Interpretation of Revelation 17: 18 - Is Only Catholicism In Apostasy? - 1:50 PM, 2/9/2009 |
Interpretation of Revelation 17: 18 - Is Only Catholicism In Apostasy? Bernard Pyron Revelation 17: 18 says: "And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." The traditional protestant interpretation of Revelation 17: 18 is that the woman who reigns over the kings of the earth is Roman Catholicism. John Gill, Adam Clarke and Albert Barnes all say she is Catholicism. The problem with this interpretation is that now Roman Catholicism is not alone in having departed from the doctrines of Christ (II John 8-11). The Protestant Church has also departed. We can go to plain scripture and use it to interpret Revelation 17: 18, which is part of a chapter in heavy metaphoric language. II Thessalonians 2: 3 says "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;" I Timothy 4: 1-2 says "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2.Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;" II Timothy 4: 3-4 says "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4.And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." Then, II Peter 2: 1-3 says "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not." These texts of plain Scripture predict a departure from Christ's doctrines and do not say that departure is limited to the Catholic church. We can use these texts to help interpret Revelation 17: 18 as not being limited to the Catholic Church, but including the Protestant Church. Plain Scripture should be used to establish basic doctrine. Then, Scripture in metaphoric language can be used to add details to that basic doctrine derived from plain Scripture. Go back to the subject of Revelation Chapter 17. Verse one says "Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters." In verse 3 a woman sits upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy..." Then verses 5 and 6 tell us "And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6. 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." The Great Whore and the woman are said to have the name of Babylon, or Mystery Babylon the Great, written on her forehead. Metaphorically the great whore is Babylon. Babylon as a construct and as an historical religion is the mother of Talmudic Judaism, Roman Catholicism and Evangelical Protestantism in false doctrines. Babylonian religion was a very early form of false religion and pagan worship. Here again is the triune division of the peoples who consider themselves as belonging to God as seen in Zechariah 13: 8-9 and Ezekiel 5: 1-12. The woman of Revelation 17: 18, which reigns over the kings of the earth is Babylon, or Mystery Babylon the Great of verse 5. She includes the Latin Church, or Roman Catholicism, which killed some saints of Jesus. Babylon includes Evangelical/ mainstream Christianity, much of which is dispensationalist, but has some other false doctrines. Finally, Babylon includes Zionist/Talmudic- Kabbalistic Judiasm, the various sects of the contemporary Jews. The woman of verse 18 is Babylon as a construct and historically since ancient Babylonian religion was one of the foundations of Roman Catholicism. This woman can also include Freemasonry as Mystery Babylon, the Babylonian Mystery Religions, and other secret societies such as Skull and Bones. And as prophecy Revelation 17: 6 can also be predicting the martyrdom of the one third of Zechariah 13: 8-9 by the serpents and scorpions of the apostate Protestant church in the Trumpet Judgments of Revelation 9. Paul's teachings in Galatians on walking in the Holy Spirit and not being in bondage to the law given on Mount Sinai applies to the three divisions of God's people. the Talmudic Jews, Roman Catholics and Protestants in false doctrines. Galatians 5: 16-18 says "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulful the lust of the flesh. 17. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." In Romans 8: 1 Paul says "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." The people of God who do not have the Holy Spirit, who do not walk in the Spirit, are under the law. "Christ us become if no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.(Galatians 5: 4). Paul says in Galatians 6: 1, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." The fault which he speaks of here can be a behavior that is sinful but is continued after the Spirit has nudged the person to stop. Or, the fault can be following of false doctrine, and again, the Spirit may have warmed the person to get out of the false doctrine but the person did not heed the warning. After several warnings gthe Spirit may give up and let the Christian continue in false doctrine as strong delusion (II Thessalonians 2: 11) The implication of Galatians 6: 1 is that a Christian can lose his or her walk in the Spirit. Other Christians who remain in the Spirit, are spiritual, can help that person be restored to walking in the Spirit. Then in Galatians 4: 22-26 Paul writes that "For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 23. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. 24. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 25. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." "For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26.But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." There are two quite different Jerusalems here. One is in bondage to the law given on Mount Sinai, and the other is above and is free of bondage to the law. Galaians 4: 25, that Jerusalem which is in bondage with her children, fits a Babylonian Religion construct that now includes Evangelical/ mainstream Christianity, much of which is dispensationalist, as well as Catholicism and Zionist/Talmudic- Kabbalistic Judiasm. Using this Jerusalem which is in bondage to help interpret Revelation 17: 18 can also help get us past the problem of the traditionalism and dispensationalist interpretation of Revelation 17: 18 - that city which rules over the kings of the earth - as being only Roman Catholicism. Metaphorically, the great city that rules oiver the kings of the earth in Revelation 17: 18 can be seen as that Jerusalem which is in bondage with her children to the law given at Mount Sinai. But in the traditional interpretation of Revelation 17: 18 the conclusion can be that the problem of departing from Christ's doctrines (II John 9-11) is found only in the Catholic Church and not in the Protestant Church. This interpretation does not go back to verses 1,3 and 5, about the great whore, the woman and Mystery Babylon the Great which define who the woman of Revelation 17: 18 is. How convenient the literalist interpretation of metaphoric Scripture is for the contemporary dispensationalists who teach that every Bible verse must be interpreted literally. They don't want the Protestant Church to be judged for false doctrine, Their literalist system of interpretation leads to a view of Revelation 17 as saying that only the Catholic Church is in apostasy. They jump to the conclusion that the woman is only Roman Catholicism and not also as Babylonian religion the sects of the Jews, the secret societies and Protestantism. The traditionalists like John Gill did not have our view of Protestant apostasy and wrote from their limited perspective. |
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