College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Revelation 17:1-5
Strauss-' Comments
SECTION 57
Text Revelation 17:1-5
And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters; 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that dwell in the earth were made drunken 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-colored 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, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Initial Questions Revelation 17:1-5
1.
Discuss the O.T. and N.T. use of the symbol of adultery with respect to faithfulness or lack of faithfulness to God.
2.
How extensive was the influence of the great harlot - Revelation 17:2?
3.
In the N.T. period, what did the color scarlet signify - Revelation 17:3?
4.
Discuss the economic significance of the dress of the woman in Revelation 17:4.
5.
What does the word mystery mean - Revelation 17:5?
The Vision of Babylon Seated on the Beast
Chapter Revelation 17:1-5
Thus far we have noted that five enemies and the followers of the fifth enemy have been presented. The dragon, the beast from the sea, the beast from the earth, the false prophet, the great harlot, Babylon, and those who wear the mark of the beast. John relays the fate of those who wear this mark in chaps. 15-16. God grants to John an inspired vision in chps. 17-19 in which the ultimate defeat of Babylon, the beast of the sea, and the false prophet are revealed. R. H. Charles erroneously charges that the book under study introduces the subject of the fate of Babylon and then fails to discuss it. First, we must not forget that the original Greek Text had no chapter nor verse divisions. In view of this fact Charles-' criticism is irrelevant. The content of chp. 17 relates the nature and history of the harlot, Babylon; chp. 18 manifests the ultimate and final defeat of the enemies of The Light of the World; Chp. 19 relates the holy rejoicing in heaven because of Satandom's irrecoverable fall! The victorious Christ and those that are more than conquerors are presented.
The harlot is seated on waters, an O.T. symbol for evil. We shall learn later that this is not John's meaning. Almost these very words are used in Jeremiah 51:13. The description of the harlot given in Revelation 17:2 is without question taken from Isaiah's (Isaiah 23:15-17) description of Tyre. The harlot was arrayed in scarlet, the color of royalty. This woman has the same general characteristics of the beast which is described in Jeremiah 51:7; as the one who attempts the destruction of God's elect. We must also emphasize that the Church and the all-Anti-Christian powers occupy the same territory, the earth. God's purpose involves the safety of the remnant (The Church), and the destruction of the five enemies and their evil cohorts. Part of chapter 17 is an explanation of John's visions (Revelation 17:8-18).
The judgment of Babylon (Revelation 16:19) was already revealed in chapter Revelation 14:8. The actual description of the judgment is provided in Chapter s 17-18. Another prophet of God, Nahum (Revelation 3:4) uses the imagery of the harlot when speaking of Nineveh.
One of the seven angels commands John to come and see the judgment of Babylon - the great harlot sitting on many waters. This description was originally given by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 51:13) when speaking of physical Babylon. But John cannot be speaking of real Babylon on the Euphrates restored once more; because Isaiah (Isaiah 13:19-22) prophesied that it would never exist again as a powerful empire. Babylon on the Euphrates controlled many canals which were used for irrigation (like the Nile for Egypt). Rome did not have access to such a source of wealth.
The harlot is described as the source of sensual gratification (not merely sexual) of the kings of the earth. The kings practiced fornication (eporneusan - 1st aor. indicative, the aorist tense is used to show the established fact of illicit practices) with this harlot. This imagery comes directly from the prophetic pronouncements concerning the disloyal, disobedient people of Israel. The apostasy of the church from her Lord is here asserted (see Jeremiah 2:20; Jeremiah 3:1; Jeremiah 6:8; Isaiah 1:21; Hosea 2:5; Hosea 3:3; Hosea 4:14; Ezekiel 16:15-16; Ezekiel 16:28; Ezekiel 16:31; Ezekiel 16:35; Ezekiel 16:41; Ezekiel 23:5; Ezekiel 23:19; Ezekiel 23:44). The spiritual apostasy of the people of God is asserted as a matter of fact in both the O.T. and N.T. It is impossible to harmonize this biblical doctrine with the claim of some denominations that a saved individual can never become an apostate from Christ (The Greek word from which we derive apostate comes from two words - one meaning of or away from, and the other meaning to stand, thus to stand off from an earlier commitment to Christ).
John further describes the moral decadence through the imagery of drunkenness. The moral degradation has extended through out the entire earth. The ones dwelling on the earth became drunk from the wine of her fornication.----
John is led to the wilderness in the spirit. The woman of chapter 12 had already fled to the wilderness. John saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, being filled with names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The harlot sits clothed like a queen. The kings of the earth are her lovers. Swete has an excellent discussion on the maternal imagery used here of Rome. This relationship with the provinces and their rulers was widely known as late as the fourth century. (See Swete, The Apocalypse of John, op cit., p. 217 for this type of information. Swete and Beckwith are the best readily available sources.) The martyrdom of Christians was the result of an official Roman policy.
The wealth of the harlot is most clearly asserted in the description of her dress. She was no cheap hussy; she was a member of the first century jet set (a name given to the decadent, wealthy European and American men and women of our own day). She was having been clothed in purple and scarlet (chrusio kai kokkinon - only the wealthiest of the wealthy could dress in purple and scarlet garments), and having been gilded (decked or covered) with gold, and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand being filled with abominations and unclean things of her fornication,.. Culturally, the great harlot represented the highest level of Roman society. She possessed the things that men and nations fight to the death to obtain. Roman culture fell because the seed of her collapse was being sown, even in the first century. She fell, never to rise again in the fifth century A.D.
John draws his imagery from the 1st century practice. Roman harlots wore their names written on their brows. This was a publically visible sign of their illicit profession. The badge of infamy contained the nameMystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth. Her evil, lustful life was public knowledge, but her power, prestige and social status made it impossible for even the morally sensitive person to stand for righteousness. In fact, Christians were slain as martyrs of the Faith because of their publically expressed indignation. (See 1 Peter 5:13, Tertullian, Irenaeus, and Jerome for the use of the symbol Babylon for the Roman Empire.)
Discussion Questions
See Revelation 17:6-18.