Although there are further layers to deal with, we’ll start by looking at the reasonably plain and well established interpretation of chapter 17; an interpretation that really does seem compelling from
the biblical text and it’s relation to history.
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me,
“Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the
kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”
(Revelation 17:1-3)
P a g e 50
In verse 15 of the same chapter “the harlot sitting on many waters” is interpreted as “peoples,
multitudes, nations and languages”, thus the harlot obviously has some kind of influence or
dominion over people from many parts of the globe. That the kings of the earth have committed
fornication with her clearly speaks of some kind of unholy union between the great harlot and
political powers. This suggests straight away that the great harlot is not primarily a political power; otherwise she would simply be one of them rather than described as entering into fornication with
them. The most common interpretation is that these verses refer to Catholicism, or to the apostate
church as a whole. (Ultimately there may be little difference between these two versions of the
interpretation since the direction of the apostate Protestant church appears to be back towards
union with Roman Catholicism anyway.) As a system Catholicism has its roots in the adoption of
Christianity as the official religion of the empire by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the fourth
century AD. Apart from being a hybrid of the former pagan religions of the Roman Empire and the
thoughts and terminology of Christianity, another of its defining characteristics has always been the extremely close relationship it’s maintained with the world powers. Though undergoing many
changes in form over time, this characteristic is most clearly visible during the period of “The Holy Roman Empire1”; a period of over 1000 years during which the kings of Europe were more or less
subject to the pope.
So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
(Revelation 17:3)
Here the harlot is pictured as being the rider of “the beast”, a term which from Revelation 13 and
the prophecies of Daniel we clearly understand to refer to empire; thus she is shown as somehow
riding (or controlling) the empire. There is an interesting tension between a rider and the beast
being ridden. Who is really in control? Theoretically the rider, but ultimately the beast is actually the one in control (as anyone who has been thrown off a horse will probably agree). In verse 16 of this chapter the beast turns against the woman to make her desolate and burn her with fire. Why? Well
apart from the fact that God puts it in the heart of the beast to fulfill his purpose (v17), we could also speculate that while the harlot may serve the purposes of the empire in its rise to power, on gaining absolute ascendency the powers of empire may come to resent the meddling of the harlot. It may
also be that the Antichrist, while happy to use apostate Christendom to bring multitudes to worship him, may ultimately seek to bring in a form of pure Satanism that is incompatible even with highly
apostate Christendom.
P a g e 51
The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and
pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written:
MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE
EARTH.
I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.
(Revelation 17: 4-6)
Here the great harlot is shown as being outwardly glorious but inwardly full of abomination. She is also connected in a mysterious way to Babylon, which is described as “the mother of harlots and
abominations of the earth”. Alexander Hislop’s book, The Two Babylon’s2, is the classic work tracing the clear spiritual connection between Roman Catholicism and the “Mystery Religions” of Babylon
(which are also the root of sun cults, occult practice, the New Age and many other false religions).
Therefore, given the Babylonish roots of Roman Catholicism, the common interpretation of
“Mystery, Babylon the great” in Revelation as speaking spiritually of Catholicism is a compelling one.
Yet another clue to the identity of the harlot is given in verse six where we see her as the great
persecutor of the true followers of Jesus. To the reformers, fresh out of the bloodbath of Catholic persecution, this clearly spoke of Roman Catholicism. However, since some reformed movements
later wedded themselves to the secular powers and as a result also ended up persecuting and killing more radically bible based Christians (such as the Anna Baptists), it is questionable whether this
mark of identification could be pinned on Roman Catholicism alone.