Reflection on Revelation 17

At the end of the previous chapter, John witnessed the seven angels with seven bowls pour out God's wrath on the earth. He then added, "God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath." In the beginning of this chapter, one of the seven angels invited John, "Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries." The great prostitute is the representative of all that entices human beings away from a right relationship with God. The angel later explains to John, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages." The prostitute draws in all the kings and the inhabitants of the earth on a deadly tide of lust for whatever their sinful heart’s desire. The gender of the prostitute is not to be emphasized, like the bride of the Lamb is the picture of the faithful, the prostitute here is the portrait of the unfaithful, regardless of gender.

Scripture often uses sexual immorality to illustrate spiritual infidelity. Chastity and marital faithfulness depict faithfulness to God. Adultery and prostitute describe idolatry, worshipping anyone or anything instead of the true God. We all are born as unfaithful ones. God is jealous for us in His holy love. The good news is that God, as a loving husband, forgives and restores us when we repent and return to Him.

The angel carries John "in the spirit into a desert." It is not entirely clear why the vision occurs in a desert. But in the desert, John sees a woman seated on a scarlet beast. The beast has seven heads and ten horns, identifying it with the sea beast in chapter 13. The arrogant beast declares its disdain for God by deliberately covering itself with blasphemous names. The woman is the great prostitute, "dressed in purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls." This "beauty" is robed in the colors of royalty, with jewelry of high fashion to show her extravagance and wealth. In her hand, she held a golden cup to match her queenly attire. But her golden cup was not filled with wine or anything good. Her cup was "filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries." Nothing can be more disgusting. Even though her outward attire was costly, attractive and appealing, the spirit inside her was wicked, ugly and detestable. Her title which she wore on her forehead suits her true identity. "Mystery! Babylon the great, the mother of the prostitute and of the abominations of the earth." From Babylon's earliest settlement, the ancient city has been a picture of rebellion against God. There, human civilization attempted to build a tower to exalt itself over God. Later, it ruthlessly conquered the nation of Judah. God graciously sent His prophets, Daniel and Ezekiel, and His chosen people in exile to live within Babylon's boundaries to be witnesses, but the Babylonians persisted in idol worship. The prostitute Babylon is a worldwide influence for evil for a long period of time. But as the "mother of prostitutes," this well dressed woman seems to be more than a picture of one culture or one place. Whenever and wherever we see proud and pretentious displays of power and culture joined with rebellion against God, there is Babylon.

At first, John probably thought that he was going to see the punishment of the great prostitute, but instead, he watches the audacious painted woman's thriving. This maybe is why he "was greatly astonished" when he saw "that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus." The great prostitute has lusted for violence and taken great pleasure in the destruction of God's people. But her entertainment would not last long; very soon God will judge and destroy the destroyers once and for all. Now John understands the truth of Babylon, that despite the external appeal of Babylon, or the world system, or the prostitute symbolizes here, truly it is ugly to the core.

In response to John's astonished horror, the angel gives him an extended explanation of the "beauty" and the beast she rides. The beast "once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction." This statement may picture successive power structures that lead to the terrible time of the scarlet beast's destruction. What is certain is the beast is from the Abyss and, therefore, satanic. The passage "once was, now is not, and yet will come" intentionally mimics familiar words that apply to God alone, "who is, and who was, and who is to come." It is a counterfeit of Jesus, whom some call the "Antichrist." But the beast will surely "go to its destruction." And Christ and His beloved ones will live forever. 

"The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come." The inhabitants of the earth are amazed by the beast, who suffered a fatal wound but being healed. They give the beast their attention and worship. They totally missed the point that the beast "will go to his destruction." The beast and his worshipers face fearful and eternal judgment. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life remain undeceived by the beast's impressive show of power. 

The angel calls God's people to be wise, to ask God for wisdom, to understand His Word and to remain faithful to Him. All Scriptures are equally true, but not all equally clear. No one can conclusively identify the seven heads of the beast with seven particular hills or kings. The progression of kings, "five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, but when he does come, he must remain for a little while", shows time is running out as current history nears its end. "The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction" for certain. 

The ten horns of the beast are ten kings in the future because they "have not yet received a kingdom." Their evil alliance with the beast will be complete. The ten kings have only one purpose, "they will give their power and authority to the beast" to wage war against the Lamb. "But the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings." John adds a very important detail about Jesus' conquest; the Lamb will triumph with His chosen and faithful followers. He will bring His people with Him into victory.

Finally, John sees the punishment of the great prostitute before the end of this chapter, in a surprising way. "The beast and ten horns you saw hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire." This shocking picture of cannibalism shows no one who serve Satan or his allies are same from evil's murderous rage. The beast has carried the woman on its back. Together, they controlled the world through seduction and brute power. But suddenly their evil alliance based on hatred breaks into pieces. The ten kings will join the beast to destroy the great prostitute. Hatred lies beneath the selfishness and self-interest that once joined them together. Surely there is no honor among thieves. The beast's followers betray and destroy one another. They cannot expect permanence peace in their relationship. There is no love in their relationship, only hatred toward God, toward each other. Any relationship based on selfishness will turns sour soon or later, depends on circumstances. But on the other hand, no trouble, no hardship, no persecution, no deception, not even death can separate God's people from His love for them in Christ. 

It seems that God does not need to use His hand to bring the punishment to the great prostitute. It all looks like that the ten kings volunteered to hand their power to the beast to make war against the Lamb. But "God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled." Both in salvation and in judgment, God's enemies must ultimately serve God's good purposes. God is sovereign. He achieves His great purposes in the world, not only in spite of His enemies, but through them.

The last sentence of this chapter unveiled the woman as "the great city that rules over the kings of the earth." In John's day, Babylon had long been in ruins. The preeminent city was Rome. The great prostitute rides on all civilizations and entices humanity in pursuit of its own purposes. Apart from the one and only true living God, people will not choose what is pure and good, no matter what their political, economic or religious system will be. Because Satan has fed the world with lies for such a long period of time, evil dresses up to look so good, so dignified, so beautiful, so friendly, so lovely, so compassionate, so enticing. It blinds people their greatest need to know Jesus Christ, their Savior. Where has the world system dressed up to deceive you and me? Let's ask ourselves this question before the Lord. Ask Him to help us to love Him more than things Babylon offers. The glittering gifts of Babylon harm those who grasp them. Watch out for yourself and your loved ones!