3Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. 5This title was written on her forehead:
MYSTERY
BABYLON THE GREAT
THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES
AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.
When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. 7Then the angel said to me: "Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. 8The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come.
9"This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. 10They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while. 11The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.
12"The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. 13They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. 14They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers."
15Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. 16The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled. 18The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."
God told John that the seven horns are seven hills. The Harlot will sit upon a beast with seven horns. Some believe God was trying to show us that for a time the Harlot and Beast would have the same identity. They would both govern together for a time, would both sit upon seven hills, and for a while would both be His run-away sinful Bride. But this Bride of Christ will not return, instead the Beast will throw her off and completely destroy her with the help of the ten kings. The Beast would then be the Antichrist.
Very interestingly the Roman Catholic Church sits upon seven hills. Not to mention that all the rulers in the world have and still come to the Pope for blessing. Almost every doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church twists the teachings of Christ. The Roman Catholic Church recognizes Christ as Lord and Saviour, but then twist His messages to fit their own purpose and doctrine. This is what the Bible has dictated as being blasphemy.
Even in the description of the appearance of the Harlot the Roman Catholic Church has a striking resemblance to her. She will wear purple and scarlet as the Roman Catholic Church has and still does. The Roman Catholic Church is very wealthy, hence the pearls and things of finery mentioned in Revelation 17. In addition to this, the Pope is constantly depicted in paintings as holding a golden cup just as prophecy foretold of the Harlot! Drinking of the wine of the feast of the Lamb, while yet making a sham of it.
There are also three names for the Pope. Holy Father, Supreme Pontiff, and Vicar of Christ. Each is a blasphemous name! Christ called God the "Holy Father" in John 17:11. No one on earth, besides Christ, was ever supposed to have the name of God. Supreme Pontiff actually means "Great High Priest." Again this is blasphemous because Great High Priest was the name given to Christ! Vicar of Christ means "Representative of Christ." This is the meaning of the Holy Spirit and His identity alone. The three names of the Pope are all blasphemous titles that belong to only God. The names of the Pope blasphemy all three identities of God!
Each of the three names of the Pope each equal 666 respectively in Roman Numerals when you add the letters. The Harlot is depicted in Revelation 17 as being in control over the Beast and having the same identity. For the two are described as being one at this time. Is it mere coincidence then that each of the Pope's names equal 666 in the language and counting system of the time when John saw this vision? I think not.
Remember that the Beast in order to be the Antichrist must claim to be Christ Himself and to be intimate with God. Meaning the Beast will have a Christian identity. Also since the Harlot sits upon the Beast and rules over Him before she is thrown off, the Beast must have a Christian but sinful identity because of that.
The Roman Catholic Church has a Christian identity and has turned away to sin. Christ told us you cannot serve two masters. You will love one and hate the other. Christ specifically said you cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24). Yet the Roman Catholic Church and many Christian religions are very wealthy. The Beast in the end times will be in control over a false world religion. What else has institutionalized Christianity become than mostly a false world religion? Though there are a few exceptions to the rule.
Not only that, but all Christian religions have not separated themselves entirely from the Catholic Religion. They changed doctrines, some of the new doctrines are almost as blasphemous as the Roman Catholic Church's, but they have kept almost all the same practices. Things such as pastor preaching, tithes, the laity controlling and ministering, etc. We were all intended to minister to one another after Christ died and rose again. That is why we are called a "royal priesthood" in 1 Peter 2:9. That included all believers, not a select few.
Thus it is possible that Christianity as a whole is the false world religion that the Antichrist will take over. It would make sense since the Antichrist must claim to be Christ and be intimate with God. The people the Antichrist will first try to take dominion over and come out of must be Christian. Some will follow after the Antichrist and others will refuse him and follow Christ. Those who refuse the mark of the Beast will be martyred.
Beyond the identity of the Harlot, we must wonder what the identity of the seven kings are. The identity of the seven kings must be like the Beast. For the Beast is the eighth king and he belongs to the previous seven kings (Revelation 17:11). In other words they must be very alike, but none of the previous seven kings ever went as far as the Antichrist will go.
It is important to note at this time that the previous seven kings were the Beast. For the Beast "once was, now is not, and will once be again (Revelation 17:8)." When certain empires were believed by the people they ruled to be the Antichrist they were close to understanding the truth. Those empires, like Rome, were the Beast but not the Antichrist. The two have separate identities. The Beast committed many atrocities and reared his ugly head many times throughout history but was not the Antichrist. The Antichrist will come only once and be like the Beast only magnified to the tenth power.
The Beast in Revelation is depicted as being a world government. That means that it has control of all commerce, money, food, and religion. Also, the Beast will slaughter many people and enslave the Israelites who are the modern day Jews. After closely examining history we can find exactly seven kings who fit this description up until today.
"Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come," was a prophesy to the current time John lived in (Revelation 17:10). At John's point of history five kings had come and gone, one was ruling at the time, and one had not come yet. The seven kings are the Hittites, Egyptians, Neo-Babylonians, Assyrians, Macedonians, Romans, and Britains. All these world powers have had nearly complete world control over commerce, food, money, religion, people, and the Jews.
The first to rule the world was the Hittites. The Egyptians then conquered the Hittites and rules as a world power. Then the Neo-Babylonians swept through the land, conquered the Egyptians, and ruled the world. The Israelites were then a vassal nation to the Neo-Babylonians and at short times were enslaved as well. After King Hezekiah died the Assyrians conquered the Neo-Babylonian and enslaved the Israelites. Then the Macedonians, under the command of Alexander the Great, conquered the Assyrians and ruled. These are the five kings, empires, who ruled and then fell.
Rome then conquered the Macedonians becoming a great world power. No one in the world, that they knew of, was not under their control the Israelites included. Jesus lived and died and rose again during this rule. John lived during the rule of Rome. This is the king who during the time of John was in power. Interestingly, at the time of John we see the Harlot finally ruling over the Beast. The Harlot did not rule over the first five kings, which some believe is the meaning of the beast once was (Revelation 17:8).
During the time of John the Harlot was, not the best, because she was in control. Shortly after John died, about one hundred years later, the Roman Catholic Church was formed and Roman government was controlled by her. Rome became ruled by the Harlot, who some surmise to be the Roman Catholic Church.
The Britains in glory and courage won the war against Rome. Though Rome's fall was much slower than the previous kings. It was Britain that caused Rome's ultimate defeat. By seceding first, all the other countries seceded as well until Rome was so crippled she fell in upon herself. Britain ruled the world almost entirely, save for France and Portugal, who they ruled to a degree. France and Portugal were always seeking out Britain's good favor so as not to be destroyed by her. The British also ruled over the Jews and actually owned Israel for many years until 1948 (http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/History/HISTORY-+Foreign+Domination.htm).
Eventually Britain fell in a slow but measured pace. First America fought the war for independence and won. Then the rest of the countries ruled by Britain seceded leaving Britain a diminished country. Britain was also noticeably a consistently Christian nation. We see the Harlot in control over Britain by the fact it was a Christian nation and slaughtered many people in its religious wars. Again, the Beast was not supposed to be in control during the reign of the seventh king and surely was not. The Harlot was instead in control.
This leaves us at a time before the eighth king. The Beast, who will become the Antichrist, will be an eighth king. The Beast will be very much like the first seven kings but only much worse in the end. We are in a time of waiting for this eighth king to emerge. This king, the Beast and Antichrist, will be a world ruler and will have a Christian identity. Why do I think this? Because the Beast must claim to be Christ and to know God. Also the Harlot is still sitting upon the Beast until the Beast throws her off with the helps of the ten kings near the end of the Tribulation (Revelation 17:16).
Furthermore I believe God has begun to call His people out of the Harlot. We will see great multitudes of people come out of the Harlot. Even though Christ says that few find the path to salvation (Matthew 7:3-14), even if it isonly 1% of the people on the planet today that is still a great multitude of people. God will call His people out of the Harlot and it will be such a noticeable amount that unbelievers will even preceive it and wonder why. Revelation 18:4-5 shows us God's plans concerning this,
"4Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
"Come out of her, my people,
so that you will not share in her sins,
so that you will not receive any of her plagues;
5for her sins are piled up to heaven,
and God has remembered her crimes."
Be prepared to come out of the Harlot, even if I am mistaken and its not the Roman Catholic Church and institutionalized Christianity. Have your eyes and ears open to come out of the Harlot when the time is right. God said that His people will be in the Harlot's dominion until shortly before she is destroyed. Come out so that you are not deceived or share in her punishment! Keep your eyes and ears open for the eighth king, for the Antichrist will come quickly and the time draws near for him.
Above all that, keep up your relationship with Christ. Obey Him and know Him. Christ warned us not to be like the five virgins that were unpreparted. He told us about the end times in Matthew 24, then in Matthew 25:1-13 gave us this warning;
""At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6"At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
7"Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out. 9" 'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'
10"But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. 11"Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!'
12"But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' 13"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour."
Keep watch and seek the Lord! Keep your oil filled! Be prepared for the eighth king!
