068 - REVELATION 17

REVELATION 17

INTRODUCTION

Many wonder: but why a punishment so severe for those who accept the mark of the beast? After all, what is wrong in buying and selling? Even because society depends on this. Whereas all need to buy and sell, this punishment seems unfair.

However, when the Eternal created the earth, He did not invent the money. Neither had religious or political system. This all came to emerge with Nimrod (Gen 10.8-10). Before, each tribe had the patriarch as leader, who ran the justice and also drove all the love whom he supposed to be God and the way that he considered to be better to please Him. 

This facilitated at the time of exercising justice, since, for being few people, it was easier to ken one by one, since the patriarch had an experience close to everyone. In addition, there weren’t many things to be sought, learned, etc. The patriarch (usually one of the older of the group), with their experience of life, know to perform an action that would be better for everyone.

Not to mention that, because they are few in number, people were more constrained by mistake, since those who fail by wickedness would be excluded by others. And how difficult such an individual would be accepted in another tribe (and, even if it were, it would not be the same privileges that the natives), this intimidated the individual, so that he thought much before acting with guile.

Had not only commercial and religious interest, but also familiar. And this satisfied the majority.

The tribes were nomadic and lived for what the Eternal allowed to grow in their place. A tribe would produce only what is necessary for them. Nobody think in big things (as suggested by Psalms 131.1,2; Lk 16.15; Rom 12.16).

However, since that Nimrod established the Babylonian System (political system + religious system), this carnal unit desired at the tower of Babel (Genesis 11.4) created 'facilities' which only served to weaken families. Facilitated the social inequality, the enslavement through the money and the accumulation of goods in the hands of a few people

Today, with the industrialization, is much more difficult to have the own business and, when yes, keep the family united around this business since, in addition to the many options of pleasure, the tendency of children is to accept the methods imposed by the government to be accepted in society, which includes joining a school and, with this, be taught by people who do not care about them.

In other words, this unification (system) produced by Nimrod only facilitated the selfishness and the inner disharmony. It is a hypocritical unity around selfish causes. United around a cause supposedly fair, but that does not take into account the personhood and individuality of each one. Nobody else knows and understands each other. Missed the real meaning of family. And the worst thing is that this unit never had in view the collective well, but the interest of the global elite (those who incited such a union).

Result: some have much, other little or nothing.

For this Jesus condemned, in the days of Lot:

·        Planting and build -> This went against the plan of the Eternal of fruitful, multiply and replenish the earth" (Gen 1.28; Matt 28.18,19; Mk 16.15). The idea is that each one was stranger and pilgrim (1 Peter 2.11). And Abraham understood this (Heb 11.9,10,13-16). When each one thought to build roots for oneself in this world, trying to recreate the lost paradise, the illusion that will never leave this world has taken account of the people.

Think: each one builds up because he wants to have a place where they can reign absolute, get rid of all the discomforts and be able to keep things only for themselves. The act of planting, in turn, is aimed at achieving convenience and safety, in order to no longer need to be journeying in search of water and food.

That is to say, it was the way that the world has proposed to "facilitate" the life of people and exclude the Creator of society. In fact, only facilitates the life of the privileged group which was placed at the front. This changed the vision of the people about eating and drinking;

·        Eating and drinking --> This, besides having become mere moments of pleasure, also became the object of commercial exploitation. The important thing is just to win. What Jesus did at the Last Supper was lost, i.e., the meal, which should be a time to share with each other, became the occasion for drunkenness and revelry (see Amos 4.4; 1 Corinthians 11.20-22). What Jesus taught there was to be lived every time we eat, to get together with those people that He has placed in our lives.

·        Buy and sell -> When you lose the notion of family, simply the act of "give and take" (Phil 4.15) is replaced by "buy and sell". Nobody goes to believe more in the power of godliness (2Tim 3.5). Love is abolished and all begin to act like robots: "forcing and being obliged," operating mere exchange of favors or products. The contact between humans loses all meaning. What good have and do, when nothing is added to the inside of each one?

 

Revelation 16.19 and Revelation 14.8 has already declared the fall of Babylon. Now in chapters 17 and 18 of the Apocalypse the details of this fall will be shown.

The march of the well is like the march of the sun:

 

·        Glorious: at dawn he tinge the distant mountains with beauty, at noon it floods the land with splendour and at dusk it ornaments the clouds with purple, scarlet and gold;

·        Commander: when it appears the creatures get up. The whole nature moves to the extent that it moves;

·        Useful: The sun illuminates harmoniously throughout the earth renewing, avivando seeds, covering the landscapes with beauty and maturing the harvest;

·        Regardless: Troops of dark clouds can move along the ground, but cannot touch the sun. Terrible storms can shake the globe, but the sun is beyond their reach. He is always behind the darkest clouds and looks calmly down over the oceans in fury and the earth in storm;

·        Certain and precise: the sun always appears at the exact moment.

;

This is how Jesus has acted in this world.

Appearance of the great Babylon:

 

·        Their external appearance: the woman will be all cheerful and ornate: arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls (Rev 17.4), that is, of all the wealth, pomp and pride able to seduce the carnal minds;

·        Your dwelling and seat: It will reside in the wilderness, even seated on Many Waters (see Nahum 3.1). The throne of the woman is the beast from the sea (see Nahum 3.3);

·        Your Name: Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. It was the ancient custom the harlots hang signs with their names so that everyone knew what they were.

However, the beast on which she is bestrided is full of names of blasphemy (see Nahum 3.3).

·        His name is a mystery:  that is, as well as the woman was initially created inside of Adam, but then taken from his ribs, coming to become an independent person to assist him, Babylon the Great will be created as being a reputable Christians of the beast of the earth. However, releasing the beast of the earth and marry the beast from the sea, who will be in command is the woman (she is on top of the beast from the sea).

·        Her drink: It is drunken with the abominations and filthiness of her fornication (see Nahum 3.4), which fills the hearts of madness furious to satisfy their appetite, which leads them to enjoy with the death of saints and prophets of Jesus who are opposed to this (see Nahum 3.6). She will be so eager for the blood that will intoxicate herself with this and never find satisfaction by more that she tries to quench her thirst.

And the worst: she makes all nations drink it (see Nahum 3.7);

·        Strategy used by her to accomplish her goals: she proposes to accommodate as her child  all who reject Jesus (i.e., proposes to sustain and give them what they need) (see Nahum 3.5).

·        Her reign: despite woman, she is that will govern all the kings of the earth (see Nahum 3.18). After all, through it, the merchants became rich (Rev 18.3) and the kings, more powerful. The woman was sitting on the beast because, economically, the beast will serve of support (Nahum 3:3). 

At the same time that the woman is supported by the beast, she takes the opportunity to lead him (see Nahum 3.3).

·        It is arrogant in their self-security (Rev 18:7).

·        End point of her walk: perdition (Rev 17.11).

·        Her end: the woman who rides the beast from the sea (as well as the whole beast) will end hated by many powers that she ruled (Nahum 3:16; Rev 17.16,17).

·        Her citizens: within her are some of the chosen of the Eternal which are summoned to come (Rev 18:4).

 

We miss the beauty of the Bride in the midst of the excellence of heavenly glory and happiness; the beauty of the harlot hinders the individuals to see the true beauty of the character of Christ.

Contrast between the Church and the great Babylon:

 

Church	Great Babylon
Virgin caste devoted to one husband	Prostitute
Mystery of godliness (Col 1.27-29)	Mystery of iniquity (2Thes 2.7)
Offers the cup of salvation	Give the cup full of abominations and filthiness
Column and bulwark of the truth" (1 Tim 3.15)	Jerusalem is the cause of existence, as well as the example of what comes to be infidelity to the Eternal.
She is persecuted	She is persecutor.
Live by the blood of Christ	Lives on the blood of saints and prophets

 

·        "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:" (Rev 17.1).

 

The judgment here is a run  trial (and not a trial in progress. So much so that the great Babylon is already condemned).

One of the angels who had the seven plagues went to John to show him the condemnation of the Great Babylon. One of the characteristics of the great harlot is the place where she sits: on many waters (Jer 51.13; Rev 17.1).

Note how the angel says that he would show John the great harlot, and when he does this, he shows a woman mounted on a scarlet colored beast (Rev 17.4). That is, the Great Harlot (Great Whore or Great Babylon) is the woman (who is seated on the beast) + the beast from the sea (who sits on many waters and that, after the "resurrection" of the seventh head, shall be called "the beast that ascend from the abyss" - Rev 13.1). 

It is quite true that Babylon is said to dwell upon many waters:

 

·        "O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness." (Jer 51.13);

 

However, initially the image of a prostitute in the Old Testament is not taken from the Babylon (which was personified as a virgin - Isa 47.1), but of Tyre (Isaiah 23.15-17) and Nineveh (Nahum 3.4). The servants of the Eternal who are weak in faith are called prostitutes (see  Isa 1.21; Jer 2.20; 3.1-25; Ezek 16.1-63; Ez 23; Hosea 2.5; 3.3; 4.15; Micah 1.7; Rev 2.20; 14.4), such as Tyre and Nineveh were also (Isa 23.1-8; Nahum 3.14).

See how Jerusalem is described by the prophets:

 

·        "Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah." (Isa 1.10).

·        "How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers." (Isa 1.21).

·        "They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD." (Jer 3.1);

·        "The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot." (Jer 3.6);

·        "And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also." (Jer 3.8);

·        "But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so." (Ezek 16.15,16);

·        "And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord GOD;)" (Ezek 16.23).

·        "Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied." (Ezek 16.28) 

·        "In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire;" (Ezek 16.31).

·        "Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:" (Ezek 16.35).

·        "And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more." (Ezek 16.41).

·        "And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours," (Ezek 23.5).

·        "Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt." (Ezek 23.19).

·        "Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women." (Ezek 23.44).

·        "The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD." (Hosea 1.2).

·        "For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink." (Hosea 2.5).

·        "And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee." (Hosea 3.3).

·        "I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall. Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth." (Hosea 4.14,15).

·        "And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot." (Micah 1.7).

·        "And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." (Rev 11.8).

And the Holy Scripture does mention the presence, in Jerusalem, some elements of the Babylonian worship:

 

·        "And he took me to the entrance of the gate of the house of the LORD, which is on the north side, and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz." (Ezek 8.14).

·        "The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger." (Jer 7.18).

·        "But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.” (Jeremiah 44.17-19).

·        "Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows." (Jeremiah 44.25). 

 

Jerusalem is a prostitute (Jer 2.20; 3.1,8) whose forehead shows this clearly:

 

·        "Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed." (Jer 3.3).

 

She leads others to transgress (hence being the mother of harlots). In her skirts is found the blood of the innocent:

 

·        "Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways. Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these." (Jer 2.33,34).

·        "For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously." (Mal 2.16).

·        "Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land." (Jeremiah 23.15).

 

Well, Babylon the Great Is Israel who forsook the Eternal and broke His covenant, and will allow the seed of the kings of the earth penetrates within themselves (coming to generate mixed children - the feet of iron and clay statue of Nebuchadnezzar). Although the Israelites are called by the name of the Eternal, they feed and live what pleases them and justified in the way that suits them (Isaiah 4.1). 

Both the beast from the sea as the earth are two great prostitutes. Both Gentiles and Israelites, relate themselves to the powers of this world (see Nahum 3.4), and even with one another to achieve what they want. Together, they form the great whore of this chapter.

Thus we can summarize:

 

·        Beast from the sea = political system which emanates from the not-Israelite rabble who seeks a superman who can solve all their problems and, with this, give them better conditions to live in sin (hence the beast from the sea be seated on many waters). 

·        The beast of the earth = religious system with origin in Israel which aims to manipulate the spiritual forces in order to keep the people under control under the promise that, thus serving the Creator, they will be able to get what they wish of Him = This is the false prophet (Roman head that makes agreement with many for one week of years) +  religious and political leaders of Israel and Judah (two horns) supported by the people of Israel that belongs to Judaism (body).

·        Woman riding the beast from the abyss -> After the death of the Antichrist, the beast from the abyss will assume control of everything and make agreement with the beast from the sea, which before was a static political system, earn life and be guided by someone around the world.

 

Understand: the antichrist is an Israelite born in the land of Magog and who leads, initially, two Roman gangs, but which exerts so much influence over Rome that the Romans are considered to be his people (Dan 9.26).

After his death, his body will be possessed by the angel of the bottomless pit, which possess and quicken the entire body of the beast that emerged from the sea (or the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, if you prefer), making this an empire seven times worse than the previous one, since it makes use of the seven mountains (and not just one, as in earlier empires), of the seven of the ten horns, as well as of all body of the beast (who, then, will be the rabble, Israelite and non-Israelite). 

This remember what Jesus said:

 

·        "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.  Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first." (Luke 11.24-26).

 

As this will be? As the Eternal took a rib of man to make him a helper (who was His image and glory of man - 1 Cor 11.7), Ha-Satan will remove the two horns of the beast of the earth to make a "help meet" for the false prophet (the woman riding the beast) and a "help meet" for the beast from the abyss (by demonic possession all the worshipers of the beast will be her body).

For this, he will inspire the false prophet to induce everyone to make an image of the beast (such as the statue of Nebuchadnezzar). 

How? He will convince the two horns of the beast of the earth (spiritual leaders of Israel) to encourage the other religious leaders about the perfection of Judaism. The religious leaders will seduce the rabble (with promises of blessings and  power and authority to kill those who do not worship the beast) which, in turn, will respond by stimulating and even demanding of their spiritual leaders that Judaism is adopted which, in turn, uses the Bible to make the beast from the abyss their messiah and establish rituals that in all praise him.

Henceforward, the rabble, both from the sea (non-Israelite) and from the earth (Israelite), will together compose the body of the beast from the abyss, the image of the beast (Rev 13.14,15).

And no wonder! Whereas all that make an image become similar to this image (Ps 115.8; from 135.18) and that behind the images are demons (1 Corinthians 10.19,20), so all the people without Christ who was engaged in the creation of this super-religion becomes the image of the beast from the abyss.

And, in which the angel of the abyss with his demons, went up out of the abyss (Rev 9.1), will be granted to the false prophet to give breath to the image of the beast. In other words, each follower of the beast from the abyss will be possessed by these demons.

Henceforth the empire, which before was static (a huge statue or a beast), will become dynamic.

What each of the emperors of the seven heads wished, but never reached, will become reality: the empire will no longer be a permanent headquarters in a palace of concrete, but moves in temples of flesh and blood. Each one will be such that a copy of the beast from the abyss, or if you prefer, it is as though the beast from the abyss will become billions of individuals at the same time, forcing all dissidents to succumb to his will under penalty of death.

The rabble, that before simply served as a support for the political system to act by means of a corrupt elite, now each one is a living expression of everything that this corrupt leader (beast from the abyss) is. That is to say, the people, which before consisted only of the sea or land, now composes, together, the body of the beast from the abyss.

The religious elite from around the world, on the other hand, will compose the woman riding the beast and the false prophet will be used to confirm the beast from the abyss, so that the rabble to continue accepting to be the body of the beast and be guided by the woman.

By this Jerusalem is called Great City: because all the world's religious leaders will make this whole religious system of worship of the beast from the abyss a real city that is a living expression of Jerusalem. 

This woman is the image of the beast from the abyss (Rev 13.15) and the glory of the false prophet. It is the wife of the false prophet, that who will assist the beast from the abyss in his work to bring everyone to worship the dragon.

And each one of these religious leaders will be in accordance with:

 

·        The political leaders of their locations. In order to have the law on their side, the religious leaders will propose to facilitate the political leaders in the task of keeping the whole rabble politically worshipping the beast from the abyss, and with this receiving honors;

·        The merchants. In order to rely on financial support, the religious leaders will propose to commercialize the faith of individuals (2Peter 2.1-3).

 

However, as the beast from the abyss will not respect the love of women (both physical and spiritual - Dan 11.37) he and his ten horns will destroy the woman and the beast from the sea (the political system), since they want the beast from the abyss is all-powerful and can do anything he want, without any "whore" to restrict them. 

After all, although the beast from the abyss is adored, who really govern until then will be the woman mounted on it. In theory, the false prophet is the leader, but in practice, it is the woman who will govern.

 

·        "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." (Rev 17.2).

 

But why this system is called "whore"?

According to the dictionary, prostitution is "put forth, exposing, submit to the sight; disclose, publish; put to sale, marketing with eloquence".

In the Holy Scripture, a prostitute is a term used to designate those who wish to depart from the subjection of the Eternal:

 

·        "My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God." (Hosea 4.12)

 

There are two forms of prostitution:

 

1 - with false gods, aiming to promote a more appropriate worship for leaders (which allows them greater control over the people) and more pleasant and attractive to the people (see 1Kings 12.28):

 

·        "And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so." (Judges 2.17).

 

2 - with governments, in order to improve their profits or their military security (see 2Kings 16.7):

 

·        "Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger." (Ezek 16.26).

 

The term "whore" implies that this city (Israel, now called spiritually Sodom and Egypt - Rev 11.8) will entice men to forsake the character of the Eternal and worship Him in a mundane way, namely, by means of a system of worship to the Eternal extremely lucrative for the kings of the earth (2Pet 2.1-3). And this system of worship is so profitable that the kings of the earth and the merchants mourn the end of this Great Babylon (Rev 18.9,11). 

On the other hand, it is so pleasurable that all peoples of the earth will become intoxicated with this form of prostitution, that is, with this extremely fun and wacky cult. Hence the use of the word "wine" which, in this context, it represents a mondaine  joy promoted by an unclean spirit that take out of the individual the moral and physical strength (2Sam 13.28; Prov 23.29-35; 31.4-5). 

The inhabitants of the earth not only drink the wine of the prostitution of the Great Harlot. They will imbibe themselves, i.e., will find this extremely hot, to the point that they wish to make it their full satisfaction and reason to live. They will gladly accept the spirit of this depraved system and share of its sins.

Everyone will appreciate both of this system of worship promoted by the religious leaders of Israel (woman riding the beast) that they will ask the beast that give them their mark, name or number in order that only do part of this lucrative cult who worship the beast and his image. It will be a desperate fury in search of quench the thirst of pleasure that will know within themselves in virtue of the intimate contact with Babylon the Great.

The beast from the sea is constituted by the gentiles who commit themselves to any politician or rich man in search of favors; the beast of the earth is composed by Israelites who undertake with every kind of religion and politics in search of controlling the world through them.

Lastly: the kings of the earth will prostitute  with both beasts and all rabble (Gentile + israelite) will be drunken with fury (See Jer 51.7) against those who do not accept the sources of pleasure that lets them fill of euphoria.

 

·        "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." (Rev 17.3).

 

Just as the faithful Church is called city (Rev 21.2,9,10), the unfaithful portion is identified with Babylon (Rev 11.8; 17.4,5). They are like prostitutes in their political subservience, worldly tilt and spiritual intolerance.

The expression "carried me away in the spirit " is only found here and in Rev 21.10, where to John is shown the New Jerusalem.

The beast was scarlet color (a hue of red), similar to the dragon which is red (Rev 12.3). Scarlet was the color used to describe the sin (Isaiah 1.18), but at the same time was:

 

·        The color of the wire that should be tied up in the window of Rahab for her to be saved (Joshua 2.18);

·        The color of the clothes of the family of the virtuous woman (Prov 31.21);

·        The color of the garments worn by men of valor (Nahum 2.3).

 

That is, the scarlet color of the beast and the harlot's mantle denotes both as someone who wants to be valued in this world through sin, using as an excuse for this to be the only method to achieve true peace. The sin is considered, by those who put it into practice, the best form of justice to rid individuals of evil. For example, when a person decides to be policeman, she thinks that it is through the power of god of forces (Isa 30.1-3, 31.1-3; Dan 11.38) that evil will be hampered and, thus, all can be free and happy. In this case, the scarlet thread is also related with the shed blood of saints and witnesses of Jesus, which will be taken as the real criminals in this season.

It is good to remember that the basis on which is founded the Babylon is wickedness (Zech 5.8,11).

The fact that the woman is sit on a beast can be an allusion to a prostitute to make out with a man. It also implies that the woman depends on the beast for support and security. But above all, points to the need that the beast must, initially, be guided by the woman. Without it, the beast would consume himself in a misdirected rage. The woman holds the reins and with ability guide the beast toward implementation of his targets in a "crafty" and "seductive" way, seeking to captivate all who are not written in the book of life, so that, when the beast wants to show his true destructive face, instead of daunting or revolting themselves, all support the beast blindly. 

And the reason for this is simple: after having failed by violence, Ha-Satan tries to seduce Jerusalem, by the enchants of the world, to dislike of his Lord. 

To be more accurate: the woman's strategy is to lead the people to demand this gritty side of the beast. And all who expect this type of bloody anger on the part of the Lamb against their enemies, will applaud and exalt the beast when he arise to do this.

Detail: 

 

·        For being mounted on the beast, the woman feel as queen;

·        By being seated on the world (many waters), the beast feel like a god;

·        The world, in turn, by lying in wickedness (Ha-Satan - 1 John 5.19), feel themselves on top of the circumstances and problems when the possibility of doing evil is in thei power.

 

As to the desert, why  is she seen there? Wilderness means insulation (she lives isolated in itself - Rev 17.16; 18.2,19; Jer 51.26). It is very likely that this is the wilderness of the people:

 

·        "And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.  And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD." (Ezek 20.34-36).

 

The Eternal promises to take the people of Israel from among the nations to which they had been scattered and promises to bring them into the wilderness of the people to enter into judgment with them.

Why is it called a wilderness of the people? And how is it possible that the beast from the sea is in this wilderness, once she will sit upon many waters? What happens is that, although both beasts have done according to all the kings of the earth and rich men, yet there is an insulation between peoples. There are religious and political agreements, but each one is isolated in its own interests. In the religious area, when someone cling to a given sect, they isolate themselves from others who do not believe as them.

In addition, this shows that, no matter how favored Babylon the Great is, yet her thirst is never saciated by sea of individuals that supports and surrounds her. The waters are salted, and thus unfit for human consumption.

The Wilderness (insulation and insatiability) of people is different from the physical desert in which:

 

·        The wise virgins (144,000 sealed), will have to flee to this place (as seen in chapter 12) in the first half of the 70th week. For them this desert is a blessing, because it is to be isolated from the filth of people. However, such isolation is temporary, it is not the real condition of them.

·        For the fool virgins  (those Israelites who, although neither received the mark of the beast, did not accept Jesus before the rapture), the desert is the place for individuals as them. They will have to live with the insulation fleeing of Ha-Satan and his followers. The Eternal will contend with them in order to separate among them the rebels, which did not come over into the land of Israel; rather, they shall die (Ezekiel 20.38). Only it will live the remnant of Israel, which converts to the Eternal (Rom 9.27; 11.26).

 

Note that, while the beast from the sea had names of blasphemy only in the heads in Rev 13.1, here she is full of names of blasphemy. Whereas the beast from the abyss will greatly honor those who support him (Dan 11.39), these names may be also honorific titles given to them (as it is today in the treatment pronouns: "Your Excellency"; "Your majesty", "Your Highness," "Your Majesty," "Your Honor", "Reverend", "Your Holiness", etc., all titles that only the Eternal is worthy).

 

·        "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:" (Rev 17.4).

 

The Garment of the woman remembers the garment that was put on Jesus (Matt 27.28):

 

·        "And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head," (Mark 15.17);

·        "And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe." (Matt 27.28).

 

While in the hands of a messenger of the Eternal is a censer with the prayers of all the saints (Rev 8.3), in the hands of the woman riding the beast is a cup full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication (See Jer 51.7).

The detail is that the glass that she holds is not only for her drinking, but also to give drink. Whereas the woman is drunken with the blood of saints and prophets, soon the abominations and filthiness of her fornication is connected to the shedding of the blood of saints and prophets.

While the faithful Israel will be dressed with the sun, and the Bride will be ornamented by Christ in a simple way, but beautiful (Rev 19.8), Babylon the Great is ornamented by Ha-Satan with:

 

·        Purple -> represents the color of royalty in this world (See Judges 8.26; Esther 8.15; Dan 5.7,16). As you well know, the Eternal promises to help His sons when all their power in this world finish (Deut 32.36; Dan 12.7; Isa 58.6,7). We should not seek political and legal aid in this world (see Isa 30.1-3, 31.1-3).

·        Scarlet -> This is the color used by warriors (Nahum 2.3). The Eternal delights in those who hope in His mercy instead of relying on the powers and powerful of this world to deliver them by military force (Ps 20.7; 147.10,11; see Zechariah 4.6). 

Unlike the virtuous woman who was dressed only in scarlet (simbolically wearing 'the' sin of others, i.e., take them on herself, dedicating her life for their sins may be canceled by means of what Jesus did), the great Babylon will be arrayed in purple (color of royalty) and scarlet (i.e., will be wearing " sin" of others and taking advantage of this to grow, enrich and dominate - Hosea 4.8).

·        Adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls -> a prostitute, at that time, was described as being whole ornamented and adorned with gold and precious stones:

o   "And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,

I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon." (Prov 7.10,13,16,17). 

In contrast, the adornment of holy women is inwardly (1Tim 2.9; 1Pet 3.3).

You may ask: but the adornment of her was similar to that of the New Jerusalem and the life of the true follower of Jesus (1Cor 3.12-15). However, one thing is the ornament of the religious system, which is characterized by the superabundance of its temples and grandeur of their works and rituals; another is the WITHIN wealth in each member of the Church, namely, in the character of one by one (see Prov 2.3-5; 3.13-15).

·        He had in his hand a golden cup. 

 

Whereas bowl (cup) is a symbol of judgment, comes the question: what was this golden cup?

 

·        "And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." (Rev 14.8);

·        “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." (Rev 17.6);

·        "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:" (Rev 17.4);

·        "For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies." (Rev 18.3);

·        "Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double." (Rev 18.6).

 

The cup of the woman contained:

 

·        The blood of the saints and witnesses of Jesus;

·        The abominations and filthiness of her fornication;

·        Wine of the wrath of her fornication.

 

Raking everything, the cup of the woman will contain the abominations and filthiness of the woman’s prostituition, whose pleasure left individuals (including herself) reckless and furious to continue to take advantage of its pleasures, to the point of being able to be delighted with the death of the saints and witnesses of Jesus, because they oppose themselves to the whole entertainment contrary to the teachings of Christ.

Even more: they are capable of trying to seduce the servants of Christ (as Israel did in the past - Amos 2.12; Isaiah 30.9-11) in order that they drink of the wine of wrath and pass to run with them in the same excess of riot (1Pet 4.4). They want to boast in the flesh of the servants of Christ (Gal 6.13).

Indeed, this is what makes the Great Babylon so terrible.

Think: why the judgment imposed on those who worship the beast and his image was so terrible if compared with the other nations worship their gods (Rev 14.11)? Because his desire is to seduce all the nations to accept the worship to the beast and his image: or let themselves be seduced by them, or die.

Even more: what she wants is to enslave minds and hearts, so that everyone, think, feel, wish, plan to act in accordance with the will of hers. Like any whore, what she wants is all men to her feet, lusting her and not being able to think about anything other than her. It will be the largest addiction of all times, whose pleasure is such that anyone who experiences does not want to drop.

So much so that the mark of the beast is not enforced. All those who are not of Christ will be seduced by the Great Babylon, because her seduction will be extremely enjoyable. There isn’t undecided. Only won’t accept the mark of the beast who really is fully convinced that the beast from the abyss is the answer to their problems.

What is "abomination" and "filthiness of her fornication"?

 

·        Abomination: everything that serves to stimulate the strife between the brothers (Prov 6.19). For example: agreements full of laws to impair the neighbor (Psalms 94.20; Amos 2.8; Isa 10.1; Micah 2.1,2).

·        Filth of her prostitution: sexual relationship unclean. While the Great Babylon feeds herself of the damage that causes to the neighbor through the relationships that she got to do with big (to gain power and wealth) and small people (to entice them), the Church makes of the life of Christ Her food (drink of the chalice of Jesus - Mark 10.39; John 6.51-57).

 

The sources of filthy pleasures are, naturally, full of selfish feelings. When added to the abominations, fills the hearts of anger against all who oppose to the object of their joy. This acts as a wine because who makes it their drink, begins to have pleasure in suffering and misfortune of all those that run against their interests. Are so madden that starts to fight against Jesus and His followers.

And this applies to the cult of the Great Babylon. The form of worship that they assumed to be pleasing to the Creator, was, in fact, killing the faith of people, and eliminating the life of those who loved Him. Instead of generating life, was consuming the life of the few that were still alive, in addition to absorb the strength and energy of others with vain loads (Lam 2.14), wasting the gifts and talents that the Eternal gave them to love those who were close to them (Matt 7.6; Luke 16.1).

The Great Babylon survives mainly because of her heroes of the faith. Note how the preachers of the Gospel, many times, extol Job, David, Solomon, etc., rather than to Christ. Many, although was raised to be saints, prophets and witnesses of Jesus, will end up seduced by the kind of success of these heroes, and will end up looking for Jesus because decided to follow their womb (2Tim 4.3; Phil 3.18). It’s important to emphasize that the antichrist will honor a god of fortresses with gold, silver, precious stones and pleasant things (Dan 11.38).

One of the reasons of Babylon the Great is so seductive is that, although his cup is full of filth and an abomination, outside it is extremely attractive. Many shall cleave to the Great Babylon by extreme euphoria; others, by profit that she gives them (Rev 18.12-15) and by the desire to conquer what she won. This remembers what happened with the Pharisees:

 

·        "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." (Matt 23.27,28).

 

The fact of being of gold means that she cannot change (Jer 51.9). After all, gold is a material that does not degenerates. 

 

·        "And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." (Rev 17.5).

 

Great Babylon represents someone who has plunged deeply into sin after having known a high and holy standard (see Jer 3.1; Micah 1.7). She is named according to their licentious behavior of generating individuals to idolatry and immorality, as it happened with the Pharisees:

 

·        "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves." (Matthew 23.15).

 

While in the mitre of the high priest was written "Holiness to the Lord" (Exodus 18.25; 39.30) and on the forehead of 144,000 will be the name of the Eternal and His Son (Rev 14.1), on the forehead of the great Babylon there is an identification:

1 - Mystery

Mystery is characteristic of the name (and not part of the name). Indicates that the Great Babylon will be a group of believers in Jesus who have strayed and that,  instead of being united in one body by the love of Jesus, thy will unite themselves to attract, in a physical and mystical way, what their flesh wants.

While the Church is the living manifestation of Jesus and the mystery of godliness (Eph 5.31-32; Col 1.26,27; 1 Tim 3.16), Babylon the Great is the demonic possession that tormenting each other with unclean pleasures and gather them in favor of iniquity (2Thes 2.7).

The Antichrist is the man of sin, the son of perdition (2Thes 2.3; Rev 17.11), i.e., the man who encourages everyone to seek in Jesus only the things of this world (Matt 16.23; 1 Corinthians 15.19; 1 John 4.4,5).  

2 - Babylon

The name Babylon represents a direct affront to the Creator (Gen 10.8-10; 11.4). The idea came from Nimrod (Gen 10.9,10). Before him, there was no political system or religious. The society was patriarchal, i.e., the eldest of the tribe was who decided the laws that would govern, as well as what god would be worshiped.

It was with Nimrod that appeared on earth the first organized system by the man, whose goal was to bring all men together in order to reach the sky for their efforts (Gen 11.4). It was a direct perversion of the commandment of the Eternal described in Genesis 1.28, the desire to organize, both political and religious, so as to be able to, apparently, take control of everything in their hands.

Summarizing: Babylon is the marriage of political power with religious power. 

3      - Great

The term "great" has as objective to differentiate her from Babylon that arose in Mesopotamia:

 

·        She is great in extension: while the Babylon of Nimrod only ruled over part of the earth, Babylon the Great.will reach across the earth. 

·        She is great at influence: while the Babylon of Nimrod reached only the minds of individuals, Babylon the Great will achieve body, soul and spirit of all that is not of Christ.

·        She is great at corruption: while Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that the Most High ruleth over the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He wills (Dan 4.17,25), all (WITHOUT EXCEPTION) fans of the Great Babylon will never repent (Rev 9.21; 16.9,11). 

·        She is the great in the eyes of all: in virtue of her entire splendor (see Rev 18) and because, apparently, she promises to give everyone what they always wanted to: peace, security (1Thes 5.3), power, wealth.

4 - Mother

The title "mother" is a direct affront to the New Jerusalem which is from heaven, which is the mother of us all (Gal 4.26) and always will be with men (Rev 21.2). As a mother, Babylon the Great is the one who bear all the harlots and abominations.

Comes the question: what is to be a mother? Many think that the mother is one that generates the Son. This nonsense probably began to be publicized by catholic religion with the aim of divinizing Mary and gained strength with the feminist movement which aims to deify the woman.

Now, think: if a woman is capable of "generating" son, so she is a goddess, since only the Eternal has such capacity. Strictly speaking, what woman does is to receive the seed of the husband within herself and, then, allow Jesus to work in her interior (Psalms 139.13-16). The woman in nothing directly contributes to the formation of the child.

Comes the question: if this woman is the mother, who is the father of the daughters? Considering that she prostituted with the kings of the earth, so each king is the father of a girl. Each girl represents the people of your country that won’t believe completely to Jesus and that, having received within herself the seeds of the king (political concepts and values) and the seed of the woman (religious concepts and values), will become disgusting whores.

5 - Harlot

Comes the question: why is the term prostitute used (see  Isa 1.21; Jer 3.9; Ezek 16.14-18; James 4.4)?

The root of the word prostitution means "before the eyes", with a view to divert the attention and the thought of men, so that they can deliver to them their strength (Prov 31.3). One of the strategies of the prostitute is the excess of ornaments:

 

·        "And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart." (Proverbs 7.10).

 

Contrary to the attitude of the virtuous woman:

 

·        "Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:" (1 Peter 3.3-5). 

 

It isn’t in vain that the virtuous woman of Songs says:

 

·        "I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please." (Songs 2.7).

 

Men should also say the same. After All:

 

·        "For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life." (Proverbs 6.26).

 

A prostitute is a woman who seeks to attract the attention of men for themselves in order to get the best out of each one of them, whether pleasure or money.

It isn’t in vain that fornication and adultery are, throughout the Old Testament, an emblem of spiritual degeneration (although it is also a type of civil degradation).

Here, in particular, it is a married woman who has been false to her husband's bed (the false prophet), has abandoned the guide of her youth, and broken the covenant of the Eternal.

Many individuals think that prostitution is only for unmarried woman. However, from the moment that the man does not exercise its role of husband and the woman, of wife, they, in fact, are behaving like lovers, i.e., seeking to use the body of spouse to meet their desires, such as a harlot does.

Jerusalem, here, become one body with each king (1 Corinthians 6.15,16), i.e.: received within herself the pagan customs of each king, forwarded the mores of the Eternal to each king (as it gave when Israel went into captivity – 2Kings 17.28-33) and begot mixed sons from this union.

And this is not the first time that Jerusalem did this. At the time of Malachi, the people also liked to marry foreign women:

 

·        "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers? Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god. The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD of hosts." (Mal 2.10-12). - Note how Judah, not only was worshipping other gods, but marrying women who worshipped them. The other nations married Jews to corrupt the men of Judah (see the counsel of Balaam - Num 25.1,2; Num 31.16);

 

At the time of Solomon something similar happened:

 

·        "But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites." (1Kings 11.1-5).

 

Note how Solomon married with 700 women to unite Israel politically with other countries and, in the end, eventually uniting Israel with the gods of them. This will happen when Israel is driving the beast from the abyss to establish Babylon the Great:

 

·        "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." (Dan 2.43) - See how the political link in the end of times shall be made in accordance with mentioned above between Rome and Israel. 

6 - Abomination

The first thing that is abomination to the Eternal is the act of sowing strife between the brothers (Prov 6.19). 

The antichrist is also an alive abomination:

 

·        "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)" (Matt 24.15).

 

Comes the question: what do it transform someone in abomination?

 

First: any kind of sacrifice is an abomination (Prov 21.27), since it is the sacrifice of Christ who saves people. 

Second: aspire to the greatness of this world: everything that the carnal human considers large and high (and that, therefore, requires effort and sacrifice to be achieved), is an abomination before the Eternal (Luke 16.15).

Third:

 

·        "Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby." (Leviticus 11.43).

·        "Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean." (Leviticus 20.25).

·        "And when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Bethrehob, and the Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and of king Maacah a thousand men, and of Ishtob twelve thousand men." (2 Samuel 10.6)

 

Based on this, we can see that Babylon the Great will do with that each one be repulsive to his neighbor, intensifying the hatred and contempt in the hearts of each other. Hence they kill each other in the second seal (Rev 6.4).

Although the great Babylon preach ecumenism, the truth is that it does not tolerate anyone who thinks differently from her, that go against her interests. This is already in her seed: since her origin in Babel that her goal is to gather the people around her, but under her name. They are united supposedly in favor of collectivity, without realising that they are being manipulated shamelessly. In the end, what we have is each person isolated in their selfishness, but thinking that are joined together.

On the other hand, the Church of Jesus, although not accepted nothing unclean or profane, never refuses anyone who repent and convert. At first, she seems to want to isolate all discordant. However, the truth is that She isolates Herself of anything that can be a block to true unity. 

Babylon the Great accepts everything in order to isolate all in their meanness and greed; the Church only accepts what does not occupy the place of Jesus and His Church in hearts.

Furthermore, we must not forget that the beast of abyss will not respect the love of women:

 

·        Physically, he will be taking women from their homes and remove the Eternal glory of their sons (Micah 2.9);

·        Spiritually, he will raise against everything that religious institutions call god or it is object of worship (Dan 11.37; 2 Thess 2.4).

 

·        "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." (Rev 17.6).

 

To understand the expression "drunken with the blood of the saints and witnesses of Jesus", analyze the verse below:

 

·        "For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates." (Jer 46.10).

 

The effect of drinking blood is bringing exasperation and poison the soul with passion and desire for revenge. The only life that is worthy of being drunk is the Christ’s one. Try drinking any other kind of life will surely bring madness, alienation of true concepts and values and the loss of the true feeling (Eph 4.17-19).

Note how the woman was completely outside of herself for having been responsible for the death:

 

·        Of the saints: those who were separated for the exclusive use of the Eternal before Christ;

·        Of the witnesses of Jesus (see also Rev 18.24; 13.15; 16.6; Rev 6.9-10; 12.11). That is, those who have lived the life of Christ inside themselves (1John 5.9-11).

 

The woman will ingest figuratively the blood when she feel pleasure in the death of those who are of Jesus. And as the soul of the human being is how the hell that is never satisfied (Prov 27.20), the more the woman kill the followers of Christ, the more she'll want to kill. Hence Rev 18.23,24:

 

• "And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth." (Rev 18.24).

 

In addition, repair what Jesus said:

 

• "Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar." (Matt 23.34,35).

 

Jesus is saying that He would send His servants, precisely so that the members of the Great Babylon could condemn themselves, killing them.

 The Church, on the other hand, ingests the blood of Jesus (John 6.51-57) and when She feels the joy to grant the life of Christ to which the Eternal brings up to her, more pleasure She has in the beauty of holiness of Christ (Ps 29.2; 96.9).

The martyrs did not have a simply an opinion or impression that they sought to improve to can be proud and draw disciples after themselves. They believed in the truth. Somebody only fights for what is not sure (and which needs to be confirmed). What is right does not require anything to be confirmed. 

Many times we are not understanding the fight (Eph 6.10-18). Our struggle is to enter into the rest of the Eternal (Heb 4.11). When really we are deeply convinced of everything that Jesus and His Word are, we won’t not need to fight to convince anyone. The rest in our faith will speak louder than any eloquent speech and well prepared of the dictators of the world.

The Pharisees and doctors of the law, for example, believed that had take away the Prophet who tormented them that dwelt on the earth. They sealed the stone and put a guard and returned to their homes rejoicing. But after three days Jesus was resurrected. Something similar will occur when the two witnesses are prophesying.

John, when saw this, was admired with the mystery of the woman. After all, as Jerusalem, which had been the origin of Christ and His doctrine could reach this deplorable state?

To clarify this, the angel, then, explains the mystery of the woman, i.e., in which type of mystery Jerusalem is involved. This is what comes from the next verses:

 

·        "And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.  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." (Rev 17.7,8).

 

Why John was admired?

One of the things that is certainly wonder is: as a woman, usually full of fear, would be able to stride such monstrous creature. In addition, whereas the true Church is composed mainly of poor (See James 2.5), as it is possible that this woman had so lavishly dressed.

Also, how can a God who cannot see the evil and oppression cannot contemplate (Hab 1.13), have so much tolerance with her?

Those who dwell on the earth (we dwell in heaven - Eph 1.3; 2.6; Col 3.1,2) whose names are not written in the book of life will be amazed with the beast. i.e., who is not used by Jesus with certainty will be amazed with any process that can overcome everything and everyone, including the death (at least that is what everyone will think when deadly wound head turn to live again). The impression that everybody will have is that the beast is like weed: even if it is cut, will grow back. This type of admiration is not to take account of the believer.

Note that the names of individuals are already written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. It is true that some were elected to have their names blotted out (see Exo 32.32,33; Rev 3.5; Ps 69.28). Observe, however, that everything is in control of the hands of the Eternal.

 

·        "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." (Rev 17.9-11).

 

Comparing Revelation 13 with Revelation 17:

 

Revelation 13	Revelation 17
·        "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." (Rev 13.1).	·        "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." (Rev 17.3). ·        "And the angel said to me: why did you marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman and of the beast that brings, which hath the seven heads and ten horns." (Rev 17.7).
·        "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." (Rev 13.1).	·        "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." (Rev 17.3). ·        “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." (Rev 17.12).
·        "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." (Rev 13.1).	·        "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." (Rev 17.8).

 

First of all, it is important to highlight the need for wisdom to understand the book of Revelation (it isn’t for someone trying to guess which means the symbols of Revelation, but rather seek understands them).

Consider first the word mount. At first the single mount that pleases the Eternal is what He provided for a dwelling place of His house, Mount Zion (Isaiah 2.2; Rev 21.10; Isa 49:11; Dan 2.35):

 

·        "But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end." (Hab 3.6).

 

Any other mount that arise is, in fact, an affront to the Eternal and His work (Psalms 68:16,17; Isa 40:4; 41:15; 49:11; Ezek 35:2). Note as Babylon, although it has been used by the Eternal and, geographically, was a plan, spiritually it is called destroyer mount (Jer 51.25).

Mountains are also an emblem of greatness and power (see Isa 2:14; Jer 51:25; Dan 2:35).

Finally, the seven mountains are the seven possible ways of controlling the population. Also represent seven kingdoms who managed to enslave Israel with its seven hills (methods used to keep people captive), having as its main exponent one of their kings. And in Revelation 13.1, in each head was written a name of blasphemy.

 

First Head: Egypt (Ezekiel 29.1-30.26). Its main king was the pharaoh of the time of Joseph. It is true that the pharaoh of Exodus 1, seeing that Israel was more powerful, acted with cunning so that they could not see how strong they were. For this, he made use of the financial system:

 

·        "And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses." (Exodus 1.9-11).

 

May it be clear: it isn’t through the material goods, since Israel also had this ones, but through the economy, increasing taxes and causing them to become indebted. 

However, it was with Joseph that Pharaoh made a covenant (Genesis 41.39-44) precisely to take care of the economic part of the kingdom. And Joseph used the economy to make all the Egyptians slaves of Pharaoh (Gen 47.19,20).

It is also very common these days. When we go to the bank, the money that we see on the computer screen, is not what we actually possess, but rather what we and others think we have. Everything is numbers on the computer screen. This is not a real wealth, such as gold and silver, but only promises of payment that have no foundation, but only supported on assurances given by a group of people who have no acceptance before the Eternal (see 1 Corinthians 6.4).

And it is no secret that covet money enslaves the people:

 

·        "So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.” (Prov 1.19).

·        "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, o man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness." (1Tim 6.9-11).

·        "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." (1 Tim 6.17-19).

 

We must also not forget the relationship of Egypt with Israel through Joseph, which involved just the trade (Genesis 41.55-57). Detail: what Joseph did with the Egyptians was similar to what the pharaoh of Exodus did with Israel.

In short, the first front of attack is the economy.

Understanding that "blaspheme" is “to put in place of”, the best feature of Ha-Satan who tries to occupy the place of Christ in this case is the “seal of the measure" (Ezek 28.12). And the only reason for someone wanting to occupy this place is shown below:

 

·        "Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?" (Amos 8.4-6).

·        "He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress. And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin." (Hosea 12.7.8).

·        "Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable? Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?" (Micah 6.10,11).

 

This head recalls the Oholiau which met at Laodicea that was rich and affluent and without need of anything phisical (Rev 3.16).

 

Second head: Assyria (Nahum 3.1-9). Its main king was Tiglathpileser.

Assyria is characterized by technology and military power, because whenever Israel did according to Assyria was because of their military technology (2Kings 15.19,20; 16.7-9; Ezek 18.14-17; Ezek 16.28; 23.7). In particular, the agreement more scandalous, was did by king Ahaz, who had the ability to openly reject the Eternal by having already done according to Tiglathpileser, the king of Assyria (2Kings 16.7; Is 7.10-13) in favor of obtaining military apparatus against the king of Syria (2Kings 16.7).

It is quite true that sennacherib brought military conquest against Jerusalem through fear (for example, Isa 36.12-20; 37.10-13), since the Assyrian was known by the conquest of many kingdoms (Isaiah 36.19,20; 37.12,13).

However, the most striking alliance of Israel to Assyria was Tiglathpileser.

And that technology has everything to do with the military area, just think that the major technologies that arise in order, first, to improve the strategies of war.

Here, the best characteristic of Ha-Satan to occupy the place of Christ is "god of fortresses" (Dan 11.38). The Eternal, which should be the refuge, strong tower and fortress of Israel (Psalm 46.1; 61.3; 91.1; Prov 18.10), was replaced by chariots and horsemen of mighty armies (Psalms 20.7; 147.10,11).

This recalls the Oholiau which met in Smirna, which was afraid of the struggles that were to pass (Rev 2.10).

 

Third head: Babylon (Jer 50.1-51.64). Three Kings deserve to be highlighted here:

 

·        Nimrod, because it was he who founded Babylon (Gen 1.8-10);

·        Hamurabe, whose code of laws is used even today in the law;

·        Nebuchadnezzar, through which the Babylon had its greatest glory.

 

Note that, although the tower has not continued to be built, Nimrod did not abandon his idea. He consolidated Babel, which then came to be called Babylon: the colony around Babel.

Contrary to the assertions of the religious system, Babylon is a very well organized system (nothing confusing). So much so that Great Babylon is:

 

·        The mother of harlots, i.e., of the religious system;

·        The mother of the abominations of the earth, i.e., the political and legal system;

 

Before Nimrod, there wasn’t system. The people were organized by their clans (or tribes, if you prefer), where the older man was the head. He dictated the laws, judged people and determined to whom they would worship as god.

Nimrod came to standardize all of this, in order to facilitate trade (and, obviously, the exploitation of the people in the name of progress which, supposedly, would facilitate the lives of people). In fact, this progress only served to become easier to dismiss people and do not see a reason to seek in Christ an interior change.

It isn’t in vain that the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, the head of gold was Nebuchadnezzar: to maintain the unity of the empire, he wore of cunning putting foreign people in his entourage. And note that Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were placed on the business of the provinces and Daniel was in the king's gate, which shows that they are responsible for the Legal Code (Dan 2.48,49). 

Because they are foreigners, there wasn’t risk of them grow to the point of having a chance to win the attention of the citizens of Babylon and, with this, to usurp his throne. At the same time, the fact of each nation or tribe have its representative at the palace, gave them the impression that there was someone for them before the monarch.

Today, in the name of a hypocritical communion, it is sought to hold individuals in religious folds, with the excuse that, with the end of individuality, it will be possible to perform the worship of a more evenly, organized and effective way. It isn’t in vain that Paul says that the unit is in the spirit, and not in the flesh (Eph 4.3), because this unit does not take into account the limitations of each one (Matt 25.14,15), much less what the Eternal hopes to be in each individual. Everything is mechanical, empty rituals that in nothing influence the character, much less the daily life.

This unit remembers the Oholiau which met at Ephesus: full of legality, but that lost their first love (Rev 2.4).

And the best feature of Ha-Satan that tries to replace Christ here is the "human judgment":

 

·        "But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." (Matt 16.23).

 

Since the principle that Ha-Satan tried the man in this way:

 

·        "But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (Gen 3.3-5).

 

And even today the man insists on this error:

 

·        "Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another" (James 4.11,12)

·        "Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain." (1 Cor 3.18-20). 

 

And Israel was always master in make evil use of the law (and, by the way, the law given by the Creator through the ministry of angels - Acts 7.53):

 

·        "Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law? They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood." (Psalm 94.20,21).

·        "A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?" (Jer 5.30,31).

·        “The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us." (Micah 3.11)

·        "The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up." (Micah 7.2,3)

 

Fourth head: Média-Pérsia (Dan 8.3-7,20-22; 10.13; 11.2). Its main king  was Cyrus. He made a covenant with the Israelites (Ezra 1.2-4) with a view to offer Israel natural resources to rebuild the temple. The fact of having been symbolized by the bear in Daniel (Dan 7.5) and mentioned their conquests (in Isaiah 45.1-3), reveal the strength of the empire in achieving natural resources. Note that was by force that the peoples, during the reign of Média-Pérsia, prevented the Israelites rebuild the temple (Ezra 4.23,24).

It was also by force that the kings of Média-Pérsia forced the people to help the Israelites in rebuilding the temple, with natural resources,  (Ezra 6.6-12; 7.14-24).

Without counting the king Ahasuerus who made a feast of one hundred and eighty days to display the riches of the glory of his kingdom, and the splendour of his excellent greatness (Esther 1.4).

This recalls the Oholiau which met in Philadelphia, since, although they had little strength, yet kept the word of the Creator (Rev 3.8).

Here, the best characteristic of Ha-Satan that fits is "god of riches (Mammon - Matt 6.24)." And Israel was eager for wealth:

 

·        "For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth." (Micah 6.12).

·        "For they know not to do right, saith the LORD, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces." (Amos 3.10).

·        "There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof." (Ezekiel 22.25)

·        "Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation." (Mark 12.40)

·        "Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation." (Luke 20.47) 

 

Quinta head: Greece (Dan 14). Its main king is not mentioned in Holy Scripture (the story says that it is Alexander the Great, who is the notable horn of Daniel 8.8. However, as the Holy Scripture does not mention his name, it is best to leave blank). Perhaps because all were so attached to the wisdom that it was not necessary to highlight one. Certainly one of these kings made a covenant with Israel with the aim to grant them wisdom.

The Greeks are known to extol the wisdom (1 Corinthians 1.22). It isn’t secret that everything in life is influenced by our way of seeing (hence the Jews seek signal, because, like Thomas, they didn’t see that more happy are those who believe without needing the approval of its fleshly limitation to this - John 20.29) and understand things. Both was the influence of Greece that Jesus is called the Alpha (first letter of the Greek alphabet) and Omega (last letter of the Greek alphabet), as that showing everyone that it is in Him that are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2.3). There is no true wisdom that has not departed from Jesus, much less that does not lead to Him.

We must never rely on human wisdom to solve the problems, but in the power of the Eternal (1 Corinthians 4.19,20). In fact, until the preaching of the Word of the Eternal cannot be supported in the sublimity of words, but in  His power (1Cor 2.4,5).

Without Jesus, wisdom only serves as a tool to keep the minds of individuals arrested by mistake and the worse: thinking that are pleasing to the Eternal only because they satisfy the logic of this world. They forget that the wisdom of man, in addition to animal, demonic and earthly (James 3.15), is foolishness before the Eternal (1 Cor 3.18-20).

This recalls the Oholiau which met in Pergamum, full of doctrines whose sole purpose was to lead to the award of Balaam those who love the goods of this world (2Pet 2.15; Jude 11; Rev 2.14).

Here the best characteristic of Ha-Satan to steal the place of Christ is "the god of this world" (2Cor 4.4). Ha-Satan fell, first of all, because of the beauty of his wisdom:

 

·        "Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. " (Ezek 28.17).

 

The fall of the human being started by the pursuit of wisdom out of the Creator:

 

·        "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." (Genesis 3.6).

 

Edom and Tyro fell because of this:

 

·        "The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?" (Obadiah 1.3).

·        "With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: by thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:” (Ezek 28.4-5). 

 

And it was in the reign of king Solomon, the wisest king of Israel according to the world, that Israel was filled with temple to the pagan gods:

 

·        "For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods." (1Kings 11.5-8).

 

Sixth head: Rome. Its main king was Caesar (so much so that the religious leaders preferred to have Him as king in place of Jesus - John 19.25). Through the politics they established agreements, so as to deceive them with the idea that they were free, and thus had rights, as well as the possibility to grow toward what they wanted (hence Herod reforming the temple of Ezra). Note as a centurion was deemed worthy to receive something of the Eternal through Jesus simply because he built a synagogue (Luke 7.4,5). The religious leaders of Israel did political alliance with the Romans in exchange to be able to stay in the local political power (John 11.48).

In addition, it is worth remembering the political agreement that the Antichrist will do with the Israelites (Dan 9.27).

But how, if the body of the fourth animal of Daniel was destroyed (Dan 7.11)? Of Rome only left the ten horns. However, through the marriage of Israelite leaders (clay - Jer 18.6) with the Papacy (Rome - Iron), will be generated ten kings (Dan 2.41-43) and, through them, it will raise the antichrist.

In this marriage, the husband (Rome) ends up being led by a woman (Israel), even though the woman being the weakest part (which is consistent with 1 Peter 3.7).

It is quite true that Rome was characterized by its high destructive power, capable of doing everything in pieces (Dan 2.40). However, your relationship with Israel was primarily political. Only in the year 70 A.D. is that general Titus invaded Jerusalem and did everything in pieces, fulfilling the prophecy of Jesus (Matthew 24.2).

This recalls the Oholiau of Thyatira which was being manipulated by Jezebel (Rev 2.20).

Here, the best characteristic of Ha-Satan that fits is  the harlot Jezebel (imperative):

 

·        "How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;" (Ezek 16.30).

 

Israel started badly from the moment that they wanted to be like other nations, instead of having the Eternal as their king):

 

·        "Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; that we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles." (1Sam 8.19,20).

 

This has worsened with Solomon that, to make political alliance, merried princesses:

 

·        "But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart." (1Kings 11.1-3).

 

From there, Israel began to elect kings without consulting the Creator:

 

·        "And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up." (Hosea 8.4).

 

Finally, Jerusalem became master in prostitute themselves (either physically or with other gods, or both) to establish political alliances, especially with a view to military protection:

 

·        "Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger. Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way. Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied. Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith." (Ezek 16.26-29).

·        "She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men." (Ezek 23.12).

 

And there won’t be different when Jesus is going to come again:

 

·        "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." (Dan 2.43).

 

In other words, what we have here is Jezebel’s spirit acting in women, encouraging them to seduce men to pervert their heart (as given in Num 25.1,2) and induce them to:

 

·        Establish alliances that has nothing to do with the Creator;

·        Prostitute and, with this, infect them with its imundíces, so that they come to worship other gods;

 

As an example, we have the feminist movement which seeks to use women to control men, directly or in the shadows, as occurred with Jezebel.

 

Seventh Head: Israel. Its main king will be the antichrist, which will make an alliance with the religious leaders of Israel for seven years (Dan 9:24-27) in favor of their religion: rebuilding the temple and restoration of Jewish worship.

See who the Holy Scripture makes reference to him:

 

·        “And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.” (Ezek 21.25,26).

 

 

Here you must pay close attention. The Antichrist is not the beast from the sea, but only one of their heads (the seventh). However, the eighth king is not only a head (even because the beast hasn’t eight heads), but the whole beast. 

The eighth king is not “one of the seven", but "is of the seven", that is, he will aggregate to himself the power and influence of the seven previous kings, including the characteristic of the Antichrist to be the man of sin, having as a father the perdition (2Thes 2.3-8). 

Detail: The expression "son of perdition" is only used for the antichrist and Judas (John 17.12). He was the son of perdition because it was through him that Jesus was handed over to religious authorities (leading to society for far from Jesus). The Antichrist will be the son of perdition also because he is the one who will lead the society to well away from Jesus (after all, he will try to occupy the place of Messiah).

To be more precise: the beast rising  from the sea is not an individual, but the monstrosity that arises when people try to govern this world without the Eternal. The beast from the sea is the fierce world government (tyrant) which aims to govern everything and everyone by virtue of fear (see Heb 2.14,15). Babylon the Great will add to this the power of seduction of the pleasures of this world intensified by demonic possession that will make the person feel a pleasure beyond any imagination.

She will sit on the seven powers of this world (seven hills) or, if you prefer, she will make use of all of them to make your lure more wide and sensual. It does not control such powers, but access is granted to all of them. In other words, her wine is composed of what the world has to offer, plus the way to empower the flesh to reach the extreme of pleasure through it.

When the seventh head (the Antichrist) is battered to death (Rev 13.3), the angel of the bottomless pit shall possess the body of antichrist (simulating a false resurrection, which will enable people to believe even more that he was the promised Messiah, because he will be simulating what Jesus did) and aggregate to himself all the power of the seven heads and ten horns, coming to be "the beast that ascendes from the abyss". And as Israel is the seventh head, now Israel will be considered as the whole beast (hence say that the beast "was", "is not", but "will come").

 To be more exact, the angel of the bottomless pit will be everything that beast from the sea is, but only once and so intensified by the whole efficacy of Ha-Satan (2Thes 2.9).

It is quite true that only Jesus is the one who has the key of death and hell, He is the resurrection and the Life (John 11.25). So any resurrection is impossible to occur without Christ:

 

·        "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." (Rev 1.18).

·        "And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." (Rev 5.6).

 

But the apparent resurrection of antichrist (seventh head) is enough to let the people amazed (Rev 13.3).

Detail: in the pains of childbirth which prepare for the regeneration, there is also earthquakes and disturbances by means of which the antichrist rises to power ("sea", Rev 13.1; Mark 13.8; Luke 21.9-11).

Israel is characterized by religion, because from the prophets of Jerusalem the profaneness go out throughout the earth (Jer 3.9; 23.15).

This head recalls the Oholiau of Sardis, which had a name that lived (in virtue of countless works practiced), but it was dead in trespasses and sins (Eph 2.1,2). His works were not just in front of the Eternal, but mere religious ritualism.

The best feature of Ha-Satan to try the place of Christ here is the baals (idolatry, the work of the hands):

 

·        “Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy." (Hosea 14.3).

·        "They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: they have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them." (Ps 115.5-8).

 

The order was that the memory of them was cleared of heaven:

 

·        "Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: and ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place." (Deuteronomy 12.2,3)

 

The real work of the Creator is not what we can do for Him, but what He did and wants to do for all of us and through us.

See how everything fits harmoniously:

 

·        Five kings had fallen at the time of John: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece;

·        A king existed at the time of John: Rome.

·        Another king was not yet come: the antichrist. 

·        The beast was and is not, and yet will come: at the time of John Israel no longer existed as a nation. Once, he had existed and was a great empire at the time of Solomon (1Kings 4.21-28) and came to appear in 1948.

 

Finally, the seven heads are seven mountains that allow someone to obtain the control world, which also has connections with the seven world empires that made agreement with Israel, namely:

 

Mounts	Empire	King exponent	Church	The name of blasphemy
Economy (trade)	Egypt	Pharaoh of the time of Joseph	Laodicea	Seal of the measure (Ez 28.12)
Technology and military power	Assyria	Tiglathpileser	Smirna	God of fortresses (Dan 11.38)
Laws (legal system)	Babylon	Nebuchadnezzar	Ephesus	Human judgment (Jas 4.11,12)
Natural Resources	Media-Persia	Ciro	Philadelphia	Mammon (Matt 6.24)
Communication (wisdom)	Greece	-	Pergamos	The god of this world (2Cor 4.4)
Politics	Rome	Caesar	Thyatira	Jezebel (Rev 2.20)
Religion	Israel	Antichrist	Sardis	Baalim

 

The woman, Jerusalem (Great Babylon), is seated on these seven mountains, i.e., she will uphold herself on these seven things that are under the control of the beast from the abyss, which until the end of the seventieth week will be if favor of her.

The fundamental characteristic of the reign of the antichrist is that it will last for a short time (seven years), will rise from the bottomless pit and go to perdition (hence be called Son of Perdition - 2Thess 2.3).

Abyss is a word used to designate deposit of groundwater (Gen 7.11), depths of the seas (Ps 107.26), vast amounts of water when the world was being formed (Gen 1.2; Prov 8.27) and also the abyss that stays between the bosom of Abraham and the hell in the world of the dead (Psalms 88.11; Rom 10.7; Luke 16.26). The impression is that this abyss is full of water.

Indeed, it isn’t in vain that the beast rising  from the abyss is thrown alive into the lake that burn with fire and brimstone. After all, she came out of the abyss and, therefore, remained only the final judgment. She leaves the perdition (abadom) and go to perdition (confirming Psalms 42.7; Rom 11.16, where everything that begins well ends well and everything that starts badly ends badly).

There is a doubt: why the false prophet is also thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone instead of going to hell, like all the others? Why he is the living blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matt 12.31,32).

While the beast in which this woman is seated had a name of blasphemy in each head at Rev 13.1, this  beast is full of names of blasphemy (Rev 17.3). That is to say: the contact with the woman has multiplied the name of blasphemy in the beast. To be more accurate: those who gave conditions for the beast from the abyss blaspheme was Jerusalem (Jeremiah 23.15), such as Balaam, although knew the Lord, he taught Balak to put a stumbling block for Israel to prostitute and idolize (Rev 2.14).

See what is common in the fall of kings:

 

·        "And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven." (Ezek 29.5); 

·        "Thus saith the LORD; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord GOD." (Ezek 30.6);

·        "And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground." (Isaiah 21.9).

 

Furthermore, the beast from the sea and from the abyss also had seven heads and ten horns, as the dragon (Rev 12.3). The only difference is that, while the crowns (crowns) are in the seven heads of the dragon, they will be in the ten horns of the beast.

This difference is due to the fact that, while throughout the history of mankind, the kings, enthroned per Ha-Satan, made use of cunning to manipulate people, the beast from the abyss chooses to worship the forces (Dan 9.44), thinking that is by force that gets the control of everything.

This can be seen in:

 

·        "And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land." (Exodus 1.9,10).

·        See how Sennacherib, through Rabshakeh, tries to discourage the king Hezekiah (2Kings 18 and 19).

·        See the alliances made by the Kings of Babylon (Dan 2.48,49), Media-Persia (Esther 10.1) and Rome with Israel (John 19.25);

·        Not to mention that the antichrist is known to be a master of intrigues and, through this, rises to power (Dan 8.23-25; 11.21).

·        And don't think that the Greeks were left out. They, with their "wisdom", simply influenced the culture of the whole world, including Israel (analyze 1Cor 1.22).

 

Even though all these kingdoms wear the military might (or will use, in the case of the antichrist), what kept them in power was and will be the sagacity.

 

·        "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." (Rev 17.12).

 

They are not kings, but ye shall receive power as kings (not as presidents, emperors, shahs, sultans, prime ministers, etc., but as kings). Note how these ten receive this type of power together with the beast (until then, they will only have partial power – will be partly strong, and partly broken) during one hour, i.e., at the end of the seventieth week, when they destroy the whole Babylon the Great (the beast from the sea + woman mounted on it).

These kings are ten of the thirteen families of international bankers richest in the world.

At the moment, they are just behind the scenes, using the governments as puppet. When the time comes to elect the antichrist, ten of the thirteen families will choose a puppet and will be crowned like Kings with the beast.

However, the false prophet will take grudge against three of them (Dan 7.20), and the other three families who were outside will occupy the place of the three that will be overturned.

 

·        "These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast." (Rev 17.13). 

 

These ten kings, then, give all his power and authority in the hands of the puppet of them.

 

·        "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." (Rev 17.14). 

 

The conquerer’s characteristics:

 

·        Who wins? The Lamb is the winner, and not the beast. That is, it isn’t the appearance or the carnal power which determines the victory. Jesus wins, not as a lion, but as a lamb;

·        Why He wins? Because He is the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev 19.16; Dan 2.47). Jesus will triumph, not because of what He will do, but by being who He is: The Supreme Being. The human being is always struggling to win simply because he wants to occupy the place of others, being what they are not. Each one is to overcome in the mission that the Eternal appointed for them.

·        With whom He wins? Those who are called:

o   Elected: they were chosen by Him for what He wants;

o   Faithful: those in which the faithfulness of Christ makes them dedicated and zealous in relation to the Eternal and His desire for them.

The soldiers of this world does not engage in war for the sake of justice and truth, but for sordid and antic reasons.

 

Someone would think that an army of lambs headed by a lamb could never prevail against an army of wolves headed by a monstrous beast inspired by a great red dragon. However, it is good to remember that Jesus is meek, not because of men, but because of the Eternal. He is not weak and tender as a lamb when it refers to compliance to the plan of the Eternal.

 

·        "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." (Isaiah 53.7)

 

A Lamb, and yet, the King of kings and Lord of Lords. It seems a paradox. How is this possible?

 

1.     By right and authority: He is the Son of man, but also the Son of the Eternal (Psalms 2.1,2);

2.     By virtue of his sacrifice;

3.     By the power of meekness: meekness is power, sacrifice is sovereignty, losing life is win it (Matt 10.39), the cross produces crown.

4.     By His pure consciousness (Rom 2.15).

5.     By the grace that He bestows upon His people. By patience, they are able to silence the enemy (Titus 2.8; 1 Peter 3.16).

6.     For what His presence makes in the life of His people (see Phil 4.1; 1Thes 2.19).

 

 

As the Lamb is, by law, the King of kings and Lord of lords (Dan 2.47; Rev 19.16; Deut 10.17; 1 Tim 6.15), even in His humble and suffering appearance, He wins. This is to teach us that the victory comes not by the multitude of strength and power (Ecc 9.11), but by the favor of Jesus for us (Zech 4.6). Who has the authority of Christ (Matt 28.18), that is, it is with Him, can go between the wolves as lamb (Matt 10.16) that is already more than winner (Rom 8.37; Prov 16.7). The Favor of Jesus is superior to all power of the enemy.

 

·        "And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." (Rev 17.15). 

 

As Ha-Satan conceals the things of the Eternal, he placed his great harlot (beast from the abyss more woman) on many waters, such as the Eternal is seen sat on the flood (Psalms 29.10):

 

·        "The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever." (Psalm 29.10).

 

This is what composes the waters where the Great Harlot is seated:

 

·        People -> individuals who identify themselves with a nation;

·        Crowds -> Set of several tribes living independently in a nation where they are;

·        Nations -> Each country, as a legal person;

·        Languages -> Each form of existent communication.

 

·        "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." (Rev 17.16).

 

As to the fact of this woman have been burned, it is a legal punishment:

 

·        "And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire." (Leviticus 21.9)

 

The thought of eating this type of meat is taken from the testament of the law:

 

·        "When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell." (Psalm 27.2).

·        "Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron." (Micah 3.3).

·        "And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean." (Isaiah 17.4).

 

And this is what this means:

 

·        "And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them. Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it." (Ezek 11.5-7).

 

That is, they killed the individuals to feed themselves of what they were and had.

In half of the seventieth week, the Eternal will allow the beast that ascendeth abyss destroy and burned many houses and their residents (all who support rigidly the Israelite system of worship). 

 

·        "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)  then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!" (Matthew 24.15-19).

·        "Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city." (Zechariah 14.1-2).

 

When this is about to happen the Eternal will give his ultimatum to the faithful of Israel:

 

·        "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." (Rev 18.4).

 

Only be in what's left of Jerusalem those who recognize the antichrist as god (Dan 11.39), and this under bondage. Those who do not recognize will be taken into captivity. However, the Eternal will save His faithful:

 

·        "Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee." (Zech 14.3-5).

·        "And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth." (Rev 12.14-16).

·        "And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven." (Rev 11.13)

 

He will make the earth opened its mouth to swallow the army of the beast from the abyss, i.e., send an earthquake that will make the Mount of Olives split into two parts (to the east and to the west) in order that the elect have where to escape. While they are escaping, He moves one of the halves of the mountain to the north and the other half to the south, which will cause the downfall of many stones which will inhume the army of the beast from the abyss.

In this great earthquake seven thousand will die, and the tenth part of Jerusalem will fall.

In this period, Jerusalem will be habitation of demons (Rev 18.2).

In the end, the seventieth week, the Eternal, then, will ordain the shedding of the seventh bowl, which will bring a large earthquake that divides Jerusalem in three parts:

 

·        "And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath." (Rev 16.18,19).

 

After the earthquake, there will be plague, death, sorrow and hunger for those who still remained in Jerusalem:

 

·        “Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her." (Rev 18.8).

 

After so many pests (six vials), the beast that rises from the abyss and the ten horns will be disgusted with everything that somehow has a relationship with the Creator, and for this reason, they will make a complete destruction of Jerusalem, as well as all the religious-political system existing in the world:

 

·        "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." (Rev 17.16).

 

It is the beast from the abyss wanting to be God:

 

·        "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." (2Thes 2.4).

 

Repair as the own allies (lovers) of Jerusalem are responsible for her destruction (as you can see in Ezek 16.37; 23.25-30;  Hosea 2.3). Although the beast and the ten kings seem to be in favor of her, deep inside they hate her (see Prov 23.7).

By worldly power of Rome, Jerusalem crucified Jesus; by this same power Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. The prostitution of Israel to Assyria and Babylon resulted in be taken into captivity by them. Similarly, Israel, when support themselves in Egypt, which is a broken reed, they ended up pierced by the Egypcians and, finally, Egypt was punished.

Similarly, the Israelites apostates will begin ruling the world by means of the beast from the abyss and end up being destroyed by the eighth king who took account of this same beast.

When the time of definitive falling come, the great Babylon (Jerusalem) will be destroyed once and for all.

After this, the beast of the abyss will mobilise all nations to overwhelm once with all the followers of Christ who are in the valley of Jehoshaphat (also called the valley of decision or Armageddon), since it is thereto that the “one third” will flee:

 

·        "For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,  I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land." (Joel 3.1,2).

 

Understand: the other two thirds will be extirpated: part of the half that was to captivity and half that remained in the city (Zechariah 14.2). The remaining one-third is being passed through the fire of persecution by the beast that rises from the abyss:

 

·        "And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God." (Zechariah 13.8,9).

 

When there are no more escape, Jesus will come with all the saints (Zechariah 14.5):

 

·        “... and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee." (Zechariah 14.5).

 

When the time comes to an end, nothing could save Babylon the Great:

 

·        "And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!" (Rev 18.16).

·        "And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah." (Jer 51.64).

 

Lastly, Jerusalem:

 

·        It will be naked because all sacred rituals which were made, as well as the temple, will be destroyed. All finally will see that all that prosperity was misleading. Her spirituality was empty and useless.

·        It will be desolate because she’ll be totally destroyed, burned in the fire, coming to be desolate;

·        It will have her flesh eaten because will be devastated such wealth that she acquired (Rev 18.8,16; see Ps 14:4; 27:2; Jer 10:25; Mic 3:2,3) and her residents will be dropped dead by their streets and fields (see Rev 19.17,18).

 

Comes the question: why does the beast and the ten horns will hate the woman (Jerusalem), to the point of making such cruelty with her (even more considering the profit which she will give - see Rev 18.3,9-11)? Because the desire to directly control the all is greater. They do not rely on anything or anyone but themselves. They want to control all in order to make sure that nobody will disturb their interests, nor consume natural resources they so badly need. They want to be gods, to the point of deciding even who should die (in order to reduce the consumption of natural resources) and who has permission to live (those who are subjected without reservations to accept all their impositions and limitations).

 

·        "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." (Rev 17.17). 

 

The ten horns have external power, but they cannot, through this, to control the whole world population. It is necessary the ability, the subtlety, wisdom, which are found only in the spiritual realm. It is there that the woman enters: it is she who controls and guides the beast to achieve this goal. 

However, at the end of the seventieth week, the ten horns, not wanting any kind of interference (whether physical or spiritual), deliver all your power to the beast from the abyss and destroy every source of power. 

With the end of all political and religious power, for one hour, the beast from the abyss will proclaims himself god and emperor of the world, and absolutely will reign in this world. His will is one: exterminate Jesus and all that He represents in this world. Thus, they will call everyone to persecute the followers of Christ. After an hour Jesus will come, and then, all people of the world will fight directly against Him.

It is clear that who will rebel are the ten horns, which were not kings on earth, but will receive power as kings by one hour. Those who really are kings of the earth will not rebel against her, but bemoan her fall. 

And the detail is that all this is plan of the Eternal.

 

·        "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way." (2Thes 2.7).

 

When the right time comes, the Eternal, which now resists to the domain of the beast, will support him. Note that the ten kings gives the beast his kingdom so that the intent of the Eternal is fulfilled, in order that all His words be fulfilled. That is, many times, to go against the evil that takes account of this world is, in fact, to go against the own Eternal.

But why the Eternal does this? He has ordained the full political support of the ten kings to the beast from the abyss, because by so doing, the Eternal grants the world exactly what they want: a religion and rulers without mercy and without the true God and His Word.

May this be clear: The Eternal does not impose a feeling; only allows each one to be delivered to the desires of their heart" (Rom 1.28).

Detail: the deeds of the wicked, even when performing the Eternal’s purposes, do not bring joy to themselves. Only the righteous rejoice (Rev 18.20).

 

·        "And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." (Rev 17.18).

 

Initially, the woman is in the horns of the second beast that had horns like a lamb, i.e., which will have a form of godliness. After she is seen as an extremely seductive woman leading the beast that rises from the abyss. 

This woman, who should have Jesus as husband, will prefer to marry the beast from the abyss and prostitute with the kings of the earth:

 

·        Use politics and diplomacy;

·        Make flesh her arm (Jer 17.5);

·        Search in worldly powers, protection against threats (see Isa 30.1-3, 31.1-3).

·        Use profane things for holy purposes and vice versa;

·        Spread he domain by means of the sword, commerce, communication, religion, politics, technology, etc.;

·        Fascinate individuals by means of extremely sensual rituals (for example: dances, ecstatic songs, etc.);

·        Become lady of ceremony for dignitaries of the world;

·        Flatter princes and individuals;

 

Raking one thing with another, in spite of her sexy and attractive appearance, inside she is a hellish beast. Because of this she has no fear of the beast: she is a sensual, but furious, restless beast (Prov 7.11).

What is the city that dominates over the kings of the earth? Note that there is no restriction, which means that it is all the kings of the earth. Rome, nor any other city, until today, ruled over all the kings of the earth.

Soon, this is a prophecy not yet fulfilled. It is true that John speaks in the present. However, it is good to remember that John was not simply having a vision, but "it was taken in the spirit" (Rev 17.15) until the day on which all this it is to fulfill. That is to say, the present, to John, is the end of the seventieth week.

And what is the city that will dominate the hearts and minds of all the kings of the earth? With certainty is Jerusalem. Although Israel is a small country with relatively few natural wealth (compared with other countries), yet Nebuchadnezzar was keen to put his army to besiege Jerusalem nearly a year and a half (Jer 52.4-6).

Apart from Rome, who made a point of making agreement with Israel, even to the point of Herod to come to spend forty-six years rebuilding the temple of Jerusalem and strive to make a splendid construction (John 2.20) and a centurion build a synagogue for the Israelites (Luke 7.2-5).

Even when Titus invaded Jerusalem in 70 A.D., think: Why did the emperor of Rome would make such a question to undertake such destruction, unless they considered the rebellion of the Israelites a terrible threat to them?

You can question: but when John had the visions of revelation (about 90 A.D.) Jerusalem was razed. Yes, but everything that she has been in the past was impregnated in everyone's mind. Think on the persecution of Rome against the followers of the Eternal.

And today, then? Note how Israel is part of the costly news of the media? Israel is at the center of all international negotiations.

And in the future, when the whole Revelation be fulfilled, Israel will be the main seat of government and religion in the world.