From: tom@portland.mdc.unisys.com (Tom Albrecht)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: The Harlot
Date: 29 Jul 92 20:04:52 GMT
Organization: Unisys - Applied Technology

[I don't think this got out, but if you see it twice I apologize.]

There are several problems with the notion that the city of Rome (or the
Rome Catholic church) is the harlot of Rev. 17.  Apart from the fact that
it would have made little sense to the folks to whom it was written, such
an interpretation totally ignore what the Bible has to say about the
meaning of the verses.  There are two images in Rev. 17; the harlot and the
beast.  They are not the same.  The harlot is Jerusalem, and she sits in
the beast.  The beast is Rome, as represented by the seven kings.

As I pointed out, if one takes the view that John's visions have some
consistency, then we can see how the phrase "great city" is a marker to
point us to old Jerusalem.  It is impossible for Rome to be the harlot,
since Rome was never called the "city of God," or the "great city" in the
Bible.  Biblically speaking, Rome could never play the harlot, since, unlike
Jerusalem, it was never identified by God as His wife.  It's clear from
what we know of the 1st century that Jerusalem was playing the harlot with
ancient Rome, just as she had played the harlot with other nations in the
Old Testament.  According to the prophet Ezekiel, Jerusalem was loved by
God, but she turned from her divine Husband to pursue other lovers who used
and abused her (Ezekiel 16).  John repeats this image in Revelation, and the
facts would not have been lost on the 1st century readers of the letter.

Another fact is the contrast John makes between the "harlot" and the "Bride
from heaven."  We know the bride is the Church, which is also called the
New Jerusalem.  The logical contrast would be with "old Jerusalem."  Here
are just a few verse which show the contrast between old (earthly)
Jerusalem and new (heavenly) Jerusalem.


         The "Harlot"                             The Bride

  And there came one of the seven      And there came unto me one of the
  angels which had the seven vials,    seven angels which had the seven
  and talked with me, saying unto      vials full of the seven last
  me, Come hither; I will shew unto    plagues, and talked with me,
  thee the judgment of the great       saying, Come hither, I will shew
  whore that sitteth upon many         thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
  waters:  (17:1)                      (21:9)

  With whom the kings of the earth     And I John saw the holy city, new
  have committed fornication, and      Jerusalem, coming down from God
  the inhabitants of the earth have    out of heaven, prepared as a
  been made drunk with the wine of     bride adorned for her husband.
  her fornication. (17:2)              And I heard a great voice out of
                                       heaven saying, Behold, the
                                       tabernacle of God is with men,
                                       and he will dwell with them, and
                                       they shall be his people, and God
                                       himself shall be with them, and
                                       be their God. (21:1,2)

  So he carried me away in the         And he carried me away in the
  spirit into the wilderness: and I    spirit to a great and high
  saw a woman sit upon a scarlet       mountain, and shewed me that
  coloured beast, full of names of     great city, the holy Jerusalem,
  blasphemy, having seven heads and    descending out of heaven from
  ten horns. (17:3)                    God, (21:10)

  And the woman was arrayed in         Let us be glad and rejoice, and
  purple and scarlet colour, and       give honour to him: for the
  decked with gold and precious        marriage of the Lamb is come, and
  stones and pearls, having a          his wife hath made herself ready.
  golden cup in her hand full of       And to her was granted that she
  abominations and filthiness of       should be arrayed in fine linen,
  her fornication:                     clean and white: for the fine
  And upon her forehead was a name     linen is the righteousness of
  written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE        saints.  (Rev. 19:7,8)
  GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND     Having the glory of God: and her
  ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.           light was like unto a stone most
  (17:4,5)                             precious, even like a jasper
                                       stone, clear as crystal; (21:11)

  And here is the mind which hath      And had a wall great and high,
  wisdom. The seven heads are seven    and had twelve gates, and at the
  mountains, on which the woman        gates twelve angels, and names
  sitteth. (17:9)                      written thereon, which are the
  And he saith unto me, The waters     names of the twelve tribes of the
  which thou sawest, where the         children of Israel: On the east
  whore sitteth, are peoples, and      three gates; on the north three
  multitudes, and nations, and         gates; on the south three gates;
  tongues. (17:15)                     and on the west three gates. And
                                       the wall of the city had twelve
                                       foundations, and in them the
                                       names of the twelve apostles of
                                       the Lamb. (21:12-14)

Hope this helps.

-- 
Tom Albrecht