Rev. 17:1-18

1. Rev. 17:1-18 • 5 enemies of X & his people have been introduced: dragon, beast from sea, beast from land, the harlot Babylon the great, and men having the mark of the beast. • Chs 15 & 16 have shown God’s judgments against those having the mark of the beast. • Chs 17 & 18 can be described by 17:1: “I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters”; fall of Babylon the great had been anticipated (14:8; 16:19); now all of its details are given.

2. Rev. 17:1-18 • Last ½ of book presents a contrast bet. the radiant woman (ch 12) & the harlot, drunk with the blood of Xtian martyrs, riding upon the beast. • Also a contrast is drawn between the city of Babylon the great, full of idolatrous abominations & the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven as a bride adorned to meet her bridegroom.

3. Rev. 17:1-18 • One of puzzles of the book is how to interpret these 2 women symbolizing the 2 cities; harlot riding upon the terrible beast is identified as Babylon the great, later described as a great and wicked city (18:5,10). • In contrast, the bride of X is described as making herself ready for the great marriage feast (19:7,8), & is identified in 21:9,10 as the new Jerusalem coming down from God; throughout this half of book these 2 stand in opposition to one another.

4. Rev. 17:1-18 • Question for interpreters: “What is the connection between these 2 women & the 2 cities?” • Connection bet. the 2 cities seems obvious since the same angel who showed J. the judgment of the great harlot Babylon the great is also the same one who showed John the Lamb’s Bride (21:9).

5. Rev. 17:1-18 • The language is very similar in 17:1,3 & 21:9,10. • Some make a direct connection bet the 2, seeing in B. the great the drunken harlot, the picture of the radiant woman gone astray & now persecuting the true Xtians as the apostate church. • These connect this primarily with the RCC & the papacy.

6. Rev. 17:1-18 • They point out that it is in the wilderness into which the radiant woman fled in ch 12 that we see the harlot in ch 17, having greatly changed; they point out that fornication is one of the important symbols of apostasy in OT (Isa. 1:21; Jer. 3:6-10; Ezek. 16:1-58; 23:1-49). • The luxury of her attire & her close alliance with kings and rulers they say point to the RCC & the papacy.

7. Rev. 17:1-18 • Others see in the term “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots” a reference to persecuting imperial Rome; they point out that this interpretation speaks more to the needs of the early ch & the problems it confronted. • Further, the descriptions in ch 18 are specifically those of a great commercial civilization with its materialistic emphases & powers (Imperial Rome, not an apostate church).

8. Rev. 17:1-18 • Seems most likely that early Xtians reading this book would find distinct references to imperial Rome in 17:9,18. • The similarity of the description here with that of Tyre (Ezek. 27) or of ancient Babylon sitting on many waters (Jer. 51:13) as pagan centers of vice & materialism is striking.

9. Rev. 17:1-18 • While picturing Rome, Babylon also stands as a symbol of secular anti-Xtian powers that in every age oppose God’s rule in the world & seek to destroy his people. • Babylon is the type of world power in rebellion against God & the antitype of the heavenly Jerusalem (21:1-22:5).

10. Rev. 17:1-18 • Vision of the Great Harlot (17:1-6a) • One of 7 angels with 7 bowls introduces the vision by inviting J. to see the judgment of the great harlot. • “Judgment” (Gk krima) carries idea of condemnation, the result of having already been judged by a righteous God; note that she is called a “harlot” (Gk porne) & never an “adulteress” (Gk moichalis).

11. Rev. 17:1-18 • Vision of the Great Harlot (17:1-6a) • She is not a bride & has never been a bride, nor has she ever been the wife of the Lamb; she has never been pledged to the Lamb & cannot be thought of as the apostate church. • “Harlot” is applied to Nineveh (Nahum 3:4) & to Tyre (Isa. 23:16,17); neither city was ever a part of God’s chosen people in OT.

12. Rev. 17:1-18 • Vision of the Great Harlot (17:1-6a) • These points would seem to confirm the interpretation of this “harlot” as the anti-Xtian world. • She is sitting “upon many waters”; this is introduced here, but not interpreted until v. 15, where we learn this refers to “peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.”

13. Rev. 17:1-18 • Vision of the Great Harlot (17:1-6a) • Her “sitting” refers to her ruling over them; it also alludes to ancient Babylong, located by the waters of the Euphrates amid the canals that interlaced the rich plain (Jer. 51:13), the center of a great ancient empire that carried the Jews into captivity.

14. Rev. 17:1-18 • Vision of the Great Harlot (17:1-6a) • 2 things the angel accused the harlot of doing: 1) committing fornication with the kings of the earth, 2) making the earth dwellers drunk with the wine of her fornication. • These “dwellers on earth” are ones described in 13:8 as those whose names are not written “in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain.”

15. Rev. 17:1-18 • Vision of the Great Harlot (17:1-6a) • Angel then carried the prophet away in the Spirit into a wilderness, & to his great amazement he saw a soman sitting on a scarlet-colored beast; the beast had 76 heads & 10 horns & was full of blasphemous names, remind one of both the dragon & the beast from the sea.

16. Rev. 17:1-18 • Vision of the Great Harlot (17:1-6a) • Woman was luxuriously dressed in royal colors, “purple & scarlet, and bedecked with gold and jewels, and pearls”; she held a golden cup in her hand full of “abominations,” “detestable things” (Gk bdelugma), a word that in GK OT frequently meant moral & ceremonial unvcleannesses connected with idolatrous worship.

21. Rev. 17:1-18 • The Beast Interpreted (17:6b-11) • Because the beast so nearly represents the dragon and the beast from the sea earlier in the book, it is difficult to be absolutely sure regarding the meaning of the beast; it puzzled J. & it puzzles us • In some vss. here it would appear to represent the empire that supports the woman, which is the great city of Rome.

22. Rev. 17:1-18 • The Beast Interpreted (17:6b-11) • In other vss. it appears to refer to one single individual or a succession of individuals who represent the empire. • Thus the beast can be interpreted personally (v. 11). • Is likely that this is purposeful on the part of J. so that the interpretation may not be too limited.

23. Rev. 17:1-18 • The Beast Interpreted (17:6b-11) • The beast is described as one that “was and is not and is to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to perdition.” • Is as if the beast has died, & will soon be resurrected; scholars point out a parallel bet God & His Messiah, Jesus X, & Satan & his “messiah,” the beast; there is the living, dying, & “rising again” of both.

24. Rev. 17:1-18 • The Beast Interpreted (17:6b-11) • There is one difference—X was raised to reign eternally; the beast comes up to go to perdition. • The 7 heads are interpreted not only as 7 mountains, an obvious ref to Rome & its 7 hills, but also to 7 kings, 5 of whom are fallen, one exists, & one is about to come for a short time.

25. Rev. 17:1-18 • The Beast Interpreted (17:6b-11) • Then follows an 8th one, who is the beast himself (vss. 9-11); the 8th is “of the seven,” thus a king like them, yet it is clear from vss. 1-6 that the beast represents a city and an empire. • Would appear that the heads, the kings, represent the empire as a whole. • Some have tried to work out a historical list of Roman emperors that would come out at Domitian, when the book was written.

26. Rev. 17:1-18 • The Beast Interpreted (17:6b-11) • Most widely followed procedure begins with Augustus Caesar, followed by Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, & Nero, omitting the names of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, whose short reigns occur during the anarchy of 68 & 69. • Vespasian (68-79) is identified as “the one who is” & Titus as the one to come for only a short time (79-81), making Domitian the 8th (81-96), the beast that embodied all the evil of the past in himself.

27. Rev. 17:1-18 • The Beast Interpreted (17:6b-11) • This is open to the objections that it omits three names in order to get the right number & makes the book a product of the time of Vespasian rather than Domitian. • Any such endeavor (making the heads correspond to Roman emperors) runs into some difficulty; the 7 may simply stand for Roman rulers as a whole & by extension to all evil world powers.

28. Rev. 17:1-18 • The Beast Interpreted (17:6b-11) • Many see in the beast that was, is not, & shall ascend a ref to popular 1st c legend that Nero, who actually committed suicide, was not dead, but would return from the East at the head of an army & take possession of the empire. • Nero would be “revived” in the beast that would continue to persecute; Domitian was certainly symbolically a revived Nero.

29. Rev. 17:1-18 • The Beast Interpreted (17:6b-11) • Others see the 7 “kings” as kingdoms, with 5 fallen, one (Rome) in existence, and 1 yet to come that would embody all. • The flexibility of this symbol bet empire & individual keeps one from being too strict in his interpretation.

30. Rev. 17:1-18 • The Beast Interpreted (17:6b-11) • Several times in this paragraph of scripture the assurance of the defeat of the beast & its heads allows us to see the failure of Satan’s efforts against X and his people. • Though the earth dwellers are amazed & attracted by the beast’s power & revival, they will share in the completeness of its overthrow.

31. Rev. 17:1-18 • The Beast Interpreted (17:6b-11) • Evil will be destroyed in God’s world ultimately. • For men to choose the side of evil is to condemn themselves to complete failure & destruction in the end.

32. Rev. 17:1-18 • The Ten Horns Interpreted (17:12-14) • The 10 horns were 10 kings without a kingdom, but exercising “authority as kings for one hour,” a brief period along with the beast; they are all allies of the beast, giving it their strength & authority. • Who are the 10 horns, the 10 kings? • Several interpretations have been suggested.

33. Rev. 17:1-18 • The Ten Horns Interpreted (17:12-14) • 1) Unknown future rulers toward the end of the Rom Empire who helped to destroy her. • 2) Governors of provinces under the Roman Senate that hold office for a year. • 3) Parthian satraps that will be coming back with Nero at the head of the Parthian forces to capture the Rome.

34. Rev. 17:1-18 • The Ten Horns Interpreted (17:12-14) • 4) Purely symbolic powers, representing all of the powers of the nations that are subservient to the beast, the antichrist. • 5) The mighty persons of all the earth in every realm of endeavor who serve evil influences and work against the cause of Christ. • 1 & 4 seem more plausible; “10” is symbolic indicating the whole.

35. Rev. 17:1-18 • The Ten Horns Interpreted (17:12-14) • The 10 all have one purpose, to oppose & to fight against X and his people; this is expressed in the words, “These shall make war with the Lamb.” • Should not think here of a literal war in which X & his people are drawn up against the evil forces of the world, but a spiritual war in which the Lamb along with his faithful ones will overcome.

36. Rev. 17:1-18 • The Ten Horns Interpreted (17:12-14) • Christ is here called “Lord of lords and King of kings,” titles given to God in the OT (Deut. 10:17; Ps 136:2,3; Dan 2:47; cf. Paul’s use in I Tim 6:15).

37. Rev. 17:1-18 • Woman Sitting..Many Waters (17:15-18) • Have already alluded to v. 15 in interpreting the waters, which signify the many peoples that made up the Roman empire in 1st c and also the nations of the world under Satan’s influence. • Interestingly, the horns associated with the beast in their power turn upon the harlot to strip her of her finery & make her desolate & naked, then eat up her flesh & burn her up with fire.

38. Rev. 17:1-18 • Woman Sitting..Many Waters (17:15-18) • This is what eventually happens to here, even though she is so prosperous, beautiful, & seemingly fortunate; God’s overruling providence enables these very agents to fulfill his will “until the words of God shall be fulfilled.” • But they are not aware that they are fulfilling God’s will in destroying the harlot with they had formed an alliance.

39. Rev. 17:1-18 • Woman Sitting..Many Waters (17:15-18) • Beasley-Murray says, “Evil is destroyed by evil, and in turn reaps its own harvest. That the agents of the Devil execute the will of God vividly illustrates that there is no real dualism in the Revelation. The beast and his allies remain in the hand of the God they defy, and by the impulse of the Devil they unitedly fulfill the words of God.” “The Book of Revelation,” p. 260.

40. Rev. 17:1-18 • Woman Sitting..Many Waters (17:15-18) • “The house divided against itself cannot stand.” • Satan divided against himself is bound to fall. • The seeds of destruction are within every force of evil, and nothing could illustrate it better than the close of this chapter

41. Rev. 18:1-24 • Having described the harlot and the beast, J. now calls our attention to the judgment which God passes upon her. • After announcing her ruin, the call comes from God to his people to flee from her, & the ministers of God’s vengeance are summoned to do their work of judgment; the laments of the kings, merchants, & seafarers, followed by the call to the saints & heavenly beings to rejoice over her, form the central part of chap. • The completeness of her fall brings it to a close.

42. Rev. 18:1-24 • The Fall Announced (18:1-3) • This passage is patterned from the doom pronouncements of the OT prophets; prophecies of the fall of ancient Babylon (Isa. 13; 21; 47; Jer. 50: 51), of Nineveh (Nahum 3), of Edom (Isa. 34), and of Tyre (Ezek. 26, 27) all remind us of the type of material here.

43. Rev. 18:1-24 • The Fall Announced (18:1-3) • J. sees the angel coming out of the sky with great authority illuminating the earth with his great glory; with his strong voice he cries out that Babylon the great has fallen & has become the dwelling place of demons & every foul spirit & every unclean bird. • Reference is not to a “cage” (KJV) but to a “haunt” or “roost” for the night birds and vultures symbolic of the destruction of the city.

44. Rev. 18:1-24 • The Fall Announced (18:1-3) • Demons like vultures will haunt the ruins of their old pagan temples where once they were worshipped as pagan idols & the emperors given divine honors in all kinds of idolatrous abominations; Cf. I Cor 10:20,21). • Babylon’s place becomes a desolation, her power disappears, &, with her fall, all signs of her social & domestic life vanish.

45. Rev. 18:1-24 • The Fall Announced (18:1-3) • The reason for her destruction is given once more in this announcement; she has made the nations drunk with “the wine of her impure passions.” • Her great wealth, her profligate living, her self-indulgence have corrupted all the nations of the world. • Her fall is stated in past tense expressing the certainty of it.

46. Rev. 18:1-24 • The Call to God’s People (18:4,5) • “Another voice from heaven” calls for God’s people to come out of her, not to be partakers of her sins & not to have part in the punishment that will come upon her; her sins have been piling up & clinging to one another until they form a mass reaching up to heaven itself; in this poetic way the enormity of her iniquity is pointed out.

47. Rev. 18:1-24 • The Call to God’s People (18:4,5) • This call to come out from the midst of her iniquities echoes God’s call to Abraham (Gen 12:1) to come out from his country & people, the call to Lot to get out of Sodom (Gen 19:12-14), the call to Israle in the Exodus, & the call to the faithful to get out from the tents of Korah, Dathan, & Abiram (Num 16:23-26).

48. Rev. 18:1-24 • The Call to God’s People (18:4,5) • The OT prophets (e.g., Isa 48:20; Jer 50:8; 51:6) gave the call to the Jews to come out from the midst of ancient Babylon. • This call addressed to early Xtians was a warning not to become entangled in the evils of Rome; this is always a temptation for Xtians living in the midst of a materialistic culture with its great emphasis on the things that appeal to the lusts of the flesh; Xtians are in the world, but not of the world.

49. Rev. 18:1-24 • The Call to God’s Ministers of Justice (18:6-8) • “Repay her double” is a command addressed, not to the people of God, but to those agents of God’s justice, heavenly spirits, who will carry out God’s orders & reward her in full for her iniquity; as she has given to others, so she is to receive according to her works.

50. Rev. 18:1-24 • The Call to God’s Ministers of Justice (18:6-8) • Just as she has mixed the cup & made others drink, so she must now drink of the cup mixed in double portion. • Making her boastful claim that she is a queen & will never see sorrow because she is no widow, she will find death, mourning, & famine coming upon her suddenly & will be utterly burned with fire.