16
Whore of Babylon Vs. Bride of Christ
In the book of Revelation we see both the Whore of Babylon in Revelation 17 and the Bride of Christ in Revelation 21. This lines with the Bible’s theme of contrasts of Satan with God, and the Antichrist versus Jesus. In line with this subject is the Whore of Babylon who is opposite the Bride of Christ.
Christ
loves His Bride who is made righteous by His blood and He gives Himself for
her, while Satan has his whore who is evil and who he destroys because she gets in the
way of his being the sole object of worship.
Christ
loves His bride and gives Himself to her while Satan uses the whore to
accomplish evil and lead men and women astray from the true God.
One
woman teaches truth, the other lies. One woman lives for eternity, the other is
destroyed. The Bride is seen by John in a great and high Mountain. (Revelation
21:10). The Whore of Babylon is viewed in the wilderness (Revelation 17:1). The
mountain is always a place of blessing, while the wilderness is a location of
hardship. Revelation doesn’t just
describe any mountain but a great and
high mountain.
Holy
Jerusalem descends out of heaven (Revelation 21:10). The Harlot sits on many
waters in the earth (Revelation 17:1).One is spiritual, eternal and heavenly,
while the other is of this earth and is carnal and temporal.
Both
are referred to as city’s. Revelation 17:18 states of Babylon:
‘The woman you saw is that great city that
reigns over the kings of the earth.”
Rev. 21:2 describes New Jerusalem as a city,
“Then I John saw the holy
city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband.”
Revelation
21:10 confirms:
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed
me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.
While
Babylon is referred to as a great city the heavenly is named
‘the
Great City The Holy City.” Babylon as “that great city” is not the “The Great
City” because does not possess the grandeur and splendor of the Holy Jerusalem.
We
see that both cities’ are represented by women and have names written on them.
On
Babylon we see a name on her forehead: Mystery Babylon the Great, The mother of
harlots and of the abominations of the earth (Rev. 17: 5). Along with her name
are the names of blasphemy on the heads of the Beast indicating these all
belong to her and are her offspring.
On
the heavenly city there are names written on the 12 Gates of the 12 tribes of
the children of Israel and Revelation
21:12 records that on the twelve foundations are the names of the 12 apostles
of the Lamb (Revelation 21:14). Whereas the whore is branded on her forehead and
is also the same place we see the names of blasphemy on the seven to eight
heads of the east. It is also one of the places on the body to accept the mark
of the Beast or the number of his name.
The
144 thousand witnesses bear God’s name on their forehead. Like the 144 thousand witnesses the priests of
the Old Testament wore a turban on their forehead that said, “Holiness to the
Lord.” Ezekiel 38:36-37 reads:
36 “You shall also make a plate of pure gold and
engrave on it, like the
engraving of a signet:
HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
37 And you shall put it on a blue cord, that it may
be on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban. 38 So it
shall be on Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy
things which the children of Israel hallow in all their holy gifts; and it
shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.
The name on the forehead is a strong identity statement of
acceptance or rejection before God. Note that those accepted have the name of
Christ or Holiness to the Lord as a sign of acceptance, while the Harlot, the
Beast’s heads and the foreheads of those who take the mark of the Beast bear
names of idolatry.
There is also another element here with the Harlot’s name on her forehead and it is in line with
actual worship of the Queen of Heaven. In some civilizations she is portrayed with
writing on her forehead, identifying her honor in those societies, but God
writes on her forehead her true identity.
What should also be noted is the use of the word “mystery,” in
ancient societies the Greco-Roman mysteries were part of their faith. The
mystery religion was any of the secret sects that offered those in the
Greco-Roman world religious experiences not provided by the official public
religions. Mystery religions reached their peak of popularity in the first
three centuries AD. They origin goes back to earlier periods of Greek history.
In 391-399 AD, the Roman Emperor Theodosius through a series of decrees forbade
pagan worship and ordered the demolition of temples and alters, which led to the extinction of the
mysteries by the fifth century.
Mystery religion is known to
have flourished from the sixth century B.C.E. onward. Although often focused on
"oriental" gods and goddesses such as the Egyptian Isis and Persian
Mithras, the cults themselves seem to have been of Mediterranean origin.
According Walter Burkert, who wrote Ancient Mystery Cults, published by Harvard
University Press:
"Mysteries are initiation ceremonies,
cults in which admission and participation depend upon some personal ritual to
be performed by the initiated. Initiations . . . are found in a wide range of
settings, from the most primitive Australian tribes to American universities.
Mystery initiations were an optional activity within polytheistic religion,
comparable to, say, a pilgrimage to Santiago di Compostela within the Christian
system. . . . Mysteries were initiation rituals of a voluntary, personal, and
secret character that aimed at a change of mind through experience of the
sacred"
The initiation rituals of the
mystery traditions often sought an existential transformation through a highly
dramatic and emotional ritual such as the taurobolium, which is the sacrifice of a bull.
Alexander the Great inherited
a unified Greece from his father, Philip of Macedonia. Between 336 and 323
B.C.E. (the year of his death) Alexander united the entire oikumene (the
known world) under the dominantly Greek culture. According to Luther H. Martin
in his book Hellenistic Religions: An
Introduction: "With the advent of Hellenistic Internationalism,
Eastern deities such as the Egyptian Isis and Syrian Atargatis, found
themselves welcomed as cultural citizens of Hellenistic society and worshipped
alongside traditional Greek
deities by a newly constituted
cosmopolitan following. . . . As these deities gradually became participants in
the Hellenistic world, they were simultaneously severed from their original
roles and meanings"
… More is known of the mystery religion of the Roman period
associated with such deities as Dionysius, Isis (originating in Egypt), Mithra
(originating in Persia and related to Mitra/Varuna of the early Vedic texts),
Zeus, Helios, Sol Invictus, and Jupiter. These cults were at their peak in
about the fourth century of the Christian era.
According to the website, “Timeless
Myths:”
“There are many different religious groups in Greece and Rome, that
doesn’t correspond to the usual religions of the various gods and goddesses.
Their rites and sometimes their teachings are kept secret, and that are only
understood by the cult initiated. For these reasons these groups are known as
the “mystery religions.”
On the Whore of Babylon’s forehead we see the word mystery having
a double meaning as both referring to the ancient religious mysteries as they
were called that she was a part and also the answer to a mystery in God’s word,
that “Mystery Babylon” is false religion.
In line with the Harlot having her name written on her forehead,
in which the Queen of Heaven was actually depicted and by the name Mystery
Babylon, which derives from how she was regarded we see the names of the twelve tribes of Israel and
the 12 apostles on her Gates and very
foundation. In contrast to the mystery
name: actual names of men who lived.
Revelation
21: 12-16 depicts the Heavenly City laid out as a square with walls and gates:
a Heavenly foundation. While Revelation
17:3 records Babylon as a woman riding a
Beast with seven to eight heads and ten
horns; a fleeting Earthly empire. The ten horns of the earthly city pale in
comparison to the 12 foundations of the Heavenly city. In the contrast here we
see the woman and eventually the Beast she rides destroyed, while the Heavenly
City with its gates and foundations is eternal.
The
Heavenly city is made of jewels, pearls and gold. The walls are jasper, pure
gold, precious stones on the foundations, jasper, sapphire, chalcedony,
emerald, sardonyx, sardius, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, jacinth,
amethyst, The 12 gates were 12 pearls, each individual gate was of one pearl,
street of the city was pure gold like glass.
The
Whore wears her jewels and is adorned with them to lure men and women from the
true God (Revelation 17:4.) The Heavenly City is made of jewels because it is
the True God and is given to the saved to walk in its light (Revelation 21:24).
The whore is beastly and of the earth, while the bride is heavenly with God and
Jesus providing the light and there is no darkness.
The
Whore has in her hand a cup and in it is the filthiness of her fornication
meaning her false teachings. (Revelation 17:4). Whereas we see Jesus with a cup
Luke 22:20 Jesus tells us ‘the cup is the new testament in My blood.’ Meaning
it represents the Gospel, which are teachings of truth.
The
Beast carries the Harlot (Revelation 17:7) while the Heavenly City comes down
from God Himself (Revelation 21:2).
The
Whore is a dwelling place for every kind of demon and for all kinds of
abominations (Revelation 17:5, 18:2). Whereas The New Jerusalem is Holy where
God Himself dwells and the Bride of Christ is Holy because she is redeemed by
His Blood (Revelation 21:3).
The
Whore provides fine goods and the merchants become rich by her with earthly
goods and riches (Revelation 18:15-19) whereas the heavenly city provides the
desires of the soul of no more pain or sorrow and God’s comfort and treasures
in heaven (Revelation 21: 4).
Conclusion
In
the Revelation 17 and 18 passage we see the profound accuracy of Bible Prophecy
in addition to a spiritual picture through the lens of God Himself. In the depiction of the Whore of Babylon compared
with the Bride of Christ we see the Bible’s message of promise and hope and a
picture of the truth of the Gospel, the
redemptive power of the Lord Jesus Christ and the promise of eternity for those
who believe.
The
Bible’s message is clear and the promise is open to everyone. At the end of the
book of Revelation is an invitation from Christ Himself, Revelation 22: 17
invites, “And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who
hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take
the water of life freely.”
Jesus provides the living waters, consider these
verses:
John 4: 13-14:
Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone
who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever
drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that
I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal
life."
"He who
believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow
rivers of living water.”
It
is a simple message, believe in Jesus
Christ as the son of God and his redemptive work on the cross and you too can
partake in the promise of eternal life and the Heavenly City that is described in the Revelation. If you
have not made that decision I urge you to make it today.
This is an excerpt from the free online version of my book Whore of Babylon in Bible Prophecy: A Book of
Revelation Mystery Revealed
To Continue Reading see the articles below
Whore
of Babylon All Your Questions Answered, Free version of the Whore of Babylon in
Bible Prophecy" A Book of Revelation Mystery Revealed.
5-Zechariah
5 Predicts Whore of Babylon's Temple 6-The
Little Horn of Daniel Points to Revived Roman Empire 7-The
Seven Heads on the Beast of Revelation
If you liked this information and found it informative:
I have a small request. Many read my website and the
information is free of charge and the only revenue coming in from my articles
are from Google Ads, which amount to shockingly such low amounts- literally
pennies- that you cannot count it as a viable source of revenue without
millions of page hits, which this website being a niche site does not get.
Book sales do not generate the income one would expect due to the
hundreds upon hundreds of books published in every category. I do not
charge fees to read my material because I want the information I provide
available to all. So I am requesting your help.
This site's articles and videos take a lot of time, money
and hard work to produce. Bible Prophecy’s message is an important one
to get out. It is a warning and even more so, it proves the Bible as the
Word of God and opens the door to give the Gospel. If you regularly
read my website and value its message I invite you to support me now by purchasing
a product from my amazon store found in the link below.
OR if you prefer by
Help me to get Bible Prophecy’s message out. Either
purchase a product you might already purchase or donate today to keep this
message going forward.
Your purchase or donation is greatly appreciated.