Please be seated. Of course tonight we are going to complete the lesson we began last week and I have a few leftover outlines in case you did not get one or maybe you forgot to bring it back from last week. Is there anyone like that that would like an outline from? Three weeks ago we began to give our attention to this eighth major section in the book of Revelation, which I'm calling the judgment of the great prostitute, chapters 17 and 18. And a couple of weeks ago we began with chapter 17, the first six verses with the introduction of that great prostitute. We saw letter A, her immoral character in the first two verses. She is portrayed in her immoral character as a prostitute, which refers to her alluring deception. We see that in verse one. Number two, she sits on many waters. This is a reference to her universal influence. That's also in Revelation 17 in verse 1. And number three, she is immoral. She commits immorality. And I shared with you that there is a connection there with her intoxicating attraction in verse 2. People are drunk with her allurements. We saw letter B, her initial descriptions in verses 3 through 6. We saw first of all verse 3, her companion. Her companion is the beast. There is a close connection between this woman and the beast, but they are not the same entity. We saw her appearance in verse four, what she looks like. She is arrayed in purple and scarlet, gold and jewels and pearls, holding a golden cup. And so she's very attractive. She's very well-to-do, it would appear. However she applies her trade, she is very successful. And so there is this show of wealth. Of course, also tied to that is a gaudiness and a tawdryness to her appearance. Men see her on the outside with these adornments, however God sees the inside of that golden cup. In Revelation 17 verse 4 it says that inside of that cup is abomination and all the impurities of her immorality. Number 3, we discover her name in verse 5 of Revelation 17. Her name is Babylon. There is some discussion among the translators and the commentators who look at the original language as to whether or not her name should be Mystery Babylon tied together or just that her name is a mystery and that it is Babylon. I am uncertain. I will leave that to your personal study if you want to come to a final conviction on that point. However, we do know, at least I am convinced, that this has less to do with the original, real Babylon, and more to do with a mystery that she portrays, and that it is a mystery Babylon as well. So either way you go, that name does signify something that is a mystery about to be revealed for us. We saw in verse 6 her savagery, that is, that she is completely drunk with the blood of the saints. While others are drunk with her moralities, she is drunk with the blood of the saints. And so she is conspicuous in her... horrible persecution of the Lord's people. And as you have seen many times already in our lessons, I'll quote it one more time, that this woman with the name Babylon represents the world's idolatrous economic religious system. I think that is the best way to say that. Last week we began the next section of Roman numeral two, the interpretation of the great prostitute. First of all, we saw her introduction, and now we're going to see this interpretation. Actually, it is the interpretation of the prostitute and the beast. And so, in verse 7, we saw this offer of an introduction. In verse 7 of Revelation 17, by the way, I didn't ask you to turn there, but I'm hoping you already have. I'm assuming you're already there in Revelation 17. It says, but the angel said to me, why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast. So we have this interpretation of both entities. So the angel does this for us, and so you have letter A, the offer of interpretation, and then letter B, the interpretation of the beast. We do that first in verses 8 through 14. This beast we were introduced to back in chapter 13 of Revelation, it is the same beast. It is that beast that arose out of the sea, having these figures of these animals, portraying all of these various kingdoms that have arisen throughout the ages, that coincide with Daniel's vision of these beasts that arose out of the sea and his vision as well. Describing the interpretation of the beast, we see verse 8, it was, it is not, and is to come. We gave ourselves to a rather lengthy discussion on that point. I have this awful feeling I might have added more confusion than real light and help on this point. There are a number of interpretations, and I tried to share some of them with you last week. I will share with you that I think there are a couple of things going on with this understanding of this interpretation. The beast was, is not, and is to come. I think, number one, it's a bit of a parody on God himself and his eternality. Repeatedly in Revelation we see God as the God who was, is, is to come. And so you have this slight wording difference of the beast that was and is not. and is to come. And so some of the commentators suggest there a parody of the beast, a mocking of the beast in his desire to imitate the Godhead. I think that's valid. I think there's something going on there regarding that. There's a second thing I think also is going on here. Because we know that this beast will receive a mortal wound. Let's see if I have that here. I don't have it. I won't have it on the screen, but if you want to jot these references down, I'll give them to you in a moment. But the Bible tells us that this beast, the end time individual, by the way I'll say this many times, I've already said it several, I'll say it again. I believe that this beast is a couple of things. I think one thing that it is, it is an entity that has extended into the past, that has existed for millennia. I don't know how long, I believe it goes back at least as far back as Babylon and Daniel's vision. There are some who suggest it may go back even further with the rising of varying empires that have been particularly persecuting of the Lord's people in Israel. So we see that it's this entity, we see that because of the visions that gave us John, Daniel's vision extending all this long period of time. But it's also a person, sometimes the Bible refers to the entity, this kingdom that has existed that will have a final kingdom. but also of a person, the Antichrist, the man of sin, the lawless one, if we might call him the emperor or the king or the ruler over this final manifestation of the beast in the end days just prior to the Lord's return. But it's also a person, that person himself. And we know that in Revelation 13 it describes this one as receiving some kind of a mortal wound. And again, there are varying interpretations of that. I'm suggesting that, at least in my mind, the most plausible is this supernatural manifestation of the end time of this individual being slain and then rising from the dead and causing all the world to marvel and follow him and worship him. Whether that resurrection is a real, genuine resurrection, or whether it's a hoax, all the world will look on this individual and marvel. So part of that wrapping up of this expression, he was, is not, and is to arise out of the abyss may have reference to the fact that he was, existed, but then was slain and then comes back to life again and rises out of the abyss in his resurrection. Again, I'm just offering it as a suggestion. I think that also is a plausible way to understand that. Oh, by the way, I told you I'd give you these references. Revelation 13, 3. These are references to the fact that the beast received a mortal wound. It says in Revelation 13, 3, one of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed. And then, the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. So you have those two things going together. The mortal wound, rising, and everybody follows him. Revelation 13, 12, you find the same thing. The false prophet exercises all authority that the first beast had in his presence, and he makes all the earth inhabitants to worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. So you have this worshiping of this individual because of that mortal wound. And then the last reference is Revelation 13, 14, And by the science that is allowed to work in the presence of the beast, it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast, before which they will bow down in worship. The beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. So you have three verses where those two things are connected, and I think maybe this is a part of that as well. Again, all that is by way of review, and I don't want to belabor that point. Number two, the seven heads. These are descriptions of that beast. It was, is not, and is to come. And then also is a beast that has seven heads, verses 9 through 11. Revelation 17.9 says this calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman is seated. They are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen. One is, the other has not yet come. And when he does come, he must remain only a little while. As for the beast, it was and is not. It's an ape, but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. I think this is where we completed our study last week. I shared with you letter A, that the seven heads, the Bible tells us, by way of interpretation, are seven mountains. Again, commentators are divided over exactly what that is. I shared with you what some of those were last week. I will share with you my personal understanding of that is that these seven mountains actually stand for kingdoms. that they are used here symbolically for kingdoms, not necessarily literal hills, although there are good arguments for that point. Basically, the city of Rome, the city of seven hills, and John in his day would have associated this with Rome and the seven hills, most likely. However, I think that the Bible repeatedly discusses kingdoms and uses symbolic language of a mountain to do so. And I gave you a couple of examples, let me remind you of them here on the screen. Jeremiah 51 and verses 24 and 25. I will repay Babylon and all its inhabitants. So you have this city, this kingdom, but it's referred to as what? A mountain. Look at verse 25. Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, declares the Lord. I don't want to further confuse you. But on occasion those mountains are not just the kingdoms, but what else could they be? The kings of those kingdoms, right? The mountains. There's an example of that of Christ himself, who is a mountain cut out of a hill, remember that expression in Daniel's vision, and that mountain fills the earth. What is that mountain? Well, that mountain cut out without hands, that's Christ, but that's his kingdom also, isn't it? So you have that. So here at least in Jeremiah, this is one passage, I'll show you one more, a mountain is a reference to a kingdom. Kingdom, the Kingdom of Babylon. Let me give you another one. In Daniel, I just did that, didn't I? I showed my hand already. This is that very same vision of that mountain cut out without hands. You see that in Daniel 2.35, a great mountain And it filled the whole earth. Well, that's a mountain, but what is that mountain? Look at verse 44. And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom. So a mountain can be a kingdom. And I'm saying all of that to say this, that the interpretation of that beast, that it is seven mountains, could be a reference to the fact that it is an entity of seven kingdoms, Again, that have existed at least since Babylon, up until the final days before the Lord, and then it is destroyed. Is everybody clear on that? I don't want to get too confusing, but that's what I think is going on here. And then, it's not only seven mountains, those seven heads on that beast, they're not just seven mountains, but those seven heads are also seven kings. Verse 10 says, they are also seven kings. And you have this description of these kings, five of whom have fallen. And as John writes, it would be assumed, we would understand that as John is writing this, five of these kings are gone. They've already passed, they have extended their life span and their kingship. Five of them have fallen. One of them is, it would seem like one of those kingdoms is existing, one of those kings is alive at that time, while John writes. And then one has not yet come. And then when he does come, he'll remain only a little while. He will reign very, very short period of time. And again, the commentators have lots of discussions on these kings. Who they are? Are they Roman emperors? Are they kings throughout history? I don't know for sure. I lean very strongly to saying that these seven kings correspond to the seven mountains. If they correspond to the seven mountains, they also correspond to what in my mind? Seven kingdoms. So these would be the seven kings over those empires. Whatever you believe the first five are, The one that is would be what empire? While John writes. What empire was reigning at the time of John writing? It would be the Roman Empire, wouldn't it? So this king, this ruler would be whoever that was during the time of John's writing. And again, the commentators, they're not all agreeing on who that is. Some think he wrote during the time of Nero. Some say he wrote during the time of Vespasian. Some say that he wrote during the time of Domitian. I kind of lean to that last one personally, later on, about 95 BC, AD. So the ruler over the empire would be that individual at that time. But then that empire is going to fade away, isn't it? Then there's going to be one last world empire, and there will be a ruler over that empire, a man conspicuous for his leadership over that last empire, and that would be the man of sin, the Antichrist, the lawless one, this one who is to come, Revelation 17.10, the one who is to come, and when he does come, he'll remain for just a little while. It says in verse 11, it says, the beast that was and is not, it is an eight, but it belongs to the seven, and then it goes to destruction. And I explained last week that that's most likely a reference to the fact that the seventh ruler over this seventh empire, part of the beast, would be slain. Then he would rise up out of the abyss. Now he's not the 7th anymore, now he's the 8th. But he's part of the 7th. I think that's what's going on here. Again, it's discussion. I'm not trying to ask you to believe what I believe. I'm just sharing with you how I think this is being played out here for us. And then he goes to destruction. I think that's where we got last week. We need to start tonight with number 3 and the 10 horns. verses 12 through 14. Any thoughts, anything I can help clear up if I've been confusing? If you think I'm confusing, you should read all these books. It's just crazy. All right. Gary. Before Babylon? Yeah. Is that also, have you heard of it, that debate like the Roman Empire was speaking of it differently? Yes. That's a very dominant view among the commentators, that it's Rome, and that those five kings are five Roman emperors. In fact, I don't know if you're familiar with Robert Mount. He's very, very strong on that point, that it's Rome. And that those five kings that have fallen are five emperors, and he gives a couple of suggestions as to who they might be. Some go back to Augustus, and then they name off five up to Nero. who is the one that is. I could have that confused. It's not my particular view, so I'm not real well versed on it. But yes, that is true. There are some who say that those five would be Roman emperors. Five are fallen. One is. And again, it would depend on when you think John wrote. It could be Nero. It could be Vespasian. It could be Domitian. And then there's one that's to come. As I recall, at least some commentators thought that Nero had that so-called fable. There were at least legends of him coming back to life again. And again, it becomes tricky because What were you going to ask, Jerry? Yes. Yeah, there's there's varying historical references to how he died. But the idea is that the it's the Nero revivitus, I think is the terminology for that, that he died, killed himself or was was killed and then rose from the and then came back to life again. So they say that that could be this person here. It is not my view, but there are many who do hold to that. But getting back to your point of the Roman Empire and the kings of the Roman Empire, yes, there are people who teach that and that's a very dominant view. I don't know that I can come up with something that would rule it out. It's just that the overall biblical description of the beast, in my mind, outweighs the arguments for that. And here it is. It's the fact that when Daniel has this vision, he sees this vision, and back in Daniel, I get him confused, Daniel 7, I believe, 7 or 9, I get him backwards, and forgive me for that. But he sees coming out of the sea one beast and it's like a lion. Then he sees a second beast and it's like a bear. He sees a third beast, and it's like a leopard. And then he sees a fourth beast that is unlike any other beast that he's ever seen. And then you have, in Revelation, this beast of Revelation 13 coming up out of the sea. And we know that the interpretation of all of that in Daniel, I think it's Daniel 9. Maybe somebody look it up. This is going to be on tape, so help me out here so I'm at least halfway accurate. We know from Daniel's vision that those are successive world empires. Now you have in Revelation 13 this beast, and he looks just like all those other beasts. It has, I think it's a mouth like a lion, a body like a leopard, feet like a bear, and yet it's this monstrosity with seven heads and ten horns that like nothing anyone's ever seen. So it's very similar to Daniel's vision. So that, to me at least, is argumentation that lends itself to this being an entity that has shown its head, as it were, seven times throughout history, or at least six times and will one last time show its head. No pun intended, but that's the idea. I could be wrong. I readily admit that. I could very well be wrong. But I do know that it is a beast. Somehow it represents past kingdoms. And yet sometimes it's represented. Somehow it represents an individual in the end times. Was it seven or nine? Seven. Thank you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I should know that. And I don't. Especially teaching revelation, that should be right on the top of my head. I'm sorry. Is that any help at all? Or does that? Yeah, it does for me, but again, I hold that with humility and I'll eat a hamburger with someone that disagrees. Okay. All right. Any other points where we want to get to tonight's lesson? Very good. Then what we want to do is turn our attention to number three here, the 10 horns versus 12 through 14. Let me just read verse 12. It says, then the ten horns that you saw, they're ten kings, who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. So obviously these ten horns are what? What are they? Verse 12, these ten horns that you saw are? There are ten kings. So, letter A, verse 12, these are ten kings. These are ten kings. What is the difference between these ten kings and the previous seven kings? This is where we can get a little confused. What? Not yet. They will. As John is writing, The beast is represented as a beast with seven heads. Five of them have passed, one is existing now, and one is coming. According to the way I understand that, five kingdoms have passed, one kingdom is existing now, which would be the Roman Empire during John's writing, and one is coming. That would be that final, end-time, world kingdom right before the Lord returns. That's the seventh head. Well, on that seventh head are what? Ten horns. Well, those ten horns are ten kings. Kings have kingdoms. And so it would best be understood that these ten kings make up a what? A sort of a confederacy, alright? They go together. They join forces under the beast. We'll see that in a little bit. Okay, everybody see that? There are ten kings. The previous seven kings are kings who have risen throughout history. with one still to come, of course, the end times. And they're conspicuous in their antagonism against the Lord's people, drunk with the wine and drunk with the blood of the saints. However, these ten kings have not yet received their power. They don't have a kingdom yet. As John's writing, there's ten kings, but they don't have a kingdom yet. Why? Well, they don't exist yet. So they don't have a kingdom yet. They all exist at the same time. It is a short period of time that they will reign. It says for one hour. Very, very short duration of time. And they work alongside the beast in the end time. We'll see that because of verse 13. Verse 13 says, these are of one mind and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. They will surrender all their authority over to the beast. It refers to this, what I shared a minute ago, a confederation of kingdoms all under the leadership of one ruler. You see that? There are kings. This is why there are so many in this day who equate this with what political phenomenon that is happening in our day today. What, Pilardi? The EU. Yeah, the European Union. Because you have, as of today, is it twelve? I think there are twelve of them as of today. Nations. Of course when there were ten, guess what happened? Oh man, books were coming off the presses, because this is the beast, because there are ten of them. Well, now there are twelve, so they've kind of reconfigured some of that. But you're going to have something, I believe, something similar to that. If not, maybe that's it. I don't know. But somehow you will have a, and I hate to use the word amalgamation, it's more of a joining of forces of these varying nations all over the world. And maybe the European Union is a little too small for that. Because this needs to be something a little larger and more global. At any rate, there are ten kings and they are in unity with the beast. They give their power to him. And then letter C, these will war against the Lamb. They have a common goal. Verse 14, the first part of it says, they will make war on the Lamb. That is their purpose. That's why they've gotten together. Question, where is the Lamb that they're going to make war with? Is He in some geographical location on the earth? If they're going to make war with the Lamb, who are they making war with? What was the question to Paul? Why persecutest thou me? He's persecuting God's people. So they're making war on the Lord's people. All these believers, all these Christians, they're making war on them. And so they are making war on the Lamb. This is their common goal as they unite to fight against the Lord's people. Letter D, also in verse 14, these will be conquered by the Lamb. Verse 14 again, they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, because He is Lord of lords, and He is King of kings, and those with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful. Why is it that the Lamb will prevail? Because He's Lord of all these lords. He's King over all these kings. We turned our attention to Psalm 2 repeatedly through this series, because you have in Psalm 2, in a nutshell, kind of the history of Earth's rebellion against God. And, you know, they said, we're not going to have God rule over us, we'll cast these bonds off from us. Why did He even rage the way the whole hymn begins? Verse 4, 5, and 6, you have God's answer. He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision, all these puny kings who will war against Him. Then He will speak to them in His wrath, and He will terrify them in His fury, saying, As for me, I've set my king on Zion, my holy hill. Who is that? Well, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the king, and He's been set up. I will tell the decree the Lord said and here you have verses 7 8 9 that King speaking And he says I will tell the decree the Lord Jehovah is said to me, the king on Mount Zion, who is Christ the Lamb, you are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. That's what's happening in Revelation. All these kingdoms are becoming the kingdoms of the Lord, that is Christ. Verse 9, you shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. You have this expression in verse 7. It says, you are my son, and today I have begotten you. What is that a reference to? Is Christ born? And we talk about so-and-so begat so-and-so, and so-and-so begat so-and-so. He is God's only begotten son. What does that mean, today I have begotten you? Help us out, someone. An idea? Mike? Well, more so, more than the incarnation, the resurrection would be closer to that. We know that from Acts 13. Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas are in Antioch in Pisidia, and they're in a synagogue there, and it says, after reading the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it. And so, Paul never missing an opportunity to do that. In the middle of it, starting with verse... I had it up there already, my apologies. Verse 30, But God raised him, Jesus, from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us, their children, by raising Jesus. As also it is written in the second psalm, you are my son, today I have begotten you. So it's that resurrection, it's the fact that on this day, and so we celebrate, that's why every Lord's Day we do what? What is every Lord's Day? It is a celebration of what? The resurrection. Every Lord's Day, not one Sunday a year. Every Sunday is a recognition that this is the day the Lord has made. This is the day that the stone that was rejected by the builders was made the headstone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing, it's marvelous in our eyes. So this cornerstone, Christ, that was rejected by his own people, was made the headstone of the church on that day, his resurrection. So the Lamb will conquer them as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And then the people of God, at the end of verse 14, are referred to as called, chosen, and faithful. And boy, my time is slipping quickly. But the point is there that all of us, if we are going to be saved at all, it is by what? God's calling. You will not be saved on your own. You will not just wake up some day and say, you know, this all makes sense now, I think I'm just going to get saved. No, it will be because you were called by God, chosen in Him before the foundations of the world, and you will manifest that in a certain way. You will be faithful. Called, chosen, and faithful. Okay, so we have seen letter B, the interpretation of the beast, verses 8-14, and now we want to look at the interpretation of the prostitute herself, verses 15-18. Verses 15-18. Verse 15, her dominance. Number 1, her dominance. It says in verse 15, the angel said to me, the waters that you saw where the prostitute is seated are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. The waters are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. Now whatever you make of this woman, whatever you think of this woman, whatever Babylon is in your mind, You have to include the obvious implication from this interpretation that she is international in some way. She expresses influence and dominance internationally. The expression, peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages, with some minor variation in the original text, is used, well in English as well, is used seven times in the book. This is the last one. In five of those cases, it represents the entire global community, and twice it represents the people of God. If you want the references, I'll give them to you very quickly. The two references where they refer to the people of God are Revelation 5-9, and 7-9. Both of those times they refer to God redeeming people to Himself from every people, all the multitudes, every tribe, nation, language. So this is an international body of people in the Bride of Christ. And then the other five times where it refers to all the people on the globe, Revelation 10-11, 11 verse 9, 13-7, 14.6 and in the one in front of us, Revelation 17 and verse 15. So in some way this woman exerts an international influence and dominance over the peoples of the globe. Number two, we see a description of her enemies. Her enemies, verses 16 and 17. It says, the ten horns that you saw, what are those ten horns? They are ten kings and they give their authority and rulership to the beasts. The ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled. So we see first of all the identity of her enemies. First part of verse 16, the identity of her enemies. The ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. So, these ten kings and the beast will hate the prostitute. Whatever the... I hesitate to get into a lengthy discussion on this, but I think it's easy enough for us to just think in our heads, politically, throughout the past. and see the relationship in governments between the state and the church. There's always been this balance, this going back and forth, kind of a seesaw. Who's going to be in control? Who's going to be overpowering whom? Is it the state that will rule over the religion of the people? Is it the religion that rules over the people? Is there a time in history when we can recognize when there have been nations where the state is the religion? You can see that. So, this beast has been ridden by the prostitute for all these millennia. At the end times, it appears that the woman will be prevailing, she will be dominant over the beast and over the globe, but something will trigger a hatred now of the state against the woman, and they will turn on her. And so the state will all of a sudden find no need for this religion anymore, this woman, whatever it is. And again, I look at Babylon as not just a religious entity, but also an economic, there's an economic factor somehow. And we'll see that in chapter 18. So this religious economic entity will be turned on by the beast, whatever that is. And I don't know what it'll be. One of the commentators, not a book but a sermon I listened to, one commentator, gave an illustration of this point. And he said it would be something similar to Henry VIII and a cardinal that he had exalted by the name of Wolsey. When Henry VIII wanted to have his marriage annulled to Catherine of Aragon, he called on Wolsey to go to the Pope and exert some influence so that he could get this... He wasn't getting any boy children, male children, is what's happening. That didn't pan out. The Pope said, no, it's not going to happen, blah, blah, blah. So Wolsey fell out of favor with Henry VIII. I don't know exactly what happened, but he turned on him. Something similar to that may happen in the end days. For some reason, the Beast, the Ten Kings, may find some use for this religious entity, this woman, this amalgamation of whatever it is. But in the end days, no more. Because we know that the beast is going to set himself up as what? As God. He's the one who's going to, they're going to bow down to him, and not anything else. So, we see her enemies there being the beast, those ten kings, so the state will then turn on her. The actions of her enemies are portrayed for us in verse 16. They will make her desolate, and naked They will devour her flesh and burn her up with fire. Now, the one of these that we see, or at least a couple of these we see coming to fruition more so than the others in chapter 18, is the fact that they will make her desolate, naked, and burn her with fire. The eating her flesh commentators, at least the majority of them, agree that this is a depiction of the ferocious a nest, if that's a word, of these entities against the woman. The picture there of devouring her flesh is like leaving a body out in the wilderness for wild animals to come and eat. And they will rip the flesh from the corpse. And so they will devour her flesh, a picture of how ferocious they will be of devouring her. They will make her desolate. She was covered in purple, scarlet, gold, pearls, just had all this stuff on her and this golden cup. What are they going to do? Strip it all off. She'll have nothing. She'll be left poor, no resources. She'll be left naked, no scarlet, no purple, no pearls, no gold. And then they will burn her up with fire. And we'll see that in chapter 18, where the peoples and the merchants of the earth will look and see the city burning. The divine sovereignty over her enemies is verse 17. It says, verse 17, For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal authority to the beast. God is going to put it into the minds and hearts of these people to do this. And God can do this with a king, can't he? We are so fretful, we wring our hands, who's going to be in the White House? Who's going to be in... Who controls all of that? God controls all of that. God sets up kings and he takes them down. And he can set up a king that is quite opposite to your approving heart. And then he can turn that king. I have Proverbs 21.1. I don't have it on the screen, but probably all of you went to that verse already in your minds. Proverbs 21.1, the king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord. He turns it wherever he wills. Just like a farmer with a trench going through his farm can dig a ditch and move that water through his crops, God can do that with the heart of king and move that king wherever he wants to move him. And in this instance, It is God's will to take all those kings and that beast and to make them of one mind and hand over the royal power to the beast and they will turn against that woman. And God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose of being of one mind. And so you've got this religious entity being turned on by them. I have this just by way of, really more so by way of application. You know, this is Daniel 4. It's the vision, remember, not the vision, but the dream, and then the reality of that dream, Nebuchadnezzar. becoming an animal for seven years, then God gave him the heart of a man again, and then Nebuchadnezzar, I believe, converted, makes these great exclamations about God, and says in verse 35 of Daniel 4, "...and all the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing." And He does, this is Jehovah, the God of heaven, He does according to His will among the hosts of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can say His hand or say to Him, what have you done? You've heard it said many times that a molecule does not move apart from the sovereign hand of God. Her identity, finally, verse 18. This is where we've been headed, isn't it? Her identity. It says in verse 18, and the woman that you saw is, here it is, the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth. Here it is, folks, the woman is a city. Now, does that mean it's a city? Alright? Or, I mean, it's not just a woman, is it? It's not a literal woman, not a literal prostitute, is it a literal city? I don't know. I don't think so. But, there are a good number of commentators who suggest that this woman, this economic religious system, will have a locality that is geographically pinpointed, like a city. Example, if I say to you, if I say, you just think of a religious entity, I'm going to name a city, Rome. You know that, Roman Catholicism, you think of Rome. If I say Salt Lake City, Utah. Mormons, alright? Washington, D.C. Alright, you see the point? You see the point I'm making? They conjure to the mind a certain religion. I'm suggesting that the woman, in the last days, this Babylon, this religious economic system, will in all likelihood have a capital, a locus, a spot on the map that can be geographically identified. Now, of course, her influence is what? It's global, but there's a city. Maybe. Don't know. But that's what it says. It says the woman that you saw is the great city. That's Babylon, and maybe it's just being used symbolically of Babylon and has this great influence and it's not really a big city. But it could be. So, at any rate, this woman, identified here, and we've gone through all these different things about her. Let me just kind of brush up on some of these things we've said about her. We've already said that she is ancient. How do we know that? Well, she's not only a harlot, she's the mother of harlots. And she rides the beast who has existed for millennia. So she is an ancient thing. And I would suggest that it goes all the way back to Babylon, the Tower of Babel, when the peoples of the world gathered together And they said, this will be our rallying point against heaven, and we'll build this tower to heaven. And what did God do? You will not. You will separate. That's false religion. That's where it started. So that's what that is. She has a dominance that is global. We saw that. She is connected to this beast, but she's distinguished from it. So she's not the same thing. There is a religious component because she is referred to as a harlot, prostitute, and repeatedly through scripture, idolatry is associated in those terms. She is conspicuous, she is notorious in her hatred of God's people. She is drunk with their blood. She is identified with a city. That's what it says in verse 18. So however you interpret that, she is somehow identifiable with a city. And she will, for at least a while, she will reign over the beast, at least in the end days, she'll reign. And so I think adding all those things together, again, going back to Beale's quote, I think that this woman, Babylon, the great prostitute, is that she represents the world's idolatrous economic religious system, where people worship anything besides God, thinking they will gain from it, that there is value in that. I say all that because I'm going to close with a couple of verses from the Old Testament. where you have cities that are identified with this idolatrous behavior that's symbolized in prostitution, harlotry. I'll give you just two as an example. One of them is in Isaiah 23. This is the city of Tyre. It says, in that day, Tyre will be forgotten for 70 years. This is the Babylonian captivity, people go into captivity. Tyre, of course, was not really part of Israel, but they will be in existence for these 70 years. Like the days of one king. At the end of 70 years, what will happen to Tyre, as in the Song of the Prostitute, take a harp, go about the city, oh forgotten prostitute. Make sweet melody, sing many songs that you may be remembered. At the end of 70 years, the Lord will visit Tyre and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. So there you have a city, identifiable in its idolatry, with economics involved, with religion, with the kings of the earth. It's just symbolic. I mean, this is literal here, of Tyre, but it's symbolic terminology. One more, in Nahum, chapter 3, verses 1 through 4. This is Nineveh. Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder. No end to the prey. the crack of the whip and rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot, horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end, they stumble over the bodies. and all the countless whorings of the prostitute, graceful and of deadly charms, who betrays nations with her whorings and peoples with her charms." Again, it's a picture of a city. In the same terminology as Babylon in Revelation 17, the same kind of language is used of Tyre, a city, the same kind of language is used of Nineveh in Nahum, a city, I think we're going to see something similar to that in the last days. Babylon being described here, possibly just as a locus, a city, an entity. Any thoughts? I've already gone over my time. Say again? I am of a mind. that Babylon, the false religious system of the day, will have an association with a city where it will have its dominance, just like the Roman Catholic Church has its center in Rome, the Vatican City, just as the Mormon Church has its center in Salt Lake City, Utah. I think that the city that's described here in Revelation 17 and then in 18 will be a locality where that false religion of the last day will have its capital. That's what I think is happening. Now that's a good question. Some commentators think it's Rome now. It's already Rome. There are some who think it's actually going to be a rebuilt Babylon. There are some who think it's Jerusalem itself. I don't know. I don't know. I don't think so. Now the commentators who are pretty strong on saying that it's Rome or that it's Babylon or that it's Jerusalem, they could give you some scriptures, but they're not compelling to me enough to say it's one or the other. So it could be an existence and it could be something that's going to be built. I don't know. I apologize I've gone way over, maybe I'll let you out early next week or something, we'll make up for it. I know you're almost saying it, you've said that before. Heavenly Father, we do thank you for this time together. Again, we do come before you humbly recognizing. We don't have all the answers and what we believe we have could possibly be an error. But it is our intent to look and to be prepared for those end time events and to follow the Lamb of God even to our death. and in that way being victorious in conquering the beast. Bless now, please, in our time of prayer. We commit it to your hands in Jesus' name. Amen.