Today we are going to be looking at Revelation 17. Let’s begin by reading the first 2 verses of the chapter.

Revelation 17:1-2
1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”

 

The Harlot Woman

This is a new picture that we see here in the book of Revelation.

• This is the first time we are seeing a harlot woman introduced.
• The closest that we got to a harlot woman in Revelation is in the churches.
• Revelation 2:20
  Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
• It was Jezebel who was married to king Ahab. She was a bad woman, representing a bad church, as we know that a woman in the Bible represents a church.
• We also saw the allusion of a harlot woman in the seals, although it is not mentioned there directly.
• It was the third seal where a black horse out. And we connected that to a harlot woman who comes out in the black of the night.
• Maybe these verses in chapter 2 and chapter 6 of Revelation we have studied so long ago, that you’ve forgotten. And that’s ok. Because we are going to look directly at this harlot woman today.
• It is no doubt a bad woman because she is a harlot. Which means this is a bad church.
• And there is only one bad church that we have been looking at this whole time in Daniel and Revelation. Who is that?
• It is the Roman Catholic Church.

 

Judgment of the harlot

In this chapter we are told that God is about to judge this great harlot.

• This is near the end of the great conflict on this earth.
• God is about to judge her which means enough time has passed for God to close up the work and put an end to all her wickedness.

 

She sits on many waters

Another detail that we are given in this introduction is that this harlot sits on many waters.

• What does this water represent?
• Revelation 17:15
  Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.
• The water represents many people, and multitudes and nations and tongues. It is basically the whole world.
• And she is sitting on them, which means that she is in control of them or ruling over them.

 

The kings of the earth

But how is she able to rule over the whole world? We are given that clue in verse 2 of Revelation 17.

• The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her.
• What is the meaning of spiritual fornication?
  • A union between two parties that God cannot bless.
• What do we see here? We see the coming together of church and state.
  • The harlot is the church. Religious.
  • Kings of the earth is the state. Political.
• Remember, what is the result of that union? Persecution.
• We will see persecution in this chapter.
• We will also see a very clear outline of events at the end of time.

 

All the earth made drunk

In verse 2 we are also told that all the inhabitants of the earth are made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

• The reason the whole world is able to be forced to be made drunk is because of that union of church and state together. The kings of the earth committing fornication with her.
• The woman cannot force anyone unless it has the cooperation of the kings of the earth at the end of time.
• It is just like Herod who committed fornication with Herodias. And at the end, when Herod was literally drunk, Herodias was able to get her wishes by persecuting, and ultimately killing, John the Baptist.

 

The wine of her fornication

What is the wine of her fornication though that all the world has been made drunk with?

• It was all the way back in Daniel 5, when we looked at the fall of Babylon, that we studied into the wine and what it represented.
• What was it that caused the fall of Babylon? It was when the king of Babylon brought out the holy vessels that were from the sanctuary in Jerusalem and poured wine to drink from them. It was at that time the words of judgment were written on the wall. Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin.
• The wine represents tradition, false doctrine, the commandments of men that usurp the commandments of God.
  • To get those Bible texts, please refer back to the study on Daniel 5.
• What is the false doctrine that will be drunk up by the whole world at the end of time that goes against the commandments of God?
  • It is Sunday sacredness.
  • The worship on Sunday that will be enforced by the kings of the world. It’s called the national Sunday law.
• There is one other doctrine that will sweep the whole world as It is the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. That when a person dies, they are not really dead. They float around the earth. They go up to heaven. This is one of the lies of the devil that will be a great cause of spiritualism in the last days.
  • Dead ones communicating with those that are alive on the earth at that time.

 

So this is the introduction that we are given in Revelation 17. We dive right into the thick of this union of the Papacy with the kings of the earth. Now let’s continue reading.

 

Revelation 17:3
So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

John now is taken in vision to see the symbol of how the woman has committed fornication with the kings of the earth.

• It is represented by a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which has seven heads and ten horns.

By this time we are quite familiar with seeing a picture of a beast with seven heads and ten horns.

• We already know what the beast represents to a certain extent. It represents the kings of the earth who will force the whole world to be drunk with her wine.

We have to be really careful with this imagery though.

• This beast is unlike any of the beasts with seven heads and ten horns that we have seen in the past.
• Revelation 12:
  • Red dragon with seven heads and ten horns represented the devil, and it also represented the pagan Roman empire trying to kill baby Jesus at His birth.
• Revelation 13:
  • Beast with seven heads and ten horns, with the body of a leopard, feet of a bear and mouth of a lion is the Papacy.
• But now here in Revelation 17, this picture is totally different. Simply from the fact that we see a harlot woman riding on the top of this beast.
• We already know what a woman represents in Bible prophecy. It represents a church. So this harlot woman, being a bad church, represents the Roman Catholic Church.
• That is the beast of Revelation 13.
• Already the interpretation is different.
• So we need to be careful not to just go back and look for a beast with seven heads and ten horns and apply it to what we see here because we see that multiple times with different interpretations.
• We already know, based on Revelation 17:1-2, that this beast represents the kings of the earth.

And the woman riding the beast implies that the woman is in control of the beast.

• That is normally what takes place when someone rides an animal. They are in control.
• So the church is in control of the kingly power.

However, there is one important detail to take note of back in Revelation 17:3.

• Notice it says that this beast is full of the names of blasphemy.
• Where have we seen the word blasphemy before?
• Revelation 13:1
  Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.
• That beast with seven heads and ten horns also has a blasphemous name.
• There is definitely a connection to that beast, but not in the same imagery that we see described. But it does take us back there to understand some of the details that we will see later on.
• However, before we dive into the details of the beast, we will look at the woman for just a little while longer.

 

Revelation 17:4
The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.

 

Purple and Scarlet

This woman is arrayed in purple and scarlet.

• The colours of the Catholic Church are mainly these two
• The clothing of the priests, the cardinals and the pope himself.

 

Gold and precious stones

The woman is also adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls.

• It has been the practice of the Catholic church to adorn their leaders, and also their statues and altars and images with precious stones and pearls.
• The images of saints and even that of Mary, is decked with precious stones and pearls.

This adornment of gold and expensive ornamentation points to the wealth of the woman.

• The Catholic church is one of top wealthy organizations in the whole world. It may even be the top.
• Because it is a church, it doesn’t get audited like institutions. So no one really knows how much wealth it holds.
• But it has all the prime real estate throughout all the world.
• The costly ornamentation of each church, even in the poor countries, shows the wealth of the church throughout the world.

 

A golden cup in her hand

The woman is holding a golden cup in her hand which is full of the abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.

• There is a medal that was made when Pope Leo XII was re-elected as pope for another term.
• One side of the medal depicts a woman seated on the world globe with a cross in one hand and a cup in the other hand.
• And it has this inscription, “sedet super universum”, which means “the whole world is her seat” and declares that her power is worldwide.
• And that is exactly what will take place at the end of time. She will gain worldwide influence and power through the beast that she sits on.
• It is the filthiness of her fornication. An unholy alliance. A union that God cannot bless.

There is no doubt that this woman in Revelation 17 is the Roman Catholic Church. We are just given more detail to that which we have seen in Daniel 7 about the little horn. God has left us with clear evidence.

 

Revelation 17:5
5 And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Now we are given the name of the woman. Her name is Babylon.

• This is not a Christian religion. The religion of the Catholic church is not founded on scripture but on paganism that has been baptized into the church.
• We studied in Daniel 8 that “the daily” was paganism brought in from the Roman pagan religion.
• However here in Revelation we see that her name is Babylon. The pagan religion stretches back as far as Babylonian times and even the tower of Babel.

 

Mystery

Notice it says mystery at the beginning of the name though. There are 2 mysteries that are described in scripture.

• Ephesians 5:32
  This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
  • It is the mystery of godliness. How man can be connected with Christ and live a victorious life.
  • This is obviously not the characteristic that is connected with the woman here named Babylon.
• The other mystery is opposite to this.
  • 2 Thessalonians 2:7
    For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.
  • In the KJV it is called the mystery of iniquity.
  • And it is this mystery that this woman, called Babylon, perfectly falls under.
  • She will lead the whole world into sin, to drink the wine of her fornication.
• It is pointing us to the man of sin, the antichrist.
• There is no doubt that this woman named Babylon is the Roman Catholic Church.

 

The mother of harlots

What other detail do we see here about her name?

• She is the mother of harlots. Meaning, she has many daughters.
• This is not referring to the fact that there are many Catholic churches.
• This is showing that there are other churches that are just like her even though they are not Catholic. She is the main one, but the characteristics of these other churches are rooted in her.
• They are the other protestant churches that share the same beliefs.
• We have seen them as the false prophet in Revelation 16 which are the apostate protestants.
• We have seen them as the image of the beast in Revelation 13 which talks about the same entity.
• They keep Sunday of which there is no Biblical basis. And where do they get this from? It is from the Catholic church. Rightly, she is the mother of all the abominations of the earth.

What does the Bible say about abomination?

• Ezekiel 14:6
  “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations.
• The Bible points out idolatry as an abomination.
• There are many things that is an abomination. However, this points to false worship and false gods.
• Basically, from this woman originates all the false worship of other gods. She is the originator of false worship, of idolatry, astrology, witchcraft, satanic worship, and all that has originated in Babylon.
• But the greatest abomination that she will commit is mentioned there in Revelation 17.
• Revelation 17:4
  The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.
• Her abomination is connected with the filthiness of her fornication. The ultimate abomination that she will commit along with her daughters is the union of the church and the state at the end of time.

Let’s keep reading in Revelation 17.

 

Revelation 17:6
I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.

When John sees her, this woman is drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs.

• She is the one responsible for the persecution of God’s people.
• This includes the time from 538 to 1798 AD.
• And it also includes the persecution that will take place during the time of the mark of the beast.

When John sees this woman, he is amazed. He marvels. And upon seeing that, the angel responds.

 

Revelation 17:7
But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.

The angel is about to explain to him about the woman and also the beast that carries her.

• What is interesting is that when you read the end of chapter 17, it no longer talks about the woman except for 2 verses at the end. It mainly focuses on the beast.
• And really, the key to understanding Revelation 17 is in understanding the beast that she rides.
• We already know who the woman it. It is none other than the Roman Catholic church. This is obvious. This is clear.
• We know who her daughters are. It is the apostate protestants.
• But what we really need to know is who is this beast?
• And this really is the riddle of Revelation 17.
• We’ve just studied the introduction to this chapter and the non-controversial and difficult parts of this chapter. The woman is clear. We’ve seen this power many times now.
• But next week we will look into the beast. And this is where we will really need to put our thinking caps on. It is unlike any of the other beasts that we have seen before it because the imagery is different.