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What do beauty, the beast, & Babylon have in common? They are all part of the end times. I believe what’s prophesied in Revelation is imminent, and a…

SIGN IN STORE PASTORS EVENTS ABOUT GIVE The Beauty, the Beast, and Babylon REVELATION 17 This article is based on Pastor Adrian Rogers' message, Beauty and the Beast. RELATED MEDIA Beauty and the Beast (2357) Beauty and the Beast (2357) In the classic story of Beauty and the Beast, “Beauty” was genuinely beautiful both inside and out, while the Beast looked like a monster on the outside but was beautiful within. Revelation 17 describes two mysterious creatures who rise to world power, and both are monsters. At first glance, most people looking at Revelation with all its beasts and creatures will back away, saying, “This looks like science fiction.” But these two important creatures aren’t all that mysterious when we understand who they are: a Babylonian mother and a Babylonian monster. I call them “Beauty and the Beast.” As we get closer to the Second Coming of Christ and the end of the age, no Christian can afford to be ignorant of prophecy. I believe the shadows are lengthening, the sands of time are running low, and we stand on the threshold of the Rapture of the Church and the Second Coming. I believe what’s prophesied in Revelation is imminent, and a beast—the Antichrist—is lurking in the shadows, ready to take over. In Revelation 17, the Rapture of the blood-bought church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Bride of Christ, has already happened, and we’ve joined our Savior in Heaven for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. But on Earth, it’s the time known as the “Tribulation.” Who is the “Beauty”? The woman represents an apostate, false, worldwide religion. John describes her in Revelation 17:1-5. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. She is the false church. In Bible prophecy, a woman, not a man, is the symbol of religion, whether it be good or bad. The true church is called “The Bride of Christ.” The harlot of Revelation 17 is the opposite, the “antichurch,” because the Antichrist is going to have an antichurch. You see, Satan is not against religion—not at all. As a matter of fact, Satan is working for worldwide religion. His first temptation in the Garden of Eden was not against religion, it was a temptation to “be as God,” but the devil’s way. During the Tribulation, the entire world will be unified under the Antichrist (the Beast), and one of his partners to achieve that unity will be “Beauty”—false religion. She will have all the money she’ll ever need (v. 4), decked out in rich clothing, fine jewelry, and gold. Together, with Babylon, they’ll achieve worldwide domination. What is “Babylon”? Babylon, like the Beauty, also stands for false religion. “Babylon” is both a real city and also a term the Bible uses, like our term “Wall Street” or “Madison Avenue.” When we say “Wall Street,” we don’t mean the literal street but an economic system. When we say “Madison Avenue,” we mean the merchandising system. When the Bible says “Babylon,” in Revelation it means more than the ancient city—it means all false religion. Like a couple wearing matching shirts, Beauty and Babylon both represent false religion, and the Beast will use both of them. As far back as Genesis 10, Babylon has been the cradle and the grave of false religions. Nimrod (a prototype of the Antichrist) founded the city and began constructing the Tower of Babel, the top of which would be a place for pagan worship. All false religion roots back to Babylon—a den of demons. Our world is haunted by the ghosts of Babylon. Remember when Babylon’s king, Nebuchadnezzar, threw three young men into a fiery furnace because they refused to worship his golden idol? The prophet Isaiah looked ahead through the corridors of time and saw a future Babylon as a merciless woman. Now, 700 years later, the Holy Spirit through John mentions Babylon nine times in Revelation 14-19, as a powerful city ruling the earth, oppressing any believers in Christ. Babylon reflects a ruling power that’s rejected God and literally gone to war with His eternal plan for the earth He created. When the Bible links the woman (false religion) with Babylon, the mystery about her is unlocked. Verse 5 calls her “the mother of harlots.” Her daughters are false religions like Satan worship, Mother Earth worship, pantheism, globalism, Hin...

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