A Quick Study of Rev. 17...

A little study of Rev. 17

Rev. 17:1One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. 2 With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”

Now, a symbolic harlot in Scripture indicated a false religion or false church. So we see God's object is to show the punishment of a false church here.

Rev. 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
We see that many kings of various nations have participated in that false church's evils.

Rev. 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

We see the harlot has riches, & is attractive to men. More about the beast later.

Rev. 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth.

Now, the old Babylon had fallen long before that, but Rev. 18 shows there'll be TWO Babylons to fall. One already had, but not the 2nd one. And this one is called "the mother of harlots", meaning 'she' gives rise to many other false doctrines & churches.

Rev. 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.

Yes, this harlot has slain a lotta saints !

Rev. 17:7 Then the angel said to me: “Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come.

These passages need CLOSE READING ! The beast was then NOT, so it isn't the Roman empire as it was in John's time. It was the empire of Alexander the Great, all of which later became part of the Roman empire The Seleucids were great persecutors of the Jews. The descendants of those Macedonians & Greex will become strong again in the antichrist's empire. The world will marvel at the rise of those peoples again. The vision of that beast John saw was of a future empire.

Rev. 17:9 “This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. 10 They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. 11 The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.

The 7 hills are those of Rome, italy, which was, even then, called "the city of the 7 hills". The kings which had fallen were those of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, & Greece. The one that then was, was the ruler of the Roman empire. The one yet to come will be the antichrist.

(Cont. Next Post)

 

(Cont. from prev. post)

Rev.17:12 “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. 13 They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”

The 10 kings will be the rulers of nations made from the descendants of some of the peoples of the old Roman empire. We see later in Revelation that when Jesus returns, the antichrist will send his army against Him.

Rev.17:15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. 16 The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority, until God’s words are fulfilled.

The antichrist & his vassals will turn on the woman (the RCC) when he has no further use for it, just as Hitler did, once the "Enabling Act" was passed by the Reichstag. We see the harlot rules over a great many different nations & peoples worldwide, but will be destroyed by the antichrist & his cohorts.

Rev. 17:18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”

This verse leaves no doubt that this city was ROME, ITALY.At that time, it was the foremost city on earth.While there were great, powerful cities on other continents, none influenced world history as Rome did, and still does, as the seat of the Vatican, which rules the RCC worldwide.

The "mystery, Babylon"religion, founded by Nimrod & Semiramis, has carried over into various nations for millenia, under different names, with different "deities", but with many of the same beliefs & prectices. The RCC carries many of these things, modified to disguise their origins, such as replacing Semiramis as "queen of heaven" with Mary. But I don't believe Rev. 17 leaves any doubt about the coming antichrist, his cohorts, & the great church which will seek to control him.

 

No, I'm not. He's not popular enough, & the true AC won't acknowledge any god but himself.

BTW, I made a mistake in my little study. The 7th kingdom was the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted til 1806. The 8th will at first be made up of many peoples & nations that were part of the 2 Roman empires, but will engulf the whole world.

The line of popes is not the AC. He will be ONE MAN. But, as I wrote above, the RCC will attempt to control him & his empire, until he has fo further use for it.

 

Frankie does not have the enormous popularity the AC will have. Right now, no one does. The AC will be universally admired by Catholic, Protestant, Jew, & Moslem alike.

 

1. b. a symbol for a city

2.Both A & B, as V. 17:10 says

3. b. not to participate in her immorality