This morning we will enter into a 2 chapter “sub-section” of Revelation in chapters 17 and 18. We move out of John narrating for us and into a section where John is being narrated to by an angel. Because of this the language and information offered shifts in delivery. We are afforded much more explanation and detail and well, that just makes our work a little easier. We just finished the 7 bowls of wrath and that ends God’s judgments upon the unbelievers of the world. We have 5 chapters left in the whole book and they will deal with the destruction of the antichrist’s world kingdom, the coming of Christ, and a stunning description of Heaven in chapter 21. In chapter 17 today we will look at the relationship between the antichrist and his created world religion and the eventual break between the two. Let’s dig right in.
17:1-2 – “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, 2 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.”
One of the seven angels who had just poured out one of the bowls in chapter 16 grabs John and is going to take him on a field trip. Because of this, we will hear much dissertation directly from the angel. John will just be taking dictation. The great prostitute mentioned here is the false religion, the world church that satan has created to lure the world to himself. Recall that satan had two separate antichrists, one political and one religious that was to prop up the political figure. They both worked in harmony under the control of satan. Here we see that they were tremendously successful, and they achieved a world religion and the world worshipped the political antichrist. This false world church will be referred to in this chapter as a "prostitute" or a "harlot" in some translations. Why? Well, think about what a prostitute is and what she does. She offers herself for money. It’s called the oldest profession in the world and that’s probably true. But at its root, prostitution is an absolute perversion of sex and why God created it, for a husband and a wife to procreate within the confines of His holy institution of marriage. The picture we get here of satan’s church is a total perversion of worship and religion and why God created it, to worship and lift up the name of God and His precious Son Jesus Christ. Yet satan’s new world religion was only to garner himself worship through his carefully devised antichrists. We’re told the kings of the Earth have committed adultery with her and have become drunk on her wine. This is symbolic that all of the Earthly nations have bought into the lie, that they have “drank the Kool-Aid.” The world falls for satan's lie and is deceived by the deceiver.
17:3-6 – “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. 4 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. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.”6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.”
John is carried away in the spirit by the angel to another place. To a wilderness. A wilderness in scripture is a remote place. A desert, a barren forest or an empty field. He sees a woman sitting on a scarlet beast. The woman is the prostitute (satan’s church) and she is being supported by the antichrist. (Rev 13:1, 14:9, 16:10) It is a symbiotic relationship. The beast has 7 heads and 10 horns and this is directly from the earlier description of satan in Rev 12:3. The woman is dressed as prostitutes dress, in great color and with much jewelry as the goal of a prostitute is to draw much attention to herself. On her head is written who she is. Babylon is satan’s world kingdom. She is the mother of prostitutes, the head of satan’s church. She is responsible for the world’s abominations, for leading the world astray. She was drunk on the blood of the saints, the martyrs of Jesus. This new world church of satan will be responsible for the killing of countless Christians during this time. The church will be intolerant, believe in the antichrist or die.
17:7-14 - “When I saw her, I marveled greatly. 7 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. 8 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. 9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 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. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 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. 13 These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. 14 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.”
This is great, the angel not only describes exactly what John is seeing but he explains it in amazing detail. This makes my job very easy as I think most can read through and understand pretty easily what’s going on. The beast (satan) is about to be defeated by Christ. The heads and horns represent the world powers that will bow down to satan and his antichrists. They will not only fully bow down but they will relinquish their power to satan. In this now unified world power, they will wage war against God in the war of Armageddon. But the war will be futile as Christ will massacre His opposition at Armageddon, for He is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings.
17:15-18 – “And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 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, 17 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. 18 And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”
The angel continues to expound on what John is seeing. But here the tables turn. The prostitute, satan’s world church, has served its purpose. It has gotten satan the worship he so desperately desires and as a result he will discard the prostitute. Just like in real life, the prostitute will be used and simply discarded. We see that the “ten horns” will hate the prostitute. This will be satan turning the kings of the world against the church. They will make her desolate and naked and will devour her flesh and burn her up with fire. After satan is done with the false church he will systematically destroy it. But this is not merely satan’s decision, God is in control of everything and we’re told that “God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose.”
What a picture we have been given today. The beginning of the end is nigh for satan, his antichrists, his armies, and his followers that have rejected Christ. Satan has been given a shot and has failed. He has raised up two powerful, influential antichrists and effectually created a new world religion. But because he ultimately desires all of the worship for himself, he organizes the demise of the church after it achieved his goals. He will now raise up the world powers to battle against God and his army in one last war. It will not go well for satan and the armies of the world. We will see them easily and bitterly defeated in chapter 19 tomorrow as we see the forecasting of the fall of satan’s kingdom. See you tomorrow.
Blessings ~ Dan
Hello,
Is there any scripturally based reason why you have limited the interpretation of the harlot of Revelation 17 to the false church rather than a false religious system that involves all other false religions, including Islam, paganism, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.? The passage says the harlot sits on many waters, implying that all peoples, nations, and tribes all over the world are under the harlot's influence. Surely, this entity must include all the different false religions in the world.