Lesson One

Chapter 17:1-6

The Fall of Babylon - The Great Prostitute

a) Introduction: This chapter centers on Rome as the “Great prostitute, who is drunk with the blood of the saints.” There are three sections in chapter: 1) Luxury and depravity of woman (vv 4-6), 2) the angel interprets the meaning of the seven headed beast and ten horns (vv 7-14), 3) and prostitute is killed by the beast and his kings (vv 15-18)

b) The Great Prostitute (17:1-2)

- Verse 1

o “One of the angels having seven bowls” Tie between 16 and 17 is the angel who invites John to see the judgment of the great prostitute. Thus 17:1-19:4 is seen as an extension of the bowl judgments (or elaboration of the last two bowls leading up to the destruction of Babylon).

o “Great prostitute” It is frequent in OT to use the imagery of prostitution to depict immorality and idolatry (Hosea 2:5; 4:10; Jer 3:1-3; Ezek 18:15-17; 23; Isa 1:21; 23:15-17; Nah 3:4).

o “Who sits on many waters”

§ The “many waters” are defined in 17:15 as “people and multitudes and nations and tongues,” referring to the many nations under the control Babylon.

§ To “sit upon” a nation is to conquer and control it.

§ Who is the woman prostitute? We’re about to find out

- Verse 2

o “kings of the earth” According to chapter 18 (vv 3, 9) the divine judgment falls on the nation because of the “kings of the earth” commit adultery with the prostitute. This speaks of the rulers leading the nations astray.

o “the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries” Yet still all the people have participated in it. They have allowed themselves to be drunk with wine… they have allowed themselves to lose control and be taken over by a foreign influence. The people of the earth have joined the rulers in their actual religious adultery.

c) Description of the Great Prostitute—Luxurious and Depraved Woman (17:3-6a)

- Verse 3

o “the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness”

§ John has a visionary experience of a desert by the angel.

§ In revelation, the “desert” is where the woman finds a place of refuge from the dragon (12:5, 14) and where the location of the Babylon the great, the home of demons (18:2).

§ For Jesus, the desert is the place of testing and the place of attacks from the enemy Satan (Luke 4:1-13).

o “I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast”

§ While the beast is the political ruler of the empire, the woman represents the blasphemous religion that seduces the nations and the economic system that draws them tiny it earthly luxury.

§ The beast is “scarlet” speaking of the incredible luxury of the empire, as in verse 4 (“purple and scarlet”)

o “covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns”

§ This is drawn form the emergence of the beast of the sea in 13:1.

§ The heads and horns will be interpreted in 17:9-14.

§ The beast is blasphemous because it sets himself up as the “god of this world.”

- Verse 4

o “The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls”

§ Again, the woman is mention to have great luxury. She is even called “the great city” in Rev 18:12-13, 16.

§ The purple (colour of royalty) and scarlet (colour of wealth) speaks of incredible commercial prosperity of the Roman Empire.

o “She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries”

§ Yet with all the woman’s wealth, she is an abomination to God, because it is coupled with her immorality.

§ If you remember Rev 16:13, it spoke of “spirit like frogs.” This was speaking of the demonic false trinity deceiving the nations. Also spoke about in 18:2 of unlearn spirits inhabiting desolate Babylon after god’s judgment falls upon it. All this speaks about the unholy Roman Empire will be before God near the return of Christ.

§ Golden cup speaks of the woman prostitute being drunk with idolatry and immorality.

- Verse 5

o “The name written on her forehead was a mystery: Babylon the Great”

§ The name is written on her “forehead.” This is the same as the mark of the beast on people forehead. It is also on the city of Babylon. This speaks about the great whore in contrast to the bride of Christ. This is another great imitation from Satan.

§ Who is the woman prostitute? It is the great city, Babylon. The name Babylon appears six time in the book (14:8; 16:19; 18;2, 10, 21).

§ The “mystery” of Babylon partly speaks to the ironic manner or unexpected way the kingdom of evil will begin to be defeated: the kingdom will turn against itself and start to self-destruct even before Christ returns” (17:16).

o “Mother of prostitutes”

§ This speaks to give birth to children or to reproduce Babylonian characteristics on others. Thus the unholy Roman empire of the Antichrist has secured other nations into immorality and idolatry as well as committed such heinous sins.

§ The full force of the Babylon will come out in the last day as the mother of all harlots. It is the mother of all great cities in human history that has caused them to turn their back on God. And this great city near the return of the Lord will cause many people to turn away from God.

§ Read Jeremiah 51:7, where it tells how Babylon is condemned for making the “whole earth drunk,” so that “they have now going mad.” The rules of the great city has used economic and political subversion to seduce the nations with promises of luxury and power as we will see more in chapter 18

§ Babylon the Great is a symbol for Rome and the empire of the beast. The final Babylon of the end-times describes the Roman age. It pictures Rome leading the world into immorality and religious apostasy/idolatry. Rome conquered Israel and destroyed its temple as well as led the world into immorality. The last days started in the Roman period (Acts 2:14-21; cf. Dan 2:40-41; 7:7-8—fourth kingdom is Rome as Iron Age)

- Verse 6

o “I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people”

§ The image here is the prostitute holds up the gold cup drunk with the blood of the saints. There is great joy in which armies would slaughter entire families as well as opposing armies. Read Rev 13:7. God allows the beast to “make war against the saints and conquer them.”

§ There is four things the final Babylon of the end will get the whole world to be doing: idolatry, immorality, luxury and persecution.

o “the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus”

§ As it read in Rev 12:11, the people of God “conquer” Satan by “the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” They did not love their lives even to the point of death.”

§ Theme warning of the book: the people of God are required to remain faithful in spite of the intensity of persecution, even to the point of dying (Mark 8:34).

§ There is no hint anywhere that during the terrible persecution, the saints are hidden in forest, caves, and remote places lest they be killed. Rather they engaged in fearless witness throughout this period. They “bore fearlessly” their testimony of Jesus.

o “I was greatly astonished” another way of saying John is in wonder, perplexed and horrified (cf. 5:4; 7:15).