BOOK OF REVELATION SERIES (The Great Whore Rev 17)

By Bishop Elijah H. Hankerson III, BA, MA, DD

LESSON NOTES:

I.                 THE TRUE CHURCH. If this lesson has not shown anything else; it has encouraged you to be a part of the True Church; so that you are not left behind and have to deal with the False Church. Here are facts about the True Church:

A.             JESUS ESTABLISHED IT.

Matthew 16:18 ¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

Ephesians 2:19-22 ¹⁹Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, ²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the LORD. ²²And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

B.             JESUS DIED FOR IT.

Ephesians 5:25 ²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

C.             JESUS IS THE HEAD OF IT.

Ephesians 1:22 ²²And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,

D.             IT IS THE PURE BRIDE OF CHRIST.

Ephesians 5:26-27 ²⁶to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

E.             IT IS EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.

1 Corinthians 12:13

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Acts 2:1-4 ¹When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ²Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

1 Corinthians 3:16

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Ephesians 4:3-4

being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;

Acts 1:8

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

Acts 4:31

And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

II.            THE GREAT WHORE. This is the antithesis to the True Church. It is impure, it is unholy. While the true faith honors Jerusalem. This whore is described as Babylon.

A.             FACTS ABOUT THE GREAT WHORE.

1.               IT IS A FALSE DECEPTIVE RELIGION.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 ⁹The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, ¹⁰and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ¹¹For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie ¹²and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

Matthew 24:10-11 ¹⁰At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.

2.               IT APPEARS AS THE REAL CHURCH.

Matthew 24:23-24 ²³At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. ²⁴For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

3.               IT IS EMPOWERED BY SATAN.

Revelation 13:4 ⁴People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?"

4.               IT IS LEAD BY THE FALSE PROPHET.

Revelation 13:11-15 ¹¹Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. ¹²It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. ¹³And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. ¹⁴Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. ¹⁵The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.

5.               IT IS AN IMPURE HARLOT. Throughout history there are those that have stated that the Great Whore is the Roman Catholic Church and that Babylon is Rome. While very influential, the Roman Catholic Church cannot be the Great Whore nor Rome Babylon. According to the Scriptures the Great Whore has much influence that mostly everyone partakes in. While the Roman Catholic Church (as of this writing) has 1.1 Billion members (and all of those are not active or influenced by the Catholicism; this is merely those that identify as “Catholic”) the majority of the 7 billion people on Earth are not influenced by Catholicism nor by Rome.

B.             REVELATION 17. The Great Whore is described.

1.               THE FALSE CHURCH IS HUGE AND POWERFUL.

Revelation 17:1-4 ¹One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. ²With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries." ³Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.

2.               BABYLON VS JERUSALEM. Again, Jerusalem represents that which is holy, pure and in covenant with God. Babylon represents ungodliness, impurity and things not in covenant with God. Whether Babylon is an actual city or simply symbolic of the Great Whore remains to be seen. Once thing is certain, it is wicked and it will fall.

Revelation 17:5 ⁵The name written on her forehead was a mystery: Babylon the great the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth.

a.               Jerusalem is a holy city and represents righteousness.

Psalm 122 New International Version (NIV)

¹ I rejoiced with those who said to me,
    “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
² Our feet are standing
    in your gates, Jerusalem.

³ Jerusalem is built like a city
    that is closely compacted together.
⁴ That is where the tribes go up—
    the tribes of the Lord—
to praise the name of the Lord
    according to the statute given to Israel.
⁵ There stand the thrones for judgment,
    the thrones of the house of David.

⁶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
    “May those who love you be secure.
⁷ May there be peace within your walls
    and security within your citadels.”
⁸ For the sake of my family and friends,
    I will say, “Peace be within you.”
⁹ For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
    I will seek your prosperity.

Psalm 48 New International Version (NIV)

¹ Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise,
    in the city of our God, his holy mountain.

² Beautiful in its loftiness,
    the joy of the whole earth,
like the heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion,
    the city of the Great King.
³ God is in her citadels;
    he has shown himself to be her fortress.

⁴ When the kings joined forces,
    when they advanced together,
⁵ they saw her and were astounded;
    they fled in terror.
⁶ Trembling seized them there,
    pain like that of a woman in labor.
⁷ You destroyed them like ships of Tarshish
    shattered by an east wind.

⁸ As we have heard,
    so we have seen
in the city of the Lord Almighty,
    in the city of our God:
God makes her secure
    forever.

⁹ Within your temple, O God,
    we meditate on your unfailing love.
¹⁰ Like your name, O God,
    your praise reaches to the ends of the earth;
    your right hand is filled with righteousness.
¹¹ Mount Zion rejoices,
    the villages of Judah are glad
    because of your judgments.

¹² Walk about Zion, go around her,
    count her towers,
¹³ consider well her ramparts,
    view her citadels,
that you may tell of them
    to the next generation.

¹⁴ For this God is our God for ever and ever;
    he will be our guide even to the end.

Matthew 4:5 ⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.

b.               Babylon is an unholy city and represents sin.

Isaiah 13 New International Version (NIV)

13 A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:

² Raise a banner on a bare hilltop,
    shout to them;
beckon to them
    to enter the gates of the nobles.
³ I have commanded those I prepared for battle;
    I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath—
    those who rejoice in my triumph.

⁴ Listen, a noise on the mountains,
    like that of a great multitude!
Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,
    like nations massing together!
The Lord Almighty is mustering
    an army for war.
⁵ They come from faraway lands,
    from the ends of the heavens—
the Lord and the weapons of his wrath—
    to destroy the whole country.

⁶ Wail, for the day of the Lord is near;
    it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
⁷ Because of this, all hands will go limp,
    every heart will melt with fear.
⁸ Terror will seize them,
    pain and anguish will grip them;
    they will writhe like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at each other,
    their faces aflame.

⁹ See, the day of the Lord is coming
    —a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—
to make the land desolate
    and destroy the sinners within it.
¹⁰ The stars of heaven and their constellations
    will not show their light.
The rising sun will be darkened
    and the moon will not give its light.
¹¹ I will punish the world for its evil,
    the wicked for their sins.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty
    and will humble the pride of the ruthless.
¹² I will make people scarcer than pure gold,
    more rare than the gold of Ophir.
¹³ Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;
    and the earth will shake from its place
at the wrath of the Lord Almighty,
    in the day of his burning anger.

¹⁴ Like a hunted gazelle,
    like sheep without a shepherd,
they will all return to their own people,
    they will flee to their native land.
¹⁵ Whoever is captured will be thrust through;
    all who are caught will fall by the sword.
¹⁶ Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;
    their houses will be looted and their wives violated.

¹⁷ See, I will stir up against them the Medes,
    who do not care for silver
    and have no delight in gold.
¹⁸ Their bows will strike down the young men;
    they will have no mercy on infants,
    nor will they look with compassion on children.
¹⁹ Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,
    the pride and glory of the Babylonians,
will be overthrown by God
    like Sodom and Gomorrah.
²⁰ She will never be inhabited
    or lived in through all generations;
there no nomads will pitch their tents,
    there no shepherds will rest their flocks.
²¹ But desert creatures will lie there,
    jackals will fill her houses;
there the owls will dwell,
    and there the wild goats will leap about.
²² Hyenas will inhabit her strongholds,
    jackals her luxurious palaces.
Her time is at hand,
    and her days will not be prolonged.

3.               PERSECUTION OF THE REAL CHURCH. The false religion will persecute the true religions. But, the demon spirit that empowers the false church will be judged along with the Great Whore.

Revelation 17:6-8 ⁶I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God's holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. ⁷Then the angel said to me: "Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. ⁸The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come.

4.               INFLUENCE WITH WORLD RULERS. The false religion will influence the majority of the people of Earth.

Revelation 17:9-15 ⁹"This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. ¹⁰They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. ¹¹The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction. ¹²"The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. ¹³They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is LORD of lords and King of kings-and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers." ¹⁵Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.

5.               UNITY IN THE REAL CHURCH; CONFUSION IN THE FALSE CHURCH. While persecution will cause the real church to be unified. The false church will end in confusion and division.

Revelation 17:16-18 ¹⁶The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. ¹⁷For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority, until God's words are fulfilled. ¹⁸The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."

a.               God has done this before.

Judges 7:20-25 ²⁰The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!" ²¹While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. ²²When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. ²³Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. ²⁴Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, "Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah." So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they seized the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah. ²⁵They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.

1 Samuel 14:14-23 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.

Israel Routs the Philistines

¹⁵ Then panic struck the whole army—those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.

¹⁶ Saul’s lookouts at Gibeah in Benjamin saw the army melting away in all directions. ¹⁷ Then Saul said to the men who were with him, “Muster the forces and see who has left us.” When they did, it was Jonathan and his armor-bearer who were not there.

¹⁸ Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God.” (At that time it was with the Israelites.) ¹⁹ While Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the Philistine camp increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”

²⁰ Then Saul and all his men assembled and went to the battle. They found the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with their swords. ²¹ Those Hebrews who had previously been with the Philistines and had gone up with them to their camp went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. ²² When all the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were on the run, they joined the battle in hot pursuit. ²³ So on that day the Lord saved Israel, and the battle moved on beyond Beth Aven.

2 Chronicles 20:19-24 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

²⁰ Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” ²¹ After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

“Give thanks to the Lord,
    for his love endures forever.”

²² As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. ²³ The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

²⁴ When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.

III.        CONCLUSION. Jesus is coming back. Don’t get left behind! Receive Christ today as Lord and Savior.

A.             PRAYER FOR SALVATION FOR YOU TO KNOW JESUS CHRIST; THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.[1] As we close, if you have not received this Jesus pray this simple prayer:

 

"Father, I know that I have sinned against You. Please forgive me. Wash me clean. I promise to trust in Jesus, Your Son. I believe that He died for me—He took my sin upon Himself when He died on the cross. I believe that He was raised from the dead. I surrender my life to Jesus today.

"Thank You, Father, for Your gift of forgiveness and eternal life. Please help me to live for you. In Jesus' name, Amen."                             

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[1] http:www.joycemeyer.orgOurMinistriesEverydayAnswersHow+to+Become+a+Christian. (Accessed, March 2, 2011).