And there came one of the seven angels which had the
seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come
hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great
whore that sitteth upon many waters. (Revelations
17:1)
There is some strong language coming from an angel, a
whore! We all know what a whore means, a prostitute who
sells their body for money. Obviously, what we have here is
an entity that has sold themselves for riches. Sitting upon the many waters equates to sitting upon the whole world.
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With whom the kings of the earth have committed
fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have
been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
(Revelations 17:2)
Whoever this entity is, they’re in bed with many leaders
of the earth. What we are being shown so far is we have an
entity who has prostituted themselves to the many leaders
of the world for money and riches. Also, what this whore
has created with that money has made the inhabitants of the
earth drunk with her pleasures.
So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness:
and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast,
full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and
ten horns. (Revelations 17:3)
Once again, John is carried away into the wilderness. John
the Baptist preached in the wilderness. Jesus spent forty days there, but that was near the Jordan River in Judea. If you
remember correctly, this is the same place the 144,000 Jews
were carried to on wings of eagles for three and half years.
My best guess is that this is a place that isn’t on earth nor in heaven. If it was in heaven, John would say so, and since you won’t see many seven-headed ten-horned beasts in the
desert of Judea, I doubt it is there. It seems a place that is full of symbolism.
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Does this beast sound familiar? Seven heads and ten
horns? It should, it’s the same number of heads and horns
that the dragon Lucifer and the beast the Antichrist has. The beast here is scarlet-colored, the dragon of Lucifer is colored red. Scarlet is a variation of red, so I’m assuming that this woman is riding the dragon of Lucifer, which also says is full of names of blasphemies. In other words, this beast, like the Luciferian dragon, is declaring itself to be God. Then again, this beast could also be Lucifer’s son, the Antichrist.
In the first and second verses, she is called a whore, here
she is called a woman.
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet
colour, and decked with gold and precious stones
and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full
of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.
(Revelations 17:4)
The woman is wearing purple, the color of royalty, and
scarlet, the same color as the beast she rides. All dressed up in the finest of jewelry, she has a golden cup in her hand which declares abominations. Anytime I see the word blasphemy
or abomination, it’s my opinion it is someone declaring themselves to be God. Heaven’s opinion of her fornicating or being in bed with the leaders of the world to be filthy. There is nothing clean about this woman: she rides the beast and
commits fornications with world leaders and declares herself to be God. This is not a respected woman in heaven’s opinion.
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And upon her forehead was a name written,
MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE
MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINA-
TIONS OF THE EARTH. (Revelations 17:5)
The name of this woman is in capital letters so they are
placing special emphasis on this.
Here is a very short summary of Babylon’s history. Babylon
was a city founded in 1894 bc by the Amorites in the area
known as Mesopotamia along the Euphrates River. It’s been
estimated that Babylon was the largest city in the world in
the eighteenth and seventeenth centuries bc. It was destroyed and then rebuilt and controlled by the Assyrians from 911
to 609 bc until it fell to the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans then named Babylon the capital of the Babylonian Empire from
609 to 539 bc with a population of 200,000 or more. When
the Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the
first temple in Jerusalem in 587 bc, they captured and carried away many Jews to Babylon.
The city was captured by the Persians under Cyrus in 539
bc, and many of the Jews were returned back to Israel. The
city was later captured by Alexander the Great in 331 bc.
With Alexander’s death in 323 bc, his empire was divided
into four parts and decades of fighting soon followed by the generals who took over the city and deported the inhabitants to Seleucia. After this deportation, the city never recovered.
After looking at the history, I doubt that the name
Babylon on her forehead is to be taken as a literal name for 198 |
this woman. After all, the city became insignificant due to
infighting among the Greeks long before John’s time. It’s
to be used symbolically, but what does the name mean and
whom does it represent?
In the apocryphal books of Ezra and Baruch and the
Sibylline oracles, Babylon is a cryptic name for Rome.
The early Christians of that day used cryptic code words to
have certain meanings that only they and not the authorities would know. Since the Roman Empire was the ruler of the
day, they would use the term Babylon to mean Rome so that the Romans would have no idea what these Christians were
talking about. It makes sense to use Babylon as that symbol
since Babylon did rule the Jews for seventy years in Israel’s past and Rome ruled them at the time of the apostles, so the symbolism fits well.
Therefore, it’s my conclusion that the name Babylon on the woman means Rome. So if we substitute the title, we have
“Rome the mother of harlots and abominations of the Earth.”
But wait, it doesn’t stop there. This woman has been
labeled a harlot. So let’s take a look at what a harlot means.
A harlot means a prostitute or a whore. It’s my belief we are getting into symbolism when the term harlot is being used.
Jesus referred to his true church as the bride of Christ,
which would mean a woman dressed in white. This Roman
woman here wears the color scarlet instead of white.
Scarlet is the color of the college of cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church.
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An abomination is something which causes disgust or
detestation, it’s something repugnant. An example of this
would be to declare yourself to be God in heaven’s view. The kingdom of heaven would be repulsed by anyone other than
Jesus who declared themselves to be the Lord. This is what
the Antichrist will do three and half years after confirming a peace treaty with the many, declaring himself to be the Lord of lords and King of kings. Daniel calls it the abomination
which causes desolation.
Also anyone declaring themselves to be the “Vicar of
Christ” which means Christ’s earthly representative would
also be an abomination. The reason being that Christ’s
representative on earth is the Holy Spirit, not any mortal
man, such as the pope of the Roman Catholic Church. A
vicar or representative for Jesus must be perfect as Jesus was and that can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit, not an imperfect man. So declaring yourself as Christ’s vicar is an abomination in the sight of heaven.
What we have here with this woman is a Roman whore
who commits abominations. Mystery Babylon is the Roman
Empire who later became the Roman Catholic Church.
And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the
saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and
when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
(Revelations 17:6)
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Another reason to believe that Babylon refers to Rome.
How many saints were fed to the lions at the Roman Coliseum?
How many Christians were set on fire and used as lamps by
the Roman Emperor Nero? How many were crucified?
From the time of this new religion called Christianity
until the Roman Emperor Constantine declared Christianity
the official state religion in ad 312, the followers of Jesus were under constant and unceasing persecution from the Roman
Empire. This woman is definitely drunk with the blood of
the saints.
Once the council of Nicea was held and Rome became the
official religion of the empire, they went after the “heretics”
such as the Gnostic Christians and anyone who didn’t bow
down to their Roman beliefs. More bloodshed. From then on,
we have the Crusades and the inquisition of the Middle Ages.
From there, the Protestant Reformation and more blood. The
Roman church cannot deny the amount of blood they have
spilt in their name.
Keep in mind there are many good Christians who call
themselves Catholics today. But the history of their church
leaves a lot to be desired, and they’ve spilt a hell of a lot of blood in the name of Christ.
And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou
marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and
of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven
heads and ten horns. The beast that thou sawest was,
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and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit,
and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth
shall wonder, whose names were not written in the
book of life from the foundation of the world, when
they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
(Revelations 17:7–8)
“The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall
ascend out of the bottomless pit.” This is another reason that I believe it’s the reincarnated Nero, who was, and is not in John’s time. On the other hand, this beast who was, and is
not, could refer to our times. A future leader who has a head wound who is miraculously healed as was discussed previously.
Either case would fit this description.
It could also be both. A reincarnated Nero who comes to
life in the form of someone else, suffers a head wound, and
comes back to life under the power of Lucifer.
Notice those that wonder will be they whose names are
not written in the book of life from the foundation of the
world. In other words, those that are keeping watch will not be fooled by any of this. The true believers will know all about this deception beforehand. Hopefully, this book helps with
that, which is the sole intention of this manuscript, to help those saints who are enduring the tribulation.
And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven
heads are seven mountains, on which the woman
sitteth. (Revelations 17:9)
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This is another reason to suspect Rome. It’s always been
called the city of seven hills.
A prostitute centered in the city of Rome. Gee, I wonder
who that may be. Any guesses?
And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is,
and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh,
he must continue a short space. (Revelations 17:10)
The list of Roman emperors and their reigns are as follows:
Augustus from 31 bc to ad 14
Tiberius from ad 14 to ad 37
Caligula from ad 37 to ad 41
Claudius from ad 41 to ad 54
Nero from ad 54 to ad 68
Three intermediate emperors for one year.
Vespasian from ad 69 to ad 79
Titus from ad 79 to ad 81
Domitian from ad 81 to ad 96
Nerva from ad 96 to ad 98
Here we can begin with the Roman emperors starting
with the man who was the first emperor, Augustus. If that is the case, the list of the five who was would be from Augustus to Nero, and the one who is would be one of the three
intermediates or Vespasian, and Titus would be the one who
is to come.
Or we can make our list beginning with the first emperor
after the founding of the Christian church. That list would
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be from Caligula to Titus as those who was, Domitian as the
one who is, and Nerva as the one who is to come. Since most
theologians list the writing of revelations during the reign of Domitian, I’m going with the latter list.
And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the
eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
(Revelations 17:11)
This list tells us the identity of the Antichrist. The beast is one of the seven Roman Emperors of yesteryear.
Nero fits on either list. He was, is not, and is of the seven.
Number 5 on the list if you begin with Augustus and number
3 if you begin with Caligula.
The eighth which is the Antichrist is of the seven which is
a good reason to select Nero.
And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings,
which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive
power as kings one hour with the beast. (Revelations
17:12)
The ten horns are ten leaders of our future who haven’t
received power yet but will when the Antichrist comes to
power. A ten-nation confederacy allied itself with the beast who will rule the last seven years of this age.
It says here the kings here will receive power for “one
hour.” Personally, I don’t believe that is literally for one hour.
If we go by the Daniel’s interpretation of one week is the
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same as seven years, then one day is a year. Then that would place one hour of a twenty-four–hour day as the equivalent of 15.2 days out of a year, and I doubt that is correct as well. That would mean the ten kings would only rule a little more than
two weeks with the beast. Therefore, I believe one hour to be a figure of speech, he could have easily said a short season instead, or just a little while.
These have one mind, and shall give their power and
strength unto the beast. (Revelations 17:13)
A ten-nation coalition shall give all their power and
strength to the Antichrist. They will hand over the keys to
these nations and will be ruled by one man.
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb
shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King
of kings: and they that are with him are called, and
chosen, and faithful. (Revelations 17:14)
This ten-nation confederacy makes war with Jesus and his
true Church. He throws them into prison, kills them, and
makes many martyrs, but in the end is defeated because Jesus is Lord and this counterfeit isn’t. This is a battle of the two sons. The son of Lucifer versus the son of God and it will be a massacre. When times looks their bleakest for the tribulation saints, remember this passage of scripture, be assured, the
victory is ours.
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And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest,
where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes,
and nations, and tongues. (Revelations 17:15)
The prostitute, which is a false religious system as well
as a false social system, will be in control of the entire world during the time period of the Antichrist for a season, until…
And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast,
these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate
and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with
fire. (Revelations 17:16)
Until the Antichrist and the ten-nation confederacy burns
Rome to the ground.
In the beginning, the whore and the ten nations of the
Antichrist will be in league with each other. It will be a
sellout of this church in order to protect itself. This will buy this harlot time until the ten nations do a double cross and in the end destroy her.
For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will,
and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast,
until the words of God shall be fulfilled. (Revelations
17:17)
This isn’t the first time God has used the enemy to fulfill
his will. This happened quite frequently in the Old Testament.
The Assyrians sacked the northern Kingdom of Israel for
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transgressions and then he turned around and sacked them
with a massive earthquake. The Babylonians sacked Jerusalem
and then were sacked by the Persians. The Romans sacked
Jerusalem and they in turn were sacked by the Visigoths. Now the Roman Catholic Church will be burnt to the ground and
those who burnt her will be themselves destroyed. This is how God works. As you give so shall you receive. Those whom
take up the sword shall be killed by the sword. Those who
persecuted the righteous shall in turn be persecuted. It’s the universal law of whatever you send out you receive.
And the woman which thou sawest is that great
city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
(Revelations 17:18)
The Roman Empire ruled in the time of the Apostle John,
the Roman Catholic churched ruled during the Middle Ages
and rules one billion today, and Rome will rule the economic world in the future of the Antichrist. Until of course, it is turned into ashes. Rome is most assuredly Babylon.