In Revelation and elsewhere in the Bible, particularly the Gospels, a woman is used as a metaphor for a church or bride of Christ. The return of Christ is referred to as a wedding where Christ takes His bride with Him and separates her from the rest of the world, who are cast into the fire.
Everything in the Bible is meant to train and instruct us regarding how we are to live in our relationship with God and with each other. The marriage of one man to one woman is a shadow of the joining of Christ to His true church. The church being the great multitude who believe (Revelation 7), this is the rapture. The key characteristics of the church are faith and submission to the will of God just as the characteristics of a good wife are faith in God, trust and submission to her husband (established in Genesis and many other places that men are to lead and women are to follow).
The woman of Revelation 17 is a church. She is a specific and powerful church who rides upon and controls the Beast of the Sea.
But what church?
Well, she sits on many waters (souls) (Revelation 17:1, 17:15), and she is 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 (Revelation 17:1-2). Fornication is the spreading of false doctrine. What church spreads false doctrine or doctrine that contradicts the Bible?
"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." (Revelation 17:4-5). What church is astonishingly rich with the wealth of ages in its possession?
"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." (Revelation 17:6). Which church has spent the last two thousand years trying to snuff out anyone who would spread a message of Christ based on the scriptures and not on the church's doctrine?
The woman is also a City (Revelation 17:18) "which reigneth over the kings of the earth." The city sits on seven mountains (Revelation 17:9).
The woman is a church and a city that sits on seven mountains, has great control over the world through the spreading of false doctrine, persecutes the followers of Christ, is drunk with the blood of martyrs.
What church is this? It's the Roman Catholic Church. The woman is Vatican City, head of the RCC, and a nation in itself, rich with the wealth of two millennia of indulgences, tithes, the looting of one territory or another. The RCC
The Beast of the Sea:
In the Bible a Beast is a system or doctrine for ruling and controlling people. The Beast of the Sea in Revelation is the final form of the 10-horned beast of Daniel 7. This Beast is the evolution of the Roman empire into the Roman Catholic Church.
The Roman Catholic Church system is the Beast of the Sea (triple-6). The number of the Beast is the number of a man (Revelation 13:18). Here is where Gematria can serve us. The Pope's official title is Vicarius Filii Dei which translates as Vicar of God's Son. The Gematria for this adds up to 666. It should be noted the title of Vicar of Christ was not taken up by the RCC until the 6th century (to all you traditionalists out there, explain how the church gets to just make up new titles and traditions for itself, which it does whenever it needs or wants to).
What is a Vicar? The RCC treats its role as being to stand in place of Christ on earth. The RCC claims the authority to excommunicate, grant absolution, forgive sins, and to otherwise decide who goes to Heaven and Hell. No where in the Bible does Christ give them this authority. Forgiveness for sins, redemption is entirely through Christ and NOT through the works or actions of any mortal man. This is abundantly clear in the Gospels yet the RCC lets people throw money at their sins with the expectation that they can go bang a dozen whores and still go to Heaven.
With respect to the Q movement and "It will be Biblical," we need to talk timelines.
Revelation is a mutlipart book with each major part showing similar events from a different point of view. Other parts of the Bible help to understand what is going on. Revelation 6 covers the Seals. Each of these seals are pertaining to specific events on earth before Christ returns and joins the mayhem. The 7th Seal (Revelation 8) is the moment Christ returns.
Revelation 6 is the Tribulation.
Revelation 7 is the Rapture.
Revelation 8 is the Wrath.
Obviously we're not in the Rapture or the Wrath yet so where are we?
The First Seal: A white horse upon which sits a being with a bow and a crown and we went out conquering and to conquer.
The Second Seal: A fiery red horse and the one who sat upon it was granted the power to take peace from the earth so that people would kill one another. He was given a great big sword. - war - direct parallels with Matthew 24:7, and the beginning of sorrows (Matthew 24:8). We could have been in this for the past century or more, frankly. We've certainly been experiencing wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6) since the time of Christ. The end is not yet.
The Third Seal: A black horse and the rider had a set of balances and it was heard "a measure of wheat for a penny and three measures of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt no the oil and the wine." Understand that a penny means about a day's wage. Oil and wine (luxury items) were still available but the necessities were hard to come by. Scarcity of the essentials of life, particularly among the not-rich. Famines are also mentioned in Matthew 24:8.
The Fourth Seal: a pale horse and his name that sat on him was Death and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. Also parallel with Matthew 24:8. Has there been a single war that consumed a quarter of the population of the earth or that was fought over a quarter of the available land mass? I don't think we're in the Fourth Seal yet.
The Fifth Seal: "I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How Long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. This is called the Cry of the Martyrs in some translations. It parallels directly with Matthew 24:9 "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake." This also parallels Revelation 13:15. Those who are steadfast in their faith will be murdered by the followers of the Beast of the Sea.
The Sixth Seal: "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" To me this sounds like a nuclear war as such an event would block out the sun, turn the moon red, cause the sky to roll up like a scroll, and send all the military leadership cowering in their mountain bunkers (NORAD).
Matthew 24:29-31: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." This parallels the Sixth Seal and shows us the return of Christ, visible to all as He is seen in the clouds descending to earth with power and great glory. Then the trumpets sound and the vials get poured out.
Matthew 24:36-51 are discussion of the Rapture and Christ telling his followers the day and hour will not be known until it happens. Even the angels don't know.
After the 6th Seal is the Rapture where all those of faith will be taken up to be with Christ, transformed into a purer form by Christ. In the twinkling of an eye.
Then the 7th Seal is open and Christ comes to earth.
Everything that happens from the first seal to the sixth seal are the works of man. Only when the wickedness of man takes complete control of the earth and no more souls that may be saved will be born (a condition only God can determine) will the Seventh Seal be opened and Christ return. It is the wickedness of man that destroys the world, that wickedness put into our hearts by Satan when he convinced an innocent and naive young woman to eat the forbidden fruit while her husband stood by and did nothing. God is a being of perfect justice and perfect free will Who will not allow a single potentially saved soul to be lost. That is why it must get so bad prior to His return.
So where are we in the timeline? I'm not sure. This could be a false start like so many before. If it isn't a false start then I would say we're somewhere in the 2nd or 3rd seal. The 2nd (war) has been a continual state of mankind for millennia, really since Cain smote Abel with a rock. The 3rd (scarcity and famine) have been with us at least since the famines of Egypt described in the story of Joseph in Genesis 36-37. I don't think we've had a war that killed a quarter of humanity just yet so I don't think the 4th seal has been opened yet.
In Revelation and elsewhere in the Bible, particularly the Gospels, a woman is used as a metaphor for a church or bride of Christ. The return of Christ is referred to as a wedding where Christ takes His bride with Him and separates her from the rest of the world, who are cast into the fire.
Everything in the Bible is meant to train and instruct us regarding how we are to live in our relationship with God and with each other. The marriage of one man to one woman is a shadow of the joining of Christ to His true church. The church being the great multitude who believe (Revelation 7), this is the rapture. The key characteristics of the church are faith and submission to the will of God just as the characteristics of a good wife are faith in God, trust and submission to her husband (established in Genesis and many other places that men are to lead and women are to follow).
The woman of Revelation 17 is a church. She is a specific and powerful church who rides upon and controls the Beast of the Sea.
But what church?
Well, she sits on many waters (souls) (Revelation 17:1, 17:15), and she is 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 (Revelation 17:1-2). Fornication is the spreading of false doctrine. What church spreads false doctrine or doctrine that contradicts the Bible?
"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." (Revelation 17:4-5). What church is astonishingly rich with the wealth of ages in its possession?
"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." (Revelation 17:6). Which church has spent the last two thousand years trying to snuff out anyone who would spread a message of Christ based on the scriptures and not on the church's doctrine?
The woman is also a City (Revelation 17:18) "which reigneth over the kings of the earth." The city sits on seven mountains (Revelation 17:9).
The woman is a church and a city that sits on seven mountains, has great control over the world through the spreading of false doctrine, persecutes the followers of Christ, is drunk with the blood of martyrs.
What church is this? It's the Roman Catholic Church. The woman is Vatican City, head of the RCC, and a nation in itself, rich with the wealth of two millennia of indulgences, tithes, the looting of one territory or another. The RCC
The Beast of the Sea:
In the Bible a Beast is a system or doctrine for ruling and controlling people. The Beast of the Sea in Revelation is the final form of the 10-horned beast of Daniel 7. This Beast is the evolution of the Roman empire into the Roman Catholic Church.
The Roman Catholic Church system is the Beast of the Sea (triple-6). The number of the Beast is the number of a man (Revelation 13:18). Here is where Gematria can serve us. The Pope's official title is Vicarius Filii Dei which translates as Vicar of God's Son. The Gematria for this adds up to 666. It should be noted the title of Vicar of Christ was not taken up by the RCC until the 6th century (to all you traditionalists out there, explain how the church gets to just make up new titles and traditions for itself, which it does whenever it needs or wants to).
What is a Vicar? The RCC treats its role as being to stand in place of Christ on earth. The RCC claims the authority to excommunicate, grant absolution, forgive sins, and to otherwise decide who goes to Heaven and Hell. No where in the Bible does Christ give them this authority. Forgiveness for sins, redemption is entirely through Christ and NOT through the works or actions of any mortal man. This is abundantly clear in the Gospels yet the RCC lets people throw money at their sins with the expectation that they can go bang a dozen whores and still go to Heaven.
With respect to the Q movement and "It will be Biblical," we need to talk timelines.
Revelation is a mutlipart book with each major part showing similar events from a different point of view. Other parts of the Bible help to understand what is going on. Revelation 6 covers the Seals. Each of these seals are pertaining to specific events on earth before Christ returns and joins the mayhem. The 7th Seal (Revelation 8) is the moment Christ returns.
Revelation 6 is the Tribulation. Revelation 7 is the Rapture. Revelation 8 is the Wrath.
Obviously we're not in the Rapture or the Wrath yet so where are we?
The First Seal: A white horse upon which sits a being with a bow and a crown and we went out conquering and to conquer.
The Second Seal: A fiery red horse and the one who sat upon it was granted the power to take peace from the earth so that people would kill one another. He was given a great big sword. - war - direct parallels with Matthew 24:7, and the beginning of sorrows (Matthew 24:8). We could have been in this for the past century or more, frankly. We've certainly been experiencing wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6) since the time of Christ. The end is not yet.
The Third Seal: A black horse and the rider had a set of balances and it was heard "a measure of wheat for a penny and three measures of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt no the oil and the wine." Understand that a penny means about a day's wage. Oil and wine (luxury items) were still available but the necessities were hard to come by. Scarcity of the essentials of life, particularly among the not-rich. Famines are also mentioned in Matthew 24:8.
The Fourth Seal: a pale horse and his name that sat on him was Death and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. Also parallel with Matthew 24:8. Has there been a single war that consumed a quarter of the population of the earth or that was fought over a quarter of the available land mass? I don't think we're in the Fourth Seal yet.
The Fifth Seal: "I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How Long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. This is called the Cry of the Martyrs in some translations. It parallels directly with Matthew 24:9 "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake." This also parallels Revelation 13:15. Those who are steadfast in their faith will be murdered by the followers of the Beast of the Sea.
The Sixth Seal: "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" To me this sounds like a nuclear war as such an event would block out the sun, turn the moon red, cause the sky to roll up like a scroll, and send all the military leadership cowering in their mountain bunkers (NORAD).
Matthew 24:29-31: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." This parallels the Sixth Seal and shows us the return of Christ, visible to all as He is seen in the clouds descending to earth with power and great glory. Then the trumpets sound and the vials get poured out.
Matthew 24:36-51 are discussion of the Rapture and Christ telling his followers the day and hour will not be known until it happens. Even the angels don't know.
After the 6th Seal is the Rapture where all those of faith will be taken up to be with Christ, transformed into a purer form by Christ. In the twinkling of an eye.
Then the 7th Seal is open and Christ comes to earth.
Everything that happens from the first seal to the sixth seal are the works of man. Only when the wickedness of man takes complete control of the earth and no more souls that may be saved will be born (a condition only God can determine) will the Seventh Seal be opened and Christ return. It is the wickedness of man that destroys the world, that wickedness put into our hearts by Satan when he convinced an innocent and naive young woman to eat the forbidden fruit while her husband stood by and did nothing. God is a being of perfect justice and perfect free will Who will not allow a single potentially saved soul to be lost. That is why it must get so bad prior to His return.
So where are we in the timeline? I'm not sure. This could be a false start like so many before. If it isn't a false start then I would say we're somewhere in the 2nd or 3rd seal. The 2nd (war) has been a continual state of mankind for millennia, really since Cain smote Abel with a rock. The 3rd (scarcity and famine) have been with us at least since the famines of Egypt described in the story of Joseph in Genesis 36-37. I don't think we've had a war that killed a quarter of humanity just yet so I don't think the 4th seal has been opened yet.
https://amazingdiscoveries.org/S-deception_beast_666_Vicarius-Filii-Dei