Apocalypse Explained #1030
1030. Verses 1, 2. And there came one of the seven angels having the seven vials, and talked with me saying unto me, Come, I will show thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters; with whom the kings of the earth have committed whoredom, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her whoredom.
"And there came one of the seven angels having the seven vials, and talked with me," signifies the state of the church with the Papists, made manifest; "saying unto me, Come, I will show thee the judgment of the great whore," signifies their religious persuasion, in which all the good and truth of the church is adulterated and profaned; "that sitteth upon many waters," signifies ruling over all things of the Word, and thence over the holy things of the church.
"With whom the kings of the earth have committed whoredom," signifies that they have falsified all the truths of the church; "and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her whoredom," signifies that from falsifications those who belong to the church are made insane.
Jeremiah 50:37-40
37
A sword is on their horses, and on their chariots, and on all the mixed people who are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is on her treasures, and they shall be robbed.
38
A drought is on her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of engraved images, and they are mad over idols.
39
Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall it be lived in from generation to generation.
40
As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities of it, says Yahweh, so shall no man dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein.
