Is The "Woman Who Rides The Beast" the United States? (A teaching by Pastor Ray)

Study on The Woman Who Rides The Beast / The Whore Of Babylon

 REVELAION CHAPTER 13

The Beast #1 (The Antichrist)

The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. ² The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. ³ One of the heads  of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. ⁴ People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?” ⁵ The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months…. ⁷ It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. ⁸ All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. ⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hear.    ¹⁰ “If anyone is to go into captivity,    into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed^[ with the sword,    with the sword they will be killed.”  This calls for … faithfulness on the part of God’s people.

Beast #2

¹¹ Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. ¹² It exercised the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. ¹³ And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. ¹⁴ Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of earth….¹⁶ It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, ¹⁷ so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. ¹⁸ This calls   for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.

REVELATION CHAPTER 17

The Woman on the Beast

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. ² With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”    ³ … I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. ⁵ The name written on her forehead was a mystery:   babylon the great    the mother of prostitutes    and of the abominations of the earth.

⁶ I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.  When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. ⁷ Then the angel said to me: “Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman…⁸ The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come.   ⁹ “This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits.  ¹⁰ They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while.  ¹¹ The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.   ¹² “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast…. ¹⁴ They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them…   ¹⁵ Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. ¹⁶ The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute.  They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. ¹⁷ For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose…. ¹⁸ The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”

What the text reveals about the Antichrist and the Beast:

• There will be an Antichrist
• The Antichrist will be empowered by Satan
• The Antichrist will apparently have a fatal wound to the head, but will recover
• The Antichrist will be supported in his work by ‘the Beast’
• The woman is not the Beast or the Antichrist
• The Antichrist and Beast will oversee a kind of empire represented by 10 horns, which come out of one or more of the empires Daniel prophetically noted in his visions (Babylon, Persia/Media, Greece or Rome)

What the text reveals about the woman:

• The woman is unfaithful to God, and is in partnership with Satan
• The woman is rich, powerful and full of sin
• The woman leads (or possibly forces) others to sin
• The woman influences (or possibly controls) many people, many nations, and ‘sits on many waters’
• The woman is responsible for the ‘blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus’ 
• The woman is called ‘mystery Babylon’
• The woman will be hated by the empire of the Beast
• The woman will be attacked and destroyed by the empire of the Beast—the world will mourn

 What else does the Bible say about mystery Babylon/this woman?

• She would be noted for its architecture, buildings and skyline (Isaiah 13:22)
• She is the lone super power of the world (Isaiah 47:5,8)
• She will be respected and envied around the world,  and yet at the same time, hated by the world. (Isaiah 18:2)
• She has a unique and remarkable beginning  (Isaiah 18:2)
• She will be QUEEN AMONG THE NATIONS (Isa 47:5,7;  Rev 17,18; Isa 13:6)
• She will be called a lady, and has the symbol of the Lady (Isa  47:7-9)
• She will be a land quartered by mighty rivers (Isa 18:2)
• She destroys her own land, with pollution and waste (Isa 14:20, 18:2, 7)
• She will be a REPUBLIC or a DEMOCRACY, it is ruled by many counsels (Isa 47:13)
• Her governmental system will break down (Isa 47:13)
• She will be  a nation of religious confusion (Isa 47:12-13)
• She will be a VIRGIN NATION, her lands untouched by major war (Isa 47:1)
• Her enemies  lie on the opposite side of the world, over the poles (Isa 13:5)
• She will think her people are God’s elect and eternal (Isa 47:7-8)
• She will dwell/act carelessly before the Lord (Isa 47:8)
• She will be proud, haughty, and does not consider her end (Isa 47:7-8)
• She will be the youngest and greatest of the end time nations (Jer 50:12)
• She will the most powerful nation in the world (Isa 47, Jer 50, 51, Rev 18)
• The strength of her armies will make her the HAMMER OF THE WHOLE EARTH (Jer 50:23; Rev 18:23)
• She will be a land rich in minerals (Jer. 51:13) and agriculture (Jer 50:16,26-27,51; Rev 18)
• She will  be a leading exporting/ importing nation in the world (Jer 51:13, 51; Rev 18)
• She will sit upon MANY WATERS (Jer 51:13)
• She will be a SINGULAR NATION founded upon OUT OF MANY, ONE (Isa 13, 47, Jer 50, 51, Hab 1)
• She will turn upon its heritage and destroys it all in the end (Jer 50:11-12)
• Her Christian leaders will lead their flock astray   (Jer 50:6; implied Rev 18:2)
• She will establish of detention centers for Jews and Christians   (Jer 50:7, 33; 51:35, 49; Rev 17:6; 18:24)  
• She has a mother nation that remains in existence from her birth to death (Jer 50: 12)
• Her mother has the symbol of the LION (Dan7:4; Eze 38:13; Jer 51:38; Psalms 17:12)
•  She will turn against its own people and imprison/slays them  (Jer 50:7,33; 51:35; 39; Dan 7:25; Rev 13:7;17:6; 18:24) 
• She will trade with many via  ships all year round (Rev 18:17-18)
   
    

Who is the woman—the Whore Of Babylon/Mystery Babylon?

Commonly held positions:

• Jerusalem
• Babylon
• Rome  
• The Catholic Church
• Mecca/Saudi Arabia
• Constantinople/Turkey/Ottoman Empire
• The United States