The Woman
Rev. 17:3-5, "there, the woman sitting on a scarlet animal that had 7 heads and 10 horns, written all over were blashemies against God. The woman wore purple and scarlet clothing and beautiful jewlery made of gold and precious gems and pearls and held in her hand was a golden goblet full of obscenities, caption was written on her forehead: "Babylon the Great, Mother of Prostitutes and of Idol Worship everywhere around the world."
With Rev 17:3-6 In ref to Rev 17:6 "and I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: ( She is after the ministry of the Lord! ) and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration" Question? Granted, as martyrs and the blood of the saints are defined, there would only be a couple of choices, but in prayer, I also was informed that the unborn which were aborted were also saints. And they who were designated to become warriors for Christ, but were cut short because of abortion, for God knew us before we were put into the womb. as in Isaiah and in Jeremiah. So, if we being predestined, as in the Paulian scriptures then would it not be defined that the cutting short of an innocent ones life, which was designated to be a Warrior for the Lord, that innocent one would be considered a martyr? Missionaries based out of one area sent to another location, and then murdered for coming against a life style that is accepted in their original location ... would they be considered to have been martyred in the service of the Lord?
We now have other names for her besides the Notorious Prostitute. He also calls her: Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes, and the Mother of Idol Worship. And She is in existence AFTER the Ministry of Jesus and after 70AD! so Babylon the Great is not the Babylon that was destroyed before the ministry of the Lord, is it?
Now we have identified her even more!
What about these names that The Lord calls her, through John ?
1. The Notorious Prostitute: She is well known in the world but she Prostititutes herself for gain. It doesn't matter for what; sex, business, religion - its all for gain. Look at what is in the cup! 17:4 abominations and filthiness and in :6 the blood of the Saints and the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus,this is what she was drunken with!
There is another point to be made here concerning 17:9 and 17:18
In 17:9 it talks of "the 7 heads are 7 mountains on which the woman sitteth." Many see the 7 mountains as Rome but it does not say 7 hills it says 7 mountains and it refers to 7 heads. At first I thought the 7 heads and the 7 mountains were reigns but in 17:10 it mentions the 7 kings.. now that is a reign. So what are the 7 mountains? The heads are on top of the mountains then the mountains must be the place, the location of the reigns that are mentioned in 17:10. and the 7 heads are "the 7 kings of which 5 are fallen (already passed) and one is; and the other is not yet come; he must continue a short space".
In ref to 17:18 "and the woman which thou sawest is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth." Now if the 7 heads are kings on top of 7 mountains and the kings have reigns, and the woman sits upon the beast and the beast has 7 heads then the woman who is sitting on the beast must be affiliated with the beast, even though she is not a part of it she is still sitting on it. But according to the scripture she is a city. that will be burned and destroyed. Question... England is a country but its seat of government is in London. United States is a country but its seat of government is Washington, D.C. but it represents the whole country. The Church of the Roman Catholic faith reaches out to the world, but its seat is in the Vatican in Rome. So you must ask yourself, if that be the case then which city has its tentacles in virtually every nation and people in the world? Which city is it? I am reminded of 16:19 in regards to the "Great City" and how the Lord tied it in with the Great Babylon" as being one and the same. In this verse it says that in its destruction "The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell:..." Here is a great clue. The cities of the nations are tied to her! They are connected! When she, the main city falls.. she takes along with her the cities of the nations! So what is it that ties cities of the nations together that would affect other cities as well as major cities? Would it be religion? no. for what affect would a religion have, if it fell, on other cities or countries? none.. it might affect a few cities and cause concern in other cities and countries but it would not be catastropic as described in chapter 16. Would it be Diplomatic ties? no. For the diplomatic ties between countries would only affect the countries or cities in question, not the whole world. But what about the very core of what makes this world work? Economics, Money. What is the very thing that the whole world is connected to and through? The World Monetary system. Hmmm?
Let's go on
2. Babylon The Great: Babylon during the time of the old testament was:
3. Mother of Prostitutes: This woman is the Madam of the House, she runs it all, (or so she thinks), and her associates do the work for her. She is the biggest, the best at what she does. Therefore she is the city/country/nation/doctrine that others prostitute themselves for, to be like her.
4. Mother of Idol Worship: What is Idol worship? Worshipping anything other than the Lord thy God.
If you worship money for the power it brings, that is Idolatry. If you worship your teenage idols (bands / artists) that is Idolatry. If you work purely for the sake of acquiring your chariots (cars), your homes, that is Idolatry.
Look at what she wore, purple and scarlet clothing. Are these not the purple and scarlet the colors of sin stain and blood (the saints and martyrs)? In her arrogance, she parades her immorality - as if to flaunt it in the face of the righteous. She has beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls. She is rich and adorns herself to look beautiful. She is queen of her own throne.
But what of the Golden Goblet? Full of Obscenities? She must think herself above everyone else. Her Goblet being full of obscenities, she can say anything she wants to, for countries wouldn't say anything against her, for fear of reprisals. sort of "What I say is the interpretation thereof..." Now here is an important clue.... the Goblet is an extension of her, almost as if to say.. what is said out of the goblet is percieved to be an example of who she is.