Revelation 17
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
If you have your Bibles let me invite you to open with me to the book of Revelation chapter 17.
C.S. Lewis in his book mere Christianity, made an argument for the existence of God based on the very real existence of morality…,
He said that if there is something real about morality in the world…, a real difference between good and evil…, than there must be a moral law giver…,
there must be a creator who sets the standard..,
Lewis writes,
“The moment you say that one set of moral ideas can be better than another, you are, in fact, measuring them both by a standard, saying that one of them conforms to that standard more nearly than the other. But the standard that measures two things is something different from either. You are, in fact, comparing them both with some Real Morality, admitting that there is such a thing as a real Right, independent of what people think, and that some people’s ideas get nearer to that real Right than others. Or put it this way. If your moral ideas can be truer, and those of the Nazis less true, there must be something—some Real Morality—for them to be true about.”
- C.S. Lewis
There are really only two ways to live in the world…,
There is the way of wisdom which submits to God’s way in God’s world.
and there is the way of foolishness Which rejects God’s way in God’s world.
the book of Proverbs presents these two contrasting ways to live by personifying them as two different ladies…,
Lady wisdom
and Lady folly.
Lady wisdom leads to life and human flourishing even in the midst of suffering…,
Lady folly looks attractive but she leads you to Down a path to death and destruction.
In proverbs 7, Lady folly is described to be a woman who is dressed as a prostitute.
10 And behold, the woman meets him,
dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.
11 She is loud and wayward;
her feet do not stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the market,
and at every corner she lies in wait.
13 She seizes him and kisses him,
and with bold face she says to him,
Proverbs 7:21–22 (ESV)
With much seductive speech she persuades him;
with her smooth talk she compels him.
All at once he follows her,
as an ox goes to the slaughter….
In Revelation 17 John sees Proverbs 7 come to life before his eyes.
He sees a vision of a great prostitute.
The end of Revelation is going to similarly portray two different ladies…,
One is a prostitute giving herself away until she self-destructs…,
The other is bride preparing and waiting to meet her groom for a celebration..,
One describes the church preparing to meet Jesus…,
The other describes the world giving herself away to every god and every pleasure to her own destruction.
These really are the only two options in our world…,
and if we are not careful…,
we will be impressed by the the wrong lady…,
if we aren’t careful we won’t see the messaging of the world for what it really is.
chapter 17 was given to John and to the local churches of ancient Rome…,
so that they might visualize
what the sinful culture of the Roman Empire for what it really is…and where it really leads..
So lets turn our attention to Revelation 17 verse 1.
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.
Lets Pray
Last night at about 11:40 PM,
My father-in-law messaged me to wish me happy birthday…,
he is in eastern time zone…,
So he thinks it’s funny every year that he can wish me happy birthday from the future and be the first to wish me a happy birthday.
I was up, and so I replied thank you and he responded,
“you should be asleep…, young people need their rest.”
I responded..,
“I am wrestling with a prostitute right now…”
I gave it a second and then followed up… “in Revelation chapter 17”
Context matters….
and in the context of Revelation…, we have4 already seen some apocalyptic characters..
The dragon from chapter 12 was identified as Satan himself.
The first beast of chapter 13 takes on the characteristics of the beasts from Daniel chapter 7…, this beast symbolizes the power of the state throughout human history…
Throughout human history Satan works in tandem with and through the kingdoms and governments of men to wage war against the kingdom of God.
The second beast in chapter 13 is described to have the appearance of a lamb, but It speaks like a dragon.., Symbolizing the presence of false teachings, and false religions in the world that lead people astray…,
but here we are introduced to yet another character working in tandem with the second beast.
She is the great prostitute.
I think she is representative of the sinful culture of humanity that was prevalent in Ancient Babylon of the Old Testament and in Ancient Rome of the author’s day..…,
And I also think she is representative of the temptations of our own hearts in our own culture today…,
She is the embodiment of what sin is in its essence…,
So in analyzing the symbolism of this spiritual prostitute in this vision…,
our aim is to learn much about the nature of sin itself
and the sinful culture in which we live.
Look again with me at verses 1 and 2.
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.”
Truth #1 The Prostitute Intoxicates with a Distortion of God’s Design for Intimacy
Truth #1 The Prostitute Intoxicates with a Distortion of God’s Design for Intimacy
the very word prostitute has an immediate effect on our understanding of what this character represents
The root greek word for this is “porne”
in fact, this root greek word shows up five times in the first five verses,
The great prostitute - “porne”
convinces the kings of the world to commit sexual immorality “porneo” with her.
the earth dwellers are drunk with “porneo”
and she offers a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of “porneo”
Its important to note that this prostitute is not the oppressed, enslaved, kind of prostitute in a brothel there against her own will..
Instead she is a powerful, wealthy, devious kind of escort that would have been prevalent in high society of Roman culture.
She intentionally makes her living by alluring others to join her.
She makes her money by giving herself away To the highest bidder.
There are a couple of reasons why the word prostitute fits so well for describing the sinful lusts of man’s kingdom.…,
Firstly, Prostitution itself stands in direct contradiction to the first and most fundamental design of God in the created world….
God created male and female in the beginning to relate to one another in a specific way.
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
This oneness between a man and a woman is a unique relationship marked by commitment and designed to produce life….,
it is God’s good design for human flourishing…,
Prostitution is a very different thing than God’s good design…,
It is not the beautiful union of two individuals who become one…,
It is rather the selling of oneself to the many…
and it is a rebellion against God’s good design for human flourishing…,
there is a reason that when the apostle Paul wants to describe the sinfulness of humanity…,
He uses sexual sin as the prime example…,
25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
Sexual sin is a rebellion against the first,
most fundamental,
and most clear design of God in creation itself.…
It is the rejection of God’s order in exchange for the very fleeting feeling of sexual pleasure..,
pornography,
adultery,
one night stands,
the whole economy of only fans and sexualized apps for your smart phone,
homosexuality,
they are all distortions of God’s good design for intimacy…,
the text says that these kinds of sins intoxicate the kings of the world…,
in other words they disorient you from reality…
They cause you not to see clearly…,
They impair your judgment…,
and ultimately they lead you down paths of destruction...
If you are caught in the throws of some form of distorted intimacy this morning…,
Hear the warning of Revelation…,
When God wants to portray human sinfulness that is on its way to final judgment…,
he portrays that sinfulness with the imagery of a woman in the business of sexual sin.
This sin is not to be trifled with…,
It is serious to God…,
and it should be serious to us.…
repent,
run,
flee,
fight,
confess,
destroy devices,
get a dumb phone,
surround yourself with accountability…,
do whatever it takes not to be like one of these kings of the earth in verse 2…,
intoxicated with the sin of sexual immorality
so that you cannot see clearly where this lady folly is actually leading you…,
There is another reason though…,
that the concept of Prostitution serves so well to describe this sinful culture of humanity…
Prostitution serves as an analogy throughout the Bible for a people who worship other gods.
The prostitute is not loyal to any husband..,
She is loyal only to the money…,
the luxury…,
the self-indulgence…,
There is a reason that the institution of marriage is meant to be a reflection of God’s people and their relationship to God…,
In marriage we are in a committed loyal relationship to one person…,
we sacrifice for that person,
cherish that person,
provide for that person…,
as Christians we are meant to be in a committed loyal relationship with the one true God…,
who loves us
is devoted to us
provides for us
sacrifices for us
and whom we cherish
thus the Bible describes idolatry
or the false worship of anything else as an act of spiritual adultery…,
So when Israel turned to other gods…,
the God of the Bible likened their behavior to that of a prostitute…
they were giving themselves away to other gods…
Sin IS the spiritual prostitution of our souls to lesser lovers…,
To lesser gods…,
we give ourselves to trinkets
and things
and jobs
and fleeting feelings
instead of to the God who made us and loves us and wants to bless us in relationship to him.
Notice that its not just the sexual intimacy
that the prostitute tempts with in Revelation 17…
its luxury as well.
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.
Truth #2 The Prostitute Impresses with the Idolatry of Luxury and Power
Truth #2 The Prostitute Impresses with the Idolatry of Luxury and Power
She wants you to marvel at her purple and scarlet.… signs of luxury in Ancient Rome…,
She wants you to be impressed with the gold and the jewels and the pearls…,
She wants you to want the golden cup in her hand…,
She makes it look as if the life of distorting God’s good design is really paying off for her…,
it looks as if she has everything the world has to offer…,
She is economically blessed…..
Perhaps your in the room this morning and the sexual immorality of the prostitute is not particularly appealing…,
your happily married,
or happily single,
but the golden cup on the other hand looks tempting…,
the luxury of it all seems satisfying…,
Ancient Rome certainly had its luxuries…,
the whole system was caste by who could rise the ranks of social status,
and thus earn their spot with the elite,
living in lavish luxury compared to the rest of the world…,
Beware of the empty promises of riches and wealth…,
The love of such things can lead you to take the golden cup…,
only to find that the cup itself was full of abominations and impurities…,
the pursuit of wealth can be like grasping for the wind…,
or worse…,
drinking from the poisonous golden cup…,
Wealth and prosperity do not = blessing…
There is a way to enjoy physical things in this world to the glory of God and in thanksgiving for his good gifts…,
but you can also be very wealthy like this prostitute and be on your way to judgment…,
In turn…, you can be very poor in this life and be very happy and on your way to eternal life…,
The churches in first century Rome were learning this experientially…,
because so often the economy,
and the world system is intertwined with the sinful culture…,
Notice, not only what the prostitute is wearing…,
but notice what she is riding on.
Look at verse 3.
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.
Remember that the beast represents the power of the state.
The beast represents the governmental authority of Rome…,
and the woman is riding the beast.
By riding the beast…,
She shows that the state,
and the governmental powers of the world are both under the influence of this kind of sinful flesh and immorality…,
and the governmental structure itself is a supporter of the sinful fleshly desires of man.
If you could see the glory of the ancient city of Rome, you would have marveled At it.
with all of its grand building projects,
and collaseums,
and cutting edge technologies of the day.
and governmental organization
and powerful military
but who is really in the driver seat of such an empire?
Is Julius Ceasar himself not driven by the human lusts of the flesh…
Is it not the obsession with power, pleasure, and luxury that keeps the empire going
And is it not the empire itself that supports and undergirds this lust for immorality and luxury?
The prostitute therefore has power over the empire itself,
but yet she needs the empire to continue her work…,
she impresses not only with her luxury,
but with her influence over the powerful...
beware of an infatuation with moving up in the ranks of our modern day empire…,
If you want to ride the beast,
as it were,
you also become dependent upon it,
and in the end as we will see,
it will turn to devour you as well.
We must remember that the prostitute who rides the beast thrives off of the immorality of man…,
She must have men succumb to her sinful ways…, lest she be out of a job…,
One thing she cannot stand for is those who would promote things like
the sanctify of marriage,
and the sinfulness of sexual immorality..,
To self-preserve,
she must therefore eradicate the voices of truth…,
she must corrupt them or silence them.
and thats exactly what we see of this prostitute in verses 5-6.
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.
Truth #3 The Prostitute Opposes the Purity of the Saints
Truth #3 The Prostitute Opposes the Purity of the Saints
It is a gruesome picture on so many levels…,
drinking blood was an abomination to Old Testament Jews…,
but here, the prostitute isn’t just drinking the blood of an animal…
she is drunk with the blood of the saints…,
Its symbolism, but it is powerful symbolism…,
imagine a beautiful prostitute adorned with all the luxury of the world…,
but when she smiles her mouth is stained from the blood of her victims.
the world of sexual immorality, idolatrous luxury, and political power…,
will be a world that is violently opposed to the Christian way of life…
There can be no compromise here…,
There can be no straddling of the fence…,
the culture of spiritual prostitution cannot co-exist in relational harmony with Christian people…,
not because Christians are combative…,
but because Christians are non-conformists…,
What does that mean for you?
It means at the very least you need to be prepared to stick out as a Christian person in this culture…,
You need to be prepared to raise your kids differently than the rest of the world…,
Passivity will not due…
because your children are growing up in a culture that is actively seducing them at every corner…,
You need to intentionally entertain yourself differently than the rest of the world.
spend your money differently
The Christian dating scene should look radically different than that of the world.
work your job differently than your co-workers…,
Jesus changes everything
he sobers you to the realities of the prostitute and her beast…,
Jesus makes you a saint…,
which means he sets you apart from the world of abominations…,
and in doing so…,
he also makes you a target…,
This is what we should expect….
we should expect to be a people who do not perfectly fit in with the beastly empire
We are a people who seek to obey this command From the apostle Paul…
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
And in doing so we will face certain tribulations..,.
We will face certain difficulties…,
but our temporary difficulties pale in comparison to the judgment to come
The prostitute and her beast appear so impressive today…,
Even the apostle John marvels at what he sees in the vision…,
but he is quickly corrected by the angel…,
look with me at Our final verses for this morning..,
verses 6-8
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.
Truth #4 The Prostitute and Her Beast Are Headed for Destruction
Truth #4 The Prostitute and Her Beast Are Headed for Destruction
John is tempted to be impressed by what he sees.
He marvels…,
but the angel brings the corrective word…,
“Why do you marvel?”
and then he clarifies for John the true nature of this beastly world power And all its glory…,
It is a counterfeit God.
In Revelation chapter 1 Jesus introduces himself in this way…,
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
The beast is the one who was, and who is NOT, and who is to rise from the pit only to go to his own destruction…,
the glory of Ancient Babylon historically came to nothing..
the glory of Ancient Rome historically came to nothing…,
the glory of the British Empire is but a shadow of what it once was.…, (sorry Megan)
the glory of the United States will come to nothing…,
as will the glory of every human empire under the influence of the prostitute.
It will all be destroyed..,
along with all those individuals who made the prostitute and her beast out to be their gods..,
the angel calls them the earth dwellers…,
the earth dwellers are distinct from the saints in two ways according to verse 8…,
firstly…,
The Earth Dwellers Marvel to See the Beast
They are impressed by all that the prostitute and her beast have to offer…,
they are amazed by it all…,
they are intoxicated by it all like the kings of the earth drunk with the wine of her immorality…,
The correction of the angel and the thrust of this whole chapter is warning us not to marvel!!!
Beware of what you are impressed with…,
Beware of what you are aiming at as the purpose of your life…,
The tangible difference between the saints who are destined for glory and the earth dwellers destined for destruction…,
is what they worship…,
the saints worship the Jesus who was, and is, and is to come…,
the earth dwellers worship what was, and is NOT, and is headed to destruction..,
Brothers and sisters lets allow the word of Revelation to confront us this morning…,
Lets ask the Spirit to search our hearts for areas where we are marveling a little too much at the wrong things…,
and by God’s grace, God answers that prayer for his people…,
the first difference between the earth dwellers headed to destruction is what they marvel at…,
but the second and more fundamental difference is where your name is written…,
The Earth Dwellers’ Names Are Not Written in the Book of Life from the Foundation of the World.
We will see this emphasized again next week…, but its where we will conclude this morning…,
What makes you fit to be the bride of Christ on your way to enjoy eternal life with him?
What separates you from living out all your days as a spiritual prostitute destined to join her in her destruction???
Its not that you have lived a life totally free from marveling at the world…,
its not that your worship has always been perfectly directed to the true God.…,
its not that you have never idolized luxury,
participated in sexual immorality,
or lusted after power…,
The real difference between the earth dweller and the Saint…,
Is that Jesus Christ set his sights on you,
he wrote your name in the book of life from the foundation of the world.
He set you apart for faith in him..,
he opened your eyes to the truth of the beast..,
and he made a way for you to escape destruction and enjoy life in his presence…,
the story of the Bible is that Jesus came to ransom his bride…,
We all were like Hosea’s unfaithful wife…,
giving ourselves to other gods…,
we all deserved destruction…,
but Jesus came…,
he paid the price for our ransom…,
he died in our place…
he rose again on the third day victorious…,
and he transferred us from death to life…,
why can we see the world for what it is?
and how can we escape where its headed?
By the grace of God through faith in Jesus…,
Our names were written in the book of life from the foundation of the world…,
We are tempted to marvel at the wrong things…,
When Jesus’ disciples were given power to cast out demons in the gospel of Luke…,
Jesus warned that they should not marvel even at their own ministries..,
Jesus adjusted their perspective in this way…
20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
The takeaway is simple this morning…
Be Impressed with the Right Thing
Marvel at the right reality…,
Do not be impressed with all the world offers…,
but rather rejoice in this fact that your names are written in heaven through faith in Jesus..
lets pray,
and lets repent,
and lets reorient our worship.
