TOPIC:“The Doom of Religious Babylon”
by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap
TEXT:Revelation 17:1-18
“And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, and
talked with me, saying unto me, Come here, I will show unto you the
judgments of the great whore that sits upon many waters” (17:1).
Two whole chapters, Revelation 17 and 18, are devoted to the subject of Babylon as they set forth God's divine plan for its destruction both as a religious system and as a political city. In chapter 17 Babylon is presented as a religion that is doomed, while in chapter 18 Babylon is presented as a city that is destroyed. In chapter 17 we have a worldwide religious system which has departed from the true God to commit fornication with the kings and people of the earth. In chapter 18 we have a great political and commercial city, the capital city of Antichrist, which will be destroyed by God.
The origin of Babylon reaches back to ancient civilization as recorded in Genesis 10:8-10 and 11:9. It was a literal city located on the Euphrates River and its title “Babylon the Great” reveals it became a very powerful and prosperous city under the leadership of Nebuchadnezzar. The label given to it in verse 1 “the great whore” reveals the evil wickedness to which this city fell. It became the center of pagan worship.
During the end times Babylon will appear in her final manifestation in the figure of a woman, the great harlot, which will be a worldwide false religious system better described as the “apostate church.” This ecclesiastical system will be guilty of spiritual fornication and worship of God's divine judgment. As the tower of Babel was erected to the glory of men in Genesis so this Babylon the Great, whether it be rebuilt Babylon or Rome, will be a monument in the Tribulation to Antichrist and his company.
Even though the events in this chapter follow the outpouring of the seven bowl judgments of chapter 16, in their chronological order they precede the seven bowls and seem to come at the middle of the Tribulation or at the very beginning of the great Tribulation. Remember, much of what God revealed to John of future events as recorded in Revelation are not revealed in chronological order.
I.
Let's think, first of all, of the INVITATION of the ANGEL. We read in verses 1 and 2 these words: “And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come here, I will show unto you the judgments . . .