Daniel and
Revelation - Revelation Chapter 17
CHAPTER -- XVII --
Babylon - The Mother (Excerpt
taken from Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897-1911 Editions)
Revelation 17
p 702 -- VERSE 1.
And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked
with me, saying unto me, Come thither; I will show unto thee the judgment of
the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2. With whom the
kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth
have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3. So he
carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a
scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten
horns. 4. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color,
and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her
hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5.
And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE
MOTHER OF HARLOTS, AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
In verse 19 of the
preceding chapter, we were informed that "great Babylon came in
remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness
of his wrath." The prophet now takes up more particularly the subject of
this great Babylon; and in order to give a full presentation of it, goes back
and gives us some of the facts of her past history.
That this apostate woman, as presented in this
chapter, is a symbol of the Roman Catholic Church, is generally believed by
Protestants. Between this church and the kings of the earth there has been
illicit connection, and with the wine of her fornication, or her false
doctrines, the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk.
Church and State. -
This prophecy is more definite than others applicable to the Roman power, in
that it distinguishes between church and state. We here have the woman, the
p 703 -- church,
seated upon a scarlet-colored beast, the civil power, by which she is upheld,
and which she controls and guides to her own ends, as a rider controls the
animal upon which he is seated.
The vesture and
decorations of this woman, as brought to view in verse 4, are in striking
harmony with the application made of this symbol; for purple and scarlet are
the chief colors in the robes of popes and cardinals; and among the myriads of
precious stones which adorn her service, according to an eye-witness, silver is
scarcely known, and gold itself looks but poorly. And from the golden cup in
her hand, - symbol of purity of doctrine and profession, which should have
contained only that which is unadulterated and pure, or, explaining the figure,
only that which is in full accordance with truth, - there came forth only
abominations, and wine of her fornication, fit symbol of her abominable
doctrines and still more abominable practices.
This woman is
explicitly called Babylon.
Is Rome, then,
Babylon, to the exclusion of all other religious bodies? - No, from the fact
that she is called the mother of harlots, as already noticed, which shows that
there are other independent religious organizations that constitute the
apostate daughters, and belong to the same great family.
*******
And now a little bit
from another Biblical scholar, William Grotheer--
1995 Sep -- XXVIII
-- 9(95) -- EXEGESIS OF REVELATION -- THE HARLOT AND THE BEAST -- Part 5 -- In
1534, the Luther Bible, in connection with Revelation 17, showed a cut of a
woman wearing the triple tiara of the popes and riding a seven-headed dragon.
The obvious deduction was that this symbolic woman represented the Papacy.
Uriah Smith in his Thoughts on the Revelation, adopts the same basic view. He
wrote: "This prophecy is more
definite than others applicable to the Roman power, in that it distinguishes
between church and state. We here have the woman, the church, seated upon a
scarlet-colored beast, the civil power." (pp. 702-703, 1897 ed.)
This same basic
concept from the Reformation has continued to be the traditional Adventist view
of the woman and the beast of Revelation 17, with the added focus on what is
termed, "the daughters of Babylon." However this designation is not
found in the book of Revelation. Looking at Revelation 17 from a exegetical
viewpoint, what is its message?
First it is uniquely
connected with the time just preceding the Seven Last Plagues. Of the woman who
sits as a "queen," it is declared that "her plagues (shall) come
in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned
with fire." (Rev. 18:8; 17:16) Further, it is one of the angels of the
Seven Last Plagues who shows to John "the judgment of the great
whore." (17:1)
The designation of
the angel who unfolds to John these final visions of the book as "one of
the angels which had the seven vials" is in itself revealing from
different perspectives. (17:1; 21:9) First, "the Revelation of Jesus
Christ which God gave unto Him to shew unto His servants ... He sent and
signified it by His angel unto His servant John." (1:1) Twice during the
final revelation by the designated angel as one who was involved in the Seven
Last Plagues, John attempts "to worship" him. (19:10; 22:8-9) Each
time he is told, "See that thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of
thy brethren the prophets that have the testimony of
p 2 -- Jesus."
(Composite of the two previous references) It was Gabriel who stated to Daniel
that "there is none who holdeth with me in these things (the Scripture of
truth) but Michael your prince." (Dan. 10:21) Not only does this confirm
Gabriel as "His angel" but also clearly indicates that Gabriel is one
of the angels involved in the pouring out of the Seven Last Plagues, if not the
chief angel.
The question arises,
if Gabriel shows to John, "the Lamb's wife" - "that great city,
the holy Jerusalem," whose wife is she who is also designated as
"that great city." and boasts herself as a "queen"? The use
of the word, "holy" is in contrast to the "city" which is
"full of abominations." (17:4-5) Is it unholy Jerusalem?
One must recognize
that in this final section of Revelation there is set forth two cities -
Babylon and the New Jerusalem; two women - the one "clothed with the
sun" and the one bedecked with gold and pearls; two wives - one, the wife
of the Lamb, and the other, the wife of the "scarlet colored beast."
Who is this
"scarlet colored beast"? It has seven heads and ten horns as the
serpent-dragon of Revelation 12. It should be observed that when the beast of
Revelation 13, which also had seven heads and ten horns, is described, its
bodily differences from the dragon are noted. (13:2) No such differences are
given of the beast of Revelation 17, except the absence of crowns on the heads,
and the color change from fiery red to scarlet. The word for scarlet (kokkinon)
is used to describe the color of the robe the Roman soldiers put on Christ in
mockery of Him as "King of the Jews." (Matt. 27:28) No longer are the
heads crowned, the dragon is reigning.
This beast is
described as "was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit,
and go into perdition." (17:8) This past, present and future designation
parallels the same description for "the Almighty" who "is, and
which was, and which is to come" (1:8); but with distinct differences. In
contrast to the One who "is to come," whose kingdom the dragon-beast
has challenged, this beast goes into "perdition," or destruction
(20:10) The kingdom of God is confirmed by the power of His Christ.
The first section
(Chapters 2-11) of the book of Revelation closes with three Woes. During the
time of the Second Woe, "the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless
pit" is introduced. (11:7) He operates just prior to the Third Woe - which
cometh, "quickly." The final Woe marks the close of all human
probation, and the pouring out of "the wrath of God." (11:15 - 19) If
then, the activities of the beast designated in Revelation 11 are amplified in
Chapter 17, the time frame for the fulfillment of the events in Chapter 17 is
established - "the last remnant of time."
"The beast that
was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven". Note
carefully, that while the eighth, he is not of the seventh, but of the seven.
He is the power which, though invisible, has operated through all seven heads.
Now he assumes openly his claim of rulership of the kings of earth gathered
together to a place called in the Hebrew tongue, Har-Mo'ed. (16:13-14, 16)
This brings us to a
review of who are the seven heads. Various interpretations have been set forth.
One must keep in mind that the controversy between the dragon and the woman who
gave birth to the Man-Child goes back to the first gospel promise (Gen. 3:15)
which is symbolically represented in the vision which introduce the second
section of Revelation (12:1-3 ). Further, the scope of the book included those
who sing the song of Moses as well as the Lamb (15:3). This binding of the
Bible together as a unit with Moses standing for the Old Testament times, and
Jesus Christ for the New Testament is an established concept. (John 1:17; Heb.
3:5-6) Thus the warfare of the dragon-beast against the people of God must
begin with the persecution of the corporate body by Egypt. Understanding the
definitive declaration of the angel as being expressed from John's point of
time (17:10), the five which had fallen were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon,
Medo-Persia and Grecia. One was, Rome - Pagan and Papal - and one yet to come,
and he was to "continue a short space."
The reason I suggest
the sixth head as pagan-papal Rome as a viable exegesis of this definitive
declaration is that in the Book of Daniel, the two are placed as one. The
"little horn" of Daniel 7, ever remains a part of the non-descript
beast. The "little horn" of Daniel 8 represents both phases of Rome.
But what is represented by the "head" that continues a "short
space"? Is it the second beast of Revelation 13, or the "image"
formed? Regardless which power is chosen, following this, the dragon -
"that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan" - appears in person
asserting his right of rulership - he "is."
We next turn our
attention to the woman. Instead of eisegetically reading into the symbol
p 3 -- the
traditional concept from the Reformation and the Millerite Movement, let us see
just what the Scripture is saying. The "woman" is designated as
"that great city" (17:18), or Babylon the great. By pursuing this
avenue of revelation, we observe that "that great city" in its fall
is to be divided into three parts (16:19). Further, there are three symbolic
powers, out of whose mouths come "unclean spirits" (16:13-14) which
assemble "the kings of the earth and the whole world" to a place
called in the Hebrew, Har-Mo'ed, or Mount of the Congregation.
Perceiving this
scarlet-colored beast to be the symbolic representation of Satan's literal
appearing as the long looked for Messiah of Judaism, and the "Coming
King" of Christian tradition, coincides with God's revelation of Lucifer's
intent. He purposed in his heart "to sit also upon the mount of the
congregation (har-mo'ed), in the sides of the north." (Isa. 14:13) This is
defined as mount Zion, "the city of the great King." (Ps. 48:2)
Again, you have a
contrasting aspect of the prophecy of Revelation. While the rulers of earth are
gathered on earthly Mount Zion, which Jesus declared to be desolate (Matt.
23:38), there is portrayed another gathering on the heavenly mount Sion - the
144,000 with the Lamb (14:1). Those who refuse to bow to the false Christ, are
honored by the true Christ through Whom they overcome and by Whom they are
delivered (12:11; 17:14).
Now let us return to
the three parts of Babylon. As we seek to find an answer, we need to keep
in mind that any
interpretation must be tentative, and can only be truly known as the scroll
unrolls. However, it is interesting to observe that the one which Bible
prophecy designates as a key player in the final drama of earth - the Papacy -
speaks not only of Jerusalem, but of that city as the source of reverence of
three monotheistic religions - Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. '
*******
By the grace of God
may we find further understanding. More
tomorrow by the grace of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. All by HIS
will! Hopefully tomorrow we can go over
this yet again and continue to gain truth and comprehension, please Lord,
please help us, bless us.
No comments:
Post a Comment