Hello my parabeauties.
I trust you had a fabulous weekend.
Now the subject I am
getting asked the most revolve around the book of Revelations. Revelations is a
VERY difficult book to understand and comprehend. It's interpreted many ways.
So this again is just my humble opinion on how I see it according to Biblical
views but let the Holy Spirit guide you when you reading the Lords Word.
Babylon the Harlot or
the Religious Babylon is Destroyed.
Babylon the Harlot
Archaeologists tell us
that Babylon is the cradle of civilization. Located on the shores of the
Euphrates River, the ruins of this city have revealed some of the most ancient
documents of past generations.
This city begun by
Nimrod, who was a rebel before the Lord, authored some of the greatest evils
ever to fall on humankind. Two of these evils will be destroyed during the
Tribulation period. Revelation 17 is the destruction of the religious Babylon
that takes place about the center of the seven years after the Antichrist
declares himself to be God and no longer news the One World Religion.
In chapter 18 we will
read about the destruction of the commercial, political Babylon when takes
place at the end of the Tribulation.
In ancient days Satan
seemed to make Babylon the capital of this evil operation. From this
headquarters was started false religion, humanity's attempt for self-government
in defiance of God's will and city dwellings for commercial and social purposes
contrary to God's command to "be fruitful and increase in number and fill
the earth." (Gen. 1 v.28)
These great evils,
which have damned the souls of millions by substituting counterfeit solutions
to natural human problems that would ordinarily lead a person to God, will all
be destroyed at the end of the Tribulation period. Chapter 17 describes the
coming judgment of God on the religious system that has enslaved the human race
in superstitious darkness for centuries.
The woman is a great
city: "The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of
the earth" (Rev. 17 v.18) Many have taken this to mean that the woman
represents the capital city of Antichrist's kingdom, but his cannot be, for
Antichrist himself rules over the kings of the earth.
If, then, the women is
not the Antichrist, what other possible explanation can we have for such
unanimous world dominance? The only answer is the one system before which all
kings, dictators, and nations have been forced to bow down throughout history,
that is, the Babylonian religion of idolatry. One cannot go anywhere in the
world without being confronted with some semblance of the idolatry.
No system in the
world's history has enslaved more people than this awful religion. It should
not take us by surprise that this prostitute woman, the religious system, is
referred to as a city. When used symbolically, a woman is always intended
throughout the Scripture to signify a spiritual or religious movement. If a
good woman, it is "Jehovah's wife" or "the bride of
Christ". If an evil woman, such as "a prostitute," it represents
the evil religious.
Spirit of adultery
Since the woman who
rides the beast gets her authority from the beast, the Holy Spirit uses this
description to show how religious Babylon and governmental Babylon are so
intertwined they are presented together. However, they are destroyed at
different times. The prostitute (religious Babylon) is destroyed by "beast
and the kings of the earth," who "hate the prostitute" and kill
her.
This clears the way for
Antichrist to fulfill the lifetime dream of Satan to get people to worship him.
She is destroyed in the middle of the Tribulation; Babylon the governmental
system will be destroyed at the end, when commercial, political Babylon is
destroyed (Rev. 18). With "Mystery Babylon, the Mother of Prostitutes"
out of the way, "all inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast, all
whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb
that was slain from the creation of the world". (Rev. 13 v.8).
The Vision of the Woman
- Ten details describe this woman:
The great prostitute
Who sits on many waters With her the kings of the earth committed adultery. The
inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries. A
woman sitting on a scarlet beast Dressed in purple and scarlet Glittering with
gold, precious stones and pearls She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with
abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. On her forehead: Mystery
Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and of the Abomination of the
Earth. 10. Drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore
testimony to Jesus Even before we come to the angel's interpretation of this
vision, it is clear that we are not dealing with a mere human being, for no one
woman can commit fornication with the kings of the earth, nor can a woman be
"drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony
to Jesus." Chapter 17
17:1 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:
This "whore"
here is not a literal woman. In Hosea, his wife (who was a whore) was speaking
of Israel. Here, this "whore" is speaking of the idolatrous church.
Mystery, Babylon the Harlot
This statement
"sitteth upon many waters", speaks of large groups of people. This is
not the true church. This is the apostate church. God calls it the harlot
church; the church that is not faithful to God, the church that is worldly.
This church, while claiming to be Christian, finds many reasons to conform to
the beast and the evil world system. This will be the one world religion which
will appear which the church (Christians) have been raptured.
One World Church
This, without question,
is the part of the church that has compromised with the world and is no longer
a chaste virgin in the sight of God. I truly believe that a large portion of
the church falls into this category today. Worldliness has crept into our churches.
The sad thing is that if she would repent, God would take her back, but she
will not repent.
To be continued next Sunday.
Written By Jennifer L
Auld
