Sunday School Notes: Revelation 17:1-2

¹And one of the seven angels who have the seven bowls came and spoke with me saying, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute, the one sitting on many waters, ²with whom the kings of the earth commit sexual immorality. Also those dwelling on the earth became drunk from the wine of her sexual immorality.

We began with a quick recap of chapter 16 to set the context for chapter 17, and then read from Psalm 46:8-10. This reminds us that the devastation and “desolation” we see in Revelation is not happening despite the Lord’s best efforts. Neither has the Lord turned his back and permitted Satan to have his way for a time. All that’s going on is as a result of God’s sovereign decree. The terrible persecution as well as the even more terrible judgments. Indeed, the world’s persecution of the church is part of God’s judgment on the world. God’s people are in the world as “salt and light” (Matthew 5:13). He uses us as a means of restraint, preventing people from being as bad as they could be. When the world turns on the church, therefore, it is to the world’s detriment. Not only do they reap the consequences of the removal of God’s restraining hand, but they are judged by the Lord for their hatred of His own. Ultimately, He will cause wars to cease, and all nations will be still and know that He is God.

Chapter 17 begins a section describing the destruction of Babylon that continues through chapter 18 into chapter 19. To start with, John is given a vision of the judgment the Lord brings against “the great prostitute.” This “prostitute” is Babylon–not literally, but symbolically–and we know this from the way she is described here compared to what we read in 14:8. This chapter leans heavily on Daniel 7. Remember, though, John is not re-writing what Daniel wrote because he liked the imagery, or couldn’t think up something better. The Lord is showing John this vision using imagery drawn from Daniel to demonstrate how all that is happening/will happen is the ultimate fulfillment of what Daniel saw. Daniel’s visions had meaning to him in his time, but they also carried a deeper meaning he was not able to see. He knew there was end-time significance to the things the Lord showed him, but he did not have the benefit of the cross to see the fullness of their meaning. John, however, is able to see these images in light of Christ’s redemption.

One of the seven angels with bowls approaches John and invites him to witness the judgment of the great prostitute. With the seventh bowl, John has already seen how the Lord will bring an end to all things, how evil will be vanquished, and how the earth-dwellers will receive their just condemnation. But everything John has seen so far has been the “big picture,” a 30,000-foot view of God’s wrath poured out on the “earth-dwellers” (i.e., those who do not belong to the Lamb but the Beast). The fact that it’s one of the bowl-carrying angels that shows him this new vision indicates he’s not looking at what happens after the bowl judgments. Rather, this is a closer look at what’s going on when the Lord judges the great prostitute.

In 16:19, the Lord pours out His wrath and fury on Babylon. This happens as part of the seventh bowl judgment. We’ve already seen with the seven seals and seven trumpets that the seventh in the series corresponds to the final judgment. So what John is about to see is how the final judgment of Babylon comes about in greater symbolic detail. While it’s encouraging to know that fallen society which “Babylon” represents will one day be judged to destruction, we need to see more. This vision is not given to John as a mere curiosity. It is intended to encourage and embolden the hearts of God’s people as they see how thoroughly the Lord will bring just judgment against those who defy Him and persecute His people. Remember the cry of the saints under the altar in 6:10? This is their prayer being answered.

The angel says the prostitute sits on “many waters.” Verse 15 interprets this for us: the waters are “peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.” To sit on something symbolizes influence, either influence exerted or influence received. You can either ride a horse, directing it where it should go, telling it when to stop, trot, or gallop, or you can allow the horse to carry you wherever it wants to go. In this case, I believe the prostitute riding the “waters” is symbolic of the extent of her influence among the people of many nations. Jeremiah 51:13 describes Babylon as “you who dwell by many waters,” so there is Old Testament precedent for this imagery.

The nature of the prostitute’s influence is described by the angel in terms of “sexual immorality” and intoxication. This points back to 14:8 and forward to 18:2-3. In 14:8, the second bowl angel spoke of Babylon the great who made the nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality. In 17:2, it’s not simply the nations, but those who rule the nations who are “in bed” with Babylon. The picture I think the angel is painting here is one of intimate association with all that Babylon is and represents. She is the powerful nation with great riches and influence. It is by attachment to Babylon that the kings of the earth receive wealth, authority, and power. Those who are not intimately connected to Babylon are denied these benefits (recall 13:16-17 and the fate of those who do not receive the “mark” of the Beast).

This intoxication with all that Babylon is and has creates a dependency, and a constant craving for more. The kings of the earth find their selfish desires met by what Babylon gives, but it’s never enough, so they maintain that relationship with Babylon to try to fulfill those desires for power, wealth, and influence. Babylon is not symbolic of one particular government or society, but rather symbolizes any government or society that denies the lordship of Christ and persecutes his people. In John’s day, that was Rome. The Reformers saw the Roman Catholic Church as Babylon. Nazi Germany would also fit the description, as would many other rulers, governments or society through the ages. We might even point to our own society, especially given the trajectory Western culture is rapidly moving along at the moment.

The idea that we might be living in a society under the intoxicating influence of evil might scare us, but the church has nothing to fear. Rather, as we shall see, it is the society that identifies itself with Babylon that ought to tremble.

We will continue starting at 17:3 next time…