The Whore is apostate Jerusalem. The Beast is pagan Rome.
Five kings have already fallen, the sixth now reigns, and the seventh is yet to come, but his reign will be brief
If five of these kings had fallen in John’s day and one of them was still in existence, then the Whore must also have existed in John’s day.
Yet Christian Rome and Vatican City did not exist in John's day.
However, pagan Rome did have a line of emperors. Most commentators see this as the line of kings to which Revelation 17:10 refers.
Hope this is helpful.
It's neat how you called the Beast "pagan Rome". That's the whole point I was making. The Beast will be someone from Assyria. The false prophet will be a pope. It is located on 7 hills. It will be from the old Roman empire. Rev 17 :10-11 speaks of
Rev 17:10 There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.
Rev 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.
The kingdoms in order are
Egypt
Assyria
Babylon ( Daniel 7:19:23)
Persia
Greece
Rome ( Rev 17:10-11)
And finally a new kingdom coming from the reconstituted Roman empire I call "Rome 2"
Many forget that the Roman Empire was Europe plus the Middle East and North Africa. They assume the Beast will be from Europe. The "One is" is Rome at the time of John. The one that was and is not is the 8th. The only empire that hasn't returned is Assyria. Assyria was, but has not returned.
Do a word search on "The Assyrian" and what you read will describe The coming Beast. Even the Pharaoh that forgot Joesph was an Assyrian Pharaoh.
Now as far as Israel,..They are Gods people. There is a replacement theology that is just antisemitism. The whole Bible is the relationship between God and His people. We have been "grafted in" or adopted into the Family of God, but Israel is still the center of attention all the way to Revelation. Jesus will come back on a white horse to rescue Israel from the antisemitic army on the Last Day. In Zech 12 and 13, God tells us Israel will repent when they see Jesus and His wounds in the Last days. Being the Bride of Christ is the best deal by far, but God will not leave His people and His covenant with them. We have a better covenant, but they were blinded to add us in to God's family.
Now back to the original principle. The RCC took pagan religion and spliced it into true Christianity by celebrating Dec 25th, the birth of Tammuz, celebrating Easter instead of Passover and First Fruits, adding Halloween, and New years. The Bible gives us days to celebrate in Leviticus 23 and we refuse. The RCC forbids to marry which is doctrines of demons. The RCC worships Madonna and child, which is straight out of Semiramis and Tammuz. If you bow before a statue of anybody, including Mary and pray to them, that is idol worship and blasphemy.
That's enough for now, but I still wanted to thank you for at least making a civil response for real discussion.
Please read Revelation 2 and the letter to Thyatira and see if anything there could apply to RCC's. You can still go in the Rapture, you don't have to be numbered with the ones left behind in the Tribulation. It sounds to me like the Beast will treat the RCC particularly bad. You will be ruled with a rod of iron and dashed to pieces. Sickness and the plagues will strike you. All I ask is to put some study into this before the last days. If you are still convinced, then well and good. I and others just see things that others don't seem to see, and we do care. If we can never speak to each other in civil terms, there will never be change. I had hope the present pope would open some eyes about infallibility and God's Vicar hearing directly from God. He is obviously just a liberal man that reads scripture very different than most. I don't know where the line will be, but at some point he will bless gay marriage, bless sodomy, bless abortion, or change thousands of years of tradition that should open some eyes. It has to come from within the church because you will never listen to someone who is not a Catholic.
The real church will look more like Jesus' church in the first century. They were converted Jews that still went to Synagogue and followed Leviticus 23, just as Jesus did. Denomination is the "traditions of men" spoken of in Scripture. We have been freed from the oral law and His yoke is easy and His burden is light. If I had one available, I would attend a Messianic church because they have an understanding I'm still learning. All I know is a Christian denomination misses much of what Jesus taught because they are not Jews. For Salvation, all you need is faith that Jesus was the Son of God, come in the flesh, and He gave His life to pay my sin price, and I belong to Him forevermore. Salvation and Rapture are two separate things however. I for one don't want to meet the Beast.