What is Mystery Babylon in the Book of Revelation: A Bible Study

Recently the idea that the Anti-Christ's kingdom will be a league of Arab nations has been gaining in popularity. This idea is helped along by the rising influence of Islam in the world. Although I do not think the Scripture supports an Arab Anti-Christ kingdom, the Scripture does support a role for Islam in the last days. But first, let us examine why the Anti-Christ's kingdom cannot be Arab.

We know from Daniel that the Anti-Christ's kingdom will be a revival of the previous kingdom. With just this fact, an Arab kingdom makes good sense as Islamic Arabs conquered a large portion of the known world in the late seventh and early eighth century. However the book of Revelation gives us some further insights.

In Rev. 17 we see a description of a woman sitting on a beast. The woman is identified as Babylon and the beast is described in great detail. The first thing to notice is that the beast is clearly the Anti-Christ and his kingdom. Compare the description in Rev. 17 with the description in Rev. 13:1-10. Now let's look more closely at Rev. 17:10-11.

and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. {11} "And the beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction (NASB, Rev. 17:10-11).

We see that the seven heads in the Anti-Christ's description represent seven kings or kingdoms, and that the Anti-Christ is a king in the line of these 7 kingdoms. Most importantly, the sixth kingdom was in existence when John saw his vision. There was only one kingdom in place in the known world of John's day. It was the Roman empire. Islam was not even created until the early 7th century. When God lists the line of kingdoms leading up to the Anti-Christ, Rome is included but the conquest of Islam is not. The British empire also was not included. Both the British and the Arabs had control of the Holy Land at some point, yet they did not make it onto God's list of kingdoms. Why? I don't know the answer, but the fact is they were not included. Whatever the reason, the next to last kingdom cannot be an Arab Islamic conquest and therefore the Anti-Christ's kingdom cannot be an Islamic league.

The first thing I notice is that the beast out of the earth, also known as the False Prophet, has two horns. Horns are typically a symbol of authority. The beast out of the sea, also known as the Anti-Christ, had 10 horns. These horns are interpreted for us in Rev. 17:12-13.

"And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. {13} "These have one purpose and they give their power and authority to the beast (NASB, Rev. 17:12-13).

The two horns of the False Prophet are never directly interpreted for us, but we have clear precedent to say they represent powers behind the False Prophet. Now notice that this False Prophet is, "like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon." Throughout the book of Revelation and the rest of the New Testament, the lamb represents Christ (Rev. 5:6, 8, 12, 13; 6:1, 16; 7:9, 10, 14, 17; 12:11; 13:8; 14:1, 4, 10; 15:3; 17:14; 19:7, 9; 21:9, 14, 22, 23; 22:1, 3).

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; {10} and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." (NASB, Rev. 7:9-10).

And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (NASB, Rev. 12:9)

The False Prophet is not Christ, but only looks Christ like. He is not Satan either but only speaks like Satan. There is only one False Prophet, but he has two horns. Taking all this together seems to indicate a religious figure who claims to be Christian but is actually Satanic. This religious leader will represent two major religious powers. Who might these religious powers be? My guess is they will be the "Christian" church and Islam. There are other possibilities to be sure, but this one makes the most sense to me. The two largest religions in the world today are Christianity and Islam. Some liberal branches of the Christian church today already consider Islam to be a viable road to heaven. Imagine the pressure people will feel when the main religious leaders throw their support behind one man and tell everyone to worship a political leader as their Messiah, Imam or Savior. The pressure will be great. Don't be deceived by promises of an easy escape!

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