Revelation Chapter Seventeen Commentary

I. Introduction

Our purpose is to render a commentary on Revelation chapter seventeen. The reader may wish to peruse our “Revelation Chapter Thirteen Commentary” as preparatory introduction to this commentary.

We will follow this format:

• Verse of Scripture utilizing the YLT text followed by an NASB mouseover of that verse. Key words in the YLT text will be footnoted with a link to a word study based on the Greek text, and/or a general discussion relative to the given word (we are not biblical Greek or Hebrew scholars, please consider our grammatical constructions with a critical eye).

• Commentary We shall be commenting on this passage keeping before us at all times the crucial fact that every jot and every tittle comprising these verses came forth under the inspiration of the blessed Holy Spirit. We pray that He, by His grace, helps us along the way.

II. Revelation Chapter Seventeen Commentary Verses

17:1-6 Heart-Sin Arrows Aimed at the Heart of Jehovah God

YLT TEXT: And there came one of the seven messengers, who were having the seven vials [1], and he spake with me, saying to me, `Come, I will shew to thee the judgment of the great whore [2], who is sitting upon the many waters, with whom the kings of the earth did commit whoredom; and made drunk from the wine of her whoredom were those inhabiting the earth;’ and he carried me away to a wilderness in the Spirit, and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-coloured Beast, full of names of evil-speaking, having seven heads and ten horns, and the woman was arrayed with purple and scarlet-colour, and gilded with gold, and precious stone, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and uncleanness of her whoredom, and upon her forehead was a name written: `Secret [3], Babylon the Great [4], the Mother of the Whores, and the Abominations of the earth.’ And I saw the woman drunken from the blood of the saints, and from the blood of the witnesses of Jesus, and I did wonder — having seen her — with great wonder. Rev 17:1-6

COMMENTARY:

Who is this whore great, upon the waters sitting,

that tribes, and tongues, and nations find so fitting?

See the fine scarlet, the purple, the endearing queen finely arrayed,

and her golden cup, not foul, no stench, with endearing whoredoms inlaid.

Drink, if ye must, while ye can, tarry nay, not a moment wait,

for doomed is this whore, endearing, called Babylon the Great.

We are here removed and straightaway dropped headlong into the midst of a scene of cataclysmic Judgment in continuity with the previous chapters. In view are seven mighty messengers of Jehovah God—awesome, holy angels; trustworthy servants of God, and ministers for Jesus Christ and the Gospel—bearing in seven bowls if you will His wrath directed toward Sin; bowls that are to be poured out in devastating Judgment upon sinful, impenitent, antiGod humankind, and upon his abode (for his abode he has grievously corrupted in the courses of his Sin and it must be done away with to give place for an uncorrupted abode). Our verses in this chapter concern a specific judgment, that of a “great whore” sitting upon many waters: “…And there came one of the seven messengers, who were having the seven vials, and he spake with me, saying to me, `Come, I will shew to thee the judgment of the great whore, who is sitting upon the many waters…” Her sitting upon many waters bespeaks of her suffusing influence upon and presence amongst multitudes of people: “…with whom the kings of the earth did commit whoredom; and made drunk from the wine of her whoredom were those inhabiting the earth;…” (cf. Rev 17:15), but, just who is this woman here spoken of? And why does Jehovah God describe her in this manner, a whore? Rome, in our incarnate Lord’s day, in the beloved John’s day, was a very religious place. Better said, it was a hyper-religious place. Possibly humankind had not seen such religiosity before, nor has it seen quite the same fervor in that regard since. A Roman had a god for this need and another for that need; a philosophy for this fancy and another for that, and what individual deities, ideals, philosophies, religions, etc., could not “satisfy,” various combinations of the same were employed toward that end (“Early Christendom: Admixtures of Roman Syncretism”). But Rome only built on the superstitions and spiritual fancies of the civilizations that preceded her—superstitions and fancies she inevitably assimilated as a consequence of her conquest of these civilizations—and rather brought them all together in a most “expedient” way; that is, expedient for Roman needs, but certainly errant and idolatrous [5]. Thus the religiosity of Rome in the apostle John’s day, in the day of our incarnate Lord’s Visitation, was highly syncretic. The significance of this syncretism in relation to this woman sitting upon many waters comes to the fore when we learn that not only does she ‘sit upon many waters,’ that is, her suffusing influence upon and presence amongst multitudes of peoples is pervasive, but that she also sits upon a scarlet-colored (bloody) Beast with seven heads and ten horns: “…and he carried me away to a wilderness in the Spirit, and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of evil-speaking, having seven heads and ten horns…” This Beast with seven heads and ten horns is no doubt the Sea Beast of Revelation chapter thirteen (cf. Rev 12:3-the Beast is satanic; “Revelation Chapter Thirteen Commentary”), which we discuss in the commentary on Revelation chapter thirteen in relation to the seven great world kingdoms related by Scripture, of which Rome is the sixth, and the revived Roman empire from which Antichrist will emerge is the seventh (Revelation Chapter Thirteen Commentary: Figure 1). Thus this woman, this whore sitting upon many waters and upon a scarlet-colored Beast, could easily be understood to be the spirit of Roman syncretism of John’s day, idolatrous to the core [2, 5], ever propagating (Rom 1:19-25); propagating through human history by way of the great world kingdoms and their civilizations as depicted by this scarlet-colored Beast, itself the Sea Beast of Revelation chapter thirteen (Rev 13), which Beast is burdened by this great whore upon many waters (peoples), because, after all, she is sitting upon this scarlet-colored Beast. Thus we are not shocked to learn that from the revived Roman Empire will emerge Antichrist, the final, thus eighth, head of this Beast-depicted-world-system and its anti-Jehovah God false-religion leanings.

By the time John was writing Revelation, state-sanctioned (Roman) persecution of Christians had begun, so it is no surprise that he writes of Roman-sourced blood-letting here: “…And I saw the woman drunken from the blood of the saints, and from the blood of the witnesses of Jesus, and I did wonder — having seen her — with great wonder…”, but he could not have known of the tragic extent of that suffering but by divine revelation, for it continued for some two-hundred years through the reign of Diocletian (AD 284-305). We do not doubt it even a little bit that he John was shown the full extent of that suffering, thus his use of descriptors like “…drunken from the blood of the saints, and from the witnesses of Jesus…” [6].

17:7-14 The Sea Beast of Revelation Chapter Thirteen Explained

YLT TEXT: and the messenger said to me, `Wherefore didst thou wonder? I — I will tell thee the secret of the woman and of the beast that [is] carrying [7] her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns. `The beast that thou didst see: it was, and it is not; and it is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go away to destruction, and wonder shall those dwelling upon the earth, whose names have not been written upon the scroll of the life from the foundation of the world, beholding the beast that was, and is not, although it is. `Here [is] the mind that is having wisdom; the seven heads are seven mountains, upon which the woman doth sit, and there are seven kings, the five did fall, and the one is, the other did not yet come, and when he may come, it behoveth him to remain a little time; and the beast that was, and is not, he also is eighth, and out of the seven he is, and to destruction he doth go away. `And the ten horns that thou sawest, are ten kings, who a kingdom did not yet receive, but authority as kings the same hour do receive with the beast. these have one mind, and their own power and authority to the beast they shall give over; these with the Lamb shall make war, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because Lord of lords he is, and King of kings, and those with him are called, and choice, and stedfast.’ Rev 17:7-14

COMMENTARY: We are given in these verses an explanation of the Sea Beast of Revelation chapter thirteen (please see our discussion: “Revelation Chapter Thirteen Commentary: Antichrist and the Sea Beast”).

The important message of these verses is that the Lamb—our great savior God Jesus—and His faithful ones will overcome this Beast in the end: “…these with the Lamb shall make war, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because Lord of lords he is, and King of kings, and those with him are called, and choice, and stedfast…” (cf Dan 7:9-14, 21-22).

We turn our focus for the moment back to the woman upon this Beast. Notice that the Beast “carries” her, this bloody Beast consisting of the great world kingdoms past (Egypt through Greece, in order), present (Rome), and going forward through the seventh (revived Roman Empire) and eighth (Antichrist, who emerges out of the seventh/revived Roman Empire): “…I will tell thee the secret of the woman and of the beast that [is] carrying her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns …” This “carrying” we think is a picture of unwanted, religious, be that as it may, Burden, as we shall see presently.

17:15-18 Idolatry Laid Waste-Jehovah God Is never Mocked

YLT TEXT: And he saith to me, `The waters that thou didst see, where the whore doth sit, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues;’ and the ten horns that thou didst see upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her in fire, for God did give into their hearts to do its mind, and to make one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast till the sayings of God may be complete, and the woman that thou didst see is the great city that is having reign over the kings of the land.’Rev 17:15-18

COMMENTARY: Jehovah God is here shown to be in charge; He is shown to be actively participating in the action, for He has given them (Beast, crony kings) over to their evil purposes in unanimity no less: “…the ten horns that thou sawest, are ten kings, who a kingdom did not yet receive, but authority as kings the same hour do receive with the beast. these have one mind, and their own power and authority to the beast they shall give over…” There is one mindset when the crony kings ascend their thrones, and it is satanic (Isa 14:12-14 shows the motivation)—Satan’s intent through these puppets would seem to be to eliminate competing worship, and to direct all of the same to himself. When the Christian Church is raptured, what is left is hardcore unbelief, outright idolatrous (false) religion, and phony Christendom (the delineation between the latter two whoredoms is not crisp). And these worshipers Satan will either proselytize or eliminate such that all remaining worship of him is focused, and consciously intentional, overt ( Fig. 1)—this is exaltation-lust at work (cf. “Commentary Revelation Chapter Thirteen: Perched for a Kill” for another angle). Importantly, the vain mindset, the vain mortar that binds his puppets in unanimity, is a manifestation of the antiGod times that have transitioned to atheism, self-deification, and demonic infatuations, in that spirituality, be that as it may, has become a burden, dead weight; has become an encumbrance in the characteristically vain revived Roman Empire going forward: “… and the ten horns that thou didst see upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her in fire, for God did give into their hearts to do its mind, and to make one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast till the sayings of God may be complete…” (red font added), (cf. Rev 14:8). Jehovah God is never mocked, not even a little bit—God has here ridded Himself of false religion at the hands of His enemies no less and through the very mortar of blasphemy particular to the proud neo-headed Beast (Psa 2:4). What is left is the Beast and its crony kings, all of which our God will ultimately destroy personally: “…these with the Lamb shall make war, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because Lord of lords he is, and King of kings, and those with him are called, and choice, and stedfast…” (cf. Dan 7:9-14, 21-22)—but no more whore sitting upon many waters when this phase of human history consummates—the contestants for human souls at this point are overtly two, ‘face to face’ if you will: Jehovah God, and Satan. Jehovah God has always presented Himself openly to the worshiper of course (“A Letter of Invitation”), so there is no change there; not so with the latter—here is a new twist, and many will choose Satan in that sore day owing to the wicked labors of Antichrist and his false prophet crony.

And finally, we are given what appears to us as a clear connective between the woman and syncretic Rome as presented above: “…and the woman that thou didst see is the great city that is having reign over the kings of the land…”

Praised be your Name Father God Jehovah, Espoused, Exalted…