Introduction
Revelation prophecies speak of Mystery Babylon the great, the Mother of Harlots, a woman in scarlet, purple and gold who rides on a strange beast and makes war against the saints of God and overcomes them for a period of time spoken of prophetically as 42 months, or 1260 days. As days in prophecy relate to years, this ruling power is shown to have uninterrupted reign for 1260 years. Symbolically a woman is a Church as we will see as we look at the prophecies. There is a vast distinction made between the true pure remnant Church of God and the Harlot Church also called Babylon.
In the Old Testament Babylon was a pagan nation who took God’s people into captivity and defiled the Temple of God. They worshipped idols and their king, and trod the Word of God underfoot. This great city was finally destroyed, just as the prophets had predicted. Isaiah 45:1-3.
A King from the east named Cyrus diverted the waters of the river Euphrates, which ran beneath the walls of the great city of Babylon from one side to the other. There were large metal gates which went down to the river bed, but on the night when the people of Babylon where in a drunken state, having feasted and again defiled God by using the sacred implements from His Holy Temple to drink from, they forgot to lock these gates and the armies of Medo-Persia marched under the walls of Babylon and defeated that great city without resistance.
Is Babylon of Revelation literal or symbolic?
The Bible tells us that Babylon will never be rebuilt. Jeremiah prophesied that this city would be desolate forever. (Jeremiah 51:26; Jeremiah 51:39-43)
This tells us then that Babylon spoken of in Revelation is not the literal city which will be rebuilt, but rather it is symbolic of a ruling power who has defiled God by worshiping idols, breaking His Commandments and persecuting God’s true followers.
As with all Bible prophecy the rule laid out in Isaiah 28:10 is applied. There are several chapters in Revelation that deal with mystery Babylon depicting her as a harlot woman, a beast with seven heads and ten horns, and the antichrist beast power that wars against God’s faithful people. Each of the prophecies build upon each other and give further details. The chapters are not in chronological order.
Revelation 12 begins by showing us a woman clothed in the wondrous creations of God about to give birth to the male child, Jesus the Saviour, and the dragon with seven heads and ten horns, ready to devour Him. (Revelation 12:1-3) The symbology used here is the same as used by Daniel in explaining his vision in Daniel 7, which related to the reigning world power that would follow Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece, which was the Iron monarchy of Rome. (Daniel 7:3-7) (These beasts have a total of seven heads and ten horns).
This same beast power is again described in Revelation 13:1-7 As you can see the extra details we are given here is that the beast (which is symbolic for a ruling power) speaks great blasphemies against God and against His tabernacle. This information parallels Daniels prophecy which described a ‘little horn’ which spoke ‘great things’ coming up from among the ten horns (the ten kingdoms of divided pagan Rome. Daniel 7:8)
Daniel goes on to tell us that this ‘little horn’ power would be different from the rest and would destroy three of the ten kingdoms when it came into power.
We do not have to guess that these beasts represent kingdoms and that horns represent kings because the angel Gabriel gives Daniel the interpretation. (Daniel 7:23-26)
Daniel tells us that the ‘little horn’ which is synonymous with Mystery Babylon and the Harlot Woman, is a ruling power which is different from the powers before her. He tells us that she came to power, after emerging out of the ten kingdoms of the divided Roman Empire, and that she would destroy three of the ten kingdoms. This means that we have the distinct advantage over the Bible writers who were prophesying about the future, in that we can simply look up our history books and find out who it was that destroyed the three roman kingdoms and hence identify who the Bible is speaking of as Babylon.
The three Roman kingdoms which were destroyed were the Vandels, the Ostrogoths and the Heruli. Which power destroyed them? History shows that it was the ruling Religious-Political power of the Papacy. In his book ‘God Cares’ Dr. Mervyn Maxwell, a theologian and historian summarises the overthrow of these three kingdoms. “The Catholic emperor Zeno (474-491) arranged a treaty with the Ostrogoths in 487 which resulted in the eradication of the kingdom of the Arian Herulis in 493. And the Catholic emperor Justinian (527-565) exterminated the Arian Vandals in 534 and significantly broke the power of the Arian Ostrogoths in 538.”
Prophecy shows that Satan gave power to pagan Rome and through Herod tried to destroy the Son of God, as seen in Revelation 12, which also speaks of Satan’s fall from heaven taking one third of the angels with him. (Revelation 12:4) Later in the chapter more details of the war in heaven are given. (Revelation 12:7-9)
Revelation also shows that Satan would give his power, seat and great authority to the Beast or Babylon. (Revelation 13:2) We know that Satan was working through the pagan Roman system, but did he give the Papal ruling power its seat? History again verifies this part of the prophecy. When Emperor Constantine built the new city Constantinople, which he named after himself, he left Rome and handed the seat of office in Rome to the Papacy. In the Vatican there is a tapestry on the wall about 75 feet long, and underneath the tapestry it say’s “The donation of Constantine to the Pope” What did he donate? He donated the city of Rome and the Church became a kingdom (beast). It was no longer just a religion it was now also a political power.
How did God’s Church go to a ruling system known as Babylon?
The early Church held firm to the faith of Jesus and the doctrines of the scriptures and many were persecuted and killed for their faith over the following centuries. Christianity was an outlawed religion, but the more faithful Christians were martyred for their faith the more the Church grew. Satan then managed to pull off one of his most successful war plans on the Church, instead of opposing them through inciting the persecution, he took on the guise of a sheep and sought to destroy Christianity from within. 
In 321 A.D. Constantine who was a pagan became Caesar in Rome and when he begun to see the balance of power shift from paganism to the Church he passed the first law enforcing Sunday worship. This meant that Christians began breaking the fourth Commandment and observing the day to worship God, on a day that had previously only been used by the pagans to worship the sun god. Two years later Constantine joined the Roman Catholic Church and began mingling paganism and Christianity. He legalised Christianity, but brought so much paganism and idol worship into the Church that the pure faith of the early Church became lost. The new Babylon emerged, guised as Christianity. As well as idolatry and changing the Sabbath, this new system of paganistic Christianity incorporated many of the pagan beliefs. The pagan deities with the trinity of Father, Mother and Child, took on the names of Father, Mary and Baby Jesus, with the sun god clearly displayed behind their heads in much of the early Christian artwork. 
Sun dials became a prominent part of their architecture. Tradition and introduced religious doctrines began to replace the Holy Scriptures, and in fact the Bibles were left carefully chained inside the Churches so that they would not be accessible to any of the common folk. The promotion of one man as head of the Church, who became known as God on Earth, and the ordination of priests as mediators who purported to forgive sins, were just some of the anti-biblical doctrines introduced which sought to raise man higher and the standing of Jesus lower. They also invented paid indulgences and purgatory as a holding place for the dead, where if enough money was paid to the Church, the dead loved ones could progress closer to heaven, again a teaching deeply entrenched in paganism. The Papal power also had an army at its disposal to destroy any person or kingdom who would not bow down to her authority. Here are a few supporting historical quotes.
First Sunday Law enacted by Emperor Constantine - March, 321 A.D. “On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed.” Source: Codex Justinianus, lib. 3, tit. 12, 3; trans. in Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol.3 (5th ed.; New York: Scribner, 1902), p.380, note 1.
This was done through paganism and in favour of Sun worship. “The Church made a sacred day of Sunday ... largely because it was the weekly festival of the sun; for it was a definite Christian policy to take over the pagan festivals endeared to the people by tradition, and to give them a Christian significance.” Source: Arthur Weigall, The Paganism in Our Christianity, p. 145. Copyright 1928 by G. p. Putnam's Sons, New York.
Doctor Alexander Hislop, in his classic work, The Two Babylon’s, page 105, says this: “To conciliate the Pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Christian and Pagan festivals [that’s the Sabbath and Sunday] amalgamated, and ... to get Paganism and Christianity now far sunk in idolatry in this as in so many other things, to shake hands.” He says further: “A glance at the main pillars of the Papal system will sufficiently prove that its doctrine and discipline in all essential respects have been derived from BABYLON.”
“The Pope is of great authority and power, that he is able to modify, declare, or interpret even divine laws. The Pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man, but of God, and he acts as vicegerent of God upon earth...” — Lucius Ferraris, in “Prompta Bibliotheca Canonica, Juridica, Moralis, Theologica, Ascetica, Polemica, Rubristica, Historica”, Volume V, article on “Papa, Article II”, titled “Concerning the extent of Papal dignity, authority, or dominion and infallibility”, #30, published in Petit-Montrouge (Paris) by J. P. Migne, 1858 edition.
“The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth.” — Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Chapter XXVII, p. 218, “Cities Petrus Bertanous.”
“He is a heretic who does not believe what the Roman Hierarchy teaches.” — The American Textbook of Popery, p 164 (quoting from the “Directory for the Inquisitors”).
“The church may by divine right confiscate the property of heretics, imprison their person, and condemn them to flames. In our age, the right to inflict the severest penalties, even death, belongs to the church. There is no graver offense than heresy, therefore it must be rooted out.” — Public Eccliastical, Vol. 2, p.142.
When confronted with heresy, she (Catholic Church) does not content herself with persuasion, arguments of an intellectual and moral order appear to her insufficient, and she has recourse to force, to corporal punishment, to torture.” — The Rector of the Catholic Institute of Paris, H.M.A. Baudrillart, quoted in The Catholic Church, The Renassance, and Protestantism,p 182-183.
Revelation chapter 12 depicts a pure woman (Church) fleeing persecution for 1260 days (1260 years). (Revelation 12:6)
There were many faithful people within the Papal system, who lived up to the light God had given them and faithfully served him as best they knew how. When the printing press was invented, and Bibles became readily accessible in the native tongue of the people, there was a huge awaking through the power of the Holy Spirit. Catholics began to realise that the rules and regulations in the system they were in bondage to where not Biblical. They found out about the amazing love of God and that they could be saved by Grace, and not works as the Church had been teaching. They discovered the prophecies in Daniel and Revelation and many were able to conclude that the little horn power being spoken of in the prophecies was in fact the current ruling religious-political system of government.
During the protestant reformation, it is estimated that 50% of the people rejected the catholic faith, in favour of the beautiful light that the scriptures had now opened up to them. The Papal system reacted by pronouncing a death decree on all ‘heretics’ (one who choses to follow their conscience). During these terrible dark ages it is estimated that between 50 and 100 million faithful saints were persecuted, tortured and killed. Many fled Europe to the shores of a new land called America, and wrote into its constitution that state and religion should never be joined. Watch this short video of a true story to see how this persecution resulted in SUN-day keeping as the Sabbath today.
The official start of the Papal reign was 538 AD, so according to the prophetic timeline their uninterrupted reign should have finished in 1798. What happened in 1798? Just as predicted, right on time, Napoleon’s General Berthier was sent to Rome to kidnap the Pope and exiled and imprisoned him in France. In 1799 the Pope became ill and died. Hover mouse here
for an article excerpt from page 3 of the London Times dated 12-3-1798.
(Revelation 13:3) The prophecy told us that the wound would be healed. For a while there was no head of the Roman Church, but in 1800 they elected a new Pope and the healing of the deadly wound began.
The new Pope had no real power until 1929 when the Italian leader 
Benito Mussolini signed the concordat in Rome giving 108 acres of the old city, (the Vatican) back to the Pope, and they once again became a religious political power. American Presidents and dignitaries from many nations have bowed before the Pope, but have never bowed before the head of any other Church. No other religious leader in the world commands the audiences of world leaders the way the Pope does. No other religion has political ambassadors assigned to them.
Note in the two passages below that God also referred to His Old Testament Church as a WOMAN but pay special attention to the very significant phrases used by God when SHE was guilty of idolatry. The Papal Church is also guilty of much idolatry, which by God’s definition would make HER a HARLOT. The Roman Catholic Church is often called the MOTHER Church as many of today’s Churches originated from her and this is why they are called daughter Churches. Unfortunately, many of the daughter Churches inherited many of her false doctrines and practises, which is why God calls her the MOTHER OF HARLOTS. (Jeremiah 3:1-25 and Ezekiel 16:26-32)
Before continuing, it is exceptionally important to observe the colours the Levitical priests wore and especially the significance of the colour blue. (Exodus 28:4-6) Now note the significance of the colour blue. (Numbers 15:38-40)
The following verses show how those who do not have their names written in the book of life will wonder after the beast, mystery Babylon. Notice also the colours that the Harlot woman (Church) is wearing, scarlet, purple and gold. These are the same colours that God gave to the Jewish priests to wear, except as we just noted, He also gave them BLUE, which was to remind them of His law. (Revelation 17:3-8)
The colours of this woman, signify that she has forgotten God’s Ten Commandment law, and also lines up with this verse Daniel 7:25 See also Adam Clarke's Commentary on Daniel 7:25.
Did you note that she is called the ‘Mother of Harlots’, signifying that there are other daughter Churches, who have somehow been polluted by some of her doctrines. Are there other Churches who followed her lead in abandoning the original Ten Commandments of God and ignoring the Commandment that says Exodus 20:8-11.
The following quotes are just a small example of how the Papal Church constantly mock Protestants for keeping their day Holy in place of God’s. For more quotes, see Roman Catholic Church seventh day Sabbath truth Quotes.
“Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the Church ever did, happened in the first century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday. ‘The day of the Lord’ was chosen, not from any direction noted in the Scriptures, but from the (Catholic) Church’s sense of its own power…People who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically become 7th Day Adventists, and keep Saturday holy.” — St. Catherine Church Sentinel, Algonac, Michigan, May 21, 1995.
“Most Christians assume that Sunday is the biblically approved day of worship. The Catholic Church protests that it transferred Christian worship from the biblical Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday, and that to try to argue that the change was made in the Bible is both dishonest and a denial of Catholic authority. If Protestantism wants to base its teachings only on the Bible, it should worship on Saturday.” — Rome's Challenge www.immaculateheart.com/maryonline Dec 2003.
The end of time call out of Babylon
The book of Revelation shows us that at the end of time, God will again call His people out of Babylon, before he destroys her. (Revelation 18:1-5)
This again shows that just like God called His faithful people out of the ‘little horn’, Babylon during the dark ages, again at the end of time God will draw His people out of apostate Churches who do not follow all of His Commandments. Satan has so successfully deceived so many into avoiding the precious Commandment that defines worship of God, that they miss the relevance of a major part of the Biblical and historical picture.
The three angels messages given in Revelation also depict the end time message that will be given to all the world, calling them out of Babylon and into God’s Remnant Church and telling them not to worship the beast (the Papacy), or his image (which will be a new religious-political power in Protestant America). (Revelation 13:11-12)
The three angels give this message: Revelation 14:6-7, Revelation 14:8, Revelation 14:9-11.
The message ends with the sharp contrast of those who take the mark, to the true followers of God who keep His Commandments. (Revelation 14:12-13)
These angels tell Christians not to take the mark of the beast. What is the mark of the beast, the Papal system? Let’s let them answer that question. “Sunday is our mark or authority...the church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact.” Catholic Record of London, Ontario, September 1, 1923.
The prophecies tell us that in the end times there will be many deceptions. Spiritism will be on the rise and there will be many false signs and wonders that will fool many Christians into inadvertently choosing the wrong system of religion. (Revelation 13:14)
There will be a huge persecution of the true believers who follow God’s Commandments and don’t bow down to the false system of worship, and with the deceptions that are going on, those who take the mark of the Beast will most probably view those who do not, as terrorists who are a threat to peace. The true believers will not be allowed to purchase anything and many will be jailed or killed. (Revelation 13:15-18)
Armageddon - The destruction of Babylon
When probation closes and the decisions that everyone have made are set firm forever, the wrath of God will finally be unleashed upon the wicked who have taken the Mark of the Beast. The seven last plagues will be poured out upon them. (Revelation 15:1-2)
We saw earlier that the original literal Babylon was located upon the literal river Euphrates which was dried up just before her destruction. This time the waters, which are peoples, multitudes nations and tongues (Revelation 17:15), will dry up their support for the Papal system of Babylon. They will finally realise that they have chosen the wrong side, and it is Babylon’s fault that they are incurring the wrath of God. (Revelation 16:1-12)
But even as all of the support for spiritual Babylon is drying up, Satan will send out more deceiving spirits doing miracles to incite the world to further rebel against God. (Revelation 16:13-14)
Just as Satan is trying to incite this final revolt, Jesus will return in His glory with all His angels. (Revelation 16:15)
As Jesus returns the final judgement of heaven is pronounced on the wicked. Armageddon is the battlefield of the wicked against Jesus, our Holy King from the East who will pour out His final plague and the judgement that the wicked should be destroyed.
There is actually no place on earth that bears the name Armageddon, and there is only one mention of it in scripture. The Greek is most commonly thought to be a transliteration of the Hebrew har megiddo, literally, “mountain of Megiddo.”
The Mount of Megiddo is located in Palestine on the plain of Esdraelon or Jezreel, a valley southwest of Nazareth and fourteen by twenty miles in size. It is beside Mount Carmel on which Elijah said to the people 1 Kings 18:21.
This place represents the consequences of their decisions. (Revelation 16:16-21)
Revelation 17 again speaks of the destruction of Babylon. (Revelation 17:1-18)
We see that justice will be served. Just as those who chose to align themselves with the apostate Church persecuted God’s remnant Church, she will now face the consequences of her actions. (Revelation 18:6-9)
These verses represent the earthly destruction of Mystery Babylon, but there is one final battle to be fought. After Jesus returns and the saints live and reign with Him in heaven for a thousand years, the New Jerusalem comes down from Heaven to Earth. (Revelation 21:1-3)
The second resurrection then takes place, the resurrection to damnation. Satan will then be loosed once more to go out and deceive the wicked who have been raised. (Revelation 20:6-8) Now that the thousand years are over and all the books have been studied, God’s final eternal judgement will be executed. As the wicked surround the city, wishing to destroy the saints of God. God will rain down fire and brimstone from Heaven, just as he did on Sodom and Gomorrah and will destroy in Hellfire all of the wicked. (Revelation 20:9)
Mystery Babylon, the great whore who sits on many waters and all those who chose to worship her will be destroyed forever. Read mystery Babylon the mother of harlots for more information.