Day 23 of Revelation Study: Chapter 17

A Global Deception

One of the seven angels who just finished pouring out their bowl of God’s wrath upon the Earth came to John and took him to see the great prostitute [i.e. Babylon (17:5)]. Verse one describes this woman to be “seated on many waters.” Now, this may sound strange but, we know from 17:15 that the “waters” referenced here refer to many peoples and nations and languages. Habakkuk 2:14 prophesies that “the Earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” This, believe it or not, is Biblical language. This terminology has the idea of a vast covering or to be seen as all-encompassing.

The text goes on to say that she was sitting upon the scarlet beast that had seven heads and ten horns [i.e. the great red dragon (12:3)], which signifies that the entire world system of immorality and debauchery sits on the back of Satan’s deception. Notice what John did when he first laid eyes on her — he marveled (17:6). This woman is beautiful and that is how she has gone so far as to deceive the nations. Her beauty and seduction has been a snare and a trap to the kings of the Earth by leading them into further immorality and indulgence of sin (17:2).

Rise of the Beast

Again, a miraculous sign is performed among the beast. 17:8 [along with the context of verse seven before it] says that “…the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.” This most likely means that the beast will die at some point and then literally rise from the dead. Can you imagine the shock of the world upon seeing this? They will say of him, “This man was, and then was not; but then he came back!”

Somehow and in some way, there are ten kings who will receive total world power. This is likely due to the collapsing of national governments as a result of God’s global catastrophes as He continues to plague the Earth. However, very soon after obtaining this governing authority they will, with one accord, hand it over completely to the main beast [i.e. the Anti-Christ]. This is because in 17:17 it says that “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.” What we must remember is that even the most corrupt governing authorities are completely under the umbrella of God’s overarching sovereignty.

The "Great" City

The last verse of chapter seventeen informs us that the woman [i.e. the prostitute], that John saw, “is the great city which has dominion over the kings of the Earth.” Many scholars believe that this great city is Rome of the revived Roman empire. However, no matter what city it is, it seems like it is the place to be in the last days. Apparently, it is the world headquarters during the Great Tribulation. This will be the city where all of the world leaders unanimously decide to come under one roof by creating and forming a one-world government. It is here that they will come when the rapture handicaps nations and strikes fear into the eyes of their people. It is here that they will hash out plans on what further steps to take in bringing aid and support to the billions left who are suffering from an almost global famine and major increase in natural disasters. Finally, it is here that the plurality of global leadership will hand over sole authority and responsibility to the “little horn” which rises above the rest [i.e. the coming Anti-Christ (Dan. 7:8)].

Continue on to read about chapter 18.

*Click here to read the purpose of this blog series.