Revelation Chapter 17

Revelation Chapter 17

For a general overview of Rome in Prophesy => http://sidnash.org/docs/RomeProphesy.html

In chapter 16, we saw seven angels, each with a bowl "of the wrath of God" which the poured out "into the earth." This is also know as the seven last plagues, which appear to happen after God's people receive the seal of God( Rev7:1-4;14:1-5 ) and after others receive the mark of the beast.

Now, in chapter 17, we will learn about "Babylon the Great"(false church), "the great whore"(Babylon), a "scarlet-colored beast"(civil power), which she rode on, and their war, against the Lamb - Jesus, our Messiah.

Revelation 17:1-6 And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, 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. 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy , having seven heads and ten horns . 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. 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 a great wonder.

History/Identity of the Woman:

... is the great whore vs1
... is sitting upon many waters vs1
- Compare with Rev13:1 ... "a beast rise up out of the sea..."
- Vs 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues
- More specifically, she is sitting on the "scarlet coloured beast"(Vs3,7).
- Still more specifically, she is sitting on the "seven heads{kings}", which are on the "beast"(Vs9-10).
... committed fornication with the kings of the earth vs2
- The inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication
- The people of the earth are drunk with her false doctrines. A good question to ask here is why, Sid, do you equate "fornication" with "false doctrines". See: 2 Chronicles 21:10-11 "So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day: then did Libnah revolt at the same time from under his hand, because he had forsaken Jehovah, the God of his fathers. 11 Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto." Those "high places" were places where they worshiped false Gods. In other words, they were fornicating by the worship of false gods, rather than worshiping Jehovah, the "one true God"( Jn17:1-3 ). See also Revelation 19:2 "For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand."
the woman [church] sat on a beast [civil powers], full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns vs3
- Rev12:3 ... a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. (pagan Rome)
- Rev13:1 ... a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2 ... the dragon(pagan Rome [state]) gave him (papal Rome [church]) his power, and his seat, and great authority.
... is arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls vs4
- It is interesting to note that that "purple and scarlet are the chief colors in the robes of popes and cardinals" (DaR 658)
... has a golden cup in her hand full of abominations vs4
... is MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT vs4
- Rev16:19 ... Babylon (all apostate religions) came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
- Deeper study on Babylon of Revelation => http://sidnash.org/docs/RevBabylon.html
... is THE MOTHER (papal Rome) OF HARLOTS (other religious organizations - apostate Protestantism & paganism) AND ABOMINATIONS vs5
... is drunken with the blood of the saints vs6
... is that great city (false religion), which reigneth over the kings (civil powers) of the earth. vs18

The Scarlet Colored Beast

Revelation 17:6-8 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints , and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. {538AD-1798} And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder. 7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the {scarlet colored} beast that carrieth her{Babylon}, which {the beast} hath the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 The beast{civil power of Rome} that thou sawest was{753 BC - 1453 AD}, and is not; and is{civil power of USA?} about to come up out of the abyss{in Rev13:11, the USA was "coming up out of the earth" 1776}, and to go into perdition{or destruction}. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder{ Rev13:13 USA "doeth great wonders"}, they whose name hath not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how that he was{civil power of Rome ended in 1453}, and is not{1453-1776}, and shall come{"up out of the earth[abyss]"( Rev13:11 ) USA "he spake as a dragon", like the "great red dragon"(Rome)}.

Identity of the "scarlet coloured beast"

The color of dragon beast of Rev 12 was red. The color of the first beast of Rev 13 was not mentioned, but it was the composite of a leopard/bear/lion composite that could be of multiple colors or perhaps brown. The color of the second beast of Rev 13 is unknown also, but speaks like the red dragon. The color of this beast of Rev 17 is scarlet, which is a little different than red. Could it that this beast is a composite of the previous three beasts?
The "great whore" rides on this beast, like a person rides on, and controls, a horse, that "whore", representing a so-called church comprised of all the false(non-Biblical) religions of the world, including apostate "Christianity", with Papal Rome at it's head. This is what is controlling this "beast" of Rev17. Because of that, this "beast" must represent a civil power(state), or multiple civil powers, that have legislative power over a group, or groups, of people and is used by the "whore" to enforce the religious dogma of the "church" - all the false religions of the world.
What is this civil power that is represented by this "beast" of Rev17? Considering how broad the influence of Papal Rome was and is, there must be more than just one civil power involved. But, since it has "seven heads" and "ten horns", it must first represent the civil power of Rome, which we know from Rev12:3 to be "a great red dragon" that gave power and authority( Rev13:2 ) to the first beast of Rev 13, which we know to be Papal Rome, according to a previous study. From history we know that the civil power of Rome existed from 753 BC to 1453 AD. However, the scope of it's power was much less than the scope of power used between 538 AD and 1798 to persecute God's people. Furthermore, the civil power of Rome expired 345 years before the pope was taken captive by France in 1798, which ended the 1260 years of persecution by Papal Rome, using multiple civil powers(the Kings of Europe) to enforce it's false doctrines, referred to as "abominations" in Rev17:4-5 .
When John said that he "saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints"(vs6), this must have been during that 1260 year period of time between 538 and 1798 AD. But, as we will soon see, we can narrow that timespan to between 1453 and 1776. It must have been during that same period that the angel said, "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit{or abyss}, and go into perdition"(vs8). So, this goes through 4 phases. Now, let's look at those phases one-at-a-time:
1. "was"(what used to exist, but now doesn't): This is likely the "great red Dragon" of Rev12 - the Roman civil power that lasted from 753 BC to 1453 AD.
2. "is not"(it doesn't exist): Since the Roman civil power ended in 1453, it could be said that the "great red Dragon" "is not", from that time onward. However, some of it's ten "horns" still existed as kingdoms that did enforce some of the papacy's dogma, until 1798, when the pope was taken captive by France and later died in prison.
3. "shall ascend out of the bottomless pit": From history, we know that the Roman civil power never returned after 1453. Papal Rome did have some limited civil authority for awhile, But that was only in the area where present-day Italy is. So, that doesn't really seem to fit with this prophecy. Keep in mind that this beast of Rev17 could be a composite of the previous 3 beasts of Rev12&13. So, in those 3 previous beasts we must look for a civil power that came into power sometime after 1453 AD. Now, from a previous study, we know that the 2nd beast of Rev13 represents the USA, which began coming into power in 1776. Are there other qualities of that beast that match with the "scarlet coloured beast"? Yes, at least these three:
  - In Rev13:11, the USA was "coming up out of the earth", similar to the scarlet beast that "shall ascend out of the bottomless pit"{or abyss in 1776}.
  - In Rev17:8, it is said, "they that dwell on the earth shall wonder" after the "scarlet coloured beast". And, we read in Rev13:13 that the USA "doeth great wonders".
  - In Rev13:11 the USA "spake as a dragon", like the "great red dragon" of Rev12:8, which seems to be the "scarlet coloured beast" that "was" until 1453.
4. "go into perdition"{or destruction}: Does prophesy indicate that the USA will be destroyed? Yes. In a previous study, we determined that the 2nd beast of Rev13 is also the "false prophet" of Revelation and is also the USA. And, in the following text, we will see the final end of the "false prophet"(the USA):
  - Revelation 19:20 And the beast{the papacy} was taken, and with him the false prophet{the USA} that wrought miracles before him{the beast/papacy}, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

So, when we consider the 2nd beast of Revelation 13, which is the USA, we can easily understand how the ecclesiastical power of the papacy will be using it's image(the apostate Protestant "church") to control the civil powers of the USA, which will use it's laws to enforce the dogma of the papacy. Since we understand this, it makes good sense, to me, to understand the USA as the "scarlet coloured beast" of Rev17, in it's 3rd and 4th phase.

The Seven Heads

Revelation 17:9-11 Here is the mind that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman{Babylon(vs18)} sitteth: 10 and they are seven kings; the five are fallen{as of 1453}, the one{6th} is{papacy}, the other{7th} is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a little while{7th is France?:1798-1800}. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth{USA's civil power: 8th}, and is of the seven{Rome's civil power 1st-5th}; and he{USA/false prophet} goeth into perdition{ Revelation13:13-14;19:20 }.

Identity of the "seven heads"

"The seven heads are seven mountains... and they are seven kings"(vs9-10). By the wording of this prophecy, as we continue, we'll see that these were seven sequential forms of government, one after another.
Note that all of the 7 heads must be civil(state) powers because we've already established that the beast itself must be a civil power, rather than an ecclesiastical(church) power.
The first "five are fallen": From history, we know that the first 5 of the seven are all forms of Roman civil/pagan governments. The first started in 753 BC. The fifth, and last, fell in 1453 AD. These first 5 "heads" were Pagan Rome.
"the one{6th} is": The sixth overlapped the the fifth, but is primarily an ecclesiastical(religious) power, rather than primarily a civil power as were the first five. This 6th "head" is Papal Rome, which temporarily ended in 1798, when the pope was taken captive by France, and later died in prison.
Since the first 5 were all fallen by 1453 and the 6th fell in 1798, the time period of this vision must have been between 1453 and 1798 AD. Only during that period of time would it be accurate to say, "the five are fallen, the one{6th} is, the other{7th} is not yet..."
"the other{7th} is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a little while.": This must be France. Why? Because it was the "king" that ended the reign of the 6th "king". This is also because it only continued(reigned) "a little while" - Just 2 years(in 1800), when a new pope was setup. It is likely because of France's short reign - just 2 years - that France is not normally numbered in the "seven heads".
Note that, between 1798 and 1800, there was no Roman power at all - neither ecclesiastical(church) nor civil(state).
"And the {the scarlet coloured} beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth{8th}, and is of the seven; and he goeth into perdition."( Rev17:11 ). Remember, that all of these "heads" are civil(state) powers. And, remember that "heads" 1-5 were the sequential civil powers of Rome. So, when it said that the "eighth... is of the seven", we continue to be convinced that the 8th must also be a civil power. This 8th must also the "scarlet coloured beast", as it existed in the year 1800 and onward. And, as we learned earlier in this study, this must be the USA!

The Ten Horns

Revelation 17:12-14 And the ten horns that thou sawest are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet{1453-1798}; but they receive authority as kings, with the {the scarlet coloured} beast, for one hour{a prophetic hour is 15 literal days. This is sometime yet in the future.} 13 These{ten kings} have one mind, and they give their power and authority unto the beast. 14 These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them{10 kingdoms & the beast}, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they also shall overcome that are with him{the lamb of God}, called and chosen and faithful{the saints of God}.

For more context => http://sidnash.org/MK/BelovedVSHolyCity.html

Prophecy of the End of "the great whore" - Babylon

Revelation 17:15-18 And he{an angel} saith unto me{John}, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns{only had power for 15 literal days} which thou sawest upon the {the scarlet coloured} beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city{Babylon(evil church)}, which reigneth over the kings of the earth{the civil powers}.

Desiring to live by every word that comes from the mouth of Jehovah ( Deut8:3; Matt4:4 )

-Sid Nash: 02/07/2025. Latest version: http://sidnash.org/docs/Rev17.html