Who is the Woman Riding the Beast in Rev. 17?

Brethren, we are finally in part four, and we're going to be finishing what we started some weeks ago, which was to identify who is that woman riding the beast of Revelation 17.

Why is this important? Because it's part of history. God put this down to help us be aware of what was going to happen all the way to the time of the return of Jesus Christ. And if people were aware of these things, a lot would not be deceived, because this is not a common story. This is not something that is heard in many of the pulpits around. And so Christ told us to be aware that there would be these types of false prophets in our days, as there were in His day. And so we're going over that false religious system symbolized in Revelation 17. In a way, God opened up a little more the details of what we should be aware of before this great deception happens on this earth. And of course, Christmas is starting here in December, and that's part of a false system that was set up centuries ago. And so we are going through seven of the characteristics mentioned in Revelation 17 about this woman. And we are right now on the fifth characteristic of it. And remember the principle, love the person, but hate the sin. So there are a lot of fine people. They're part of these false systems. They have no idea. They have been brainwashed. So much deception has been carried over the years. It's like this varnish on furniture that they just put one after another after another. You can't see the original wood, so much of this varnish. And what we're doing is we're removing some of this varnish so you can see what the truth is about the matter. But it is not done in anger or resentment at all. It's done in love. We understand. There, thanks for the grace of God, would I be the same way if it wasn't for the mercy of God? So I'd just like to briefly go over what we've had in these five characteristics that we've covered. Remember number one, and this has to do with the abominations that this woman has this chalice, this cup, and filled with abominations. And with those people drink it, and they become drunk, and they follow this woman, just like a seductive woman wants the person to take alcohol, bring down the defenses, and accept sin as such. Well, this is the picture that God is revealing to all of us. And so these are abominations that are teachings that the nations drink of. And we've covered the first four. The first one found in Jude 3 and 4, where it says, turning the grace of God into license. So somehow, what was part of God's law that was holy, just, and good, would become something that would be substituted, and that it was no longer necessary to obey God's commandments and laws as such, that that had been abolished, had been nailed to the cross, or whatever they want to explain about. But that goes back to the first century, because already Jude was warning brethren of people in the church that had crept in unawares, and they were teaching this about, there's no need to keep the commandments. Christ kept them for us. Those are Old Testament things. All of these types of excuses.

And of course, one of the examples is how the Ten Commandments, as taught by the Roman church, removed the Second Commandment, and actually then divided the Tenth Commandment. So the commandment about not having statues of anything up in heaven and bowing to them, well, that was too close to home. So what did they do? They eliminated that second one, and because they have nine, they needed one extra. So they divided this, you shall not lust after your neighbor's wife, and you shall not lust after your neighbor's goods or possessions. Well, that's all one commandment, but they divided it into two. And that way, now they have ten, and people are duped that way, and they don't have to worry about, well, what are these statues doing here, and why are people bowing down and burning incense and candles to them? The second abomination has to do that they hid the Fourth Commandments and God's feasts from the people. And so they substituted for the Seventh-day Sabbath, what would be Sunday, and then all of these pagan holidays, which are not found in the Bible. You know, Christmas is not found in the Bible. That's not a holy convocation. That's not something established by God. And so they hid the true feasts, and now they substituted them with a false feast, which the whole world as a group obeys. Even places that aren't Christian, they still keep Christmas. The third of these abominations is the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, which is not taught in the Bible at all. You can read in Ezekiel 38 verse 4. It says, the soul that sinneth it shall die. It doesn't say it's going to be immortalized, and this is something that came out of the pagan Greek, Egyptian, and Babylonian beliefs. Plato was a big proponent of it. But this hides the truth that there is going to be a real resurrection when Christ returns. That it isn't people that are already disembodied in heaven or hell or purgatory, someplace else. No, there's going to be a real resurrection, and the dead are going to wake up.

So that's another lie perpetrated upon mankind. The fourth one has to do with infant baptism, where it's not up to the person to decide about baptism, but they are automatically baptized. Usually on the eighth day, instead of the circumcision that they had before, so then they sprinkle water on the children on the eighth day, and then they become that part of the congregation. And by the way, it's not only a Catholic Church that does that. The Lutheran Church has its version of it, too. But what do you get then is mass conversions. Boy, what a way to grow a church. Just baptize all the children when they're young before they can choose anything, and you're going to multiply the people. In Latin America, it's still done that way. And so you have this mass following, but did they repent? Do they know what the truth is? What God's laws are? No. And so it's very sad that with infant baptism, which by the way, the Muslim people practice them as well, and so you have this mass following of people blindly following along, induced into being part of a church. And now the fifth characteristic, another one of those abominations, has to do with the papacy as a false doctrine. So you're not only baptized when you're an infant, but you are told at that time that you have a spiritual father here on earth. And he has all the power. He has a power to forgive sins. He is the vicar, which means in place of Jesus Christ. He's the successor of Peter, and so you should bow and accept total allegiance to this person on this throne. As I brought out, the word Pope actually means papa or father, and yet Matthew 23.9, it says that we are not to call anybody in a religious role as a father. As the amplified version says, do not call anyone on earth who guides you spiritually your father. For one is your father, he who is in heaven. So again, it seems like what God says don't do. Eventually, through Satan's influence, people do it. And it's acceptable now to do this. This is from Haley's Bible Handbook, and it has a whole section on the history of the popes from pages 767 to 784. It's online, too, so you can check it out. And this is a summary of his findings about the papacy in Rome. The papacy is an Italian institution. It arose on the ruins of the Roman Empire in the name of Christ, occupying the throne of the Caesars. It's a revival of the image of the Roman Empire inheriting the spirit thereof. That's why it's an absolute church. You have to keep it just like you would have with the Caesars. There's no question about it. The ghost of the Roman Empire comes to life in the garb of Christianity.

Some of the popes have been unspeakably vile. Most of them have been absorbed in the pursuit of secular power. Not all were that way, but a great number of them. It seems inconceivable that man could take the religion of Christ and develop it into an unscrupulous political machine in which to ride to world power. Yes, especially on top of that beast, that secular church and state alliance. However, all statements made herein may be verified by reference to any of the completer church history. This isn't just Hailey saying this. There are many others and many more authoritative type works. I'm just doing this because he abbreviates things, so it's a lot easier than all of these tomes about church history, which I would bore you to death with. That's from page 784. So the papacy is an abominable teaching that no matter how vile a certain person, especially in Italy, especially being Italian, and if you read that church history, they actually had a reign which it was for 200 years. They had some of the worst criminals on top of these thrones and ruling. It was called the Dark Middle Ages, that whole area.

There were numerous serial adulterers and even murderers to get to sit on that throne. There were thieves and bezellers. Yet upon obtaining the throne of the papacy, as if by magic, they then became the successors of Peter and Vickers, who are in place of Christ here on earth. And thus, they were infallible in their teaching. So it could be some of the most atrocious people. And yet, once they got the robes and they sat on that throne, now they were saintly. Now everything they said was being inspired by Christ. Do you think Christ would use people like this? Absolutely not! They couldn't even qualify as a church member in the church, much less to be in charge of everything. And the papacy has promoted celibacy, which means they can't get married. They have to be single all their lives among the priesthood, the pope being the prime example. And yet, in 1 Timothy chapter 3 verses 2 through 4, let's go there, 1 Timothy chapter 3. Here are the qualifications for a minister, according to the New Testament. 1 Timothy chapter 3. In verse 2, it says, a bishop, another translation, pastor, then must be blameless, the husband of one wife. It doesn't say he's celibate, that he can't marry. And then it says in verse 4, one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence. That's very authoritative. And yet, that's not what it's done.

Celibacy, there's another one of the abominations inside that cup that the woman rides, the beast, has caused untold suffering on victims. There's no way that history can testify to all the abominations going on. It has just been in the last 20 years. It opened up in Boston with some of the pedophilia, which is just one of the many things going on. This is from the bishopaccountability.org, which is an online archive established by lay Catholics. So these are Catholics that are trying to defend themselves inside the church. And this is what they say. In the U.S., there are over 3,000 civil lawsuits against the church. Some of these cases have resulted in multi-million dollar settlements with many claimants, totaling more than three billion dollars. And this is just in one country. Now, it says here since 1950, but three billion dollars worth of payments. And this is just in one country alone. Yet, for instance, the income of the Catholic church in Germany, which this latest Economist magazine brought out in one of its articles, is seven billion dollars a year that they get. Because in Germany, about eight or nine percent of the income tax withdrawn from the people, if you're a Catholic, it goes all to the Catholic church automatically. It's almost a tithe that's taken out. Wolf, you remember that or not?

Yeah, now they have the option finally to opt out. But that wasn't the case for many, many decades before. And so it's still, with all the issues, seven billion dollars in one country. Just to tell you how much power and influence it has. Dave Hunt, in his book, The Woman Writing, writes The Beast, says, the rule of celibacy has a very practical and lucrative result for the church. It leaves priests and especially bishops and the pope without families to bequeath their property and thereby to impoverish the church. The clergy must have no heirs to see all the money goes back to the church. So you don't have to worry about inheritance to the children and to the wife. No, it all goes back. And this was reinforced by the Second Lateral Council in 1139, which absolutely prohibited marriage among the Catholic clergy. So these are facts of history that we should be aware of. And now we go to the sixth characteristic of these abominations, which has to do with the Trinity doctrine. It's another one of those, quote, mysteries and an anti-biblical doctrine that intoxicates the believers. There's a famous quote from Augustine back in the 400s A.D., a Catholic theologian. He said, if you deny the Trinity, you'll lose your soul. If you try to explain the Trinity, you will lose your mind. And of course, it denies and it covers up that essential truth that God the Father and God the Son are a family, and they're going to have more children under them in the future, instead of this closed system, that you can never be part of God's family. That's a closed system. No, it's an open system. In 1 John chapter 3, it took two scriptures just to show you that God is not a Trinity.

1 John chapter 3, verse 1 and 2. It says, Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us. Why use that term if God is not part of a family? He calls Himself the Father. That we should be called children of God. Part of the family. Of course, we haven't yet been born into that family, but that's going to happen at the resurrection. But we are developing and growing to that end. It says, Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know Him. It still doesn't have this wonderful understanding. Beloved, now we are children of God. So in a way, once we receive God's Spirit, we begin to grow like babes in Christ. And it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when He is revealed, talking about Christ and His return, we shall be like Him. For we shall see Him as He is through spiritual eyes that we will have. And so we're not going to be at the same level, but we're going to be like Him. We're going to have the attributes of having a spirit body, of being part of that family. So that's why it's so exciting to be part of the church, because we have this wonderful hope, this wonderful goal, and that drives all of us.

In Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19, Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19, it says here that we are members of the household of God. But actually, that word household just means family. That's an ancient word, household. But today, the translations that are more modern, say family, in the easy reading version, it says, so now you non-Jewish people are not visitors or strangers, but you are citizens together with God's holy people. You belong to God's family. See, that's the good news. It's not based on just the Jewish people now. We all have an opportunity to be part of God's family. And the church right now is this growing family, all developing to that point where we can see each other when God's kingdom returns. And the final characteristic in that cup with abomination is one called ecumenism.

And the church wants her other daughters back because remember back in the 1500s, there was this breakup in Europe. And essentially, after about 150 years of wars, the Peace of West Fallia in 1648, none of the sides were able to defeat the others. So they basically divided Europe north and south. And the southern part of Europe is mainly Catholic, and the northern half is more Protestant. But the Roman Church has not given up to bring all of these, what they call the separated brothers, back into the full. That's why it's called the mother of harlots in Revelation 17. Many churches began by coming out of her, although as we have seen, they still share many of its unbiblical doctrines. Dave Hunt, in his book that I've quoted numerous times, starts his book by condemning so many Protestant and evangelical leaders who now are allied to the Pope. Have you noticed some of that? He quotes Billy Graham, a very famous evangelist, in an interview in McCall's in 1978 where Billy Graham admits, quote, I found that my beliefs are essentially the same as the Orthodox Roman Catholics.

Hunt goes on to say, the most significant event in nearly 500 years of church history was revealed on March 29, 1994. On that day, leading American evangelicals and Catholics signed a joint declaration titled, Evangelicals and Catholics Together, the Christian Mission in the Third Millennial. The document, in effect, overturned the Reformation, other major evangelical ministries that have been working with Catholics as fellow Christians, include the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Charles Colson's Prison Fellowship, Campus Crusade for Christ, and many others. And, of course, they're part of the World Council of Churches to promote ecumenism, and it is a very liberal organization. The Catholic Church actually has a representative there, although they're not a formal member.

So that's the fifth characteristic, all of these abominations. Of course, there are many more. I just don't have time to cover them, but at least to help you understand what we are avoiding believing in and why. And so we come to the sixth characteristic.

In Revelation 17, 6, John says, 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. He was shocked when he saw that a church would persecute others to that extent. Dave Hunt, again, in his book, says, the picture is a horrible one. It is not merely her hands that are red with this blood, but she is drunk with it. The slaughter of innocents who, for conscience sake, would not yield to her totalitarian demands has so refreshed and exhilarated her that she reels in ecstasy. Look what I've been doing, how I put down all of these dissenters. One thinks immediately of the Inquisition, lasted about 400 years, which for centuries held Europe in their terrible grip. In his history of the Inquisition, Canon Llorente, who was a Catholic administrator of the Inquisition, he was secretary to the Inquisition in Madrid, Spain from 1790 to 1792, and had access to the archives of all the tribunals, estimated that in Spain alone, the number of condemned exceeded three million people, with about 30,000 burned at the stake. And Hunt later corrected that figure because he had put more, but it's actually about 30,000 burned at the stake. Now, that's just a little percentage, because usually when you were called a heretic and you didn't have a chance to bring a lawyer, you didn't even be able to see the witnesses. It usually lasted three or four years in a dungeon. And so how many people were going to survive eventually to get burned? Not the majority. And you had to pay to be fed. They weren't going to feed you during that time. Your parents, your family, they had to continue the upkeep. Hunt continues about the Middle Ages. Every citizen in the empire was required to be a Roman Catholic. Failure to give wholehearted allegiance to the pope was considered treason against the state, punishable by death. Here was the basis for slaughtering millions. A paganized Christianity was imposed upon the entire populace of Europe under the threat of torture and death. Thus, Roman Catholicism became, quote, the most persecuting faith the world has ever seen, ordering the secular power to impose its religion on all its subjects. Pope Innocent III, around 1200 A.D., murdered far more Christians in one afternoon than any Roman emperor did in his entire reign. And Christ warned us in John chapter 16, verses 32 and 33. John 16 verses 32 and 33. He says, yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor me. Christ never would have been involved in something like this. And the seventh characteristic of this woman riding the beast in Revelation 17. And I haven't covered half of all the material that I had, but suffice it for the time being. Revelation 17 verses 9 through 12. It says, here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads about the beast are seven mountains on which the woman sits. Now it just happens that ancient Rome was founded upon these seven hills. The term can mean mountains or hills, but Rome was founded on seven hills. Then they added, they expanded it outward, but it's still called the city of seven hills.

Goes on to say, going to says, there are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. Now interestingly, this has to do with the end times, because we've already had five resurrections of the Holy Roman Empire. From the time of Justinian in the sixth century, we've had Charlemagne the Great, who was, these were all crowned by popes, and these were main emperors of the empire. So the woman rode with these emperors to power, and so you have Charlemagne in the year 800 being crowned by the pope. Then you had 962, Otto the Great, the German empire, which the woman sat upon it, also crowned. Then you had Charles the fifth, who was the Austro-Hungarian empire during the time of Luther. He was crowned by the pope. You had then Napoleon, who was crowned by the pope. And then Mussolini was the one that signed that accord with the pope, which gave him back the territory of the Vatican area. And then that was added to the agreement with Hitler. So it was this axis of power with Mussolini first, and then Hitler, and there was a beast that rose up again. World War II. Now, see, it says five have fallen, one is, and that's what happened during Hitler and Mussolini and World War II. And actually, it still influences society today. And there was one left, one hill to climb, one more that the woman is going to climb. And of course, that has to do with the beast and the false prophet. That will be the final manifestation of this empire. Notice, it says here, and what time are we talking about? It says, the beast that was and is not is himself also in the eighth and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. So this is the Antichrist, the beast, and all involved. And it says, verse 12, the ten horns, which you saw, and this is on the seventh hill, are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. So you see, this beast has still got one resurrection left, and that will be ten kings that will be in charge. And then it goes on to say, verse 13, these are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the lamb, and the lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with him are called chosen and faithful. So you see, it doesn't have to do with the time of John, or throughout the Middle Ages. Now we're talking about this final manifestation that is going to happen right before Christ returns. And then the last description about this woman, it says in verse 18, and the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth. It was in John's day, and it will one day again become that power center, especially the religious power center, when Satan is going to give that power to the false prophet. So that's why in Revelation 18 verse 4, it says, and I heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her, out of this Babylonish belief system, my people, lest you share in her sins, unless you receive of her plagues. Because there's going to be the mark of the beast that's going to be imposed, people are going to have to resist. And at least this helps us understand why it's important to resist, because it's very seductive, it's very subtle, and we cannot yield to it.

So now let's give the handout that we have for the other religious system, the true one that I wanted to cover with you. Remember the tree of the knowledge of good and evil with all of these splits and branches? Well, this is symbolized by the tree of life, God's true way of life. And so you can compare it with the other one, which is the false religious system, the other tree. I'll wait for a moment while they hand it out.

So this is symbolic of the tree of life. Remember there are two trees, God's way of life and Satan's way of life. And starting at the bottom with the roots of this system, what is it based on? What should you look for when you're looking for a church? It has to be teaching these five fundamental beliefs. What is God? God is a family now as father and son, but they're gonna have many children in their future. See, no trinity, no mystery, nothing to lose your mind about. Very simple. We all have families, we all know God is creating. He says, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. How is he adored by living by every word of God? That's our basis, and the only basis we have. This is inspired by God. All scripture is inspired by God. And so we live by every word of God, not by the words of men. You have to check out the beliefs with the Bible itself.

When is he adored? The Sabbath day, the fourth commandment, and the holy days. Those are all found in Leviticus 23 and are kept in the Old and in the New Testament. There are no religious feasts added to them. We have like the Purim, which is a Jewish celebration, fine, but that's not a holy day. That's not something required of us. And then, what is man? The answer, he's a mortal soul with a right to a resurrection. And what is his destiny? It's a kingdom of God or the lake of fire.

That's what the two choices we have. And so, who began keeping this righteous system, righteous Abel, not Adam and Eve, doesn't tell us they were ever converted. But righteous Abel, that's the way he's called in the Bible. That's why it's called the way of Abel and the other, the way of Cain. Humanity divides into those two different groups. Then you have Enoch. Enoch. He's called righteous Enoch and Noah before the flood. And with the flood, it's the end of the pre-flood world. And then God's system continues through Noah, and Noah begins a new society. And then you have Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is Genesis 12. It brings up. And then Moses and some Israelites, because not all of them were converted. The great majority weren't converted. But certainly Moses and some like Joshua and others. And then we have the time of the Judges. And they were led by God. And then you had the prophets, also representing God's way of life. Many times they were a minority persecuted. But there was always that kernel of truth. There was still that way of truth. If you wanted to find it, you can find it. And throughout time, if you really are looking, you're going to find that little group that's keeping all of these commandments, following God faithfully. Then you have the New Testament with Jesus Christ.

John the Baptist, of course, was considered a prophet, so he would be included before that. And then you have the apostles, who taught the truth. And then you have the seven progressive historic stages of the church, found in Revelation 2 and 3. So this is a description of church history, starting with the apostles and then going through all of these stages. And we consider that we are still part of that Philadelphia era of the church. The doors are still open to get the gospel out. They haven't been closed yet. And although we don't have much strength, because in the midst of this Sodom and Gomorrah society, everybody has weakened, everybody has lost a lot. But he says, you have a little power and you have not denied my name and you have persevered in my word. So he takes it into consideration. If we would have lived a hundred years ago and known that way of God, it would have been a lot easier. You wouldn't be bombarded by hundreds of things going on today. But today it is a distracted and very watered-down society. Of course, then that takes us to the next era, the Laodicean era, the lukewarm. And of course, we don't know. Do we have a mixture here of a Philadelphian and lukewarm type of brethren? That's up to God. Salvation is personal. You have to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

We have a booklet called The Church That Christ Built. You can look it up. It gives you more of the history of these different eras and how they develop in time. And so I end with this scripture in Revelation 20, verse 14. Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city, to that new Jerusalem. So the kingdom of God, established at Jesus' second coming, will be the fulfillment of the starting of God's way of the tree of life, where the great majority of people are going to be in the tree with the tree of life and not with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So this ends the series and hopefully it was profitable to all. And so remember, at four o'clock we have the Bible study.