It may indeed be a parody of the High Priest, but how does that make it Israel?
PEARLS come from an unclean animal and therefore would not be on the High Priest. Here are the stones he would have worn on his breastplate:
The woman is in fact the false, apostate church. Rome and Roman catholocism killed far more Christians than any Jew did.
Revelation 17:3 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. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and
PEARLS, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of [
b]her fornication.
Good day PennEd,
I wholeheartedly agree with you in that, the woman who rides the beast is Rome's false religions system, Roman Catholicism. We know that the woman who rides the beast is not apostate Israel, as Revelation reveals this. Those who teach this will not receive the truth because unfortunately, they are more concerned with supporting the false teachings that they have adopted.
"The woman you saw, is that great city that rules over the kings of the earth." - Rev.17:18
When did Israel rule over the kings of the earth? That would be, never! At the time that John was receiving this information from the angel, Rome was that city that ruled over the kings of the earth.
"The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits." - Rev.17:9
Though they say that Israel was built on seven hills, this is false and is only claimed by them in order to support their belief. Rome however, was built on and is famous for her seven hills.
"The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls." - Rev.17:4
Purple and scarlet are the exact colors worn by the Bishops and Cardinals and have nothing to do with the ephod that the priests that Israel wore. Every article within Roman Catholicism, is either made of pure gold or overlaid with it i.e. she was adorned with gold and precious stones.
To recap, the woman who rides the beast is identified as that great city that ruled over the kings of the earth, with said city sitting on seven mountains/hills and is wearing purple and scarlet, which is all pointing us to the false church which would come out of Rome, which is Roman Catholicism. But one of the biggest and unrecognized proofs that Israel is not the woman is found in the following scriptures - Rev.18:21-23, 20:7-9, which tells us of the fate of Babylon the Great, that city that ruled over the kings of the earth and that sits on seven mountains/hills.
* The great city of Babylon will be cast down, never to be seen again.
* The sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again.
* Nor will any craftsmen of any trade be found in you again, nor the sound of a millstone be heard in you again.
* The light of a lamp will never shine in you again
* The voices of a bride and bridegroom will never be heard in you again.
The information above clearly reveals that the destruction of the woman/that great city Babylon, is so devastating that no one will ever inhabit that city ever again. Now, below is the proof that Israel is not that city:
"When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them."
So, after Satan is released from the Abyss, he then deceives the inhabitants of the earth-Gog and Magog-and they march across the earth and surround
"the camp of God's people, the city that He loves." The city that He (God) loves, is referring to none other than Jerusalem, which would demonstrate that people will have been living in the city of Jerusalem during the millennial period, up to the very end and therefore could not be the woman who rides the beast, that city that sits on seven hills.
On a side note, by the description of the city being destroyed so that no one will ever be able to inhabit it again, I believe that this may be due to a nuclear strike by the beast and the ten kings. What else could keep people from inhabiting that city ever again?