The DeGRAFF FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCH
State Route 235/ 100 East Miami Street
DeGraff, Ohio 43318
Phone: (937) 585-4463
James R. Roby, Pastor
MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT
THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS
AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH
by Pastor James Roby
"So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, 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."
In the book of Revelation, the Holy Spirit is revealing the events of the last days to the Apostle John. One of the key truths that God has chosen to reveal is that of MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. Who is this woman riding the beast? Why is she called a great whore? What is she doing? Very little interpretation needs to be done on this portion of scripture...it is so clear and explicit in its meaning. Even a child could understand this truth! Who is this blasphemous, abominable, filthy woman? First, let's look at the facts as revealed in the Bible...
1.) She is riding the beast.
2). She has a golden cup in her hand.
3). She is revealed as both a CITY and a RELIGIOUS SYSTEM.
4.) The city that she is identified with is set on seven mountains/hills.
5.) She is dressed in purple and scarlet colours, glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. (wealth!).
6.)She is drunk with the blood of the saints (true Christians).
7.) She is the Mother (producer of an offspring) of harlots and abominations of the Earth.
8.) By her deception all nations are led astray.
Let's look at these things in a little more detail.
1.) She is riding the beast. Throughout the Bible, the Beast refers to the Antichrist: that evil, demon-possessed dictator that will rule a large portion of the earth during the Tribulation period. This beast is described as scarlet coloured with seven heads and ten horns. This is a Biblical description of Satan (Revelation 12:3,9), thus identifying the Beast/Antichrist with the Devil himself. The woman riding the beast, then, refers to the fact that she is co-operating with and being led about by the Antichrist.
2.) She has a golden cup in her hand. The official symbol of the Babylonian religion was a woman holding a golden cup. "Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the Earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad" (Jeremiah 51:7). Under the Emperor Constantine, an early apostate form of "Christianity" merged with this false Babylonian religion. It became what we know as Roman Catholicism. THE OFFICIAL SYMBOL OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IS A WOMAN WITH A GOLDEN CUP IN HER HAND, too! The Latin inscription of this symbol reads 'SEDET SUPER UNIVERSUM," or "The whole world is her seat." This ties in perfectly with what is revealed in Revelation 17:1 where it says the "great whore that sitteth upon many waters." Allowing the Bible to interpret itself, it explains that "the waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." (Revelation 17:15). The whole world truly is her seat! The merger of the Babylonian cult with apostate Christianity (and the mingling of the beliefs of both systems) produced a "babylonianized"/"christianized" religion with its official symbol being a woman straddling the world with a golden cup in her hand! This woman is called a WHORE and is identified heavily with fornication. Many of the Popes were guilty of having mistresses (some FAR below legal age!). They, along with multitudes of Priests, Bishops, and Cardinals, were guilty of incest and sexual perversions of every sort. One Pope was even murdered in the very act of adultery. All down through history, Catholic leaders have had affairs, prostitutes, and many were proven to be homosexuals. Not one Pope or Priest was ever excommunicated for sexual sin...but thousands have been put out of the priesthood for the 'scandal' of getting married. Sexual sin has been a hallmark of Catholic leadership. Perhaps that is why God identifies this false system with whoredom, fornication, and filthiness! It would be naive to not also notice that the fornication practiced by Catholicism pictures a spiritual fornication in which the truth is prostituted for political and financial gain. The Roman Catholic religion is one of admixture...mixing together the various religions of the world into a false system of spiritual harlotry.
3.) She is both a city AND a religious system. The false religious order of Babylon had its beginning in Genesis chapter 11. It was at this time that men attempted to build a city and a religious system in combination. "And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name..." (Genesis 11:4). Once again, the Vatican, in Rome, is BOTH a city and a religious system. The Pope has two kinds of power: he is the chief of a political order, and he is also a religious leader.
4.) The city that the Whore is identified with is set on seven mountains/hills. (Revelation 17:9). She is also identified as "that great CITY, that reigneth over the kings of the Earth." (Revelation 17:18). There is a city that is built on seven mountains or hills. The great historian, MARTIAL, said, "Rome is the city with seven domineering mountains." VIRGIL said, "Rome has become the most beautiful city in the world, and alone surrounds herself seven heights a wall." The scriptures conclude that this latter day Babylonian religion will have its roots and headquarters in Rome! Rome is the city built on seven mountains!
5.) She is "arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls" (Revelation 17:4). The official colours of the Roman Catholic Church are purple and scarlet! This church is also very rich, as indicated by the gold, precious stones and pearls.Much of the vast wealth of the Catholic institution was acquired through the confiscation of property of the victims that were persecuted and even killed by Catholicism during the horrible Inquisition. Much of Rome's wealth was also derived from selling "salvation" through Indulgences, relics, and prayers to get deceased loved ones out of Purgatory.
6.) The woman riding the beast is also said to be "drunken with the blood of the saints (true believers in Christ), and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered after her with great admiration (shock, to be stunned!)" (Revelation 17:6). Everyone is aware of the horrible and bloody attacks that the Roman Catholic Church has leveled against true born again Christians ever since her beginning. Well over ONE BILLION believers have died at the hands of the Catholic Organization. It is a historical fact that priests devised methods of torture to attempt to get Bible-believers to renounce their faith and to join Rome. One method was the RACK...a long table on which the victim (accused of heresy) was tied by the hands and the feet, back down, and stretched unmercifully by rope and windlass. This horrendous procedure dislocated joints and inflicted great pain. HEAVY PINCERS were used to tear out fingernails or applied hot to sensitive areas of the body. THE IRON VIRGIN was a hollow instrument the size and figure of a woman. Knives were arranged inside this figure in such a way that they would lacerate the victim in its deadly embrace. Victims were sometimes stripped of their clothes, their arms tied behind their backs. Weights were then tied to their feet while the action of a pulley suspended them in the air and then dropped them and raised them again and again with such a jerk that the joints of the body were dislocated. While these tortures were going on, priests would hold up the crucifix and attempt to get the victims to recant and join Rome. Many who refused to "repent" had hot molten lead poured into their mouths and ears. Others were forced to watch as their little children were tortured to death in the most hideous ways. Others had eyes gouged out of their heads. Some were choked to death as they were forced to eat their own excrement and to drink their own urine. Women were openly raped. All of these things were done in an effort to get true Bible-believers to renounce the truth and join Catholicism. (For much more detail on this subject, Read Foxes Book of Martyrs and The Trail Of Blood, both accessible from this website under CHURCH HISTORY in the ARTICLES SECTION).
Roman Catholicism can truly be said, above ANY other group in history, to be "DRUNKEN WITH THE BLOOD OF THE SAINTS! This revelation to the Apostle John was so shocking "I wondered with great admiration," because, here was a religion CLAIMING to be Christian...while murdering Christians!
7.) She is identified in scripture as the "MOTHER of HARLOTS." Notice that her name is not hidden, "Upon her forehead was a name written." (Revelation 17:5). It is revealed where everyone who wants to see it can see it clearly! One part of her name is "MOTHER." it is no coincidence that the Roman Catholic Church calls herself the "MOTHER CHURCH." She is the birth mother of many harlots and many abominations. She actually claims that all of the religions of the world had their beginning with her. She states that her goal is to unite all religions into one super-world church under her authority. The "HARLOTS" are all of the religious organizations that have split from Catholicism (i.e. Protestantism, Cults like the Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists, etc,) and those that were scattered from the Tower of Babel (i.e. Islam, Buddhism, Wicca, Hare Krishna, etc.). All of these, and more have their origins at Babylon. Roman Catholicism is in the process of forming a One World Church...and is using the ecumenical movement, the charismatic movement, the World and National Council of Churches, the Neo-Evangelicals, and the Religions of the World to get the job done. BEWARE!
8.) By her deceptions, all nations of the world were led astray. This woman riding the beast will promote blasphemy, abomination, spiritual fornication and drunkenness and filthiness. "The kings of the earth..." and "the inhabitants of the earth" (Revelation17:2) will be horribly deceived by her.
Listen to a quote from "The Catholic Encyclopedia": "It is within the city of Rome, called the city of seven hills, that the entire area of Vatican State proper is now confined...the colour for Bishops is purple, for Cardinals scarlet...the chalice (golden cup) is the most important of all sacred vessels...the Roman Catholic Church possesses many thousands of solid gold, sacred chalices..."
By their own admission, and by honest investigation...Roman Catholicism is the city/religion that is set on seven mountains/hills; has purple and scarlet for her colours; has a woman holding a golden cup as its symbol; has martyred true believers down through the centuries of time; calls herself the "Mother" church; and is intent on uniting the false religions of the world (harlots) under her skirts of authority. She will then cooperate with Antichrist (The Beast) in enslaving and damning the people of the Earth during the Tribulation period.
Make no mistake about it, Roman Catholicism is the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth!...The Mystery, Babylon of the book of Revelation. God has commanded, "Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." (Revelation 18:4).
