The great whore.
"......come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters. Revelation 17v1
The language is very graphic and very pointed. In a world which wishes to make room for all religious viewpoints, this kind of language is unacceptable, but it is biblical language; it is the description by God of all who spiritually are unfaithful to Him. We all know what a whore is, a woman who devotes herself to a man and then seeks other men; or a woman who makes herself available to any man. What is true in the realm of the physical is also true in the realm of the spiritual. The woman of Revelation chapter 17 is obviously a vast religious system, and is unfaithful to God. She professes devotion to God but has prostituted herself to other things. She is not what she claims to be, indeed she is a harlot. She is to be contrasted with the woman of chapter 12, who is faithful to God and who overcomes in the power of God; this woman is unfaithful and will come to destruction. The following descriptions reveal many things about her but she will not be fully known until the time of the end. It is not our purpose therefore to attempt any present day interpretation, simply to suggest guidelines as to what characterises mere profession from spiritual reality.
- HER COMFORT: This is indicated by the following scriptures: In chapter 17v1 it says "that this woman sits upon many waters." The symbolic language is clear; sitting is a posture of comfort. The many waters are defined in verse 15 "the waters which thou sawest where the whore sitteth are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues." This woman is at rest amongst the people of this world. Again it says in verse 5 "I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast." The passage goes on to describe this beast as the same person/system described in chapter 13. This woman is intimately associated with this evil system. Down in verse 9 it is said "the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth." We have already seen that these seven heads represent the historical development of the anti-God world system therefore this woman is comfortable with the historical world system in rebellion against God, comfortable with its last day ruler who is declared to be evil and comfortable with the world of men who follow the same pattern. We shall expand on it later, but the final description is in chapter 18v7 "she saith in her heart I sit a queen, and am no widow and shall see no sorrow." In summary she demonstrates rank unfaithfulness to God, whilst claiming to be godly; she sits in comfort in the world of evil, arrogant, self satisfied, powerful, yet unfaithful to God.
The apostle James in chapter 4v1-4 makes it clear that "the friendship of the world is enmity with God whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." The book of the Revelation begins and ends with reference to the churches (chapters 1-3 and chapter 22v16). The meaning of the word "church" (in the Greek ekklesia) means a gathering of people who are called out. Called out of what? Called out of a world in opposition to God. Separation from the world in a moral sense is to be the hallmark of every Christian. If we will not share the world's destiny, neither should we accept it's lifestyle. This woman is very much intimate with that world and so we understand fully the title of God gives her "the great whore."
We shall next consider this woman with regard to her corruption, her control, her character, and her condemnation and we shall be more informed of how to recognise such features as they exist in our present day.
Amazon bookshelf George Neilly
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