“Come here; I will show you the judgment of the great whore that sits upon many waters.” (Revelation 17:1).
Most Bible prophecy students and scholars who have studied “End Time” events are familiar with the chapter in the last book of God’s Word that deals with the rather cryptic entity that will soon meet its fate and will be utterly decimated at the direction of God during the Tribulation Period. What is largely debated among the Eschatology community is exactly who this person or organization is that is being described in this 17th chapter of Revelation. There seem to be enough indicators, though, in the passage to zero in on exactly what the Apostle John saw as he scribed his vision of the demise of this being, as revealed to him by an angel of God.
While a great deal of Revelation’s verbiage points to newly revealed creatures and groups making their initial appearance during this final week of years, it would seem that this upcoming judgment against this harlot entity is just that – a judgment – against an organization that has been a force across the landscape of the world for an extended period of time and not the unveiling of a new entity to arise while other calamities on Earth are concurrently transpiring.
For instance, the unmasking of the Antichrist and his religious cohort, the False Prophet, will only make their appearance once the Tribulation Hour is fully underway. Although, it could be said that a figure in Rome presently is rapidly filling his resume to be a prime candidate to fill the shoes of the False Prophet by his globalist actions and recent proclamations. But, given his age, he may get replaced by another. The 200-million-man army that will march across Asia to the Holy Land will be another new development that will only come into view once the final week gets unsealed and is nearing its conclusion.
But the wording of Revelation 17 regarding the religious harlot that “sits upon many waters” leads one to believe that it is her judgment only that finally gets dealt with during this time and not something new that arises out of the earth, the seas or the pit. Her real identity and the scales enshrouding her dark composition of what she really is may only fall off and come into clearer focus by the earth dwellers of this prophesied time. John seems to be suggesting that she has long ago taken up firmly established positions around the globe – encompassing many “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues” – and has had time to spread her treachery and intoxicating influence over the affairs of large people groups – centuries to accomplish this, not a mere week of years to entrap millions into her clutches.
An interesting facet of this “woman” is her title: “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” It is curious as to why this figure has this name written across her forehead, all in uppercase letters. What is the significance of that? She is a very prominent figure throughout Christendom, as I will lay out further, so maybe the influence that she has had for centuries across the globe warrants such a loud proclamation across her face of just what she is and how she has beguiled “multitudes.”
It is also perplexing as to why some Bible versions of this account put the word “mystery” in lowercase and make it appear that the title of this person is a mystery but not a part of her title. As in, “upon her forehead, a name was written, a mystery: Babylon the Great…etc.” That seems to rob the passage of a clear identifier of who this “woman” represents.
The word “MYSTERY,” as part of her name, suggests something that wasn’t clear to John at around 90 AD or something that had not been revealed yet or had not yet come into being. That is a huge difference from just claiming that her name is mysterious or intriguing versus her identification at John’s time, which was still yet a “MYSTERY.”
Another noteworthy fact of the revealing of the judgment of this woman is that God used to see this vision and later scribe it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. John was the youngest apostle at the time of Jesus. He was exiled to the Isle of Patmos while the other apostles suffered martyrdom. That could play into why the Lord used John to see the vision of end-time events, but it also may have had to do with John’s special connection to the Lord’s human mother, Mary – especially in this account of judgment against this “woman.”
We know from Scripture that at the foot of the cross, John was told by Jesus to behold Mary as his mother and for Mary to accept John as her son. Again, John was the youngest apostle – probably a teen or very young adult – and may have been motherless at the time. We know also from the Bible that Mary had other children and that James, the half-brother of Jesus, even wrote an epistle that was included in the New Testament. So, why would Mary need another son? John could have needed a mother, but maybe there is also more to the story than just a mother-son relationship.
We are told in Revelation 17 that John marveled at the sight of this creature, whom the angel revealed to him. Obviously, the sight of this “woman,” by the way she is described, would be incredibly hard to fathom and must have been mind-numbing to behold: a person from 90 AD seeing a religious institution in its fully developed stage 2000 years later and how it had become transformed into something so unfamiliar to John that he couldn’t grasp what he was beholding. Or, could it be also that he saw what they had done with someone whom he was very familiar with, someone he was entrusted to care for? Both may be the case, and both would be equally shocking!
The word “Babylon” in the description of this entity conjures up images and passages from the Bible concerning this ancient city. Nimrod was a ruler from there in ancient times and attempted to build a tower that could reach up to God. This is a type of man creating his own religion in an effort to bypass God’s preferred method of being right before the Lord by making up his own formula. God judged the ancient Babylonians for their religious trickery by confusing their language and scattering them throughout the world.
Babylon is also talked about in the Book of Daniel, where the prophet had a vision of the world’s leading empires – starting from the nation of Babylon and ending with the final world government of the Roman Empire. From the Biblical account of these world powers to rule over man before the return of Jesus Christ to rule and reign, we never see a final leap of Rome’s rule back to Babylon. It was a centuries-long progression – from Babylon to Medo-Persia, to Greece, then finally to Rome – but never back again to the ancient empire of Babylon. Rome was the final world empire for false religion and the last location for the seat of world government.
Babylon was also used as a code name for Rome in the Bible and was used that way by Peter in one of his epistles (1 Peter 5:13). So, the religion of Babylon saw its final form on the hills of Rome. There is not going to be a U-Turn back to Babylon, nor does there need to be. Daniel 9:26 even intimates that the final “prince to come” – the antichrist – will come out of Rome.
The word “MYSTERY” then, preceding “BABYLON” in the Revelation 17 narrative, would seem to indicate that the passage regarding this harlot is not pointing to the ancient city of Babylon but some other entity that had its religious roots from this once world empire. In John’s time, this final form of a false religious system had not yet come into being – it was still a mystery. John didn’t recognize it and was astonished by the form of it. It was something that he wouldn’t have conceived of nor would recognize as something that emanated from God.
What are the indicators or attributes of this religious harlot that can be used to nail down the identity of this creature and could point only to one possible candidate?
For starters, the word “harlot” or “whore.” This terminology, spiritually speaking, is a woman who is not betrothed to Christ but is instead selling herself for filthy lucre, ill-gotten gain, and is only in it for worldly pursuits and not for the cause of Christ.
The true Bride of Christ is made up of all spiritually born-again Christians (John 3:3) who have been united with Jesus by accepting His free gift of salvation and by inviting Christ into their lives. Christians are betrothed to Jesus and will become spiritually wedded to Him at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. A harlot may dress up and pretend to be married to Christ, but inwardly, she is only selling her favors to acquire riches and gain the world. She dresses up to look pious, but she is far from God. She is a religious phony, prostituting herself for worldly power, pursuits and riches. Her religious masquerade is only a means to a wealthy ambition.
“And here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits” (Revelation 17:9).
She is also operating out of a city that sits on seven hills. That immediately narrows the search down to just a few select locations around the world. How many cities in the world are situated on seven hills? Just a few. But how many also have a worldwide religious organization situated in a city of seven hills? Only one. Rome is infamous for being called “the City of Seven Hills.”
“And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth” (Revelation 17:18).
During John’s time, Rome was the great city that ruled over the kings of the Earth. Not Jerusalem, not Istanbul, or any of the former empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, or Greece.
And he said unto me, The waters that you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” (Revelation 17:15).
Roman Catholicism’s tentacles extend across many seas and oceans. Her outreach is worldwide. She has her ambassadors or emissaries all over the globe, occupying most nations of the world. Her influence is everywhere. She has sent her missionaries around the world, to sway the goings on of every country that she has taken a foothold in. The Roman Pontiffs have a longer arm than the Roman Caesars would ever have dreamed of. Her grip is vast, her subjects are many.
“And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color” (Revelation 17:4).
This identifying characteristic further narrows down the search to just one possible candidate for who this harlot could be. The “woman” is arrayed in purple and scarlet. How many religions throughout the world have their clergy adorned in the exact colors that describe the attire worn by this religious entity? Only one. Roman Catholicism’s bishops and cardinals wear those exact colors as part of their religious garb during their huge religious ceremonies.
You would think that upon reading these verses that point to a false religious system, the RCC would immediately switch to blue and green or any other color combination than the one that God points to in this unveiling of this harlot religion. But no, they proudly wear that damning apparel. Out of pride? Out of defiance? Who knows. No other religion sits on seven hills and is adorned in purple and scarlet. The DNA of this woman is on full display by these select few criteria.
“…decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication” (Revelation 17:4).
The “woman” is also shown as being fabulously wealthy, having a golden cup full of abominations and the wealth gotten from committing spiritual fornication with the world. The Vatican is said to be the wealthiest organization on the planet. Her riches include the myriad of elaborately adorned churches, cathedrals, and shrines throughout the world and all the hidden artifacts, paintings, jewel-encrusted chalices, and other treasures entombed within St. Peter’s Basilica and catacombs beneath the Vatican. The Vatican Bank reportedly holds hundreds of millions of dollars, and it owns several more banks throughout Italy, as well as numerous other commercial assets. No one rivals the RCC in wealth. This is not the “Church” that Jesus started.
Golden chalices are used repeatedly in the Catholic mass; golden cups are always seen in her priests’ hands. The abominations spoken of have to include what Catholicism does at each and every mass: they make the claim that their priests have the power to change the elements of bread and wine into the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ. Then they sacrifice these wafers as a continuation or re-presenting/re-sacrificing of our Lord and Savior. Why would Jesus have to suffer again? Didn’t He cry out on the cross that His sacrifice for sins was “Finished”?
And how could a mere wafer satisfy God in this supposed sacrifice when it was God Himself who put on human flesh to die an excruciating death on a cross? The Mass is nothing more than an abomination each and every time they lift this broken wafer to God for His approval.
How is it that a supposed Christian is the one re-sacrificing Jesus anyway? Unbelieving Roman soldiers crucified Jesus on a Roman cross, and now we have Roman Catholic priests supposedly re-killing Christ on a Roman Catholic altar? Is this what Christians do: sacrifice our Lord and Savior repeatedly, endlessly, to appease God? That sounds more like a pagan ritual: create one’s god out of a wafer, kill one’s god, and then eat that god. Something right out of Indiana Jones.
Another abomination is placing a mere wafer into a golden sun-shaped monstrance and getting their faithful to worship this thing as if it were truly God in their “Eucharistic Adoration” rituals.
It is little wonder, then, that God will have this system destroyed by fire. He has exercised much restraint, patience, and grace to allow it to continue this long in the hopes that people will come out of it and be saved. Riches and abominations are hardly a sign of the “One True Church.”
“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 popes, in times past – and maybe again soon under the antichrist’s reign – lorded over the nations of Europe and demanded which king should be in power and those who should be deposed. They wielded great influence over the affairs of men and used her supposed God-given sovereignty over the world to get all to fall in line with the pope’s agenda. World conquest and influence have been her driving force right from her start – not winning souls to Christ.
During World War II, Pope Pius XII – who has been called “Hitler’s Pope” – signed a concordat or peace treaty with the Fuehrer and, in essence, was in league with the Third Reich. Adolf Hitler – a son of Roman Catholicism – was inspired by the Catholic Church’s stance on labeling the Jews as “Christ killers” and formulated his “Final Solution” based on this mindset. The papacy turned a blind eye to the extermination of over 6 million Jews.
The concordat was also used to get Roman Catholics in Germany to help elect Hitler to power. The Vatican reaped an enormous financial windfall from Hitler’s policies, and they also developed “ratlines” after the war, allowing tens of thousands of Nazis to escape to Argentina. Instead of acting like a supposed “vicar of Christ” – or a stand-in for Jesus – Pope Pius XII exhibited qualities more befitting the devil in how the Chosen People were treated by him.
“And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (Revelation 17:6).
The papacy, during over 600 years of their Papal Inquisitions, hunted down, tortured, slaughtered, and confiscated the wealth of over a million true followers of Jesus Christ. During this centuries-long barbarous campaign, they sought to snuff out true Christianity, burn their Bibles, and exterminate those who would not bend the knee to the popes or accept their unbiblical, unchristian, and heretical teachings.
The early Reformers equated the office of the popes as antichrist. Thousands of Jews and Muslims were killed during the “Holy” Crusades when the popes were trying to wrest control of the Holy Land away from infidels. Those involved in the Crusades and killings were rewarded by the papacy by having their time lessened in a made-up Purgatory. What a deal! Except for the Jews and Muslims. The popes had a lot of blood on their hands.
Can there be any doubt that the vision John saw squarely points to Roman Catholicism? There is not even a close second to the RCC when it comes to how closely she is identified by all these descriptors:
- She is a religion headquartered in Rome, on a city of seven hills.
- Her bishops and cardinals are always seen in their large gatherings wearing purple and scarlet.
- She is extraordinarily wealthy.
- She has much blood on her hands for killing the true saints of God (read Foxe’s Book of Martyrs to get a glimpse at the papacy’s atrocities committed against true Christians).
- She is continually cavorting with the kings of the earth and influencing world policy.
- She teaches many unbiblical, unchristian, heretical doctrines and dogmas.
- She is not aligned with Christ or wedded to Him but plays a harlot with the world.
- She is far more concerned with globalist endeavors – climate change, open borders for immigrants, making Jerusalem an international city, dividing up the Holy Land – far more concerned with worldly conquests instead of being a part of Christ’s commission to spread the true gospel of Jesus and to save souls.
Roman Catholicism was a MYSTERY in John’s time. They like to make the claim that their “church” was the one started by Jesus and that Peter was their first pope, but it really didn’t come about until the 4th Century. That was when the emperor Constantine legitimized “Christianity,” but it was immediately infused with pagan practices and beliefs, along with heretical teachings, and the popes – really an extension of the Roman Caesars’ rule – were off and running.
It was never really aligned with Christ but had secular leanings right from the start. They used religion as a tool to accomplish their goals. It was a façade right from its onset; the religious show business that they incorporated was just a ruse to lure in the unsuspecting and those unknowledgeable about what the Bible contained about true salvation and how to be saved.
The Apostle John must have also marveled at what they had done with Mary, the Lord’s human mother. Turning her into a Babylonian pagan deity and calling her the “Queen of Heaven,” something that God clearly detested, as read in Jeremiah 7 and 44. They chose the very same name that God condemned the worship of by the Israelites and applied it to their version of Mary.
They have practically deified her by claiming that Mary was sinless and remained a virgin (even though Scripture contradicts that by the fact that she had other children); that she should be prayed to; that she is an intercessor, a co-mediator, a co-redemptrix; that she can free people from a false Purgatory, and on and on it goes. Is it any wonder then that John marveled? He did not recognize what Roman Catholicism had done with the woman he knew so well.
There shouldn’t be any doubt as to who this religious harlot is in Revelation 17. There isn’t even a close second to Roman Catholicism in the way she mirrors all of these attributes. She is the final form of the ancient Babylonian religious system. Her time is running out. The handwriting is on the wall. She has to be destroyed before the Lord Jesus Christ returns to Earth. She has beguiled millions of duped Catholics over the ages. Satan has his fingerprints over all their unbiblical, unchristian and heretical teachings.
The Gates of Hell could not prevail against Christ’s true church, so the enemy created his own. It is a clever ruse, a masterpiece of deception, and is a totally counterfeit Christianity. Sadly, many have been deceived by it. Her indoctrination of false theology is insidious and all-pervasive; those who have no clue about what God’s Word contains regarding true salvation and the redemptive plan of God are easily manipulated to be lured into something so sinister, so malevolent, and so false that they become spiritually blinded to the truth of the gospel. The devil has them right where he wants them: ignorant of God’s Word and on a hopeless journey to a Christless eternity.
Revelation 17 concludes with how God will judge Roman Catholicism. The antichrist will soon be allowed to emerge with the breaking of the first seal by Jesus Christ. This will only begin after Christ’s true church of believers is already taken to Heaven, then the Tribulation Period will get underway.
As mentioned previously, there is going to be a False Prophet that arrives on the scene, who will be used to prepare the world for the arrival of the antichrist. Jorge Bergoglio – Pope Francis – is acting like that character now. He may not be the actual guy – it may be the next pope – but he is certainly playing the part presently.
He is all about globalism, ecumenism, climate change, open border policies to bring in undesirables into nations to cause havoc. He is totally on board with the antichrist’s agenda. He already controls a one-world church: Catholicism means universalism, and the added title of Roman just pinpoints where this One World Church will be ruled from. He is all about bringing the masses together but under the leadership of a pope. It may well be that someone behind the scenes in the Vatican could turn out to be the person who will become the antichrist.
This harlot woman in John’s vision is actually shown to be riding on the back of a beast, or on the back of the antichrist. The person riding on the back of an animal or beast is usually the one controlling it. So, it remains to be seen if Roman Catholicism is the one controlling the antichrist or is the papacy just going along for a lucrative ride on its back. If the RCC is controlling it or him, that could signal that maybe the beast will rise out of her ranks or that she is just grooming that soon-to-be-revealed person and assisting his rise to power.
Given the papacy’s history of setting up and deposing of kings, it shouldn’t come as any surprise then that she could be instrumental as the force that will position her choice to become the worldwide dictator. Perhaps a black pope – sometimes referred to as the actual power behind the scenes, while the white pope is the face of the religion to the masses – or another sinister devil is already being groomed within her ranks?
“And the ten horns which you saw 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. For God has put into their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled” (Revelation 17:16-17).
This will be an incredible sight to behold! An approximately 1,700-year-old religious institution, which has influenced a great many of Earth’s inhabitants and has led a great multitude into a Christ-less eternity, will be utterly demolished at the direction of God. He will get the 10 kings who have aligned themselves with the Antichrist and his devilish agenda and thoroughly purge the world of this nefarious organization. They will strip her of her wealth, bulldoze her shrines, churches, cathedrals, the Vatican and any remaining vestiges of this world religion. All of her icons, graven images, relics, scapulars, medals – all things Catholic – will be torched!
Not a pretty picture. Catholics need a huge wake-up call. What they are involved in is not from God. They are not the Church that Christ founded. They did not give us the Bible. There is no real Presence in a wafer. Mary is not the “Queen of Heaven.” There is no purging place for sins called Purgatory – Jesus Christ covered the entire sin debt for all who put their faith and trust in Him. Christians do not pray to Mary or any other passed-on saint or person. Christians do not bow down before or pray in front of graven images. All of this is false; all of it is Satanic.
Christians are not cannibals or vampires; we don’t eat human flesh or drink actual blood. We are Christians, not pagans. We don’t pray on Rosary beads to a human intercessor for Jesus; we pray directly to God through His Holy Spirit – who indwells all true believers – who then communicates with Jesus Christ, who then intercedes on our behalf to the Father. Why go to anyone else in prayer, then? We have direct access to the throne of God by Christ’s spirit dwelling within us. No human can hear prayer; they are not God.
Please come out of the Catholic religion. It is false, it is unbiblical, it is unchristian. The devil has created this masterpiece of deception in order to discredit and dishonor Jesus Christ by their myriad of false doctrines, dogmas, and teachings. It is not of God, nor will it lead to God.
Time is running out. Jesus is coming back very soon for His true Body of Believers. Get properly saved immediately, serve Jesus Christ, and not a fallible man in Rome or Satan. Flee Roman Catholicism and warn your family and friends to come out of it as quickly as possible. There is an extreme danger that if you are currently deceived enough to worship a mere wafer as the actual Jesus Christ, you will be an even easier pushover to accept a false, soon-coming savior in the form of the antichrist. Don’t be a victim of ‘strong delusion.”
Pray earnestly to the Holy Spirit for spiritual discernment, and He will take the spiritual blinders from your eyes. You may not be able to see how horribly wrong Roman Catholicism is right now due to spiritual blindness, so you need God’s assistance to get saved first and then see God’s Word, the Bible, reveal to you things that could not be “seen” before by you.
Again, time is short. Act now! Don’t miss out on Jesus’ soon evacuation of His Church. Don’t allow yourself to be in a position where you have to either endure the whole seven years or any part of the horrible times on Earth that are rapidly coming.
Change your future now! Don’t put it off! No one knows the day or the hour when Christ returns for His True Church, but all prophetic alarm bells are going off right now, very loudly!
If you witness the massive disappearance of a large group of folks out of the world and you are still here on Earth with other Roman Catholics, then you will know for certain that you have been deceived by your religious leaders. Take action now to correct that very likely scenario and escape what is about to happen.
Jesus Christ stands outside the door to your heart and is presently awaiting your invitation for Him to come into your life and change your destiny. Don’t put it off. Hard times loom on the horizon. You don’t want to be here for them.