Revelation 17

In Short

Revelation 17 shows us the historical development of the relationship between the last phase of the empire, the USA, called 'the beast', and the nations of Europe. The scarlet beast, the empire, is seen as subjected to a woman, a prostitute, called 'Mystery Babylon the Great'. The woman symbolizes the Roman Catholic Church, which has ruled over the nations of Europe from the moment that the Roman empire went down. For more than 1,000 years the Roman Catholic Church was Europe's undisputed master. The church collaborated with the kings and governments of the world (her fornication), twisted the holy scriptures to serve its own political aims, striving after earthly riches (the jewelry she is dressed with) and persecuted the saints that criticized her behavior (the cup in her hand, filled with blood). Most of the chapter is however dedicated to the beast that the woman sits upon, having seven heads and ten horns. The seven heads of the beast have a dual meaning. (1) The seven mountains of the city of Rome, that for all those centuries had been the seat of power of the Roman Catholic Church. (2) The seven phases of the empire that through history had impacted the people of God, the Jews - (1) Babylon - (2) Mede - (3) Persia - (4) Ptolemy (5) -  Seleucid - (6) Rome - (7) The USA till the civil war. The text says that 'five have fallen' - Indeed at the time of John all empires from Babylon till the Greek kingdoms were gone. The text say that 'one is now' - Indeed, when John received the prophecy, Rome was the actual empire. The text states that 'one is yet to come and to remain for a short time' - Indeed, the USA was still far in the future and its existence as 7th head, till the civil war, lasted less than a century. Then follows an important sentence: 'And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition'. The beast as 'the eighth' is the USA in its development after the civil war, growing into an empire that for the first time encompasses the complete globe. It is the pinnacle of power of mankind, to be destroyed by the Son of man at his return - it goes to perdition. The USA 'came out of' the seven heads, meaning that the intelligence by which it is guided also form its historical roots, all foregoing stages of empire that still exert their influence in present-day US-policy. That is why US policy is so incomprehensible and often contradictory. It is the true 'deep state' - much profounder than CIA or Pentagon or CFR.

The then horns on the head of the beast are the ten Nations of Europe, that existed in 1776, when the US was founded. After the civil war, the beast became mighty and conquered the 3 most powerful European nations, Spain (1898), Germany (1918) and GB (1944) - which was prophesied in Daniel 7. By doing so, the USA subdued the complete European continent and gained worldwide hegemony. Therefore the text states that the ten horns give their power to the beast and that they will rule as kings with the beast, for one hour. That hour is the short Endtime of 3.5 years, with the US as undisputed tyrant of the world. We see that hour fast approaching, with Europe's politicians acting as a total lackeys to Trump and with democratic values totally and shamelessly eroding. At the end of the 3.5 year Endtime, the ten horns will even try to take on the Lamb of God, the returning Jesus, but they will be totally defeated.

But what happened to the woman? She would be brought down - made lonely, naked, her flesh eaten, burnt with fire. The horns would accomplish this, before the beast would fully display itself. This happened soon after the founding of the USA. The French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars swept the European continent and nothing remained of the political power of Roman Catholicism. In the two ages that followed, secularization took over the West, in a free flow of new ideas, inventions and techniques, most of which were commercialized by the USA. The world started following the beast instead of the church. All that remained of the church was an outward appearance, which proved very useful to the beast as a cover for its true character and intentions. And so deceptive was the outward appearance of the beast, that even the rudimentary remains of the church didn't recognize the power by which she was defeated.

Much of what is presented in Revelation 17 precedes Revelation 13 in time. However, the Holy Spirit first wanted to make us acquainted with the rise and the Endtime actions of the beast in Chapter 13, the US-empire. Once the last and most heavy judgments strike the empire, the moment has come to give the reader more insight in the historical developments behind it. Those developments unmask it as 'Babylon the Great' - the entity that will be crippled by the first six vials and totally devastated by the 7th vial that all will be filled with God's wrath, seen in Chapter 16. In Chapter 17, we see the historical development that explains the relationship between the last empire and the name 'Babylon the Great'. In Revelation 18 we are introduced to the economic, judicial and ethical aspects of the destruction of the world empire.