The Judgment of the Harlot (Revelation 17:1-19:6)

Chapter 12

Chapters 17:1-19:6 are nothing more than detailed descriptions of what was already summarized in chapter 14:8-20. There is little disagreement that the great harlot who sits on many waters is the false church (the WCC united with the Catholic Church). Even now, the current ecumenical movement is alive and well on planet earth. I mentioned it earlier, but several things are clear form Revelation 17 and 18 that warrant our attention now. The statement that she sits on many waters simply means this harlot is a combination of many religious groups who have come together and have made a compact to work together for world peace. After World War I, our President Wilson’s ten point peace plan and the ensuing League of Nations attempted to accomplish such a task. After World War II the United Nations, NATO, and the Warsaw Pact were all attempts to make sure all nations were secure within their borders with the autonomy to pursue their political aspirations without interference from any other nation.

The problem with all of these plans is that they were kind of like the guy who tries to divert attention away from the fact that he is an adulterer by giving to the church’s widow fund. All of the major players in each of these organizations began immediate colonization of any and all nations they could get their political hands on for fear enemy nations would beat them to the punch. Capitalist democratic republics like the U.S. colonized the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Great Britain and France colonized some Middle Eastern countries, some North African countries, and some Southeast Asian countries. Russia simply took over all of the Slavic speaking countries and created the U.S.S.R. claiming such action gave them a buffer zone against any future aggression of NATO countries.

What secular groups have been unable to do in the last hundred years, this ecumenical religious group (the WCC) thinks it will finally accomplish. It will easily deceive the nations because what it wants to accomplish is, by nearly anyone’s calculation, a worthy goal. Their religious fervor will easily fool those religious fanatics around the world who want to look holy and righteous. They are doing that now. Beloved, please be adequately forewarned. DO NOT JOIN ANY CHURCH THAT IS PART OF THE WORLD ECUMENICAL CHURCH MOVEMENT! The World Council of Churches (WCC), begun in 1948 is the banner under which all of these movements function. It is a movement attempting to unite Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant churches around the world under the leadership of one small group of elite Bishops (aka Elders, Presbyters). It is “. . . the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” (17:2)

It is clear from the description of the things with which this harlot is connected that this world church will possess incredible wealth she ill acquire through numerous unholy alliances that she will make with first class world entrepreneurs. The name written on her forehead “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH,” makes the connection between her and the first false world religious organization as recorded in Genesis 11:4-9,

Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.’ The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. The Lord said, ‘Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. Let us go down there and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.’ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

There are several things about this illusion to the first false world religion that are important for us to consider: 1. it was, first and foremost, an attempt by man to exalt the accomplishment of man above God. 2. it was an attempt to demonstrate man’s majesty by providing a monument of his ability to build a magnificent structure. 3. It was an attempt to reach into heaven. 4. Those who built the city believed this religious symbol would keep them united. 5. God knew the simple way to scatter them was to confuse their languages. 6. This was the point in the history of mankind when God scattered him to the four corners of the earth and populated, what later became, the continents.

Now, as we consider the implications of each of these truths for the Ecumenical church of the Revelation, we can gain some helpful insights. It seems man has always strived to create great monuments to his majesty. Everything from the small rural church in Podunk, Montana to the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City is, in some sense, an attempt to do what God has told us countless times in history not to do. Even the quaint little chapel set out in the high plains of Montana that looks so pure and innocent is a vain attempt by man to build something we can then call “The House of God.” God does not nor has He ever lived in a house. And while the Jewish temple was the place where He agreed to meet with His people, it was never intended to be a house for the Creator of the universe. God does not live in house made with human hands. Today, He is living in the heart of every born-again believer in the form of His Spirit (I Cor. 6:19); but He does not live in buildings constructed buy men. The church is, figuratively speaking, His house because biblically the church is defined as any place where two or three believers are gathered together to minister the word of God to one another, and God is living inside those who are gathered together.

For years I have had the joy of being part of home based churches at various times in various and sundry places. While attending BIOLA University we had one in our tiny two bedroom apartment in Buena Park, California. It was a truly glorious time of meeting with the brethren and studying God’s word together. We learned and shared powerful truths as we met and discussed what God had been teaching each of us during our personal times of bible study throughout the week. While attending college in Flagstaff, Arizona, I was part of a home church that had at least fifty people in attendance. We used nearly every room in the rather large house where we met for bible study groups after we listened to important announcements about what God was doing in the group, sang songs of praise, and prayed together.

In foreign countries, I have been told home churches are literally growing faster than pastors can keep up with them. They don’t bother constructing church buildings for two reasons: 1. they can’t afford to do so; 2. they couldn’t build them fast enough to accommodate all of those who are getting saved. These ministries spend less money and reach more people with the gospel that we can conjure in our wildest imaginations in America. I’ve recently been corresponding with the overseer of II Timothy 4:5, an international ministry based in Chandler, Arizona. If I understand what he has told me, one affiliate of that group is trying to set up home based churches across America. Our observations may well be wrong, but it seems both of us believe that we in America are so conditioned to the “temple” based churches we have created that we can’t imagine the home church could be a more powerful ministry. We so love our solid gold sound systems, our projection systems, our pastors in thousand dollar Armani suits, and our crystal cathedrals that we simply can’t imagine a better way to reach the multitudes.

I suggest one other element is a critical part of the equation. In America, we are so busy making sure we have enough money to live our comfortable lifestyles that we aren’t being faithful to the number one priority of the church, namely that of making disciples who are equipped to go and make more disciples. I suggest the reason we aren’t multiplying exponentially is because, for the most part, we just aren’t interested in that kind of commitment to our Lord. The excuses I have heard in the thirty-five years I have been a Christian for why people don’t lead others to the saving knowledge of Jesus are definitely a fine example of American ingenuity. But, of course, they really are nothing new. And they aren’t unique to Christianity. It seems man is always more creative at making excuses for not doing something he should be doing than he is at actually doing it.

It’s interesting to note that Jesus first ministered in temples; then He went to the streets. Paul always went into the synagogues first wherever he preached; then he went into the streets and moved the disciples from their prior worship in the synagogues to homes. He took those who believed what he preached in Ephesus and moved into the school of Tyrannus where he spent the next two years training them for ministry (Acts 19:9); and in Corinth Paul moved into the house of Titius Justus right next to the synagogue when the religious leaders there resisted and blasphemed upon hearing his preaching. It seems we in America are still struggling with the same problem mankind faced in Genesis 11. I once attended the only church I have ever entered that was, in my humble opinion, entirely unpretentious. It was huge; but it was little more than a metal tent. The worship service and preaching was just as unpretentious, but it was powerful.

I don’t wish to make any kind of judgment about whether or not inner-city cathedrals, which fill up with as many as 10,000 each Sunday morning, are ministering the word faithfully. None of the pastor/teachers of those churches will ever answer to me. I’m not particularly impressed with most of their preaching, but I’m quite sure none of them would loose any sleep over that fact. My point is simple. First century believers literally turned the Roman world right side up starting house churches all across the Roman Empire. I am a student and teacher of world history and that is a fact easily verified in the historical record. Another unfortunate fact, in my ever so humble opinion, is that when God begins moving mightily among His people, it seems they immediately find it necessary to institutionalize the mighty moving of His Spirit and the revival He began comes to a screeching halt.

Think about it. We have hundreds of magnificent monuments across this nation we call churches in cities like Chicago, L.A., New York City, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Portland, and Nashville. At the same time, these cities have the highest crime rates found anywhere in the world. Murder, prostitution, drugs, and gang related activity is increasing exponentially. Right in the areas where these huge monuments stand, filled with thousands of believers, the crime rate continues to soar. Are these mega-congregations ministering effectively to the poor, blind, lame, orphans, and widows? I suggest that if they were the crime rate in the cities where they minister would be going down. Many of these mega-churches are proud about the millions of dollars they are spending helping out widows and orphans around the world. I can’t help but wonder why they don’t think their own neighborhood warrant such attention. I’m not quite sure why they are sending so much money to African missions when there are people right outside their doors who are starving. Jesus came to minister to the blind, lame, poor, sick, widows, and orphans right in His own neighborhood. Even the great commission indicates we are to begin our discipleship programs in our own towns. Our Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria are our first priority.

I suspect that when these people meet Sunday mornings for their worship services, they are so awed by the numbers at their own church, they quite naturally think they are doing a wonderful job reaching the lost for Jesus. After all, they think to themselves, this is the biggest church in Chicago. It doesn’t cross their mind that in a city of 3 million people, 10,000 isn’t even a drop in the bucket. Personally, I think mega-churches are one of the greatest hindrances to effective ministry ever to cross the mind of man. But, once again, those attending and building them will never answer to me for what they are doing.

What is puzzling to me is that in spite of the fact that we know the apostle Paul reached dozens of countries on two continents, planted dozens of home based churches, never built one building we are aware of, and he never used a megaphone or any kind of electronically enhanced voice assistance, we continue to think we can come up with better ideas for doing what he did. I believe it’s safe to say the impact of his method for ministry is still reaching people today. I’m not opposed to using anything at our disposal to reach the lost. I am opposed to spending millions of dollars building churches and millions more equipping them to reach the multitudes with the message of salvation, and then allowing 10,000 people to attend services each week while only one thousand of them are actively doing the work of the ministry. There’s something desperately wrong with the preaching in a church where that is going on.

Finally, for forty years, approximately six million people worshipped God in a tent. Israel wondered in the wilderness for those forty years before entering the Promised Land during which time they worshipped God in a tent. Actually, they were outside the tent. The priests took their offerings into the courtyard of the tent to offer them. That tent sufficed through the times of the Joshua, the Judges, and both King Saul and King David’s reigns—well over a thousand years. The point is that we need to be extremely careful if we are attending a mega-church. Babylon the great, the mother of harlots will be such a church. I think many of our current mega-churches are archetypes of Babylon the Great.

Note, in verse 6 this woman is drunk with the blood of the saints. During the reformation, the Catholic Church martyred millions of Protestants for heresy against its teachings. She was drunk with the blood of the saints. The angel clearly identifies the church which will be martyring the saints in verse 9. “Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, . . .” and again in verse 18, “The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.” Every theologian and historian of any substance knows Rome was the great city which reigns over the kings of the earth at the time John wrote the Revelation. And it wasn’t long after John wrote this prophecy that the Pope as head of the Catholic Church literally reigned over all the kings of the western world. In the final hours of history, the beast will make a covenant with this world religious order (the many), with the full intention of breaking that covenant after 3 ½ years, in the middle of the week (Daniel 9:27).

At that time, the antichrist will begin his move to the top “. . . and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” It is at this point where my pre-tribulation brethren once again get confused. And again, it becomes necessary for them to twist the text out of recognizable proportion to conclude the antichrist performs the abomination of desolation at the beginning of the last 3 ½ years of the tribulation. In other words, he sets himself up as the Messiah of Israel. The text does not say that. It says at this point, after making a covenant with the many, breaking it in the middle of the week, he moves to Jerusalem where he enters the temple, puts a stop to the sacrifice and grain offerings, which Israel reinstituted when they rebuilt the temple, (remember it had been supernaturally protected for the first 3 ½ years of the tribulation; Revelation 11:2; cf. Dan. 9:27 with 12:11).

The abomination of desolation will not occur until the end of the antichrist’s seven year rise to power. It is at this point that he apparently thinks he has gained enough momentum that He can actually muster sufficient force to lay claim to the entire planet. Chapter 17 and verse 8 makes it clear the antichrist hasn’t much time left. Verses 9-18 provide an incredible amount of information about the kings of the nations who give their power to the antichrist for one hour, their battle with Jesus (which they loose), and the relationship of the beast to the harlot. What none of them realize is that their entire plot was devised by God before the foundations of the world. Thinking they are putting one over on God, they are actually doing exactly what God was telling them to do. “For God has put it is their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.” (17:17)

The antichrist will not perform the “abomination of desolation” until just before God begins the bowl judgments. It is at this point that we can calculate the length of the bowl judgments. The abomination of desolation is implemented after 1290 days—3 ½ years, then the bowl judgments begin lasting 45 days, thus the pronouncement, “How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1335 days!” (Dan. 12:12) The beast will end the grain offerings; Three and one half years later he will enter the temple, stand at the altar claiming he is the long awaited Messiah of Israel, and thus usher in the final judgments of God upon the planet.

Verses 15 and 16 make it clear that it is at this point—the middle of the tribulation—that the antichrist breaks his covenant with the harlot, “. . . these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and burn her up with fire.” Chapter 18 provides us with a great deal of detail about the final judgment of this false religious group called Babylon the great, the mother of harlots. John sees another angel coming down from heaven with great authority. His entrance to the earth literally lights up the world. He pronounces the final doom of the false church. He provides the description,

“She has become the dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirits, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.” (18:2) Then he provides the reason, “For all the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.” (18:3)

Think about the nature of these relationships. The nations have drunk the wine of the passions of her immorality is a pretty good description of many of today’s mega-churches. Much of the world today is fascinated by these ministries. I recall the words of my father many years ago. They served as kind of a wake up call to me. “That Dr. Schuler, now he’s a man who knows what he’s talking about.” My father had no problem accepting Dr. Schuler’s philosophical ranting on world wide television and he was a Mormon.

The nations of the world today are drinking the wine of the passion of many of these mega-churches’ immorality. So many are being deceived by this false gospel (Gal. 1:6, 7; II Cor. 11:4) that they are joining these churches, thus committing acts of immorality with her. And finally, the merchants of the earth are getting rich by the wealth of her sensuality. Imagine how many merchants are getting rich providing the real estate, filling the building contracts, and furnishing these colossal giants. I’ve heard more than one professing believer brag about how his membership at one of these churches was one of the best business moves he ever made.

It is at this time that a voice from heaven will cry out, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.” (18:5) Two things are clear from this unparalleled admonition of God. It is a voice from heaven. It is God Almighty telling His people, true believers, to come out of this false church. Realizing this book would be read by every generation since the time of its writing, it is a message to every generation. Obviously, there have been and are thousands of churches preaching another gospel about another Christ. Some today tell us we should not ever be involved in splitting a church. The fact is the book of Acts records several times when Paul and Peter took the true believers from under the teaching of the false teachers and began the first century churches (see my previous comments on pp 93, 94). And while I am not advocating anyone go from church to church wreaking havoc, intent on splitting the churches they attend, I am suggesting many of the church splits which occur today do so because the teaching in the church is often so weak to begin with. My final thought for now is that every denomination begun in the past four hundred years has risen as a result of some kind of church split. I’m not sure how those pastors justify their complaints about anyone who takes part of their congregation to begin a new church, especially considering that’s exactly how their denomination got started.

I don’t believe Satan will ever get a foothold (though he will certainly try) in a church who’s Elders who meet the stringent guidelines outlined in I Timothy and Titus. They will be mature, powerfully informed and ordained Elders, who will effectively guard the flock of God from wolves who come into their midst donning sheep’s clothing. If you are in one of those churches, thank God for that, submit yourself to its leadership, and become a powerful disciple so you can go and make more disciples. If you are not in one of those churches, God’s word to you is, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.”

The second obvious point is that in the final hours of history, just before God pours out His judgment on this final world church, He will admonish those who have somehow been a part of this movement thus far that it is time for them to come out of her. I suggest this will literally be a voice from heaven that all true believers will hear audibly and respond to post haste. They will realize at a moment in time, like a light bulb being turned on in their brain, who this church is historically; they will run from her unhallowed halls as fast as their feet will take them. The phrase of verse 8 suggest possibly some Sunday morning, while the congregations of these churches are meeting, there will be some who somehow have managed to be attending who have not received the mark of the beast; a prophet will stand in the middle of the service and pronounce the words, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.” All of the true believers in all of these churches around the world will get up and beat feet for the exits; and just as they get outside at a safe distance away, fire will come down from heaven and instantly destroy every single false church on the planet. Of course, the biggest of these will be meeting in Rome at the Sistine Chapel. This scenario seems clear from 18:10, “standing at a great distance, because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’”

Here is another place where my pre-tribulation brethren have trouble. This is clearly not the physical Babylon of Genesis 11 (Current day Baghdad, Iraq). I have demonstrated already this is an illusion to the political/religious Babylon of ancient history. This judgment is clearly the judgment that is coming upon the false church for its persecution of true believers. It’s also clear the historical persecution on Protestant Christians by the Catholic Church is insignificant when compared to the persecution that will be unleashed in the final hours of history when this false church makes its covenant with the beast. Part of that covenant will obviously be a vow to help him get rid of this group of religious fanatics who refuse to submit themselves to theirs and his leadership.

Chapter 18:11-20 need little exposition. They describe the reaction of the merchants of the world to the destruction of the Vatican and the world church system. What is rather astounding is that in spite of the incredible judgment that has come upon the harlot, this group of world entrepreneurs is only interested in the economical loss they have sustained as a result of God’s final judgment upon this colossal monstrosity, the false church.

Chapter 18:20-19:10 describe the reaction of true believers and the heavenly hosts to the righteous judgment of God on this false church. Chapter 19:11-16 describe the return of Jesus to the earth to establish His one thousand year millennial reign. It begins with His physical return to the earth to do final pre-millennial battle with the beast and his armies. It’s interesting that 19:20 makes it clear the beast and false prophet were thrown alive into the lake of fire while those who were deceived by his reign of terror were killed first by the army of God. If you were ever puzzled by Jesus words as found in Matthew 24:28, “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” which, by the way, were spoken at the end of His message about the final hours of history, they should now make sense. Revelation 19:19 tells us, “and all the birds were filled with their flesh.”

Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, and the chronological sequencing of Revelation all fit perfectly into the post-tribulation theory of the rapture of the church. I urge those of you who preach the pre-tribulation theory to reconsider. It is important because teaching the pre-tribulation theory or teaching no theory at all fails to prepare believers appropriately for what is about to come upon us. If you are willing to be entirely candid, you will be forced to admit that the pre-tribulation theory makes two serious mistakes: 1. it completely ignores dozens of scriptures that describe the church’s activities during the tribulation; 2. and it has to discount the chronology of Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, and the Revelation. It is void of substance because it is by its very nature vague and ethereal. When one realizes the church will be here during the tribulation, he is able to understand the myriad of verses that make no sense to the one who thinks the church will be raptured before the tribulation begins. The post tribulation theory is the only one of the three that doesn’t require twisting text, denying literal translation, and ignoring dozens of verses to make sense. My soul agonizes when I consider the massive problems that are being created by those preachers, prophets, evangelists, and pastor/teachers who are misleading great multitudes of brothers and sisters in Christ by telling them they will not be here when the tribulation begins. While believing pre, mid, or post tribulation theory should not divide the brethren as might more critical areas of theology and doctrine, it’s difficult for me to imagine a more important subject to understand than eschatology outside of those foundational doctrines of the deity of Christ, salvation and sanctification based solely on faith, repentance from dead works, the bodily resurrection of Jesus, water baptism, and obedience of true believers to the admonitions of scripture.