Babylon: A Government Created to Appease
God
Continued
Now
you can understand why the description of
the devil in Revelation 12 and the
anatomy of the composite beast in
Revelation 13 are identical (both having
seven heads and ten horns). God
represented these matters to John in this
way so that we can trace the devil’s
hidden role and evil activities as he
“enters” the human glove. The
devil’s ultimate purpose is to
destroy God’s people and he will
make the most of the 42 months he has to
wage war against the saints. Do not lose
your faith! God will give His people
grace to deal with persecution and death.
As in the story of the metal man, God has
a purpose for all of this! He will use
the first four trumpets to show the human
race that all religions of the world are
false. To do this, the religions of the
world must become very important and more
powerful than politics! The devil will
jump on this transition and use it to his
advantage to persecute the saints. In
spite of the devil’s plans, God is
poised and prepared to rescue many
wonderful people who are trapped inside
false religions.
Seven
Heads
The
composite beast has seven heads. Notice
these nine specifications. Revelation 13
says:
1.
Each head has a blasphemous name. (v.1)
2.
One of the heads had been wounded and
healed. (v.3)
3.
The beast was given a mouth to blaspheme
God. (v.6)
Revelation
17 says:
4.
The seven heads are seven hills. (v.9)
5.
The seven heads are seven kings. (v.9)
6.
Five have fallen. (v.10)
7.
One is. (v.10)
8.
One is yet to come. (v.10)
9.
The beast that ascends out of the abyss
[the devil] will be the eighth king and
is a companion of the seven heads. (v.11,
insertion mine)
Summary
Explanation
The
composite beast has seven heads at the
end of time. Seven is a perfect number-a
whole number. Because there are seven of
the same thing; namely seven heads, each
head must symbolize the same thing. From
Revelation 13 we learn that each head has
a blasphemous name on it. This means
that even though the seven heads are
religious in nature-they are opposed to
God’s authority. According to
Webster, blasphemy is defined as assuming
the prerogatives of God. The composite
beast will be given a mouth to speak
blasphemies against God. (Revelation
13:6) This means the composite beast will
speak (make laws) that is contrary to
God’s law that is blasphemy. For
example, God has declared in the fourth
commandment that the seventh day of the
week is His holy day, a memorial
to His creation of Earth. Satan
has led the religious systems of the
world to think that the fourth
commandment has been terminated or even
worse, that man has the authority to
declare which day is holy to God.
Seven
Mountains
Revelation
17 says the seven heads are seven hills
(or mountains, KJV). How can seven
religious systems also be seven hills? In
ancient times, highest hills and
mountains were reserved as places of
worship or the dwelling of deity. Notice
this passage:
“Destroy
completely all the places on the high
mountains and on the hills ands under
every spreading tree where the nations
you are dispossessing worship their gods.
Break down their altars, smash their
sacred stones and burn their Asherah
poles in the fire; cut down their idols
of their gods and wipe out their names
from those places. You must not worship
the Lord your God in their way.” (Deuteronomy
12: 2-4) Ancient temples or shrines were
placed on prominent places high above
ordinary terrain because these locations
were believed to be God’s dwelling
places. King David wrote, “Lord,
who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may
live on your holy hill?” (Psalm
15:1) Israel’s temple mount is often
referred to as “Mt. Zion” and
Bible writers often spoke of the temple
mount as “God’s holy
hill.” (See Daniel 9: 16,20; Micah
4.) In the United States, we refer to the
official building of the U.S. Congress as
“Capital Hill.” The point of
association is that the seven heads are
seven hills. People look up to
their religious authorities for knowledge
and instruction on the will of God. This
is why every religious system has clergy
(men and/or women who speak for God).
Seven
Kings
Revelation
17 says these seven heads are also seven
kings; that is, the seven heads have
subjects. Do religious systems have
subjects? Yes! People submit to the
demands of their religious systems
thinking they are obeying God. When
confronted with a spiritual question or
problem, to what authority do religious
people submit if not their religious
leaders? Billions of people go through
religious rituals every week for no other
reason than their religious leaders tell
them it is necessary.
Five
Are Fallen
Perhaps
the most revealing specifications about
the seven heads is timing. The angel said
to John, “this calls for a
mind with wisdom…. Five have fallen,
one is, and the other has not yet come;
but when he does come, he must remain for
a little while.” (Revelation
17:10) This conversation took place
around A.D. 95. The statement by the
angel, “five heads have fallen”
is stated in a past perfect tense –
indicating that as of A.D. 95, five of
the seven heads had fallen. According to
Webster, the term “fallen” can
mean ‘brought down” or
“proven false.” The word
“fallen” is also used in
Revelation 14:8 when the second angel
says that “Babylon [the crisis
government] is fallen.” In both
cases the word ‘fallen” means
“proven false.”
Therefore,
looking at the end of the first century
A.D., we find a historical explanation of
what the angel meant when he said that
fiver heads had fallen. When Jesus became
flesh and dwelt among men, five religious
systems were exposed as false. The
ministry and teachings of Jesus caused
five religious systems to fall:
1.
Heathenism
2.
Atheism
3.
Judaism
4.
Eastern Mysticism
5.
Islam*
*
Note: The label “Islam” came
into existence during the sixth century
A.D. as a result of Mohammed’s
influence and is used to identify the
ancient religion of Arabs prior to
Mohammed. Many Christians erroneously
think that Mohammed is the founder of the
Arabic faith. This is not the case.
Mohammed united, organized, and expanded
the beliefs of the Arabs. Even though he
is considered by the Moslems to be the
last and therefore the greatest of
God’s messengers, Arabs trace the
origin of their faith back to Abraham
through Ishmael’s 12 sons. (See
Genesis 21:13.)
How
did Jesus expose these five religious
systems as false?
1.
Heathenism is a religious system that
does not have valid knowledge about the
God in Heaven. This religion creates its
own super-gods and religious rules
according to superstition. Jesus declared
this religion false. (John 10)
2.
Atheism denies the existence and reality
of God. Even though it denies the
existence of God, it is a godless system
of religious thought. Jesus said this was
false. (John 17)
3.
Judaism believes that salvation come
through obedience and ceremonial rituals.
Jesus declared that man cannot save
himself through obedience or rituals.
(John 3; Matthew 5:20)
4.
Eastern Mysticism teaches that man can
become God. This is the inverse of truth.
God became man to save us from the
penalty of sin. (John 1)
5.
Islam denies that Jesus is deity, the Son
of God and Savior of mankind. This makes
Jesus a liar. (Luke 22:70)
But
wait! There’s more!
Keep
in mind that the angel told John that
‘five heads have fallen, one is, and
one is yet to come.” In John’s
day, five heads had been exposed as false
by the teachings of Christ. The sixth
religious system was just beginning to
develop at that time, and
according to the angel, a seventh head
would appear later on and it would last
for a short time. The sixth head or
religious system that was developing in
John’s day began as Christianity and
today, this religious system is known as
Catholicism. John was a charter member of
this new religious system. We know from
church history that Christianity rose to
power and fell from grace as Satan
entered through the back door and gained
control of the church. Centuries later,
the Reformation produced the seventh and
last religious system. The angel said the
seventh head would only last for ‘a
short time.” This religious system
is called Protestantism. Looking back
over the landscape of history,
Protestantism is a “newcomer: to the
religious world in terms of existence.
Since we are near the end of the world,
it can only last for a short time!
The
essential problem with all seven heads it
that they are blasphemous. This means
that they teach things that are contrary
to God’s will! Of course, no person
believes his or her church teaches
blasphemy. Everyone thinks that what he
or she believes is the truth about God,
but this is where the problem lies!
Therefore, God is going to turn the world
upside down. God is about to tear back
the veil of religious beliefs and the
sincere in heart will discover the truth
about God – the rest will reject it!
In other words, when repentance and
worship become matters of persecution,
the sheep will be separated from the
goats in all religions! Because
the first four trumpets will induce
global panic, everyone will thoughtfully
consider God’s will for a season! To
help people make the right choice, God
will empower 144,000 people to speak for
Him.
This
brings us to a very interesting point.
When Babylon, full of doctrines and
demonic power, is given absolute control
to manage the crisis between God and man,
the head that had been wounded will e
healed! Once again, the papacy will lead
the world into apostasy through
blasphemy. Therefore, the seven heads of
the composite beast represents the seven
religious systems of the world! They are:
1.
Heathenism
2.
Atheism
3.
Eastern Mysticism
4.
Islam
5.
Catholicism
6.
Protestantism
7.
Judaism
Think about this: Can you
identify any person on Earth who does not
belong to one of these seven systems?
Next month, I will write an article about
the beast from the abyss because it
relates to the seven heads and ten horns.
The ten horns are ten “puppet
kings” which Lucifer will appoint to
rule over the world once he physically
appears. Please make copies and share
this article with all your friends. They
need to know.
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