Luke 21:8

Christian, Be Not Deceived!

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN 

WHY WAS JOHN CARRIED INTO THE WILDERNESS TO SEE THE WOMAN SITTING UPON THE BEAST? 

In Rev. 12 "the wilderness" is mentioned twice: "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand and threescore days"; "And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." Thus we have already been informed concerning "the wilderness" where the church fled to escape some of the fury of the persecution heaped upon her by the forces of Babylon. When John beholds the Babylonian whore out in "the wilderness" (Rev. 17:3) sitting upon the scarlet coloured beast she is "drunken with the blood of saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus" (Rev. 17:6). She has done her dastardly work and is replete with the blood of the saints. This view therefore represents the woman after the terrible persecutions of the Dark Ages. 

As we have shown in another chapter, this prophecy pertains to events to transpire before the utter destruction of this Babylonian whore. In the very first verse of this chapter we are informed by John that "there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither [i.e. to the wilderness]; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore". Here we are definitely told that this prophecy pertains to the events which lead up to the judgment of the Babylonian whore. Why is she to be thus judged and condemned? Because of her persecution of the saints in the dark ages and also because she is again seeking to destroy the people of God-this time to utterly extirpate God's remnant people from off the whole world. 

In Rev. 13:10 we read: "He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword." The power that made the church of Jesus fall by the sword also fell by the sword. He that made the church flee before angry priest-dominated multitudes will also flee before infuriated peoples when the hour comes for the utter destruction of the forces of Babylon. The Babylonian whore that made Christ's precious bride flee into the wilderness, is destined to suffer the vengeance of God and herself have a grim wilderness experience. That this is the significance of the woman sitting upon the beast 

218 

in the wilderness, as shown in the vision to John, becomes obvious by observing that the Greek word for desolate (v. 16) is eremoo, which is derived from eremos the word for wilderness in v. 3. Thus, the wilderness experience suffered by the true church is also to become the experience of the Babylonian whore when the time comes for the ten kings to "hate the wore, and shall make her desolate and d naked, and shalt eat her flesh, and burn her with fire." 

As we have shown elsewhere, the desolating and burning of the whore is the same as the desolating and burning of the city of Babylon, which is so graphically described in Rev. 18. As this sudden calamity befalls this proud symbolic city, the statement is made: "for in one hour is she made desolate" (Rev. 18:19)–here the same word is employed as that which describes the desolation which is to befall the whore, as declared in Rev. 17:16. 

Observe the thought of receiving the same treatment which she meted out to God's people: "Reward her even as she rewarded you and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double" Rev. 18:6). The Lord inspired Jeremiah to portray the doom of ancient Babylon which is set forth in the Scriptures as the type of the doom awaiting modern Babylon: "Shout against her round about: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.... Call together the archers against Babylon ... let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her; for she hath been proud against the Lord, the Holy One of Israel” (Jer. 50:15, 29) 

As we have pointed out in "The Fall of Babylon in Type and Antitype", it is because the Lord, through Jeremiah, sought to emphasize this fact that Babylon must go through experiences similar to that which she has made God's people pass through, that Jeremiah emphasizes that Babylon would be overthrown by powers coming from the north, for Babylon came from the north to attack Israel. We would turn the attention of our readers to the book just mentioned for fuller details of other statements made in the book of Jeremiah showing that the fate outlined to befall Babylon repeats the things Babylon did to God's people. 

Thus the Babylonian whore is pictured in the prophecy of Rev. 17 as being out in "the wilderness" "drunken with the blood of saints" and receiving support from all earthly powers which she intends to employ in the destruction of the remnant people of God. But, suddenly, when her success seemed to be about assured, the tables are turned and she herself is desolated-made a wilderness. And then the whole Babylonian world becomes one great desolate wilderness for the 1,000 years. And our analysis 

219 

of this chapter will not be completed until we have shown the relationship between the events which occur before that 1,000 years of wilderness and those events which transpire after that period of desolation.