The Lamb Conquers the Beast

“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, ‘Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.’ So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written: Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth. I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.” [1]

As a parent of four children, the last things I wanted to happen to one of my children is that they would be led astray from their faith in Christ. I read Bible stories to them while they were still in their mother’s womb. Sherry, my wife, led and rewarded them for memorizing Bible verses. We were missionaries in a country whose leaders opposed the teaching of the Bible to those below the age of 18. Nevertheless, our goal was to provide for our children the education and training that they needed to believe in and serve our Lord Jesus Christ.

People may or may not have to stand trial before an earthly government for professing faith in Christ, but every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God our Father. [2]

After Jesus resurrected from the dead and ascended into heaven, the Apostle Peter told the religious leaders who crucified Christ, “Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’” [3]

Jesus Christ revealed to John that in the last days many people will be under the influence of a great harlot. The many waters she sits on symbolize nations of people.

In the Book of Isaiah, the Lord compared a conquering empire to waters flowing and covering a nation. “The Lord brings up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory... he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck.” [4]

Many Bible commentators agree that this whore is the apostate Church. She is Christian in name only. Her behavior is unlike Christ. She is supposedly married to Christ but her heart is not for Him. The kings and people of the earth jump in bed with her for as long as she pleases them.

In the days of Jeremiah, God spoke of Babylon as a golden cup with wine that makes nations drunk. God spoke of her as reigning over many waters, having abundant treasures, covetousness being her downfall. Babylon made the inhabitants of the earth drunk with the wine of her fornication. She seduced many from their “first love” of God to pursue worldly pomp and idols. [5]

The Lord speaks of two cities and two ladies in Book of Revelation. They represent two directions. The city of Jerusalem represents God’s direction. Jerusalem is the most mentioned city in the Bible. The second most mentioned city in the Bible is Babylon. Babylon is mentioned 287 times.

Babylon represents every direction but God’s. Babylon is a code word in the Bible for false religions. We have code words. Wall Street is a code word for our economic system. Madison Avenue is a code word for our merchandising system. These are places but symbolize something bigger. In the Bible, Babylon symbolizes rebellion against God.

Babylon is called the mother of harlots. A harlot offers sensual pleasures which are forbidden by the Lord. God warns, “She has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men. Her house is the way to hell, descending to the chambers of death.” A harlot defeated the world’s strongest man Samson. Doubtless, Delilah was a worshipper of the false god Dagon. She defiled Samson. The Bible says, “A harlot reduces a man to a crust of bread.” Who would like to eat breadcrust for the rest of their life? [6]

The Lord expressly defines who will not inherit the kingdom of God, saying, “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” [7]

The good news is that if you have fallen prey to these sins, you can repent and ask the Lord to forgive you and deliver you. Some of the people described in the text above had been captives of these sins, but Jesus washed their sins away and set them free from continuing in those sins by the power of His abiding presence in them.

“And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” [8]

Babylon “is drunk with the blood of the saints and with the martyrs.” She enjoys destroying those who proclaim Christ alone for the salvation of one’s soul.

Catholic Queen Mary of England was blood thirsty! Between 1555-1558, she burned 288 Christians at the stake.

The spirit of Babylon, the Mother of Harlots, influences earthly rulers to betray God. This harlot spirit was embodied in the life of Queen Jezebel. It used Jezebel to seduce King Ahab to worship idols and persecute the prophets of God. It used the daughter of Herodias to seduce King Herod and afterwards demanded the head of John the Baptist on a platter. It will influence leaders in the last days to slay God’s messengers and servants. How will the unsaved hear the Gospel and be saved if God’s messengers are slain? [9]

Woman was created by God to be man’s helper. The devil hates God. Therefore, to do one of the most dastardly deeds he could do, he flipped God’s helpmate for man to become man’s hurt mate. The devil seduced woman to sin. Afterwards, she gave man the forbidden fruit and he too sinned against God. The devil’s goal is to ruin love relationships between God and people, and between people and people.

John the Baptist stood against the spirit of harlotries. He told King Herod that it was unlawful for him to have intimacy with his brother’s wife. John dared to speak against the spirit of harlotry. He dared to defy the spirit of Jezebel.

An employee at a rehab center once said of the men in the program, “They do not have a substance abuse problem. They have a woman problem.” Behind almost every addiction is a relationship that went awry.

One day, Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out the buyers and sellers. His love for people moved Him to do something. While in the temple, He cried out, “My house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.” Afterwards the blind and the lame came to Jesus in the temple, and He healed them. [11]

This is what we need today. We need Jesus to come into the temple of our hearts and cast out the self-serving mindset and to grant to us a mindset to serve and heal people who are suffering from the crippling curses of sin.

The term Babylon includes any religion that rejects Jesus as the only Savior from sin.

God’s people are described as a virgin and a bride for the Lord. These images emphasize the love that exists between Christ and His followers. We have a covenant of faithfulness to one another. We don’t shop around for a better religion. Christ is dedicated to us and we are dedicated to Him.

The heads and horns of the beast that Babylon rides on symbolize leaders of nations. She symbolizes the one who has their hearts. Why would they blaspheme the beautiful Name of Jesus Christ? He died for them on the cross to save their souls from eternal hell. They are near-sighted. They only see that which is near and not that which is afar... eternity. They have their minds set on the temporary riches of this world... the fabulous clothing, the gold, the jewels, the pearls, the freedom to please their flesh with sensual pleasures.

God’s people Israel had the Book of God, but the Book of God did always have them. From time to time, they went into spiritual decline and behaved as people do who do not know God. Rehoboam, King Solomon’s son, did this. “And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.” [12] If our nation’s leader does this, we should not do likewise.

Rather than a name of harlotry and abomination on our forehead as Babylon wears, let us wear the motto over our minds that the priests of God wore, namely, “HOLINESS TO THE LORD!” [13]

“The angel said to me, ‘Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings. five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.’” [14]

The Lord’s angel reveals to John what otherwise he, and we, would not have known. Jesus told His disciples, “It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” [15]

Mystery implies a spiritual fact heretofore hidden, and incapable of discovery by mere reason, but now revealed. As the union of Christ and the Church is a “great mystery” so the Church conforming to the world and thereby becoming a harlot is a counter “mystery.” [16]

In the last days, Christendom as a whole has become a harlot. The invisible Church of true believers (the remnant) is hidden and dispersed in the visible Church. The boundary lines which separate harlot and woman are not denominational nor drawn externally but can only be spiritually discerned.

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.” “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” [17]

Why are names NOT in the Book of Life! Because they are deceived. Jesus said in that in last days, the deception will be so great that the elect will nearly be deceived. The elect are not deceived because they stick to professing Christ as Lord and Savior, and He gives them spiritual discernment and spiritual power to abide in Him. [18]

The beast that was and is not, will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. Perdition is destruction. He will appear a short time, and then, be destroyed. Jesus referred to Judas Iscariot as the son of perdition in His high priestly prayer to the Heavenly Father. Judas betrayed his Savior and Lord for thirty pieces of silver. 30 pieces of silver was the going price for a slave in those days. Judas counted the King of kings and Lord of lords as worthless as a slave. This is how much beastly nations consider Jesus worth.

As the head is the prominent part of the body, so the mountain is prominent part of the land. Like “sea” and “earth” and “waters” represent peoples in Revelation, “mountains” represent seats of power. Babylon geographically was in a plain but spiritually is called a destroying mountain. Jerusalem is called “the mountain of the Lord’s house.” [19]

The eighth head comes forth from seven. The eighth is a new power or person proceeding out of the seven. He embodies the previous seven in a concentrated form. [20]

“The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” [21]

The kings with the beast receive authority for one hour meaning a very brief reign. Possibly, the three and half years spoke of in Revelation 11. “The devil’s time is short time.” The beast and his cohorts persecute those who refuse his to blaspheme Jesus Christ. He sits “in the temple of God.” He is “the abomination of desolation standing in the Holy place.” “In the city where our Lord was crucified.” [22]

“Irenaeus, in his writings, ‘Against Heresies, 5:25’ and Cyril of Jerusalem, in his writings, ‘Rufinus, Historia Monachorum, 10.37’ prophesied that the antichrist would have his seat at Jerusalem and reign over the Jews. [23]

The Antichrist sets himself up to be King of kings, but scarcely has he put forth his claim when the true KING OF KINGS appears and dashes him down in a moment to destruction.

“Then he said to me, ‘The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the Words of God are fulfilled. And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.’” [24]

The Bible says, “The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turns it whithersoever He will.” [25]

The ten kings will come to hate the harlot and burn her with fire. The Antichrist uses others to accomplish his agenda. “God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the Words of God are fulfilled.”

Has happened so often in the Scriptures, God causes the coalition forces of His people’s enemies to turn against each other and destroy one another. The battle belongs to the Lord!

As Jerusalem used the world power Rome to crucify her Savior, and then was destroyed by that very power, Rome; so the Apostate Church, shall have judgment executed on her first by the world power, the beast and his allies; and these afterwards shall have judgment executed on them by Christ Himself.

In Romania, the Communists betrayed the pastors who compromised with them after they gained power. Deceivers say and do things to gain the trust and support of people they need to accomplish their goals, but then, betray and often destroy them afterwards.

The ten kings have one mind to give their power and authority to the beast (antichrist). Why not? He is exceedingly wealthy. He has a monopoly on commerce. To buy or sell, people need his mark. He will make the previously wealthiest man on earth look like a pauper. He demands that these kings make war with Christ.

We can see aspects of the antichrist already at work as governments pass laws that favor those who defy the Bible and punish those who live by it. The devil is deceiving lawmakers to make war against the Lamb.

The good news for believers in Christ is, “The Lamb shall overcome them [the antichrist and his cohorts], for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” [26]

Concerning the seven heads of the beast, they represents the seven kings of seven great earthly empires who opposed God’s people: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. Satan’s antichrist empire during the last days is the seventh kingdom.

The seventh kingdom has ten kings who rule the world. The ten kings probably allude to a ten-nation confederation personified as ten toes of a great image in Daniel 2:24-45. Whatever their exact identity, their actions are clear. They join with the Antichrist in his war against Christ.

What is at stake if you yield to beautiful harlot and powerful beast? Eternal salvation! Heaven or hell! Life with God or eternal suffering with the devil. The greatest loss is to lose one’s soul.

Who has put on their spiritual armor? Who has read the battle manual – the Bible?

Jesus Christ is the Captain of our salvation? [27] His standard is the standard we seek emulate.

The Lord defends the poor and fatherless. He does justice to the afflicted and needy. He delivers the poor and needy. He frees them from the hand of the wicked. He does this that the nations might know that He is the Lord Most High over all the earth.” [28]

The Lord said through His prophet Isaiah long ago. “I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.” [29]

Then, the whole earth will be at rest and quiet. They will break forth into singing. [30]

[1] Revelation 17:1-6
[2] Philippians 2:9-11
[3] Acts 3:22-23
[4] Isaiah 8:7-8
[5] Jeremiah 51:7, 13; Revelation 2:4
[6] Proverbs 7:26-27, Psalm 106:39; Judges 16:1-30; Proverbs 6:26
[7] 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
[8] 1 Corinthians 6:11
[9] Revelation 2:20; 17:1-4, 6; 1 Kings 16:31; 18:4; 19:1-2; 21:5-25; Matthew 14:3-21
[10] Luke 19:45-46
[11] Jeremiah 6:2; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 19:7
[12] 1 Kings 14:24
[13] Exodus 28:36
[14] Revelation 17:7-11
[15] Matthew 13:11
[16] 1 Timothy 3:16; Ephesians 5:31-32; 2 Thessalonians 2:7
[17] 1 Corinthians 2:9-10, 14
[18] Matthew 24:24
[19] Jeremiah 51:25; Isaiah 2:2
[20] Revelation 13:1; 17:11
[21] Revelation 17:12-13
[22] 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Daniel 9:27; 12:11; Matthew 24:15; Revelation 11:8
[23] Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary
[24] Revelation 17:15-18
[25] Proverbs 21:1
[26] Revelation 17:14
[27] Hebrews 2:10
[28] Psalm 82:2-4, 8; 83:18
[29] Isaiah 13:9-11
[30] Isaiah 14:7