The Great Harlot - Who is She?: Part 1   02.2005

Part 1

"Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, 'Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters.'" (Rev 17:1)

There are two books in the Bible that specifically have been attacked by the enemy throughout the centuries. The first one is Genesis and the second one is the book of Revelation. These books give us the primary understanding of two very fundamental things: how everything began, and how everything will end. Without this knowledge we will be very vulnerable to Satan's deceptions, and will miss God's purpose and destiny for our lives.

In the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John writes more about the great harlot than about both the antichrist and the false prophet put together. Two entire chapters, plus parts of chapter 16 and 19 are devoted to this subject. The warning that the Book of Revelation gives us about the great harlot is very serious, "Then I heard another voice from heaven say: 'Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes." (Rev 18:5)

In view of this warning and the severe judgments that will come upon the great harlot, we must ask ourselves: who is she? As with most things in the Book of Revelation, many Bible teachers and theologians have given different interpretations. Over the next weeks we will take a look at this to see if it is possible to clearly identify who the great harlot is.

We do not make this study for the sake of curiosity. We have been deeply burdened by this matter over the past year. The warnings about the great harlot are so strong, that if we want to follow the Lord and be pleasing to Him it is necessary for us to clearly understand who she is.

We must remember the primary command that Yeshua gives us concerning the end times: "Watch out that no one deceives you!" (Mt 24:4) Deception is the first sign that His coming is near. It is of enormous importance for the church in this hour to have a clear understanding of who the great harlot is.

The prophetic word is designed by God in such a way that ultimately only those who have a hunger for the truth and want to understand will understand it. Yet, as watchmen we have a responsibility to present the word of God as clearly as we can to people in order to help as many as possible.

We do not take this study lightly and ask all of you to please join us in prayer for much revelation and understanding to come forth, so that we can blow the shofar and sound the alarm to God's people in this hour! If you have any questions, comments or revelations, please feel free to write to us. Let's really dig into the word of God together over the next few weeks.

Interpretation Number One: Sexual Immorality

Let's look at the first interpretation suggested of who the great harlot is. Recently a well known Messianic leader in Israel taught on the Book of Revelation and commented that the great harlot "obviously [is referring to] a spirit of sexual immorality." He went on to describe the great harlot as something coming out from the West, with its center in Hollywood.

This seems very logical at a first glance. The great harlot must of course refer to sexual sins and temptations that we must flee from. But the question is if the interpretation really is that simple. Is sexual immorality all that the Book of Revelation refers to when it talks about the great harlot? Let us take a look at the text itself to see.

"Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, 'Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.'

"So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written:

MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

"I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement." (Rev 17:1-6)

We see here that the first word in the name of the great harlot is the word "mystery." This indicates that the great harlot is referring to something that is not so obvious. Furthermore, we see in verse 6 that when John saw the great harlot he "marveled with great amazement." Both these facts speak against a plain and obvious interpretation of who the great harlot is.

If we take a look at how the word harlot generally is used in the Bible, we find that in the prophetic writings the word is always used in the context of spiritual rather than sexual infidelity. Isaiah 1:21 is a typical example, "See how the faithful city has become a harlot!"

The first time after the exodus from Egypt that the word harlot is used is in Exodus 34:12-16. This is a good example of the basic use of the word in the Bible.

"Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods."

Even though spiritual and sexual unfaithfulness usually go together, the primary usage of the word harlot in the Scriptures is not to describe people who are living in sexual immorality. The image of harlotry is used to describe the spiritual unfaithfulness of the people of Israel or of a city like Jerusalem, Samaria, Nineveh, and Tyre.

In Bed with the World

There is a very good book published in the United States called Intoxicated with Babylon - The Seduction of God's People In the Last Days, written by Steve Gallagher.[1] This book basically defines the great harlot in the Book of Revelation as the lukewarm, backslidden church in the last days that has fallen in love with the world. We heartily agree with the message. James 4:4 clearly states that friendship with the world is called adultery, "Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?" 1 John 2:17 defines the world as "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life."

This broader definition of the great harlot that includes more than just sexual immorality is more in line with the Scriptures. Numbers 15:37-41 explains that to break God's commandments is to live in adultery and spiritual prostitution.

"The LORD said to Moses, 'Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD your God.'"

Yet, when we look at the description of the great harlot in the Book of Revelation something more than worldliness seems to be involved. When the Apostle John who was very familiar with the basic concept of harlotry in Scripture, and had written the solemn warning to not loving this world saw the harlot he was very amazed. It seems that he was seeing something that he had not seen before.

One of the outstanding features of the harlot that John saw was that she was drunk with the blood of the saints. This does not fit the general picture of the backslidden church in the West. Backsliders who live in sexual immorality or who have fallen in love with this world and its lusts, usually do not go around and murder people. The great harlot in the Book of Revelation seems to involve something more. We need to continue to seek for a more satisfying answer to our question of who the great harlot is.

Interpretation Number Two: The United States of America

Another common interpretation, that especially gained momentum after the 9-11 terrorist attack against the World Trade Center in New York, is that the great harlot is referring to New York City, or the United States of America. Revelation 18:19 says about the judgment of the great harlot, "Woe! Woe, O great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin!"

The luxuries and the worldwide trade associated with the great harlot as it is described in Revelation chapter 18, certainly speak for this interpretation. Also, the aspect of sexual immorality fits the United States as the worldwide center of pornography in our day.

There are, however, primarily two aspects of the harlot that does not fit the description of America. First of all, Revelation 17:6 says, "I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." The United States of America symbolized by the Statue of Liberty in New York was founded upon the principle of religious freedom, largely by people who were fleeing religious persecution in Europe.

Even though we know, according to the words of Yeshua himself, that in the end those who believe in him will be persecuted in every nation, which includes America, it, however, also says about the harlot at the time of her judgment that "God has remembered her crimes." This obviously is referring to sins from the past. There certainly are sins from America's past that could be listed, such as slavery, greed and the treatment of the native peoples. But the United States of America has never been known for religious persecution, rather the opposite. She is not drunk with the blood of martyrs for Yeshua.

The second reason that also speaks against the interpretation that the great harlot is the United States of America, is that the Bible tells us to come out of her. Since we are called to go into all the world and preach the gospel, the great harlot simply can not refer to any geographical nation. That would be a clear contradiction of the Great Commission. The United States of America is not the great harlot that John saw.

Interpretation Number Three: The Religion of Islam

Let's look at another common interpretation of the great harlot, the religion of Islam. Islam has from the very beginning been a religious system that has severely persecuted both Jews and Christians. Today most martyrs around the world are being killed in the name of Islam. This speaks greatly in favor of the possibility that Islam could be the great harlot.

Moreover, when John was shown the harlot he was carried away in the spirit to a desert. Islam has been called "the desert religion." Islam came out of the desert and the seat of Islam is still today in the desert in Mecca. Furthermore the harlot is also called Babylon. Ancient Babylon was located in today's Iraq, which is a Muslim country in the very geographical center of the Islamic world. Saddam Hussein dreamed about reviving the ancient glory of Babylon. We cannot exclude the possibility that Iraq could be taken over by Islamic Jihadists after the American troops leave and become the center of worldwide persecution against both the church and Israel.

But, once again Revelation 18:4 clearly rules out this interpretation. It says, "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins." God asks those who are His people to come out of the great harlot. It is impossible to apply this to Islam, since there are no saints or those who are witnesses of Yeshua, within Islam. Before you can be a part of God's people you first have to repent and leave all false religions including Islam.

Next week we will continue this study by looking at some other commonly held interpretations of who the great harlot is. We encourage you meanwhile to read your Bible and search the Scriptures together with us.

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[1] Published by Pure Life Ministries www.purelifeministries.org

Photos: Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney; museumgroep.nl