Sunday School Notes: Revelation 17:15-18
15 And he [the angel] says to me, “The waters which you see, whereupon the prostitute sits, are people and multitudes and nations and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which you see, and the beast, these shall hate the prostitute and will make her desolate and naked, and they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has given to their hearts to do His purpose, even to do one purpose: to give their kingdom to the beast until the words of God will be fulfilled. 18 And the woman who you saw is the great city, the one that has dominion over the kingdoms of the earth.
We read ahead earlier so we already know the angel’s interpretation of the “many waters” upon which the prostitute sits (17:1). These are people, multitudes, nations, and tongues–a formula strikingly similar to the “tribes, tongues, people, and nations” we saw back in chapter 7 with reference to the composition of God’s people. In a similar fashion, the prostitute has attracted people from all walks of life, from every country, from every ethnicity, from every people group, from every culture. She exerts her evil influence over them all. This underscores the fact that we’re not talking about a particular city or society at one point in time. The prostitute, “Babylon,” represents godless culture and cities throughout history, and these “many waters” indicate the far-reaching influence of that godless culture.
A key Old Testament passage for this part of Revelation (including chapter 18) is Jeremiah 51, which is a prophecy about the destruction of physical Babylon. There’s a reference there to “many waters” (51:13), but there are also references to Babylon being destroyed at the hand of other rulers by the decree of the Lord (51:2-5; 11-14). In Jeremiah’s time, “many waters” probably referred to the Euphrates river, a major trade route into the city and hence the main source of Babylon’s wealth. This is true for many ancient cities built on or near major rivers and on coast land (e.g., Ephesus). They relied upon merchants carrying goods from all over the known world for their prosperity, so it’s not surprising that her influence would include people from many countries. This symbiotic relationship wherein Babylon relies upon outsiders for her wealth, and those she does business with depend upon her for their own prosperity, power, and prestige, is symbolized by the prostitute (“Babylon”) riding the waters.
But there’s a twist in the story. The ten horns, which we know represent ten kings–not ten literal kings, but symbols of ruling powers throughout the world under the influence of “Babylon” (see notes for verse 12)–turn on the prostitute. But they aren’t alone. They team up with the beast to throw “Babylon” under the bus. Given that the “horns” are on the beast’s heads, it seems only natural that they should follow the beast’s bidding. But don’t forget, this is symbolic language. The fact the horns are attached to the beast tell us that these are ungodly rulers, representative of the extent of the false Messiah’s power and rule throughout the earth. Since the beast has been carrying the prostitute, it seems only natural that they would flock to her. But now that the beast is turning on the prostitute, they follow suit.
Again, it’s worth drawing attention to the difference between the beast and its prostitute, and Christ and his bride, the church. The beast carries the prostitute until such a time as it no longer needs her, then it turns on her. Christ, however, loves his bride so much that he sacrifices his life for her. She comes to him with nothing–worse than that, with sin, like a prostitute–and Christ clothes her in white, redeems her, and calls her his own.
The angel says the kings and the beast will do four things to the prostitute: hate her, make her desolate and naked, devour her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Hate her: This seems a very broad statement without much nuance. A stark contrast to the previous relationship these kings/nations had with the prostitute. Back in verse 2 we were told the kings of the earth commit sexual immorality with her and get drunk on her wine. In other words, theirs was an intimate relationship. Not any more.
Make her desolate and naked: They don’t just deprive her of her rich clothing and adornments, but they reduce her to nothing. The Greek verb translated “desolate” is the verb erēmoomai (pronounced erēmo-omai). It comes up more than once in Revelation, and this is not the last time we’ll see it. The noun form of the verb, erēmos, means “desert” or “wasteland.” So the angel is saying that the beast and the kings will so strip her and reduce her to nothing that she will be like a desert. Babylon goes from wealth and prosperity to dust. Like turning Las Vegas into the Sahara Desert. She had everything. Now she has nothing.
Devour her flesh: This seems a bit extreme, but there’s an interesting Old Testament connection with this phrase. The word translated “flesh” is the Greek word sarx. Here it is used in the plural, “fleshes.” That doesn’t seem to make sense, unless the angel is drawing from 2 Kings 9:30-37 and Elijah’s prophecy regarding the fate of Jezebel. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, when Elijah says “the dogs will eat the flesh of Jezebel,” he uses the same word, sarx, in its plural form. If you recall, in Revelation 2:20, Jesus has against the church at Thyatira that they tolerate “Jezebel”–a false prophetess, seducer, and idolater, who was leading the people of that church into sexual sin and idolatry. That association with the name “Jezebel” holds up here. Just as that seducer and idolater was devoured, so Babylon will also suffer the same fate.
Burn her with fire: By now we’re very familiar with the use of fire as a symbol of judgment. Fire is perhaps the most severe kind of judgment. That which has been burned can’t be un-burned. It is irreparably destroyed. In the case of Babylon, reduced to ashes. There will be no coming back–a point we’ll see reiterated in chapter 18.
This devastation that will come upon Babylon parallels God’s judgment against Israel when she wandered into idolatry. The Lord described her as “playing the harlot” with her spiritual adultery, leading all the people into similar sin (2 Chronicles 21:11; Ezekiel 16:15-18; Jeremiah 2:6-10). In Ezekiel 23, God promised Jerusalem that rulers would rise up against her (vv. 22-24), her people would be devoured by fire (v. 25), and she will be stripped (v. 26). Some might draw from this parallel that “Babylon” here represents only the apostate church, those Christians who compromise with the world and end up forsaking Christ to win culture approval. I don’t think this is necessary since such apostates would be included within all the “earth-dwellers” who fall under God’s judgment. However, I think this is a good reminder that those who profess Christ but give their allegiance to the beast will be counted among Babylon’s inhabitants.
Why do the kings and the beast suddenly turn on the prostitute? We could probably come up with a lot of socio-political reasons why such a thing might happen. The answer given to us in verse 17 is simple: this was God’s purpose. The Lord had decreed to bring judgment upon Babylon, the ungodly cities/cultures of the world, and He purposed to do this by means of Babylon’s allies. He turned the hearts of those who fed off of her and fed into her against her, uniting them with the beast, ceding all their authority to the false Messiah to bring her down.
Time and again, Revelation reminds us of God’s sovereign control over all things, whether it’s blessing, prosperity, persecution, or judgment, God’s hand is behind it all for His glory and the good of His people. This is what Paul tells us in Romans 8:28, and that is at the heart of Revelation’s message of hope to the church.
This section ends with a reminder that this woman, the prostitute John sees coming to ruin, is the “great city” that currently has dominion over the earth’s kingdoms. The angel doesn’t refer to the city as “Babylon” but simply the “great city,” leaving it open for us to see in “Babylon” whatever city, rule, or culture applies to us in our time. This point is strengthened by the reference to “the kingdoms of the earth.” Neither Babylon nor Rome had global reach. There were areas of the earth to which their power did not extend. The intention must be to refer to any and all ungodly cities, authorities, and cultures in every age of history. This is what “Babylon” represents in Revelation. And they will all eventually fall. God will bring to bear devastating judgment on this culture and all cultures that hate His law and reject both Christ and his bride, the church.
As Christians, we can take heart. The church’s suffering is not in vain. God is working out His purposes. The reign of “the great city” is temporary. God’s kingdom is eternal.
We’ll begin chapter 18 next time…
