The Harlot of the Apocalypse
After seeing what the red beast of the Apocalypse was, let us turn our focus onto the harlot spoken about in Chapter 17.
In verses 1 through 5 we are presented a very earthly woman, being seen “arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls”, which is a very material and sinful woman, “with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication”. This is again emphasized by showing her “having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication”.
Rev 17:1-4 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 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.
And yet, verse 6 seems to present another women, one “drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus”.
Rev 17:6 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.
Although it may seem that this woman would be different than the first one, since this verse seem to refer to a spiritual woman rather than an earthly one, we are given clear indication that this second woman is guilty of having spelt much blood – that of the martyrs of the Church. Indeed we do know that millions upon millions of martyrs died under the communist persecutions in the Orthodox Eastern Europe up to 1989, and it still continues to today …
We believe that the woman in verse 6 is in fact the same woman as in verses 1-5, although the two images of her are presented separately: on one hand we are shown that she is a very earthly and sinful woman, yet she is also portrayed as being in some sort of spiritual delusion, since she is “drunken with the blood of the saints”.
And this woman sits upon the beast of which we talked about:
Rev 17:7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
It is explained in great detail by Blessed Seraphim Rose in his Orthodox Survival Course that the reason Communism failed in The Soviet Union was because it was devoid of religion, because they tried to deny the inherent spirituality that everyone has as given by God when He created us in His image. This inclination is a very important part of our being with a very well defined purpose: that to maintain a constant desire in man to seek God. Fr Seraphim (and others) recognized that the political system of the coming antichrist will be one of a “spiritual communism” in which science and religion will fusion together.
This is where we realize that the two women that seem to be distinct are in fact the same – St John talks about a single woman: the “spiritual communism”, or the “christian communism” we talked about elsewhere on our website. She is very materialistic, yet spiritual, but teaching a false, corrupt doctrine.
As we have seen in our previous article, Archimandrite Nektarios’ shows us very clearly who this woman is: it is the Catholic Church, and all those that fornicate with Her, all the fallen Orthodox bishops and all the other heresies that partake in the movement of Ecumenism. It is important to note that this interpretation is accurate and refers to the “spiritual side” of the women (as described above).
Communism in itself is only an ideology and can not exist by itself but has to take the form of an earthly entity, an earthly kingdom, meaning there will be a country or group of countries that will implement this system. In order to identify which country that would be, we would have to look at the one that is most materialistic and rich as the woman presented in Chapter 17 is – and that today is America. It is to be expected that, in the not too distant future, the material image of the woman (the West) will merge with its spiritual image (the false Church) to form a single body.
What better evidence could there be to prove where things are headed than seeing how the Jesuits, also known as “The Scientists” (remember, the science and religion would merge), the champions of “Liberation Theology”, also known as “Christian Communism” (Marxism disguised as Christianity) are now in control of the largest religion in the Western world – the Catholicism. This is how it will be possible that the earthly communism will merge with the spiritual communism.
In Chapter 7 there are many verses that help identify the harlot of Babylon, referring to either her material image or to her spiritual one.
As Archimandrite Nektarios also points out, St John then goes on to show the judgement of this Harlot of Babylon. The beast having 10 horns (the 10 bankers, the elite of the world, all those secret societies) turns against the woman and destroy it, and the whole world shall be given to the beast:
Rev 17:16-17 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
Chapter 18 of the Book of Apocalypse gives us more indication on who this harlot is:
[10] Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
[11] And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
[12] The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
[13] And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
[14] And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
[15] The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
[16] And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
[17] For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
[18] And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
[19] And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
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