The worship and exaltation of self has stolen so very much ever since mankind’s beginning.  Stolen peace, stolen life, stolen purpose…stolen salvation from millions upon millions of people.  This false worship, the very essence of evil has even stolen from God Himself.  Man worshiping man, worshiping self, worshiping sex, worshiping money, worshiping power, pride, possessions has robbed God of the worship that He alone is due!  The attention, the focus, the passion and praises of his children…

You see in this final stage fallen world that we find ourselves in here in Chapter 17 of the Book of Revelation, the thief has come but oh how cunning he is…Jesus said in John Chapter 10 verse 10, “I have come that they might have life and that they may have it more abundantly.”  But just before that breath He had said in the same verse that “the thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy…” 

You see, Satan assumed ownership of this planet, this kosmos, this world at the welcoming hand of man…and in his trademark procedure, he has delivered not only that which has stolen and killed and destroyed, (just as Jesus said), but he has taught man how to do the same…and the classroom lessons start and end with false worship.  All he ever had to get man to do was worship himself, worship false gods, worship temporary things and trinkets and toys and even talents…and in so doing he would rob mankind of our most primary gift…freedom.

The essence of this evil is what the Bible refers to as the great harlot.  The spirit of the rebellion launched in the Garden of peace by Adam. The spirit of rebellion that was accentuated in Babylon as the people, in one voice, declared “we will rule ourselves!  We will be our own gods!”  And as we have seen through our previous studies, this is the great harlot that all of the nations, all of the kings, all of the inhabitants of the earth joined themselves together with and ultimately has caused their downfall.

Babylon…the Biblical symbol of confusion.  It was there that God confused the tongues of men…so that they would break apart and go their separate ways…and really, sin is confusion.  Jesus said it best, “beware false prophets (to be a prophet you must rep a god…so if the prophet is false, who is the god?  A false god, the great harlot, worship of self which really and simply boils down to worship of Lucifer), beware false prophets who come looking like sheep but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

Sin confuses and kills man…why?  Because it seems legit.  It seems as harmless as a sheep.  Sin often times feels reasonable and rational and by the way the undertow of our flesh is constantly driving us to get ours, look out for #1, don’t love them, love you…don’t bow down to God, you be god…and as circumstances unfold and situations transpire, we naturally hunt and gather…we eliminate threats, gather for ourselves and whatever doesn’t kill me only makes me stronger, right?   Wrong!  Tell that to the father that hasn’t seen his kids for 6 months because he succumbed to the seduction of his coworker!

Tell that to the suicidal sixteen year old who is about to be a mother because she thought she knew better than her parents in who she should be dating!  Tell that to the parents who just lost their child to an overdose because they were too wrapped up in their career to notice their teenagers’ bloodshot eyes and darkened demeanor!  That which does not kill you only makes you stronger is a lie!  Please!  That just means that the great harlot is killing you cut by cut man…and you’re confused…

Following after your feelings your rationality your conclusive critical contemplation will lead right back to the tower that was built thousands of years ago by Nimrod and his squad in Babylon as you set yourself firmly upon the throne of your own heart…a throne that was never meant for you but a throne which the great harlot offers to you and to everyone…but the cost…you share in her fate.  And we are about to see her fall…

Now, walk by faith…follow after the Father of all creation and eternity in faith and guess what, your decisions and actions and conclusions based on the truth of His Word and the unnatural wisdom of the Holy Spirit and you will be led to share in His fate, God’s fate, Jesus’ fate…Whomever you follow is whomever’s destination you will share in.  Yes there will be betrayal as He was betrayed…people will mock and disapprove but man let them!  They’re heading to a fall!  Why care of their approval anyway!  And then the cross will come as daily you have to power up man and take up your own cross…serving and loving and bearing with folks….man that is true strength…but then don’t forget the story is not complete there…then comes the resurrection…and the ascension…life eternal man…

Your choice…fall or flourish!   Join yourself to the great and powerful God Almighty or join yourself to the great harlot.  God said that He would not bear with watching His creation fall forever…that He would make a short work upon the earth and God Himself is fed up with person after person, child after child being taken from Him and falling…and so here in Chapter 17…the consequence of sin has come upon the world with chaos and calamity, the consequence of sin has come upon mankind with all sorts of grievous conditions and here we see sin itself, the great harlot, the very essence of false worship is being done away with finally…

Chapter 17 we’ll see the religious aspect, the spiritual side of this idol destroyed and then in Chapter 18 we’ll see the political, the physical side destroyed…what it boils down to is that we will see her destroyed entirely and eternally as God sets the scene for all things to be made purely new, without evil, without sin and without death…

Revelation Chapter 17 Verses 7 - 8

• Recall why John marveled.  Teaching in the synagogue in Jerusalem on the Sabbath, Jesus raised His head and Mark writes for us in Mark 6:6 that Jesus marveled at their unbelief.  I bring that up because I don’t want you think John is admiring this beast and this evil that rides upon him.  Jesus didn’t admire the unbelief of the people, He mourned over it…Here something clicks.  John, filled with the Holy Spirit for 50 or 60 years by this time has seen great evil, great cruelty, great stupidity as folks have chosen to rebel against God, harden their hearts in refusal to humble themselves and choose Jesus and He has watched people be destroyed because of it…and now it has been revealed…this evil that has been at work the whole time…pride, rebellion, selfishness, religion…and he wonders in amazement that the whole time…every circumstance was spiritual…
• I’ll give you an example.  The persecution of the Jew.  Physical or spiritual?  Well Hitler was physical and so was Antiochus Epiphanes.  As was Nero.  As is Ahmadenejad…but let me point something out to you.  The Chinese people began at the same time as the Jew.  There are over a billion Chinese on the planet today.  How many Jews are on the planet today?  17 million.  Why?  Because the hatred of the Jew is spiritual man.  Manifested in physical violence and physical people and physical circumstance but the wind in the sails, pure spiritual hatred.  Why?  Because if Satan can get rid of the Jew, no Messaiah…
• And so your issues at home.  Your issues at work.  Your issues at church.  Your issues with your parents, with your children…physical or spiritual?  Take a second look man if you think they are physical.  They are not.  The worship of self is pervading isn’t it?  Something clicks here with John…and the angel sees that he gets it…sees that he sees…and so what’s next?  What’s always next when truth is revealed and you face it…more revelation!!
• Notice before she “rode” the beast and now he “carries” her…same with your sin…lest you turn from it…
• The full gamut of the beast revealed.  He came on the scene.  Was mortally wounded.  Was seemingly resurrected which will deceive the nations into thinking and believing that he is indeed god, who he claims to be, and yet his final destination is perdition or the Lake of Fire…
• Now interesting aspect, some commentators believe that this could actually be speaking of Caesar Nero being resurrected somehow…why?  Well because numerically Nero’s name in Hebrew totals 666 and the Christians that were alive during his rule would call him, “the beast.”  And the things he did were the pure manifestation of unadulterated evil man…but I believe that perspective to be a little too narrow…I believe the same spirit that was at work in Nero will be the possessing power of the beast in the end times, the AntiChrist…and that spirit is the Satan himself.

Revelation Chapter 17 Verse 9

• Only one city in history is known as the “City of Seven Mountains,” Rome.  However this could also speak of the entire earth.  Seven being the number of completion and mountains being a type of earth.  Both perspectives are supported by Biblical prophecy and are inclusive of each other.

Revelation Chapter 17 Verses 10 - 14

• Another reason why some believe this beast to be Nero because apparently he was of the seven, then he was gone and then he’s back as the eighth and listen I think that’s a possibility but I also see that the angel says that the eighth beast is of the seven and is also the eighth which again I believe speaks spiritually that the eighth beast is the very beast that was behind the first seven…again Satan himself in the person of the AntiChrist.
• So here we have two sets of kings.  The first set is a set of seven which are the seven heads that the Angel first described as seven mountains and then as seven kings and so remember back in Chapter 13, we’ve seen this and talked about this before and now the angel even validates our previous discussion that these seven heads represent seven mountains which are the headquarters of the New World Order (that One World government and economic centrality of the world when the Anti-Christ is presiding over the nations during the Great Tribulation) and now the angel gives a glimpse of more revelation as he says there are seven kings presiding over the HQ, the city of seven hills or seven mountains. 
• Now these could be literal kings at the time of the Anti-Christ but it’s interesting how the angel describes them.  Five have fallen, one is and the other is yet to come.  Of the original emperors of Rome, the lives of five were cut short.  Julius Caesar was assassinated.  Tiberias was poisoned.  Caligula was stabbed.  Claudius was smothered.  And Nero committed suicide.  So five have fallen and one is…at the time John received this revelation, Domitian was ruling as emperor of Rome and so the one yet to come could be the angel speaking of the Anti-Christ who would rule over the revived Roman Empire as king…
• Now, we’ve seen the ten before.  Several times throughout scripture in Old Testament prophecy and in our previous studies through Revelation…

Revelation Chapter 17 Verses 15 – 18

• What does this mean, “they will hate the harlot?”  Simple.  The kings and people of the world will dethrone this original spirit of rebellion, this ancient Babylon, for the new one.  They will completely adopt the religion and worship of the Anti-Christ.  And that mother of all harlots, the abominations of the earth, God will use the busted, lost, sinful people of the earth to annihilate…
• You know, so many believe that sin will simply be taken away…that they can live how they please, drinking with the harlot, walking with God and holding hands with the devil and God’s grace will clean them up right at the moment before they enter into eternity…they don’t give their lives to Jesus, they don’t live for Him…they live for themselves all the while believing the Gospel as fact…but notice, sin will eventually annihilate itself…see that?
• These sinful men, turn on the very mother of abominations…such an odd picture but such a profound truth…that the wages of sin are death…and the heart that has received the Gospel…will continually turn their sin over to the Lamb who has paid the price for it…a life pattern of repentance and growth, man…
• I wonder for you, is your heart to worship God in spirit and in truth by living for Him or is your heart to simply live as you please ‘cause you’ve got two tickets to paradise?  You’ve been taught of the grace of God that takes away your sin and you’ve concluded that sin must be ok then…sounds to me like you’re still at the bar with the mother of harlots…
• Best turn now before even that sin that you toy with turns on you and calls game over…the Lord has something better for you.  Heed His call upon your heart to just turn…repent and grow…
• Here, spiritual Babylon is fallen, next time we’ll see the physical city fall…and that is the pattern of those who harden their hearts…they first fall spiritually and settle for a long distance relationship with Jesus…then their city falls…and then its game over man…