Revelation 18: The Whore of Babylon

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4"Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?"

5Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 6Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many. [Mark 13:3-6, NIV]

It’s interesting that Jesus’ first response to the disciples’ question was: “Watch out that no one deceives you”. I love this response! The disciples ask “when”, and Jesus responds “watch out that not one deceives you”. Christ’s unconventional response tells us that Satan’s deception will be rampant before his coming.

What is the deception that Jesus talked about? It’s pretty obvious in our day, who is and who isn’t a Christian – right? Is it?!

21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' [Matthew 7:21-23; NIV]

Do we know that we are following true Christianity? Are we certain that we are not being deceived?

9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. [Revelation 12:9 King James Version;emphasis mine]

3[The angel] threw [Satan] into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. [Revelation 20:3 NIV;emphasis mine]

There are about 2 billion professing Christians in various denominations in the world, out of a total world population of about 6.5 billion. I will be bold enough to say that I don’t think all 2 billion people professing Christianity are practicing Christ’s Christianity. Satan is actively deceiving “the whole world”. Satan knows the bible [Matthew 4:6], and therefore knows that he will soon meet his end [Isaiah 14:12-15]. You can be sure that Satan is working overtime in our day!

The most dominant deception in the end times is described in Revelation 18:

1After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2With a mighty voice he shouted:

"Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!

She has become a home for demons

and a haunt for every evil spirit,

a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.

3For all the nations have drunk

the maddening wine of her adulteries.

The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,

and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries."

4Then I heard another voice from heaven say:

"Come out of her, my people,

so that you will not share in her sins,

so that you will not receive any of her plagues;

5for her sins are piled up to heaven,

and God has remembered her crimes.

6Give back to her as she has given;

pay her back double for what she has done.

Mix her a double portion from her own cup.

7Give her as much torture and grief

as the glory and luxury she gave herself.

In her heart she boasts,

'I sit as queen; I am not a widow,

and I will never mourn.'

8Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her:

death, mourning and famine.

She will be consumed by fire,

for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.

9"When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. 10Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry:

" 'Woe! Woe, O great city,

O Babylon, city of power!

In one hour your doom has come!'

[Revelation 18:1-10; NIV]

I did some research on Revelation 18 and ended up back at the Berean Call. Like I said in my last post: I love their ministry. Dave Hunt, in my opinion convincingly equates the Whore of Babylon to the Roman Catholic Church. One of my bibles even entitles Revelation 18 as: “The fall of Babylon, which is Rome; the vision of the woman”. Here’s a link to a chapter out of one of Dave Hunt’s books:

http://www.wayoflife.org/otimothy/tl030003.htm

Of course the Catholic church isn’t the only deception used by the devil. I think another huge deception, especially for western Christians, is materialism. We should ask ourselves this: would Christ approve of the time and effort we devote to obtaining the world’s list of “must haves” – nice house, nice car, nice boat, nice vacations, etc, etc. These things aren’t evil in themselves, of course. They can be a blessing as long as we are seeking God’s kingdom first, and we are living “transformed lives”:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. [Romans 12:2;emphasis mine]

It is absolutely crucial that Christians be committed to studying the bible and yielding to the Holy Spirit for direction. The instruction in Revelation 18:4 is shouting at us to: “Come out of her”. Has the modern protestant church made a complete “Reformation” and come out? Or are we starting to go back in and accept the world’s ecumenical message that “all roads lead to heaven” - I had to shake my head when I heard Oprah say that the other day. I had to do a double take at a photograph showing Pope John Paul II kissing the Koran. I even had an online chat just this week where I was called “ignorant” and “arrogant” for stating that Christ is the only way to God (that’s ok, because I consider it pure joy – James 1:2). Actually here’s the message this one individual left me. I want to share it with you because I think it’s very telling of some of the attitudes in our time:

“What arrogance you display. What gives you the right to speak of God so freely? You speak exclusively from a dualistic Christian viewpoint, living by blind faith alone. Your beliefs are not written in stone. What gives you the right to say that the bible is the correct and final word in our reality? There are many belief systems alive and well on our planet including science. Take some time out of your day to cultivate some awareness.”

We must be in the last of the last days.

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord [Jude 1:3-4 ]

God, help us to diligently contend for the faith and effectively point a lost world to Christ, “…for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” [Acts 4:12; KJV] Help us to read your word, understand it, and do what it says. Amen