Revelation 17-18, Chuck Smith teaching (C2000, 1979 to 1985)

Read as you listen: Chuck Smith on Revelation 17

Read the opening of his teaching

In chapter seventeen, we now have the specific judgment of God upon the false religious system that has damned the souls of so many men through deception. Jesus warned us to "beware of false prophets who will come looking like sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" (Matthew 7:15). And the false religious system, which traps the souls of men and its judgment, is coming. Chapter seventeen tells us of this judgment.

Babylon is used in the scripture as a symbol of confusion, because it was in Babylon where man, in rebellion against the living God, decided to build a tower whereby they could communicate with the universe. Ancient man was not as primitive and ignorant as we think him to be. They had tremendous means of communication. Perhaps even superior to ours, because there are indications that they had developed methods whereby they could communicate with other beings outside of the earth.