Revelation 17: The Image of the Beast Satan’s Church, the Whore
Revelation 17 is not a prophecy; it is commentary or information needed to understand scenes in the Book of Revelation. Commentary is frequently not given in chronological order. The information in Revelation 17 is used to understand ‘analogous language’ in other prophecies. For example: the leopard like beast of Revelation 13:1-8 has ten horns – the angel tells John that the ten horns are ten kings {Revelation 17:12}. We know the leopard beast has civil power because horns on any animal are controlled by the head. The woman is shown riding on the leopard like beast because she is controlling Babylon {the leopard like beast} like a person riding a horse. Satan, masquerading as Jesus, has consolidated all religions in to One Church called the whore. She, the whore, forces everyone to sell their souls for a ration of food and a little money – like a prostitute sells her body for money or be killed. In the end the ten kings and the religious wicked hate the whore, because Satan’s kingdom falls apart at the beginning of the plagues.
The religious wicked suffer terribly from the sores, dead oceans turned to blood of dead men, and blood to drink. The words: ‘they will eat her flesh an d burn her with fire’ means they are literally gnashing their teeth hurling out words of hate that burn like fire. The religious wicked and the kings see that they have been willfully deceived, but they have no love for God or the truth.