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The Great Prostitute, Babylon and Rome - Revelation 17:1 - 18

The weekend, December 19 –

We have our one reading this weekend and it is from Revelation 17:1 – 18.  We are getting nearer to the end of the New Testament, but as we have seen, the New Testament doesn’t end quietly.  After you’ve read the passage, please come back and we’ll look at it again.


The end of all things is at hand, but one might still wonder, why does God have to ruin it all in order to make it all new?  We find out that what is naturally beautiful has an evil background behind it.

“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk” (17:1-2).

In a cryptic sort of description, John hears one of the angels who had a bowl come to point out the source of evil and the one who will face God’s wrath.  The imagery is visionary and gives us a sense of the form of evil.  It is a “great prostitute” – from the Greek word “porne” (pornography).  Sexual immorality is common in it, to the point that it is like a person drunk on wine.  It is not a brothel, but a false religion that has spread its influence far and wide.  The Old Testament prophets used similar graphic language in announcing God’s judgment on Israel’s idolatry (cf. Isaiah 21:1-2,9; Jeremiah 2:20; Nahum 3:4).  The angel takes John to see the evil up close -

“And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.  The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.  And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.”  And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly” (17:3-6).

The description is of a woman (the great prostitute?) who sits on a scarlet beast that is blasphemous of God, wealthy, and full of evil.  The seven heads and ten horns are similar to the Old Testament visions the prophet Daniel saw (Dan. 7:4-8, 20, 24), but we saw in Revelation 13:1 that the source of this was the “beast that arose up out of the sea” – i.e., the Antichrist.  In 17:1, we saw that the great prostitute sat on many waters, which implies the influence of “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations” (17:5).  The many waters reflect the world-wide influence that Babylon, under the control of Satan and the Antichrist has on the nations.  The angel says the name “Babylon” is a name of mystery, thus, the place of rebellion is like Babylon, but not Babylon.  John “marveled greatly” at the whole thing.  It is impressive on the surface but full of deceit and destruction.

As John looks, he sees the blood of many saints and martyrs – the followers of Jesus who were killed for their faith.  Almost certainly John is seeing the “now” of this in Rome, and the Caesars who thought of themselves as gods and ruled over this vast expansive empire.  “And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.” (17:18).  There is a “now”, but also a “not yet” aspect to the vision –
“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” (17:7-10).

Rome was built on seven hills, thus the “seven heads are seven mountains the woman (or city) is seated”. There is many different interpretations for the “seven kings, five fallen, one is, the other is not yet come, but when he comes he will only be for a little while”.  Some see this as Rome’s emperors, but it fails to add up to the historical record.  Others have thought it has to do with the stages of Rome’s government that lead up to Domitian’s reign of terror.  Since John sees much of the visions in relation to the Old Testament Prophets, I’m inclined to see what Daniel saw in the rise of Kingdoms that seek to take over the world.  We can see this in the next part of the vision –

 “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” (17:11-14). 

Whatever else they might be, the beast (Antichrist from 13:1) is in control of these “kings” (horns).  They serve the beast and are warring to destroy Christianity (the Lamb), but they will not succeed, for Jesus, the lamb, is “Lord of lords and King of kings”.  With him are the elect, his called and chosen ones who are faithful in the “now” and the “not yet”.  The ten kings are the same as Daniel’s vision – “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns” (Daniel 7:7).  Trying to understand as Kingdoms beginning with Babylon, then Persia, Greece, and then Rome makes what Daniel saw more complete in John’s vision – but, I may be wrong!  Either way, the beast (Antichrist) is the source of the kingdoms of the world who always makes war against the lamb.  The beast will always be in the background of evil kings and kingdoms –

“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” (17:15-18). 

Kingdoms historically destroy each other as they seek power and control over other kingdoms.  God is allowing the beast to continue to deceive and devour until the words of God are fulfilled.  There is a lot of symbolism in the imagery.  Ancient Babylon arose from tribes whose origin was in Babel in Genesis 11.  Babel, which means “confused”, was human beings attempt to create their own god, who they could control and use for their own purposes.  The desire of a governing authority who will take over the whole world has been witnessed in generations of evil empires (aka, Hitler’s Germany).  To create a one-world system that controls all thought, all politics, all religions, seems far-fetched until we look at the revelation John sees unveiled before him.  History moves decisively towards an end times, and the climax of that is what follows next. Karl Marx called religion “the opium of the people”, and sought to build a world where religion had no part.  We live in a post-Christian world as our societies, cultures, increasingly distance themselves from anything God.  Yes, there are still a lot of Christians, but the influence of the culture is relentlessly pulling the church away from its orthodox roots towards a religion that is unable to make sense of sin, or the need of redemption in Jesus Christ.  Religion is an opiate if it does not more than soothe our guilt and excuse our sin.  Satan is the father of lies, a deceiver, and it seems that as time goes along, he’s gaining ground.  John reminds us that ultimately, he will not succeed – 

“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” (17:14).

It’s as if John reminds us, Jesus will do his part, and we need to do our faithful part of following the Lord of lords, the King of kings.

Peace


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