THE OLD WHORE THAT IS RIDING THE BEAST!

By John Osburn

            My text comes from Revelation 17:3-5 which reads as follows: “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 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: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”

          The Bible refrains not from calling this woman (v. 3), which is riding this beast what she really is,  A WHORE! If our sovereign God who is so holy He can not be touched with sin, calls this woman a whore, then we Baptists need to use the same language as well when we talk about this woman; which I have no doubt is the Roman Catholic Church! I believe there are many signs in Revelation that tells us this is the Old Roman Whore – The Catholic Church!

HOW DO I KNOW THIS IS THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH?

            Well, the first and foremost reason is found in Revelation 17:9, which reads: “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which THE WOMAN SITTETH.” There is only one city that is known as the city that dwells among the seven hills, and that is Rome! The famous seven hills that Rome sits among are as follows: The Capitol, Palatine, Aventine with the Caelian, Oppian, Esquiline, Viminal, and The Quirinal. I believe that the geographical location is very clear in Revelation 17:9.

SECOND REASON I BELIEVE THIS IS THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

            Is that the scriptures here in Revelation 17 speaks of a “woman” or a “whore” (Rev. 17:1-7, 16). God the Holy Spirit uses feminine terminology to speak of the Lord’s Bride in the New Testament, which is all of His blood-bought churches (Eph. 5:22-25). There is only one type of this blood-bought church; and the first one was formed at Jerusalem (Matt. 16:18-19), during Jesus’ earthly ministry, and was given the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20).

            I believe this is the reason John marveled when he saw this “woman” riding the beast, for he was familiar with the feminine terminology that was used for the Lord’s local churches, and here is a religious institution being one with Satan’s system even before the Antichrist comes on the scene (Rev. 17:10-11).  What was this religious institution doing riding this evil beast? Why is this “church” drinking the blood of God’s saints instead of having her own blood shed?

            John was familiar with only the Lord’s churches, and he no doubt is wondering where this “other church” came from! John has been shown by God in these visions of Revelation that there are two “women” that God loves, and they are: His Son’s wife which is His blood-bought churches (Baptist) and Israel, which is the wife of God (Book of Hosea). But God knows nothing of this “woman” in Revelation 17 as being His! This “woman” is married to someone else, and his name is Satan!

THIRD REASON I BELIEVE THIS IS THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

            Is because of what Revelation 17:4 says about this “whore,” and what is her attire, gold, and precious stones. What other “church” can you think of besides the Roman Catholic Church, that is decked with all the gold and precious stones as she? I can think of none! What other “church” can you think of that is not only decked with gold and precious stones, but dwells among seven hills or mountains (Rev. 17:9)? What other “church” can you think of that wears the attire as the Roman Catholic Church? This is Rome anyway you want to look at it!

FOURTH REASON I BELIEVE THIS IS THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

            Is because Revelation 17:2 says that this “whore” has committed fornication with the kings of the earth! Who does this sound like? Does it not sound like the Roman Catholic Church and the grip she had on Europe all through the Dark Ages? Does it not sound like the Catholic Church and the grip she has on places such as Mexico and Brazil? What city and church are you aware of that has ambassadors sent to it, as Rome and the Catholic Church has sent to them? Did not this old Roman “Whore” have the power to set up or tear down kings all through the Dark Ages?

FIFTH REASON I BELIEVE THIS IS THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

          Is because of this whore’s favorite drink which is the blood of the saints (Rev. 17:6)! Can you not see this old “whore” in your mind with a glass filled with blood, and as she is drinking it the blood is running down both sides of her mouth because she is drinking it so fast? What church are you aware of that is guilty of 50,000,000 murders? Is it not the Roman Catholic Church? Did she not murder all through the Dark Ages because some did not believe in infant baptism? From about 500 A.D. to the 1400’s, it was just the Anabaptists who were murdered!

SIXTH REASON I BELIEVE THIS IS THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

            In Revelation 17:4 it speaks of the “abominations and filthiness of her fornication.” Underneath all that gold and glitter of the Roman Catholic Church is nothing but dead men’s bones! They have found in the basements of these old church buildings the remains of little babies that were evidently produced by priests and nuns! It will never be known how much fornication and adultery has gone on in the Catholic Church in centuries past on this side of Heaven, but it will be revealed one day (Rev. 20:11-15)!

            It is evident by what we have seen in the news lately that the Roman Catholic Church has been, and still is, a haven for sodomites and child molesters! The reason there are so many of these “animals” in the Catholic Church is because the Catholic Church does not require the new birth (John 3:1-8), for membership. They believe that the Kingdom of Heaven is in the Catholic Church, and therefore when they baptize a baby, they view that baby as saved, for through its baptism it has become part of the Catholic Church – (Kingdom of Heaven)!

THE SEVENTH REASON I BELIEVE THIS IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

            Is because this old “whore” is “the mother of harlots” (Rev. 17:5)! No other “church” has reproduced so many false “churches” as the Roman Catholic Church. As whores commit physical, illicit sex; so has the Roman Catholic Church “laid” with many men in a spiritual sense! Men such as: John Huss (Moravians), John Calvin (Presbyterians), John and Charles Wesley, and George Whitfield (Methodists), King Henry VIII (The Church of England), Martin Luther (Lutherans), and others who started the Episcopalian and Anglican churches.

            It is hard to tell how many false churches there are today that have come into existence, that are “descendants” of many of these original “harlots” (Rev. 17:5), that came from Rome! The Bible teaches that there is: “One Lord, one faith, one baptism,” according to Ephesians 4:5.

THE EIGHTH REASON I BELIEVE THIS IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

            Is the origin of this old “whore” that is riding the beast in Revelation 17:1-5. God, as I have stated earlier in this article has used women to represent either His Son’s bride (Eph. 5:22-25; II Cor. 11:2), and to represent the nation of Israel (Rev. 12:1), and then to represent false religions (Rev. 17:1-5; Zech. 5:5-11).

            I believe that Zechariah 5:5-11 gives us some detailed information as to the origin of “the woman” that we read of in Revelation 17:1-5. First of all, it was “a woman” in Zechariah’s vision (Zech. 5:7), just as it is “a woman” in John’s vision in Revelation 17:3. It is the singularity of the woman that is catching my attention in both of these books.

            The woman in Zechariah 5:5-11 represents evil just as the woman in Revelation 17:1-5. How do I know this? In Zechariah 5:9 we read of two women that have the wings of a stork bearing the ephah away to the land of Shinar (Zech. 5:11). The stork, according to God, is an unclean bird (Lev. 11:19); therefore, this woman who is in the ephah (Zech. 5:7-8)is being lifted by evil and uncleanness which is represented by “the wings of a stork” (Zech. 5:9).

            It is in “the land of Shinar” (Zech. 5:11) that the first ungodly and demonic organized society was founded (Gen. 10:8-10; 11:1-9). This woman was there at the building of the Tower of Babel, for when Zechariah saw this vision, Babylon was already destroyed by the Persians and Medes (Dan. 2:36-44). The destruction of Babylon took place around 539 B.C. Zechariah’s vision was some time around 520 B.C., and in this vision this “woman” was to have a house built in Shinar, which once again I believe refers back to the Tower of Babel, and into our future, as part of a system.

THE NINTH REASON I BELIEVE THIS IS THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

            Is because “the great whore” (v. 1) is actually riding this seven-headed beast (v. 3). Why is she allowed to not only sit on this beast, but to ride or be carried by this beast? Well, in previous statements in this article I have mentioned how the Roman Catholic Church has been tied in with the world’s system since the days of the Tower of Babel. She has been “married” to this world’s system since then!

            In these last days, this ungodly demonic system of the world that had its first organized society at the Tower of Babel, is now beginning to take the shape that we read of here in Revelation 17 on this side of the rapture! This picture we have in Revelation 17:1-6 began to take form in the days of Constantine, and formed into this last day shape all through the Dark Ages!

            We have witnessed the “harlots” that have come out of her, for they are with us even today! This “mother of harlots” has now become known by all on the earth (excluding Baptists), as the church. The world even today is aware of the political ties this “whore” has. When the Pope (Satan’s tool) comes out into the public millions line up to just get a glimpse of him. Some will even bow down to him and kiss his hand!

            “The great whore” is right now riding on this beast! The only difference between Revelation 17:1-6, and right now, is the resurrection and rapture (I Thess. 4:13-18: I Cor. 15:35-58)! Think of the untold millions of religious people that will be left behind that will make up this “whore” as well as the millions that will make up the nations of the world, and especially this beast.

ONE THING WE MIGHT WITNESS BEFORE THE RESURRECTION AND RAPTURE!

            The Protestants (“harlots”) going back to “the mother of harlots”! There has been a great movement in and by the Anglican Church in the 1960’s to unify all Protestants to the Catholic Church. In the 1940’s, the Anglican Church unified in India with the Methodists, Presbyterian, and Congregational churches!

            We just might see a great movement of the daughters of Rome going back home! The reason I say this is because in Revelation 17:16, when “the great whore” is killed, you read of none of her daughters anywhere! Why is that? Because they all have returned home!

THE DEATH OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

            Revelation 17:12-16 reads as follows: “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, 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. And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 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.” What will cause “the whore” to be hated to the point she will be killed by those ten kings? I believe there are two reasons: the first reason is that the Antichrist will be jealous over the power the Roman Catholic Church has gained right after the resurrection and rapture, for she is the center of attention as she rides this system that “the man of sin” (II Thess. 2:3) will eventually come through, to take over Babylon’s system (Rev. 17:10-11, 18). For a while, the Roman Catholic Church will be seated with the power she had in the Dark Ages! But only for a while!

            The second reason is that there will not be enough room on this earth after the resurrection and rapture for two religions! The Antichrist expects to be worshipped as God while he sits in the temple (II Thess. 2:3-4). As the religious Beast in Revelation 13:11-18 performs miracles that will cause the world to not only follow after the Antichrist, but make an image to him, and then surrender to his mark either in their foreheads or right hand (Rev. 13:14-16). There will be no room for “the whore” at this time; therefore, those 10 kings who receive their kingdoms in one hour with the Beast (Rev. 17:12-13), will destroy the Roman Catholic Church sometime in the Tribulation Period.