The Mother of Prostitutes

One who is called to handle the Word of God must do so faithfully, whether it is written, or spoken. Some parts of the Word are easy to receive, for they taste like honey. Yet, they do not sit well in our stomach, turning sour as we experience conflict within us. The Lord was sharing this concept with John in Revelation 10:9-11. Though John would prophesy again, the words would not always be pleasant, nor personally sit well with him.


We only know prophecy in part (1 Cor 13:9), and yet it is through prophecy that the Lord speaks to His people. Therefore we must be careful to not see the “part” as a finished whole, or “perfection” (verse 10). Though some would use these verses to discredit prophecy, they are meant to teach us a different concept; the Lord is the perfecter of His own Words and will continue to bring us light until we understand them. We prophesy in part because we know in part. When we know more, we prophesy more. And all this is in God’s hands. He is Lord over all.

Revelation is a book that is known in part because of its mysterious symbolisms. I am going to speak from it today. The Lord shows an urgency for us to understand the role of His people so that He can build on that understanding. He will use His prophets to speak, and even the smallest of saints to bring forth the righteous fruit of all that He has written. Let us look at the book of Revelation.

In Revelation we read about a woman who is called “Mystery, Babylon the Great, The Mother of Prostitutes and of the Abominations of the Earth” (Rev 17:5). She represents spiritual whoredom. The Lord finds fault with her for “corrupting the earth with her adulteries” (Rev 19:2) and for shedding the blood of “those who bore testimony to Jesus” (Rev 17:6). Though it would be easier to say that this is a worldly representation of evil, the Lord tells us that her title is a “mystery” (Rev 17:5). She is not literally the city of Babylon, but is a spiritual embodiment of a group of people who once were blessed by God, and who once had His people dispersed in her.

The Old Testament has many prophecies wherein the Lord calls His own nation a prostitute, or harlot, for she strayed from God and set her affections on idols, wanting to be more like other nations than like God.

“Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your bonds; you said, ‘I will not serve you!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every spreading tree you lay down as a prostitute. I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock, How then did you turn against Me, into a corrupt wild vine?” (Jer 2:20-21)

The Lord sorrows when His people turn away from Him and want to be like the world. A wife is to become one with her husband. Spiritually, the church (as Christ's brinde) is to become one with Him, becoming the image of her God. The symoblism of a faithful bride of Jesus is a stark contrast to the symbolism of the prostitute, for the bride has “made herself ready” (Rev 19:7) as her desire is for only Him.

The Mother of Prostitutes, who causes corruption on the earth, is a body of people within the church who do not want to be His alone. Instead of bringing the gospel to men, their religious practices corrupt the earth.

“With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.” (Rev 17:2). Though the church should be the light of the world, these people within the church chose to become like the world. But they went farther.  They mixed the gift of God, eternal life, with the gain of the world. In common terms, the Mother of prostitutes offered the nations friendship with God by partaking of their ways. Nothing she gave them was pure. Instead of representing God to men, she joined their image and was an adulterous wife to God.

Spiritual prostitution can be found in our own churches and in our own personal walk with Jesus. God does not charge those who were never His with adultery. I have written of the interpretation of the spiritual harlot in order to speak about the condition of the body of Christ. When God finds the world in His people, He cannot set them as a light upon a hill, shining to those in darkness, for they themselves are becoming darkened. Tomorrow I will write of God’s Word to His prophets in this hour, and the need for a heart that is single in purpose towards God. May He bless us with His overcoming power as we separate our hearts unto Him, and to the role for which we were born on this earth. Amen.