The Harlot, the Beasts, and Babylon

Before you start todays devotional, ask the Lord to use it to grow you up in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Ever since Satan was kicked out of heaven, he’s always had a headquarters on earth. In these last days, that home base is Babylon. You may recognize Babylon as the ancient capital city of earth’s earliest empires. The Bible uses this name to describe a spiritual world system that wars against God.

The Antichrist has a partner in his world domination scheme called “the harlot,” the false church that remains after the true church has been raptured. These people never trusted Christ as Savior and never were in the body of Christ, but they wielded religion like a weapon. This harlot controlled the masses and the “kings of the earth” saw how an unholy alliance with her would help them conquer the world.

The harlot rides “a scarlet beast” and dresses in purple and scarlet. She is Rome, the religious capital of the world, having inherited all the religions of the world when the true church left the earth. She drinks from a gold cup of abominations and the filth of sexual immorality. She is the religious intoxication of the anti-church, a fake and false gospel. This cup makes the world drunk.

For a time, the Antichrist shares the spotlight with the harlot, but he hates it. So he breaks his covenant with her and destroys her with such violence that it’s described as a cannibal picking her bones, then he burns them with fire. By eliminating the false church, the way is clear for the Antichrist to be worshipped, as promoted by the False Prophet. The religious center shifts to Jerusalem where the False Prophet puts up his image of the Antichrist to be worshiped.

In that day, Babylon dominates and rules the world in religion and commerce, and it all centers on the Antichrist. And this is how justice is meted out on him …

Revelation18 begins with another angel descending from heaven with a message. This angel, faceless and nameless, has “great authority” and power. He shouts with a mighty voice, “Babylon the great is fallen,” and judgment breaks like a flood.

Babylon’s prosperity blinded her to God’s judgment. Trading is active on the stock market right up to the moment of judgment. Luxury, arrogance, pride, sin, and self-deception characterize the spirit of this godless city. World peace is in sight, and optimism is the spirit of the day. And then God says, “Enough.”

God destroys this city with a fast and final judgment. In one hour, great wealth is laid desolate. By the time the sun went down, Babylon is nothing but smoldering ruins. The world is stunned.

The viewpoint is different in heaven—a party breaks out. The saints prayed for this; the Old Testament prophets predicted it. Now all is fulfilled and everyone’s joyful because God’s holiness and justice are vindicated and God’s name is exonerated.

Even heaven acts out the drama, the end to the violence, the suddenness, and the complete annihilation of Babylon. Like a stone that makes a big splash and then disappears beneath the waves, Babylon has come to an end.

This was Satan’s city, and he was a murderer from the beginning. Babylon’s final crime was the slaying of God’s people. But now the sad story of man’s sin has come to an end.

This frightful period, which the Lord Jesus Christ called the Great Tribulation, is done.

Next: Jesus Christ comes to the earth to bring an end to this dark, disastrous day.

1. Does it surprise you to see a false religion playing an important role in Satan’s plan? How could someone recognize the harlot of Revelation as false?

2. The false church of Revelation makes a claim to truth but is in reality full of wickedness and filth. How does this resemble some of what passes for religion today?

3. Why do you think world rulers would willingly hand over their power to the Beast of Revelation?

Additional Resources

Listen to Dr. J. Vernon McGee’s complete teaching on Revelation 18:9-24, Revelation 18:1-8, Revelation 17:6-18 and Revelation 16:18—17:5.