Sunday School Notes: Revelation 17:3-4

³ And he [the angel] led me away into the desert by the Spirit. And I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast who had seven heads and ten thorns, and was covered with blasphemous names. ⁴ And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She had in her hand a vessel made from gold, full of detestable things and the uncleanness of her sexual immorality.

John is transported “by the Spirit” by the angel to a desert location. Why “by the Spirit”? Primarily because John was not physically transported. The angel didn’t grab John by the scruff of the neck and drag his body out to the Mojave desert. Rather, this was a spiritual experience. However, unlike a dream, this was a very real experience. He didn’t imagine it, and it wasn’t a mirage or an illusion.

Why a desert? Deserts have a particular significance in Scripture. They are places of desolation and loneliness. They are also places of trial and testing. Israel wandered in the wilderness during which time their faith was tested, and many were found wanting. Jesus was also tested in the wilderness. So this is a fitting environment for the vision John is about to receive. God’s judgment is about to be unleashed upon this woman and the beast. If nothing else, the wilderness tips us off to that fact. It’s also possible that the desert setting is meant to connect the judgment against the woman with God’s judgment against physical Babylon as predicted in Isaiah 21. That chapter begins, “The oracle of the wilderness” and continues with themes that we’ll see elsewhere in Revelation 17 and 18. The Lord is tipping us off that what He promised to do to physical Babylon was just a foretaste of what will happen to spiritual Babylon.

John sees a woman riding on a scarlet beast. In verse 1, the angel told John he was going to see the judgment on the great prostitute who sits on many waters. We’ll see that this woman is that great prostitute, but she’s riding a beast not “many waters.” How can this woman be both sitting on many waters and sitting on a beast? The simple answer is because this is a vision. Each vision John sees is like a scene in a dream sequence. One moment you’re running to catch a bus, the next you’re sitting in High School English wearing only underwear, and the next you’re in scuba gear floating in space. There’s no outward logical connection between the images, however, there may be an internal connection. Most dreams are the product of our brains processing the day’s events. Things that are on our minds when we go to bed, even subconsciously, will often find their way into our dreams. The visions given to John are pictures of things the Lord wants him to see. There may not be an outward logical connection between them, but they are related. In this case, John is seeing two aspects of the great prostitute. She rides many waters, symbolizing her control and influence over many people (see verse 15). But she also rides the beast, showing that she is dependent upon the beast to direct and control her. She and the beast have a close association, but she is riding the beast, not driving it.

The description of the beast should be familiar if we recall chapter 13. As we saw back then, the heads and horns signify authority and power (see the notes on 13:1 for more details). The main difference in the description is the fact the beast here is scarlet. I believe the reason for this added detail is to reinforce the connection between the beast and the prostitute. She wears the same color as the beast. Scarlet is also a symbol of royalty, emphasizing its authority. It also represents blood–a reminder of the fact that, like the prostitute, the beast has the blood of God’s people on its hands. Also, scarlet is used in Scripture to represent sin, as in Isaiah 1:18.

The woman wears the “royal” purple and scarlet, indicating her derived authority and the influence she has over the people under her sway. But these colors also serve to make sure we don’t miss the connection between this woman and Babylon. In chapter 18, the city is described as being clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. In 18:12, these gems are also among the things sold by the merchants who gain their wealth from the woman, or prostitute. As we’ll see, the prostitute benefits from her relationship with these traders, just as they gain prestige and wealth from their association with her. The fact she wears the stones they sell her symbolizes that relationship.

Jeremiah 4:30 describes faithless Israel who “played the whore” (Jeremiah 3:6) as dressed in scarlet and adorned with gold ornaments. These are the outward adornments of a harlot trying to attract suitors, impressing them with her apparent wealth. The fact that Israel is described as a “prostitute” when she abandons her God and worships idols have led some to see the prostitute in Revelation 17 as apostate Israel, or the apostate church. Certainly, “Babylon” would include those who abandon the faith. But the similarity exists more to emphasize the nature of the prostitute’s sin: serving other gods rather than the true God. More than that, of defying the true God, and persecuting His people.

In Revelation 12 and 13 we were introduced to the dragon and two beasts. The text identifies the dragon as Satan. The first beast we understand to be a false Messiah with a horn that dies and rises, and the second beast to be his disciples who use signs and wonders to gather people to worship the first beast. These all parody God, Jesus, and the Twelve. Here we have the beast, the false Messiah–but what of the woman? Who does she represent? As the embodiment of the evil nations, or fallen culture, she is like the beast’s “church.” Revelation 21 presents to us the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven as a bride adorned for her husband. Revelation 19:8 describes this bride as clothed in fine linen, bright and pure. Verses 22-26 equate the glory of the New Jerusalem with the glory of God. This prostitute is, therefore, a parody of the church, Christ’s bride. Isn’t it fitting that the demonic counterpart to the Bride of Christ would be the beast’s prostitute? We need to consider the way the beast treats his harlot, because it is the complete opposite of how Christ treats his Bride. The beast and his prostitute only want each other for what they get. Christ’s gives everything to his Bride and expects nothing in return. The beast will turn on his prostitute; Christ died for his Bride and will never leave or forsake her.

Finally in this section John sees a gold vessel in the woman’s hand full of “detestable things” and “the uncleanness of her sexual immorality.” Jeremiah 51:6-9 describes Babylon as a gold cup in the Lord’s hand, making the nations of the earth mad in their drunkenness. This reminds us that all these things happen under God’s sovereign control for His glory and the good of His people. He’s not a spectator to these things.

The term “detestable things” or “abominations” (Greek: bdelugmata) is used often in the Old Testament to describe idols, or the practice of sacrificing to idols (see, for example, Deuteronomy 7:25; 20:18; 1 Kings 21:26; 2 Kings 16:3; Isaiah 2:8; Jeremiah 16:18; 32:35; Ezekiel 7:20). I think we’re supposed to see a connection between these “detestable things” and the prostitute’s sexually immoral uncleanness. Idolatry, chasing after other gods, whether the beast, or local deities, or guild cults, is spiritual adultery. This was the sin that caused God to refer to Israel as a prostitute.

Back in chapter 2, we talked about the social pressures on the church in John’s day to conform. If a Christian business owner was to prosper, he needed to worship the guild’s deity, or be seen participating in the state or local religion. Refusal to do so could cost a person his reputation and his livelihood. But for a Christian, to cave in to this pressure would be to commit spiritual adultery. It would be to take the world as a prostitute, which, given that we are temples of the Holy Spirit, is unthinkable (1 Corinthians 6:19).

We’ll pick up with verse 5 next time…