CHAPTER VII.

THE GREAT HARLOT BABYLON.

THIS symbol is described in the seventeenth chapter of

Revelation. In his vision the prophet saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns."1

"And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, 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." 2

How the Church Directs the State.

Here the Roman Church is presented by the symbol of a woman seated on a scarlet colored beast, which denotes the Roman kingdom. Just as the rider has reins on his horse, and directs it wherever he pleases, so the Church directs the State and guides it at pleasure. It is this fallen church with which the kings of the earth have committed fornication. It is the wine of this fornication that has made the inhabitants of the earth drunk. The church hath charmed them with her temporal power and earthly splendor, and deceived them with her false doctrine, which she has presented as the word of God; and they have committed fornication with this great harlot. They have entered into an unlawful union with the fallen church, and have exalted and worshiped her instead of worshiping God, and giving him the glory."

1 Rev. 17: 3.

2 Verses 4, 5.

3 Rev. 17: 2.

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The description in the fourth verse is so definite that it could not be better described by an eye-witness who had seen the pope and his cardinals; for they are arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, just as the prophet says.

The Roman Church is "Babylon the great, the mother of harlots." There is a whole family on the earth distinguished by this name Babylon. It is a mother, with all her daughters. And just as the mother has committed fornication with the kings of the earth, so have the daughters.

This very fitly describes the different state churches that have appeared in the world after having separated themselves from the mother church. We might mention the Episcopal Church in England, the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, the Lutheran Church in Germany and in the Scandinavian kingdoms. And now the popular churches in America are following in their steps as fast as possible.

It is also stated of this woman that she was "drunken with the blood of the saints." This points to the terrible persecutions which the people of God at different times have suffered from those who have been in power. The seven kings denote the seven different forms of government which at different times have been inaugurated in Rome.

A Remarkable Change.

The ten horns are the ten kings, or divisions, of the Roman kingdom, the remnants of which still remain in Europe. They should give their power and authority to the beast which is governed by the great harlot. (It is very likely that a special application of this and the following verses to the last days may be made, but it seems that every unbiased mind would concur in applying this chapter to the apostate church and to the most prominent features in her history.) But afterward these ten kingdom should change their minds. Then they would hate

4 Rev. 17: 12, 13.

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the harlot, and make her desolate and naked." How this remarkable change could be brought about is thus stated: For God hath put it in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.""

That the woman denotes the Roman Church and the papal power is very evident from what immediately follows: "And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth."?

How wonderfully the positions of the kingdoms may be changed in a short time. As the power of the papacy was waning, one kingdom after another ceased to sustain the papacy, although they had done so before for more than a thousand years. The king of Italy would not help the He wanted to take Rome. England and the other powers in Northern Europe had long ago fallen off from the pope. Neither would Spain and Austria continue to uphold the trembling throne of the pope. And Russia, had no interest in this matter, for the czar of Russia is himself the head of the Greek Catholic Church.

pope.

France was the last kingdom that sustained the waning power of the pope, and this was done only from selfish interests. Then the remarkable war between France and Prussia took place, ending in the defeat of France and the dissolution of the French empire. Thus France became a republic in 1870. Now Italy took advantage of the opportunity, and on the 20th day of September the same year, Cadorna, the general of Victor Emanuel, king of Italy, took the city of Rome. Then Rome lost the last of her temporal power.

A Pitiful State for One who Styles Himself God on Earth.

Of the situation of the pope after this time, the Catholic bishop, Gilmour, from Cleveland, Ohio, said, after he had made a visit to his Holiness Pope Leo XIII, in 1882 : —

5 Verses 15, 16.

6 Verse 17.

7 Verse 18.

"The holy father is in reality a prisoner in the Vatican (the pope's palace). All that he has left of his glory is the great and magnificent Vatican, which covers many acres of land, with its numerous offices, valuable libraries, paintings, and works of art. Its gardens and remarkable surroundings are doubly remarkable on account of the events of the past. The chancellorium, or headquarters for the papal chancellor, and the palace Gandolia, fifteen miles from Rome, also belong to the pope. He has dominion only in these three places, and he never leaves the Vatican. His revenues have been reduced to the donations sent to him from the different countries of the world, known by the name of 'Peter's pence.' The papal See is no longer rich, but on the contrary weighed down by poverty."

A Baptist missionary says:

"That Italy advances is seen from the fact that the papal court in the Vatican is under the dominion of the government, and that the pope has to pay taxes like other citizens in the country. The bill of taxes was addressed to the pope in the common way: 'To the citizen Joachim Pecci, whose business or office is to be pope, and who performs his business in the palace of the Vatican in Rome.' The tax was paid, and proper receipt given for the money."

So wonderfully has the word of God been fulfilled also in our day before our eyes!

The Last Attempt of the Papal Power to Glitter.

According to the sure word of prophecy, the papacy should once more rise up as a persecuting power before the end of all things. Just before the last plagues fall, the great harlot will say, "I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. For this reason the last message of mercy warns so solemnly against the worship of the beast, as well as against the worship of the image.

8

As an evidence of the influence already gained by the papacy over the nations of the earth, we may point to the jubilee of Leo XIII. Concerning this we read in the 1888:

Catholic Times of Jan. 6,

"Letters and gifts from all the rulers of the world, except the king of Italy, are heaped up in the Vatican.

8 Rev. 18: 7.

The queen of England,

9 Rev. 14 9.