Revelation 17:9-18

⁹ “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. ¹⁰ There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. ¹¹ The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.

There is no common interpretation of these verses among the Christian scholars.  The most consistent thought is the seven mountains describe Rome as it was known as “the city on seven hills”.  However, there are not seven kings over Rome that can be identified to go along with that.  But we can link the seven kings to seven world empires.  In Israel’s history, five kingdoms have fallen and passed on: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece.  The one who “is” could have been Rome at that time and the one who” has not yet come” is simply that, not yet come.  This is a consistent method when tying this to Daniel 2 and 7.  This last one will, like the others, rule for a short time.  The beast, or the Antichrist, is the eighth king, but he belongs to the seventh which would be Satan.  Or he is the seventh king before his “death” and the eighth after his “resurrection”. 

All interpreters of Revelation do agree on the end of verse 11, the final kingdom and king be destroyed and fall and go down to the abyss, or perdition.

¹² “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. ¹³ These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”

Relating once again to Daniel, one can understand that there will be 10 kings, each with a kingdom of his own and each one will submit together to the Antichrist and give him their power and authority over these kingdoms.  With that power the Antichrist will make a very intentional and specific war against Jesus, His teachings, His Word, and those who follow Him, but they will be overcome by Jesus Himself. 

Daniel Akin says it well:

“This world system, Babylonianism, will come again and again to seduce, attack, and destroy the people of God.  It is influential and powerful.  It is intimidating and prosperous.  It is enticing and persuasive.  It gives every appearance of the promise of victory, of the winning team: Get on board or get crushed.  Join the team or be called a fool.  Worship the beast and whore with the prostitute, or live a wasted life.  However, the Bible makes clear that ‘eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow you die’ is a satanic lie!  Tomorrow, we will stand before the King of kings and the Lord of lords and give an account for the life He gave each one of us – the life many will waste.  That life is headed for a devastating defeat.”

¹⁵ Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. ¹⁶ And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. ¹⁷ For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸ And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”

When a person is finished with a prostitute, they do not marry the prostitute.  They do not go to them to love them but to use them.  Here we see that this influence which has been used to get the people of the earth to promote people will be removed once they can all be controlled.  The kings will remove that alluring influence.  Evil will attack evil.  This is by God’s allowance and design so that the Antichrist can have control over the world and then be defeated forever. 

C. J. Mahaney said, “Today, the greatest challenge facing American [Christians] is not persecution from the world, but seduction by the world.”

C. S. Lewis said, “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who goes on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea.  We are too easily pleased.”

Revelation 17:3-8

³ So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. ⁵ And on her forehead a name was written:

MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT,
THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS
AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS
OF THE EARTH.

⁶ I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.

This culture of Babylon, this worship of not God, sits upon the Antichrist.  The beast is the Antichrist as described in chapter 13.  The harlot is very attractive, her ways seem to be the right ways, her understandings seem to be the right understanding, her wisdom seems to be the right wisdom, all of it seems to be what you want because it makes you more worthy of worship.  But none of it leads you or anyone towards a closer walk with God!  No one will be able to say, “God is leading me to …” regarding any of these actions this culture promotes.

This culture is the sirens of the day and once people are drunk on her message they can no longer see real truth or understand it’s message.  Once they are drunken with her wine she will bite them and sting them before she destroys them into pieces.

Proverbs 6:32-33 reminds us, “The one who commits adultery lacks sense; whoever does so destroys himself.  He will get a beating and dishonor, and his disgrace will never be removed.”

Because this Babylon culture is driven by self-promotion and self-interest, it is willing to sacrifice others to promote its own benefits and prosperity.  This is all too familiar in today’s culture already and it is global: abortion, euthanasia, genocide, infanticide and the deliberate work of capturing people as youth and causing them to be sold and used as prostitutes.  Further, verse 6 tells that there is particular delight in the martyrdom of Christians.  The 20^th century was the bloodiest in Christian history.  What should we expect from the next one?

⁷ But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? 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. ⁸ The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

The beast was, is not, and will ascend?  That seems contradictory or impossible.  How can you be and not be?  This could mean a few things.  One, it could be reference to the imitation that the Antichrist will do of the death and resurrection of the living Christ when it has a supposable lethal injury yet is healed.  Or two, it could be in reference to history.  Throughout history there have been multiple antichrists.  They rise up for a brief reign of terror then die.  Then another one rises and reigns and dies.  This pattern seems to repeat itself over and again.  The world consistently finds ways to deny God and promote its own sense of truth only to find that it isn’t and everything fails.  They love the prostitute more than they love God.  Every generation gives life to the beast as it loves the practices, values, and ways of the world.  1 John 2:17 warns us, “the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God’s will remains forever.”  The Babylonians will not last.

Revelation 17:1-2

This is an interesting chapter not only for the imagery but how it gives an image then interprets it.  If you recall chapter 16, seven angels each with a bowl have poured out destruction upon the face of the earth.  Here in chapters 17 and 18, we’re going to see a picture of the city of Babylon. 

I believe it is helpful to review 2 Timothy 3:1-5:

¹ But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 

Everything the world tells us today is to love yourself.  This is one of the greatest idol worshiping times the world has ever known and the idol is us.  This self-promotion and self-idol worship is the pipe that all the disgusting sins travel through.  We love money because we want what is best for us and so goes each sin described in verses 2 and 3.  Unfortunately these sins are in Christian families and in the church.  We should read chapters 17 and 18 of Revelation with careful consideration of how these characteristics of those who dwell in the “city” or world of Babylon have infiltrated the church which is supposed to be the new “city” of Jerusalem.  The church should not look like the world.  Sadly, too often the church not only looks like the world organizations, it is less functional or beneficial as it tries to imitate the world which is something she was never intended to do.

The writing of Revelation is a continual confrontation to us asking us: Who are you going to worship?  Will you worship God as the one and only true living Lord or are you worshiping something else?  Everything else in the world, everything else, is and can be used to deceive you to worship Satan.  John Piper comments in his book Worship God:

“That’s what the whole book of Revelation is about.  That’s the point of all God’s judgments, all God’s dealings with the world.  All God’s plans for history from beginning to end have this one goal – WORSHIP GOD!  Don’t worship the wealth of Babylon, don’t worship the power of Babylon, don’t worship the pleasures of Babylon, and don’t even worship the holy messenger who brings you the news that Babylon has fallen forever.  WORSHIP GOD!”

¹ Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, ² with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”

In verse 15 we are told that the waters are the peoples of the world.  So, we can conclude that this harlot is a worldwide culture of influence and those who live in it and promote it are judged.  The earth’s leaders and all the people who followed them in this effort to not follow God are judged.  These people are committing fornication against worshiping God by worshiping something else. 

It is way too easy for us to get caught up in this without realizing it.  Maybe it’s just chasing the American dream, or maybe it’s our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter page that lifts us up as a god.  We are supposed to only worship God and point people so they worship God.

Revelation 16:8-21

⁸ Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. ⁹ And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.

The fourth plague is the sun.  Its heat is greatly intensified and it burns everyone.  There is no fresh water and now there is great heat.  Fires will be started and be unable to be put out. 

All people have had sores, the sea is blood, all water is blood, and now the land is on fire.  Even so, the people do not repent and acknowledge the one true living God.  Like Pharoah, they refuse to accept that God is the one with power over this world.

¹⁰ Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. ¹¹ They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.

The fifth plague is the destruction of the worship to the beast or Antichrist.  That one world religion, economy, and government is destroyed into darkness.  It is not a light to any person.  The people bite their tongues in agony over watching their god be destroyed and they blaspheme (cuss, swear) at the one true God.  Their pride will not be broken.

They do not repent of their deeds.  This is the last time this is said.  The time for unbelievers to believe is passed.  They loved their sin and their false gods more than the Lamb who would save them. 

¹² Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. ¹³ And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. ¹⁴ For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

¹⁵ “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”

¹⁶ And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.

The sixth bowl is to prepare the place for the final battle.  The Euphrates river is dried up so everyone can make it to the party.  Three demons come from Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet to fool the world that remains so they will gather to battle.  Frogs are seen as unclean animals (Lev. 10,411) and these spirits are unclean and not of God.  They will do miraculous signs and this should be a warning to us that not all who do amazing signs is of God.

Here in the middle of this is the third beatitude in Revelation.  “Blessed is he who watches [for Him], and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”  1 Thessalonians 5:2 tells us “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”  Jesus told us “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. … Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.  But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.  Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:36, 42-44)

There is a blessing for those that look for His coming and are not taken by surprise.  They stay ready and remain clothed in His Spirit.  This should be a warning for us to not let our spiritual vigilance to wane as we walk daily.  Don’t fall into bad habits or start walking and doing as the world does.  Be ready!

¹⁷ Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” ¹⁸ And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. ¹⁹ Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. ²⁰ Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. ²¹ And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.

The seventh plague is the shaking of the whole earth.  It is prepared for His coming. 

At the seventh Seal and the seventh Trumpet there were thunderings and lightnings and earthquakes.  Now there is an earthquake of such that the earth has never known one so violent.  

Babylon, the culture that has always opposed God, is remembered and she will have to drink her own cup of wrath. 

The descriptions of the upheaval on the earth is unlike we’ve read before.  Every mountain crumbles and all the islands are broken or covered.  The largest hail on record is 1.93 pounds.  The Greek talent was 56 pounds and the Jewish talent was 114 pounds.  Men curse God because of the hail.  They hate Him so much that they curse Him with their dying breath.

I find it interesting that here in these plagues that it has been stated three times that all man cursed God and blamed Him for their pain.  Today, I see the society around me cursing God for His morality.  The world wants to do what it wants to do and it does not want God’s morality lingering over it as a judge on their actions.  The world is already setting itself up to blame God for their “pain”.  Unfortunately, it is blindly proceeding down an ominous path towards pain we can’t imagine.

Ironically, in order to curse God, you have to acknowledge that He exists.  Once you acknowledge that God exists, you believe in Him.  Yet, they do not turn to Him for salvation.  Believing in God alone is not enough to be saved.  James 2:19 tell us “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!”

There must be repentance.  Their must be a submission of one’s heart to God where you are depending upon the work of His Son Jesus to pay for your sins.  There must be faith in God and the Christ.

Revelation 16:1-7

¹Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.”

And so the final judgment on man who exalts himself and who has a low view of God begins.  It will be a difficult time for all who have not already called upon the Lord.

² So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.

The first bowl is loathsome sores.  This brings to mind the suffering of Job by Satan.  He was allowed to cause him pain and discomfort but not to kill him.  Job 2:7 records, “So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.”  Satan did this to Job with the intent of causing him to deny and curse the living Lord.  I am not sure why God is issuing this as a judgment, except that it must be necessary to show all who is the God of creation.  Note that Satan could not have touched Job except for the allowance of it by God.  Here, God needs no approval.

This plague is for unbelievers.  Zechariah 14:12 tells us, “And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.”  The sixth of the Egyptian plagues was the plague of boils. The pharaoh was powerless against the Lord to stop them then and all those who don’t know Him will be powerless now.

³ Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died.

The second bowl turns the seas to blood.  Every living creature in the sea died, not some, all.  The closest thing I can relate this to is red tide.  This algae bloom sometimes comes up and takes the oxygen out of the water and causes a lot of fish to die.  Even as this is a very small portion of fish in the seas, it really smells bad.  It is difficult to see a lot of dead animals, even fish, on the beaches.  I can’t imagine and don’t want to imagine all the living creatures in the sea to die.  The seas cover 70% of the earth’s surface.  It will be difficult for anyone not to be affected. 

The first plague of the Egyptian plagues was to turn the river Nile into blood.  Back in chapter 8 the second trumpet caused 1/3 of the sea to turn to blood and 1/3 of the living creatures of the sea to die.

 

⁴ Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.

The third plague is that all waters turn to blood, not just the salty waters.  All creeks and rivers are blood.  This means there is no fresh water to drink.  The source of the water all over the earth is polluted.

 ⁵ And I heard the angel of the waters saying:

“You are righteous, O Lord,
The One who is and who was and who is to be,
Because You have judged these things.
⁶ For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,
And You have given them blood to drink.
For it is their just due.”

⁷ And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”

This angel worships God as the true and righteous judge of the people.  While we may be overwhelmed or in disbelief over such plagues, those who are close to the presence of God praise Him in His perfectness.  God is never arbitrary in His judgments; He is always fair and true.  He alone is good and righteous. 

“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” – Psalms 19:7-9

If we are going to believe that God’s Word is perfect and His Words are true, then we must also believe that His judgments are righteous.