Revelation is an understandable story, where the angel explains the vision of the woman sitting upon the beast (Revelation 17:7 KJV). The following only highlights aspects of the description of the Whore, who represents the False Prophet, and the Beast, who represents the Antichrist. “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth” (17:9). The mountains represent kingdoms, i.e., like the “great mountain” (Daniel 2:35) of Daniel’s vision. “And there are seven kings: five are fallen [Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece] and one is [the Rome of John’s day], and the other is not yet come [Revived Roman Empire]; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space” (Revelation 17:10). “And the beast [Antichrist] that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition” (17:11). The Antichrist political system existed at one time, disappeared, and reemerged. “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings [Ten regions of the world, not just the European Union], which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive no power as kings one hour [possibly only 15 days] with the beast [Antichrist]” (17:12). “These shall make war with the Lamb [Battle of Armageddon at the end of the Seventieth Week of Daniel], 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” (17:14). “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 [the religious system of the Great Whore will be destroyed by the Antichrist, who got tired of taking directions from the Great Whore]” (17:16). The chapter ends identifying the whore with Rome. “And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth” (17:18).
Mystery Babylon
The Great Whore and the Beast (Revelation 17:7)
Religion in bed with politics is the one world ecumenical movement riding the Antichrist. In the Revelation, John shows us the final development of the world’s religious aspirations fully engaged with the power of the world’s governments. “I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters” (Revelation 17:1 KJV). In A Woman Rides the Beast (56:28), Dave Hunt historically connects papal Rome with ancient Babylon — though often ignored or discounted by modern scholarship — then he prophetically links Rome’s ecumenical leadership — “that they may be one as we are one” (John 17:22) — with the whore riding the beast.
In the Book of Revelation, John describes a woman: (1) of great power and spiritual corruption, i.e., “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” (Revelation 17:4), (2) with a harlot’s forehead, designating her as the explanation for the occasion, source, and widespreadness of spiritual corruption, i.e., “And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (17:5), (3) responsible for the martyrdom of countless True Believers, i.e., “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” (17:6), (4) sitting at ease at Rome, the City of Seven Hills, i.e., “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth” (17:9), and (5) reigning and influencing world governments from papal Rome, i.e., “And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth” (17:18). If Babylon the Great is here identified with the religious world system, then papal Rome would be more representative of the beast “out of the sea” (13:1), which is the False Prophet, and would not be the Antichrist. Hence, the Whore rides the Beast. Father, the signs of Your Son’s soon appearing are around us and ominous. Cause us to walk carefully but powerfully. Come quickly. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen and amen.