New Testament Commentary - Revelation 17

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 17 John is shown that Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations, has become established throughout the earth.
1 AND there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the ^ajudgment of the great ^bwhore that sitteth upon many ^cwaters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the ^ainhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her ^bfornication. 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of ^anames of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand ^afull of abominations and ^bfilthiness of her fornication: 5 And upon her forehead was a name written, ^aMYSTERY, ^bBABYLON THE GREAT, THE ^cMOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the ^ablood of the saints, and with the blood of the ^bmartyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great ^cadmiration.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into ^aperdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the ^bbook of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9 And here is the ^amind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains [HILLS], on which the woman sitteth.
10 And there are seven ^akings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 12 And the ten ^ahorns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 14 These shall make ^awar with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is ^bLord of lords, and ^cKing of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues^a.	15^a The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues In one sense, the illegitamate 'whore' is any such organization or power which 'sits' upon man to twart their agency and free choice to accept the kingdom of God. It is any false pretender to God's truth and gospel. It is 'the universal church' of the Devil, whether that church is the Catholic church, the church or England or even any such pagan religion, all traditional Christian faiths which have led men astray from God, all pagan religions of which in truth 'traditional Christianity' is a part and even any such belief structure, science and atheism included, which weighs upon the minds of men, including philosophy and other distractions such as any thing taken to extreme, even sports; all these things which removes man from and prohibits man from coming to worship the one true God in truth and light, even the light of the gospel unto salvation and exaltaton is a part of the church of the Devil and is of the 'whore of the earth'.
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the ^awhore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and ^bburn her with fire. 17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and ^agive their kingdom unto the beast, until the ^bwords of God shall be fulfilled. 18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great ^acity, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.