Babylon the Harlot, Part 2

Continued from Babylon the Harlot, Part 1

The Bride of Christ is called a city, and that is the portion of the church which has not compromised. The other (opposite) side of that is the harlot. It is also called a city but is evil because of compromise. This is not only the apostate church in Rome, but the apostate in many other churches, as well. Again, the waters let us know that this apostate church is throughout the masses of people.

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.

We see here, that this universal apostasy (unfaithfulness to God) does not affect just one class of people. This unfaithfulness is from the very rich and powerful (kings) to the very poor.

The same way a drunken person naturally has no earthly idea what he is doing, this apostate group is so carried away with the world that they, too, do not realize the terribleness of what they are doing. God will judge this idolatrous church. Judgment begins at the house of God.

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.

This "wilderness" here, I believe, means the world. This "scarlet coloured beast" shows evil world power.

Since this woman sits upon this beast, it means that her power comes from this evil beast in Revelation 18 verse 2, Babylon the Great as It supports her. This woman, it appears, has decided to trust the powers of this world over God's power.

Seven denotes spiritually complete, ten denotes world government, and horns denote power.

You can easily see, since she is on top of this thing, she guides it, but receives her support from the beast. The word "scarlet" can be very good or very evil. In this case, it is very evil. This great evil (blasphemy) that this woman (church) has committed is spiritual adultery (the watering down or changing of the Word).

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:

The elegant clothing and jewelry of the woman show her wealth and attractiveness, but her activities are filthy and abominable to God. Her mystery name is Babylon the Great verse 5. Ancient Babylon is a type or prefigure of this future Babylon. Babylon the City The harlot will do what literal Babylon did in the past:

(1) Oppress God's people, and

(2) Propagate a false religious system. Much of the world's idolatry can be traced back to historical Babylon (Gen. 11:1-9), including the mother-child cult of Semiramis -Tammuz (Jer. 44:16-19; Ezek. 8:9, 14), which entered other cultures as Ashtaroth - Baal, Aphrodite-Eros, Venus-Cupid, and even Madonna-Child.

Semiramis, who was both Nimrod's wife and mother, was worshiped as the "mother of god" and a "fertility goddess" because she had to be extremely fertile to give birth to all the pagan incarnate gods that represented Nimrod.

Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

The color scheme of this one world religion as defined in Rev. 17 v.4 is most revealing: "The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet." If you are familiar with pictures of the Vatican Council as published in national magazines, you will have observed that the bishops and cardinals wore purple and scarlet robes.

Revelations 17:5 And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Just as God marked the 144,000 with the name of the Father, and just as the bride of Christ is marked with the name of Christ, we see here this group marked on the forehead. This name alone makes you know how evil and worldly this church is.

This worldly part of the church, though nominally Christian, is yet more faithful to the world than to God. Notice here, that the church that pretends to be Christian and is not, does more to cause harm than those worldly people who claim to be lost. The worldly church always persecutes the faithful church. This evil in the church is an abomination to God. It is a mystery how this could happen in the church.

As the fountainhead of idolatry, Babylon the harlot is the MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH; the harlot has killed many of God's saints and Christian martyrs throughout the ages, and will do so again during the Tribulation period.

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 faithless part of the church is guilty of the blood of the saints. In Matthew 12:20 we read that Jesus says "He that is not with me is against me". This watered down church is actually causing great problems for those who are sold out to God. We do know that Rome had a great deal to do with the death of the martyrs and even had a hand in crucifying Jesus.

Of course, the Jews (church) of that day had even more to do with the crucifixion of Jesus. However, the most blame for His death has to be placed on each of us. Sin placed Jesus on the cross. He went to the cross to crucify sin. His sacrifice stopped us from being a servant to sin.

The wonder of it all is, that with the Bible as their guide, how could these people get so far away from God and still occupy a pew? The answer is quite simple. They never read or study their Bible themselves. They allow someone else to read it and tell them what it is saying.

I truly believe that much of the problem lies at the shepherd's feet. So many preachers are overlooking the need for the spiritual growth of their people. In the 34th chapter of Ezekiel, it says God will take the sheep away from the shepherds that do not care for them. Shepherds BEWARE! We are not to be as concerned with "our" needs as we are with the needs of "our people".

We see from the last few scriptures above that this is probably speaking of Rome and the Catholic Church, who have brought the compromise. Even more than that, it is speaking to individuals in all churches who have compromised themselves.

"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." 2 Timothy 3 verse 5. A person claiming to be a Christian on the outside, but who is not on the inside. It's so easy to point to someone else, but in so doing we should examine ourselves as well.

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.

Next week - Part 3

Written by Jennifer Auld

Satan is God/Ruler of This World?

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

What does it mean to say that Satan is the "god/ruler/prince (archon) of this world"?

"I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. (John 14:30, see 12:31; 16:11; 1 John 5:19)

"We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one." (1John :19) Ummm...that is a pretty strong statement...has it puzzled you, as it has me?

Does it mean that God has delegated the whole earth to Satan--handed the deed over to him, as it were? And if this is the case, then does that mean that every aspect of human culture is intrinsically bad/satanic? Or worse, does it mean that Satan "stole" it from God? Or maybe, God still owns the earth, but has given control over the whole earth to Satan? It sure sounds like some kind of satanic kingdom on earth is being asserted. While in most places, Satan is referred to as the ruler (archon), but in 2 Cor.4:4 (ho theos tou aionos toutou) he is actually referred to as "the god of this world"..."In their case the god of this world as blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.". Yes, the same term used for GOD (theos) is used of Satan in this context...hmmm??!

I raise this question because, on the surface anyway, the phrase "ruler/god of this world" seems to imply some rather nasty or fearful scenarios.Have you ever wondered about this, because it seems to be giving Satan a whole lot of territorial control? (at least until the Last Judgment) And I have noticed that many Christians live in fear due to their interpretation of this phrase--or they have a very negative view of culture in general. It is one of those ideas that tends to color how we view everything else in the bible, so it is important that have a clear/accurate understanding of "the world" and that Satan is "the ruler of this world.".In John 15:18-19 the word kosmos (gk.world) is used six times!

The bible uses the term world in different ways. Sometimes the world refers to the whole creation of God; or the inhabited earth without any reference to sin..the earth in general. However, the human world has fallen into sin, which the bible reminds us of frequently. So, it often uses the term world--either the spatial term kosmos or the temporal term aion--(this is crucial) to designate everything opposed to God. Did you get that, because it vastly restricts and clarifies this notion.


Culture is a mixture of good and bad, so it is not referring to culture, per se. The word "world", is being used in an ethical sense--the world is entirely bad. The world is the kingdom of the Evil One; everything that is opposed to God. We should not be conformed to it.. (Rom 12:1-2) Culture is a broader term than world, and the world is the bad part of culture. It is not our purpose today to discuss the biblical view of culture, but to further refine our understanding of what "god/ruler of this world" means (or does not mean), we need to realize that what we call culture, is not synonymous with world. Simply put, we were/are commanded by the Lord to build culture, in the what reformed theologians call the "cultural mandate." (Gen. 1:28) There are good and bad aspects of our culture, and the bad aspects comprise part of the world.

There is an antithesis, or opposition, between Christ and the world (and Christians are in opposition with the world too). The world hates Jesus because He exposes its evil (Jn. 7:7) The world cannot receive the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:17) The world rejoiced when Jesus was killed (16:20) The disciples were not of the world, just as Jesus was not of the world (Jn 17:14), The most arresting antithesis is found in 1 John 2:15-17..."Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of his eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."

So, we may say that the world is all aspects of God's creation that are in opposition to God--be it individuals or aspects of culture. It is over this "realm" that Satan is ruler or god. Unbelievers are blinded by Satan and our sinfulness has corrupted much of the culture we live in. There are two kingdoms in opposition--the Kingdom of God/heaven versus the kingdom of darkness. The world versus the Kingdom of God.

I suppose we could say that the world (in this sense) began in the garden of Eden. Adam and Eve acted in opposition to God--they did the will of Satan and not God's will. In Genesis 4 we see the "world' in action--close up and ugly.Cain murders his own brother. In Heb 11:4 we see that Abel was justified by faith alone (faith in the future, coming Messiah) but Cain and his sacrifice were displeasing to God. In that tragic story we see the outworking of God's earlier assertion that there would be antithesis/opposition between the seed of the serpent (those whose master is Satan) and the seed of the woman--true believers (Jesus is their Lord). Adam and Eve knew the gospel, shared it with their kids--obviously, at least one of their children was an unbeliever, Cain.

Ever since the Fall, there have been two streams of humanity: those who are of the world, and those who are not of the world...unbelievers and believers. It is important to realize that those who do not serve Christ, are serving Satan whether they are aware of that or not. The world is the satanically energized, Christ hating, and law-despising individuals and aspects of culture. It is is almost by definition isn't it? Whatever is under Satan's influence, he is "ruler" over. The Devil is the ruler of the world only in the sense that he is ruler over any aspects aligned with him and in rebellion against God. And my response is, duh, of course he is! That should be comforting.... I would think.

But we need to say more...more of what that phrase does NOT mean. Satan is not in sovereign control of even a square inch of the universe--the Lord, God Almighty is (Eph 1:11) in absolute control over every molecule in His vast creation...including any/all aspects of the world! He can take the wicked actions of wicked men (or demons) and bend them so that they will work together for our good (Rom.8:28). God is the infinite/personal Creator of all things...including Lucifer, who rebelled in his free-will. The earth (Heb. eres)and everything in it belongs to the Lord because He created it(Gen.1:1-2:3; Ps.24:1; 50:12 ect) The earth is the palace of the Great King--which is also a theater displaying His glory! Satan's very continued existence is by the word of God's power (Col. 1:16-17)

So, we should flee the world, right? Nope, against what we might think at first, Jesus prays that we would be protected from the Evil One, but "...I do not ask that You take them out of the world." (John 17:15) We are not of the world, but the Father sends us into the world, just as He sent His Son into the world.(17:11-18) We are to shine as lights in the dark world (Matt. 5:14-16) So, we are to be in the world, but not of the world--which is difficult to keep that balance. As the world hated Jesus, so we shall be hated by the world. Maybe we need to remember that,and not go into an extended funk because our faith was not appreciated. I have resolved recently to persevere through trials better than I had been....and by God's grace, it has been liberating.....

Let me conclude by reminding us that Christ has won the victory over Satan and the world. In John 16:11 it says that Satan has been judged--perfect tense (kekritai) "Has been judged and continues in the state of resulting from that judgment." "Now is the judgment of this world (kosmou); now will the ruler of this world be cast out." (John 14:31) "In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." (Jn. 16:33). Triple amen!!!

One proviso--there is a now/not yet tension in the bible regarding Christ''s victory. NOW Satan has been overcome, but the full realization of that in our experience is NOT YET--that is reserved for heaven. A roaring lion obviously has considerable power...which all of us have experienced to some degree. An under/over emphasis on either the NOW or the NOT YET aspects of Christ's victory over Satan and the world will lead to spiritual mischief.Perhaps I will address this more next time...

However, there is a reason Jesus told us to daily pray for deliverance from temptation and protection from evil (or the Evil One). Basically, it is a prayer for protection from all elements of the world. Please, if you do not do so already, start praying this daily today--especially before going to sleep....for yourself and your loved ones. Amen!


ps...Satan and the devil are the same being (John 13:2, 27)...no extra charge..hehe (some demonologists classify certain demons as "devils"...nope)