THE SCARLET WOMAN & THE SCARLET COLORED BEAST

The Scarlet Woman and the Scarlet Colored Beast  

17:1-18

"And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 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. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And 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: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. 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. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth."

This is an Inset

Introduction

The Importance of Cities: Washington, London, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Moscow, Tokyo, etc.

The Origin of Cities: Cain built the first city and called it Enoch after one of his sons (Gen. 4:17). The wicked have always congregated in cities. Misery loves company.

"And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch."

The Origin of Babylon: It was built by Nimrod and his ilk for the purpose of defying God (Gen. 10:8-10; 11:1-9). Ancient lore says that Semiramis was the wife of Nimrod. She was the foundress of the Babylonian mysteries and the first high priestess of idolatry. This became the fountainhead of idolatry and the mother of all the pagan system of the world. Its fullest development will come in Babylon of the end time.
"And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."
"And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth."

Semiramis bore a son whom she declared was miracu­lously conceived. When presented to the people, he was hailed as the promised deliverer. This was Tammuz (Ezek. 8:14). The rites of this worship were secret. Only the initiated were permitted to know its mysteries. It was Satan's effort to delude mankind with an imitation of the truth. Within 1,000 years, this had spread throughout the world. The symbols were all the same, although under different names, such as Isis and Horus; Aphrodite and Eros; Venus and Cupid.

"Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz."

The Identity of Babylon: Old Babylon may be rebuilt, or Rome may be the end time Babylon (Rev. 17:1 sitteth upon many waters - thus a great system. Cf. v. 15). It is also a great city, the capital of this great system.

This empire is the fourth great empire of Daniel 2. Political greatness has been transferred from Old Babylon to Rome. But whereas this transfer has been made, the capital may be relocated in the end time. Since the religious aspect is transferred with the political, the same will be true in the end time. The importance of the Middle East today is making this a greater possibility.

The Setting of Chapter 17. This in relation to Chapter 18.

The Key Verse: 17:1. It centers attention upon the religious aspect of Babylon. "The judgment of the great whore." For Chapter 18, it is verse 2, "Babylon the great is fallen."

The Chronology of These Two Chapters is Also Clear:

•   The judgment of the great whore comes at the hands of Antichrist in the midst of the week (16-17 cf. with verse 12).
• The fall of Babylon comes at the end of the week and is a direct judgment of God (8).

The Figure of a Woman is used to Symbolize Religion

Here it is false religion. The color marks the powerful attraction, the jewels mark the tremendous riches, and the cup marks the fullness of abomina­tions. Four women: (1) Jezebel Rev. 2:20; (2) Israel Rev. 12:1; (3) Harlot Rev. 17:1; (4) Bride Rev. 19:7.

Chapters 17-18 are an expansion of the 7th vial, while Chapter 19 is an expansion of the 6th vial.