Revelation 17-18. Doom of the great whore and the fall of Babylon. an interesting study biblical of Apocalypse 17 and 18 that teaches us the greatness, power and sovereignty of the Lord, who keeps his word and establishes his Will over his enemies. God is always victorious…
damnation of the great harlot.
It is important to remember that Babylon was a literal city that existed along the Euphrates River, it was the cradle of civilization (Genesis 11:1-10). Later it was the capital of the empire that cruelly subjugated Judah. In the Bible Babylon represents evil, occultism, organized idolatry, lust, blasphemy and greed. Let’s see in detail what Revelation 17 teaches us:
1) The great harlot, Revelation 17:1-2.
“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke to me, saying: Come here, and I will show you the sentence against the great harlot, who sits on many waters; with which the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been drunk with the wine of her fornication.”
The sentence against the great harlot has been established for a long time, the context teaches us that this great harlot is Babylon, which as a religious system existed before Christianity.
The Babylonian religion was established by Semiramis, wife of Nimrod, great-grandson of Noah. She was a priestess of the oldest idols, she gave birth to a son she named Tammuz, considered savior, and Baal became the Canaanite name for Tammuz.
“Sitting on many waters” means that it directs or has authority over many nations, it is a universal, international religion. It is the idolatrous unity of all the false confessions and religions of the world. It is the false religion that will dominate the world in the great tribulation.
The entire world, kings, presidents, citizens, rich and poor, men and women, have been intoxicated with the wine of their immorality, idolatry and disorder, and this precisely makes it cover the whole world without exception.
two) John now describes what he saw, Revelation 17:3-6.
“And he led me in the Spirit into the wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, and she had in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication…” Revelation 17:3- Four.
John is led by the Holy Spirit into the desert to see there the judgment of the great harlot. The woman rode on a scarlet beast, this beast is revealed in Revelation 13:1 (a beast with seven heads and ten horns), is the Antichrist, who will come to world power through deception (it is the revived Roman Empire). Then the woman will stand against the world power of the Antichrist.
The woman is dressed with elements that refer to lust, disorder, government and impurity. That is why the purple and scarlet (colors of splendor), the shine of gold and precious stones (which in this case not only speak of her ego, but of her seductive power).
In his hand a cup full of abomination, filth and idolatry. The woman with this cup intoxicates and offers her followers the lie of worldly enjoyment and the supposed acceptance of God.
(verse five). On his forehead a name written: “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth”. Roman prostitutes often wore a headband with their names written on it, so they were more easily recognized and remembered.
“Babylon the great” its origin is Babel (as Genesis eleven teaches us) represents false religion, all occult practices (witchcraft, sorcery, astrology, santeria, etc). The great one and the mother, not only indicates the one that the false religion has given birth to throughout history, but also the unity that it will have at the end of time alongside the Antichrist.
We are talking about that global religious movement of different cults from all the nations of the world (therefore ecumenical), united to worship their “god” rejecting the truth of God and his word. “Mother of harlots and abominations” means: source of all idolatry and all spiritual adultery.
The verse six tells us that that woman “is drunk with the blood of the saints and of the martyrs of Jesus”, that is, this system has not only persecuted the faithful of the true church of Jesus Christ, but has also killed them and celebrates the shedding of his blood.
John is greatly amazed, because he sees a false church that is thirsty for the blood of the saints. History shows us that the worst enemy of the true church is the false church. In the name of the church (and even in the name of God) the cruelest and strongest persecutions have been carried out against the Christian people.
Thousands and thousands of believers in Jesus Christ have been persecuted, killed and burned; and the worst persecution will be experienced in the times of the Antichrist, because although initially the woman leans on the beast (because the woman is sitting on the beast), the Antichrist will turn against her, after three and a half years, when she becomes a a cruel and severe dictator.
3) The angel explains the vision to John, Revelation 17:7-10.
“And the angel said to me: Why are you amazed? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that you have seen, was, and is not; and it is to rise from the abyss and go to perdition; and the inhabitants of the earth, whose names are not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life…” Revelation 17:7-8.
The angel focuses on the beast, it seemed initially that the woman governed the beast, but it is this one who ends up using her for his plans.
The verse eight refers to the Roman empire that existed in the past (“was”) but was destroyed, and no longer existed as a world empire, but “is about to rise from the abyss” that is, it will rise again but with the power of the abyss, with the power of the devil, and will go to destruction (that is, that empire of the Antichrist will be destroyed).
The power with which this kingdom will rise again will impress the inhabitants of the earth, those whose names were not written in the book of life.
The verse nine tells us that the woman (religious Babylon) sits on seven mountains (since ancient Rome is known as the city of seven hills, many conclude here that the seat of the world religious system will be Rome).
Nevertheless. The same Scripture tells us in these verses (new and ten): “The seven heads are seven mountains… and they are seven kings.” In the Bible many times the mountains represent powers and governments, so these seven mountains are seven kings (presidents, kingdoms, rulers, etc).
The expression: “Five of them have fallen, one is and the other has not yet come” is an expression that is difficult to interpret. That is why some teach that it refers to five emperors who by the time of John had already died; one was, referring to the current one in his time: Domitian; and the one who had not yet come, referring to the Antichrist.
Others teach that reference is made here to seven empires, five of which have already fallen: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece. One was in the time of John: the Roman Empire, and another had not yet come referring to the Renewed Roman Empire (or government of the Antichrist), and the latter is necessary to last a short time.
4) The eighth king is the Antichrist, Revelation 17:11-14.
“The beast that was, and is not, is also the eighth; and he is from among the seven, and he is going to perdition. And the ten horns that you have seen are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom; but for one hour they will receive authority as kings together with the beast. These have one purpose, and will give their power and authority to the beast…” Revelation 17:11-13.
Scripture tells us that the beast is the eighth king and is going to perdition, so the Bible reminds us that the Antichrist will finally be thrown into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone for eternity.
The verses ten through fourteen they show us ten kings allied with the Antichrist. We then see a union or confederation of ten nations that will reign with the beast and their purpose is the same.
These ten presidents or kings will voluntarily surrender their power and authority to the beast, leaving the Antichrist with all the power to do according to his will.
As we can see in verse fourteen these nations will unite their armies to make war against the Lord Jesus Christ at the end of the great tribulation. The Lord of lords and King of kings will win.
5) The allies of the Antichrist will destroy the great harlot, Revelation 17:15-18.
“He also told me: the waters that you have seen where the harlot sits, are peoples, crowds, nations and languages. And the ten horns that you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, and make her desolate and naked; and they shall devour her flesh, and burn her with fire; because God has put it in his heart to execute what he wanted… ”, Revelation 17: 15-17.
In verse fifteen the apostle John is taught that the many waters where the harlot sits are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages, that is, great multitudes of inhabitants of all the nations of the earth will be sheltered by the false and only religion world.
The verse sixteen It describes the violence of the allied countries against the great harlot, an event that will probably occur in the middle of the tribulation, when the beast or Antichrist claims that he is God and demands worship.
With all the power in his hands, the Antichrist will no longer need the help of religious Babylon, and will act with arrogance and cruelty, demanding his worship or the death of those who do not worship him.
According to him verse seventeen It was God himself who put in the hearts of the allied kings of that time to destroy the great harlot, just as he has established that these kings will give all power to the beast, until all the words of God are fulfilled.
(verse eighteen) In this case the great city is Babylon as a religious system that rules over the kings of the earth.
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In these two chapters (Revelation 17 and 18) the Bible teaches us two different aspects of Babylon itself, one religious and the other commercial or material.
1) Announcement of the destruction of political and economic Babylon, Revelation 18:1-3.
“After this I saw another angel come down from heaven with great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried out with a loud voice, saying: He is fallen, Babylon the great is fallen, and has become a habitation of demons and a haunt of every unclean spirit, and a haunt of every unclean and hateful bird…” Revelation 18: 1-2.
This angel descending from heaven is the bearer of glory…