Mystery Babylon Destroyed: The Path to the Antichrist’s Seven-Year Covenant

In the last study, we covered Mystery Babylon. It is both a spiritual condition driving the governments of man and also represents a final end-time physical city. Until the time comes, the name of that city will not be known with certainty. But it is going to be a city in the end times that controls the wealth of the world.

I have also explained in previous studies that there will be ten kings who give power to the Antichrist. Now I will explain how Mystery Babylon and the ten kings relate to the rise of this Antichrist.

When the ten kings rise, they will work quickly to build up the final kingdom that will be ruled by the Antichrist when he comes. Since we already revealed the meaning of the beast in a previous study (it is a world empire), I do not need to explain that again.

These ten kings lend their strength and power to help the nation represented as the beast become strong. In another previous study, we have already revealed what that nation will be. It is the nation called Syria. These ten kings will work together to build Syria into a strong nation, making it ready to become a world empire.

But something stands in their way. Mystery Babylon — that city that controls the wealth of the world — prevents them from strengthening it into a world power.

Mystery Babylon is not just the city itself that prevents them from making Syria into a world empire. It is the entire monetary system controlled by the city. Since their desire is to join their kingdoms to Syria as part of a world empire, they hate the monetary system of the world and the city that controls it.

They believe Mystery Babylon (the monetary system and the city) is what prevents the world from coming together and uniting. So they are going to destroy it. They “eat her flesh,” meaning they milk the system for all it is worth. Then they “burn her with fire,” meaning they attack the city and destroy it.

The Seven Year Covenant

Chapter 18 of Revelation describes the result of this city’s destruction. The world’s economy is crippled. Trade grinds to a halt, and the kings of the world mourn over it because their wealth was tied to it.

Everything about daily life around the world is affected, and people start looking for a savior. What they receive will be anything but that.

At this time, the ten kings unite their nations into one empire. This is not a one-world government, but multiple nations joining forces.

It is also at this time that they give the Antichrist their loyalty. A covenant is made with him for a term of seven years. They will form a league with him through it. The ten kings expect him to rule alongside them.

It is important to note that when the Bible speaks of this covenant, it never says it is made with Israel. It says it is made with “many.” Most people assume it must be with Israel, but that is not necessarily true.

This is not the only place the Scriptures speak of the Antichrist making a covenant.

Considering that this passage in Daniel seems to assume we already know which covenant it is talking about, we can be almost certain it refers to the one forming this league.

The Third Temple

While all of this is happening, Israel will have been building the third temple. It will be completed around the time of the covenant made with the Antichrist.

If you remember from a past study, I explained the seventy-week prophecy of Daniel. It was to be a total of 490 years in which God would deal directly with Israel. But 483 years into it, the timeline paused. God turned His attention to the Gentiles to bring them in, so the final seven years had to be put on hold.

When Jesus was crucified, the veil in the temple was ripped from top to bottom. God left the temple desolate as He went out to bring in all the nations. From that day on, the temple was never the same.

Truly, the temple was left desolate.

This paused the timeline. The seventy weeks of Daniel’s prophecy were determined for Jerusalem and the temple. No temple, no final week.

Once the temple is rebuilt, the Jewish people will begin offering sacrifices again. But God will not accept them. There is one sacrifice already made that covers all sin. Still, He will take note of them as they attempt to reestablish their relationship with Him, even if it is through the wrong means.

This will be the signal that the prophetic clock has started ticking again, and it will coincide with the league made with the Antichrist being formed.

Peace With Israel

The first three and a half years of this covenant will be a time of relative peace for Israel.

There will be a day when Israel feels safe enough to let its guard down. The Antichrist will seem benevolent to them — so benevolent that Israel will actually grant him military passage through their land.

He is not planning to attack Israel. He is planning to attack the king of the south — Egypt. Since Israel stands between the two nations he must travel through it. He is allowed to do so. Eventually, the king of Egypt recognizes the military buildup and the strategic moves being made. Naturally, this provokes Egypt to prepare for war.

Unfortunately for Egypt, the Antichrist will have already prepared well enough to defeat them. There will be dissension within Egypt’s ranks. Generals will turn against their own leader, and the resulting chaos will lead to many casualties on the Egyptian side.

Yet this will not result in a complete takeover or the overthrow of the Egyptian government. Instead, peace talks will follow. Neither side will intend to uphold its end of the agreement, but it will be enough to calm tensions and call a ceasefire. The Antichrist will then return to his own land with great wealth and increased power.

It is at this point that he begins to turn his heart against Israel. While signs of this shift in his heart begin to slowly appear, it is not yet fully revealed. He returns in peace to his land, but with a stronger kingdom than before.

For the first three and a half years of the tribulation period, he seems peaceful to Israel. Nations prosper as he helps them recover from the economic collapse caused by the destruction of Mystery Babylon. It seems like a period of great peace and harmony. The Antichrist is loved by many.

But he is about to bring the greatest tribulation ever seen by this world — and it starts with a broken covenant. We will look at the beginning of the Great Tribulation and the Abomination of Desolation in the next study.

Continue To Unit 7:20 – The Antichrist’s War with Egypt: The Hardening of His Heart OR

Return To Christianity 101 Unit 7 – The Latter Days – A Detailed Look