Davey, you seem to have forgotten in Revelation 17 there are also 7 sequential kings, i.e. king 1, then king 2, then king 3....... of which 5 had fallen at the time of John, one is ruling at John's time, and one king future.
Nah... I have not forgotten what is actually 'written' in the Revelation 17 chapter. Nothing wrong with my reading comprehension either. But some here don't have the help of The Holy Spirit to discern how it connects with other Bible Scripture.
So I'm going to spoil the Brethren in Christ that want... to know what Revelation 17 is actually teaching... line upon line....
Rev 17:1-7
17 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."
Those
"many waters" represent the "sea" from which John saw the Revelation 13:1 beast kingdom of ten horns, seven heads, and ten crowns arise from. Later in this Rev.17 chapter John is shown those waters represent peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. That
"great whore" is not manifest yet today. It is NOT the Catholic Church nor a pope, for that doctrine was of the old 16th century Reformers which thought their generation was the tribulation and thus expected Christ's 2nd coming. It did not happen. So for some reason, certain ones today in 'some' Churches carry on that old failed Reformer's doctrines against Rome and the pope.
(And my French ancestors fled 16th century France to the Americas, to escape Catholic persecution, because they were French Protestants, but I am not biased against the Roman Church, but nor do I partake of its doctrines.)
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.
That symbolic "
woman" is not Rome. Again, that belief is the old 16th century Reformer's doctrine that failed.
The final verse of this Rev.17 chapter reveals that symbolic "
woman" to be a
"great city", and the Revelation 11:8 verse reveals that
"great city" as Jerusalem, where our Lord Jesus was crucified.
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.
One should immediately ask their self why BABYLON is used in this description of the symbolic woman. In Revelation 14:8, and Revelation 18:2, the phrase
"Babylon is fallen, is fallen" from Isaiah 21:9 is repeated, word for word. The Isaiah 21 example was about the historical fall of the city of Babylon located in Iraq. Christ uses that idea here again for this symbolic "
woman" for the end of this world during the future
"great tribulation." It helps to understand some things about historical geographic ancient Babylon.
The area of Babylon, located in modern day Iraq today, was originally the ancient land of Sumer, a people who's first king was of Semitic origin (Sargon I). Sargon began the oldest known record of idol worship, and the Sumerians called Sargon the 'son of Bel', or 'son of the dragon'. That is where the Baal idol religion first started. Sargon was responsible for giving the ancient Sumerians knowledge of canal building and architecture, and sciences, from which the later Babylon empire sprang forth as one of the great wonders of the world. Sargon also built the first city in ancient Sumer. Sayce, a British Assyriologist, with his translation of some of the ancient Sumerian writings, originally go the date for Sargon showing up in Sumer at 3800 B.C. Some have linked Sargon, a Semite, appearing among the ancient Sumerians to have been Cain, which would make ancient Sumer the Biblical "land of Nod" where Cain took his wife from. That is where the most ancient cuneiform writings come from.
Some pastors believe Moses got the Genesis creation account from those ancient Babylonian cuneiform tablets simply because those stone tablets are older than the Pentateuch, and because those ancient Babylonian tablets infer... some of the events mentioned in Genesis 1. Instead I believe Cain probably was Sargon, and he brought a corrupted version of the Genesis 1 creation account to ancient Sumer. Sumer-Babylonia would later become the ancient Assyrian empire, and Babylon empire when Alexander the Great of Macedonia conquered it.
Ancient Babylon was the center and origin of the MYSTERY RELIGION, a system by its priests that controlled initiation into their occult 'mysteries'. That 'mystery school' tradition has continued today within many of the secret fraternities of initiation who claim a heritage from ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and actually ancient Babylon. Baalism continued to those other countries, and even to pagan Rome and to most of Europe and Asia Minor when it was under paganism prior to The Gospel of Jesus Christ being preached to them.
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.
In Matthew 23:25-39, He pointed to the the families of the scribes and blind Pharisees that wanted Him killed so that,
"... all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the righteous blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias...," would be upon them. In Luke 11:50, Jesus said
"... the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;" Jesus speaking about the scribes and Pharisees that wanted Him crucified. Jesus even called them "
vipers" in Matthew 23.
Thus the above "
woman" is pointing directly to Jerusalem in a state of false worship for the end of this world. With the above context of that word "
generation", the idea of
offspring is meant, not an era like the time of Christ's 1st coming. Jude 4 and other Scripture like it reveals a certain group of foreigners crept in among the children of Israel, and became those scribes and many of Israel's priests. (Ezra 2; 1 Chronicles 2:55)
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."
KJV
Now that kingdom beast of Revelation 13:1 is being tied with this symbolic "
woman", and it is what carries her. That 1st beast of Rev.13:1 is about a system, or kingdom made up of all nations and peoples. And that symbolic "
woman" represents a
"great city", which is Jerusalem at the end of this world, which will be in a fallen worship state with the coming false-Messiah prophesied to come there at the end.
(Continued...)
