The enemy of God's people knows the power of myth and the many. In fact, that's the meaning of "Mystery Babylon" -- the woman the Apostle John saw riding the seven-headed beast. In the New Testament book of Revelation we find these words:

And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."

Before we think this woman John saw riding a beast is nothing for us believers in Jesus to be concerned about, we need to consider what follows. John says:  

And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly. (Revelation 17: 3-6 New American Standard Bible). 

John was seeing a vision of the future. But, he was also writing from personal experience. At the time of the vision, John had already suffered the persecution of this drunk woman. He had been exiled for his testimony of Jesus to the island of Patmos. It is believed John's home church was at Ephesus. And, if you recall, the church at Ephesus was one of the seven churches in Asia Minor to whom John's message of prophecy was specifically to be addressed.

The Apostle Paul also had an unpleasant encounter with this woman who rides the beast. And, it too was at Ephesus. In Acts we read: 

About that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning the Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen; these he gathered together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, "Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business. You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all. Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence." When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" (Acts 19:23-28)

To understand what was going on in ancient Ephesus, it helps to know a little about the results of modern archaeology. The city of Pergamum had long been the capital of western Asia Minor. But, by the the time of the Apostles, Ephesus had become the governmental and cultural center of Rome's new Asian province.  

Here's where it gets interesting. At one end of Ephesus was the Temple of the Sebastol. This temple was built for the worship of deceased Roman emperors. This worship was seen as a way to strengthen Rome's rule over the province. Among the deities that were worshipped was the deceased Roman emperor Titus. Titus, as you may recall, was the general who led the Roman legions that destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. This may have been the group that exiled John to Patmos.

At the other end of Ephesus was the Temple of Artemis. Here the province's own native "mystery religions" were honored and defended. This may have been the group that rose up against the Apostle Paul.

So, the messages in Revelation to the seven churches in Asia Minor can be seen in a historical setting. The beast from the sea could be interpreted to be the persecutions coming from Rome rule and the worshippers of Roman emperors. The beast from the earth, on the other hand, could be understood to mean the persecutions coming from the followers of the mystery religions native to Asian Minor. In other words, in John's day, these two beasts can already be seen working together against God's people.

Does that mean, as some say, all the events found in the book of Revelation have already happened? The answer is clearly no. You see, many of the events in Revelation have never happened -- like the end of death, the return of Christ and His reign of righteousness. And, in my opinion, the final events of end-time prophecy couldn't happen without the rebirth of the nation Israel and the return of the Roman Empire. Of course, part of these requirements has already taken place. Israel has been reborn.

This brings us to today's subject, Myth and the Many. You see, according to these reports and articles Read them here, the Roman Empire is coming back too. In fact, I believe it's all coming back exactly as it was at the time of John's vision. I'm talking about the return of the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth. And, unfortunately, I'm talking about the return of the woman who rides the beast.

Here's why I say this: What we appear to be seeing is a literal revival of the old Roman Empire through the implementation of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership for Peace. This agreement was negotiated by Javier Solana back in 1995 and has become the framework for all the EU's Mediterranean policies. It started a process -- the so-called "Barcelona Process" -- that's now between the 25 EU member states and 10 Mediterranean states. In other words, it's literally a "covenant with the many" (Daniel 9:27). And, evidently, it's a process that understands the power of myth and the many. It's seeking a place for the woman. You know the woman.

The one drunk with the blood of the saints.