The Beast Revelation 17, 1-18 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
As we saw last week, the great whore is the Roman Catholic Church. There are numerous evidences of her whoredom, some of which are the following:
· Worldwide influence – v.1 and v.15 peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues pictured as many waters – the RCC held strong control over much of Europe for centuries and during the Age of Discovery Roman Catholicism spread to the Americas, Asia, and Oceania via explorers, conquistadors and Roman Catholic Church [RCC] missionaries
· Royal Prostitution – v.2 the kings of the earth committed fornication with her – kings allied themselves with the papacy for political, economic and military advantage, thus giving the Pope a strong control within their kingdoms
· Transubstantiation – v.2, 4 the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication which is in a golden cup [the chalice] – the RCC claims that the mystery of Christ is the conversion of wine into the literal blood of Jesus which is idolatry and therefore spiritual fornication [1 Corinthians 10:20-22; see also Jeremiah 3:9, Ezekiel 23:37]
· Geographic location – a great city on seven mountains –v. 18, v.3 and v.9 the seven heads are seven mountains – the Catholic Encyclopedia states: “It is within the city of Rome, called the city of seven hills, that the entire area of Vatican State proper is now confined.”
· Apparel collection – v.4 arrayed in purple and scarlet and decked with gold, precious stones and pearls
· Appellation – v.5 Mystery Babylon – Catholics commonly associate Babylon with Rome, particularly in 1 Peter 5:13, where Peter presented the salutation of the church in Babylon – the RCC uses this verse to prove that Peter was in Rome
· Inquisition – v.6 drunken with the blood of saints and the martyrs of Jesus – it began in the 12th century and continued until as late as the 19th century – it will return again during the tribulation
The great whore has been able to stay in power and will continue in this power because she sits upon the beast [Revelation 13:1-3] which gets its supernatural power, seat and authority from the dragon [Revelation 12:9, Satan himself]. During the tribulation, the beast uses the whore to get the nations of the world together, just like politicians and businessmen use whores to manipulate others to do what they want. But once he has accomplished his desire, then he turns the ten kings that he has under his control [v.12-13] against the whore and they destroy her [v.16].
Amazingly, it is the Lord God who puts into the hearts of the kings to give their kingdom to the beast and to then destroy the whore, thus bringing judgment upon the whore [v.17]. The Lord has done this to nations before. He used Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king, to destroy Judah, and then used Darius, the Median king, to destroy Babylon. The Lord allows the whore to gather the nations because it is his ultimate plan to destroy them once they are united in power [Zephaniah 3:8].
Very simply, the Lord allows the beast to disguise himself behind the whore until the beast becomes the devil incarnate [v.8, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4]. Once the devil is “in the flesh” then the Lord reveals him as “the Wicked” [2 Thessalonians 2:8]. When Jesus arrives at the Second Advent, he and the armies that are with him overcome the devil and his kings [v.14, Revelation 19:14-21], destroy the beast [2 Thessalonians 2:8-9], and he chains the devil in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years [Revelation 20:1-2].
The beast has manifested himself as six different kings up to the time John writes [v.10]. Five of these are already dead when John writes. These are: Babylon under Nimrod, Egypt under Pharaoh, Assyria under Sennacherib, Persia under Cyrus, and Greece under Alexander the Great. The sixth king is alive when John writes; this is Rome under Caesar [John 19:15]. Then, during the tribulation, the seventh king will arise [Revelation 13:1] who is the antichrist. After an assassin kills him [Revelation 13:3], he rises up as the devil incarnate, the eighth king [Revelation 13:8, 11].
The whole thing is a trap designed to get the devil in a body just like Jesus was in the flesh. But unlike the Lord, once the devil is incarnate, he is doomed to destruction forever [Isaiah 14:12-20], whereas Jesus rose from the dead and lives forevermore.