Revelation 17:1

1 ONE OF the seven angels who had the seven bowls then came and spoke to me, saying, Come with me! I will show you the doom (sentence, judgment) of the great harlot (idolatress) who is seated on many waters,

We are shown here the doom of the idolatress woman, which is the worldly system of commerce and economics; and all who have joined her, the many waters. We will study that this woman is a force that effects every world leader. We will be shown that she has intoxicated the inhabitants of the earth. We will see that she is very well off, adorned with gold, fine linens, and costly apparel. We will also study later in this Chapter the the ten horns of the anti-christ hate her and that she has been the driving force that has always killed the saints. There is only one thing in this world that fits all of these descriptions and it is the lust of worldly wealth and power: money, the love of it, pride, greed, and the idolatry and the worship of it all, this is the great harlot. Worldly wealth is Babylon the Great! The love of money will always and has always been the root of all evil, 2 Timothy 3:2.

Jesus told us to beware of the wolves in sheep’s clothing, Matthew 7:15. Jesus told us to beware of the leaven of false prophets, Matthew 16:6. The Holy Spirit told us to have no fellowship with those who have a form of godliness, but who deny the power of it, 2 Timothy 3:5. Look at the seven churches that Jesus wrote to in Asia at the beginning of Revelation, only one church, the Church of Philadelphia, did Jesus say that He would take care of. Five were into sexual vice, human works, greed, and false teachings and one was poor and oppressed. The world and its economy had crept into them and a little leaven, leavened the whole lump of dough. You cannot have good and bitter water springing from the same fountain.  

This whole system of the world’s economy and false religion is doomed. So if you are seeking the world’s economic system, praying that you succeed in it, or that you have favor in it, remember that the world is the great harlot, and that it is doomed to be destroyed. The Truth sets us free and the Truth is that we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to seek first our Father’s Kingdom and His righteousness, and because we are, we have no need of the great harlot. Just look at Jesus’ life, He didn’t need wine to have wine. He didn’t need to make money to pay His taxes. He didn’t need the churches approval to have our Fathers favor. He didn’t need food to feed thousands, and He didn’t need a boat to cross a raging sea! This is the power of our Kingdom and our Kingdom is at hand, Matthew 3:2. The anti-christ and false prophet will say that the saved are not permitted to buy or sell without taking the mark of the beast, so our Father dooms the economy of the world, so that no one can buy or sell.