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When people say, Here is Christ ... believe it not!
Signs of the times are all around us. In the previous chapter I made reference to one specific sign: the call for peace and safety in Israel and for the world, and a man appearing on the scene who has a plan to make it happen.
Jesus also gave us this additional sign …
Mt 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Mt 24:25 Behold, I have told you before.
Mt 24:26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
Mt 24:27 “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Recently I came across a web site by a group calling themselves, Church of the Almighty God. The overall sense I get from the topics of the articles they wish to promote seem biblical. But at a closer examination, they make the claim that Jesus has already returned and is living and ministering in China.
Jesus said false Christs would arise. He said claims that He has already returned would be made. He said many would come in His name, saying Jesus is the Christ … and would deceive many.
We likely will be hearing about many more of these showing up in the near future.
Why do we know they are wrong? Because Jesus said that as the lightning flashes from the east to the west, so will the coming of Christ be. He will come in an instant, call us up to meet Him in the air. We will not have to go and find Him.
The prophecies of Daniel have indicated that a future final seven year period of time will contain events ending with the coming of Jesus.
Included in the many events that are mentioned, are several world-wide conflicts that will take place in the world during that time.
There will be a total of five battles or conflicts, (the battle of Armageddon will be the 5th) .
A world leader will arise … almost out of nowhere, who will make a pact with Israel, then, about a year later, he will initiate a conflict (Battle #1) with a rival power to the South. After the battle, a peace treaty with the south will be made. But a year later he will violate the treaty and attempt to eliminate the Southern king and his allies (Battle #2), but will fail to do so because the Southern rival will be ready for him, the northern leader, angry that he will have failed, will retreat and go to Israel and change his presence from being thought of as a Messiah … to being seen (by the God-believing Jews and Christians,) as a wicked dictator.
During all of this time, as a result of the previous two conflicts, over a quarter of the population of the world will have died!
During the next 3 ½ years he will attempt to eliminate anyone who believes in God … first, the God-fearing Jews, but they will escape from his hand. Then he goes after Christians. They will not escape.
Then we come to the topic of this chapter, … The Southern stronghold will make a final attempt (right at the end of the seven year tribulation) to either strike against the Northern power or at least to exert some kind of control or change in what the Northern king will be doing. (The language used by Daniel is … At the time of the end the King of the South shall 'push' at him.) This battle #3. The results are catastrophic.
We are comparing Daniel's prophecy with how the same event is written in the Revelation.
In the Revelation we have taken a look at a book that John sees after he was transported to heaven, a book that contains a breakdown of the events of the final seven years of this era of history. We compared them one at a time with Daniel 11.
Now I want to list the main players, the world powers, as described in the Revelation.
John talks about about having seen a beast with seven heads. Then he says that each head represented a world power of the past. At John's time, 2000 years ago, he noted, five of the kings were in the past, one was a present world power in John's time, and one was to be a future world leader.
John also stated that the seventh head had 10 horns on it. These, he says, represent 10 allied kingdoms or countries who will lend their power to this seventh king for a short while.
Both Daniel and Ezekiel stated that the King of the North will need allies. These allies will be the 10 horns that are seen on the seventh head of the beast in Revelations.
But where is Daniel's Southern power mentioned in the Revelation?
Let's take a look.
Re 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Some things to note:
A woman – More about her in a moment.
Sitting on - Riders are on the backs of animals for a reason … to control the animal by holding the reins. We could say, pulling some strings.
The beast is scarlet … which has to do with Satan, but as we will see in a moment, actually she is pulling the strings of the seventh head of the beast … the King of the North.
Full of the names of blasphemy … the construction of the sentence could mean one of two things … either the woman is filled with the names of blasphemy … or else it is the beast being referred to. I go with the latter, since it is the King of the North who has set himself up as God and that is the greatest blasphemy possible.
Re 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
The woman is well-off. She is seen to be living the 'good life' and obviously that is important to her. She has a terrible record of moral evil and she is charged with sexual deviancy.
Here is her name:
Re 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
(Just a reminder here, do not forget that Daniel indicates that the Northern King will have issues with the King of the South for most of the seven years of the tribulation. What we are looking for in the book of Revelation, is a similar scenario in which the Antichrist (The beast) has issues through-out the seven years with a rival power. We will not see this rival power delineated in the same manner as we see in the book of Daniel, but we will see that the beast has issues with the woman on his back.
In the past, many Bible commentators have said that the woman represents the Catholic church. This is wrong for a number of reasons.
That idea comes from a statement that says that the woman sits on seven mountains. Rome is built on 'seven hills', which in this case are supposed to equate to the seven mountains on which this prostitute sits.
Re 17:18 “And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
If this woman is really the Catholic church, and since she is not destroyed until the very end … this would mean that the Antichrist has tolerated her for most of the seven years. And that just does not make sense. He has declared himself to be God. He has tried to eliminate all 'god-believers'. This means that if the woman were the Catholic church, the Antichrist would have been trying to eliminate her for the whole seven years.
When commentators try to make the woman into the Catholic church … they have just introduced a 'player' into the mix that does not agree with Daniel's account of the end time.
Since there is no other 'player' in Revelation that could be the King of the South … , she is it. She represents a power that 'rules over the kings of the earth'.
Daniel said, At the time of the end the King of the South would 'push' at the King of the North. And the King of the North would muster a huge army and totally eliminate the King of the South. (if the above theory, Catholics equal the prostitute, were true, it would mean that the King of the North would somehow eliminate all Catholics out of the world. It just doesn't make sense.)
The Revelation says it this way:
Re 17:16 And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
In this verse the woman is called a whore. And the ten allied Kings will have tolerated that 'woman on their backs' up to that point, but they will have reached their limit. They will destroy the prostitute … and in Daniel's version, it is the King of the North and his allies who will destroy the King of the South.
Can we put a name to the King of the North, his allies and also a name to the King of the South? No, not definitively. But we are given more to go on.
Remember the writer of Hebrews said, “Encourage one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.”
The church needs to encourage one another, that is a given. But the writer says that the time is coming when believers would actually 'see' the day approaching. So, what, if anything, do we see?
Let's add another layer of identifying characteristics.
The King of North is said to be coming out of the remote north (Ezekiel). North of Israel is Turkey … and further north is Russia.
Here is a verse from Daniel chapter 8 which may define where the Antichrist actually comes from.
Da 8:9 And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land (Israel).
Let's try to get a clear picture by following these directions.
By looking a map of Israel, this 'horn' (Antichrist) will be coming east toward Israel, means that he will come from the west. But is also says that he came toward the south … this means he will be coming from the north. By looking at a map to see what is west and north of Israel, we see that would take in countries such as Greece, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Poland, Ukraine, Romania etc. Turkey is mostly North, but a great portion of it is also West of Israel.
This broadens the possibilities as to where this 'horn' may come from. At the time of this writing, the president of France is Emmanuel Macron. His first name is actually 'God'. Macron is a very interesting person in regard to what is shaping up politically in the middle east.
Here is a quote from Voice of America news online.
Macron’s penchant for bold gestures, from dramatic announcements on climate change to hosting major meetings on global crises and prodding Europe on greater fiscal and military integration, have inevitably snagged international headlines. His latest Middle East foray is no different.
https://www.voanews.com/europe/frances-macron-pivots-mideast-triggering-speculation
He is very involved with the middle east.
From one of these three likely places the King of the North will emerge. He will move towards being seen or recognized as representing one of the 'superpowers'. We can say that because of his world-wide influence.
At present Russia has been working closely with Turkey in a military sense. One difficulty in expecting the leader of Turkey to come forward as the smooth-talking, slippery … 'caring' person, to befriend Israel and replace America as Israel's benefactor, is the fact that Turkey is Muslim and Israel is not. If the King of North will be Russian ...he would come in with no religion at all. From the very beginning of Communism, Russia has said that there is no God. If this world leader will be the present leader of France, we also note that he has 'communist' leanings.
So we don't know much more, except that a promised peace will seem to come in as a wonderful reality.
When the King of the North (the 7 headed beast) starts to fulfill his promises and begins to wield his power … it will include (possibly not till the half way mark about 3 ½ years into the tribulation) it will include a revamping of the world's money system … or at least … a new system of buying and selling. It will have something to do with the world-wide worshiping of the man by adopting his mark in the arm or forehead.
It appears that this will be a world-wide phenomenon and requirement.
So this means that during the second half of the tribulation, the 'king of the South', and all of the countries that he represents, will also have to adopt the 'mark' system.
In Revelation we have read of a woman, a prostitute, who is not merely 'going along for a ride', but is, in some sense, pulling the reins.
The King of the South may not be politically, or militarily flexing any muscle … but he (she) is controlling the beast in some sense.
And the sense in which the King of the South has some control over the king of the North … specifically over the ten allied kings, causes aggravation to them. Judging by the number of comments relative to her wealth, and judging by the world-wide economic collapse after she is destroyed by the 10 horns, leads me to believe that the identity of the woman is none other than the system or persons who have set the dollar as the standard of currency in the world. And it would also seem that this same 'woman' (or King of the South), represents the authority, the people, the country who will be no longer the supporter of Israel at that time.
Having said that the woman, Mystery Babylon, is one and the same as the King of the South, this means her destruction is God-ordained.
In Daniel this is not made clear. There we simply read … the King of the South, at the very end, 'pushes' at the king of the North. Then the King of the North, with many allies, sweeps down and totally destroys the King of South and her ally countries.
But in Revelation we see what God has to do with this:
Re 17:16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire,:17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
God hates all sin. In Ezekiel God says that He will control Gog by putting hooks in his jaws and leading him against Israel …( I don't want to get ahead of myself, but this refers to the next battle, #4, after the King of the South is wiped out in battle #3) But then, after Gog fulfills God's purposes, God punishes/destroys Gog in battle #5, Armageddon. He is doing a similar thing here in battle #3. He prompts the 10 horns to turn on the prostitute and cast her to the ground, trample her, burn her with fire.
God especially 'has it in' for the prostitute. He has it in for the Antichrist as well, but look what He says about the punishment of the prostitute. In the previous verse in Revelation we have 7 angels coming out of God's throne, each having a bowl of God's wrath to pour out onto the earth – one at a time. By the time we read the following verse, six bowls have already been poured out. Here comes the seventh, the last one.
Re 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
This is from chapter 16 … we skip down to chapter 18. (Notice I have left out verse 4 for now)
Re 18:1 ¶ After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory.
2 And he called out with a mighty voice, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
3 For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living."
4 ****
5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
6 Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed.
7 As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, ‘I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.’
8 For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her."
God really has it in for Babylon (the King of the South). Why?
I believe it has to do with what she was in the beginning and what she has become at this point.
Notice 18:2 … She has fallen. That means at one point she was not fallen.
She has become a dwelling place of demons … at one point she was not the dwelling place of demons.
So God pours out the last bowl of His wrath upon her. He does so by provoking the ten horns on the beast to do the dirty deed.
The King of the South, mystery Babylon … goes up in smoke.
God gives a lot of space in scripture to talk about this. Let's read more. The section shows the magnitude of devastation.
Re 18:8 For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her."
9 ¶ And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning.
10 They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, "Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come."
11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, 12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls. 14 "The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you, and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you, never to be found again!"
15 The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,
16 "Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls! 17 For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste." And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, "What city was like the great city?"
19 And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, "Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste.
20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!"
The destruction that we have just read about, is in no way describing the destruction of the Catholic church. These verses describe the destruction of the King of the South … a very powerful, rich country that dominated industry and the economy. China? No … China will be included in the Kings of the East that we have not mentioned yet.
This is describing a destruction that seems to be centered on some huge sea-port. The smoke can be seen for miles out to sea.
Well, you probably has filled in some blanks by now. America is the country who stands with Israel.
America is the country who started out 'up there' but is falling fast.
America is the one who has set the currency as the almighty dollar.
Without America in the picture, commerce would (will) take a huge hit.
What seems to be implied here … the Antichrist will control buying and selling via the use of some kind of mark or number … but the woman on his back, (King of the South, America, (along with the humongous banks, international banks with their chief locations in New York, the ones who loan money to both sides of a conflict, thereby keeping the conflict going), the woman becomes intolerable to the beast and they destroy her. The King of the North takes out the King of the South. Babylon is gone.
The next four verses give a short recap and the reason for God's severe judgment.
Re 18:21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more; 22 and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more, and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more, and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more,
23 and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.
Re 18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth."
This is an account of a major event recorded in God's word. This is such a huge part of the 'tribulation story' that Daniel's prophecy of the final seven years would have been incomplete without it. Conversely, Daniel's inclusion of 'the King of the South' would be very obviously absent in the Revelation account … if these two things were not one and the same.
In the verses we just read notice the sadness, the tragedy.
the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more culture is gone. Broadway, Nashville, Hollywood gone.
Industry: and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more, Manufacture: and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more,
Worst of all:the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more,
This could be referring to marrying and giving in marriage, as Jesus mentions in Matthew 24, but I think this is referring to Jesus and the church. America, known for the 'Godly principles' on which it was founded, a county known for it's 'bible belt', … is gone.
Imagine America with no gospel at all. Difficult isn't it?
I said earlier that I was skipping a verse … now it's time to look at it.
Revelation 18:4 is the verse.
But allow me to put it into it's sequential setting.
You remember our looking at the 'seven sealed book'? I said that it contained a somewhat detailed account of the last seven year future period of time which we call the tribulation. We stopped with seal # 5 being opened and reading about thousands of Christians who had recently appeared in heaven, having been 'martyred' here on earth.
Remember, they asked God a question and they were given an answer, “Wait just a little longer”.
Then seal #6 gets opened and we read that it is describing events right at the end of the seven years. It reads like this:
Re 6:12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,
13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.
14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,Re 6:16 calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"
Does that sound like 'the end'? It is. And yet, how could this be the end? This is only chapter 6 of Revelation. As I have said before, the book is written is cycles. The 'story' will be retold several more times, each new telling will add important details that are important to understanding the complete story. But as you can see here, the sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up - this is the end..
Sinners try to hide from God saying ,... Hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne!
This clearly is 'the end'. There is one seal left to be opened …
Re 8:1 ¶ When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
It's all over. Heaven has a half hour of silence.
But here is a key I want to leave with you that will open your understanding of Revelation in a great way.
There is not a only seven-sealed book that tells the story.
There are two other sequences of seven that greatly enhance the story.
There are seven angels appearing on the scene, each holding a trumpet. With the sounding of each trumpet, a 'happening' on earth is described.
Seven other angels appear, each holding a 'bowl of God's wrath'. One at a time these angel pour out their bowls onto the earth and devastation occurs.
Here is what is NOT happening … the three series of seven, the seals, the trumpets, the bowls, do not line up like you might think. In other words, seal one, trumpet one and bowl one do not happen at the same time. But here is what DOES happen. All the sevens occur at the same time.
So it is like this:
The events of Seal six comes to an end, and the feared “great day of God's wrath has arrived”. Seal seven opens …and Bowl seven, God's final bowl is poured on Babylon, Trumpet seven sounds …
All seven happen simultaneously. I will repeat, for the progression of events to make any sense at all, the 'sevens' all take place at the same time. That is the key that unlocks the puzzle that is missed by so many.
Now the verse that I intentionally missed earlier …
Re 18:4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues;
This is the rapture. Just as bowl seven is about to be poured on Babylon – America … Re 16:17 ¶ The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!"
verse 19 The great city (Babylon – NewYork?) was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell (the rest of America and her allies), and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.
But God's people have been 'called out' of her! There will be no Christians killed by 'bowl 7, also called 'The Great Day of God's wrath'. No Christians will be killed in America during the pouring out of bowl 7, because God calls them out (up) at the sounding of trumpet 7, just before bowl seven is poured out.
The sequence is Re 16:12 ¶ The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. (More about these kings next time)
And then skipping down to verse Re 16:15 ("Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!")
Coming like a thief when? At the same time as bowl seven is poured out on Babylon.
What about trumpet seven? If Seal #7 is silence in heaven … if bowl seven is judgment on Babylon, if believers have just been called out … does trumpet seven say anything about this? Let's look:
Re 11:15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever."
Sounds like the end of man's day here on earth right? Jesus is about to rule.
There is more: Re 11:18 The nations raged, (This was mentioned in seal six) but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth."
So what is happening in heaven? The (believing) dead from Adam to that time are appearing at a judgment. This is the judgment seat of Christ. How do we know? We know because it is reward time: judging and rewarding His servants, prophets, saints, and all other believers, small and great. This is the 'Bema' seat judgment of Christ. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 2nd Corinthians 5:10
Believers will be in heaven … bowl seven will be destroying Babylon … (the King of the North and his 10 horns will be doing the destroying). The Antichrist will finally be rid of all Christians. What will he be up to next? A closer look at this in the next chapter.
But we leave this chapter rejoicing that God is in charge … in His righteousness he takes care of us and in His own way and time, He takes care of the evil.
If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come! 1Corinthians 16:22
Jesus also gave us this additional sign …
Mt 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Mt 24:25 Behold, I have told you before.
Mt 24:26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
Mt 24:27 “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Recently I came across a web site by a group calling themselves, Church of the Almighty God. The overall sense I get from the topics of the articles they wish to promote seem biblical. But at a closer examination, they make the claim that Jesus has already returned and is living and ministering in China.
Jesus said false Christs would arise. He said claims that He has already returned would be made. He said many would come in His name, saying Jesus is the Christ … and would deceive many.
We likely will be hearing about many more of these showing up in the near future.
Why do we know they are wrong? Because Jesus said that as the lightning flashes from the east to the west, so will the coming of Christ be. He will come in an instant, call us up to meet Him in the air. We will not have to go and find Him.
The prophecies of Daniel have indicated that a future final seven year period of time will contain events ending with the coming of Jesus.
Included in the many events that are mentioned, are several world-wide conflicts that will take place in the world during that time.
There will be a total of five battles or conflicts, (the battle of Armageddon will be the 5th) .
A world leader will arise … almost out of nowhere, who will make a pact with Israel, then, about a year later, he will initiate a conflict (Battle #1) with a rival power to the South. After the battle, a peace treaty with the south will be made. But a year later he will violate the treaty and attempt to eliminate the Southern king and his allies (Battle #2), but will fail to do so because the Southern rival will be ready for him, the northern leader, angry that he will have failed, will retreat and go to Israel and change his presence from being thought of as a Messiah … to being seen (by the God-believing Jews and Christians,) as a wicked dictator.
During all of this time, as a result of the previous two conflicts, over a quarter of the population of the world will have died!
During the next 3 ½ years he will attempt to eliminate anyone who believes in God … first, the God-fearing Jews, but they will escape from his hand. Then he goes after Christians. They will not escape.
Then we come to the topic of this chapter, … The Southern stronghold will make a final attempt (right at the end of the seven year tribulation) to either strike against the Northern power or at least to exert some kind of control or change in what the Northern king will be doing. (The language used by Daniel is … At the time of the end the King of the South shall 'push' at him.) This battle #3. The results are catastrophic.
We are comparing Daniel's prophecy with how the same event is written in the Revelation.
In the Revelation we have taken a look at a book that John sees after he was transported to heaven, a book that contains a breakdown of the events of the final seven years of this era of history. We compared them one at a time with Daniel 11.
Now I want to list the main players, the world powers, as described in the Revelation.
John talks about about having seen a beast with seven heads. Then he says that each head represented a world power of the past. At John's time, 2000 years ago, he noted, five of the kings were in the past, one was a present world power in John's time, and one was to be a future world leader.
John also stated that the seventh head had 10 horns on it. These, he says, represent 10 allied kingdoms or countries who will lend their power to this seventh king for a short while.
Both Daniel and Ezekiel stated that the King of the North will need allies. These allies will be the 10 horns that are seen on the seventh head of the beast in Revelations.
But where is Daniel's Southern power mentioned in the Revelation?
Let's take a look.
Re 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Some things to note:
A woman – More about her in a moment.
Sitting on - Riders are on the backs of animals for a reason … to control the animal by holding the reins. We could say, pulling some strings.
The beast is scarlet … which has to do with Satan, but as we will see in a moment, actually she is pulling the strings of the seventh head of the beast … the King of the North.
Full of the names of blasphemy … the construction of the sentence could mean one of two things … either the woman is filled with the names of blasphemy … or else it is the beast being referred to. I go with the latter, since it is the King of the North who has set himself up as God and that is the greatest blasphemy possible.
Re 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
The woman is well-off. She is seen to be living the 'good life' and obviously that is important to her. She has a terrible record of moral evil and she is charged with sexual deviancy.
Here is her name:
Re 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
(Just a reminder here, do not forget that Daniel indicates that the Northern King will have issues with the King of the South for most of the seven years of the tribulation. What we are looking for in the book of Revelation, is a similar scenario in which the Antichrist (The beast) has issues through-out the seven years with a rival power. We will not see this rival power delineated in the same manner as we see in the book of Daniel, but we will see that the beast has issues with the woman on his back.
In the past, many Bible commentators have said that the woman represents the Catholic church. This is wrong for a number of reasons.
That idea comes from a statement that says that the woman sits on seven mountains. Rome is built on 'seven hills', which in this case are supposed to equate to the seven mountains on which this prostitute sits.
Re 17:18 “And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
If this woman is really the Catholic church, and since she is not destroyed until the very end … this would mean that the Antichrist has tolerated her for most of the seven years. And that just does not make sense. He has declared himself to be God. He has tried to eliminate all 'god-believers'. This means that if the woman were the Catholic church, the Antichrist would have been trying to eliminate her for the whole seven years.
When commentators try to make the woman into the Catholic church … they have just introduced a 'player' into the mix that does not agree with Daniel's account of the end time.
Since there is no other 'player' in Revelation that could be the King of the South … , she is it. She represents a power that 'rules over the kings of the earth'.
Daniel said, At the time of the end the King of the South would 'push' at the King of the North. And the King of the North would muster a huge army and totally eliminate the King of the South. (if the above theory, Catholics equal the prostitute, were true, it would mean that the King of the North would somehow eliminate all Catholics out of the world. It just doesn't make sense.)
The Revelation says it this way:
Re 17:16 And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
In this verse the woman is called a whore. And the ten allied Kings will have tolerated that 'woman on their backs' up to that point, but they will have reached their limit. They will destroy the prostitute … and in Daniel's version, it is the King of the North and his allies who will destroy the King of the South.
Can we put a name to the King of the North, his allies and also a name to the King of the South? No, not definitively. But we are given more to go on.
Remember the writer of Hebrews said, “Encourage one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.”
The church needs to encourage one another, that is a given. But the writer says that the time is coming when believers would actually 'see' the day approaching. So, what, if anything, do we see?
Let's add another layer of identifying characteristics.
The King of North is said to be coming out of the remote north (Ezekiel). North of Israel is Turkey … and further north is Russia.
Here is a verse from Daniel chapter 8 which may define where the Antichrist actually comes from.
Da 8:9 And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land (Israel).
Let's try to get a clear picture by following these directions.
By looking a map of Israel, this 'horn' (Antichrist) will be coming east toward Israel, means that he will come from the west. But is also says that he came toward the south … this means he will be coming from the north. By looking at a map to see what is west and north of Israel, we see that would take in countries such as Greece, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Poland, Ukraine, Romania etc. Turkey is mostly North, but a great portion of it is also West of Israel.
This broadens the possibilities as to where this 'horn' may come from. At the time of this writing, the president of France is Emmanuel Macron. His first name is actually 'God'. Macron is a very interesting person in regard to what is shaping up politically in the middle east.
Here is a quote from Voice of America news online.
Macron’s penchant for bold gestures, from dramatic announcements on climate change to hosting major meetings on global crises and prodding Europe on greater fiscal and military integration, have inevitably snagged international headlines. His latest Middle East foray is no different.
https://www.voanews.com/europe/frances-macron-pivots-mideast-triggering-speculation
He is very involved with the middle east.
From one of these three likely places the King of the North will emerge. He will move towards being seen or recognized as representing one of the 'superpowers'. We can say that because of his world-wide influence.
At present Russia has been working closely with Turkey in a military sense. One difficulty in expecting the leader of Turkey to come forward as the smooth-talking, slippery … 'caring' person, to befriend Israel and replace America as Israel's benefactor, is the fact that Turkey is Muslim and Israel is not. If the King of North will be Russian ...he would come in with no religion at all. From the very beginning of Communism, Russia has said that there is no God. If this world leader will be the present leader of France, we also note that he has 'communist' leanings.
So we don't know much more, except that a promised peace will seem to come in as a wonderful reality.
When the King of the North (the 7 headed beast) starts to fulfill his promises and begins to wield his power … it will include (possibly not till the half way mark about 3 ½ years into the tribulation) it will include a revamping of the world's money system … or at least … a new system of buying and selling. It will have something to do with the world-wide worshiping of the man by adopting his mark in the arm or forehead.
It appears that this will be a world-wide phenomenon and requirement.
So this means that during the second half of the tribulation, the 'king of the South', and all of the countries that he represents, will also have to adopt the 'mark' system.
In Revelation we have read of a woman, a prostitute, who is not merely 'going along for a ride', but is, in some sense, pulling the reins.
The King of the South may not be politically, or militarily flexing any muscle … but he (she) is controlling the beast in some sense.
And the sense in which the King of the South has some control over the king of the North … specifically over the ten allied kings, causes aggravation to them. Judging by the number of comments relative to her wealth, and judging by the world-wide economic collapse after she is destroyed by the 10 horns, leads me to believe that the identity of the woman is none other than the system or persons who have set the dollar as the standard of currency in the world. And it would also seem that this same 'woman' (or King of the South), represents the authority, the people, the country who will be no longer the supporter of Israel at that time.
Having said that the woman, Mystery Babylon, is one and the same as the King of the South, this means her destruction is God-ordained.
In Daniel this is not made clear. There we simply read … the King of the South, at the very end, 'pushes' at the king of the North. Then the King of the North, with many allies, sweeps down and totally destroys the King of South and her ally countries.
But in Revelation we see what God has to do with this:
Re 17:16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire,:17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
God hates all sin. In Ezekiel God says that He will control Gog by putting hooks in his jaws and leading him against Israel …( I don't want to get ahead of myself, but this refers to the next battle, #4, after the King of the South is wiped out in battle #3) But then, after Gog fulfills God's purposes, God punishes/destroys Gog in battle #5, Armageddon. He is doing a similar thing here in battle #3. He prompts the 10 horns to turn on the prostitute and cast her to the ground, trample her, burn her with fire.
God especially 'has it in' for the prostitute. He has it in for the Antichrist as well, but look what He says about the punishment of the prostitute. In the previous verse in Revelation we have 7 angels coming out of God's throne, each having a bowl of God's wrath to pour out onto the earth – one at a time. By the time we read the following verse, six bowls have already been poured out. Here comes the seventh, the last one.
Re 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
This is from chapter 16 … we skip down to chapter 18. (Notice I have left out verse 4 for now)
Re 18:1 ¶ After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory.
2 And he called out with a mighty voice, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
3 For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living."
4 ****
5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
6 Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed.
7 As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, ‘I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.’
8 For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her."
God really has it in for Babylon (the King of the South). Why?
I believe it has to do with what she was in the beginning and what she has become at this point.
Notice 18:2 … She has fallen. That means at one point she was not fallen.
She has become a dwelling place of demons … at one point she was not the dwelling place of demons.
So God pours out the last bowl of His wrath upon her. He does so by provoking the ten horns on the beast to do the dirty deed.
The King of the South, mystery Babylon … goes up in smoke.
God gives a lot of space in scripture to talk about this. Let's read more. The section shows the magnitude of devastation.
Re 18:8 For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her."
9 ¶ And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning.
10 They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, "Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come."
11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, 12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls. 14 "The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you, and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you, never to be found again!"
15 The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,
16 "Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls! 17 For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste." And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, "What city was like the great city?"
19 And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, "Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste.
20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!"
The destruction that we have just read about, is in no way describing the destruction of the Catholic church. These verses describe the destruction of the King of the South … a very powerful, rich country that dominated industry and the economy. China? No … China will be included in the Kings of the East that we have not mentioned yet.
This is describing a destruction that seems to be centered on some huge sea-port. The smoke can be seen for miles out to sea.
Well, you probably has filled in some blanks by now. America is the country who stands with Israel.
America is the country who started out 'up there' but is falling fast.
America is the one who has set the currency as the almighty dollar.
Without America in the picture, commerce would (will) take a huge hit.
What seems to be implied here … the Antichrist will control buying and selling via the use of some kind of mark or number … but the woman on his back, (King of the South, America, (along with the humongous banks, international banks with their chief locations in New York, the ones who loan money to both sides of a conflict, thereby keeping the conflict going), the woman becomes intolerable to the beast and they destroy her. The King of the North takes out the King of the South. Babylon is gone.
The next four verses give a short recap and the reason for God's severe judgment.
Re 18:21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more; 22 and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more, and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more, and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more,
23 and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.
Re 18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth."
This is an account of a major event recorded in God's word. This is such a huge part of the 'tribulation story' that Daniel's prophecy of the final seven years would have been incomplete without it. Conversely, Daniel's inclusion of 'the King of the South' would be very obviously absent in the Revelation account … if these two things were not one and the same.
In the verses we just read notice the sadness, the tragedy.
the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more culture is gone. Broadway, Nashville, Hollywood gone.
Industry: and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more, Manufacture: and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more,
Worst of all:the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more,
This could be referring to marrying and giving in marriage, as Jesus mentions in Matthew 24, but I think this is referring to Jesus and the church. America, known for the 'Godly principles' on which it was founded, a county known for it's 'bible belt', … is gone.
Imagine America with no gospel at all. Difficult isn't it?
I said earlier that I was skipping a verse … now it's time to look at it.
Revelation 18:4 is the verse.
But allow me to put it into it's sequential setting.
You remember our looking at the 'seven sealed book'? I said that it contained a somewhat detailed account of the last seven year future period of time which we call the tribulation. We stopped with seal # 5 being opened and reading about thousands of Christians who had recently appeared in heaven, having been 'martyred' here on earth.
Remember, they asked God a question and they were given an answer, “Wait just a little longer”.
Then seal #6 gets opened and we read that it is describing events right at the end of the seven years. It reads like this:
Re 6:12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,
13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.
14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,Re 6:16 calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"
Does that sound like 'the end'? It is. And yet, how could this be the end? This is only chapter 6 of Revelation. As I have said before, the book is written is cycles. The 'story' will be retold several more times, each new telling will add important details that are important to understanding the complete story. But as you can see here, the sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up - this is the end..
Sinners try to hide from God saying ,... Hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne!
This clearly is 'the end'. There is one seal left to be opened …
Re 8:1 ¶ When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
It's all over. Heaven has a half hour of silence.
But here is a key I want to leave with you that will open your understanding of Revelation in a great way.
There is not a only seven-sealed book that tells the story.
There are two other sequences of seven that greatly enhance the story.
There are seven angels appearing on the scene, each holding a trumpet. With the sounding of each trumpet, a 'happening' on earth is described.
Seven other angels appear, each holding a 'bowl of God's wrath'. One at a time these angel pour out their bowls onto the earth and devastation occurs.
Here is what is NOT happening … the three series of seven, the seals, the trumpets, the bowls, do not line up like you might think. In other words, seal one, trumpet one and bowl one do not happen at the same time. But here is what DOES happen. All the sevens occur at the same time.
So it is like this:
The events of Seal six comes to an end, and the feared “great day of God's wrath has arrived”. Seal seven opens …and Bowl seven, God's final bowl is poured on Babylon, Trumpet seven sounds …
All seven happen simultaneously. I will repeat, for the progression of events to make any sense at all, the 'sevens' all take place at the same time. That is the key that unlocks the puzzle that is missed by so many.
Now the verse that I intentionally missed earlier …
Re 18:4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues;
This is the rapture. Just as bowl seven is about to be poured on Babylon – America … Re 16:17 ¶ The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!"
verse 19 The great city (Babylon – NewYork?) was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell (the rest of America and her allies), and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.
But God's people have been 'called out' of her! There will be no Christians killed by 'bowl 7, also called 'The Great Day of God's wrath'. No Christians will be killed in America during the pouring out of bowl 7, because God calls them out (up) at the sounding of trumpet 7, just before bowl seven is poured out.
The sequence is Re 16:12 ¶ The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. (More about these kings next time)
And then skipping down to verse Re 16:15 ("Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!")
Coming like a thief when? At the same time as bowl seven is poured out on Babylon.
What about trumpet seven? If Seal #7 is silence in heaven … if bowl seven is judgment on Babylon, if believers have just been called out … does trumpet seven say anything about this? Let's look:
Re 11:15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever."
Sounds like the end of man's day here on earth right? Jesus is about to rule.
There is more: Re 11:18 The nations raged, (This was mentioned in seal six) but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth."
So what is happening in heaven? The (believing) dead from Adam to that time are appearing at a judgment. This is the judgment seat of Christ. How do we know? We know because it is reward time: judging and rewarding His servants, prophets, saints, and all other believers, small and great. This is the 'Bema' seat judgment of Christ. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 2nd Corinthians 5:10
Believers will be in heaven … bowl seven will be destroying Babylon … (the King of the North and his 10 horns will be doing the destroying). The Antichrist will finally be rid of all Christians. What will he be up to next? A closer look at this in the next chapter.
But we leave this chapter rejoicing that God is in charge … in His righteousness he takes care of us and in His own way and time, He takes care of the evil.
If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come! 1Corinthians 16:22