Though Communism appears to be the next power to rule the world, this symbolical prophecy points out that the world will next be ruled by an international religious system, by Babylon the Great, a rival of the religion of Christ, and a counterfeit of the woman in Revelation chapter 12:
Rev. 17:1 — “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:”
Rev. 17:2 —“With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”
Rev. 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.”
Here is a beast whose make-up is similar to that of the leopard-like beast of chapter 13. The horns of this scarlet-colored beast, though, are crownless, and none of his heads are wounded.
Also, rather than having the name of Blasphemy written only over his heads, his whole body is full of names of blasphemies.
In our last study we learned that the leopard-like beast symbolizes the world from the fall of Pagan Rome to our time (The Great Controversy, p. 442).
Now, since the scarlet-colored beast also has ten horns and seven heads, it is again seen that he, too, is in the stream of time a symbol of the world with its civil and religious powers — horns and heads.
Inasmuch as his head is not wounded as is the head of the leopard-like beast, and since the wound of the leopard-like is healed, it is clear that the scarlet-colored beast represents the world in the time the wound is healed, in the time the two-horned beast (Rev. 13:11–18) makes a likeness of the leopard-like beast in its pre-wounded state.
You notice that:
- the horns of Daniel’s fourth beast were crownless (Dan. 7:7, 8), and
- the horns of John’s leopard-like beast crowned (Rev. 13:1, 2), and again that
- the horns of this scarlet-colored beast are crownless (Rev. 17:3).
Inspiration by means of these symbolical beasts portrays three periods of time, one following the other:
- The period before the European kings received their crowns;
- The period in which they were crowned;
- A period of crownless kings in which Babylon the Great reigns supreme.
The fact that nearly all crowned kings of the world have already been dethroned is proof in itself that Period №. 2, the period of the leopard-like beast (crowned horns) is about to pass away…
…and that Period № 3, the period of the scarlet-colored beast (crownless horns) is about to be ushered in. In order to make the transition, the present distress of the nations is therefore inevitable.
The fact that the woman is sitting on the beast, driving it, positively shows that she is ruling it, and that the beast itself is the symbol of the dominion of Babylon the Great (Rev. 17:5).
The crownless horns show that he represents the world in a time in which there are no crowned kings, but that instead the world is ruled by an ecclesiastical head — the woman that drives the beast.
Moreover, the statement…
“the ten horns… are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast” (Rev. 17:12),
…positively imports that the crowned kingdoms of today, which emerged from fallen Rome, and which are represented by the crowned horns of the leopard-like beast, will be uncrowned—dethroned.
The crownless horns of the scarlet-colored beast, moreover, “have one mind,” and “give their power and strength unto the beast” (Rev. 17:13) while the woman “reigneth over the kings of the earth.” (Rev. 17:18.)
The wilderness being opposite of the vineyard denotes that the beast’s domain is not in the Promised Land, not in the vineyard (Isa. 5:7), but in the lands of the Gentiles, the “wilderness.” From his domain, therefore, is excluded the Holy Land, where God’s premillennial Kingdom is to be established.
9. The Premillennial Kingdom - The Jews had built up an erroneous conception of what the Kingdom was to be, and how and when it was to come, and so when the Lord exposed their misconceptions, they became indignant. They were very angry, not because the Kingdom which the Saviour disclosed was not much more… The beast’s ten horns portray civil powers, as do the horns of any symbolic beast. And if the wounded head of the leopard-like beast of chapter 13 is symbolical of a religious organization, as is taught by the Denomination, then his seven heads must likewise be figurative of religious bodies!
Thus it is that this beast in its entirety, like all the other such beasts of the Bible, symbolizes the Gentile world in its entirety — civil and religious bodies (horns and heads).
Her sitting on the heads (Rev. 17:9), denotes that she is to control the churches; and her driving the beast denotes that she is to be the sovereign of the world.
This system of worship and reign is not a new thing under the sun, but something as old as the time of the martyrs, for she is the cause of their slaying:
Rev. 18:24 — “in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.”
She is, therefore, rightly called Babylon, the name of the oldest, the first, world empire — the type:
Rev. 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:”
Rev. 17:5 — “And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
Rev. 17:6 — “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 admiration.”
What could she be but a counterfeit religion which originated with Cain’s unacceptable sacrifice?
Since then she has brought forth sectarianism, has become a “mother of harlots”.
This antitypical Babylon, from which God’s people at this time are to be called out, is even to
Monopolize the World’s Commerce,
As is clearly revealed in:
Rev. 18:3 — “For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her [Babylon the great’s] fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.”
And in the prediction that when her reign ends, then shall—
Rev. 18:11-13, 15-19 — “… the merchants of the earth… weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: the merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat and beasts, and sheep, and horses and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men….
“The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
“For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.”
So, shortly after it is set up, this federation of church and state will be plunged headlong into oblivion, even as a great “millstone” that is cast into the sea (Rev. 18:21). And the cry of her mourners shall be:
Rev. 17:12; 18:10, 17 — “In one hour so great riches is come to nought.”
This hour which brings the death throes of Babylon, can be none other than that which, according to Jesus’ parable (Matt. 20:11-16), is the last parabolic hour (period) of the day (probationary time); that is, from the eleventh-hour call for laborers (the last message to the world — Mal. 4:5), to the twelfth hour (sunset ancient timepiece), the end of the day — the close of the gospel period (Matt. 24:14), the close of the harvest (Jer. 8:20), the close of probation (Rev. 22:11).
7. The Harvest - No matter how great and how effective a revival and reformation even God Himself may launch in His church, the Scriptures make it plain that both the sinners and the saints will be in the church until the harvest. No one need brag that the members of his church are… The woman, as shown before, is the symbol of a confederated religious system with which the horns are not only in disagreement, but are also her enemies:
Rev. 17:12 — “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.”
Rev. 17:13 — “These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”
The fact that the ten horns (kings) have one mind (unlike the toe-kings of Daniel 2:42, 43), but have no kingdom of their own, besides the fact that the woman rules the beast, proves that the scarlet-colored beast is the symbol of the world government into which the United Nations will finally evolve.
Rev. 17:16— “And the ten horns which thou sawest 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.”
Rev. 17:17 — “For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.”
Consequently, after the symbolical hour is passed, the “ten horns” of the scarlet-colored beast (the rulers which she dominates for an hour) ultimately shall unseat her from the beast, make her desolate, burn her with fire, and the system which she symbolizes, the “image of the beast,” shall be demolished forever. Then it is that they receive their kingdom “for a season and time.” (Dan. 7:12.)
The identity of Babylon being a much mooted subject among students of The Revelation, there arises, therefore, the necessity of ascertaining:
Whom Does Babylon Personify?
Now that the light has completely dispelled the darkness which has long enveloped this subject, the student of prophecy can plainly see from the symbolism that,
- In the first place, Babylon personifies the forthcoming ecclesiastical-political-economic system of the nations, not some institution or organization;
- Second, that the beast she drives is a figure of her dominion; and
- Third, that it is about to pass from prophecy into history.
Indeed, is already beginning to loom up out of the haze as did the shores of America to Christopher Columbus and his companions as they approached the great Western Continent.
The eighteenth chapter is a continuation of the seventeenth, and so we shall study it also:
Rev. 18:1 — “And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.”
After what things? — After the scarlet-colored beast comes into being and while the woman, Babylon, is sitting upon him. It is then that the earth is to be lightened with the glory of the angel, with the message of the hour.
Rev. 18:2 — “And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.”
Then the warning against receiving the mark (Rev. 14:9-11), along with the call to come out of her will be repeated with an exceeding loud cry throughout Babylon’s dominion.
Those who are in Babylon must heed the call:
Rev. 18:4 — “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”
And those who are out, must carefully heed the warning:
Rev. 14:9, 10 — “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.”
These clearly reveals three important truths:
- First, that the call of God’s people to come out of Babylon, is a call for them to come out from among the nations that are symbolized by the beast which she is driving (ruling) — a call to God’s people to come out of her geographic dominion;
- Second, that the called ones are to come out from her sin-filled dominion because it is to be ruined by the plagues; and
- Third, their coming out necessitates their going into a place where sin does not exist and where there is no danger of the plagues’ falling.
Thus their coming out of her geographic dominion must be their going into God’s kingdom.
Both those who find themselves in her dominion, and those who find themselves out of it, must then immediately decide to receive the seal of God instead of the mark of the beast if they want to escape the wrath of God. To do this, the former class must come out of her, and the latter class must stay out of her. Despite the death penalty for taking such a stand (Rev. 13:15), there must be no hesitancy or indecision on the part of either class.
The light on this subject will spread as fire in stubble until it finally illuminates the whole earth (Rev. 18:1), and all who walk in its blaze will have their names placed in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
They will find deliverance from the Enemy’s last determined effort to plunge the world into the bottomless pit of eternal ruin. For then, said the angel,
Dan. 12:1 —“shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people… and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”
Now is our time and opportunity to get ready for the four winds to be let loose, and prepare an asylum, a sinless place for the gathering of the people, and for the finishing of the gospel work in all the world.
We have therefore again seen that the final world government is to be neither Communistic nor Capitalistic, but ecclesiastical — and more in favor of Capitalism than Communism.
9. The Premillennial Kingdom - The Jews had built up an erroneous conception of what the Kingdom was to be, and how and when it was to come, and so when the Lord exposed their misconceptions, they became indignant. They were very angry, not because the Kingdom which the Saviour disclosed was not much more… 
