Rev 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters;
Rev 17:2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication,
Rev 17:5 and upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Goodness gracious who is this woman? Well she is the Apostate Church. One question you may ask is why the Church is prefigured as a Bride, as female like Israel of old. Because if you looked at the Mount Sinai Covenant through Moses and think it through you will quickly see that this is very much a marriage contract between Creator and created and CHOSEN. She is His Property, she is in the recipient position to receive all He wills to pour out and lavish upon her. Hence the Apostate church, like Israel when she rejected God to go after other gods, is also female. If you read the Prophets especially Hosea whose wife was an ex-prostitute whose tendency was to from time to time go back and do a little trade. This is the Adultery and Idolatry of which God grieved over quite often in the Old Testament and it is a rejection of Jesus and these are those of whom Jude speaks, they look impressive and promising but they are nothing, but a sham. Now lets look at the symbolic dynamic of the Beast and the Woman. The beast is Scarlet colored. We find scarlet as a color is the Old Testament verse. Isa 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Interestingly enough I have also found this verse which beautifully explains the Whore to a T. Jer 4:30 And thou, when thou art made desolate, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with scarlet, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou enlargest thine eyes with paint, in vain dost thou make thyself fair; thy lovers despise thee, they seek thy life. Jeremiah is talking about Jerusalem in this passage. It is amazing how this description so matches the one in Revelation. What was it about Jerusalem which especially angered God when she sinned? It was the place where the Temple Mount lay and by extension then the City of the Great King and the Place where He chose to put His name. His Name…. His good name is being assaulted by the conduct of this City. How might you feel if those who represented your good name dragged it through the mud by poor representation? You might consider a lawyer and filing suit for liable, or slander, I would. This is mildly put how He feels. But He doesn’t use lawyers …. He just gets even. The idea of the scarlet color was only ONE SIN, sexual sin. In sexual sin you are covenanting in union of bodies with someone else. In sex this is the ideal for the married couple that “fruit” might be produced. Its archetype is found in the Covenant of Sinai and the relation of the Church and Christ. He is supposed to “get into you” by His Spirit in Vital Union. This is a “seal” or “mark” on the soul of Election. The Fruit is that of the Holy Spirit. (Gal 5)
Hence to have coupled in the sex act with another under the covenant of Marriage and then go and do the same with another partner WHILE THE FIRST LIVES… Please let me be perfectly clear, if the first partner has passed on you are free of that covenant and if you must have another by all means select one UNATTACHED… is considered ADULTERY.
In this act both parties have a function. He gives of himself to her that she may “bear the fruit”. She gives of herself to him by ALLOWING HIM TO GIVE UNTO HER. She furthermore sacrifices herself to him in that she BEARS AND TENDS the fruit TO MATURITY. In this she lays down HER LIFE. Now this is marriage. This is man and wife. But if she goes and does THIS ACT with another, she is receiving of HIM ALSO. You watch these TV things where DNA tests are done to determine paternity. They have to do these because she was with MORE THAN ONE and now has MIXED FRUIT.
In legal terms Adultery is considered BREACH OF CONTRACT. It can result in the prior contract being rendered null and void and terminated. This is the problem with God, in that under the terms of His contract, you are blessed. Breach it and the blessing stops. Moreover because He has invested Himself into you there is the matter of the heart to be considered. SO then our Harlot is riding a Scarlet Beast. If you look at the description of the Beast you will note that you have seen this before. The last time you saw it; it was red as in FIRE. The color of the Beast represented the Fire of the Holy Spirit or the Flame of Yah as He is called. This is false fire or false anointing or what have you. Now we see the Scarlet. The scarlet represents a false UNION. He who is counterfeit Fire and Union or Anointing and Covenant has astride him a woman. She is arrayed in Purple. Now purple is an important color in scripture. In the era of this book the color purple still stood for wealth, status, prestige, importance, blessing, authority, and power. It is all about the temporal and Earthly things. Right now in the church in North America there is a teaching about Prosperity. This Prosperity Doctrine has more to do with how the materially benefit by pressing the Covenant with God than by living within the confines of the Covenant itself. This is the Purple. Wearing the Purple meant you were a person of means and influence. You were somebody, and you were going places and making your mark in the World, whereas Jesus who was somebody made Himself of NO REPUTATION. She is also arrayed in Scarlet which indicated her relationship to the Beast she rides as “Being His”. She is decked with GOLD, PRECIOUS STONES and PEARLS. Gold represents the immutability and divinity of God, Precious Stones represent the works wrought in obedience by the Holy Spirit in and through the life of the Believer, for which they are rewarded at Judgment; and the pearl represents the Savior. She has the complete look of the counterfeit Church, just as on the outside Israel in sin looked nice and clean. In her hand is a cup. It is GOLD. This represents again the immutability and Divinity of God. In the cup is the wine and wine does one thing; it intoxicates. Wine, in Proverbs is for those who are suffering to make them forget for a while.( Pro 31:6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, And wine unto the bitter in soul: Pro 31:7 Let him drink, and forget his poverty, And remember his misery no more.) It is not for Kings BECAUSE it makes them FORGET. (Pro 31:4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; Nor for princes to say, Where is strong drink? Pro 31:5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, And pervert the justice due to any that is afflicted. ) In that she RIDES the beast or is ASTRIDE the beast it says she is IN CONTROL. Most of us think the Beast is running the show…. Not true. The Harlot runs the Beast and this may be the image of the Second Beast with the lambs horns and appearance and the “Dragon Speak”. In 17:1 -2 it makes mention that this Harlot sits on “many waters” and the kings of the Earth FORNICATE with her. Now fornication and adultery are not the same. The sex act is but the relationship of the one being acted upon in relation to others is not. To fornicate with is to commit the act with a UNATTACHED SINGLE person. (1Co 6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.) He sins against HIS OWN body. But the adulterer is BREAKING MARITAL COVENANT. This means the woman is SINGLE and UNATTACHED though the scarlet she wears identifies her WITH THE BEAST SHE RIDES. Remember, I said that in riding the Beast it means she is controlling the Beast. But she sat astride MANY WATERS… the Greek is specific and indicates that this is many as in lots and large quantities or sizes and water as in the element. But in Biblical Interpretation there are rules and one is that if the Item is not specifically tagged with a person, place or thing name then it means the general area or populace of Earth. In other words she SAT on all the Peoples of the Earth or she RULES THEM. She is greed lust licentiousness luxurious indulgence decadence and that sort of thing. People usually think of that as of the rich, but I can tell you unequivocally that this can apply to the poorest of poor as well. It is a mindset. Kings committed contractual relations with her… or business wise they “got into bed” with her. Kings are leaders of business, government, organizations, charities, you name it; if they run it they are KINGS. Think about it.
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 a great wonder.
Now in the cup is blood. Interestingly enough it is not the blood of the prophets of old but the blood of the saints and the martyrs, which brings a fascinating thought to light. Saints and Martyrs were in the early church in the times of Irenaeus and Polycarp, considered confessors and witnesses. The concept was that the Believer was a “mere confessor” whereas those who gave their lives were witnesses, and that was the ideal to aspire to in “giving all” to Him who gave “all” for us.
Looking At The Last Book Of The Bible 