The King of Modern
Babylon Appears
We have already
seen that the enormous red dragon
is Lucifer and the lamb-like
beast is Lucifer in human form.
Lucifer, the coming Antichrist,
will not be a mere man. He is an
extraterrestrial being who has
been alive for thousands of
years. Lucifer’s miracles
will dwarf anything that humans
can do. We know from Revelation
9:16 that 200 million angels will
accompany the devil – John
heard the number! We know from
Revelation 9:11, Daniel 8:19,23,
Revelation 17:11, and 2
Thessalonians 2:6, that the devil
is an evil king who will be
released from the invisible realm
at the appointed time. We have
learned from Revelation 13:2 that
Lucifer be the power within
Babylon. We also know that
Lucifer’s main objective
will be the destruction of the
remnant of the woman. (Revelation
12:17, 13:7) Several
specifications are presented in
Revelation 13:11-18 on the
lamb-like beast. Please consider
these seven:
- He has two
horns. (These horns
represent his authority
over church and state)
- He will
speak. (He will declare
law.)
- He will
perform great miracles
and signs, even causing
fire to fall from Heaven.
(He will
“prove” his
assumed divinity.)
- He will
deceive the world with
his miracles.
- He will
eventually demand that an
image of Babylon be set
up. (The image will be a
theocracy, a one-world
church-state.)
- He will
demand death for everyone
refusing to worship the
image.
- He will
impose his mark on the
right hand or the
forehead of all people so
that no one can buy or
sell unless they wear his
tattoo.
The only being
that can rise from the Abyss
(that is, having no political or
military support) and meet all
these conditions during the last
445 days of the Great Tribulation
is Lucifer.
“Then I
saw another beast, coming out of
the earth. He had two horns like
a lamb, but he spoke as a dragon.
He exercised all the authority of
the first beast on his behalf,
and made the earth and its
inhabitants worship the first
beast, whose fatal wound had been
healed. And performed great and
miraculous signs, even causing
fire to come down from heaven to
earth in full view of men.” (Revelation
13:11-13)
Comment:
John’s use of language
confuses a lot of people.
Consider the sentence: “He
[Lucifer] exercised all
the authority of the first beast
on his behalf [that is,
Lucifer masquerading as God,
commends the leaders of Babylon
for their efforts to appease God
with “sin-less” laws.
He will tell the world that the
leaders of Babylon have acted
appropriately], and [Lucifer]
made the earth and its
inhabitants worship the first
beast [obey the
“sin-less” laws of
Babylon], whose [sixth
head had received a] fatal
wound [but] had been
healed.” When Lucifer
first appears, he will flatter
the leaders of Babylon with much
praise. Masquerading as Almighty
God, he will want them to think
that he is very pleased with
their harsh laws and the
persecution they have imposed on
God’s saints –
ostensibly to reduce immoral
behavior. To further gain their
confidence, the devil will demand
that everyone obey the laws of
Babylon. Religious leaders will
be very pleased.
The Image
of the Beast
“Because
of the signs he was given power
to do on behalf of the first
beast, he deceived the
inhabitants of the earth. He
ordered them to set up an image
in honor of the beast who was
wounded by the sword and yet
lived. He was given power to give
breath to the image of the first
beast, so that it could speak and
cause all who refused to worship
the image to be killed.” (Revelation
13:14,15)
Comment:
Jesus will release Lucifer
and his angels from the Abyss at
the fifth trumpet and He will
permit Lucifer to use
miracle-working powers so that
people will believe his lies.
Jesus will send this powerful
delusion because the world will
have rejected truth. “…They
perish because they refused
to love the truth and so be
saved.”
(2 Thessalonians
2:10, italics mine) Lucifer and
his angels will descend from the
sky in various places and he will
speak favorably of Babylon’s
leaders and of their efforts to
reduce rebellious and sinful
behavior. The devil will want the
world to believe that
Babylon’s leaders have been
on the right track. The devil
will use this tactic for two
reasons.
First, through
flattery and miracles, he will
want the leaders of Babylon to
believe that He really is
Almighty God and in turn, their
endorsement will convince their
respective followers to believe
the same. This age-old game is
called “Follow the experts,
believe your religious
leaders.” Second, Lucifer
will want the whole world to
quickly conclude that he truly is
Almighty God. Once the devil has
convinced a majority of the world
that he is really God, the devil
will suddenly betray
Babylon’s leaders before the
sixth trumpet. He will change
course by abolishing the
religions of the world. He will
appoint kings. He will do this
for several nasty reasons, but
this is the argument he will use:
There is one God, one faith, and
one baptism.
Here is a scenario
to consider: Lucifer will
announce to the world that
Babylon needs improvement because
there is no place for religious
diversity when God lives among
men. Therefore, Babylon has to be
transformed so that
Babylon’s highest and purest
purpose can be achieved, namely,
the establishment of a global
church-state. Lucifer will demand
the formation of a theocracy
– a government where he
rules over church and state. John
calls Lucifer’s theocracy
the “image of the
beast” in Revelation 13:15
and the “great whore”
in Revelation 17:1-4.
Lucifer’s
theocracy is called the
“image of the first
beast” because it will be a
replica, an updated and improved
version of Babylon that was also
a global church-state –
albeit a conflicted one.
Remember, the leopard-like beast
is a composite beast that
represents an amalgamation of
seven opposing religions (the
seven heads) under the leadership
of the pope. In contrast,
Lucifer’s theocracy will not
suffer from religious diversity.
People will not be allowed views
about God because “God”
reigns on Earth! Internal
opposition and diverse views will
not be tolerated because there
will be one lord of lords and one
king of kings. Do not forget, the
devil will have miracle working
powers to back up his blasphemous
claims. This will be a very
impressive delusion!
Lucifer’s
“image to the beast” is
also called “the great
whore” in Revelation 17
because the wicked who
participate in his theocracy will
have to (a) abandon their
religion – the very thing
they refused to abandon in order
to embrace the gospel of Christ,
and (b) violate their consciences
in order to survive, that is, to
buy and sell. Millions of people,
including people who claim to be
Christians, will join the demonic
organization to avoid obeying
Jesus Christ. How ironic!
Moreover, Lucifer will dissolve
the imaginary boundaries that
currently separate nations and
cultures. He will divide Earth
into ten geographical sectors and
the ten kings will see that no
religion exists throughout his
great empire of Babylon. Everyone
refusing to obey Lucifer’s
laws will be put to death.
(Revelation 13:15) Indeed, the
Bible reveals that a third of
mankind will die.
(Revelation 9:15)
