DRAFT: A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Revelation 4-22
Part 2: A Commentary on the Period of Tribulation Before the Millennial Reign (Period 2) (2017AD-2027AD)

Kuruvilla Thomas
Bangalore

Fig. 1

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

5. A Commentary on the Reconfigured Text, Continued from Part 1

In Part 1 of this paper, we reconfigured Revelation 4-22 and commented on the passages related to Satan's Fall from heaven and Christ's First Coming (Period 1). Part 2, below, is a commentary on Pre-Millennial tribulations 2017AD-2027AD (Period 2), and Part 3 has commentary on the Last Days c. 2967AD (Period 3).

5.2 Period 2. The Events Preceding Christ's Reign on Earth (2017AD-2027AD) (Ch 4,5, Ch 12 verses 1,2,10-12, Ch 14:14-16, Ch. 6:1-11, Ch 17:1-18:3, Ch 14:6-8, Ch 18:4-24, Ch 13:1-10, Ch 14:9-13, Ch 13:11-18, Ch 15-16, Ch 14:17-20, Ch 19:1-8, Ch 19:11 to 20:10, Ch 22:10-15, Ch 19:9-10)

This Period is primarily regarding the Pre-Millennial tribulations and the end of Satan's earthly empire; the Period extends from the time of the Divine assembly (Rev. 4,5) (2017AD) to the start of Christ's Millennial Reign (2027AD). Note that through a series of reconfigurations, this sequence of passages on Period 2 has been considerably altered from the original, so that they are now in chronological order.

We have divided the rather long set of passages below into 5 sections:

1. Events Before the Persecution of the Saints (Ch 4,5, Ch 12 verses 1,2,10-12, Ch 14:14-16, Ch 6:1-11)
2. Interlude: A description of 'Babylon', Predictions in its fall (Ch 17:1-18:3, Ch 14:6-8, Ch 18:4-24)
3. The Reign of The Beast and The Antichrist (Ch 13:1-10, Ch 14:9-13, Ch 13:11-18)
4. From the End of the Reign of the Beast to the Start of the Millennial Reign (Ch 15-16, Ch 14:17-20, Ch 19:1-8, Ch 19:11 to 20:10)
5. Epilogue to Period 2 (Ch 22:10-15, Ch 19:9-10)

Section 5.2.1 Events Preceding the the Persecution of the Saints (Ch 4,5, Ch 12 verses 1,2,10-12, Ch 14:14-16, Ch 6:1-11)

This section is regarding the period of tribulation from the time of the Divine Assembly (2017) to the start of the persecution of the saints (2025).

5.2.1.1 The Divine Assembly in Heaven and the Successful Search for someone Worthy to Open the Seals, Christ is deemed worthy of being King of Kings (2017AD) (Ch 4,5)

A Description of God's Throne Room and the Divine Assembly (Ch. 4)

Chapter 4 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

These visions of the apostle John are located at a particular future time and place, so in order to understand the visions, we must identify where and when they occur. This vision of the sealed scroll in Rev. 4&5 seems to occur shortly before the Sign of the Woman on Sep 23 2017 (Ch 12), and in the heavenly realm (the angel at the door to heaven - a portal between dimensions - says "come up here" in 4:1). John is given this vision on the Lord's day (Rev. 1:10), the Sabbath, and the vision in these chapters, Rev. 4-5, seems to be that of a Sabbath assembly in God's "throne room" - this vision in Ch. 4 does not describe the entirety of these spiritual being's existence. The angel who had appeared to John initially (with a "voice like a trumpet" - Rev. 1:10), the Archangel Michael [6], guides him through this vision.

Chapter 4 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. 4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5a From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder.

The apostle John attempts to describe the "throne room" of God and the heavenly assembly that he saw in the vision, though the awesome sight must beggar all description. This is a spiritual realm ("in the spirit" - vs 2), and this description uses the language of the physical world to represent spiritual qualities. The "flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder" represent the power and glory of God (see Exodus 19:16-19). God Himself has the appearance of jasper (shiny red or yellow stones) and ruby (shiny red stones), looking like fire made of stone (fire has represented God on other occasions, as at the "burning bush" - Exodus 3:2). Note that there is but One God, the Great "I AM" (Exo. 3:14), who sits on the central Throne, and not a Trinity of coequals (the Lamb stands before the throne - see Ch 5:6 below).

Chapter 4 5b In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. 6a Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

The 7 "lamps" are spiritual beings or angels (see 8:2) at the highest levels of God's government; they may be called "lamps" to indicate that their function is to spread the truth from God (see also Rev. 1:4). In the spiritual world, a "sea of glass" seems to be equivalent to a sea of water (see also Rev 15:2); and this "sea of glass, clear as crystal" may represent the purification of all that come into the presence of God, as in the case of the Molten Sea at the temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 4:1–5). ( In this revelation, things that are non-solids in the physical realm sometimes appear as solids in the spiritual realm: fire is made of stone in vs 3, a rainbow is hard as emerald in vs 3, water is as glass in vs 6, Ch 15:2, perhaps to indicate that the spiritual is more 'real', 'solid' and lasting than the physical.)

Chapter 4 6b In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
“‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”

The glory, majesty and great love of the Creator of all things is such that all in His presence feel compelled to worship and give thanks to Him continually (note that "continually" does not mean "continuously" - these beings praise their God at reasonable intervals, and they continue to do so faithfully). In the praise of the "living creatures", the word "Holy" is repeated thrice to indicate the superlative, the "Holiest" (see also Isa. 6:3), and the names of God in vs. 8 are as in Rev. 1:8.

The appearances of the 4 "living creatures" - lion, ox, man and eagle (cf. Eze. 1:10) - are those of the "mightiest" of the 4 categories of creatures listed as saved through Noah's Ark in Genesis 9:10 - wild animals, livestock, humans and birds - indicating that the "living creatures" are "princes", who control all living creatures from the spiritual realm. Together with the shining rainbow in vs 3 (the rainbow shines like an emerald but is not emerald coloured), they also reference God's promise to all living creatures after the Flood in Genesis 9:8-17. The many eyes of the "living creatures" may represent their monitoring function, and their wings indicate their need to travel around the earth in the discharge of their duties.

Chapter 4 9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

The 4 "living creatures", the 7 "lamps" (or spirits - see vs 5) and the 24 "elders" represent spiritual beings at the highest levels of God's government. The "elders" follow the lead of the 4 "living creatures" in praising God, indicating that the "elders" are lower in the hierarchy.

The fact that the 24 angels are called "elders", and that they wear crowns of victory ("stephanos") and not royal crowns ("diadema"), may indicate that they were chosen from among the divisions of God's angels as leaders (the angels may be divided into 24 or one of its divisors, most likely 12), in the way that a person of good character ("dressed in white" - vs 4) is chosen as an elder from a congregation (note that "elder" indicates their elevated rank and not their age). The "elders" lay their crowns of victory before the throne, probably to indicate that they reign at the pleasure of God - their position is temporary and they may be replaced at any time.

The Search for Someone Worthy to Open the Scroll (Ch. 5)

Chapter 5 1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.

We believe the scroll contains all the prophetic passages that are structured as cryptochiasmi [8], "sealed" to obscure their true meaning. The scroll has writing on both sides, probably so that, when it is unrolled and held up, it is visible from all directions, to indicate that the prophecies will be made known to all the people of the world after the "seals" are opened (cf. Zech 5:1-4. see also Rev 14:6-13). Among these cryptochiasmi, we are aware of 5 passages that are explicitly designated as sealed: Dan. 8, Dan. 10-12, Isa. 7-9, Isa. 28-33 and this book of Revelation. Satan cannot take the necessary actions that give him total world power - through the Beast - until the first 5 "seals" are opened in Period 2 and the true meaning of the prophecies are revealed (note that a large proportion of the prophecies in these cryptochiasmi will be fulfilled in this Period). The last two seals will be opened in Period 3, when Christ returns in glory (6th seal - Rev 6:12) and the end-times tribulations begin (7th seal - Rev 8:1).

Chapter 5 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

No one could open the seals, no one in heaven or earth or under the earth (the realm of the dead - Isa. 14:9), not even the mightiest angels - what God has sealed, no man or angel can open. John may have wept because he was told that Christ could not begin his reign until the seals were opened.

The "Lion of the tribe of Judah" (see also Gen. 49:9,10), who triumphs to finally open the seals, is commonly considered to be Jesus, but if so: Why did John weep if Jesus, through his death, was already victorious? Why search heaven and earth when Jesus was present right there (Mark 16:19)? Why the mixed metaphor, whereby Jesus is simultaneously called a Lion and Lamb? We propose instead that, while the "Lamb" is the victorious Jesus, the "Lion of Judah" is the coming Messiah, also a descendant of David ("Root of David" means "shoot from the dormant root" - see also Rev. 22:16 below, Isa. 11:1,10, Zech. 3:8), a human with frailties, whose victory is not confirmed until that moment (see also Rev. 3:21). Both Jesus and the Messiah had to be victorious in order that the seals may be opened.

Chapter 5 6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

The Lamb, the risen Jesus, has 7 horns and 7 eyes, which are 7 spirits (angels) through whom God and Jesus control the global church; the horns and eyes represent these angels' role as "princes" or controllers from the spiritual realm (see also Rev 1:20).

The arrangement of God's "throne room" represents the leadership structure of His government. God, the most powerful of all, is at the centre, and some of His top deputies - the "living creatures" and the "elders" - encircle Him, with a host of angels beyond (vs. 11). The presence of the Lamb, Jesus, between God and everyone else indicates that he is the second most powerful being after God (cf Eph. 1:20-21, Psalm 110:1). (The text, "at the centre of the throne...", is better rendered "between the throne and the four living creates...")

Chapter 5 7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.

In accepting the scroll from God, Jesus accepts kingship over mankind forever. This event answers the prayers of God's people: "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." (Matt. 6:10)

Chapter 5 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

They sang a "new song", accompanied by harps of praise and celebration (Psalm 33:2, 137:2,3), to indicate the start of this new age, Christ's Millennial Reign (see also Rev. 14:2). Jesus, through his death, is deemed worthy to open the seals, and he is honoured and praised by all the spiritual beings of heaven and earth as being worthy to have all power over the earth for his Millennial Reign and the later eternal heavenly reign in his Heavenly Kingdom. When Christ begins his Millennial Reign (after the pre-Millennial tribulation), the New Israel (Israelites and faithful Christians, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb) will be a kingdom of priests (vs 10) that serves God and rules the earth (see also Isa. 61:6, 1 Peter 2:9). With this, Jesus is proclaimed worthy of being "King of kings" forever.

5.2.1.2 A Sign in Heaven and A Victorious Announcement (2017AD) (Ch 12 verses 1-2,10-12)

Chapter 12 1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.

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We believe that this sign is an alignment of heavenly bodies that takes place on September 23, 2017AD at the constellation Virgo (the woman in this passage), portending the start of Christ's Millennial Reign.

See our paper on Revelation 12 [2] for a more detailed analysis of this extract.

Chapter 12 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”

A victorious proclamation in heaven announces the upcoming start of Christ's Millennial Reign, because Christ and his Messiah, the "Lion of the tribe of Judah", triumphed, so that the seals on the scroll can be opened (Rev 5:5). With this triumph in the spiritual realm, Christ is deemed worthy to rule forever (Rev 5:9,10), and Satan is defeated. At this time, the coming Messiah of the Millennial Age (the Lion of Judah) is figuratively anointed as Jesus' representative on earth (see Dan. 9:24,25 in [9]) and is given a crown of victory ('stephanos') (see Rev 14:14,6:2).

But before Christ's reign, Satan is given one last chance to win souls during a short period of intense worldwide tribulation and deception - the Reign of the Beast (Rev. 13). Since the prize for winning (see Isa. 14:13-14) and the price of losing (the Lake of Fire for eternity - Rev. 20:10) this short war are enormous for Satan and his demons, this battle for men's souls will be intense.

See our paper on Revelation 12 [2] for a more detailed analysis of this extract.

5.2.1.3 The Messiah is Commissioned to Gather the Elect: The Earth is to be Harvested (Ch 14:14-16)

Chapter 14 14 I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

After he triumphs to open the seals (Rev. 5:5), the coming Messiah is assigned the great commission of guiding the people of earth into Christianity and gathering the elect into the New Israel. The "harvest" represents this gathering of the faithful (see also Joel 3:13), and the "white cloud" seems to represent the New Israel, the destination of the righteous (see also Rev. 19:6-8). The Messiah is "like a son of man" (that is, like a man - see also Dan. 7:13–14, Rev. 1:13 in [6]) and wears the "golden crown" of victory ("stephanos") that he won when he triumphed to open the seals. He begins this assignment by interpreting the words of the prophets, thereby clearly showing the world that the Bible is the truth from God (Isaiah 52:7) (verse 14:16 may be better rendered in the future tense, along the lines, "So he who was seated on the cloud will swing his sickle and harvest the earth"). The angel with the command to reap comes out of the temple, signifying that the divine judgement of God will identify and reward the righteous (cf. Rev 15:8). In this passage, the Messiah is assigned his priestly duties, while in the next, as the rider on the White Horse, he is assigned his kingly duties - he is both priest and king.

5.2.1.4 The First 4 Seals are Opened, the Horsemen Released (6:1-8)

At the opening of the first 4 seals (2023 - 2025AD), the horsemen on the White, Red, Black and Pale horses set out. Horsemen, in prophecy, seem to represent powerful spirits (angels) - both good and evil - who have been given vital assignments on earth (see also Zech. 6:1-5,1:8-11), and the colour of their horses seems to indicate the nature of their roles: white for political power, red for war/peace, black for economic power, and pale for death. The "riding horseman" metaphor is probably used to indicate that their role on earth is for an extended period, or that it covers an extensive area. The work of these horsemen may not be visible as soon as they are released or in the order in which their seals are broken - they will initially be preparing for their final assault.

For this vision, John is in the heavenly realm and the riders do their work on earth, so the "living creatures" direct him to "Come!" (as in 6:1) and see the effect of the horsemen's release.

The first 5 seals are opened over a period of a few years, but the last 2 are opened around 900+ years later.

Chapter 6 1 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

The rider on the White horse, the coming Messiah, had won the crown of victory ("stephanos") when he triumphed to open the seals ("was given a crown" in vs 2 is better rendered "had been given a crown", as in the ISV). He carries a bow to defeat the wicked (see also Psalm 45:5) and then rule the world for Christ (he is also the victorious rider on the White horse at the end of this tribulation period in Ch. 19:11-16). The revelation of his identity, will be virtually instantaneous worldwide, just as lightning from the east is visible in the west (Matt. 24:27). (This horseman cannot be Satan or one of his fallen angels, as none of them have won a crown of victory - stephanos - at this time.)

Chapter 6 3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.
5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

The next two horsemen, probably fallen angels, bring war and scarcity - they enable Satan to inflict calamities on earth as part of his plan to control it. The rider on the Red horse brings about violence between people and war among and nations (see also Matt. 24:6). The rider on the Black horse brings scarcity (as indicated by the scales - see Lev. 26:26) resulting in rationing ("do not waste the oil and the wine") and rampant inflation ("Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages...") (see also Matt. 24:7).

Satan apparently plans to create a period of intense worldwide chaos, so that his Antichrist and Beast can come in as world saviours that restore order, and, in the process, gain total world control ('ordo ab chao' or 'order out of chaos' is a tactic that is commonly adopted by the wicked to gain control).

Chapter 6 7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

The rider on the Pale horse brings death to the Israelites, who, at the start of the Millennial Reign, constitute a quarter of the population of the earth [10] (like the "sand by the sea" - Isa. 10:22, Hosea 1:10...). They are purged by God at this time of "Jacob's trouble" (see Jer. 30:7) so that the remnant (see Isa. 10:21, 22) are worthy to be called the people of God. We believe that this passage applies to Israelites, partly because the same phrase, "sword, famine and plague, and the wild beasts", is used to indicate a purge the Judahites at the time of Ezekiel (see Eze. 14:12-23,5:17). The phrase "sword, famine and plague" is frequently used in Jeremiah (for ex., see Jer. 1:11,14:12) and seems to refer to any form of death coming from God (not necessarily the three mentioned); the "wild beasts" appears to affect children (see Eze. 14:15, 5:17, Lev. 26:22).

Thanatos (the word translated "Death" in vs 8) and Hades are demonic spirits (fallen angels) that control eponymous regions under the earth in the Realm of the Dead. Thanatos is a pleasant region for the good, and Hades is a place of torment for the wicked dead (see Luke 16:22,23 in NIV, cf. Rev. 20:13-14). So the presence of both spirits indicates that it is not only the wicked who die through the "Pale" horseman's release.

Note: The Realm of the Dead, also called the Third Heaven (2 Cor 12:2-4, 2 Enoch), is a place for the first death - not the second death, which is in the Lake of Fire. Also, the region of Thanatos is alluded to by other names, such as: Paradise (Luke 23:43, 2 Cor 12:2-4, Rev. 2:7); and Abraham's Bosom (Luke 16:22).

5.2.1.5 The 5th seal is opened, Satan's persecution of the Saints begins (6:9-11)

Chapter 6 9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.

At the opening of the fifth seal, John sees the saints who had died for God over the millennia crying out for justice; they are asked to wait a little longer until some of the remaining faithful are martyred. These saints are in the realm of the dead at the 'altar' (we take 'under the altar' in vs 9 to mean 'at the altar'); the 'altar' indicates a place of communion between God and man.

We believe that this vision of the martyred saints indicates that, with the opening of the fifth seal, the persecution of Saints begins - this will be a period of intense suffering and death of faithful Christians through Satan, the Antichrist and the Beast (see Rev 13, Dan. 7:25, see also Rev. 13:7,9,10,15, 8:24, 11:33). However, at the end of Satan's short reign, the wicked that inflict this suffering will themselves be punished (Rev. 16:19), and the saints will have justice. At the start of the Millennial Reign, these saints who had died for God, will be raised at the First Resurrection to reign with Christ (Rev. 20:4); the white robes they were given (vs 11) may signify that their righteousness will be revealed to all at their upcoming resurrection (see Rev 19:8).

Section 5.2.2 Interlude in Period 2: A Description of 'Babylon' and Predictions regarding its Fall (Ch 17:1-18:3, Ch 14:6-8, Ch 18:4-24)

This section, an interlude in Period 2, describes Satan's empire - made up of the Whore, 'Babylon' and the Beast - and predicts its devastation. These predictions regarding Satan's defeat are revealed to the world at the start of the Beast's reign, so that, during the tribulation of the Beast's reign, the people of earth make wise decisions that lead to eternal life (see 18:4). ( Note that, similarly, Period 3 has an interlude in Rev. 10.)

We propose that this section, primarily made up of Rev 17&18, is structured as a 2-unit chiasmus, as below:

A1 Ch 17 The Whore, 'Babylon' and the Beast
  B1 Ch 18:1-3 "Babylon's" Fall is announced
      X Ch 14:6-7 The Gospel is proclaimed to all the world
  B2 Ch 14:8 A second angel announces "Babylon's" Fall
A2 vs 18:4-24 Predictions regarding "Babylon's" Fall

This entire section in Rev 17&18 is regarding Satan's empire and its end, but we believe that John is transported to different times (in Period 2) before each of the visions in the units of this chiasmus are revealed to him: unit [A1,A2] is revealed to him shortly before the start of the Beast's reign (2023AD) (see 17:8); [B1,B2] is revealed immediately after 'Babylon' has fallen (2027AD) (see 18:2); and the pivot [X] is revealed a little later, just before the Beast is destroyed (2027AD) (see Matthew 24:14). We submit this chiastic structure as a justification for transposing Rev. 14:6-8 into Rev 18.


The "Whore of Babylon" and its Fall (Rev. 17) ( Subunit A1 in the chiastic structure of Ch 17&18 )

This chapter primarily describes Satan's earthly empire, which, in the last 3 1/2 years of his reign, can be considered as having two divisions:

• 'Babylon' - a powerful covert global organization made up of Satan worshippers, with the 'Whore of Babylon' (the Vatican) as its capital. ( We add quotes when referring to modern 'Babylon' to distinguish it from ancient Babylon. We may also call 'Babylon' the Roman Catholic Empire. )
• The Beast - the Beast has two aspects: the physical aspect is an alliance of 7 nations that enforces Satan's reign; the spiritual aspect is a group of powerful fallen angels (see details under Rev. 13 below).

In order to understand this difficult passage, a knowledge of several "dark secrets" of today's world is required, so we will elaborate on the chapter with contemporary details.

We propose that Ch 17 is structured as a 2-unit chiasmus as below:

vs 1-7 Description of the Whore
  vs 8 The 7-headed Beast
      vs 9-10 History of the Beast
  vs 11-13 The 10 horns of the Beast
vs 14-18 Destruction of the Whore


The 'Whore of Babylon' (The capital of 'Babylon')

Chapter 17 1 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. 2 With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”

The "Great Whore" is a city (see 17:18 below), the Satanic Vatican city, which controls the world (the Bible often uses the "whore/prostitute" metaphor for those who worship other gods for temporal gain - see Hosea 1:2). The Vatican, ostensibly a Christian institution (the Vatican is called "God’s temple" in 2 Thess. 2:4), is the seat of power from which members of top-tier Satanic bloodlines reign (see appendix in [5] for more on bloodlines). Predictions regarding the punishment of the Whore can be found in 17:16-18.

The 'Whore', the Vatican, is the headquarters of Satan's global empire - 'Babylon' or the Roman Catholic Empire - which is a covert international cabal of Satan worshippers (the Roman Catholic Church is not the Roman Catholic Empire - not all Roman Catholics are Satan worshippers - but the Church intersects with the Empire in places, at the Vatican for example). The Vatican controls all nations ("sits by many waters") through this global network of Satan-worshippers ("adulterers"), who enjoy wealth and power ("the wine of her adulteries" - cf. Jer. 51:7) disproportionately exceeding their contributions.

We list below, in approximate pecking order, some of the organizations that make up 'Babylon' and its subsidiaries (note that some of these institutions were founded as purely Satanic organizations, and others have a legitimate purpose but are covertly controlled by Satan-worshippers):

• Other Satanic bloodline families: Rothschilds, Rockefellers,...[20]
• "Christian" organizations: Jesuits, World Council of Churches...
• "Think tanks" & NGOs: Round Table, Council on Foreign Relations...
• International organizations: UN, Bank of International Settlements, World Bank, IMF, NATO...
• Central banks: Federal Reserve, Bank of England...
• The leadership of ALL nations: The Vatican appoints all leaders, no matter what the type of government, whether it be democratic (your vote doesn't really count), communist, dictatorship or kingship. In particular, Satan's reign is enforced by certain nations (such as the Western Empire and the Beast - see vs 9-12) whose leaders are closely controlled by the Vatican.
• Governmental organizations: civil services, secret service, justice department, law enforcement...
• Major Corporations: high finance, media houses...
• Rabbinic Judaism: Pharisees of the "Synagogue of Satan".
• Secret societies: Freemasonry, college fraternities, witch covens...
• etc...

The Vatican controls and corrupts with its evil ideas all fields of human endeavour - religion, politics, business, media, science, medicine, entertainment, law, education, arts, philanthropy, sports etc. - while carefully hiding its influence and machinations. ( See a few quotes that support our characterization of the Vatican in the appendix below.)

A note on the guiding angels: We believe that the 5 angels that guide John in this section are from the 7 "bowl" angels of Rev 15:1 (they are also the "horns and eyes" of Rev 5:6). They are mentioned as guides and messengers in verses: 17:1, 18:1, 14:6, 14:8, 18:21. The two remaining 'bowl' angels appear in 14:9 (the section on the Beast in Ch. 13), and in 21:9 (the passage on the New Jerusalem in Period 3).

Chapter 17 3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.

For the vision in this chapter, the angel takes John to a certain future time shortly before the reign of the Beast (its reign starts in the fall of 2023AD), and place (the wilderness represents the domain of evil in occult symbology). The woman (the Vatican) is dressed in purple and scarlet, because these colours signify royalty, power and wealth in occult symbolism and these colours are widely used at the Vatican. The 7-headed Beast (see Rev. 13) on which she sits is also scarlet, reflecting the colour of the red dragon of Rev. 12:3 (the spiritual aspect of the Beast), and it is covered with blasphemous names (see Rev. 13:1). The gold and jewels represent the Vatican's extraordinary wealth - it is by far the wealthiest organization on earth, richer than the rest of the world put together. The woman sits on the Beast to indicate that she will control the Beast. The "cup of filth" refers to the abominable things that Satan requires as worship in exchange for wealth and power, such as: witchcraft, human torture and sacrifice, sexual perversions (sodomy, ritual sex abuse...), perversion of all kinds (cannibalism, coprophagia...), humiliations, deceits, etc. (see Rev. 22:15, Eph 5:11,12).

Chapter 17 5 The name written on her forehead was a mystery:
Babylon the great the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth.

The woman, Vatican City, is called "Babylon the Great" because of her strong, secret connections to the ancient city of Babylon (the name of the empire she represents and its shameful credentials were on her forehead, presumably because Roman prostitutes wore headbands with their name on it). Satan's capital (his "throne" and "temple"), which had been in the city of Babylon (Gen. 11:1-10) in ancient times, moved to Pergamum (Rev. 2:13) and then to its current location at the Vatican in Rome (Dan. 2:40). Its leaders, those at the highest rungs of world power, belong to ancient Satanic bloodline families that originated in Babylon, likely from its founder, Nimrod. These powerful families maintain that power through the esoteric knowledge or mystery religion that has been passed down through the Satanic "elite" from the time of Nimrod. From its beginnings, Babylon has promoted Satan worship around the world, and modern 'Babylon' continues to do so covertly, making it the "mother of all prostitutes" (Nimrod was called "a mighty hunter", presumably for his efforts to capture souls for Satan - Gen 10:8-10).

Chapter 17 6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.

The Vatican/Rome has tortured and massacred Christian saints with barbarous cruelty through the ages ("drunk with the blood"), most famously through the inquisition but also through other covert means: manufactured wars, communism etc. She will kill a multitude of faithful during the reign of the Beast.

The Beast and its History

Chapter 17 7 Then the angel said to me: “Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the Beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come.
9 “This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. 10 They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while.
11 The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.
12 “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. 13 They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast.

The 7 heads of the Beast represent 7 sequential or historical empires (vs.10) from which Satan ruled the earth and they also represent the 7 contemporary nations that constitute the 8th nation, the Beast. In vs 9, the "7 mountains" image ("hills" is better rendered "mountains") is an alternative metaphor for the "7 heads of the Beast" - both represent 7 nations (cf. "mountain" in Dan 2:35). (In vs 10, the sequential empires are called "kings" and not "kingdoms", because these empires are represented by their controlling demons/fallen-angels.)

Based on vs 8,10 & 11, we take this vision in Ch. 17 as occurring in the gap between the reigns of the 6th and 7th kings ("now is not"), some time in 2023 (this justifies our moving of this chapter to this position in the verse sequence). Though no "10-horned Beast" reigns at this time, we see from vs. 12 that, at the time of the vision, the kings have not yet received a kingdom.

Of the 7 sequential/historical empires, 5 have fallen. Based on other reconfigurations, we believe that the first historical empire is the Assyrian Empire (in our reconfiguration of Isaiah 10-12 [7], for example, we show that "Babylon" and its Beast is called "Assyria" in Isaiah 10:24). Historians consider Assyria to be the first world-dominating empire. The next 4 historical empires are those that repeatedly appear in Daniel's visions (Daniel 2,7,8): Neo-Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome.

From the 6th empire onwards, Satan's empire can be considered as having two divisions: The Roman Catholic Empire or 'Babylon' with its capital in Rome; and the enforcing nations (the 6th to 8th empires). After the Fall of Rome, the Satanic bloodlines that had controlled Rome extended their reign through the Roman Catholic Empire ('Babylon'), a secret, ever-growing (see Dan. 8:10) international power that covertly rules the world. Its reign is enforced by Western European nations and their offshoots - the 6th "king" or empire - with the leadership of the empire passed around the member nations (notably Germany and Britain). By the time of this vision, this 6th empire, which had started off as the Holy Roman Empire, had grown to become the Western Empire, with the USA as its leading nation.

The 7th empire, China ("Magog"), also controlled by the Vatican, has not yet come into power at the time of the vision but will rule the world for an extremely short time, after which it will set up and lead the Beast empire (the 8th empire).

The 8th empire is the Antichrist and Beast empire. The fallen-angels that controlled the 7 "historical" empires are sent to the Abyss (a prison for fallen-angels) after their reign ends, and they all re-emerge from the Abyss to form the 8th empire: the 7-headed, 10-horned Beast ("the Beast...once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss" in vs 8, "the Beast...is of the seven" in vs. 11). The 7 heads represent an alliance of 7 contemporary nations and the 10 horns represent the 10 leaders ruling them; they will hand over control of their nations to the fallen-angels that make up the spiritual aspect of the Beast (vs 12,13). We see this same configuration of heads and horns in the heavens in Revelation 12, which implies that the physical Beast is a reflection of the organization of Satan's fallen angels. (The Beast is the many-horned beast of Dan. 7, but note that although Daniel considers the empires from the time of Romans to the Beast as one empire, here they are treated as 4 separate empires.)

The Vatican will have absolute tyrannical control of the earth through the Beast when it arrives on the scene. Those whose names are not in the Book of Life will worship and marvel at this powerful, reconstituted Beast (Rev 13:8) that "once was, now is not, and yet will come" (vs 8).

In summary, these are the 8 empires of this passage:

• Fallen empires: Assyria, Neo-Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome (these empires were controlled from Babylon, Pergamum and Rome).
• Roman Catholic Empires: the Western Empire (6th), the short term empire (China) (7th), the Beast alliance of 7 nations (8th) (these empires are controlled by modern 'Babylon').

The Destruction of the 'Whore of Babylon' is predicted

Chapter 17 14 They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”

The Whore and the Beast will battle Jesus in a war for the souls of men during the reign of the Beast (Ch. 13), but Christ and his faithful on earth - those whose names are in the Lamb's Book of Life - will prevail. After defeating Satan, Christ will rule the world as King of Kings during his Millennial Reign.

Chapter 17 15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. 16 The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority, until God’s words are fulfilled. 18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”

At the end of the reign of the Beast, the 10 kings who had given up their power (vs. 13), will take back control of the Beast. They will quarrel with the Whore that controlled them and they will destroy her with fire (see also the 4th 'bowl plague' in Rev. 16:8.9). ( Note the chiastic structure of vs 15-18: the pivot, vs 16-17 details the ruin of the Whore, and the subunits explain some of the imagery associated with the Whore.)

Although the Beast had totalitarian control of the world for a brief time, its reign was apparently part of God’s plan to test mankind (vs. 17).

'Babylon' is Fallen (18:1-3) ( Subunit B1 in the chiastic structure of Ch 17&18 )

The angel takes John to a time soon after the fall of 'Babylon' (2027AD) to give him the vision of this subunit.

Chapter 18 1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2a With a mighty voice he shouted:

We take this mighty and splendid angel who "came down from heaven" to represent the coming Messiah, the Archangel Michael. The Messiah, who is now King of kings (indicated by the phrases "great authority", "the earth was illuminated by his splendor") after "Babylon's" fall, announces its defeat to the world ("shouted with a mighty voice") and explains the reason for its destruction.

Chapter 18 2b “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’ She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal. 3 For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”

Through "Babylon's" detestable practices of demon worship and sorcery (see Isa. 47:9-12), it has become a home for Satan and his demons; the demons are called spirits, unclean "birds" (as in Mark 4:4,15) and detestable "animals" (as in Rev. 16:13). Satan's empire has covertly promoted demon worship ("adulteries" - see Rev 17:1-5) among the leadership ("kings") and people of the world, and rewarded those who did its bidding with power and wealth ("maddening wine") (see Luke 4:5-7). The corporations of the world that cater to the wealthy ("merchants of the earth") have seen enormous profits from the lavish lifestyles of the 'Babylonians' (18:11-13 below).

The Gospel is Preached to All the World, the time for God's Judgement against Satan's Empire is Come (Rev 14:6-7) ( Pivot X in the chiastic structure of Ch 17&18 )

For this announcement, John is taken to a time after "Babylon's" fall but before the Beast is defeated (2027 AD) (see Matthew 24:14 in [3], Rev 19:11-21).

Chapter 14 6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

This angel makes his announcement while "flying in midair" (directly overhead), indicating that the gospel ("good message") will be transmitted to the whole world by this time (see Matthew 24:14, cf. Rev. 8:13) . The "good message" is to fear and worship the one true God, the creator of all, for the time of God's judgement has come, and He will gather the righteous into the new Israel, and punish the Beast. This time of punishment, when the Beast is defeated, is one of the 3 great "Days of the Lord" of Joel (see Joel 3:14).

A Second Announcement that 'Babylon' is Fallen (Rev 14:8) ( Subunit B2 in the chiastic structure of Ch 17&18 )

Chapter 14 8 A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”

The fall of 'Babylon' is announced a second time. "Babylon" has corrupted all peoples, so that many indulge in "adultery", where "adultery" is the worship of Satan and demon gods.

A note on the 'bowl' angels that make these announcements:This angel is the "second angel" of this chiastic unit [B1,B2] that announces the fall of 'Babylon' in 2027AD, after the first angel in subunit B1 (Rev. 8:1). The angel in the pivot [X] (see 14:6) comes after these two angels.


Predictions regarding "Babylon's" Fall (Rev. 18:4-24) ( Subunit A2 in the chiastic structure of Ch 17&18 )

The rest of this passage in Ch 18 serves to discourage the people of earth from being a part of the evil empire of 'Babylon' (further details on "Babylon's" destruction can be found in Rev. 16). (This subunit A2 corresponds to the subunit A1 of Rev 17, and its warnings are made shortly before the reign of the Beast.)

We propose that Rev. 18:4-24 is structured as a single unit chiasmus, as below:

18:4-8 The Fall of "Babylon" is predicted by a voice from heaven
    18:9-20 Aftermath of the Fall - the three woes
18:21-24 The Fall of "Babylon" is predicted by the angel with the boulder


A Voice from Heaven predicts "Babylon's" fall

Chapter 18 4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
“‘Come out of her, my people,’ so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; 5 for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.

God, in His great love, urges the members of the evil empire of Satan-worshippers called 'Babylon' to exit the organization (cf. Jer. 51:6), so that they no longer take part in her evil and suffer when she is punished (Rev. 16). Those who have joined a Satanic organization, after taking the required wicked vows, may face repercussions if they leave, but they will save their eternal souls. This call especially applies to God's people, because Israelite Satan-worshippers will be immediately punished by the Rider on the Pale Horse (Rev. 6:8) in this time of Jacob's trouble (Jeremiah 30:7).

Chapter 18 6 Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double portion from her own cup. 7 Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow; I will never mourn.’ 8 Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.

'Babylon' has spread much misery around the world and has expropriated the bulk of its wealth; after her reign, the righteous of the earth will rise up and make her suffer twice as much (see Isaiah 13:2-5). Though her wealth and power make her arrogantly self confident ("a queen" - see also Isa. 47:7-9), she will be tormented and destroyed by her plagues in a short time ("one day", indicating that some of the 'bowl plagues' of Rev. 16 will be poured out almost simultaneously). A few of the plagues of Rev. 16 are listed here more plainly: death, mourning, famine (dearth), and fire (see also Rev 17:16, Isaiah 47).

The Aftermath of the Fall of 'Babylon' is Predicted: The Three Woes, The Rejoicing of the Saints

We take the position that, in vs 9-24, the ancient City of Babylon represents Satan's modern worldwide organization of 'Babylon', and the burning of the ancient city represents the destruction of the modern empire of 'Babylon', particularly its wealth and power (note that this passage does not refer to the burning of a modern city - this is not the city of the previous chapter, Ch. 17, as specified in Rev. 17:16).

The three interjections of 'woe' that follow come from three categories of people that have been made wealthy by 'Babylon': the 'kings' (the political class / the leaders in vs 9-10); the 'merchants of the world' (businesses that deal in luxury products and services, in vs 11-16); and the 'captains' and 'sailors' (leaders and employees of certain organizations that covertly do "Babylon's" work, in vs 17-19). The period immediately following the demise of 'Babylon' will be one of great upheaval in the world of politics and business.

Chapter 18 9 “When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. 10 Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry:
“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!’

The leaders of the entire world ("kings"), the political class, that had grown powerful and wealthy through their "fornications" with 'Babylon' (see also Rev. 17:2, 18:3), will weep at the loss of the source of their power. They must "distance themselves" ("stand far off") from this now pariah empire.

Chapter 18 11 “The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore— 12 cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13 cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.
14 “They will say, ‘The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your luxury and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.’ 15 The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn 16 and cry out:
“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! 17a In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’

This list of expensive merchandise sold to ancient Babylon in vs 12-13 represents the luxurious lifestyle enjoyed by modern 'Babylon'. The maritime merchants of the world that traded with ancient Babylon - purveyors of the luxuries of the time from around the world - represent businesses that cater to today's wealthy (the "fruit you longed for" in vs 14 refers to the luxuries that the "Babylonian's" desired and indulged in) (see also Nahum 3:16). All of "Babylon's" accumulated riches will be plundered, and with its wealth and power gone, she can no longer buy expensive products and services. The last entry in the list, 'human beings sold as slaves' ('slaves, and souls of men' in the KJV), is tragic and repugnant, because it hints at the horrific cruelties that are inflicted on powerless humans, tortured and killed for Satan and demon worship (the murders of Rev. 22:15).

Chapter 18 17b “Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. 18 When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’ 19 They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out:
“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin!’

The 'ships at sea' represent certain organizations and businesses (for ex., large corporations, powerful international organizations and NGOs, high finance... - more examples can be found in the commentary for Ch 17:1-3), the 'captains' are the leaders of these organizations and the 'sailors' are certain of the employees. These 'captains' and 'sailors', themselves members of 'Babylon', had become extraordinarily wealthy as a reward for the work they covertly did for Satan's empire through their organizations.

Chapter 18 20 “Rejoice over her, you heavens! Rejoice, you people of God! Rejoice, apostles and prophets! For God has judged her with the judgment she imposed on you.”

The "woes" of the wicked are followed by an exhortation to God's people to rejoice. The faithful had suffered under Satan's reign and will continue to do so during the reign of the Beast, but they are now to rejoice, because 'Babylon' will receive the punishment she has earned soon after the short reign of the Beast ("God has judged her" may be better rendered in the future tense, "God will judge her").

The Angel with a Boulder predicts "Babylon's" fall

Chapter 18 21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said:
“With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.

This mighty angel with a millstone is reminiscent of the rock that hit the iron feet of the statue in Dan 2:14 - they both predict the violent end of Satan's empire (see also Jer. 51:63-64).

Chapter 18 22 The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No worker of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again. 23a The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again.

The comprehensiveness and finality of the upcoming destruction of the empire of 'Babylon' is poetically expressed with many examples of the cessation of things that brought life and joy to ancient Babylon - music, industry, light, celebration (see also Isa. 13:19-22, cf Jer. 25:10).

The Reason for "Babylon's" punishment

This prediction regarding "Babylon's" fall concludes with the primary reasons for its destruction: leading the world astray, and persecuting the saints.

Chapter 18 23b Your merchants were the world’s important people. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.

The 'merchants of Babylon', influential and powerful people from Satan's empire, have led the leaders and people of world astray into sorcery and Satan worship over the millennia (the "mother of prostitutes" - Rev. 17:5). ( Note that these 'merchants of Babylon' play a different role to that of the 'merchants of the earth' in vs 11 above ).

Chapter 18 24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”

Babylon has persecuted God's people from ancient times (for ex, see 2 Kings 24:14), and Satan's empire will continue to kill the faithful by the millions until it is destroyed (see Rev. 17:6).

Section 5.2.3 The Reign of the Beast and the Antichrist (2023AD-2027AD) (Ch 13:1-10, Ch 14:9-13, Ch 13:11-18)

Revelation 13 is a brief description of the reign of the Beast. The 3 primary actors mentioned in this chapter are:

• The dragon or Satan: The leader of this trio.
• The Beast out of the sea: A powerful alliance of nations that rules the world for Satan.
• The beast out of the earth: This 2-horned beast is the false prophet or Antichrist.

We propose that this section, primarily made up of Rev 13, is structured as a 2-unit chiasmus, as below:

A1 Ch 13:1-8 The reign of the 7-headed Beast
  B1 Ch 13:9-10 The Saints must endure persecution and death
      X Ch 14:9-11 Warning against taking the Mark of the Beast
  B2 Ch 14:12-13 The Saints will be rewarded for enduring persecution
A2 vs 13:11-18 The Reign of the 2-horned Beast, the Antichrist

The subunits A1 and A2, in this chapter regarding Satan's reign through the Antichrist and Beast, are chronologically parallel narratives: the first subunit A1 (13:1-8) details the reign of the 7-headed Beast, and the second subunit A2 (13:11-18) restates the events of the first but with a focus on the 2-horned Antichrist. John is transported to a time immediately prior to the reign of the Beast before he is given the vision in the pivot [X] and then the unit [B1,B2] (the inner units of this chiasmus "telescope" backwards in time, while the ones in Rev. 17&18 "telescope" forward in time). We submit this chiastic structure as a justification for our insertion of Rev. 14:9-13 into this chapter.

The Reign of the 7-headed Beast (13:1-8) ( Subunit A1 in the chiastic structure of Ch 13 )

Chapter 13 1a The dragon stood on the shore of the sea.

In certain Biblical prophecies, bodies of water represent masses of people, and land represents the spiritual world (for ex., Rev. 17:15, Dan. 7:3, Rev. 12:15,16 [2]). The dragon or Satan remains in the spiritual realm ("shore") while his plans for the people of earth ("sea") are executed by the Antichrist and the Beast system.

Chapter 13 1b And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.

This 7-headed, 10-horned Beast has both spiritual and physical aspects. In the spiritual realm, it consists of the fallen angels that controlled empires such as Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece (cf. Dan 10:20) and Rome; these fallen angels are sent to the Abyss after their reign, and re-emerge to form the spiritual aspect of the Beast (Rev. 17:10-11). The physical aspect (from the "sea") of this Beast consist of an alliance of 7 nations (7 heads) that gains power over the whole world. The 10 horns represent the leadership of these nations, who are given power for a short time (as indicated by the crowns).

This Beast is mentioned in other prophetic passages. For instance, it is the fourth, terrifying ten-horned beast of Daniel 7:7 "that will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it."(Daniel 7:23). It has some of the characteristics of the other beasts in Daniel 7 (lion's mouth, bear's feet, leopard's appearance), possibly indicating that the Beast is controlled by the same fallen-angels that ruled those ancient empires of Daniel 7 (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece), and that the Beast will be ruled on earth by the same bloodlines that ruled those empires (see also Rev 17:7-12). Also, the physical Beast resembles the 7-headed dragon of Rev. 12:3, because the structure of the physical Beast reflects the structure of Satan's hierarchy of fallen angels that control it [2].

Chapter 13 3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.

A catastrophe ("fatal wound") will affect one of the nations ("heads") in this 7-nation alliance, but it will recover quickly ("heal") and seemingly miraculously. ( We believe this wounded "head" will be the 6th "king" of Rev 17:10, the Western Empire led by the USA. This self-induced "fatal wound" of the reigning empire is necessary to expeditiously make way for a New World Order under the Beast.)

Chapter 13 4 People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”

Satan is given total control over the earth for a short time and he will delegate this power to the Antichrist and Beast to execute his plans against mankind. The people of earth - those not in the "Lambs book of Life" (vs 8) - will be awestruck at the power of this Beast and the source of this power, Satan. In the short time he has, Satan's main goal is to collect as many worshippers as possible, and he has been preparing the world for this period for a long time.

At around this time, the second beast, the Antichrist begins his worldwide reign through the empire of 'Babylon' (see vs 11).

Chapter 13 5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.

The Beast, Satan's enforcement arm, is given complete control of the world for a period for 42 months. The "mouth" represents a worldwide broadcasting system that will be used for its propaganda (see also, the "mouth" in Dan. 7:8). In an attempt to win worship away from God, it will blaspheme God, heaven and His heavenly hosts, and it will assign blasphemous names to its 7 nations (vs 1).

What are the start and end dates of these 42 months? We believe that the end of the period will coincide with the beginning of the Messiah's Millennial Reign, which is 8 Apr 2027, the first day of Nisan (from our analysis of Isaiah 61:1-2 [11] ); the start date will be 42 months prior, circa 14 Nov 2023, the first day of Kislev. So the Beast will rule the world from circa 14 Nov 2023 to 8 Apr 2027.

In our analysis of Daniel 7 [12], we show that the Antichrist reigns for 3 1/2 years, from 16 Sep 2023 to 8 Apr 2027. Around two months into his reign, he elevates the Beast to a world power (the Beast's reign of 42 months is two months shorter than the Antichrist's reign of 3 1/2 years, because there are two leap months in the Hebrew calendar of this period).

Chapter 13 7 It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

The Antichrist will try to terrorize people into worshipping the Beast, and will inflict suffering and death on those who refuse, especially Christians (see vs 14-15 below).

We propose this alternative punctuation for the last part of vs 8: "...the Lamb’s book of life - the Lamb who was slain - from the creation of the world." The "Lambs book of life from the creation of the world" (see Rev. 17:8) is a list of all people (all who have ever lived) who will enter Christ's heavenly kingdom (Rev. 20:15).

The Saints must endure Persecution and Death (13:9-10) ( Subunit B1 in the chiastic structure of Ch 13 )

John was taken to a time immediately prior to the reign of the Beast before he is given the content of this unit [B1, B2] (13:9-10, 14:12-13).

Chapter 13 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.
10 “If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed.”
[KJV] Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

An announcement is made to the faithful around the world ("whoever has ears" as in Rev 2,3), before the start of the reign of the Beast, that captivity and death are preordained for certain of God's saints (see also Dan. 11:33, Matt. 24:9). With this knowledge, the saints will patiently endure their persecution, for they will receive their just rewards during the Millennial Reign and for all eternity (see Rev. 20:4-6). God is just, and so those who will be accorded His highest honours must prove themselves worthy through the fire of tribulation (see 1 Peter 4:13).

Warning against taking the Mark of the Beast (14:9-11) ( Pivot X in the chiastic structure of Ch 13 )

John was taken to a time prior to the reign of the Beast and the announcement of unit [B1, B2] before he is shown the vision in this pivot [X] (14:9-11).

Chapter 14 9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”

The third angel pronounces the punishment of those who worship the Beast and receive the mark for its worshippers (see Rev. 13:8, 16:2). The "cup of wrath" may refer to the bowl plagues of Rev. 16 that they will endure in the physical realm, and the "burning sulfur" refers to their punishment in the Lake of Fire (see Rev. 21:8). ( Note that this last punishment will take place in the spiritual realm, so phrases like "tormented with burning sulfur" are not to be taken literally. The phrase translated "for ever and ever" can also be rendered "for ages and ages" or "for a long time" - God is just but loving.)

A note on this "third angel": Who are the predecessors to the "third angel" of this passage? This announcement is made before the reign of the Beast, and so we believe the other two preceding angels are those in the interlude in Rev. 17&18 that appear before the reign of the Beast - the angels in Rev 17:1 and 18:21.


The Saints will be rewarded for Enduring Persecution (14:12-13) ( Subunit B2 in the chiastic structure of Ch 13 )

While the subunit B1 predicts the suffering of the saints, this subunit announces their rewards.

Chapter 14 12 [ESV] Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

The elite of God, the saints who persevere with their faithfulness to God and Jesus, even when persecuted unto death during the reign of the Beast, will be abundantly rewarded. They will enjoy a blessed period of 'rest' when they rise again at the First Resurrection (Rev 20:4, 22:14) to rule with Christ during his Millennial Reign, and they will not face the Final Judgement at the end of the Millennial Reign (the text, "their deeds will follow them", indicates that they will be rewarded later) (see Rev. 20:6). We believe that this final millennium is the 'rest' spoken of in Hebrews 4:1-11; that is, after 6 millennia of toil under Satan, the faithful enjoy a 'Sabbath rest' under Christ in the 7th millennium. John is commanded by a "voice from heaven" to "write this" message, to indicate that this is a solemn promise from heaven to the saints (see also Rev. 19:9).

The Reign of the 2-horned Beast, the Antichrist (13:11-18) ( Subunit A2 in the chiastic structure of Ch 13 )

This subunit is regarding the reign of the Beast (like subunit A1) but with a focus on the 2-horned Antichrist.

Chapter 13 11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. 14 Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.

This 2-horned beast is the false prophet or Antichrist (see Ch. 16:13, 19:20, Dan 7:24,25, 8:23-25, 11:36...) who gets his power by channelling spiritual sources, as indicated by the phrase "out of the earth" (the two horns seem to represent spiritual controllers). The Antichrist performs all manner of miracles to gain influence, and he acts as a spokesman and advocate for the 7-headed 10-horned Beast (see 2 Thess. 2:3-12). Although he initially comes in as a world saviour, like the Lamb, (the word "anti-Christ" can mean "in the place of Christ") he speaks proud and terrifying words like a dragon, because he speaks for the dragon, or Satan (see also, the little horn that spoke proud words in Daniel 7:8). The Antichrist induces people to set up an image or statue of the Beast, and through some "miracle" makes it seem alive and capable of speech; he compels people to worship this idol of the 7-headed Beast on pain of death (as in Dan. 3:4-6).

Chapter 13 16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 [KJV] ... that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

The Antichrist creates a worldwide control system that forces people to accept a mark on their body, so that only those who have the mark can buy or sell, or function in society. Based on the KJV translation of vs 17, we speculate that there will be two types of marks:

• A Mark from the Beast: Everyone will be forced to take a mark, a global identification system, which gives the Beast complete knowledge on all humans (a virtual panopticon) and, consequently, totalitarian control over them, for absolute knowledge engenders absolute power. Because of this, everyone will be forced to make a decision on whether to take the Mark Of the Beast, as below.
• The Mark Of the Beast: This mark will have the "name of the Beast, or the number of his name". Only worshippers of the Beast and its image will receive this mark; during the Beast's Reign, this mark will spare them suffering and death (vs 15) and will grant them honour and privileges. Considering the severity of the punishment for worshipping the Beast (see Rev. 14:11,16:2), worship may involve selling one's soul to Satan and doing the abominable things that Satan usually requires from his followers (see Rev. 22:15).

Chapter 13 18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.

The Number of the Beast seems to be an identifier or name of the alliance of nations that rules the world (the 7-headed Beast and not the 2-horned Antichrist - see also Rev. 19:20). The number '666' is an extremely popular number in Satan-worshipping occult circles, so it is hardly surprising that their Beast is, in some manner, given this appellation. The phrase, "number of a man", is better rendered "number of man" or "count of people".

How do we reckon '666', the Number of the Beast? The entire period of man on earth, and especially the short period of reign of the Beast, is a time of battle between God and Satan for the souls of men. In the previous chapter (Ch 12), Archangel Michael had defeated Satan when 2/3rd of Michael's angels did not rebel alongside Satan (see Rev. 12:3-4,7-10). By extension, we theorize that if Satan gains a two-thirds (2/3) majority of human souls, he wins this battle on earth (in a two-thirds majority - a type of supermajority - the winner is at least twice as successful as his opponent); the fraction 2/3 is equal to the recurring decimal, 0.666... , an infinitely repeating number that is represented, here, by 666. (In occult symbology and numerology, decimal points, zeros and other punctuation may be omitted.)

Therefore, the Number of the Beast, '666', represents the smallest fraction of humans (specifically, 2/3) that Satan must mark as his own to win this battle - the number of the Beast encodes its purpose. This number represents Satan's primary objective on earth, for, to Satan, human souls are only tokens to be used for his own glorification.

Section 5.2.4 From the End of the Reign of the Beast to the Start of Christ's Millennial Reign (2027AD) (Ch 15-16, Ch 14:17-20, Ch 19:1-8, Ch 19:11 to 20:10)

This section describes the complete defeat of Satan and his worshippers at the end of the reign of Satan's Beast Empire. The events in this section (after vs 15:1) happen in a short time and sometimes simultaneously, so they may not be listed here in purely chronological sequence. After Satan's defeat, Christ and his Messiah begin their Millennial Reign.

5.2.4.1 The Sign in Heaven: Seven Angels with 7 Plagues (Ch 15, 16)

Chapter 15 1 I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed.

These last plagues before the start of Christ's Millennial Reign will destroy Satan's earthly empire. The figurative language used to describe these plagues may make them seem like end-times catastrophes, but their scope is limited to the wicked.

Sign of the Seven Angels


Fig. 3

A sign in heaven (Ch. 12:1,2 [2]) at the start of this period of tribulation portended the birth of the Millennial Reign, and this sign in heaven during the reign of the Beast portends the "bowl" plagues of Ch 16 that destroy Satan's kingdom on earth.

We take the position that this sign in the heaven occurs at the Pleiades star cluster - also known as the Seven Sisters cluster - near the constellation Orion (Pleiades is mentioned in Amos 5:8, Job 9:9...). The seven brighter stars of the Pleiades are the seven angels of this sign, and the transits of seven solar system objects in the vicinity of the cluster represent the plagues that the angels pour out of the bowls.

In searching for this celestial event, that occurs during the Beast's reign, we notice that, over a period of around 66 days, from 18 May 2024 to 22 Jul 2024, seven solar system objects pass by the Pleiades, namely: the Sun, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Moon, Moon (2nd time) and Mars. As in the case of the other 2 signs in heaven (in Rev 12), we take the time span of the sign in months to represent the time to its fulfilment in years - the 66 days or ~2.2 months represent around 2 years and 2 months. So this sign in the heavens indicates that the plagues will begin 2 years and 2 months after the end of the sign in July 2024, in Sep 2026 - this is around 8 months before the Antichrist and Beast are destroyed in May 2027.

The Righteous are Victorious, The Bowl Plagues are Prepared

Chapter 15 2 And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God 3 and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:
“Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations. 4 Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

This song of victory and praise celebrates the upcoming start of Christ's Millennial Reign. It also marks the end of the reign of the Beast and the consequent end of suffering and death for the faithful. The righteous who were not tempted or frightened into worshipping the Beast, now sing this song of victory and praise with harps (harps of praise - Psalm 33:2); Moses had similarly celebrated with a song after defeating the Egyptians (Exodus 15). The saints, who have been killed for their faith, now praise God from the realm of the dead; they will soon rise at the First Resurrection to rule with Christ during the Millennial Reign (Rev. 20:4). Moses had sung his song after his victory over Pharaoh through the Red Sea, so the "sea of glass and fire" in vs 2 (cf. Rev 4:6) may represent the victory of the saints over Satan, as they had remained faithful through the fire of persecution and death.

The figurative language of the 7 plagues below make them appear similar to those the Egyptians suffered when they refused to let the Israelites go (Exodus 7-12), but the literal plagues are quite different from those of Egypt. Like the Egyptians, the Satan worshippers harden their heart in spite of their suffering.

Chapter 15 5 After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple—that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law—and it was opened. 6 Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

These 'bowls of God's wrath' come out of the tabernacle of the Law in heaven to indicate that they are judgements against the wicked according to God's Law (see also Rev. 14:17). The 'bowls' represent the final plagues before the Millennial Reign, and they primarily affect those who have earned God's wrath - Satan's people in the spiritual and physical realms - and not the whole world.

The 7 angels wear the clean linen of righteousness and the golden sashes of royalty, to indicate that they are 'princes' who control the physical world from the spiritual realm (see also Rev. 1:13, Dan 10:21); they are the powerful seven spirits of God that are the horns and eyes of the Lamb (Rev 5:6) (these spirits are not the 7 angels/"lamps" of Rev 4:5 that stand before God - the "lamps" announce the Period 3 trumpet plagues). No one could enter the temple and plead for mercy until God had completed his punishment according to His Law.

The Bowl Plagues are Poured Out

Chapter 16 1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”

These angels pour their bowls of wrath independently at various locations; so the sequence of plagues below many not be chronological, and some may occur simultaneously ("in one day" - Rev 18:8).

The descriptions of these plagues, that affect Satan and his worshippers, are ALL figurative (for ex., the seas and rivers don't literally become blood, the Euphrates does not dry up). While it is difficult to discern what they represent, the literal meanings of some of these plagues are listed in Rev. 18:8: death, mourning, dearth, fire (plagues 2-5). Each location on which God's wrath is poured represents some aspect of Satan's power (for ex., the "sea" represents Satan-worshipping humans); there is some overlap of these various aspects as they are all intimately connected.

Chapter 16 2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

The first angel pours out his bowl on the "land", and since "land" represents the spiritual world (as in Rev. 12:16), this pouring of God's wrath indicates that Satan's spiritual empire loses the absolute power over the earth that it had during the reign of the Beast. Those who worshipped Satan and the Beast (Rev 13:4) now look foolish, as their gods no longer reign. They are considered with loathing for their imprudence, as though they suffered from a repulsive skin disease.

Chapter 16 3 The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.

The second angel pours God's wrath on the "sea", where the "sea" represents the humans of Satan's kingdom (as in Rev 17:15). The "sea" itself becomes as a dead person to indicate great devastation for the people of Satan's empire (see Rev 18:8). The death of the "living things" in the "sea" represents the death of institutions that were dependent on Satan's people (for example, the Beast is an institution that "came out" of the sea in Rev 13:1, see also Rev 18:9-20).

Chapter 16 4 The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say:
“You are just in these judgments, O Holy One, you who are and who were; 6 for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.”
7 And I heard the altar respond: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.”

The "rivers and springs" represents the financial power of Satan's earthly kingdom, and the blood in the rivers represents the destitution of the kingdom (see Rev. 18:8). The angel responsible for the world's financial system agrees that this punishment is just, for Satan had impoverished the faithful of God, especially during the reign of the Beast ("shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets"); Satan had made his followers extraordinarily wealthy by enabling them to expropriate assets from everyone else. The sudden loss of wealth through this plague will devastate the wicked, as most of them worshipped Satan primarily for their love of money (see 1 Timothy 6:10, Rev 18:9-20).

Chapter 16 8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.

While the other bowls of God's wrath have a weakening effect, this one strengthens the "sun". The "sun" seems to represent the Beast (see Rev 19:17 below), the enforcer of Satan's power on earth, as it is the Beast with its 10 horns that destroys the 'Whore of Babylon' with fire (Rev. 17:16-17, 18:9). This "scorching from the sun" seems to represent the suffering that comes with the destruction of Satan's physical property, such as the Vatican city, mainly by fire (Rev. 18:8). ( This is an exception among the 'bowl' plagues, in that the literal plague, fire, is mentioned along with the metaphor, "scorching from the sun", which serves as a sort of validation of our interpretation of these plagues.)

Chapter 16 10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.

The "darkness" of this fifth bowl seems to represent deep grief (Rev. 18:8) brought about by this pouring of God's wrath on the "throne of the Beast" - the centre of power of the Beast. The worldwide reign of the Beast ends here (note however that it remains a mighty army - see Rev 19:19, vs 8 above). The wicked gnaw at their tongues, trying to distract themselves from their intense mental anguish with physical pain, because they sold their souls to Satan, and now Satan and his empire are fallen forever. They find this loss of power and prestige and the suffering from the plagues unbearable, but, as in the case of the Egyptians, their hearts remain hardened against God.

Chapter 16 12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East.

The great River Euphrates represented the might of ancient Babylon and the ancient powers of the Mesopotamian region that enforced its reign (see Isaiah 8:7). Here, the "Euphrates" represents the world domination of modern "Babylon", primarily through its enforcing arm, the Western Empire (the 6th king of Rev 17:10 - see commentary on Ch 17 above and appendix in [5]). The "drying up of the Euphrates" indicates the loss of world power by the Vatican and the West. World leadership will pass to the "kings of the east" during the Millennial Reign, because both Christ and demonic powers outside the New Israel (primarily the Gog and Magog power) will rule through eastern nations.

Before detailing the final plague that destroys 'Babylon' in Period 2, this passage digresses, in the next 3 verses (vs. 13-16), to the Battle of Armageddon in Period 3.

Chapter 16 13 Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
15 “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”

As "Babylon" is destroyed, "unclean frog-like spirits" (frogs were one of the Egyptian plagues) are released to prepare for a war. This "battle at Armageddon" seems to refer to the final Gog and Magog war of Rev. 20:7-10, at the end of the Millennial Reign. The parenthetical verse 15, with the phrase "I come as a thief", supports the idea that this war occurs in Period 3 (see Matt. 24:42-44 [3]), during the "great day of God Almighty" ("the day of the Lord", in this case, is the period of the final tribulation in Period 3 - Joel 2:11); vs 15 can be considered the chiastic pivot to this passage regarding end-times events, vs 14-16.

We believe that the frog-like spirits out of the mouth of Satan, the Beast and the Antichrist indicate that there will be a similar end-times (Period 3) evil trinity (since this chapter is mostly figurative, the "frog-like spirits" from the mouth are not really demon spirits). This trinity will consist of:

• Satan, who will be released from the bottomless pit (Rev. 20:7).
• An 'Antichrist', who will have the support of fallen angels.
• A 'beast', which will comprise another group of fallen angels from the Abyss (this 'beast from the Abyss' attacks the two witnesses in Period 3 - Rev. 11:7). This trinity will collect a large army, 'Gog and Magog', from all parts of the world for one final assault on Jerusalem (Rev 20:2-9).

Chapter 16 16 Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

The valley of Megiddo in ancient Israel was the site of many decisive battles because of its strategic location. It was especially known for the battle between Josiah and Necho II, in which Israel was thoroughly defeated and its king killed (2 Chron. 35:22-25).

The righteous Josiah's defeat and death represented the beginning of the end of the reign David's line. On the other hand, this battle at the "Mountains of Megiddo" ("Armageddon", or "Har Megiddo", can be rendered, "Mountains of Megiddo") in the New Israel occurs in the last days of the tribulation (Period 3 - see Rev. 11:7), when the enemies of the New Israel - Satan, Gog and Magog - are miraculously and eternally defeated, and Satan is thrown in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:7-10). So Israel's devastating defeat at the valley of Megiddo is redressed through this overwhelming victory at the "Mountains of Megiddo". Since this chapter is almost entirely figurative, this "Mountain" may refer to the spiritual mountain that is the New Jerusalem (see the city of Rev 20:9, the "mountain" of Isaiah 2:2), and "Megiddo" may be used to indicate that the New Jerusalem is a location of decisive spiritual and political battles.

Chapter 16 17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. 21 From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.

The seventh angel pours out the final bowl into the "air", and the "air" seems to represent Satan's power structure in the spiritual realm (see Eph. 2:1-2), which controls the political power structure in the physical realm. The images in this passage - "earthquake", "great city split in three", "cities of the nations collapsed", "every island fled away", "mountains could not be found" - indicate great political turmoil, both in in the spiritual and physical realms (see also Rev. 11:19). The "lightning", "rumblings" and "thunder" represent the presence of God (see Rev 4:5), and the destructive "hail" represents some form of punishment from Him (see also Eze. 38:22). This is the end of Satan's reign on earth through his kingdom, 'Babylon'.

At the start of the Beast's tribulation period, those who died for God were asked to wait a little longer until the rest of the faithful had been killed (Rev. 6:9-11). Their plea for justice is answered here at the end of the tribulation, when God "remembers" 'Babylon the Great' (vs. 19). The voice from the throne says "It is done" (cf. John 19:30, Rev. 21:5) to indicate Satan's defeat and the end of his kingdom on earth.

This passage (16:18-21) seems to be structured as a chiasmus. The pivot in 19b, "God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup ... of his wrath.", indicates that this punishment is from God, while the subunits (18-19a and 20-21) detail the punishment.

5.2.4.2 The Beast is to be Destroyed: The Vine of the Earth is Harvested and its Grapes are to be Trampled (Ch 14:17-20)

Chapter 14 17 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.

Immediately after the fall of 'Babylon', an angel instigates the leadership of the Beast army to gather for an attack on the new Israel (he "harvests the vine of the earth" and "gathers the grapes") (see Ezekiel 39:2). Around 1 month later, when these warriors launch an assault on the New Israel, they are slaughtered ("the grapes are trampled") in a supernatural defeat (it is an angel who wields the sickle for the grapes and not a man) at the borders of the New Israel ("outside the city", where "city" represents the New Israel), as detailed in Rev. 19:11-21 and in the Gog and Magog war of Ezekiel 39 [13] (see also , Joel 3:13). The "blood" (juice of the grapes) represents the remains of this defeated army; the bodies are stacked as high as a horses bridle (around 4 ft) for 1600 stadia or around 180 miles, the distance occupied by the remains of this massed army along a highway at the borders of the New Israel (we believe this takes place on a highway through a mountain pass - see Ezekiel 39:4 [13]). An enormous number of soldiers die suddenly in this attack, and since a proper burial is not immediately possible, the Israelites pile up the bodies out of the way (see also Ezekiel 39 [13], especially verses 4-5,17-20).

The angels of this vision come from the temple in heaven, indicating divine judgement from God (cf. Rev 15:8), and from tending the fire of the heavenly altar, indicating punishment for the harm that Satan's forces have inflicted on God's people (cf. Rev. 6:9, 8:3-5).

Since the "trampling in the winepress" is a prediction of the events in Rev. 19:19-21 and takes place around 1 month after the destruction of 'Babylon', we propose that vs 19-20 be rendered in the future tense: "19 The angel will swing his sickle on the earth, gather its grapes and throw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 They will be trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood will flow out of the press...."

5.2.4.3 Rejoicing in Heaven at "Babylon's" Fall (Ch. 19:1-8)

Chapter 19 1 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting:
“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 2 for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
3 And again they shouted: “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”
4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: “Amen, Hallelujah!”
5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small!”

God's victory over Satan, and the fall of the Vatican and "Babylon" ("the Great Prostitute") - indicating the eternal end of Satan's cruel, corrupt reign ("smoke goes up for ever") - is celebrated in heaven with great rejoicing and a threefold Hallelujah (Hallelujah means "God be praised"). These celebrations illustrate the great love and concern that God and the heavenly hosts have for the world (cf. Rev. 7:11, Luke 15:7).

Chapter 19 6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.”
(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)

Another louder shout of praise heralds the start of Christ's Millennial Reign, the "wedding of the Lamb". During the Millennial Reign, Christ will rule over the New Israel, the "bride" or "wife" (see also 2 Cor 11:2, Eph. 5:23-24, Isa. 62:4,5), which will consist of faithful Christians and the descendants of the original Israelites. (The New Spiritual Jerusalem that comes from heaven in Period 3 is also called a 'bride', as it represents Christ's eternal Heavenly Reign - Ch. 21:2,9,10.) The bright and clean linen given to the "bride" indicates that the righteous acts of the faithful of Christ, particularly during the reign of the Beast, will be revealed to the world.

5.2.4.4 The Rider on the White Horse, now King of kings, Defeats the Beast (Ch 19:11-22)

Chapter 19 11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.

The Messiah of the Millennial Age is here introduced in his new role as King of Kings (this Rider on the White Horse is the same as the one in Rev. 6:2 - the white horse represents political power). He is the Faithful and True one (see also Rev. 3:14 in [6]), who rules ("judges") the world with justice (see also Isa. 11:2-4, Psalm 45:2-5). Although heaven is open in a show of support, this Rider will physically be on the earth (as in Luke 3:21,22).

Chapter 19 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.

The Messiah's blazing eyes may signify his penetrating insight and knowledge (see Isa. 11:2, see also Rev. 1:14, Dan 10:6 and Rev. 2:18 in [6]). The many kingly crowns - diadems - on his head indicate that he has been crowned King of Kings on earth (see Dan. 7:13,14, Isa. 9:6,7) (he had worn a crown of victory - stephanos - earlier in Rev. 6:2). The name written on him seems to be a secret title (cf. Rev 2:17).

Chapter 19 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.

He punishes the wicked in the "winepress of the fury of God", because of which his robes are "dipped in blood" (see Isa. 63:1, Rev 14:18-20, vs. 15 below); the "blood" is the juice of the grapes, which represents the Messiah's destruction of the wicked using the truth from God.

One of the names or titles of the Messiah is the "Word of God", because he is a prophet of God (cf. John 16:13,14:26, Rev. 19:10). Also, as the angel in charge of the Israelites (Dan 12:1), the Messiah, Archangel Michael, had primary responsibility for transmitting the Word of God to the prophets.

Chapter 19 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.

The coming Messiah will be a human representative of Christ during his Millennial Reign, and he will rule with the support of the armies of heaven (the coming Messiah, the Archangel Michael incarnate, is the leader of the armies of heaven - Dan. 10:13). The white horses (as in Rev 6:2) of the angels represent their mission of aiding Christ and the Messiah rule the earth, and their white linen clothes indicate their righteousness.

Chapter 19 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.

The Messiah will be primarily king of the new Israel, but he will also control the rest of the world with an "iron sceptre" (see Psalm 2:9, Isa. 11:4), because wicked people and nations around the world will continue to be insubordinate to Christ and hostile to the new Israel (Rev. 20:15). ( Note that Satan had similarly ruled the whole world, though he only had direct control over 'Babylon'.) The sharp sword out of his mouth indicates that he will destroy the wicked ("tread the winepress") with the truth from Christ and God (see also Isa. 11:4, 49:2, Psalm 110:5-7). The angel delivering this message also has a sword coming out of his mouth (Rev. 1:16), further supporting our position that the angel passing on this revelation to John is Michael, the coming Messiah.

Chapter 19 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
king of kings and lord of lords.

The Messiah has his title, "King of kings and Lord of lords", written on his royal robe and his thigh - the robe and the side of the thigh are conspicuous locations on a horseman - to indicate that his identity as king on earth is made known to all (Rev 3:12). The coming Messiah represents his master, Jesus, the "King of kings and Lord of lords" (see Rev. 17:14), and Jesus represents God, the ultimate "King of kings, and Lord of lords" (see 1 Tim. 6:15, John 5:30) (see also Rev. 3:21).

Chapter 19 17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”

The "carrion birds" overhead ("midair") and animals are invited to a sacrificial feast of the corpses of this Beast army ("horses" also represent soldiers) (see Eze. 39:4, see also Rev 14:17-20 above); this war is detailed in the Gog and Magog war of Ezekiel 39 [13], and similar language can be found in that passage (see Ezekiel 39:4-5,17-20). The angel is "standing in the sun", which is probably a reference to the Beast army as the "sun" in the bowl plagues (see 16:8 above).

Chapter 19 19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

The Beast gathers the kings of the earth for one final attack on the Rider on the White horse and his army, but before they can do harm, the fallen angels that control the Beast and the False Prophet are captured and thrown in the Lake of Fire. The physical Beast army is destroyed through a supernatural act by God, and the Satan worshippers who make up the rest of the Beast empire, the remnant of "Babylon", are destroyed through the truth from the Messiah - the sword of the his mouth (see also Ezekiel 39:3-5, Joel 3:12-14, Rev. 14:17-20, Isa. 63:1-6, Psalm 110:5,6). This period of war and punishment is one of the three great "Days of the Lord" (see Joel 3:14).

5.2.4.5 The Dragon is imprisoned in the Abyss, The Saints Reign With Christ for A Thousand Years (Ch 20:1-10)

Chapter 20 1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

After Satan's earthly kingdom is defeated and destroyed, he is thrown in the Abyss or the bottomless pit. The Abyss, a place of imprisonment and punishment for fallen angels, is controlled by God's angel, Abaddon (Rev. 9:11). Satan is imprisoned for the duration of the Messiah's reign of around a thousand years (the word translated 'thousand' could also mean 'approximately thousand'). Satan cannot deceive the nations during this time, but many of his fallen-angels are still free to control the nations outside the New Israel (see Rev. 6:12-14).

Chapter 20 4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

At this Pre-Millennial judgement, those deemed worthy, notably the saints who had given up their lives for God during the Beast's reign, are raised from the dead to rule with Christ and to be priests of God during the Millennial Reign (cf. Rev. 5:10, Heb. 4:1-11). The saints of this first resurrection will not face the end-times final judgement in Period 3 ("the second death" in the Lake of Fire "has no power over them" - see also Rev 2:11). The kingdom of Israel on earth, through which Christ rules for approximately thousand years, will have the remnant of the original Israelites and those of the first resurrection (Rom. 11:17, Eph. 2:19).

Chapter 20 7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore.

Satan is set free for a short time after the Millennial Reign (in Period 3), when he will lead a massive army from around the world - Gog and Magog - to assault Jerusalem in the last days. In the analysis of the "frogs" of Rev. 16:13-15 above, we have shown that this 'Gog and Magog' is an end-times version of the Beast of Ch. 13 (this is the end-times beast of Rev 11:7 that kills the two witnesses).

Who are Gog and Magog? According to Ezekiel (see Eze. 38:2,39:1), Gog is the "prince" who leads the Japhetic tribes of Meshek and Tubal that occupy the land of another Japhetic tribe, Magog (see the tribal names in Gen. 10:2). Gog, which may be a title, refers to the fallen angel ("prince", as in Daniel 12:1) who is responsible for the land that was originally assigned to the tribe of Magog. It appears that Magog refers to the Mongols, whose allotted land is occupied by the Chinese at the start of the Millennial Reign, and the Chinese are the descendants of Meshek and Tubal (southern China was earlier called Mangi, apparently derived from Magog). So we believe that Magog refers to the people that occupy the region of modern China, and this idea finds support in the fact that 'Babylon' has set up China to be a world power at the start of the Millennial Reign. The beast army, that comes from ALL corners of the earth, is probably named after Gog and Magog because they dominate and lead it (see Eze. 38:7).

Note that the attacks on Israel by Gog and Magog - Satan's physical army at the time of the Millennial Reign or the "beast army" - are predicted to occur in 3 distinct periods:

• At the start of the Millennial Reign (Eze. 39, Rev 19:17-21, 14:14-20).
• Some time during the early Millennial Reign (Eze. 38).
• At the end of the Millennial Reign (Rev 20:7-9,16:14-16).

Chapter 20 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

The end-times (Period 3) beast army surrounds the camp of God's people in the New Jerusalem to attack it - the New Israel has shrunk to the size of a "camp" because of the rapture (see Rev. 11:2). But this army is miraculously defeated and Satan is thrown into the Lake of Fire (the first Beast and the Antichrist are thrown in the Lake of Fire in Period 2 - Rev 19:20). The Lake of Fire is the second death and a place of torment. This final attack on the faithful in the New Jerusalem occurs shortly after the end-times beast attacks the Two Witnesses in the Old Jerusalem (Rev 11:7-8) and just before the Final Resurrection and Judgement (Rev. 11:18, 20:11-15) (see appendix in Part 3 for details on the dates and sequence of end-times events).

This passage, 20:9-10, may be better rendered in the future tense: "9 They will march across the breadth of the earth and surround the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire will come down from heaven and devour them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, will be thrown into the lake of burning sulfur...."

Section 5.2.5 Epilogue for Period 2 (Ch 22:10-15, Ch 19:9-10)

After he is shown this revelation, John is taken back to the time of the vision at Patmos for this epilogue. This epilogue for Period 2, after the reconfigurations, is a combination of 2 epilogues and has similar content to the epilogue of Period 3.

Chapter 22 10 Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near.

We propose that this quote be rendered along the lines: "When the words of prophecy of this scroll are unsealed, then the time is near." (The typical translation of this verse cannot be right because, quite obviously, the book is sealed in many ways).

This prophecy will be unsealed in Period 2, shortly before the reign of the Beast, to help people navigate those difficult times (Period 1 is regarding historical events, so the predictions begin from Period 2) (see also Rev. 22:7b in Epilogue 2 of Period 3 and Rev. 1:3 [6]) .

Chapter 22 11 Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.”

One of the reasons that prophecies are sealed is that God does not want behavioural changes based purely on certain knowledge; any change of character should be founded on a belief and faith in God. In this exceptional case, the prophecy is unsealed before the event to give hope and guidance during a period of intense tribulation, the reign of the Beast, because the decisions that are made in this short period will affect people's souls for eternity. (Some details on Period 3 in this prophecy remain sealed at this time, such as: the date of Christ's return - see Matt. 24:36 - the words of the 7 thunders, and the contents of the little scroll in Rev. 10).

Chapter 22 12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.

Christ will rule through his Messiah during the Millennial Reign and return to take human souls to his Heavenly kingdom in Period 3, and each person will be rewarded, both in the Millennial and Heavenly kingdoms, according to his works (see also Matt. 16:27). The text "I am coming soon" is better rendered "I will come promptly", and indicates that Christ's return will occur as predicted by the prophets.

Chapter 22 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

Although the three names in this verse appear to mean the same, we propose that they are the titles of three entities delivering this message - God, Jesus and the coming Messiah (cf. Rev. 21:6, Rev 2:18 in [6]). The meaning of the three titles in vs 13 lies in their first part and the second part is a sort of rhetorical intensifier:

• God, the Alpha and the Omega - see Rev. 1:8 in [6]. God is from eternity and the originator of all things (Gen. 1:1).
• Jesus, the First and the Last - see Rev. 1:17, 2:8 in [6]. Jesus is the firstborn of all creation (Col. 1:15) and its king (Rev. 17:14).
• The coming Messiah, the Beginning and the End - see Rev. 3:14 in [6]. The word translated "beginning", the Greek word "arche", can also mean "ruler" and is one of the root words of "Arch-angel". Archangel Michael, the Messiah is a "prince" of the world (see Gen 1:2, Dan 12:1, cf. Job 38:4-7).

The titles of these three entities are expressed in this way to obscure the meaning of this prophecy (these names are used in other parts of the book), and not to indicate that God is a Trinity. We are vehemently hostile to the nonsensical notion of a "trinity of co-equal Gods" or "triune God", a repugnant concept that violates the first commandment, a wicked idea from the Satanic realm.

Chapter 22 14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.

During the Millennial Reign, the righteous - those who had "washed their robes" so that they are white - may enter through the "gates" of the New Israel ("city") as proud citizens of God's nation, the most powerful and blessed nation on earth. Those who are faithful unto death (see also Rev. 6:11) will have access to the Tree of Life that will give them long lives (see Rev 2:7, Gen. 3:22-24).

Chapter 22 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

The wicked will continue to exist outside the New Israel, but without the 'world elite' status accorded to them under Satan's rule. The wicked worshippers of Satan and his demons, "dogs" (see Deut. 23:17,18), are known for habitually committing these vile transgressions: magic arts or sorcery (seeking the aid of demons - Micah 5:12), sexual immorality (committing acts like sodomy, purely as part of demon worship - 1 Cor. 10:7-8), murder (human sacrifice to demons - 2 Kings 23:10), idolatry (worship of demons - Num. 25:1-3, 1 Cor. 10:20) and lovers of lies (for their gods are liars - John 8:44) (see also Rev. 21:8, 1 Cor. 6:9-11). Outside the New Israel, these wicked will continue to do evil.

Chapter 19 9a Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”

We take the "wedding supper of the Lamb" to be a celebration, in the spiritual realm, of the start of Christ's Reign. Those who died for their faithfulness to God will be invited to this wedding supper; they are called blessed, because they will soon be resurrected from the realm of the dead to reign with Christ during the Millennial Reign (see Rev. 20:4,6). John is told to "write this" to indicate that God solemnly promises this reward to the faithful who suffer unto death. ( A similar promise is made in Rev 14:13. John is also told to "write down" a promise in the epilogue to Period 3 - Rev 21:5. )

Chapter 19 9b [[ESV] And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”] 10 At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.”

When the angel who was guiding John through this revelation (see Rev 1:10-16) attributed the promise of vs 9a to God, John fell at the feet of this angel of God (cf. Exo. 3:2,5). But this mighty angel, the Holy Spirit, redirected John's worship to God , saying that he was only a messenger and fellow servant, the Spirit (Angel) of Prophecy from Jesus. ( After the reconfigurations, this epilogue to Period 2 closes in a similar way to the epilogue to Period 3, with the angel telling John that he is not to be worshipped - see Rev 22:6,8,9.)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Appendix

Quotes on the Roman Catholic Empire

Many may find it hard to imagine that the Roman Catholic Empire is as powerful or evil as we claim in this paper. This is a vast topic requiring a lengthy study, but, for now, we list a few quotes on this Empire, below. Proper research on the Catholic Empire is difficult, because it controls all major media and publishing houses.

After the devil himself, there is no worse folk than the pope and his followers. - Martin Luther (1483 – 1546), reformer.

“By many writings of our church, by the Divinely inspired Word, by prophecies concerning the future and by the special characteristics of the Papacy, it has been profusely and thoroughly proved that the pope with his prelates and clergy is the real true great antichrist, that his kingdom is the real Babylon, a never ceasing fountain and a mother of all abominable idolatry.” - Matthias Flacius, Lutheran reformer (1570)

But there is a new fraternity of late sprung up who call themselves Jesuits, which will deceive many, who are much after the Scribes and Pharisees’ manner. - Augustinian monk, George Browne (1551)

“See, my lord, from this room — from this room I govern not only Paris, but China: not only China, but the whole world, without any one knowing how ‘tis managed.” - Michael Angelo Tamburini, then General of the Jesuits, speaking to the Duke of Brancas (1720)

“Finally, Let all with such artfulness gain the ascendant over princes, noblemen, and the magistrates of every place, that they may be ready at our beck, even to sacrifice their nearest relations and most intimate friends, when we say it is for our interest and advantage” - Ignatius de Loyola (1491 – 1556), founder of the Jesuits and crypto-Jew.

References

[1] A Definition of Cryptochiasmus
[2] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Revelation 12
[3] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of "The Olivet Discourse" in Matthew 24
[4] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Daniel 10-12. Part 2: Daniel 11-12
[5] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Daniel 8
[6] A Reconfiguration of Revelation 2-3 and Commentary on Revelation 1-3
[7] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Isaiah 10-12
[8] Chiastically configured passages
[9] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of "The 70 Weeks Of Daniel"
[10] Who are the Israelites today?
[11] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Isaiah 59-63
[12] A Commentary on Daniel 7
[13] A Commentary on Ezekiel 39
[20] Bloodlines of the Illuminati by Fritz Springmeier