1. THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF JUDGMENT –v1 Rev. 16:19; 19:2
2. THE AUTHORITY OF THE WOMAN v1-3, 15
a. Seen in the POSITION she has "sitteth upon many waters" and "sitteth upon a scarlet-colored beast"
b. Seen in the PEOPLE she has influenced v2 Rev 14:8; 18:3, 9, 23; 19:2
3. THE APPEARANCE OF THE WOMAN -v4
a. The APPAREL of the woman "arrayed in purple and scarlet color" - contrast 1 Timothy 2:9-10
b. The ADORNMENT of this woman "decked with gold and precious stones and pearls" Rev 18:16 1 Peter 3:3
c. The ABOMINATIONS of this woman "having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication" - Jeremiah 25:15, 51:6-8 2 Kin 21:2, 9; Eze 20:30-31
4. The ASSOCIATION of this woman with Babylon - v5
a. She is a MYSTERY of “Mystery"22 times Rev. 1:20;10:7;17:5, 7
b. She is a MOTHER "Bab-el'-gate of God "Babel'-confusion - 2 times "Babylon" - mentioned 286 times - Genesis 10:8-12; 11:1-9 eastern bank of Euphrates - 20 miles south of Baghdad.
ESAGILA was the temple of Marduk in Babylon, known as E-TEMEN-AN-KI, meaning "house of the Foundation of heaven and earth.' It was 300 ft high, with two sanctuaries—one at the base and one on top. Babylonians believed it was built by the gods. Nimrod's wife, SEMIRAMIS the FIRST Gen. 10:8-9; 1 Chron. 1:10; Micah 5:6, the first high priestess of the Babylonian mystery religion, claimed to have a son, TAMMUZ, born miraculously, and the promised deliverer. Diana of the Ephesians, "Mother of the gods."
TAMMUZ -Ezekiel 8:14 - also known as BACCHUS His name - sign of the cross = tau, first letter of Tammuz.
QUEEN OF HEAVEN - Jer. 7:18; 44:15 Husband NINUS also the "SON'.
Phoenicians -ASHTORETH and TAMMUZ Egyptians - ISIS and HORUS (Osiris)
Grecians - APHRODITE and EROS Italians - VENUS and CUPID
Asia - CYBELE and DEOIUS India - ISI and ISUARA
Christmas - YULE DAY Chaldee word for "infant'.
Easter - ISTAR- hot cross bun and dyed eggs.
Chaldean rites. Moved to Pergamos - the throne of Satan. Rev 2:12
BEL (Baal) - Isa. 46:1; Jer. 50:2; 51:44
MARDUK (Merodach) - Jer. 50:2 - Bel is confounded, CUSH, father of nimrod- Merodach.
Mother/Child religion developed - the QUEEN OF HEAVEN with a baby in her arms:
5. The ACCUSATION against this Woman v6 Rev 6:10; 16:5-6; 18:24
6. THE DESCRIPTION OF THE BEAST- v7-14
a. The IMPACT the beast will have - v7-8 Rev 13:3b-4, 8 -"Why didst thou marvel? “not written in the book of life" Rev 13:8
b. The IDENTITY of the seven heads - v9-10
i. Seven heads were on the dragon with seven crowns on the heads Rev 12:3
ii. The beast that arose from the sea had seven heads and ten horns with crowns on the horns - Rev 13:1
iii. The beast came out of the bottomless pit and will go into perdition Rev. 17:8, 11, 19:20
iv. The beast ceased to exist and then came back to life "the beast that was, and is not, and get is" Rev 13:3 (deadly wound was inflicted on one of its heads -presumably the sixth one)
v. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth - v9
vi. The seven heads are seven kings or kingdoms "and there are seven kings," or "and they are seven kings or kingdoms." (Greek - kai Basileis hepta eisin). Some argue for the heads being the first Roman Emperors.
vii. The five fell - Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece 2D. The one is - Rome (in John's day)
viii. The other (Greek - alias) has not come to be a future empire, composed of ten divisions - ten horns
ix. The seventh head will last only a short time - v10
x. The eighth will come out of the seven - Rev 17:17 Dan 7:8
b. The INVOLVEMENT of the ten horns seventh head) - v12-13 Dan 7:7, 8, 23-25
c. The IMPOSSIBILITY which the ten horns will face - v17:14 Psalm 2:1-12 - "Where the whore sitteth" v. 9 "On which the woman sitteth". "they that are with him" - John 14:2-3 "called, and chosen, and “faithful" 1 Cor. 1:9, 23-24, 26-29
7. THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WOMAN v 16-18
a. The MEANS by which the woman is destroyed v 16 Rev 18:8, 9, 18
b. The MOTIVATION behind this destruction of the woman - v17 Matthew 5:17-18 Jeremiah 50:45; 51:6, 11, 24, 29, 54-56
c. The MEANING of the woman - v18 "that great city" - 14 11:8; 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2, 10, 19, 21; 21:10
The woman is a GREAT CITY!
She has exercised her authority over the kings of the earth long before the tribulation period. "reigneth" (Greek - "the one having a kingdom over the kings of the earth") The woman is organized religion whose present form is the Catholic Church.
It has been estimated by reputable historians that during the Roman Catholic Inquisition 50 million people were killed for the crime of “heresy” between A.D. 600 and A.D. 1850. This is the number cited by John Dowling, who published The History of Romanism in 1847 (book VIII, chapter 1, footnote 1).
From A.D. 1160-1560 the Waldensian Christians who dwelt in the mountains in northern Italy and France were visited with 36 terrible persecutions because they refused to submit to the Roman Catholic Church (Tomas Armitage, A History of the Baptists). They were almost completely destroyed, in 1209, Pope Innocent III called for a war against the Waldensian's. Anyone who volunteered to join the war was promised forgiveness of sin and many rewards. Tens of thousands took up arms for the pope and marched against the Waldensian's. Some 200,000 non-Catholic Christians were killed within a few months. Two large cities were destroyed, together with many smaller towns and villages. The Christians were thrown from high cliffs, hanged, disemboweled, pierced through, drowned, torn by dogs, burned alive, crucified. In one case, 400 mothers fed for refuge with their babies to a cave in Castelluzzo, which was located 2,000 feet above the valley in which they lived. When they were discovered by the rampaging Catholics, a large fire was built outside of the cave and they were suffocated. Thousands were made homeless and were forced to wander in the woods and mountains to escape the persecutors. “In this manner, the war was carried on for twenty years. Town after town was taken, pillaged, burnt. Nothing was left but a smoking waste” (John Christian, A History of the Baptists).
