Introduction to the Sixth Vision

The sixth vision, covering chapters 17-19 describes the judgment of God upon the dragon’s allies. So far, John has described four allies in the dragon’s fight against God and God’s people, the Church: The beast from the sea, the beast from the land (false prophet), Babylon and the men who side with them.  Chapters 15-16 deal with God’s judgment of men, chapter 20 ff. shows God’s judgment of Satan, and these chapters describe the judgment on the others; it breaks down as follows:

Chapter 17 discusses Babylon the whore and her red beast and their history. Chapter 18 shows us the inevitable total and complete fall of Babylon and chapter 19 brings us to the rejoicing of heaven, as we see the rider on the white horse triumphant over Babylon and the other two beasts.

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by 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.” (17:1-2)

The action begins when an angel comes to John and tells him that he is about to have a shift in scene, for he will now see the destruction of Babylon. Right away, we get an indication of what this symbol is all about; Babylon is a whore who led all of the people of the world into intoxicating indulgences of the senses.

Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten 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. The name written on her forehead was a mystery:

BABYLON THE GREAT

THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES

AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. (17:3-6)

John’s scene changes to the wilderness, where the woman representing the church fled in Revelation 12. He sees another woman, but she is not that same woman from chapter 12; this woman is a whore, the enemy of the first woman. She is astride a red beast with seven heads and ten horns that immediately reminds us of the beast from out of the sea (Rev. 13). She is adorned as a queen, with gold, pearls and precious jewels; her garments are in the colors of royalty. In her hand she holds a golden cup filled with abominations. She wears a headband with an interesting title, one I’ve never seen at a New York City sidewalk vendor’s stand…

The woman was drunk.

She wasn’t drunk on liquor however, she was drunk on the blood of God’s holy people, martyrs for the Gospel.

Much more next time!