Revelation 17:16 Another Theory Concerning the Destruction of Babylon the Great

Update: I recently published an article questioning the assumption that both the ten kings and the beast hate Babylon the Great and destroy Babylon the Great with fire. Instead, I mention the possibility that the ten kings alone hate Babylon the Great and destroy her with fire. This article is available at the following: link

I wrote an article a couple of weeks ago listing some potential theories that may account for why the beast and the ten horns grow to hate Babylon the Great and eventually decide to destroy Babylon the Great with fire. Shortly after posting that article, I thought of another theory which may explain why this development occurs.

• Today I share this theory with you

The Antichrist’s Ego:
The Antichrist is likely going to possess the biggest ego in human history. Isaiah 14:11-14, Daniel 11:36, and 2 Thessalonians 2:4 indicate the Antichrist will exalt himself above everyone else. Antichrist will even go as far as to demand to be worshiped like he is God:

Isa 14:11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. Isa 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! Isa 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Dan 11:36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Dan 11:37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Babylon the Great’s Ego:
Isaiah 47 and Revelation 18 suggest that Babylon the Great may have an ego that rivals the Antichrist’s ego. First consider that the harlot will consider herself a queen of the world (the lady of kingdoms):

Isa 47:5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.

Rev 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Furthermore, Isaiah 47 states that Babylon the Great will say “I am” in her heart, which is arguably a claim of divinity since Exodus 3:13-14 reports that God calls Himself “I AM”:

Isa 47:7 And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. Isa 47:8 Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: … Isa 47:10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.

Exo 3:13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

Babylon the Great’s “I am” claim is essentially the equivalent of the Antichrist declaring himself to be God.

A Clash of Egos
The reason that I mention the extreme ego possessed by both the Antichrist and Babylon the Great is that I think the possibility exists for there to be a major clash of egos to eventually develop in the latter portion of the End Times between the two.

• Each sees themselves a world ruler and the one who should be exalted the most.

I mentioned in my previous article concerning Babylon the Great’s interaction with the nations of the Earth that Babylon the Great may be one of the main vehicles that the beast utilizes to influence people to worship him and to persecute his enemies. The harlot will deceive the inhabitants of the Earth and corrupt the Earth with her allure:

• Rev 18:23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

• Rev 19:2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.

The use of Babylon the Great to entice the kings of the earth and the inhabitants of the earth to follow the beast’s agenda may create a situation where some of the earth’s inhabitants develop a deep attachment to the harlot. For instance, the devastated reactions of the kings of the earth, the merchants of the earth, and the sailors of the earth to Babylon the Great’s destruction suggests that these groups of people have a strong attachment to the harlot:

Kings of the Earth	Merchants	Sailors
Rev 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.	Rev 18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: … Rev 18:16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!	Rev 18:17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, Rev 18:18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! Rev 18:19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

In contrast, Revelation 17:12, 17:13, and 17:17 suggest that the ten kings are primarily loyal to the beast because they agree to surrender their power to him and work with the beast with one mind.

• Rev 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
• Rev 17:13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

• Rev 17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

The ten horns/kings may not be as attached to the harlot like the other kings of the earth since they are primarily loyal to the beast (see the appendix to see why I distinguish between the ten kings and the kings of the earth). Unsurprisingly, the ten kings will agree to go along with the beast’s wishes to destroy the harlot even if they have any reservations about doing so.

• Revelation 17:16 says that the ten kings will hate the harlot so I doubt these ten kings are going to have any major reservations about destroying the harlot.

The Theory: The Antichrist may grow to hate the harlot as he observes the harlot’s extremely egotistical attitude and observes people’s attachment to the harlot. The Antichrist wants undivided loyalty from the inhabitants of the earth since he demands to be worshipped like he is God. However, the Antichrist may not fully receive the undivided loyalty of everyone on Earth with some people attached to the harlot. The harlot’s attitude that it’s the sole ruler of the world may be interpreted by the Antichrist as a challenge to his authority because he is the only one in his mind who is supposed to rule the world.

Two of the world’s most evil entities during the End Times may vie for the position as the world’s top entity. The Antichrist, arguably human history’s biggest egotist, along with his associates may destroy the harlot with fire as a move to eliminate the “competition”. The destruction of the harlot at the hands of the Antichrist and the ten kings may be an example of Satan being divided against himself and reaching an end.

Mat 12:25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: Mat 12:26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?

Mar 3:23 And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? Mar 3:24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. Mar 3:25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. Mar 3:26 And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.

Perhaps pride may play a role in the downfall of Satan’s kingdom…

A Potential Weakness to the Theory
One potential counter to the theory I’ve presented is Revelation 13:4, which suggests that the people of Earth will worship the beast. The fact that people will go as far as to worship the beast suggests that the people will have a large amount of loyalty to the beast:

• Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

I argue that the Antichrist may not have the blind loyalty of everyone on Earth during his reign. Revelation 16:13-14 suggests that three unclean spirits need to perform miracles to convince the kings of the earth to agree to gather for “the battle of that great day of God Almighty” or the Battle of Armageddon:

• Rev 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
• Rev 16:14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

If the kings of the earth were totally loyal to the beast there would be no reason to send unclean spirits to persuade the kings of the earth to gather for battle. The kings of the earth would simply follow beast’s orders voluntarily without needing to have miracles performed in front of them.

Remember, this explanation is just a theory. Theories can be disproved. If you find a problem with this theory or parts of this theory feel free to voice your critique. I plan to study this topic more in-depth this weekend. If I find something to disprove this theory or think of something else I'll let you know.

Appendix
At the moment, I believe the ten kings are a separate group from the kings of the earth since their attitude towards the harlot seems different. The ten kings associated with the beast will hate the harlot while the other kings will be upset over the harlot’s destruction:

Rev 17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

Rev 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

In addition, Revelation 17 appears to distinguish between the kings of the earth and the ten kings associated with the beast (ten kings vs. kings of the earth):

Rev 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: Rev 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. … Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Rev 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.