Revelation 17:1-3
The Devil’s Religion
We are into the last half of the tribulation. Chapter 16 gave us a
description of the last seven judgments God will pour out on the
earth. My belief is that while they are all given at one time in a
very rapid sequence, but they probably occur throughout the last 3
1/2 years.
Chapter 17 picks up showing us some other things that will be
happening during the last 3 1/2 years.
Rev 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels
which had the seven vials, and talked with me,
saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto
thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth
upon many waters:
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.
Two thoughts:
1. \\#1\\ We are seeing the judgment of the Great Whore.
a. This is not the origin, the life, or the sins of the Great
Whore, but its judgment or end at the hand of God.
b. Since this is the end of the Great Whore, it is probably
occurring toward the end of the tribulation too.
2. There are actually two identities here, the Great Whore and
the Beast.
a. \\#3\\ The Great Whore is the main topic here, but she is
being carried on the back of the Beast.
b. That means she rides on the strength of the Beast.
c. We will learn much about the Great Whore as we learn about
the Beast.
I. \\#1-3\\ The Beast
A. We have met the Beast before.
1. \\#Rev 11:7\\ It came up out of the bottomless pit.
a. That fact is repeated in \\#Rev 17:8\\, making it a
very important fact.
b. The bottomless pit is the prison for demons who appear
to be too fierce and evil to be loosed upon the world.
c. The Beast will actually be a person, but he will be
possessed by either the devil himself or one of his
highest, most powerful, and most wicked demons.
2. \\#Rev 13:2\\ The Beast receives his power or authority
from the Dragon \\#Rev 12:3\\, otherwise known as the Devil
\\#Rev 12:9\\.
3. \\#Rev 13:4\\ The Beast is worshipped by the world and is
portrayed as being too powerful to be attacked.
B. \\#17:3\\ The first mention of the Beast in this chapter is
verse 3.
1. The Beast is described by its color, scarlet or red.
a. Scarlet is a dark red color and speaks of blood.
b. Depending on who the verse is speaking about, it can
have two meanings.
(1) If it is speaking of the saved, it speaks of the
blood of Christ and redemption.
(2) If it is speaking of the unsaved, it speaks of
death.
c. The Beast does not have anything to do with salvation,
Christ, or redemption but of death.
d. So the scarlet-colored Beast is speaking of blood and
death. He will slay many.
2. "full of names of blasphemy" - That means the Beast will
be a blasphemous, anti-God, and anti-godly being.
3. It has "seven heads and ten horns" - We have seen this
description of the Beast before \\#Rev 13:1\\.
a. It is also the description given of the great Red
Dragon \\#Rev 12:3\\, known to be the Devil
\\#Rev 12:9\\.
b. So this Beast comes out of the Bottomless Pit, looks
like the Devil, talks (blasphemes) like the Devil,
and kills like the Devil.
c. Who is he? He is the anti-Christ.
II. \\#1-13\\ The Great Whore
A. The Great Whore comes riding on the back of the Beast, the
anti-Christ.
1. That’s not a good sign. That immediately associates the
Great Whore with the Devil and His crowd.
2. Of course the term "Great Whore" does not bode well for
her either.
a. A whore is a prostitute, one who sells herself for
money.
b. So whoever or whatever the Great Whore is, she belongs
to the highest bidder.
c. She has no morals and her loyalties run only as deep
as whatever is convenient for her.
B. Who or what is the Great Whore?
1. \\#5\\ tells us her WHO she is, is a mystery.
Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name
written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE
MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
a. Since God wrote that write into the text, we would
have a hard time stating with any kind of certainty
WHO it is.
b. And WHOever we think—including WHO I think—is probably
not correct!
2. However the same verse begins to tell us WHAT she is.
a. She is called "Babylon the Great." (I told you last
week that word would pop up a lot in these chapters.)
(1) My belief is that Babylon is the code word for
either parts of the anti-Christ’s system or the
of anti-Christ’s system.
(2) Last week, I pointed out that the anti-Christ’s
kingdom has three main arms:
(a) The religious arm, \\#Rev 13:4\\. Remember
that the whole world worships the anti-
Christ.
(b) The political arm, \\#Rev 13:7\\. Power was
given to him over all kindreds, and
tongues, and nations.
(c) The economical arm, \\#Rev 13:17\\. He and
his cohorts will determine who gets to buy
and sell around the world.
b. There are two things we need to remember from the Old
Testament as well.
(1) Babylon or (Babel) is the place where false
religion was born \\#Ge 11:9\\.
(2) In the Old Testament, fornication and whoredoms
is often associated with false worship (i.e.
IDOLATRY is often pictured as ADULTERY).
c. I don’t think the image of the harlot being associated
with Babylon in this text is a coincidence.
(1) I think it is God’s way of telling us WHAT the
Great Whore is.
(2) This is the only time in the Book of Revelation
that Babylon is called a whore.
(3) Since both the term and the name used have
religious overtones, I believe God is telling
us this is religious Babylon, the religious arm
of the anti-Christ’s kingdom.
d. This is the Devil’s religion, the religion he creates
to have the world worship him and his anti-Christ
during the Great Tribulation.
C. What can we know about religious Babylon?
1. \\#1\\ She will be a whore so she will be bought and paid
for.
a. I don’t know if it is because I am a preacher or if I
would feel the same way if I were a lay person, but
few things bother me worse that religion for sale.
b. Some things just shouldn’t be for sale.
(1) Love, loyalty, faithfulness, honor, trust—just to
name a few.
(2) But head and shoulders above all things is the
Word of God.
(a) When you sell the Bible you are selling God
out. That’s His Book not ours.
(b) When you sell the Bible you are selling
souls out. Men can’t get to heaven on
their own. They have to have the Word of
God.
2. \\#3\\ She will be riding on the back of the anti-Christ.
a. This religion will be powered by the Devil.
b. Every false religion rides on the back of the Devil,
but this one will purposely hunt down, persecute, and
kill thinking it is doing god a service.
3. This religion will be very, very popular.
a. \\#2\\ She has committed fornication with the kings of
the earth means that kings have had dealing with her.
b. \\#1, 15\\ She sits upon the waters meaning that she
is spread across the nations of people. She either is
or will be a world-wide religion.
Rev 17:1 (She)…sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which
thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are
peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and
tongues.
4. \\#4\\ This religion will be very powerful and very rich.
Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and
scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious
stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her
hand full of abominations and filthiness of her
fornication:
a. She will be arrayed in purple and scarlet.
(1) Purple is the color of royalty indicating power.
(2) Scarlet is the color of blood and death which
also indicates power.
b. She will be decked with gold, precious stones, and
pearls. That speaks of great wealth.
5. \\#6\\ This religion will slay the people who worship
Jesus.
Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the
blood of the saints, and with the blood of the
martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered
with great admiration.
6. \\#5\\ She will be called "the MOTHER of harlots and
abominations of the earth."
a. "the MOTHER of," meaning the beginning.
b. Again, God told us her identity is a mystery so God
has probably made it so we can’t figure out what
religion this is or will be; but the fact that God
called her the MOTHER of such false and abominable
things MIGHT indicate that this is not a NEW
religion but an OLD one or at least its roots are
in an old religion of some form.
c. Keep that in mind for a moment.
7. \\#18\\ This woman is a city that has reigned over kings
of the earth.
Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is
that great city, which reigneth over the kings
of the earth.
a. This part of the description also implies this
religion is not completely new but old. She has
been around long enough to rule over KINGS.
b. It also speaks of its power. It is connected to and
has told kings what to do.
c. And it has its own city, called here "the great
city."
(1) There is little doubt in my mind that this is
the same great city spoken of in
\\#Rev 16:19\\, the one that God broke into
three parts with the earthquake of the Seventh
Vial judgment.
(2) That city is her city.
D. What religion could that be?
1. For various reasons, many think it is the Roman Catholic
Church.
a. I think that is a good thought. It certainly could
be.
b. If you do not know, I will plainly tell you that the
Roman Catholic Church is a false religion. Not only
so, but it fits the description given here very well.
(1) It has ruled over kings.
(2) It is wealthy and powerful.
(3) It is world-wide.
(4) It has slain the worshippers of Jesus—go back
and read the history of this most bloody
religion.
(5) It has its own city.
(6) There is even a reference to the Great Whore
sitting on seven mountains \\#Rev 17:9\\ that we
might talk about another time.
2. I will also say that it could be Islam.
a. Just like Catholicism, it is a false religion with
power and bloody hands that has been around for over
1,000 years.
b. It has ruled over kings, and it has wealth a plenty.
3. However, I don’t think it will be either of these at least
not as they are today. Why?
a. Because God called the woman a mystery. If we can
figure it out, it wasn’t too big of a mystery.
b. Second, in my small mind, today, I don’t see how
any one of these religions could be accepted by the
whole world.
(1) Islam is running ahead of the pack right now but
only by force and fear.
(2) Catholicism is a distant second, but they would
also have to use force.
(3) The notion I get from the Bible is that the world
will want to worship the anti-Christ in this
religion.
(4) In my mind, I see a new, hybrid religion coming,
a one-world, all inclusive, combining of all
religions who are looking for a coming Savior—
which is most religions.
(a) I suspect this hybrid will have enough Islam
in it to lure some of the most radical
Muslim.
(b) It will have enough Catholicism in it to
lure the most radical Catholic into it.
(c) And I suppose it will have enough music,
dancing, drinking, and foolishness to lure
in the modern-day "feel-good,"
doctrineless, stand-for-nothing
Christians into it
4. It is the Devil’s religion, whatever he wants to shape it
into.
a. The world will enjoy it and worship the Devil’s
stepchild, the anti-Christ.
b. But God will not be pleased with it.
III. \\#14-18\\ The Judgment
A. \\#14\\ The Beast and the Great Whore will make war with the
Lamb.
Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb,
and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord
of lords, and King of kings: and they that are
with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
1. The Devil and his religion will kill many.
2. God gives that to the devil and the anti-Christ—for a
season—but in the end, the Lamb will overcome.
B. \\16\\ The ten horns (rulers) will hate the whore and will
turn against her, destroying her.
Rev 17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest
upon the beast, these shall hate the whore,
and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall
eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
1. \\#12\\ We are told that the ten horns are ten kings that
work with the anti-Christ.
2. There will be strife between the political arm of the
anti-Christ and the religious arm.
3. Remember, the whole duration of the anti-Christ
dictatorship is just 3 1/2 years, from the middle of the
Tribulation to the end.
4. But it appears there will be strife and infighting during
it and eventually, the political arm of the anti-Christ’s
kingdom will destroy the religious arm.
5. No sooner does the anti-Christ put his kingdom together
than the Lord starts to take it apart!
a. \\#Rev 13:8\\ One of the angels proclaimed that
Babylon was fallen, was fallen!
b. His entire kingdom will be a confederation of opposing
powers.
c. If you back the devil, you damn your soul and back a
loser!
More could be said, but time limits us.
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