The Mystery
Part 3 of the Harlot of Babylon Series
Rev 17:5 and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
The Harlot of Babylon is called a mystery. If you have spent any time studying the harlot, then you know how many different opinions are out there. Many of the prophecy teachers say the harlot is the Catholic Church. Some say America or New York. Others say she is Saudi Arabia or Jerusalem. Our conspiracy friends will tell you she is the Illuminati or the Free Masons. (I don’t do conspiracy theories. I do Bible.) Is it any wonder she is called a mystery?
In my first book I talked about how some of the mysteries of the book of Revelation are being revealed for the first time in the last days. The book of Daniel is the foundation for many things in the book of Revelation. Daniel was told to seal up the vision until the last days.
Dan 12:8 As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?” 9 He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time.
I believe the mystery of what the harlot is has been sealed up until now. It is not my intention to disprove some of the other teacher’s opinions but rather to reveal to you what the Lord has shown me.
John spends more time describing the harlot than any other topic in the whole book of Revelation. He goes into detail on her characteristics and the abominations that she commits. He says that God’s people are in the harlot, and they need to get out.
In my first book I also talked about the special blessing for those who read and heed the things written in Revelation. I believe the revelation of what the harlot is, and the call to come out of her, is one of the primary reasons for this special blessing.
At the beginning of the book of Revelation, the special blessing is given.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.
Then at the very end of the book this same exhortation is repeated.
Rev 22:7 “And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.”
I am going to just come out and say it. Time is short. I am going to show you, in simple terms, why most, if not all, of the commentaries on what the harlot is, are wrong. She is not the Catholic Church. She is not America. She is not New York or Jerusalem. She is not Saudi Arabia. Throw all this teaching out. I am going to show you that the harlot has been around since the beginning. She has been around long before any of these other churches or countries or cities even existed. Let’s look at Revelation 17.
Rev 17:1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns.
John is shown the judgement of the great harlot. He sees a woman sitting on a beast. The beast has seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4 The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, 5 and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” 6 And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly. 7 And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
8 “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. 9 Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, 10 and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. 11 The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction.
One of the keys to understanding the harlot is found in the beast that carries her. She is carried by a beast that has seven heads. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings. Five of these kings have fallen. One of the kings now is. Then another king will come after him. Seven kings.
When John is writing the book of Revelation, he says that five of the kings that carry the harlot have already lived and died. John continues and says that the sixth king is living now. Then he says the seventh king will come after him and remain a little while.
John wrote Revelation around 68 A.D. This means that the harlot existed long before he wrote his book! How can the harlot be the Catholic Church or America or New York or Saudi Arabia if she existed long before John? Remember, the angel asks John, why do you wonder? I will explain the mystery to you. Then the angel tells John about the beast with seven heads. Like I said. Time to throw out what we have been taught in the past!