Revelation : The whores name explained

(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.)


The name written on her forehead was a mystery: Babylon the great - the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth.
-Revelation 17:5

1. The mysterious name of the whore
Why is a reference being made to Babylon? And what is actually meant by her being the mother of 'prostitutes and abominations'?
First off, it is indeed mysterious that the whores name contains a reference to a city that had collapsed centuries prior to the Book of Revelation being written. Christians would know that Babylon wasn't just any ordinary city, but one that is repeatedly portrayed in the Bible as an enemy of the Israelites. We also know from the book of Revelation, that place names are applied symbolically to other entities and so therefore, it can safely be assumed that ‘Babylon’ also appears symbolically in the whore’s name. But if symbols aren't randomly thrown about and if defunct Babylon also happens to be the whore’s symbolic name, is there a deeper meaning to the whore’s name?



2. What does the whore represent?
Many Christian theologians point to the idolatry and false religion of historical Babylon and arbitrarily insert religious meanings to the events and symbols of chapters 17 and 18 in the Book of Revelation. They go on to claim that the whore is some “false religion” and declare some religion they oppose (usually its the Roman Catholic Church) as being the whore. However, we see that Chapters 17 and 18 contain both veiled and explicit references to corrupt economics and trade as opposed to “false religions” and “false gods”.

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
– Revelation 18:3

I have already covered this subject in a previous thread here, but I'll just post a brief explanation for now.
- The whores “fornication” represents a usury based economic system.
- The kings committing adultery with her are governments who are players in the whores economic system.
- The merchants are the businessmen and bankers, who grow rich from whores economic system.
- The nations are "drunk" because they have been deceived by the whores economic system.

If you believe that the whore is something else, good for you. Start a thread on it. I believe the usury based economics theory better explains all those cryptic verses about fornication and nations getting drunk and merchants getting rich. This is the crux of my argument.



3. The Babylonian origins of usury
While working on this post, I had to look into whether or not the name 'Babylon' was compatible with my theory that the whore’s symbolic fornication symbolized a usury based economic system. In other words, if I could establish a connection between a usury based economic system and the name ‘Babylon’, it would perfectly explain why the whore is named ‘Babylon’.

From a purely academic point of view, the geographical region that Babylon occupied happens to be the birthplace of the banking institution. And unsurprisingly, the Babylonians are credited with developing the earliest commercial banking systems - complete with loans, credit and interest!
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...

Simply put, usury is ancient Babylon’s lasting contribution to the world of economics.
Usury is a Babylonian abomination that has not only survived to this day, but thrives globally as a legitimate practice, that is accepted as business-as-usual. It will be through this practice on an international level that the whore fornicates with kings, while deceiving the nations and making her merchants rich. So when you think of “usury”, just think of Babylon, the land of its origin. It now makes sense as to why the whore is named Babylon and not anything else. Because if abominations and prostitutes are representative of usury and its practitioners, then Babylon is literally the mother of the prostitutes and abominations of the earth!



4. Babylon lives on through the practice of usury.
Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.
– Ezekiel 18:13

Today historical Babylon exists only as ruins in Iraq or as museum exhibits. The Babylonian religion has long since been eradicated and its idols are in the scrap heaps of history, never to be worshiped again. Yet, usury is the one Babylonian abomination that did not die with the collapse of Babylon in 539 BC. I'm no historian, but I'm willing to wager that Babylonian practices of usury and deceptive economics was transmitted to other parts of the world through trade well before the collapse of Babylon. It is also not too far fetched to imagine that many of the Israelites who lived in Babylon corrupted themselves by adopting Babylonian practices, despite being warned by God to keep away from the abomination of usury.

The whore of the end times, called 'Babylon' would be an incarnation of ancient Babylon. She would serve as the carrier of Babylon’s ancient filth, under a different name and perhaps as the global capital of the future economic system. The whore will operate via her merchants described as the "great men" of the earth.

…for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. – Revelations 18:23

Its not kings or military leaders, but rather the whores merchants who are described as being the "great men" of the earth. One would have to be blind to fail to recognize them as the corrupt international bankers, who have weaponized economics and work behind the scenes as the real wielders of power in the world today.We know who exactly are at the forefront of these wicked and abominable banking practices, but that's a different subject for a different thread.


God knows best!


Further reading :
The Bible identifies the whore of Babylon as Jerusalem.
Revelation : The whores "fornication" is usury.

reply to post by sk0rpi0n


Nothing about history can be accurately ascertained from the Bible. Sorry. There are just way too many ideas and analogies stolen from previous religions and cultures, and jumbled up out of order into a completely new "story". I have a hard time applying anything in the Bible to literal history, even if it might be true.
Why? Because the Bible is like a cup of water. There might be truths and mistruths within it, and dirt in the water represent these mistruths. But just because most of the water might be clean, would you still drink it if it was mixed with drops of mud? What if it was 50% mud? What if it was 99% mud? Bottom line, you can't mix poison with water and expect not to get sick.

reply to post by Nostrenominon


Archaeologists have found ruins by referencing the Bible. I view it a a historical summery myself. Some pretty cool stories in it as well, though some are beyond belief...which requires faith.

I find the OP's theory to be pretty decent and it does make sense. From a economic/religious viewpoint that is.

The OP's theory makes more sense to me than many other theories I heard.

reply to post by Nostrenominon

Oh man ... that's an amazing post .... I"m impressed. Gotta' give ya' a star.

Nostrenominon
reply to post by sk0rpi0n

 

There are just way too many ideas and analogies stolen from previous religions and cultures, and jumbled up out of order into a completely new "story".

Could you name a few?


On topic, OP, that was a good read that I didn't want to end. I love the book of Revelation. Keep up the thoughtful posts.

TDawgRex
reply to post by Nostrenominon

 

Archaeologists have found ruins by referencing the Bible. I view it a a historical summery myself. Some pretty cool stories in it as well, though some are beyond belief...which requires faith.

I find the OP's theory to be pretty decent and it does make sense. From a economic/religious viewpoint that is.

The OP's theory makes more sense to me than many other theories I heard.

I'm sure it does "TDawg". Like I said, just because there are some truths mixed up with mistruths in the Bible, doesn't mean everything should be taken literally.

UnaChispa

Nostrenominon
reply to post by sk0rpi0n

 

There are just way too many ideas and analogies stolen from previous religions and cultures, and jumbled up out of order into a completely new "story".

Could you name a few?


On topic, OP, that was a good read that I didn't want to end. I love the book of Revelation. Keep up the thoughtful posts.

I'll name more than a few. Immaculate conception, crucifixtion, resurrection, being born on the Winter's solstice, do unto others, baptism, 12 apostles and a 13th leader, Easter and the spring equinox, etc....All predate the Christian Bible by several THOUSAND years. Look up Mythra, Horus, Dionysus, Krishna, Joshua in the Bible and Jesus are the same character as well. Joshua is a distortion of Jeshua. Joshua-Jeshua-Jesu-Jesus. Do some unbiased research for once and maybe you'll find out the truth.

(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.)

Why don't you ever take credit for what you get right? Geez. It's a wonder you have any self-esteem at all with an attitude like that.

reply to post by Nostrenominon


I rarely take things literally. But that's my nature.

I found the OP's topic to be interesting. I've never thought about the Bible and economics together at the same time.

The OP piqued my curiosity. That's cool in my book as it means I'm still thinking and not dead. LOL

Nostrenominon
just because there are some truths mixed up with mistruths in the Bible, doesn't mean everything should be taken literally.

Like Revelation (which this thread is based on). Some symbology of the Old Testament, along with stories about Jesus, found it's way into the dreams of someone who was well versed in Old Testament and Jesus stories.

Revelation is in the bible, but it wasn't even accepted by the Church until the 500s. Many of the church fathers and early theologians thought it was just bunk. No one knows what it is or what it means .. or even if it means anything at all. When it was written, the author was a very old man. He was living in exile under very stressful conditions. No doubt he had a bad diet ... bad health ... and very possibly dementia. His life of intense religious ideas came through in the dementia driven dreams.

Revelations MAY BE revelations ... but more likely they aren't anything more than pious angst filled dreams of an older man nearing death. They are probably meaningless.

reply to post by sk0rpi0n

2. What does the whore represent?
Many Christian theologians point to the idolatry and false religion of historical Babylon and arbitrarily insert religious meanings to the events and symbols of chapters 17 and 18 in the Book of Revelation. They go on to claim that the whore is some “false religion”...

Great post, Sk0rpi0n!

I'm only going to add that I think she represents both world governments and a false religious system because we also know that she's filled with the blood of the saints and martyrs for Jesus. The saints and martyrs weren't killed due to their efforts in setting up a new government system, but a religious one. So, I'm going to say that she covers both.

Revelation 17:5-6

5 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.

Nostrenominon

I'm sure it does "TDawg". Like I said, just because there are some truths mixed up with mistruths in the Bible, doesn't mean everything should be taken literally.

was there any reason to attempt to be-little this user based on his name?

you've just made yourself look like a bit of a dick (imho) and I now have no interest in your perspective on this matter.

OP, this is the best interpretation of the WOB I've ever heard, S&F for you

reply to post by sk0rpi0n


so, are you alluding to the IMF, the Rothschild's vampire squid et al, being the WOB?

top post.

reply to post by Deetermined


I'm going to go a step further and point out that the whore has "Babylon" written on her forehead, just like Jesus said that once we get to Heaven, we'll have the name of God AND the name of His city written on us.

Revelation 3:11-12

11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

reply to post by Nostrenominon


Immaculate Conception: I'm not Catholic. I don't believe that Mary was without original sin. I don't know of any other stories about someone without original sin (other than Jesus).

Crucifixion: I don't know what you mean by this. Other people were crucified because that was common practice among the Greeks, then adopted by the Romans.

Resurrection:

Dr. Alister McGrath, Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University, says, “Parallels between the pagan myths of dying and rising gods and the New Testament accounts of the resurrection of Jesus are now regarded as remote, to say the least...If anyone borrowed any ideas from anyone, it seems it was the gnostics who took up Christian ideas." (Intellectuals Don't Need God and Other Modern Myths, 1993, p. 121).

Born on winter solstice: It is widely accepted that Jesus was not born during the winter months. We don't claim Jesus was born in December. That is an objection, by someone who is clearly unfamiliar with the Bible.

Do unto others: I don't know what you mean by this.

Baptism: If applying water was done to people in the form of religious obedience before John the Baptist, that does not discredit the Christian ordinance. If people were praying to their Gods by bowing their heads while on their knees in ancient times, that doesn't discredit the Christian practice.

12 Apostles: Haven't you heard of the 12 tribes of Israel? The 12 were chosen by Jesus to represent the 12 tribes of Israel. The 12 tribes date back to the time of Jacob.

Mithra etc:

We do know that Mithraism, like its mystery competitors, had a basic myth. Mithra was supposedly born when he emerged from a rock; he was carrying a knife and torch and wearing a Phrygian cap. He battled first with the sun and then with a primeval bull, thought to be the first act of creation. Mithra slew the bull, which then became the ground of life for the human race. [Nash, 144]
Christianity affirms the physical death and bodily resurrection of Christ. Mithraism, like other pagan religions, has no bodily resurrection. The Greek writer Aeschylus sums up the Greek view, “When the earth has drunk up a man’s blood, once he is dead, there is no resurrection.” He uses the same Greek word for “resurrection,” anastasis, that Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 15 (Aeschylus, Eumenides, 647). Nash notes:

Allegations of an early Christian dependence on Mithraism have been rejected on many grounds. Mithraism had no concept of the death and resurrection of its god and no place for any concept of rebirth—at least during its early stages.... During the early stages of the cult, the notion of rebirth would have been foreign to its basic outlook.... Moreover, Mithraism was basically a military cult. Therefore, one must be skeptical about suggestions that it appealed to nonmilitary people like the early Christians. [ibid.]

You will be able to come up with sources linking similarities with Jesus and Mithra, etc.

Joshua: So what? Jesus and Joshua were common names back then.

You are the one with biased research. You don't want to believe in Jesus because that would change your life.

Sorry to go off topic, OP.

reply to post by Nostrenominon


reply to post by Nostrenominon

Nothing about history can be accurately ascertained from the Bible. Sorry. There are just way too many ideas and analogies stolen from previous religions and cultures,

The subject matter of the OP opens the door to a theological discussion... for those who want one.

The religious member of ATS aren't going to first convince a non-believer about the validity of a religious belief, before getting to the subject matter.

reply to post by AfterInfinity

Why don't you ever take credit for what you get right? Geez. It's a wonder you have any self-esteem at all with an attitude like that.

This isn't about taking credit.

I will begin all my prophetic threads that way... so I don't end up looking like a fool making false predictions.
If I am wrong, its my fault. My mistakes die with me, as I AM capable of making mistakes. THE END.
If I am right, all credit goes to God.

Its that simple.

reply to post by Deetermined

I'm only going to add that I think she represents both world governments and a false religious system because we also know that she's filled with the blood of the saints and martyrs for Jesus. The saints and martyrs weren't killed due to their efforts in setting up a new government system, but a religious one. So, I'm going to say that she covers both.

The whore is guilty of not only killing the prophets and saints in the past, but also of establishing an inherently evil economic system that God declares as an abomination... in the future.

As far as "false religion" is concerned, in the modern world...."religion" is not something that the world is concerned with. The symbols in Revelation simply represent "secular" things described in religious terms. For example... worshiping the anti-Christ could simply mean voting for the anti-Christ... or something on those lines. (Don't believe what I say. Do you own thinking as I don't want to be responsible for you)

Have you ever thought : just why would an atheist worship the anti-Christ? Atheists don't worship anything or anyone. So does that mean they would refrain from literally worshipping the anti-Christ.... and therefore go to heaven??? But would they vote or accept the anti-Christ?

reply to post by sk0rpi0n


You can easily see if a thing is symbiotic or parasitic if it creates something material or help someone else. The parasitism/farming of the people who live thru both taxes and corporate machine is clearly unsymbiotic and just a artificial created need for the people. Another system would not allow the extreme parasitism and incredible hoarding of resources in few peoples hands.

If it was the scientists/engineers who made the most difference in the world who where getting the benefit then the riches people on the Planet wold have names like Einstein and Bohr and Tim Paterson (who created dos) instead of oil kings in Saudi Arabia and people like Bill Gates.

For me the real sin of Babylon is parasitism in all forms and as the OP point out ursury is a perfect example of that parasitism.

There is nothing wrong with people getting what they have worked for, but when you go over the line and create unsymbiotic relationship with others and overvalue yourself to a higher degree that it becomes parasitic instead of symbiotic then you have fallen of the path.

To those who are overly greedy. Enjoy the ride and I am so glad I am not you when you have to pay back for the ride. To have 100 years of greed on Earth that you will have to work off for thousands of years to fix all you have created for your fellow soul brothers and soul sisters. Insanety.

reply to post by sk0rpi0n

Have you ever thought : just why would an atheist worship the anti-Christ? Atheists don't worship anything or anyone. So does that mean they would refrain from literally worshipping the anti-Christ.... and therefore go to heaven??? But would they vote or accept the anti-Christ?

The people who refuse to worship the anti-Christ will need to hide or risk losing their life. Unless they are prepared to live off of some remote land without buying or selling, they won't be hidden that easily. So, the atheists will have only a few choices, just like anyone else. Either hide and risk being killed, be killed, or fake worshiping the anti-Christ and receive the mark in order to preserve your life and live within the earthly system. Some may choose to preserve their lives and follow along and some may choose to be killed just to escape the rat trap on earth. So, like anyone else, depending on how important their life here on earth is to them, will most likely determine which way they decide.