THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS
Revelation, Chapter 17, describes the Great Whore of Babylon, who represents the false religion of Babylon.
As we examine Revelation Chapter 17 we learn that the Whore sits upon many waters, and is arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls. Her hand holds a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. Upon her head one sees words written in capital letters: “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” Drunk with the blood of the saints (martyrs) she sits upon seven hills (Rev. 17:4-5, 9).
Harlotry, in the Bible, equals idolatry. When Israel worshipped other gods, God compared the nation to a harlot. The book of Hosea elaborates on this precept by its description of an adulterous wife and a faithful husband, symbolic of the unfaithfulness of Israel to God through idolatry.
The bride of Christ is pure and holy, and she embraces truth. The harlot symbolizes all false teaching. She leads individuals away from the true God, to herself. The mother of harlots encompasses all doctrine, beliefs, practices, and ideology that diametrically opposes the truth of Jesus Christ.
Ishtar in Babylon-Isis in Egypt
The Babylonians worshipped one woman in particular. This woman is Ishtar, whom the Babylonians worshipped for being the mother of God. Her titles include “The Virgin,” “The Holy Virgin,” and “The Virgin Mother.” Ishtar represented the divinity of bounteous motherhood. Those who worshiped her considered her a goddess of war as well as love. She stood over prostitutes as well as mothers. She called herself a caring courtesan. Babylonians represented Ishtar sometimes as a bearded bisexual deity, and sometimes as a nude female offering her breasts to suck. Though Babylonians referred to her as “The Virgin,” this merely meant that her illicit lovers were free from all bonds of wedlock.
Revelation 18:7 states: “She says in her heart, I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.” Ancient Babylonian prayers referred to her as “Queen of all cities, Queen of Heaven and Earth,…Ishtar is great! Ishtar is Queen! My lady is exalted; my Lady is Queen.” Revelation 17:16 names her “the whore.” In later centuries, among Babylon’s enemies, the upper classes called her the “whore of Babylon.”
We begin to see the Biblical references taken from the actual worship of Ishtar such as the reference of the goddess as a Queen and oddly enough even the reference of her as “Whore of Babylon.” Which also has great spiritual significance. We will see more examples as this report continues.
False Religion
False religion led the Israelites from the true God to its teachings. Babylon’s religious symbols and doctrines bore many similarities to those taught in the Scriptures, in part because the Jews lived within Babylonia and Jewish doctrine influenced their myths. Ancient Jews embraced the Babylonian religion, and God rebuked the Jews for following its practices.
During Ahab’s reign in Israel’s northern kingdom, Jezebel, the Phoenician princess, instituted Baal worship and murdered the prophets of God. Baal was the Sun-god, the Life-Giving One, equivalent to Tammuz. Baal worship was part of Babylonian society, and caused the Babylonian invasion of Israel. In Jeremiah 44:17-20, the Jews acknowledged to Jeremiah that they burned incense, and gave drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven. This passage mentions the “Queen of Heaven” four times. Four in the Bible represents the number of man, and man invented religion. From Babylon this mystery-religion spread to all the surrounding nations, and the symbols remained similar, including the image of the Queen of Heaven with a baby in her arms. Astoreth and Tammuz became Isis and Horus in Egypt, Aphrodite and Eros in Greece, Venus and Cupid, in Italy, and bore many other names.
The Babylonian religion spread throughout the lands and took on different names of the gods. They merged with the governments of the ancient empires. These beliefs became state religion and merged with Christianity during the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine. Eventually these combined beliefs became part of the Catholic Church. Historians Will and Ariel Durant recorded that, “Babylonian altars frequently sacrificed a lamb, as the substitute for man who gave it in exchange for his life… priests carried from sanctuary to sanctuary the image of Mardak, and performed the sacred drama of his death and resurrection. They anointed the idols with sweet-scented oils, burned incense before them, and clothed them with rich vestments.”
The woman in Revelation 17 sits dressed as a harlot leading to herself the hearts of men. Revelation 17:2 tells us that the world’s kings commit fornication with the Great Whore. The fornication committed is not merely physical, but spiritual adultery. As men deny the true Church of Jesus Christ by embracing the harlot’s false teaching, they become corrupt in unholy union.
Babylon’s political and religious aspects bring down God’s judgment. While political Babylon’s judgment occurs just prior to the battle at Armageddon and results from the Antichrist’s reign, religious Babylon’s destruction comes through the Antichrist and his federation of kings. The Whore’s judgement is described as a total annihilation of her.
The Antichrist abolishes religion, and persecutes its followers for not worshipping him alone. In Dwight Pentecost’s Things To Come: A Study of Bible Eschatology, Pentecost quotes Scofield, who confirms: “Two ‘Babylons’ are to be distinguished in the Revelation…Ecclesiastical Babylon is ‘the great whore’(Rev. 17:1), and is destroyed by political Babylon (Rev. 17:15-18), that the beast may be the alone object of worship (II Thess. 2:3, 4; Rev. 13:15).”
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
Would you like to understand the Whore of Babylon prophecy described in Revelation 17 and 18? Why does the Whore Wear Purple and Red, and ride a Red Beast and why is her name branded on her forehead?
The Whore of Babylon in Bible Prophecy: A book of Revelation Mystery Revealed examines this passage while revealing new details of “Mystery Babylon” along with compelling evidence of the Whore of Babylon’s identity along with her role in the Revived Roman Empire and her coming judgment.
The book uncovers:
Hidden details of Babylon’s origin
How the little horn points to the Harlot and the revived Roman Empire.
The names of blasphemy on the seven heads and their correlation to the woman riding the 7 to 8 headed Beast.
You will also learn historical and often missed details of the Queen of Heaven, the Vatican, and the tie to the mysterious Zechariah 5 prediction and how the ten king prophecy showcases modern politics. Disclosed is overwhelming proof the city of seven hills is Rome and many other details missed by other Bible expositors.
Scholar, Analyst, Bible Prophecy Expert, Journalist and Commentator; Erika Grey once again delivers a fact filled, information rich expose.
The above book is also for free here and you can read it chapter by chapter on my website, just follow the links. Some of the titles have been slightly from the book but the material is the same.
Whore of Babylon All Your Questions Answered, Free version of the Whore of Babylon in Bible Prophecy” A Book of Revelation Mystery Revealed.
Introduction -The Whore of Babylon-All Your Questions Answered
1-The Origin of Babylon in the Bible-New Details Revealed
2-The King of Babylon is Lucifer and the Antichrist
3- Babylonian Society Old and New Judged in the Revelation
4-The Mother of Harlots in Revelation 17
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
8-City of Seven HIlls in Revelation 19:9 is Rome
9- The Vatican is the Whore of Babylon
10-Why the Whore of Babylon Wears Purple and Red
11-Why the Whore of Babylon Rides a Red Beast
12-10 Facts That Prove the Roman Empire Revived
13-Whore of Babylon’s Religion in the Revived Roman Empire
14-Daniel’s Ten Kings Predicts Modern Politics
15-The Whore of Babylon’s Coming Judgement in Revelation
16-The Whore of Babylon Vs the Bride of Christ in Revelation