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Babylon, the prostitute on the beast
Introduction
In this session, Revelation Chapter 17:1-7, we are introduced to false religion, which is called spiritual adultery or Babylon. We need to compare the physical adultery with spiritual adultery to understand what God is saying. In the book of Hosea 1:2, God told Hosea to get married to an adulterous woman to show how the Israel (God’s wife) had gotten unfaithful to the LORD (their husband), Jeremiah 3: 6-8. God talked about Israel becoming unfaithful to the extent of being divorced. In Matt 28: 11-15. God reveals what false religion is, what it opposes, and how it was planned and funded. False religion is against Jesus’ humanity and his divinity, it’s against His death, His resurrection, His accession and against His coming again to judge the living and the dead.
Objectives
By the end of this session, the learner will have:
- Understood the Doctrines of false teaching/religion by listing it’s key stakeholders, it’s funding, it’s teachers, it’s curriculum and it’s security but finally it’s judgment from the truth.
- Appreciated that God consider Israel his wife just as Christ considers the church his wife, hence the context of adultery is understood
Outline
- False religion and
- spiritual adultery
- Beast and antichrist
Group Study Time
Revelation 17: 1-7
Connecting
- Gather with two or more people for a community discovery bible study session.
- Start with a heartfelt prayer, inviting God to guide and bless your understanding.
- Explore the passage by reading it at least twice, using different Bible versions if available, then retell the story together as a group.
- Reflect and share the challenges and blessings you experienced from the previous study.
Comprehending
- What is adultery, marital unfaithfulness? why do people get into adultery? What is the punishment for adultery in all cultures?
- Read Matt 28:11-15. What do you discover about the false religion? Who started it, who was used to propagate it? Who funded it? What was the curriculum and the content of false teaching?
- Read Revelation 14 : 8. What is said about Babylon in this angelic announcement?
- Read Revelation 17: 1-7. List 7 truths revealed about Babylon (verses 16) (spiritual unfaithfulness or false religion, Human will, plan, without God, worship of pagan gods).
- What is ONE WORLD religion? How will it operate in the lives of the people of the Earth? How will God judge the false religion?
- Read Rev 17: 1, What does it mean that the woman (false region) is sitting upon many Waters verse 15 and also sitting on the beast verse 3, (anti-Christ). She is also sitting on many kings’ Verses 9-10). (10 nations against Israel).
Committing
- Engage with the Bible—read, study, memorize, meditate, pray, listen, and live it out.
- List three lessons you have learnt as an agent of change that you would like to put into practice and teach others about.
- Take time and worship Jesus with the attributes revealed about Christ.
- Use the SPACEPETS model, to assist you in putting God’s word into practice. Look for:
- Sin to confess
- Promise to claim
- Attitude to change
- Command to keep
- Error to change
- Prayer to make
- Example to copy
- Truth to obey and
- Something praiseworthy
Communicating
- Identify one person you can connect with and share the valuable insights and lessons you gained from this session.
- Reach out to a new believer—either in person or by phone—and pray with them to support them through their challenges, including any concerns about attending church.
- Create a new group and guide others through this study to help them grow in their understanding.
Post Lesson Teaching Summary
Great job completing the study! Take a moment to listen to this summary to reinforce your group’s understanding of the text and ensure you’re all on the same page. We’re here to support your learning journey!
Babylon, the prostitute on the beast
Revelation 17: 1-7
Audio Summary
Revelation 17:1-7
- Context:
- John’s vision in Revelation 17:1-7, set during the tribulation, post-rapture, introduces the judgment of the great prostitute, Babylon, a counterfeit of Christ’s church, opposing God’s people.
- The church is raptured, and God reveals the spiritual and systemic evil of Babylon, which seduces nations and persecutes believers, setting the stage for her destruction.
- The Great Prostitute: Babylon’s Identity (Revelation 17:1-7):
- An angel, one of the seven who poured the bowl judgments, invites John to see the judgment of the great prostitute, who rules over many waters (peoples, nations) and seduces kings and people with her immorality (v. 1-2).
- In the Spirit, John sees a woman in the wilderness, seated on a scarlet beast with seven heads, ten horns, and blasphemous names, dressed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, gems, and pearls, holding a goblet of obscenities (v. 3-4).
- Her forehead bears the name “Babylon the Great, Mother of Prostitutes and of Earth’s Abominations,” drunk with the blood of God’s holy people and Jesus’ witnesses, counterfeiting the church (v. 5-6).
- John marvels at her; the angel promises to explain the mystery of the woman and the beast, linked to the New World Order’s unified rule, religion, and opposition to God’s kingdom (v. 7).
- Mercy is implied as God exposes Babylon’s evil, warning people to reject her seduction and align with Christ before her judgment.
- Application:
- Reject Babylon’s counterfeit allure, embracing the true church of Christ; stand firm as God’s witness, trusting His judgment will expose and destroy this evil system.