Hello, and welcome to the Takeaway, where we teach through the Bible, chapter by chapter and verse by verse, to help you understand God's Word so that you can have a more intimate relationship with Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Hello, welcome again to the takeaway. I'm your host, Pastor Harry Barns, and in today's episode, we're going to be looking at Revelation chapter 17, the judgment of the false religious system of the world. Something to take note of as we read this chapter is that this judgment does not happen after the events of the previous chapter covering the bold judgments. This is yet again another description of a judgment that happened during the tribulation period. John is once again going back to describe events that have already happened with further detail. We know from chapter 16 that God's judgments are now completed because he told us he was done. So this can't be an event that happens after that. Just as we have seen throughout this book, John takes pauses to give us further details. The judgment of this religious system is completed, and now we will see how it was completed. One thing we need to realize is that God despises imitations or anything that takes away from his glory. Every single false religion will eventually come to an end, leaving only the truth standing. That truth is that Jesus is Lord, his kingdom is coming, and will be set up at the end of the age. Starting in verse one, then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Now notice that the angel talks in past tense, indicating this judgment was already completed. Again, we are just being given the details of that judgment and the purpose of it. The big question is obviously who is the harlot? The answer to that question, I believe, will become clear as we go through this chapter. So please bear with me as we unravel this information being given to us, and the truth will become clearer. The many waters indicates tribes, tongues, and nations, as we have previously discussed in prior chapters, and we'll see in verse 15 also. This lets us know something very important about this harlot. She has infiltrated the whole world and in one way or another has influenced every nation to believe a lie. In verse 2, we see the kings of the world committed fornication with her. The idea here is that they were seen as being a part of this religious system, but their real motive was to manipulate the world by being associated with her. They don't necessarily believe what she taught, but they saw the influence she had, so they made it to look like they were with her, as to get people to like them and trust them. Next, we see the inhabitants of the world were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. This points to deception and corruption. We have all seen the movies where a corrupt, beautiful woman entices the gullible man with alcohol and promises to make his fantasies come true. Once he is drunk, she takes advantage of him to steal his money, information, or blackmail him to destroy him and get whatever it is she wants. In the end, the man is destroyed and the woman gets what she wants without ever giving up what she originally promised. The same thing is happening here to the world. They are being promised something from this false religious system that makes them really believe they are doing what God wants. And in the end, the system is just using them to get what it wants. No doubt it's money and power, as that is always the motivator behind deception. Can you think of any religious system that fits that description? Maybe you have been deceived yourself, and now you have doubts or a lack of trust for any religion. If that's the case, you're exactly where Satan wants you. If he can get you to doubt God, then he has you looking away from God. My hope is to help you see the truth so that you can enter into the relationship God wants with you and realize it was never about a religious system in the first place. Moving on to verses three and six. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names and blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. So this is about the point where people will start to apply this scripture to a particular religion we are all familiar with. Once you do that, you will start to struggle with understanding the scripture because you are once again applying your understanding instead of seeking God's. So before we move on, let's be careful not to do that and let's stay with the scripture and see if it will reveal the truth for us. In verse three, we see the woman sitting on a scarlet beast, having seven heads and ten horns. Does that sound familiar? It should, because that's a description of the beast and the dragon that the dragon had also. Notice though that this beast is scarlet in addition to the heads and horns. Again, some will take this to point to a certain religious system where the priests were scarlet. However, that is not what the description here is pointing to. As always, we should look to Scripture for the answer. So let's look at Isaiah chapter 1, verse 18. Says, Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. That should make it pretty clear for us that scarlet is the color red and indicates sin. This beast is covered in sin and blasphemy. This is indeed the same beast which we know to be the Antichrist. And since the woman sits on the beast, it indicates to us that she has some control over him, or at least rides on his power and authority. Either way you look at it, this world leader will be seen as a religious man in a system that the majority of the world either embraces or will embrace. In verse 4, we see the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. This indicates great wealth and splendor, showing us that this system has become extremely wealthy from her followers. All throughout history, there have been many religious systems that have fallen into this category. They put burdens on their people to give and serve as a way of authenticating their relationship with God. That's not to say you shouldn't give or serve, but it should be from an overflow of what God has done in you. It should never be a way for you to earn favor with God. The only way you can do that is by believing that Jesus is the one who paid the price and not you. John 3 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The second part of verse 4, we see that the harlot has in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. This indicates to us her works. The system is full of idolatry and false teachings. Her desire is to rule and live lavishly, while her followers pay for it and serve her. This is very different from what the church should look like, according to John chapter 13, verse 35. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. The church should be full of love from top to bottom. If the leaders of a church do not represent this first and foremost, I would tell you to start looking somewhere else. Love is and always will be the first sign of a genuine church. Love for God and his word and love for each other. In Matthew chapter 22, verses thirty-five to forty. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him and saying, Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Now moving on to verse five and six, we see she has a name written on her forehead. This will really help us hone in on who or what this system is. Verse five. And on her forehead a name was written, Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth. I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, and when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. So as we see here, she has the name Mystery Babylon the Great. This is not indicating that this is literally Babylon. The word mystery indicates to us that this is spiritual in meaning, as it's hidden from view. Mystery or mysterion in the Greek points to a truth not previously known, but soon to be revealed. The real answer we are looking for is that she is called Babylon the Great. This is a key piece of information that will help us identify her and to get the answer. We have to go all the way back to Genesis chapter 11, which I believe will help us solve the mystery. In verses one and nine, we read, Now the whole earth had one language and one speech, and it came to pass as they journeyed from the east that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly. They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar, and they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth. But the Lord came down to see the city, and the tower which the sons of men had built, and the Lord said, Indeed, the people are one, and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let us go down there and confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad, from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. In verse nine, we see the city was called Babel. The English words Babel and Babylon are both derived from the same Hebrew word, which means confusion. In fact, the city Babel in Genesis became the king of Babylon that we are familiar with. As we see in verse 9, the purpose of this tower was to make a name for themselves. This had nothing to do with glorifying God and everything to do with glorifying man. This was and is the origin of the false religious system that worships many false gods and is essentially Satan worship. This makes her the mother of harlots, as she is the one that all false religions derive from. Now that we understand that this is talking about an idolatrous, demonic, false religion that is the mother of harlots or all false religions, we can better understand the text. We already know that this at this point that Jesus is going to judge and destroy all false religions and idol worship. So it would make the most sense that what this is describing is not one particular religion, but all the false religions and beliefs that derive from the beliefs that originated all the way back in Babel. There may very well be a particular religion that the beast associates with in the last days. But what the scripture is telling us more clearly is that he is associated with idolatry and deception that can be found in anything that defies the one true God of heaven. Again, all we have to do is look at the leaders of the world today. Many of them associate with one religion or another, but the reality is that it has no impact on their hearts. They are corrupt liars and hungry for money and power. They only play the part of a religious person to win the votes in favor of the masses. If you would just look to the truth of God's word, we would easily be able to identify any and all false religions. In Exodus chapter 20, verses 1 through 7. And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Anything that perverts that truth is demonic and false, and any one that doesn't believe that truth is blinded by Satan and demonic powers. Second Corinthians chapter four, verses three and four. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the gods of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. The God of this age that Paul is talking about is indeed Satan. If you read your Bible, you will notice that the word God here is a lowercase g, indicating a false God. What God do you serve? Are you blinded by a deception? Does the truth of God's word offend you and the way you have been living? Does it come against the religious system you have grown up in? It should, because it's not religion that God wants. It's a relationship. All you have to do is turn to Jesus and trust in him, and that relationship can begin today. Revelation chapter 3, verse 20. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears me, my hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with me. Now notice in verse 6, it says she is drunk with the blood of the martyrs. Not only does she persecute, she also celebrates in her persecution of the godly as a drunk celebrates in drinking. John was amazed because this wasn't persecution coming from outside the church. It was religious error and persecution coming from within. It was a corrupt form of the church. As an example, it is thought by some historians that the Catholic Church has murdered more Christians than any other religion or government system has. You can study this for yourself if you would like. But the truth is that more than not, persecution often comes from within the very religious systems that claim the name of Jesus. Throughout history, we can find many examples of this, as even Jesus himself was killed by the very people he created a nation and religion out of to glorify him. God had made Israel a nation to be a people to lead all nations to God. Instead, they made it about themselves and rejected the one who did this for them. Genesis 12, 1 through 3. Now the Lord had said to Abraham, Get out of your country from your family, and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. God's desire was for the nations of the world to be blessed by his law, and instead we consistently distort it to fit our desires and not his. God's law was and always will be to point to our sin nature so that we would recognize that we need a Savior. Galatians chapter three, nineteen to twenty-five. What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not. For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. Whenever man loses sight of this truth, he inevitably reverts back to serving the law and not the lawgiver. Pride then sets in when we think we are living righteously under the law, and we become the judges of the law, which leads to persecution. Do you view yourself as having it together? Do you find yourself judging others instead of yourself? If you are judging others, then in one way or another, you believe yourself to be righteous, which you think gives you the right to judge those who are not living by the law as you see it. You have then become bound by the law, and you, my friend, are no longer free. Jesus came to set the captive free, not to keep us captive. Whenever you judge, you have become the captive. The law should always point to our own sin, and we should judge ourselves. It's only then do you realize your guilt and your need for a savior. In Luke Chapter 4, verse 18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed. Moving on to verses seven and eight. But the angel said to me, Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns, the beast that you saw was and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition, and those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was and is not and is. Now by this point in our study through Revelation, these things should be clear. We know the beast is the Antichrist, who is the one world ruler, whose power is given to him from a confederation of nations. He is from the evil one and will be thrown into the pit. He deceives the people of this world who have not accepted Jesus as their savior, and do not have their names written in the book of life. Verses nine to eleven. Here is the mind which has wisdom, the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings, five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. The beast that was and is not is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. The seven mountains is talking about the seven kings and kingdoms I covered in great detail back in Episode eleven and twenty-one. I recommend you listen to these again if you don't remember or if you haven't heard them yet. The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as of yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the lamb, and the lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of lords and king of kings, and those who are with him are called chosen and faithful. These are the kings who will give their power to the beast and go to war against Jesus when he returns. Verses fifteen to eighteen. Then he said to me, The waters which you saw where the harlot sits are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues, and the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill his purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled, and the woman whom you saw is the that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth. As we see here, God will use the ten kings who rule with the beast to destroy this religious system. It may be that there is a particular system that this is pointing to that is dominant over all the other false religions of this time, or it could be alluding to the fact that these godless rulers will get rid of any and all religious systems to create one commercial system that is completely godless in nature. We have seen this all throughout history when evil rulers want full control. They don't allow for any other religion other than the worship of themselves only. We already know this will happen at the mid-putting of the tribulation, as we see in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 3 and 4. Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. This should let us know that he will not tolerate any other form of worship other than what's directed at him. In verse 17, we see that God's judgment comes in the form of using evil to destroy evil. We saw this back in Isaiah and Jeremiah, where God used Babylon to judge Israel and take her captive to teach her a lesson for living in sin and rebellion towards him. God later judged Babylon and destroyed that nation and great and great city, never to be rebuilt again, as we see in Isaiah chapter 13, verses 20 to 22. Babylon will never rise again. Generation after generation will come and go, but the land will never again be lived in. This also makes it clear that those who believe Babylon will be rebuilt to a great city that will be destroyed once again are wrong. God said it will never be rebuilt, and we can trust in that. Many have attempted and failed, but God's promise stands. That is yet another indication that the Babylon we are dealing with in Revelation is not the city of Babylon, but the system that derived from it. In verse 18, we see the woman is called the great city that reigns over the kings of the earth. This has led many to believe that this will indeed be a specific city. However, as we've just read, the city was symbolic to the system that Babylon established all the way back in Genesis. It is idolatry and false worship that has crept in through the generations and even controls people today. Just turn your TV on and you will see. We worship celebrities, money, power, and anything that pleases us. This is all part of that corrupt system that Satan has set up to get your eyes off Jesus. What's interesting about the system is that the rulers of this world are already trying to destroy it. The World Economic Forum has stated that you will own nothing and be happy. They want you to change the way we live on this planet, and this current system no longer fits their agenda. They want to tell us what we can have, where to live, and what to do. The current world system tells us we should do whatever makes us happy and take whatever we want. That is essentially the Babylonian religious system. They want to destroy it, not because they hate it, but because it gets in the way of their plan to control the world. And as we see in these verses, it looks like they will succeed when the Antichrist is revealed and given power to rule. The new system will require everyone to bow to him and him alone. The big question we need to ask ourselves is how much are we integrated into this system? I realize that we can't get out of it completely because it's everywhere. However, we don't have to submit to it. We have to learn to stand for truth, knowing that we are surrounded by lies. This world will hate you for it because they want what they want, and that's to serve themselves. We serve the living God and live for his pleasure and glory. Can you say that about yourself? Do you live to glorify your Father in heaven, or are you more concerned with the things of this world? What you will wear, what you will eat, or where you will live. Luke chapter twelve, verse twenty-nine to thirty-four it says, Do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have any anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms. Provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Let's pray. Father God, thank you so much for your word and your revelation, for teaching us the things that you that you do in your word, for giving us so much that we don't deserve. Father, we recognize that the world system that we are currently living in is corrupt and wicked and is destroying everything and as many people as it can destroy. And we know that we can't get away from it completely, God, but we desire to live righteously in the midst of this wicked world. I pray that you would give us the strength to separate ourselves from these systems that are set up all around us, designed to get us to take part in this idolatry and this wickedness to get our eyes off of you, Jesus. And I pray that we could just set ourselves apart, to put our eyes on you and to walk faithfully and in righteousness, Jesus, to trust in you to empower us. I pray that you will use us to glorify yourself. I thank you for your word and your truth that leads us back to you and keeps us on the straight and narrow path. We love you and we thank you in your name. Amen. Now I want to thank you for joining us today, and I hope this message helped you take a step closer in your relationship with Jesus and that you have a better understanding for just how much God loves you and wants you to know Him. In our next episode, we'll be moving on to chapter 18 and looking at the judgment of the commercial system that also originated from Babylon. This system is one that has flourished off slavery, child labor, and all kinds of deceitful wickedness. People have become wealthy off this system at the at the expense of the masses. Many have suffered while others lived lavishly because of this corrupt system. This is indeed a worldwide issue, not isolated to any one nation, and Jesus is going to bring it all to an end. All this and more will be covered in our next episode. But before we go, I want to encourage you to visit us at thetaway.faith. On our website, you can find out more about who we are, sign up to receive emails to get notifications on new episodes and ministry updates. This also makes it easy to share our podcast and allows you to use it as a resource to help others. On our website, you can easily send us a message, a word of encouragement, questions, or comments, and we would love to hear from you and encourage you to send us a message soon. God bless, and we'll see you next time on the takeaway.