I. INTRODUCTION
A. Review
- The Lamb and 144,00 at Mt. Zion (Rev 14:1-5)
- Three Angels Fly Through the Air (Rev 14:6-13)
- The Earth Is Harvested (Rev 14:14-20)
- The Song of Moses and Seven Last Plagues (Rev 15)
- The First Through Fifth Bowl Judgments (Rev 16:1-11)
- The War of Armageddon (Rev 16:12-21)
- Five Views on the Identity of Babylon in Revelation 17-18
B. Text of Revelation 17:1-8
“1Then one of the seven angels holding the seven last plagues came to me and spoke to me saying, ‘Come! I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters, 2with her the kings of the earth have fornicated. The people living on the earth have become drunk from the wine of immorality. 3Then he carried me away in the spirit to the wilderness. Then I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of blasphemous names and who had seven heads and ten horns. 4The woman had been clothed in purple and scarlet clothing, was wearing gold, and precious stones, and pearls. She was holding a gold cup in her hand that was full of loathsome things and her sexual impurities. 5On her forehead was written a name—a mystery—Babylon the great mother of all prostitutes and loathsome things on the earth. 6Then I saw the woman becoming drunk from the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs for Jesus. I was completely amazed when I saw her. 7Then the angel said to me, ‘Why are you surprised?’ I will show to you the mystery of the woman and the beast which carries her and has seven heads and ten horns. 8The beast which you saw was, but is no longer. He is about to come up from the Abyss but will go to destruction. Those who live on the earth will be amazed at this. These are the people whose names are not written in the Book of Life before the foundation of the world. They will see that the beast was, but now is no longer and no longer present.” (Rev 17:1-8)
Photo Credit: A picture from Martin Luther’s 1534 Translation of the Bible
C. General Remarks
“Chapters 17 and 18 are dedicated to the description of the final destruction of Babylon in both its ecclesiastical and political forms. It is evident from these chapters that the events described precede the events represented in the seven bowls by a considerable period of time. In fact, it is probably that the events of chapter 17 occur at the beginning of the great tribulation.” (Walvoord, Revelation
II. THE DISPLAY TO THE PROSTITUTE (Rev 17:1-2)
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A. Angelic Revelation (v. 1)
Καὶ ἦλθεν εἷς ἐκ τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀγγέλων τῶν ἐχόντων τὰς ἑπτὰ φιάλας καὶ ἐλάλησεν μετʼ ἐμοῦ λέγων· δεῦρο, δείξω σοι τὸ κρίμα τῆς πόρνης τῆς μεγάλης τῆς καθημένης ἐπὶ ὑδάτων πολλῶν,
“Then one of the seven angels holding the seven last plagues came to me and spoke to me saying, ‘Come! I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters,” (Rev 17:1)
1. One of the Seven Angels