What Old Testament connections help explain "ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" in Revelation 17:5? Key phrase in Revelation 17:5 “On her forehead a mysterious name was written: ‘BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.’ ” The last clause gathers a rich web of Old-Testament vocabulary and imagery. Looking backward clarifies what the Spirit means by “abominations.” What “abomination” means in the Old Testament • Hebrew word tôʽēbâ = something detestable to God, especially idolatry and sexual immorality. • Always carries the idea of ceremonial and moral pollution that provokes divine judgment. • Frequently linked to “the land” being defiled (Leviticus 18:24-28), which helps explain why Revelation says “of the earth.” Abominations and Idolatry • Deuteronomy 7:25-26 – “The carved images of their gods you are to burn with fire… it is an abomination to the LORD.” • 2 Kings 23:13 – Solomon’s “high places… which Solomon the king of Israel had built… the abominations of the Sidonians.” • Ezekiel 8:10 – “I saw… every form of creeping thing and detestable beast, and all the idols of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall…” Idolatry is the primary Old-Testament backdrop for Revelation’s worldwide, end-time abominations. Abominations that Defile the Land • Leviticus 18:24-30 lists incest, bestiality, and child sacrifice, then warns: “The land has become defiled, and I have punished its iniquity, so that the land has vomited out its inhabitants.” • Revelation shows Babylon’s sin filling not merely one land, but “the earth,” calling down God’s final wrath. Harlotry and Abominations: Israel and Babylon Old-Testament prophets paint apostate worship as prostitution: • Isaiah 1:21 – “How the faithful city has become a prostitute!” • Hosea 4:12-13 – “The spirit of prostitution has led them astray… Therefore your daughters commit prostitution.” • Ezekiel 16 & 23 portray Jerusalem and Samaria as harlots multiplying “their abominations.” Revelation picks up that language and transfers it to the end-time global system symbolized by the woman on the beast—“the mother” who spawns every lesser form of spiritual prostitution. Daniel’s “Abomination of Desolation” • Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11—desecration of the temple by a blasphemous power. • Jesus re-affirms the prophecy (Matthew 24:15). Revelation shows the same union of political and religious rebellion—idolatry raised to its fullest expression—culminating in Babylon’s “abominations.” Prophecies Against Historical Babylon • Isaiah 47:8-11 – “Now then, hear this, O lover of pleasure… your sorceries… your many enchantments.” • Jeremiah 51:7 – “Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, intoxicating the whole earth.” John sees the woman “holding a golden cup full of abominations” (Revelation 17:4), echoing these texts and expanding them to a final, worldwide Babylon. Putting the Threads Together • “Abominations” = idolatry, occult practices, sexual perversions, and every detestable act that pollutes God’s creation. • The Old-Testament prophets localized those sins to Israel, Judah, and ancient Babylon; Revelation universalizes them—“of the earth.” • The woman is called “mother” because all historical apostasies trace back to Babel (Genesis 11) and forward to the final rebellion. • Just as the land once “vomited out” its inhabitants, the earth itself will be purged when God judges Babylon the Great (Revelation 18:8, 20). Seeing these Old-Testament roots clarifies that “abominations of the earth” summarizes every idol, perversion, and counterfeit religion that has ever defiled humanity—now gathered under one final, doomed system awaiting the Lamb’s return. |
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