Rev 17 - The Scarlet Beast & the Woman

REVELATION 17 – THE SCARLET BEAST AND THE WOMAN

12-1-2018

Revelation 17:1-3 NET Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke to me. "Come," he said, "I will show you the condemnation and punishment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters, (2) with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality and the earth's inhabitants got drunk with the wine of her immorality."

(3) So he carried me away in the Spirit to a wilderness, and there I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.

The prostitute woman envisioned later as sitting (or riding) on the scarlet beast is said to “sit on many waters” meaning that her influence covers a large area – possibly the entire earth. V2 “the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality and the earth's inhabitants got drunk with the wine of her immorality”.  When John received this vision, the “kings of the earth” would include those of Europe, Asia, Near East, and North Africa but considering that Mystery Babylon is presently being taken down, it can safely be said that it includes the government leaders of the entire earth.

The leaders of the world and many individuals have committed sexual immorality through the influence of the woman (prostitute or Babylon).  Scripturally speaking idolatry (the worship of some type of false god) is considered the same sin as sexual immorality.

The reader is next introduced to the scarlet beast.  It had seven heads and ten horns, filled with blasphemous names.  The beast coming from the sea in Rev 13:1 also had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadem crowns, and on its heads a blasphemous name. Other than the crowns listed in Rev 13:1 and the scarlet color, the descriptions are basically the same.  It also was composed of several animals:  the beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth.

In Daniel 7:3 he envisioned:  “Then four large beasts came up from the sea; they were different from one another”.  The first three beasts had the appearance of:  1) Lion with wings of an eagle 2) a bear 3) a leopard.  The beast in Rev 13:1 is a composite of the first three beasts of Daniel 7.  Daniel’s non-descriptive fourth beast had ten horns but among them came a “little horn” which uprooted three of the original ten horns.

One of the signs given in Rev 12:3 is a dragon:  Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadem crowns.  This dragon is red or scarlet with seven heads, ten horns, and seven crowns, which is the same description as the beast in Rev 13:1

Other than a few occasional omissions, the scarlet beast of Rev 17 is the same as the beast (or dragon) in Rev 12 and Rev 13.  It is also a composite of the four beasts found in Daniel 7.

The wilderness location for the scarlet beast and the woman can create a certain amount of confusion:  Is this the same woman of chapter 12 that fled to the wilderness? Has this woman been seen before but was called by another name?  The word translated as “wilderness” can mean a desert area but it can also mean, desolate, deserted, and lonely.  Most likely the Rev 12 woman and the Rev 17 are not exactly the same but they may have common characteristics (i.e. the Rev 17 woman as representative of Mystery Babylon does contain certain religious or church related issues.

Revelation 17:4-7 NET Now the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet clothing, and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup filled with detestable things (abominations) and unclean things from her sexual immorality. (5) On her forehead was written a name, a mystery: "Babylon the Great, the Mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth." (6) I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of those who testified to Jesus. I was greatly astounded when I saw her. (7) But the angel said to me, "Why are you astounded? I will interpret for you the mystery of the woman and of the beast with the seven heads and ten horns that carries her.

The woman is dressed in purple and scarlet clothing, adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls, and holds a golden cup.  This symbolizes wealth and luxury.  It could also describe the clothing of the Pope or a Vatican official.  The woman is emblazoned with a specific name which is called a “mystery”:  "Babylon the Great, the Mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things (abominations) of the earth."  Thus, the woman is (symbolically) Babylon the Great and since her name was said to be a “mystery” she can also be known as Mystery Babylon.

The reference to golden cup in the woman’s hand is taken from Jer. 51: 7.  Mystery Babylon is considered to have the basic characteristics of the original Babylonian Empire.

Jeremiah 51:7 NET Babylonia had been a gold cup in the LORD's hand. She had made the whole world drunk. The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath. So they have all gone mad.

In Rev 17:4 the woman’s golden cup was filled with detestable things or abominations.  An abomination is a Hebrew euphemism for an idol.

John was astounded and was chided by the angel for his astonishment.

Revelation 17:8-11 NET The beast you saw was, and is not, but is about to come up from the abyss and then go to destruction. The inhabitants of the earth -- all those whose names have not been written in the book of life since the foundation of the world -- will be astounded when they see that the beast was, and is not, but is to come. (9) (This requires a mind that has wisdom.) The seven heads are seven mountains the woman sits on. They are also seven kings: (10) five have fallen; one is, and the other has not yet come, but whenever he does come, he must remain for only a brief time. (11) The beast that was, and is not, is himself an eighth king and yet is one of the seven, and is going to destruction.

In Rev 13:1 one of the heads of the beast rising from the sea is itself a religious beast and has been previously identified as the Pope/Vatican/Roman Church.  The Vatican and its Roman Church is also part of the composite Mystery Babylon or the woman on the scarlet beast.  The daughters may be the Protestant denominations that have arisen since the printing of the Bible.  The great harlot is more than the church, but it certainly includes it.

Rev 17:8 The beast you saw was, and is not, but is about to come up from the abyss and then go to destruction. The inhabitants of the earth -- all those whose names have not been written in the book of life since the foundation of the world -- will be astounded when they see that the beast was, and is not, but is to come.

The concept of “the beast you saw was, and is not, but will exit the abyss” has already been explained in Rev 13:3 - One of the beast's heads appeared to have been killed, but the lethal wound had been healed.

The pope was actually taken captive by Napoleon and placed in prison where he died in 1798.  Later Napoleon considered a Pope necessary to conduct his emperor coronation, so he reinstated a person as pope in 1800.

https://freedomfromdelusion.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-beast-rising-from-sea.html

This seems to indicate that the beast of Rev 13:1 is the dragon beast of Rev 12 or a composite of all the beast empires with one of the heads being the Holy Roman Empire which was an empire until the head (Pope) died in prison and was reinstated by Napoleon.

In Rev 17: 8, John describes the same beast, saying, “he was and is not and will come.” It is plain that we are to interpret this in terms of the event described earlier in Rev. 13: 3 One of the beast's heads appeared to have been killed, but the lethal wound had been healed.

Rev 17:8c then go to destruction

When the angel in Rev. 17: 11 says that the scarlet beast “goes to destruction” (apoleia), he was giving us a major clue as to the identity of the beast.  The angel is telling us that the beast from the sea (i.e. the religious beast) is the disciple and “friend” of Jesus who ends up betraying Him at the end of the age. This religious beast (Vatican/Papacy), then, is supposedly a Christian beast, even as Judas had been a Christian. 

This “friend” could also include the group of Zionist Christians who blindly claim that modern Israel is the fulfillment of various Old Testament prophecies concerning the northern nation of Israel that consisted of ten of the original twelve (13 counting the Levites) tribes.

Most Bible teachers tend to get lost in these details, because they do not know history, and even if they did, many of them are Futurists. Thus, they can only speculate about future things, not knowing that much of the prophecy has already been fulfilled. This only adds to the confusion and usually makes it virtually impossible to understand the prophecy about this scarlet beast.

 (9) (This requires a mind that has wisdom.) The seven heads are seven mountains the woman sits on.

Much debate has been spent identifying the seven mountains mentioned in verse 9.  Rome is identified with 7 mountains and the papacy is located inside Rome, however Rome is not the headquarters of the mythical “antichrist” of future dispensational fame.

According to Dr. Stephen Jones, these seven hills or mountains spiritually represent seven forms of government in the history of the Roman Empire: 1. Kings 2. Consuls 3. Dictators 4. Decemvirs (One of a body of ten Roman magistrates, especially a member of one of two such bodies appointed in 451 and 450) 5. Military Tribunes 6. Military Emperors 7. Christian Emperors.

“Five have fallen.” Remember this was written in the first century. In that context, the first five forms of Roman government had already fallen and had been replaced by the sixth i.e. the military emperors after the death of Nero in 68 A.D.  After Nero committed suicide there was a flurry of short term emperors until Vespasian returned from the Judah revolt and became a long term military emperor.  This was the type of government that existed when the angel interpreted the seven mountains to John around 96 A.D.

                                                

In summary:  “Rev 17:9 The seven hears are seven mountains and they are also seven kings”.  The kings are types of kingdom government.  “Rev 17:10 Five have fallen” – 1) Kings 2) Consuls 3) Dictators 4) Decemvirs 5) Miltary Tribunes.  “Rev 17:10b one is” – At the time of John the kingdom government was 6) Military Emperors.  “Rev 17:10 the other has not yet come”.  The 7) Christian Emperors.  “Rev 17:11 The beast that was” – The Pope.  “Rev 17:11b And is not” – The Pope died in prison.  “Rev 17:11c Is himself an eight king” – A restored new type of Pope with no land empire.  Scripturally, a resurrected (in this case restored) person is a new person.  “Rev 17:11d yet is one of the seven” - the new restored Pope was originally a part of the Papacy linage.

The Ten Horns

Revelation 17:12-13 NET (12) The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but will receive ruling authority as kings with the beast for one hour. (13) These kings have a single intent, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.

In verse 13, according to Dr. Stephen Jones, the ten horns were ten nations or ethnic groups in Europe that did not as yet have kingdoms of their own, because they were under the control of the Roman Empire.  They are:  Bavarians; Franks; Bergundians; Alemanni; Suevi: Visigoths; Alans: Vandals; Ostrogoths; and Heruli or Lombards.  These ten regions could also be considered as the ten toes of the image of Daniel 2:41-42.  The “little horn” (i.e. soon to be Holy Roman Empire) paid mercenaries to conquer three or these areas. 

Jumping ahead to make this section more sensible, the ten horns (or nations) give their power to the “little horn” (Vatican) although three of them did not do so willingly.  “One hour” is not literal and most likely means a short span of time as compared to other occurrences.

Revelation 17:17 NET For God has put into their minds to carry out his purpose by making a decision to give their royal power to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled.

Revelation 17:14 NET They will make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those accompanying the Lamb are the called, chosen, and faithful."

During the era of the Holy Roman Empire, prior to the Pope dying in French prison, many Church members were tortured and slaughtered by the Church.  This was the time of the Inquisitions and other destructive programs.  This stopped after the Pope was imprisoned.  It could be said that God anointed Napoleon to unknowingly place a halt to the “war with the Lamb” concerning the slaughter of church people who had a different view of God and scripture than the Vatican.

Revelation 17:15 NET Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw (where the prostitute is seated) are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages.

Rev 17:15 verifies that Mystery Babylon (i.e. the woman and the scarlet beast) is currently a world-wide system.  Even the Amazon Indians are infected with loggers and miners.  The scarlet beast that the woman sits on is the equivalent of the waters.

Revelation 17:16-18 NET (16) The ten horns that you saw, and the beast -- these will hate the prostitute and make her desolate and naked. They will consume her flesh and burn her up with fire. (17) For God has put into their minds to carry out his purpose by making a decision to give their royal power to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled. (18) As for the woman you saw, she is the great city that has sovereignty over the kings of the earth."

The remnants of the ten horns that were ruled by the beast will be anointed by God to destroy the woman (Babylon) because God has put into their minds to carry out his purpose.

Rev 17:16 c “They will consume her flesh”.  An interesting Old Testament prophetic type of the prostitute woman being eaten is the execution of Jezebel.  She was thrown into the street and dogs consumed her flesh leaving only bones.

2 Kings 9:36 NET When they went back and told him, he said, "The LORD's word through his servant, Elijah the Tishbite, has come to pass. He warned, 'In the plot of land at Jezreel, dogs will devour Jezebel's flesh.

This Jezebel story applied to the harlot woman is purely symbolic when it comes to the actual fulfillment of prophecy in our time. The point is that the harlot system will be destroyed by the nations and the people who have been oppressed by her domination.  God will use blind unbelievers to execute justice on the persecutor.

The ten horns are united as a single beast on which the harlot sits/rides (or rules), but in the end God causes the horn beasts to turn on the harlot.  It is also important to note that the saints (the elect or the chosen) are not the ones who eat the flesh of the harlot, but the beasts that she has ruled. God uses the nations to bring about His purpose and to execute the judgment decreed by the saints of the Most High (Daniel). Hence, when we observe international events today, we ought not to condemn the nations for overthrowing the harlot. The nations may be beastly, but in the end, they are agents of divine judgment.

Babylon is Fallen, Fallen, Fallen

The final wrath of God’s destruction of Mystery Babylon (the scarlet beast and the woman) is narrated in Revelation 16:17-21 presented as the seventh bowl judgment.  This final section of the Revelation concerning the fall of Mystery Babylon is a current (i.e. right now) prophecy that is being fulfilled in real-time announced in various news reports. 

The “great city” is not literal, it is not the futurist dispensational idea of Jerusalem or a physical city at all.  So this great city (Mystery Babylon metaphorically) is symbolically split into three parts.  The gigantic hailstones may be Mr. Trump’s (and others) actions and presidential edicts to bring down the illegal immigration, the Federal Reserve, and the coming indictments but they are not literal.  His actions are causing the Democrats, the MSM, and the Hollywood scoundrels to blaspheme God, insult Mr. Trump, his staff, and the red-state deplorables.

Revelation 16:17-21 NET (17) Finally the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying: "It is done!" (18) Then there were flashes of lightning, roaring, and crashes of thunder, and there was a tremendous earthquake -- an earthquake unequaled since humanity has been on the earth, so tremendous was that earthquake. (19) The great city was split into three parts and the cities of the nations collapsed. So Babylon the great was remembered before God, and was given the cup filled with the wine made of God's furious wrath. (20) Every island fled away and no mountains could be found. (21) And gigantic hailstones, weighing about a hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people, but they blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, since it was so horrendous.

The above mentioned earthquakes, if literal, would completely destroy the earth and every living thing.  They are merely symbolic of religious, political and governmental destruction and annihilation as they have been throughout the Revelation narration.

The Woman On The Scarlet Beast

THE WOMAN ON THE SCARLET BEAST

8/21/2018

The Woman in the Wilderness

Revelation 12:5-6 NET  So the woman gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to rule over all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne,  (6)  and she fled into the wilderness where a place had been prepared for her by God, so she could be taken care of for 1,260 days.

Revelation 12:1 pictures a sign in heaven of a woman with labor pains.  She gives birth to a male child, “who is going to rule over all the nations with an iron rod”.  When the child is caught up to heaven (ascension of Jesus), the woman, pictured as the early church of believers, flees into the wilderness for a period of 1,260 years.

The church (Roman church) came into power in 529-534 when Justinian changed the laws and reset the calendar and fulfilled the “little horn” (or extension of the Roman Empire) according to Daniel’s chapter 7 prophecy of the four beasts from the sea.  [at this time the Roman church was the only church for all practical purposes]  This is the point in time when the church (or Roman church i.e. “the little horn”) became part of the succession of empires which began with Babylon, because of its religious carnality.

The dispensational belief system has interpreted 42 months as a literal 1,260 days, however it should be understood to represent 1260 years.  The sea beast is and was the Holy Roman Empire or the Catholic Church.  The authority of the 1^st beast (Roman Church) as an extension of the Roman Empire came to an end during the French Revolution when Napoleon captured the Pope (Pius VI) in 1798 and imprisoned him in France where he died in1799.  However, Napoleon reinstated the pope in 1804 in order to have a worthy man crown him as emperor.  There was approximately a 5 year period with no Pope in office.

The ruling government, at that time, placed the Vatican’s finances in the trusteeship of a banking system which later became the Rothschild’s banking system (the second beast) and the Vatican was not allowed to ever have a standing army.

Revelation 13:3 NET One of the beast's heads (i.e. Pope Pius VI) appeared to have been killed, but the lethal wound had been healed (the office of Pope was reinstated). And the whole world followed the beast in amazement;

The Great Whore

The Revelation appears to present two different Mystery Babylon’s that are related but with some different characteristics.  There is only one Mystery Babylon but it has many layers with various interacting groups.  In the discourse of the Revelation, one is referred to as Babylon, the city, and the other as Babylon the Great, the Mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.

Babylon the city or the city of Babylon may be Vatican City or Rome, which is the home of the Roman Church as it is related to Babylon the prostitute which is the Roman Church. 

John relates the ancient cities of Babylon, Jerusalem, Sodom, and the nation of Egypt as being associated with the earthly Jerusalem and therefore being harlot cities.  Isaiah 23:15-17 speaks of Tyre as a past harlot city.  The book of Nahum claims that Nineveh was a harlot city.  And of course, Ezekiel chapter 16 is writing about Jerusalem as a harlot city.  Many Protestant churches (daughters) also employ various tendencies of the Roman harlot church.

The Protestant Reformation may have had a decent spiritual beginning but the various denominations that developed and various types of “feel good” churches gives credence to the Revelation statement “that Babylon the prostitute is also:  “the Mother of prostitutes”.

The first metaphoric woman presented in Revelation 12:6 is usually identified as the Church.  Although the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus gave birth to the church, they are usually presented with the similar symbolism.

In Revelation 17:1 we are introduced to another symbolic woman who is also located in the symbolic wilderness.  This one is referred to as “the great whore”.  Later in verse 5 the woman is called Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.  The woman sitting on the scarlet beast appears to be the same woman as presented in chapter 12 due to their location in the wilderness. 

As has been often stated, the Revelation is a prophetic history of the Church from the time of John to the present.  The overthrow of Mystery, Babylon (the metaphoric city as well as a world wide operating system) is currently being fulfilled which will be followed by the Millennial Kingdom of God.  

Both women in the wilderness (chapter 12 and 17) must necessarily be the same woman at different points of time and stages of spirituality.  They both represent different phases or stages of the Church, past and present.

Those who place their faith in the church may have difficulty seeing them as the same woman, insisting that there were two women in the wilderness but that may not be a correct understanding.

Revelation 17:3 KJV  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Revelation 13:1 NET Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadem crowns, and on its heads a blasphemous name.

Note that the beast rising from the sea in chapter 13 had seven heads and ten horns.  The scarlet beast in the wilderness, carrying the woman, also has seven heads and ten horns.  It would appear that both instances are representing the same beast which would be a religious one under the initial authority of the Vatican or Roman Church.

In Rev 15:5 this second woman also represents “abominations” which is defined as detestable things or idolatry.  It can be said the Roman Church has many images, Mary worship, a re-crucifixion of Jesus with each Eucharist performed. 

Revelation 17:5 KJV  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Roman Church Idolatry & Other Corruptions

An internet search for Catholic idolatry is filled with rebukes concerning the worship of Mary, statues representing Mary, kneeling and bowing down to Mary, asking for healing from Mary, etc.  It would appear that Mary worship is considered the primary sin of idolatry within the Roman Church.  The various incidents of bleeding statues of Mary will be skipped due to the demonic instances they represent.

The latest sex abuse headline reads:  300 Catholic Priests Accused of Monstrous Sex Abuse of More Than 1,000 Children in Pennsylvania Grand Jury Probe.  This appears to be a widespread affliction within the Catholic priesthood and the overseers appear to be covering up and hiding evidence.  Although only recently brought forth and exposed, this sexual abuse has been occurring since reports first came out in 1960 and it has most likely been happening since the Middle Ages or before.

Some groups of priests have expanded their approach by filming, collecting, and selling child rape pornography.

Revelation 19:20 presents an interesting concept.  The 1^st beast and the 2^nd beast (called the false prophet) are thrown alive into the lake of fire.  The lake of fire judgment occurs at the end of the Millennium at the White Throne Judgment, but these two entities seem to be punished at the beginning of the Kingdom of God, at the return of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 19:20 NET Now the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf -- signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur.

The Prostitute Daughters

Before anyone gets upset with my comments on corruption and idolatry, let it be known there were several church people, both Catholic and Protestant oriented, throughout the years and ages that were spiritual and desired to be a citizen of the Kingdom of God.  Within the Roman Church many of these individuals were tortured, burned at the stake, or just murdered before, after, and throughout the inquisition period.  Their kingdom doctrines and beliefs did not line up with the accepted doctrines of the Church.

The seven letters to the churches found in Revelation 2 and 3 represent seven stages of the Church throughout history.  We are currently in the era of the Laodicean church.

The primary complaint of Jesus to this church era is:  “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot!”  Although many people have just quit believing the faith based on the Kingdom of Jesus most (NOT ALL) of the remainder merely go to a church building on perhaps Sunday as some type of duty or taught ritual.  The mark of a Christian is not attending a church building, having a position on a committee, or singing in the choir.  It is living the life of a citizen of t

he Kingdom of God all day and every day.  If you don’t live the life, think the life, and teach the life of a Kingdom citizen then you are most likely not a Christian.

Joel Osteen is an American televangelist based in Houston, Texas.  His televised sermons are seen by over 7 million viewers weekly and over 20 million monthly in over 100 countries.  What is his message that is admired so much?

The Osteen website claims they teach:  the inerrancy and inspiration of the Bible, the triune nature of God, and salvation by faith in Christ, which sounds reasonable.

Osteen teaches that physical healing and wellness were provided in Christ’s atonement. “Jesus came that we might have a more abundant life. He came to carry our weaknesses, our sickness, our pain, so that we can walk in total freedom, peace, power and purpose” (from Lakewood Church’s official website).

What he is reportedly said to teach is the Prosperity Gospel: God’s will is that we be blessed with material things, which is a view that contradicts 1 Timothy 6:6.

1 Tim 6:6-10 Now godliness combined with contentment brings great profit. (7) For we have brought nothing into this world and so we cannot take a single thing out either. (8) But if we have food and shelter, we will be satisfied with that. (9) Those who long to be rich, however, stumble into temptation and a trap and many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. (10) For the love of money is the root of all evils. Some people in reaching for it have strayed from the faith and stabbed themselves with many pains.

As the Lakewood Church’s website says, “To be successful in your walk with God, commit to honor God with your finances. When you commit to give the Lord the first 10% of your income, God promises He will pour out blessings you cannot contain. Tithing is the first key to financial prosperity.”

Lakewood’s website then quotes the favorite proof-text for this teaching, Malachi 3:10. It is a prime example of taking Old Covenant promises to Israel out of context to apply them to New Covenant believers.

What is the Prosperity Gospel?

In the prosperity gospel, also known as the “Word of Faith,” the believer is told to use God, whereas the truth of biblical Christianity is just the opposite—God uses the believer. Word of Faith or prosperity theology sees the Holy Spirit as a power to be put to use for whatever the believer wills. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a Person who enables the believer to do God's will. The prosperity gospel movement closely resembles some of the destructive greed sects that infiltrated the early church. Paul and the other apostles were not accommodating to or conciliatory with the false teachers who propagated such heresy. They identified them as dangerous false teachers and urged Christians to avoid them.

The Exodus Example

These two women in the wilderness are patterned after the Exodus experience of the Hebrews under the leadership of Moses leaving Egypt and traveling through the wilderness.  The Israelites were required to travel across the wilderness to get to the Promised Land, which they would have reached in 490 days if they had the necessary faith. 

At Mt. Sinai the vast majority refused to listen when God wished to speak to them personally with His voice of fire.  Due to their fear of God within the fire, they instructed Moses to listen to God by himself and then relay the message to them, which he did.  The Israelites lack of faith also caused them to worship the golden calf only weeks after refusing to hear God speaking for themselves. 

When the Israelites camped at Paran in preparation to cross over into Canaan, Moses send 12 spies to check out the land.  Because the people listened to the 10 false reports instead of the two positive reports of Joshua and Caleb their lack of faith and their fleshly motivation God caused them to remain in the wilderness until all adults except Joshua and Caleb were dead.

Israel was afraid to hear the voice of God at Mt. Sinai, therefore God’s message was relayed to them by Moses.  The congregation under the “little horn” Roman Church was not allowed to read and listen to the Word on a personal level.  They only knew what they were told by the priests.  Both Israel, conquered and deported by Assyria, and Judah, conquered and held captive by Babylon were punished due to a history of carnal flesh, harlotry, and idolatry.  The Christian church has been retained in a metaphoric wilderness for the same issues:  carnality, harlotry, and idolatry (which is scripturally identical to harlotry).

The majority of the so-called church has been disqualified from ruling the Kingdom of God during the Millennium.  The apostle Paul explains that only the remnant of grace known as the overcomers or the “elect” are the true chosen ones, similar to the days of Elijah when he said, “I alone am left and now they want to take my life,”  but God answered: 

1 Kings 19:18 NET  I still have left in Israel seven thousand followers who have not bowed their knees to Baal or kissed the images of him."

Quote from Dr. Stephen Jones:

So here in Revelation 17:3 we see that the church, which fled into the wilderness shortly after Pentecost in Acts 2, was not able to enter the Kingdom at that time, but like Israel, she had to spend a long time in the wilderness. That in itself is an indictment upon the church. Whereas Israel spent just 40 years in the wilderness, the church spent 40 Jubilee cycles in the wilderness.

The harlot is described as sitting on the beast (although many claim she is riding the beast).  She is not portrayed as sitting on a throne since a throne is symbolic of law and this woman is considered lawless.  She follows the carnal laws of the beast system and not the laws of the Kingdom.  The phrase “full of blasphemous names” portrays the many manifestations of immorality and lawlessness in the red beast.  Although the great harlot is much more than the fleshly church, it most definitely includes it.

The Harlot’s Description

Revelation 17:4 NET  Now the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet clothing, and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup filled with detestable things and unclean things from her sexual immorality.

Purple and scarlet clothing speaks of royalty while gold, precious stones, and pearls speak of great wealth.  

          

It is now apparent the Roman church and its popes, cardinals, and others have attempted to somewhat duplicate the clothing and vessels listed by God in the Pentateuch as the apparel of the temple priests.  Of course, they have added greatly to the masquerade.

Although literal gold cups have been used in the Roman church, this scriptural golden cup has more to do with symbolism and prophecy.  John employs many scriptures and ideas from the Old Testament including this golden cup reference in Jeremiah 51:7.

Jeremiah 51:7 NET  Babylonia had been a gold cup in the LORD's hand. She had made the whole world drunk. The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath. So they have all gone mad.

The gold cup was given to Babylon by God for divine judgment upon Judah and other nations.  Now God has given the gold cup to the harlot to bring judgment upon the nations of today.

MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

The woman sitting (riding) on the beast is called the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.  Harlotry is a euphemism for idolatry and abomination is a euphemism for an idol.  Therefore this harlot is the mother of all idolatry appearing in the earthly church.  Idolatry is not limited to worshipping false gods, it also includes submitting to the laws of the beast rather than the laws of God.

Drunk With the Blood

Revelation 17:6 NET  I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of those who testified to Jesus. I was greatly astounded when I saw her.

Although Leviticus 17:10 forbids the drinking of blood, the harlot has become drunk with metaphoric blood.  God created blood as the emissary of the soul for the work of atonement.  The apostles had no problem with this for they write in the first Church Council:

Acts 15:19-20 NET  "Therefore I conclude that we should not cause extra difficulty for those among the Gentiles who are turning to God,  (20)  but that we should write them a letter telling them to abstain from things defiled by idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled and from blood.

This apostolic edict was repeated in Acts 15:29.  However, the Roman church which strongly upheld its own Church Councils failed to recognize and enforce the very first Church Council held in the book of Acts.

To drink blood is a natural sign of a spiritual problem.  Scripture defines murder as an act of drinking blood (or spilling blood).  Therefore, when Jerusalem killed the prophets, they were in violation of drinking or spilling blood, even with the law of God threatening to cut off anyone who drank blood.  When the prophets called Jerusalem "the bloody city," they were figuratively accusing it of drinking blood, and by extension they were saying that the city would be "cut off from among his people".