Revelation 17, The Prostitute of Babylon

The story of the seven plagues is interrupted in order to describe the end of Babylon, the world system opposed to God.

Revelation 17: 1-5, The Woman Babylon

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.  With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries."

Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.  The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.  This title was written on her forehead: 

MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT 

THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND 

OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 

The phrase, "Come, I will show you", may indicate the beginning of a final vision.

The prostitute sits on a scarlet beast, which has seven heads and ten horns, like beasts described earlier.  Babylon is alternately described as a great city and a prostitute.  Here she is a prostitute, sitting on a beast that is "covered with blasphemous names". For two thousand years, those who have hoped to understand this book have asked, "Who/what is Babylon?" It is clearly a world system opposed to Jesus and his kingdom. But can something more specific be said? Is it a particular country or city? (Rome, New York? Both been suggested.)

Revelation 17: 6-8, The beast explained

I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. 

Then the angel said to me: "Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns.  The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come. 

The woman enjoys the deaths of Christians.

The beast once was and "now is not".  What does that mean? Later, in the future, the beast will come up out of the Abyss...

Revelation 17: 9-14, The beast explained

"This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits.  They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while.  The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.

"The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast.  They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast.  They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings--and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers." 

Seven heads, seven hill, seven kings & then ten kings to come…  What are these? For many commentators, these represent the city of Rome, the center of the Roman empire, which was called the "city of seven hills".  Notice how the seventh king morphs into the eighth.  I think many of these symbols have more than one representative.

Despite the horror of the woman and the beast, the end of this war is certain; John assures us that the Lamb will be victorious, along with his faithful followers.

Revelation 17: 15-18, The beast against the prostitute

Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.  The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled.  The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."

What will eventually be the relationship between the woman and the beast? Even if woman and beast both hate the followers of Jesus, they also hate each other?!

The woman "is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."  In John's day that would have been Rome.

Revelation 16, Seven Bowls

After (or while) the earth is being harvested, seven angels emerge from the temple, carrying seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God.

Revelation 16: 1-7, The first three bowls

Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth." 

The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. 

The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died. 

The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 

Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: "You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged; for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve."  

And I heard the altar respond: "Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments." 

The work of the first angel assaults those who have worshipped the beast.  The work of the second angel assaults the sea and all that lives in it.  The bowl from the third angel destroys the rivers and springs of water.

Revelation 16: 8-11, Fourth and fifth bowls

The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire.  They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. 

The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done. 

The bowl from the fourth angel assaults the sky and weather.  The bowl from the fifth angel plunges the kingdom of the beast into darkness.

These plagues have some similarities to those of Exodus as Moses frees the Israelites from the rule of the Pharaoh.  (See Exodus 7-10.)

What a condemnation:  "They refused to repent of what they had done."

Note the parallels with the sounding of the seven trumpets in Revelation 8: 6-13, as earth, sea, rivers and sky, in that order, are corrupted and destroyed.

Revelation 16: 12-14, The sixth bowl

The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East.  

Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. 

A great battle is planned -- with kings attacking from the "East" (east of the Euphrates) and spirits drawing all the kings of the world toward this final battle.

Revelation 16: 15, Like a thief

"Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."  

A parenthetical remark is made to the church to remind them of their role.

Revelation 16: 16-21, The great earthquake and hailstones, the end of Babylon

Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. 

The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, "It is done!" Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake.  No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.  The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. 

Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.  From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.

As Armageddon begins, the earth breaks up, the "great city" is split into part and the nations collapse. The description here is of a dramatic event that is a culmination of the earlier "woes".

Revelation 15, Seven Angels Emerge From the Temple

The earth is being harvested, the grapes of wrath are gathered for God's winepress.  In this chapter we see seven angels and seven last plagues, the vials (or bowls) of wrath.

We are now in the final stage.  The view shifts increasingly toward heaven; the earth is done.

There seems to still be plagues, punishment, wrath, but maybe this is the same set of events, yet from a different parallel perspective?

Revelation 15: 1, Seven last plagues

I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues--last, because with them God's wrath is completed. 

Why is this sign marvelous?  The term "marvelous" here might be interpreted as "dramatic" or "beyond comprehension".

Revelation 15: 2-4, The sea of glass (interlude)

And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: "Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed."

We have a brief interlude to emphasize the worship that goes on, even amid this destruction. The heavenly image is one of peace and calm, along with praise.

Revelation 15: 5-8, The tabernacle in heaven 

After this I looked and in heaven the temple, that is, the tabernacle of the Testimony, was opened.  Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests.  

Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever.  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

The seven plagues are distributed.  

What does it mean to open the temple?  Why can no one enter the temple until the plagues are distributed?

Revelation 14, Grapes of Wrath

Two beasts have been released to roam the earth.

Revelation 14: 1-5, The new song

Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.  And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps.  And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.  These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.  No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless. 

Apparently the 144,000 are separate from the "multitudes" before the throne?  Do they represent Israel vs. Gentiles? Is the number 144,000 literal?  Or is it symbolic of tribes of people?

"Men who have not defiled themselves with women", such a strange phrase. A more recent version of the NIV translates "for they kept themselves pure" as "for they remained virgins." Surely this is an allusion to earlier statements about sexual immorality in the seven churches (with Jezebel, etc.)

Revelation 14: 6-12, The message of the three angels

Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth--to every nation, tribe, language and people.  He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water." 

A second angel followed and said, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries." 

A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.  And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name." 

Why is the angel's message called a "gospel"?  (ie. "good news")? It does not sound so good! The first angel says that all are to worship the Creator; the second announces the fall of Babylon; the third warns about worshiping the beast or his image.

Revelation 14: 12-13, Martyrs

This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. 

Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." 

"Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them." 

Another reminder – a brief interlude – to remind Christians to "hang in there". The world is being destroyed yet God has a greater plan, a plan set at the beginning of Creation, a plan that goes beyond mere physical death.

Revelation 14: 14-16, The harvest begins

I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one "like a son of man"  with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.  

Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, "Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe."  

So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. 

The One on the cloud (the Son of Man, the Messiah) is prepared to "harvest" the earth. See Matthew 13: 24-30, for this metaphor of harvesting the earth. For an Old Testament vision of the Son of Man, see Daniel 7:13.

Revelation 14: 17-20, Grapes of wrath

Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.  Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes are ripe."  The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath.  They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.

1600 stadia is about 180 miles, about 300 kilometers,  (An athletic stadium is about one stadium in length!)

Is this the end of the tribulation and despair?  No.  More calamities and warnings will follow.

Revelation 13, Two Beasts

After the death of the witnesses in chapter 11, and their resurrection, we see heaven opened.  There is war in heaven and Satan is cast down to earth, where he pursues a woman giving birth to a male child. Now the dragon and beast dominate the earth.

This chapter ends with the infamous 666.

Revelation 13: 1-4, A beast comes out of the sea

And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.  The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.  

One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast.  Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?" 

NIV footnotes: Some late manuscripts say "And I stood on the shore of the sea" instead of "And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea" 

A new villain, another beast, appears, as the devil concentrates on earth. See Daniel 7 for the first appearance of the beasts.

How does the earth react to the Beast out of the Sea?

Revelation 13: 5-8, More on the beast

The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.  He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.  He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.  All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast--all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.

NIV footnotes: The Greek is not clear on what event is "from the creation of the world".  It could be the slaying of the Lamb (as implied in the order of the text, above) or it could be the writing of names in the book of life.  So another translation might be "all whose names have not been written from the creation of the world in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain." Regardless, this all is to be seen as a plan that began at the creation.

Is the beast a literal historical figure?  How long is his authority?

List the different items which lasted 3 1/2 years – the witnesses, the woman in the desert, the beast….

Revelation 13: 9-10, Need for endurance

He who has an ear, let him hear.  If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints. 

What is the message of Revelation 13:9?  Why is it emphasized here?  (This repeats a primary message of Revelation – patient endurance.)

Revelation 13: 11-15, A second beast

Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.  He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.  And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men.  

Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.  He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 

A second beast arrives, this time out of the earth

Here are the characters since chapter 11.

1. Two Witnesses (Rev 11)
2. The Beast from the Abyss, killer of the Witnesses (Rev 11)
3. The Pregnant Woman and her Child,
4. The Dragon (7 heads, 10 hours), identified as Satan,
5. Michael, the archangel.
6. First Beast (out of the sea)
7. Second Beast (out of the earth), who works for the First Beast

Revelation 13: 16-18, The mark of the second beast

He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.  This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.

The Second Beast is associated with the number 666. This number has generated lots of stories and speculation, most of them useless.  I will summarize some of these in another post.

Revelation 12, Satan Cast Down

Two "witnesses" have appeared and been destroyed, then resurrected.  The seventh trumpet has sounded – along with the third Woe? – and heaven has been opened. 

Revelation 12: 1-6, The woman and the dragon

A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.  She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 

Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads.  His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 

She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.  The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. 

What does it mean "another sign appeared in heaven"?  Is this in the sky?  Or in God's Heaven?

Who is the woman? Who is her child?  The woman and the child are part of God's plan and the dragon's attempt to kill the child is defeated.  One-third of the stars are swept out of the sky. The Child is snatched up to heaven while the woman flees into the desert.

The woman may be Israel and her child the Messiah, Jesus.

1260 days occurs again, as does the destruction of "one-third".

Revelation 12: 7-9, War in heaven

And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.  But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.  The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. 

When was Satan thrown from heaven?  (See Luke 10:18)

I think we see Satan thrown from heaven a number of times in this book.  If the downfall of Satan is a single event then it appears to be outside of time.

Revelation 12: 10-12, Satan thrown to earth

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.  They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.  Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short." 

The devil now concentrates on earth? Why is he called the accuser? How was the "accuser" overcome?

The devil's defeat and exile to earth is not good for earth....

Revelation 12: 13-17, Satan pursues the woman

When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.  The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach.  Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent.  But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.  Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring--those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

The woman spends 3 1/2 "times" in the desert, before the serpent attempts to sweep her away in a river. The river is defeated by the earth. Then the dragon attacks the woman's children, the followers of Jesus. (Is there any way to view any of this literally? Surely not....)

The woman continues to be pursued by the dragon.

We need to keep track of a cast of characters. So far, in these two chapters we have seen the following.

1. Two Witnesses (Rev 11)
2. The Beast from the Abyss, killer of the Witnesses (Rev 11)
3. The Pregnant Woman and her Child,
4. The Dragon (7 heads, 10 hours), identified as Satan,
5. Michael, the archangel.

The list of characters will grow in the next chapter.

Revelation 11, Two Witnesses and the Seventh Trumpet

John has eaten the scroll of a might angel, feeling the sweetness, then the nausea of that scroll.  Then he is told to prophesy to all the world....

Revelation 11: 1-2, John to measure the temple

I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there.  But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. 

John measures the temple.  Why?  (This measurement is then not mentioned again, as we move on with the events regarding the witnesses.)

Revelation 11: 3-6, The two witnesses

And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth."  These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 

If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die.  These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want. 

We have two witnesses, two olive trees, two lampstands.  [As Tim Hall points out in a comment, this imagery occurs in the Old Testament, in Zechariah's vision, Zechariah 4.]  

The Witnesses seem indestructible, with supernatural powers.  They seem to represent God, in some way?

If we view a year as 360 days then the period 1260 days is 3 and a half years. Much has been made of this. Those who see a specific historical period of the "Great Tribulation" see that period as lasting seven years and so this event would occur halfway through that time.

Revelation 11: 7-10, The death of the two witnesses

Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them.  Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.  For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial.  The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth. 

The witnesses seem indestructible.  And then they are destroyed.  They are destroyed by a Beast that comes up out of the Abyss (Hades?) Their bodies are displayed for 3 1/2 days.

Why does 3 1/2 suddenly appear throughout this passage?  (1260 days = 42 months = 3 1/2 years.)

Revelation 11: 11-14, Their revival

But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them.  Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.  

At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. 

The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon. 

Yet the Witnesses live on, at God's command.  Who are they? Nothing is said here about the beast; presumably it lives on?

And so ends the second woe.

Revelation 11: 15-18, The last trumpet

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever."  

And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.  The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great-- and for destroying those who destroy the earth." 

Finally, the seventh trumpet sounds. It apparently announces the final kingdom of the world, the heavenly kingdom.

What is said to occur with the sounding of this last trumpet?

Revelation 11: 19, The last trumpet

Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm.

What does it mean for God's temple to "open"?

The chaos here will continue in the next chapter as a woman dressed in sunlight appears, and is pursued by a red dragon.