Chapter Thirty-Three -Judging the Infamous Harlot

A Name, a Mystery

The apostle John is soon to learn that the great harlot has chosen a dangerous beast to ride. First,, though, his attention turns to Babylon the Great herself. She is richly adorned, but oh how repulsive she is!" "And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and was adorned with gold and precious stone and pearls and had in her hand a golden cup that was full of disgusting things and the unclean things of her fornication. And upon her forehead was written a name, a mystery:  'Babylon the Great, the mother of the harlots and of the disgusting things of the earth.' And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the holy ones and with the blood of  the witnesses of Jesus." -Revelation 1 7"4-6a. 

As was the custom in ancient Rome, this prostitute is identified by the name on her forehead.  It is a long name:  "Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the disgusting things of the earth."  That name is "a mystery," something with hidden meaning. But in God's due time, the mystery is to be explained. In fact, the angel gives John enough information to allow Jehovah's servants today to discern the full significance of this descriptive name. We recognize Babylon the Great as being all of false religion. She is "the mother of the harlots" because all the individual false religions in the world, including the many sects in Christendom, are like her daughters, imitating her in committing spiritual harlotry. She is also the mother of "disgusting things" in that she gave birth to such revolting offspring as idolatry, spiritism,  fortune-telling, astrology, palmistry, human sacrifice, temple prostitution, drunkenness in honor of false gods, and other obscene practices. 

Babylon the Great is dressed in "purple and scarlet," the colors of royalty, and is "adorned with gold and precious stone and pearls."  How appropriate!  Just reflect on all the magnificent buildings, rare statutes and paintings, priceless icons, and other religious paraphernalia, as well as astronomical amounts of property and cash, that this world's religions have accumulated. Whether at the Vatican, in the TV empire of evangelism centered in the United States, or in the exotic wats and temples of the Orient, Babylon  the Great has amassed-and at times lost-fabulous wealth. 

Next time: Chapter Thirty-Three -Judging the Infamous Harlot - Conclusion of A Name, a Mystery

From the book of Revelation