Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world
and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and
serve him only.'”
Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. – Matthew 4:8-11
What business does the devil have offering Jesus, God the Son, the Creator of the World,
these kingdoms? Was that nonsense? Or was it a legitimate offer? Satan is called “The god of
this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4), “The prince of this world” (John 12:31), and “The prince of the
power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). Because of the fall of man and the corruption that resulted
from the fall, the devil does have control of the kingdoms of the world today. That is not to say
that every single nation is corrupt. There was a time in our country that we were not influenced
much by Satan. Godly people came here to begin a nation under God with religious freedom. In
those days, before we had a federal government, there were states, like William Penn’s “Holy
Experiment” in Pennsylvania, that were almost theocracies. A theocracy is a government where
God rules literally. But, for the most part, nations become ungodly. The people forget their
blessings from God. Leaders become corrupt, and even a good nation like ours drifts, until they
no longer seek and receive God’s blessing. We have reached the point where many people say
America is a “post-Christian” nation. It hurts to admit this. The good news is that we can return
to our devotion to the Lord. We could have a revival. Many people feel there is a great renewal
of faith brewing in our nation. However, America is not the Christian nation it once was.
In terms of world empires, there have only been, since Nebuchadnezzar, four world
empires, and all of them have been dominated by evil. Your history teachers have probably told
you this is true even if they were not Christians. These evil empires tolerated immorality and
became corrupt. They were brutal. And they collapsed internally because of their sin and
corruption. The devil had a right to offer these kingdoms to Jesus. But why would Jesus want
those corrupted kingdoms? Jesus is going to come back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, to
set things up as they ought to be. He doesn’t need the devil’s help, and he doesn’t need the devil’s
kingdoms. He would never have accepted that offer, but the devil thought that was his “best
card.” Unfortunately, Satan does have control over the corrupt kingdoms of the world today.
Revelation’s Beasts
The Revelation picks up the theme of the final evil world empire in chapters 12 through
18. To summarize what is given in Revelation 12, the devil is symbolically pictured as a great
red dragon with seven heads. The dragon tries to destroy Israel and Israel’s Messiah as soon as
he is born. The seven heads are explained in Revelation 17:9-11 as seven empires that have
opposed God’s will. In that description, it is said that five have come and gone, one still exists,
and one is yet to come. The one that existed at that time was Rome. The five that had come and
gone would undoubtedly be Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. The future evil
empire will be formed in the End Times, and we could well be witnessing the creation of this
monstrosity in our generation.
One striking aspect of the seven-headed dragon is the fact that his final head has 10
horns.
“The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour
will receive authority as kings along with the beast. 13They have one purpose and will give their
power and authority to the beast.‖ -Revelation 17:12
In various prophecies, horns are symbols of power. In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, the final
evil world empire was symbolized by the feet of iron and clay. The feet would have 10 toes.
Details of how this prophecy will be fulfilled can only be educated guesses at this point, but there
will be 10 rulers who will give their power to him. One possibility comes from the history of the
formation of the European Union, which now occupies much of the old Roman Empire. The
first 10 nations to join the European Economic Union (EEU), which was the precursor of the
modern European Union (EU), still held exclusive membership in the Western European Union
(WEU) until recently. Jack Kinsella explains that these 10 nations represent “Old Europe.” They
have maintained Europe’s military security,16 but those functions were scheduled to be
transferred to the EU in July, 2011.17
In Revelation chapter 13, the Beast, who is controlled by the devil, is also depicted as a
seven-headed dragon, though this one is not red. This chapter reveals details about the Beast’s
economic dictatorship, the erection of a statue in the Temple, which becomes the prophesied
“Abomination of Desolation,” and the imposition of the “Mark of the Beast.”
Rise of Satan’s Final Religion
This horrific story is carried forward in chapters 17 and 18 of Revelation with a vision of
the final evil empire, again seen as a seven-headed dragon, energized by the devil and led by the
Beast. In this chapter a prostitute is riding the Beast. The title on her forehead reads in part,
“Mystery Babylon the Great, The Mother of Prostitutes.” The woman is symbolic of a false
world religion. Because it is false, it is considered unfaithful to God and therefore a prostitute.
It is identified with Babylon, the fountainhead of all false religion.
As mentioned above in Chapter 4, Alexander Hislop wrote a fascinating history of world
religions called The Two Babylons. In this classic work Hislop demonstrated that Nimrod’s false
religion in Babylon spread through succeeding ages, manifesting itself as idolatrous worship in
virtually all nations. In fact, Hislop demonstrated that most false religions are just corruptions
and perversions of the true faith originally held by Adam and Noah.18
Returning to the vision of the woman riding the beast in Revelation 17, this is a symbol
that a global religion will evidently endorse and further enable the beastly empire to dominate
the world.
