In Revelation
17:1-18, John called believers to avoid the seduction of the world by
revealing the identity and the judgment of Babylon the great. This is such a relevant message for the
church because the world is as seductive today as it ever was and in some ways
the church looks like it loves the world as much as it ever has. Believers today must avoid the seduction of
the world, because Scripture seems to be clear that if we do not, we will face
the judgment of the world and find out we were not believers at all. My prayer today is that God will, through
this message, give us eyes to see the lure of the world for what it is and also
to see the promises of Christ as infinitely superior to those of the
world.
[17:1] Then
one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I
will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many
waters, [2] with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual
immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth
have become drunk.” [3] And he carried me away in the Spirit into a
wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous
names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. [4] The woman was arrayed in
purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her
hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual
immorality. [5] And on her forehead was written a name of mystery:
“Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.”
[6] And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of
the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly. [7] But the angel
said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and
of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. [8] The
beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless
pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been
written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see
the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. [9] This calls for a
mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is
seated; [10] they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is,
the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little
while. [11] As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it
belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. [12] And the ten horns
that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are
to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.
[13] These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority
to the beast. [14] They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will
conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are
called and chosen and faithful.”
[15] And
the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated,
are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. [16] And the ten
horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make
her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire,
[17] for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by
being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the
words of God are fulfilled. [18] And the woman that you saw is the great
city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 17:1-18 ESV)
To really grasp what is going on in this chapter,
we need to understand that it begins a new section (spanning from Revelation 17-20), which expands the
seventh bowl judgment (16:17-21),
giving greater detail about God’s “judgment”
upon “Babylon the great” (17:1,5). We have seen her judgment spoken of in Revelation 14:8 and 16:19, and here we get the details. “Babylon the great” is a symbol in
Revelation for the expression of the
world system that Satan rules over.
In Daniel’s day, it was Babylon.
In John’s day, Rome was the “new Babylon.”
It is also important to understand her
relationship to “the beast” that she
rides upon (3). This is the same “beast” that we saw in Revelation 13:1-10. Using the clear reference to Daniel 7, I gave you a very similar
description of the beast, saying that the “beast”
is a symbol for the culmination of world
empires that Satan uses and the individual(s) that lead them. So up until this chapter, it seems like we
are saying basically the same things about “Babylon
the great” and “the beast.” However, there is a distinction on some level because the “beast” devours “Babylon the
great” at the end of this chapter.
So they are not the same thing.
The relationship they have in this chapter helps us understand their
distinction. The “beast” seems to symbolize more
than just earthly powers in this chapter.
He seems to be the true empire of
darkness behind the empires of this world.
Several statements in this text affirm this. This one
beast from Revelation 13 and 17 is a combination of the four beasts in Daniel 7. In Daniel 7, those four beasts represented
world empires. Here we learn that they
were all part of one beast: Satan’s empire.
I think this is also the meaning of the statement that the beast “was, and is not, and is to come.” It is a statement about how this empire has transcended history, appearing
throughout. The “seven heads” of the beast also point to this reality. They are called “seven mountains” and “seven
kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come”
(9-10). This description is either a reference
to Rome or to empires throughout history and their leaders (either way, Rome
would be in view for John’s readers).
Daniel’s four beasts in Daniel 7 also
had a total of seven heads and there, “kings”
and “kingdoms” are used
interchangeably (Daniel 7:17,23). In other words, the “heads” are the ways that the beast has raised his “head”
throughout history. Again, Rome and
Babylon are good examples. That the
beast himself is an “eighth,
but...belongs to the seven” is again, another way to say that this beast is
the real empire behind the empires of history, and also that his empire will
make a final appearance at the end of history and wage war upon God’s people.
So the “beast”
is the true empire of darkness behind
the empires of this world and “Babylon
the great” is the expression of
that empire. In other words, “the beast” appears throughout history
in various world powers and their leaders, using
them as his “prostitute” to seduce the
earth dwellers into allegiance to him. So
now that we understand their relationship, how does this passage urge God’s
people to avoid the seduction of the world?
I.
See the Love of the World for What it Really Is
a.
To Love the World is to Love a Prostitute
The fallen world system is described here as a “great prostitute.” Prostitution is a familiar and a profound
metaphor. It is familiar because God
often uses this metaphor to describe the spiritual
unfaithfulness of His people in the Old Testament. God also used it to describe pagan nations
who lead His people astray in the Old Testament (Is. 23:16-17, Nah. 3:4).
It is a profound metaphor because it vividly
describes what takes place when someone loves the world. Prostitution always involves an exchange. A transaction takes place in which both
parties give something and both parties get something. The customers here are “the kings of the earth” and “the
dwellers on earth” and Revelation
18:3,9 seems to indicate that what this prostitute offers them is economic
prosperity and luxurious living. Her “wine” symbolizes her influence, and this promise of the good
life intoxicates people to commit immorality with her and partake in her
abominations. This word “abominations” (4,5) implies that
idolatry is also involved in this transaction.
That’s what the prostitute gets out of the deal. She and her pimp, “the beast,” get the worship, or allegiance, of those whom she
offers her services to.
Notice that prostitution also involves seduction. This woman is very attractive, wearing
expensive clothing and costly jewels (4).
God’s people must beware the attractiveness
of this world. This isn’t the point of
the passage, but I do want to point out to women that it is noteworthy that
this godless, immoral world is portrayed as a woman who dresses to draw
attention to her outer beauty and seduce men.
This may be part of not loving the world for you: not selling or advertising your body to get the empty and temporary affection of
men who are not attracted to the kind of beauty God admonishes, which is inner beauty (1 Pet. 3:1-6).
This passage is revealing to us that loving the
world is like loving a prostitute. A
man’s relationship with a prostitute is a lot different than a man’s
relationship with a wife. A prostitute
doesn’t love her customers; she uses them to profit off of them. Despite her promises, a prostitute only
delivers temporary pleasure and counterfeit intimacy. See this seduction for what it is: empty now
and costly to you for eternity.
b.
To Love the World is to Love the Enemy
This passage reveals that loving the world is
actually way more serious that loving a prostitute. To love the world is to love the enemy of God
and His people. This “prostitute” is “drunk with the blood” of God’s people (6). The “beast”
uses her to lure the “kings of the
earth” to align with Him in order to “make
war” on the Lamb and the saints (14).
The point here is simply that the beast and the
prostitute are not friendly to the
Lamb and His followers. This is why Scripture has such strong words for those
who love the world: [4] You
adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity
with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an
enemy of God. (James 4:4 ESV) To love the
world is to love the enemy and to become God’s enemy.
c.
To Love the World is to Lose Everything
We also see the destiny of the attractive,
intoxicating world system in this chapter: destruction. It is both ironic and instructive how this “prostitute” meats her end. It is ironic because the very beast that she
rides upon and the customers she has seduced turn on her and destroy her. Her judgment is graphically described with
allusions to Ezekiel 23:11-35. It is instructive because it reminds us of
the self-destructive nature of evil. How
many times have you seen this played out in history? Every world power contains within itself the
seeds of its own destruction.
Notice that the beast is also headed for “destruction” (8,11). His time is short (10) and his destruction is
certain. The reason given in verse 14
that he and his alliance cannot defeat the Lamb is because the Lamb is “Lord of lords and King of kings” (14). That is an Old Testament title for Yahweh (Deut. 10:17, Ps. 136:2-3, Dan. 2:47, 4:37 LXX). In
other words, the reason they cannot win is because they are fighting God! Nobody fights God and wins.
Notice also that this is ultimately God’s judgment upon the prostitute. The reason give for why the beast and his
allies turn upon the prostitute is because
“God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose…until the words of
God are fulfilled.” This is also why
you can be certain that the beast and his followers are headed for destruction
as well, because God is absolutely in control of them. Because God is sovereign, the powers of evil
serve the purposes of God.
The point here is simply that the world and those
who love it are headed for destruction.
Loving this world will leave you just like this prostitute in the end: “desolate and naked,” devoured, and
burned with fire. It will cause you to
lose everything forever. [15] 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. [16] 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. [17] And the world is passing away along with its desires, but
whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-17 ESV)
II.
See the Love of Christ as the Superior Treasure (17:9,14)
There is an intentional contrast in these last
chapters of Revelation. They are in some
regards a tale of two cities and a tale of two women. The “great
prostitute,” “Babylon the great” is contrasted against “the bride” of the Lamb, “New
Jerusalem.” In Revelation 21:9, the same angel seen in verse 1 takes John to seen
the end of the Lamb’s bride: not judgment but eternal reward. This contrast is meant to call you to wisdom
by showing you which woman superior. The
prostitute and the beast use their followers and destroy them; the Lamb lives
for, dies for, and fights for His followers.
Over against the phony intimacy of a prostitute stands the genuine and
everlasting intimacy of knowing and loving God forever as His bride. “In the
end, the sum of all beauty is Christ, and the sin of all worldliness is to
diminish our capacity to see him and be satisfied in him and show him
compellingly to a perishing world.”[1]
No comments:
Post a Comment