It seems that one cannot turn a page when reading the Book of Revelation without multiple questions jumping off the page and slamming into the mind of the reader. This current series of articles is an attempt to answer a few of the many questions that come to us when studying the Revelation.
#1 – When in the Tribulation do the Seal, Trumpet and Bowl judgments take place?
These three series of judgments have been located in a variety of spots by Bible students and biblical commentaries. However, it seems best to place the Seal judgments in the first half, the Trumpet judgments in the second half and the Bowl judgments in the second half right before the 2nd Coming of Christ to the earth. There are some reasons to support this positioning of the judgments.
The concept of “birth pangs. Foundational to the placing of the three series of judgments as described above is the Old Testament concept of birth pains. It was used by the prophets to speak of God’s judgments and then was used by the Lord Jesus in His discussion of the end time judgments (Matt. 24:8). Birth pains are a unique kind of pain because: (1) they get worse as time goes by and the time of the birth gets closer; and (2) the time between the pains becomes less and less as the time of the birth draws near. When Jesus generally described the end time judgments of God, He said the initial ones (wars, earthquakes, famines etc.) were just the beginning of God’s judgments, indicating that the birth pains would continue throughout the entire period.
The statements within the Book of Revelation. When the 7th Seal is broken and the next series of the Trumpet judgments come, there is an emphasis on 1/3 of the earth being harmed by these judgments (7:7-12). But in the last series of judgments (the Bowls of God’s wrath), not 1/3, but the entire earth suffers under the judgments, showing that things are getting worse and worse (16:1-21). So, for example, in the trumpet judgments 1/3 of the oceans turn to blood, but in the Bowl judgments all the oceans are turned to blood.
br> Furthermore, the testimony of an angel (8:13) is that the final judgments are the worst of all. He says “woe, woe, woe” to the earth dwellers because the final three trumpets are the worst judgments yet. It is essential to keep in mind that the 7th trumpet (also identified as the “3rd woe”) is in fact the last series of 7 judgments (the Bowl judgments). The 7th trumpet is the final, terrible series of God’s judgments and it appears to come quickly, one right after the other. This angelic statement verifies the point that the concept of “birth pains” is what the world will experience; it will be far more painful at the end of the tribulation right before the kingdom of Messiah is “birthed” into the world.
Jesus’ statement that the 2nd half of the tribulation is the “great” time of judgment. As Jesus, in Matthew 24, talked about the future judgments, He was clear that things will get worse once the “abomination of desolation” is set up in the Jerusalem temple. It is the 2nd half of the tribulation that is “the great one” (24:21); and that if God had chosen to have this uniquely terrible time be more than 3 ½ years, then no human being would survive (24:22).
These statements and terms, when combined together, point to the second half of the tribulation being far more severe in the judgments of God than the 1st half. The judgments are worse and they come closer together as the time for the “birth” of the messianic age gets closer.
#2 – Who is the “great harlot” that is discussed in Revelation 17?
The identification of “Babylon” in Revelation 17 and 18 has produced a variety of interpretations among good Bible students. Babylon is both a political and a religious center where the true God is excluded or badly marginalized. It seems that chapter 17 emphasizes the religious aspect while chapter 18 focuses on the political and economic aspect of Babylon.
I have concluded that Babylon the harlot in chapter 17 is looking at Roman Catholicism which includes numerous other polluted religious systems. There are a number of points which have led me to this conclusion.
The concept of a “harlot” comes from the Old Testament and speaks of a religious system that claims a loyalty to the true God. It is important to understand that when John uses the idea of “harlot”, he is not using it as we often do; that of a prostitute who plies her trade on the streets of a city, and that for a price. The concept is used by Moses, the prophets and other OT writers of Israel, who is “married” to the Lord Jehovah. Like marriage, Israel has a sacred covenant relationship with the Lord, but she constantly “played the harlot” going after other gods. (The OT concept of the “harlot” can be seen clearly, and sometimes graphically, in passages such as Judges 8:33; Jeremiah 3:6-10; Ezekiel 16 and 23; and the entire book of Hosea). These passages and many others reveal that Israel was the unfaithful wife of Jehovah who shared her affections and devotion between the Lord and also the Baal deities. She generally claimed to retain her relationship with her Husband while all the time she was broad and inclusive, adopting many of their pagan practices (reminds us of much that is going on in the church today).
In the New Testament, Jesus spoke of that generation of Israelites as being “an evil and adulterous generation” (cf. Matt. 12:38-39; 16:1-2; Mk. 8:38). And the NT uses the imagery of the church as the bride of Christ and the pure bride of Christ is contrasted in Revelation 19 with the “great harlot”; that religious entity which claims a relationship with the true God but is totally unfaithful to Him.
So when John speaks of the “great harlot”, he is directing our attention to the great and powerful “church” that will exist during the first half of the coming tribulation period.
This end times system is said to be the “mother of harlots” indicating that there are a number of religions involved, ones that claim a loyalty to the Lord. In Revelation 17:5, the plural “harlots” is used. This shows that this wealthy, politically powerful system includes other religious systems. I speculate that this includes Roman Catholicism, apostate Protestantism and perhaps many other groups put under the “Christian umbrella” such as Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses and other cult and marginal groups. But the emphasis seems to be on a large, ecumenical religious system headed by one strong entity.
It is a system centered in the west. One of the more intriguing statements is that this woman (the harlot) rides the “beast” (17:3). The “beast” has already been identified as the Antichrist (Rev. 13), who, in the first half of the tribulation, is the dictator of an eleven nation confederation, generally based geographically in the old Roman Empire. While the text also says that she commits spiritual fornication with the kings of the earth (indicating a worldwide influence), 17:3 suggests that she has a special political domination in the west. The woman “riding the beast” might mean that she has temporary control over the Antichrist (much like the Roman Catholic Church maintained domination over the medieval kings in Europe), or it might mean she helps bring him to power; or maybe both. The time of the tribulation will make this abundantly clear. But there is some close connection between the woman and the beast, who at this point in time is a western dictator.
The system is given a geographical location. Revelation 17:18 ends the chapter with the statement that the woman “is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.” The chapter began with the statement of her connection with the gentile nations generally (“many waters”, 17:1 and15) indicating she does not come from Israel. Her location is stated in the present tense (“is the great city”). Dr. John Walvoord believes it is the city is Rome. Dr. Charles Ryrie states that this identifier makes it impossible to disassociate apostate Christendom in the tribulation period from Rome. Robert Thomas, and others, conclude that this is referring to the city of Babylon on the Euphrates River. We should note that if the Babylon of chapter 18 is different from the Babylon of chapter 17, though both are organized systems which leave out the true God (as I believe to be the case) then this influences one’s choice. If that is so, then it seems more likely that the city of Rome which was indeed the ruling city/nation in John’s day, is what is in view. And Babylon of chapter 18 is the political/economic entity which is likely located in a different place.
#1 – When in the Tribulation do the Seal, Trumpet and Bowl judgments take place?
These three series of judgments have been located in a variety of spots by Bible students and biblical commentaries. However, it seems best to place the Seal judgments in the first half, the Trumpet judgments in the second half and the Bowl judgments in the second half right before the 2nd Coming of Christ to the earth. There are some reasons to support this positioning of the judgments.
The concept of “birth pangs. Foundational to the placing of the three series of judgments as described above is the Old Testament concept of birth pains. It was used by the prophets to speak of God’s judgments and then was used by the Lord Jesus in His discussion of the end time judgments (Matt. 24:8). Birth pains are a unique kind of pain because: (1) they get worse as time goes by and the time of the birth gets closer; and (2) the time between the pains becomes less and less as the time of the birth draws near. When Jesus generally described the end time judgments of God, He said the initial ones (wars, earthquakes, famines etc.) were just the beginning of God’s judgments, indicating that the birth pains would continue throughout the entire period.
The statements within the Book of Revelation. When the 7th Seal is broken and the next series of the Trumpet judgments come, there is an emphasis on 1/3 of the earth being harmed by these judgments (7:7-12). But in the last series of judgments (the Bowls of God’s wrath), not 1/3, but the entire earth suffers under the judgments, showing that things are getting worse and worse (16:1-21). So, for example, in the trumpet judgments 1/3 of the oceans turn to blood, but in the Bowl judgments all the oceans are turned to blood.
br> Furthermore, the testimony of an angel (8:13) is that the final judgments are the worst of all. He says “woe, woe, woe” to the earth dwellers because the final three trumpets are the worst judgments yet. It is essential to keep in mind that the 7th trumpet (also identified as the “3rd woe”) is in fact the last series of 7 judgments (the Bowl judgments). The 7th trumpet is the final, terrible series of God’s judgments and it appears to come quickly, one right after the other. This angelic statement verifies the point that the concept of “birth pains” is what the world will experience; it will be far more painful at the end of the tribulation right before the kingdom of Messiah is “birthed” into the world.
Jesus’ statement that the 2nd half of the tribulation is the “great” time of judgment. As Jesus, in Matthew 24, talked about the future judgments, He was clear that things will get worse once the “abomination of desolation” is set up in the Jerusalem temple. It is the 2nd half of the tribulation that is “the great one” (24:21); and that if God had chosen to have this uniquely terrible time be more than 3 ½ years, then no human being would survive (24:22).
These statements and terms, when combined together, point to the second half of the tribulation being far more severe in the judgments of God than the 1st half. The judgments are worse and they come closer together as the time for the “birth” of the messianic age gets closer.
#2 – Who is the “great harlot” that is discussed in Revelation 17?
The identification of “Babylon” in Revelation 17 and 18 has produced a variety of interpretations among good Bible students. Babylon is both a political and a religious center where the true God is excluded or badly marginalized. It seems that chapter 17 emphasizes the religious aspect while chapter 18 focuses on the political and economic aspect of Babylon.
I have concluded that Babylon the harlot in chapter 17 is looking at Roman Catholicism which includes numerous other polluted religious systems. There are a number of points which have led me to this conclusion.
The concept of a “harlot” comes from the Old Testament and speaks of a religious system that claims a loyalty to the true God. It is important to understand that when John uses the idea of “harlot”, he is not using it as we often do; that of a prostitute who plies her trade on the streets of a city, and that for a price. The concept is used by Moses, the prophets and other OT writers of Israel, who is “married” to the Lord Jehovah. Like marriage, Israel has a sacred covenant relationship with the Lord, but she constantly “played the harlot” going after other gods. (The OT concept of the “harlot” can be seen clearly, and sometimes graphically, in passages such as Judges 8:33; Jeremiah 3:6-10; Ezekiel 16 and 23; and the entire book of Hosea). These passages and many others reveal that Israel was the unfaithful wife of Jehovah who shared her affections and devotion between the Lord and also the Baal deities. She generally claimed to retain her relationship with her Husband while all the time she was broad and inclusive, adopting many of their pagan practices (reminds us of much that is going on in the church today).
In the New Testament, Jesus spoke of that generation of Israelites as being “an evil and adulterous generation” (cf. Matt. 12:38-39; 16:1-2; Mk. 8:38). And the NT uses the imagery of the church as the bride of Christ and the pure bride of Christ is contrasted in Revelation 19 with the “great harlot”; that religious entity which claims a relationship with the true God but is totally unfaithful to Him.
So when John speaks of the “great harlot”, he is directing our attention to the great and powerful “church” that will exist during the first half of the coming tribulation period.
This end times system is said to be the “mother of harlots” indicating that there are a number of religions involved, ones that claim a loyalty to the Lord. In Revelation 17:5, the plural “harlots” is used. This shows that this wealthy, politically powerful system includes other religious systems. I speculate that this includes Roman Catholicism, apostate Protestantism and perhaps many other groups put under the “Christian umbrella” such as Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses and other cult and marginal groups. But the emphasis seems to be on a large, ecumenical religious system headed by one strong entity.
It is a system centered in the west. One of the more intriguing statements is that this woman (the harlot) rides the “beast” (17:3). The “beast” has already been identified as the Antichrist (Rev. 13), who, in the first half of the tribulation, is the dictator of an eleven nation confederation, generally based geographically in the old Roman Empire. While the text also says that she commits spiritual fornication with the kings of the earth (indicating a worldwide influence), 17:3 suggests that she has a special political domination in the west. The woman “riding the beast” might mean that she has temporary control over the Antichrist (much like the Roman Catholic Church maintained domination over the medieval kings in Europe), or it might mean she helps bring him to power; or maybe both. The time of the tribulation will make this abundantly clear. But there is some close connection between the woman and the beast, who at this point in time is a western dictator.
The system is given a geographical location. Revelation 17:18 ends the chapter with the statement that the woman “is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.” The chapter began with the statement of her connection with the gentile nations generally (“many waters”, 17:1 and15) indicating she does not come from Israel. Her location is stated in the present tense (“is the great city”). Dr. John Walvoord believes it is the city is Rome. Dr. Charles Ryrie states that this identifier makes it impossible to disassociate apostate Christendom in the tribulation period from Rome. Robert Thomas, and others, conclude that this is referring to the city of Babylon on the Euphrates River. We should note that if the Babylon of chapter 18 is different from the Babylon of chapter 17, though both are organized systems which leave out the true God (as I believe to be the case) then this influences one’s choice. If that is so, then it seems more likely that the city of Rome which was indeed the ruling city/nation in John’s day, is what is in view. And Babylon of chapter 18 is the political/economic entity which is likely located in a different place.
