02.51. LECTURE No. 51 -- Rev_17:8-14
LECTURE No. 51 -- Revelation 17:8-14 The Great Theme of the Book of Revelation Is "The Second Coming of Christ" - A Knowledge of This Book Is a Help to Understanding of World Events - Mystery Babylon Symbolizes the Whole Body of Organized Alienation from God - All False Religion to Be Destroyed According to Our Lesson Text - The Last Form of Gentile World Power Given in This Chapter - The Coming Antichrist to Be Counted Twice As a World Emperor - This Will Be Brought About Through the Death and Resurrection of the Antichrist - This Miracle Which Will Be Wrought by Satan to Imitate the Death and Resurrection of the True Christ Will Cause the People to Accept and Worship the Antichrist - Men Must Worship he Image of the Beast or Be Killed - The Seven Heads and the Seven Mountains Represent Seven Successive World Emperors and the Kingdoms Over Which They Rule - How Antichrist Will Be Both the Seventh and the Eighth World Emperor - The Last Ten Kings of the Gentile Period Will Give Their Power to the Antichrist
THE only way that anyone can understand the rapid developments which are taking place these days is for them to study the Word of God, and especially the Book of Revelation, which is declared to be, in Revelation 1:3, “a book of prophecy.”
The great theme of the Book of Revelation is, after all, the second coming of Christ, for the Book reveals the marvelous events and the judgments of God associated with our Lord’s second coming.
Every devout Christian, therefore, would do well to study the contents of this wonderful Book, wherein is revealed much truth, which is not to be found elsewhere in the Word of God.
We have progressed in our study to Revelation 17:8, where our present lesson will begin.
Review In our last lesson which was based upon Revelation 17:1-7 inclusive, we spoke concerning “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth.”
In our study, we discovered from the scriptures the origin and meaning of the word “Babylon” in its literal, political, religious, and commercial sense.
We learned that the expression, “Mystery, Babylon the Great,” refers not to any particular sect or system of evil, but that it symbolizes the whole body of organized alienation from God, which includes all false cults and systems of idolatry throughout the world, whether they be joined to one system of apostasy or another.
It is natural; therefore, that such a world-wide system of evil and falsehood should be symbolized by an unchaste woman, as described in the first seven verses of this chapter.
From our study, we learned also that in the end-time, of the present dispensation, after the true church has been raptured away to be with Christ, the various branches of organized false religions will organize in such a way as to bring ecclesiastical pressure to bear upon the civil government of the earth, which will then be under the control of the coming Antichrist. Hence, the woman is represented as riding for a time upon the beast, thus controlling its movements.
In other words, after the true church has been raptured away, for a short time the false religions of the earth will combine, and for a time will dominate and control the politic situation! This condition will not last very long, however, as we shall see.
Lesson Text
We are now ready to advance in our study by reading what is written Revelation 17:8-11, where it says,
“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.
“And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 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. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
“And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 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.
“And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 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. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.” The Last Form of Gentile Power What we have here in these rather unusual words is a prophetic word-picture of the last form of Gentile world power.
By this time we are very familiar with the fact that the beast spoken of here and also in the thirteenth chapter of the Revelation is none other than the coming Antichrist. The beast, therefore, is none other than a person. The difficulty of interpreting our present passage is that the beast or Antichrist is spoken of in the past, present and future tenses.
In Revelation 17:8 it says, “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.” A Prophecy of Things to Come
If we will study this passage in its proper setting, we will discover that it was a prophecy of things to come, which would take place during the closing days of the tribulation period. Please remember that we have already studied the judgments which are to come upon the earth under the symbolism of the seven seals and the seven trumpets and the seven vials of the wrath of God.
It is perfectly reasonable, therefore, that the seven dooms which we are now studying have to do with things yet future which will come to pass near the end of the tribulation period. Therefore, as a matter of prophecy, when it speaks of the Antichrist in the past, present, and future tenses, these three tenses must be looked upon as being yet future, and that all three of them, as a matter of prophecy, apply to the Antichrist during the time of his earthly career. In other words, in the vision which John saw, he was projected out into the future, and he was given to understand that the Antichrist would be born and that he would die and come back to life again.
What we have, therefore, in this passage is nothing more nor less than a prophetic word-picture of the life, death and resurrection of the coming Antichrist.
Such an event as this could only be spoken of, prophetically, in all three tenses. If it had not been revealed to us in this way, we never could have understood it.
Satan an Imitator
We do not need to wonder that Satan will bring about such a miracle as this, because, as we know, he is an imitator of the true Christ. I doubt if there is anything which Christ did while He was upon earth, that Satan has not already sought to imitate, but it yet remains for him as the father and source of all evil to raise up a man: namely, the Antichrist, and cause him to live and die and be raised again from the dead to imitate the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
We do not need to wonder that the Antichrist will live and die and go into the bottomless pit, and then ascend out of the bottomless pit and later go into perdition.
That the coming Antichrist will be killed and rise again from the dead is indicated in Revelation 13:3-4, where John said,
“And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?”
People Will Worship the Beast
These words clearly reveal that when the Antichrist is wounded to death, his deadly wound will be healed, which indicates that he will be resurrected, and that because of this miracle the people of the world will wonder after him and literally worship him.
Satan knows that men today, who accept Jesus Christ as God’s Son, worship Him as Lord, because of the miracle of His resurrection from the dead and His ascension into heaven.
Therefore, in order to secure for the Antichrist the worship of the people, he will allow the Antichrist to be killed and by his Satanic power, he will bring him back to life again,-after his soul has descended into the bottomless pit.
Therefore, after his resurrection, the Antichrist will be worshipped as God by those who are utterly godless.
Men Must Worship the Image or Be Killed A confirmation of these things is also given in Revelation 13:13-15, where it says, speaking of the false prophet,
“And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”
Thus, my friends, we see that through the work of the false prophet, an image will be set up to facilitate the worship of the resurrected Antichrist, and the penalty for refusing to worship him will be death.
We feel, therefore, that the position which we have taken concerning the death, burial, and resurrection and worship of the coming Antichrist is well supported by the scriptures. The Seven Heads and the Seven Mountains
After giving us this picture of the Antichrist, in whom all political authority of the world will be headed up during the tribulation period, in verse nine of our lesson text it says,
“And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth.”
These words, my friends, should not be difficult of interpretation, if we will study them in their proper setting. It says here, “The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.”
We have already discovered who the woman is; namely, that she represent all false religion in all ages of the world’s history.
We know also that in the scriptures, the word mountain or mountains is used symbolically to describe kingdoms.
This is confirmed in Daniel 2:34-35, where it says, speaking of the image which Nebuchadnezzar saw, in his dream,
“Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that, smote the image became a great mountain, or kingdom, and filled the whole earth.”
Again in Jeremiah 51:25, it says,
“Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.”
These words were a prophecy against the kingdom of Babylon.
They Represent Seven Successive Kingdoms
We must realize, therefore, that the seven mountains referred to here, in no wise refer to the seven hills on which the city of Rome is situated, as some people think, but they have a far deeper and wider significance than that. Prophetically speaking, they refer to the seven successive world-wide kingdoms, which are spoken of in history; namely; Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece. The sixth world empire, as we know, was Rome.
The seventh kingdom, we know also will be the forthcoming kingdom of the Antichrist, which is yet to come.
These seven world empires taken together in successive order will fill up the whole span of human history from the beginning of history to the close of the tribulation period. We are told that it is upon these seven mountains or successive world empires that the woman sitteth.
In other words, this verse reveals that all of these seven world empires have been influenced by the unchaste woman, who, as we have pointed out, represents all false religion. Is it not a striking fact that each and every one of these empires have been lovers and supporters and defenders of organized systems of idolatry?
So, the Word of God is clear, “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, (or seven kingdoms) on which the woman sitteth.”
In other words, all of these kingdoms have been or will be affected in their day by the plague and alluring deceptions of false religion. When all this is summed up, what a spiritual tragedy it represents.
One King Is to Be Counted Twice In Revelation 17:10-11, it says,
“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. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.”
It is natural that each of the seven successive world empires would be ruled over by a king. At the time John wrote these words, five of the kings had fallen, that is, had come and gone in their successive order; namely, the kings of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece. One king, the ruler of the Roman Empire, existed when John wrote these words, and John said, “the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.”
This seventh ruler of the seventh and last world empire will be none other than the coming Antichrist.
This is confirmed in Revelation 17:11, where John said, “And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.”
There is only one way to understand such language as this, and that is that the coming beast or Antichrist will, at the beginning of his career, be the Emperor of the last great world Empire. During his career, he will be wounded to death, and as we have already suggested he will be resurrected by the power of Satan and become the eighth emperor, in the order and succession of kings, referred to in this passage. In other words, because of his death and resurrection, he will be counted twice as king of the last world empire, which would make it possible for him to be of the seven and yet be counted also as the eighth emperor of world dominion.
We have no doubt but what the person referred to here is the Antichrist, for in the end of his career as the eighth emperor of world dominion, when his career is over, he will go into perdition.
That this will be the doom of the Antichrist, is confirmed in Revelation 19:20, where it says:
“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”
Thus will he go into perdition.
What is stated in Revelation 17:12 of our lesson text concerning the ten horns, representing the ten kings, refers back to the third verse of this chapter, where it says,
“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.”
We have already identified this beast, which had seven heads and ten horns as the Antichrist. The seven heads, we learned, represented the seven successive world empires, and here we are told that the ten horns represent ten kings, “Which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.”
Revelation and Daniel Agree The prophetic information which we have here conforms exactly to that which is revealed in Daniel, Daniel 2:1-49, where we have an account of the great image which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream and which was interpreted by Daniel the Prophet. You will remember that this image was in the form of a man, with a head of gold, his breast and arms of silver, his belly and thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
In previous studies, we have pointed out that this great metallic image was a symbol of the march of empire covering the whole period of the Gentile age, and that the 10 toes represented 10 kings who would arise.
A very interesting explanation of the image is given in Daniel 2:40-45, where it says,
“And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be: partly strong, and partly broken.
“And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
“Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.”
Thus, my friends, we see that the ten toes of the image which Nebuchadnezzar saw and the ten horns of the nondescript beast correspond and represent ten kings, “which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.” The 10 Kings Will Make War Against Christ In Revelation 17:13-14, in our lesson text, we have a striking statement concerning these kings. It says,
“These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 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.”
Is it not a striking thing that Mussolini first emerged as the outstanding dictator of the Roman Empire? Following his example, other dictators are arising in Europe and other countries of the world. What else could this mean, except that the world stage is being set for the enactment of the very things which have been prophesied in God’s Word concerning these ten kings, who will give their power and strength unto the beast.
The outstanding thing about these ten kings is that they will make war with the Lamb. In other words, they will make war against Christ. This would be impossible if it were not for the fact that Christ has promised to come again back to this earth to establish is kingdom. We all know that Jesus died, rose again, and ascended into heaven “far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come,” as stated in Ephesians 1:21.
As long as Jesus remains in his exalted Place in the highest heavens, these ten kings could never war against Him, but when Jesus descends from heaven back to the earth to establish His kingdom, we are told distinctly that these ten kings will make war against Him. It is natural that they would do this, for did it not say in Daniel 2:44 that,
“In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever?”
Indeed so, and we do not need to wonder that these ten kings who will be associated with the Antichrist will make war with the Lamb; that is, against Christ when He comes to establish the kingdom, which God has promised. The Message of the Second Psalm
We cannot read this passage without remembering what is stated in Psalms 2:1-3, where it says,
“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, end cast away their cords from us.”
The prophetic announcement, however, in Revelation 17:14 of our lesson text, is that,
“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.”
That Christ will be victorious over them is confirmed in Psalms 2:4-6, where it says,
“He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.”
Also in Psalms 2:1-12, the Lord spoke prophetically to Christ saying,
“Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
So we see that the coming Christ over the confederated kings the earth is assured and prophetically announced as an absolute certainty.
~ end of lecture 51 ~