Your comments regarding
Nebuchadnezzar are irrelevant and inaccurate; Nebuchadnezzar is never said to be a city in Daniel's writings however the woman who, by the way, is not a person but an element of a vision, is said to be the city identified in the vision. That city is Rome. Thus the woman is Rome. The woman is not, I repeat, not a person, while Nebuchadnezzar was, I repeat was, a person.
The vision in Revelation is explicit. The explanation of the vision is given in revelation 17 in these words:
When I saw her, I marveled greatly. But the angel said to me, "Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful."
And the angel said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth."
(Revelation 17:6b-18)
There really is no room for inserting "the woman is a religious organisation" or "the woman is a church" when we are explicitly told that the woman is the great city. The great city is Rome as it was when John wrote the Revelation; Rome, the centre of empire, the seat of power, the home of the Emperor, and the persecutor of the saints from Nero to Maxentius.
No. Your assessment is inaccurate as well as
false. I repeat: Since the woman represents the "city", and since the woman is also seen as "sitting" upon the "waters" which represent "peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues", then this "city" is a figure of an entire "system" that is "global", not merely in Local Rome.
It is impossible for a city to sit on many nations, thus, the symbolism reveals that this city is a symbol for a system that encompasses the globe.
In New Testament times, John picks up Old Testament terminology, and redefines them on a global scale. It now revolves around Spiritual Babylon. The Harlot Woman which represents the City of Babylon (Rev 17:17). This Harlot Woman (the city) SITS on "many waters" (v.1). In the Old Testament, Babylon literally sat on the Euphrates River which was "dried up". Revelation 17:15 spiritually applies this, and says that these "waters" (the Euphrates River) where the woman sits "are PEOPLES, and MULTITUDES, and NATIONS, and TONGUES".
A Woman represents a Religious System: PERIOD! Catholics are
wrong.
Israel and Jerusalem [A city] are interchanged constantly, and represented as a "WOMAN".
"For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the LORD hath called thee as a WOMAN forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God." (Isaiah 54:5,6).
Note: It would be inconsistent of John to pull this symbolism from the book of Revelation, and then reapply this symbolism and attribute it to Mary in Revelation 12. With all due respect,
this attribution is ludicrous.
"Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD." (Jeremiah 3:20)
"In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire; But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!" (Ezekiel 16:31,32)
"The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen [that] which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. And I said after she had done all these [things], Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also." (Jeremiah 3:6-8)
Thus far, the Scriptures teach that the symbol of a "Woman" represents either an apostate religious kingdom, or a pure religious kingdom. Since Israel was a kingdom established by God, and was "religious", therefore, the symbolism is fitting in the New Testament concerning "two opposing religious systems".
Does a "city" also symbolize a nation or a system?
"when the LORD carried away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar" (1 Chron. 6:15)
Zion and Jerusalem are also used interchangeably (see Isaiah 24:23; 30:19; 37:32; Isa 52:1,2; etc. etc.)
A Woman is used as a Symbol of God's Church (see Ephesians 5:22-25; 2 Cor 11:2; Rev. 19:8, and 8).
The New Jerusalem is used as Symbol of God's Church. (see Hebrews 12:22, 23; Revelation 21:2, 9).
Thus we see how the symbolism is interchangeable.
God's people are symbolized as a City, Jerusalem, the New Jerusalem, His Church.
Satan's people are symbolized as a City, a Named City, and a False Church.
The Papacy has made Biblical symbolism
out to look very foolish.
The Catholic teachings are
unbibiblical, and devoid all reason and logic as has just been revealed.
