Evil and its Harlot
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Introduction
How many of you get the idea that God is trying very hard to get your attention.
It is like a fire that is rolling over the hills coming closer and closer to your town and so far we have three alerts an email and text alert, then a call from civil authorities, then the fire department, then a sheriff.
All were saying, Hey a fire is coming.
Are you the person who says when it takes out my neighbors I will think about evacuating or do you take the first warning seriously and get out of town.
This is the dilemma with Revelations.
Background
In Chapter 15-16 we see what happens to the ones who have the mark of the beast. It seems like they do not wake up the next day and go that was a mistake.
We see a stubbornness and a hard heart toward God
We also see that none of these plagues fall upon the 144,000 - which makes you wonder where are they - how does God protect them ?
As we move into Chapter 17 we are going to see more information about the Harlot who is Babylon.
This section of revelations is really three Chapters 17-19
Lets begin by reading Chapter 17
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,
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.”
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.
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.
And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.”
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.
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.
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.
This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated;
they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while.
As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.
And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.
These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast.
They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.
And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire,
for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”
Lets cut this up into pieces.
vs 1-6
God is going to deal with the beasts global religious (belief) system
She is called the harlot and her sin is immorality
She is also a picture of what the world looks like - Instead of a pure relationship with God- it has become the opposite.
Some say she is the apostate Christian church ( a church which abandons its beliefs)
We can see alot of what we would call mainline churches have now fallen in this category. They would call themselves Christians but the Holy Spirit has been replaced with a different kind of Spirit.
Some still think it would be the Roman Catholic Church
Some would say it has nothing to do with Christianity. It is a completely different belief system like Islam.
Which ever it is....
The harlot always opposes the bride -
The harlot is dressed like one of the elites - with Gold , jewels and pearls
She holds a cup - this cup is filled with the blood of the saint
This is in contrast to the cup in the throne filled with the prayers of the saints
She sits upon waters and a very weird looking beast.
Her posture makes it look like she is enthroned or having great authority.
Revelations 17:18 says she is a city.
This city is prosperous and powerful, but also idolatrous (“blasphemy”) and dangerous.
It pollutes the nations with its filth and abomination and persecutes Gods people.
It is a sickening city - in light of Gods holiness
On her forehead is Mystery and the Mystery is Babylon
Original Babylon built by Nimrod - In this city the tower of Babel was built and God destroyed it.
This is the Babylonian center. Then remember Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel - It was the city of indulgence and excess.
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Ten: Desolation and Destruction! (Revelation 17–18)
Babylon became a great empire before finally falling to Media-Persia. But from the beginning of Nimrod’s city in Genesis 10, an insidious anti-God “Babylonian influence” has been felt throughout history.
It is a symbol of that which draws people away from God. One theologian says it is the embodiment of the lusts of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
In Johns day this would have looked like Rome.
It represents a political system that is all about itself and not about God.
The Prophet Isaiah called Jerusalem a Harlot
In Is 1:21
How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.
Now lets look at the beast that she sits upon - the beast is the AntiChrist
7 heads -= 7 mountains = which are seven kings (Empires)
5 are Gone Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece
1 is present - which would be Rome ( Domitian is the emperor)
The other is to come A rising empire that was counted out but came back to life.
The last kingdom will rival the Roman Empire
10 horns = 10 kings or world leaders ( future leaders) AntiChrist and 10 other leaders.
They will fight against Jesus and Jesus will win
So who is it?
Readers in John’s day would identify this with the Roman Empire.
Readers in the Middle Ages might identify it as the Roman ecclesiastical system.
Today, some believers see “the harlot” and the Babylonian system in an apostate “world church” that minimizes doctrinal truth, rejects the authority of the Word, and tries to unite professed believers on some other basis than faith in Jesus Christ.
Other s believe it is Islam.
The beast and the woman are situated together
But in the end the Harlot which is a city is destroyed. The city that takes world stage comes down to dust.
This system will be replaced by a world dominating system.
Babylon is destroyed. we will talk about it in Chapter 18.
Lets look at the theme verse for this Chapter
“These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.”
Conclusion
In the end it is all about Pride -ego- power - greed- do what you want to do when you want to do it .
It is also about deception and rebellion.
It is prostituting oneself with the world.
In the end it becomes all about you
How about we use the word faithfulness.
Can I tie this into Fathers day sure.
You want to be a great dad it starts by loving and being faithful to your wife.
Not only a faithful husband but a Good Good Father.
We are going to close with one of the most sung worship songs a couple of years ago.
It gives us a glimpse of the character of God.