Mystery Babylon: Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Woman Upon the Scarlet Coloured Beast

When we go to Revelation chapter thirteen we wonder why God reveals Satan to us in the form of two distinct beasts, and yet they are both symbolic of the kingdom of Satan? The first beast is pictured as rising up out of the sea (Rev. 13:1). The sea in scripture pictures unsaved humanity or even hell itself. "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt," (Isaiah 57:20). God parted the Red Sea and saved the children of Israel from Pharaoh's army by providing a means in which to cross the sea and enter into their literal promise land. This miraculous event pictured God's true Israel being saved from eternal hell (The Red Sea) as Christ paid the price of our sins. He did so by enduring hell on our behalf. Christ confirmed a place for every true believer in His eternal kingdom, which is our spiritual "promise land." The beast that we see rising up out of the sea in Revelation 13:1 can only be depicting Satan at the time of the great tribulation as he is released from his spiritual prison (Rev. 20:7), which is hell or the bottomless pit (portrayed by the sea). This portrait of the beast may very well be the secular or worldly side of Satan who holds un-religious or pagan man captive.

When we go to verse eleven of Revelation chapter thirteen we discover another beast coming up out of the earth. This is again a picture of Satan at the end of time. This may well be the religious side of Satan, that is Satan in his holy attire as he comes as the anti-Christ (instead of Christ) to imitate Christ the Saviour. It is interesting to note that this word "earth" ("and I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth") is used interchangeably in the New Testament as "earth" or "land." In the parable of the net in John chapter twenty-one, Simon Peter drew the net to land and it was full of fishes, one hundred and fifty-three to be exact. The "land" (same word as earth) portrayed as the kingdom of God, received all of God's elect, represented by the fish. In another account given in Acts 7:3 Peter recounts the days in which God tells Abraham to "... get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee." The "land" clearly being a picture of the kingdom of God. It is also the same Greek word used as "earth" in which this second beast arises from in Revelation chapter thirteen. Again, in the parable of the sower, the seed that fell upon the good ground is he that hears the Word and understands it, and bears fruit unto salvation. The good "ground" that this seed falls upon is also translated from the same Greek word as is "earth," from which this second beast arises from. This same word is again translated as "land of Israel" or "land of Judah" many times in the gospels, all typifying the congregations of the earth, which in turn are God's own representation of His kingdom while sojourning on this earth.

It may well be that the "earth" that this second beast arises from is indeed a term signifying the "land" of salvation or the "land" of Israel, in which the good "ground; i.e. earth or land" is found. It may be that this word "earth" from which this second beast arises from is representing the corporate church of Christ worldwide. The only place in scripture where this word "earth" is translated as "world" is in Revelation 13:3:

This would indeed explain all of the world following this religious counterfeit beast. This would not necessitate the entire world, but only the entire religious world; those within the congregations of the world; or those within the congregations of the land; or those within the congregations of the good ground. Those who have not fled this religious harlot, but are there for various reasons other than the worship of the true God of scripture.

After this beast arises from the earth in Revelation 13:11, we are immediately told that "... he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon." Satan is referred to in scripture as a man (Isaiah 14:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:3), therefore we should not be confused that Revelation 13:11 labels this beast a "he," even though he is symbolizing the false bride of Christ, the false and counterfeit church, who is the woman turned harlot in the wilderness. Satan, (he) is giving power to (her) the false bride of Christ to deceive religious man at the time of the end. As this beast arises from within the religious world, we see unwavering evidence that he is propagating a counterfeit church; a counterfeit gospel. We know this by the fact that he has "two horns like a lamb and spake as a dragon." Christ is the Lamb of God, and His true Church followeth the Lamb wheresoever He goes, Revelation 14:4. But this beast from the earth is only mimicking the true Church, as his appearance is like unto the Lamb of God, having two horns, representing the number of the Church (two witnesses, Rev. 11; two olive trees Zech. 4:3, Rev. 11:4; two candlesticks, Rev. 11:4; two anointed ones, Zech. 4:14. Christ sent His disciples out two by two, Luke 10:1. God sent animals into the ark two by two, Gen. 6:19-20). However, the reality in the unseen spiritual realm is that this second beast speaks from Satan himself, the great red dragon (Rev. 12:3) as we read in the last part of Rev. 13:11 ("... and he spake as a dragon").

Another bit of evidence to support the belief that Babylon the Great is in fact the latter day (tribulation era) corporate church of Christ, and not merely a symbol for all of the non-religious or secular world, is the fact that she is sitting upon a scarlet coloured beast. The color scarlet may indicate the fact that she is not merely a pagan religious symbol, but that she most likely represents Christ Himself! This beast is of course the kingdom of Satan, but could this beast be the beast of Revelation 13:11, the religious beast? It very well may be. Is the once faithful church of Christ now sitting upon this scarlet coloured beast? No wonder she has become a harlot!

It was no coincidence that the Roman soldiers stripped Christ, and dressed Him in a scarlet coloured robe (Matthew 27:28). What these soldiers did would have been their last desire, had they known the spiritual significance of the scarlet robe. God Himself bore witness that this crucified Christ was the Temple of God. Recall the words of Jesus when He told the Jews "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up," John 2:19. Verse twenty-one continues: "But he spake of the temple of his body." Christ, God incarnate, is the chief corner stone (Ephesians 2:20), and the head of His Church (Matthew 21:42), the spiritual Temple of God, which every true believer is a part of (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).

Christ takes on this scarlet color in signifying the true and final Temple of God, which in past times had been prefigured, shadowed, and typified by first the tabernacle in the wilderness, and then by the literal and physical Temple of God, built in Jerusalem. The color scarlet played a large role in the furnishings of both the tabernacle in the wilderness and the Temple in Jerusalem. Over and over again we read in the book of Exodus of the scarlet material used in the construction of the tabernacle. Again, both of these temples were pictures of God's New Testament Church, His spiritual Temple made up of true believers, and led by the Lamb of God, Christ Himself.

The materials, woods, ointments, stones, etc. which were used in assembling the tabernacle in the wilderness were all descriptions of how God's spiritual Temple would be furnished with precious arrays of the Gospel of Christ. These tabernacle materials were all given as offerings to God. God only accepted the materials given willingly from the heart (Exodus 25:2). The following is a list of items God singles out as a pertinent part of His Temple. These all have much spiritual significance throughout all of scripture, since God uses them in ultimately portraying the New Testament Temple.

(Exodus 25:1-8):

Throughout this report we shall see how many of these elements or "vessels" which rightly belong to Christ's true Church are no longer found in the corporate church, i.e. the religious harlot in the wilderness - the counterfeit church of Christ worldwide.

As leprosy in Old Testament days pictured man's sins, we can spiritually understand why the priests would use scarlet among many other offerings in sprinkling the leper who is to be cleansed. It can only allude to the blood of Christ which is the only cure for spiritual disease. Read Leviticus chapter fourteen.

In Proverbs chapter thirty-one we see a beautiful metaphorical picture of Christ's very own bride. The Church is righteous not on her own accord, but she is righteous and pure only because Christ has purchased and clothed her with His own righteousness. Proverbs 31:21 tells us that she is clothed with scarlet. Song of Solomon has the bride of Christ in view as well. Chapter four and verse three tells us: "Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks." The prophet Daniel may have been a "type" of Christ in the Old Testament, in that he represented Christ in the Babylonian Empire and a great many parallels to Christ can be drawn from this account. As a result of Daniel's interpretation of King Belshazzar's dream, scripture details the following in Daniel 5:29: "... and they clothed Daniel with scarlet and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him..." These are only a few of the many passages of scripture that deal with scarlet in pointing to the sacrificial blood of Christ.

In the end of this woman's journeying in the wilderness, she - like Israel of old - has fallen into spiritual adultery. As in ancient Israel, some were truly saved by trusting God that He would someday send the promised Messiah. Today, for the most part, those who are the true elect of God have fled this spiritual harlot who follows after religious Satan, the SCARLET COLOURED BEAST, full of names of blasphemy, Rev. 17:3. Revelation 18:4 commands the true believer to flee from this spiritual harlot: "...Come out of her, MY PEOPLE, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." We find other parallel passages very similar to this in the Old Testament declaring the same thing. This is not a call to come out of the world (as many have taught), but this is clearly a command for believers (My people) to forsake this apostate church and flee her persuasion. Christ Himself commanded the true believer to "flee to the mountains," (Luke 21:21; Mark 13:14; Matthew 24:16) when we see this abomination of desolation standing in the holy place.

Back : Chapter 4 - The Woman in the Wilderness

Next : Chapter 6 - The Woman's Apparel