(If I say something that is right, then God has inspired me. If I say something that is wrong, then it is my own mistake.)
1. Introduction to the whore
The book of revelation is known to contain a lot of symbolic imagery. One of these symbols happens to be a “whore”, adorned in scarlet and gold. She is depicted as sitting on a beast with 7 heads and 10 horns (the same as the first beast) and is drunk with the blood of saints and prophets. In the same chapter we also read that the seven horns represent seven hills, and towards the end of the chapter, the whore is revealed to be a city. Bear in mind this imagery, as we will be going over them one by one.
2. Using the Bible to identify the whore
A lot of Christians identify the “whore” or the city as being related to the Vatican city or Catholicism. This is a falsehood perpetrated by those with an anti-Catholic bias. I am not defending the Catholic church, but the claim that the “whore” is the Vatican is simply not in line with what the Bible teaches.
Anybody who is serious about deciphering the Biblical concept of the “whore” needs to use the Bible as a guide… not their own imaginations and biases. Going by the verses in revelations 17:18, we know that the whore represents a certain city. This city can be profiled as having the following traits:
a) Has the blood of saints and holy men
b) Sits on seven hills
c) Adorned in scarlet and gold / killed by her lovers
The key to Biblically identifying the whore is to pinpoint exactly what city in the Bible matches all of the whores traits. Upon reading the Bible, we learn that there is only one entity in the entire Bible that matches up to the whores description. Jerusalem.
If we were to go over the whores traits and compare it to Jerusalem, we see that :
a) Jerusalem – killer of saints and holy men
Jesus himself said of Jerusalem…
Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets
-Matthew 23:29-31
That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
-Matthew 23:35
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,
-Matthew 23:37
Only Jerusalem is accused of the same crime as the whore… of having spilled the blood of holy men and saints. This alone should be enough to establish the identity of the whore as Jerusalem.
b) Jerusalem – a city on seven hills.
Jerusalem makes the list of List of cities claimed to be built on seven hills
– The northern summit (hill) is called Scopus (Hill One)
– The middle summit (hill) was called Nob (Hill Two)
– The highest point of Olivet itself, and the southern summit (hill) was called in the Holy Scriptures the “Mount of Corruption” or “Mount of Offence” (Hill Three)
– On the middle ridge between the Kedron and the Tyropoeon Valleys there was (formerly) in the south “Mount Zion” (Hill Four)
– The “Ophel Mount” (Hill Five)
– To the north of that the “Rock” around which “Fort Antonia” was built (Hill Six),
– The southwest hill itself (Hill Seven)
c) Jerusalem – Adorned in scarlet and gold / Killed by her lovers
First, these are the colors associated with the “priesthood” who Jesus condemned.
Have them use gold, and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen.
“Make the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen—the work of skilled hands. It is to have two shoulder pieces attached to two of its corners, so it can be fastened. Its skillfully woven waistband is to be like it—of one piece with the ephod and made with gold, and with blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and with finely twisted linen.
-Exodus 28:5-8
“Fashion a breastpiece for making decisions—the work of skilled hands. Make it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple
-Exodus 28:15
Make pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet yarn around the hem of the robe, with goldbells between them
-Exodus 28:33
Gold = mentioned 16 times
Purple = mentioned 5 times
Scarlet = mentioned 5 times
Then, only Jerusalem is described in the Bible as being adorned in scarlet and gold.
We read in Jeremiah:
And you, O desolate one, what will you do? Although you dress in scarlet, Although you decorate yourself with ornaments of gold, Although you enlarge your eyes with paint, In vain you make yourself beautiful; Your lovers despise you; They seek your life. I hear a cry as of a woman in labor, a groan as of one bearing her first child-the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands and saying, “Alas! I am fainting; my life is given over to murderers.”
-Jeremiah 4:30-31
Now compare that verse with these ones in Revelations…
And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality
– Revelation 17:4
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.
– Revelations 17:16
“Daughter of zion” is a clear reference to Jerusalem. Just like the whore, she too is described as being adorned in scarlet and gold. And just like the whore, her former lovers turn against her and kill her. The whores is also destroyed by the 10 horns, who are revealed as kings and her former lovers in Revelations 17:2.
Several times in the bible, explicit sexual imagery has been used to describe Jerusalem / Israel’s unfaithfulness. Off the top of my head, 2 entire chapters in the book of Ezekiel describe Israel as a “prostitute”. Ezekiel 16 and Ezekiel 23
Notice the parallels between Ezekiel 23 and that of Revelations 17.
Ezekiel 23: I will stir up your lovers against you…
They will come against you with weapons,chariots…
I will turn you over to them for punishment…
I will direct my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in fury…
Revelations 17 : For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose…
The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute…
Ezekiel 23 :They will also strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry.
Revelations 17 :They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked;
Ezekiel 23 :They will cut off your noses and your ears…
those of you who are left will fall by the sword….
and those of you who are left will be consumed by fire.
Revelations 17 : they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
3. Jerusalem = the whore = the city of Babylon
Another important point to note is that Revelations 17 ends with the destruction of the whore and the very next chapter details the destruction of a city, Babylon. To put it simply, Jerusalem is the whore… the whore is Babylon, the city that is to be destroyed. We read in Revelations 18 that the destroyed city called “Babylon” is….
Adorned in scarlet and gold…
“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!
-Revelations 18:16
Has the blood of the prophets…
In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”
– Revelations 18:24
Its a perfect match. The fact that Jerusalem is equated with Babylon is no surprise, considering in Revelations 11:8, Jerusalem is equated to Sodom and Egypt.
We see that the descriptions of Jerusalem perfectly matches that of the whore. It is established that Jerusalem, and no other, is the whore of Revelations 17. Those who insist its the Vatican are either deluded or willfully deny whats there in their own Bibles.
4. Jerusalem – city of sin
Now that it has been biblically established that Jerusalem is the whore of revelations, lets look at the moral state of Jerusalem, the way it is today. For starters, modern day Jerusalem (or Israel for that matter) is not exactly the holy and God fearing Israel, as many Christians falsely assume. Instead, Israel is a hub for gay tourism, with gay pride parades taking place even in Jerusalem, where Jesus and the prophets once walked.
Prostitution is also rampant. Israel reportedly has one of the highest rates of prostitution in the world, with the sex trade raking in nearly $2 Billion a year. Furthermore, adding Israels wickedness, Jesus, the central figure of the Christian religion… is also mocked on national TV. So with all this open homosexuality, prostitution and insulting of Jesus going on… Do Christians really believe that this is the Israel that was prophesied to emerge in the holy land?
God knows best.
Revelation 17-18 