We have covered sixteen out of twenty-two chapters in Revelation, but some of the most interesting and controversial material lies in the last six chapters of the book. You will soon read exactly what I mean. Revelation 17:1-18 describes the universal religious system of this evil age. The angel described and defined to John Mystery Babylon, the Mother of Harlots. The word mystery has to refer to a religious (mysterious) system. That is what religion is. And let me say here that Christianity is not a religion. Religion is manmade (with the devil’s help, of course). Real Bible Christianity is a living organism, not an organization. It is the Living Body of Christ, made up of Jesus Christ and genuine born-again believers. However, many have turned real Christianity into fake churchianity.    

The word harlot (or whore) definitely proves the woman robed in scarlet and riding on a scarlet beast is a religious system. The nation of Israel was pictured as a harlot in many Old Testament Scripture passages because she repeatedly turned away from God to worship one false god after another. Thus, harlotry is biblically associated with religion. Therefore, Mystery Babylon, the Mother of all Harlots, definitely describes the overall religious system that has dominated the human race since the fall of Adam. The seven-headed beast the woman was riding represents the majority of the human race in history. More on that later.     

But, chapter seventeen not only identifies what that woman represents but also reveals that she will be destroyed during the Tribulation. The ten horns on one of the heads of the beast—that head being the final Gentile kingdom which will attempt to dominate the entire world—will hate the whore, and destroy her. In verse one, the angel told John that he was about to show him the judgement of the great whore. Verse six says the woman—that religious system ruling over mankind from early on—was drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus Christ. If you study history you will find that it has been religious groups that have been the primary persecutors of God’s people.

Although the military is often used to do that persecuting, the prevailing religious group in a society is usually the primary push behind the military action. Roman soldiers carried out the religious wishes of the unbelieving Jews, first against Jesus Christ, and then His followers. After the Jewish nation was dispersed throughout the world in A.D. 70, the fanatical Roman religious groups took over the persecution of the church. You can read about some of that in the Book of Acts.      You will also find that religious harlotry is often connected to literal physical harlotry. Some whorish women of Moab allured some of the Jewish leaders into literal fornication, and to worship their Moabite gods. See Numbers 25:1-3, 6-9 and Revelation 2:14. Religion leads one to whoredom and to blasphemy against God. Blasphemous names were upon both the beast and that mystery woman. 
(Ron Craig is pastor, teacher and author of Christian books; and these articles. You may view all the books by logging onto www.livingwayfellowshiponline.org. While logged on the website you can even listen to audio Bible-lesson podcasts. You may also send your questions or comments to ronwritercraig@gmail.com)

The rest of Revelation chapter thirteen is controversial as well, but understandable to all who are willing to study to understand it. The second beast, the Antichrist’s false prophet, exercises all of the authority of that first beast—the Antichrist—and uses it to pressure the world’s entire population (now over 7,000,000,000 people) to worship the first beast—the Antichrist.

Remember that Satan has always wanted to be worshipped, and the people’s worship of the Antichrist will be as close as he will ever come to being worshipped himself. The devil tried that trick on Jesus (Luke 4:5-8), but Jesus did not fall for Satan’s lies. He said we must worship God alone. That is one reason I point out that it is not God Who will grant authority to the Antichrist. The Antichrist will use his devil-granted-authority to force unbelievers to worship him in the place of God, and to war against and overcome the Tribulation saints. Therefore, God cannot be behind the Antichrist’s effort to gain illegitimate worship, or his plot to defeat those who believe in their Creator and Redeemer. Jesus taught that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand, and God is certainly not divided against Himself. However, Satan’s kingdom will be divided. Zechariah 14:13 foreshadows that great battle of Armageddon, prophesying that just when Antichrist’s army is ready to attack Jerusalem, his soldiers will begin to fight and kill one another right there on the battlefield. God’s people Israel will not fall!     Revelation 13:13 tells us the false prophet will be able to perform great signs before men to impress them with his power. He can even call fire down from heaven—the sky. Second Thessalonians 2:9 calls them lying wonders—false miracles. Fire from the sky may impress people, but it cannot heal broken bodies or redeem soiled souls. All of the devil’s supposed miracles are deceptions. He has never healed anyone of any sickness. Revelation 13:14 says those signs will deceive the people into thinking the Antichrist is someone to be worshipped, and the false prophet will pressure them to make an image of that beast whose deadly wound will be healed in the last days. But remember, those seven heads represent seven world kingdoms and the angelic beings who have and will reign over them. In other words, the wounded head will be a past fallen kingdom being revived in the last days. The legs and feet of that image Nebuchadnezzar saw represent the old Roman Empire and its last-days form—ten toes—and the leopard-like kingdom Daniel saw in his vision was Greece. Thus, the Antichrist’s kingdom will have residual characteristics of both of those ancient kingdoms. The fallen angelic being which ruled over the Grecian kingdom will obviously be the same angelic being that will rule under Satan and over the Antichrist and his kingdom. That healed head will obviously be the revival of the old Grecian kingdom, with additional traits of the Roman Empire.     The false prophet will supposedly give breath to that image, so that it will be able to speak. But remember, all of his signs and wonders will be false ones. Nevertheless, the people will be so impressed by the signs that they will obey that supposedly live image, and receive the mark of the beast, in order to buy and sell. Without that mark, nobody will have access to the necessities of life. Multitudes will have his mark or number 666 on their forehead, or their right hand. Such is how the Antichrist will dominate people. Those who willingly take that mark will eventually go to hell, while many who refuse to take the mark will be beheaded for their faith (Revelation 14:9-13). To be continued…
(Ron Craig is pastor, teacher and author of Christian books; and these articles. You may view all the books by logging onto www.livingwayfellowshiponline.org. While logged on the website you can even listen to audio Bible-lesson podcasts. You may also send your questions or comments to ronwritercraig@gmail.com)

  Thus from last week…2000 years ago there was no man-child which was caught up to heaven. Jesus (Who was not that man-child) was instead crucified, then raised from the dead, then remained on the earth, further instructing His disciples for a total of 40 days before ascending back to heaven (John chapter 21 and Acts 1:3). Moreover, Israel did not flee into the wilderness and stay there for three and a half years, but rather, in A. D. 70, was scattered all over the planet for about 1900 years, until in the late 1940s it became a legal nation again. Chapter 12 in Revelation pictures the modern nation of Israel, the first 144,000 Jewish converts during the Tribulation, the plan of the devil to obliterate the seed of Abraham once for all, plus God’s own plans to protect Israel from the devil, the Antichrist and his gullible angelic and human followers. (We will discuss in a later article the devil’s final assault on God and His people after his thousand-year confinement in the abyss, and observe his instant defeat, and his eternal fiery future.) 

     That one-third of the angels that will accompany the red dragon, Satan, in his final invasion of heaven, and will be cast out of heaven for the final time, obviously fell with Lucifer in the dateless past. They will surely not be fresh angelic recruits. Most honest theologians agree that is the case. The devil will become enraged at all of God’s people, knowing that he will then have only a short time left before he is confined to the abyss for a thousand years—with no contact with human beings—unable to tempt anyone.     Chapter 13 pictures the Antichrist kingdom as a beast rising up out of the sea—the sea here being multitudes of people living upon the planet. The waters upon which the Great Whore sits will be peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues (different languages) according to Revelation 17:15. So it must be the same in chapter 13—consistency.      John’s description of the beast can also be just a little bit confusing. But that beast is a combination of three entities—a man, a kingdom and an angelic being which rules over the Antichrist kingdom under the great red dragon—the devil himself. Sometimes, the angelic being is emphasized in a passage, sometimes the kingdom, and sometimes the man—the Antichrist. The sea, in prophetic passages, always represents multitudes of people. The second beast—the Antichrist’s false prophet—comes out of the land, one more symbol in Revelation of multitudes of people. So both the Antichrist and his false prophet will be actual human beings, born in the last days, who will be totally sold out to Satan; and not some alien creatures from outer space, or two men who have lived in the past, who will be resurrected in the end-time, and have to die again. And, there are some who believe such nonsense. No one is authorized to make the Bible say whatever they want it to say. Read and heed Revelation 22:18-19. You might shudder over that.     The beast being pictured with the features of a leopard, a bear, and a lion obviously refers to the angelic being ruling under Satan and over the Antichrist and his kingdom subjects. That is the angelic part of the beast system. He will obviously rule under the devil, because Revelation 13:2 says the dragon will give him his power, his throne and great authority. Many believe it is God Who gives Antichrist authority over this world’s population, and enables him to make war on God’s own people, but Revelation chapter thirteen makes it clear that Satan is the culprit who endows Antichrist with power and authority to come against creation and believers. Why would God do such a thing?
(Ron Craig is pastor, teacher and author of Christian books; and these articles. You may view all the books by logging onto www.livingwayfellowshiponline.org. While logged on the website you can even listen to audio Bible-lesson podcasts. You may also send your questions or comments to ronwritercraig@gmail.com)

Each of the seven hostile Gentile kingdoms was ruled by one of the fallen angels, who ruled under the dragon—Satan. The beast (angel) who comes out of the abyss will be one of the angelic rulers over a past kingdom, which will be revived in the last days. That angel will be the wounded head that will be healed—Revelation 13:3, 12 and 14. That healing will be the revision of a past fallen Gentile kingdom and its angelic king. John did not teach that the Antichrist will be supernaturally healed, as some believe. (Daniel 10:12-13 and 20-21 inform us that angelic beings rule over different nations.) The Antichrist kingdom will actually be the revival of one of those previous kingdoms.

That last-days beast will be like a leopard—a picture of the Grecian kingdom; have feet like a bear—the Persian kingdom; and a mouth like a lion—the Babylonian kingdom of Daniel’s day. See Daniel 7:1-8. Thus, the Antichrist kingdom will have traits of each of at least three of those historical Gentile kingdoms—Babylon, Persia and Greece. Those Middle-Eastern peoples will have descended from those ancient nations and will carry some of their ancient concepts and practices right up to the last generation of this evil age. Revelation 17:10—The angel explained to John that the seven heads on the beast were seven kings (kingdoms) and that five had fallen—Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia and Greece, and one is (in John’s day—that would be Rome) and one has not yet come (in John’s day). When he comes (in the last days of the present age) he will become the seventh (the revised Roman kingdom), and then the eighth, and final, Gentile kingdom (Revelation 17:11); but will continue only a short time before Jesus Christ comes to set up His Millennium Kingdom—the thousand-year reign of Christ after this evil age; and then after that thousand years the New Heaven And New Earth Age. Daniel 7:9-14 and 26-27, and Revelation 19:11-21 inform us about the short-lived Antichrist reign. If you will remember, Nebuchadnezzar saw Gentile history down to the end as a large statue, with its legs and feet being the final form of all Gentile history. So that original Roman empire will be reshaped in the last days into that final Gentile, Antichrist kingdom.     

The book of Revelation is understandable, but to come to such understanding, it is essential that the serious searcher embark upon a serious and prolonged Bible study. In these articles, we will cover the overall scriptural account of last-days events, which will be most informative and exciting. However, we will cover only the big picture of the Revelation account of the end of this age and not the fine details. The reader can refer to the book of Revelation itself for those fine details. Getting the overall picture is what is most important. Depending on how serious the searcher is, I recommend the Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible for that serious search. That Bible contains references from multitudes of Scripture passages that have to do with the last-days events; plus many notes which explain word-meaning changes, etc., that will impact one’s understanding of many of those last-days events. If you really want to know, Dake’s Bible is the place to go. But, these articles are a good start on that Daniel and Revelation journey.        Now, back to the woman, man child and red dragon: That man child will be caught up to heaven, whereas Christ was crucified. Moreover, the woman will escape into the wilderness for three and one-half years. That did not happen 2,000 years ago! Thus…
(Ron Craig is pastor, teacher and author of Christian books; and these articles. You may view all the books by logging onto www.livingwayfellowshiponline.org. While logged on the website you can even listen to audio Bible-lesson podcasts. You may also send your questions or comments to ronwritercraig@gmail.com)

 The next insert comprises three chapters—12-14. Chapter twelve is one of the most played with and misunderstood portions of the book of Revelation. First of all, the first sign that John saw appeared in heaven. It appeared in John’s heavenly vision, but the action will occur on earth. Just stay with me while we go over it. I have heard preacher after preacher teach that the child that woman was pregnant with was Christ, because He is to rule with a rod of iron. 

Surface scanning of Scripture will almost always lead the scanner into error. The devil uses human tendency to translate surface similarities into doctrines that make no sense when taken out to their obvious biblical conclusion. The next even more nonsensical teaching is that the woman is the church. The church did not birth Christ. Christ birthed the church! The woman will be the nation of Israel in the last days. The man child will be the first 144,000 Jews who will accept Jesus as their Messiah—the Messiah the present-day Jews are yet looking for. They rejected the real One Who came about 2,000 years ago. Once again, stay with me while I explain.     Remember Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37:9? Joseph saw the sun, moon, and eleven stars (Joseph would be the twelfth star in the garland of the woman in Revelation) bow down to him. His dream was a symbol of the budding nation of Israel—Joseph’s father Jacob, his mother Rachel, Joseph and his eleven brothers. In verse ten, Jacob actually confirmed that truth, for he rebuked Joseph for suggesting that his mother and father would bow down to him. The sun-clothed woman is a symbol of Israel, not the church! 

    Now about that man child the sun-clothed woman bore. That woman represented a group of people, and so that man child also represents a group of people—the 144,000 Jews of Revelation 7:1-8 and 14:1-5. Remember, I said that the symbols in the book of Revelation are explained either in that book itself, or in some other Bible book. And we saw that Genesis 37 identified that sun-clothed woman in Revelation 12. (It takes time and some serious study to get the true scriptural picture of last-days events.) In Isaiah 66:7-9, Isaiah prophesied of that Revelation event. He prophesied that Israel will bring forth a man child, who is also referred to as a nation and children. So, the man child has to be the 144,000 Jews that will be born-again during the Tribulation Time.       Another part of John’s heavenly vision was the devil, pictured as a fiery red dragon, who is ready to devour that child as soon as it is born. He is described as having seven heads, and ten horns. The seven heads—understood by studying history and prophecy in other Bible books—represents the seven Gentile kingdoms in history, right up to the last days, which have, and will, persecute God’s people—Israel and Christians. The ten horns will be ten future kings over ten future-formed Middle-Eastern kingdoms, whom the Antichrist will conquer at the beginning of the Tribulation Time. The Antichrist will defeat three of the ten, and the rest will submit to him—Daniel 7:24.      Daniel prophesied about the four Gentile kingdoms from his day forward—Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome—the four beasts. John’s vision encompassed Gentile history from the very first nation that has either enslaved or harassed Israel—seven nations in all—starting with Egypt, then Assyria, then Babylon, in Daniel’s day, then Persia, then Greece, then Rome; and finally the Antichrist kingdom, which will be the eighth, which will be of the seven—Revelation 17:11. Will explain more later. See you!         
(Ron Craig is pastor, teacher and author of Christian books; and these articles. You may view all the books by logging onto www.livingwayfellowshiponline.org. While logged on the website you can even listen to audio Bible-lesson podcasts. You may also send your questions or comments to ronwritercraig@gmail.com)

 Dozens of times in the Book of Ezekiel God said, “Then you will know that I am the Lord.” Those statements almost always pointed to some divine activity concerning last days events. When I have My final say, God was saying, then you will know that those things I promised throughout history have certainly come to pass. That will be true for both those who are living during the Tribulation and for those who have died and gone on to their wanted or unwanted reward. So the book of Revelation is NOT a publication of mysterious, symbolic gobbledy-gook, but rather a Holy-Spirit-inspired record before it happens of what is going to happen at the end of the present age. There are symbols in Revelation, but they are all explained either in the book of Revelation itself, or in the prophecies of some other Bible book. The very term revelation means to make known!

     What has God been making known all along through His Word? For one thing, man in his fallen state, is not on an upward path, getting better and better as time goes on, but instead is on a downward path toward hell. And even before death, more and more earthlings are experiencing hell-like conditions around the world. One reason so many immigrants are fleeing their home country and seeking more palatable conditions here in this country—USA. You see, one cannot adequately talk Bible things without getting into political things. Impossible! The devil is the ultimate culprit behind both the world system and the religious system—both those ungodly religions around this planet, and what men have turned genuine Bible-Christianity into. The book of Revelation exposes the religious system, as well as the Antichrist system. Moreover, those ten kings under the Antichrist will actually turn on the very religious system which helped put them in power and will destroy it. Refer to Revelation 17:15-18. And that proves that religion is merely a tool Satan uses to further his agenda of stealing, killing, and destroying. That woman riding the beast is how God sees that religious monster. And as for those kings turning on the woman (the overall religious system of this fallen world), John said that God Himself will turn her over to those ten kings and their kingdom so that God’s plan will be accomplished. As I said in a previous article, although Satan and the Antichrist will think that they are in control, planning to wipe Israel off the map, God Himself will prove that His plan will prevail. There is no wisdom, or understanding, or counsel that can prevail against the Lord—Proverbs 21:30. God’s words will prevail over all others.     History, including prophesied history—history which has not yet been fulfilled—will prove that God is demonstrating to fallen man that HIS STORY is going downhill. Man, outside of God, cannot succeed, let alone prevail. Existence without God is both empty and futile. And even if a man apparently succeeds in this life—apparently without God and even contrary to God—what will it profit him in the long run? “What will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and [in the process] loses his own soul (Mark 8:36)?” The Antichrist will obviously be deceived by the devil into thinking that he will prevail over God and His prophecies, but will actually fulfill them. Praise God! In light of these Bible Truths, let everyone get aligned with the redemption side of God’s Word.
(Ron Craig is pastor, teacher and author of Christian books; and these articles. You may view all the books by logging onto www.livingwayfellowshiponline.org. While logged on the website you can even listen to audio Bible-lesson podcasts. You may also send your questions or comments to ronwritercraig@gmail.com)