Constantine, the Christian Emperor
Prosecution of Heretics

Constantine, the Christian Emperor

Constantine was the son of the co-emperor Constantius Chlorus, who reigned over Gaul, Spain, and Britain until his death in 306.  According to Eusebius, Constantine, who adopted his father's attitude toward Christians, said,  "My father revered the Christian God and uniformly prospered, while the emperors who worshipped the heathen gods, died a miserable death; therefore, that I may enjoy a happy life and reign, I will imitate the example of my father and join myself to the cause of the Christians, who are growing daily, while the heathen are diminishing."¹

When the pagan Roman Emperor Maxentius usurped the government of Italy and Africa, Constantine marched from Gaul across the Alps with 98,000 soldiers and defeated Maxentius in three battles.  The last was in October, 312 at the Milvian bridge, north of Rome, where, before the battle, Constantine claimed to see a sign from God.  After reviewing the different accounts, this is what was claimed.  As Constantine was praying just after noon, he saw in the sky above the Sun a cross, which was the Greek letter, X.  This would not have been too surprising, since the weather angels communicate to people to herald historical events.  A simulation of what he may have seen is illustrated at the right.  As he was pondering the meaning of the sign, Constantine had a nightmare about the cross that night and saw a shining image like the cross he had seen in the sky during the day.  Now, shining objects like shields at night are usually demon projections (ref. image at left) that are designed to impress people. According to Rufinus,¹ when Constantine awoke in a terror an angel (probably a demon) said, "Hoc vince!" which means, "By this (sign) conquer!"  The reason this was likely a demon rather than an Elect Angel is because the message is contrary to Bible Doctrine, and Elect Angels don't talk to us.

Constantine had the sign of the cross painted on the shields of his soldiers, and he had a new standard made, which came to be called the Labarum.  The sign in the sky had something that looked like a wreath, or crown, with the cross, which was later illustrated with the Greek letter, P, (rho).  The cross and the crown would have symbolized becoming emperor after winning the battle, which actually happened to Constantine.  A monogram of the sign, which later appeared on Roman coins, was the first two letters of Christ's name in Greek CR (CHR).

"Hoc vince!" became the battle cry of the Crusades and countless armies marched to conquer by the sign of the Cross.  This was superstition, which was without doctrinal content.  The Cross is not a good luck charm.  It is a symbol of capital punishment.  The message of the Cross, which is the Gospel, is efficacious - not the picture.  Pagans and carnal Christians fell for this gimmick.  Even the Christian historian, Eusebius embellished the story after listening to Constantine and said that Christ appeared to Constantine in the dream.  Well, that would have made Constantine an apostle, which he wasn't!

After conquering the Western Roman Empire on October 27, 312 AD, Constantine and the emperor of the Eastern Empire, Licinius, published in January, 313 an edict of religious freedom for Christianity and all other religions.  It further required that property seized illegally from Christians be returned.  Constantine was proactive toward the Catholic Church and Christianity.  He ordered the civil observance of Sunday, although not as the Lord's day, but as the day of the Sun (Apollo).

Strife arose over religion between Constantine and his brother-in-law, Licinius, the emperor of the Eastern Empire.  Licinius supported the pagans and rejected Christians.  Constantine conquered Licinius in 324 AD and had him and his son executed.  The year, 324, stands for the Judgment (300) of Satan's strategy (24).  With the defeat of Licinius, Constantine became the emperor of the entire Roman Empire.

When divergent doctrines threatened to split the Catholic Church, Constantine called the Council of Nice in 325 AD.  He attended the Council and demanded that the participants come to agreement on the theological dispute over the deity of Christ.  Arius was teaching that Christ was a created being and therefore without the same deity as God the Father.  The council began June 14th and closed July 25th, although the members did not disperse until August 25th.  In the end the creed, which was signed by most participants recognized Jesus Christ not as oJmo-ouvsia" (of the same essence), but as oJmoi-ouvsia" (homoi-ousias), of like essence, with the Father.  The compromise, which was inaccurate, was suggested by the emperor.

Only two Egyptian bishops refused to sign and were banished with Arius to Illyria (or Illyricum), east of the Adriatic.  Arius's books were burned and his followers were called enemies of Christianity.  This was the first civil punishment for heresy.  It began the long practice of civil punishment for departure from the Catholic faith.  Because of the union of Church and state, banishment, and later the death penalty, were added to charges of heresy because offenses against the church were regarded as crimes against the state.

The Bible conference of Constantine may have preserved the unity of the Catholic Church but at the expense of Christianity.  Those with a zeal for Bible Doctrine forgot the Love of God and became legalists.  The issue of the deity of Christ had become the doctrine that turned the bishops of the Catholic Church into legalists.  Those who disagreed were brow beaten into signing the Nicene creed.  And those who rejected the creed were branded heretics and banished.  Now, they were right about the deity of Christ, which is a very important doctrine of the Church; but what they did in the name of Christ was anything but Christian.

What went wrong?  The two major things wrong were:  (1) the union of Church and state, and (2) denominationalism.  Constantine was out of line in violating the separation of Church and state, and the bishops who accepted his invitation, all expenses paid, to attend the conference were out of line.  They all violated authority.  Constantine, who didn't even understand the theological dispute, had no authority over the Church; and the bishops, who ruled by consensus, had no authority over each other.  Denominationalism is not scriptural.  In their attempt to argue a theological doctrine, the bishops strained at a gnat and swallowed a camel.  They turned into legalists and practiced a form of communism in demanding that other bishops abide by the party line.

Constantine was the Evil King and the Church was the Prostitute of Babylon at the Council of Nice.

Constantine was baptized a few days before his death at age 65, which stands for going down.  He thought that baptism would purify him, and he wanted to be pure when he went to Heaven.  So he put off baptism until near his death.  He died on Pentecost, May 22, 337, where 22 is for cursing.  The number, 337, is for the purifying Judgment of the Holy Spirit (33) of a warrior (37).  The Church Age began on the day of Pentecost.  Constantine, as the first Christian Emperor, was a great friend of the Church.  Unfortunately, without Christian Integrity, his policy of the union of Church and state set the stage for the destruction of the Roman Empire that he had sought to deliver.  Within 140 years, the Roman Empire would end.  It was overrun by the Barbarians in 476 AD.

Prosecution of Heretics

Constantine's son, Constantius, who was ruler in the East, together with his whole court, reverted to Arianism with fanatical intolerance.  The Western Roman Empire remained orthodox in opposition to the East.  The Emperor Valens (364-378) was fanatically pro-Arian, but his successor, Gratian, who was orthodox, recalled the banished bishops.  After the approval of the Nicene creed, those who departed from the reigning state-church faith were not only excommunicated, but they were prosecuted for crimes against the Christian state.  Initially they were punished with banishment and confiscation, but after Theodosius they were punished even with death.

The ascension to the throne of the Emperor Theodosius I. (379-395), who was of the Nicene faith, brought the triumph of orthodoxy. In 380, he issued an edict that required all his subjects to confess the orthodox faith and threatened the heretics with punishment.  After a reign of forty years, the Arians were driven out of all the churches of Constantinople.  Fifteen additional imperial edicts enforced uniformity of faith - the party line.  Heretics were deprived of all public offices, the right of public worship, receiving or bequeathing property, or making contracts; and they were subjected to fines, banishment, corporeal punishment, and even death.  Thus, Romanism destroyed the Catholic Church, which, as the Prostitute of Babylon, became the wife of the Evil King.  The marriage of Church and state was the marriage of the Prostitute of Babylon to the Evil King.  The evil union set the stage for the spiritual darkness and evil of the Middle Ages.

New Client Nations
Ireland Becomes the Client Nation
Holy Roman Empire
Anti-Semitism

New Client Nations

Israel
Chaldean Empire - 586 BC
Persian Empire - 539 BC
Rebuilt Israel - 516 BC
Roman Empire - 70 AD
Ireland - 476
Frankish Kingdom of Merovingians - 481
Scotland - 563
(Prostitute of Babylon through Popery usurps rule - 800)
Brandenburg - 1415
Switzerland - 1517
France - 1550
Sweden - 1618
England - 1650
United States of America - 1781

But, the Protestant Reformation began around 1415.  As Bible Doctrine was taught and believed, the power of the Prostitute and the Evil King were subdued.  New Client Nations sprang up and were greatly blessed from God.  The New World was discovered, and the United States of America became the greatest Client Nation in history.

Ireland Becomes the Client Nation

Patrick

Patrick was the son of a deacon and grandson of a presbyter (elder, same as a pastor).  Patrick is best known in history as St. Patrick.  The name, Patrick, is a form of Patricius, which was invented by Constantine for the second highest official next to the emperor.  Patrick was kidnapped by Irish pirates when he was about 16, according to his own testimony.  He was taken to Ireland where he worked as a shepherd for 6 years.  During this time, he believed in Christ, and the Lord allowed him to escape to Britain or France.  Later, in a dream he saw a man, Victoricius, who handed him innumerable letters from Ireland, begging him to come over and help them.  Patrick recognized the missionary call, and went to Ireland in about 440 AD.  He spent the rest of his life there and died about 493 AD on March 17.

The missionary work of Patrick was among the finest of history.  Although it cannot be compared with that of the Apostles, it certainly ranks with best of the ordinary missionaries of history.  Patrick went from village to village evangelizing the people.  He taught them Bible Doctrine.  Patrick, more than most of the great pastors of history, lived, breathed, walked, and talked doctrine.  The Word was inculcated in him through long hours of study and meditation.  We know about him through two letters that he left behind, his Confession and Letter To Coroticus (or Ceredig), a British chieftain.  The numerous legends about him have not been verified.

Patrick understood the phases of Spiritual Growth that lead to Spiritual Maturity.  He had separated from the world.  He had grown Spiritually.  He engaged in Spiritual Warfare.  And he made it to Spiritual Maturity.  He taught Bible Doctrine to his congregations, and then left them with a pastor-teacher.  Thus, his work lived after him.  Ireland was famous for sending missionaries to Scotland, Britain, and Europe during the next century.  The Irish appreciated Bible Doctrine, and they appreciated Patrick, who was a man of very sensitive Christian integrity.  He was promoted because he obeyed Bible Doctrine.

Unlike what Roman Catholic historians say, Patrick was not associated in any way with the Roman Catholic Church.  The confusion arises from  confounding Patrick with Palladius.  Palladius, a Roman deacon, was sent to Ireland as bishop in 431 AD.⁴  However, he was discouraged and left the field for North Britain, where he died among the Picts.  The Roman Catholic tradition that St. Patrick was sent by Pope Caelestine is not valid.  The claim arose from confounding Patrick with Palladius.  Patrick never mentions a relationship with Rome in his own works, which would certainly have been in his testimony if it had been true.  In his Confession Patrick never appealed to Roman tradition, but rather recognized the scriptures (including the Apocrypha) as the only authority in matters of faith.  Palladius, with the backing of Rome, failed; whereas, Patrick, an independent missionary with the backing of God, succeeded.

Brigid

Brigid was a contemporary with Patrick, though younger.  She died February 1, 523 (or 525).  She prepared the grave cloth for Patrick's burial.  Brigid was the illegitimate child of a chieftain or bard, and a slave-mother.  She was attracted to Patrick's teaching.  Like the seed that fell on good ground, she believed and obeyed Bible Doctrine.  She decided to be a virgin dedicated to the Lord and founded the famous nunnery of Kildare, which means the Church of the Oak.  The nunnery grew rapidly and had a profound impact on the lives of many women in need.

Although the life of Brigid is surrounded by even more of a cloud of unfounded legends, she was known as a woman of true doctrine.  She was the "pure virgin" - the description of Paul for a Christian in Spiritual Rapport who represents the Bride of Christ.  She lived Bible Doctrine and took the teachings of Christ at face value and obeyed them without question.  Her testimony spread throughout Ireland, and she has been remembered by generations as a woman of true Christian virtue and integrity.  Not having come from a spotless family background, she overcame the problems of being a wild child through the power of the Holy Spirit and the metabolization of Bible Doctrine.  Like Patrick, Ireland holds her also in fond memory to this day.

Holy Roman Empire

The year, 800, represented the new birth, per the meaning of the number, 8.  It was a new birth for the Roman Catholic Church, which usurped the authority of Rome as the Prostitute of Babylon.  The Roman Catholic Church was the living symbol of the Prostitute of Babylon in the Middle Ages.  It was allowed to become strong and powerful and vent its legalistic wrath upon the Jews and all dissenters.  Satan had been allowed to cross examine the Church as a part of his Appeal Trial, and he pulled off one of the biggest heists of history.

The Roman Catholic Church became the next Prostitute of Babylon.

Anti-Semitism

The synod of Elvira in 306 prohibited Christians from eating or intermarrying with Jews.  Emperor Theodosius II., 439, excluded Jews from holding public office. An edict that offered the alternative of Christian baptism or death was proclaimed by King Sisibut (612-620) of Spain.

The most humiliating regulation required the Jew to wear a distinguishing patch upon his garments so that he could be distinguished from afar.  Pope Innocent III. (1198–1216) brought this persecution upon the Jews in the Fourth Lateran, Twelfth Ecumenical Council, in 1215.

Black Death

When the Black Death swept through Europe in 1348, the Jews were blamed.  In Strassburg in 1349, the entire Jewish population of 2,000 was seized, and those who did not consent to baptism were burned in their own graveyard and their goods confiscated.  In other places, like Erfurt, all the Jews were burned or expelled.

Passover

Jews were often charged with the ritualistic murder of Christian children, especially at the time of the Passover.  In France, Philip Augustus in 1182, expelled the Jews and confiscated their goods based solely upon the alleged crucifixion of a Christian child.

Expulsion

Louis IX. expelled the Jews the year before he set out on his last crusade, as did Philip the Fair in 1306 and 1311, as well as other French and Spanish monarchs.  Louis IX. ordered all copies of the Targum destroyed, as did Gregory IX., who in 1239 commanded the archbishops of France, Castile, Aragon, Portugal, and England to do the same thing.

In England Edward I. banished the Jews in 1290, and England had no Jewish inhabitants until Oliver Cromwell allowed them to return to London in 1655.

The Jews were persecuted in England, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, and Hungary.  Italy persecuted them the least.  Tens of thousands were executed by burning or other means. They were driven, at one time or another, from almost every country of Europe. They were often given the alternative of baptism or death.

Spanish Inquisition

The culmination of Jewish suffering in the Middle Ages came in the Spanish Inquisition of 1492.  All unbaptized Jews were expelled from Spain.  In the summer of 1492, an estimated 170,000 to 400, 000 Jews left Spain. They went to Italy, Morocco, and the East, and 100,000 went into Portugal.  But in Portugal in 1495 an edict offered them baptism or death, and children under fourteen were seized from their parents and baptized.  Ten years later 2,000 of the alleged ungenuine converts were massacred.

Rise of Protestantism
Salvation by Grace
Luther Sees the Roman Babylon
Calvin
Persecution by the Prostitute of Babylon

Rise of Protestantism

The new period called the Reformation began simultaneously in Germany and Switzerland.  It swept through France, Holland, Scandinavia, Bohemia, Hungary, England, and Scotland.  It spread to North America, and missionaries carried it to every Dutch and English colony, and into all the world.  The Reformation flourished in the Huguenots of France, the Calvinists of Holland, the Puritans of England and New England, and the Presbyterians of Scotland.¹  The new Light in the world produced the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution.

The reformers, whether Lutheran, Anglican, Zwinglian, or Calvinistic, differed in various details, but they all had one thing in common.  They all accepted the infallibility of the scripture and went back to study and obey Bible Doctrine.  They threw off the yoke of slavery of Church tradition and extra-Biblical tenets.  They rejected Papal Bull, and dealt a severe blow to the Prostitute of Babylon.  They went back to the study of the scripture in the original languages and emerged with a new zeal for Christianity and evangelism.  And the Bible was translated into many languages so that it became available to the common person.  In the world, the study of the ancient Greek and Roman classics was revived.

Salvation by Grace

Luther Sees the Roman Babylon

Calvin

Nicolas Cop, the son of a royal physician and a friend of Calvin, was elected Rector of the University in Paris in 1533.  Calvin wrote the inaugural oration that Cop delivered at the Church of the Mathurins.  The oration was a call for Reformation and a rejection of the existing status quo.  In the oration, a statement by Calvin said, "They teach nothing, of faith, nothing of the love of God, nothing of the remission of sins, nothing of grace, nothing of justification; or if they do so, they pervert and undermine it all by their laws and sophistries. I beg you, who are here present, not to tolerate any longer these heresies and abuses."⁸   The Sorbonne (Theology Department) and the Parliament regarded the speech as an act of war upon the Roman Catholic Church and burned it.  Cop fled for his life.  Calvin descended from a window by means of sheets and escaped from Paris disguised as a vine-dresser with a hoe on his shoulder.  Police searched his rooms and seized his books and papers.

The next year in 1534, a Protestant activist named Feret placed copies of a tract on placards all over Paris, even on the door of the place the King was staying.  The tract described the abuses and evils of the popish mass.  The backlash almost broke the back of the Reformation in France.  The king was highly incensed and ordered the imprisonment of all suspects.  The prisons were filled.  And in a public ceremony after a procession through the city and a mass, six Protestants were suspended by a rope machine up and down in flames until they died.  Others had their tongues slit.  Over a six-month period, twenty-four innocent Protestants were burned alive in public.  The number, 24, stands for Satan's strategic attack.  More were fined, imprisoned, and tortured; and others, like Calvin, fled.

Persecution by the Prostitute of Babylon

The persecution of Protestants began at the Diet of Worms in 1521 when Charles V. issued a decree to exterminate  Lutheran heresy in the Netherlands.  In 1523 two Augustinian monks were burned to death.  Duke George of Saxony persecuted the Lutherans  by imprisonment and exile.  In Southern Germany the Edict of Worms was rigidly enforced, and there were many executions by fire and sword with barbarous mutilations in Austria and Bavaria.  The Anabaptists were also martyred.   In Passau thirty died in prison. In Salzburg they were mutilated, beheaded, drowned, and burned alive.  They also suffered from the Protestant governments of Zwingli and Calvin, who thought the Church-state had the right to execute heretics.  In Zuerich several were drowned in the river under the eyes of Zwingli. At Geneva in 1553, Servetus was burned for heresy and blasphemy with the approval of Calvin and all the surviving Reformers, including Melanchthon.⁹

The Fall Foretold
Babylon Split by an Earthquake
The Prostitute of Babylon
The Beast Explained
Doom of the Prostitute

The Fall Foretold

During the Tribulation an angel will fly in the sky announcing the Gospel and predicting Judgment for those who will not believe (Revelation 14:6-7).  A second angel will follow announcing the impending doom of Babylon in the second half of the Tribulation.

And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, "Fallen! Fallen! Babylon the Great, who has made all the nations drink from the passionate wine of her prostitution." (Revelation 14:8)

Babylon the Great is Satan's kingdom on earth.

Prostitution is the Greek porneiva (porneia), which means prostitution or fornication.  The fornication that is described here is prostitution.  This word will be used often to describe the Prostitute of Babylon.  "Her prostitution" refers to the prostitution of the city of Babylon.  The Prostitute of Babylon is a metaphor for the city of Babylon, which is a metaphor for Satan's Cosmic System.  The relationship with Satan is described, not as a marriage relationship, but as fornication with a prostitute.

Babylon Split by an Earthquake

And the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air; and a loud voice came out of the Temple from the Throne, saying, "It is done!" (Revelation 16:17)

And the Great City was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell.  And Babylon the Great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath. (Revelation 16:19)

1. Ecumenical Babylon - religion - headed by the Pope.
2. Political Babylon - Gentile World System - cities, governments, businesses.
3. Cosmic Babylon - Satan and his demons; the Comic System.

Revelation 16:20-21
20 And every island vanished (sea - Political Babylon), and the mountains were not found (land - Ecumenical Babylon). 21 And huge hailstones, about a talent (94 lbs) each, came down from the sky (Cosmic Babylon) upon mankind; and people blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.

The Prostitute of Babylon

Revelation 17:1-2
1 And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here!  I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed prostitution, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her prostitution.”

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. (Revelation 17:3, NAS)

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 prostitution, (Revelation 17:4)

She was adorned with jewelry of gold and precious stones to symbolize the "love of money" the "root of all evil."  Prostitution cannot exist without money. She had a gold cup that was symbolically filled with the abominable and perverse production of her prostitution - the sins of the world.  "The woman" was the Prostitute of Babylon, who symbolizes Babylon, the kingdom of Satan (Revelation 17:18).

The Prostitute of Babylon symbolizes the city of Babylon, which represents the kingdom of Satan.

and upon her forehead the name had been written, "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." (Revelation 17:5)

The city of Babylon is called "the Mother of Prostitutes."  "Prostitutes" is the Greek povrnh (porne).  It is derived from the Greek pevrnhmi (pernemi), meaning to sell, especially as slaves; literally "harlot for hire," "prostitute."  Harlots, or prostitutes, were usually bought slaves (Isa. 23:17; Na. 3:4; Luke 15:30; 1 Cor 6:16; Jer. 3:3; Ezek 16:30, 35; Rev. 19:2).  Porne is used to describe Rahab the prostitute in both the Septuagint and Greek New Testament (Josh 2:1; 6:17, 22-23, 25; Heb 11:31; Js 2:25).  "Mother" refers to the High Priestess of the heathen temple or the madam in charge of the house of prostitution.  It is also a metaphor for Satan, whose followers are like children enslaved to the Cosmic System.

"Abominations" is the Greek bdevlugma (Bdelugma), which means abomination or detestable thing.  It refers to what is abhorrent to God.  Things that are abhorrent to God include:

1. Love of Money - (Luke 16:14-15)
2. Injustice and unrighteousness (Prov. 17:15; 8:7; 28:9); arrogance (Amos 6:8); criminality (Psalm 5:6); lying (Psa 119:163; Prov 12:22)
3. Violations of Marriage Culture (Lev 18:26-30; Jer 13:27)
4. Idolatry (Jer 32:35; 44:21-22; Ezek 5:11; 6:9; 20:30; Hos 9:10; Matt 24:15)
5. Evil (Prov 15:8-9, 26; 21:27)

And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.  And seeing her, I was astonished with great amazement. (Revelation 17:6)

The Beast Explained

The Beast is symbolized by the hippopotamus, called Behemoth (Job 40:15).  Hippopotamus is Greek for river horse.  The hippopotamus runs along the river bottom like a horse.  Behemoth is from the Egyptian p-ehe-mau meaning, the ox (p) of the water (ehe).  The Lord explained the Behemoth to Job as the most powerful land animal and foremost animal of God's creation (Job 40:19).  None could defeat it – not crocodiles or lions.  It is impregnable (Rev 13:4).

The male hippopotamus that leads a pod symbolizes the Evil King and the female symbolizes the Prostitute of Babylon, who sits on many waters (Rev 17:1).   The male rules over his harem of females and fiercely protects his territory of the river.  At evening the hippopotamuses walk up the river bank and go up the hills to graze on grass until dawn (Job 40:20).  The hippopotamus symbolizes the Beast (Antichrist) (Dan 7:7; Rev  11:7; 13:1; 17:8-14).  The male hippopotamus in the water symbolizes the warlike Evil King, who rules Political Babylon (Rev 13:4), and the male on land grazing at night symbolizes Ecumenical Babylon (corresponding to the False Prophet (Rev 13:11-14)).

When man sinned, the Lord came into the Garden and promised a Savior who would pay for his sins.  The man and woman believed and received Eternal Life.  Satan was forced to come up with an alternative.  The alternative was the Antichrist, where antichrist in the Greek does not mean against Christ, but "instead of Christ" (1 Jn 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 Jn 1:7).  The Greek anti means instead of or in place of.  The Antichrist, as Satan's alternative to Christ, was Behemoth, the hippopotimus, the impregnable creature of the swamp.  The hippopotimus and his pod, like the king and his harem, were Satan's alternative to returning to the Garden.

Elect Angel's Explanation

The Elect Angel, who was John's tour guide, explained the symbolism of the Beast.

“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 time of the foundation of the world, when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. (Revelation 17:8)

Revelation 17:9-10
9 “Here is the thinking which has wisdom:  The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits; 10 furthermore, they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come.  Nevertheless, when it comes, it must remain a little while.

The last five kings were prophesied by Daniel's image (Daniel 2:32-33, 37-43):

1. Head of Gold - Chaldean Empire
2. Breast and arms of silver - Medo-Persia
3. Belly (Graeco-Macedonia) and thighs of bronze (Hellenistic Monarchies)
4. Legs of iron - Roman Empire (East and West)
5. Feet of iron (Revived Roman Empire) and clay (undermined nations).

1. Feet of Daniel's image (Daniel 2:31-34)
2. Little Horn (Daniel 7:8; 8:9)
3. King of the West (Revived Roman Empire) (Daniel 7:17, 23)
4. Prince that shall come (Daniel 9:26)
5. God of fortresses (Daniel 11:38)
6. Abomination of Desolation (Daniel 11:31; Matt 24:15)
7. Man of lawlessness (2 Thess 2:3-10)
8. Antichrist (instead of Christ) (1 Jn 2:18; Rev. 13:6)
9. Scarlet beast, the beast out of the sea (Revelation 13:1-10; 17:3)

Revelation 17:12-13
12 “And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the Beast for one hour. 13 “These have one purpose:  so they give their power and authority to the Beast.

The Waters

And he says to me, "The waters which you saw, where the Prostitute is sitting, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues." (Revelation 17:15)

Doom of the Prostitute

And the ten horns which you saw and the Beast, these will hate the Prostitute and make her desolate and stripped bare and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. (Revelation 17:16)

The Beast (Political Babylon) will attack the Prostitute of Babylon (Ecumenical Babylon).  The Beast is the one:

who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the Temple of God, displaying himself as God. (2 Thessalonians 2:4)

And the Beast "will burn her up with fire" (Revelation 17:16).  This refers to the condemnation of Satan and his demon sponsors of the Prostitute of Babylon in the Lake of Fire.  Burning with fire was also the punishment for the fornication (under the power of the Prostitute of Babylon) of the daughter of a priest under the Levitical Law (Leviticus 21:9).

Meaning of the Woman

And the woman whom you saw is the Great City who possesses imperial power over the kings of the earth. (Revelation 17:18)

The End
Lamentation
Pattern of Judgments Summary
Vindication of Believers

The End

He cried out with a mighty voice, saying, "Fallen! Fallen! Babylon the Great!  It has become a habitation of demons, a prison for every unclean spirit, and a haunt of every kind of unclean bird and detestable thing." (Revelation 18:2)

Now, phulake, for "prison," can also be translated "haunt."  The empty cities full of corpses will become the "haunt" for "unclean" birds.  "Unclean" birds were birds that were unclean under the Mosaic Law, such as the the vulture, owl, heron, pelican, great horned owl (Deut. 14:11-19; Lev. 11:13-19).  Similar descriptions include:

But pelican and hedgehog shall possess it,
And owl ([ovn=y^ , jan_eshoph) and raven shall dwell in it;
And He shall stretch over it the line of desolation
And the plumb line of emptiness. (Isaiah 34:11)

I resemble a pelican of the wilderness;
I have become like an owl (soK, Tawny, Wood Owl) of the waste places. (Psalm 102:6)

Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. (Jeremiah 50:39, KJV)

"For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her prostitution; and the kings of the earth have committed prostitution with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich from the power of her sensuality." (Revelation 18:3)

1. The nations of people - Political Babylon
2. Kings - Cosmic Babylon
3. Merchants of the land - Ecumenical Babylon

Lamentation

1. Woe of the Kings (Cosmic Babylon) (Revelation 18:9-10)
2. Woe of the Merchants (Ecumenical Babylon) (Revelation 18:11-17)
3. Woe of the Sailors (Political Babylon) (Revelation 18:17-19)

Pattern of Judgments Summary

P-E-C   (Rev. 16:20-21)
P-C-E   (Rev. 18:3)
C-E-P   (Rev. 18:9-19)

Vindication of Believers

“Rejoice over her, O Heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced Judgment for you against her.” (Revelation 18:20)

1. Heaven - the Elect Angels
2. Saints - Old and New Testament rank and file believers - attacked by Political Babylon
3. Apostles - Church Age leaders with highest authority - attacked by Cosmic Babylon
4. Prophets - verbal communicators - attacked by Ecumenical Babylon

The Four Hallelujahs
Hallelujah for the Prostitute's Judgment
Hallelujah for the Prostitute's Eternal Judgment
Hallelujah for God
Hallelujah for the Coronation of Christ

The Four Hallelujahs

Four Hallelujahs were shouted in Heaven, where 4 is the number for the weakness of Earth and its Creation in relation to the Ruler of Creation in Heaven.  The destruction of the Prostitute of Babylon was accomplished from Heaven, and the Earth was the grace beneficiary.  The victory over the Prostitute of Babylon was a major event in the history of Creation.  It would be followed by the Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Battle of Armageddon when the Evil King would be destroyed.

Hallelujah for the Prostitute's Judgment

After this I heard the loud sound as that of a great multitude in Heaven saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God!" (Revelation 19:1)

Because true and Righteous are His Judgments; for He has Judged the Great Prostitute, who corrupted the Earth with her prostitution; and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants from her hand. (Revelation 19:2)

Hallelujah for the Prostitute's Eternal Judgment

And a second time they said, "Hallelujah! And her smoke rises up forever and ever." (Revelation 19:3)

Hallelujah for God

And the twenty-four elders and the Four Living creatures fell down and worshipped God who is seated upon the Throne saying, "Amen. Hallelujah!" (Revelation 19:4)

Hallelujah for the Coronation of Christ

Revelation 19:5-6
5 And a voice came from the Throne, saying, "Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great." 6 And I heard the sound as that of a great multitude, and as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! Because the Lord God, the Omnipotent has become King."

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