In this chapter the Lord shows us a full description of the great harlot and a history of the beast on whom she rides. In this message Pastor Brian identifies the great harlot as Jerusalem (apostate Israel) and the beast as Rome.
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The Judgment of the Great Harlot
Revelation 17:1-18
In our last study a week ago, we sought to identify who Babylon, the Great Harlot was. We surveyed the five most popular theories: the world confederation of churches, the Roman Catholic Church, the world system, Rome, and Jerusalem. Last week I told you that of those five possibilities the one that fit the best was Jerusalem. She was God’s unfaithful wife under the Old Covenant – the Great Harlot. She is identified as the Great City in Rev. 11:8, the same as Babylon is identified with over and over. She is the one who persecuted the prophets, apostles and killed the Lord Jesus. She fell suddenly just as we are told she would.
Well, now that we have the key to the identity of the Great Harlot, the interpretation of chapters 17 and 18 are much easier. I’m not saying they will be easy, because there are some very mysterious passages here, but it is much easier.
So, this morning, let’s simply go through the text verse by verse and seek to make clear what God has told us in this prophetic book.
1. The Great Harlot Sits on Many Waters – 17:1.
One of the 7 angels who had the 7 bowls. That tells us that what we are reading about in chapter 17 is an extension of what we read in chapter 16 which detailed the 7 bowls of wrath. Since we have identified Babylon, the Great Harlot as Jerusalem, that means that the judgments we saw in chapter 16, were also about Jerusalem.
The great harlot who sits on many waters. 17:15 tells us what these many waters symbolize. “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.” Jerusalem saw on many waters, because she had a great and pervasive influence on all the nations of the world in the first century. Everywhere you went throughout the Roman Empire, you would find a synagogue where the Jews met. On the Day of Pentecost there were “Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5). Luke tells us who was present on this momentous day in Jerusalem in Acts 2:9-11 (Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Judeans, Cappadocians, people from Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egyptians, Libyans, Romans, Cretans and Arabs).
2. The Great Harlot Commits Fornication with the Kings of the Earth – 17:2.
With whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality. This speaks of the unfaithfulness of Israel in making alliances with heathen nations, and bowing down and worshiping the gods of the other kingdoms of the world. You can read in the Old Testament of these alliances Israel made with Aram, Egypt, and Assyria. Rather than trusting in their God, they trusted in heathen princes. And they worshiped the gods of the heathen nations around them: Ashtoreth, Baal, Molech, Asherah, Chemosh. Then when Christ, their True Bridegroom appeared, they rejected Him and vowed their allegiance to Caesar. When Pilate asked “Shall I crucify your King?” they replied, “We have no king but Caesar” (Jn.19:15).
3. The Great Harlot Sits on the Beast – 17:3.
I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. Now, we saw this beast before in Revelation 13. In Revelation 13:2 the beast is described as having 7 heads and 10 horns, and on his heads were blasphemous names. Here a new detail is added. This beast is “scarlet”, the color of red or blood. That suits the beast, because in 11:7 we are told that this beast makes war on the 2 witnesses, overcomes them and kills them. Now, when we studied chapter 13 I told you that I believe this Beast represents any State political/military system that is totalitarian and demands ultimate loyalty. He receives this “worship” of the people through coercion and force. Throughout history there have been many political/military systems that have persecuted the church. The form this took in the first century was the Roman Empire. That was the political/military system that demanded ultimate allegiance from the people. This woman is riding on the Beast. Remember that the woman, is the Great Harlot, or Babylon. I believe this is a reference to Jerusalem, or apostate Israel. This is the woman who has committed spiritual adultery. She has broken her covenant with Jehovah, and is now about to be cast off by God and judged.
How did Israel ride the Beast? She was dependent on Rome for her national existence. In John 11:48, after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the religious leaders said, “If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” Israel was “in bed” with Rome. She cooperated fully with Rome in executing Christ and persecuting the early Christians. Israel could not carry out capital punishment. Only Roman authorities could do that. So Israel was dependent upon Rome to kill Jesus.
4. The Great Harlot is Adorned in Splendor – 17:4-5.
Her Adornment. She is clothed in purple and scarlet, the colors of royalty. She was exalted by God to sit as a queen. She is adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She is extremely wealthy. All of this denotes the tremendous spiritual blessings and advantages she had over every other nation of the world. In Romans 9:4 Paul describes the Israelites as those “to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.” God had exalted her and made her royalty and wealthy with her spiritual privileges. She was the unique treasured people of God.
However, she had in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality. That word “abominations” is used in the Old Testament for the worship of false gods. Dt. 29:17 “moreover, you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood, stone, silver and gold, which they had with them.” Ezek. 5:11 “So as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominations, therefore I will also withdraw, and My eye will have no pity and I will not spare.”
She has a gold cup in her hand. The High Priest of Israel would pour out libation offerings to the Lord from a gold cup. Well, this harlot also has a gold cup, but the cup does not contain offerings to the Lord. Rather, it contains abominations and unclean things.
The High Priest also word a plate of pure gold engraved with “holy to the Lord” on his forehead at all times. Well, this harlot also has something on her forehead, but it is not “holy to the Lord.” Instead it is “Babylon the great, the Mother of Harlots and of the abominations of the earth.”
Israel was chosen, exalted, and blessed over every nation of the world, but she had turned her back on God, worshiped idols, persecuted and killed the prophets, Jesus Christ, and His apostles. Instead of being the wife of Jehovah, the queen of the earth, she was the great harlot!
5. The Great Harlot is Drunk on the Blood of the Saints – 17:6-7.
And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.” This is exactly what the Jews did, after they figured out a way to kill Jesus. They stoned Stephen, they spurred Herod on to have James killed with the sword and Peter imprisoned. They hounded Paul from city to city, stoned him, and plotted to kill him on many occasions. 1 Thess. 2:15-16 says that the Jews “both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost.”
6. The History of the Beast – 17:8-14.
This section has puzzled most Bible scholars who have tried to understand it. We will do our best to interpret it.
17:8. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. This sounds very much like the description of God in Rev. 1:4 “Him who is and who was and who is to come.” In the ancient world, Rome was known as the Eternal City. It had a great history of glory – “It was.” But right now “it is not.” There are 2 views on the date of Revelation. There is a late date of around 95-100 AD, and there is an early date of anywhere between 64-69 AD. I take the early date. Those who hold each view have many arguments to support their particular view. But if we take the early view, then Nero was the emperor. Nero was a whack job, a lunatic. He had thrown the Roman empire into confusion and chaos, because he was so unstable. Nero committed suicide on June 9, 68 AD, but then even for the next eighteen months, this chaos and confusion would persist as one man or general after another would try to assume the throne, only to be killed by the next contender for the throne. Eventually, Rome would come through this period of great instability and survive, but for a while everyone was not so sure about that.
Rome was – a period of great glory.
Rome is not – it had faltered greatly under the terrible leadership of Nero.
Rome is about to come – it would rise out of the ashes of Nero’s botched and crazed leadership to resume its power and glory under the Emperor Vespasian and his successors.
17:8. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast… The Greek word for earth is “ge.” It can be translated as “earth” or “land.” If we translate it as “land” this would be talking about the Jews from the land of Israel wondering or being amazed at the Beast. This would be speaking of the unregenerate Jews who were amazed at the great power and glory of Rome in the first century. They were saw all the pomp and circumstance, but were blind to the true glory and power of God in the gospel. Their names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. They were not part of God’s elect.
17:9. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. Rome was known as “the city on seven hills.” The number seven stands for completeness and fulness. Mountains are symbols of great strength. Rome then is the invincible city. It is the city of glory; the city that could never be moved. That’s why Jerusalem feels so secure. Rather than trusting Jehovah, her covenant Lord, she has gone after security with Rome. She has prostituted herself.
17:10-11. And they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. So the seven heads on this Beast, stand for seven mountains and seven kings. The symbols do double duty here. So, who are the seven kings that the seven heads represent?
- Julius Caesar: was universally regarded as the one who founded the Roman empire. Died 44 BC
- Octavian: was given name “Augustus”. Means “one worthy of worship”. 31 BC–14 AD
- Tiberias: 14 – 37 AD
- Caligula: 37-41 AD
- Claudius: 41-54 AD
- Nero: 54-68 AD
- Galba: 7 months
The first five kings had fallen (died). One is (Nero). You will recall when we studied Revelation 13:18, we discovered that if you take the name Caesar Nero in Greek, and transliterate it into Hebrew, and count up the numerical value of the letters, it comes to 666. Interestingly, the oldest surviving manuscript of Revelation does have 666, but instead 616. But if you take Caesar Nero in Latin, and transliterate it into Hebrew, the result is 616. The evidence is very strong that Nero was the human expression of the Beast when John wrote the book of Revelation.
Other is not yet come, and when he comes, he must remain a little while. This would refer to the emperor Galba who succeeded Nero, but only remained a little while – about seven months.
The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. This is a difficult sentence to interpret. The number 8 is the number of resurrection in the Bible. Even though the Roman empire will seem to disintegrate after the rule of the seven kings, it will be resurrected again to live on in other persecutors of the church. Other manifestations of the Beast will rise that will continue to spread its anti-Christian brutality. However, it will not ultimately succeed. It goes to destruction. Ultimately the Beast is destroyed and Jesus triumphs over all.
17:12-14. The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. Rome was not one big consolidated country. It was an amalgamation of various provinces and kingdoms and these kings ruled with a fair amount of autonomy, but were beholden to Rome. They had to pay heavy tributes to Rome, and were occupied by Roman soldiers. Rome had 10 imperial provinces: Italy, Achaia, Asia, Syria, Egypt, Africa, Spain, Gaul, Britain, Germany.
These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. These 10 kings are subject to Roman empire.
These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called, and chosen and faithful. This seems to be saying that the 10 vassal kings within the Roman Empire target the church. They make war with Christ and His people. However, they will not exterminate the church. Rather Christ will overcome them. The victory of Christianity is guaranteed.
8. The Great Harlot Experiences Her Final Doom – 17:15-18.
And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. Who would have thought it? At the beginning of the chapter she is riding on the beast, cozy and secure, she didn’t have anything to worry about, she had it made in the shade, but now the very beast that was supporting her, turns against her and destroys her! At some point the Roman empire switches its animosity towards Christians to animosity toward the Jews. This is not too strange, because this first generation of Christians in Jerusalem, frequently went up to the temple. They saw themselves as the proper worshipers in the temple. Thus, Rome thought by attacking Jerusalem and destroying the temple, they would be bringing about the demise of both Jews and Christians. Of course it did not work. It did bring about the removal of the old covenant Jewish worship, because the temple, priests and sacrifices were no more. However, it did not bring about the demise of Christianity. Rather, Christianity flourished, even under persecution. In fact, the church of Jesus is the true temple of God. So the old physical Jewish temple was destroyed, but the true spiritual temple of the church continued to grow and prosper.
For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. Here we see God’s sovereign hand in the destruction of Jerusalem. The curses for breaking the covenant are brought upon the Jews. Jesus said in Luke 21:22, “these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled.” The words of God were fulfilled in 70 AD. God put it into the hearts of the 10 kings to have a common purpose with the Beast to bring about the downfall of Jerusalem.
The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.” Elsewhere, (11:8), John has identified the great city as Jerusalem. But how could it be said that Jerusalem reigned over the kings of the earth? The answer is that Revelation is not a book about politics, but a book about the covenant. Jerusalem was the religious capitol of the world. The Jews had been exalted and elevated above every other nation of the world when God gave them all of their spiritual privileges and advantages. In that sense Jerusalem reigned over all of the kings of the earth. She was in covenant with God, and thus was the wife of Jehovah. She reigned in her covenant privileges over all the kings of the earth.
Conclusion
So, what does the Holy Spirit want us to learn from this chapter? What truths are we to take away and apply to our lives?
- God will be faithful both to His promises and to His threats. God threatened Israel with His curses and judgments if they were to break His covenant. Well, they went ahead and broke the covenant. Would God simply pretend as if all was well? Would He sweep their unfaithfulness under the rug and forget all about it?
God’s faithfulness is a double-edged sword. Faithfulness is one of God’s eternal and immutable attributes. God will fulfill His Word. However, sometimes His Word contains promises. God will fulfill all of His promises. Sometimes His Word contains threats. God will fulfill all His threats. For example, 2 Timothy 2:12-13, “If we deny Him, He also will deny us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” I believe this passage is teaching that if we deny the Lord, He will deny us on Judgment Day. If we are faithless toward Him, He will be faithful to bring His wrath upon us. Why? Because He can’t deny Himself. He is faithful to His word, whether that Word consists of promises or threats.
My friends, you and I may not like the idea of hell, but that doesn’t mean we can make hell vanish. God has threatened hell to those who die outside of Christ. This threat is not a fiction. It is not empty. If God can be counted on to fulfill every promise He has made, He can also be counted on to fulfill every threat He has made. If you die outside of Christ, it is certain that you will face eternal judgment. Don’t base your eternal future on wishful thinking. “Surely God is too loving to sentence me to hell.” You are basing your eternal destiny on what you hope will happen. But God has already told you what will happen. Therefore, flee from the wrath to come. Repent and believe the gospel!
- God is Sovereign Even Over The Evil Actions of Men. It must be admitted that what the Romans did to the Jews was very evil. They slaughtered Jews by the tens of thousands all over Galilee, and then wiped out the Jews in Jerusalem. These are evil acts of barbarity and cruelty. However, Rev. 17:17 says, “For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.”
Now, God is not the author of sin. James 1:13-14 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being temped by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.” God was not the author of the Roman’s sin and brutality toward the Jews. God did not put the desire for murder in their hearts. The truth is that it was already in their hearts. In this particular case, God simply ordained that they would be permitted to act on the evil that was already in their hearts. God did not restrain them, but allowed them to act out their own wicked plans.
We see the same in the crucifixion of Christ, which surely was the most wicked act of sin in the history of the world. Notice Acts 2:23, “this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.” The death of Christ was an act of great evil, but it was also the predetermined plan of God.
What does that tell you and me? That whatever evil you and I face in this cruel world, it has not caught God by surprise. It is part of God’s predetermined plan. He has decided to allow it, because He is going to use it in bringing about His overarching plan. And in the end, He will judge the godless men who committed those evil acts.
So take heart! God is still on the throne. He still runs this universe. He controls all things, even the actions of Satan and evil men. And He causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose!
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