Verses 1-2 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: 2 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.
Remember that the Apostle John is seeing a series of visions and that the contents of these visions are not chronological. So the end of everything on Earth is written about in chapters 6, 10, and 16, and now another aspect of the judgement of God is written about here. It would be interesting to know which angel talked to the Apostle John so that it would be known which vial this angel had, but alas, there are so many things not known but which have to be taken with and by faith.
As stated before, the LORD God sees idolatry and false religions as harlots or whores. Just as a harlot is not faithful to her husband and enters into sexual impurity with others, metaphorically a harlot or whore is not faithful to the one true God and to the one true faith but enters into and presents a religious lie. The great whore indicates not just any false religion and idolatry, but one that is large, abundant or numerous, and old in age. It has been around for a long time. The Greek word translated as “sitteth” is “kathemai” and it means to sit down, sit by, to dwell, to seat one’s self, to occupy a place, or to have a fixed abode. The “eth” ending means that this sitting or occupying or dwelling is ongoing. The Greek word translated as “waters” is “hudor” and it means water but it also is used figuratively to mean many peoples. See verse 15 below, and remember that Bible always proves Bible. So this false religious system with its idolatry is prevalent in large quantity and among many people throughout the Earth and has been in existence for a long time. The Greek word translated as “fornication” is “porneuo” from which comes the English word pornography. So the political leaders of the Earth have metaphorically given themselves over to idolatry or the worship of idols and to false religions and to the service of the Devil. Who is this metaphorical whore? Verse 5 below identifies it as Babylon the Great.
Application: When trying to understand Scripture, the best and only source to use to identify meanings is other Scripture verses. Hence the term “Bible proves Bible”. God is not the author of confusion. If He had His servants write something that is not easily understood by the reader, He always provides the interpretation via other parts of His Word. As stated before, hundreds of books have been written by people trying to explain the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and most of them have information that is not correct because the writers of these books do not search the Scripture and find the answers to the questions, but seek and use outside sources.
Most Bible scholars have identified this great whore as the institution of Catholicism. Why? Because this religious system is false and anti-Christ, is world wide in scope (large, abundant or numerous), and had been round since 315 A.D. (old in age). Its geographical center, Rome, is a city built on seven hills, and it has had power and authority over earthly rulers for as long as it has been in existence. It is also a very rich organization with its own banking system, and it owns copious amounts of real estate all over the world. But does this false religious system have to be comprised of only one institution? Not really. This writer would like to point out that Catholicism (and all other false religions) has its origin in witchcraft. Witchcraft and mother earth worship has been around since the days of Nimrod recorded in Genesis chapter 10. It is the Devil’s main religion and it is thriving today world wide. It has permeated Hollywood and the entertainment industry (remember the programs Charmed, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Medium, the Ghost Whisperer, and so forth?), and in the last few years it has been revealed that many political elites are involved in the practices of witchcraft. The advent of the Harry Potter books brought witchcraft into the schools, libraries and the minds of children. It is everywhere and it is getting stronger every day. Witchcraft speaks of a “force”. Do you remember “the force be with you” from the Starwars movies? So Wicca or witchcraft is also a false religion that is anti-Christ, is world wide in scope, is very old in age, and is very profitable for those involved in it. And then there is Judaism. It has been around since the days of the Babylonian Empire and so it is much older than Catholicism. It is anti-Christ, is world wide in scope, is rich and has power and authority over earthly rulers, and has its geographical center in Jerusalem which is also a city built on seven hills. So briefly, witchcraft spawned the false religions that led up to the religion of Babylon. Babylon then spawned Judaism and Judaism spawned Catholicism. These three false religions are alive and well today and make up the major part of Satan’s anti-Christ religious system. So this writer thinks that the great whore identified as Babylon the Great in verse 5 below is a composite of all three of these Satanic religions. Could it be that the three frogs in Revelation 16:13 are the devils of these false religious systems?
Verses 3-4 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. 4 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:
To be carried away in the spirit means that the Apostle John’s body was still on the Isle of Patmos but his spirit was walking with the spirit being or angel. The Greek word translated as “wilderness” is “erenos” and it means solitary, lonely, desolate, and uninhabited, and figuratively it is used to mean many people. The color scarlet or red metaphorically represents sin in Scripture. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18 Scarlet is also the color of blood. So this beast or earthly governmental system is corrupt and sinful and sheds blood, and the whore is sitting upon it. This system is blasphemous or anti-Christ. The Greek word translated as “heads” is “kephale” and in the verse above it means anything supreme, chief, or prominent. The number ten in Scripture represents worldly government or control and horns are a symbol of strength and power. So to recap verse 3 above, the Apostle John is shown by an angel a false religious system that is sitting upon a corrupt and anti-Christ political/governmental system that is among the peoples of the Earth and that is powerful, supreme, and prominent.
Debate has often been as to who is in charge here. Is the whore riding the beast and directing it or is the beast carrying the whore and therefore in charge? This writer, having horses and being familiar with sitting upon a very strong animal that has a mind and will of its own and yet is controllable, would have to say that the whore is in charge and is directing the actions of the earthly political/governmental system. A reading of verse 4 above describes in the natural a woman who is dressed richly and not in disarray which, in the natural, she would be if not in control of her mount. And in the natural, the woman would not be able to hold a cup containing anything if not in control of that upon which she was sitting. Metaphorically, if the false anti-Christ governmental system was in control, the false religious system would not be described as so rich and powerful. So the false religious system is controlling the corrupt earthly anti-Christ governmental system.
In verse 4 above, this figurative whore is dressed in purple which is the color of royalty, and in scarlet which is also a color of royalty and representative of sin and of bloodshed. This whore is rich as it has gold, precious stones, and pearls. And purple and scarlet are colors used extensively in the institution of Catholicism, and in other religious settings.
Verse 5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Remember that the forehead is metaphor for thinking and for intelligence, as physically in the natural the forehead protects the brain where all creatures process data upon which they act or don’t act. Notice that there is a comma between Mystery and Babylon. So the name or title of this false religious system is first MYSTERY, the meaning of which is a hidden thing, a secret, something confided only to the initiated and not to ordinary mortals, not obvious to the understanding, a hidden purpose or counsel, or in other words this harlot represents what is termed today as a secret society. Witchcraft, Catholicism and Judaism all have their secret aspects not open to the lower level people but only to the power elite.
The second part of the name or title of this false religious system is Babylon the Great. The historical nation of Babylon was a great nation in strength, power, land mass, and wealth. As Satan attempts to take control of the Earth away from God Almighty and to set up his one world kingdom, he has used all the various false religions and secret societies and corrupt leaders of the various nations to mimic a nation that has strength, power, land mass, and wealth. The physical nation of Babylon was one of Satan’s grand achievements and he would like to bring back this one world government. However, when Belshazzar the king and the leadership blasphemed God and the things of God, they were conquered in one night by the Medo-Persians. See Daniel chapter 5. The culture of Babylon has lived on politically as each nation that followed adopted the ways of the heathen, and the religions of Babylon have lived on in the false religions of witchcraft, Catholicism, and Judaism as set forth in the Babylonian Talmud. So Babylon is no longer a geographical power, but a spiritual power operating at the behest of Satan. And the day will come when the LORD Jesus Christ returns to this Earth that, like Babylon of old, spiritual Babylon will be destroyed.
What does “The Mother of Harlots” mean? It is metaphor for the source of something. Out of this false religious system has come other religions and religious institutions that have muddied the truth of the Gospel and the simplicity of the Salvation message. Examples are Masonry, Mormonism, Scientology, and most mainstream organized evangelical establishment churches which are no longer preaching and teaching the whole truth of the Word of God.
Verse 6 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.
Historically, Judaism has persecuted the Church of Jesus Christ since the day of Pentecost as recorded in the book of Acts. Their persecution started with their conspiracy to murder their Messiah, Jesus Christ, and continues to this day. Likewise, the institution of Catholicism has persecuted and murdered Christian believers down through the centuries. At least 50,000 Christians and non-Catholics were tortured and murdered during their so call “inquisition”. The Inquisition was a tribunal set up by Pope Gregory IX around 1232 for the purpose of suppressing what they deemed to be heresy. It became notorious for the use of torture. Then in 1542 the papal Inquisition was reestablished to combat Protestantism (the Church) and is today a part of papal government. Yet the bloody history of the Catholics is not widely taught in academia or any other place easily ascessible. Hollywood has, in their films and television programming, shown Catholics and Jews in a positive light. The priest or the nuns or the rabbi always come to the rescue and are beyond criticism. If Hollywood wants to portray insane religious characters in their story lines, it is invariably the Bible quoting “Christian” heretic that is the evil villain. So yes, the threesome of witchcraft, Judaism and Catholicism fit the description of the figurative woman above drunken with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus. The Greek word translated as “admiration” is “thauma” and it means a marvel, or to wonder. The Apostle John would have seen the persecution of believers by the Apostle Paul prior to Paul’s conversion, and would have been aware of the persecution during his lifetime of the Church. But this vision as recorded in the verses above appears to have been something he was marveling at as he was trying to understand the imagery of the vision. The angel understood what the Apostle John was thinking about and gave him an explanation.
Verses 7-8 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. 8 The beast that thou sawest was, 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.
The bottomless pit, translated from the Greek word “abussos”, is thought to be a deep chasm in the lowest parts of the earth where the abode of demons or devils is located. The beast (a man-made and Satan sanctioned anti-Christ governmental system) was (in existence in the past), and is not (not in existence at the time of this vision), but it shall ascend or come up from or come forth from the demonic/devil abode and be in existence again, and eventually end up perishing, being destroyed, and sent to eternal misery in Hell. This beast is most likely the one recorded in Revelation 11:7. “And when they shall have finished their testimony the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.” Man-made governments are anti-Christ. The one world governments/nations of old were pagan, having false religions full of idolatry, witchcraft, human sacrifice, and Baal worship. They were kingdoms of the Devil. When the Apostle John was writing this book, the nation and government of Rome was in power. The end time beast system is a composite of these nations or one world governments (Egypt, Assyrian, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome), and so it can be described as having once been or “was”, but it “is not” as this system is no longer a single nation but is world wide and not geographically located in one place. This false governmental system will cause people who are serving the Devil and not serving the LORD to marvel at it and to have admiration for it, and to essentially worship it or give their heart to it. All of these one world kingdoms were of Satan. Remember his words to Jesus as recorded in Matthew 4:8-9. “Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me“. The Devil could not offer to give what he did not have possession of.
Verse 9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
Again, there are many cities in the world that are located on seven hills or mountains. Rome and Jerusalem qualify, and Rome and Jerusalem were physically in existence at the writing of this book. Their political intrigue and persecution qualified as “things which must shortly come to pass” (Revelation 1:1). And as has been stated already, Judaism and Catholicism have and still do persecute Christian believers, and both are false religions passing themselves off as ordained by God Almighty. Yet Judaism hates and rejects Jesus Christ, and Catholicism has Jesus Christ as just another god and positions the “Virgin Mary” above Jesus in worship and reverence. And since Catholicism is composed of Christian terminology, and Judaic and witchcraft symbols and practices, they are basically the same anti-Christ organizations being marketed by Satan under different names, one for the Jews and one for the Gentiles. Politically, the Roman Catholic Institution is part of the separate nation of Rome and is involved in banking, commerce, international trade, and world policy decisions. Politically, Judaism is part of Zionism and the reconstructed nation called Israel that resulted from the Balfour Declaration of 1917 is controlling banking, commerce, international trade and world policy decisions. Research it for yourself. These two separate nations with two false anti-Christ religions control much of the world today and they have been working together for world supremacy and domination for centuries. So this writer believes that the harlot or whore is the false religious systems of Judaism and Catholicism and the witchcraft they both embrace and practice, and that the beast she is riding on is the current composite governmental system that had its origin back in Egypt and is today world wide and controlled by the Jewish elite and the Pope. It is a complex system and involves more people and government agencies in more countries than the average individual has any clue about or can fully understand. It has been operating in secrecy. It has been called the shadow government, the Illuminati, the Deep State, Communism, Socialism and so forth, but it is all one system under the control of Satan with the goal of usurping the LORD Jesus Christ as King of Kings and of destroying God’s people, His Church, and His creation.
Verse 10 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.
Kings in the verse above is metaphor for nations and is not meaning specific individuals. This is obvious as there have been thousands of earthly kings down through history and there are multiple kings alive and in power today. Furthermore, at the time of the Apostle John writing these words, five of these “kings” had fallen. These would have been Egypt, Assyrian, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. The one that “is” would be Rome. The one that “is not yet come” this writer believes is/was England as at one time the sayings, “England rules the world” and “the sun never sets on the British Empire”, were true as the British obtained, mostly by force, sea ports all around the world and so controlled the shipping and commerce and therefore the economy of each country. There is no Bible to support this or to support this prophecy being fulfilled by any other nation that has risen up after Rome, so even though it may not be the case, until Scripture or another nation fits the prophecy, England will have to do. Today the British Commonwealth is largely symbolic as most of the countries are independent, or think they are independent of the British Crown. Therefore the British “king” or nation continued “a short space” and did not remain in its original form as a world power for a lengthy period of time.
Verse 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
According to the verse above, the last beast or governmental system is the eighth in a long line of one-world governing nations. Because this system is built on the previous beast systems from the past, it “was” yet it “is not” as, being a composite of Satan’s failed systems, it is different in many aspects to those that failed in the past. It also was not in existence at the time of the giving of this vision to the Apostle John, so again it “is not”. It also “is not” because it is not geographical in nature. Its power is not located in one specific place such as Europe or Asia or the Americas. It is world wide with people working for its advancement located in every nation. It is not identifiable as being China or Russia or Canada for example. It has many headquarters throughout the world from which it controls the nations’ leaders and people. Today, the main components of this beast system are found in Israel, the US, Rome, and England. Since God often does things in threes, Satan must mimic, and his beast system is controlled by Israel but made up of three major parts: Rome is the religious center of this system, England or London is the financial center of this system, and the District of Columbia or Washington D.C. in the US is the military center. These three entities have been responsible for the wars, bloodshed and unrest in the world for the past 100 years or more at the behest of Jewish bankers and financial institutions. And the Jewish involvement goes directly back to the emergence of the House of Rothschild, the wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish family that rose to banking prominence under Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744 – 1812).
Verses 12-14 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. 13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 14 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.
Again, horns are metaphor for power and kings are metaphor for nations and/or their leaders. Ten is metaphor for worldly governments and control. Thanks to the false teachings of C. I. Scofield, people have been looking for the emergence of ten specific nations or countries for as long as this writer has been alive. It was thought that the formation of the European Union was the ten nation confederation, but as more countries joined this political body, there were more that ten nations or kings so that idea was discarded. Then it was thought that the United States was going to be divided up into ten geographical sections and so it was going to be the fulfillment of this prophecy. That has not happened so this idea is also incorrect. This writer will paraphrase the verse above to say, “And the worldly governmental control which thou sawest are worldly controlling leaders from various nations that are working with the power of Satan, but have not yet attained their goal of world dominance and control.” This writer proposes that the present control of the countries of this Earth by the three-fold cooperation of Rome, London and Washington D.C under the financial and political direction of Israel is the fulfillment of this prophecy as these entities are working for and with Satan and have power for a time, but have not yet attained their goal of a one-world anti-Christ government. And they never will as the LORD Jesus Christ will return for His Church and to destroy all that these satanic people are doing and to deal with Satan and his fallen angels once and for all.
Verse 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Notice that this false religious system dwells or occupies the nations and the various dialects or languages of these nations. In other words, it is accepted throughout the whole world.
Verses 16-17 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. 17 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.
Verse 16 is an interesting verse as it indicates that the corrupt anti-Christ governments of the nations work with the false religious system, but actually detest it. The Greek word translated as “hate” is “miseo” and it means to hate, pursue with hatred, or detest. And so there is conflict between the systems Satan has set up to counter that of the LORD Jesus Christ, and this conflict will result in the political system attacking and attempting to destroy the religious system that has been controlling them for so long. This has already been happening as the institution of Catholicism has had its image wounded by the revelations of pedophilia and child trafficking amongst it ranks of priests and by the revealing of its banking system etc. Israel and its government is experiencing bad press because of its violation of human rights regarding the Palestinians, and anti-Jewish sentiment is growing larger. And for those people paying attention, Wicca or witchcraft is slowly being exposed as various rituals and practices that have been known only to its practitioners are being exposed.
Application: Some Christian believers have asked recently, “Can it get any worse?” This is in reference to the sin and social distemper that has permeated the world. And the answer, is “Yes, it can.” Verse 17 above clearly states that the nations and their leaders are fulfilling God’s prophecies. They are willingly giving their people and their nations – their political and financial systems, their religious systems, and their sovereignty – to the Devil. Has this happened before? Yes. Going back to the book of Exodus once again, God put it in Pharaoh’s heart to defy His servants, Moses and Aaron, and as a result, things got very bad in the nation of Egypt. One can only imagine that the Hebrew people living in Goshen, as they watched the 10 plagues destroy the land and all that was in it, also asked, “Can it get any worse?” But just as Pharaoh was fulfilling God’s will, so all the nations of today are fulfilling His will. And just as the Hebrew people were untouched and safe, so will Christian believers today be untouched and safe as they watch everything fall apart. How long will this process take? How long did it take for the 10 plagues of Egypt to happen? No one knows. But the story of the Exodus of the Hebrew people is more than a story or a page in history. It is a template of what is happening today and most likely will continue to happen tomorrow until Jesus appears on that last day.
Verse 18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. (Revelation 17)
Today there is no great city that is dominant or reigning over all the cities of the world. So again, this sentence has to be metaphor or representative of something else. According to verse 5 above, the city is Babylon which represents witchcraft and other false religions, idolatry, and rebellion against the LORD Jesus Christ. This religious system that Satan has set up is prevalent and predominate in all the nations of the Earth. And today Babylon is falling.