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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