Revelation -What It Means to God's Enemies - AN INGLORIOUS END FOR THE GREAT PROSTITUTE

 The apostle John mentions that he "was greatly amazed" by something else he saw. What was it?  A woman riding one of these ferocious beasts.  (Revelation 17:1, 2, 6)  She is portrayed as a "great prostitute" and is called "Babylon the Great." She commits "sexual immorality" with the kings of the earth." - Read REVELATION 17:3-5.

Who is "Babylon the Great"? This woman cannot represent a political organization because she is spoken of as committing immorality with the world's political leaders.  (Revelation 18:9)  In fact,  she endeavors to control these rulers, symbolically riding them. Additionally, she cannot represent the greedy commercial elements of Satan's world.  These are portrayed separately as "the merchants of the earth."  - REVELATION 18:11, 15, 16.

In the Scriptures, the term"prostitute" can refer to those who claim to serve God but engage in some form of idolatry or in some other way become friends of the world.  (1 Chronicles 5:25; James 4:4)  By contrast, those who faithfully worship God are referred to as being "chaste" or as "virgins." (2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 14:4)  Ancient Babylon was a center of false worship.  So, then, Babylon the Great must represent all forms of false worship (all religions except the Jehovah's Witnesses).  In fact, she is the world empire of false religion. - REVELAtioN 17:5, 18; see the Web article on jw.org "What Is Babylon the Great?" 

What will happen to Babylon the Great?  Revelation 17:16, 17 answers that question this way:  "The ten horns tha t you saw and the wild beast, these will hate the prostitute and will  make her devastated and naked, and they will eat up her flesh and completely burn her with fire. For God put it into their hearts to carry out his thought."  Yes, Jehovah will  motivate the nations to use the scarlet-colored wild beast, that is, the United Nations, to turn on the world empire of false  religion and completely destroy it. - REVELATION 18:21-24.

What does this mean for us? We need to maintain "the form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God." (James 1:27)  Never would we want to allow ourselves  to be influenced by the false teachings, the pagan celebrations - Christmas, thanksgiving, easter etc., the lax moral standards, and the spiritistic practices of Babylon the Great! And we would continually call out to people to "get out of her," so that htey can avoid sharing in her guilt before God. - REVELATION 18:4.

Next time: Revelation- What It Means to God's Enemies -  THE JUDGMENT ON GOD'S GREATEST ENEMY

From the jw.org publications