Chapter BY Chapter

The Great Prostitute

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-(not specifically mentioned previously in the book of Revelation)

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-seated on many waters (peoples and multitudes and nations and languages)

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-with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality

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Isaiah 1:21 (speaking about Jerusalem), “See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!”

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-with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk

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Nahum 3:4, “because of the many harlotries of the harlot, the seductive mistress of sorcery, who betrays nations by her prostitution and clans by her witchcraft.”

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-arrayed in purple and scarlet [denotes Priestly royalty & Ruler Royalty]

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- adorned with gold and jewels and pearls [rich]

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-holds a golden cup full of her abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality

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Jeremiah 51:7, “Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.”

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-on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” Now in the Greek, the name here begins with the word Babylon.  Some commentaries begin the name with the word ‘Mystery.”  John is just saying here that this is “a mystery.” The name is set apart from the rest because every letter is capitalized in the Greek manuscripts. 

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-with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality

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-the dwellers on earth have become drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality

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-this name is written on her forehead: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.”

- drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

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-seated on 7 mountains.

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- the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.

Theories about the Great Prostitute

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1. One theory is that it is Babylon.This is based on the fact that one of her names is “Babylon the Great.”This is based on the statement that she is drunk with the blood of the saints and Babylon certainly killed saints when it captured Jerusalem.

   • This correlates with Revelation 16:19, “The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.”

   • This correlates with Revelation 14:8, “Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.”

   • This also makes sense because the beast seems to be the empire of Babylon.

   • Babylon is supposed to be place where Baal worship was originated, so it is often associated with blasphemies, idol worship, and abominations.

2. One theory is that it is Rome.This is based on the statement that she has dominion over the kings of the earth.Also the statement that she is seated on 7 mountains. Rome was seated on 7 mountains. This is also reinforced by the statement that she is drunk with the blood of saints and martyrs of Jesus.It is entirely possible that the name Babylon is used metaphorically in the Book of Revelation.The word “Rome” is never mentioned, yet the fact that Rome has control over all the kings in its realm and sits on 7 mountains, is a clear reference.Rome is much like Babylon in that it overtook Israel and exiled many of its people just as Babylon did.An absence of clearly identifying Rome in a book that curses and condemns Rome would be a very likely way of calling them out for their wrongdoings and not making it so obvious that you would be accused of sedition. The idea that the woman is Rome also correlates with the last verse, “the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”Now, to make things more interesting, the Rome was built on 7 hills, and the name “Vatican city” means city of end prophecy.”

   • Now, many people correlate this with the Catholic Church.This does not necessarily need to correlate with the Catholic Church.As we will see, the beast she is riding seems to be the Babylonian empire.It is not unusual for a kingdom to conquer another kingdom and assume it’s capital.This is what happened when Cyrus defeated the Babylonian Empire.It made the city of Babylon, its own capital.Alexander the Great did the same thing.Something to note: Muslims unabashedly proclaim that it is their goal to take over Rome and Vatican City.If you study the history of Islam, you will find that Islam constantly takes over other religions and appropriates the items of that religion to its own.

3. One theory is that it is Jerusalem.Jerusalem also has the blood of saints on its hands as well as the blood of the followers of Jesus.

4. One theory is that the harlot is the Roman Catholic Church, but the text here clearly says that it is a great city.So it is a GREAT city, not a small city like the Vatican.

5. One theory is that it is another city with power similar to Rome, and a history similar to Babylon, possibly a new modern city.

6. It is definite that The Great Prostitute is a great city that will have dominion over the kings of the earth, be drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus, be full of abominations and sexual immorality, have influence over many people, and have some kind of priestly and ruling connotation to it.It will flaunt its riches.The Great prostitute is the mother of prostitutes and mother of the earth’s abominations.It will be the source of sexual immoralities, and the source of abominations.What is an abomination?It is something that causes disgust.So, the Great Prostitute will be leading people into sexual immorality and disgusting actions. It will persecute Christians, and lead people into false religion.

Video: Who is the woman?