The Great Harlot - Part 1 - Revelation 17:1-18
INTRODUCTION:
This morning we come to another parenthesis in the book of Revelation. This parenthesis is two chapters long and it is a description of the judgment of God upon Babylon, which is seen as the religious entity and as the economic and political entity of the Antichrist’s one world government. Chapter 17 which we will begin today is the judgment of the apostate church, or the one world religion that will sweep over the world in the end-times. The true church, the bride of Christ has been raptured and is in heaven, all that is left is what is false. This chapter is not chronological as it speaks of the rise of this false religion and its judgment. The rise of this false religion probably began in the beginning of the tribulation and was destroyed at the mid-point of the tribulation when the Antichrist sets himself up as god.
This chapter is possibly one of the most difficult in Scripture to understand and has about as many interpretations as there are commentators. I have struggled long and hard over this chapter and have allowed the text to speak for itself. I don’t know how far we will get this morning, but we are going to get started.
John MacArthur writes concerning this chapter, “Throughout history Babylon has been an important center of false religion. In the end times, false religion will come back from where it started. The Devil who deceived the people at Babel, and from there launched false religion over the earth, will deceive the world once again. The final world religion, depicted as a harlot, is the theme of this vision.”[1] Let’s pray and then get into our passage of Scripture for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to Revelation 17:1-18. We will read the whole chapter and then see how far we get into it this morning. Please stand if you are able in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Revelation 17:1-18,
“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, ‘Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, ‘BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.’ And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly. And the angel said to me, ‘Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. 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, that he was and is not and will come. Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, 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. The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. 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. These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. 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.’ And he said to me, ‘The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. 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. 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. The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.’” (Revelation 17, NASB95)[2]
THE JUDGMENT OF THE GREAT HARLOT ANNOUNCED (Revelation 17:1-2)
One of the angels who had the bowls of God’s wrath came to John and invited him to come with him and the angel would show him the judgment or destruction of Babylon, as it represents false religion. Babylon is presented as a woman, a great harlot or prostitute. Understand that this great harlot is not an actual prostitute. The word translated “harlot” is a metaphor for false religion, for spiritual defection, for idolatry and for religious apostasy.
The angel speaking to John describes this great harlot as the one who sits on many waters. We are told later in this chapter that the many waters are the nations, the people groups, the language groups, the multitudes of people that are ruled by Babylon.
The angel goes on to tell John that this woman, this great harlot has committed act of immorality, the Greek word is sexual immorality and these acts have been committed with the kings of the earth. This false religion that this harlot represents has reached across the entire earth and has reached into the highest forms of government where it has been embraced. But not only has it been accepted and become a part of the kings and influential people of the world, but the angel goes on to say that those who dwell on the earth (a phrase that in this book refers to unbelievers) have been made drunk with the wine of her immorality. Most of the unredeemed of mankind living on the earth after the rapture of the church will be caught up in this false religion, they will give their hearts and souls to this abominable Babylonian harlot. Those living on the earth at this time will become intoxicated with this false world religion. The world will have just experienced the disappearance of millions of Christians worldwide in the rapture and they will be looking for answers, and this false religion will seem to have the answers, it will begin to unite the world.
THE HARLOT DESCRIBED (Revelation 17:3-7)
John tells us that the angel carried him away in the Spirit into a wilderness. John is about to begin a new vision and upon arriving in this wilderness he saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. John has seen this beast before in chapter 13 and we know that it represents the revived Roman empire in its character and that it also represents the Antichrist, the head of the empire that will rule the world. The fact that the woman is riding the beast and not the beast herself signifies that she represents religious power as distinct from the beast which is the political power.
The fact that the woman is riding the beast shows us two things, first that she is supported by the political power of the beast, and second that she in the beginning has a dominant role and at least outwardly is directing and guiding the beast. Because of this situation this must be before chapter 13 where the beast has already assumed all power and has demanded that the world worship him as god. The situation would fall into the first half of the seven-year tribulation when the Antichrist has made a covenant with Israel and they are allowed to resume their sacrificial system, it would seem that other religions would also experience some level of freedom, giving this false religion supported by the beast the opportunity to influence and unite the world.
John Walvoord writes, “The fact that the woman representing the apostate church, is in such close association with the beast, which is guilty of utter blasphemy, indicates the depth to which apostasy will ultimately descend. The only form of a world church recognized in the Bible is this apostate world church destined to come into power after the true church has been raptured.”[3] Apostasy is the turning away from something that you once believed to be true to belief in something else. The apostate world church will turn from belief in the Bible to the belief of something that gives explanation to what has happened. It will be a deception of Satan, just as it was when Babel was first being built back in Genesis 11, the later location of Babylon.
The beast on which the woman sits is described as scarlet, the Antichrist has taken on the color of the dragon. It is a color associated with luxury, splendor, and royalty. It is also a color associated with sin, Isaiah 1:18 says, “’Come now, and let us reason together,’ Says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.’” (Isaiah 1:18, NASB95)[4] It is also the color of blood. The Antichrist will array himself in splendor and seem like royalty, but in truth he will be a sinful, bloody beast full of blasphemous names.
The woman sitting on the beast will have great influence and her deadly embrace will include all the unredeemed, from kings and rulers to common people, all will worship and submit to her religion. Instead of separation of church and state, they will be united as never before in human history.
John goes on in verse four describing this woman, and as a harlot she dresses to attract attention to herself. John says that she is clothed in scarlet and purple, the colors of royalty, nobility and wealth. She is adorned with gold and gem stone and pearls. John’s description portrays her as attractive and extremely wealthy. John goes on to tell us that she is holding a golden cup in her hand that is full of abominations and of all the unclean things of her immorality. God’s Word spares no words in describing the utter filthiness of this adulterous relationship in the sight of God. This woman has deceived the world with her showiness and lies, and they have become spiritually drunk with her abominations and the filthiness of her immorality.
Prostitutes in the Roman world of John’s day would identify themselves by a band on the forehead bearing their name. John says that this great harlot also had a name written on her forehead and John says that this name is a mystery. A mystery in the Bible is something that is hidden until it is revealed. In the Old Testament the church was a mystery, but in the New Testament it was revealed. The name written on the harlot’s forehead was Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth. The mystery was Babylon the great in this context does not refer to a geographical location, the details of this vision in chapter 17 cannot be applied to any actual city, this woman corresponds religiously to what Babylon was religiously. This is made clear in her titles as the Mother of Harlots and the Abominations of the Earth. All false religion had its start in the city of Babylon and in the end times Babylon will be the source of all the false, blasphemous worship. This designation as the mother of harlots is appropriate, since harlotry in Scripture often symbolizes idolatry. Beginning in Genesis 10 where Babel is first mentioned and continuing through the Scriptures it is made abundantly clear that Babylon in Scripture is the name of a great system of religious error. Babylon is a counterfeit religion which plagued Israel in the Old Testament as well as the church in the New Testament, which the apostles constantly warned against. After the apostles were all gone, it has had tremendous influence in moving the church from biblical simplicity to apostate confusion. Babylon is the source of satanic counterfeit religion that is found in all false religions and the source of the liberalness that we are seeing in many churches today, a moving away from a belief that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and that it is infallible (cannot fail), that it is inerrant (without error), and that it is immutable (cannot be changed). Because of this it is no longer viewed as the sole source of authority for all faith and practice. As a church we must constantly be on guard against this counterfeit religion coming into the church, we must stand on the Word of God as the sole authority to all faith and practice.
Coming back to our passage in Revelation 17 John’s last description of the harlot seated on the beast is that she was drunk, but not from drinking alcohol. John says she is drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. The persecution of true believers throughout history by those who follow after false religions is well documented. This harlot will have a murderous lust for violence, her adherents will hate those who profess Jesus Christ as the Savior. The blood that will be shed in the name of unity by this harlot will only be exceeded by those killed during the Great Tribulation for refusing to worship the Antichrist. Some see the saints as those who were Old Testament saints killed in the past and the witnesses of Jesus being New Testament saints. But the two descriptions most likely refer to the same group and describe God’s people throughout history. The point being made is that false religion, represented here by the harlot, is a murderer. We have seen it throughout history and it will escalate in the end times. While the world becomes drunk with lust for the harlot, the harlot becomes drunk with the blood of God’s people.
This vision was so appalling to John and seeing this harlot caused him to wonder greatly. This phrase expresses that John was confused, shocked, astonished and frightened by this vision and did not fully understand who this woman was that was seated on the beast that was welcoming to the masses that flocked to her, but was deadly towards those that did not follow her, but sought to follow Jesus.
The angel again speaks to John words of reassurance. He asks John why he wonders and then says that he will explain to John the mystery of the woman and the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns. But we are going to stop here this morning, if Jesus does not come this week we will look at the angel’s explanation to John next Sunday.
CONCLUSION:
What can you and I take away from this message concerning the great harlot Babylon? In the end times it is clear that her false religion and apostasy, a turning away from the truth will increase, but her influence is still with us today and is more subtle. Satan even today is trying to draw you away from following Jesus and he uses people and sources that we would never suspect to be used in our lives to draw us away from the truth and we must be very careful if we find ourselves questioning the Word of God when we know the truth, or if we start to compromise the truth. This is where apostasy begins, and often it is just little things to begin with, but if Satan can get us to compromise on some little things, then he will continue to throw other things out there and see if we will compromise on them. Finally, we will be questioning if the Bible is truly God-breathed, or if it is just written by a bunch of men over a long period. If Satan can get us to question the inspiration of the Bible, then he can begin working on trustworthiness of the Bible, maybe it doesn’t mean what it clearly says, the author was writing what made sense during his lifetime and in his culture, but it does not pertain to us today. Maybe since it is not God-breathed it is full of errors. The Bible has no authority, so I do not have to read it, or obey what it says, I can live my life the way I want to live it. When we get to this point Satan has led us down the path to the door of the harlot called Babylon the great.
We must constantly be on guard against compromise when it comes to Scripture and what it says. You must decide what you believe about the Bible and you must not ever compromise on that. This church’s statement of faith says: “We believe in the supernatural verbal and plenary inspiration of the Holy Bible – that they are inerrant; their teaching and authority are absolute, supreme, final, and complete. To put in more simple language: We believe that God inspired or breathed each word of the original text, and that the whole of Scripture is inspired or God-breathed both in substance and in structure, it is exactly what God wanted to say and how He wanted to say it. The Scriptures in their entirety are without error, and what the Scriptures teach, and the Scriptures authority are absolute, supreme, final, and complete. What this means to me is that the Word of God has the final say in any decision I make, in any action I take because it should have full authority in my life. What about you? Are you living your life by the authority of God’s Word or are you compromising so that you can make your own decisions and decide your own actions? Be careful that you do not find yourself standing at the door of the harlot called Babylon.
[1]MacArthur, John, Because the time is near : John MacArthur explains the book of Revelation. Chicago, IL : Moody Publishers, 2007
[2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[3]Walvoord, John F., The Revelation of Jesus Christ : A Commentary by John F. Walvoord. Chicago, IL : Moody Press, 1966
[4]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995