Bible Commentaries
Revelation 17

Verses 1-3

Chapter 17 - Mystery Babylon explained

In the previous vial judgments, the Beast world system is destroyed. In chapters 17 and 18, John is taken to see much more detail about the life, deeds and end fate of the religious and political systems that had control over the world since the rebellion against God became formal at Babylon in the days of Nimrod. These two chapters in Revelation are probably the most difficult to understand in the book of Revelation. A broad understanding of prophetic scripture is essential to properly discern what John is seeing in these chapters. The difficulty is mainly in determining the identities of “ Mystery Babylon” of chapter 17 and “ Babylon the Great” of chapter 18 and ascertaining the differences between the two identities. The timing of the events related to them during the tribulation also raises some controversy.

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:

One of the seven angels that has the vial or vials tells John to come and he will show him the judgment of the great whore that sits upon many waters. The phrase “sitting upon many waters” means the whore sits over many nations or peoples of the earth. This is specially defined for us in Revelation 17:15.

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.

The kings of the earth commit fornication with this whore. Therefore, the whore herself is not likely to be one of the nations under the kings. Those who inhabit the earth become intoxicated with the adultery that this harlot commits because they love to drink what she offers.

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.

John was carried away in the spirit into the wilderness where he saw the things described. Since he was carried into the wilderness the woman cannot be harlot Israel (as some think). The word for wilderness in Hebrew usually means a large pasture or tract of land and the Greek word means pretty much the same thing. I believe here the word “wilderness” simply means to be in carried to a large land area somewhere other than in the land of Israel. The word wilderness could also mean a high mountain pasture and this could have been where John was taken. I believe John was taken to see the revival of the Holy Roman Empire (one of the names of blasphemy).

John sees a woman in the wilderness that sits upon a scarlet colored beast. This woman on the beast is obviously the whore that the angel said he was bringing John to see. The woman rides on a scarlet colored beast that has names of blasphemy and the beast she rides has seven heads and ten horns. We have already seen in chapter twelve that the Dragon (who is Satan) fits this description. Therefore, we can be certain that the woman on the scarlet colored beast is being carried along by Satan.

There have been seven world governments that have controlled the known civilized world. They were all under the administrative control of Satan. When Jesus was shown and offered all the kingdoms of the world by Satan and was told that he had the authority or power to give them to Him, Jesus did not contradict his claim ( Matthew 4:8 ). The seven world governments are the seven heads of the beast but we shall also see that the seven heads also represent seven hills where the end time Beast headquarters is physically located. The ten horns represent the leaders who give their power to the Beast in the last world kingdom that rises just before Jesus comes to set up His kingdom on earth. These same ten horns are also spoken of in Daniel Chapter 7.

We are told the harlot woman rides this seven headed beast, meaning she has some control over the direction of all seven world governments. There is only one entity that fits that description and that entity is “world religion”. Man rebelled against the God of heaven when he started worshiping created beings rather than the creator (Satan is the chief of created beings). This paganism became a formal mystery religion at the tower of Babel under the rule of Nimrod. Most of mankind remains under the influence of Babylonian pagan practices today.

Verses 4-5

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:

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

The woman has the name “ Mystery Babylon”. Mystery Babylon is not the same as the physical place of Babylon in Iraq. Mystery Babylon is the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. She is a seen as a harlot because she has a relationship with someone other than God. She is the mother of all abominations because she is playing the harlot with Satan who is the prime source of all evil on the earth. The clothing the woman wears and the wealth she displays reflects that she thinks that she is a queen instead of a whore. The priests of formal religions often wear similar colors today. Many of them also use golden cups for the practice of their religious rituals. In her hand is a cup that is full of abominations that comes from her fornication with Satan.

Purple was the color of Roman imperialism and scarlet is the main color adopted by Roman Catholicism. The Vatican has been the chief entity that speaks for religion on the earth and that is not just a coincidence. The Vatican is the only religious state and it has embassies in most nations of the world and also has a non-voting seat at the UN as a consultant to this world body. In the end times, she will be the head of the harlot world religion when she and many other religions merge into a one-world religion with its headquarters being at the Vatican in Rome.

Verses 6-7

6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

The woman is drunk with the blood of the saints and with the martyrs of Jesus. The saints are Old Testament people who were put to death by the religious whore. They include all the prophets and Old Testament believers who were persecuted and killed by the religions system (Judaism) that fornicated with Babylonian demonic gods.

Most members of the leadership of Israel’s religious system were controlled by “their father the Devil” according to Jesus ( John 8:44). This proves that the harlot was in existence and was well established in Judaism even at that time. These satanic leaders of Israel killed the husbandmen of the vineyard (the prophets) and even the Son of the owner of the vineyard (Jesus) so that God would get nothing out of His field ( Luke 20:13).

The martyrs of Jesus are the followers of Jesus who died for their faith in Him. Martyrdom of the true followers of Jesus will continue to take place under the hand of the whore until the day the great whore is devoured by the Beast she rides. After Judaism, most of martyrdom was by the hands of satanic leaders that rose to the top of Christian and later Islamic religion. In the future, martyrdom will be by the hands of the World Church. Finally, the whore herself will be devoured and burned with fire by the Babylonian pagan Beast that she prostituted herself with.

Why did John marvel about her? John marveled because until the angel explains it to him, the woman and the beast she rides is a hidden mystery. Maybe John also marveled because God’s plan that allows Satan to play God through the religions of the world is simply astounding. John must have realized that through death, these martyrs actually won victory over the Devil and obtained eternal life and glory. Thus, the satanically inspired desire of the harlot to kill the children of the promise actually brought the elect children to eternal salvation and rewards. The plan of God is a mystery simply beyond human understanding.

7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.

Do not take my word for it - the angel himself will clearly explain to John and to us the mystery of the woman, and the satanic Beast that she rides.

Verses 8-11

8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.

11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

Remember in this vision the woman is not the beast that John saw the woman was sitting (riding) on the beast. The angel explains that this Beast is an entity that ascends out of the bottomless pit and that eventually goes to eternal damnation. We have already studied that when Satan is cast out of heaven he will inhabit the Beast that comes out of the bottomless pit. The bottomless pit is probably the center of the earth where the demons and enemies of God are being held for this time of judgment. In a sense, the bottomless pit is another dimension that we know little about. As we previously studied, the Beast is both a man and a world empire.

The people on the earth will wonder after the Beast when they behold him. They will think that he is God. All who do not know the true God will be truly astonished by the Beast. Those who God chose before the foundations of the world will not be deceived but all the rest in the world will be deceived. Anyone who thinks that the Antichrist is a plain man with a few magic tricks simply is not reading the script. Satan will come in the body of a man with supernatural powers and he will come with all his angels. He will claim to be God and the world will believe him because of the power he demonstrates.

“The Beast that was and is not and yet is”, is talking about the resurrection of a man who had died and probably also about a kingdom that had a deadly wound. A contemporary world leader will be killed and rise from the dead by the power that God permits Satan to have to perform this deception. The deception is for all those who have rejected the truth given by the two prophets. It will be for those that wish to believe a lie. This passage both talks about a world leader and also talks about his kingdom, as do some other prophecies in scripture. The same wicked spiritual forces control both. The kingdom of the Beast that was and is not and yet is, can only be a revival of the Roman Empire that later becomes Satan’s counterfeit kingdom of God.

As we studied previously, the book of Daniel chapter two makes it clear that there would only be four Gentile world empires from the time of Daniel to the time when Jesus sets up His kingdom over the world. These four empires were the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the Greek and the Roman Empire.

The Roman Empire will rise again in these last days to fulfill the prophecy of the feet with ten toes on the statue of Nebuchadnezzar ( Daniel 2:42). This statue represents all the remaining Gentile world governments until God sets up His own kingdom. The world governments are sequential from the head to the toes. The two legs of iron described by Daniel represented the eastern and western division of the Roman Empire. The final Gentile government is represented by the feet with ten toes of iron and clay. They represent strong and weak entities that will come together in the same area as the two legs to form this revived Roman Empire.

The resurrection of the Roman Empire is underway today. It started with the EEC and EU experiments and will soon morph into the area of the recently proposed Mediterranean Union. The Roman Empire was the seventh world empire on earth but the fourth from Daniel because there were also three Gentile world governments prior to the time of Daniel’s prophecy. The Beast Government that comes when Satan is cast out of heaven onto the earth will be the eighth world government. It is the eighth because the Beast that comes out of the pit will take control of this revived Roman Empire, move the world government and religious capitol to Babylon Iraq, and rename it the “Kingdom of God”. It will be called “Babylon the Great” by God. The Beast man that controls the eighth world government is the eighth king but is of the seven because the man that ruled the end time revived Roman Empire will be resurrected to control this Babylon the Great Beast Kingdom.

Let me clarify this a little - this seventh world leader will die and rise again by the power given to Satan and become the leader of the eighth world empire. Nevertheless, he was the leader of the seventh empire as well before he was killed.

The prophecy about the “empire” identified as the Beast is similar. It originally will evolve out of the area of the old Roman Empire. This new revived Roman Empire will receive a deadly head wound in an internal revolution and three regions and it's rulers will no longer exist. The “empire” with the deadly head wound will rise again as the end time Beast when the Beast man rises from the dead, claims to be God incarnate, moves the headquarters from Europe to Babylon and then takes the authority of his Beast kingdom worldwide.

There are only seven Gentile world empires on earth until Jesus comes but there are eight, because the eighth is just phase two of the seventh when the leader becomes supernatural, moves the capitol and expands his kingdom to the borders of the Old Roman Empire and His power worldwide.

Now that the angel explained who the Beast is, he tells us about the mystery of the “woman who rides the Beast”. The angel tells John that the woman that rides the Beast will sit on seven mountains (mountains, mounts or hills). Rome sits on seven hills. The harlot woman that becomes the World Church will rule from the Vatican.

I have seen photos showing Pope John Paul II entering a mosque and kissing the Koran. I have read that he said eastern religions also provide paths to God. One of Pope John Paul's closest friends was the Dali Lama who is the world leader of eastern and “new age” paganism. All this contact with unbelievers was ongoing at the very same time that the Vatican attacked fundamental true Christianity in South America and elsewhere. This is typical of the thinking in much of the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church even now. There also is quite a parallel to the idol worship of statues by “ some Catholics” and the idol worship by Buddhists and Hindus.

It is not hard to see how all world religion will unify on a central theme once the influences of the true Christians are removed in the Rapture. (There are true Christians in the Roman Catholic Church but in one way or another they will leave this Harlot.)

All religion is pretty much the same at its core. Religions are methodologies for man to evolve to become like God, to appease God and earn brownie points by one’s own good works, or to manipulate God or some “higher power force” into doing one’s own will. There is always an inner circle of elite that set themselves up as being on a higher spiritual plane and more like God or closer to God than the common membership. Those who believe they are on this higher plane then make rules and rituals to enslave the masses to enforce what they believe are God’s requirements for man.

Religion other than “true Christianity” (which really is not a religion but is being born into a new creation through faith and trust in God), is always a salvation by man’s own works theology and always denies that salvation can be acquired from trusting in the work of Jesus alone.

Jesus had little good to say about the religious leadership over Israel and He will have little good to say about the religious leadership over Gentile religions in these last days. This includes most of the leadership that identifies with Christianity.

The scriptures say there is but one way to God through His Son Jesus Christ and that He paid the price for all mankind at the cross. To be saved one has to trust that God loved mankind enough to have prepared a plan of salvation and that He actually has the power to carry it out. This plan for redeeming man is what the Bible is all about.

The great difference between the bride of Christ and the whore is that the bride knows she is made pure by the blood of Jesus but the whore believes she must become acceptable to God by her own self effort. She is forever trying to find ways to appease and please God. Since she rejects the true nature of God, she fornicates with every filthy spirit in a self effort to become like the God she believes exists but the God she thinks exists is actually her father the Devil. Those who say they worship God and who do not worship or accept His Son are deceived or liars because Jesus is the express image of God.

Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Revelation 17:11 of this passage tells us the end time Beast that the woman rides will go into utter destruction. The destruction of the Beast kingdom is described in the next chapter.

Verse 12

12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

The ten horns are the ten world leaders that will receive a kingdom with the Beast. Whether they will be leaders of ten nations on the earth, or 10 zones in the area of the Old Roman Empire, or ten zones of the world is open to speculation. Both ten regional zones in the area of the old Roman Empire and ten world regional zones have been suggested by global think tanks like the “Club of Rome”. Both zone scenarios might be true. It might start with ten zones in the area of the old Roman Empire and then the revived Roman Empire becomes the head of ten world regional zones. We are getting pretty close to having ten regional economic unions around the globe already. In any case, the ten leaders give their power to the Beast. We are also told that three of the world leaders will be eliminated after the Beast/Antichrist comes to power.

Verse 13

13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

The ten rulers will think alike. All their power and strength will be used to carry out the wishes of the Beast Antichrist. It is pretty safe to assume by this statement that these ten leaders will be demonically possessed.

Verse 14

14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

The Beast and the ten world leaders will make war against Jesus. What complete deception has to take place for the kings and people of the nations to think that they can war against the same person who created them!

Verse 15

15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

The angel explains what I said previously, that the waters where the whore sits actually represents the people she has influenced that come from many nations and languages. Only religion fills that role.

Verse 16

16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

When the Satanic man appears, the world will believe he is God and his government will not tolerate any worship other than worshiping him. They will claim that the Beast is God and declare the” Kingdom of God” is now on earth. They will take all the possessions and all authority away from all world religious organizations that will not worship him. Many in the Harlot religious system will not accept the Beast as being “Almighty God” or be deceived into believing that the Beast Kingdom is the “Kingdom of God” and many will see the errors of their ways. In the end, it will cost most of those who will not worship the Beast their physical lives. However, by gaining the belief that Jesus is the real Savior their souls will be saved. The ten world political leaders will use their power to destroy all that worship any entity other than the Beast.

Revelation 17:16 describes how and why the woman who rides the beast will be judged. She will be eaten by the Beast she rides and her buildings will be burned. She will have the same fate as Jezebel in the Old Testament whose bones were eaten by dogs.

Verses 17-18

17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

God made Pharaoh and hardened his heart to bring about the judgment of Egypt. These ten kings’ hearts are hardened by God to war against Jesus and to give their kingdoms to the Beast until this prophecy is fulfilled.

18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

This is a key passage that tells us the identity of the “woman that rides the beast”. “Mystery Babylon” is the great city that is ruling over the earth. Rome was ruling over the earth in the time of John and fits the bill but Mystery Babylon could not be the city of Rome or the Roman Empire. “ The woman rides the beast”, so the woman could not at the same time “be the beast”. The woman could not be the church at Rome at the time of John because the church was not ruling over the earth at that time. The religious system reigning over the earth in the time John wrote this was Babylonian paganism with Caesar worship.

The city in this passage is a city that reigns over the earth. At the time of John, that city was Rome. The city may also be a city that reigns over the earth at the end time judgment of the "woman". That also is likely to be fulfilled by Rome. For these reasons, the woman in this prophecy can only be identified as a world religion that has also been infiltrated by Babylonian paganism and that is located at Rome.

So that we can be sure of the true identity of the woman we will examine this a little closer. We are told the woman sits on a seven hilled city (Rome) and is drunk with the blood of the martyred saints and from that we can determine that “Mystery Babylon” is a religious system that claims to worship God but has incorporated Babylonian religious practices (that is why she is described as a harlot).

She has to be at a physical location that not only had Babylonian practices in the time of John but the religious system “must martyr all the saints” ( Revelation 17:6 ). The Roman Empire did kill saints but all the blood of the saints and martyrs cannot be placed at the hands of the political and religious powers of the the old Roman Empire. The harlot was obviously born before Rome (in Babylon) and she also did not die in Rome in 312 AD when the Church joined with the political system of the Roman Empire. After the Jewish and then the Roman Empire persecutions ended, only the religion that identified with Christianity could be blamed for true Christians being martyred (e.g. the inquisitions). That remained true until Islam took over the leadership role of the slaughter of true Christians.

There is only one location and religious entity on earth that makes sense of this prophecy and its greater fulfillment in the last days. The harlot woman of the last days has to be all organized religion that at the fulfillment of this prophecy will be head quartered in Rome. It should be obvious that I am not saying the present Roman Catholic Church can be named as the denomination that fulfills the end time role of the woman. All Babylonian influenced world religion makes up this woman on the Beast. The world religion that will become head quartered at the Vatican may take on an entirely different name from Roman Catholicism in the last days. However, there is little doubt in my mind that this woman who rides the Antichrist Beast will be a pagan Babylonian infiltrated harlot head quartered at the location that is now called the Vatican in Rome.

If more clarification of the woman is still necessary let me further explain. The Babylonian harlot was born in the time of Nimrod in Babylon and eventually corrupted Judaism. The pagan Babylonian religious practices actually moved from Babylon to Pergamos. (where Satan’s throne is -- Revelation 2:13). After the church merged with the state in 312 AD, the harlot took residence in the top ranks of the Christian church. At this point, the Babylon priest system had already joined with the Roman system. By approximately 600 AD, the Christian institutional church became what we know today as the Roman Catholic Church.

During this period of Christianity mingled with pagan practices the inquisitions took place and killed many more true Christians than did any prior persecution of God’s people. After the inquisitions, the woman can be seen within the Protestant churches who had their own persecutions and witch-hunts in which many took part in their own holocausts against God’s people. Today the woman’s attributes are seen in Islam as the primary murderer of God’s people.

In the end time, the woman will ride a one world religious system. The woman actually never leaves Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism or Islam because the woman is in fact all harlot religion of all eras. However, the woman rides the Beast as the religion that has the most influence on the governmental empire that happens to control the earth.

Today the Vatican represents the religion that has the most influence on the earth but Protestantism also has world influence and Islam is rapidly coming to the forefront. All harlot religion will play a part and complete the fulfillment of the prophecy about the woman who rides the beast.

When the rapture of the true Church of Jesus Christ takes place, true Christians from many different denominations including faithful Catholics will be taken to be with Jesus. The apostate Christians left behind in all denominations will unite with other religious to form a pluralist world religion led at the headquarters of the largest Christian denomination.

I want to make one thing clear here: By mentioning the Vatican as the future headquarters of the world harlot, I am not Catholic bashing. There are many practices in the Catholic Church that I believe are heresies but there are just as many or more heresies in most mainline Protestant churches today. For a thousand years, there was only one church government on earth and that was the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is still the largest Christian denomination in the world by far. Therefore, if there is going to be harlotry throughout history since Babylon and the harlotry is among those who claim to know the God of creation, it has to be among the only organized Christian Church that exists during this period.

The harlot woman was among this organized body called Catholics, but so were true Christians as wheat among the tares. Today Islam has taken over the role of the chief harlot religion that persecutes the saints. Islam is founded on paganism and in our time has actively martyred millions of Christians. The end time harlot religious system that John is seeing is headed in Rome in the last days and it was founded in Babylon, but all major organized world religions in the last days that reject true Christianity are part of the harlot. Even Islam in the end will join with this world religion leadership in Rome although it may take demonic deceptions or a great religious war first.

The church that identifies with Christianity, like ancient Israel, has true believers and phonies. That is why Paul said that not all Israel is true Israel, and that is why not all named Christians are true Christians. The new covenant promise to Israel and the Church is to believers but a large part of the Church like Israel is in unbelief. In the eyes of God, she has committed harlotry with the world of paganism.

The tale of two nations or two women. The struggle between the woman from the flesh (harlot woman) and the woman from the promise (those who believe and trust God) can be followed in the following timeline (This is only a sample to help you understand and it is not meant to be all conclusive - the woman of the promise is in bold print):

· The Babylonian rebellion against God by Nimrod - the mystery religion and the Babylonian priesthood is founded at Babylon.

· Abraham is taken out to be the father of all who live by faith in the true Creator. He believes God’s promise.

·Ishmael is born of the flesh from Abraham’s slave girl - Ishmael mingles with the pagans of Babylon.

· Isaac is born of the promise and follows the God of his father (Abraham).

·Esau is the first son of Isaac but Esau puts no value on the promise of his birthright and sells it to Jacob for a meal.

· Jacob becomes Israel and becomes a nation that is to keep the oracles and promise of God for the benefit of all the people of the promise.

· Israel’s son Joseph speaks of the vision God gave him for the people of promise.

·Joseph is sold into slavery to Egypt by jealous half brothers.

· Joseph becomes prime minister of Egypt with the help of God and saves the descendants of Israel from physical starvation.

·The Egyptian world government forgets Joseph, becomes totally corrupted by Babylonian pagan practices, and enslaves and persecutes the descendants of Israel.

· God raises up Moses to deliver Israel from Egypt and the Law is given to Israel to lead them to the promised land and Savior.

·Judaism becomes corrupted by harlotry with pagan gods.

·The world empire of Babylon enslaves Israel.

·The Mystical Brotherhood of the Babylonian order moves its headship to Pergamos after the fall of Babylon.

· Some of the Jews return to Israel and rebuild God’s temple.

·The Babylonian priesthood is moved to Rome by the last will of Attalus king of Pergamos.

·Julius Caesar becomes supreme Pontiff (high priest) of the Babylonian Order in BC 63.

· John the Baptist is born to restore Israel so they are ready to receive their promise.

· Jesus “is the promise” and comes to save all mankind.

·The Babylonian influenced Jewish priesthood and the Roman world system kill Jesus. The priests rejected the promise in exchange for adultery with Rome.

· Jesus rises from the dead and the promise is given to all who by faith trust in this risen Savior.

·There is a secession of Pontiffs from Julius Caesar to the year when the Babylonian Order becomes the ruler of the Roman Church in 378 AD (a very long story).

· The wheat grows in the same field (the institutional church) as the harlot tares and grows up with them.

·Islam is born and it teaches the sons of Ishmael and Esau to worship a single pagan God that persecutes those born of the promise.

·The tares in the institutional church choke to death many of the people of the promise in the inquisitions.

· The Protestant reformation is born by those who teach that salvation comes from trusting in the promise of Jesus alone.

·Most of Protestantism plays the harlot with philosophy, psychology, new age paganism, humanism, pragmatism and materialism.

· The people of the promise are now the wheat among the tares in the Catholic and Protestant Churches.

· The printed Bible becomes available to the public. Smaller fields grow so much wheat the tares find little room to root.

·Higher critical thinking philosophies war against those who believe the promise in God’s word.

· The people of the promise are removed in the rapture and all the wheat not entangled with the tares (harlot) is removed from the earth.

·All religions of the world unite after a great world religious war to form a world religion led by the Vatican at Rome. This woman will ride the Beast into her end time role.

·The Beast devours the woman that rode on his back (world religious institutions and leaders). The tares are burned.

·Satan through the lying wonders of His Beast and False Prophet sets himself up as God, declares the Kingdom of God has come, and he moves the political and religious capitol of the world to Babylon where he builds a city of gold for himself.

·The wheat bound with paganism is threshed during the great tribulation the Beast brings on the earth .

· All people of the promise that were in adultery return to her husband - the true God of heaven - and are gathered into His barn.

· God avenges all the people of promise by destroying the Beast and by setting up the real kingdom of God on the earth ruled by Jesus.

The woman who rides the Beast has actually existed since the days of Babylon but she will play her major role in the last days. She in the end will be eaten by the Beast she rides because he will claim to be God and will not tolerate the worship of anyone or anything other that himself. Many who were in harlotry will come to understand the truth in those days through the teaching and the judgments that take place in this time of trial for the whole world. These who come out of Babylon will not worship the Beast and these along with a remnant in Israel will return to the true God of heaven but it will cost many of them their mortal lives. In those days all who seek to save their lives by worshiping the Beast will lose their soul and those who lose their life for Jesus’ sake will gain eternal life.

Matthew 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sakeshall find it.

For a more detailed study on the history and future of the woman who rides the Beast I highly recommend the book “ A Woman Rides the Beast” by Dave Hunt, Harvest House, 1994.

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