The Woman of Revelation 17:1-18

Next Part SEVEN PROOFS God’s Kingdom is not on Earth Now!

Comparing Daniel 7:1-28 with Revelation 13:1-18 and 17:1-18 reveals that there are seven revivals of the Holy Roman Empire. Six have come and gone—and one remains that is now forming! It will last for about 3 1/2 years, during the terrible period that the Bible calls the Great Tribulation (Matt. 24:21-22), and the time of “Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:1-7). It is after this last resurrection that the kingdom of God will come.

It is crucial to understand another important connection to the seven revivals (or resurrections) of the Roman system. Revelation 17:1-28 describes each revival as having “a woman sit[ting] upon [the] scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns” (Rev 17:3). The seven heads are seven separate revivals, with a ten-horn final revival composed of ten kings.

Of the woman, Rev 17:5-6 state that “…upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” Rev 17:1 calls her a “great whore that sits upon many waters…” with Rev 17:15 explaining that the “waters” are many “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”

This is a graphic description of a very large and powerful Gentile church that is a modern-day descendant of the ancient system of Babylon. She is a “mother” of many “harlot” daughter churches. These daughters came out of her in protest because they disagreed with some few of her abominations. Understand. This is not a small church, but rather a “great” church ruling many “peoples” and “nations.” Rev 17:2 speaks of her “fornication” with the “kings of the earth.” And Rev 17:18 speaks of the woman as “that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”

This is a very different woman than the one of Revelation 12:1-17, who is to marry Jesus Christ (Rev. 19:7; Matt. 25:1-10; Eph. 5:23) at His Return. This chapter describes the true Church of God that the powerful Gentile church has persecuted for 2,000 years (Rev 17:6). God will destroy this great whore and her harlot daughters by turning the beast she rides against her (Rev 17:16). But first she must “ride” the final resurrection of the Holy Roman (Babylonian system) Empire!

There is not much time left until this last revival appears—it is forming even now!—with the wonderful kingdom of God to appear soon after (Rev. 19:11-16). All the governments of men—including that of every large and small country on earth today—will be smashed and replaced by God’s coming SUPER GOVERNMENT.

Soon the whole world will see the fulfilment of Revelation 11:15: “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.” Just as there is no doubt that countries today represent real, literal, physical kingdoms (governments), there can be no doubt, from just this passage, that God’s coming government is also real and literal.

Jesus Christ was born to be a King—to rule all nations of the earth forever with the help of other spirit-composed kings. This is the central theme of the entire Bible. Notice: “And out of His [Christ’s] mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron…and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Rev. 19:15-16).

Has anyone ever told you about these passages? I never learned or even heard of them in the church of my youth—and yet, here they are, available with unmistakable clarity.

Entering the Kingdom

The Bible teaches that the kingdom of God rules OVER the people and nations of the earth. The nations are not actually part of the kingdom, any more than the average citizen of any country is part of the government that rules over them. One must ENTER the kingdom of God to be in it. Therefore, we must ask: As distinct from those who are governed by it, who is actually IN the kingdom?

In I Corinthians 15:50-51, Paul stated, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit in corruption. Behold, I show you a mystery…” Certainly, this is a mystery to almost everyone—that flesh and blood human beings cannot enter the kingdom of God. It would be helpful to read the entirety of this “resurrection chapter” of I Corinthians 15. Only at the resurrection are human beings (all true Christians) changed (born again) from flesh to spirit.

Do you see, then, how no church can possibly be the kingdom of God? Churches are physical. Flesh and blood physical people are able to enter and exit a church building. So, this rules out all churches (or, for that matter, the British Empire) from being the kingdom of God. Just believe the plain truth of the Bible!

The kingdom of God cannot include flesh and blood people!

A series of verses in John 3 is commonly misunderstood by those who believe that they can be “born again” in this life (while they are still composed of flesh and blood) and see the kingdom of God.

In this account, Nicodemus, a Pharisee, approached Christ and acknowledged in Rom 13:2: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God.” He plainly admitted that they knew who Christ was and who had sent Him to earth. Notice that Nicodemus spoke for more than himself when he stated, “we know.” He was referring to himself and the other Pharisees who recognized who and what Jesus Christ was. They could not deny the power of God evident in the miracles that Christ was performing.

The religious leaders, the Pharisees, well understood that He was a “teacher come from God” bringing the truth. They still called Him a blasphemer, drunkard, heretic, seditionist, bastard, ignorant, demon-possessed, false prophet and more—and crucified Him!

Many people see the plain truth of the Bible, yet choose to ignore it in order to hold to their own traditions (Mark 7:7) and ideas! Christ told Nicodemus, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Rom 13:3). He explained that only by being born again can one actually “see” God’s kingdom. So, there is a limitation on who can see the kingdom. But there is no limitation on physical people seeing either a church or an empire. Anyone of any religion or belief can see any other physical item.

Grasp these critical points that Christ is making!

In Rom 13:5, Christ states that unless one is “born of water and of the Spirit,” he “cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Yes, the kingdom is something that can be “entered into”—but Christ explains His “born of water [baptism] and of the Spirit” phrase in Rom 13:6: “That which is born of the flesh IS flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit IS spirit.”

Flesh and blood cannot enter into the kingdom of God—but spirit can! Because Christ wanted to allow no room for misunderstanding, He likened spirit to wind. Wind, like spirit, is invisible. It cannot be seen. Therefore, those in the kingdom must be composed of spirit.