The Great Whore of Revelation

"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." (Revelation 17:1).

The exegesis is: 1. One of the seven Angels which had the seven Vials speaks to John. 2. He shows him the judgment of the great whore who sits upon the people. 3. The word "whore" is used here as a metaphor, meant to describe all the religions devised by man.

ONE OF THE SEVEN ANGELS

The phrase, "And there came one of the seven Angels which had the seven Vials, and talked with me," probably is the seventh Angel, but we actually have no way of truly knowing.

The Seventeenth Chapter of Revelation is no doubt the most difficult one to understand, and perhaps the most difficult in the entire Bible. This Chapter is a parenthetical Passage, meaning an interruption in the order of events so something may be explained. Actually, the events spoken of in this Chapter start at about midpoint of the Great Tribulation Period. However, the things said go back to the dawn of time.

If we interpret them correctly, we can see the powerful efforts of Satan to proclaim a counterfeit way of Salvation. This has been Satan's desire from the very beginning. If, in fact, he can succeed in turning men away from God's true Salvation which is in Jesus Christ Alone, then he will succeed in damning multitudes to eternal darkness. Unfortunately, he has succeeded to a great degree.

As this Chapter opens, we see the root of so many world problems. We will study the subtlety of Satan and his efforts to draw man into a false Salvation; we will see his infiltration of Christianity. Religion has been given many names, but God calls all of it "the great whore." The Lord has consistently used such terms concerning spiritual decadence. He has likened it to spiritual adultery or spiritual fornication.

I want to reemphasize that when we read the Book of Revelation, we view things as God does. Many times the world will perceive a thing as beautiful when, in reality, God sees "the great whore." At times the Church applauds its own efforts (of the flesh) while God calls it "spiritual fornication." In effect, the Lord is saying, "This thing has been allowed to sit upon many waters (many people) from the beginning, but now it is going to be judged."

THE CORRUPTION OF CHRISTIANITY

The Bible Message of Christianity is "Jesus Christ and Him Crucified" (Rom. 4:25-5:2; 6:3-14; I Cor. 1:17-18, 21, 25; 2:2; Col. 2:14-15). As we've already stated some pages back, the Devil cannot destroy true Christianity. What Jesus Christ did on the Cross will stand forever. As long as the correct Message of the Cross is proclaimed, it will always and without fail, result in the Salvation of souls, Believers being baptized with the Holy Spirit, the sick being healed, and lives gloriously and wondrously changed by the Power of God. So there is nothing that Satan can do about this Message, except one thing: If he can corrupt it, then he has in effect, made just another religion out of Christianity. And regrettably, he has been very successful in these efforts.

So there will be no misunderstanding, let me repeat the statement: If the Preacher is not preaching "Jesus Christ and Him Crucified," and the Believer is not believing "Jesus Christ and Him Crucified," then pure and simple, the Preacher is preaching "another Jesus," and the Believer is accepting "another faith" (II Cor. 11:4). It is "Jesus Christ and Him Crucified" or it is nothing!

THE GREAT WHORE

The phrase, "Saying unto me, come hither; I will shew unto you the judgment of the great whore who sits upon many waters," tells us several things. We will address the last at the beginning:

1. The word "waters," doesn't refer to bodies of water as it would seem, but is rather explained in Verse 15: "The waters which you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues."

2. The word "whore" is normally translated "harlot." The True Church is married to Christ (Rom. 7:4). Being married to Him refers not only to Him Personally, but as well, to what He has done for mankind by the giving of His life on the Cross (Eph. 2:13-18). In fact, the Believer is literally placed into Christ upon Faith in what Christ has done for us at the Cross. When we were saved, we were literally "baptized into His death," then buried with Him, and then raised with Him in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-5).

Religion is that which is devised by man, and done so in order to somehow reach God, or to better oneself in some way. It is never sanctioned by God, and in fact, is referred to here as "the great whore." The Holy Spirit through Paul also used such terms as "adulterous," etc., in explaining the situation regarding a Christian who tries to live this life other than by and through God's prescribed order of victory, which is the Cross. As stated, we are married to Christ. But if we attempt to live this life by any means other than Christ and what He has done for us at the Cross, in the eyes and mind of God, we are committing spiritual adultery. In other words, we are being unfaithful to Christ (Rom. 7:1-4).

Paul explained the same thing with a little different terminology. He said: "For I am jealous over you with Godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband (to Christ), that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ (trusting only in Christ)" He then said, "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (II Cor. 11:2-3).

3. The time has now come for the Lord to judge all religions. And to be sure, they will be judged harshly. As the blood of the slain Lamb Alone could save those who were in the house during the time of the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt, likewise, it is the blood which will be the password presently. Everyone who doesn't look to Christ and His Cross will be judged. All who look to Christ and the Cross have, in effect, already been judged. They were judged in Christ when He laid down His life on behalf of lost mankind.

The whore "sitting upon the people," implies gross exploitation. People are always but pawns in the world of religion. And sadly, all too often, much of Christianity has deteriorated to no more than mere religion. Let us say it again: If it's not Jesus Christ and Him Crucified, then it's religion, irrespective of whatever name it might go under, and it will be judged.

"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." (Revelation 17:2).

The exegesis is: 1. The leadership of entire nations has at times been controlled by religion. 2. "Fornication" is the word used here by the Angel to define faith and trust placed in anything other than Christ and His Cross. 3. Billions have been made spiritually drunk by the spiritual wine of spiritual fornication.

FORNICATION

The phrase, "With whom the kings of the Earth have committed fornication," proclaims to us the close association of kings and nations with false religions. It has always been so.

The first organized false religion was the ancient Babylonian cult, started by Nimrod and his Queen, Semiramis, which spread among all nations. In this particular religion, the objects of worship were the supreme father, the incarnate female, or queen of Heaven, and her son. The cult claimed the highest wisdom in the most divine secrets. While there have always been many false religions in the world, this of which we speak strangely enough, continues unto this very hour.

Besides confession to Priests, there were many mysterious rites to this ancient Babylonian cult. In fact, Julius Caesar became head of the Roman branch of the Babylonian cult in 63 B.C. Other Emperors held the office until A.D. 376, when the Emperor Gratian, for Christian reasons, refused it. He saw that Babylonianism was idolatrous. Demasus, Bishop of the Christian Church at Rome, was elected to the headship in A.D. 378 and from that time Babylonianism and organized Christianity, under the guise of the Catholic faith, for the most part, became one.

The rites of Babylon were soon introduced into the Christian Church. Temples were restored, beautified, and their rituals encouraged. Worship and veneration of images, Saints, relics, private confessions, penances, scourgings, pilgrimages, the sign of the Cross, Christmas, Lady Day, Easter, Lent, and other pagan rites and festivals, little by little, became part of what is referred to as "Christian worship."

Through the centuries, many Governments have had what is normally called "the state religion." Every time this effort has been of Satan. Several centuries ago, England broke away from Roman Catholicism. However, the state Church of England was little different than the Roman Catholicism it replaced. However, the Anglican Church did not quite go to the lengths of persecution characterized by its Roman counterpart, but almost.

Our Pilgrim forefathers came to America primarily to escape the clutches of the state Church in England. They braved hardships and untold persecution to worship God as they saw fit. The Constitution of the United States tended toward freedom of religion and worship. Among other things, this has made America great. In the 1600's on some of the Caribbean Islands, white men killed Indians, including women and children, for sport because of the color of their skin. They were considered little more than soulless animals. These murderers would hurry home in time for Sunday services. It was against the law not to attend Church. Incidentally, these were Protestants.

Ironically, halfway around the world in Toledo, Spain, the Roman Catholic Church carried out the horrible inquisitions, brutally murdering tens of thousands whom they called heretics simply because they would not embrace the Catholic faith. All of this, whether it is called "Protestant or Catholic," could be better labeled "the great whore." These false religions have caused millions to be drunk with the wine of their fornication - and thereby eternally lost.

The situation has changed little today, with the institutionalized Church, be it Protestant or Catholic. It is shot through with apostate Christianity. This should be clear: Any way of Salvation that adds to or takes away from the atoning, Vicarious Offering of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary as the only way of Salvation can be labeled "the great whore." At this hour, almost one billion of the world's population is under the bondage of Islam. Catholicism rules another billion, while another billion fall into the definition of Protestant. Hinduism controls about another billion, with Buddhism controlling another approximate billion. That leaves another billion who have formulated their own religion. In all of this, there is some small amount of true Christianity, but not much! Let us say it again: If it's not "Jesus Christ and Him Crucified," then it is "the great whore."

DRUNK

The phrase, "And the inhabitants of the Earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication," proclaims the addiction of religion. As someone has said, "The doing of religion is the most powerful narcotic there is." That's the reason it's impossible to win people to Christ, unless it's done by and through the power of the Holy Spirit, as He moves upon the truly preached Word of God. The spirit of false religion is so powerful, and because it is nurtured and fostered by Satan, that nothing can break through this shell except the power of the Holy Spirit. In fact, even the Word of God truly preached without the anointing of the Spirit will see precious few results. Paul said, and concerning this very thing: "For our Gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance" (I Thess. 1:5).

Let me once again call attention to the terminology used here by the Angel. He speaks of people "being made drunk," and "committing fornication." I remind the Reader that he's not speaking here of literal alcohol or immorality, but rather using these words as metaphors to explain a spiritual condition.

Understanding how bad in the natural sense that fornication is, then we can understand how bad it is to trust anything other than Christ for Salvation, which means to put our Faith in Him, and what He has done for us at the Cross.

Christianity is simple! It's not complicated. It is simply that Christ died for us on the Cross, and that we must place our Faith in that in order to be saved, and as well, to walk in victory (Rom. 8:1-2, 11). In fact, many Christians understand the Cross as it refers to their initial Salvation experience, but have little or no understanding at all as it refers to our ongoing Sanctification. While they are trusting Christ for Salvation, they are trusting something else for Sanctification, mostly their own works, i.e., "self." It fools them, because most of these works they accomplish are very good in their own right and way. However, as simple Faith in Christ and what He did at the Cross alone guarantees Salvation, it's the same kind of Faith that guarantees ongoing victory (Rom. 6:3-14). Anything outside of Christ and the Cross is labeled as "spiritual adultery," i.e., "fornication" (Rom. 7:1-4).

"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." (Revelation 17:3)

The synopsis is: 1. John being "in the spirit," means that he didn't literally go into the wilderness, but saw these things in a vision. 2. The Angel refers here to all religion as a "spiritual wilderness." 3. The "woman" is the "great whore." 4. She sits upon a scarlet colored beast, which means she's not a part of the beast, but actually controls the beast. 5. The word "beast" refers to the attitude and spirit of the nations of the world against God. 6. They are "full of names of blasphemy," meaning blasphemy against God of every description. 7. These "seven heads" of this "beast," represent seven Empires which greatly opposed, or will oppose the Plan of God. 8. The "ten horns" are listed separately, because they are actually the seventh head, and are yet to be formed.

IN THE SPIRIT

The phrase, "So he carried me away in the spirit," pertains to the fact that John sees this in a Vision, which means that he wasn't literally taken into the wilderness. In this Vision, the Apostle will see the opposition of Satan all the way from the beginning, even unto the very end. If we correctly interpret this Seventeenth Chapter of Revelation, then we can understand Satan's greatest methods of operation against the Plan of God. His method is to put forth a proposed alternate way of Salvation. In fact, he little rejects religion out of hand, but rather promotes his own brand.

For instance, he didn't tell Cain in Genesis, Chapter 4 to oppose the Sacrifice, which God demanded, which was a lamb, which would be a Type of the coming Christ Who would give Himself on the Cross, but rather that something else be substituted, in other words, the labor of Cain's hands. And then whenever God rejected Cain's offering, and it must be quickly said, if the offering is rejected, then the offerer is rejected as well, Cain then turned on his brother Abel with violent opposition, killing him.

That scenario outlines the entirety of Satan's opposition, which began at the dawn of time, and has continued in that capacity from then until now. Because it's so important, please allow us to state it again: Satan's method has always been a substitution of his own brand of religion, which denies the Sacrifice of Christ, and then as well, to persecute the True Way.

THE WILDERNESS

The phrase, "Into the wilderness," is in contrast to the "great and high mountain," to which John will later be taken "in the spirit." From this great and high mountain, he would see "that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of Heaven from God" (Rev. 21:10). But as he views Satan's method of opposition against the Plan of God, which basically can be said to be organized religion, he sees nothing but a "wilderness." And this exactly typifies that which Satan has in the field of religion, or anything else for that matter, irrespective as to how grand and glorious it may seem to be on the surface.

A WOMAN

The phrase, "And I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast," presents the "great whore" of Verse 1. The woman is organized religion. By that we mean any religion or form of religion claiming to have a way of Salvation or victory that is either different from, adding to, or taking away from the Biblical view. She symbolizes every false way of Salvation from the very beginning. The "scarlet" color indicates blood and pertains to great persecution.

Once again we go back to Genesis, Chapter 4. Cain was not satisfied to go his own way, as wrong as that way was; he felt he had to obliterate the True Way, so he murdered his brother Abel. This spirit has characterized Satan's substitute from then until now. It is estimated that approximately 200 million people have been martyred in centuries past because they would not conform to organized religion. The martyrdom of Saints will be revived in the old Roman Empire territory between the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ (the Great Tribulation Period).

In the first three and one half years of Daniel's seventieth week, the woman (the great whore) will murder the Saints of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the middle of the Great Tribulation, when the Antichrist comes to power over the ten kingdoms, the great whore will be destroyed, as we shall see. Martyrdom of Christians will then be carried on by the beast until the Second Coming of Christ. As well, we must understand that the "beast" described in this Third Verse is not the Antichrist, but represents the great nations of the world (Empires) which have opposed the Plan of God from the beginning.

This persecution was by and large carried out against Israel. These Empires were referred to by various names, "the Egyptian, the Assyrian, the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the Grecian, the Roman, etc." However, God refers to them as "beasts," hence Daniel seeing some of these Empires in visions, and them described as beasts.

For instance, Babylon was likened unto a lion, the Medo-Persian as a bear, and the Grecian as a leopard. Rome was described by a nondescript beast, because there was nothing on Earth to resemble it (Dan. 7:1-7). The woman, i.e., "great whore," sitting upon this scarlet colored beast refers to a religious system which parasitized off of these Empires, one might say, and in a sense controlled them. If one studies the Empires of the past, one will find that religion played a major part in all that they did. To be sure, it was a religion devised and made up by men, with all types of weird incantations and the worship of idols, etc., but it controlled these kingdoms, at least to a certain extent.

BLASPHEMY

The phrase, "Full of names of blasphemy," refers to this "woman" opposing the Plan of God in every capacity. All of this becomes very obvious as we study the Old Testament. We find the nations which surrounded Israel, and for the most part which hated Israel, were controlled by demonic religious systems. In fact, particular idols stood for the type of god which they worshipped, and sometimes, many gods. If they won a victory in battle, they would accredit it to their god as being stronger than the god of the nation which they defeated. If they lost the battle, then it showed that the god of the nation which defeated them was stronger than their god, or else their god was angry at them and would not help them, allowing them to be defeated, etc.

For instance, in the city of Babylon, during the height of the Babylonian reign, there was a building which housed the gods of defeated nations. It was referred to by several names, but one of those names was "the tower of the god Bel." "Bel" was the name or title of the principal Babylonian deity, as well called "Marduk." Bel is named with the god Nabu, another Babylonian deity, who was considered his son (Isa. 46:1). In the Sumerian language, "Bel" means, "lord." In Hebrew, it means "Ba'al." When Marduk became the chief god of Babylon, he was given the additional name of "Bel." It was the idol of this god whom Daniel and his companions were commanded to worship.

Whenever Judah was conquered by the Babylonians, with the Temple being ransacked and destroyed, the Babylonians found no "idol god" that they could take to Babylon. So they took some of the holy utensils instead. There is no evidence that they took the Ark of the Covenant, the legend being that Jeremiah took it and hid it, with it not being found unto this day. Whatever these idol gods were, the people blasphemed the Name of the Lord, and did so by perverting the true worship of God, diverting it to a weird object, i.e., "demon spirits." In other words, they were actually worshiping demon spirits.

SEVEN HEADS AND TEN HORNS

The phrase, "Having seven heads and ten horns," refers to the scarlet colored beast, and not to the woman. The "ten horns" are listed separately from the "seven heads," and are done so because their fulfillment is yet future. In fact, the "ten horns" are the seventh head. The "seven heads" represent seven Empires which persecuted Israel in the past, with the last one yet future. They are, "Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and the confederated ten nations which will arise out of the old Roman Empire territory, and as stated, are yet future."

Now how do we know that these are the Empires of which these seven heads represent? We know so because of the information given us in the Old Testament. Israel was God's Plan who was to give the world the Word of God, which they did, and in effect, to serve also as the womb of the Messiah, which they did. In other words, the Plan of God for the human race, and by that we speak of man's Redemption, was wrapped up in these people.

So the Empires which opposed them make up these nations of which we have spoken. As stated, Daniel saw five of these Empires (Heads) (Dan. 7:1-7). He didn't see the first two, Egypt and Assyria, simply because they were before his time and, thereby, were of no consequence. But those two are definitely a part of the "seven heads."

The Roman Empire, which made up the sixth head, was the last of the Empires that persecuted Israel, before her destruction as a nation in A.D. 70. In fact, it was the Roman Empire which destroyed Israel. The Church Age then came into being, which has continued unto the present. So, the ten-horned kingdom has not yet risen, but will shortly. And it will be, as stated, the seventh head. When the ten-horned kingdom arises, it will persecute Israel as well. As also stated, it will be located within the geographical area of the old Roman Empire (Dan. 7:7).

Excerpt from The Jimmy Swaggart Bible Commentary, by Jimmy Swaggart. Used with permission. Art used with permission by Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992.
Click here to visit her "Revelation Illustrated" site.

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