Who is this great harlot that the angel of God is speaking about? Why is she to be judged?
Revelation 17:1-7… And one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying: “Come, I will show you the judgment upon the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, whereas those who inhabit the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” 3 And he carried me away in [the power of the] spirit into a wilderness. And I caught sight of a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored (G2847) wild beast that was full of blasphemous names and that had seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and was adorned with gold and precious stone and pearls and had in her hand a golden cup that was full of disgusting things and the unclean things of her fornication. 5 And upon her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the Great, the mother of the harlots (Roman Catholic Church) and of the disgusting things of the earth.” 6 And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the holy ones and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. Well, on catching sight of her I wondered with great wonderment.
History has shown us that it’s been a religious organization that has put to death those who dare speak truth against the words of those in authority. True Christians were martyred for their faith like John Wycliff, William Tyndale just to name some. Search the history and find that Rome itself began to kill those who testify to Christ. Later on these kings and queens who been ordained by the Romen church also killed Christians who spoke truth. Even the popes of the church were behind the executions of these faithful ones. History bears out and testifies to the truth of these facts.
Back to the reading of Revelation:
Why Do You Wonder?
Revelation 17:7-12… And so the angel said to me: “Why is it you wondered? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the wild beast that is carrying her and that has the seven heads and the ten horns: The wild beast that you saw was, but is not, and yet is about to ascend out of the abyss, and it is to go off into destruction. And when they see how the wild beast was, but is not, and yet will be present, those who dwell on the earth will wonder admiringly, but their names have not been written upon the scroll of life from the founding of the world. 9 “Here is where the intelligence that has wisdom comes in: The seven heads mean seven mountains, where the woman sits on top. 10 And there are seven kings: five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet arrived, but when he does arrive he must remain a short while. 11 And the wild beast that was but is not, it is also itself an eighth [king], but springs from the seven, and it goes off into destruction. 12 “And the ten horns that you saw mean ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they do receive authority as kings one hour with the wild beast.
Who were the seven kings? History has shown us that the seven kings have had domination over God’s people. Starting first with Egypt then there was Assyria, the third was Babylon followed by Medo Persia, then came Alexander the great the Greek.
By the time that the apostle John got this vision Rome was getting ready to be the next world power. Today United States of America is now the world power.
The United Nations is the eighth King to come, but it is in an internal struggle to remake itself due to the ineffectiveness of maintaining world peace. Also, China is trying to become the power player inside the UN. The United Nations has been found to be supporting terrorists against the state of Israel. Would this not constitute a type of war against the holy ones?
Russia is one of the principal members of the Security Council at the United Nations and it is violating the UN standards and rules of law. Russia has now become the problem, the aggressor in threatening world peace so they say. How ever Russia blames NATO for breaking its word with it by trying to allow Ukraine to become a NATO member. Sweden and Finland have joined NATO after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The United Nations is still poised to become the eighth king as other kingdoms race to give their authority to the United Nations to preserve their own sovereignties, due to the threat of the larger and more hostile nations like North Korea, Iran, China, and Russia.
Back to our reading of Revelation:
Gods One Burning Thought
Revelation 17:13-18… These have one thought, and so they give their power and authority to the wild beast. 14 These will battle with the Lamb, but, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them. Also, those called and chosen and faithful with him [will do so].” 15 And he says to me: “The waters that you saw, where the harlot is sitting, mean peoples and crowds and nations and tongues. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, and the wild beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her devastated and naked and will eat up her fleshy parts and will completely burn her with fire. 17 For God put [it] into their hearts to carry out his thought, even to carry out [their] one thought by giving their kingdom to the wild beast, until the words of God will have been accomplished. 18 And the woman whom you saw means the great city that has a kingdom over the kings of the earth.
I have heard all sorts of theories of who the Woman is. I have heard it said that New York City was this woman because the United Nations building sits there.
However there has only been one city that continues to represent Christendom today, and it is the Vatican City, it sits inside the city of Rome in Italy. Constantinople at one time represented that city under the Byzantine Empire. Even the city of Jerusalem was considered part of Christendom and that is why they had the Crusades to capture it and free it from Muslim control.
Vatican City ever since the fourth century has represented the papal state. It has its embassies in many foreign countries. It even has its own military police from the Swiss guards. UNESCO has designated it a world heritage site ever since 1984. The Roman Catholic Church with its popes has been involved in establishing the divine right of rulership over the kings of the earth through the ceremony of coronation of the European kings.
Now God has put it into the hearts of these kings to join together in the thought of destroying this harlot and completely destroying her of her influence over people, kingdoms, and Kings. She will no longer be involved in the political, religious or commercial affairs of mankind because God has judged her.
Writingwithlogos.com – Last Revised 11/10/24