Revelation 18: Babylon the Great, The Merchant Port City

   Babylon the Great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His  fierce wrath...  

   Revelation 17 begins with an interlude; a pause from the events of the great tribulation. One of the seven angels with one of the seven bowls arrives to show John why Babylon was singled out for judgement: Rev 16:19b; 17:1-3. John is taken into the wilderness, a barren and desolate desert, where he sees a woman dressed in scarlet and purple, adorned with the riches of the world carried upon seven heads of a scarlet beast. The scarlet beast reeks of blasphemy - blasphemous men and women who mock the God of heaven, blaspheming his name, his tabernacle and those in heaven: R 13:6, while they worship a false and malicious god: R 13:4a. 

   The woman sits upon many waters - many peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues, while she sits upon the seven heads, that belong to the ten horned beast, demonstrating her ruling power over the kings of the earth. She is drunk on persecution and death, and the golden cup in her hand  is full of vile and abominable things. The name written on her forehead:  Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth; indicates an allegiance to the beast that carries her: Babylon the Great. The angel identifies the woman as that great city, who rules over the kings of the earth. 

   John also witnessed a plot of vengeance, a conspiracy, organized by ten crowned horns / ten kings who rose from the head of the beast; placing the fourth beast kingdom of ten horns, into the time of tribulation: Daniel 2:44; 7:7-25. The fourth beast is a combined force of three previous beast kingdoms which ruled the middle east: the lion, the bear and the leopard: Daniel 7:7,19; Revelation 13:2a. 

   After John is shown all these things, a second angel comes down from heaven having great power and, lightens the earth with his glory: Rev 18:1. John is not taken in the spirit,  when the second angel arrives, indicating that John and the first angel with one of the seven bowls, are still in the wilderness, where the beast, and the woman are located: Rev 17:3. 

The Image and the Mark: Revelation 13:11-17

   Which comes first, the baby or the birth pains? Any mother will tell you, that birth pains arrive before the baby does. What we are witnessing, is the rise of global birth pains; wars and threats of wars, famines and earthquakes, the beginning of sorrows - the birth pains that precede the baby's arrival. The baby represents the birth of a new era; the second coming of Christ Jesus. 

   The same logic applies to the image and the mark. You can not have the mark without the image. The image must be in existence before the mark is enforced. Just as the birth pains come before the baby, the image comes before the mark. 

   So, where is it? 

   We often hear about how 'this or that' is the mark of the beast. It's a barcode, a jab, A.I., a microchip, digital I.D., Sunday law, a fingerprint, an eye scan, cell phones, a brain implant, an electronic pill.... If 'this and that' is the 'mark of the beast', then, where is the image? What is it and, when was submission to an image required to make everyday purchases? 

Idols of Gold and Silver: Revelation 9:20-21

   And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

 

   These two verses sum up the events following the sixth trumpet judgement, focusing on the unrepentant state of a godless population. The two-thirds 2/3 who are still alive after one-third 1/3 of the population is killed: (Rev 9:13-19), flock to the altar of self-indulgence to worship the Babylon gods of gold, silver, brass, wood and stone. 

   Mankind has turned primal; driven to madness by the demons they worship. They commit mass murders, and are addicted to potions of mind-altering drugs. They remain unrepentant of their evil works: murders, wicked acts of fornication, thefts and sorceries. Sorceries is a translation from the Greek word; pharmakōn - drugs: toxins and poisons used with spirit channeling, demon summoning and spell-binding. Wickedness rules a world where lawlessness abounds.  

Revelation 13 Rise of the False Prophet

Beast Out of the Earth: The False Prophet: 

   The beast out of the earth represents the religion or, religious system of the first beast; the beast out of the sea.  

   The beast out of the sea is a kingdom, specifically recognized by ten kings, and the eleventh king; the little horn or, antichrist. The beast out of the earth is the religion or religious system of the first beast, recognized by its false form of religion - the power of the 'false prophet'. The beast out of the earth (clay) has the same power of the first beast: the beast out of the sea.

   During the tribulation period, the beast kingdom (iron) relies on its religious system (clay) as it seizes world power. This religious system  is governed by the sorcerer, the false prophet. This is the religious system that is filled with enmity, attacking Israel and those who have the testimony of Christ Jesus: R 12:17. 

   False prophet is from the Greek 5578: ψευδοπροφητης - pseudoprophétés, to prophesize falsely, a medium. This should come as no surprise, as the beast out of the earth, speaks the words of the red dragon: the murderer, the father of lies: Genesis 3:15; Revelation 13:11; John 8:44. The false prophet works as a religious cheerleader, promoting the authority of the first beast; the kingdom which rises from the depths of the abyss, and its king; the little horn. 

   The false prophet is a high priest, a sorcerer, the master magician who rules in the kings court, performing great signs and wonders, deceiving those who dwell upon the earth. These signs and wonders are nothing new, as they had been practiced for thousands of years by sorcerers and magicians, throughout the post-flood Mesopotamia. The courts of the Kings, along with the palaces of the Pharaohs, were filled with false prophets: magicians, sorcerers, seers, diviners, enchanters and necromancers; working in service to their kings. 

   This is what the false prophet represents; a medium, a master magician working in service to the king and, his kingdom. 

Hermeneutics - Bible Interpretation 101

Bible Interpretation 101:

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” – Proverbs 27:17

   I recently watched an outstanding teaching by Mondo Gonzales from Prophecy Watchers entitled "Walking into the Antichrist's Trap." While I listened, I noticed a consistent pattern of Hermeneutics concerning Israel, the future covenant and the role of antichrist in the end of days. He flawlessly weaved prophecy together in harmony with scripture; intertwining Daniel with Revelation in unity. This is how interpretive scripture works.

   I had done an independent study on the 'principles of Hermeneutics' eons ago, so I dug out those old notes, and walked down memory lane. These principles had guided my studies of prophecy, which has been ongoing for nearly four decades. I investigate, analyze and scrutinize prophetic scripture, always have, always will. The most amazing thing with this method of interpretation is, the more you analyze and scrutinize, the more the Bible reveals. 

   When studying prophecy, “I think" or, "I believe" is a great way to begin a brainstorming session or, in-depth study in a group setting, but, they are not proper biblical hermeneutical principles.

  Hermeneutics is a big word for a simple principle; it is the theory and methodology of interpretation; the 'how' of interpretation. It is based upon scripturally sound interpretation; not assumptions or, general beliefs that lack proof or scriptural support - scripture interprets scripture. 

Seed of the Serpent Genesis 3:15

And, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it (the seed) shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15.

   Year's ago, Pentecostal minister, William Branham took this verse and added to it, falsely teaching that Satan had impregnated Eve with the seed of Cain. Though it has no biblical basis, it began a series of Bible awareness surrounding the seed of Satan. 

   The mention of the serpents seed is in Genesis 3:15, suggests that there are two seeds; a good seed, and a bad seed. Enmity is placed between the woman's seed and the bad seed, purposely causing a divide. Enmity is a deep seated hatred or hostility, between individuals or people groups, centered around the sovereignty of God, and the divinity of Christ Jesus. This represents an age old conflict between good and evil; a spiritual battle of sin and rebellion, and obedience to God. 

   In the Bible we find a stark contrast between two kingdoms; the kingdom of God: righteousness, purity and light, and the kingdom of the Serpent: deception, darkness, evil.  This spiritual division wrestles for the soul of man.  The seed of man is the soul; and every seed has its own body. The seed of the woman  defines the division between the two kingdoms.