ALONE WITH GOD     

  What did John now see?

  "And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration." Rev. 17: 1=6.

  Oh, how changed! What a contrast! Now he beholds " a great whore. " Instead of a pure woman, that chaste virgin, he now beholds a woman "with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. " She holds a cup full of the " filthiness of her fornication. " This woman is " drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. " No wonder John "wondered with great admiration." Before the apostasy she stood upon the moon—the Word of God (12:1); now she sits "upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns." Ah, beloved reader, this woman represents the apostate church. She is the Catholic church. The beast that carried her is imperial Rome under the popes and bishops. This is made clear by the angel's interpretation of this marvelous vision.

  "And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but received power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 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 fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." Verse 7-18.

  Here is a full explanation of the mystery. " The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth." This no doubt refers to the city of Rome, built upon seven hills or mountains. Rome was the seat of both the pagan and the papal government. Hence, on her, sat this woman and ruled or reigned over the kings of the earth. Thus she sat on seven mountains. But the seven heads have another signification. "And there are seven kings." These refer to the seven supreme forms of government which the Roman empire had: (1) the regal, (2) the dictatorial, (3) the decemviral, (4) the consular, (5) the triumviral, (6) the imperial, (7) and the patrician.

  These were the ruling powers of the empire. The angel thus informed John: "Five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space." That is, at the time John received this vision, the first five had already fallen. "One is." The form of government ruling the empire in John's time was the imperial. The rulers were the heathen Caesars. It was the sixth head of Rome. The other "not yet come" was the patrician, which had not yet developed at John's time. It was to continue "but a short space." Adam Clark says that the time during which the patriciate ruled the empire was limited to forty five years. Some authorities say fifty-one years; others, twenty six. This was a short period compared with the duration of several of the preceding forms of government. This makes the seven heads of the empire.

  Next tile angel interprets the beast upon which the woman sat: "And tile beast that thou sawest was, and is not; . . . behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is." "And tile beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition." This beast upon which the woman sat is the eighth head of Rome, and yet was one of the seven. This beast was popery. Popery was the eighth and last head of Rome. It is the same secular beast as seen in Rev. 13: 1-11. " But, " says one, " how was it one of the original seven, " Let us see. The sixth head of the empire was the imperial under the heathen Caesars. This imperial power was the persecuting power of Rome against the early Christians. Imperial Rome ruled the world. Thus "it was." But the time came when the hordes of savages from the North swept the empire and wounded the imperial head to death. The imperial government was overthrown. It remained about fifty one years, during which the patriciate ruled the empire. Thus "it was not." But a little later this same imperial power revived under a Christian garb. The same power that ruled under the Caesars in heathen garb, though wounded to death for about fifty one years, revived and ruled under the priests and popes in Christian garb. Thus this beast "was, and is not, and yet is," and now constitutes the eighth head of Rome. The identical power that ruled under Caesar ruled under popery—imperial Rome—first in heathen garb, next in Christian garb; but it was the same persecuting power in Christian garb that it had been in heathen garb.

  As early as A. D. 270 the devil manufactured an apostate church. This apostate institution is what the woman, the great whore, represented. When the old persecuting imperial power revived, it entered this apostate institution and gave it its life under the popes and priests. It became the power that ruled this apostate church. Thus the woman sat upon this scarlet colored beast. This beast was imperial Rome under popes and priests, hence popery. This makes clear how the horns of imperial Rome, under pagan rule, served as the horns of papal Rome. It was the same power clothed in a different garb. These ten horns, as already seen in this chapter, signify the ten divided kingdoms of Rome. These were to "give their power and strength unto the beast. " Thus they became his horns, just as they had served as the horns of the dragon. The time was to come when these kings would 'hate the whore, and should make her desolate and naked, and should eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.' This no doubt was fulfilled when the very nations that had once supported popery and constituted her horns turned against her and sheared her of all temporal power. Among others, England and Germany effected this, and became the horns, or powers, which supported Protestantism.

  This beast ascended "out of the bottomless pit," was of hellish origin. Such is the whole system of popery. It emanated from hell, and " shall go into perdition. " This very beast will finally be "cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone" (Rev. 19: 20).

  "And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." Rev. 17: 18. This is Babylon the Great—the Roman Catholic sect. She is the great whore. She is guilty of "the blood of the saints, and the martyrs of Jesus." History states that she glutted herself with the blood of nearly fifty million saints. The bride of Christ was clothed with the sun; she wore the robes of righteousness. But this woman "was arrayed in purple and scarlet color." This apostate woman Christ never acknowledged as his bride.

  Daniel foretold the downfall of popery in the following words: "But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end." Dan. 7:26. this judgment began in the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, and today is being executed with divine authority. the result is that hte beast-power is diminishing, and it will continue so, "till the end."