THE GREAT WHORE OF BABYLON

TNDL: "BABYLON IS FALLING, IS FALLING, THE GREAT WHORE OF BABYLON; REVELATION 17-18. SO, WHO OR WHAT IS THIS EVIL WHORE OF BABYLON? SHE IS THE EVIL RELIGIOUS, POLITICAL SYSTEM. BUT, HE, MICHAEL, THE NEW THE NEW DIVINE LOGOS OR WORD OF GOD MOST HIGH, WILL DESTROY THE WOMAN, THE WHORE, THE POLITCIAL EVIL AND WICKED SYSTEM THAT HAS BEEN RULING OVER ALL NATIONS OF THE EARTH. HOWEVER, THE LORD JEHOVAH, THE MOST HIGH, IS CALLING OUT HIS PEOPLE TO COME OUT OF HER AND BE NOT PARTAKERS OF HER SINS AND ABOMINATIONS, BECAUSE THE JUDMENT OF THE MOST HIGH IS COMING ON THIS EVIL GREAT HARLOT OF REVELATION 17 - 18." Passages from Revelation

The "great whore" of the Book of Revelation is featured in chapter 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:

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.

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.

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:

5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

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.

9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he comes, he must continue a short space.

11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition.

12 And the ten horns which thou saw are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

15 And he said unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.

— Revelation 17:1–18

Symbolism

The whore of Babylon as illustrated in Hortus deliciarum by Herrad of Landsberg, 1180.

See also: Babylon and Rape in the Hebrew Bible § Personified capital cities threatened with rape

The Whore is associated with the Beast of Revelation by connection with an equally evil kingdom.[citation needed] The word "Whore" can also be translated metaphorically as "Idolatress".[1] The Whore's apocalyptic downfall is prophesied to take place in the hands of the image of the beast with seven heads and ten horns. There is much speculation within Christian eschatology on what the Whore and beast symbolize as well as the possible implications for contemporary interpretations.[2][3][4][5]

Caroline Vander Stichele (2000) demonstrated that the narrative of the Whore of Babylon follows many of the same patterns of the personification of capital cities as women who commit "prostitution / whoredom" and/or "adultery" in the prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible. These capital cities, representing the states they govern, are alleged to have committed various sins that have rendered them sexually promiscuous, and therefore they will eventually be annihilated through various well-deserved violent punishments sent by the Israelite god Yahweh.[6]

Preterist interpretations

Some scholars interpret 'Babylon' as being based on historical places and events.

Rome and the Roman Empire

See also: Dea Roma

Many Biblical scholars[7][8] believe that "Babylon" is a metaphor for the pagan Roman Empire at the time it persecuted Christians, before the Edict of Milan in 313. Some biblical scholars recognize that "Babylon" is a cipher for Rome or the Roman Empire but believe Babylon is not limited to the Roman city of the first century. Craig Koester says outright that "the whore is Rome, yet more than Rome."[9] It "is the Roman imperial world, which in turn represents the world alienated from God."[10] Some exegetes interpret the passage as a scathing critique of a servant people of Rome who do the Empire's bidding, interpreting that the author of Revelation was speaking of the Herodians—a party of Jews friendly to Rome and open to its influence, like the Hellenizers of centuries past—and later, corrupt Hasmoneans, where the ruler of Jerusalem or Roman Judea exercised his power at the pleasure of the Roman emperor, and was dependent on Roman influence, like Herod the Great in the Gospel of Luke.

In 4 Ezra,[11][12] 2 Baruch[13] and the Sibylline Oracles,[14] "Babylon" is a cryptic name for Rome.[15] Reinhard Feldmeier speculates that "Babylon" is used to refer to Rome in the First Epistle of Peter (1 Peter 5:13).[16] In Revelation 17:9 it is said that she sits on "seven mountains",[17] typically understood as the seven hills of Rome.[18][19][20][21][22] A Roman coin minted under the Emperor Vespasian (ca. 70 AD) depicts Rome as a woman sitting on seven hills.[23]

According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, "The characteristics ascribed to this Babylon apply to Rome rather than to any other city of that age: (a) as ruling over the kings of the earth (Revelation 17:18); (b) as sitting on seven mountains (Revelation 17:9); (c) as the center of the world's merchandise (Revelation 18:3, 11–13); (d) as the corrupter of the nations (Revelation 17:2; 18:3; 19:2); (e) as the persecutor of the saints (Revelation 17:6)."[24]

According to Eusebius of Caesarea Babylon would be Rome or the Roman Empire:

"And Peter makes mention of Mark in his first epistle which they say that he wrote in Rome itself, as is indicated by him, when he calls the city, by a figure, Babylon, as he does in the following words: «The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, salutes you; and so does Marcus my son.»(1 Peter 5:13)"[25]

Jerusalem

See also: Rape in the Hebrew Bible § Personified capital cities threatened with rape

The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem, by David Roberts (1850)

Biblical scholars such as Alan James Beagley, David Chilton, J. Massyngberde Ford, Peter Gaskell, Kenneth Gentry, Edmondo Lupieri, Bruce Malina, Iain Provan, J. Stuart Russell, Milton S. Terry[26] point out that although Rome was the prevailing pagan power in the 1st century, when the Book of Revelation was written, the symbolism of the whore of Babylon refers not to an invading infidel or foreign power. It refers to an apostate false queen, a former "bride" who has been unfaithful and who, even though she has been divorced and cast out because of unfaithfulness, continues to falsely claim to be the "queen" of the spiritual realm.[27][28][29] This symbolism did not fit the case of Rome at the time. Proponents of this view suggest that the "seven mountains" in Rev 17:9 are the seven hills on which Jerusalem stands and the "fall of Babylon" in Rev 18 is the fall and destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.[30]

Several Old Testament prophets referred to Jerusalem as being a spiritual harlot and a mother of such harlotry (Isaiah 1:21; Jeremiah 2:20; 3:1–11; Ezekiel 16:1–43; 23, as well as Epistle to the Galatians 4:25). Some of these Old Testament prophecies, as well as the warnings in the New Testament concerning Jerusalem, are in fact very close to the text concerning Babylon in Revelation. This suggests that John of Patmos may well have actually been citing those prophecies in his description of Babylon.[31]

For example, in Matthew 23:34–37 and Luke 11:47–51, Jesus himself assigned all of the bloodguilt for the killing of the prophets and of the saints (of all time) to the Pharisees of Jerusalem. In Revelation 17:6 and 18:20,24, almost identical phrasing is used in charging that very same bloodguilt to Babylon. This is also bolstered by Jesus' statement that "it's not possible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem." (Luke 13:33).[32]

Revelation 11:8 indicates that only Jerusalem is being referenced allegorically as “Sodom” and “Egypt”; “Where indeed their lord was crucified”, corroborated therewith Jesus Christ's statement in Luke 13:33. Moreover, Revelation 21:9–27 refers to “The New Jerusalem”, whereas Revelation 21:22 states, “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it." This contrasts with “The Synagogue of Satan” in Revelation 3:9. This coincides with St. Stephen's charge against the Sanhedrin, in Acts 7:43, “Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.”