The Revelation of Jesus Christ 1-22 141
Chapter 17
Chapter 17 The Roman Catholic Church
Demolished
The Vatican’s/apostate church’s effort to keep itself alive and at the forefront religiously and politically— in spite of its loss of control and dominance over Italy in the early 1900s—has been highly successful. Virtually anyone, who is someone, whether in media or in politics, thinks only of Rome, when it thinks at all on the term “Christianity”. Her ruse has the world quite literally under her spell. God, however, is not fooled. He will not be mocked perpetually by this “mother” and purveyor of religious whoredoms. She must and she will be destroyed. As is true right now, in these good times when everybody (in terms of major industrial powers) is producing, except the Vatican—yet only the Vatican has money, liquid cash—so likewise, when the Apocalypse starts, from that point on when the producers can no longer produce efficiently, only the Vatican will have meaningful cash flow. The beast (in his limited, Italian national leadership role, prior to his deadly confrontation with God’s two witnesses) and those nations destined to make up his ten nation federation (in fulfillment of Daniel’s interpretation of Nuchadnezzar’s dream) will court that money for a time, then turn on her in precisely the same way he will court the oil under the thumbs of the Jews, then (following his resurrection, as the dangerous wild animal) turn on them.
At this point, where John’s vision and the Apocalypse are concerned, Babylon—of whatever denomination, on whatever the front—is no more. That is, the last of the bowl judgments has brought us to within moments of the closing of history with, or where man has been at the helm, and the soon return, when the Lord of all history, God Almighty in human flesh Himself will take the helm for one thousand years. The “inset” here is merely a flashback as it were to provide us with a few particulars that contribute toward a positive ID in terms of the ‘who’ of the chief players during the last days of the greatest, most turbulent time of tribulation men will ever know—namely, the woman (harlot), and the dangerous wild animal. The Woman John is given several key revelations, all of which contribute to an accurate unveiling of this woman: 1) her location, 2) the nature, the reach, and the impact her offensive preoccupation, 3) the scope, range and the bearing of her influence, and 4) the manner and approximate timing of her demise. Babylon the Great: A description, and her judgment (:1, 2) To initiate this ‘inset’, one of the seven angels who was the administrator of one of the seven bowls of the last judgments came to invite John along as he revealed and detailed the judgment of the great whore, who sits upon many waters. Continuing in his revelation of this harlot to John, The angel says of her that she is guilty of having fornicated with all the kings, all around the world; all the inhabitants of the earth, subjects of the these kings, have as well been made drunk via the wine of her fornicating.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ 1-22 142
Chapter 17
(:3-5) To make her acquaintance, John was then lead into the desert (wilderness), where he was shown a woman riding upon a scarlet (or, red colored) dangerous wild animal. The dangerous wild animal John saw had seven heads and ten horns, all filled with names of blasphemy (this is the same hideous creature shown earlier, in chap. 13, which means then that the contents of this portion of John’s vision is directly related to that segment of his vision.). The woman who sat upon this beast, was fabulously rich. As such, she was dressed splendidly, like royalty, wearing garments of purple and crimson, clothing that had been laden with gold, precious stones and pearls, as she held in her hand a cup made of gold, containing all the abominable (abhorrent, loathesome) and unclean evidences and acts of her fornication, (the cup) signifying that she literally took (ingested) into her system, what she was also guilty of dishing and doling out. A name was also written on the woman’s forehead: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, the Mother of the Whores and of the abominations of the earth. But, why? Why is this woman categorized as a “mystery” (section on “The identity of the woman”, p. 128)? And, who, or, what are the other “prostitutes” and harlots she is guilty of birthing? By all accounts and outward appearances, it may at first seem as if John has been shown two entirely different entities here—one a whore sitting upon many waters, the other a woman riding upon a beast—while in fact there is only one entity, having, as it were two personalities, each separate and distinct from the other, while being at the same time uniquely intertwined. One might even call it a matter of multiple, split personalities: one political, the other religious. At the time of John, only that which was the woman’s political aspect was manifest, under the Roman emperors. Several hundred years later, when that which was political had been severely, mortally weakened (i.e., when the empire as such was dead; the Byzantine Empire notwithstanding), the religious aspect would arise and assert itself, wielding both religious and political authority—ultimately, having a quite literal global reach, far greater than the original political entity, for a much longer period of time (even after the Byzantine Empire fell, as well.). (:6) As John observed and watched further, he saw that the woman was drunk, but not with wine. Rather, this woman had her innards saturated, so that she was drunk “as a skunk”, on blood! Specifically, that blood (God tells John, by way of His angel) is the blood of His saints and of the witnesses for Jesus Christ (i.e., the Jews and Christians). (:7) As John was caught up in awe, and admiration for what he was witnessing, the angel seeing this, interrupted his thoughts with a question, “why are you marveling?”, but, without further explanation, carts him off to a viewing of the mystery of the woman and of the beast upon which she sits, all strained through what could only have been more confusing language for old John. The Identity of the Woman: the basis of her “mystery” (:18) Perhaps the best procedure for establishing the identity of the woman, in light of the way our Lord has chosen to structure the prophecy, is to work backwards with the information given (:1, 3, 18, 9). Having been shown that this woman is one having multiple personalities, perhaps her most prominent, most endearing one being that of a great prostitute (or, hooker, in God’s eyes) who sits upon a beast with seven heads, John
The Revelation of Jesus Christ 1-22 143
Chapter 17
is told more plainly at the end of chp. 17, that the woman herself actually represents “that great city which rules over all the kings of the earth”. Thus that great city was/is not just any city, as rather it was/is one of high profile and great visibility, a city/state and the seat or, political headquarters of a kingdom having/exercising authority and control over other kings of the earth (in the days of John), i. e., she has here a decidedly political persona. John, or anyone else familiar with the prophecy and the general state of affairs of that day, would therefore have had little or no difficulty identifying that city as Rome of Italy. The presupposition is that all of that, and, all those of subsequent eras hearing of this prophecy would (should!) so reason. (:9, 10) To further drive home his message, the angel proceeds to make a rather puzzling remark relative to the seven heads of the beast on which the woman sits: “so, this will illustrate the mind that has wisdom: the seven heads (of the beast) upon which the woman sits, represent seven mountains. The seven heads also symbolize seven kings: five have fallen, one is (reigning now), the other has yet to come; when he does come, he will only continue for a short time”. The first thing the angel would have John to realize is that one cannot apply conventional wisdom and interpretational schemes—such as they may have been in that day—in the decipherment of this portion of his riddle. Thinking it through has to be done “outside the box”, so to speak. Knowing this, the angel goes on to tell John that the seven heads of the beast (like the woman herself) have in the finale a duality of interpretations, not just one: one interpretation is immediate, the other is long term. Ultimately with regard to the immediate application of the heads, the point he makes then is, in addition to being the resting place for this woman as she sits upon them (her ‘mount’, if you please), those heads are themselves symbolic of seven mountains. The mountains are the objects of the symbol (i.e., the symbols being the seven heads), and are therefore themselves symbolic of nothing else, beyond actual, physical mountains, or distinct, relatively, clearly defined hills! Thus, contrary to the mishandling of some, they have no symbolic value other than as they help to pinpoint, identify or clarify the identity of the woman sitting upon the seven heads, based upon her physical locality. That said then, understanding that there was and has been no other like it in all of history, the specific point upon the beast where the woman is perched, or the point of contact between herself and the beast is not casual, nor is it without significance. Being the great city that she was, controlling as vassals, the kings of the then known world (:18) as she rested upon seven hills she can therefore be none, as has already been said, other than the city of Rome of the Italians (making the beast that has the seven heads that she controls, the Roman Empire). That was her political aspect (one must keep in mind here that the woman is the symbol here, not the city, which is the object, or, the actuality to which the symbol points. As such then, the woman, who is emblematic of a great city, has two aspects or phases: a political phase, followed by a religious phase. As will be shown later, they cannot not both exist harmoniously, at the same time.). As far as anyone knows, Rome appears to be the only prominent city/state behind an empire, then or now, ever to have been built so as to be situated upon seven fairly distinct hills (or mountains)—certainly the only one bearing a footprint fitting the demands of the description given here.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ 1-22 144
Chapter 17
In her aspect as a great hooker, representing the religious phase of Rome (the city sitting upon the seven hills), the woman is none other than the Roman Catholic church, the utterly apostate remains of one of the earliest of churches, founded (supposedly) by the apostle Peter. Herein then, lies the justification of God’s accusation and condemnation of this same woman as such, as well as His designation of her as a “mystery”. Who would ever have guessed that this is in fact one of the early churches of our Lord—she having strayed so far from her roots; having so unforgivably perverted the truth, upon which she was birthed, at the same time and by means of which perversion she has occasioned the spiritual death and damnation of quite literally multitudes over almost two thousand years? That she is called “Babylon the Great”, signifies her general, overall being and bearing, one might say, her disposition and state of mind, in God’s eyes. Metaphorically, then, she nurtures and nourishes an air, she maintains a climate about her so that she is in spirit reminiscent to God of ancient, actual Babylon of the Old Testament (as such, she is
therefore to Him a disgusting, repugnant, religious institution that is filthy rich, possessing and managing a wealth that is at best utterly unjustifiable. Thus, she lives like royalty on riches horded, not by diligent proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, or by creativity and hard work, but by deceit and lies on the one hand, by the sword of battle, on the other; a sword often drenched in the blood of those saints with whom she came into contact, who would not bow the knee to her will. With her popes, who ostensibly, are socalled “vicars” for Christ, she has positioned herself in, and, given to herself the authority of “God”, on earth!). Moreover, as the end-times entity that she is here, the woman is today none other
than Vatican City. (:3, 9) Moreover, then, in light of the conclusion drawn thus far, the seven-headed beast whereupon the woman (as a city and political seat, but also as a false religious system) rested can be nothing if not a political system in the form of than the (deadly and dangerous) Roman Empire under six of its now ancient emperors, the Caesars, as stated earlier (see section on the “beast”, page 140). Thus, whether with regard to her political nature (as the kingdom capitol) or to her religious nature (the catholic church, and today, the only viable institution having a direct, unbroken connection reaching back into the heart of the original empire), this woman’s position suggests that she was very much, intimately involved in the day to day civil affairs, or governing of the Roman empire, at the highest level; in whichever of her two capacities (remember, she is portrayed as sitting upon the seven heads of the beast (:3, 9), as opposed to riding on its back with reigns in her hands). Her involvement in government business, originally as a political body, or as a religious institution centuries later (for centuries to follow), was not from a distance, or, remote. From the time of the collapse of the Roman Empire around 476 AD, and for many centuries thereafter, the great hooker ruled the roost, from Rome. In fact, it may well be argued that this was true until the year 1929, when an apparent rift between the so-called “holy see” and the civil governing authorities forced the establishment of the Vatican city (forcing Babylon the great to give up the Papal States, so as to allow unification of all of Italy under one civil government; this due in large part to widespread corruption and political abuse by the popes and their cronies). It is today recognized internationally as an independent nation, squatting on only a few acres of land within the confines of the city of Rome, Italy itself. The authority or span of influence of the woman
The Revelation of Jesus Christ 1-22 145
Chapter 17
(:1, 2, 15) The sphere of influence of this woman is far reaching, both in terms of geography, and in terms of time. In her political office, prior to Rome’s fall, as has been shown, she (through her emperors) exercised full authority over even kings of all the then known earth. Following the toppling of Rome and its empire, and the disappearance of its political force, the woman lived on, as the people of Italy, for want of a political figure to provide leadership, guidance and direction, increasingly deferred to the popes of the spiritually bankrupt, fallen church of the Romans (see the side bar in the section on “The sin of the woman” to follow). This left her sitting still upon the heads of her dangerous wild animal (though efficaciously, not even a shadow of its former self), where she has sat for a thousand five hundred years, or so. There, having greatly expanded her reach far beyond her original geographical bounds, she now sits like the spiritual whore she is (in the eyes of Almighty God) upon “…many waters…”. John was told that the “waters” represent multitudes of people groups, from many nations and language dialects. She has exercised authority over men and women from all walks of life including kings. All have committed fornication with her, and have been made “drunk with the wine of her fornication”; that is, they have bought into and believed her theological lies, borne in her infidelity for centuries; their reason, their vision and/or perception of God, His word, and His will has been skewed and twisted; distorted and perverted; obscured, by this woman as the great whore from Rome, so that they are thoroughly deluded, while at the same time thinking that they are serving the True and Living God. All who follow or, have ever followed her, are doomed spiritually, and damned to an eternity in the Lake of Fire and Sulfur. There is no purgatory, as taught by this great whore. The mortal sin of the woman Rome’s present-day RC church began as one of the early churches founded by the apostles, following our Lord’s death, burial and resurrection. Whereas Peter is credited with its founding and establishment, Paul had a deep affection and longing to minister there. One of the most profound statements of the faith of the Christian church was written as a corrective measure to combat an outbreak of theological problems springing up in their midst and taking hold, even at that early date. In its wranglings with the apostates and hypocrites of the day, it—like the Ephesians, who turned their backs altogether on service to God per His word, in deference for their own approach—was eventually, gradually infused with elements of Roman paganism (then ancient even in their times, according to some theologians and scholars), until it was finally overrun by apostate concerns, all the while still claiming to be doing service to, and the will of, God (not unlike the Ephesians, the Romans would never recover, though of course, they, unlike the Ephesians, continue to this day.). Thus, it might be said, the chief, or principal offensive activity of this great whore is that of “spiritual” infidelity; unforgivable fornication (by virtue of her unwillingness to repent). Moreover, as the religious institution that it would become, and that it would be in the last days—having all the power, prestige, and wealth, the clout of royalty—it did not exist when John wrote this prophecy. Hence, the political and whorish persona of the woman could not, in God’s economy, co-exist, simultaneously. It is as if one had to die so that the other could live.
Side Bar
The Revelation of Jesus Christ 1-22 146
Chapter 17
Death to the woman’s political persona: the end of the Roman empire As has been shown, the woman that John saw (symbolic of Rome in two phases, one of which in turn is synonymous with this fornicating, promiscuous great hooker, or, prostitute) finds her roost, not on the back of the dangerous wild animal (by means of which she has been able to force herself upon multitudes of people all around the world; as the whore, her reach has in fact greatly exceeded and out lasted that of the physical reach of the great city itself), as rather, she is poised and positioned at the helm, perched atop the seven heads, and thus, well over the threshold of power and influence—which of course, means control— though not always absolute. It has often been said of the Roman Empire that it was never felled by outside forces. That is, none of the armies of its enemies, who were many, was ever able to conquer the Romans, the way the Romans had conquered them (except for the Celts, or Gauls, who did so early in Rome’s history, but, never again.). Rather, Rome’s fall was internal, due largely to widespread corruption, decadence and morale decay. [Following Rome’s fall, the empire lived on, albeit, with its seat located in Byzantium (resurrected from the dust of a prior destruction, rebuilt and renamed Constantinople, by emperor Constantine; who moved it there in hope of greater protection from predator nations; it is now, and has been known as Istanbul, since about the days of WWI). The capital of the kingdom was there until 1453, when it was finally sacked for good by the Ottman Turks, after having been severely reduced in size and thereby weakened significantly by an attack from the Crusaders not long before (in 1204; this was the fourth of seven or eight such crusades, launched by the original RC at the behest of the emperor in Constantinople, whose kingdom had lost ground and territory—including Jerusalem—to the encroachment of muslims.). The Byzantine kingdom maintained its on brand of Catholicism, and over time as all things Latin or belonging to the old Roman Empire faded into just a memory (its culture, contributions to the arts, architecture, literature, education, etc., having ground to a virtual standstill), introduced its on line of cultural distinctives (i.e., arts, literature, architecture, education) as well.] As if in anticipation of fulfillment of the revelator’s vision, Emperor Constantine took the first step toward setting the kingdom up for its impending fall when he moved the capital from Rome to the newly refurbished Byzantium, in 330 AD. Emperor Theodosius I took the next major step in the appointment of his two sons, Arkadios and Honorius, to govern from Rome and from Constantinople, thereby dividing the kingdom in 395 AD (“no kingdom divided against itself can stand”, Jesus said—see Matt. 12. Charlemagne committed this same fatal error, when he divided his Frankish empire amongst his grandchildren.). Fifteen years later in 410 AD, this newly divided kingdom was “sacked” by the Visogoths. It was Odoacer the German who delivered the ‘death-nail’ that finally and forever put Rome out of business as a political force to be reckoned with, in 476 AD. Thus, was ended the woman’s political representation, as the Roman Empire seized to be when the last emperor Rumulus Augustulus was kicked out of office by the illiterate son of those who were formerly Germanic vassals to Rome. The birth of the great whore: Rome’s religious persona Through all the twists and turns in the spiral leading to the fall of the Roman empire, the original Roman Catholic church remained very much alive, never failing to seize any moment to make its presence felt. With the departure of the last Caesar, came the rise of the popes (some have said that they were actually Caesars, dressed up in religious garb, capitalizing on the remains of a perverted religious institution, which had greater promise than direct politics, thus, allowing them to remain in power; or, so it is said and believed in some circles!). With them gone, came a freedom the apostate church and their chief bishops could never have enjoyed, had the kings been yet alive. She would not have been able to ride rough-shod, effectively making fools of them, the way she did the succession of foreign kings who came and went following the collapse of Rome. Like her, they would not have tolerated competition of any one whose power and influence rivaled theirs. Such as was left of the kingdom was kept in tact by these Popes, expanding where they could, and winning (ostensibly, actually compelling) new converts to Christ often by the ‘cross’ of a sword, i.e., by tormenting, imprisoning, and even killing, murdering all who dared not bow in submission to Roman Catholic authority—particularly, Jews—for centuries.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ 1-22 147
Chapter 17
In the early years of apostasy, the pope’s office (called the papacy) was viewed as one limited to filling the shoes of the apostle Peter—i.e., the pope was viewed as the vicar of Peter (vicar: the Bible knows of no such substitutes for either Peter or for any others of the apostles. Once they were gone, their purposes having been served, there was no need for substitutes (and, certainly, no pope is ever in anyway, to any degree a substitute for Christ!). Moreover, the term pope translates words in the Latin and Greek—papa, and pappas respectively—each of which means “father”. Thus, the practice of calling their spiritual head ‘father’ among roman catholics, begun in the early years of apostasy in 304 AD, with Marcellinus, who was bishop of Rome at the time, is diametrically opposed to the clear teaching of Jesus Himself. He admonished the Jews, “do not call any man on earth your father, because there is only One who has that right, that is your Heavenly Father”.). The pope’s authority was essentially limited to that which was ecclesiastical (church related) within a jurisdiction known as the holy see. By the days of pope Gelasius I (he advocated papal supremacy over the patriarchs), the Roman synod of 495 had begun to use the designation vicar of Christ, in an apparent bid to boost the papacy to a higher level of authority (over the Byzantine church leadership—with whom there was an intense rivalry for dominance, for a time—as well as the political leadership, ethnarchs, of the various ethnic groups, within the church’s reach). Throughout the coming centuries, as the various segments of the old Roman empire sifted through the various fingers of one invader after the other (the Visigoths, Odoacer, the Ostrogoths, the Byzantines, the Lombards, Franks, etc.), the popes were able to secure an enclave of extensive lands within what is now the state of Italy, dominated and controlled by the church and its own appointed church officials (as one of the owners of the most land in Italy following Rome’s demise, and the one having the most prestige, Rome’s bishop became the de facto ruler, as well as the church head; it was to him that the people deferred for leadership and guidance in matters political, as well as religious.). These lands became known as the Papal States. From here, though not much of a temporal power, in that she controlled no armies of her own and no territories beyond the papal states, this religious institution, Babylon the Great, was able to project and to establish herself as an “arbiter” in the politics of the Medieval, as well as a “balancing act” between the various Germanic kings of that era, in part through the spinning and spewing of her false doctrine, thus insuring her independence, and, dominance. For whatever the reason, she (the papacy) is said to have been especially coveted by those among the wealthy and powerful of the Germans. Of all the events that characterized and colored the deeds and misdeeds, of the papacy, perhaps none more demonstrated the influence and the ruthlessness of the Babylon the great than did the crusades. Originally called, not ‘crusaders’ but, “the faithful of Peter” or “the knights of Christ”, or some similar name, it was the popes and their papacy within the great whore who benefited the most from their rampages, in and out of Palestine. Interestingly, when Alexis I, king over the kingdom centered in Constantinople, needed help driving the muslims out of territory formerly his, he did not go to the European kings in the background, squatting on old Roman lands, rather, he went to the pope, who commanded no army of his own. The pope in turn prevailed upon the kings and their armies by baiting them with theological lies about absolution and sins remitted, upon one’s death in battle (the inference being such that dying anywhere else but not in the right battle, or living through them all, would result in no sins forgiven!). Thus, the first of the crusades was formed and launched, in 1095 AD with the blessings and encouragement of pope Urban II. Upon acceptance of his Byzantine rival’s request for assistance retaking his lands from the Seljuk muslims, pope Urban II is said to have seen an occasion, whereupon he seized the moment and went after Jerusalem as well (hereby, herein, the pope’s crusaders double-crossed the Byzantine king, keeping Jerusalem and all the lands they reclaimed, in the interest of Rome!). As the pope’s marauding crusaders set about doing the “will of God”, practically no one was safe. Anyone who crossed religious authority was subject to visitation via crusade, consequently, many Hungarian cities were pummeled and destroyed, and the Polish were later subjected to conquest by virtue of Prince Leszek I the White’s refusal to join—never mind the fact that they were part of the catholic church system! Worst of all was the horrible, dangerous, often deadly anti-Semitism revealed during, and that pervaded, the crusades (hatched, and launched by the Roman catholic church.). There was positively no concern in Rome for the well-being of the Jews caught in the middle of what might be viewed essentially as a three-way struggle for dominance, quite in keeping with the Lord Jesus’ warning, as it played out at their hands, “The time will come”, Jesus assured His disciples, “that men will kill you, thinking that they are doing service to God!” This church and its theological virus being the chief, fundamental cause behind anti-Semitism throughout the centuries (in
The Revelation of Jesus Christ 1-22 148
Chapter 17
Russia and Europe), Jews are said to have been slaughtered wholesale, both in the Rhineland and throughout Europe (Germany, Hungary, France, England; along with many innocent people and Byzantine catholics, who sought to offer them sanctuary and safety on church property), as the crusaders journeyed toward the promised land (to be absolved and to have sins remitted!!), and in the Holy Land when they arrived (in Palestine and Syria), although in fact no crusade was ever launched specifically to eradicate the Jew (herein lies the justification in God’s observation and accusation, such that, the woman was “…drunk by virtue of the blood of the saints”, who would never submit to her will, or to her authority— choosing death instead.)! By consequence of the crusades, social standing of Jews who survived was substantially worsened throughout Western Europe, and, together with an increase in legal restrictions came more anti-Jew legislation issued by pope Innocent III.
Along with all its other excesses and propensity for shame and sham, this religio/political entity (shall we say?) is the side of the woman God saw, and sees today, as He looked down from the Heavens, pointing out history in advance as a bewildered John watched and listened intently here in chap. 17. It is the hideous and deadly amalgamation, a dangerous monstrosity consisting of a false Christianity abhorred by God, having seeded to itself an ecclesiastical calling above all others on the one hand and a temporal authority on the other. It is at this point that the church of the Romans crossed over the line, beyond the point of no return. Prior to and up to this time—as with the two worst of the five backslidden churches of Asia Minor in chapters 2 & 3, namely the Ephesians and the church at Sardis—had they turned from their apostasy, God would have, with arms wide open, welcomed them back into the fold. Having apparently flirted with secular wisdom at its controls since the emperor Constantine, however, which made it ripe and ready, easy pickin’s in its apostasy for these popes-turned-Caesars (more, or less) she slowly became an object of absolute disgust in the eyes of the Almighty; an object for whom there is now no hope, and no invitation to return. These popes, over the centuries, gradually took the things of Christ, infused and positioned them squarely over the underlay-ment of solid paganism and idolatry—originally built into Byzantine brand Catholicism (today known as Greek Orthodox) and brought to Rome when the eastern empire was sacked and destroyed by an angry mob of crusaders—thus, giving the world Roman Catholicism as we know it at this hour. Today, the great whore struts and sits upon the world stage as an abomination—a thing most abhorrent and disgusting. It is an institution given over to a culture of deception, and lies, complete with practices and shameful habits of immorality that have involved homosexuality, the sexual molestation of (God-only-knows-how-many) young boys, sexual exploitation and rape of nuns, murder (including the unborn conceived by these nuns), etc., all the while masquerading before the eyes of the world as one righteous, doing service in the Name of, and to the glory of, God! (:2, 4-6) God often describes His relationship to His people in marriage terms. Hence, “fornication” is the word chosen to highlight the primary preoccupation of the great whore, doomed to the judgment of God. As shown already, when used in this type of a biblical context, it is always meant to signify corruption of a relationship or bond between two parties: namely, God Almighty on the one hand, and, His people—be it Jew or Christian—on the other (It is used frequently throughout the Old Testament to describe Israel’s breaking of her relationship with God, as Israel pursued her preference for false gods). By consequence of the infidelity of this apostate Romans church—which was
The Revelation of Jesus Christ 1-22 149
Chapter 17
able to commandeer what was left of the woman’s now defunct political aspect by default, as it were, making for a combination having the consistency and all the trappings of a great whore in God’s eyes—not only has multitudes globally, throughout the centuries been mislead, thinking that they are doing service to God, but, she being utterly intolerant of competing views, and dangerous to the point of being out right murderous, has made herself drunk with the blood of those who were the true servants of God. The swords of both the secular aspect of this hooker—under the Caesars—and the religious aspect—under the RC church popes for approximately 1500 years were frequently saturated, if not satiated—with the blood of Jews (and Christians, of whom there were in fact precious few after roughly 500 AD, given that what apostasy did not lead astray, the Roman Catholic sword slew.), all in the name of God. When God removes His church and His Holy Spirit, whose presence is the only barrier that keeps “the mystery of iniquity” and the “son of perdition” from appearing and getting out of hand, then this hideous, bloody ritual will be repeated all over again, throughout all the years of the tribulation period. As of this day—especially since 1929—the religious side of this great whore, i.e., the Roman Catholic church, occupies primarily as a religious entity, having little if anything to do directly with the governments of either Italy or Rome. In fact, in the form of the Vatican, located within the confines, if not the heart of Rome, the headquarters of the R C church occupies itself as a nation, unto itself (this move was the culmination to a settlement arrived at in 1870, as part of a movement that had begun some years prior so as to eliminate the Papal States and church dominance in political affairs of the nations, and reunify the nation of Italy, thereby giving non-church citizens a say in the government of the nation)! It has its own government system, printing press, its own military of 180 soldiers (smallest in the world!), and it is said to have its own bank containing billions (with which it has been able to buy the recognition it demands and enjoys). In keeping with the portrayal here, of the whore, the R. C. church is indeed extremely wealthy (according to some; headquartered as the Vatican, maybe even the wealthiest nation on the planet), all her riches having been acquired by way of her abominable, filthy fornication, i.e., the practice of her spiritual infidelity—including money laundering, and other corrupt practices. In addition to being filled with of blasphemous names (:3), the dangerous wild animal itself comes equipped, John is told, with seven heads and ten horns. The names which blaspheme (as has been shown) speaks of intentional slander, misrepresentation of God the Father, His Son and of the Holy Spirit of God (granted, for some time now the R. C. church has been putting on a front, a media fest of a sort, to the affect that it has cleaned, or is striving to clean up its act, saying and professing to believe in many of the same things as do mainstream protestants).
(:5) All of the protestant churches and denominations of our day find their roots in the Roman Catholic church. However, Rome does not like, and has not ever liked competition; and, where she can enforce her will by force, she will tolerate none. She is therefore, the mother of all harlots only in the sense that she is—irony of ironies!—the
The Revelation of Jesus Christ 1-22 150
Chapter 17
‘unwilling’ mother of all such (except of course as this applies to the many “orthodox” versions around the globe, which bear striking similarities to the RC church. They appear to be modeled after the Byzantine church, established after the move of the capital to Constantinople, by Emperor Constantine.). Her own internal corruption allowed for her weakening which in turn allowed for the rise of the likes of Martin Luther, by whom she inadvertently birthed all the various protestant denominations, sometime during the 1500s. She has birthed no others. She is not known to have birthed any of the pagan religions, though many of the elements of her own infrastructure and practices are said to be a mix of various forms of paganism (taken, as was said earlier, from the Byzantine (original Greek orthodox) church set up under Constantine, and which tended to be more prone to include icons or images and other forms of paganism in its practices and services.). While all are to be commended, perhaps, for braving a rift with one of the most monstrous, and murderous of religious institutions ever (thanks to the work of the German monk, Martin Luther), the fact is, each came out of Catholicism with its own spiritual set of excess baggage. Indeed, while most might be dismissed as exceedingly religious, each is yet a slave to his own beliefs and theological ideas, not to God. None has ever been more submissive to the word and will of God, than it has to the demands of the secular society in which it lived. Most of their parishioners are not governed by their professed faith in God beyond the church’s pews, for one hour, one day out of seven (until trouble strikes, of course!). This is why within a few years of the first settlers in America, we see the birth of the hideous slave trade, which mandated a shower of bullets and a bloodbath between the states to eradicate, as the south could neither be swayed, nor could it be wooed by reason—thanks to a hellish determination, backed, fully endorsed, and whole-heartedly supported by virtually all the white southern churches. Following emancipation, this same nation supplanted its itch for the subjugation of Africans by 100 years of barbarous, institutionalized deprivation (enforced by a system of Black Codes), terror and hatred, known as the era of Jim Crow, subsequently brought down by a black man with a Bible (all perpetrated by white American citizens, Christians included— particularly the southern ones, southern Baptists notwithstanding—against African Americans, of any genre’). This is why all churches (the black ones as well as the white ones) today are still dominated more by secular concerns than by the God they serve (while subtle, it is yet overt, that the whites, churched and un-churched, even long for a return to the days of such unimpeded barbarity)—no matter what activities they claim to enact for God. To the degree that they will not submit to the study of the word of God— on which account they neither know God the Father, nor do they know their alleged Savior, His Son; in which case moreover, He does not know them—to the same degree they are in the end nothing more than theological and spiritual death traps, designed to keep God under control, on the one hand, and thereby to keep Him out of their respective communities on the other. Hereby they (the white American churches and communities) preclude any possibility that God will ever use their churches to affect meaningful change against their will again; against the will of the bigots. Hence, it might be said that, whatever the outward appearances, white churches are ultimately controlled by a spirit of bigotry and racial hostility, than by the Spirit of Christ. By his “beliefs”, by what he
The Revelation of Jesus Christ 1-22 151
Chapter 17
“thinks” and what he “feels”—relative to the things of God—he like the popes, effective puts himself in the place of God—hereby, making himself his own God! It must be said that a similar spirit of “anti-Christ” engulfs the African-American churches, in that they too are set up—not to serve God, but—to keep God out, by insuring that there is no room or need for the white preachers and evangelists to ever come into a black community. The white American’s abuse of God-given privilege and the gospel during the years of slavery, then, throughout the years of Jim Crow, with its the Black Codes, coupled with his prevailing evident apathy for the things of God, even to this hour, only serves to stoke the apparent wisdom in this obvious foolishness on the parts of black America. Thus it might be said, ‘like children, like mother’, as like the Mother of all Hookers (the Roman Catholic church—an unfaithful religious whore—Babylon the Great) which gave birth to these children of religion, the protestants do service to a God who cannot recognize them as other than “…the objects of disgust (abominations) of the earth”. Like that of their mother, their religion is in the end, not much greater than basic idolatry (service rendered according to their several specifications, not to God’s, per His word, the Bible—though all, particularly in America, do indeed have easy access to Bibles, in all shapes and sizes, and, a variety of colors!). Like the Roman soldiers— actually the military arm of the catholic church, of whatever nationality it could dominate—who are said to have dutifully spent their days during the crusades tracking down and slaughtering Jews, then praying to God for blessing at night, so likewise, the historical record paints a graphic picture of the American white churches involved in the service, maintenance and condoning of one racially motivated injustice after the other (against, actually anyone who was not white or American, but particularly) against the blacks, then praying to and serving God, as if He sanctioned or condoned such practices and hypocrisy. What is worst, that segregationist, racist mentality and a never-ending longing for the past (as if it harbored an era more righteous than this; and, notwithstanding the images portrayed on national and international television and aired around the world), coupled with a preference for things secular more than a hunger and thirst for the word and things of the Living God, consumes and controls most protestant churches to this day, at this hour. Equally as disgusting, a similar attitude seems to permeate other churches among other people groups, blacks/African Americans included—particularly those, which consider themselves educated, enlightened and informed, as well as successful and affluent! Since there is and can be no significant input of things theological, there is nothing to extract by means of which other souls may be strengthened for service, or, saved. God’s estimation of all such (white, black, good bad or indifferent), however, is such that none of them is, in His eyes, much better than effluent, fit only to be flushed! Thus, contrary to popular misperception, to whatever degree it may well be, the designation “Mother of all Hookers” is not in its entirety, a reference to the pagan religions of the world. God fully intends to fish and save hundreds of millions if not billions from those ranks during the tribulation period, where He can rescue none during these better times, inhabited and dominated by the catholic church, her protestant off-
The Revelation of Jesus Christ 1-22 152
Chapter 17
shoots, and other apostates, including but not limited to the Baptists, Pentecostals, mormons, muslims, jehovah’s witnesses and others. These protestant churches, then—each having its own perverted brand of hogwash theology and worship pollution, practiced with no real commitment to the word or things of God on any kind of a continuum (regular or daily basis)—are they to whom God makes reference as religious “…prostitutes and objects of disgust of the earth”. Christians of the world need to be very wary of the protestants of America, as well as the catholics. Whereas many, particularly the Baptists, look good on the surface, the God and Christ they serve and propagate are not the God and Christ of the Bible. In the midst of all that they do and teach that is right, there is often an ounce of virtually imperceptible error that, if swallowed in ignorance, can in the end be damning to the unwary soul. The Beast (:8, 10-14) The language surrounding and unveiling the ID of the dangerous wild animal is a bit tricky; requiring careful handling and much prayer (as has been the case in the handling of this entire study, one might add!). The angel told John, “…first he was (or he existed), but, he does not exist now, all though on the other hand, he will ascend out of the abyss, only to go into perdition. Moreover, those who live on the earth during the time (or days of the beast) will be awed, as they observe him with great admiration— those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book Life, from the foundation of the world—when they shall see the dangerous wild animal who was, and is not, and yet who is” (:7, 8). To further delineate his point to John, the angel makes this (teaser! of an) observation: “Here is the mind that has wisdom: the seven heads that adorn the dangerous wild animal are—in addition to being representative of seven mountains upon which the happy hooker sits—symbolic of seven kings as well. Of those kings five have passed on, the sixth is on the throne now, but, the seventh has yet to come. When he does arrive, he will only continue for a short while. The dangerous wild animal, who was and is not, is himself an eighth, and is one of the seven, and he is going into perdition” (:9, 10, 11). So, who is this dangerous wild animal? First of all, the dangerous wild animal here is the same as the one in chapter 13. As is true of the woman, and the seven heads, so likewise, it is also true that the beast as a whole is symbolic of two separate, but, inextricably intertwined entities. The first, as has been shown (see p. 131), is the Roman Empire itself. Here, in the verses sited above, the focus is on the leadership of that empire. Hence, the beast here is a secular Roman head of state. Specifically, this leader is the seventh, of eight. He is Daniel’s little horn, who is in turn the end-times ruler who comes to power as a global leader only after he dies and is brought back to life. The identities of the first five kings are a given, insofar as the sixth Caesar was on the throne at the time of John’s penning of the prophecy (that is, if one knows who the Caesar was who held the crown while John penned the Revelation, then he can figure out
The Revelation of Jesus Christ 1-22 153
Chapter 17
the previous five). The thrust of the prophecy, however, is centered around the seventh, whose coming was set in the distant future. Beyond this revelation, the angel makes no effort to positively ID this creature, in terms of an actual ‘who’ he is or, will be. He does, however, give a few general, but, enlightening specifics. First, he (the beast) is here an individual indeed, not the kingdom, or, the empire. Secondly, this individual is or will be by God’s reckoning a seventh ruler of Italian descent (but not Nero resurrected, and irrespective of how many kings or Caesars there are in fact, between the sixth and the coming of the seventh.). In addition, he is to be the eighth, not of eight, as rather he is number eight (paradoxically?!) of only seven kings: five of whom had already come and gone, one of whom was ruling at the time of John’s penning of the Revelation (that Caesar is said to have been Domitian), the seventh had not yet been born, during or before the days of John. Thus, the prophecy concerning the beast “…who was, and is not...”, is one set entirely in the future, with respect to John’s day. While as of this date, 03/29/2007, he may well be alive, from that day on the isle of Patmos, his (the day of king number seven) was not to be for another two thousand years. In that John was told that the dangerous wild animal “…was, and is not and who will come up out of the bottomless pit…” and that people will be awed, when they see him who “…was, and is not, and yet who is…”, what on earth does the messenger from God mean? Actually, the angel’s meaning is quite simple, the tense of the angel’s verbiage, notwithstanding. This is not a reference to any event which was to have happened two thousand years ago. Instead, John was being given a glimpse of the aftermath of a battle which was to take place somewhere in the middle of the period we today call the great tribulation. In short, it is an allusion to the death, burial (such as there will be), and resurrection of the seventh king or Caesar, who will be the beast (a.k.a., the anti-christ; he will be killed, remain dead long enough to enter the abyss, then, he will be raised again from the dead only to go into perdition—i. e., loss of well-being, or, ruin). Observe, and consider: The death and resurrection of the beast (the devil’s media blitz?) As was seen already (11:3-12), for the first 3.5 years of the seven worst years of the tribulation period, God will dispatch two of His choicest prophets to perform a ministry of torment before and upon a yet unbelieving, God hating, Christ rejecting world. These prophets will be given great authority and power by God; greater than those exercised by Moses and Elijah during their respective days. In the course of performing their duties, they will encounter and have their work impeded by him who is to become the dangerous wild animal (the same one who is to come up out of the abyss). At this time, the beast will not have the power of satan at his disposal, so that, in his battle with the two witnesses—not only will he manage to kill them, as they being quite powerful by the grace of God will not be immune to death, but—he himself will, in the end, lose his life as well (this per the will and plan of God, as per Rev. 11:5, “if any man harms the two witnesses, fire will issue from their mouths, killing their assailants; this is the manner of death to be inflicted upon any who dare to assault them, or to impede their ministry.”). In one way or the other, this battle will be witnessed by the inhabitants of the entire world
The Revelation of Jesus Christ 1-22 154
Chapter 17
as it unfolds in the in the streets of the city of Jerusalem. After the two witnesses are brought back to life and called back to heaven (awing and shocking a watching world which has spent three days in celebration over their deaths; at the same time, preparing an otherwise unbelieving world for yet another valuable and bountiful harvest of precious souls), the devil will mount a counter PR campaign, as it were, wherein he will raise again to life the Roman head of state who died several days earlier fighting the witnesses (he will die at the same time as they do), bringing him up out of the abyss to which he had been temporarily assigned (the witnesses will not be given the benefit or decency of a burial; this seventh king however, will not be so left in the streets). By this act, the devil will retake the headlines, snatching back and snuffing out any attention and affection God may have won by His resurrection feat, leaving the world even more shocked and awed (13:3). This is what the angel had in mind when he spoke to John of the dangerous wild animal who “…was…”, meaning he will have existed or lived, who “…is not…”, meaning having lived, he will actually, literally die, and who “…yet is”, meaning he will be raised from the dead, by the devil himself. Thus the man (the king) who died is the seventh of the eight Roman rulers, while the eighth is only the seventh resurrected. He will never have known life prior to the end-times. It does not appear that this dangerous wild animal will have any ties to ancient Roman leaders, beyond his being Italian, and his role being chiefly civil and political, as opposed to religious. The kingdom of the beast Initially, for at least one half of the 3.5 years following his resurrection from the dead, the beast and his Italian state will have and, they will enjoy full dominion and authority over all the nations of the earth (China included, willing or unwilling, along with Pakistan and India). Shortly after his acquisition of global power, however (maybe 1.5 to 1.75 years)—the treaty with the Jews then broken; his temple desecration exercise having transpired; the Jews in flight for their lives (per chp. 12); Vatican city destroyed; millions upon millions of new converts then dead—God’s final campaign to win precious souls per the out pouring of plagues from the bowl judgments begun in chapter 16, will begin. None will be saved, by virtue of the fact that none will repent. At the same time catastrophic disruptions and cataclysmic breakdowns in the beast’s kingdom will begin, destroying any hope for peace, economic recovery or political stability he no doubt will promise. These judgments will totally shatter any confidence and trust the world will have in their new leader within the remaining approximately 1.75 years (perhaps within one year, so as to allow time for the beast to reassemble and reassert himself with whatever support he can muster, so as to confront the storm that will brew in the East, as the kings of the east assembly for the final showdown at the Battle of Armageddon.). At this juncture, their hopes and aspirations dashed, all will pull away from the beast, realizing (perhaps on the one hand) that though his power is great, his is yet no match for that of the Almighty. To regain control, in hope of restoring some semblance of order and confidence, the unholy trinity of the dragon (the devil), the beast (the anti-christ), and
The Revelation of Jesus Christ 1-22 155
Chapter 17
the false prophet will each unleash their unclean spirits who will go forth to work miracles before the world’s leaders in order to convince, or cajole them to join hands once more with the dangerous wild animal. By and large, this initiative is destined to prove highly successful, globally, except in the east. The eastern kings, led most probably (Japan will have been sunken, by the earthquake) by China, will have no part, as rather they will seek to pursue their own agenda in the Middle East, at the expense of the beast and his company. The way will be made accessible to them when God dries up the Euphrates River, in anticipation of their coming (the Chinese are said to have been building roads toward the Middle East for years. They are purportedly now in India, doing likewise.). That which is the focus of the discussion, however, at this juncture, is the ten horns of the beast (:12). These horns, John was informed actually represent ten kings. As of the day that this old apostle wrote this work, those kings had no kingdom. The states over which they are to preside did not exist, as such, although the land which they will occupy may well have been part of the old Roman Empire. It appears that these may be puppet kings, installed in their respective positions of power and authority by the dangerous wild animal himself, in which case, they willingly give him all of their unbridled, whole hearted support (:14; actually, seven will submit to the beast without a fight. The other three will have to be subdued by force.). Furthermore, these ten kings are the ten toes of the statue from Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, as interpreted by Daniel (Dan. 2:28-45). The judgment of the great whore (:10-12) The fact that the ten kings will only rule their territories with the beast for one hour need not be taken literally. In fact, it simply cannot be. Rather, the one-hour, not unlike so much of the Revelation is symbolic. The reason for this is quite simple: in addition to the selection processes and the inevitable inauguration ceremonies, there will need to be time for the necessary conferencing and for the planning and strategizing sessions which will lead to the demise and destruction of the great whore, once these men take office—although they could very well come to their jobs with considerable political experience, and therefore a deeply ingrained aversion and hatred for this harlot. God Himself will ultimately be the instigator of this hatred, planted in their hearts perhaps by the bowl judgments. The actual destruction of the Roman Catholic church will take place before that of the city of Rome itself (16:19), which will occur somewhere around 1.75 years after the beast comes to power (the first 1.75 years will be spent as the beast struggles to solidify his control, while at the same time bracing against the Heaven spun attacks of the bowl judgments). Thus, the rule of the ten vassal kings, who will be on hand to assist in that destruction, will be for at least approximately one and three-quarters years, not just one literal hour. The second reason why the one-hour reign of the ten kingdoms must be taken metaphorically has to do with the closing moments of the Battle of Armageddon. It appears that—perhaps because of the supernatural advantage of the assist afforded to the
The Revelation of Jesus Christ 1-22 156
Chapter 17
beast and company by virtue of the presence and availability satan and his demonic forces—the armies of the kings from the East may now be discomfited and/or totally destroyed. There is no more allusion to them, at all, after their appearance at the Euphrates; almost a thousand miles from the land of Israel. Only these ten kings are mentioned as being on hand to fight with Him who is the Lamb, Lord of all lords, and King over all kings. They will be decimated by the Lamb and those with Him, who are the resurrected and glorified saints, again, per Daniel 2:40-45 (i.e., the called, the chosen and the faithful).