Ugly and the Beast
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Have you ever seen someone do something wrong and think they got away with it? They just brazenly break the rules or the laws and they feel so safe in doing so. Sometimes it can be cute in kids, but human nature is to rebel against God, and it’s anything but cute to him. And a lot of times we feel like we’ve gotten away with something, but God sees everything, like these kids:
[Youtube Video]
As cute as that is, those kids were avoiding their authorities and thought they would get away with it. And now their mom has put them on YouTube to live in infamy forever. We live in a culture that like those boys thinks it’s getting away with anything that humans don’t catch them doing. Maybe this is you. You’re hiding your sin in the darkness thinking that if you can just conceal it long enough, you’ll get away with it.
Here’s the thing: our father sees the things done in secret- good and bad. And in our culture the attitude that we don’t have to answer for our crimes if we just cover them up ignores this fact. God is always watching, and even when it looks like those opposed to him are getting away with their crimes and their sins, ultimately, they are not. And that’s sort of the point of Revelation 17.
Our culture will be judged for how it has rebelled against God. Let’s take a look:
1 One of the seven angels who had poured out the seven bowls came over and spoke to me. “Come with me,” he said, “and I will show you the judgment that is going to come on the great prostitute, who rules over many waters. 2 The kings of the world have committed adultery with her, and the people who belong to this world have been made drunk by the wine of her immorality.”
3 So the angel took me in the Spirit into the wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that had seven heads and ten horns, and blasphemies against God were written all over it.
I think I remember another woman in this book who was dwelling in the desert, only she wasn’t a prostitute. The world is mocking the bride of Christ here. It’s mocking the church. See, this is “the great city”. And I think that’s intended to be spoken sarcastically. We are “the holy city”. This is the prostitute. We are the bride. She sells herself. We are purchased. Do you see the difference here?
Now lest we forget for a moment God’s love for prostitutes too, don’t forget the Old Testament story of Hosea. If you’re not familiar with the story, basically God tells his prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute because that’s how he felt with his people- they took a vow to Yahweh, and then whored themselves out to these other gods. And the same thing happens to Hosea- he marries Gomer and has children with her, and she runs off again into prostitution and racks up a debt. And God tells Hosea to purchase her from basically the pimp to whom she owes the debt. God has done that for you and for me. We run off after sin, and he paid with his own blood the price to redeem from sin. He makes the same offer to the prostitute here. She isn’t getting away with anything. God is watching and waiting. Hoping she will repent.
9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
Pray to Jesus to help us to be people of extreme grace with those who hate us and hate him. Jesus wins, and by extension, we win, but in the meantime, it’s going to look like the last Super Bowl. It might look impossible. But Jesus comes out on top. It may be 28-3, but it ain’t over ‘til it’s over. So don’t lose faith like I did and check out at the beginning of the 4th quarter.
4 The woman wore purple and scarlet clothing and beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls. In her hand she held a gold goblet full of obscenities and the impurities of her immorality. 5 A mysterious name was written on her forehead: “Babylon the Great, Mother of All Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World.”
Do you see how the prostitute lives in luxury here? She’s got purple and gold. That’s real wealth. That’s luxury. If you’re not living in luxury now, remember the words of Jesus:
24 “What sorrow awaits you who are rich,
for you have your only happiness now.
25 What sorrow awaits you who are fat and prosperous now,
for a time of awful hunger awaits you.
What sorrow awaits you who laugh now,
for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow.
26 What sorrow awaits you who are praised by the crowds,
for their ancestors also praised false prophets.
He’s not saying that anyone who has any of those things is bad, but he’s saying if that’s your hope, and you don’t have me, you’re doomed. Woe to that one. So if you’re not living rich right now, blessing on you. You will live in luxury when this is over if you just cling to Jesus as your only hope. Not wealth. Not power. Not authority. Not knowledge. Not your house. Not your kids. Not your stuff. Christ alone. Christ crucified. Christ risen. Christ within you. Christ forgiving you. Christ only!
I’m reminded of this old Irish prayer:
As I arise today,
may the strength of God pilot me,
the power of God uphold me,
the wisdom of God guide me.
May the eye of God look before me,
the ear of God hear me,
the word of God speak for me.
May the hand of God protect me,
the way of God lie before me,
the shield of God defend me,
the host of God save me.
May Christ shield me today.
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit,
Christ when I stand,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Amen
This is a tale of two cities. Which woman are you dedicated to? Which city are you aligned with? Are you going to be part of the bride or a part of the prostitute?
Are you going to drink the blood of Jesus in Communion, or the blood of the saints in persecution?
The imagery here would be similar to if someone today were to describe a woman with a very short mini-skirt and thigh-high boots with a lot of makeup on and standing on a street corner. A prostitute is the image that you would naturally download there. Her attire is designed to seduce onlookers.
The title on her forehead is significant because prostitutes used their foreheads as billboards in the 1st century. Notice her business is the business of abomination, which John will describe here shortly as the oppression of Christians.
She's holding a golden cup. What is cup a symbol for elsewhere in Scripture?
Suffering. Remember Gethsemane? What did Jesus pray? “Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not my will but yours be done.”
Remember when James and John approached Jesus and asked for the positions of honor in Jesus' kingdom? Remember how he responded?
22 But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?”
“Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”
It's not always suffering, but a lot of the time it has to do with suffering or pain.
But the cup the woman is holding is filled with abominations. It's filled with the blood of the saints. She's drunk on the blood the saints. There is no end to this woman's oppression of the people of God.
This should make you angry. This should make us yearn zealously for justice for those saints around the world on whose blood oppressive governments and systems are currently getting drunk.
Governments like China are getting drunk on the blood of the saints, and they too can be pictured as a whore riding a demonic beast. Does that make sense? Satan hasn't changed his tactics a whole lot. he either outright persecutes the church, or lulls it into so much comfort that it ceases to be salt and light. So we go back to the Tale of Two Cities. Are you going to be a part of the city of the Bride or the city of the prostitute?
6 I could see that she was drunk—drunk with the blood of God’s holy people who were witnesses for Jesus. I stared at her in complete amazement.
7 “Why are you so amazed?” the angel asked. “I will tell you the mystery of this woman and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns on which she sits. 8 The beast you saw was once alive but isn’t now. And yet he will soon come up out of the bottomless pit and go to eternal destruction. And the people who belong to this world, whose names were not written in the Book of Life before the world was made, will be amazed at the reappearance of this beast who had died.
9 “This calls for a mind with understanding: The seven heads of the beast represent the seven hills where the woman rules. They also represent seven kings. 10 Five kings have already fallen, the sixth now reigns, and the seventh is yet to come, but his reign will be brief.
11 “The scarlet beast that was, but is no longer, is the eighth king. He is like the other seven, and he, too, is headed for destruction. 12 The ten horns of the beast are ten kings who have not yet risen to power. They will be appointed to their kingdoms for one brief moment to reign with the beast. 13 They will all agree to give him their power and authority. 14 Together they will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because he is Lord of all lords and King of all kings. And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him.”
15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters where the prostitute is ruling represent masses of people of every nation and language. 16 The scarlet beast and his ten horns all hate the prostitute. They will strip her naked, eat her flesh, and burn her remains with fire. 17 For God has put a plan into their minds, a plan that will carry out his purposes. They will agree to give their authority to the scarlet beast, and so the words of God will be fulfilled. 18 And this woman you saw in your vision represents the great city that rules over the kings of the world.”
She's drunk on the blood of the saints, and the angel's just like, "does that surprise you? Isn't that what evil does?" In our lives, maybe the angel would say something along the lines of- "Does it surprise you that Christianity is mocked in the public square?"
Note the overt parody. Our God is the one who was, who is, and who is to come. It's a shadow of who God is. Compared to God, the beast here is absolutely futile.
John's saying, "Yeah, the church is going to suffer and be ruled over by these oppressive governments, but in the context of eternity, it's going to feel like an hour." And so we will overcome the beast. How? By the blood of the lamb, the word of our testimony, and not loving our lives more than we love Jesus.
A good rendering of the end of verse 14 would be “those who are called ‘chosen’ and ‘faithful’ will be with him.” Not they are chosen and faithful. Now, obviously, we are chosen, but the point I’m getting at here is that we are only faithful because of the blood of Christ for us.
11 This is a trustworthy saying:
If we die with him,
we will also live with him.
12 If we endure hardship,
we will reign with him.
If we deny him,
he will deny us.
13 If we are unfaithful,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny who he is.
We are called faithful because of Jesus’ work to the glory of God. So when you sin, and Satan tries to beat you up, remember: you are called “chosen and faithful”. You are not of the world as the kingdoms of the world are. You are from the kingdom of heaven. That’s your citizenship. You don’t participate with the world in ruling like the world does. You are a servant of God. The world sits in luxury on seven hills, subjugating. We sit before the throne of God worshiping.
[Seven Hills of Rome]
Revelation 17:9-10 Rome was known throughout the world a the city on Seven hills. It was part of their propaganda. It was a way of calling it the perfect or complete empire. John is very explicit here what the identity of the beast is here.
Notice the seven kings John mentions here in this double symbol is similar to the ten kings, and the emphasis is that the evil is not done yet. I don’t think John is talking about specific kings, they are a symbol for the people who oppress the people of God. But their reign is short, and God's reign is forever.
And notice the stretch of the authority of this beast- Rome. The waters symbolize the whole world. She has complete authority over the whole world. Because the waters she rules over are literally “peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages. Four categories. Completeness over the earth.
And in verse 18, in case you missed it, John says the woman is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth. What city is that in John's day? Rome.
And it looks like the woman and the beast are working in tandem here. However, notice what happens when the prostitute has fulfilled her purpose to Satan: he strips her naked, devours her flesh, and sets her on fire. Satan does not care what happens to those who follow him. He only cares about destroying the work of God. Satan hates God and his people with everything he is and does and cares nothing for anyone other than himself.
If you haven't read it, and you want an imaginative look at this, read The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis.
Satan only cares about destroying us. Jesus cares about us. That's the difference. In Christ, we are secure, but those doing the work of Satan, even in their evil, will not really be allied with Satan in the end, when he rips of his mask and devours them- bringing them with him down in the flames to which he is damned.
9 Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don’t believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation.
16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Join with me in prayer in thanksgiving to God for his provision. His salvation. His grace. Our hope. Our confidents. And our peace.