Revelation Chapter 17‏

Hello Friends!

Welcome back! During this week’s fellowship time, we’ll continue our study of Revelation.

Revelation Chapter 17
 
This week we will investigate chapter 17 in our journey of the end times.

Revelation 17 depicts all future false religions of the world uniting under the "Mother of Harlots." But why is she referred to as such? In a word – Idolatry. 

The demonic, immoral and pagan worship of false gods through history’s apostate antichrist religions will be drawn back to this "Mother of Harlots" – physically, morally and spiritually. And where were her spiritual children birthed? We will discuss this very important question in great detail below…

 

You will notice that the word "church" is not used in chapter 17 because the true church – the Bride of Jesus Christ – will have departed from this earth and received up into the heavenlies to be with our Lord. These true Christian believers will leave this earth at the Rapture, sometime before God’s great judgment on the unbelieving world begins.

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 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 her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written:

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

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 – Revelation 17:3-6

The "beast" in this passage represents the "Antichrist" and the "harlot" represents the "false church". This "woman" is also referring to the "harlot " – "false church". The "Revived Roman Empire" reminiscent of today appears to be represented by the "ten horns" in this passage.

 

There is much we can discuss pertaining to information describing this coming one-world "false church" system. This "false religion" began in Genesis chapter 10 – after the world-wide Flood – and at the fall of the Babylonian Empire in 539 B.C. moved its headquarters to Pergamos in Asia Minor. This is the location where the Roman Emperors were first "deified" as gods.

Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.  The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition – Revelation 17:9-11

The reference to "seven heads" in these verses is believed by many scholars to be speaking of the "seven-mountain" city of Rome. The city of Rome appears to be the perfect prototype of the headquarters for this "one-world false church" under the leadership of the Antichrist during the first half of the Tribulation Period:

 

Note the reference to the seven headed beast representing seven worldly kingdoms:

 

Five have “fallen“:

•  Egypt
• Assyria
• Babylon
• Medo-Persia
• Greece

One “is“:

• Rome (at the time of John's writing in 95 A.D.)

One is “yet to come“:

• The united group of 10 kingdoms (prior to Antichrist’s reign of power)

It also states the shortness of the duration of the seventh kingdom. The 10 kings are stated as being “yet to come“ and to receive their power as kings but for a “short time“ – with the beast. We then see that the "Revived Roman Empire" – most likely the European Union of today – will rise up and destroy the "false church" at the end of the first three and one half years:

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 – Revelation 17:16

Notice that they do this because the Lord “put it into their hearts” to “fulfill His purpose” of ultimate victory over evil:

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 – Revelation 17:17

At this point, please allow me to provide some further background on the "Queen of Heaven" from a Biblical setting. The "Queen of Heaven" was the title of Semiramis, the wife of Nimrod.

To better understand Revelation 17, we must begin 4,500 years ago in the book of Genesis chapters 10 & 11 and the Tower of Babel. This is the satanic birth place of the world’s false religions which share the common worship of the world’s first mother/son cult of Semiramus & Tammuz – the wife and son of Nimrod, the great-grandson of Noah!

Nimrod – inspired by Satan – built the city of Babylon and established the first one-world religion:

And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth – Genesis 11:4 

This ancient religion was a "mother-son cult" where the mother, Semiramis, and her son, Tammuz, were co-equal recipients of worship. That worship consisted of serving "cakes" in honor of this false religion established in Babylon. It also eventually involved the parents painting hard-boiled eggs and hiding them for the children to find on their special "holy day" for the "Queen of Heaven" also known as "Ishtar" (think: Easter). This "mother-son cult", with worship of the "Queen of Heaven", was headquartered in Babylon until the fall of the Babylonian Empire in 539 BC. The false Babylonian religion then moved its headquarters to Pergamus in Asia Minor – modern-day Turkey – until the fall of the Roman Empire when it finally moved to the "seven-hilled city" of Rome, Italy, where it is located today.

 

In Genesis chapter 10 we find different people groups – Cush, Ham, Shem… And as a result, different religions/cults and pagan deities arose. Among the thousands of false gods and goddesses worshipped throughout history, all of them can be traced back to Nimrod, Semiramus & Tammuz.

Other names for Semiramis include:

• Queen of Heaven
• Queen of Babylon
• Asherah
• Mother Earth
• Mother Nature
• Gaia
• Mary

Other names for Nimrod/Tammuz include:

• Baal
• Molech

Other names for mother/son false gods & goddess are:

• Isis & Horus of Egypt
• Osiris & Baal & of Free Masonry
• Mary & Jesus of Catholicism

This "mother-son cult" that was birthed at the Tower of Babel reveals how the "queen of heaven" – also birthed at the Tower of Babel – was eventually worshiped by the rebellious children of Israel as revealed in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah. Remember: God told Jeremiah not to pray for those who engaged in this false worship:

Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you. Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger – Jeremiah 7:16-18

In fact, Jeremiah chapter 44 further describes how the women of Israel were actually leading this rebellion in what can be best described as New-age, feministic driven mysticism:

Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods, with all the women who stood by, a great multitude, and all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying: “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you! But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and saw no trouble. But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” The women also said, “And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes for her, to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands’ permission? – Jeremiah 44:15-19

The men allowed their wives to lead them – and their children – astray! Much of today’s false religions involved the worship of a feminine deity such as Mary, Gaia, or Mother Earth. Nowhere in Scripture do we find the Lord God depicted as a woman! These pagan religions are indeed uniting today to build the harlot church of Revelation 17. Today we can clearly discern the continuation of this demonic end-times scenario – The two tracks that formed a future one-world Political “let us build ourselves a city” and Spiritual “a tower whose top is in the heavens” system.

 

Ezekiel describes in detail what he was to prophesy to the nation of Israel in regards to their rebellion against the Lord through their worship of pagan gods:

Then He said to me, “Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance. Furthermore He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations.” So He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall. Then He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall”; and when I dug into the wall, there was a door. And He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there.” So I went in and saw, and there—every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls. And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. Each man had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up. Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’” And He said to me, “Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.” So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.” So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east. And He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose. Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them – Ezekiel 8:5-18 

NOTE: Theological failure eventually leads to moral failure!

*SUPPLEMENTAL STUDY NOTES:

For instance, the Statue of Liberty, the “Lady of Light” Columbia Pictures logo, the “Mary” of Catholicism and the “Queen of Heaven” are each blatant representations of Semiramis.

 

The Statute of Liberty was actually designed by Freemasons from France and was given to America as a pagan “gift”. What do today’s New Agers believe is the meaning of the “seven rays” radiating from the head (mind) of the Statue of Liberty? She has been “illuminated” or “enlightened” – esotericism = hidden knowledge. What is meant by “liberty” according to freemasons and those involved in the French revolution and why is their type of “liberty” completely unbiblical? These are great questions for a future discussion…

 

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society website explains how the 1965 Air Force Medal of Honor was changed to represent “liberty” – Semiramus!

http://www.cmohs.org/

Occultist Alice Bailey (Lucifer/Lucius Trust) wrote the book titled The Seventh Ray. Alice taught of the “Seven Major Fields of World Work”. This is the exact terminology of the “Seven Mountain Mandate” of the New Apostolic Reformation. This idea is also imbedded in the one-world concept of the “Three Legged Stool” theory of Peter Drucker/Rich Warren/Tony Blair as well as the “eight areas of influence” of the Jesuit Order (Society of Jesus)…

 

So, just how much has the cult of Nimrod already affected us in the Christian church today? There are numerous Items that have crept into the church over the years that we find no mention of in the Bible. Some of them are unique to the Roman Catholic church. Many can also be found in every single Protestant denomination and independent church today. Let’s take a look at several of them:

• As already mentioned, The Babylonian cult worshiped a Supreme Father, a Queen of Heaven, and her Son. When the people were scattered across the earth by God, they carried this symbolism with them. Many eastern religions have a similar theme. Mary wasn't originally venerated. Referring to her as the "Mother of God" started around 431 A.D.

• We celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th, and yet He almost certainly wasn't born on that day. Shepherds weren't likely to be in the field at that time watching over their flocks by night and it is not a time that they would have likely traveled for census purposes. Christ-mass was originally copied from a heathen festival celebrated December 24th and 25th in honor of the son of the Babylonian Queen Astarte. It was kept for centuries before Christ was even born, and was called Yule Day or Child day. The Christmas tree was a pagan symbol, common to the heathen. The yule log was supposedly cast into a tree, and provided gifts to bless men in the upcoming year. As of 230 A.D. Tertullian was lamenting that Christians were beginning to follow this custom. The church at Constantine which was full of pagans became so corrupt that this festival was incorporated into church ritual starting in the fourth century.

• Lady Day is observed March 25th. It is supposedly when Mary conceived, but is based on the faulty date of Dec. 25th as a birth date. Among the heathen, it was a festival honoring Cybele, the mother of the Babylonian Messiah. In Rome Cybele was known as Domina or Lady - and hence the name Lady Day. This festival made it into the church sometime before 656 A.D.

• The practice of Lent and fasting or eating fish on Fridays during Lent was not original with Christianity, but was a celebration of the Rape of Proserpine, culminated with an orgy of lust after a period of 40 days of abstinence in preparation for the event. Easter and the Lenten period that precedes it were introduced to the church in 519 A.D. Cassianus writes "The observance of Lent had no existence so long as the Church remained inviolate.” The fasting and Friday observances came into the church around 998 A.D.

• Easter also originated with the Babylonian heritage. The derivation of the name “Easter” is from Ishtar (a title of the Babylonian Queen of Heaven). It was observed for centuries before Christ and held as traditions Easter eggs, hot-cross buns, etc. And yet, the church has chosen to declare this as a holiday to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ! The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has been confused by the “church” for millennia. Jesus Christ was our Passover sacrifice. He was crucified on Wednesday, not Friday. It would be better to have a “Good Wednesday” service than a “Good Friday” service. This pushes His last supper to Tuesday and not Thursday. His Last Supper was a Passover supper, which was certainly appropriate. This allowed the Jewish women a “shopping day” (Friday) after the High Sabbath and before the regular Friday night to Saturday evening Sabbath to buy the supplies they needed to anoint our Savior. Jesus Christ arose after the Saturday evening end of the Sabbath – He could well have arisen on Saturday night rather than Sunday morning. The angels were there to tell the women who came that He wasn't there, but was arisen, just as He said! But it really could have been at any time after the regular weekly Sabbath ended. In fact, these women could have been retrieving their supplies Saturday evening rather than Sunday morning in order to reduce their exposure to the odor of Jesus decaying body which they expected would eventually set in. Fixing the day of Jesus Christ's death to Wednesday allows for what He foretold when He said:

For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth – Matthew 12:40

• The math just doesn't work if He died on Friday as the church has promulgated. While it is true that the heathen celebration of Easter coincides with Passover most of the time, we should really be focusing on Passover to mark the Lord's death.

• The worship of images or giving special honor to things (relics, crosses, saint's statues, medallions, rosaries, et cetera) was never a part of the Early church. Such quasi-idolatry would certainly be condemned by them. Yet it has continued to this day.

• Doctrines such as purgatory, prayers for the dead, veneration of saints or thinking they have special influence with God and should be prayed to, worship of Mary, the infallibility of the pope (or the equivalent for any high religious leaders, whether Catholic or another denomination), celibacy of the priesthood, indulgences, transubstantiation (priests turn a wafer – “host” – into the literal body of Christ and wine becomes His literal blood) and confession of sins to a priest are all additions that were not seen in the 1^st century Church of Acts. 

Although not all Protestant denominations observe these points of discussion, almost all Christian denominations have something in common with all these practices. There is a common expression that is heard very often today. In fact, it is so common that it is frequently abbreviated and most Christians in the western world immediately recognize it:

WWJD? - “What Would Jesus Do?

Perhaps we should more aptly be asking this question:

WDJD? - “What Did Jesus Do?

Actually, I contend that He would take a whip to the “church” of today and proceed with the same sort of “house cleaning” that He conducted when He confronted the money changers of His day in the temple grounds! This would also apply to most “Christian” book stores found throughout our communities – and churches.

 

Final thoughts:

This end times "false-dominant church" is well in the "making" today with the merging of all types of religions and religious groups. The lack of the study of Bible Prophecy as well as true Biblical doctrine – which is disappearing from many of our churches today – is further evidence that we are moving ever so close to the time of this "false church" of Revelation 17.

 

In the end, God's judgment will come even to those who supposedly worship Him. As we look at our world today, we see a similar scenario. Judgment must begin at the "house of the Lord". We are living in the "last days" – today!

With this information as a foundation for your studies, please read through Chapter 17 of Revelation.

Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s edition as we investigate chapter 18 of Revelation…

Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!
 

We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late! If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!

If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com

I love hearing from you. Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!

Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><

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