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THE GREAT HARLOT
REVELATION 17
Please turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 17, as we continue our study through the book of Revelation. And as you are turning there, listen to these excerpts from Tal Brooke’s book The Conspiracy To Silence The Son Of God, for it deals with the subject matter that we will be studying this morning. He said:
"The momentum of change is upon us. An international who’s who of statesmen, intellectuals, and financial leaders met June 15, 1995, at the UN’s 50th anniversary in San Francisco. At the key ceremony, it was revealed that Mikhail Gorbachev, the former head of the Soviet Union, had the backing of world leaders to set up a United Nations sister organization in San Francisco called the United Religions (UR)...What is going on? Gorbachev and other leaders realize that a world federation cannot be fully realized without a world religion in place. Why? Religious differences comprise the final barrier among ethnic populations that stand in the way of the real goal - a one world order. The political, military, and economic pillars of these world states cannot hold up a world order without the fourth pillar of a global religion standing beneath the fourth corner, lest the structure collapse. It is that simple."
How close are we? Tal Brooke goes on to say:
"Matthew Fox, an excommunicated Roman Catholic priest now fully embraced by the Episcopalian hierarchy, has constructed a cosmic Theology (and Christology) that has wide appeal. His stand against patriarchal religion makes him popular with the feminists. His pantheism and mysticism makes him popular with New Agers. His focus on rescuing mother earth: makes him popular among the ecologically minded. His version of the cosmic Christ -nonjudgmental about sin and especially ‘inclusive’ of homosexuality - makes him popular with the ‘lesbian-bi-gay’ community. His emphasis on deep ecumenism makes him popular with all those who hold to the politically correct idea that all religions lead to God. And couching his Theology in Christian terminology makes him popular with a wide range of cultural Christians in the major denominations."
The Conspiracy To Silence The Son Of God, Tal Brooke, P. 34, 36
As we will see, chapters 17 and 18 of Revelation deal with Babylon, its rise and its fall. Chapter 17 will deal with religious Babylon while chapter 18 will deal with commercial Babylon. And I see these two entities, religious and commercial Babylon, intertwined together. They will feed off each other as we shall see over the next couple of weeks in our study.
But our focus this morning will be on religious Babylon or the apostate church that comes into the fullness of her power during the tribulation period. And many questions arise out of this chapter, but the primary one that most people and Bible scholars are focused on, is "Who is this woman or religious system that rides the beast?" That is what we will be trying to answer this morning as we go through Revelation chapter 17.
REVELATION 17
VERSES 1-2
Here we see the false church called the harlot and we can compare this with the true church which is called the virgin bride of Christ. It is as Paul said in II Corinthians 11:2, "For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." Now don’t get the idea that the false church is not religious, they are very religious in their activity, but they have moved far away from Christ, they are committing spiritual fornication, going after false god’s.
You don’t think so? Listen to what one Catholic writer, Malachi Martin, said regarding the emergence of the European Super State. He said "It will include all the lands occupied by the ancient Romans, but the religion will not be Christianity or Catholicism, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism or any religion known today. It already has its own religion, if we want to call it that. It is called the New Age...The New Age movement is at this moment influencing our present policies. If you listen to Prince Edward or Prince Charles of England, it is very obvious that they speak from a New Age background, and it bodes a lot of trouble for traditional Christianity."
Also understand that this religious system is worldwide as "The great harlot sits on many waters." And John tells us in verse 15 that "...‘The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.’" This ecumenical movement will spread to all areas of the world and as we shall see, they will acquire great wealth.
VERSES 3-5
Notice that this woman or this false religious system is sitting upon a beast or the Antichrist, the revived Roman Empire! His rise to power will be brought about by the church! It is also interesting to note that the European currency unit and the stamp of the European Parliament both have on it a woman riding a bull or a beast! Also, back in 1991 Time magazine did a special report for its Canadian edition on the new Europe. The new Europe in Time’s report was symbolized as a woman riding upon a beast. A coincidence? I don’t think so!
Also, notice the religious trappings that adorn this false religious system. The abundance of wealth within this system. Religion is big business. And as man looks at this great wealth he rejoices, but God looks at her and calls her a harlot, for He see’s her as she really is!
Now the mystery is not part of her name but it speaks of a hidden truth that is spiritually discerned. Thus, her name is placed upon her forehead just as the harlots had their names placed upon their foreheads during John’s time. Her name is as follows:
BABYLON THE GREAT,
THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE
ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
This hidden truth takes us back to the beginning, to the book of Genesis. Back to Bab-el, which means "the gate of god," and to a man named Nimrod, whose name means "we will rebel." And this man is said to be a mighty hunter, not of wild animals, but of men’s souls. It is here that Nimrod and his followers built a tower, not to reach God or the stars, but to the spirit world, occult activities. It was a tower in defiance of God!
Nimrod’s wife, Semiramis, claimed to be a powerful prophetess of god, and after Nimrod died, she claimed to have been visited by Nimrod and conceived a child without sexual relations, a immaculate conception you might say! This child was to be the savior of the world, or so she claimed, and she was the queen mother of heaven.
The son she gave birth to was called Tammuz. And one day, as he was out, he was killed and 3 days later he was resurrected. But Tammuz could only be approached in his resurrected state through his mother, Semiramis. You had to go through her to get to him. Sound familiar!
It doesn’t end there. Each spring the people colored eggs in honor of the miraculous conception of Tammuz. In the winter time they would deck evergreen trees with silver and gold in honor of his resurrection from the dead. Jon Courson says of this, "In Canaan, Semiramis was known as Ashteroth, and her child as Baal. In Rome, she was known as Venus, while Tammuz was known as Cupid. In Greece, they were Eros and Aphrodite; in Egypt Isis and Horace, in virtually every culture around the world, this same story is told of a mother, ‘the queen of heaven’ and her miracle baby - a story so uncannily close to the Gospel story that it’s almost as though someone knew the truth and wanted to twist it." And of course, Satan knew of Genesis 3:15 and he began to twist it very early on, during the time of Nimrod!
Also, in Babylon, the chief priests wore crowns made in the shape of a fish’s head to honor the fish god. The crowns had the words "keeper of the bridge" which was symbolic of the "bridge" between man and Satan, not God. This was adopted by the Roman Emperors who used the Latin title PONTIFEX MAXIMUS, which means "major keeper of the bridge."
Now how in the world did these pagan practices, like Christmas and Easter and many other things that we don’t have time to get into this morning, get incorporated into the church? It began with Nimrod and then the Babylonians picked up on it, establishing their kingdom in the same area that Nimrod lived. Then, when the Medo-Persian empire defeated the Babylonians, the religious leaders moved from Babylon to Pergamos. Remember the letter that Jesus wrote to the church of Pergamos back in Revelation chapter 2. He said "I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells." Revelation 2:13.
Satan’s throne was located in Pergamos because that is where these Babylonian priests moved to after the fall of Babylon. It was located there when John wrote this book. Then, we see in 312 AD Constantine unite the church to the world as he makes Christianity the state religion. It was while he was involved in a fierce battle and short on troops, had a dream of a cross and the writing above the cross said; "In this sign conquer." It was then he had his so called conversion experience to Christianity and utilized a large group of men to help him in his fight which he did not utilize before, Christians!
Thus, we now see Satan’s throne move from Pergamos to Rome as Constantine marries the church to the world. He allowed these pagan priests to come right into the church, even continuing to practice their own religion! That is one of the reasons Roman Catholicism is so messed up, they have merged many pagan practices with Christianity, and they don’t mix! And please, I am not picking on the Catholic Church, I was involved in it, so I do understand many of these practices that are not supported by the Scriptures, but come from man.
Having said all that, this false religious system is much bigger than just the Roman Catholic church, it also embraces Protestant churches as well as all other religions. You see, this is the one world church or the one world religious system, made up of those who have fallen away from the truths of God’s Word and have embraced another Gospel, a false Gospel that leads to death and not to life!
And it is this religious system, the one that Nimrod started and was picked up by the Babylonians, which has given birth to all other religious systems, MYSTERY BABYLON! That is why she is called the mother of harlots, for she has given birth not only to the final world wide false religious system, but all the ones in between. Thus, Babylon is the symbol of apostasy and it is a blasphemous substitution to the true and living God!
VERSE 6
This is one of those sad commentaries on the church throughout the years. The history of the church is black and it is sad. It is not at all what the Lord intended it to be, for over 50 million Christians lost their lives in the Inquisition. They lost their lives at the hands of the church!
The word "drunk" speaks of a continual state. And as you look at church history you see the blood of the faithful flowing at the hands of the church. When light exposes the darkness of a false religious system, they strike back and try to extinguish the light. Marin Luther, in 1517 posted his Ninety-Five Thesis, those things he saw within the Catholic church, like buying your way into heaven, the infallibility of the Pope. He believed in a salvation by faith alone in Christ alone! And what did the church do? They sought to kill him. Now if you have the truth, why are you worried about the lies of a man? The point being, they did not have scriptural support for what they held onto, and they tried to silence Marin Luther by putting him to death! And this practice will continue even during the tribulation period, as many will be put to death by this false religious system for their faith in Christ. An amazing thing, and a very sad thing!
VERSES 7-8
There is much confusion over what this beasts represents. Some say it represents a man, the Antichrist, who becomes a world ruler. Others say that this beast refers to the revived Roman Empire that comes on the scene in the last days. The reason for the confusion is simple, sometimes the beast represents the Antichrist and sometimes it represents a system, a world wide kingdom.
I feel that the beast spoken of here, that carries this harlot, is the revived Roman Empire, and in reality, they both profit from each other. Religious power tends to increase political power and vice-a-versa, they feed off each other. And, of course, the Antichrist will oversee this last kingdom.
Now what does it mean when we read "the beast that was, and is not, and yet is"? I tend to lean towards this speaking of the Roman Empire. You see, when John wrote this book, Rome was in power, and thus the phrase, "that was." This power would not last forever and so the power of Rome faded and has not been able to become a world dominating force as yet, and thus, the phrase "and is not." The fascinating fact is this Roman Empire will be revived and re-born by the workings of Satan, who ascends out of the bottomless pit, and the phase we see is, "and yet is."
VERSES 9-11
Some like to say that Rome is the seven mountains spoken of here, for Rome has been called "the city on seven hills." First of all a hill is not a mountain, and secondly, 2 more hills have been associated with Rome, making it a city on 9 hills!
Mountains, I believe, refer to kingdoms. David said in Psalm 30:7, referring to his kingdom, "LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong..." We saw in Daniel chapter 2 how the kingdom that Jesus will establish is likened to a great mountain which covers the whole earth. Also, in verse 10, the word "there" is better translated "they." Thus, this should read "...The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings..."
Now some like to see these seven kings as seven Roman emperors: Julius Caesar, Caesar Augustus, Tiberias, Caligula, Claudius, Nero and Domecian, who was in control during John’s imprisonment on Patmos. But there were more than seven of them, more than what I have just listed. Keep in mind that when John wrote this book, five world empires had come and gone. These empires were as follows: Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, and the Grecian. Thus, "Five have fallen." John goes on to say that "one is." That was the Roman empire that was still in existence when John wrote this book. "And the other has not yet come." That is the revived Roman Empire that will only continue on for a short time, it is still future!
Verse 11 tells us that the Antichrist will come out of the revived Roman Empire and he will lead this confederacy of 10 nations, but around the 3½ year mark of the 7 year tribulation period, he takes over with force. In a sense he creates a new empire, and he is the dictator of this empire. Daniel 7:8 tells us "I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words."
You see, he is of the seven, and his empire is the eighth. But even his empire will be brought down to destruction. In speaking of his fall, we are told in Daniel 7:26-27, "But the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it forever. Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him."
VERSES 12-14
During John’s writing of this book, these kings were not in power yet, at least some 2,000 years in the future, for we are told that they "have received no kingdom as yet." But when this kingdom comes to power they too will rule for a short time and the power which they have, they give over to the beast, and for three of these kings and kingdoms, the Antichrist takes it by force.
It is interesting to note that these rulers are of "one mind." Their focus, where all their energy and resources are placed upon, is the destruction of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, and all those who follow after Him. Their aim is destruction and death with more power and wealth as their goal!
Paul, in Philippians chapter 2 calls for us to be like-minded. To do things not of selfish ambition but that you truly have a concern for others. Let the love of Christ be the motivating force in your life. And then Paul gives to us an example of Christ to follow after. He said "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." Philippians 2:5-8. Humility was the example that Christ gave for each of us to follow. But, as you look at this world kingdom, you see that humility is far from their thinking and their lives.
VERSES 15-17
As we said earlier, this is a world-wide religious system, but that system has fulfilled its purpose. You see, governments will use religion to promote its goals until it is no longer useful, and then it will be destroyed by the government which it supported.
And it is not just the ten horns which destroy this religious system, as verse 16 seems to imply. That verse should read, "And the ten horns which you saw [‘and’ not ‘on’] the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire."
It is at the 3½ year mark of the 7 year tribulation period that the Antichrist goes into the temple of God and demands to be worshiped as God. A marked change in his ministry. Now all religious worship will be centered around him and this other religious system will fall by the wayside. The false prophet will now lead the world in the worship of the beast.
And this religious system that was clothed with fine robes will now be naked. The great wealth she had acquired will be removed and she will be desolate. The flesh that she consumed by killing the faithful Christians, will be paid back as her flesh is consumed. And with the fire of her judgment that she has placed upon the people, she will be burned with it till she is found no more. Everything is then given to the beast, according to the plan of God!
VERSE 18
Now here I do believe that the "great city" is speaking of Rome, for it is the revived Roman Empire that will burst onto the scene and take captive the hearts of the people of this world. As much as the Catholic church is involved in this false religious system, and many Bible scholars like to point their finger at the Catholic church, we must understand that the Protestant church is also involved, as well as every other cult. Many churches today have watered down the Gospel message and added a works theology to get into heaven, and that is wrong. In the Catholic church the Pope is not even sure if he is good enough to get into heaven until after he dies and finds out. And many Protestant churches have picked up on this theme of a works salvation. And yet Paul tells us that it is not by our works, but by His works on the cross of Calvary that we have been saved. In Ephesians 2:8-9 we are told, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."
Jude was warning his readers years ago, and today we need to listen and heed his warnings, for our faith is being challenged at an alarming rate, and people are falling for the lies of these men. Jude tells us "Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ." Jude 3-4. May we contend for the faith we hold onto and not compromise what we believe!
In closing, listen to these words that ring loud and clear regarding unity within the church. Listen to what Charles H. Spurgeon had to say regarding unity in his day, words we should heed today. He said "‘To remain divided is sinful! Did not our Lord pray, that they may be one, even as we are one’? (John 17:22). A chorus of ecumenical voices keep harping the unity tune. What they are saying is, ‘Christians of all doctrinal shades and beliefs must come together in one visible organization, regardless...Unite, Unite!’ Such teaching is false, reckless and dangerous. Truth alone must determine our alignments. Truth comes before unity. Unity without truth is hazardous. Our Lord’s prayer in John 17 must be read in its full context. Look at verse 17, ‘Sanctify them through thy truth, they word is truth.’ Only those sanctified through the Word can be one in Christ. To teach otherwise is to betray the Gospel." May we not forget that! The great harlot, this false religious system is about to be born!