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Revelation 17:1-18

Introduction

Revelation 17 is parenthetical amidst the ongoing account of futurity which proceeds seamlessly from Revelation 16:21 to Revelation 18:1. The components of prophecy provided in this Chapter are vital to the Doctrine of Babylon in its entirety – no doubt about it! However, most people are ignorant of the Doctrine of Babylon in its entirety. As a result, undue emphasis is put on Revelation 17. The unsatisfied interpreters are forced to make erroneous propositions and promote the debate of diverging theories, all to the confoundment of the common people. Christians are disheartened! They suppose themselves humble to believe they’ll never understand the Book of Revelation! So, grasping for any sliver of truth that can be derived from the holy text, alas, they set up camp at Revelation 17. Ah, but there’s much more to be considered! Vital things which shed light on Revelation 17! Nevertheless, for most, the Doctrine of the Beast begins and ends here.

Compelling details revealing the identity of the Beast makes the reading of this Revelation 17 riveting. Yes! Insomuch that John himself was marveling in astonishment! However, upon observing this the angel responded,

“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. 17:7

My reader, who or what is the Beast? Who or what is the Great Whore? And, what exactly is the judgment of the Great Whore? The angel speaks to the point in Revelation 17:7. The subjects of these controverted matters are directly identified. However, if you can believe it, the angel’s explanation of the mystery is itself a mystery! What the angel spoke to ease John’s marveling has, in turn, caused the would-be-interpreters of many centuries to marvel! Why? Because most people are ignorant of the Doctrine of Babylon in its entirety. Nevertheless, the unprecedented details of Revelation 17 are compelling to the reader, and rightly so: namely, in that the Beast is described as having 7 Heads & 10 Horns! One doesn’t have to search long before discovering that Daniel spoke of one such Beast, so it seems, arising in the Last Days according to Daniel 7:7-8. Is it safe to say that this ancient and future Beast is in fact Rome? After all, the Reformers and the Puritans believed this to be the case. Right? My reader, I plead for caution.

The Ongoing Life & Activity of Ancient Personages & Ministerial Operations

Every instance where the Book of Revelation is quoting and reapplying a prophecy from the divine tutorials of old should give us some pause. The 7 Headed & 10 Horned Beast of Revelation 17 is no exception.

Heretofore, in this Commentary, we have observed the ongoing lives of ancient personages: the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Angels who administer the Marking / Sealing of the elect, the elect peoples themselves, the 12 Tribes of Israel, the Man with the Measuring Reed in his hand, the Two Witnesses, and more. Additionally, and necessarily so, we have observed the ongoing activity of ancient ministerial operations in association with the ancient personages: the Majesty of the LORD in Tribulation Periods conducting sovereign oversight through Angels as they regard the Angelically / Celestially administered marks / seals of mankind worldwide, and the completely built and glorified Temple. However, in the reading of these personages and the associated ministerial operations at work… it’s no light storyline.

Rule #1: A Continuity of Discontinuities

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? – Rom. 11:33-34

When comparing the ancient forms of the aforementioned to the renewed livelihoods conveyed by the Book of Revelation, there are glaring discontinuities. Yes! To the perplexity of the would-be-interpreter of the Book of Revelation, inconsistencies abound! Even so, this makes for no light reading of the holy text. Admittedly, this doesn’t sit right with the fast-food culture of the West. Men and women have become addicted to the mindless absorption of no-thinking information, thanks to the TV and other Media Venues; and, if they don’t know something they deem important they can just consult the all-knowing Internet, a trusted oracle of sorts (a hasty no-learning of incredible googling)! This gives men the impression to oneself and others that society is well rounded and educated, and therefore trustworthy, even while the masses remain blind, deaf, and dumb! Because of the innumerable sights seen – men are blind to the unseen! Because of the unceasing chatter of many voices – men are deaf to the voice of God! And, because of the seasonal competitions of professional sports in which men shout and cheer for the world famous – men are spitefully silent in speech to God! On the contrary, God is pleased to make the enlightened minds of holy men extoll and exclaim the marvelous wonders of the otherwise unknowable knowledge of God, even as Paul did in Romans 11:33-34. As often is the case (nature itself teaching us), the weightier matters of life prove to be the most complex.

The Horsemen of the Apocalypse, first seen by Zechariah (Zech. 1:7-11, 6:1-8), are different than those seen by John (Rev. 6:1-8); in Zechariah the riders drive Chariots (red, black, white, & grisled + bay) while in Revelation 6 the riders are mounted on solitary Horses (white, red, black, & pale) and, as you can see, one of the four correlating horses is a different color.

The Angelically / Celestially administered Marking / Sealing, first seen by Ezekiel (Ezek. 9:1-11), implicates something different than what will happen according to the Majesty of the LORD in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 7:1-8, 9:4); in Ezekiel those marked / sealed by God cannot die (Ezek. 3:17-21, 18:1-32, 33:1-20) while in Revelation many of the marked / sealed by God will die (Dan. 11:32-35, Rev. 13:10, 14:13, 16:6, 17:6, 18:20, 19:2, 20:4).

The 12 Tribes of Israel, first identified by Jacob (“All these are the Twelve Tribes of Israel” – Genesis 49:1-28), are different from those identified by John (Rev. 7:4-8); in comparison, John’s account differs from Jacob’s in that Dan is missing and Manasseh is added (of additional note, Ephraim is absent).

The Man with the Measuring Reed / Line, first seen by Ezekiel and secondarily by Zechariah (Ezekiel 40:3, Zech. 1:16, 2:1-2), is different from the man in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 11:1-2); the man seen by Ezekiel and Zechariah was an angel (not a human being!) while in Revelation the man is the apostle John; and regarding the measurements, the angel seen by Ezekiel (with a Line & a Reed) measured the Temple (the inner court and the outer court) and the Land so as to divide inheritances (Ezek. 40-48) while in Revelation John (with a Reed) measures the Temple and its inner court and nothing besides (Rev. 11:1-2).

The Two Witnesses, first seen by Zechariah (Zech. 4:1-14), are different from those seen by John (Rev. 11:3-4); the two men seen by Zechariah are represented by 1 Candlestick & 2 Olives Trees while, in Revelation, they’re represented by 2 Candlesticks & 2 Olives Trees.

My reader, is your Theology reconcilable to the above discontinuities? In other words, is your understanding of the nature of God consistent with the above inconsistencies of God’s word? If so, one is enabled to realize how the constancy of minor inconsistencies make up an overall consistency! One realizes how the continuous discontinuities make up an overall continuity! This is the story of Biblical Church History (the Abrahamic & Davidic Covenants). Truly, the half has not been told! Much more could be said concerning the interworking of various other prophecies in relationship to the above notations, for example:

The Branch, who we knew to be Joshua the son of Josedech in the 1st Restoration Generation (Zech. 6:12), is more fully realized in Jesus of Nazareth in the 2nd Restoration Generation (Isa. 11-12).

The Headstone, which Zerubbabel the Governor did establish upon the foundation of what was supposed to be Ezekiel’s Temple in the 1st Restoration Generation (Zech. 4:7), is more fully realized in the person of Jesus as a Spiritual Headstone for the building of a Spiritual Temple after the fall of the 2nd Restoration Generation (1 Pet. 2:7, Ps. 118:22).

Zerubbabel, who was the real-time Governor of the 1st Restoration Generation, is more fully realized in a Zerubbabel Generation (“the seed of Babylon”) that will be purified by Mystery Babylon, empowered by the Two Witnesses, and enabled to build unto perfection the Spiritual Temple of the Gentile Church Age as a witness to the Jews (Zech. 4).

These prophecies are multi-sensed and synergistic, and in being such they are synchronized with and impossible without the coming of a One World Government, here called: “Mystery Babylon the Great” (Rev. 17:5), or, “the Beast” (Rev. 17:8). So, who or what is the Beast?

Well, in yet another continuation of ancient prophecy, “the Beast” is said to have 7 Heads & 10 Horns in Revelation 17. However, following the pattern of the aforementioned ancient personages & ministerial operations, we must be careful to rightly interpret the ongoing livelihood of the 10 Horned Beast of Daniel 7:7-8 & 19-28. Why? Because of the rule or pattern that we have observed heretofore: a continuity of discontinuities. Things are not as simple as they may appear at first glance. For, indeed, it would appear that the 10 Horned Beast of Daniel is, in fact, the same Beast of Revelation 17. However, to understand the full intent and meaning of Revelation 17 we must consult Daniel 7; moreover, in consulting Daniel 7, we need to consult the entirety of the Book of Daniel to discover, weigh, and hold in balance every passage that prophesies of an End-Time Kingdom or Empire that will exist right before the End of the World. As you will soon see, God giving grace, Revelation 17 draws from the 10 Horned typological exemplification and yet alters it and recasts it, and what was not commented upon is necessarily accounted for in Revelation 17, namely the discontinuance of Rome (and herein a discontinuity) and the arising of another Kingdom (making an overall continuity).

Hasty & Erroneous Conclusions through Misread Parallels

In consulting the Book of Daniel in correlation with Revelation 17 on this wise, much folly has been committed by way of hastiness in the interpretations. There are many seeming parallels that are not exactly biblical and contextual; hence, these are misread parallels. The popularly misinterpreted or incompletely understood Chapters of relevance to Revelation 17 are Daniel 2, 7, 8, 9, & 10-12. Sadly, upon a quick reading of these Chapters the following misread parallels and more are a frequent happening.

Daniel 2 & Revelation 17  à In what would appear to be an intentional parallel between prophetic accounts, 2 Kingdoms appear to be the same object of prophecy in that both are Worldwide and then weakened before they are physically defeated by the Lamb of God. In Revelation 17:8-18, like in Daniel 2:42-43, we read of a weakened yet ongoing Kingdom that is alive and to-be-defeated by Christ at the 2nd Advent War. Furthermore, the 10 toes of the weakened Kingdom according to Daniel 2:43 could indicate the very same thing foretold by the 10 Horns of the Beast, which are 10 Kings that will be in power just before the antichrist comes to power in a One World Government via these 10 Kings agreeing to give their power to the Beast (Rev. 17:12-18). It is striking to the mind of the un-studied that the Roman Empire was twice, in two separate occasions, prophesied to be the Empire at hand (though weakened for a time) at the 2nd Advent War of Christ! All of this would seem to indicate that Rome is the Last Days Beast, which means that we should expect the Antichrist to rise from the Papacy and thereby take over the world.

Daniel 2, 7, & Revelation 17  à What would appear to be yet another parallel, in conjunction with the above, is the 7 Headed & 10 Horned Beast of Daniel 7:7-8 that many believe to be the Roman Empire. Here, the 10 toes of Daniel 2 would appear to correlate with the 10 Horns of Daniel 7:7-8 & Revelation 17. Once again, this would seem to strengthen the conclusion that Rome is the Last Days Beast through which the Antichrist will rise in the seat of the Pope.

Daniel 7 & Daniel 8  à Interpreting the prophecies from a historical perspective, the Little Horn of Daniel 7:7-8 would appear to be the same Little Horn of Daniel 8:9-14. Otherwise, why would such a plain parallel be used in two subsequent Chapters of Holy Scripture? At first glance, this does indeed appear to be the most biblical interpretation; the one that most exclusively relies upon the details provided in the inspired text, and, the one most unconvoluted by what would appear to be an overmuch reliance upon extra-biblical historical observations. In it being the most biblical, I mean: it would appear that the scripture is interpreting scripture (as one might say), and therefore the Little Horn being foretold in Daniel 8 is an ongoing discussion of the same Little Horn in Daniel 7, historically speaking. [Note: from a typological perspective, the Little Horn of Daniel 7:7-8 is the same person as the Little Horn of Daniel 8:9-14.]

My reader, I hope the above examples serve as a divine cordial that suppresses the all-to-common hastiness wherewith Christians these days assay to interpret the Bible. This is a dangerous way to handle the Book. Some things of Holy Scripture are harder to be understood than others, yes, but there is no excuse for twisting the scriptures; forcing the scripture to say something it in fact doesn’t say, according to the context. Peter warned of such men (“they that are unlearned and unstable”), that they do “wrest” or twist the scriptures “unto their own destruction” (2 Pet. 3:16)! We would do well to avoid such practices.

Identifying the End-Time Beast

Sound & Biblical Conclusions of Rightly-Read Parallels

As stated before, our aim is to identify the Beast that will exist right before the End of the World that coincides with the Millennial Reign of Christ. In other words, our goal is to discern the rules of interpreting Revelation 17 and hereby decipher the identity of the Beast; and, apparently, Rule #1 is a continuity of discontinuities. In comprehending this, God giving grace, one will be inspired to think slowly so as to conclude soundly. One will be inspired to interpret patiently (instead of hastily) so as to make biblical conclusions. In other words, we need rightly-read parallels that are precisely biblical, and when it comes to reading about the Beast things are gloriously complex!

To understand and rightly interpret the whole prophetic message of the Book of Daniel, one must understand the prophetic sequences of the overall prophetic message. In doing so, while tracing the progress of the prophetic metaphor, the Beast (as it is applied to various nations in diverse times), we arrive at Daniel 2 as a starting point. This Chapter does not contain the prophetic metaphor, the Beast, but it does directly correlate with it seeing that 4 Kingdoms are foretold to arise and, strikingly, during the days of the 4th Kingdom, the Kingdom of God will be set up and, in turn, it shall destroy every other Kingdom in existence.

Daniel 2

1st Kingdom: Head of Gold (2:38) – the Babylonian Empire

2nd Kingdom: Inferior to the 1st [Silver, 2:32] (2:39) – the Medo-Persian Empire

3rd Kingdom: Brass (2:39) – the Greek Empire

Note: If the 4th Kingdom is the Roman Empire, the Syrian and Egyptian dynasties are omitted from the prophetic succession. (see Albert Barnes for various reasons for this omission)

4th Kingdom: Iron (2:40) – the Roman Empire

Divided Kingdom: Iron + Clay Feet (2:33, 41-43) – the Roman Empire divided /weakened

 

Calendared to be the End-Time Beast (Kingdom): “In the days of these Kings…” – the Kingdom of God in Christ shall be set up & never destroyed (2:44-45), and it shall destroy every other Kingdom!

The 4th Kingdom of Daniel 2 is calendared to be the Empire in power during the “set up” of a Kingdom “which shall never be destroyed” and, much the rather, it “shall break in pieces and consume” all Kingdoms and “stand forever” (Dan. 2:44-45). In other words, this Kingdom is calendared to be the End-Time Beast (Kingdom), which means that it will be in existence as the primary adversary at the 2nd Advent War of Christ. According to the rendering of the prophecy, the death of Christ is apparently absent; hence, the prophecy gives the appearance of lunging into the End of the World that coincides with what we know to be the Millennial Reign of Christ.

In retrospect, we know this 4th Kingdom to be the Roman Empire that was in power during the lifetime of Jesus of Nazareth – whose death at the hands of Rome birthed a Spiritual Kingdom & made possible a New Covenant which, at a time appointed, would be glorified into a Physical Kingdom to literally fulfill the foretelling of Daniel 2:44-45. Plainly put, Rome is presented as the End-Time Beast that exists right before the End of the World. [Note: the 2,000 year gap in time that takes place prior to the ultimate fulfillment of Daniel 2:44-45 exists as a result of the promise-breaching sin of the 2nd Restoration Generation of the Jews (God in the Ways of Man), which means that the prophetic calendar would be readjusted after this breach in the authentic will of God to bring about the End of the World exactly as Daniel 2:44-45 originally indicated.]

Daniel 7

1st Kingdom: Lion + Eagles Wings (7:4) – the Babylonian Empire

2nd Kingdom: Bear (7:5) – the Medo-Persian Empire

3rd Kingdom: Leopard + 4 Wings & 4 Heads (7:6) – the Greek Empire

4th Kingdom: Unknown Dreadful Beast with 10 Horns (7:7-8) – Syria, Rome, or both?

Arising of a Little Horn (7:8, 20, 24) – 10 Horns + a Little Horn

Little Horn Subduing 3 Horns (7:8, 20, 24) – 7 Horns + a Little Horn = 8 Horns

Calendared to be the End-Time Beast (Kingdom): Dan. 7:9-14, 18, 12-22, & 26-28

In moving from Daniel 2 to Daniel 7, the subject doesn’t change but the metaphors do. The prophetic vision transitions from a multi-metal statue to multiple Beasts, each one representing a Kingdom that would arise. Of course, our focus is on the 4th Kingdom as depicted in Daniel 7:7-8 and interpreted in Daniel 7:19-28. According to the puritanical understanding of things, the interpreters are divided: some assert that the 4th Beast is Rome while others, on the contrary, say that it is Syria. As is often the case, there are manifold reasons for both sides of the argument. The controversy is strong and unrelenting insomuch that it continues unto this present day. Speaking of such, Matthew Henry makes a tenacious observation.

Now I cannot prove either side to be wrong; and therefore, since prophecies sometimes have many fulfillings, and we ought to give scripture its full latitude (in this as in many other controversies), I am willing to allow that they are both in the right…” – Matthew Henry

The interpretation of this prophecy is gloriously complex, as is often the case with prophecy seeing that there are or will be multiple different senses, types, and fulfillments of what was originally foretold (observable in retrospect), though one fulfillment remains to be the ultimate, superior, and unrivaled fulfillment of what was prophesied. Like Matthew Henry, I propose that both are right but not in the same sense that Henry is postulating. There is an intentional link being made in the inspired text, this is true! Henry is discerning the unmistakable similarities between the two, but not in the same intentional way that the Book of Daniel is carefully annunciating. In other words, Henry is slightly misplacing how and in what way the totality of Daniel’s prophecies do foretell a full and wide latitude of historical fulfillments in speaking of a single, climactic, and final King (Antichrist) and Kingdom (Beast). To be clear, Henry is wrongly emphasizing Daniel 7:7-8 as doing this, when this objective is the primary aim of the entirety of what is being prophesied in Daniel 2, 7, 8, 9, & 10-12.

Henry cannot help but affirm the similarity between the events of the 2 Kingdoms, Syria & Rome, insomuch that he allows for the 4th Kingdom to be a foretelling of both. However, I propose that the 4th Kingdom is foretelling the historical rise of Rome, exclusively, and the eventual rise of Mystery Babylon according to Revelation 17, typologically; meanwhile, and also from a typological perspective, the Little Horn of the 4th Kingdom according to Daniel 7:7-8 is the same person as the Little Horn of the 2nd Kingdom according to Daniel 8:9-14, because both are speaking of the actual Man of Sin, the Antichrist. A thorough explanation of this proposition is needed (keep reading), but for now let us take note how the 4th Kingdom of Daniel 7:7-8 is the last and final Beast that directly precedes the End of the World that coincides with the Millennial Reign of Christ according to Daniel 7:9-14, 18, 12-22, & 26-28. In the light of such passages of Holy Scripture, can anyone deny that this Kingdom (Rome) is the calendared End-Time Beast?

My reader, to more fully realize the meaning and intent of Daniel 2 & Daniel 7, one must understand the totality of what is prophesied all throughout the Book of Daniel as it pertains to the Kingdom that is prophetically calendared as the End-Time Beast foretold in Revelation 17. Without understanding all that is said concerning this very pointed subject of prophecy, we can’t possibly interpret the exact meaning of any single place this subject is spoken about. In other words, the whole story must be heard lest the details of any single event in the sequence of the whole story is misunderstood; and seeing that this story is fragmented in various prophecies given at different times and accounted of in different Chapters, the pieces must be put together. Accordingly, this brings us to Daniel 8.

Daniel 8

1st Kingdom: Ram + 2 Horns (8:3-4) – “the Kings of Media and Persia” (8:20)

2 Kingdom: Goat + Notable / Great Horn (8:5-7) – “the King of Grecia”, Alexander the Great (8:21)

The Great Horn Broken (8:8) Alexander the Great Died (8:22)

4 Horns (8:8) 4 Generals ruled the Divided Kingdom of Greece in the room of Alexander (8:22)

4 Horns + a Little Horn (8:9-14, 23-26) – Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria rose to power in the Greek Empire (“…in the latter time of their Kingdom”); Antiochus Epiphanes was a member of the Hellenistic Greek Seleucid Dynasty, a Macedonian Greek Royal Family. Rome was expanding during the reign of Antiochus.

Calendared to be the End-Time Beast (Kingdom): Dan. 8:9-14, 17, 19, 23-27 (“the time of the End”)

Indicating a narrower segment of prophecy, Daniel 8 foretells the coming of 2 Kingdoms instead of 4 Kingdoms. Thus, the prophecy covers a shorter amount of time than what is covered in Daniel 7. In fact, the 2 Kingdoms of Daniel 8, the Ram and the Goat, are the 2nd and 3rd Kingdoms of Daniel 7, the Bear and the Leopard. Therefore, the battle of the 2 Kingdoms (or Beasts) being brought into view in Daniel 8 is a snippet of prophetic footage within the grander scheme of things prophesied in Daniel 7. Consequentially, from a historical perspective, this means that the Little Horn of the Unknown Beast (the 4th Kingdom) in Daniel 7 is not the same person as the Little Horn of the Goat (the 2nd Kingdom) in Daniel 8. In other words, the Little Horn of the Unknown Beast (the 4th Kingdom) in Daniel 7 is not Antiochus Epiphanes; to borrow the language of Daniel 8 in description of the same entity in Daniel 7, Antiochus Epiphanes is the Little Horn of the Leopard (Dan. 7:6). As you can see, in using the language of both Chapters (from a historical perspective rather than a typological perspective) there are in fact two distinct Little Horns!

Furthermore, this disproves the idea that the 4th Kingdom (Beast) of Daniel 7:7-8 is potentially Syria, as some learned men alongside Henry do postulate. For, that which grows (as a horn) out of the Greek Empire (the 3rd Kingdom of Daniel 7), according to the testimony of Daniel 8, cannot also grow (as a horn) out of the distinct and subsequent Empire (the 4th Kingdom of Daniel 7). Upon making these vital observations and hereby concluding that the 4th Kingdom of Daniel 7:7-8 is in fact Rome and not Syria, we are ready to move forward into Daniel 9 in hopes to discover more prophetic information in the totality of what is prophesied that, in turn, serves as a basis for interpreting individual prophecies that are controverted and hard-to-be interpreted. However, let it be noted by the reader that here, in Daniel 8, like what is done with Rome in Daniel 2 & 7, the Greek Empire is calendared to be the End-Time Beast that will exist at the End of the World that coincides with the Millennial Reign of Christ.

Daniel 9

70-Year Tribulation Period (9:2)

70 Weeks till the Tribulation Period Ends (9:24) in the Last Days Consummation

1st Restoration Generation (9:25) – Restore + Rebuild Jerusalem

2nd Restoration Generation (9:25-26) – Messiah Life + Death  à Rome

the People of the Prince” – Destroy City & 2nd Temple  à Rome

Calendared to be the End-Time Beast (Kingdom):in the midst of the week…he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation (Dan. 9:27)

In Daniel 9, there is no multi-metal statue, like in Daniel 2, and neither are there any Beasts, like in Daniel 7 & 8. However, like in Daniel 7 & 8, we do have a Little Horn of sorts: here called “the Prince”. Moreover, where there is a King or a Prince, there’s a Kingdom & People who are under rule (“the people of the Prince” – Dan. 9:26). Fearfully, this Prince and his People are foreseen to successfully kill the Messiah and destroy the City of Jerusalem and the Temple! And, in harmony with the former prophecies, all this is calendared to come to pass right before / leading into the End of the World that coincides with the Millennial Reign of Christ, here called “the consummation” (Dan. 9:27). It was written,

Daniel 9:26-27

[26] And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the People of the Prince that shall come shall destroy the City and the Sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 

[27] And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Indisputably, Daniel 9:26 is speaking about historical Rome in that they, and no other nation, crucified the Messiah of the Jews in 33 A.D. Thus, we know the identity of the Prince and People to be the King and Kingdom of Rome, the same one foretold as the 4th Kingdom of Daniel 2 & 7. Additionally, in the same verse, the events of 70 A.D. are also foretold in that the City of Jerusalem and the Temple will be successfully destroyed by the same Kingdom. While in the throes of the 70 A.D. onslaught (wherein the aforementioned acts were successfully accomplished), the exact timing of these accomplishments is foretold in terms of the 70 Weeks of Daniel: it being the second half of the last and final Week of the 70 Weeks, according to Daniel 9:27.

So, when will Rome destroy the City of Jerusalem and, therein, destroy the Sanctuary according to Daniel 9:26? It was written, “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate” (Dan. 9:27). In other words, this happens 3 ½ years before the End of the World that coincides with the Millennial Reign of Christ, here called the consummation. Further confirming this interpretation, and enlarging upon it, Jesus quoted and applied what Daniel foresaw (“the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the Prophet” – Matt. 24:15) while foreseeing and foretelling what Rome would do in 70 A.D. Historically speaking (according to Daniel 2, 7, 9, & Matthew 24), the Kingdom being identified is Rome and it, in every place, is calendared to be the End-Time Beast that directly precedes the End of the World!

The only thing absent from the foretold historical scenario that took place is the Little Horn of Daniel 7, the one called the Prince in Daniel 9:26-27, or the one identified by Jesus as “the abomination of desolation” who does, as a person, “stand in the Holy Place” of the Temple (Matt. 24:15). This is where the prophetic sequence of historical events in 70 A.D. deviated from the Holy Writ, for reasons already addressed at length (see the Introduction). If this one detail had been fulfilled, the entirety of what was explicitly foretold would have come to pass in 70 A.D. and hereby it would have been the End of the World; or, speaking in terms of Daniel 9:27, it would have been the consummation; or, speaking in terms of Matthew 24, it would have meant the appearance of the Son of Man in the clouds coming with great power and glory (Matt. 24:27-31)! With this in mind, let’s move forward into Daniel 10-12.

Daniel 10-12

1st Kingdom (presently ruling): the Medo-Persian Empire under Cyrus (Dan. 10:1)

2nd Kingdom (soon-to-be ruling): the Greek Empire, Alexander to Antiochus Epiphanes

This Empire is alluded to by the Celestial Warfare that was at hand (Dan. 10:13, 20-21) and, consequentially, Terrestrial Warfare follows suit according to the angel’s foretelling describing the rise of Antiochus Epiphanes and his acts of wickedness against the Most High God (Dan. 11:1-45).

Calendared to be the End-Time Kingdom: Dan. 11:31-35, 12:1-13

In the reading of Daniel 10-12, there are no metaphors employed as in former Chapters. Rather, things are plainly spoken in non-metaphorical terms and that with unprecedented detail! Daniel 10:5-12:13 is one continuous vision / interaction between Daniel and a holy angel who acts as the revealer of these secrets. Once again, and in the strongest terms yet, the angel is directing Daniel’s attention into the events of the Last Days as they lead into the End of the World that coincides with the Millennial Reign of Christ as the climax of the prophetic experience (Dan. 12:1-13). However, here’s the question: what Kingdom is calendared to be the End-Time Beast in this climactic presentation of things?

Being very old in age, Daniel received this revelation during the third year of Cyrus King of Persia, otherwise called the Medo-Persian Empire (Dan. 10:1). In the order of things prophesied heretofore in the Book of Daniel, this was the 2nd Kingdom of both Daniel 2 & Daniel 7; and, zooming in, this was the 1st Kingdom of Daniel 8. Harmoniously, Daniel 10-12 prophetically exhibits the foreboding events foretold in Daniel 8 (namely, how there would be a battle between a Ram and a Goat to wit the Greek Empire subdues the Medo-Persian Empire – Dan. 8:3-7, 20-21). This transition is alluded to when Daniel was made aware of the Celestial Warfare already underway, it being only the third year of Cyrus. The holy angels were already engaged in warfare with evil angels, those called the Princes & Kings of Persia and Grecia, thus indicating the Kingdom transition that was at hand in the Terrestrial Realm of things (Dan. 10:13, 20-21).

On this note, the angel of the Lord plainly expounds the events of the future with respect to the rulers of these 2 Kingdoms. Namely, from Darius the Mede (11:1) unto Antiochus Epiphanes the exposition is made as from the chronicles of a History Book only it is an account of Prophetic Futurity! Why? For what purpose was such detail used in this account of futurity? Well, my reader, do you remember when Daniel said the following words being vexed in spirit and astonished beyond measure?

And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.” – Dan. 8:27

The mere transition of the ruling Kingdoms from the Medo-Persian Empire to the Greek Empire didn’t trouble Daniel. No! The battle between the Ram and the Goat didn’t trouble Daniel. No! According to Daniel 8, only one thing left him sick and astonished for certain days! Namely, one certain ruler that would arise to power called, the Little Horn! Herein, Daniel 10-12 finds paramount significance. For the unveiling of this person in greater detail, Daniel 11:1-45 is a staggering enlargement of Daniel 8. Ah, my reader, the Little Horn of this Beast! And, according to the flow of things from Daniel 11-12, this man (who we know to be Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria as an extension of the Greek Empire) is calendared as the End-Time Antichrist who commandeers the End-Time Beast, or Kingdom, bringing about the End of the World that coincides with the Millennial Reign of Christ!

Some interpreters claim that the prophesying of Daniel 11:1-45 does veer away from the historical acts of Antiochus Epiphanes (the Little Horn) and that, when it does, it is speaking exclusively about what the End-Time Antichrist will do. In my examination of these postulations I find them inconclusive. I agree with the contrary interpretation, held by Albert Barnes and Matthew Henry, among others, which does certainly affirm and evidently verify that the latter part of Daniel 11 does not deviate from describing the historical acts of Antiochus Epiphanes.

Diverse Generational Identities Bear Witness to One Intergenerational Identity

Discontinuous Identities Collectively Testify of One Continuous Identity

Of course, the Beasts (Kingdoms) of Daniel & Revelation 17 are meant to be understood individually and, in doing so, comprehensively; and vice versa. In other words, the Beasts are meant to be identified and understood generationally and, in doing so, intergenerationally. Approaching the subject from the Book of Daniel, heretofore we have observed a diversity of inconsistencies in what is foretold to be the End-Time Beast. Strikingly, and harmoniously, a similar diversity is observable in Revelation 17. Namely, that there are two different forms of the selfsame Beast being spoken about in Revelation 17:8-18. As shorthand evidence, consider the following verse:

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.” – Rev. 17:8

This testimony of the Beast speaks of a plurality of discontinuous forms undertaken by the selfsame Beast. Right? Even so, what if the whole testimony of Inspired Scripture were to enlarge the saying of Revelation 17:8 in every aspect of the Beast’s existence? Considering that Daniel 2, 7, 9, & Matthew 24 promote the Roman Empire as the End-Time Beast while Daniel 8 & 10-12 promote the Greek Empire as the End-Time Beast, how would one sentence comparable to Revelation 17:8 justify the ancient and ongoing livelihood of the Beast? With the identity of the Beast hereby fraught with continuous discontinuities, and, with the plurality of messages compounded together into one single message, this makes for a continuity of discontinuities for an ultimate and clarifying revelation: The Intergenerational Identity of the Beast!

Namely, that the Beast’s origin is 2-dimensional! I mean (according to the 5th Trumpet), the Beast’s existence is Celestial before it is Terrestrial! Therefore, in one dimension, it is intergenerational and ageless! Literally, its presence among mankind in real-time depends upon whether God detains or releases the Celestial Armies of the Beast from the Bottomless Pit – the place of fiery torments from whence the ageless Beast ascends, God permitting! So, the question is not if the Beast does or does not exist. Its existence is changeless and unending, but its presence is disallowed except for a divine cause. Further confirming this, the Celestial Armies of the Beast have a King over them who’s called, “the Angel of the Bottomless Pit” (Rev. 9:11). This Angel, whose name is Abaddon or Apollyon, according to Revelation 9:11, is none other than Satan (for more information, see: The Angel of the Bottomless Pit). Satan, being King, is like unto the Beast under his rule in that he is a being whom we know to be ageless and intergenerational.

The 2-Dimensional Origin of the Beast (Spiritual Babylon)

1.

The Bottomless Pit (Rev. 9:1-11, 11:7, 17:8): its origin via a celestial government

2.

The Sea (Rev. 13:1, 17:15): its origin via an earthly manmade government

With all things considered, what is Satan’s otherwise unobtainable achievement accomplished by the Celestial Armies of Hell? An earthly One World Government, first of all, here called Babylon (Rev. 14:8, 16:19, 17:5, 18:2, 21) or “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT” (Rev. 17:5), and in other places, called, “the Beast that ascendeth out of the Bottomless Pit” (Rev. 11:7, 17:8). The powers spawned from the Bottomless Pit (Rev. 9:1-11, 11:7, 17:8) made possible that which came out of the sea (Rev. 13:1, 17:5). In summation, who or what ascended out of the Bottomless Pit? The answer is twofold: first, the spawning of a formerly confined Celestial Army of Hell that is ruled by Satan (Rev. 9:1-11) and, second, the establishment of the One World Government that will be the vehicle whereby all nations will become engrossed in sin more than ever before (Rev. 11:7, 17:8), it just depends on which dimension you are looking at when beholding the selfsame governmental system. In other words, the Beast arose from the Bottomless Pit and the Sea (Rev. 11:7, 13:1), the former speaks of the celestial and the latter the terrestrial.

Interpreting the 7 Headed & 10 Horned Beast of Revelation 17

All things considered, we are prepared to rightly interpret the 7 Headed & 10 Horned Beast of Revelation 17. In approaching Revelation 17 from a terrestrial perspective, it behooves us to recollect the diverse ancient forms of the Beast from a terrestrial perspective.

Daniel 2  à Rome is calendared as the End-Time Beast that exists right before the End of the World.

Daniel 7  à Rome is the calendared as the End-Time Beast & the Little Horn…?

Daniel 7’s prophetic timeline of future events pertaining to the Beast & the Little Horn, whom we know to be Rome & the Antichrist from a terrestrial perspective, was historically fulfilled with regards to Rome (the Beast) but unfulfilled in things pertaining to the Antichrist (the Little Horn). In actuality, historically speaking, the Little Horn was incompletely fulfilled in Turkey. According to the puritanical understanding of things, the 10 Horns of the Beast are the 10 dynasties that existed within the Roman Empire, numerically ordered as follows: “Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Britain, Sarmatia, Pannonia, Asia, Greece, and Egypt; and then the little horn which rose by the fall of three of the other horns (Dan. 7:8) they make to be the Turkish Empire, which rose in the room of Asia, Greece, and Egypt.” – Matthew Henry

Harmoniously, Christ’s prophetic timeline of future events pertaining to Rome & the Abomination of Desolation, so called in Matthew 24:15, was historically fulfilled with regards to Rome (the Beast) but unfulfilled in things pertaining to the Antichrist (the Abomination of Desolation).

Daniel 8  à Greece (the Greek Empire) is calendared as the End-Time Beast & the Little Horn…?

Following the prophetic pattern observed with Rome in Daniel 2 & 7, only this time with a different terrestrial Beast of an earlier generation, the Greek Empire is calendared to be the End-Time Beast that will exist at the End of the World that coincides with the Millennial Reign of Christ. Even so, what about the Little Horn… whom we know not be the Antichrist? Daniel 8’s prophetic timeline of future events pertaining to the Beast & the Little Horn, whom we know to be the Greek Empire & the Antichrist, was historically fulfilled with regards to Greece (the Beast) but unfulfilled in things pertaining to the Antichrist (the Little Horn). In actuality, historically speaking, the Little Horn was incompletely fulfilled in Syria of the Greek Empire and, more specifically Antiochus Epiphanes, the ruler of Syria.

Daniel 9  à Rome is calendared as the End-Time Kingdom (Beast) & the Prince…?

Following the prophetic pattern of Daniel 2 & 7, and Matthew 24, Daniel 9’s prophetic timeline of future events pertaining to the Kingdom (Beast) & its Prince, whom we know to be Rome & the Antichrist from a terrestrial perspective, was historically fulfilled with regards to Rome (the Beast) but unfulfilled in things pertaining to the Antichrist (the Prince). In actuality, the Prince was incompletely fulfilled in Nero (or Vespasian); the events of Daniel 9:26 were fulfilled while the events of Daniel 9:27 remain unfulfilled. Remember, Christ’s prophetic timeline of future events pertaining to Rome & the Antichrist included Daniel 9:27, which He quoted in Matthew 24:15; nevertheless the same deviation took place in things pertaining to the Antichrist (the Prince).

Daniel 10-12  à Greece (the Greek Empire) is calendared as the End-Time Kingdom (Beast) & the Vile Person…?

Following the prophetic pattern observed in Daniel 8, and climaxing, the prophetic timeline of future events according to Daniel 10-12 pertaining to the Kingdom (Beast) and the Vile Person (“the King of the North” – Dan. 11:21, 36, 40), whom we know to be the Greek Empire & the Antichrist, was historically fulfilled with regards to Greece (the Beast) but unfulfilled in things pertaining to the Antichrist (the Vile Person). In actuality, historically speaking, the Vile Person was incompletely fulfilled in Syria’s King, Antiochus Epiphanes, especially in things pertaining to the onset of the End of the World as recorded in Daniel 12.

Heretofore, all the prophetic references made of the Antichrist (the Little Horn(s), the Prince, the Abomination of Desolation, the Vile Person, etc.) have been incompletely fulfilled in the terrestrial scenarios of the past. Furthermore, with the granting of the Book of Revelation, received around 96 A.D., the Christians are 26 years removed from the most recent cyclical appearance of the Beast and its Antichrist (what took place with Rome in 70 A.D.). So, when is the next cycle of the Beast and its Antichrist? This is an important question.

My reader, the Christians of the 21st Century (as of June 2018) stand 1,948 years removed from what Rome did, and the Beast & its Antichrist are still absent from the World Stage! Given the track record – the cyclical pattern of the Beast’s appearances – one would think that 1,948 years wouldn’t pass without another almost-fulfillment of the Beast and its Antichrist arising for a divine purpose of judgment upon the Church. Right? Think of it, my reader. Since the Assyrian & Babylonian Captivities of 700-600 B.C., redemptive history has been one ongoing cycle of Tribulation Periods through diverse appearances of the Beast as God strives for the Restoration of the Church. Ever since the declension of the Kings led into the aforementioned captivities, Holy Scripture has served as a divine commentary upon this repeated cycle. This being the case, why did the divine commentary speak? Why has God been silent for 1,948 years during the Gentile Church Age? Or, rather, has God spoken in a way unrealized?

Looking at the Book of Daniel, we have observed only two End-Time Beasts (adversarial Kingdoms that were prophesied to exist right before and leading into the 2nd Advent War of Christ): Rome (Dan. 2, 7, 9, & Matt. 24) & Syria of the Greek Empire (Dan. 8 & 10-12). However, looking beyond the Book of Daniel there are more End-Time Beasts. In the very same manner that Daniel foretold End-Time Beasts by calendaring them as such, Isaiah, Jeremiah, & Ezekiel calendared both Assyria & Babylon as End-Time Beasts. Likewise, Zechariah and Haggai calendared the Medo-Persian Empire as an End-Time Beast. Speaking of Babylon and the Medo-Persian Empire, these were the 1st and 2nd Kingdoms of Daniel 2, and, the 1st and 2nd Beasts of Daniel 7 – meanwhile, Daniel was foretelling Rome as the End-Time Kingdom / Beast in both cases! Hence, we need to look beyond Daniel to completely understand the Doctrine of the Beast in Holy Scripture.

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” – Rev. 13:11

My reader, these observations have grave implications if we can understand them altogether on the timeline of history and ongoing futurity. Let’s say the 1st Beast & its Antichrist appeared in the Assyrian & Babylonian Captivities at around 700-600 B.C., the 2nd appeared in Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria, who lived from 215-164 B.C., and the 3rd appeared in Rome culminating at around 70 A.D. Interims of about 400 years and 200 years transpired between the 1st & 2nd, and, the 2nd & 3rd. So, the question is… how long until the 4th? And / or, will there be a 5th? My reader, these questions are vital to the interpretation of Revelation 17.

If there will be a 5th manifestation of the Beast and its Antichrist to close out the ages of the earth, this much is certain: the 4th Beast will be an inferior manifestation (an almost-fulfillment of prophecy) like unto the former Beasts. However, if there is a 4th Beast that will arise prior to the last and final Beast, one would think that it would be foretold in prophecy in the same manner as the pastime manifestations. Right? My reader, Revelation 17:8-11 has done just that! And, seeing that the 4th Beast is an inferior manifestation that typologically foretells the 5th Beast, a diversity of manifestations is possible (considering the diversity of manifestations between the former Beasts).

However, despite the diversity, we know that the Beast will be raised up by God as a judgment upon the Church; and, seeing that the Church of the New Covenant during the Gentile Church Age resides among the heathen nations of the earth, the Christians themselves will be targeted by the Beast rather than the Jews of a geographic region known as the State of Israel. Furthermore, what God will build for His Name’s sake during this time (Eph. 2:19-22) – a Spiritual Temple of Christianitythe Beast will violate for “the overspreading of abominations” (Dan. 9:27, Matt. 24:15) insomuch that the Antichrist is worshipped in the Temple instead of God! Because, as for the 4th Beast (an inferior, forerunning, typological manifestation of the 5th Beast), a physical Jewish Temple is not necessary! In the sense of Romans 11, the Jews will be left out of it! Like the man with the measuring reed in Revelation 11:1-2 did measure the Temple and the inner court while leaving the outer court and the City of Jerusalem out of it (contrary to Ezekiel 40-48 & Zechariah 1-3), even so the Jews will be left out of it! In other words, whatever the case may be: whether in divine judgment upon the Church or divine restoration of the Church, during the Gentile Church Age the Jews are left out of it! The time of turning back to the Jews is already preplanned and foretold, and it is a categorically different time period from the Gentile Church Age.

To be more specific, according to the foretelling of Revelation 17:7-11, this means God’s judgment upon the Christians of the Gentile Church through Rome – the same Beast of the 1st century in a successive form of government.

The Beast  à

“…a scarlet coloured Beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” – Rev. 17:3

“…the Beastwhich hath the seven heads and ten horns.” – Rev. 17:7

 

The Beast in Successive Forms of Rule as of 96 A.D.  à

“…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. 17:10

According to Revelation 17:3 & 17:7, this Beast has 7 Heads & 10 Horns and, accordingly, this could mean a number of things in biblical typology. Right? My reader, I plead for a cautious recollection of biblical truth. For, how can we make biblical interpretations if we can’t remember the Bible? God forbid that our interpretations would be unbiblical imaginations! Even so, I ask, do you remember the 10 Horned Beast of Daniel 7 & the 2 Horned Ram who was an adversary of the 1 Horned Goat in Daniel 8? These Beasts are exhibit #1 for us as we endeavor the interpretation of Revelation 17.

The 10 Horns of the 4th Beast in Daniel 7:7-8 represented 10 coexisting dynasties within the Roman Empire, and the events taking place that changed the number of horns (10+1-3) was the rising and falling of current coexisting dynasties within Rome. However, in Daniel 8 the Horns of the Beasts (the 2 Horned Ram & the 1 Horned Goat) indicated diverse kinds of rule. Following the interpretation provided by the angel in Daniel 8:20, here’s what we know: the 2 Horned Ram represented 2 categorically distinct governments in which all “the Kings of Media and Persia” (Dan. 8:20) assumed office. These 2 governments, the Medes and the Persians, united into one monarchy called the Medo-Persian Empire – hence, they were 2 Horns of one Beast. Both of these governments had successive rulers of various families on both sides (the Medes and the Persians), which means that the 2 Horns cannot represent a single man or a succession coming from one man but, rather, a single government and a succession of rulers in that government.

However, things are different with the 1 Horned Goat of Daniel 8 that turned into a 4 Horned Goat and then a 5 Horned Goat of sorts. Here, the Horns represent the actual men who were the rulers of these governments: the single Horn on the 1-Horned Goat is Alexander, the 4 Horns on the 4-Horned Goat are the 4 Generals that ruled the divided Kingdom after the death of Alexander, and the Little Horn that grew from 1 Horn on the 4 Horned Goat (making it a 5-Horned Goats of sorts) is Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria (a member of the Hellenistic Greek Seleucid Dynasty, a Macedonian Greek Royal Family) who rose to power in the Greek Empire.

Now, with all things considered and in due remembrance we are ready to comprehend the diversity of things meant by the 7 Heads & 10 Horns of the Beast in Revelation 17. In this case, both the 7 Heads and the 10 Horns are interpreted by the angel, and in doing so another prophetic metaphor was employed: 7 Mountains.

Revelation 17:7-11

[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

[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

[9] And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The Seven Heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 

[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. 

[11] And the Beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

My reader, focus on WHAT the Woman is sitting upon. In Revelation 17:1, the Woman is sitting upon many Waters. In Revelation 17:1-6, the Woman is sitting upon 1 Beast that has (many) 7 Heads. In Revelation 17:9, the Woman is sitting upon (many) 7 Mountains. Then, in the very next verse (seemingly out of nowhere?), the angel begins to declare that “there are Seven Kings” (Rev. 17:10). My reader, this is a seamless transition: the many Waters represent many peoples & nations (Rev. 17:15), the (many) 7 Heads represent the many-nation-reach of the Roman Empire in 7 successive forms of government, and likewise the (many) 7 Mountains, as is often the case in Biblical Prophecy (Jer. 51:25-29, Dan. 2:35, Zech. 4:7, Rev. 17:9), represent 7 kingdoms / governments within the Roman Empire. Hereby, the angel is defining the present status of the Beast that the Woman is sitting upon as of 96 A.D. Remember, the 1st Century Christians were well acquainted with the Beasts of Daniel in that, according to Jesus (Matt. 24:15), the Beast was Rome. The 1st Century Christians suffered under this Beast in its almost-fulfillment of Biblical Prophecy, as discussed at length in the Introduction. This Beast, as of 26 years later (in 96 A.D.), is hereby clarified as to the extent of its livelihood.

According to the angel, as of 96 A.D. 5 Kings were fallen and 1 King did rule, and 1 King was soon to come in the future. However, the soon-to-be 7th King of the future would only continue “a short space” (Rev. 17:10). Herein, the essence of the 7 Mountains is declared in that Rome from 70 A.D. to 96 A.D. transitioned unto the 6th of 7 successive forms of government that would exist. The 7 Heads are interpreted as the Mountain metaphor of Biblical Prophecy indicating kingdoms or governments, rather than kings. This follows the example of the 2 Horned Ram of Daniel 8 which represented the government of the Medes and the Persians rather than actual dynasties of men. According to the puritanical understanding of things, the 7 transitional forms of Roman Government are as follows:

Rome was governed by Kings, Consuls, Tribunes, Decemviri, Dictators, Emperors who were Pagan, and Emperors who were Christian. Five of these were extinct when this prophecy was written; one was then in being, that is, the Pagan Emperor; and the other, that is, the Christian Emperor, was yet to come, Rev_17:10.” – Matthew Henry

The puritans are careful to point out the impossibility that Rome would hereby, in 7 Kings (Rev. 17:10), be represented in a succession of 7 men, called Roman Emperors, rather than a succession of 7 forms of government; the details of which I will not address myself. However, in viewing the Roman Empire in 7 transitional forms of Roman Government, this a discovery of the Beast in terms of its ongoing life before and after 96 A.D., namely that the Beast is still alive and ongoing and in 7 Heads of governmental existence. “Christian Emperors” ruling at the Head of the Roman Empire is a miraculous feat of the Devil in and of itself. Truly! Albeit, this is only the 7th form of Roman Government prior to what the prophecy calls, the Beast.

Why doesn’t the Beast have 8 Heads, you wonder? Or, why is the 8th, to whom 10 other Kings will give power (Rev. 17:12-18), said to be “of the seven” (Rev. 17:11) and yet it remains without representation via another Head on the 7 Headed Beast? Being without representation via a Head, one would think it inferior to the other 7 Heads. However, much to the contrary, the 8th King is far superior in that he is THE BEAST; He is not any single Head of the Beast but, better said, he is the whole Beast! To be fair, all 7 Heads were and are the Beast for real, however the text is explicit to state that the 8th is of the 7; this can’t be said about the rest of them. Emphasis is clearly put on the coming of the 8th King, and for good reason.

According to the puritanical understanding of things, the 8th King is the establishment of the Papacy. Thus, the Beast doesn’t have 8 Heads because from the passing of the short-lived 7th King (Christian Emperors) to a newly come 8th King (the Papacy), the prophetic metaphor changes its focus from 7 successive forms of government in the Roman Empire to a Papal Power that first existed simultaneously alongside the Christian Emperors (rather than replacing this form of government), and yet the influence that the Papacy had upon Rome and beyond its Empire is inestimable and ongoing even unto this present day! Yea, the 8th is of the 7 inasmuch that the 8th was born of the Roman Empire, hence the title: the Roman Catholic Church. It is of the 7 and, quite literally, of the 7th Kingthe Christian Emperors did officialize Roman Catholic “Christianity” as the sole religion of the Roman Empire and, furthermore, they did hereby confirm the authority of the Popes.

Constantine, the 1st Christian Emperor: “Christianity” transitioned from the most persecuted religion to the most dominant religion of the Empire of Rome, can you believe it? It all began with a work of Satan through the man Constantine, the first “Christian” Emperor of Rome.

The Edict of Milan: This Edict, made by Constantine, officially decriminalized “Christianity” in 313 A.D.

The Council of Nicaea: This Council, called for by Constantine, forged the Nicene Creed as a reaction to Arianism in 325 A.D.

Pope Damasus I: A boy growing up during the time of Constantine would later be known as Pope Damasus I (366-384 A.D), the man who oversaw the Council of Rome as it determined which books were incorporated into the Canon in 382 A.D.

The Edict of Thessalonica: Things culminated in this Edict in that it essentially outlawed any other Christians other than the Roman Catholic “Christians” in 380 A.D. (the Roman Emperors Theodosius I, Gratian, & Valentinian II all had a hand in the formation and authorization of this Edict). This of course reinforced the authority of the Popes to the uttermost.

The Inquisitions: The bloody persecutions waged by the Roman Catholic Church, the Inquisitions, began in the 1250’s A.D. (persecuting the Waldensians) and culminated in the Roman Inquisition that was a Counter Reformation to the Protestant Reformation. Inquisitions did last up to the 1900’s in various names and in increasingly lesser degrees, it would seem.

What befell the Jews firstly through Babylon, then through Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria, and finally through Rome in 70 A.D. must also befall the Christians according to Revelation 17:8-11. Even so, the Woman riding the Beast is shown to be “drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (Rev. 17:6)! According to the Puritans, the Woman is the City of Rome, or the Romish Church, who reacted to the Protestant Reformation in a Counter Reformation via the Inquisitions and thereby slaughtered MILLIONS of Bible Believing Christians! GOD REMEMBERS THE BLOODSHED. My reader, speaking of things from 96 A.D. onward, this is THE BEAST of the Gentile Church Age!

Accordingly, THE ROMAN PAPACY still exists as one of the most influential rulers on the World Stage in that, via Roman Catholicism, its control over all peoples crosses borders and transcends sovereign states or nations. Despite its transcendent influence over all peoples (in a striking fulfillment of prophecy!), its seat of power resides in one single location: the Vatican City (And the Woman which thou sawest is that great City, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.” – Rev. 17:18). Furthermore, the crowned Pope (an imminent type of the Antichrist) is exalted by all and literally enthroned in the Temple of God itself (so called), the Roman Catholic Church! These abominable acts of blasphemy are welcomed around the world by Catholics and non-Catholics alike while the Pope is a reverend of politicians and a (so called) Father of the common people. This BEAST, and the man at the helm, the Antichrist (typologically speaking), is certainly comparable to the other Beasts and Antichrists that were the subjects of prophecy in Daniel and elsewhere. Right? Moreover, Rome is so prominent in these ancient records of prophecy (Daniel 2, Daniel 7, & Daniel 9). Albeit, as discussed at length, there are other End-Time Beasts in Biblical Prophecy that aren’t Rome. Hence, we need to interpret the thrust of the message delivered by Revelation 17 in two categorically different approaches: a historical & typological perspective.

The thrust of the message from a historical perspective is that from 96 A.D. and onward, lo and behold the selfsame Beast continued in existence through various forms of government until the time appointed when God would judge the Christians of the Gentile Church Age in a comparable onslaught to what happened to the Jews firstly through Babylon, then through Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria, and finally through Rome in 70 A.D. However, the thrust of the message from a typological perspective directs the eyes of the reader to another End-Time Beast that isn’t Rome. Remember, a typological perspective observes the incomplete fulfillments of the past as a type of what is to come; hereby, the reader reckons upon an unprecedented and complete fulfillment of the unfulfilled details in one climactic scenario of the future! Prophetic typology foretells the future through incomplete pastime fulfillments. Even so, history through typology prophesies futurity. Therefore, the prophecy of Rome in Revelation 17 should be approached, read, and applied in the same protocol as prior prophecies of the End-Time Beast, all of which fell short from the whole performance of what was written. In coming short, we hereby recognize that this isn’t the final Beast of the End of the World. This is case and point for those who claim that Rome (according to Revelation 17) is the ultimate End-Time Beast. The fact that Rome is calendared to be the End-Time Beast in Revelation 17 doesn’t make it outstanding and extraordinary. Rather, this brings Rome into harmony with all other foretold End-Time Beasts in the Book of Daniel.

The End-Time Beast: Daniel 2 (Rome), Daniel 7 (Rome), Daniel 8 (Greece/Syria), Daniel 9 (Rome), Daniel 11-12 (Greece/Syria), Matthew 24 (Rome in 70 A.D.), Revelation 17:8-11 (Rome beyond 96 A.D., emphasis on the Papacy), Revelation 17:11-18 (?)

Apparently, just because the Roman Papacy is calendared to be the End-Time Beast, this doesn’t make it the End-Time Beast in actuality; again, it could be an incomplete historical fulfillment that serves as prophetic typology for a Beast of the future. There are in fact many End-Time Beasts that are the subjects of prophecy which, in turn, had various incomplete historical fulfillments that are contradictory to one another. Of course, the way to discern if Rome is another Beast of this sort is by identifying any unfulfilled details of the prophetic account. So, are there any unfulfilled details of Revelation 17 according to the above rendering of things (the puritanical understanding of things)?

HISTORY – the 8th King is the Papacy, an ongoing authority of Rome via the Roman Catholic Church which is headed up by the Pope, an imminent type of the Antichrist – a man who exalts himself above all that is called God in the Temple of God itself (so called). The prophecy concerning Rome, being unconfined by the prophetic details of the past that are only fulfillable by the final and ultimate Beast, incompletely fulfilled prophecy in an alternative way that God deemed fit for the Gentile Church Age.

FUTURITY – the 8th King is the Antichrist, the Man of Sin, who rules the One World Government that will be the last and final End-Time the Beast, and where Rome deviated from the fulfillment of prophecy this Beast will not both in Revelation 17 and in all former prophecies.

Remember, all the prophecies of the End-Time Beast and the Antichrist were originally forged for the Jews. Granted, the Gentiles were mysteriously included in the Covenant(s) that God originally made with and for the Jews, but the Gentiles were not included to the exclusion of the Jews! Such a thought is nothing but gentilic pride against God and the Jews (“Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.” – Rom. 11:19). The Gentiles cannot replace the Jews, nor will they! However, the prophetic interpretation heretofore rendered (the puritanical understanding of things) excludes the need for the Jews as a people, the Jewish State of Israel as a location, and the Jewish Temple as a place of worship. With respect to the complete fulfillment of Biblical Prophecy, such exclusions are impossible! In other words, as for the ultimate fulfillment of things: the 7 Headed & 10 Horned Beast can’t be the Roman Empire (it isn’t an Empire anymore, by the way!), the 8th King can’t be the Papacy or the Pope, and the Woman can’t be Vatican City. This interpretation circumvents scores of OT prophecies that coincide with and culminate in the prophecies of Jesus which foretold the exaltation of the Abomination of Desolation in the Jewish Temple located in Jerusalem (Dan. 9:26-27, Matt. 24:15). Hence, for a complete fulfillment of the prophecies: the Jews would need to be regathered, the Jewish State of Israel restored, the City of Jerusalem rebuilt, and the Temple reconstructed.

After all, the puritanical understanding of Revelation 17 (admirable in its own right!) is unsatisfactory in fulfilling the content of Revelation 17:11-18 (did you notice?), much more the rest of Biblical Prophecy. For example, the prophecy states that the 8th King (the Papacy) is the Beast in Revelation 17:11 …and yet it states that the Woman, the Whore, is the City (Vatican City) that rules over the Kings of the Earth in Revelation 17:18. Also, it states that the Beast will hate the Whore in Revelation 17:16. My reader, are you following all this? If so, please tell me: when did the Papacy, which is the Beast (Rev. 17:11), come to hate Vatican City? Or, if you believe the 10 Horns of the Beast will somehow hate the Whore without the Beast itself actually hating the Whore, let me ask you: when and how did the 10 Kings rebel against the Papacy or the Pope and then destroy Vatican City? My reader, the interpretation doesn’t fit. The facts don’t line up. Revelation 17:11-18 remains unfulfilled! And, what’s even more confusing is what people suggest as a future fulfillment of these things within the aforementioned interpretation. Ah, my reader! The prophetic details speak of something beyond Rome; a 7 Headed & 10 Horned Beast that is far more powerful and pervasive than any terrestrial kingdom of the past!

Just like Assyria & Babylon (700-600 B.C.) didn’t completely fulfill what was foreseen by Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel; and, just like Rome didn’t completely fulfill Daniel 2, 7, 9, & Matthew 24 in 70 A.D.; and, just like Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria in the Greek Empire didn’t completely fulfill Daniel 8 & Daniel 10-12 in his lifetime; even so, Rome hasn’t completely fulfilled Revelation 17:8-18 from 96 A.D. unto the present. All, in one clarion voice, harmoniously declare the coming of the last and final End-Time Beast and Antichrist that will close out the ages of time and bring about the End of the World. In fact, the 2-dimensional origin of the Beast has already been prophesied in Revelation 7-9! Literally, its Celestial and Terrestrial Origins have already been foretold! Celestially, it ascends out of the Bottomless Pit in the 5th Trumpet while, terrestrially, the locations along the Euphrates River have been identified in the 6th Trumpet & the 6th Vial. In other words, the loud announcement of the 6th Trumpet & the 6th Vial is a prophetic forewarning foretelling the terrestrial life and the terrestrial death of the Beast. Simply put, Rome is not in the picture! However, because of a misplaced emphasis on Revelation 17 and an overmuch admiration of the Reformers & Puritans who defied Rome (the Beast of their day), the Christians of our day are ignorant of the full latitude of the Beast’s existence. Being such, the unprecedented clarity provided in Revelation 7-9 goes unaccounted for and hereby the Doctrine of the Beast is unrealized.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” – Matt. 23:23

In respect to the Doctrine of the Beast nowadays, Revelation 17 is erroneously promoted to the omitting of Revelation 7-9. The doctrinal abuse of this vital topic simply cannot be tolerated! In other words, in respect to the Doctrines of the Last Days in the Book of Revelation: the lesser matters are emphasized as weightier matters and hereby the weightiest matters are omitted! Consequentially, the traditions of the Reformers & Puritans take precedence over the Word of God. Enthusiastic rehearsals of history are idolized, and the vision of futurity is unrealized! Men are allured to look at the past and in so doing they’re unprepared for the future! Speaking in terms of the 7 Headed & 10 Horned Beast, men are astonished by the acts of Rome in the crucifixion of Christ in 33 A.D., the desolations of the Jews, Jerusalem, and the Temple in 70 A.D., and the bloodshed of Millions of Christians at the hands of the Roman Catholic Church for over a thousand years leading into the present day. Likewise, men are unrighteously enthusiastic about how the Reformers and Puritans defied the Papacy of Rome throughout the ages. All this, while the remnant of the Last Days is unprepared for the Beast of the Last Century!

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophetsWherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.” – Matt. 23:29-32

And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.” – Judges 8:27

Being inordinately obsessed with the protest made against the Beast (Rome) of the 1st Century, men are un-protestant in things pertaining to the Beast of the Last Century! While honoring the lives and ministries of the Reformers and Puritans of yesterday, they dishonor, persecute, and suppress the ministries of the Prophets of today! While ascribing to the life and practices of orthodoxy as defined by the Reformers and Puritans of former days, lo and behold: they’ve been marked by the Beast in the Last Days! This is a snare unto the Church of the 21st Century. The spiritual influence of the Beast is the divinely ordained and strongly deluding force of the Last Days, my reader! In the opening of the Bottomless Pit, God is sending the foretold “strong delusion” into the earth (2 Thess. 2:11, Lk. 21:35)! Therefore, we better not mistake the identity of the Beast! Fellow inhabitants of the earth, do you hear the alarm – the sound of the Trumpets!

And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!” – Rev. 8:13

“…Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the Devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” – Rev. 12:12

The outward images of the Beast in pastime instances are less important than the inward and ongoing spirituality of the Beast. The terrestrial manifestations of the Beast in the past are less important than the Celestial Origin of the Beast in the future – hereby, the last and final Beast will reach its maximum potential of woefulness! Being ignorant of this (Revelation 7-9), learned interpreters do misrepresent the 7 Headed & 10 Horned Beast of Revelation 17. By oversimplifying the mysteriousness of “Mystery Babylon the Great” (Rev. 17:5), learned interpreters are enthralled by a mask instead of the real face of their Adversary. My reader, there is a mystery to the Beast (Rev. 17:7)!

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. 17:3

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red Dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.” – Rev. 12:3

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a Beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the Beast which I saw was like unto a Leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a Bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a Lion: and the Dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” – Rev. 13:1-2

Some interpreters assume that the 4th Beast of Daniel 7:7-8 does in fact have 7 Heads & 10 Horns like the Beast of Revelation 17, however the text states that the Beast has 10 Horns and… that’s all. It doesn’t say anything about 7 Heads a feature of the Beast that is extremely important and worthy of mentioning (if it were so)! Furthermore, the 10 Horned Beast of Daniel 7:7-8 cannot be the 7 Headed & 10 Horned Beast of Revelation 17, historically speaking, because the Beast of Daniel 7:7-8 had a succession of Horns: 10 + 1 (Little Horn) – 3 = 7 + 1 (Little Horn). Therefore, the final estate of this End-Time Beast has 7 Horns + the Antichrist, however, the final estate of the End-Time Beast of Revelation 17 has 10 Horns + the Antichrist. (7 +110 + 1)

Apparently, the last and final Beast of Revelation 17:12-18 is a great culmination of all prior Beasts and as such, it has 7 Heads & 10 Horns! This is a testament to its greatness in that no Beast of prophetic history has ever had 7 Heads & 10 Horns. However, as formerly proven, the terrestrial manifestation is not what’s important. Rather, my reader, “behold a great red Dragon, having seven heads and ten horns” (Rev. 12:3)! This Dragonthe Devil (Rev. 12:9) – has 7 Heads & 10 Horns! Why? The Dragon, being Satan (the Angel of the Bottomless Pit), is superior to the Beast insomuch that he rules as King over the Celestial Armies spawned from the Bottomless Pit; hence, it is fitting for him to be portrayed in the same visage, having 7 Heads & 10 Horns. This is a stunning display of harmony! Even so, according to Revelation 13:1-2, the Dragon empowers the Beast! They are two separate entities with one, being the real power, bestowing authority upon the other as a conduit.

This agrees with Daniel’s witness of the Beast its ancient forms (Daniel 2 [Rome], Daniel 7 [Rome], Daniel 8 [Syria of Greece], Daniel 9 [Rome], Daniel 10-12 [Syria of Greece]) in that we have observed a diversity of generational identities that collectively bear witness of one  intergenerational identity. Furthermore, in the multi-metal statue of Daniel 2, we observe how all four Kingdoms (Beasts) makeup one image of jealousy: “This Great Image, whose brightness was excellent…and the form thereof was terrible” (Dan. 2:31). Likewise, in the multiple Beasts of Daniel 7 (the Lion, Bear, Leopard, and Unknown Beast), we observe how all four are visibly represented in one great Beast: “the Beast which I saw was like unto a Leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a Bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a Lion” (Rev. 13:2). My reader, these are woeful harmonious exactitudes! Unsurprisingly, the Doctrine of the Beast is in accordance with all the Doctrines of the Last Days in the rule of interpretation evidently set forth (Rule #1: A Continuity of Discontinuities). The intergenerational unmasking of Satan as the real power behind the heathen nations of the earth is a continuity amidst the manifold discontinuities.

This makes sense of Isaiah’s and Ezekiel’s prophecies which unmasked Satan in like manner. Isaiah foretold of God’s eventual judgment upon the 7 Headed & 10 Horned Beast of Revelation 17 and, in doing so, Satan is identified. Even though Isaiah 13:1-14:27 is certainly prophesying of God through the Medes judging Babylon, historically speaking (Isa. 13:17), it also speaks of a future, unfulfilled, and superior judgment upon Mystery Babylon via the 2nd Advent War of Christ. Bearing witness of this we read of “the King of Babylon” (Isa. 14:4), also called “Lucifer” (Isa. 14:12), cast into Hell and tormented in company with astonished onlookers (Isa. 14:12-23)! Also, even though Ezekiel 26:1-28:19 is certainly prophesying of God’s judgment upon Tyrus through two distinct and historical conquests (Ezek. 28:7) made by Nebuchadrezzar (Ezek. 26:7) and Alexander (Ezek. 26:4-5, 12-14, 27:27, 32, 34), it also speaks of a future, unfulfilled, and superior judgment upon Satan, also called “the Anointed Cherub” (Ezek. 28:2-3, 12-19), who is the real power behind Mystery Babylon. Satan is herein declared to be a castaway from the Mountain of God whose doom will be lived-out in fiery torments as a gazing-stock and a terror to earthlings (Ezek. 28:16-19)! Unanimously, and harmoniously, the combined witnesses of both Testaments make for one transcending message of alarm: what God will permit Satan to do through Legions of Hell-spawned Angels (“the Beast that ascendeth out of the Bottomless Pit” – Rev. 11:7) and their conduit in the earth (“I…saw a Beast rise up out of the Sea” – Rev. 13:1).

Understandably so, the intergenerational unmasking of the Spiritual Power behind World Powers is pertinent to the Doctrine of Babylon / the Doctrine of the Beast; and, as we have formerly noted, the cyclical appearances of the Beast on the timeline of history and ongoing futurity is vital to discerning the signs of our times. The Pope’s bloodiest moments of history have now become a thing of the past, but Satan’s agenda on the World Stage today is a thing of the present! The Inquisitions of the Roman Catholic Church feel like ages ago, but the spiritual & cultural morale that will serve as the basis for an alternative means of systematic bloodshed is already pervading the present age! So, I ask: where is the foretold Beast-Riding Whore that is drunken with the blood of the saints? For, blood has ceased to flow from the hand of Rome through the Inquisitions since around the early 1900’s, in a liberal estimation of things. The Roman Catholic Inquisitions have changed their names over time, so it’s difficult to estimate their cessation exactly. A more accurate estimation, I think, is that it’s been around 200 years (and counting!) since the expiration of Rome as the Beast.

As of 2018, there’s still no Abomination of Desolation and, meanwhile, the 5th Beast hasn’t yet taken prominence on the World Stage! Nevertheless, the signs of their coming are all around us and time is running out! In all sobriety, let me warn you: we are RIGHT ON TIME for the 5th Beast no matter how you look at it! My reader, do you remember what I mean by the 5th Beast? Do you remember the formerly proposed timeline of history and ongoing futurity with respect to the appearance of the Beast in its various forms in the Book of Daniel and beyond? In the Book of Daniel there are only 2 Kingdoms that are calendared as End-Time Beasts, but in looking beyond Daniel we observe more. As formerly stated, let’s say the 1st Beast & its Antichrist appeared in the Assyrian & Babylonian Captivities at around 700-600 B.C., the 2nd appeared in Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria, who lived from 215-164 B.C., and the 3rd appeared in Rome culminating at around 70 A.D. Now, upon realizing the meaning and intent of Revelation 17:8-11, lo and behold: we observe the 4th Beast which, in actually, is the ongoing existence of the 3rd Beast (the Roman Empire), continuing in violence without dying from 33 A.D. (Christ’s Crucifixion) to 70 A.D. (the Scattering of the Jews, the sacking of Jerusalem, and the desolation of the Temple) to 96 A.D. (the reception of the Book of Revelation) unto the PRESENT in diverse forms of Roman Government that eventually led into the Papacy who’s seat of power is in Vatican City, Rome. However, the ongoing life of the 3rd Beast can legitimately be called a 4th Beast of sorts, seeing that the coming of the 8th King is called “the Beast” in a peculiar fashion according to Revelation 17:10-11. This being the case, how long until the 5th Beast?

Interims of about 400 years and 200 years transpired between the 1st & 2nd Beast, and, the 2nd & 3rd Beast, and now… how much time will span the distance between the 4th & 5th Beasts? Shockingly, we are RIGHT ON TIME! However one chooses to calculate it, we are around 400 years or 200 years removed from the 4th Beast in its killing times. Namely, we live around 400 years removed from the times of the Puritans and around 200 years removed from the Inquisitions. Note: any Kingdom who becomes the Beast on the timeline of history and ongoing futurity effectually ceases to be the Beast around the time when the widespread murdering of God’s people, the Church, ceases to be. I repeat, no matter how you calculate it (according to the cyclical appearances of the Beast), we are RIGHT ON TIME for the appearance of the 5th Beast, the last and final Beast that will bring about the End of the World! The Beast, after which, there shall be NO OTHER BEAST! To borrow the language of the apostle Paul, let me tell you: “it is HIGH TIME to awake out of sleep” (Rom. 13:11)! Fearfully, “the night is FAR SPENT, the day is AT HAND” (Rom. 13:12)! Paul made these statements in around 60 A.D., just 10 years from the 70 A.D. onslaught of the 3rd Beast! Looking him dead in the face, Paul said, “KNOWING THE TIME” (Rom. 13:12); the very thing that we must do so as to discern the coming of the 5th Beast!

“O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times” – Matt. 16:3

God has suffered the Earth to be inhabited by fallen men for about 6,000 years now. From Adam to Abraham is about 2,000 years, from Abraham to 70 A.D. is about 2,000 years, and from 70 A.D. to 2018 (the present) is about 2,000 years. In other words, at the threshold of about 2,000 years God destroyed the World (in the days of Noah) and repopulated it until, at last, He chose Abraham; and, when God chose Abraham He spent about 2,000 years saving the Jews; and, in 70 A.D. God essentially forsook the Jews and began a new work of salvation among the Gentiles that has lasted for about 2,000 years. Reckoning it all up (“one day is with the Lord as a thousands years, and a thousand years as one day” – 2 Pet. 3:8), that’s about 6,000 years / 6 Days. Adding in the Millennial Reign of Christ, that’s 1,000 more years which, in turn, is 1 Day. That makes 7 Days in total. 6 Days of redemptive history and a 7th Day of rest for all the redeemed of the Lord! My reader, could this be an indication that time is up for the Gentile Church Age? Could this be an indication that the 5th Beast is imminent? I believe so.

Evidently, the time is drawing near that the last and final Beast would rear its ugly head! Undoubtedly so, especially because as of 70 years ago (1948) the Jewish State of Israel was reborn, as of 51 years ago (1967) the Israelites recaptured and took control of the City of Jerusalem, as of 201 days ago (December 6th, 2017) Jerusalem was officially recognized as Israel’s Capital by the most powerful nation in the World, the USA, and as of 88 days ago (March 29th, 2018) a top Israeli Rabbi, Yosef Berger, has gone so far to say, speaking of Trump,

“No leader in history has recognized Jerusalem as the Capital of the Jews and Israel. [Trump] has already created a great tikkun (reparation) for the Christians through his unprecedented relationship with Jerusalem. Trump is the representative of Edom that will perform that final historic reparation of his entire nation by building the Temple.” – Yosef Berger

The Israeli Rabbi, along with other Jewish conservatives, expect the Jewish Messiah to appear in conjunction with the rebuilding of the Temple, the man who we know to be the Antichrist (the Abomination of Desolation) according to Biblical Prophecy. My reader, this brings us to consider the role of the Jews in the formation of the terrestrial government of the 5th Beast. Seeing that the Vatican City of Rome is not the ultimate and End-Time fulfillment of “that Great City, which reigneth over the Kings of the Earth” (Rev. 17:18) …what is?

The Great Whore, the Mother of all Harlots, the Mother of Abominations

Who, of all peoples, is the Great Whore of Revelation 17? Who, I say, could be deserving of such a caricature; this dreadful sight! What Nation or City, of all peoples, could fit the picture that divine prophecy is painting?

Revelation 17:1-6

[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:

[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.

[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.

[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:

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

[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.

The Woman… who is She? According to Revelation 17:18, the Woman is “that Great City which reigneth over the Kings of the Earth” (Rev. 17:18). The Woman, being a City, is the representative figurehead of a people. So, the question is: what people, of all nations, could fit the picture that divine prophecy is painting? I shudder to give the answer (“Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.” – Jer. 2:12)! My reader, it’s the Jews. The most beloved of all, the City of Jerusalem, will become the most abominable! The elect people thereof, the Jews, will become the most whorish in the sight of God! …are you in disbelief? This is to be expected.

I know, an uproar of alternatives could be argued as more fitting to the prophetic description. However, I ask: “What saith the Scripture?” My reader, have you conceptualized this topic from a Biblical Perspective rather than being led about by your own ideas of morality? As proof of my claim, know this: I will not cite the rampant conspiracy theories that are decried as anti-Semitic. Nor will I direct your attention to the commonly believed notion of today that “the Jews control the World”. Rather, I ask: “What saith the Scripture?” Many controversies would be solved if the debates had their beginning and ending starting with this question and its answer. Again, I ask: “What saith the Scripture?” My reader, do you know? …do you care?

Repeatedly, the Jews and the City of Jerusalem (as a representative head of the people) lived and acted with unparalleled lewdness, perversity, woefulness, and blood-guiltiness. As a result, the prophets descriptively repudiated their behavior by calling it what it was in truth: the worst sort of HARLOTRY, the vilest forms of ABOMINATION, the greatest acts of WICKEDNESS, and the most barbaric crimes of BLOODSHED known to man! Such and such, and more, are strikingly visible in the time of the Babylonian Captivity & at the incarnation of Christ in the 1st Century. Visiting these two stopping points of history will allow us to discover the lawful and divinely intended means of interpreting the message of prophetic futurity pertaining to the Great Whore in Revelation 17.

Jerusalem in the time of the Babylonian Captivity (≈700-600 B.C.)

HARLOTRY: Jerusalem was described to be the worst of all Harlots (Cities) – an imperious, unashamed, whorish woman that is far more perverse than the most ill-repute harlots of the world! – Ezek. 16:23-43

ABOMINATIONS: Jerusalem was said to be more wicked and abominable than both Samaria & Sodom – that the sins of the latter Cities were a very little thing in the eyes of Jerusalem and, astonishingly, in exceeding their wickedness Jerusalem has justified and comforted Samaria & Sodom! – Ezek. 16:44-59

Jerusalem during Christ’s Ministry (≈30 A.D.)

WICKEDNESS: Jerusalem (the Jews) was described to be more wicked & hell-worthy (worthy of condemnation) than Sodom insomuch that if like miracles were done in Sodom they would have repented and been spared the rainfall of eternal flames! – Matt. 10:14-15, 11:20-24

BLOODSHED: Jerusalem (the Jews) was guilty of the blood of all the prophets slain from the foundation of the world in that they slew the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ! – Luke 11:50-51, 13:34

My reader, think of it in terms of a moral protocol that is defined by God. The moral protocol used in judgment upon the Jews in the above instances of the past exemplify how God will judge the Jews in the future scenario with the Beast. This point is easily provable. Lo and behold, these are the very things observable in the Beast-Riding Woman of Revelation 17: the HARLOTRY (“the Great Whore” & “the Mother of Harlots” – Rev. 17:1, 5), the ABOMINATIONS (“full of abominations” & “the Mother of…Abominations of the Earth” – Rev. 17:4-5), the WICKEDNESS (“drunk with the wine of her fornication” – Rev. 17:2), & the BLOODSHED (“drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” – Rev. 17:6)! Our discernment of a divinely authored moral protocol is essential for determining who, of all peoples, or what, of all Cities, is capable of becoming the most wretched and immoral people & place in existence! In other words, my reader: Let God judge. I mean, literally, He is judging! That’s the point of reading prophecy, you know… and God has some choice words for the gainsayers! Judgment.

He is the Rock, is work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He.” – Deut. 32:4

Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment? – Mal. 2:17

The obligation is upon us, as inherently immoral people, to learn from God what morality is. So, let the cross-eyed people of skewed judgment put their trust in the sightseeing God of judgment!

The Judgment of the Great Whore

“…Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the Great Whore that sitteth upon many waters” – Rev. 17:1

It is vital that we understand the ultimate objective of Revelation 17. Namely, the judgment of the Great Whore. This is the authorial intent of the prophecy revealed from the very beginning. However, this stated purpose goes unrecognized by the hasty readers of the Book of Revelation. In part, this is due to the position of Revelation 17 in the order of things Chapter by Chapter. In such a scenario – with the momentum of Revelation 16 – one might expect to behold some cataclysmic judgment befalling Babylon herein rendered in a new way. Howbeit, this is not what is meant by the angel when he said, “I will shew thee the judgment of the Great Whore” (Rev. 17:1). The form of judgment being referred to is not the infliction of a divine punishment to the torment of the guilty. In other words, it’s not like the judgment revealed in Revelation 16. Rather, this judgment is like what God commanded of Ezekiel in Ezekiel 20:4, saying,

“Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? Cause them to know the ABOMINATIONS of their fathers:” – Ezek. 20:4

Ezekiel, through the prophesying of Ezekiel 20, did judgment in the same way that the angel, through the prophesying of Revelation 17, does judgment. Both judgments target the same people, the Jews, and both judgments cause the formerly ignorant people to know something they otherwise couldn’t know: the ABOMINATIONS. Likewise, in Ezekiel 16, the objective of judgment was clearly stated only without the actual word being used: “Son of Man, cause Jerusalem to know her ABOMINATIONS” (Ezek. 16:2). The manner of revealing (“I will shew unto thee”   - Rev. 17:1) the abominableness of the abominations committed by the Jews is the judgment, and according to God’s standard of morality and justice this renders the City of Jerusalem a Great Harlot in both Ezekiel 16 & Revelation 17. Not just any Harlot, but the worst of all Harlots – one more perverse than her lovers (her companions of fornication): the Egyptians, Philistines, Assyrians, & Chaldeans (Ezek. 16:26, 27, 28, 29)! Jerusalem is the worst of all Harlots in that her wickedness exceeds that of her sisters, Samaria & Sodom (Ezek. 16:52, 54, 63)! To the self-righteous and hypocritical Jews, this portrayal is utterly confounding and astonishingly shameful! That’s the point. This is exactly why God is portraying them thus… so that in the judgment they would be ashamed!

bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more ABOMINABLE than they: they are MORE RIGHTEOUS than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.” – Ezek. 16:52

“That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort  unto them.” – Ezek. 16:54

“That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.” – Ezek. 16:63

Remember, God said of Jerusalem in comparison to Sodom & Samaria: “thou was corrupted more than they in all thy ways” (Ezek. 16:47). Repeatedly, God said, more than they” (Ezek. 16:51). Emphatically, according to God’s moral standards, Jerusalem was “more ABOMINABLE than they” (Ezek. 16:52)! Do you agree? In one’s own judgment this seems way out of line! I know (1 Cor. 2:14). Nevertheless, this is God’s judgment. This is what the angel meant when he said, “…Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the Great Whore that sitteth upon many waters” (Rev. 17:1). Such portrayals would appear to be unjust comparisons that do far exaggerate the sins of Jerusalem in that she is called, “THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Rev. 17:5), but things aren’t as they appear. We, the common people, need to understand the moral protocol of divine justice. Only then will we be enabled to trust God’s judgment and distrust our own.

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD” – Isa. 1:18

Jerusalem’s relationship to God changes morality and justice. Jerusalem was adopted, raised, and beautified as a Bride unto the LORD (Ezek. 16:8-14), therefore with her He takes things personal (Ezek. 16:15-20). Seeing that morality centers around a Person, a Moral One, and mankind’s relationship with Him, this changes things for Jerusalem. Jerusalem’s use of divinely bestowed beauty for adultery and prostitution is an affront to the matrimony that she had with God (Ezek. 16:15, 22). Jerusalem’s superior status of relationship to God is the dominating moral factor that changes the weightiness of her crimes in comparison to others, like those of Samaria (the Capital City of Israel) or Sodom. In other words, Jerusalem’s superior standing in righteousness was directly related to her superior standing in wickedness in the latter end. How?

the latter end is worse with them than the beginning” – 2 Pet. 2:20

the greater condemnation” – James 3:1

Of all the Kings of Judah (the seated rulers of Jerusalem) prior to the Tribulation Period, only Jehoram, Ahaziah, Athaliah, Ahaz, and Manasseh walked in the ways of the Kings of Israel (the seated rulers of Samaria), and Israel’s sins were far more numerous with her idolatry more abundant. Therefore, how could Judah / Jerusalem be considered more wicked than Israel / Samaria? How exactly did Judah’s wickedness exceed Israel’s when Israel ventured further and abode longer in greater iniquities than Judah from generation to generation? How could it be said that Jerusalem had justified Samaria? Take, for example, the history of Israel leading up to the Assyrian Captivity that was unable to fully conquer Judah because of the righteousness that was abiding therein.

Historically, from the time of King Omri onward (1 Kings 16:23-24), Samaria became the capital City of the Nation of Israel politically speaking. Then, after Omri, wicked King Ahab built a Temple for Baal in the City making it the capital of religiously popular idolatry (1 Kings 16:32-33). Notably, this idolatry was different than the widely accepted calf worship that was erroneously directed to the God of Israel, a religion that was invented by Jeroboam the son of Nebat and adopted by every following generation until the desolation of Israel as a Nation. Despite many acts of divine chastisement, the wars with Syria being one instance (1 Kings 20:1, 2 Kings 6-7), the people of Israel continued in rebellion until there was no other option left except utter destruction and worldwide dispersion. God sent the Assyrians (2 Kings 18:9-10, Isaiah 10:5-19)! Furthermore, in reference to Judah being righteously defended and preserved by God while Israel wasn’t, and justly so, when Assyria vanquished Israel they nearly wiped out the whole nation of Judah as well even despite the righteous reforms made under Hezekiah during that time! But… from the last remaining defensed City of Judah, the City of Jerusalem, King Hezekiah and the Prophet Isaiah kept the faith and cried out to God! Shockingly, the LORD defended them by sending angels to slay 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night (Isa. 37:36-38)! God put a difference between Israel and Judah, and justly so! My reader, think of all the righteous Kings that ascended the throne of Judah in Jerusalem, while Israel had none.

Judah had the City of Jerusalem and Mount Zion, the beloved City and the Mountain of God. Judah had the Temple and the Ark, the earthly House and Throne of God. Judah had a lineage of Kings via the seed of David, the children to whom God was oath-bound to establish forevermore. Judah had the Aaronic Priesthood and the Levitical Officers, employees of true religion for the prosperity of real salvation via the judgments and statutes of God. All of this, in comparison to the dismal estate of Israel, was a staggering contrast with profound moral implications.

Israel was spiritually bankrupt and Godforsaken, literally, while Judah was spiritually enriched and God-possessed. In other words, the immorality that was commonplace among Samaritans and Sodomites was hard-to-be-achieved in the Moral Sanctuary of God in Judah. An act of rebellion from this place of spiritual prosperity necessitated the squandering of imperishable riches. An act of rebellion from the royalty of a superior holiness necessitated the hard-to-be-accomplished profanation of all that is holy in direct defiance of Him who was hard-to-be-withstood, the Most Holy God. An act of rebellion from this region wherein shined an abundance of Divine Light necessitated a stubborn and steadfast resistance of the emanating virtue, hence the human will must have been profoundly more stubborn than nominal sinners of any sort in any other Nation in the World at that time. An act of rebellion from this morally heightened condition necessitated a far greater immorality than all the commonplace depravity committed by Samaria and Sodom, Jerusalem’s Sisters. On this wise, Jerusalem’s superior standing in righteousness directly related to her superior standing in wickedness in the latter end. The defiance of a greater manifestation of salvation meant a greater damnation because it was a greater wickedness. My reader, this moral protocol of justice is evident in the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ when He identified the 1st century Cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum as guilty of greater wickedness than Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom. Furthermore, speaking in reference to all the 1st century Jewish Cities that would reject the Disciples of Christ who were sent as messengers thereunto, the Lord affirmed that their wickedness exceeded that of Sodom and Gomorrha!

Then began he to upbraid the Cities wherein most of His mighty works were done, because they repented not…” – Matt. 11:20

The moral protocol of justice – used by the Prophet Ezekiel for the identification of Jerusalem’s woefulness – was employed by Jesus Christ in His earthly ministry wherein, like Jerusalem of old, the 1st century Cities of Israel that rejected Christ were placed in a morally superior position above Tyre, Sidon, Sodom, and Gomorrah, hence the greater condemnation. They were being visited by God the Son and His messengers, being exercised by the power and virtue of their ministries, therefore upon rejecting the Moral One who walked in their midst performing wonders, let us understand: they became guiltier than Sodom and Gomorrah in God’s judgment! Rightly so, because the accumulation of wickedness necessary to commit that one act of rejection was far greater than the innumerable acts of wickedness committed by Sodom and Gomorrah from generation to generation. See, my reader?

“…they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” – Matt. 11:21

“…it would have remained until this day.” – Matt. 11:23

The Lord testified that the Sodomites were more tender-hearted than those 1st century Jews who rejected Christ! Vice versa, this means that the 1st century Jews were more hard-hearted than the Sodomites of old! In other words, Sodom would have repented if Christ did in her what was done in Capernaum! Thus, while it appears that Sodom and Gomorrah were more wicked than 1st century Capernaum and other like Cities, for indeed Sodom and Gomorrah did commit far more numerous acts of wickedness in a more devilish society of normalized immorality, yet the reality was the contrary because of the wickedness necessary on the Jews part to reject so great a manifestation of salvation via God the Son. The amassed wickedness necessary to commit that one single act – the rejection of God the Son! – was comparable to the hard-to-be-committed acts of rebellion committed by Judah of old.

As formerly noted, Judah of old was enriched by the Temple, She was ingratiated by the blessing of righteous Kings in the line of David, and She was endowed by an abundance of God’s oversight and direction via the Prophets, and thus when She rebelled in less frequent acts of wickedness and with lesser forms of perversion than Samaria and Sodom, so it seemed, the moral protocol interprets the fewer acts of wickedness as the greatest form of perversion possible, and righteously so! These influences – the Temple, righteous Kings, and God-sent Prophets – weighed in the balances of morality exactly like the ministry of Jesus Christ altered the moral situation of 1st century Jewish Cities. In reference to the aforementioned endowments, lo and behold: Jesus was greater than the Temple (Matt. 12:6), greater than King Solomon (Matt. 12:42), and greater than the Prophet Jonah (Matt. 12:41)! Hence, we must interpret the criminal acts of every City as they relate to the aforementioned endowments.

“But last of all He sent unto them His Son, saying, They will reverence My Son.” – Matt. 21:37

“Having yet therefore one Son, His wellbeloved, He sent Him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence My Son.” – Mark 12:6, Matt. 21:37, Lk. 20:13

Remember, this is because the magnitude of a crime committed is situational and circumstantial to the value and royalty of the place and people involved.  This can be illustrated by the criminal act of thievery, for example; the penalty fluctuates with the value of the object or the royalty of the person stolen. Value and royalty changes criminality because it is a greater evil to steal or harm those things or persons which are the most precious and irreplaceable. In the specific case of 1st century Judaism considered within the scope of human history as a whole, the greatest of sins are those committed against the greatest manifestation of God. Therefore if, in 1st century Judaism, the greatest manifestation of God ever to exist was beheld and rejected – One greater than Jonas, Solomon, and the Temple – then the Jews were, consequentially, the greatest sinners ever to exist!

Because all cleanness is determined by humanity’s relationship to the Cleansing Man, when and if they reject Jesus Christ they are thereby reduced into a state of utter uncleanness beyond any woeful denouncement expressed to any Unclean Land or people throughout all of human history (“It shall be more tolerable for the Land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the Day of Judgment, than for that City.”-Matt.10:15, 11:24, Lk.10:12).

Because Jesus Christ is the embodiment of the Moral and Ceremonial Law, when and if anyone rejects Him they are committing a crime which is equivalent to rejecting the counsel of every Law in the Old Testament (“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me. And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life.”-John5:38-39).

Because Jesus Christ is the embodiment of all prophecy and promise – the Prophet of prophets – when and if Israel rejects Him they are committing a crime of unlawful bloodshed which is equivalent to slaying all the prophets which have existed from the foundation of the world (“That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the Temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.”-Lk.11:50-51, 13:34; “And in her was found the blood of the prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.” – Rev. 18:24)!

If so great a guilt was reckoned – unthinkable in magnitude! – it was for so great a crime committed, a single act of bloodshed, far outweighing the blood of all the Prophets from the foundation of the world! This one abomination, a single act, was more abominable than all the abominations ever committed! Therefore, if such and such was spoken in regards to the 1st century Jews rejecting God-Incarnate, what can be said of the Old Testament Jews of the Kingdom of Judah who rejected the manifestation of the pre-Incarnate Christ through the endowments granted to her? Very specifically, God reckoned with Judah based upon what She did to His judgments and statutes (the virtues that proceeded from the Temple, righteous Kings, and God-sent Prophets) just as God reckoned with the 1st century Jews based upon what they did to Jesus Christ. Her rejection of God’s judgments and statutes necessitated the amassing of wickedness that far outweighed the criminal activity of other Countries. All other Nations, knowing Judah’s privileged position of royalty and holiness, watched as “She hath changed [God’s] judgments into wickedness more than the Nations, and [God’s] statutes more than the Countries that are round about Her (Ezek. 5:6), and in God’s estimation this was a greater evil than all the abominations of the Nations that were round about Judah.

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. And she hath changed My judgments into wickedness more than the Nations, and My statutes more than the Countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you; Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations. And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.” – Ezek. 5:5-10

As you can see, my reader, parallelism resounds. The moral protocol of justice is harmonious. Thereby, Jerusalem was more wicked than her Sisters, Samaria and Sodom. Jerusalem’s man-to-God relationship via the Covenant morally changed everything. In other words, one must comprehend Jerusalem’s purity before being rightly appalled at her profanation! One must see her beauty before realizing her abominableness! One must know her virginity and chastity of old, as described in Lamentations 4:12, before one can realize how unimaginable it is from Heaven’s perspective that Jerusalem is celebrating harlotry, and worse (Jer. 2:12)!

The Kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the Gates of Jerusalem.” – Lam. 4:12 [see The City of Jerusalem]

What can be worse than harlotry? All things considered, what can be said of Jerusalem in the Last Days? What comparable act of whorish abominableness could possibly be committed to deserve the divinely judged status, “THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Rev. 17:5)? Immeasurable guilt was heaped upon the Jews for rejecting & killing Christ! Right? Even so, what shall become of the Jews when they accept the Antichrist? What can be said of those special people, the Jews, to whom the Son of God was sent, in that they hate Christ and love the Antichrist? …in that they hate the Son of God and love the Son of Perdition? …in that they hate the Sinless Man and love the Man of Sin? Likewise, what can be said of the special and divinely chosen City, Jerusalem, to whom the Son of God was sent, in that She rejects the King of Heaven and enthrones the King of Hell! …in that She crucifies the Lord of Glory and crowns the Inglorious One! …in that She condemns Emmanuel and consecrates that Wicked (2 Thess. 2:8)!

Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.” – Ezek. 16:25

Even in the present estate of things, the major religions of the world can be found in the skirts of Jerusalem. Their “holy sites” are within her walls. The unholy pilgrims of each freely enter therein, every man with a price in his hand to buy the whorish love of an exhilarating Harlot, Jerusalem! The City remains an attraction to the world, an object of jealousy, a spoil of war! Even so, the nations of the world are possessive of her, they long to have her, and they’re will to fight for her! This is the Great Whore. Even now, as of 2018, she is the world’s object of lust and the willing subject of rampant fornication! All claim her, and she claims all, and she loves to have it so! This is the Mother of all Harlots. This is Babylon’s Bride! At last, in the darkest of times, Jerusalem will be found in the arms of Spiritual Babylon… not knowing that Babylon will suddenly turn on her and betray her!

The Divine Punishment of the Great Whore

Wherefore, O Harlot, hear the word of the LORD…” – Ezek. 16:35

The Beast will turn on her! Hereby, the Great Whore will taste the bitterness of her own doings. She will learn the wretchedness of her fornicating relationships. Through Babylon turning upon her and hating her, she will be exceedingly abased and humbled.

Behold, therefore I will gather all thy LOVERS, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast LOVED, with all them that thou hast HATED; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.” – Ezek. 16:37

Through the Babylonian Captivities of old, Jerusalem was forced to dread her various lovers, the Egyptians, Philistines, Assyrians, & Chaldeans (Ezek. 16:26, 27, 28, 29). In the aftermath of divine punishment, Jerusalem came to understand the truth of her whorish behavior; the divine punishment being, that God turned their LOVERS into HATERS!

The turning of Jerusalem’s LOVERS into HATERS to do violence upon her is, in fact, the judgment of God via divine punishment. The grotesque lewdness and animalistic lustfulness of these evil romances were divinely interrupted unto Jerusalem’s hurt so that she, in turn, sees the unloveliness of her lovers. The turning of affairs was God’s doing in fulfillment of the saying, “I will judge thee, as women that break the wedlock and shed blood are judged” (Ezek. 16:38). Hereby the Whorish Wife of God (“a Jealous God” – Ex. 34:14) will be punished at the hands of her backstabbing LOVERS until She is left NAKED (“they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare” – Ezek. 16:39), STONED (“they shall stone thee with stones” – Ezek. 16:40), STABBED (“thrust thee through with their swords” – Ezek. 16:40), & BURNT (“they shall burn thine houses with fire” – Ezek. 16:41)! Even so, thus and thus shall befall the Great Harlot of Revelation 17.

HATE: “the ten horns…these shall HATE the Whore” – Rev. 17:16,

NAKED: “these…shall make her desolate and NAKED” – Rev. 17:16

BURNT: “these…shall…BURN her with fire” – Rev. 17:16

The Antichrist, the present or soon-to-be Ruler of Babylon (Rev. 17:12-13), will be welcomed into Jerusalem as a Messenger of Peace and a beacon of One World Unification both religiously and politically (Dan. 9:27, 11:21, 24; 1 Thess. 5:3), and on this wise progressively (Rev. 13:5-6). Progressively, I say, because the full intent for which the Antichrist will not be revealed until the last 42 months of his career as a Revolutionary (Rev. 13:5-6). Initially, for the first 42 months, he will be an establisher of some notable Covenant of Peace (Dan. 9:27) – a dreadful hour of seduction wherein he, the Man of Sin (2 Thess. 2:3), will winsomely entice and romance all the Kingdoms and Peoples of the World, and especially Jerusalem. The City of Jerusalem – being the Mother of all Harlots – will outdo the promiscuity of all other Women insomuch that the Antichrist will establish his Seat of rule and authority in her.

Evidence that Jerusalem will be the Capital City of the Babylonian Empire

Firstly, it is meet that the Two Witnesses would personally withstand the Beast and by God’s hand evade him until their ministry in Jerusalem is done (Rev. 11:7-9). This fact is stated explicitly. The City in which they died, and subsequently resurrected, and then raptured, is none other than “where also our Lord was crucified” (Rev. 11:8), the City of Jerusalem! This is the same place that is called, “the Great City”, all throughout the Book of Revelation; and this marks the first-mention of it in these terms. Be sure of this, the City is not called great for its greatness in the eyes of God! On the contrary, this is the City “which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt” (Rev. 11:8). This being the case, is it hard to imagine that this City could bear another horrendous title, that being: “Mystery Babylon” (Rev. 17:5)? I don’t think so.

Secondarily, it is meet that Heaven would besiege Earth at Jerusalem (the Capital City of Babylon), otherwise known as “the Seat of the Beast” (Rev. 16:10). Hence, when the Capital City of Babylon is at last impoverished as a result of the siege, and, the Armies of Heaven are ready to descend in an invasion from Heaven-to-Earth, lo and behold: Christ, at the forefront of the Army (Rev. 19:15), and as and the sole treader of the Winepress (Isa. 63:1-6), makes His initial descent and first-contact of terrestrial war “without the City” (Rev. 14:20), a place we know to be the Valley of Jehoshaphator the Valley of Kidron, according to Joel 3:9-16, which is right outside the City of Jerusalem. This interpretation is perfectly harmonious with all the geographic specifications provided concerning the initial descent of Christ during the beginning of the 2nd Advent War at Jerusalem, also known as the Winepress (Zech. 14:14, Rev. 14:18-20, 19:11-16, Joel 3:11-14, Ezek. 39:17, Rev. 16:14-16, Isa. 34:3, 5-8, 63:1-6).

Thirdly, and lastly, it is apparent that “the Great City” of Revelation 11:8, being Jerusalem, is coherently the same place as “the Great City” or “Great Babylon” of Revelation 16:19, “that Great City” of Revelation 14:8 & 17:18, or “that Great City Babylon” & “that Mighty City” of Revelation 18:9-10 & 18-21, hence the name written upon the forehead of the Great Whore: “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT” (Rev. 17:1, 5, 19:2)!

Ah, this dreadful romance of Jerusalem & the Beast! This inordinate union between the Jews & the Antichrist! He, being contrary to God who has chosen Jerusalem, will seduce her, violate her, and then torture & kill her! In the first 3 ½ years of the Covenant of Peace, the Jews will shout peace and safety while showering love upon the Antichrist (1 Thess. 5:3), but on the morrow… they will know the horror of this misplaced affection! Unbeknownst to the Jews, Jerusalem’s new LOVER will turn on her and HATE her after the first 3 ½ years of the Covenant of Peace (“in the midst of the week” – Dan. 9:27). The Antichrist will turn on the Jews, force himself into the Temple, proclaim himself as “god”, and unleash an untold persecution upon the Jews! In fact, the Antichrist will target both physical and spiritual Jews in Jerusalem and worldwide! Of course, the spiritual Jews are those who are now called Christians (Acts 11:26, Rom. 2:25-29, 4:11-12). He targets those who lay claim to earthly and heavenly Jerusalem, the one that is below and above (Gal. 4:21-31)! This is the hidden agenda of the Revolutionary of Prosperity, a supposed Covenanter of Peace, the very plot that he himself will declare “in the midst of the Week” (Dan. 9:27)! For, at the breaching of the Covenant of Peace the Antichrist will be given a mouth to fully utter his madness!

And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.” – Rev. 13:5-7

The last 3 ½ Years of the 70th Week of Daniel will be the killing times of the Antichrist. Fearfully, it will be “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to the same time” (Dan. 12:1)! My reader, this 3 ½ year period is the “short time” granted to the Devil to unleash his wrath upon spiritual and physical Jews (Rev. 12:12). This is the climactic point spoken about for millennia! Every woeful prophecy heretofore pales in comparison to the woefulness of this time (“except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved” – Matt. 24:22)! In a very real way, every woeful prophecy heretofore is only significant insomuch that it led to this cumulative and climactic crescendo of futurity!

Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?” – Ezek. 38:17 (Lk. 21:22, Rev. 17:17)

For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” – LK. 21:22

In other words, everything that has happened heretofore leading up to this point has been strategically planned by God so that “the Words of God shall be fulfilled” (Rev. 17:17)! After all, the status of the Jews & the City of Jerusalem has been the subject of prophecy for millennia (Ezekiel 38:1-39:29). Exemplifying this, consider the full sequence of events hereto as of 70 A.D. onward relating to the final fulfillment of Biblical Prophecy.

“…until the Words of God shall be fulfilled.” – Rev. 17:17 (Ezek. 38:17, Lk. 21:22)

70 A.D.  à the scattering of the Jews, the overthrow of the Jewish State of Israel, and the destruction of the City of Jerusalem and the Temple.

(1)

A Progressive Regathering & Restoration Leading to Conflict: This, in one sense, is a chosen generation of the Jews. They, however, will not choose the LORD until they’re punished by Babylon / the Beast. If one considers what has transpired since 1948 to be the foretold regathering and restoration in progress, one must remember how the 1st Restoration Generation fell short of glory because of sin. Woefully, the Jews of this initial regathering aren’t even saved! Nor will they be saved until God punishes Babylon / the Beast / Gog & Magog in the foretold manner described in Ezekiel 38:8-23 (Rev. 16:17-21; the 7th Vial / the SHAKING) & Ezekiel 39:4, 17-21 (Rev. 19:17-21; The Great Supper of Human Flesh). Indeed, according to Biblical Prophecy there must be a Regathering of the Jews, the Rebirth of the Jewish State of Israel with Jerusalem as its Capital City and therein a rebuilt and functioning Jewish Temple, but the progress hereto will only lead to conflict and suffering as was foretold in Zechariah 13:7-9, 14:1-2, & Daniel 9:26-27 and confirmed by Christ in Matthew 23:37-38, Luke 19:43-44, Matthew 24:15-31, Mark 13:14-31, & Luke 21:20-38!

 

Therefore, after this initial regathering there must be yet another scattering. However, when this takes place in respect to all the events of the prophetic timeline must be carefully discerned. As of 70 years ago (1948) the Jewish State of Israel was reborn, as of 51 years ago (1967) the Israelites recaptured and took control of the City of Jerusalem, as of 201 days ago (December 6th, 2017) Jerusalem was officially recognized as Israel’s Capital by the most powerful nation in the World, the USA. One might think that only one thing remains to be accomplished: namely, the building of the Jewish Temple. Not so! It is true that this needs to be accomplished prior to the 3 ½ year Great Tribulation, but that’s not the next event on the prophetic timeline as of 2018. The rise of Babylon by war and conquest for the making of a One World Government is what’s next!

 

(2)

The Outbreak of War Leading to the Rise of Babylon & the Final Components of Prophecy Being Fulfilled: Babylon, the Beast, rises by war & conquest: the Day of the LORD through Babylon! As of 2018, this war will be known as World War III. The war will likely be an overflow of the conflict between Jews and Muslims with the Temple Mount as the focal point of controversy, or something related (see the 6th Trumpet & the 6th Vial), and thus at the conclusion of the war – the nativity of the Beast in a One World Government – the political powers of the world will be situated to immediately or eventually fulfill the foretold scenario in which the Antichrist will at once appear. From a political perspective, this means that all the nations of the earth will eventually be represented under the rulership of 10 Kings (Rev. 17:12-18), and these 10 will give immediately or eventually give their power unto the Antichrist. Mark it, my reader, World War III will so radically shift the politics of the World Stage from the present estate of things, around 200 national governments, that only 10 Kings or close to it will rule the entire world.

 

(3)

The Rise of the Antichrist & the Beginning of a Peace Covenant (the Beginning of Daniel’s 70th Week): Immediately at the cessation of World War III, and, at the birth of the Beast in a One World Government (terrestrially speaking), the political powers of the earth may or may not fit the foretold scenario of Revelation 17:12-18. This ordering of political powers on the World Stage will eventually come to pass, but it is not certain when or how. For example, Babylon could take worldwide dominion while within the Empire there are a few more than 10 Kings and, consequentially, the Antichrist is not yet revealed. However, I repeat, things will eventually shift into Revelation 17:12-18. The Antichrist, being one of the political powers, or arising from another venue, will eventually forge a Peace Treaty / Covenant with Israel and her adversaries (Dan. 9:27) marking the beginning of the 70th Week of Daniel. Effectively, this is the beginning of the reign of the Antichrist at the helm of Babylon (Rev. 17:17). The construction of the Jewish Temple will likely begin at the start of the 7-year Covenant of Peace, contracted by the Antichrist, and it will be completed and fully functional before the passing of 3 ½ years.

 

(4)

The Reign of the Antichrist (the First 3 ½ Years of Daniel’s 70th Week), the Formation of Gog’s Coalition, the Breaching of the Peace Covenant, the Igniting of the Great Tribulation, the Scattering of the Jews: The Antichrist, whose rule began at the beginning of the 70th Week of Daniel (Dan. 9:26-27) via 10 Kings within Babylon’s Empire committing their power unto him, will orchestrate a turn of events for the latter 3 ½ years of his short reign on the earth (“a thousand two hundred and threescore days” – Rev. 11:3, “a time, and times, and half a time” – Rev. 12:14, “forty and two months” – Rev. 13:5). The Antichrist will breach the Peace Treaty / Covenant (Dan. 9:27) igniting the 3 ½ year Great Tribulation (Revelation 11:3-14, 13:5-10), yes, but remember that the Jews have not yet been scattered from Israel & Jerusalem in fulfillment of Zechariah 13:7-9, 14:1-2, Daniel 9:26-27, Matthew 23:37-38, Luke 19:43-44, Matthew 24:15-31, Mark 13:14-31, & Luke 21:20-38. The Jews of Israel & Jerusalem will not willingly submit themselves to be killed and taken captive by the Antichrist, hence this will require armies.

 

My reader, this brings us to Gog’s Coalition. This is that decisive moment of futurity when Jerusalem’s romance with the Antichrist will be suddenly turned! She, who whorishly LOVED the Antichrist for the past 3 ½ years, will be HATED by her LOVER “until the Words of God shall be fulfilled” (Rev. 17:17)! Fearfully, this turn of events marks the beginning of the “Great Tribulation à a tribulation so great and unprecedented, it will be “such as was not since the beginning of the World to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (Matt. 24:21-22)! Why? This is a never-before-seen Reign of Terror! …by a never-before-seen Ruler, the Man of Sin (2 Thess. 2:3)! …all for the committing of a never-before-seen Abomination of Desolation (Matt. 24:15)! My reader, this a person whose plans were foretold by the Words of God long ago! “Have ye never read…?” (Mark 2:25, Matt. 21:16).

 

“…until the Words of God shall be fulfilled.” – Rev. 17:17

 

The cunningly devised Peace Treaty (Dan. 9:26-27), a providence of the Antichrist, will officially enable the Jews to build a Temple… not knowing that this most celebrated Revolutionary of Peace is hereby plotting for war! Being perfectly contrary to Christ who came to save the Jews, the Antichrist will come to destroy the Jews! Unknowingly, the Jews will fortify his plans of destruction and desolation upon Jerusalem in the constructing and completing of a fully functional Temple of Salvation, so they call it! Fearfully, the Temple they think to build for God is reared for a Man, the Anti-god! The desire of their eyes (Ezek. 24:15-23) is the desire of his eyes! The Temple, the long-fought-for and most celebrated achievement of the Jews (granted at the clemency of the Antichrist), is the crowning achievement of a Man who thereby endeavors to exalt himself above all that is called God and, in turn, slaughter, scatter, and enslave the Jews! The Guarantor of the Temple who swore to an epoch of peace and prosperity for all, will guarantee the annihilation & enslavement of the Jews for the sake of all!

 

Suddenly, in accordance with what was foretold concerning the Little Horn (Daniel 7:8, 8:9), the Prince (Dan. 9:26-27), the Vile Person (Dan. 11:21), the King of Babylon (Isa. 13:3), and more, the Man of Sin will trespass the Temple (“standing where it ought not” – Mk. 13:14; 2 Thess. 2:3) “so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (2 Thess. 2:4)! Doing all that was foretold and more, the Man will accomplish “the transgression of desolation” (Dan. 8:13) for “the overspreading of abominations” (Dan. 9:27) to “pollute the Sanctuary” (Dan. 11:31). Yea, “arms shall stand on his part” (Dan. 11:31) for this cause – and hereby Jerusalem will be “compassed with armies” (Lk. 21:20) – because the thing is of God in accordance with the Words of God, the LORD saying, “I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle” (Zech. 14:2). Harmoniously, seeing that all the nations of the earth will be ruled by 10 Kings who will give their power unto the Beast for this ultimate turnaround purpose, the Spirit of Prophecy elaborated on the event through the apostle John, in the saying, 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. 17:16). Why? “For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill His will, and to agree, and give their Kingdom unto the Beast, until the Words of God shall be fulfilled” (Rev. 17:17). In other words, these 10 Kings (who committed their power to the Antichrist for the commencement of the 70th Week of Daniel; Rev. 17:12-13), will collaborate in the gathering of the armies in Gog’s Coalition (Ezek. 38:1-7) for the taking of Jerusalem! I repeat, hereby Gog & Magog / the Beast will successfully invade & conquer Jerusalem in hatred for the Jews while the Antichrist presents himself as “god” in the Temple!

 

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The Antichrist Assumes Sovereign Control of what Used to be the Jews (the Last 3 ½ Years of Daniel’s 70th Week): What once belonged to the Jews will directly belong to the Antichrist, namely the State of Israel, the City of Jerusalem, and the Jewish Temple for 3 ½ years. Like what happened in 70 A.D., it is to be expected that the Jews will put up a fight! Like when Jerusalem was under Rome and within the Roman Empire, the same can be expected of Jerusalem under and within the Babylonian Empire of the future. The formerly regathered Jews, who survived and perhaps thrived in the perils of World War III, will be invaded and defeated by the Antichrist’s Armies (God’s Coalition) according to the description given in Zechariah 14:1-2. The Jews of Jerusalem, the Great Whore, will be hated by her Peace Partner and Spiritual Lover, the Antichrist, but after the final 3 ½ years of the 70th Week of Daniel are completed… lo and behold, God will defend Jerusalem by the SHAKING according to Zechariah 14:3-21, Ezekiel 39:17-21, & Revelation 19:17-21 (The Great Supper of the Flesh of Men)!

 

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Jesus Christ will Invade Israel (Heaven-to-Earth), Slaughter Babylon’s Armies & the Antichrist, Recapture Jerusalem, Regather the Jews, & Restore Israel & Jerusalem: My reader, THIS IS THE 3rd RESTORATION GENERATION of the JEWS. When the 3 ½ years are finished, shortly thereafter the 7th Trumpet will sound! This is an alarm of Heaven that announces the besiegement of Babylon’s World by Heaven’s Armies! However, with the sights and sounds of such things in plain sight: lo and behold, Babylon will neither surrender nor be divided! On the contrary, they will gather for war against the Lamb (The Gathering)! How? Fearfully, through “sorceries” (Rev. 18:23) the Antichrist & the False Prophet will deceive all the nations of the earth (Rev. 13:7-9, 11-17, 19:20) – not in the 3 ½ year reign of terror, merely, or in the slaughtering of Jews and Christians, merely, but foremost of all in the gathering of the Armies of “the Whole World” to defiantly wage war against Jesus & the Armies of Heaven that are arrayed above Jerusalem in Earth’s Sky (Rev. 16:12-16; Rev. 17:14, 19:19)! Upon gathering for the purpose of war, the 2nd Advent War will commence (the SHAKING! & The Great Supper of the Flesh of Men!)! Hereby, Babylon will fall (Rev. 14:8-12, 18:1-24) and, subsequently, a final and complete regathering & restoration of the Jews to Israel & Jerusalem will take place in the glory of the Millennial Reign of Christ! I repeat, this regathering is the 3rd Restoration Generation. Hereafter, the world of unconverted sinners will be at peace while the Devil is bound in the Bottomless Pit for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-8).

 

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The Devil will be Unbound, and the Nations will be Deceived for Satan’s Final Attempt to Conquer Jerusalem and Overthrow the Kingdom of God that is setup in Jerusalem: This uprising of the nations of the earth, called Gog & Magog in Revelation 20:1-10 & Ezekiel 38-39, will be squelched by a post millennial reign Baptism of Fire from Heaven to consume them on the spot! This is proof that the 3rd Restoration Generation performed by God according to Zechariah (Zech. 14:3-21), Daniel (Dan. 9:26-27), & Jesus (Matthew 24:29-31, Mark 13:24-27, & Luke 21:25-28) cannot be thwarted or stopped! God will DEFEND Jerusalem! This is the Restoration Generation regathered and restored by God via the 2nd Coming of Christ in the aftermath of the 2nd Advent War, a time that is unlike all former restoration generations in that ALL THE JEWS will be saved to sin no more (Rom. 11:26, Isa. 59:20, Isa. 45:17, 25)! Therefore, I repeat, there’s no interrupting this glorious commencement of a restored Jewish People unto God who reigns in Jerusalem! Of course, this is where the foretold scenario of Gog’s Coalition will finally and ultimately take place and thereafter expire from prophetic existence (Ezek. 38-39, Rev. 20:1-10)! In perfect context with the original intent of Ezekiel’s prophecy (foretelling an adversarial resistance rising up against the ongoing purpose of God in the 1st Restoration Generation), only this time with the 3rd Restoration Generationlo and behold, all is fulfilled! The adversary arises in an attempt to thwart the glorious progress of the Jews… but to no avail! …Come, Lord Jesus! Come!

Jerusalem: The Stronghold of Apostasy
Jewish Impenitence in the Face of Divine Striving Deserves God’s Judgment through Babylon

The Jerusalem of today (whose motto is “NEVER AGAIN!”) would be shocked to hear that their soon-to-be greatest achievement of peace is a precursor for a war that will make Hitler’s prejudice against the Jews look weak handed! However, given the record of Biblical Church History and the fact that history repeats itself (Eccl. 1:9), this could have been predicted. Former generations of God’s People, the Jews, deserved the likes of Babylon as a punishment for their ongoing impenitence in the face of divine striving. They, too, like 21st Century Israel’s motto (“NEVER AGAIN!”), bolstered their resolve with insane claims to eternality and invincibility! My reader, what God would do to break this unfounded confidence is terrifying (The Majesty of the LORD in the Tribulation Period)! And, what Jerusalem would do to God’s Prophets in despite of this message is shocking!

The Doctrine of the Good Figs & Evil Figs: Jer. 24:1-10, Jer. 29:1-32, Ezek. 1:2-3:21

Jerusalem is Deceived & Doomed to Annihilation: Ezek. 3:22-7:27, Ezek. 8:1-11:25, Ezek. 12:1-16, Ezek. 12:17-13:23, Ezek. 18:1-32, Ezek. 20:1-21:32

The Jews, erroneously reckoning the promises of Covenantal Idealism (Ex. #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6), thought Jerusalem was an eternal and undefeatable stronghold of eternal life! Yea, they intrenched themselves therein – not knowing that Jerusalem, and the inhabitants thereof (the Evil Figs), was the stronghold of apostasy that God was targeting with a total annihilation! The place in which they took sanctuary for life was actually a location of hopeless death and annihilation! However, if the inhabitants of Jerusalem repented of their evil deeds, they would live – only not in Jerusalem (The Mysteries of Redemption in the Great Tribulation)! God’s message that Babylon was unstoppable and Jerusalem was indefensible, was utterly intolerable to the apostate & patriotic Jews!

Because of this insanely unbiblical resolve of the Jews, the ongoing status of Jerusalem became the controversial issue of divine reckoning. In other words, if Jerusalem can indeed be breached and overthrown… the point is proven. No doubt, the same deception at work in the original Babylonian Captivities was and will be at work in 1st Century & Last Century Jerusalem. This is exactly why the sacking of Jerusalem by historical Babylon and 1st Century Rome were so brutal! One must embrace utter loss and even death, and thereby one will hardly survive (Lord willing) and or truly live!

A Condemned World  à Luke 17:26-27

The greatest snare of a condemned world, like that of Noah’s Day, was the merrymaking of life as usual in the illusion of peace and prosperity. The people continued eating and drinking; they continued marrying and giving in marriage – not knowing that this gleeful and carefree investment in the future sealed their fate in destruction and misery.

A Condemned City  à Luke 17:28-29 (Lk. 12:13-21)

The greatest snare of the would-be escapees of a condemned City, like Lot’s wife of Sodom, was each individual’s perception of life being a happy indulgence in eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building, and so their hopes were reaching forth to grasp a successful and a secure future, all to their demise!

A Condemned Jerusalem  à Luke 17:30-37, 21:20-28, 21:34-36, Matt. 24:15-42, Mark 13:14-37, Zech. 13:8-14:3, Rev. 13:10 (Mk. 13:13, Lk. 21:19)

Remember Lot's wife.  
Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; 
and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” – Lk. 17:32-33

The former instances, a Condemned World & a Condemned City, point the finger at Jerusalem. These instances cry an alarm against the condemned City of Jerusalem! Graciously, God is showing the Jews the way of survival. The same snares of former times now lay at the feet of the Jews, the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Therefore, just as the Jews of Jerusalem in the 1st Century were told to FLEE Jerusalem, the Jews of Jerusalem in the Last Century are being told to FLEE Jerusalem… only this time it’s called, “the Great City Babylon” (Rev. 18:10)!

“Then let them which are in Judaea FLEE…” – Lk. 21:21

“Then let them which be in Judaea FLEE…” – Matt. 24:16

“But pray ye that your FLIGHT be not in the winter…” – Matt. 24:20

COME OUT OF HER, My People…” – Rev. 18:4

If two thirds of the Jews are going to die as a result of this invasion and the subsequent captivity, as if foretold in Zechariah 13:8-14:2, then there will be a vast number of unburied bodies as is the case in any genocidal war of this sort. In other words (using a term employed by Christ), the Jews will be “taken” by War, Captivity, & Death insomuch that “thither will the eagles be gathered together” (Lk. 17:37). The sheer number of unburied bodies will cause the eagles to gather overhead. Clearly, the word “taken” in Luke 17:34-36 & Matthew 24:40-41 is speaking of the Jews being “taken” by War, Captivity, & Death. As for those who are “left” behind, Biblical Prophecy speaks of them too! Like Jesus, Zechariah is careful to state that the inhabitants of the City of Jerusalem will be divided (“one shall be taken, and the other left”) in the Captivity, and speaking of those who will be left behind, it was written, “and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the City” (Zech. 14:2). According to Jesus, who enlarged upon what Zechariah foretold, the primary means of escaping being “taken” in this manner is to “FLEE” or take “FLIGHT” with urgent disregard to one’s earthly possessions or physical livelihood.

Then let them which be in Judaea FLEE into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop NOT COME DOWN to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field RETURN BACK to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your FLIGHT be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” – Matt. 24:16-21

Harmoniously, Jeremiah & Ezekiel used the word “taken” in description of the Jews being seized by War, Captivity, & Death during the first Babylonian Captivities (Jeremiah 6:11-12, 8:9-10, 34:3, 38:23, 28, 39:5, 40:1, 48:1, 7, 41, 46, 50:2, 9, 24, 51:31, 41, 56 [Lam. 4:20]; Ezekiel 12:13, 17:12-13, 20, 21:23-24, & 33:6). Should we be surprised that Jesus foretold what Rome would do to Jerusalem using the same word (Luke 17:34-36 & Matthew 24:40-41)? In one sense, at the coming of ancient Babylon & Rome (70 A.D.) – this was “the coming of the Son of Man” (Matt. 24:37). The same could be said (and is said!) concerning the coming of future Babylon! Notwithstanding, in a categorically distinct manner besides the double-sensed prophecies that speak of the coming of the LORD through heathen armies, the very same passages speak of the 2nd Coming of Christ in bodily form (Zech. 13:8-14:7, Luke 17:22-37, 21:20-28, Matt. 24:15-31). Jesus was foretelling the order of things that are to-be-revealed directly preceding the bodily return of Christ and in so doing the Lord was effectively pinpointing the Last Generation (Matt. 24:32-51, Lk. 21:29-36). In other words, Jesus was foretelling the coming of the Lord in special judgments that precede and prepare for the bodily return of the Lord. In fact, this is the aim of the Book of Revelation – it enlarges upon these two distinct synergistic stages!

Harmoniously, but from a broader approach than what Christ foretold in the Gospels, the Book of Revelation can be divided into two great themes: (1st) the Day of the LORD through Babylon & (2nd) the Day of the LORD upon Babylon. My reader, have you observed the Doctrine of the Day of the LORD in the Bible? Have you identified the contextual meaning of its use according to the prophets both historically, progressively, and futuristically? These two themes are two different phases of divine judgment, the Judgment of God through Babylon & the Judgment of God upon Babylon. Essentially, these two phases of judgment are foretold by the 7 Trumpets and the 7 Vials; the former employs prophetic metaphors to the glory of God’s Majesty over the natural while the second is completely literal and non-metaphorical. I repeat, one must understand the Day of the LORD through Babylon (see the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 6th Trumpets) and the Day of the LORD upon Babylon (see the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, & 7th Vials) as categorically different acts of divine judgment. Jesus’ prophecies, which enlarge upon Zechariah’s, are one seamless description of these two events which are, in differing senses, the same event.

Believe it or not, God’s aim is to save the spiritual and physical Jews of the earth. At the 7th Trumpet, the spiritual Jews will be raptured into Earth’s Sky and, through the following, the physical Jews will be successfully converted to Christ (Zech. 12:10). How? The physical Jews of the earth will be betrayed and crushed by Babylon, and thereby humbled, and then they will be converted as they behold Christ, the Jewish Messiah, invading Earth’s Skyline to make War with Babylon on their behalf (as is exhaustively proven in the annals of Biblical Futurity). You see, my reader? Jerusalem needs to be humbled before she will shout HOSANNA at the coming of the Crucified One (Matt. 23:37-39)! This is God’s ingenious plan of sovereign mercy to make this most abominable people, the Jews (“the Mother of…Abominations” – Rev. 17:5), perfectly amiable in the sight of God! This is God’s ingenious plan of sovereign mercy to make the Great Whore a Virgin in the sight of God! In other words, these chastisements will make this whorish Woman forsake her harlotry in pursuit of purity! Forsaking all other lovers, she will choose Christ as her Bridegroom! …all this because, herein, Christ is choosing, pardoning, and purifying this most hideous Woman for Holy Matrimony! A MAGNIFICIENT CHANGE!

Until this ultimate point of redemptive futurity (Rom. 11:15), things will continue as they are. The impure Jews of today, like Baruch, will act in total disregard for God’s counsel to lose one’s life. Rather, they will seek great things for themselves in Israel & Jerusalem to their own hurt (Jer. 45:1-5)! As a wakeup call, God will send End-Time Prophets to the Jews (like Jeremiah & Ezekiel were thus sent) who will plead with them in hopes that the Jews will realize that Babylon is their just desert. They, the Two Witnesses, will seek to compel the Jews to submit to God’s chastisement by embracing tribulation in preparation for the bodily return of the Messiah (Rev. 11:1-19). In the old time with ancient Babylon, the only sure way for the Jews to save their lives was to agree with God and physically surrender to Babylon while spiritually opposing Babylon’s Religion (Jer. 27:12, 17, 38:17). Similarly, in the End-Time with future Babylon, the only sure way for the Jews to save their everlasting life from hellfire will be to agree with God and physically surrender to Babylon while spiritually opposing Babylon’s Religion, not loving their lives unto death (Rev. 12:11, 13:9-10). This doctrine, a most astonishing aspect of Jeremiah & Ezekiel’s ministries, is here quoted and applied – and it is soon-to-be heralded in the ears of the deluded inhabitants of Jerusalem who will proudly refuse to believe it while defiantly shouting: “NEVER AGAIN!”.