And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. 16:19
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.”
But the angel said to me, “Why did 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 yet is.
“Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. 17:1-2; 17:7-9
“with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”
But the angel said to me, “Why did 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 yet is.
“Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. 17:1-2; 17:7-9
“Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!”18:20
Reckoning Day has Come
Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters. In our study, the time has come for the Battle of Armageddon, and the angel says, come, let's go see that video which shows what will happen.
The armies are gathered together in a place called har Megiddo, meaning, hill or city of Megiddo. It was there that Gideon obtained the victory over the Midianites and it was there that King Josiah and King Saul were killed in battle. Unger++.
It is located about fifteen miles from the Mediterranean Sea and about twenty-five miles South West of the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee. We do not read here that the war happened; we read only that the forces were gathered together there.
I marveled with great amazement. The KJV writes, when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. The Living Bible has changed the phrase to, I stared at her in horror. According to Vine+++ the meaning of the Greek word is admiration and not horror, as The Living Bible has it.
All those who dwell on the earth will admire the beast when they see him; all except those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. Why do they admire the beast? Because the god of this world (Satan) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 2 Cor. 4:4 KJV. This beast will attempt to destroy all those who do not worship him.
The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition.
Here is an interesting theory.
The angel, says to John, who is looking into the future, the beast that you saw (Muhammad, and successive Islamic war-crazed leaders) was in the seventh to the ninth century, then the Muslim territory and strength faded, so the angel said and is not, it is not a significant power, but later, at the end of time, it will ascend out of the bottomless pit, a place unknown to the world at large and that leader of the Muslim forces will start the Battle of Armageddon, and after that battle is over, he and his false religion, will go to perdition.
In chapter 16 we had these words so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. It sounds as if those kings from the east are the leaders of the Muslim armies.
I am, now, also wondering if the five horsemen (on four horses) in chapter 6 represent the Muslim hordes that will descend on Israel for that last battle. When the radical Muslims start that war, many Muslims who are now "laid back and at peace" will also take up arms against their unsuspecting neighbours in non-Muslim communities because their "Bible" tells them to.
Understand, before you read the following, that the Koran calls Jews and Christians, "unbelievers" and "infidels".
Here are some of the grisly passages from the Koran:
"Kill the unbelievers wherever you find them." Koran 2:191
"Make war on the infidels living in your neighborhood." Koran 9:123
"When opportunity arises, kill the infidels wherever you catch them." Koran 9:5
"Any religion other than Islam is not acceptable." Koran 3:85
"The Jews and the Christians are perverts; fight them."... Koran 9:30
"Maim and crucify the infidels if they criticize Islam" Koran 5:33
"Punish the unbelievers with garments of fire, hooked iron rods, boiling water; melt their skin and bellies." Koran 22:19
"The unbelievers are stupid; urge the Muslims to fight them." Koran 8:65
"Muslims must not take the infidels as friends." Koran 3:28
"Terrorize and behead those who believe in scriptures other than the Qur'an." Koran 8:12
"Muslims must muster all weapons to terrorize the infidels." Koran 8:60
"Mohammed is God's apostle. Those who follow him are harsh to the unbelievers but merciful to one another" Koran 48:29
The woman mentioned here is THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS, 17:5, her head is the false prophet, the second beast, and the woman is feeling very much at home where she is sitting. She, the modern materialistic society, is sitting at ease, thinking she will never have hard times and meanwhile, the false prophet is preaching that everything is cool; don't take the Bible too seriously.
After the last great anti-Semitic rage, which is the battle of Armageddon, Satan is also cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet will already be at that time.
To people who take the Bible literally, whenever possible, the Bible says that the torment in the lake of fire is continuous and never-ending. However, it is important to realize that at that point in The Apocalypse there is no one in the lake of fire except the beast, the false prophet and Satan.
____________________________++ Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Merrill F. Unger
+++ An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, W.E. Vine,
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