“A CIVILIZATION NAMED BABYLON”
Revelation 17
Today, we continue our exploration of the book of Revelation: the book that
finalizes the message of the Bible. In today’s schedule we arrive at chapter
17. Though there are many intriguing sections of this prophetic book, this
one is the most susceptible chapter to very sophisticated, speculative, ever
changing interpretation. As we have attempted to avoid such artificial
interpretation throughout this series, we are attempting to use a more simple
approach when understanding what the Word of Scripture is saying. Isn’t it
better for us to try and gain meaning of this chapter based on the entire
message of the Bible? I am convinced it is!
Here, two major principles of Bible interpretation which are used over
and over again by Bible scholars stand out!
1.) Scripture is to interpret Scripture! When the Lord of the Universe
wraps up human history, as humans have known it throughout time,
He will bring to an end an ongoing battle of enormous magnitude!
The entire Scripture is the story of a massive conflict between Evil
and righteousness. This struggle spans human history from the
Garden of Eden to the second coming of the Son of God. Thus, when
a specific enemy of God is identified in the book we are studying,
isn’t it more appropriate to see the enemy as the very force which has
been in conflict with God since sin entered the world? To speculate
on the “prostitute named Babylon”, mentioned in chapter 17, in light
of a particular institution, individual, or event at a certain time of
human history is very foolish and most likely: a stab in the dark! Isn’t
it most logical to see a force, which has been opposing God’s activity
throughout human history, as the force God is going to eliminate?
This principle of interpretation is to allow the entire scope of
Scripture to speak consistently from cover to cover; book to book.
2.) Truth must be taken in context! When the Lord of the Universe
wraps up human history. As humans have known it through time, He
will also fit His activity “in the context” of His entire message.
Simply put: the Christian message; the Christian faith; the Christian
way of life is (and has always been) counter-culture to the way of the
world. The root of “SIN” has been human pride and self-sufficiency
ever since the serpent tempted Eve in the garden! Lucifer’s temptation
to mankind was: “If you eat of the forbidden fruit you will be like
God”! And, in context with the Bible story, God has confronted
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individuals & His people in general, with the need for them to forsake
relying on their own resources, energies, and power to accomplish
anything. This has been true throughout the Old Testament and the
nation Israel. It has been true throughout the New Testament and the
new Israel, the Church. Having been created in the “image of God”,
and then tainted by sin; mankind ALWAYS defaults back to the
tendency of problem solving, fixing things, and handling situations:
ON HIS/HER OWN!!!!! And from Genesis to Revelation God keeps
informing mankind: “DON’T DO THAT. THAT IS NOT HOW
LIFE OPERATES!” The context of the Bible walks us through that
reality ALL THE TIME!
So: the question is: “Who is this “great prostitute who sits on many
waters? With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the
inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her
adulteries.” John was carried by the Holy Spirit into a desert, and he saw a
“woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous
names and had 7 heads and 10 horns. The woman was dressed in purple
and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She
held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the
filth of her adulteries. This title was written on her forehead:
MYSTERY
BABYLON THE GREAT
THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES
AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF
THE EARTH!(verses 1-5)
Dropping down to verses 15-18 we read: “the angel said to me, ‘The
waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes,
nations, and languages. The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate
the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will
eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts
to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to
rule, until God’s words are fulfilled. The woman you saw is the great
city that rules over the kings of the earth.”
The emphasis upon harlotry requires careful analysis: IN CONTEXT, with
human history! A harlot, a prostitute sells selfish pleasure for a price. Her
merchandise is to offer personal satisfaction that is totally self-oriented. We
can define prostitution as “to sell for selfish pleasure that which is designed
by God for the highest and holiest purpose.” If this terminology is offensive
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to you, we can only say that it is Biblical! The Spirit of God intended us to
confront the gross nature of the condition described. This Lady Babylon
equals human civilization as a whole. The phrases “many waters” and
“available to all earth’s kings”, speak of UNIVERSALITY. Regardless of
the time period of human civilization: Ancient times – Medieval times –
Industrial Revolution times – Modern times – Postmodern times; civilization
has one ultimate characteristic! The description of the human race
throughout all time has been the offering of selfish pleasure for a price.
Once mankind sinned in the Garden, he immediately began to prostitute the
beautiful gifts of God, given for God’s glory, to his mankind’s own pleasure.
The earth, itself, is prostituted! It was designed for man to cultivate unto
God’s glory! Now, for generations untold, it becomes the means by which
man gains satisfaction for himself. Mankind pays the price of his labor and
he hires the prostitute, taking for personal enjoyment that which he was to
have used for God’s glory and, IN THE PROCESS, to have made more
beautiful.
This idea of harlotry relates directly to John’s words in his first Epistle, the
second chapter; “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone
loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the
world: the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and his pride in
possessions – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world
and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives
forever!” (1 John 2:15-17)
This pleasure for a price use of God’s creation involves the pleasure of
mind, of eye, of body, and of soul whenever they are characterized by
selfishness and purchased by human effort rather than through dependence
upon the goodness of God! It is significant in Revelation 17:3 that the
prostitute, HUMAN CIVILIZATION, is supported by the Beast and by the
supernatural enemy, The Dragon! It is magnificent in its luxury and beauty!
Note the plural in the title of verse 5, “mystery Babylon the great, mother
of prostitute(s) and of the abomination(s) of the earth.” Babylon is not
simply a harlot; she is a madam with a household of prostitutes where the
customer surveys that which is offered: chooses: and pays! Consider with
me some of these prostitutes who live in the madam’s house. This passage is
parallel to the Book of Ecclesiastes (written by the wisest man of humanity,
apart from Christ: Solomon). In that Old Testament book the King writes to
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his son advise following experimentation with all the enticements of the
world: looking for fulfillment. His conclusion is that each of the things to
live life for; apart from God’s way of life (called wisdom) is emptiness.
The first prostitute is the enticement of wealth: It is the drive to obtain
things for personal security, pleasure, status, and richness. This is harlotry
where things are enjoyed without gratitude and praise to the giver. This is to
actually believe that anything in this world can be a “possession” of a
human. To enjoy God’s gifts and yet not recognize that they are given by
God, AND BELONG TO HIM: therefore they are on loan, is to “hire the
harlot”! How often do God’s people visit this prostitute? Before we answer
that question too quickly we must consider what our “possessions” mean to
us. HARLOTRY (remember again) IS TO TAKE THE HOLY GIFTS
OF GOD AND TO USE THEM WITHOUT RESPONSIBILITY IN
ORDER TO ACHIEVE PERSONAL SATISFACTION AND
PLEASURE.
There’s another harlot who lives in the madam’s house, of human
civilization. I picture her with raven hair and eyes that sparkle and penetrate.
Her name is Power. She has a thousand sisters, all offering positions, some
in society, others in business, or art, or politics, or education, or religion. To
visit this harlot is to prostitute the responsible privilege of leadership to the
pleasure of position.
There is a harlot who wears the robe of a priestess, named Faith. How often
we have heard, in pagan lands, of the tragedy of temple prostitution. But
there is a temple prostitution practiced in Christian America, today! There is
an enticement, in the Church, when a person uses their religion, be it ever so
orthodox or fundamental, simply as the basis of personal satisfaction and
pleasure. When faith leads, not to the Throne of God where men bow in
submission, but to comfortable altars where men and women satisfy their
carnal souls with comfortable religion, then Faith has become the harlot.
Look through the madam’s house (in the word picture God, Himself uses
through John’s words!) You’ll find a prostitute in playclothes whose name is
Pleasure, inviting people to use the holy gifts of God simply to satisfy
themselves. One can prostitute the mountains, the rivers, the lakes, the
beaches. Or there is the harlot, Education, in cap and gown employing
academic opportunities for this same selfish ambition. Or even the
temptress Creativity in an artist’s smock, turning the creative genius of the
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human person to personal glory, personal satisfaction, and merely personal
expression. All these share the heart of the Madam: the great harlot who
sells personal pleasure for a price!
A major characteristic of this evil temptress is her hostility to the Bride.
Notice, how again and again throughout this portion of Scripture, there is
emphasis upon the fact that her judgment comes because of her abuse of the
people of God! That is understandable. The harlot is ALWAYS hostile to the
Bride; the debauched resents the pure; the depraved scorns the true; the
licentious despises, mocks, and laughs at the Bride. What is the picture
here????? Civilization is no friend to true faith! Allied with the Beast,
supported by the Dragon, she is EVER AT ENMITY with the Church of the
living Lord! This is the harlot. She is always around us, beckoning us to
immerse ourselves in the cultural nuances of our world! AND, we have
become so engulfed by her that she is so common she often goes
unrecognized!
WOW!!!!! The message of chapter 17 hits close to home; is
uncomfortable; is convicting; sets things in a true perspective! No
wonder churches today are so empty, except for huge assemblies of folks
going to an event, every weekend! The world in which we live has suckered
mankind: men and women alike into saturating their lives with all the
infidelities of the culture in which they live. And, in this generation, we
now even do it to the point of saturation! God made us to live life: IN
CONFORMITY WITH HIS WILL AND WORD! In our time the human
race has taken possession of civilization ON THEIR OWN! And God is
going to bring this selfishness to an end: in His time, in His way, for his
purpose! I do believe it is time for us to see reality as God sees it! John was
given this message in the midst of Roman debauchery. We are seeing this,
today, in a very sinful, ungodly, immoral, self-centered world. Nothing has
changed! YET! God is bringing a change. He is sending a judgment and it
appears very close to happening! May we get serious about conforming our
lives to His will & not ours.
“I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of god’s mercy, to offer
your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your
spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of the
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be
able to test and approve what God’s will is-His good, pleasing. And perfect
will!” (Romans 12:1-2)
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