Revelation 17:5 "And upon her forhead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."
As we have already seen, a woman in Bible prophecy represents a church. An impure woman represents an impure church. The Roman Catholic Church refers to itself as the "Mother Church". By this statement Rome is calling herself "mother", and she considers all the other churches to be her "daughters".
"We celebrate today the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome because it is the head and mother church of all churches in the world. On the façade of the basilica there is an inscription in Latin which reads, "the mother and mistress of all churches of Rome and the world." Homily for November 9th - Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran
The Catholic News Service, Pope-Parishes Jun-17-2014 reports the Pope as saying...
"The great challenge of the church today is to become mother", he said. "If the church is not a mother -- I know it is bad to say this, but she becomes an 'old maid' and cannot bring forth children" ... "The church does not need cosmetic surgery", the pope said, "but it needs the energy and joy that come from being a mother, seeing her children gather at home and welcoming their friends as well." Catholic News Service Pope-Parishes Jun-17-2014
The Roman Catholic Church matches what the Bible describes in Revelation about the whore/harlot (prostitute) in Revelation 17 - she is the great harlot and all her daughters are also harlots. Why is this woman called a harlot? It tells us in Revelation 17:
Revelation 17:2 "With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication."
Wine in Bible prophecy represents teachings or doctrines. Fornication (sexual immorality) represents unfaithfulness, specifically unfaithfulness to God. So, as we already saw in Mark chapter 3, this woman (church) has deceived and corrupted the earth with her false teachings and doctrines which she took from paganism, and she has passed those doctrines onto her daughters (the other churches), who have also become deceived and corrupted by them. The world in general, and the other churches in particular, have all been made drunk and confused by the intoxicating wine of this great harlot.
Mark 16 - Has The Mysterious Number 666
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