Beauty & The Beast
REvelation 17:1-18
Main Idea: We must resist the deadly seduction of Babylon and faithfully follow the Lamb.
I. The Harlot (17:1-6, 18)
John is given another look at the coming judgment and the end of history (cf. 16:17-21) through the fate of the “great prostitute.” John is given an ‘apocalypse’ into her identity, immorality, and influence from one of the angels of judgment.
Her Identity: The Harlot is revealed to be “Babylon the Great, the mother of prostitutes” (17:5; cf. 14:8; 16:19). “Babylon” is an example and ‘type’ of all nations who seek to deify themselves and therefore hate the Lord, his anointed, and his people (cf. Gen. 11; Dan. 4:30).
“Babylon cannot be limited to any one individual or institution or nation or city. You can’t point to any one location or country on a globe and say, ‘That alone is Babylon.’ You can’t confine Babylon within any particular geographical or territorial boundaries. Babylon is found wherever and whenever there is Satanically inspired deception and idolatry. Babylon is the symbol of all worldly entrenched opposition to Jesus Christ.”
~ Sam Storms, Our God Reigns
Her Immorality: The sexual immorality of the Harlot is symbolic of idolatry, spiritual adultery, and unfaithfulness to God. Her immorality is expressed through deceptive seduction or persecution against the saints (17:6). She is profiting off her immorality, holding a “golden cup” full of her “impurities and abominations” (17:4).
Her Influence: The Harlot is arrayed with royal clothing, gold, silver, and beautiful pearls. She allures and holds sway over:
“The kings of the earth” (17:2a)
“The dwellers on the earth” (17:2b; unbelievers throughout Revelation); she is "seated on many waters” (17:1), later identified as “peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages” (17:15).
1 John 2:15–17: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
II. The Beast (17:7-13)
The ‘beast’ that the harlot rides has already been introduced in Revelation 13; it is supporting and upholding the harlot in her immorality and sinful influence over the world by providing political support and military might.
Just as before, the beast is merely a Satanic “parody” of the true Lord:
The Lord: “who is, who was, and is to come” (1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 16:5).
The beast “was, and is not, and is to come” (17:8); it ‘is not’ because of the finished work of Christ, who has overcome all the cosmic forces of evil that stand against him (cf. Col. 2:15). It ‘is to come’ because this powerful figure seems to have a resurrection from a mortal wound (cf. 13:3), but it is only to rise to destruction (17:8, 11).
The beast’s “seven heads” are a clear reference to Rome, a city built on “seven mountains” (17:9). However, the scope of the beast’s power extends beyond Rome; the seven heads and the ten horns likely represent the fullness of oppressive power throughout the ages. As powerful as a Rome-type power seems at any given time, they ultimately rise and fall, and will “only remain a little while” (17:11).
“The people in the churches who first received John’s letter would have found it difficult to envision a day when Rome would fall. But that day came, just as it has come for so many world powers since then… every human government has a shelf-life. One day all the many ‘isms’ that have such a grip on the many cultures of the world - classism, racism, materialism, consumerism, egoism, hedonism, humanism - will no longer rule the day. Every kingdom will one day give way to the true kingdom.”
~ Nancy Guthrie, Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation
III. The Lamb (17:14-17)
Despite the harlot’s seductive influence and the beast’s power, we are told of their sure and ultimate defeat:
The Lamb will conquer them (17:14). As the “Lord of lords and King of kings” he will overcome evil once and for all - and he will bring with him “those who are called and chosen and faithful.”
The Lord will turn evil against itself (17:15-17; cf. Gen. 50:20; Acts 2:23)
Psalm 2:1–6: Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
“The harlot Babylon allures with pleasure that leads to the embrace of death and despair. The Savior Jesus calls with life from God for those who believe. The only blood he bears is the blood he shed in our place, to free us from the penalty of our sin. The key to Christian living, then, is in part to see the ugly destruction of the harlot who rides the beast. An even greater key is to see Jesus, who is altogether lovely, and who imparts true beauty, life, and glory to those who take the cup of life from his hands.”
~ Richard Phillips, Revelation
