A Study of The Book of Revelation, Part #60

Earl Gillespie

SLEEPING WITH THE WHORE

The fall of the Harlot

Revelation 17:8-18

When Jesus return to claim his church it will not be made up of particular denominations but it will be made up of individuals whom he referred to as the, "overcomers." Revelation 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. These will be they that have overcome the enticements of the world.  If we reflect upon our study of the seven letters Jesus sent to the seven churches we can easily see the progression of the church from its true state, the church of Ephesus that had lost its first love, to that of an apostate church, the church of the Laodiceans that gloried in it excess.

The church that was called out of the world to walk separately from the world has again joined hands with the world the same as it did under the rule of Constantine, as it claims the earthly blessing of God. The Word of God has been perverted by those who promise great wealth to those who follow them. The Gospel of Grace has been replaced by a Gospel of Giving and Blessings. In many of today's churches fewer and fewer ministers can preach a sermon without resorting to threats for not paying the money or promising blessings if money is paid.  

Many organized religions, once described as the true church is guilty of a shared loyalty to that of the world and that of Jesus Christ.  In exchange for perverting the word of God they have accepted the fancy titles, the gold and silver as they walk hand in hand with the world. Many professing to be the Bride of Christ is guilty of committing spiritual adultery.    

The Old Testament clearly shows that not loving and following God is identical with slavery to the great harlot. James in the New Testament confirms this when he says, "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God. Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." (James 4:4)

What God expects of us is summed up in the two great commandments, to love God with one's whole being, and one's neighbor as oneself, as I said early in our study together. Departure from this standard is where spiritual adultery begins and we become guilty of sleeping with the whore. 

Verse 15: “And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth,  are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”  In verse 3, the woman sits upon the Beast. In verse 1 the harlot sits upon many waters. Here we have the explanation of “many waters” and this explanation helps us to better understand the immense and universal influence the apostate church will then exercise over the people of the entire earth. The nations and people - seven outside the Roman world - will be ensnared, captivated and allured by the harlot. She sits on a throne, demonstrating greatness, richly adorned with the glories of the world, but without the affections of her deluded followers. There will be much display of loyalty, but no real loyalty of the heart.  

Jesus said, Revelation 3:17-19  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Verses 16-17: “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. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the Beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.”

Perhaps you did not fully understand in the previous verse when I stated that millions will follow the woman outwardly, but not from the heart. God will put it into the hearts of these people to fulfill His plan and program in the destruction of apostate religion. The woman is the head of all apostasy in that particular hour, and is now hated by the ten horns and the Beast. What a change!  Why did the love for the harlot change?

It is clear that the Beast and the kings will exist after the destruction of Babylon. The Beast and  the ten horns (kings) are the human instruments used by Almighty God to inflict vengeance on them who operate the guilty, bloody apostate system. (The secular Power is reserved for destruction at the hands of the Lord God Almighty at His coming in power and great glory - chapter 19.) The ten horns (kings) will act in conjunction with the Beast in that they, along with him, hate the whore.  Again I ask the question why?

You remember when they were given position of chiefs, they had no mind of their own - they were surrendered to the will of the Beast - soul, spirit, mind and body. All will unite in supporting the Beast in his destruction of the woman (the apostate church). The world’s glory, the world’s might, and the world’s power is but a passing fancy, a passing dream. “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it.” Except the Lord build the city, they build in vain. All that is not founded and grounded upon God, fades and perishes. That will be true in that hour. At that time, Babylon will be flourishing on the highest pinnacle of pride and greatness the world has ever known. She will be at her zenith of power and glory, but she will be completely cut down. Her ruin and destruction will be complete and final. In righteous judgment her system and her peoples will be destroyed. The one thing I do not want you to miss is the fact that her partners in crime and blood when she was destroying the saints wholesale, become the instruments of her political overthrow and of her complete downfall!

First - the harlot will be hated. This refers to the kings and great men, and to the peoples who loved her and worshipped at her feet in lust. Now they loathe and despise her! Second - the harlot will be made desolate. Her wealth and everything physical that she possesses will be utterly destroyed and wasted (chapter 18:10).  What caused this great change?

Third - the harlot will be made naked. She will be stripped of her purple royal robes - and will  appear before the masses (many waters) as the abandoned woman that she is, in her true character and shame (Ezekiel 23:29; Revelation 3:18). Her moral nakedness and shame will appear before all!  The symbology of Revelation should paint a vivid picture in your mind.  

Fourth - her enemies will “eat her flesh.” The abundance of her wealth, her riches, all that she gloried in, will be devoured by her late admirers who have now become her bitterest enemies (James 5:3; Psalm 27:2; Micah 3:2,3).

Fifth - the harlot will be burned with fire. This denotes social and political ruin. The main element used by Almighty God in the destruction of literal Babylon was water - not fire. (Read all of Jeremiah 51.) The Babylon we are now studying (the mystical city) shall be utterly “burned with fire” (Revelation 18:8). Both Babylons are doomed to everlasting desolation and destruction.

The question that we posed was what caused her supporters to turn on her?  The answer is, she promised what she could not deliver.  The world began to see through her fakery.  

One has fallen; the other is sure to fall! The powers that will destroy Babylon pour out their vengeance and fury on the guilty system under which they have so long been enslaved. Here the veil is pushed back. We learn that regardless of what these powers thought they were doing, they were simply carrying out divine orders and fulfilling God’s divine will. God decreed the destruction of the worst system ever to exist upon the face of the earth, and the Beast and his puppet kings are God’s instruments in destroying His greatest enemy: “God hath put in their hearts to do His will!”

Note - “their hearts” and “His will.” These ten kings heartily enter into their work of destruction. Not knowing what they are doing, they will fulfill and accomplish the purpose of Almighty God.  The hearts and minds of the destroying kings led by the Beast will be fully united. They will love the service to which they are appointed. They will be divinely set apart for the purpose of executing a fixed determination and a fixed judgment. I am sure such a statement is not readily accepted by all, but as proof of what I have just said, let me remind you that God raised up Pharaoh, hardened his heart - and destroyed him!

Romans 9:14-20  What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

The ten kings “give their kingdoms to the Beast until the words of God shall be fulfilled.” The ten kings will be in absolute subjection to the Beast. There are ten but they are coexistent with the reign of the Beast.

They voluntarily place themselves, their kingdoms, and their rule, into the hands and under the rule of the Beast, who becomes their master, allowing them but a shadow of royalty. They are only instruments in his hands. The real power of that day will be in the hands of the Beast (Revelation 13:2-7).

The ten kings had previously given their power to the woman but now when the Beast turns on the woman, so do the ten kings. They then are in perfect submission to him. “God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform,” and it will be a happy day in your life and mine when we can completely rest in Jesus. We will enjoy perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3) when we rest in Him. In recent years, many of us wondered, many of us wept, when certain political victories were won in this great country of ours but we must remember that God could have prevented it, for He is sovereign. But He allowed it, and in the by-and-by we will understand why.

That does not mean we are compromisers, nor does it mean that we are not to continue to fight the fight of faith. We are to be good soldiers even if it costs us our heads; but when the enemies of God have seemingly won a victory, we must always remember that Romans 8:28 is still in the Bible, and there is no power except of God. Even the devil could have no power at all unless God permitted him the power that he exercises. God works unseen, but nevertheless He works . . . yes, even in our political, educational, and religious set-up of this day. You may rest assured that If God be for us, “who can be against us?” The little flock will be victorious over the hordes of the enemies of Jesus Christ in the final consummation of all things.  Here God uses ten kings and their leader to destroy the enemies of righteousness; and later, the Beast and the kings will meet the same fate. God has a blueprint (Acts 15:13-18). “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning,” and He will follow His divine plan. When all things are finished, He will look upon them and say, “IT IS GOOD!”  Reflect upon these things.