Prophecy
11
The Rise of Babylon –
Revelation 12:7 – 14:5
___________________________________
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
1-
Beginning
Point in Time: Resurrection
Sunday, A.D. 30
Ending Point in Time: The
1,265th day of the Great Tribulation
Summary:
This
apocalyptic prophecy describes three
types of kingdoms: Political,
religious, and demonic. The first
type lasted approximately 1,000 years
(605 B.C.- 538 A.D.). During this
time, political leaders
governed world empires (represented
by the four beasts in Daniel 7). The
second type lasted 1,260 years
(538-1798). During this time, religious leaders
dominated the nations of Europe (the
little horn in Daniel 7). The third
and final type of kingdom will last
42 months and a demon will
dominate it. This progression speaks
volumes.
The final
kingdom will have two phases. During
Phase I, Lucifer will achieve an
important objective through the
world’s religious and political
leaders. After the first four
trumpets demolish the infrastructures
of Earth and 1.75 billion people have
been killed, the whole world will be
in a state of panic and trauma. The
devil will seize the moment to bring
the whole world under the
jurisdiction of one government. The
book of Revelation calls this
government Babylon. To appease
God’s wrath, the leaders of the
world will unite in a common effort
to eliminate the sinful behaviors
they believe made God angry. Once
this union becomes functional, the
devil will inspire the leaders of
Babylon to create and implement
“sin-less” laws to appease
God’s wrath. Because the world
will be very fearful of God, these
laws will seem “reasonable and
appropriate,” but they will
quickly put God’s saints in a
dire situation. The leaders of
Babylon will not realize, at first,
the unintended consequences of their
laws. The laws of Babylon will stand
in direct opposition to the laws of
God. Lucifer’s
objective during Phase I is to
identify and punish all who choose to
obey the eternal gospel. Civil
authorities, like police officers or
militia in each locality, will
enforce the laws of Babylon. They
will do as they are commanded (even
after many within their ranks realize
that what they are doing is wrong)
for fear of losing their job and/or
being punished by their commanders.
Phase II will
begin when Lucifer physically appears
on Earth with his angels. John
describes the physical appearing of
the devil in three different places
throughout the book of Revelation[1] and
each reference reveals a new
dimension about this wily foe.
Masquerading as Almighty God, Lucifer
will betray the leadership of Babylon
so he can establish a counterfeit
theocracy during the sixth trumpet.
The devil will abolish all the
religions and governments of the
world. During Phase II, there will be
one lord, one faith, and one baptism;
a one-world-church-state. For a short
time, the devil will rule over the
world as king of kings and lord of
lords. Everyone will do as he says or
die.
Prophecy 11
describes the transition of Lucifer
from an invisible state to a visible
state. The devil will appear
physically as a majestic being
wearing a glorious garment of
brilliant light![2] Jesus
permits the devil to appear so that
mankind can observe his words and
actions. Because Lucifer is evil
incarnate, even a wicked person will
learn for himself that Lucifer is a
grossly evil super power.
This prophecy
begins on Resurrection Sunday and it
reaches to the time when the 144,000
ascend on the 1,265th day of the
Great Tribulation. God has given us
this prophecy because He wants us to
study and anticipate Lucifer’s
actions even though he is currently
invisible. The devil is extremely
clever and powerful. The world has
not seen anything that even remotely
compares with the physical appearing
of Lucifer. He will come down from
the sky, attended by millions of
demons (fallen angels). They will be
very large in stature, perhaps
fifteen feet tall.[3] They
will physically dwarf the people of
Earth and worse, guns and artillery
cannot kill them.[4] The
whole world will find out that human
beings are no match for fallen
angels. Lucifer will take over the
world and no one can thwart him.
Introduction:
This prophecy
consists of five events that occur in
chronological order.
- The
devil is cast out of Heaven
(verses 7-12)
- The
devil persecutes the woman
for 1,260 years (verses
13-16)
- The
devil wages war on the
remnant of the woman (verses
12:17-13:10)
- The
devil physically appears,
sets up his theocracy and
implements the mark of the
beast (verses 13:11-18)
- The
144,000 celebrate in a
victory ceremony in Heaven
(verses 14:1-14:5)
At first, it
might seem strange that the victory
celebration of the 144,000 is part of
this prophecy because the first four
events in this prophecy focus on
Lucifer’s actions. God often
embeds an event within a prophecy to
provide additional information that
we could not otherwise know. For
example, if you recall, the seventh
trumpet is embedded in Prophecy 10
instead of Prophecy 9 where the other
six trumpets are located. Similarly,
the seventh seal is embedded in
Prophecy 7 instead of Prophecy 6
which contains the six seals. When
God inserts a “strange”
event in a prophecy, He is actually
highlighting the timing and
importance of the strange event. I
believe the victory celebration of
the 144,000 is included in this
prophecy because the 144,000 will be
victorious over Lucifer’s
demonic efforts to stop them! With
God’s help, ordinary human
beings will not only prevail against
Lucifer and his demons, they will win
the war!
The coming
victory celebration of the 144,000
may not seem to be “all that
important” today, but a day is
coming when their victory celebration
will serve as a powerful beacon
during a very depressing time. During
the sixth trumpet, Lucifer will
appear to meet his objectives. He
will abolish the religions and
governments of the world, kill a
third of mankind, and set up a
counterfeit theocracy. Even more
distressing, many of the remnant of
the woman (the saints) will be killed
and most, if not all, of the 144,000
will also be martyrs. Thankfully,
this dismal situation is not the end
of this story! Victory day will
surely come. When the remaining
saints see the 144,000 resurrected
and taken to Heaven, the saints will
be overjoyed! When wicked murderers
see the 144,000 taken to Heaven, they
will become terrified and panic
stricken. The resurrection and
ascension of the 144,000 is pivotal
in this story because it marks the
end of Lucifer’s success. After
he gathers the “first
fruits” to Heaven, Jesus will
methodically destroy Babylon and the
wicked with the seven bowls of
justice. Jesus will avenge the
suffering of His saints.[5]
Structurally,
this prophecy is similar to Prophecy
7. If you remember, Prophecy 7
contained three elements which seemed
at first, to have no connection:
- The
sealing of the 144,000
- A
numberless multitude standing
around God’s throne
- The
breaking of the seventh seal
We discovered
in Prophecy 7 (the selection and
sealing of the 144,000) that these
three elements are intimately
connected. For example, the breaking
of the seventh seal has to
occur after the numberless
multitude are taken to Heaven. This
is true because John saw the
numberless multitude stand around
God’s throne before the
seventh seal is broken![6] Chronological
order within Prophecy 7 requires this
progression.
In Prophecy 9
(the story of the Two Witnesses), we
found that Jesus will resurrect the
144,000 and take them to Heaven on
the 1,265th day of the Great
Tribulation. Remember, this happens
just before the
seventh trumpet sounds later that
day. Therefore, if the 144,000 are
taken to Heaven on the 1,265th day in
Prophecy 9, it appears that the
victory celebration of the 144,000
in Revelation
14:1-5 aligns with the
1,265th day for two reasons: First,
we know that firstfruits are always
presented to God beforethe
harvest is actually gathered.
Therefore, taking the 144,000 to
Heaven (they are the firstfruits of
the coming harvest) before the Second
Coming is in perfect harmony with the
1,265th day. Second, Revelation
15:2-4 and 19:1-8 places
the 144,000 in Heaven before the
Second Coming occurs. They praise God
that He has condemned the great whore
who corrupted the Earth and killed
them.[7] No one
can sing the song of Moses and the
Lamb[8] but the
144,000, so the 144,000 must be in
Heaven prior to the Second Coming!
The 144,000 can sing the song of
Moses and the Lamb because the
144,000 led God’s people out of
slavery (bondage to sin) as did Moses
and they overcame the world (victory
through death) as Jesus did.[9]
Consider a
parallel for a moment. From the
disciples’ point of view, the
torture and death of Jesus on the
cross was a great disappointment.
Their hopes and dreams of seeing the
kingdom of God established on Earth
ended with the arrest and crucifixion
of Jesus. However, from the
Father’s point of view, the
torture and death of Jesus was a
tremendous success! God’s
justice was fulfilled by Jesus’
death, because Jesus died in our
place, and through His perfect
sacrifice, God’s mercy has been
lavishly extended so any sinner could
be pardoned from his sins! During the
Great Tribulation, the wicked will
consider the slaughter of the 144,000
and millions of God’s saints
during the fifth seal a tremendous
success. They will gloat in victory
and celebrate the occasion as they
send congratulatory gifts to each
other.[10] But
from God’s point of view, this
vile celebration only confirms that
the wicked are defiant, hopelessly
incorrigible and beyond the
possibility of redemption.
Because the
life, ministry, and death of Jesus
was a perfect success, the Father
raised Jesus to life on Resurrection
Sunday. He called Jesus to Heaven and
gave Lucifer’s position as
prince of this world to Jesus. There
was a war that morning because
Lucifer would not yield his position.
Similarly, the ministry and death of
the 144,000 will be a perfect
success. Jesus will raise them to
life (on another Resurrection
Sunday?) and take them to Heaven.
When they arrive in New Jerusalem,
Jesus will bestow the highest
positions possible on them and all of
the angels will rejoice.
The
Devil’s Identity
A few words
of caution are needed. Many people
distort Revelation 12 and 13 by
switching the identity of Lucifer
with one of his agents. Let me be
clear. No agent or prophet of Jesus
is Jesus and no prophet or agent of
Lucifer is Lucifer. It is important
that we keep the devil’s
identity separate and distinct from
that of his agents. For example,
in Revelation
12:7-9, Lucifer himself is
cast out of Heaven with his angels.
In Revelation
12:13,14 the
great red dragon himself pursues
the woman for a time, times, and half
a time. This is a story about the
devil. Lucifer is not Herod in
Revelation 12 and Lucifer is not
the little horn power in Daniel 7,
even though Lucifer controlled Herod
and the little horn.
I am
belaboring this point because God
wants mankind to know there is a
determined and highly intelligent
being at work who can see and hear
us, even though we cannot directly
see or hear him. (Lucifer or a demon
sometimes speaks through spiritists
or mediums,[11] but
again, we cannot directly see or hear
him.) The devil is evil incarnate and
he himself intends
to destroy the remnant of the woman.
Lucifer will have agents working for
him during the Great Tribulation,
however these agents will have no
idea (at first) that they are under
Lucifer’s control.
Unfortunately,
God’s people will soon find
themselves caught up in a deadly
conflict that has been ongoing for
thousands of years. Since 1798, the
devil has been preparing for his
final assault on God’s people
and most Christians do not have a
clue. When the first four trumpets
occur, the devil will take advantage
of the situation and initiate his
first assault on those who stand for
truth and righteousness. The
devil’s agent will be a
government called Babylon. This
global government will spring to life
in a worldwide crisis and be
energized by demonic power. God has
generously given us this warning so
that everyone can understand
Lucifer’s diabolical plan. Do
not be discouraged. Jesus has a
greater plan! Even though Jesus will
permit millions of His saints to
perish during the fifth seal, the
death of His saints will not be in
vain. Some of the wicked will turn
from their defiance when they witness
the calm and peaceful presence of the
Holy Spirit within God’s people,
when they are martyred solely for
loving Jesus with all their heart,
mind, and soul and their neighbors as
themselves.
Sunday, April
9, A.D. 30[12] was an
incredibly glorious day in history.
According to my calculation, Jesus
came from the tomb on this date! Very
early on Sunday morning, about the
time of first light, the Father
resurrected Jesus.[13] After
He came out of the tomb, Jesus waited
nearby for Mary Magdalene and the
other Mary (His mother) to arrive[14] so that
they could see Him and serve as two
witnesses. He wanted them to go and
encourage His scattered disciples
with the fact that He was truly
alive! Jesus was in a hurry to get to
Heaven, but knowing that His
disciples were terribly discouraged
and disoriented, He patiently waited
by the tomb. What a thoughtful God!
When the women arrived at the tomb,
they were dumbfounded. They had just
witnessed His crucifixion on Friday,
but that morning an angel told them
that Jesus was alive! Filled with
joy, the women ran off to tell the
disciples, but they did not go far
before encountering Jesus. They fell
at His feet and worshiped Him.[15] They
did not want to let him out of their
sight! But Jesus told Mary
Magdalene, “Do not
hold on to me, for I have not yet
returned to the Father.”[16]
A few minutes
later, as Jesus ascended toward the
gates of the Holy City, a chorus of
angels sang out: “Lift
up your heads, O you gates; be lifted
up, you ancient doors, that the King
of glory may come in. Who is this
King of glory? The Lord strong and
mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift
them up, you ancient doors, that the
King of glory may come in. Who is he,
this King of glory? The Lord Almighty
– he [Jesus
Christ] is the King of
glory.”[17] What a
glorious and happy morning!
Many people
do not understand why Jesus ascended
to Heaven on Resurrection Sunday.[18] Please
consider the following: First, Jesus
was called up to Heaven and presented
to the Father as the firstfruits of
the dead,[19] because
Jesus was the first person to
experience the penalty for sin, which
is the second death. Consider this:
Because of sin, there are two deaths.
The first death comes as a consequence of
sin. The second death comes as
a penalty for sin.
Everyone currently in the grave has
experienced the first death. The
first death is sometimes called
“sleep” in the Bible
because it is temporary, like sleep.
Sooner or later, every dead person
will be resurrected from the first
death! The second death is very
different. Those who die the second
death will have nohope
of resurrection. When Jesus died on
the cross, He experienced the second
death which is the penalty for sin.
Jesus willingly died the death of a
wicked person. He laid down His life
without any hope of resurrection. The
Father abandoned Jesus on the cross.
He is the first person to experience
the penalty for sin.
Jesus
predicted His resurrection,[20] but His
statement was a matter of prophetic
faith (believing the Father would
restore Him to life if the Father was
pleased with His sacrifice). However,
when Jesus hung on the cross, the
Father abandoned Jesus as though He
had committed the unpardonable sin[21] and
this separation caught Jesus by
surprise. Jesus cried out, “My
God, My God, Why have you forsaken
me?”[22] Jesus
died with the impression that He
would not be resurrected because the
Father abandoned Him. The amazing
thing about this excruciating moment
is that Jesus could have exercised a
last-minute option. Before He came to
Earth, the Father gave Jesus an exit.
At any time while on Earth, Jesus
could exercise divine power and
terminate the redemption of mankind.[23] Jesus
knew that mankind could not be saved
unless He paid the price for sin and
died the second death. Jesus also
knew that the Father would resurrect
Jesus only if the Father was pleased
with Jesus’ sacrifice.
Amazingly, for no reason other than
love, Jesus chose to remain on the
cross and cease to exist. Even after
the Father abandoned Him, Jesus still
chose to forfeit His eternal life so
that sinners could have it. Thus,
Jesus went to His death without any
hope of resurrection. What a title
– “Firstfruits of the
dead.” It brings tears to my
eyes because there will never be a
greater display of love than this.[24] What
can mere mortals do to honor such a
magnificent Creator/Redeemer? What
title or words can describe the price
He paid for our salvation?
