END-TIME BABYLON'S COMPONENTS!!!
Revelation 16:13-14, "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." These verses discuss end-time Babylon's three-part cohort that will fight against God and His people. What do each of the three components represent, and what do they symbolize?
DRAGON- SATAN.
The Dragon is identified as Satan, and represents a hidden god, a counterfeit of God the Father. Satan has always wanted to usurp God’s power and position to take the place of God. As the counterfeit God the Father, Satan now hopes to gain the allegiance of the world to overcome God’s kingdom (
Revelation 12:9).
His workings are disguised, and his power is made manifest through spiritualism in all its forms. In addition to the obvious manifestations of Satan through demons, spirits, and witchcraft, Satan also pulls people away from God to himself through the modern New Age movement, another form of spiritualism. This movement is one of the manifestations of the Dragon component.
BEAST- PAPACY.
The Beast represents the false son or counterfeit of Jesus Christ. It is Roman Catholicism, claiming to be the representative of Christ on Earth.
Just as Christ received a mortal wound at the cross, so the Beast received a mortal wound but lived.
Just as Christ was raised from the dead, so the mortal wound of the Beast was healed.
Just as Christ is to receive all homage, so the whole world will wonder after the Beast (the Papacy), and pay it homage.
Just as at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, so the Papacy today demands acknowledgement of its supremacy.
FALSE PROPHET- APOSTATE PROTESTANTISM.
The final component of Babylon is the False Prophet, which counterfeits the Holy Spirit. The best-known experience of the Holy Spirit in the Bible was Pentecost, when tongues of fire came down upon the disciples, filling them with the Holy Spirit, and empowering them to speak in tongues so they could spread the Gospel. The counterfeit holy spirit has a similar manifestation.
We know that the second beast of Revelation 13, America, will compel the world to worship the first beast, papal Rome, whose deadly wound was healed. America will play an important role in establishing the Papacy ’s status as spiritual leader, and will comprise a part of the end-time Babylonian confederacy.
In Protestant America, we see manifestations of tongues and healings that aren’t being used for spreading the Gospel but are a counterfeit. These experiences are full of emotionalism and euphoria, but don’t actually glorify God.
Also known as Pentecostalism, these great miracles, signs, and wonders are the False Prophet ’s way of unifying denominations under false doctrine.When Christ prayed for unity within His Church, He never meant unity through compromise, but always unity in truth. The Protestant churches who join themselves to Rome by accepting papal supremacy become part of Babylon and thus form this third component of end- time Babylon, the False Prophet.
THESE THREE POWERS: non-Christian religions and governments, apostate Protestantism, and Roman Catholicism will become allies in Armageddon—the final war against God, His law, and His loyal followers. This coalition is called
“Babylon the great” by Jesus in
Revelation 18:2.
WE MUST TEST THE SPIRITS.
The Bible warns that we must test the spirits (
1 John 4:1). If they do not agree with the Bible, they are counterfeits (
Isaiah 8:19-20). Further, the true gifts of the Holy Spirit are never given to one who deliberately and knowingly disobeys God (
Acts 5:32). There is a true gift of tongues. It is a miraculous enabling to fluently speak foreign languages previously unlearned and unknown by the speaker (
Acts 2:4-12). God uses this gift when needed to present His end-time message to those of other languages. It was needed at Pentecost because 17 language groups were in the crowd and His disciples didn’t know all of those languages.
Friend, this is not the time to be playing and trifling with any known sin; for we are in the time of the fearful sealing of God's faithful children (
Revelation 7:1-3). And so we must do now is to always examine ourselves whether we are truly in the faith or not (
2 Corinthians 13:5). This is not the time to be glued on our seats watching various TV programmes, shows, movies and other forms of worldly amusements; for if we do this, we will be exchanging our eternal inheritance for a slice of
“bread and pottage of lentils” (
Genesis 25:29-34).
This is the time to consecrate our hearts and mind to God and to His service. This is the time to diligently fast and pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our lives so we can resist sin. Friends, this is the time to study God's Word like never before so that we can overcome the enemy as Christ overcame him in the wilderness of temptation (
Matthew 4:1-11). The deception that is soon to break upon our world will require a constant watching to overcome and be victorious (
Matthew 24:24). Thus, Christ encourages us with the words:
"Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame" (
Revelation 16:15).