Revelation 17
1. and one of the seven angels having the seven bowls came to me and spoke with me saying, “Come here, and I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute, the one who sits on many waters,
2. with whom the kings of the earth have fornicated, and those who dwell on the earth have become drunk on the wine of her fornication”.
3. And he carried me away in the Spirit to the wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a red beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4. And the woman was clothed in purple and red, and was wearing a very valuable golden stone and pearl ornament having a golden cup in her hand full of the abomination and uncleanness of her fornication
5. And on her forehead a name was written, “mystery Babylon the Big, the Mother of the Fornication and Abominations of the Earth”.
6. And I saw the woman drunk on the blood of the saints, and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And I was amazed with great wonder.
7. And the angle said to me “Why are you amazed? I will show to you the mystery of the woman and the beast carrying her, having seven heads and ten horns.
8. The beast you saw was and is not, and is about to come out of the Abyss and go to destruction (appoleion) ; and those inhabiting the earth will be amazed, who’s names are not written in the Book of Life from the formation of the Cosmos, seeing the beast that was and is not and will be.
9. Here is the mind that has wisdom; the seven heads are seven hills, where the woman sits on them.
10. And there are seven kings; five are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come, and when he comes, he will remain only a little while.
11. And the beast which was and is not, even he himself is an eighth and is from the seven, and he goes to destruction.
12. And the ten horns you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but the authority of the kings they’ll receive with the beast for one hour.
13. These have united purpose (thinking), and the power they have is given them by the beast.
14. These make war with the Lamb and the Lamb is victorious over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and with him are the called and chosen and faithful.
15. And he said to me “The waters you saw, where the woman sits, are people and multitudes and nations and languages.
16. And the ten horns you saw and the beast, these will hate the prostitute, and they will make her a naked wilderness, and her flesh they will eat, and burn her with fire.
17. For God has given into their hearts to do His purpose, until the word of God is fulfilled (finished).
18. And the woman you saw is the big city having rule (kingship) over the kings of the earth.
vv 1-5 Babylon, Gen 10:6-10.
I don’t believe any division of the Church is the Prostitute of Revelation 17 and 18. There are many commentaries that suggest otherwise, and I’ll provide their usual argument in a moment. Afterward, I’ll explain how I understand Babylon and the woman who rides its beast.
BABYLON, THE RELIGIOUS SYSTEM
Babylonianism: The woman and Child cult began in Babylon and moved into the world-governing nations with new names, but the same basic teaching. In Babylon it was Ashtoreth and Tamuz, in Egypt, Isis and Horace, in Greece, Aphrodite and Eros, and in Rome, Venus and Cupid. Each of these cults had the following rites: Purgatorial cleansing after death, salvation by sacraments, priestly absolution, holy water, eating of the bread of the mother of heaven, dedication of virgins to the gods, celibacy, monks and nuns. Traditions: The egg and rabbit were symbols of fertility. Tamuz was slain by a wild boar. His mother received him back on the third day. A boar’s head was eaten in commemoration of his conflict. A “Yule log” was burnt, an evergreen tree erected, and gifts exchanged to commemorate his resurrection. His priests wore a fish shaped head gear and wore the ring of the fisherman. The high priest was called Pontifex Maximus. Constantine claimed to be both head of the church and high priest of the Babylonian Mystery religion.
If you read that whole paragraph and are still reading, I’ll guess you may give me the benefit of the doubt that I’m not merely a Protestant dissing the Catholic or Orthodox Church. I believe that as followers of Jesus we all have to acknowledge that the only Church that existed for more than one thousand years was the Catholic and Orthodox Church. To argue that time of history somehow the true Church didn’t exist is to argue the Body of Christ ceased during that time-an assertion that is both blasphemous to our Lord, and dishonoring to our brothers and sisters in Christ who gave their lives and livelihoods for the Good News during that era. The Church did not begin with the Protestant Reformation. Further, the Body of Christ is not divided. There are faithful believers and heretics in Protestant and Catholic traditions. There are wheat and tares occupying the pews of all parts of our Lord’s Body. And the Lord’s Body is not divided. We make the divisions. He does not. So if I am here critiquing Catholicism merely by listing pagan practices that have become part of Christendom, I am doing so as an insider looking round, not as an outsider looking in. There is no valid historical argument that early Christians practiced any of the Christmas, Easter or hierarchical and monastic practices mentioned above that have become so ingrained in portions of the Church. They were accommodated as the Gospel reached groups that, to some extent, added Jesus to their traditions, or from the other side, believers who Christianized pagan practices, pouring simi-biblical meaning into non-biblical practices. But, really, all of this has nothing to do with the Prostitute riding the Beast.
BABYLON THE CITY
The last verse of this chapter tells us that the woman is the big city having rule over the kings of the earth. It’s a city. It’s not a religious system or a church or a portion of the church. Which city? The city with seven hills was certainly Rome-the seven hills are still there today. But that doesn’t mean it has to be literally Rome. Like all other images in this book, it is a symbol of a city that is the hub of a world-governing empire, like the Roman Empire in John’s day. Think about the Nazis. Hitler associated the kingdom he wished to establish with that empire, calling Nazi Germany the Third Reich, or 3rd Kingdom/Empire (see https://www.google.co.in/search?q=drittes%20reich&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1&gfe_rd=cr&dcr=0&ei=Sw-BWrCsNLPl8Afe1ImwDA ). He intentionally associated his regime with the Roman and German empires, but his was to be governed from Berlin. So, if he had succeeded, Berlin would have looked like the Prostitute in Revelation 17 & 18, and visa-versa. Today, some people argue that New York, with the Stock Exchange & United Nations, as part of a nation with the most powerful military in human history, with over 800 military bases outside of the US, looks like the Prostitute or Revelation. I’ll leave such connections to you. I don’t know if New York should be associated with the Prostitute, but when the final world-governing empire rises, it will look very much like the current American Empire, with it’s world-influencing and dominating political, military and economic systems, and even news and entertainment media centered in New York.
v 1 This seventh angel appears again in 21:9-10. the word for harlot is porne. See references to Israel as one (Is 1:21; Jer 2:24; 20-21; Eze 16:15; Hos 2:5), and cities as (Nahum 3:4; Isa 23:16-17; Rev 17:4; 18). The waters are again in v 15; see Jer 51:13. Waters see v. 15.
v 2 Wine see 14:9
v 3 Carried away see 1:10; 4:2; 21:10. The wilderness in Ex 3:1; ! Kings 19:4; Matt 4:1 etc. See the c0ntrast with the garden, or Rev 12. The woman is a stark contrast to the woman of Rev 12.
v 4 Purple is a color for royalty (Jud 8:26; Dan 5:7). Scarlet is spoken of in Neh 2:3, Gold in 1 Tim 2:9.
v 5 Abominations, bdelugma (Dan 11:31; 12:11; Matt 24:15). Forehead marks (Rev 13:16; 14:1, 9; not to be confused with the seals on the people of God). A mystery is a secret now revealed (v 7) Babylon see above.
v 6 see v 2
v 8 Was and is 1:4, 18. Shall come, is the future verb form of the word parousia. A parousia is the ritual of welcoming a king into a city by going out to meet him and escorting him in. This is the word used to describe the second coming of Jesus, when His Church will meet him in the air, then return with Him as He comes to judge the earth (1 Cor 15:23; 1 Thess 2:19; 1 John 2:28). The Lamb’s book is described in 3:5; 13:8; 20:12-15 and 22:19.
v 9 Hills Dan 2:35; 44-45.
vv 10-13 Kings, Daniel 7:7-9; 23-24.
V 14 as stated before, this is not much of a war. Paul describes it as well. Jesus destroys them with the breath of his mouth.
V 15 The waters see vs. 1.
Vv 16 the Woman, the city, is hated by those who benefited from her, and the destruction of the city is described in some detail in Revelation Chapter 18.
V 17 Though Satan, the Beast, the Woman, and the nations all perceive themselves as carrying out their own will, God is working out His plans. This is the perspective of Apocalyptic literature in general, that God oversees human history.
V 18 This is the explanation of who/what the Prostitute is. For a bit more on this please see above concerning Babylon.
God is Present & He is in Control - The Apocalyptic Perspective
Are you ever discouraged when you watch or read the news?
Headlines from the past week are disturbing.
• Syria, Israel and Iran moved to the cutting edge of war this week (which, of course, would involve Russia and the US). Turkey, also, has made excursions into Syria the past week.
• The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, announced officially she is pregnant. That would be news enough. But the father of the child is a man to whom Jacinda is not married. This, again, may not be shocking to anyone, and that is what is shocking. Only a generation past, people who wanted to run for public office had to at least make a show of their concern for the moral bedrock of any nation-the family, with marriage as the beginning of any family. Now, no major news source even mentions the marital status of the couple as an issue of concern.
• Hackers disrupted the Olympics, possibly as retribution for the restriction against Russian athletes who had used performance enhancing drugs. This is a harbinger of disruptions to come.
• A plane crashed in Russia, killing all on board; a bus crashed in Hong Kong, instantly killing 16 and seriously injuring dozens more; a helicopter crashed in the Grand Canyon killing many onboard, a train crashed in the Northeastern United States, all within a few days of each other.
Following such news one might begin to feel the world’s events are increasingly chaotic, that some things are spiraling out of control, maybe even to the point that it seems God is absent.
And
Let’s take this a bit closer to home. Do you ever feel like your life is out of control? Bills, betrayal, illness, friends and family who are suffering unexpected setbacks, any and all of these events may give us the appearance, the feeling, that life is random and meaninglessly spinning downward.
Think of Job. He felt that way.
‘But if I go to the east, he is not there;
if I go to the west, I do not find him.
When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him. Job 23:8-9
Solomon also, with all his wisdom and experience, complained of his sense of God’s apparent disconnect from the events of his life
‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’
says the Teacher.
‘Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless
These outcries are the natural response to too much experience and too much tragedy and too much knowledge of the things of this world. But despair is not what the Bible teaches. God is never absent. As David said
1 You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
David’s perspective of God’s unending and impossibly intimate presence match with Jesus’ promise to His Disciples at the end of His Great Commission: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”
and God said
Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you. (Hebrews 13)
So, God is always with us, even when things seem chaotic
And God is always working out His will, even when events seem meaningless.
As Paul said, “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” Ephesians 1:11
And
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Prayer for Today
Father,
Your will is sometimes baffling, and incomprehensible to people like us. Yet we know You are good. Therefore Your will for us is for good and not for evil, to reach an expected good outcome.
We place our faith in You.
Thanks for being with us, even when it seems You are distant.
Thank you for choosing us, even before the universe was founded, so we could live according to Your good plan for our brief span on this beautiful planet.
Fulfill Your plan in us today.
In the name of Jesus,
Who came not to do His will, but Your will-You who sent Your only begotten Son.
Amen
