Well, the time has come to introduce you to that other woman – that scarlet lady of prophecy. 

John wrote: “And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, ‘Come here, I shall show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.’  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.  And 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 upon her forehead a name was written, a mystery, ‘BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.’  And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.  And I wondered greatly” (Revelation 17:1-6).

I don’t know about you, but this is one of those places where I can really relate to the Apostle John.  Every time I’ve read his description of this woman riding the beast, I too have “wondered greatly.”

Yet, the next thing the angel said to John was, “Why do you wonder?  I shall tell you the mystery of the woman and the beast that carries her, which has seven heads and the ten horns.”

Talk about someone being frustrated!  What the angel said to help us understand the meaning of the woman riding the beast seems even harder to understand.  But more on that later.

I agree with the commonly accepted view of this passage.  This woman riding the beast represents false religion.  As we have learned, these images of Bible prophecy are from God’s point of view.  So this false religion is the one that – from God’s point of view – gave birth to all false religions.  That’s why she’s called “THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS.”

Like the other images in prophecy, this image has an on-going nature.  That is the reason she is called, “BABYLON THE GREAT.”  This identifies this false religion with the ancient Babylonian Empire.  Tim Lahaye said, “In ancient days Satan seemed to make Babylon the capital of his evil operation.  From this headquarters was started false religion” (Revelation Illustrated and Made Plain p. 224).

But Alexander Hislop, author of the great Christian classic The Two Babylons, traced the false religion in ancient Babylon back to the builders of the Tower of Babel.  According to the Bible, the Tower of Babel is where people who had rebelled against God came together to built a city.  These people said, “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; lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:4).  (Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, 2nd American ed. (Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, 1959) 5, 24.)

Hislop believes that the religion that began at the Tower of Babel was actually the worship of Satan in the form of fire, the sun and the serpent.  However, Satan worship could not be done openly because of the many who still believed in the true God of Noah.  So a mystery religion began at Babel where Satan could be worshipped in secret.

These builders of Babel had a leader by the name of Nimrod.  The Bible tells us that Nimrod “became a mighty one on the earth.”  In fact, the city of Babel was just the beginning of Nimrod's great empire.  He went on to build and unite seven more great cites (Genesis 10:8-12).

There is non-biblical support for the existence of this great leader.  According to ancient lore, Nimrod had a wife named Semiramis.  Although Nimrod recognized no God other than himself, Semerimus was religious.  And she was the one responsible for the creation of the idolatrous mystery religion that began at Babel.

So, at Babel, we find the first rebellious builders of a godless system of government and the first promoters of this idolatrous mystery religion.  These two forces worked together to blind and enslave the weak and spiritually ignorant people in the days of Nimrod.

 Of course we know the rest of the story.  God interrupted the plans of these builders by giving them different languages.  Unfortunately, as these people scattered, they carried their mystery religion with them over the face of the whole earth.

So the woman John saw riding the beast represents this satanically inspired religion that has been scattered around the world, now existing in its many forms.

This brings us back to the beast John saw this mystery woman riding.  The angel said: “The beast that you saw was and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go to destruction.  And those who dwell on the earth will wonder, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come” (Revelation 17:18).

What in the world does this beast stand for?  Perhaps the simplest explanation is that the beast that “was” refers to Satan, when he appeared to Eve in the form of a serpent in the Garden of Eden.

If so, then the beast that “is not” refers to the fact that Satan, at the time of John, didn’t occupy an earthly body.  And the beast that “is about to come up out of the abyss” means that someday Satan will occupy another earthly body, but this next time it will be the body of a human king.  If you follow this interpretation, then you can see why some Christians believe that Satan himself will someday personally indwell the Antichrist.

Yet I don’t agree with this interpretation.  For one thing, Revelation 16:13 indicates they remain separate beings.  In this passage we find the dragon – representing Satan, and the beast – representing the Antichrist, still being referred to separately.

Another problem with the interpretation that Satan personally indwells the Antichrist is that the “abyss” – the place where the beast comes out from – is another name for the “bottomless pit.”  And Satan does not dwell in the bottomless pit.  This is where demons dwell.  Demons are spirits that do not have their own bodies.

According to Clarence Larkin, “the abyss is the prison house of demons (Revelation 9:1-21), and where Satan is to be bound for 1000 years (Revelation 20:1-3, 7-8).”  Larkin said, “It is the place into which the demons besought Christ not to send them” (Luke 8:31).  Then Larkin summed it up by saying: “The ‘Bottomless Pit’ or 'Abyss' then is a deeper compartment in ‘The Underworld’ than ‘Paradise,’ or ‘Hell,’ and is the place where the ‘demons’ and baser spirits are temporarily confined until they are finally consigned to the ‘Lake of Fire’ to spend eternity with their Master, Satan”   (Clarence Larkin, The Spirit World (Glenside, Pennsylvania: 1921) 50).

So if it isn’t Satan, then who – or what – is this beast that the angel said would “come up out of the abyss and go to destruction?”

According to Larkin, “the ‘King’ of the ‘Bottomless Pit’ is called in the Hebrew tongue ‘Abaddon,' but in the Greek tongue his name is ‘Apollyon,’ that is, the King of the ‘Bottomless Pit’ is named after the Hebrew and Greek words that are translated – ‘Destruction.’”

Here we may have some important clues to identifying this beast.  We know for sure that this beast from the abyss refers to the coming Antichrist.  We also have learned that the name of the king of the abyss – the place the beast comes out of – is "Destruction."  And we also know that Paul called the Antichrist “the son of destruction” (2 Thessalonians 2:3).

This is why I believe the beast from the abyss refers to some demon spirit who is specifically used by Satan to possess certain earthly kings.  And when this possession occurs, it’s as if Satan himself were the king.

When Satan appeared to Eve in the Garden of Eden, it was in a time of innocence.  It was before Adam and Eve ate the fruit – before the fall of mankind had occurred.  At that time, Satan and his demons didn’t have the right to occupy a human being.  This is why Satan first had to appear in the body of a serpent.  Since the fall, however, human bodies have become available.

Now when people worship Satan instead of God, whether knowingly or not, Satan and his demons can gain the right to occupy their bodies.  This is Satan’s true purpose for false religion.

So, lets put this all together.  This woman John saw riding the beast represents this satanically inspired religion scattered around the world.  This false religion likes to work together with godless governments.  And the beast represents Satan’s ultimate goal of bringing his Antichrist demon from the abyss to indwell some powerful earthly king.  When this occurs, this king becomes Satan in the flesh.  And these two forces working together are called by Apostle Paul, “the mystery of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2:7).

If you have come to a different interpretation of these verses, that’s OK.  These are difficult passages to understand, and I don’t, for one minute, think I have found all the right answers.

The angel went on to explain a little more about the beast the woman of false religion was sitting on.  The angel said: “Here is the mind which has wisdom.  The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes he must remain a little while.  And the beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction” (Revelation 17:9-11).

Some Bible versions use the word “hills” in place of "mountains," which the New American Standard version uses.  And since the city of Rome is known to sit on seven hills, this causes some prophecy students to identify this woman riding the beast with the Vatican and the Catholic Church.

And this leads some to believe that the seven kings this passage refers to were seven Roman Emperors.  The problem with this interpretation is that these seven emperors are hard to specifically identify.  And if you recall from our keys, we are to watch for sure road signs in history, not unidentifiable events or emperors.

Besides, good Bible translators, such as Alfred Marshall and Joseph H. Thayer, believe the correct word is “mountains,” not “hills.”  But my main reason for believing the correct word is  “mountains” is because this would make this prophecy more consistent with those that have come before  (Alfred Marshall, trans., The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1975), 761.;  Joseph H. Thayer, trans., Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 4th ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1977) 454).

The angel telling John that the seven heads of the beast are mountains and kings may at first seem more confusing.  Actually, it is very helpful to our understanding.  If you recall, the future kingdom of the Messiah was pictured in King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream as a great mountain (Daniel 2:35).  Other Old Testament prophets also referred to great kings and their kingdoms as mountains (Isaiah 2:2, Zechariah 4:7).

At the time of John, five of these great kingdoms that the woman sat on had come and gone.  These five were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece.  The one that existed in John’s day was Rome.

Now the angel’s attention turns from the earthly kings of these kingdoms back to the beast that comes from the pit.  The angel says, “And the beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction”

In other words, at the time John wrote these words, the beast was back in the Bottomless Pit.  But someday, when the Roman Empire is revived under a confederacy of 10 nations, a seventh king will come to power.

And after this seventh king comes to power, the beast will again come out of the pit and possess this seventh king.  When this event occurs, the beast from the pit will become the eighth king, and also will be one of the seven.

Again, there are other ways to interpret these difficult passages of prophecy.  For me, considering all of our keys, this seems to be the best.

If you recall, I said earlier that this other woman of prophecy — the one who represents false religion — would also bring forth a messiah-like figure into the world.  Before the true Messiah returns from heaven, a false messiah will be offered to the world.  Unlike the Messiah who fulfilled the prophecies of Scripture – who came forth from Israel, died and rose again – this false messiah will come forth from false religion and use deceiving signs and wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9).

The Apostle Paul explained it this way, “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it (Christ’s return) will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction” (2 Thessalonians 2:3).

The word “apostasy” means to fall away.  Paul is telling us that, just before the Lord’s return, most people will fall away from the true faith of the Bible.

When you think about it, it’s amazing how confident the Apostle Paul was in the power of the new faith he was spreading. At the time Paul wrote this, the Christian faith had just begun to be preached.  Yet here Paul was saying that the day would come when the loss of the true Christian faith would cause a calamitous political change to the entire world.

How could Paul, 2000 years ago, have had such confidence in the faith he was promoting?  I believe it was because he understood the implications of what Jesus accomplished on the cross.  Paul took it literally when Jesus said, “ Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out.  And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself” (John 12:31-32).

Paul understood that our real battle here on earth is not against “flesh and blood,” but against “the spiritual forces of wickedness” (Ephesians 6:12).  He also knew that when Jesus was crucified, Satan’s authority over mankind had finally been broken.  Just as foretold in Bible prophecy, the seed of the woman had come (Jesus), and had crushed the serpent’s (Satan's) head (Genesis 3:15).

You see, with true Christianity, comes true freedom.  And Paul knew that Christianity would have a liberating effect on the Gentile world that had been enslaved by Satan.  As I said earlier in my book, I believe this is what Paul had in mind when he said, “To me, the very least of the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ … in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 3:8-10).

Now world leaders are attempting to mold their nations and international organizations into the American image – democracy, the rule of law, and individual freedom.  Ironically, these world leaders can recognize the good that has been manifested by the nations that are filled with Bible-believing churches, but they can’t bring themselves to recognize the faith that accomplished this good.

Yet after 2,000 years, how can we know for sure the true faith that Jesus started?  Actually, this is an easy question to answer.  Paul said: “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scripture” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

In other words, the Gospel message at the heart of the Christian faith is simple.  If you truly believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, then you are a Christian.  Yet, though the Gospel is very simple, it’s also extremely powerful.  Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).

This is why our falling away from this wonderful Gospel is so strange.  There is no natural reason for this to happen.  The Bible tells us we will fall away from this simple Gospel because we will be seduced by that other woman of prophecy, false religion.

Paul wrote Timothy, “But the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will fall away from the faith (the simple gospel message), paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons” (1Timothy 4:1).

There is a reason the Spirit warned so explicitly about this falling away.  When it happens on a large enough scale, the liberating influence Christianity brought into the Gentile world by Jesus will be taken out of Satan’s way.  I believe this is what Paul was referring to when he said, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way” (2 Thessalonians 2:7).