The Great Red Dragon

While John watched the woman’s struggle to deliver her Child, the focus shifted to another, more bizarre, somewhat sinister portrayal. The sight that arrested his eyes had seven heads, and seven crowns (one on each head), flanked by ten horns. In chapter 13, John was told that those horns have crowns (Greek, “diadema”, or, diadems), signifying their status as heads of state over individual sovereign kingdoms or domains (thus, the horns, we might argue, are symbols of authority, sovereignty, strength and individuality.). Chapter 17 confirms that the horns are indeed to be interpreted as autonomous and independent. John called this new seven-headed wonder a “great red dragon”.

Seven Heads

John is here given no clue as to the significance of the seven heads of the dragon, although the dragon is itself identified. Being the book of riddles that the entire Apocalypse is, we are able to draw valuable insights and clues from chapters 13 and 17, by means of which we can correctly deduce that the heads of the great red dragon are in fact representative of seven kingdoms. Thus, we may further conclude that this portrait of a body having seven heads, topped by seven crowns (as in “diadems” worn by a sovereign or king), and the ten horns signifies Satan’s presence, dominance and influence throughout the ages over the kingdoms, and states of this world, particularly those having to do directly with the people of the Book, i.e., all of those individual kingdoms with whom the nation of Israel can be most closely linked, one way or the other.

Mortal Sin: Fornication

Verse 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.

Rome’s present-day RC church began as one of the early churches founded by the apostles, following our Lord’s death, burial and resurrection. Whereas Peter is credited with its founding and establishment, Paul had a deep affection and a longing to minister there. One of the most profound statements of the faith of the Christian church was written as a corrective measure to combat an outbreak of theological problems springing up in their midst and taking hold, even at that early date. In its wrangling with the apostates and hypocrites of the day, it—like the Ephesians, who turned their backs altogether on service to God per His word, in deference to their own approach—was eventually, gradually infused with elements of Roman paganism (then ancient even in their times, according to some theologians and scholars, reaching back to the rebellion of Nimrod). Eventually, it too was finally overrun by apostate concerns, all the while still claiming to be doing service to God (like the Ephesians, the Romans would never recover, although of course, they, unlike the Ephesians, continue to this day.). Thus, it might be said, the chief, or principal offensive activity of this great whore is that of “spiritual” infidelity, unforgivable fornication (verse 2; by virtue of her unwillingness to repent; she has misled and occasioned the spiritual—and physical—deaths of multitudes). Who but God the Almighty could ever have envisioned that one of His own churches would become the spiritual and theological piranha virus this church is and has been for the past 1500 years? Moreover, as the religious institution that it would become, and that it would be in the last days—having all the power, prestige, wealth, and, the clout of royalty—it did not exist as such when John wrote this prophecy. Hence, the political role and the whorish persona of the woman could not, in God’s economy, co-exist, simultaneously in ancient times. It is as if one had to die so that the other could live. In addition, no emperor would ever have tolerated competition in the form of the authority and influence of anyone like the popes. Any such person would have been killed.

Birthed and bred though the great whore was, indeed, in the womb of the woman (Rome), she lives on today, in Vatican City—ejected but, highly visible, widely known and a respected pariah, in some sense, in her own country (an oddity of oddities; a literal city/state, within the confines of ‘that great city’); (in her expulsion, scorned, rejected, an outcast well within the bounds of a country she plundered across centuries while guiding it to modernity, she resides yet far above the danger she and her corrupt popes would have faced at the powerful hands of the more corrupt and often brutal Caesars).

Blasphemous Names, The blasphemous names that grace each of the seven heads of the dangerous wild animal, are themselves indicators of the presence, influence, and the activity of the great whore, having free reign of the woman—more than anything that the Roman Empire itself ever did, beyond the indiscriminate killing of the Christians.

Although he is alluded to variously throughout several places in scripture and known by an assortment of names, the end times world dictator so detested by God the Almighty is referred to here in the Revelation as the “beast” (a k a, often referred to as the “anti-Christ” by modern churches; Daniel is the first to make his mention, calling him the mouthy little horn, the prince who will destroy the Jerusalem Temple and the abomination of desolation, in chapters 7, 9 and 12 respectively. Jesus repeats Daniel’s reference in Matthew 24, while Paul called him the “son of perdition”, per his 2nd epistle to the Thessalonians, chapter 2). It is John the apostle and revelator who gives the most revealing description of this eschatological end times character, first mentioning him in chapter 11, following his resurrection and battle with God’s two witnesses, who will occasion his death. Chapter 13 of the Revelation is devoted to a broad snapshot of the early days of his rise and reign, after he kills the two witnesses, in revenge. It is here, in chapter 17, however, it might be argued, where his story begins.

That said then, it should be noted, perhaps, that God’s use of the term “beast” to describe what He sees as the epitome and thus the most detestable, eschatological enemy and threat to his people is a kind of play on words. The term in the Greek means “dangerous wild animal”. It is used, interchangeably by the Lord, to refer to both an end times kingdom and to the person who will be the leader of that kingdom. That being so, the focus in this context is specifically on the individual who will preside over that kingdom.

Babylon the Great

Vatican City and the R. C. Church

As of this day, the religious side of this woman occupies primarily as a religious institution (or, so the world has been led to believe.). She has no say in the governments of either Italy or Rome (being the Roman Catholic Church, she is barred since 1929). In fact, the Vatican, located within the heart of Rome (the headquarters of the R C church) occupies itself as a nation, unto itself (this move was the culmination to a settlement arrived at in 1870, as part of a movement that had begun some years prior so as to eliminate the Papal States and church dominance in political affairs of the nation, and to unify the nation of Italy, thereby giving non-church citizens a say in the government of the nation)! It has its own government system, printing press, its own military of 180 soldiers (smallest in the world, but, well trained, some say!), and it is said to have its own bank containing billions (with which it has been able to buy the recognition it demands and enjoys). In keeping with the portrayal here, of the great whore, the R. C. church is indeed extremely wealthy (according to some, that is; headquartered in the Vatican, she may even be the wealthiest nation on the planet), all her riches having been acquired by way of her abominable, filthy fornication, i.e., the practice of her spiritual infidelity—including money laundering, and other corrupt practices.

Blasphemous Names,

The blasphemous names that grace each of the seven heads of the dangerous wild animal, are themselves indicators of the presence, influence, and the activity of the great whore, having free reign of the woman—more than anything that the Roman Empire itself ever did, beyond the indiscriminate killing of the Christians. The names which blaspheme (as has been shown) speaks of intentional slander, misrepresentation of God the Father, His Son and of the Holy Spirit of God (granted, for some time now the R. C. church has been putting on a front, a media fest of a sort, to the effect that it has cleaned, or is striving to clean up its act, saying and professing to believe in many of the same things as do mainstream protestants, using much of the same language, and playing the same or similar music over its nationwide radio network. Moreover, when the media—whether print, radio, or TV—takes up themes that are biblical in nature, it is almost always from the point of view of the “great whore”, to the virtual exclusion of all others.).

Bloodlust:  The Woman’s Appetite

Verse 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. 

Knowing now as we do that certain particulars relative to the identity of the woman point clearly, unequivocally to Rome, we may now rest assured that (thanks to the benefit of ‘hindsight’, whereupon we can see what John could not) the “Great Whore” can be none other than Vatican City and the Roman Catholic Church.  Paul labored and invested heavily to keep the church at Rome on track, only to have it survive for centuries—albeit, only after having succumb to the unrelenting allure and the vise-like grip of a hellish apostasy.

Parenthetically, one supposes that it should be pointed out, at this juncture, that the religious system here portrayed for us by John is not to be construed with the religious system that will be associated with the worship of the beast.  The Great Whore’s religion is a blasphemous institution steeped in apostasy insofar as it presents itself as one associated with the worship of the God of the Bible.  That system is one in existence as we speak and it has been since before the fall of the Roman Empire.  The beast’s worship system, on the other hand, will portend that the beast himself is “God”, so that all worship is to, and it will be directed to, him, and him alone.

As John observed and watched further, he saw that the woman was drunk, but not with wine.  Rather, this woman had her innards saturated, so that she was (metaphorically speaking) drunk “as a skunk”, on blood!  Specifically, in diametrical, diabolical opposition to her outward profession, and her apparent preoccupation, that blood (God tells John, by way of His angel) is the blood of His saints and of the witnesses for Jesus Christ.  The stipulation here then is such that she is not only guilty, she will kill any true servant of God in a heartbeat.  Like the modern-day mother who slaughters her own flesh and blood—unborn and toddlers—to protect, preserve and to prolong the life she feels she deserves to lead, so likewise this woman (Rome) is guilty of the slaughter of Christians and Jews alike (or, she would be, looking at her future from John’s point of view). God knows and history affirms that Rome is notorious for her murders of both Jews and of Christians, under the leadership of both her secular, purely political persona as well as during the years she was led by the popes—following the collapse of her beast and the death of any kind of secular leadership.  Her papacy-led killings were committed often in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—to clear the deck, so as to make room for her brand of religious life, among the living dead (unbelievers; and in this end-times scenario, left-behind church rejects who have no desire for a right relationship to God—dead in their trespasses and sins.). 

At this point, where John’s vision and this chapter’s placement in the Apocalypse are concerned, Babylon—of whatever denomination, on whatever the front—is no more.  That is, the last of the bowl judgments has brought us to within moments of the closing of history with, or where man has been at the helm, and the soon return, when the Lord of all history, God Almighty in human flesh Himself will take the helm for one thousand years.  As such, this chapter is merely an “inset”, introductory, you might say, presenting several key actors in part of God’s list of end times cast of characters.  Its purpose is to provide us with a few particulars that contribute toward a positive ID in terms of the ‘who’ of two of the chief players during the last days of the greatest, most turbulent time of tribulation men on earth will ever know—namely, the great whore, and the dangerous wild animal…aka, the beast.  Furthermore, one should perhaps be aware throughout this chapter that all the events herein, together with those of chap. 13, revolve around these two central, symbolic characters, the one having, two objects, or, fulfillments.   While the chap. 17 narrative grinds rapidly through several plot twists or themes from beginning to end, the chief objective through it all is to spotlight and identify the main actor, the Great Whore.

What Or, “Who” is She?

Tribulation Souls—Washed in The Blood 

Verse 14 identifies this congregation of people as more Christians born during the tribulation, wearing white garments that have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, so that they are now outfitted with His imputed righteousness.  Without doubt, they are the product of the work and the energies of the 144,000 strong “special force” of evangelists, hand selected and picked by the Lamb, for a mission of soul winning that will be fraught with spiritual intrigue, betrayals by false Christians, false Christs and false prophets and other constant perils and dangers in the extreme.  Moreover, these are the ones whose coming was (foretold and) promised to the saints under the altar, the ones already dead, having been murdered for their faith, a number of years earlier.  In addition, in order to have arrived at this point, they will have to have represented—among unbelievers—some of the most difficult of prospective saints to reach.  If the Old Testament tale and narrative of Israel’s most wicked and most ignominious of kings is in anywise instructive (King Manasseh), some of these may even arrive at the foot of the cross with guilt-ridden consciences and bloody hands, having participated directly or indirectly in the roundup and slaughter of the first wave of tribulation saints (those were featured for us and shown under the altar of Heaven, in chapter 6).  

The 144,000 Evangelists

Their Mission

Verse 4b These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. 

Thus, having been successfully preserved, recruited, thoroughly enlightened and generously endowed, with eyes wide open, their mission is such that they “…follow Him wherever He goes”.  That is, these 144,000 Jews, having been ‘redeemed’ from among the ranks of unbelieving men and women—a kind of offering of first-fruits of Jewish believers rescued from the tribulation period—they themselves will now do the work of the Man from Galilee (as when He walked the earth) following in His footsteps, hastily, speedily boldly evangelizing and preaching the gospel in His Name, so as to bring in a fat harvest of souls just before His return at Armageddon (albeit, at great peril to themselves and those whom they lead to salvation; all will lose their lives, because of their faith; none will live to see the actual, physical return of their Lord).  They will have to do this while facing the constant menace and life endangering threat of a hostile world that will not submit to a God it will then know is quite real; a wicked world spurred and led by the “crowned rider”, in one way or the other, until the beast usurps power, trumpeting his agenda, pushing his mark and promoting himself as “God”, the Almighty—able to stop and to right all the “wrongs” that will have been incurred thus far, owing to the acts and exhibitions of wrath administered by Him who is indeed, “God”.  

Furthermore, it is by the feet and voices of these men and the angel to follow that the gospel in its purest form will be carried into all the world, preached to every man, woman and child—not by TBN or Daystar, or the Pentecostals, Baptists, and other lackadaisical, lackluster churches and their denominations.  

At this point, still early in the unfolding of God’s choreographed end-times drama, hundreds of millions of souls (maybe more) are missing, vanished without a trace; bloodstained trails mar the paths to mass graves housing billions more (saints murdered, and sinners slaughtered during WWIII). By virtue of their witness of this human carnage, some having firsthand knowledge, if they did not participate in the aforementioned bloodletting—their stomachs turned—will have experienced a change of heart. Coupled with all the evidences that remind of the “snatch”, in the midst of bombed out, burning buildings, bodies and body parts lining streets of all the major cities around the world, smoke will ascend up into the upper atmosphere—from forest fires and oil fields set ablaze—further complicating life and making lives miserable by blocking the sun, thereby contributing to a throwing-off of the growing seasons. In the face of these and other horrifying sights, hard, heretofore, otherwise impenetrable hearts, impervious to the gospel message preached, will have softened tremendously. Traumatized minds will be flooded with streams of endless questions that will not suffer silence. Desperate searches in frantic quests for rational solutions will only be appeased by one unlikely source…the Bible. Chains of doubt, shackled to lost souls that locked God out (by whatever means, for whatever reason) will have been loosened, leaving fertile minds exposed to a faith oft spurned, and now at last ready for a harvest long held at bay. In full awareness of this, the Lord God will have already graciously, mercifully prepared a troop that will fish for their souls, well in advance of the rivers of blood in which their corpses will float during the reign, and the terror, of the dreaded beast (Rev. 13:1-18).

War Moratorium

God’s Choice: New Direction—Short Stick!

Barring traditional Judaism, all practical knowledge of God will have been eliminated from the earth. Without benefit of a more direct involvement and input, Satan will appear to have won the battle (the telling, chilling cameo appearance of an angry Lamb of God at the end of chap. 6, notwithstanding). Every Christian “left behind” will then be completely useless (If Christ came for His church today—01/04/2013—the “left behind” could easily include perhaps 90 to 95% of all professing Christians!). All denominations and churches will be under the devil’s direct control and supervision—a definite impediment to anything God initiates and every soul that God will save, from here on out. “Left-behind” Christians (being false saints, false prophets and false preachers, in addition to “unproductive” true saints given to compromise, or who simply refuse to grow) will doubtless have been instrumental in the round up and slaughter of the first wave of “new converts”, specifically, those true Christians introduced to us, under the altar, in chap. 6. This being so, as is customary, the vision of the Lamb having dissipated, God will quietly shift gears here, changing course slightly, so as to lay the foundation for the next phase of His salvation program and process. His preference, like always, is to start in obscurity, in the least likely of places, in a corner where Satan is least likely to anticipate resistance, in a manner that is tantamount to always choosing, intentionally, the “short end of the stick”. That then begs the question: If the Old Testament Israeli/Jewish saints and the pre-tribulation churches are in Heaven, and, the first wave of tribulation saints are in the graves, how then will the work of evangelizing the second wave of lost souls be facilitated?

Tribulation Christian Murders:  Wave #1.

The scene changes and the action ceases as the Lamb of God peels away the fifth seal, to reveal the fifth mystery written within the Scroll.  It appears that the events of these first four seals represent the passage of a fair amount of time (clearly this time is not part of the seven last years, as will be seem later in the three “woes”, and in the Lord’s comments here), relatively speaking, since the first seal was opened; how much time, however, is not at all clear (one will therefore arbitrarily assume roughly one quarter of the apocalyptic period, at least).  The presence of the souls of deceased saints under the altar (for their deaths will be precious in His eyes—Psalm 116:15), and their conversation with the Lamb, who is Lord of all, is on the other hand in itself revealing (This suggests quite handily, that upon dying, the saints—contrary to current evangelical teaching—do not automatically go directly into the literal presence of God; rather, they are in “Paradise”, the abode and temporary place of the “righteous” dead, as they await something akin to the “Bema Seat” Judgment—where all pre-trib saints will appear—Luke 23:43; John 20:17).  These people represent the first wave of saints to be slaughtered following God’s merciless smashing of the US, followed hard by the crushing demise of the military might of the Russians, the EU, and the armies of the Muslim world (all of which will foment and facilitate the transfer of their power and wealth into the hands of the Jews.).

There will be no experienced, seasoned Christians from before the beginning of the Apocalypse, as none will be brought over into this hellish time on earth (this, per God’s promise through the apostle Paul, recorded in 1 Thessalonians 5:9).  They will all be “raptured” as they are all represented before John by the twenty-four elders, being in Heaven around the Throne (Revelation 5:8-10), encircling the Father, the Son (who is the Lamb) and the Spirit (whose omni-presence is portrayed as being sevenfold).  Thus, the Christians appearing on earth after seal #1 are all both ‘born-again’ and murdered during the Tribulation.  Which again, begs the question:  Who are they, and how will they be saved, without a “seasoned” preacher…if only the left-behind church-rejects remain?

As was the case during Martin Luther’s day, when there were no seasoned, veteran Christian churches as such to lead the protestants to the level of knowledge and understanding they sought (all were Roman Catholics, more or less), yet the church—splintered and fractured, yes—by the will of God was able to re-birth itself out of and separate from its catholic cocoon (where it lay dead, for 1000 years, or so), so likewise it is not the least inconceivable that certain key individuals left behind, perhaps those whom the churches could save now, if they would do their jobs, will be able to recognize immediately what has happened, why, and, drawing on what they know already, using Bibles they have on hand (of which there will likely be plenty), piece together enough information so as to rapidly grow their ranks, thereby saving themselves, and others, if not their families.  The preachers then, will most probably have to come from within the rank and file of these “soft unbelievers”.