God s Judgment of the Great Whore Jason K. Boothe Revelation 17:1-18 1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5 And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. 7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9 And here [is] the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, [and] the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him [are] called, and chosen, and faithful. 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. Introduction This chapter contains another representation of those things that had been revealed before concerning the wickedness and ruin of anti-christ. This anti-christ had been before represented as a beast, and is now described as a great whore. And here, I. The apostle is invited to see this vile woman (Rev_17:1, Rev_17:2). II. He tells us what an appearance she made (Rev_17:3-6). III. The mystery
of it is explained to him (Rev_17:7-12). And, IV. Her ruin foretold (Rev_17:13, etc.) 1. We have in chapter 17 yet another picture of the anti-christian party and of her demise. This great whore, or worthless and false religion, seems powerful, seemingly more powerful than the Christians upon whom she preys. Yet, the Lord will cause His holy judgment to fall upon the false religions of this world.. Outline Vv. 1-7 1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5 And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. A. Come hither, I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore - John is invited to see yet another description of the anti-christ s coming judgment. In this vision, the anti-christian party is likened unto a great whore. 1. Matthew Henry says that the term whore in this passage refers to one who was married, yet openly violated her marriage vows by freely giving herself to adulterous ways. 2. False religion, in much the same way, turns it head of unfaithfulness in the direction of most immediate fulfillment, being never faithful to the established truths, ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. B. With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication - This whore of false religion is pictured here as being the spiritual bed fellow of the world s leaders. 1. The Scripture here says that this whore made the kings of the world drunk with the wine of her fornication. Truly, most of this world is in covenant with false religion. 1 Matthew Henry s Bible Commentary.
C. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, - false religion always presents itself in a most fleshly and flashy way. Here false religion is portrayed as being covered in all of the world s wealth. This will prove to be a huge temptation for the nations of the world, as they enter into covenant with false religion, be it humanism, atheism, or even rampant capitalistic materialism. Satan comes, as an angel of light. D. MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH - the mystery of the great whore is not found in the fact that she despises the people of God. But, rather, her s is the mystery of iniquity. Much of the world is blinded to the reality of false religion s true motivation: to work iniquity in the world. 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 [Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. E. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. - (Gill) To see a woman drunk is a shameful sight; but to see one drunk, not with wine, but with blood, is monstrous, cruel, and shocking; the sword, when it devours, and is satiate, is said to be drunk with blood, Jer_46:10 but for a woman to be so is unexampled; and not with her own blood, as she will be, Isa_49:26 but with the blood of others; and not with the blood of wicked men, but with the blood of saints; such as God the Father has set apart from everlasting, and chosen to be holy; whom Christ has sanctified by his blood, or whose sins he has expiated, and to whom he is made sanctification; and who have principles of grace and holiness wrought in them by the Spirit of God, and live holy lives and conversations: F. (Gill) And when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration; -not at the sight of the beast, which he had seen before, but at the sight of the woman, as, upon the beast; he wondered that one of her sex, generally timorous and fearful, should ride on such a monstrous creature; he was amazed at her dress, and grand appearance, whereas the church in his time consisted of poor persons, meanly arrayed; it was astonishing to him that one bearing the name of a Christian church should rise to such grandeur; and he wondered at the name upon her forehead, what the whole of that inscription should mean; but, above all, at her drunkenness with the blood of the saints; at her
inhumanity and cruelty, being as savage as the beast she rode on; and also at God's forbearance of her, that he, who is a pure and holy Being, a lover of his saints, an avenger of his elect, should suffer such a brutish, barbarous, and blood thirsty creature, to live upon earth; see Hab_1:13. Vv. 7-13 7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9 And here [is] the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, [and] the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. A. the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. - Many commentators believe this passage to be symbolic of the Papal Rome. The Roman empire was a mighty empire. This same empire was defeated and is no more. Yet, it is revived in a spiritual sense through the auspices of Rome Papal. Throughout this text, the whore means false religion, Roman Catholicism included. B. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. - only one city in the world sits between seven hills. This city is Rome. Bible commentators as well as poets have, throughout the ages, described Rome in this way. If this is the case, then the Great whore operates from her base in Rome. In this manner, the Great whore will manipulate rulers who come to her bed, using them for her own purposes. Vv. 14-18 14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him [are] called, and chosen, and faithful. 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. A. The Lamb shall overcome them - No power on earth, no matter how impressive, is able to defeat the power of the Gospel of Christ! The Lamb will overcome them!
Conclusion B. These [kings] shall hate the whore - God will turn the great whore s allies into enemies, causing the once powerful looking dark alliance to crumble in on itself. This will be done to fulfill God s will, for He hath put in their hearts to do it. C. The mystery of the great whore is revealed: The Great whore is, in fact, the very city of Rome, the personification of false religion and godlessness. I leave you with a note of assurance: The Lamb will overcome! Although it seems as though this world gets worse as the years progress, the Lord Christ will be victorious in the end! No force or power in the universe can stand against His mighty hand, or the preaching of His most Holy Gospel. This day the anti-christ is pictured as a whore, a woman who sells herself for worldly gain. Let us not follow in the footsteps of false religion, forsaking the truth for the convenient. But, rather, let God s people hunger after righteousness and holiness, for in them we find rest for our souls. The great whore is doomed. This day, let us agree together to share the precious truth of the Gospel to friends and family. For, it is the message that will overcome the very gates of hell. - Amen.