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Particulars of Christianity:
314 End Times Prophecy (Eschatology)

Prophetic Symbols: Revelation 17 (Part 3)

Prophetic Symbols: Revelation 17 (Part 1)
Prophetic Symbols: Revelation 17 (Part 2)
Prophetic Symbols: Revelation 17 (Part 3)
Prophetic Symbols: Revelation 17 (Part 4)
Prophetic Symbols: Revelation 17 (Part 5)
Prophetic Symbols: Revelation 17 (Part 6)

Articles 7-12
Articles 13-18
Articles 19-25
Articles 26-29

Now that we have established that the title "son of perdition" is a title that applies to the antichrist even as he is described in Revelation 13, this phrase "son of perdition" will also further corroborate that the Roman angelic prince is the beast who is released out of the bottomless pit.

As we have noted from Revelation 9:11, the angelic king who ascends out of the bottomless pit is called by the name Abaddon or Apollyon, which mean destruction or destroyer. First of all, notice how many times that the antichrist is associated with destruction in Daniel 7, 8, and 11. Twice in Daniel 8:24 the antichrist is said to destroy. A similar statement is also made concerning the antichrist destroying in Daniel 8:25. And Daniel 11:44 states that the antichrist will destroy with great fury. So, the connection of the activities of the antichrist with an angelic king known as Destroyer are quite apparent from Daniel.

But the association is much clearer than that. Not only does the word Apollyon (Apolluon in the Greek) mean destroyer, but the word "perdition" in the phrase "son of perdition" is very closely related to Apolluon. In the Greek, the phrase "son of perdition" reads "son of apoleia." Apoleia (Strong's No. 684) means "destroying" or "utter destruction" in the Greek.

And not only does the title "son of apoleia" associate the antichrist with the angelic king Apolluon in terms of vocabulary and terminology, but the usage of this phrase "son of perdition" is also very informative. This phrase "son of perdition" is only used one other time in scripture.

John 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

Here in John 17:12, Jesus speaks of Judas (who would betray him) as the son of perdition. Now, why are only Judas and the antichrist referred to using the title son of perdition? The answer is that these two men have something in common, which is very peculiar and which scripture does not associate with anyone else.

Luke 22:3 Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.

John 13:2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him...26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

Judas was referred to as the son of perdition because Satan entered into him. But, as we have stated earlier, "Satan" is merely a Greek and Aramaic term meaning "adversary." So, what John 13 and Luke 22 are depicting is that Judas became possessed by one of the adversarial spirits. While it is possible that Judas was possessed by the chief adversary, this description (from Luke 22 and John 13) does not require that this was the case. We must remember from Matthew 12:26 and Mark 3:23 that as Jesus used the term, "Satan" referred to more than one being.

Matthew 12:26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?

Mark 3:23 And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?

As we will further corroborate, at this point we would suggest that the application of the peculiar term "son of perdition" implies that Judas and the antichrist will be possessed by the same angelic being. And from the fact that the word perdition in the Greek is the world apoleia, which means destruction, we would suggest that the phrase "son of apoleia" implies that Judas was and the antichrist will be possessed by the angelic king known as Apollyon, or Apolluon in the Greek, who in the time of the end will ascend out of the bottomless pit. If Judas was possessed by Apolluon, then Apolluon was around in the first century at the time of Jesus Christ. And since Apolluon is an angelic king, if this angelic king was around in the first century at the time of Jesus Christ, then Apolluon would be the Roman angelic prince who was currently ruling the world at that time, as described by Jesus in the following three passages from John.

John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

John 14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

John 16:11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

Now, the phrase "prince of this world" is identical in the Greek in all three of these passages from John. So, we should conclude that it is the same angelic prince that Jesus has in view in all three statements. Notice that in John 12:31 Jesus declares that the prince of this world is cast out "now." But what does the phrase "cast out" refer to?

Does it refer to an angel being put into the bottomless pit? Or does it simply refer to an angel being cast down out of heaven to earth? To answer this, Revelation 12 describes a war in heaven in which Satan, the adversary, is cast out. The word for cast out that we find in John 12:31 is the Greek word "ekballo" (Strong's No. 1544). Ekballo is a compound word derived from two other Greek words, "ek" (Strong's No. 1537), which generally means "out of" and "ballo" (Strong's No. 906), which means "to throw" and is translated "cast" 86 out of the 125 times it occurs in the New Testament. In John 12:31, Jesus says that the prince of this world is cast out using the work "ekballo." In Revelation 12, the devil is said to be cast out three times (v. 9 and 13) using the related root word "ballo."

Revelation 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him...12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. 13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

From Revelation 12:7, we see that the devil is cast out. And verses 8, 11, and 12 tell us plainly what that means. Verse 8 tells us that after losing the war in heaven, the devil and his angels no longer find their place in heaven. So we know that being cast out refers to being cast out of heaven. And from verses 11 and 12 we see that being cast out of heaven means that the devil has been cast down to the earth. So, even though the devil has been cast out of heaven into the earth, he has not been imprisoned in the bottomless pit but allowed to persecute the people of God for three and a half years. In fact, Revelation 20:1-3 records that he is not placed in the bottomless pit until after the three and a half years have ended and the Millennial reign of Christ begins.

What is significant about this comparison of John 12:31 and Revelation 12 is that in Revelation 12 we see that "Satan" is still in heaven right up until the final three and a half years before the Millennial reign and only then is he cast out down to the earth. On the other hand, in John 12:31, Jesus twice uses the Greek word "nun" (Strong's No. 3568.) "Nun" means "at this time, the present, now." So, in John 12:31, Jesus is unequivocally saying that the prince of this world was about to be cast down in the immediate present.

But how can the devil be cast out of heaven right before the crucifixion of Christ Jesus and at the same time remain in heaven to be cast out just three and a half years before the second coming of Christ Jesus to rule for a 1000 years?

The answer is simple. There is more than one Satan, more than one angelic adversary. At the time Jesus spoke those words in John, one of those angelic adversaries was about to be cast down from heaven to the earth. And that angelic adversary who was cast down at that time was described by Jesus as "the prince of this world," which would make him the prince over the Romans, in the same way that the prince of the Persians and the prince of the Greeks were referred to in Daniel 10 during the respective reign of those empires.

And notice also that in Revelation 12, when Satan is cast down, he immediately begins to vigorously persecute the people of God. Well, what happened in Rome after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? The Church (which was both Jew and Gentile) and even the unbelieving Jews were persecuted severely.

"For 250 years it was a martyrs' church; the persecutions were fueled by the refusal of Christians to worship the state and the Roman emperor. There were persecutions under Nero (AD 54-AD 68), Domitian (AD 81-AD 96), Trajan (AD 98-AD 117) and the other Antonines (138-161), Maximin (308-13), Decius (249-51), Valerian (253-60), and Diocletian (284-305) and Galerius (305-10); Decius ordered the first official persecution in 250. In 313, Constantine I and Licinius announced toleration of Christianity in the Edict of Milan." - encyclopedia.com

Not only was persecution almost a constant element in the Christian life during the first three centuries after Jesus' ascension, but in the midst of these very same chapters of John, Jesus himself predicted that it would happen to the disciples.

John 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

John 16:21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world...33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Just as Revelation 12 depicts the devil persecuting the woman who gave birth to the child, which was destined to rule the world, in John 16, Jesus refers to his coming removal from the world by way of his death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven as a woman in the pain of child birth. Then Jesus goes on to state that the disciples will have tribulation in this world.

And as we saw earlier, in John 14, Jesus declared that the same prince of this world who was about to be cast out of heaven is also about to come.

John 14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.

When Jesus here refers to the prince of this world coming and having nothing in him, he is referring back to a previous statement that he had already made earlier in John. In saying that "the prince of this world" has nothing in him, Jesus is referring to his approaching death.

John 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Here in John 10, Jesus tells us plainly what command he is referring to in John 14:31 when he says, "as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do." Jesus is referring to the Father's command for him to lay down his life. Likewise, in John 10, Jesus made it plain that when he died, it would not be because he was overpowered by anyone. Instead, he laid down his life of his own accord. And this is precisely what Jesus is referring to in John 14, when he says, "the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." Jesus' intention is to reassert that the prince of this world who was cast out of heaven in John 12, was coming to kill him, but that this angelic prince did not have any power over Jesus since it was Jesus who laid down his life of his own accord.

And as we have already stated earlier in our study, Paul also records that it was the angelic princes of this world who orchestrated Jesus' crucifixion.

1 Corinthians 2:6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Now that we know that when Jesus said "the prince of this world cometh and he has nothing in me," he was referring to the angelic prince who was at that time (John 12) cast out of heaven and who was coming to orchestrate the crucifixion, we understand also that it was this very same angelic prince who entered into Judas in Luke 22 and John 13. His entering into Judas was part of the way in which he orchestrated the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, as John 13:2 clearly records.

Luke 22:3 Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.

John 13:2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him...26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly...30 He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.

In fact, when Jesus says in John 14 that "the prince of this world cometh" he is referring to the fact that his time to talk with the disciples was short because Judas, whom Satan had entered into, was coming with the mob and the guards to arrest Jesus and have him crucified.

What we see here is a pattern. In John 12, an angelic prince is cast out of heaven to the earth but not yet locked up in the bottomless pit. He enters into Judas and orchestrates the betrayal and then comes to get Jesus through the arrest and take him away to the crucifixion. Then after the resurrection and ascension of Christ Jesus, the persecution of both the Jews and the Christians begins with a vengeance and continues for nearly three hundred years until the persecutions end during the reign of Constantine.

Then, in Revelation 12, we see another adversarial spirit cast down out of heaven and he is not locked in the bottomless pit at that time either, but is allowed to persecute the people of God for three and a half years. However, unlike the Roman prince who was able to orchestrate the persecution of the people of God for centuries, this angelic adversary of Revelation 12 is filled with "great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time" (three and a half years to be exact.)

And somewhere in between that time, the Roman angelic prince who was cast out of heaven in John 12, whose name (or title) is Destroyer (Apollyon), who entered into Judas (the son of apoleia/destruction), who persecuted the people of God for hundreds of years, and whose people destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple (Daniel 9:26) was put down in the bottomless pit where he awaits his release during the final three and a half years before the Millennial reign of Christ. At that time he will be released and will enter into the antichrist (son of apoleia/destruction) and will work with the other angelic adversary who at that time will be cast out of heaven according to Revelation 12.