22/07/18 Revelation 17:1-9 “Mystery Babylon’s wickedness”
Revelation 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:
whore – porne (harlot; whore; prostitute; idolatress)
sitting – sit down; of a place occupied; have a fixed abode; dwell
waters – of water in rivers, fountains, pools, lakes, sea; the water of the deluge; can be used to describe many people. Babylon was said to sit on many waters, yet even in Jeremiah it still may be the measure of the peoples who support Babylon here.
Jeremiah 51:12-13 – 12 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the Lord hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon. 13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, [and] the measure of thy covetousness.
We don’t know which of those 7 final angels this is, but some suggest the 7th one because the 7th vial of wrath involved the judgment of Babylon (Revelation 16:19b – and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.) But this cannot be assumed, for these two chapters on Babylon (17 & 18) do seem to be more of an interlude to explain in greater detail the problem of Babylon and the reason it deserved such extreme punishment.
The angel is about to explain to John the extent of the wickedness of, and the corresponding judgment upon, Babylon. Babylon is the mega-whore who has made her dwelling of abomination (as a whore) upon many people or nations. This is the picture of a mega-brothel that no proper church would want (they shouldn’t want!) in their own backyard or locality. No church wants to have filth stacked around outside, although many these days don’t seem to care as much as they should.
Revelation 17:2 – 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.
have committed fornication – porneuo (prostitute one’s body to the lust of another; unlawful sexual intercourse; metaphorically: given to idolatry; worship idols)
fornication (2nd occurrence) – porneia (illicit sexual intercourse: adultery; fornication; all sexual sin; unlawful sex; metaphorically: worship of idols; defilement of idolatry as incurred by eating sacrifices offered to idols)
have been made drunk – methyo (to be drunken; metaphorically: of one who has shed blood or murdered profusely) from the Greek word for “wine”.
Kings (rulers, leaders, those in authority) of the earth (as opposed to being of the righteous) have visited this mega-brothel in order to have illicit sex with this whore of Babylon. The implication is that by committing fornication with the mega-whore, the kings of the earth (along with the merchants of earth) have built and strengthened their kingdoms (and fortunes).
Revelation 18:3; 9 – 3 For all nations have
drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth
have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed
rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication
and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they
shall see the smoke of her burning,
These people have sold their souls to satan in order to get what they want in this world. They have riches and power at the expense of their eternal future. They have “now”, rather than “later”; for such people “later” is something they don’t want to know!
Matthew 16:26 – For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
But one day there will be an accounting!
2 Corinthians 5:10 – For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things [done] in [his] body, according to that he hath done, whether [it be] good or bad.
And this doesn’t only apply to the kings of the earth, but also to the common man in the street who also desires the forbidden fruit that the whore offers, and sells his soul to gain it. Much of the inhabitants of this world have been made drunk (intoxicated) on the “high” that such illicit behaviour brings (on the wine of her fornication). People can become intoxicated with the adrenalin rush induced by extreme danger (such as sky-diving, bungee-jumping, or even Russian roulette in one of its many forms, or even murder or playing with death in many ways). Such extreme danger intoxication can be very addictive; for example, the ritual murder of one person often leads to a second ritual murder and a third and so on.
The message of Babylon is clear: “Sell your soul to me and I will give you whatever of this earth that you desire.” But such as Babylon gives will be an abomination to God, spiritual fornication such as Israel practised, consequently losing her special nationhood status with God. Israel played the spiritual harlot with other nations, and paid the price.
Revelation 17:3 – 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.
woman – gyne (a woman of any age, whether a virgin, or married, or a widow; generally used of a wife or betrothed woman)
blasphemy – blasphemia
scarlet coloured – kokkinos [crimson, scarlet coloured. A kernel, the grain or berry of the "ilex coccifera"; these berries are the clusters of the eggs of a female insect, the "kermes" (resembling the cochineal), and when collected and pulverised produces a red which was used in dyeing (Pliny); scarlet cloth or clothing]
It is likely that scarlet symbolises three things: (a) In the catholic church, the top-ranking officials (cardinals) wear scarlet; the pope is chosen from these cardinals; (b) Red is the colour of prostitution; note what is meant by a red-light district, and (c) Red signified power and riches because, like purple, red dye was expensive.
The beast upon which the woman sits is scarlet-coloured, representing both a whore (prostitute; harlot) and the catholic church (note the 7 hills of Rome in Vs 9 below). It is full of names of blasphemy against God. That is, it calls God names that are blasphemy against Him; it makes blasphemous accusations against God, belittling His name above all names.
It has seven heads which are probably both the 7 hills upon which the whore sits (Revelation 17:9) apparently representing Rome, and also 7 kings (or empires?) – 6 of which are already in the past (Revelation 17:10). These 7 kings will be those rulers who have been used by satan to build and maintain the mystery Babylon religion. One was in existence when John wrote Revelation.
The 10 horns are 10 kings (rulers) who receive power from the beast (the antichrist) for the short time he rules the earth (Vs 12 says “one hour”). They may be equated with the 10 horns of Daniel’s 4th beast (Daniel 7:7-8), 3 of which are plucked out by the roots, and also with the 1st beast of Revelation 13:1 who has 10 horns with a crown upon each, signifying their status as kings or rulers. These 10 kings or heads of government will rule under the authority of the antichrist, yet 3 will be plucked out, leaving 7 kings loyal to the antichrist. (Note the 7 heads of Revelation 13:1)
Revelation 17:4 – 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 (porneia):
arrayed – periballo (to throw around; to put around; clothed; to clothe one’s self)
purple – porphura (the purple fish, a species of shell fish or mussel; a fabric coloured with purple dye; a garment made from purple cloth)
scarlet colour – kokkinos
gold – precious things made of gold; golden ornaments
abominations – foul things; detestable things; of idols and things pertaining to idolatry
filthiness – or impurity
This mega-whore of Babylon has prostituted herself with the kings of the earth and the inhabitants of the earth in order to gain a name for herself as the mother of all life (see “gaia” under Vs 9 below). She is mother nature, mother earth, the goddess of the earth in her many forms. She who can never create life portrays herself as the sustainer of life, or a pretence that she is life itself, that all life comes from her. One of her forms, gaia, is said to be the wife of Uranus, from whom came all the Greek pantheon of gods, including Zeus, and thus all other life on earth as well.
As a result she is seen to be rich beyond measure in earthly terms. Purple, scarlet, gold precious stones, pearls: all signify her authority and riches. Yet her golden cup is full of abominations and spiritual filth. Note the similarity with some of her followers who liked to look spiritually good but were filthy on the inside!
Matthew 23:25-28 – 25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 [Thou] blind Pharisee, cleanse first that [which is] within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead [men’s] bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Babylon promises much but fails to deliver on the goods. Paul told the Ephesians to not live like the Gentiles did, in the vanity of their mind (Ephesians 4:17). Vanity here means the illusion of pleasure in sin. Sin does not produce pleasure, only the illusion of pleasure! It feels pleasurable, yet produces emptiness (vanity) of life. The promised pleasure never eventuates, leaving such people grasping for that which isn’t there, and reaching out for more, thinking that perhaps they hadn’t had enough yet; maybe they needed more to actually feel like it was more than empty promises.
This vanity of sin fully describes the satisfaction (or lack of it) in the filthy pleasures of mystery Babylon, who becomes rich at the expense of the vanity which achieves nothing for those who pay so much for it.
Revelation 17:5 – And upon her forehead [was] a
name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS (porne) AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
mystery – Because Babylon is an esoteric belief system, those who partake of her will only be permitted to know that which they are qualified to know. You will only be granted knowledge on a need-to-know basis. What you do not need to know (as determined by Babylon) you will not be told. What you do not know will remain a mystery until you have been ritually initiated into higher levels of access into Babylon. Freemasonry is a good example of this esoteric nature of Babylon, although it is the Babylonian mysteries that were brought back to Judea and inculcated into Judaism which changed Jewish emphasis from the Torah (the law of Moses) to the Talmud. Note that Freemasonry is associated with mystery Babylon.
The term "Talmud"
normally refers to the collection of writings named specifically the Babylonian Talmud (Talmud Bavli)
(Wikipedia)
The Talmud has been likened by some to a Jewish statement of superiority over all others, and the misuse of scripture to justify sin.
Accusations against the Talmud include alleged: Anti-Christian or anti-Gentile content, Absurd or sexually immoral content, and Falsification of scripture. (Wikipedia)
Babylon the great – Babylon has, from the beginning, been the centre of satan’s anti-God religion. In the Bible Babylon is often represented as spiritually opposing God and His people. But even the great will fall one day when God dictates that they should fall!
mother of harlots – mother of porne, or fornication (both physical and spiritual). This in itself is an abomination before God. That is, Babylon is the progenitor of whores in the same way that satan is named as the father of all lies (John 8:44).
mother of abominations of the earth – All the abominations of earth, all spiritual and moral filthiness, all sexual impurity, all fornication both physical and spiritual, may be traced back to mystery Babylon.
Babylon was the beginning of organised rebellion against God, opposing God from the beginning in the plains of Shinar with the building of the tower of Babel, through to the captivity of the Jews and their consequent return to their land bringing the mystery Babylon religion back with them.
Revelation 17:6 – 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.
wondered – thaumazo (to wonder; wonder at; marvel)
admiration – thauma (to wonder exceedingly)
John sees the whore of Babylon intoxicated with the destruction of God’s people, especially during this tribulation period, it seems, for these martyrs may refer to those before the throne of God in Revelation 6:11; 7:13-17; 20:4. The whore has great pleasure (vanity, or course!) in causing the deaths of so many saints and martyrs. John is not filled with admiration as we would think of that word now. Instead, John wonders with exceeding wonder that such things should ever take place. I am sure he would have asked himself how such things could be so, how anyone or anything could take delight in the cruel treatment of people whose greatest crime appears to be that they were saints and martyrs! Possibly he wondered, like Asaph in Psalm 73, how such people could get way with such atrocities, until he (Asaph) saw their end, that their feet were set in slippery places.
Babylon is to be blamed for all the deaths of God’s people, it seems.
Revelation 18:24 – And in her (Babylon) was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
Revelation 17:7 – And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel (thaumazo)? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
But why should you wonder so much asks the angel. If you know why this is happening, then you will understand what is happening. It is called a mystery, but only to those who are entrapped within it. John is to be told the mystery; to him it will no longer be a mystery.
In Revelation
13:1 the 1st beast is described as having seven heads and ten horns;
the beast (upon which the whore rides) also has seven heads and ten horns. Therefore,
it is the 1st beast, the satan-indwelt antichrist, who carries this
whore to power over the earth. And yet, those 7 heads appear to have a number
of acceptable interpretations.
The beast of
Revelation 13:1 is clearly the same as the beast of Daniel 7:8, where the beast
has 10 horns and the little horn – the antichrist – plucks 3 of them out,
leaving 7 horns to rule under the antichrist. Horns represent power and
authority, thus rulers or leaders. But these 7 heads are below described as the
7 mountains upon which the woman sits. The generally accepted answer is that
Rome is the city on seven hills (or mountains) and, of course, everything seems
to point to Rome being involved here.
However, next
week we’ll see that the 10 horns do represent 10 kings under the authority of
the beast, as did the 10 horns elsewhere. But the 7 heads are also described as
being 7 kings, 6 are now in the past, one yet in the future, with the beast
being an 8th king yet of the 7th king. (More on this next
week.)
It is
interesting to note that the word for heads can also represent the leaders or
rulers of a country. (kephale
can mean supreme; chief; prominent.) While I believe that the catholic church
of Rome (the city of seven hills) is clearly involved in this mystery Babylon
religion, the main application of the 7 heads in Revelation 17 appears to refer
to the kings or rulers of the past who were influential in building and
maintaining this mystery Babylon religion. The 7 heads identify the whore who
rides the beast, but also the 7 kings upon which this apostate religion rests.
So who are
these 7 kings (6 of whom are already in the past)? We are not told and it
doesn’t appear clear as to who they were, other than that mystery Babylon rests
in some way upon their input. More on this next week!
Revelation 17:8 – 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 (thaumazo), 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.
bottomless pit – abyssos (bottomless; unbounded; the abyss; the pit; the immeasurable depth; the common receptacle of the dead)
perdition – apoleia (utter destruction; the destruction that consists of eternal misery in hell)
life – zoe (life; every living soul; of the absolute fulness of life which belongs to God)
foundation – katabole (a throwing or laying down; a laying down of a foundation)
world – kosmos (not ge this time!) (the world; the universe; the earth; the inhabitants of earth; mankind; the whole human family; world affairs) – not ge this time which has more to do with the actual physical earth.
The angel explains: the beast which you saw carrying the whore has existed in the past, but “is not” right now (in John’s day), yet in the tribulation it “is” again. Some commentaries say this is Nero who was, yet in John’s day was not, yet would be once again one day in the future. Of course, this doesn’t add up these days. The most logical explanation is that this beast is satan who was in power (“was”) before Christ, yet now is the ruler of this world defeated (“is not”); however, satan is given one more season of power in the tribulation (when that which restrains is removed – 2 Thessalonians 2:6) so that he “is” again.
This beast comes up from the bottomless pit (abyssos) and go into perdition (utter destruction) and those on the earth who were not written in the Lamb’s book of life will wonder (be amazed) when they see this beast which will be existing again at that time. Note that the Lamb’s book of life is written from the foundation of the world, as was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8)
This beast is from the pit of hell, and will be utterly destroyed (have eternal misery in hell).
Revelation 17:9 – And here [is] the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
The mother of whores and false religion, mystery Babylon, is an abomination to holy God. Babylon means confusion, thus defining it as a product of satan, for all satan’s devices lead to confusion rather than order. This Babylon is a spiritual Babylon, feeding on the physical destruction of all the people of God, the saints and the martyrs (see Vs 6 above). The seven mountains show that this Babylon rests upon the foundation of the catholic church of Rome, which is known as the city of seven hills.
The small town of Sevenhills in South Australia was founded by Jesuit Fathers and Brothers in 1850. The name, bestowed by Austrian Jesuit priest, Aloysius Kranewitter, is a homage to the seven hills of Rome. – Wikipedia
Many have
connected this Babylon, quite correctly, with the catholic church, but it is
likely that it is the catholic church that is merely a major part of this
mystery Babylon religion, a new age satanic religion that sees no conflict
between its beliefs and the Catholic church. This Babylon is represented by the
catholic church of Rome and what is loosely termed the new age religion of
mother earth, sometimes labelled as gaia. (“gaia” is often depicted as
the mother of all life, or the mother-earth goddess.)
Whatever the
interpretation, it must focus on the utter wickedness of the mega-whore mystery
Babylon, thus laying the foundation for the judgment which will inevitably fall
upon those who commit such rebellion against God.
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