In the ethically bad sense of the word…[“Kosmos,” the Greek word for “world” or “world system”] refers to the “order,” “arrangement,” under which Satan has organized the world of unbelieving mankind upon his cosmic principle of force, greed, selfishness, ambition, and pleasure. (Mt. 4:8,9; John 12:31; 14:30; 18:36; Eph. 2:2; 6:12; 1 John 2:15-17). This world-system is imposing and powerful with armies and fleets; is often outwardly religious, scientific, cultured, and elegant; but, seething with national and commercial rivalries and ambitions, is upheld in any real crisis only by armed force, and is dominated by Satanic principles.
— The Scofield Study Bible, 1917 Edition, p. 1342, on Revelation 13:8