The Bible interprets itself – Example: Whore of Babylon

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Apparently, mysterious descriptions give the Bible something supposedly mystical. So the book of Revelation consists of a whole collection of symbolic language. But the interpreters of these symbols need not really use their imaginations at all. The Bible itself provides the explanations. There is therefore no room left for mysticism.

Great scope for misinterpretation

If you only read the Holy Scripture superficially, you can quickly get confused in the book of Revelation. The last book of the Bible speaks of beasts, women, two witnesses, water and cups, among other things. An El Dorado for those who want to lead the mostly superficial Bible readers or even those who have previously been uninterested down the wrong path using their own imaginative interpretations (e.g. Errors about the end times). The Bible itself provides the appropriate answers. The rule also applies when it comes to interpreting the Bible: check everything and keep the good. The touchstone of all current teachings and “inspirations” is and remains the Bible, the eternal gospel. If you don’t check everything yourself based on the Scripture, you can quickly get caught up in the wide scope of false interpreters and be led astray.

Nothing in the Bible is accidental

The symbols used in the Bible are anything but chosen randomly. This is especially true of a prophecy. Above all, the properties of the chosen symbolism are in the background. For example, Daniel chapter 7 speaks of a lion, a bear and a panther. In Daniel 8, a ram and a goat are used as symbols. Both chapters describe future political powers (empires/empires) from the perspective of the time. While the animals in chapter 7 are all unclean animals, in Daniel 8 the clean animals, the ram and the goat, were used not only for the regular sacrifices, but especially for the once-a-year Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur, 10 Tishri). The symbols used in Revelation are explained either in the same book or in the books of the Old Testament. At this point, the importance of self-study becomes clear, rather than following some scientific interpretations based on hearsay (Info).

A list of the symbols found in the book of Revelation and their meanings can be found here.

Examples of self-interpretation of the Bible

An example of the Bible’s self-interpretation of the symbols described concerns the “whore of Babylon” in Revelation 17, which was unanimously identified as the Roman Catholic Church by the first reformers. Although this feature has been pushed into the background within ecumenism due to “good will”, it has lost none of its truth and topicality due to the immutability of the gospel and the “character of Rome”.

Thus, the “whore of Babylon” (Revelation chapter 17) has clear characteristics described in the Bible.

It is a woman:

“So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” (Verse 3).
A woman symbolizes a community or church. As found in Ephesians 5:31-32:
“»For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

This woman is a whore:

“And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” (Verse 15)
Just as the woman represents a church, a harlot represents an apostate (from the true gospel) church. So in Ezekiel 16:2, 15, 58:
“2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,,
15 But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.
58 Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the LORD.”

The woman is the mother of all whores:

“And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” (Verse 5)
This church does not have the same standing as other churches but claims the role of the overriding “mother church”. Just as Josef Cardinal Ratzinger, among others, stated in his role as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2000 that the Roman Catholic Church was the mother of all particular churches.

The woman holds a cup in her hand:

“And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:” (Verse 4)
Wine in the cup symbolizes a dogma (e.g. gospel). However, the teaching of this whore is completely heresy. The cup and wine are explained in Matthew 26:27-28:
“And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

The woman is sitting on a beast:

“So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” (Verse 3)
A beast represents a political power (state, form of government), such as Daniel 7:17:
“These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.”

The woman sits upon many waters:

“And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:” (Verse 1)
Waters represent peoples, tongues and nations as self-explanatory in Revelation 17:15:
“And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”

The woman is decorated:

“And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:” (Verse 4)
A lot of jewelry and pomp symbolize pride and arrogance, as in Exodus 33:5-6:
” For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.”

The woman drinks the blood of the saints:

“And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.” (Verse 6)
The saints are the people of God who are persecuted and killed by the woman (church). Revelation 17:6 explains this itself.

The woman sits on 7 mountains:

“And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.” (Verse 9)
The city of Rome sits on or between 7 mountains. Revelation 17:18 explains that it is a city:
“And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”

Conclusion:

These descriptions alone, even without the details in Daniel 7 and 11, were completely sufficient to identify the papacy as the institution that also produces the church, i.e. the apostate woman (harlot). It is part of Babylon at the end of time. However, it is important to distinguish that the papacy is also an animal (more info here).

With the preceding examples, however, it becomes clear that imaginative interpretations of the symbols are not necessary at all, since the Bible, which is coherent in itself, always interprets itself. In addition, contemporary documents prove the “somewhat exaggerated” self-title of the Roman Catholic Church.

Bible verses from King James Version