END OF TIME PROPHECIES 187

The great whore                       HER CORRUPTION                               Revelation 17v2.  

"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."

The unfaithfulness or spiritual fornication of this woman can only be understood in terms of idolatry. 

She proclaims loyalty to the true God but has given her heart to other gods.   From beginning to end God condemns idolatry.   The true understanding of this is outlined in Exodus 32 when the nation of Israel, whom God had redeemed from Egypt, built a golden calf and bowed down to it.   They said  "these be thy gods o Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt."   They had committed the cardinal sin, that of idolatry.     The clear command to Israel was given, and is given to all people on earth today "thou shalt have no other gods before Me."    The reason why Israel followed other gods, and the reason why we today follow other gods is that, those gods which are figments of our own imagination, allow us to live as we please without any restrictions from above.   This is what happened with Israel and this is what will happen with all world religions in that future day.

The committing of fornication with the kings of the earth is stated in both chapters 17&18 (17v2; 18v3;18v9).   In chapter 17 it is fornication with the god of man made religion.   In chapter 18 it is fornication with the god of money and materialism.   The expression  "the kings of the earth" is always used in a corrupt sense throughout the book, except when we come to chapter 21.   What we have here is the prophesying church, proclaiming faithfulness to God yet in intimate relationship with the kings of the earth.   Thus this woman has lost her purity by co habiting with powerful world rulers who are in league with the kingdom of the beast. A study of Genesis 11 will reveal that the very basis of Babylon is INDEPENDENCE OF GOD.    The two aspects of this idolatry is encrypted in the narrative of Genesis 11, the CITY and the TOWER, the one political, the other religious both in defiance of the will of God.

Not content with seeking intimacy with evil men she has engaged in mass evangelism by attempting to influence the entire population of the earth to her ways.   It is recorded  "the inhabitants of the earth have been intoxicated with her wine."   Her counsel, which she has propagated globally, has no doubt been facilitated by her union with the powerful people of the earth.   From the very beginning God has made it very clear there is only one way of salvation, through the shed blood of another.   The world is full today of religions who reject this and instead create their own kind of worship.   The bible is clear on this, that, just as Cain rejected this way, God rejected him, and so the world was divided from Genesis chapter 4 onwards and here in Revelation 17 we see the culmination of this division.   The book of Proverbs 14v12 states  "there is a way which seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof  are the ways of death."   Jesus spoke clearly in Matthew chapter 7  of two gates, and two ways, and two destinies.   He said in verse 13  "broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be that go in thereat."   Immediately following that he says "beware of false prophets".  

What are we to understand by this  "wine of her fornication" that everyone wants to drink?   it is simply false teaching, false doctrine, the warnings against which are all over the New Testament. It does not need to be vast differences in detail to make it false doctrine.   The apostle Paul spoke of toxic doctrines (answering to the wine) in 1st Timothy chapter 4 "in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils."   Just a slight change in the teaching and a change of emphasis is sufficient to turn pure doctrine toxic.   Paul spoke of those who would "pervert the gospel of Christ".   The way of Cain was to offer to God a bloodless offering, preferring instead to offer the fruits of his own labours.   This is the hallmark of most religions today and will find its ultimate expression in the great whore of the future; sadly many will be drawn into her web.   In 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 the apostle reaches the heart of this when he says "I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: because I have espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.   But I fear less by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."   The dangers of apostasy (disloyalty to God) abound in every age, and will come to a head in the times described here. The wine may taste good, it may be soothing to the soul, but it is toxic if it is not of God.

Amazon bookshelf   George Neilly