Revelation: The Bride, the Beast & Babylon Page #7

for us in verse 15.

"Then he said to me,

"'The waters which you saw,

where the harlot sits,

Are peoples, multitudes,

nations, and tongues."'

So the woman reigns

Over a densely

populated civilization.

You've probably

heard the expression

"All roads lead to Rome."

During the zenith of their rule,

The Romans had built a network

with 50,000 miles of roads

Circulating throughout

the entire empire.

Just as imperial Rome

began to unravel,

The church in Rome

was gaining in strength.

In effect the catholic church

Kind of rushes in

to fill the power vacuum

That is left

by the fall of the roman empire.

And you get into situations

where, for example,

In the middle of the 5th century,

when Attila the Hun

Is advancing

on the city of Rome with his army,

The emperor is not the one

who goes out to stop him,

The pope is, the bishop of Rome.

This kind of prominence,

Political prominence

as well as religious prominence,

Comes to really define

the pope's role.

The prophecy also indicates

That the woman is riding a beast

with seven heads and ten horns.

Obviously

these things are symbols.

This creature here clearly

represents the same monster

With seven heads

and ten horns that we just saw

Warring with the bride

of Christ in chapter 12

And it's the same beast

That the world is compelled

to worship in chapter 13.

So what do these seven heads

and ten horns represent?

"The seven heads

are seven mountains

On which the woman sits."

"The ten horns

which you saw are ten kings..."

There is only

one city in the world

That sits

on seven hills like this,

One major city,

and that's the city of Rome.

So there is no doubt

in most expositor's minds

That when John

is talking about this woman,

He is talking about Rome.

So you see the connection here,

seven heads, seven mountains.

You go in revelation 12:

Seven heads.

Revelation 13

deals with seven heads.

There is a continuity here.

"It is within the city of Rome,

called the city of seven hills,

"That the entire area

of Vatican state proper

Is now confined."

There is only one church

That is also

an independent country

And has political

world power:
The Vatican.

This country, with the world's

smallest population,

Was established

as an independent state

With 109 acres within Rome.

Behind the walls of Vatican city

There are less than 1,000 people

Living within this small country

that is governed by the pope

Who has absolute executive,

legislative, and judicial powers.

Ambassadors

from around the world

Meet with the pope

and his representatives

Seeking the influence

and guidance

Of this international

religious power.

Even the united nations

Will assemble

to be addressed by the pope.

When the western

roman empire fell,

Their territory fragmented

into ten primary divisions.

The ten horns represent

the ten kings or kingdoms

Into which imperial Rome

was eventually split.

The ten horns

are a description of Rome

Which breaks up

into ten smaller kingdoms.

Throughout history

Catholicism has been

dominating many kingdoms.

So you have the church

riding on a political power.

You see, because the woman

rides the beast

And so for many centuries

she was in control.

You have a union

of church and state.

The names of blasphemy

Is another key element

to this prophecy

That points directly

at the roman catholic church.

"We hold upon this earth

the place of god almighty."

This puts a mortal man

in the position of god

And is ultimately

the very definition of blasphemy.

This is not meant

to question the sincerity

Of any specific pope,

But the prophecy is addressing

the office that he holds

And the institution

he represents.

The woman is also clothed

in unique colors.

She has specific colors

that are mentioned here,

Not the color of white anymore,

But now we have colors

that represent,

Strangely enough, two things:

Royalty and prostitution.

And specific colors

that we happen to see

Coming out in the historic

Christian church later on

In the colors of the priests

Of the historic

Christian church.

Not only

were these the principle colors

Of the roman Caesars,

But according

to the catholic encyclopedia,

Purple is the official

color of bishops

And scarlet for cardinals.

In addition to the scarlet

and the purple,

We see that this harlot,

or corrupt church,

Possesses vast mineral riches.

When one considers its countless

artistic treasures of gold,

Silver and pearls,

the roman catholic church

Is by far the wealthiest

religious institution on earth.

Every year tourists

come from around the world

To view the glittering opulence

of the roman church.

Another disturbing mark

of this woman

Is found in verse 6.

"I saw the woman drunk

with the blood of the saints

And with the blood

of the martyrs of Jesus."

History reveals

that the roman church

Was the worst oppressor

of Christians and Jews

Over the centuries.

In fact, historians tell us

over 50 million martyrs

Fell victim to the terrible

inquisitions and persecutions

Of the church of Rome.

So what we have here

Is a prophecy

saying that the church

Would engage

in incredible persecution

And that's exactly

what took place.

And the church started

a legal process, a legal system,

Known as 'inquisition'

to interrogate these people,

To force as many

as possible to recant

And to retract their ideas

And to grab hold

of the leaders of the movement

And to stop them

spreading any further.

The highest number

of deaths ever recorded

Occurred when the church

Persecuted those

who disagreed with them

And that level of repression

Continues

through the middle ages.

So this woman, or church,

is a persecuting power

That oppresses

Christ's true followers.

We'll be looking

at several brave souls

That risked their lives

To speak up against

the corrosive pagan influences

And to share god's word

During this time

of spiritual darkness.

"The people

who walked in darkness

"Have seen a great light:

"Those who dwelt in the land

of the shadow of death,

Upon them

a light has shined."

Living in Lyons, France,

there was one young man

Who would alter

the course of Christian history.

Peter Waldo,

also known as Valdes,

A very wealthy

and educated young merchant

Had a life-Changing experience.

A young friend

of Waldo's died suddenly.

Realizing the brevity of life

And the vanity

of worldly treasure,

Waldo made a firm decision

to forsake all for Christ.

He gave his wealth to the poor

And became

an itinerant preacher.

Waldo taught that the bible

should be understood literally

And freely

proclaimed to the people

In their own language.

He encouraged believers

To live lives

of simplicity and poverty

And at the same time,

He boldly denounced

the excesses of the priests.

By - ad-1170 peter Waldo

Had gathered

a large number of followers

Who were referred to

As 'the poor of Lyons'

or Waldensians.

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