The Destruction of the World's Idolatry System

We are in the 17th Chapter of Revelation this week and next week. Chapter 17 deals with the final destruction of the world’s system of idolatry. It is the destruction of the world’s false religion. This is critical to understanding the entire purpose of the book of Revelation.

Man will worship anything. We were created by God to be worshippers - worshippers of the One true God. The coming of sin perverted that nature to worship anything we can and we’ve created elaborate systems of worship in our lives and culture. The last days will be a time of the worship of the Antichrist, directed by the beast. Already we see how the world is setting up to a one-world religious system.

Romans 1:21–25 LSB

21 For even though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

False religion is extremely popular. We will do anything we can to accommodate it in our society, culture, government, healthcare, entertainment, even our home decorations, and sadly in our churches. Not only will be accommodate it, we will protect it and sanctify it. Everything and anything is now tolerated except Biblical Christianity.

2 Corinthians 11:13–14 LSB

13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

Every false religion and false doctrine is a construct of Satan himself. But what is really interesting is they’re really all basically the same. Paul calls them doctrine of demons and seducing spirits. All over the world, you have a rejection of the one true God and they have replaced Him with a myriad of false gods. What is going to happen - and is happening now - is that these will all culminate together and morph into a one-world religious system.

The current Catholic Pope, Francis III, has been vocal - especially since COVID - about establishing a new world order. He has repeatedly called for the establishment of a one-world religion. Satan’s goal is to enthrone himself to be worshipped by the entire world. Since the fall he has launched a campaign to get people lured into false systems of worship. This campaign comes to an end in Chapter 17.

Revelation 17 LSB

1 Then one of the seven angels who have the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.” 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; then I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her sexual immorality, 5 and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” 6 Then I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly. 7 And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. 9 “Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, 10 and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. 11 “And the beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. 12 “And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. 13 “These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. 14 “These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and elect and faithful.” 15 And he said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and crowds and nations and tongues. 16 “And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will lay waste to her and make her naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. 17 “For God gave it in their hearts to do His purpose both by doing their own common purpose and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be finished. 18 “And the woman whom you saw is the great city, which has a kingdom over the kings of the earth.”

This is an incredible vision that, with a little bit of biblical understanding, describes the world’s false religious deceptions and exactly what will happen at the end. Chapter 17 shows the nature of it’s spiritual power that is covering the earth right now. When you begin to understand the spiritual nature of much of what is happening in the world, especially right now, you will be more discerning and awakened to the battle that is ongoing. So Chapter 17 shows the spiritual nature of the of this religious system and chapter 18 describes God’s judgement on the material aspect upon that religious system, along with the Antichrist and the false prophet.

The World Economic Forum is continually partnering with religious leaders to solidify and codify their globalist messaging and agendas. In Davos, Warren told the WEF that the church is a perfect distributor of messaging to congregations and people around the world. “We [the Church] have hundreds of millions of people who volunteer around the world in villages and cities on a weekly basis. And we don’t have to pay them. The third thing that they have is that they have local credibility. At the local level people trust that priest or that pastor or for that matter any imam or a rabbi; the religious leader of their faith because he’s marrying, he is burying, he is helping them through the stages of life. When the crisis comes, NGOs come and go, nations come and go; but, for instance, the church has a 2000-year track record.”

Now let’s get into the meaning of Chapter 17. In this chapter we will see the Exposer of the System, the Explanation of the System, and the Extermination of the System (John MacArthur). Understand that Chapter 17 comes at the end of the pouring out of the 7th and final judgment bowl we studied in Chapter 16, but Chapter 17 is a break in the Chronology of the events of the Great Tribulation. Chapters 17 & 18 are take us backwards and take a deeper look at the empire associated with the world’s false religious system - and it is a religious system that can be found in the world that is right in front of us and most of us are desensitized to it’s very presence and influence in our lives. The Bible calls it ‘Mystery Babylon, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth’ (Revelation 17:5).

The term Mystery here should be associated with the name. Some Bible, like the LSB use the world mystery as a descriptor. I believe it is better associated with the title, “Mystery Babylon...” The reason this is important is because we don’t want to confuse this with a geographical location, but rather, we are to understand this as a demonic religious system with Satan as the high priest.

In the Bible, a mystery is something that cannot be fully understood without divine revelation. I believe as we move closer and closer to the rapture of the church that mystery will become more unveiled to the eyes of the saints. That is why the Bible repeatedly exhorts the saints to be discerning and not be deceived.

1 John 4:1 LSB

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

1 Corinthians 2:14 LSB

14 But a natural man does not accept the depths of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually examined.

Luke 21:8 LSB

8 And He said, “See to it that you are not deceived; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is at hand.’ Do not go after them.

It is possible the word Babylon could be a code for a place like, Rome, New York, but the better translation is that Babylon is referring to a system. So Mystery Babylon is not a geographical location, but a system that is in place now and has been in place for a long time for the purpose of luring the world away from the worship of YAHWEH and toward Satan through appealing to the flesh. However, we can learn more about this system by understanding the character and nature of location of the Babylon in the Bible.

At the time that John wrote the Book of Revelation, there was a city called Babylon located in modern day Iraq about 60 miles southwest of Bagdad. Saddam Hussein started to rebuild the city prior to the Gulf War. The origin of Babylon can be found in Genesis Chapter 11 right after the great flood when Noah and his family began to repopulate the world. At that time, Genesis 11:1 tells us that the everyone spoke the same language and so they decided to build a tower - the Tower of Babel - to become gods of their own.

Babylon is mentioned more in the Bible than any other city, 286 times, other than Jerusalem. It means “The gate of the gods.” Nimrod was the first leader of Babylon and he is a foreshadow of the antichrist. Ancient lore tells us that the wife of Nimrod, Semiramis was the first high priestess of idolatry. All of this was human rebellion against God, but it was demonically driven. Isn’t it amazing to think that God had drowned the entire world and they still didn’t get the message.

So Babylon in the Bible is considered the origin of everything dealing with harlotry, prostitution, and especially idolatry. Look back at Revelation Chapter 17 verse 5: “Mystery Babylon, the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth.” The final form of false religion in the world before it is destroyed by Christ Jesus will be the Mother of All Idolatry; a world dominated religious culture led by Satan the deceiver. When we begin to examine the description of this world system in Chapters 17 & 18, it is apparent that this system is established, running, and successfully leading the masses astray, including many in the church. It’s coming - a one-world religion. In fact it is on the world’s threshold.

The Authority of the Harlot

Revelation 17:1–2 LSB

One commentator says, “All the harlot city societies mentioned in Scriptures have certain common characteristics that are also reflected in John’s description of the great Babylon in which he merges the descriptions of ancient Babylonian and Jerusalem into one composite.” What are those characteristics? Royal dignity and splendor combined with prosperity, overabundance, and luxury; self-trust, boastfulness, power and violence, especially against God’s people; oppression and injustice; and most of all, idolatry. Wherever and whenever these characteristics have been manifested historically, there is the appearance of a Babylonian. But here is the worst harlot, the great harlot, as noted in verse 1. So, the harlot is now to be exposed.

This prominence this religious system will be so great that it will be authoritative in the world. Notice the little phrase “the great harlot who sits on many waters.” “Who sits” – sitting is the mark of distinction as a king that sits on his throne. “On many waters” meaning it is a international ruling force over many nations.

Jeremiah 51:13 LSB

13 O you who dwell by abundant waters, Abundant in treasures, Your end has come, The measure of your end.

This world religion will have a commanding position over all the peoples of the world. The antichrist system is not compatible with American freedoms, specifically the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion. More specifically, the kings of the earth will be intimately associated with it. Today specifically, we see world leaders collaborating with the WEF to bring about their agenda.

Video: Biden says the US Must lead a new world order. https://youtu.be/ogpbaU0-bN4

That’s what it means when it says the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality as well as those who dwell on the earth (Revelation 17:2). John sees these kings from all over the world as comitting fornication with the harlotThey are submitting their authority under the authority of globalists. It is clear that leaders of the world today are collaborating in common agendas to put a global system in place.

But verse 2 tells us that the alliance won’t just be leaders of nations but also those who dwell on the earth. Revelation 13:8 “And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.” This world religious system will deceive and consume nearly every person.

Revelation 17:3–4 LSB

3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; then I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her sexual immorality,

In other words, this religious system is something that really captures the world. Some have tried to say that it is the Roman Catholic Church because of the reference to the city on seven hills (Verse 9). While there is some significance here, I think it falls short of a complete interpretation. It is possible that the Roman Catholic Church will be closely involved, as we’ve seen from statements from the Pope. I believer this system is more far reaching than that. We are seeing this emerge in every nuance of society, especially entertainment. Revelation 17:16 “16 “And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will lay waste to her and make her naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire.” What is going to happen is the beast is going to demand full and complete worship of the antichrist and only the antichrist and it is going to devour or absorb all of this into one system aimed at directing all worship to him.

The beast further is described in verse 3 as: a scarlet beast, the color of luxury, and of royalty. Isaiah would tell you the color of sin, and some would say the color of blood. It also says he was full of blasphemous names. Why? Because the world is now identifying him as God.

Revelation 13:1 LSB

1 And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names.

Daniel 7:25 LSB

25 ‘He will speak words against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make changes in seasons and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.

Daniel 11:36 LSB

36 “Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak astonishing things against the God of gods; and he will succeed until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done.

That is his blasphemy: self-deification.

Verse 3 further describes this scarlet beast as having seven heads. Go down to verse 9, “The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings; five are fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while.” So, it refers to past and present governments at that time. Understand this that the Mystery of Babylon is not isolated as a religious construct, but it is interwoven with the world’s financial and political systems.

John sees her as holding in her hand a gold cup. Dr. Barnhouse said, “It is also highly significant that the abominations and filthiness should be spoken of as coming from a golden cup. ‘Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand that made all the earth drunken. The nations have drunken of her wine. Therefore, the nations are mad,’

A French scholar, Salverte, writing on the occult sciences tells of the drinking in connection with these demon ceremonies. He said, ‘To drink of mysterious beverages was indispensible on the part of all who sought initiation in these mysteries. These mysterious beverages were composed of wine, honey, water, and flour, with various other ingredients used locally. From the nature of the ingredients avowedly used, and from the nature of others not avowed but certainly used, there can be no doubt that they were of an intoxicating nature. Until the aspirants had come under their power, till their understandings had been dimmed and their passions excited by the medicated draft, they were not duly prepared for what they were either to hear or see.”

The harlot makes them drunk on her wealth and wine so they are addicted to her immorality and abominations. You ask how these leaders can act so flagrantly immoral without any regard for decency, the law, or morality - it’s right here. When someone is drunk they have little inhibition, they don’t care, they are reckless in behavior or their ability to reason. That’s what this harlot has done with the world leaders.

All of this is an abomination to God and in fact in Revelation 18:5 “5 for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.” The cup she holds is filled with the residue of her porneia. But don’t miss verse 6:

Revelation 17:6 LSB

6 Then I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly.

While the leaders of the world become drunk with lust for her wealth and abominations, she too becomes drunk with the blood of God’s people. There are more people being killed now for their faith in Jesus Christ than in all the other centuries combined. As we will see in a few weeks, one of the ways she will kill is through medicine - pharmakia

Revelation 17:7 LSB

7 And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.

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