The Lamb Conquers Babylon
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Revelation 1:19.
19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.
Jesus’ outline of Revelation:
What was seen: Jesus Glorified - Revelation 1:9-20.
What is: the Seven Churches - Revelation 2-3.
What will be: Jesus’ judgement in the seven seals, trumpets and bowls. Revelation 4-22.
Revelation 17-18 are two visions which expound on the fall of Babylon in the bowl judgments.
Revelation 17:1-3.
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.
Revelation 14:8.
8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.”
How should we view the Great Prostitute in Revelation?
We basically have four options:
First, she is a cryptic reference to Rome used by the early church to keep certain truths from persecutors as seen in 1 Peter 5:13 “She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son.”
Second, she is the city of Jerusalem as an apostate set against God.
Third, she is a metaphor for the entire world system set against God. This includes all major cities through time.
Fourth, she is a revived Babylon on the banks of the Euphrates River, once again leading the world in apostate religion.
The preterist lens will favor her as a cryptic reference to Rome or Jerusalem.
The idealist lens with favor her being a metaphor for the world system set against God.
The futurist lens will favor a revived Babylon or the cryptic reference to a revived Rome.
The OT language for this passage in Revelation comes from Isaiah 21:1
1 The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on, it comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land.
John is taken in the spirit to the desert. Beale writes:
“Though the desert can be a place of protection for God’s people both after the exodus and in the end time, it is also the habitation of fierce animals like serpents and of evil spirits; it is the place of sin, judgment, and persecution of the saints” So here we can say John is taken to the place of Babylon’s judgement.”
John’s only other use of “desert” is in Revelation 12 where a “red dragon having seven heads and ten horns” pursues the woman, Israel, who is the opposite of the prostitute. Israel is everything good, while the prostitute is everything bad.
The OT imagery also comes from Daniel 2:41-44; Daniel 7:3-7, 20, 24. We will take a look at these next week in the interpretive section of the passage.
She is depicted as a prostitute because she leads the world away from God with her apostate religions. She causes the world to commit adultery through idolatry. The whole world is to be faithful to Yahweh and is not.
She is full of blasphemous names, communicating she contains all that is opposed to God.
As we see this evil and the evil around us, let’s remember the Lamb conquers.
Revelation 17:4-6.
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.
The OT background comes from Jeremiah 51:6-7 and Hosea 4:10-12.
6 “Flee from the midst of Babylon; let every one save his life! Be not cut off in her punishment, for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance, the repayment he is rendering her.
7 Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, making all the earth drunken; the nations drank of her wine; therefore the nations went mad.
10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply, because they have forsaken the Lord to cherish
11 whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding.
12 My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore.
Here, purple and red attire portray the clothing of royalty.
Concerning the color red Beale writes, “We have seen that the red color of the dragon and beast in Revelation 12:3 and Revelation 17:3 showing their persecuting nature... With her attire she stands in contrast to the Lamb’s bride, portrayed as a city “adorned with precious stone,” “pearls,” and “gold” Revelation 21:2, 9–23 and clothed “in bright, pure linen,” which respectively represent the glorious reflection of God’s presence and “the righteous deeds of the saints.”
She is adorned with gold, jewels and pearls which speaks to her economic prosperity with which she attracts humanity to drink of her abominations.
In the first century you could not have economic success without worshipping the gods of your city and your country. Beale writes, “Customarily each trade guild had patron gods to which members had to pay homage as well as to the Roman emperor. If Christians did not participate in such homage, they were economically ostracized and prevented from practicing their trade. The whore of Revelation 17 represents these religious-economic aspects of society, which often work in conjunction with the political state.”
We can be tempted to join the world and make economic success more important than God. We must be careful not to drink from her cup.
In verse five, her name is written on her forehead, depicting her alliance with the beast and his nefarious schemes. If we have confessed Jesus as Lord then his name is written on our foreheads, showing our alliance with Yaweh, as seen in Revelation 22:4, “They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.”
She does not like our alliance with Yahweh for in verse 6 she is drunk on persecuting the saints who bear witness to Jesus.
As witnesses for Jesus it can feel overwhelming and frightening in a culture that continues to grow more hostile.
Yet we must remember that Jesus is conquering it all and working in it all for our good and his glory.
Let’s remember the Lamb conquers. Trust him in the journey.