Revelation 17
CHAPTER 17
The judgment of Babylon
And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls and spoke with me, saying: Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute that sits upon many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication, 5 and upon her forehead a name written of a 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 and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder.
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 you saw was and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go into destruction. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, they whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how that he was and is not, and shall come.
9 Here is the mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are the seven mountains on which the woman sits. 10 And they are seven kings. The five are fallen, the one is, the other is yet to come; and when he comes, he must continue a little while. 11 And the beast that was and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goes into destruction. 12 And the ten horns you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority as kings with the beast, for one hour. 13 These are of one mind; and they give their power and authority to the beast. 14 These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and they that are with him, called and chosen and faithful, these also shall overcome.
15 And he said to me: The waters which you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples and crowds and nations and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which you saw: they and the beast, these shall hate the prostitute and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh and shall burn her completely with fire. 17 For God did put it in their hearts to do his mind and to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished. 18 And the woman whom you saw is the great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.
Commentary
17:1 Babylon appears to refer to a political or religious system which the rulers of the earth [or, ‘the land’, the area promised to Abraham] give material support to in return for benefit and temporary pleasure. This system will persecute God’s people, both natural and spiritual Israel.
17:16 The victory of Jesus against this system (:14) will be through the various members of the coalition turning on themselves; internal division was how God so often destroyed His enemies in the Old Testament. If we chose to be divided, we are choosing and living out Divine condemnation for ourselves.
17:17 Put it in their hearts- God confirms sinful people in the desires of their mind. If we wish to be fleshly in our thinking, God will psychologically confirm us in this; and He will do the same in response to our endeavours to be spiritually minded.
