
These ten kings will be no more than puppets who will follow the lead of the Beast.
*****Rev 17:13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
These 10 kings will follow the Beast in everything he does. This Beast, the Antichrist will be the very last world dictator.
You know not one of the followers of Satan believe him to be a dictator, he has so deceived them.
We can just imagine the wickedness of this dictatorship.
Many say this will be the revived Roman Empire and most of those Caesars were cruel and wicked people who thought they were gods, and this kingdom of the Beast will be far worse.
In fact every follower of the Antichrist will be no more than puppets under his direct control, and he will send them all to their death.
How foolish will they be? They will try to attack God.
*****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.
They will see Jesus only as their enemy when He has always only been a Savior but even our Savior has had enough of sin.
Why will Jesus win this war? He is God!
He is the greatest King of all kings of the past. He is Lord of all His Creation.
There has never been a lord as our Lord. Lord meaning He has Supreme Authority as He has had since He first made Heaven and Earth!
He has brought someone with Him. Soldiers of the Cross who will not have to draw a sword because our God will fight for us!
He brings with Him those He has called and who answered His call. Not all did answer.
He brings with Him those who have chosen to live for Him after He called them.
He brings with Him those who have been faithful to serve Him after He called.
Psa 149:4 For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
Psa 149:5 Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.
Psa 149:6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand;
Psa 149:7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;
Psa 149:8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
Psa 149:9 To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.
Again one of the angels spoke to John.
*****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 now see that the Beast did not actually rise up out of the Sea, but in actuality he rose up out of the people. The Antichrist is just a man!
The term "waters" used in many places means multitudes of people.
The Beast is the world of wickedness that has come to power and at its head is the Antichrist.
This is the world that will give their power to the Apostate church, raise by the "false prophet".
The "rapture" of the true Church will be talked about as fools lost forever, while this false Church will claim all the glories and riches of the world to serve the Antichrist.
She can only lead her followers to death, and that death eternal in the Burning Lake of Fire.
At first the false Church was riding upon the Antichrist, but here we see that the Antichrist is now riding upon the false Church.
All of a sudden, the Antichrist and his ten kings turn upon the false church to destroy her.
This will be the destruction of false religion and the Antichrist will claim to be God, the god of power!
*****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.
God has put into the heart of these already wicked people to stop what they are doing and destroy false religion from off the face of the earth.
Here we see that Religious Babylon is destroyed by Political Babylon.
False religion was used by the Antichrist to gain control of the political world and no more being needed false religion, it will be destroyed with the Antichrist having total control of all the resources of this earth.
This is the end of all state religions.
We can just imagine the resources that a world church would have at its disposal and the Antichrist will not rest until he has all things under his direct control.
God had said He would put a stop to false religion, and He will use the Antichrist to fulfill this purpose!
It should be obvious that politicians will never allow religion to dictate their actions. Not now and not in the future!
It should also be obvious that the Lord never intended for the Church to accumulate riches!
The riches of the Church are always to be used to promote the Gospel and beautiful ornate buildings are not necessary.
This does not mean we are not to have comfortable places to worship!
We can just imagine what could be done if all the money given to God was used in the work of the Lord in being good stewards of God's riches.
When a politician sees riches, they immediately have a desire for it as they do today.
The harlot church will be hated and hated by those who at one time worshipped her.
The harlot church will be made desolate. All her riches confiscated.
The harlot will be made naked. Stripped of her rich ornate possessions and abandoned.
The enemies of the harlot church will eat her flesh and all her glory will be gone.
The harlot church will be burned with fire. Ruined, doomed to everlasting destruction.
In truth once the apostate church falls, the other Babylon will also fall!
*****Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
We already know that this political Babylon refers to the city that sits on seven hills which can only be Rome.
The Antichrist will run his course thinking all the time he is in control, when all the time he is fulfilling the will of God.
He may read the Bible, but he does not understand the power of a Holy God!
The ten kings will now have their kingdoms but even they will not be able to please the Antichrist who is now so full of hate that he hates himself!
It can truly be said that God works in mysterious ways!
In reality we will understand all these things once we have the mind of Christ after we reach the "Glory World"!
Amen!
