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There is about 5 different threads now where the Harlot is being discussed. Seems absurb to be doing this is so many threads, especially when it is not the topic of the thread.
Also, Since we are being told by so many we are lost, and have no clue what it is. As we do not use scripture. I guess we should do exactly what we are told we are not doing.
1. What is the scriptural term "harlot" mean.
to get this, we look at What God calls a Harlot. Since the term is not used in the NT with the exception of revelations, we must go to the OT.
Many times Israel was said to be "playing the harlot" by worshiping what God calls "Pegan Gods"
Israel was not the Harlot. The Harlot was the system by which Israel was playing with to worship the Gods of the Pegan.
The harlot would be the religious system which does not worship the true God of heaven, But the false Gods of the Pegan.
We are also told the Harlot is called Babylon.
so now we have to put the two together.
A religious system of pegan worship, which is associated with Babylon. Since we know all pegan philosophies Originates at Babel, From which the first Pegan system was set up, we can know why it gets its name "babylon"
2. We are told the Harlot is a city
Rev 17: 18"The woman whom you saw is the great city,
What we can know about this.
A. It is not a nation, for a nation has never been called a CITY
thus it is not the USA, It is not Israel, It is not Europe. Nor is it what many call the revised roman empire who has been healed.
B. It is not a world system, or a group of Ideas, for this is never called a "city"
C. We know it is not Islam, For Islam neither gets its roots from Babylon. nor does it practice any tradition or sacraments which is a part of the Babylonian system.
From just these two alone, we can rule out some things, but we can not know who or what the harlot is, for we do not have enough information. So we must look to scripture to see more about what is said about the Harlot in order to try to figure out who she is, and rule out some more ideas of what she may be.
To do this, we will take an in depth look at the passage which tells us who the harlot is.
Rev 17:
1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me,2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”
The kings of the earth, like Israel in the OT, played the harlot, by practicing in the religious system which is known as the Harlot. So this system has a worldwide influence.
3 So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
The woman (harlot) sits on this head, which means the beast and the woman are in harmony, and the woman gives full support to this beast.
4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls,
The Harlot has great wealth
having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.
The woman not only causes people to play the harlot, but fornication (meaning not only does the people who claim to be of God commit adultry with her, By doing as the Jews did by mix Gods law and traditions with pegan ritual and sacraments, But those who are not of God commit fornication with her before even coming to God
5 And on her forehead a name was
MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
written: “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters,
Many waters, as John said later in this passage, this means "The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. ". Which means the Harlot system is a system which has a scope which is worldwide in nature.
6 I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.
A. The Harlot was a system unknown to John, so came after him
B. The Harlot persecuted the true saints of God, and killed many of them
The Meaning of the Woman and the Beast
7 But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition.
This resembles the final beast of Daniel, or the roman empire, Who was, Then was not, then revived more powerful than it was before.
And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
When this beast is restored to power. The world (except true christians) will gladly follow his lead. and gladly give him power.
9 “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.
We already know the Harlot is a city. Now we are told where the city is. It is a city which sits on 7 mountains.
Thus the City can not be a city in the US, or in Israel, for non of their cities sit on 7 mountains!
10and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. 11 The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.
Again, this further shows the location of the 7 mountains. For the beast (which had not yet come meaning he is a future beast in Johns day) is among the seven mountains.
We know the 4th Beast was the Roman Empire. So the 7 mountains must reside somewhere in the territory of the roman empire!
12 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.
These nations will (just like the harlot) stand side with the beast, And give the beast their power.
14 These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”
This 10 nation empire ruled by the beast will make war with Christ. And Christ will destroy this empire.
We know this battle is called Armagedon, And we know it is fought outside Israel as this kingdom, or empire is attacking Israel. or the "city of God" (Jerusalem)
15 Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
Though the Harlot supports and gives her allegiance to the beast, and the kingdom he rules. The kingdom will eventually destroy the Harlot (city) .
18 And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
The harlot's influence is worldwide in scope. Although she resides in the city, Her influence will be felt worldwide.
Rev 18:
3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”
We have already gone over the first two.
The third shows that the harlot makes merchandise, in which the merchants of the Earth sell, and make prophet.
8 Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ is the Lord God who judges her.
She seems secure as she sits. She thinks She has a bridegroom who will never die (This can only be Christ, for even pegan's believed their Gods were mortal and could die, They could kill each other),
She does not fear death, for she thinks no one can prevail over her.
She will not only be destroyed by the Beast and his empire. She is Judged of God,
9 “The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning,
She was loved by the word so much, the world will weep over he destruction
10 standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’
11 “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore: 12 merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; 13 and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.
Again, Merchants make money by selling good which probably represent her (idols) and other things which she has made. Now that she is destroyed, The merchants weep, for the merchandise they sell has lost its value, since she is no more.
15 The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! 17 For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.
Everything that made her rich, is destroyed with her. Her vast riches now are useless.
’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance 18 and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’ 19 “They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’
Again, proof she is a literal city, Which can be seen from any ship who is sailing in the waters outside her location. The see the smoke rising where she stood. as the City, which is her, burns to the ground
20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!”
Her destruction is Gods revenge for all the True Christians she has killed.
21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore. 22 The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. 23 The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.”
The city in which the harlot held its power, is so completely destroyed, the merchandise, the music, the pegan ritual and sacraments which made her who she was will never be practiced, or sold , or sang again. And again, we are told it is because she has killed true Christians. Why? Because she considered herself to be the true Bride. whose bridegroom would never die. This she is called the false Bride.
I think we can see according to scripture what the Harlot is. Who literally the harlot is we will have to decide for ourselves. But it has to be a system which has the Characteristics shown in this post (unless I am wrong in some of my characteristics, which I am open to hear) if she does not bare all these characteristics, she is NOT the harlot!
Also, Since we are being told by so many we are lost, and have no clue what it is. As we do not use scripture. I guess we should do exactly what we are told we are not doing.
1. What is the scriptural term "harlot" mean.
to get this, we look at What God calls a Harlot. Since the term is not used in the NT with the exception of revelations, we must go to the OT.
Many times Israel was said to be "playing the harlot" by worshiping what God calls "Pegan Gods"
Israel was not the Harlot. The Harlot was the system by which Israel was playing with to worship the Gods of the Pegan.
The harlot would be the religious system which does not worship the true God of heaven, But the false Gods of the Pegan.
We are also told the Harlot is called Babylon.
so now we have to put the two together.
A religious system of pegan worship, which is associated with Babylon. Since we know all pegan philosophies Originates at Babel, From which the first Pegan system was set up, we can know why it gets its name "babylon"
2. We are told the Harlot is a city
Rev 17: 18"The woman whom you saw is the great city,
What we can know about this.
A. It is not a nation, for a nation has never been called a CITY
thus it is not the USA, It is not Israel, It is not Europe. Nor is it what many call the revised roman empire who has been healed.
B. It is not a world system, or a group of Ideas, for this is never called a "city"
C. We know it is not Islam, For Islam neither gets its roots from Babylon. nor does it practice any tradition or sacraments which is a part of the Babylonian system.
From just these two alone, we can rule out some things, but we can not know who or what the harlot is, for we do not have enough information. So we must look to scripture to see more about what is said about the Harlot in order to try to figure out who she is, and rule out some more ideas of what she may be.
To do this, we will take an in depth look at the passage which tells us who the harlot is.
Rev 17:
1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me,2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”
The kings of the earth, like Israel in the OT, played the harlot, by practicing in the religious system which is known as the Harlot. So this system has a worldwide influence.
3 So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
The woman (harlot) sits on this head, which means the beast and the woman are in harmony, and the woman gives full support to this beast.
4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls,
The Harlot has great wealth
having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.
The woman not only causes people to play the harlot, but fornication (meaning not only does the people who claim to be of God commit adultry with her, By doing as the Jews did by mix Gods law and traditions with pegan ritual and sacraments, But those who are not of God commit fornication with her before even coming to God
5 And on her forehead a name was
MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
written: “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters,
Many waters, as John said later in this passage, this means "The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. ". Which means the Harlot system is a system which has a scope which is worldwide in nature.
6 I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.
A. The Harlot was a system unknown to John, so came after him
B. The Harlot persecuted the true saints of God, and killed many of them
The Meaning of the Woman and the Beast
7 But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition.
This resembles the final beast of Daniel, or the roman empire, Who was, Then was not, then revived more powerful than it was before.
And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
When this beast is restored to power. The world (except true christians) will gladly follow his lead. and gladly give him power.
9 “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.
We already know the Harlot is a city. Now we are told where the city is. It is a city which sits on 7 mountains.
Thus the City can not be a city in the US, or in Israel, for non of their cities sit on 7 mountains!
10and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. 11 The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.
Again, this further shows the location of the 7 mountains. For the beast (which had not yet come meaning he is a future beast in Johns day) is among the seven mountains.
We know the 4th Beast was the Roman Empire. So the 7 mountains must reside somewhere in the territory of the roman empire!
12 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.
These nations will (just like the harlot) stand side with the beast, And give the beast their power.
14 These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”
This 10 nation empire ruled by the beast will make war with Christ. And Christ will destroy this empire.
We know this battle is called Armagedon, And we know it is fought outside Israel as this kingdom, or empire is attacking Israel. or the "city of God" (Jerusalem)
15 Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
Though the Harlot supports and gives her allegiance to the beast, and the kingdom he rules. The kingdom will eventually destroy the Harlot (city) .
18 And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
The harlot's influence is worldwide in scope. Although she resides in the city, Her influence will be felt worldwide.
Rev 18:
3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”
We have already gone over the first two.
The third shows that the harlot makes merchandise, in which the merchants of the Earth sell, and make prophet.
8 Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ is the Lord God who judges her.
She seems secure as she sits. She thinks She has a bridegroom who will never die (This can only be Christ, for even pegan's believed their Gods were mortal and could die, They could kill each other),
She does not fear death, for she thinks no one can prevail over her.
She will not only be destroyed by the Beast and his empire. She is Judged of God,
9 “The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning,
She was loved by the word so much, the world will weep over he destruction
10 standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’
11 “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore: 12 merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; 13 and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.
Again, Merchants make money by selling good which probably represent her (idols) and other things which she has made. Now that she is destroyed, The merchants weep, for the merchandise they sell has lost its value, since she is no more.
15 The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! 17 For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.
Everything that made her rich, is destroyed with her. Her vast riches now are useless.
’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance 18 and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’ 19 “They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’
Again, proof she is a literal city, Which can be seen from any ship who is sailing in the waters outside her location. The see the smoke rising where she stood. as the City, which is her, burns to the ground
20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!”
Her destruction is Gods revenge for all the True Christians she has killed.
21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore. 22 The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. 23 The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.”
The city in which the harlot held its power, is so completely destroyed, the merchandise, the music, the pegan ritual and sacraments which made her who she was will never be practiced, or sold , or sang again. And again, we are told it is because she has killed true Christians. Why? Because she considered herself to be the true Bride. whose bridegroom would never die. This she is called the false Bride.
I think we can see according to scripture what the Harlot is. Who literally the harlot is we will have to decide for ourselves. But it has to be a system which has the Characteristics shown in this post (unless I am wrong in some of my characteristics, which I am open to hear) if she does not bare all these characteristics, she is NOT the harlot!