Revelation

Chapter 17

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. 

The victory of the Lamb 

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. 

Chapters 17 and 18 reveal the true nature of Babylon and the judgment that will come upon her. Babylon, the city, is personified as being a harlot. She is the centre and driving force of a worldwide false church in coalition with governments under the power of the 'dragon' (12:3), the 'beast' (11:7) and the 'false prophet' (13:1), the unholy trinity.

1 In chapter 14:8 (see note) the second angel announces the downfall of Babylon (16:19; 18:16,17,19). Here, one the seven bowl judgment angels brings more understanding of the nature of Babylon. Contrast this with the statement of the angel in chapter 21:9 about the 'bride' and the 'Lamb's wife'.

'Many waters' is a metaphor for peoples of many nations and, since Babylon 'sittith' upon them, she is shown as having controlling power over them.

2 Political leaders and rulers will support and be in coalition with Babylon and her system, along with all unbelievers (v 15), revelling in their rebellion to God. Their 'fornication' will take the form of total involvement in practising their false religion opposed to God.

3 John is carried 'away in the spirit' (1:10; 4:2; 21:10). He is taken to a specific location for a better understanding of what is shown to him. He sees the 'woman' who is Babylon, seated upon a 'scarlot coloured beast' who is the antichrist (13:1,2; 14:9; 16:10). The antichrist is portrayed as a regal king in 'scarlot', bearing blasphemous names (13:1). Instead of giving honour and glory to God he will blasphemously exalt himself (Daniel 7:25; 11:36; 2 Thessalonians 2:4).

Verse 9 tells us that the 'seven heads' are 'seven mountains'. Some commentators believe the seat of government and power of the antichrist will be at Rome, which city is situated on seven hills, but more likely 'seven hills' are symbols for seven kingdoms and their leaders.

Verse 12 explains who the ten horns represent, i.e., ten world leaders, cohorts of the antichrist during the latter three-and-a-half year period of the Great Tribulation (13:1).

4, 5 Verse 4 describes the superficial appearance of the 'woman' (Babylon) and something of her inner filthy character. She is dressed as a rich and successful prostitute, sexually attractive and alluring (Proverbs 7:10) - all this is indicative of the charms of a false church combining religion and politics, but her true nature is revealed in verse 5. She is a corrupt and perverse church acting in opposition to Christ.

A 'mystery' is the revelation of something not previously understood or known in old testament times (Matthew 13:11; Ephesians 3:4,5).

The nature of her harlotry means she breeds replicas of herself - hence, 'MOTHER OF HARLOTS' (19:2).

6 Being totally depraved, Babylon (the antichrist's organization - see note at the beginning of this comment) revels and rejoices in the martyrdom of the saints. This particularly refers to the period of the second half of the Great Tribulation when the antichrist's kingdom is at it's fullest power, but in gerneral, wherever satan's followers achieve their aims they clap hands and rejoice.

To use a colloquialism, John the apostle is 'gob-struck', not fully understanding what he sees.

7 The angel percieves John's astonishment and decides to explain the meaning of the combined errand of the woman and the beast - the rider on her horse.

8 'Was, and is not, and shall ascend' could refer to the false resurrection of the antichrist (13:3,4,12-14). His followers will look in wonder at this apparent miracle, but they will be perplexed when the one they worship is sent into 'perdition' (eternal destruction - v 11; Matthew 7:13; John 17:12; Philippians 1:28; 3:19; 2 Thesallonians 2:3; Hebrews 10:39; 2 Peter 2:3; 3:7,16).

For 'book of life' see note on 3:5. For 'foundation of the world' see note on 13:8 (Matthew 13:35; 25:34; Luke 11:50; John 17:24; Ephesians 1:4; Hebrews 4:3; 9:26; 1 Peter 1:20).

9 See 3 above.

10 The 'seven kings' can be interpreted as Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and at the time John wrote Revelation, the Roman empire was contemporaneous, but the kingdom of the antichrist was to yet to come. For only a 'short space' will the antichrist's kingdom survive, that's three-and-a-half years (12:12; 13:5).

11 Because the antichrist will have a false resurrection, the span of his kingdom will be in two, hence the seventh kingdom will be deemed to be of the eighth also.

12 The ten kings refer to the 'ten horns' of verse 3. They will be in charge of ten administrative world authorities under the reign of the antichrist during the second half of the Great Tribulation period.

13 These ten administrators will give total and unified allegience to the antichrist.

14 They will summon their military might in support of the antichrist at the battle of Armageddon (16:14-16) where they will be overwhealmingly defeated by Christ (19:19-21) who is referred to as 'Lord of lords, and King of kings', the omnipotent God (19:6).

15 For 'waters' see note on verse 1.

16 Ten confederate kings with their armies will assist the antichrist in the destruction of the false church to gain total power for himself to be worshipped. In so doing they will do the will of God (v 17).

17 This power domain will exist for a short time until its final destruction by Christ at Armageddon.

18 The 'woman which thou sawest' is Babylon as described in verses 3 - 6, but her destruction is depicted in 18:10, 18, 21.

 Once again, thank you for sharing these important teachings of John.

May our studies be for the glory of God, His worship, adoration and the extension of His kingdom.

My prayer, if you do not know Him, is that the Holy Spirit will enliven your soul to everlasting life, to the praise and glory of His Name.

If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to get in touch by E-mail to me, Bill Serjeant, at: w.serjeant@btinternet.com