CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
When
we come to chapter 17 we have left
the three woes behind us, the seal judgments, the trumpet judgments,
and the
bowl judgments. In 16:17 we hear “It is done,”
so we have finished with our study of these
great woes as such. But we must not get the idea that what we see in
chapter 17
and 18 takes place after all these woes are past. As we have
already
said, the things we see in this book are not always in chronological
order. So
what we see in these two chapters takes place before the end of the
terrible
tribulation is over. In fact, I believe that we see some of the
judgment of
this old whore in chapters 6, 8 and 9 where we
see the
stars falling. And in 6:15-16
where we see people fleeing to the “dens”
and “the rocks of the mountains.” And
I believe this judgment of this
old whore is one of the causes of their awful predicament. In
verse 1
we see one of the seven angels which had the seven bowls of wrath
coming to
John. This angel gives John a revelation concerning the judgment of “the great whore”. This vile character
is seen sitting on many waters. In
verse 2 we are told that “the rulers of the earth
have committed
fornication” with her. Physical fornication is an awful sin, and
God hates
it, as He does all sin. But this fornication we have before us is
spiritual
fornication, that is, running after false gods and false teaching. This
is what
really provokes God to jealousy and brings on His devouring wrath. Not
only do
the kings, or rulers, run after her false gods and false teaching but
here we
see the inhabitants of the earth, the common people along with all the
others,
are drunk on the wine of her fornication. That is, they are all
worshipping her
gods and feeding on her false doctrines. In
verse 3 the angel carries John “in the spirit into
the wilderness”, and
there he sees a woman sitting “upon a
scarlet coloured beast.” There are so many places in the New
Testament
where the choice of a word is left to the discretion of the translator.
For
instance, the little Greek word EN
is found 2,258 times in the New Testament. It is translated “among”
114 times, “by” 142 times, “with”
139 times, and “in” 1,863 times. In
a case like this the translator should be guided by the context of the
Scripture under consideration as to which word to use. And this they,
no doubt,
did except in cases like Matthew 3:11 and John 1:31
where their
false teaching and false practices were at stake. Anyone should know
that since
baptism is set forth in the Scriptures, as a burial the word “in” should have been used in these two
references rather than the word “with.”
But they had to use the word “with”
here in these Scriptures in order to protect their false practice of
sprinkling. So here in Revelation 17:3 a peculiar situation
arises. If
you consult a good Greek dictionary you will find that the Greeks have
two
words for wilderness. They are EREMIA
and EREMOS. Then you will find that
they also have two words for desert. They are the same identical words EREMIA and EREMOS. So again, the
translator must use his own discretion in
choosing whether to say wilderness or desert. Out of ten translations
that I
have checked on concerning this word five of them say “desert”,
three of them say “wilderness”,
one says “into the wilds,” and the
other one says “into an uninhabited
place.” Now either of these Greek words can mean an uninhabited
place, but
neither of them means only that. Since the woman here is, or rather
represents
the Catholic Church which today comprises more than half a billion
people, and
since she is riding, that is, controlling the actions of this ruler
over the
revived Roman Empire, I must say this particular translator is not just
way out
in left field, he is altogether out of the ball park. And, furthermore,
since
these Greek words can mean a barren, desolate place, I contend that
whether you
use the word “wilderness” or whether
you use the word “desert” it is
speaking about a time rather than a place. Can you conceive of this
world after
the saints have been raptured, when there is not even one church in all
the
world that contends for God’s Word, but churches in great profusion who
are
ripping, tearing, and denying that precious Word? If you are able to
picture to
yourself just how barren and desolate this old world will be,
spiritually
speaking, during that awful tribulation period when this scene before
us will
take place, you should have no trouble seeing what this word “wilderness” here in this verse speaks
of. Then
we notice that this “beast” (the ruler of the revived
Roman Empire) is seen by John to
be a scarlet color. This may very well speak of the bloody wars he will
bring
upon the world. Then, too, he is said to be “full of names
of blasphemy”, or covered with names of blasphemy. In 13:6
we see this beast blaspheming the name of God, His
tabernacle, that
is, His dwelling place, and even His saints who are at that time
already in heaven.
We are also told that he has “seven
heads and ten horns.” These we will, our Lord willing, deal with
when we
come to verses 9 and 10. In
verse 4 we see this “woman … arrayed,
or clothed, in
purple and scarlet colour.” These are the official colors worn by
the pope
and his cardinals. As we have already said, the Catholic Church,
technically
speaking, consists of the pope and his hierarchy while the others are
the
children of the Church. How can Catholics keep from seeing that the old
whore
in this chapter is none other than their church? We
see this woman has a “golden cup in her hand.” It is a
golden cup, and since gold speaks
of God’s glory, this cup pretends to be showing forth His glory. But we
see
that instead of its being the cup of salvation (Psalms 116:18)
this cup
is “full of abominations and filthiness
of her fornication”, that is, it is full of her false teaching and
false
practices which are an abomination in our Lord’s sight. The Psalmist
says in Psalms
16:5, “The LORD is the
portion of mine inheritance
and of my cup.” David says the Lord is in his cup, but in
this cup
in the hand of this woman (the Catholic Church) there is nothing but
the
filthiness of her spiritual fornication. In Jeremiah 16:7 we
see a “cup of consolation”, but in the hand of
this woman we see a cup of condemnation. In Jeremiah 51:7 God
says “Babylon (the Catholic Church) has
been a golden cup in” His “hand”,
and that this cup had “made all the
earth drunk.” So in Revelation 18:6 God says, “in the cup which she hath filled fill to her
double.” “Whatsoever a
man soweth, that shall he also reap.” And here the reaping
is to be
double what the sowing has been. What a terrible time awaits this awful
religious system here in this world as well as in the next. In
verse 5 we are told the name of this
woman. She is “Mystery, Babylon the
great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.”
We see
a name made up of a combination of three names. We might liken the
first two
names to a man’s given names and the third one to a man’s surname. The
first
name is “mystery”, and how
mysterious are the rites and rituals performed by this awful religious
system.
I once attended a Catholic funeral. The mother of a close friend of
mine had
died. And out of respect for him I went to the funeral. The father (of
nothing
but illegitimate children) spoke in a language that none of the people
knew
anything about. And though I had taught this language myself in years
gone by,
I still did not know what he was doing. And I came away from that
funeral
doubting very much that the priest himself knew what he was doing. So
this
woman’s first name is “Mystery” and
it fits her like a glove. The
second name given to this woman is “Babylon the Great.”
And how well this
name fits the Catholic Church. She is nothing in the world but the old
Babylonian mysticism which was started by Nimrod and his followers in
the early
days of the city of Babylon. Of course she has assumed an alias in this
church
age. She now calls herself a church rather than by her real name
“Babylonian
Mysticism.” The word “Great” in her
name may speak of the some half a billion people who are in her
clutches today. Then
her surname is “Mother of harlots and abominations of
the earth.” This too,
fits the Catholic Church like a glove. We know that a bear can only
give birth
to little bears, that an ape can only bring forth more apes. By the
same law an
old whore with her cup full of abominations and filthiness of her
fornication
can only bring forth little harlots. “Who
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one,”
(Job
14:4). So, all these
protestant churches that have come out of this unclean thing, according
to this
Scripture, are harlots. And please remember, it was God who called them
by that
name. The great majority of semi decent christendom believes that our
Lord’s
true churches came out of the Catholic Church. Several years ago, just
before I
came out of the Southern Baptist Convention, I was taught that we
Baptists came
out of the Church of England (Episcopalian Church). I said that if we
came out
of something that was started by the cut throat king Henry VIII who
came out of
the Catholic Church solely because the pope would not grant him a
divorce from
his old ugly wife in order that he might marry a beautiful young woman
by the
name of Anne Boleyn, and who, during the first fourteen years of his
Church’s
history, lived with six different wives, two of whom he had beheaded,
and
another who died from some cause or other, we had no better heritage
than a
poor child whose mother was a drunken prostitute and whose father was
an
underworld hoodlum. The next day I was called on the carpet by the
program
loving pastor. But my statement still stands, and is still as true as
the truth
can possibly be. And
not only is this old whore the mother of her
harlot daughters, the protestant churches, and I might add, her foster
daughter, the self-styled protestant Baptists, she is also the mother
of
abominations. These abominations are too numerous to be dealt with at
length in
a book of this nature. In fact, a good sized book could be written
dealing only
with the abominations of which the Catholic Church is the mother of. To
mention
a few of them, there are her penance, her purgatory, her indulgences,
her Mariolatry
or worship of Mary, her infallible pope, her many ways of salvation
none of
which even mentions the atoning work of Christ, His sacrificial death,
or His
shed blood, her perverted translation of all important Greek words such
as BAPTIZO and EKKLESIA. I want to
stop here and say that if someone dared to give
us a translation of the New Testament in which he correctly translated
those
two words, he would not be able to give away very many of them. He
certainly
would not be able to sell enough of them to pay for the printing. I
have just
recently bought a copy of a translation by the late Kenneth S. Wuest,
probably
the greatest Greek teacher since A. T. Robinson. It is a beautifully
bound,
hard back book which I appreciate very much. It is well worth the
intended
retail price of $5.95, but I was only asked to pay $2.00 for my
copy. At
first I was puzzled as to why such a beautifully bound volume by such a
famous
Greek teacher was selling at such a low price. But when I read, “And they were being immersed in the Jordan
river while making a public confession of their sins,” (Matthew
3:6), and in Matthew 3:13 “Then comes Jesus from Galilee up to the
Jordan to John for the purpose of being immersed by him,” I
did not
have to read any further to find out why this beautiful book was
selling for
only $2.00. Even the great majority of Baptists would not think of
buying a
translation that was so uncompromising and intolerant. However, when
Wuest came
to the word EKKLESIA in Matthew
16:18 and thereafter he too went along with the perverted
translation. Had
he translated this word correctly, he would not have been able to give
away
very many copies of it. Then too, had he done that he would have been
forced to
give up his church affiliation, and probably he would have been fired
as
professor of Greek at Moody Bible Institute. How the religious world
does love
the abominations found in the gold cup in the hand of this old whore. Along
with the abominations already mentioned we
see in her cup her glorious Christmas, Easter, Lent, Good Friday, Ash
Wednesday
and many many more. So I repeat one could easily write a book on these
abominations. But lo her judgment looms up in her face, and comes with
the
speed of the wind. In Revelation 18:6 God says, “Double unto her double according to her
works.” May He speed that day. In
verse 6 John saw this “woman drunken with the
blood of the saints,
and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” The latter part
of this
statement is somewhat confusing to me in this translation. It sounds as
if this
woman (the Catholic Church) is drunk on the blood of those who
martyred, or
killed Jesus. The Catholic Church had too much in common with those who
crucified
our Lord for her to be drunk on their blood. The Charles B. Williams
version
says “the blood of the martyred
witnesses to Jesus.” The New English version says “the
blood of these who had borne their testimony to Jesus.” So this
woman is not drunk on the blood of the enemies of Jesus, but on the
blood of
those who have faced death rather than to deny their Lord. Then
we see that John wondered about all this.
He was familiar with what we know as the Catholic Church, but he knew
her as
Babylonian Mysticism. It was long after John’s day that the apostate
churches
represented by the church at Pergamos merged with this Babylonian
Mysticism to
form the Catholic Church represented by the church at Thyatira. I am
persuaded
that the thing that puzzled John so much was the fact that in this
vision he
saw something that claimed to be a church, something that claimed to be
worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ actually drunk on the blood of the
saints. He
was very familiar with the persecution of the saints at the hands of
Judaism
and of political Rome, but now he was permitted to look down through
the
centuries and see this monstrosity who calls herself a church of the
Lord Jesus
Christ as she beheads, burns at the stake, feeds to hungry lions and
buries
alive untold thousands, yea millions of our Lord’s precious saints. Is
it any
wonder that John wondered and was puzzled? In
verse 7 the angel asks John why he was
so puzzled. Then he volunteers to explain this great mystery to John.
And in
verse 8 he tells him that the beast he saw was, that is, at one
time
this beast which here represents the Roman Empire itself was in
existence, then
at another time it was not in existence, but still later it is to come
on the
scene again and then go into perdition. That is, it will be completely
destroyed at the battle of Armageddon and her ruler cast into hell
alive, Revelation
19:20. We are told that our Lord’s saints who have been saved
during the
time of the great tribulation and who are still living on this earth
will be
puzzled no little when they see this Roman Empire which has not been in
existence now for nigh onto fifteen hundred years coming back on the
scene. I
want to call your attention to the fact that the names of these saints
and, I
might add, the names of all the saints were “written in the
Book of Life from the foundation of the world
(earth).” Our Lord knew even before the world was who would be saved
because He
was the One who was going to do the saving. In
verse 9 we read, “And here is the
mind that hath wisdom,”
but this expression really does not make much sense. The Greek is
really saying
“And this calls for a mind which hath wisdom.” But let us remember, it
is not
the wisdom of the world that is under consideration here, but rather
the wisdom
that only God can give us. So this before us in this verse is for those
whom
God has given wisdom. Then we are told that “the
seven heads (verse 7) are seven mountains
on which the woman sitteth.” Rome, the
city in which this woman (the Catholic Church) has her headquarters, is
known
as the city of seven hills, or mountains. In verse 18 this
woman is
called “That great city which
reigneth over the kings (rulers) of the
earth.” Certainly it is Rome that rules over the
rulers of the earth today. In
verse 10 we have a confusing
statement. Our translation says “And
there are seven kings,” but in the original it is “And they
are also
seven kings” (or rather seven forms of government). Not only do the
seven heads
represent the seven hills on which the city of Rome sits, they also
represent
the seven forms of government under which the Roman Empire was and will
be
under. The five that had fallen were kings, consuls, dictators,
decemvirs, and
a military tribune. The one in John’s day was the rule of the emperors.
And the
end time, during the tribulation the revived Roman Empire will consist
of ten
kingdoms federated under the rule of the beast. We are told that this
one will “continue for a short space”, or short
time. The length of time this one exists will be cut short by the
battle of
Armageddon and the return of our Lord. In
verse 11 we see that this “beast”, or ruler is
called “the eighth”, but he “is of the seven.”
It would seem that
the “beast” of Revelation 13:1-10
and Revelation 17:3
is elected by the ten kingdoms to rule over them. And as such a ruler
he is the
seventh. But in the light of Daniel 11:20-21 it appears that he
fails to
obtain a vote of confidence. And in Revelation 13:3 John says, “And I saw one of his heads as it were
wounded to death.” Here John tells us that it really looked
as if
this ruler was dead (politically), but he goes on to say, “And his deadly wound was healed.”
Daniel says, “And in his estate
shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of
the
kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by
flatteries.”
So it would appear that when this wicked ruler fails to receive a vote
of
confidence, he flatters the armed forces into backing him up and he
declares
himself to be the ruler. So, as a dictator he rules the empire even
though he
had been voted out. In this way he is “the
eighth”, but since he is the same fellow who ruled as an elected
ruler at
first he is said to be “of the seven”,
or seventh. Then we are told that he “goeth
into perdition.” This word “perdition”
comes from APOLEIA and it means the
loss of well-being. This same word is used in Matthew 26:8 and Mark
14:4 where it is translated “waste.”
In Acts 8:20 it is translated “perish.”
In Romans 9:22 it is translated “fitted to
destruction.” In II Peter 2:1 this same
word is rendered “damnable heresies.”
There are those who hold that this beast who “goeth into
perdition” will be Judas Iscariot since Judas is called
the son of perdition in John 17:12. But maybe we should not put
too much
weight on this word “perdition”
because in Matthew 7:13 this same Greek word APOLEIA
is rendered “destruction”,
and there it is speaking of the destiny of all the wicked. So the wide
range of
the use of this word makes it very poor evidence that this beast will
be Judas
Iscariot. Here in this verse 11 the word “perdition”
simply means that this beast is going into everlasting
destruction along with all the wicked. In verse 12 we are told
that the
ten horns of this beast are the “ten
kings, which have received no kingdom as yet.” That is, they will
not be
ruling until the tribulation time. The word “hour” here
does not mean sixty seconds but rather a period of time.
This word in John 5:25 speaks
of this entire church age. And here in this verse it means, probably,
the seven
years tribulation time. Their having power (or rather authority) with
the beast
speaks of the fact that these ten rulers will have jurisdiction over
their
respective countries somewhat like our state government, but they will
all be
under the head ship of the beast. In
verse 13 these (the “ten kings”) will all be in
agreement
concerning the matter that is now coming before us. And they will lend
their
full support to the beast in this matter. And in verse 14 we
see that
what they are in full agreement about is making war with the Lamb, the
Lord
Jesus Christ. In chapter 13 and verse 7 this beast is
permitted “to make war with the saints, and to
overcome them.” But here in this verse the beast and his ten kings
make war
with the Lord of glory, and of course, He wins because “He is Lord of lords and King of kings.”
Here we see the saints connected with this war. The New English version
says, “And His victory will be shared by His
followers, called and chosen and faithful.” In
verse 15 we revert back to the main
subject of the chapter. Here we are told what the “many
waters” of verse 1
are. The New English version says, “The
Ocean you saw, where the great whore sat, is an ocean of peoples and
populations, nations and languages.” So the “many waters”
in verse 1
is not speaking of actual water, but of people of every nationality and
language. And certainly the Catholic Church encircles the globe. In
verse 16 we again have a confusing statement. If you put
“and” in the place of the word “upon”
and put the word “kings” where we have “horns”
you will be able to see the true
meaning of this verse. (“And
the ten kings which thou sawest and the beast, these shall hate the
whore, and
shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn
her with
fire.”) The
“ten kings” and “the beast” hate the
whore and
completely destroy her. When this time comes, the Catholic Church and
all other
false churches who will have become affiliated with her, will be
destroyed from
off the face of the earth. This, I believe, will be the time when the
people
will flee to “the dens and rocks of
the mountains,” (Revelation 6:15).
They have been clinging to their false churches for dear life
in this time of awful trouble. Now their precious refuge is completely
wiped
away. And since they have no thought of fleeing to Christ who is “our refuge and strength, a very present help
in trouble” (Psalms 46:1), they have no place to go
except to
the dens and the rocks of the mountains.
In
verse 17 we see why “the beast” and the “ten kings” do this. God will put it in
their hearts to do this in order that His words shall be fulfilled.
Almost
nineteen hundred years ago He told us in verse 16 that these
rulers
would hate the old whore and completely destroy her. Now it is His
responsibility to see that they do what He has said they would do. In Proverbs
21:1 we are told that “The king’s
heart is in the hand of the Lord” and that “He turneth it whithersoever He will.”
And since the hearts of these God hating rulers are in the hand of the
Lord, He
just has them do what He said long ago they would do. There
are those who contend that the entire book
of Revelation is in chronological order, but I would like to ask them
how they
explain verse 13-17 in the light of their teaching. Surely
they will agree that verse 14 is
speaking of, and describing the great battle of Armageddon. And when
this
battle is over these rulers will have no power to do anything. I am
persuaded
that the “ten kings” will be
included in the remnant in Revelation 19:21, and I know “the beast” is to be “cast into the lake of
fire”, verse 20.
So that which we see in verse 16-17
must of necessity take place before that which we see in verse 14.
In 16-17 our Lord uses “the
beast” and the “ten kings” to destroy the old
whore,
but in verse 14 He destroys these rulers Himself. So verses 13-14 is a parenthetical passage
in chapter 17. In verse 18 the woman, the old whore is affiliated with the city where her headquarters are. And who can deny that Rome is the city that holds sway over the rulers of the world? She is able to do this because she has so many of her members in all these countries. She tells these rulers, you do as we say or you won’t be elected next time. But, praise our dear Lord, the time is coming, and I believe soon, when she will be completely destroyed from off the face of the earth. |