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Rev 17:1-7 The Judgment of the Great Whore, Part 2

[Study Aired April 13, 2025]

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
Rev 17:7  And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.

We closed our last study taking notice that the revelation of the great whore was given to John by ‘one of the seven angels which had the seven last plagues’:

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

We cannot show anyone the judgment of the great whore until we ‘look behind ourselves’ (Rev 1:12) to see what Christ has worked in our own lives. Then we can be used by Him to show our brothers and fellow servants what is Lord is doing in our lives:

Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Look at who it is who “have the testimony of Jesus”:

Rev 1:2  Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

Rev 1:9  I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Rev 12:17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

If you and I have been granted to be a part of the body of Christ, then it is we who have the testimony of Jesus.

We know that ‘the battle of the great day of God Almighty’ (Rev 16:14), the great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world, no, nor ever shall be (Mat 24:21), the great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon our earth (Rev 16:18), the dividing of that great city Babylon within us and the great hailstorm within us’ (Rev 16:21), are all the “great and marvelous” work of God which, through His work of fire and brimstone, wipes away all the lies of Babylon which until this time have held us in their bondage.

This is how the holy spirit describes this great whore to us:

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

“In the spirit” signifies that everything John is seeing is of spiritual significance. In other words “the holy spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” This is not a literal whore, and she is not seated on a literal beast. This “whore” signifies what the Lord’s people had become spiritually:

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot [“whore” (Rev 17:1-3)]! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

The “whore” signifies the Lord’s own apostate people who have always committed fornication with the nations about them:

Eze 16:13  Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.
Eze 16:14  And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 16:15  But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

It was “In the spirit into the wilderness” that the Lord Himself fought with the beasts of His own flesh:

Mat 4:1  Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

Mar 1:12  And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.
Mar 1:13  And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.

 “The Tempter did all in his power to persuade Christ to deny His own linage, His own calling and His own inheritance. To avoid having to give up all that is in this world and become the savior of us all, Christ was offered by the Tempter to become the physical ruler of all the nations of this world.

Mar 1:9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.
Mar 1:10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
Mar 1:11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying [to Christ], Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Mar 1:12 And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.
Mar 1:13 And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.

This scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy having seven heads and ten horns signifies the exact same beast we came to know in our studies of Revelation 13:

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

The “beast” of Mark 1:13, where Jesus was in the wilderness tempted by the devil with wild beasts, the ‘beast’ of Revelation 13:1 who comes up out of the sea; the beast of Revelation 11:7 who arises out of the bottomless pit, and this ‘beast’ here in Revelation 17:1, supporting and being ridden by this “Great Whore”, are all the same ‘beast’ (G2342, ‘therion’, “A wild animal, a wild beast”). This is who we all are before being transformed of “the same lump” into a “new man… another vessel as it seemed good to the Potter to make it” (Jer 18:1-6). At that point we become another ‘beast’ (G2226, ‘zoon’, “a living thing that is an animal”). This is the word used to describe the animals which were offered as sacrifices to God as opposed to wild beasts.

The only added detail here in Revelation 17, besides being a ‘therion’, a wild beast, is the fact that we, like our father the devil and Satan, are “scarlet colored”… having seven heads and ten horns”:

Rev 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

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

Like our spiritual father the devil, at this time, while in the darkness and deception of Babylon, we, too, are signified as a ‘wild beast’, a ‘therion’, with ‘seven heads and ten horns.’

In this sad state we are merely “the natural man” who has not been given eyes that see or ears that can hear the things of the spirit:

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1Co 2:15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

At this ‘carnal babe in Christ’ state of our being, spiritual thoughts are “foolishness” to us:

Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

Babylon seems so very innocuous. In fact she appears as a downright righteous woman who is decked with gold and precious stones and pearls. In chapter 18 we are told that she is full of “gold silver and precious stones.”

Rev 18:11  And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
Rev 18:12  The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,

‘Gold, silver, and precious stones’ are the very symbols used by the holy spirit to signify the materials with which we are to build upon the foundation of Christ and the apostles and prophets:

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire [the fiery Word of God]; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

Babylon appeals to our flesh in every possible way. She is very generous and is filled with many wonderful works which immediately appeal to men. Babylon is first and foremost a harlot whose greatest joy is to please men, and not her true and ultimate husband, our Lord. She “has a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.” That ‘cup’ opposes everything found in the cup Christ gave to His apostles on the night of His apprehension by the Jews. The cup of Christ calls for us to be hated of all men (Mat 10:22), to deny our flesh, and to die daily to the desires of our flesh (1Co 15:31), to be “crucified with Him” (Gal 2:20), to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God (Rom 12:1), and to fill up in our bodies what is behind and lacking of His afflictions for His body’s sake, which is the church (Col 1:24).

The cup in the hand of this harlot teaches us that Christ did all of that for us and all we need is to reach out and accept His suffering in our stead. It is a damnable doctrine known as substitutionary atonement, and it comes right out of the throne of the beast in the bottomless pit.

It is designed to deceive and seduce us all at our appointed time. She is much too subtle for any man to resist by himself or by his own wisdom. It requires knowing the word of God, and trying the spirits of Babylon to see her as she is here described:

Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

The blood of Jesus and the blood of the saints are what causes the drunken stupor of the harlot we all are. These words are “written therein” and are kept by us all in our own time. We do not martyr Christians as the apostle Paul martyred Stephen. Our drunkenness on their blood is detected in the hatred we have for the doctrines of Christ, and our hatred for the example He has left us to follow.

1Jn 3:15   Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

Mat 26:26  And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
Mat 26:27  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
Mat 26:28  For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Mat 26:29  But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

Christ tells us that His blood is “My blood of the New Testament.” The New Covenant is the Words of Christ. If we hate Christ’s Words, then we hate the words which tell us of the example He has set for us to follow, and if we hate those words, we hate those who bring us His Words. As a matter of fact, we are told that when we reject those who come to us with the words of Christ, we are rejecting Christ himself (Luk 10:16):

Mat 10:14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
Mat 10:15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

Mat 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
Mat 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 10:40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

Luk 10:16  He that heareth you heareth me; and he that rejecteth you rejecteth me; and he that rejecteth me rejecteth him that sent me.(ASV)

Joh 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Joh 13:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

“And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.” When we are given to follow Christ, we are given to follow Him wherever He goes:

Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

Those who seek to know God and His Son with their “whole heart”, always ask, “What did Jesus do” in each and every situation encountered in any situation. The flesh asks, “What is permissible?” while the spirit is whole hearted in its service and inquires “What is commendable, what did Jesus do?”

Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Ask yourself what did Christ say and where Christ go in every move of your life. When we are given to see His steps, then we should “follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes.” If the Lord gives us the strength to do that, then we will never be ashamed, and His blood will cover the blood of His saints which is on our own hands.

Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation [‘This generation’ reading these words (Mat 24:15)].

Next week, Lord willing, we will review the origins and the fate of the beast within us when we look into the spiritual meaning of these words:

Rev 17:7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
Rev 17:9 And here [is] the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
Rev 17:10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, [and] the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
Rev 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
Rev 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.