Daniel and
Revelation - Revelation Chapter 17
CHAPTER -- XVII --
Babylon - The Mother (Excerpt
taken from Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897-1911 Editions)
VERSE 6. And I saw
the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the
martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
7. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell
thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath
the seven heads and ten horns.
Cause of Wonder. -
Why should John wonder with great astonishment when he saw the woman drunken
with the blood of saints? Was persecution of the people of God any strange
thing in his day? Had he not seen Rome launch its most fiery anathemas against
the church, himself being in banishment under its cruel power at the time he
wrote? Why, then, should he be astonished, as he looked forward, and saw Rome
still persecuting the saints? The secret of his wonder was just this: all the
persecution he had witnessed had been
p 704 -- from pagan
Rome, the open enemy of Christ. It was not strange that pagans should persecute
Christ's followers; but when he looked forward, and saw a church professedly
Christian persecuting the followers of the Lamb, and drunken with their blood,
he could but wonder with great amazement.
VERSE 8. The beast
that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit,
and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose
names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world,
when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9.
And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on
which the woman sitteth. 10. And there are seven kings: five are
fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must
continue a short space. 11. And the beast that was, and is not,
even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
Rome in Three
Phases. - The beast of which the angel here speaks is evidently the scarlet
beast. A wild beast, like the one thus introduced, is the symbol of an
oppressive and persecuting power; and while the Roman power as a nation had a
long, uninterrupted existence, it passed through certain phases during which
this symbol would be applicable to it, and during which time, consequently, the
beast, in such prophecies as the present, might be said not to be, or not to
exist. Thus Rome in its pagan form was a persecuting power in its relation to
the people of God, during which time it constituted the beast that was; but the
empire was nominally converted to Christianity; there was a transition from
paganism to another phase of religion falsely called Christian; and during a
brief period, while this transition was going on, it lost its ferocious and
persecuting character, and then it could be said of the beast that it was not.
Time passed on, and it degenerated into popery, and again assumed its bloodthirsty
and oppressive character, and then it constituted the beast that "yet
is," or in John's day was to be.
The Seven Heads. -
The seven heads are explained to be, first, seven mountains, and then seven
kings, or forms of government; for the expression in verse 10, "And there
are seven kings," should read, and these are seven kings. "Five are
fallen," says the angel, or passed away; "one is;" the sixth
p 705 -- was then
reigning; another was to come, and continue for a short space; and when the
beast reappeared in its bloody and persecuting character, it was to be under
the eighth form of government, which was to continue till the beast went into
perdition. The seven forms of government that have existed in the Roman empire
are usually enumerated as follows: (1) kingly; (2)
consular; (3) decemvirate; (4) dictatorial; (5) triumvirate; (6)
imperial; and (7) papal. Kings, consuls, decemvirs, dictators and
triumvirs had passed away in John's day. He was living under the imperial form.
Two more were to arise after his time. One was only to continue a short space,
and hence is not usually reckoned among the heads; while the last, which is
usually denominated the seventh, is in reality the eighth. The head which was
to succeed the imperial, and continue a short space, could not be the papal;
for that has continued longer than all the rest put together. We understand,
therefore, that the papal head is the eighth, and that a head of short
continuance intervened between the imperial and papal. In fulfilment of this,
we read that after the imperial form had been abolished, there was a ruler who
for about the space of sixty years governed Rome under the title of the
"Exarch of Ravenna." Thus we have the connecting link between the
imperial and papal heads. The third phase of the beast that was, and is not,
and yet is, is the Roman power under the rule of the papacy; and in this form
it ascends out of the bottomless pit, or bases its power on pretensions which
have no foundation but a mixture of Christian errors and pagan
superstitions.
*******
Now another view….
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. '
*******
As the scroll
unrolls.
We live waiting for
the scroll to unroll to the point of our Savior's return. We watch, we see the
horrors of our world unfolding. We are told that our world has always been
barbaric and yes, it has since sin entered. It was so incredibly barbaric that
God destroyed all the evil people in a flood.
He didn't outright destroy ALL people because there was a promise made
when sin entered the world- a promise of a redeemer. A Savior would save
mankind as evil as it was and is. As it was in the days of Noah… it would be in
the end. And it's not so much that we are creating coliseums and holding
spectator sports of torturous murder, our evil is hidden under many disguises
and not so blatantly exposed. We catch glimpses of that evil from time to time,
serial killers are exposed, crime syndicates are revealed, every bit of horror
that creeps daily into our news feeds, horrors we cringe from and quickly click
away from, those are tiny bits of what has filtered to the surface and nothing
of what is still hiding underneath. Our
evil is every bit as horrific as all previous generations, the worst of the
worst. We watch the signs we are told
to watch, we are praying for deliverance, we long for our Savior to return.
I read something
recently about God allowing the bad, the pain we live in (emotionally,
physically, mentally, spiritually) as it truly does remind us that THIS world
is NOT the home we long for.
As we continue our
study we are waiting for the scroll to unfold and by the grace of God all we
read will help us to be ready for our Savior. Prayerfully all we are studying
now will aid us in our future leading us ever closer to our God.
In the name of Jesus
Christ, our Lord, our Savior, now and forever! AMEN!
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