Study 34: Revelatin 17:1-8 1 One f the seven angels wh had the seven bwls came and said t me, "Cme, I will shw yu the punishment f the great prstitute, wh sits n many waters. 2 With her the kings f the earth cmmitted adultery and the inhabitants f the earth were intxicated with the wine f her adulteries." Wh is the great prstitute? There have been many theries and I emphasize that they were nly theries, n matter hw authritatively they were presented. I d nt believe it is ne particular persn r mvement in histry. I think it is rather the prevailing philsphy r cultural system f any age r peple that sets itself up as an ptin t serving Gd. A prstitute des what he r she des fr mney. A prstitute is a substitute fr what Gd intended fr the marriage relatinship. Thus, this prstitute is a cunterfeit ecnmic system that prmises pleasure and peace in return fr sme ecnmic return. Under that definitin, cmmunism, capitalism, scialism and any ther ism that des nt make Gd its central fcus is the prstitute. S is liberatin thelgy, liberalism, and all the false sects and cults that dn t make Jesus the center f attentin and wrship. Even in my lifetime, I have seen many systems prmise prsperity and the answers t human prblems and suffering. T date, all have failed. Yet that has nt prevented leaders (kings) and their fllwers (the inhabitants) frm becming infatuated (intxicated) with the pssibilities f these systems and their teachings. Nt nly is prstitutin mentined in these verses, but adultery is as well. These are descriptive f hw intimate the kings and inhabitants becme with their philsphies and systems. But because these systems d nt fcus n and glrify Gd, their intimacies are misplaced. Are yu putting yur trust r becming intimate with anything that des nt put Gd at the center? Is yur hpe in plitics, ecnmics r the wisdm f men? If s, then yu are flirting with a girlfriend r byfriend that isn t yur spuse! Yu are married t Gd and His ways. Read what James epistle had t say: What causes fights and quarrels amng yu? Dn't they cme frm yur desires that battle within yu? Yu want smething but dn't get it. Yu kill and cvet, but yu cannt have what yu want. Yu quarrel and fight. Yu d nt have, because yu d nt ask Gd. When yu ask, yu d nt receive, because yu ask with wrng mtives, that yu may spend what yu get n yur pleasures. Yu adulterus peple, dn't yu knw that friendship with the wrld is 1
hatred tward Gd? Anyne wh chses t be a friend f the wrld becmes an enemy f Gd. Or d yu think Scripture says withut reasn that the spirit he caused t live in us envies intensely? But he gives us mre grace. That is why Scripture says: "Gd ppses the prud but gives grace t the humble." Submit yurselves, then, t Gd. Resist the devil, and he will flee frm yu (James 4:1-7). This says it all: an adulterus peple are friends with the wrld and its systems, which are in direct ppsitin t the things f Gd. 3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit int a desert. There I saw a wman sitting n a scarlet beast that was cvered with blasphemus names and had seven heads and ten hrns. I have been t Israel n numerus ccasins and have traveled thrugh its deserts. They are deslate places, but are smehw beautiful and breathtaking. They are places f lneliness, fr nt many live there, and areas that are dry and ht. At night, many deserts are cld withut the sun. Smetimes Gd will take yu t a desert place in yur life t speak t yu and give yu revelatin and understanding abut what He is ding r ging t d. I am in a desert place in my life as I write this, but it is a gd time. Gd tk Mses and David int the desert t speak and train them fr leadership and ministry. Gd the Father als tk Jesus t a desert as He began His public ministry. If Jesus had sme time in the desert, dn t yu think yu will as well? Jesus, full f the Hly Spirit, returned frm the Jrdan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where fr frty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nthing during thse days, and at the end f them he was hungry (Luke 4:1-2). It appears that this was an imprtant time in Jesus life and ministry, fr Matthew, Mark and Luke all recrd what happened in the desert. Make sure yu take gd ntes f what Gd speaks t yu in the desert as well. It appears the devil is busy in the desert t. This is where Jesus encuntered His temptatins and this setting is where Jhn sees the wman riding n the scarlet beast. When yu have yur desert experience, carefully evaluate everything yu hear and see. Make sure it is heaven speaking t yu. I dn t say that t scare yu, but everything we receive, whether by prphetic wrd frm thers r thrugh the still, small internal vice, must and shuld be checked ut t make sure it is biblical and sund. It never hurts t share it with smene wh knws yu and is spiritually mature. 2
4 The wman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gld, precius stnes and pearls. She held a glden cup in her hand, filled with abminable things and the filth f her adulteries. This wman was dressed well, which wuld make her attractive t thers at first glance. And we knw this t be true f sin in general: He [Mses] chse t be mistreated alng with the peple f Gd rather than t enjy the pleasures f sin fr a shrt time (Hebrews 11:25). We wuld d well t tell peple that sin des bring pleasure; there is n denying that. But sin s pleasures are passing, and its reward des nt last as lng as the reward f righteusness. Sin brings pleasure at first, but what it csts in the lng run is nt wrth what it gives in the shrt run. It seems that everyne has a cup t drink, ne ffered by Gd and the ther ffered by the wrld system. Ging a little farther, he fell with his face t the grund and prayed, "My Father, if it is pssible, may this cup be taken frm me. Yet nt as I will, but as yu will (Matthew 26:39). What cup are yu drinking frm? And what is yur attitude as yu drink? If yu are drinking the cup f suffering, then yu must d it as unt the Lrd. If yu are drinking any ther cup, repent! There is nthing that can take the place f ding the will f Gd in the manner that Gd desires. 5 This title was written n her frehead: MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. This wman has a mark n her frehead just like the ther fllwers f the beast. D yu think this is a literal marking t be n sme wman, r d yu think it is symblic? If yu think it is symblic, then the 666 mark wuld als be symblic. This wman is symblic f all the anti-gd systems and philsphies that ever have existed r ever will. Remember, what culd this have meant t the early church, t whm the bk f Revelatin was addressed? They were under the cntrl f Rme and Rme was idlatrus, crrupt and anti-christian. But what wuld this bk have meant t a believer in Eastern Eurpe twenty years ag? They were under the cntrl f the Sviet cmmunists, wh were idlatrus, crrupt and anti-christian. D yu see that the message f Revelatin is that it is impssible t find refuge r slace in anything r anyne, except Gd. We cannt expect any wrld system t be righteus unless it is based n the law f Gd. S why put yur trust there? 3
D yu agree r disagree? Why r why nt? 6 I saw that the wman was drunk with the bld f the saints, the bld f thse wh bre testimny t Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astnished. There have been and may very well be again, many institutins, ecnmic systems and plitical mvements that have fed themselves n persecuting the Church. Certainly Rme in the time f Jhn and Revelatin was ding this. Figuratively speaking, they were intxicated by pwer and hw they used it t thwart the Church. But all their effrts have been futile, with nly shrt-term success. Why? Let s lk at Psalm 2: Why d the natins cnspire and the peples plt in vain? The kings f the earth take their stand and the rulers gather tgether against the LORD and against his Aninted One. "Let us break their chains," they say, "and thrw ff their fetters." The One enthrned in heaven laughs; the Lrd scffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, "I have installed my King n Zin, my hly hill." I will prclaim the decree f the LORD: He said t me, "Yu are my Sn; tday I have becme yur Father. Ask f me, and I will make the natins yur inheritance, the ends f the earth yur pssessin. Yu will rule them with an irn scepter; yu will dash them t pieces like pttery." Therefre, yu kings, be wise; be warned, yu rulers f the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and rejice with trembling. Kiss the Sn, lest he be angry and yu be destryed in yur way, fr his wrath can flare up in a mment. Blessed are all wh take refuge in him (Psalm 2:1-12). These anti-christ mvements are all dmed t failure. While they bring tremendus suffering and even martyrdm fr the saints, thse very things are their unding. Let s review: the message f Revelatin is ne f victry, nt f fear r depressin. Yes, there have been many wh have ppsed the Church and sme even tried t eradicate it. They have all ended in failure and have themselves been exterminated while the Church has cntinued. Even the mst recent anti-christian mvement, Islam, as pwerful as it is, cannt resist the purpse f Gd frever. They will end like very ther mvement wh has ppsed Gd and the Church. Jhn was astnished by what he saw, and the Church is ften astnished at its enemies and their hatred. Yet the enemies f the Church are taking ut their hatred f the invisible Gd n the visible Church. 7 Then the angel said t me: "Why are yu astnished? I will explain t yu the mystery f the wman and f the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten hrns. 4
The angel began t explain t Jhn what he saw. One f the best rules t fllw fr biblical interpretatin is t find what the Bible explains abut itself. Dn t make up yur wn interpretatins, but fllw thse that are prvided. If the Bible gives n insight int what it says, and that passage r image is bscure, then be very careful abut hw yu interpret that passage. Yu may have an pinin abut what it says, r yu may find a practical applicatin, but yu must be very careful nt t insist that the Lrd shwed yu what it meant. 8 The beast, which yu saw, nce was, nw is nt, and will cme up ut f the Abyss and g t his destructin. The inhabitants f the earth whse names have nt been written in the bk f life frm the creatin f the wrld will be astnished when they see the beast, because he nce was, nw is nt, and yet will cme. A ppular series f nvels lsely based n Revelatin and the end times mistakenly prtrays this scenari as a literal persn wh will be killed and then raised frm the dead. D yu think this is what the early Church tk this t mean? I dubt it. Thse wh dn t knw ur Gd, whse names are nt written in the bk f life, are susceptible t all kinds f spiritual misinterpretatin and delusin. In my wn lifetime, I have seen whle peple grups fllw a charismatic leader t their wn destructin and pain. As sn as ne anti-christ mvement ends (is killed), anther raises up t take its place. When cmmunism in the Sviet Unin fell apart, sme peple thught the wrld wuld be a safer place. Tday, ttalitarianism is alive and well, and the wrld is a mre dangerus place. This astnishes sme peple. It shuld nt surprise the peple f Gd. The beast is always fathering new ideas and prmting new leaders. They are all part f the anti-christ purpse that the devil prmtes by any and all means. Even the thinking that all religins are the same and that there are many rads t salvatin are part f this beastly anti-christian system. There is nly ne answer fr the wrld s prblems and it is Jesus. Anything else, n matter hw prmising it may lk, is a fraud. The bk f Revelatin is fcusing n the supremacy f Christ and the reality f the devil wh ppses Him. But the gd news is that we in Christ are victrius, even thrugh martyrdm. 5