Lesson Four

Chapter 17:15-18

Civil War—Destruction of the Prostitute

a) Verse 15

- “waters you saw where the prostitute sits”

o So far the angel has described the beast rather than the harlot. Now the angel gives a fuller interpretation of the identity and fate of the great prostitute.

o This fifth use of the word “women” in the chapter is for the sinners and means that the prostitute rules over the peoples of the world. This stems from Jer. 51:12-13, building on the picture of Babylon as sitting on “many waters.”

o The “waters” refers to “peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.” “Waters” as a metaphor for inhabitants was common in the OT (Isa. 8:7; 17:12–13; Jer. 46:7–8; 47:2). Thus, the harlot depicts the “great city” controlling all the inhabitants of the world (see also 17:18).

- “are the people, multitudes, nations and languages” The “peoples of the nations” is used seven times in the book of Revelation, both of the people of God (5:9; 7:9) and of the earth-dwellers (10:11; 11:9; 13:7; 14:6).

b) Verse 16

- “The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute”

o The true feelings of the beast for the harlot are now revealed. The civil war motif of the four horsemen in 6:1–8 is reenacted as the beast and kings turn upon the harlot and destroy her—the self-destroying power of evil. The “hatred” that the powers of evil have for their followers has already been revealed in the fifth and sixth trumpets, where the demonic locusts torture their followers for five months and then the demonic horsemen kill one-third of humankind.

o This fits the pattern of demon possession in the Gospels, where the demons seek to torture and kill those they possess (cf. Mark 5:1–20; 9:14–29). Satan and his fallen angels have no love for human beings, who are made in the image of God and are still loved by God. Therefore, by inflicting as much pain and suffering on God’s created beings as they can, Satan and his forces are getting back in some small way at God. This is the background for the scene here, as the beast and his vassal kings turn on the prostitute/Babylon the Great/Rome and destroy her.

- “The bring her to ruin...”

o The whole picture is built on Ezek. 23:25–29 (cf. also 16:37–41), in which the apostate city of Jerusalem is destroyed. The gruesome images of Ezekiel, John adds “devour her flesh,” a reference to the total annihilation of the harlot-city.

o Here the “kings of the east” who at first join the forces of Babylon the Great (Rev. 16:12–16) now turn against her and devour her. This is the only reference in the book to Babylon the Great being destroyed by allies turning against her.

o This is indirectly described elsewhere as pestilence and plague (the trumpets and bowls; cf. 18:8) and especially the rider on the white horse (19:13–15).

- “Stripped naked”

o To be “stripped naked” builds on the warning of Laodicea that she should buy white garments to “cover your shameful nakedness” and the further admonition of Jesus in 16:15 that the believers “keep their clothes on, so that they might not walk around naked and people see their shame.”

o The “naked” imagery refers to the exposure of one’s sinful deeds.

- “flesh devoured”

o Echoing the fate of Jezebel, who was eaten by dogs, 2 Kings 9:36–37)

o This looks ahead to the birds who are invited to “eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of generals and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and their riders and the flesh of free and slave and of the small and the great” (Rev. 19:17–18, 21).

- “Consume her with fire”

o This can come from an OT context, where a priest’s daughter who became a prostitute was to be “burned in the fire,” Lev. 21:9

o Also can be taken from the image of the lake of fire, in which, they will be “tormented day and night forever and ever” (20:10).

o The image here is not just of the earth-dwellers but also of the apostate church (see also 21:8, “the cowardly”)— those who have joined the apostate church become members of the earth-dwellers and face the same eternal punishment as the other enemies of God (see also Mark 13:5, 21–23 par.; 2 Thess. 2:3; 1 Enoch 93.8–10; Jub. 23.14–21).

c) Verse 17: “For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority, until God’s words are fulfilled”

- In the earthly sense, they are in complete accord with their own wicked plans, but in the cosmic sense, they are forced to “do God’s purpose.” As they walk away from God, they walk right into the hands of the beast, giving their kingdom to the beast.

- There are only two sides to choose from: God’s side or the devil’s side. Walking away from God, you will eventually choose the devil. And those who choose the devil's side will be given over by God to help the beast launch its final act of desperation to bring the age to a close.

- It is bigger than you and I. It is a cosmic battle in which we are caught between the crossfires. But God gave his Son to save us from this evil age.