Word of Salvation – Vol. 46 No.21 – June 2001

 

Babylon – the Woman on the Beast

 

Sermon by Rev L Douma on Revelation 17 & 18

Scripture Reading: Revelation 17 & 18

 

Beloved in the Lord.

Revelation, as we have become well aware, is a book of pictures – symbolic pictures.  The story line or the teaching of this pastoral letter moves on with John having different visions.  Imagine a man with a zoom lens on his camera.  First he takes a wide angle shot of the whole scenery.  Then he zooms in on a certain segment of the scenery.  That's the difference between Chapters 15 and 16, and now 17 and 18.

In 15 and 16 we have a wide angle shot of the whole creation coming to destruction as the seven bowls are poured out.  We notice in 16:19, "The great city split into three parts and the cities of the nations collapsed.  God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the ...cup of wrath".  Now 17 and 18 go back to that scene and zooms in on the city of Babylon and looks at what she is like, and at her destruction.

So having seen how God will judge all the world that has followed the two beasts, he now zooms in on how God judges the two beasts.  He will use this technique again in Chapter 20, as he zooms in again and looks at how God judges Satan.

John tells us in verse 1 that, “One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, 'Come I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.  With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries'."

Being taken away, “in the Spirit into a desert", John sees a scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns.  That's the beast of Chapter 13 who came out of the sea.  It symbolises the world governments that, over the course of history, have persecuted God's people.

And sitting on this beast is a woman.  Not the radiant woman of Chapter 12.  The two women are enemies.  The radiant woman, the church, will be seen again in Chapter 20 as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  This woman, here, is the great prostitute.  She is very attractively dressed in expensive clothing and jewellery – "dressed in purple”, i.e., royalty, “glittering with gold and pearls".

Kings are her lovers and have made her their queen.  The world is made drunk "with the wine of her adulteries.”  She is financially successful.  Like the prostitutes of Rome often had, she has a band on her forehead with her name: “MYSTERY – BABYLON THE GREAT – THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE EARTH".  Not only are her lovers drunk, but so is she.  She is "drunk with the blood of the saints...  those who bore testimony to Jesus.”

Now John is greatly “astonished” at what he sees.  He doesn't grasp the meaning of this symbolic picture.  So the angel explains it to him.  It's got to be said that the explanation may have been clear to John, but there are a whole variety of interpretations today.  I'll just outline the most important.

What does Babylon represent?  First we see that Babylon is a prostitute.  So it symbolises that which looks beautiful and tempting.  It allures, seduces, draws people away from God.

Second, Babylon is a city.  In the Old Testament, ancient Babylon was symbolic of the worldly city – the pleasure-mad, arrogant, presumptuous city.  Remember the tower of Babel?  And the arrogance of Nebuchadnezzar?  Babylon was built on the Euphrates river, with its many canals.  Thus, "the prostitute who sits on many waters” (vs 1).

The description here reminds us of another centre of wickedness and seduction – Tyre.  When you read Ezekiel 27 and 28, it is striking how similar the description here in Chapters 17 and 18.  Now when we look at the catalogue of goods found in Babylon in Chapter 18, it's clear the symbolism points to a great industrial and commercial centre – we can picture a New York, London or Sydney.  So Babylon symbolises the world as a centre of industry, commerce, art, culture, etc.  All these things are used to entice and seduce the believer, to turn him/her away from God.

Third, there is the sense, then, that Babylon is and always will be here.  She is past, present and future.  The form changes, but the essence remains the same.  We see that Babylon the prostitute is very closely associated with the beast – she is seen sitting on the beast.  Now we know from Chapter 13 that the beast is the anti-Christian persecution throughout history, as seen in successive empires.

Verses 8-10 show us that the beast is past, present and future, e.g., verse 8, “...the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not and yet will come.”  So the prostitute, too, is a movement at any time in the world and represents the world as the centre of anti-Christian seduction.  She was present in the form of the city of Rome in John's day.  Verse 9, “...the seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sat” is a reference to Rome which was built on seven hills.

This huge, imperial city, attracted to her the kings of the nations around, and the leaders in every domain of life - art, industry, commerce.  Not only that, but Rome was a pleasure-mad city.  It had done it all.  So, in its boredom, it enjoyed a new form of amusement – Christians being torn to pieces in its circuses.  As verse 6 says, "the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints."

So Babylon is the world as a centre of seduction at any moment in history.  We see the prostitute holds a golden cup in her hand.  Being golden, you expect it to have a very expensive drink in it.  It entices.  Yet we see that it is "filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries."  It's talking about things that may seem so good and pleasurable, but they are things that pull believers away from God.

Things that can seem so good in our city, too.  Like wealth and luxury – big money to be made.  Fame and power – you can be a somebody.  Sports, in which you become completely absorbed.  Alluring movies, videos, magazines.  So many things that can be good but become the goal, the joy, the security instead of God.  And things that are bad in themselves, but they are so enticing.

We have focussed on the woman, but you notice that the angel goes at length to explain the "scarlet beast" to John (vss.8ff).  We are told that "the beast...  once was, now is not, and will come up out of the abyss and go to his destruction.”  It reminds us of Chapter 13 where the beast is described as “having a fatal wound, but the wound was healed.  The whole world was astonished" (13:3-4).  Chapter 17:9 echoes this, “...the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come.”

The beast symbolises the empires of the world that have come and gone.  They persecuted the people of God, but each comes to “its destruction”.  But in each generation again, there is an empire, a political force that rises again and has the people in wonder.  But each is a government that is at Satan's behest.  The world may wonder, but it's the blindness of those who are not God's people.  Those, as verse 8 puts it, "whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world.”  The Christian is different – not by their own doing, but because of God's calling and will, already planned before time.

Now whereas in Chapter 13 the beast is seen rising out of the sea and seems so strong, the Christian, through God's Word, can see that it actually comes from the "abyss".  Behind the world power is a satanic spiritual origin.  And the Christian is shown that each anti-Christian empire is “going to destruction".  So the beast will rise again each generation – different from, but the same essence.

The angel goes on to spell out the beast's seven heads and ten horns (vs 9).  With the seven heads we see several images super-imposing on each other.  “The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits.  They are also seven kings.”  Heads, mountains (hills), kings are all symbols of authority, power.  The seven hills with the woman sitting on it reminds us of Rome, built on seven hills.  It was the reality of the beast in John's day.

The seven kings most likely symbolise seven anti-Christian empires.  Verse 10 tells us “five have fallen” – the empires of Ancient Babylon, Assyria, New Babylon, Medes and Persians, Greek empire.  We are told "one is", namely Rome.  And "the other is not yet come, but when he does come, he must remain a little while.”  It's probably the collective title for all anti-Christian governments between the fall of Rome and the second coming of Christ.  In the language of Revelation, this whole period is but a "little while".

The "ten kings” in verse 12, "who for one hour will receive authority as kings...  will give their power and authority to the beast."  These are taken to be those in positions of power in every realm: industry, commerce, education, art, sports – insofar as they serve the anti-Christian government.  Their goal is to have their field of endeavour as their own domain in opposition to Christ.  It becomes their kingdom - doing what they want with regard to God's laws.  They rule together with the beast.

Every world leader has his satellites, those who hand their power (and integrity) to the power of the day, to share in that power.  But they don't last long before they are disposed of – they “rule for an hour”.  The point of working together is, as verse 14 puts it, “They will make war against the Lamb...!"

So, putting it all together, we see that the beast and woman comprise all the facets of life.  They equal a total pattern of life outside of God.  It involves politics, economics, education, entertainment, family life – everything in which we are engaged.  The particular form it takes may vary as civilisations change, but its character is always the same – it always makes war "on the Lamb”.  By outright power and persecution, or enticements and lures, through business, entertainment, philosophies, it aims to take God's people away from their Lord.

It's a tough situation we are involved in – even right now – and especially us, well to do in big Sydney town.  But if we hang on to Christ, we will win.  Notice how John says in verse 14, “They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings – and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers."  No one can outdo the Almighty, no matter how it looks now.  And no one can take those He has called before the creation of the world, chosen by His almighty will – that will that controls all things – remember the seven seals?

This comes out as we see the paradox in the relationship between the beast and the prostitute.  The world in general, and especially the leaders, the ten horns, are great lovers of the woman.  They drink of her golden cup and get drunk on her seductions.  But these same people will end up “hating the prostitute.  They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire."  Meaning – those who were infatuated with the seduction of this world, its pleasures, its cultures and luxury, they will see what fools they have been.  In the end it will leave them all empty.  They crave for more and more, but it's never enough.  It will be seen for what it is – a bitter disappointment.

There is also the sense that though powerful people and organisations share a common service to the devil, they are not unified amongst themselves.  They may together pull people away from God, but they can still hate and destroy each other.  Consider the cutthroat competition between big corporations, or political groups tearing into each other, or scientists decrying each other's theories.  This scene where the prostitute is devoured is not by accident – the devil simply losing control of his forces.  It's God-designed, "for God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose...!" (vs/17).

And His purpose is seen as we see "...another angel coming down from heaven.  He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendour.”  Now we are struck by the authority and glory of this angel.  There is a sense in which this angel must speak with such a mighty voice and with great authority.  He needs to break the spell of the prostitute.

The church in John's day, and we today, must not underestimate the persuasiveness of the woman.  Because in our daily lives her golden cup, her pearls and purple have an awful fascination.  The world is powerful.  Its message is attractive.  We are falling for it all the time.  So we need to know that it's not the way.  Babylon will fall and be utterly destroyed.

The angel shouts, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great....!"  Notice it's said in the past tense.  That's how certain it will be, because it's in God's purpose.  The utter desolation of Babylon the city is vividly described in verses 2 and 3.  It's so completely deserted of people that only devils live there – it's become the haunt of every foul spirit, a ghost town with foul creatures.  It will fall because the nations and kings and merchants allowed themselves to be infatuated with Babylon's pleasures.

Over half of Chapter 18 is taken up with a threefold lament – those who mourn Babylon's destruction: the kings, merchants and sailors.  What we notice with each group is how they stand far off and watch.  They don't care for Babylon, but what they have lost because of her destruction.  No one lifts a finger to help.  But perhaps they couldn't, because each group is stunned at how quick Babylon is destroyed.  Three times it is "in one hour your doom has come, she has been brought to ruin.”

The kings cry, "Woe, woe...!" and mourn.  They “committed adultery with her.”  They yielded to her temptations and enjoyed her luxuries.

The merchants wail and mourn because their cargos have suddenly become worthless.  These are the people who have set their heart on the wares and luxuries of the world.  They are materialistic.  Money is their saviour, life and god.  Verse 12 lists the cargo that had been Babylon's delight.  It mentions the expensive jewellery, gorgeous clothes, materials for constructing luxury goods, spices, ointments.  The emphasis is on luxury.  The best in food and drink.  Marketable animals, and even – you notice – "bodies and souls of men”.  Slave trading, selling people as if they were a commodity.  John describes it all in the terms of his day, with Rome as Babylon.  But it's a picture of the materialism and greed in every age.  It will all perish.  In the end it's all of no value.  It can't save us against God's judgment.

The last group lamenting are the sea captains, the “sailors who earn their living from the sea".  Transport, exporters, importers, fishermen, etc.  They, too, “became rich through Babylon's wealth”.  Now they mourn because they have nothing.  You see the stupidity of so much of what we do.  We work to buy, buy and have, but none of it will last.  Only that which we do for Christ will last.

The last section of the chapter shows how completely, how irrevocably, Babylon is destroyed.  We see in verse 21 a "mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea.”  It's the great millstone turned by a donkey to turn wheat into flour.  It's huge.  Why hurled into the sea?  So it completely disappears and is buried deep in the ocean floor.

Think of a huge splash, and then it's gone, disappeared completely, and all that is left is an eerie silence.  So Babylon will perish.  What the angel says brings this out very graphically.  Six times it is said, "never to be found again, never to be heard again".

Notice the build-up in verse 22.  No more musicians – what's life without music?  But it can be lived.  No more workmen – how can you have life without someone to build or make?  No more sound of the millstone – that’s food production.  No more light – it will be a darkness that can be felt.  No more the voice of the bridegroom and bride.  Every love relationship, everything that speaks of love, fellowship, hope, joy – it will be gone.  It's a picture of total catastrophe, the collapse of civilisation.

Why this awesome judgment?  Verse 24: “Your merchants were the world's great men.  By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.”  God was forgotten.  The merchants and luxury was god.  The world despised God and persecuted His people.

Thus it will be for those who follow the ways of Babylon and the beast.  Let's make sure we are not part of that.  A voice from heaven says in verse 4, "Come out of her my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues."  This does not mean that we get out of civilisation.  This is our Father's world.  We were called to develop this world on God's behalf (Genesis 1).  But we are to get out of the wickedness of civilisation, pull away from that which entices us away from God.

We need to be carefully discerning to see how business, education, entertainment, politics, sport is pulling us away from God.  We need to challenge ideas and practices that leave no place for God's ways.  And to be discerning we need time to step back and look at the big picture that we are so busily caught up in.

We notice that John was taken to the desert to see the woman on the beast.  In Chapter 12 the desert is being in isolation with God – just Him and you and His Word.  Otherwise, because we are so close to it, we won't see how the world is alluring and seductive.

John is told in 18:12 to rejoice, “Rejoice, saints and apostles...  God has judged her for the way she treated you.”  We are not told to rejoice because civilisation collapses.  We are to rejoice that God is bringing justice (18:6), giving “back to her as she has given".  We will only see this and understand and rejoice if we come out and discern the truth, and realise that in Christ we have victory.  He is Lord of lords and King of kings.

Amen.