A Woman Rides The Beast

 "And he brought me into the wasteland with the Spirit. And I saw a woman sitting on a red, four-footed wild beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman had been robed with purple and red and had been gilded with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a gold cup in her hand filled with abominations and the filthiness of her whorings and on her forehead had been written a secret name, 'Babylon the Great,' the mother of whores and of the earth's abominations. And I saw the woman intoxicated from the blood of the holy ones and witnesses of Jesus." - Revelation 17:3-6, my own translation this morning.

     I hadn't really thought about this passage from John's prophecies for a long time. I translated through Revelation again, oh a couple of years back now, but I still hadn't really given it much thought then. But these words, and this image of a woman riding a beast have been on my mind lately.
     When I was in Bible School in Wisconsin, and afterwards, I owned a book called "A Woman Rides The Beast." I had been introduced to the material within it indirectly through my "Cults and Heresies" course, and its section on Roman Catholicism. In short, the book was a ringing (and mostly fabricated) indictment of the Roman Catholic Church as the whore of Babylon mentioned in the passage with which I began this article, and the "beast," universally understood to be a reference for "the Anti-Christ" throughout Christian history as far as I am aware, a reference to the papacy in general if not any one specific Pope. Clearly, I've become far removed over the last two decades from the understanding about the Catholic Church as posited in this book. But these words, "a woman rides the beast" have been sticking in my head over the last while as I've been watching the situation in the world.
     The more I try to understand and flesh out why these words have been sticking in my head, the more of a pattern I've been seeing in history. It is true that the Roman Catholic Church and its highest leadership have been culpable in collaborating with the most anti-Christlike figures and dictators throughout history when it became politically expedient to do so. The cooperation of Pope Pius XII with Adolph Hitler during World War II is well documented, but it's not the only example. But then I got to thinking about the current Russian Orthodox Church and its patriarch's wholehearted support of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and his machinations, propaganda, and war crimes in direct contravention to what Jesus taught. John Calvin, Calvinism, and the atrocities committed by himself and his followers in Geneva in contravention to what Jesus taught should not be overlooked either. But what really triggered these words in my mind is the wholehearted and full throated support by a large swath of American Evangelicals for Donald Trump and the clearly racist, fear mongering, and even at times violent MAGA movement to the point where they will tell a pastor that Jesus's teachings are too liberal and "woke" and that he needs to get with the program.
     A woman rides the beast.
     One of the things which John says in his first letter is that, "Many antichrists have come already." We always picture "the beast" and "the whore" as singular events in prophecy. That is, there's only one of each. But as I look through history, it seems more to me to be a pattern, and a repetition of whores and beasts beginning perhaps with Nero, the original "Beast" if ever there was one, and the Imperial Cult, and replaying itself over and over again with dictatorial political and religious leaders each seeking more power for themselves from one another and prostituting and poisoning the teachings of Jesus Christ for the people so that what He actually taught and practiced gets pushed to the side or lost in favor of whatever agenda they're trying to push. In the process, many well meaning and sincere "Christians" are deceived and led far, far astray from even the basics of what Jesus taught, to remain in Him, to love everyone without exception, to forgive, and to not judge. The religion of antichrist is whatever helps these unscrupulous leaders to achieve the power they want, and it frequently sacrifices the poor, the immigrant, the outcast, the orphan, and the widow in the process. And it thrives in an environment of fear, not love.
     It should be a red flag to any disciple when something Jesus taught is dismissed or called too "liberal" or "weak" to be obeyed. It should be a red flag when any other person is called "savior" or is placed on nearly the same level as Jesus Himself. It should be a red flag when any movement encouraged "Christians" towards political violence, something which Jesus expressly taught against when He taught to love our enemies, and to "turn the other cheek,"and to not resist the evil person. But as John's prophecy foretold, the lies of the Beast would deceive even if possibly the elect of God.
     We need to look carefully, very, very carefully at what these people are teaching and comparing it to what Jesus Himself clearly taught, all of what He taught. Not what a pastor says, not what a political leader says, but what Jesus Himself taught. We need, especially in these times, to cling to Jesus Christ Himself and our union with Him forsaking everything else that would, like the snake in the Garden, ask us, "Did He really say that? You don't really have to do that, do you? He didn't really expect you to follow everything He said, did He?" and the like. And we must weigh everything against the standard of loving one another, because the one who doesn't love doesn't know God, because God is love. As John wrote, how can the one who hates his brother whom he can see claim to love God whom he cannot see?
     A woman may ride the beast, but we must not saddle up behind her.