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John gives us yet another picture in his eschatological tapestry. This one portrays a harlot who first “sits on many waters,” then is “sitting on a scarlet beast,” and still further is called “Babylon the Great.” In apocalyptic language, changing symbols and scenes is common; each adds another dimension to our understanding of the subject at hand.
Harlotry was nothing new in John’s day. Some call it the oldest profession in the world, though it certainly does not antedate farming. Yet it has been with the world since the earliest days and continues quite prevalently. Amsterdam has its own “red light” district; several Asian countries are noted for their abundant prostitution. I remember being on a flight to the Ukraine a number of years ago in which a group of male passengers made it clear to those seated near them that they were on a tour to hook up with prostitutes. In Italy and France, prostitutes will seductively wait in broad daylight on the side of the road to lure clientele. We have our own issues with prostitution in Memphis. All of it reveals the desperate condition of the human heart: desires out of control, unfaithfulness, impurity, greed, and godlessness. It is no wonder that John uses such a picture to describe the captivity of the world to anti-Christian bias and idolatry.
In our previous consideration of chapter 17, we looked at how John described both the great harlot and the beast. Their combined mission was clear: to turn the hearts of all away from God; to oppose everything that is truly Christian; to corrupt the world with an idolatrous spirit. The world continues to live under the power of the great harlot, charmed by her seductiveness to turn away from the living God. But the great harlot and the beast will not stand forever. Their doom is sure! Just as surely as they deceive, they will also be destroyed by the power of the Lamb of God. The Lamb will triumph! That’s the assurance given in this portion of Revelation. Especially for believers living under the strain of hostility and oppression, this is a timely promise from our Lord. It is also vital to keep all of us steadfast as Christians instead of falling prey to the seduction of the world. How does John encourage Christians facing the oppressive influence of the great harlot?
What did we surmise from John’s description of the great harlot and the beast?
(1) The great harlot does not refer to a literal woman or literal harlot but rather to the pervasive influence that continues in the world to turn people from the God of Holy Scripture. The universality of the harlot’s power is pictured by her sitting “on many waters,” which John explains “are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.” She affects “the kings of the earth” with her immorality as well as “those who dwell on the earth.” In other words, what John refers to is not an isolated incident of Christian oppression or idolatry only in the Roman Empire or oppression that exists just prior to the return of Christ. He includes all of this and more. Simon Kistemaker says of the harlot, “She is the source of all that is evil directed against God: slander, murder, immorality, corruption, vulgarity, profanity, and greed. And she originates these sins by putting her underlings to work. She is also the mother of all abominations in the world, for every sin originates with her” [NTC: Revelation, 466]. The great harlot’s influence affects the highest to the lowest echelons of society. Sam Hamstra, Jr. comments that the harlot, also known as Babylon the Great, “can be found everywhere throughout the history of the world. It is the center of anti-Christian seduction any time in history” [C. Marvin Pate, Editor, Four Views on the Book of Revelation, 117].
(2) The harlot’s name tells us much about her: “Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth.” Ancient Babylon had long fallen at the time John wrote this letter, and yet it stood clearly as the figurative center of idolatry and opposition to God (and used euphemistically of Rome). Since Babylon epitomized the oppression of God’s people in the Old Testament, the name figuratively represents “the lasting conflict between Satan’s henchmen and the people of God” [Kistemaker, 466]. So, don’t think of a person or even a single era but rather a conflict or influence or spirit that pervasively affects the human race. The great harlot uses whatever culture or powers or economic forces dominate the world at any given time to spread the foolish notion that men can get along just fine without the Lamb of God.
So, for instance, the great harlot’s influence can be seen in the commercial world today that drives the senses and desires and affections toward being controlled by a particular activity or product or association. For some, it’s the partying spirit that loosens moral restraints and indulges the desires of the flesh. For others, it’s the spirit of greed that drives a person to betray family and friends in the pursuit of having more. Still others find the harlot’s influence in achieving a certain status and power over others whether politically, economically, or even religiously. The vanity of these pursuits becomes idols that control the heart.
(3) The great harlot is continually drunk “with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.” Irony drips from the passage. John describes the royal clothing, golden-gilded, complete with expensive jewelry that clothes the harlot. She is stunningly attractive to everyone, except those whose names have been written in the book of life (v. 8). So, here is this head-turning, stunningly-attractive, exquisitely-rich woman that seductively lures others unto her. But she is a deceiver. The golden cup in her hand is “full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality.” She embodies everything that is abhorrent to God [cf. TDNT, vol. I, 598]. That’s why she can get away with persecuting and killing believers. She’s been doing it throughout the ages beginning with Caligula, escalated with Nero, and continued with Domitian in the first century. The ancient, non-Christian historian Tacitus, described what happened in the 60s under Nero’s reign: “a vast multitude of Christians were not only put to death, but put to death with insult. They were either clothed in the skins of wild beasts and then exposed in the arena to the attacks of half-famished dogs, or else dipped in tar and put on crosses to be set on fire, and, when the daylight failed, to be burned as lights by night” (Annals XV, 44).” Bruce Metzger explained, “Tacitus comments that Nero’s persecution of Christians was so terrible that even non-Christian citizens were horrified and began to intercede in their behalf” [Breaking the Code: Understanding the Book of Revelation, 86]. That kind of bloodthirsty assault on believers continues in our day as we’ve noted so often in our study of Revelation.
(4) The great harlot is the foundation of idolatries and spiritual unfaithfulness to the living God. That’s why she is called “the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth.” But she is supported by the beast, shown by John seeing “a woman sitting on a scarlet beast.” The beast represents the political power that is inherently anti-God and anti-Christ. John’s rather complicated description of the beast with seven heads and ten horns, amplifies his strength. The seven kings represent ancient and present-day as well as future kingdoms. The beast is not one king or kingdom “but personifies the totality of evil in them; therefore, he is far greater than any one individual.” Simon Kistemaker explains, “In short, he is absolutely depraved and works in and through each of the seven empires as an eighth…The beast, then, is not one of the seven rulers but is the concentration of all that is evil” [473]. This is shown by the use of both seven and ten to identify the completeness of the beast’s power. Dennis Johnson wrote, “Seven symbolizes completeness, so it shows that the beast’s reign apparently holds sway over the whole history of fallen humanity” [Triumph of the Lamb, 250-251]. Like the harlot, the beast slakes his thirst with the blood of the saints (13:7).
A great mass of humanity blindly follows the seductiveness of the great harlot. “Kings of the earth” commit acts of immorality with her, while the rest of humanity, “those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” John‘s picture is that of the whole world swept up in the lure of the great harlot, and satisfying their own sinful lusts with the broad array of her immorality. Remember, he uses immorality for more than sexual sins; just as in the Old Testament, it refers to the range of man’s rebellion against the moral character of God as clarified in the Ten Commandments. Ultimately, it implies a rejection of God as God, and consequently, a rejection of Jesus Christ as the only Savior of sinners. Sin is no big deal when one is snared by the great harlot. Oh, one may be caught in something that causes momentary discomfort or embarrassment but there’s no concern for the reality that our sin is chiefly against God. The great harlot’s followers sneer at the holiness of God and consequently, disdain God’s holy ones, which is the meaning of “saints.”
The mesmerizing effects of the beast cause the world to “wonder when they see the beast,” amazed at the power and lure of the beast. But there is one group among the human race that finds no attraction or allurement in the beast. Though the rest of the world willfully follows the beast, they do so because that is their nature. There is nothing within that restrains their affection for idolatry, sin, and rebellion against God. Yet there are others among them that are different because their names have “been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.” We must admit that verse 8 is somewhat cumbersome; but it is quite intentional in order to show the great distinction made in those whom God has pursued with redeeming grace. The whole world is captured by the beast except those whose names from the foundation of the world have already been written in the Lamb’s book of life.
The reason that John uses “from the foundation of the world” in his description is to emphasize that, much greater than our decision at some point in time to respond to the gospel of Christ is the sovereign grace of God that supports it. We were not around at “the foundation of the world!” But our God was. Before we ever entered the human race, sovereign mercy was at work as God elected a people for Himself whom He would secure for eternity through the death of His Son. GRACE shouts at us in this distinction!
Here is comfort beyond comparison. Think about the 1st C. believers in ancient Asia Minor living under the oppressiveness of the great harlot and beast’s power. They suffered as believers. Many lost their jobs. Some lost their loved ones as martyrs for the sake of the gospel. “Where is God when that happened?” some might have asked. John reminds them, He has set you apart as His own at the foundation of the world. He wrote your name in the book of life, and more, He secured your redemption through the death of His own Son. Everything is under control! If God is for you, then who can be against you? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for you all, how will He not also with Him freely give you all things? (Rom. 8:31-32 with pronouns changed to reflect 2nd person) Though you may be the enemies of the great harlot and of the beast, you are beloved of the Father. He has shown you the greatness of His love and mercy, the certainty of His care by writing your name in the book of life and then sending His Son to bear your sins in His own body at the cross. Look at the cross! Look at the empty tomb! Be encouraged that you belong to God for eternity through His sovereign grace.
Though the kingdoms of the world unite against our Lord, though they throw all of their power and might against Him and His people, the Lamb will overcome. John declares it in verse 14 and then returns to explain it in detail in the next two chapters. “These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.”
But wait just a minute, some might say. Aren’t Christians being persecuted right and left throughout the world? Do we not get reports on a regular basis of our brethren being imprisoned, tortured, and killed? Have we not seen that happening just recently in Central Asia and India? Isn’t it true that in a number of countries, to profess to be a Christian and to openly practice your faith means a sentence of death? It seems like the beast and great harlot are winning!
That’s probably something of what these ancient believers asked or at least felt when they received John’s message. It’s certainly what some of our dear brethren likely sense in our day. So how did they, and how shall believers in the present day, find encouragement in the face of great oppression? It comes in the promise and declaration of our God. Let me put it like this, how do you know that God sent His Son as our Redeemer? How do you know that God accepted the death of Christ on our behalf? How do you know that God raised Christ from the dead? How do you know that God will save those that come to Him in repentance and faith in Christ? Because God declared it in His Word. The whole of our faith relies upon the revelation of God in His Word. Our religion is not based on supposition or feeling but upon the revealed Word of God.
So, just as you believe that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth then believe that “the Lamb will overcome.” Just as you believe that the Lord is your Shepherd and your Rock of refuge and your Strength then believe that “the Lamb will overcome.” Just as you believe that God so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten Son then believe that “the Lamb will overcome.” Just as you believe that Jesus died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried and raised from the dead on the third day, then also believe that “the Lamb will overcome.” It is the certainty of the God with whom it is impossible for Him to lie, that we are assured that the Lamb will overcome!
But John adds to this. God has made the declaration of the Lamb overcoming the great harlot and the beast yet He gives the reason for His overcoming: “because He is Lord of lords and King of kings.” In chapter 13, we saw that the beast assumed a position of global sovereignty. The people of the world worshiped the beast as sovereign and said, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” Now John answers that question! The Lamb is unlike the beast and conquers him. The beast blasphemed God and was characterized by blasphemous names (13:5-6; 17:3). He made war with the saints and overcame many of them through the centuries (13:7), but he could not take eternal life from them. He enslaved humanity through his iron-handed control (13:11-17) but he could not destroy the gospel. But the Lamb “is Lord of lords and King of kings”; He alone is truly sovereign ruler of the world. The beast’s power and authority is temporary, which John indicated by the use of abbreviated periods of time (17:10, 12; 11:2). Christ’s power and authority is eternal. All of the lords and kings of the world that give the beast their power and authority (17:13), are limited by the Sovereign Lord of lords and King of kings. The most magnificent declaration of this is found in 19:11-16:
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
With the Lamb, as He overcomes the great harlot and the beast, is His army: “and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.” That’s the encouragement that all believers need in the time of oppression and persecution! Leon Morris describes this army so aptly. “These are His retinue, not His resources. They represent no independent source of aid, for He needs none. Indeed, the very qualities named show that they depend on Him” [TNTC: Revelation, 212]. This army doesn’t come to fight but to worship the Victor. The Lamb wins all the victory by His authority. This is especially evident by John’s description of the army as the bride of the Lamb (19:7-8; 14). The Lamb has already won the victory at the cross; here He exerts His authority as King of kings and Lord of lords by applying all of the effectiveness of His death on the cross (19:15).
Notice how John describes the Lamb’s army. They are “the called,” that is, by the sovereign work of God’s Spirit they are called out of darkness into the marvelous light of His kingdom (1 Pet. 2:9). Grace colors such a term. Paul wrote, “And these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified” (Rom. 8:30). This calling does not refer to the general call of the gospel that all hear but to the special, gracious call of God that assures our justification and glorification.
He also identifies the army as the “chosen.” Again, the emphasis is on the grace of God before the foundation of the world, having elected or chosen a people whom Christ would redeem through His bloody death on the cross. Paul explained in Ephesians 1:4 that God the Father chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, and with that act of choosing, He assured that “we would be holy and blameless before Him.” In other words, His choosing is not a divine suggestion but the divine decree of certainty. Paul further explores this, “In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:5-6).
Then John describes those following the Lamb as “faithful.” Since one of the primary purposes in the book of Revelation is to encourage perseverance or faithfulness, the Apostle highlights true believers as “faithful.” The Christian life is not a club or an organization or even a movement that we can hold loosely. It’s a relationship that bears fruit. To call yourself a Christian is to pursue faithfulness to Jesus Christ. That’s the point that John makes over and over; true believers may stumble and falter but by the grace of God, they keep pressing on in Christ. Because of the everlasting arms bearing them up and preserving them, Christians can be faithful. “Faithful is He who called you, and He also will bring it to pass” (1 Thes. 5:24). “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6).
Though this portion of Revelation speaks of final judgment, there are many occasions of God’s judgment throughout history. Just read the historical and prophetical books of the Old Testament and you will see this amply explained. Isaiah prophesied of the Persian king Cyrus who defeated the Babylonians in the 6th century. Yet, the prophet explains 150 years before it happened how God would choose to use Cyrus as His instrument of judgment even though Cyrus didn’t know God (Isa. 45:1-7). So it is no wonder that God uses even the beast and his followers to judge the great harlot (Rev. 17:16-17). “And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire.” Here is great irony of the tables turned on the great harlot that had been in alliance with the beast. Though she turned people to the beast, the beast will eventually turn against the great harlot. Or to put it in other terms, the great power of godless political might will turn destructively on the social/economic/religious structure of the world. Behind it is the sovereign purpose of our Lord. “For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.” Greg Beale rightly explains, “This must be construed not as mere divine “permission” but as divine causation…Here the unexpected aspect of the fulfillment is that the kingdom of evil unknowingly will begin to destroy itself by battling against itself and destroying its own economic-religious foundation…Only inspiration from God could cause them to commit such a shortsighted and foolish act” [887]. The next chapter explains their bewailing the destruction though involved in it (18:9-19).
God will fulfill His Word: “until the words of God will be fulfilled.” We may not understand every detail of judgment but we can be certain that the Lord will not fail in executing His righteous judgment against all rebellion, ungodliness, idolatry, and unbelief. The Lamb will triumph! The “called and chosen and faithful” join His triumph.
Though we may find some of the symbolism confusing and the meanings somewhat befuddling, be certain of three things that this chapter sets forth.
(1) The world will oppose Christ, the gospel, and true believers until God brings it to a close in judgment. The intensity of this opposition may vary from one culture and age to another but the opposition is certain.
(2) God will justly judge all rebellion and unbelief and idolatry and every other sin. Only those, whose sins have been covered by the atoning death of Jesus Christ, where judgment fell upon Him on our behalf, will be spared judgment.
(3) Jesus Christ will triumph over the great harlot and the beast and all of the evil that the devil has inspired. Only those who have known this triumphant Christ through repentance and faith will rejoice when that day of judgment arrives.
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