The Strand Study Bible

REVELATION 16:18  17:12

2168

Written From the Island of Patmos

shew unto thee the judgment of the 8 great whore that sitteth upon 9 many waters: 2 10 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, 11 and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a 8 woman sit upon a scarlet coloured 12 beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abomina- tions and filthiness of her fornication: 5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great 13 admiration. 7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mys- tery of the woman, and of the 12 beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend 14 out of the bot- tomless pit, and go into 15 perdition: and they that dwell on the earth 16 shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life 17 from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. P 9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10 And 18 there are seven kings: five are fallen, and 19 one is, and the 20 other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a 21 short space. 11 And the 22 beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into 15 perdition. P 12 And the 23 ten horns which thou saw-

1. or, “Babylon” - Rev 14:8 & 18:2,10 2. or, “Political Babylon” - Rev 18 3. Fulfilled - Rev 14:14-20 & 19:17-21 (Armageddon) 4. Psa 2:12 5. Rev 6:14 6. Job 38:22-23 & Ezk 38:22 7. Rev 16:1 8. or, “false religious system now centered in Rome; Religious Babylon” - Rev 17:18 9. that is, “the sea of humanity" - Rev 17:15 10. Rev 18:3,9 11. Jere 51:7 & Rev 14:8 12. or, “Antichrist; the spirit of Satan” - Rev 12:3 & 13:1 13 or, “wonder” 14. Rev 11:7 15. or, “lake of fire” - (Antichrist’s Destruction) (See - II Thess 2:8) 16. Rev 13:3 17. Mt 25:34 & Rev 13:8 18. Gr., “they” 19. or, “the Roman Empire under which John lived” 20. that is “The Revived Roman Empire under the dictates of the Anti- christ” - Dan 7:7, 19-25 21. or, “3 ½ years” - Rev 13:5 22. or, “Antichrist”- Rev 12:3 & 13:1 23. Dan 7:20,24 Fulfilled - Rev 19:20

MED SEA

Armageddon •

Jerusalem •

Armageddon - Map #75 Seventh Vial (Hail)

18 And there were voices, and thun- ders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earth- quake, and so great. 19 And the 1 great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the na- tions fell: and 2 great Babylon came in re- membrance before God, to give unto her 3 the cup of the wine of the fierceness of 4 HIS wrath. P 20 5 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And there fell upon men a great 6 hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. The Antichrist overthrows “Religious” Babylon (During the middle of the tribulation) Date Written - c. AD 96 Revelation 17 1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the 7 seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will

17:3 The fact that this harlot ( woman ; false religious system) rides the beast (Antichrist) indicates that even the Antichrist will not be free of her controlling influence until the middle of the Tribulation (vs 16). It is Satan himself (the one who controls the beast/ Antichrist ) who carries the woman ( false religious system ) to the kingdoms of the world in order to control them (vs 9). NOTE – There is a reason why God uses a woman here to depict the false religious system of the world. According to Genesis 3:1-5, Satan was unsuccessful in his attempt to get man to sin. So what did he do? He went after the woman, and when her fall led to man’s fall (Gen 3:6-7), Satan understood the power of a woman . He understood what God has known all along – women have power over men (I Pet 3:1). Thus, from that day till this the devil has used women to spiritually deceive mankind.