The Harlot Who Lost Her Seat

Revelation 17

1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk." 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations." 6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

When I saw her, I marveled greatly. 7 But the angel said to me, "Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. 9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful."

15 And the angel said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth."

Sermon version: https://youtu.be/oPiGa4YVmJ8

Zoom Online Bible Study Meeting Tuesday evening at 7:30 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2402286476

Revelation Studies Video Channel https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCNs0iOkWo_sL2u7vLPOCQ2Q

There is a certain element of truth in Karl Marx's oft-quoted statement that religion is "the opium of the people."

A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, "Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people."

People are incurably religious, because God created them to be worshipers. They will inevitably worship someone or something. Something or someone has to offer some solution to the problems of pain and suffering in our world. People will worship. The antichrist will provide a god to be worshipped in the tribulation time. If people will not worship the true God, then they will worship false gods of their own making. Or in this case one of Satan's making. The centre and power of Antichrist's rule will be that the Antichrist 2Thess 2: 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

Antichrist's final world empire will involve him being worshipped as god. This will hold together his military, economic, and political structure.

The most offensive statement of the Bible is that the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son sent to be the sacrifice for our sins who died at the cross and was raised again the third day is the only way to God. As Peter put it, "Neither is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." The Lord Jesus emphasised the exclusivity of the gospel: "I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Me." Religious leaders throughout the world are denying this essential truth in order to live in "world harmony!"

But the Antichrist will impose himself as the one to be worshipped instead. He will propose that he is the only way, the only truth and the only life. But he will get there through a worship process: the great harlot… one who will begin to be the centre of worship, but will be consumed by the beast and replaced by the beast.

Chapter 17 reveals the spiritual nature of Antichrist's kingdom; chapter 18 follows with its material aspects. God will destroy both aspects of Antichrist's kingdom.

1. The Woman And Her Mysterious Character

During the Tribulation, people will desperately seek religion because of what will be happening in the world. As God's judgment (the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments) devastate the earth and terrorize its inhabitants, people will turn in desperation to Antichrist as their saviour. Aided by the false prophet and hordes of deceiving demons, Antichrist will establish a worldwide religion, "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."

Look At The History

The story of Babylon begins with the Tower of Babel, recorded in Genesis 11:1–9: Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. They said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly." And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. They said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. The Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

Ryrie "Babylon has had a long and consistently dishonorable history. It had its beginnings around 3000 B.C. under Nimrod (Gen. 10:8-10). The tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9) was built to prevent people from scattering throughout the earth, in direct defiance of God's command to do so. Hammurabi made Babylon a religious power about 1600 B.C. by making Marduk god of the city of Babylon and head of a pantheon of 1,300 deities. Extra-biblical sources indicate that the wife of Nimrod became the head of the Babylonian mysteries, which consisted of religious rites that were part of the worship of idols in Babylon. Her name was Semiramis, and she supposedly gave birth to a son, Tammuz, who claimed to be a saviour and the fulfillment of the promise given to Eve in Genesis 3:15.

This anti-God Babylonian religion is alluded to in Ezekiel 8:14, Jeremiah 7:18, and 44:17,19, 25.The queen of heaven in these passages is the goddess Ishtar, an Assyro-Babylonian deity. The fourth Babylonian month, July, was named Tammuz.

The zenith of Babylonia's glory came during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar (604-562 B.C.; cf. Dan. 4:30). But in 539 Babylon was captured by Darius the Mede, and the city began to decline. From about 300 B.C. the city has been in decay. However, in 1986 Saddam Hussein, portraying himself as the successor to Nebuchadnezzar, began to rebuild Babylon, which lies about fifty miles south of Baghdad in Iraq.

Many understand the prophecies of Jeremiah 50,51 to teach that Babylon will never be rebuilt. The activity of Saddam Hussein in that area did not qualify as a rebuilding of Babylon, though this could change in the future, and Babylon on the Euphrates in present-day Iraq might become the capital, or a capital, of the system detailed in Revelation 17,18.

However, others, on the basis of this passage and 1 Peter 5, understand Babylon to be a cryptic reference to Rome. If so, Peter is describing under the label "Babylon" the spiritual nature of Rome, the city, the empire, the civilization, as anti-God. This might indicate that Rome will be the capital, or a capital, of the Babylonian system of Revelation 17,18.

The final world religion, depicted as a harlot, is the theme of this vision, which records the exposure of the harlot, the explanation of the harlot, and the extermination of the harlot.

Look At The Harlotry (5)

5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations."

This depiction of her children as prostitutes and earth's abominations is probably a reference to worship within other religious perspectives. It probably is referring to a false religion that engulfs people.

John's readers would not be surprised when he used an evil harlot to symbolize a wicked city or political system. God even called Jerusalem a harlot (Isa. 1:21). Isaiah said that Tyre was a harlot (Isa. 23:16–17), and Nahum used this same designation for Nineveh (Nah. 3:4). (Read Jer. 50—51 for further historical parallels to John's prophetic message.)

As noted earlier, scarlet is the color of Satan (Rev. 12:3) and of sin (Isa. 1:18). Scarlet was a popular color in Rome, and both scarlet and purple were associated with rank and riches.

The woman's name also involves "mystery" (Rev. 17:5). In the New Testament, a "mystery" is a hidden truth that only the spiritually initiated can understand. To grasp one of God's mysteries requires spiritual intelligence and discernment. In this case, the mystery has to do with Babylon.

"Verse 3 contains an expansion of her unfaithfulness but also constitutes a third point of identification. The kings of the earth have specifically committed adultery with the scarlet woman, and as a result of that union the inhabitants of the earth are intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries. As will be determined later, the woman who is riding the beast is dependent on that beast and, as a religious system, is in union with the beast. Consequently, the fact that the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her suggests an unwholesome union of church and state, which results in the intoxication of all the peoples of the earth."

I think it may be an amalgam. The Pope recently went to Iran. March 8th 2021.

Pope Francis visited parts of northern Iraq once held by Islamic State (IS) militants on the third day of his historic trip to the country. On Sunday the Pope prayed among ruined churches in Mosul, the former IS stronghold, before meeting Christians. Mosul is a major city in northern Iraq. It is the capital of Nineveh governorate and is Iraq's second largest city. Located approximately 400 km (250 mi) north of Baghdad Mosul stands on the Tigris river. Babylon is about 85 kilometers (53 mi) south of Baghdad, in Iraq.

Look At The Horror

3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.

John now sees that this woman is sitting on a scarlet beast covered with blasphemous names and with seven heads and 10 horns. This beast, of course, is the one rising from the sea in chap. 13 and represents the political entity of the last days, providing a fourth hint as to the woman's identification. The fifth insight arises from the ostentation of her wealth. In v. 4, the woman is dressed in purple and scarlet, the colors of royalty, and she is bedecked with gold, precious stones, and pearls. This fifth mark of identification focuses on the incredible wealth in her possession

See the golden cup in her hand, noting that it is filled with abominable things and with the filth of her adulteries. While the chalice is gold, the contents are the filthy contaminants of her licentiousness.

See The Hatred (6)

6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

Three blind mice is about the Protestant Martyrs Latimer Ridley and Cranmer The farmers wife being Queen Mary wife of Philip of Spain.

2. Her Monstrous Consort The Beast

Her Monstrous Consort

The Beast that Carries Her (17:7–18)

Patterson "The seven heads of the beast represent seven hills on which the woman sits.220 These also represent seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one of whom exists at that time, and another who has not yet come; but when he does come, he will remain for a short while. This seventh one is also the eighth kingdom that belongs to the seven and is going to go to destruction.221 This complicated passage has been the ground for almost endless interpretative discussions. The tendency of many interpreters has been to try to discover a reference here to seven Roman emperors, and some have found a reference to the Nero redivivus myth that Nero died but had come back to life.222 John seems to be unaware of this myth, and the reference is more probably to the seven oppressive kingdoms that constantly subjected the people of God to intense persecution. These kingdoms enumerated in Holy Scripture according to Thomas are as follows, "The five kingdoms of the past are the ones who have persecuted God's people: (Egypt, Ezek 29–30; Nineveh or Assyria, Nah 3:1–19; Babylon, Isa 21:9 and Jer 50–51; Persia, Dan 10:13 and 11:2; Greece, Dan 11:3–4)."223 Added to these five kingdoms would be the sixth—the Rome contemporary to John. These evil world systems—Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece—give way to the sixth, which is the Rome of John's day. The seventh follows—the last day of persecution by a world empire; and the eighth, the final expression of that which is actually one of the seven.224

Verse 12 identifies the 10 horns as being 10 kings who have not yet received a kingdom but who will for the short duration of one hour receive authority as kings along with the beast. They are apparently part of a final confederation of kingdoms… The fact that they reign for only an hour is to indicate that they have a relatively short reign. The reason for this is then provided in v. 13: They have just one purpose, which is to give their power and authority to the beast. As a confederacy, they will in v. 14 make war against the Lamb, but this proves not to be a fruitful enterprise. The Lamb overcomes them, and the rationale for that conquering work of the Lamb is that he is in the end both the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Joining him in the final conflict with this 10-horned, seven-headed beast are all of those who are called of God as the elect and faithful." -Patterson

W. W. Wiersbe "Readers in John's day would identify "the harlot" with the Roman Empire. Readers in the Middle Ages might identify it as the Roman ecclesiastical system. Today, some believers see "the harlot" and the Babylonian system in an apostate "world church" that minimizes doctrinal truth, rejects the authority of the Word, and tries to unite professed believers on some other basis than faith in Jesus Christ.

However, in the days when John's prophecy will be fulfilled, an amazing thing will happen: "the harlot" will be made desolate by the very system that carried her! It is important to note that "the beast" carries "the harlot." Satan (and Antichrist) will use the apostate religious system to accomplish his own ends (i.e., attain world power), but then he will do away with "the harlot" and establish his own religious system. And all of this will be the fulfillment of God's Word (Rev. 17:17).

Since "the beast" sets up his image in the temple about the middle of the tribulation, we can assume that "the harlot" and "the beast" work together during those first three-and-a-half years. This is corroborated by the fact that the ten kings assist him in desolating "the harlot" (Rev. 17:16). These are the same ten kings associated with "the beast" when he sets up the "United States of Europe" during the first half of the tribulation.

Throughout history, political systems have "used" religious bodies to further their political causes. At the same time, church history reveals that religious groups have used politics to achieve their purposes. The marriage of church and state is not a happy one, and has often spawned children that have created serious problems.

The Place of the Beast

It does appear that the seven hills or mountains represents the city of Rome. However it is named Babylon. I guess there may be a link between the worship of the female goddess of Babylon with the worship of Mary in the Roman Catholic Church. The "Queen of the Universe" statement in the Lumen Gentium (a Catholic document from 1964) causes some people to think the Catholic Church is putting her at the head of heaven. They point out that "Queen of Heaven", was also once applied to Ishtar by her Babylonian devotees (Jeremiah 44:18-19). Don't you see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the Queen of Heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger. (Jeremiah 7:17-18) 44:15-18 Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present—a large assembly—and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah, "We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD! We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine."

"The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth." Here the identification can scarcely be debated any longer. Clearly this city is Rome, the city that ruled over all the world in John's day. Any first-century reader of John's Apocalypse would have noted the reference to the seven hills, since almost every inhabitant of the empire knew that Rome was the city of seven hills. It is not surprising, then, to learn in v. 18 that the woman is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.

"This being the case, can one conclude with many of the Reformers and other interpreters down even to the present age that the scarlet woman is the religious side of Rome or the Roman Church? From a Protestant point of view, and even from a historical view of the realities of the inquisition and the tendency of the Roman Church toward accumulation of incredible wealth and its persecution of biblical Christians, why many have made this identification is easy to understand." Patterson

Even the Roman Catholic translator of the Latin Vulgate, Knox, interprets it this way in a footnote, recognizing that in the last days the Roman Catholic Church would become corrupt around wealth and power.

The Power Of The Beast

8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. 9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; "In 17:8, the angel begins with the beast and, observing exactly what was presented in chap. 13, speaks of the beast as the one who once was and now is not but then will come out of the Abyss only to go to his destruction. The reader will remember from chap. 13 that one of the heads of the beast was wounded unto death and yet the beast lived. Now the miracle of having once been alive and then perishing only to rise again from the Abyss is the phenomenon that John observes. However, even emerging from the Abyss to live again is a temporary circumstance since the beast is going to destruction.

The word "Abyss," which the King James translators usually rendered "bottomless pit," a translation of the Greek abussos, is a reference to the place of the dead, not dissimilar from the meaning of Hades. The Abyss is thought of as the prison house of departed wicked spirits. "Destruction" is a translation of apōleia, derived from a word carrying the sense of destruction or loss. The picture is destruction in the sense of total uselessness. An unmanned boat cut free from its moorings drifts away to destruction or uselessness. This is the ultimate end to which the beast is destined." Patterson

The People Of The Beast

10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast.

What this does show us is that his alliances are comprehensive. He is allied with all the rulers of the world. The harlot is allied with – the false religious system is allied with all the rulers of the world, all the people of the world, and is the culmination of all the governments of the past and is the culmination and the affirmation and the summation of all the governments of the future. In other words, this is a world-dominating religious system in every sense. One great world system to be crushed by Satan when he says, "No more religion apart from the beast." And then he devours that system, makes the whole world worship the Antichrist, which they willingly do because they are deceived to do it, and then Christ comes and destroys that system.

Lord Macaulay, in his Essays on Ranke's History of the Popes, 1852, page 548, states: "It is impossible to deny that the polity of the Church of Rome is the very masterpiece of human wisdom....The experience of 1,200 eventful years, the ingenuity and patient care of forty generations of statesmen, have improved that polity to such perfection, that, among the contrivances which have been devised for deceiving and controlling mankind, it occupies the highest place."

Again, Macaulay in his History of England, (Volume 1, page 47) states: "The loveliest and most fertile provinces of Europe have under her (Rome's) rule, been sunk in poverty, in political servitude, and in intellectual torpor."

Gladstone (Speeches of Pope Pius IX, page 173): "When the Pope speaks of the liberation of the Church, he means merely this, that it is to set its foot on the neck of every other power."

J.C. Ryle, in his book, Warnings to the Churches, (published by The Banner of Truth Trust, page 163) states: "Surely, when the mind of God about idolatry is so plainly revealed to us in His Word, it seems the height of infatuation in any one to join a church so steeped in idolatries as the Church of Rome. To enter into communion with her, when God is saying, 'Come out of her, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and receive not of her plagues' (Rev. 18:4), to seek her when the Lord is warning us to leave her -- to become her subjects when the Lord's voice is crying, 'Escape for thy life, flee from the wrath to come;' all this is mental blindness."

Westminster Confession of Faith 25:6 There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ; nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalts himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God.

Joel Beeke writes: The biblical doctrine of the church revolves around Jesus Christ. He is the head of the church, which is His body, and He must have the preeminence (Col. 1:18). He has supreme authority (Col. 2:10). The church submits to Him as its Lord (Eph. 5:22-24). He is the source of our life (Eph. 4:15-16). When men claim to follow Christ but really follow their own personal notions or traditions and manmade rules and forms of worship, they are not holding the Head (Col. 2:18-23). Christ must always be first, or we have ceased to be the church of Christ.

One of the great heresies of the Roman Catholic Church is their exaltation of a man to the place of Christ. The Pope or Bishop of Rome takes the title "Vicar of Jesus Christ," meaning that he acts as Christ's representative, ruling as the supreme head of the church on earth. He is also called "Pontifex Maximus," meaning supreme or great high priest (Lev. 21:10, Vulgate), but the Bible says our great high priest is Jesus, the Son of God (Heb. 4:14). Invoking the authority of Peter, the Pope claims to speak infallibly on matters of faith or life, placing his own words on the level of the words of Christ.

It may surprise modern readers that the Westminster Confession calls the Pope the Antichrist. Today the Antichrist is popularly conceived to be a great military leader who will rule the world with supernatural powers. But in the Scriptures, the word antichrist is used of false teachers who deny fundamental teachings of the faith. John wrote, "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists" (1 John 2:18; cf. 2:22; 4:3; 2 John 7).

The Lord Jesus warned that "false Christs, and false prophets" will come (Matt. 24:24). Paul foretold that the coming of the "man of sin, the son of perdition" who would exalt himself to the place of God in the temple (2 Thess. 2:3-4). The Westminster divines believed (and make a good case for their beliefs in their frequent writings on this subject!) that the office of the Papacy (not any one individual Pope) fulfilled these prophecies, asserting its claim to rule the universal church, which is the New Testament temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16).

Thus the Westminster Confession closes its chapter on the church with a solemn warning. Christ alone is the head of His church. He who dares to usurp Christ's place becomes an enemy of Christ. The confession of the true church has ever been, "Jesus is Lord!" It was this conviction that led early Christians to choose death rather than to worship the emperor of Rome, and the same conviction strengthens the church in every age. The blessed hope of the church is the return of her King, and her prayer is ever, "Come, Lord Jesus!" https://www.reformation21.org/confession/2013/07/chapter-256.php

The Purpose Of The Beast

14 They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful."

Her Momentous Calamity

The Beast and his Company will Detest Her

16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute.

The Beast and his Company will Desolate Her

They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire,

The Beast and his Company will Disgrace Her

They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire,

The Beast and his Company will Devour and Destroy Her

They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire,

God is Sovereign Even Over the beast and the Harlot.

17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.

and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful."

Are you a person who has put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?

Are you called and chosen and faithful?

You need to choose Christ today and make Him first. The Church won't save you. The Beast won't save you. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can save you. Will you turn to Him today?

Search This Blog

The Heidelberg Catechism - The Foundations Of Our Faith