Revelation 17

Studies in Revelation
by Dr. John H. Roller

Chapter 17



Introduction
Revelation 17 isn’t so much a “prophecy” of specific historical events as it is a “picture” of the main “character” who participated in those events. By now, assuming that you have read “Studies in Revelation” chapters 1-16, you know that Historicism points to the medieval Papacy as the fulfiller of all the prophecies about the Antichrist. You also know that there is a close association between the Papacy, the Roman Catholic Church of that era, the clerical hierarchy of that church, and the city of Rome. It shouldn’t take much reiteration of those points to “explain” Revelation 17 as a “mosaic” picture of the points that I have brought out in previous chapters in relation to this viewpoint.

Revelation 17:1
ONE OF THE SEVEN ANGELS WHO HAD THE SEVEN BOWLS (of God’s wrath, as described in Revelation 15 and 16) CAME AND SPOKE WITH ME, SAYING, “COME HERE. I WILL SHOW YOU THE JUDGMENT OF THE GREAT PROSTITUTE (the medieval Roman Catholic Church) WHO SITS ON (is supported by) MANY WATERS (the people of many different countries),

Revelation 17:2
WITH WHOM THE KINGS (political rulers) OF THE (various nations in that part of the) EARTH COMMITTED SEXUAL IMMORALITY (got involved, in a way that was contrary to the will of God – sexual immorality being, as we have seen before, a prophetic symbol for spiritual idolatry), AND THOSE (the people) WHO DWELL IN (that part of) THE EARTH WERE MADE DRUNKEN (lost control of their own lives, as they submitted to the control of their lives by the Church) WITH THE WINE (the “intoxication”) OF HER SEXUAL IMMORALITY (improper, idolatrous relationship with the political rulers).”

Revelation 17:3
HE (the angel) CARRIED ME (John) AWAY IN THE SPIRIT (demonstrating, again, that all of this is taking place in a vision, not in what we would call “reality””) INTO A WILDERNESS (a place where no one lived – a good “setting” for a vision, so that John wouldn’t be distracted by “seeing” things other than what he was supposed to be seeing). I SAW A WOMAN (the medieval Roman Catholic Church) SITTING ON (being supported by) A SCARLET-COLORED ANIMAL, FULL OF BLASPHEMOUS NAMES, HAVING SEVEN HEADS AND TEN HORNS (the Papacy, as shown in my comments on Revelation 13).

Revelation 17:4
THE WOMAN (the medieval Roman Catholic Church) WAS DRESSED IN PURPLE AND SCARLET (indicating tremendous wealth and power), AND DECKED WITH PRECIOUS STONES AND PEARLS (which you can literally see in the Roman Catholic cathedrals that were built during that time), HAVING IN HER HAND (where one would hold the “tools” of one’s “trade”) A GOLDEN CUP (perhaps representing the “chalice” that was used in medieval Roman Catholic masses) FULL OF ABOMINATIONS AND THE IMPURITIES OF THE SEXUAL IMMORALITY OF THE EARTH (the literal “chalice” was full of the wine used in the Eucharist; but John saw the same “cup” from God’s point of view in light of the church’s departure from His Word in turning to the Papacy for leadership rather than to Christ).

Revelation 17:5
AND ON HER FOREHEAD (in the place where you would find “her” beliefs and teachings) A NAME WAS WRITTEN, “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” Certainly, this title is “mysterious”; but, equally certainly, it shows us that – from God’s point of view – the medieval Roman Catholic Church was no more following His teachings than were the practitioners of the ancient pagan religion of Babylon, the city that had taken His people captive and was ruling over them in the time of the book of Daniel.

Revelation 17:6
I SAW THE WOMAN (the medieval Roman Catholic Church) DRUNKEN (intoxicated) WITH THE BLOOD (that was shed during “her” persecutions) OF THE SAINTS (the true believers in Jesus, which “she” labeled as “heretics”), AND WITH THE BLOOD OF THE MARTYRS OF JESUS (the same point, repeated for emphasis). WHEN I (John) SAW HER (in this vision), I WONDERED WITH GREAT AMAZEMENT (John obviously found it absolutely astonishing to be shown that the major historical persecutor of God’s true people would turn out to be the dominant organized church of the time).

Revelation 17:7
THE ANGEL SAID TO ME, “WHY DO YOU WONDER? I WILL TELL YOU THE MYSTERY OF THE WOMAN, AND OF THE BEAST THAT CARRIES HER, WHICH HAS THE SEVEN HEADS AND THE TEN HORNS.

Revelation 17:8
THE BEAST THAT YOU SAW WAS (in a position of power in the world from ancient times until the collapse of the Roman Empire in AD 476, as we saw in an earlier study), AND IS NOT (was not in a position of power from the collapse of the Roman Empire in AD 476 to the rise of the Papacy in AD 610); AND IS ABOUT TO COME OUT OF THE ABYSS (come back into power with the rise of the Papacy in AD 610) AND GO INTO DESTRUCTION (when the Papacy itself would fall from that position of power in AD 1870). THOSE (people) WHO DWELL (in the countries) ON (that part of) THE EARTH AND WHOSE NAMES HAVE NOT BEEN WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD (that is, the unsaved) WILL MARVEL WHEN THEY SEE THE BEAST THAT WAS, AND IS NOT, AND SHALL BE PRESENT (and follow its leadership).

Revelation 17:9
HERE IS THE MIND THAT HAS WISDOM (exactly what Revelation 13:18 had said about the number 666, which I showed was a symbol for the “slogan” that was worn on the medieval Papal “crown” – “Vicarius Filii Dei” or “Representative of the Son of God”). THE SEVEN HEADS ARE (the) SEVEN MOUNTAINS, ON WHICH THE WOMAN SITS (this is a clear indication that the “woman” represents the church that is headquartered in Rome – “the city of the seven hills”).

Revelation 17:10
THEY (the seven heads) ARE (also) SEVEN KINGS (world-ruling empires). FIVE (Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Medo-Persia and Greece) HAVE FALLEN (from their earlier positions of power), THE ONE (the Roman Empire) IS (still in power in John’s time), THE OTHER (the Papacy) HAS NOT YET COME (to power, in John’s time). WHEN HE COMES (in AD 610), HE MUST CONTINUE (to rule the world) A LITTLE WHILE (1,260 years, as mentioned in previous chapters – from AD 610 until AD 1870).

Revelation 17:11
THE BEAST THAT WAS, AND IS NOT, IS HIMSELF ALSO (in addition to being the seventh “king” in the series) AN EIGHTH (“king”), AND IS (the seventh) OF THE SEVEN; AND HE (the Papacy – along with all of the other “kings” – ultimately) GOES TO DESTRUCTION (will cease to exist altogether). This mathematically unclear statement is probably a way of saying that the unique thing about the seventh “king” (the Papacy) is the manner in which it combines into itself features from all of the previous six “kings” (Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece and the Roman Empire), so that it “makes sense” to represent it both as the seventh “king” and also as the complete “beast” that is an “umbrella” representing all seven.

Revelation 17:12
THE TEN HORNS THAT YOU SAW ARE TEN KINGS WHO HAVE RECEIVED NO KINGDOM AS YET (in John’s time), BUT THEY RECEIVE AUTHORITY AS KINGS, WITH THE BEAST, FOR ONE HOUR (the short time between the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of the Papacy – AD 476-610 – when the “earth” was broken up into the 10 smaller “barbarian” kingdoms that are also represented by the 10 toes on the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s first dream, as explained in Daniel 2).

Revelation 17:13
THESE HAVE ONE MIND (they all have the same “philosophy” about world government – namely, that power shouldn’t be concentrated in the hand of one political organization, with its headquarters in Rome, but that it should be “shared” by the kings of the various smaller tribes), AND (this word could also be translated as “but” – and I think that would be more accurate in this context) THEY (will eventually) GIVE (yield) THEIR POWER AND AUTHORITY TO THE BEAST (the Papacy). The 10 “barbarian” kingdoms eventually submitted to the re-concentration of power in the hands of Rome (under the Papacy) despite their earlier disagreement with the idea.

Revelation 17:14
THESE (10 “kings”) WILL WAR (fight) AGAINST THE LAMB (Jesus – they will do this by attacking His people, the true Christians), AND THE LAMB (Jesus) WILL OVERCOME THEM, FOR HE IS LORD OF LORDS, AND KING OF KINGS. THEY (Christians) ALSO WILL OVERCOME WHO ARE WITH HIM (Jesus), CALLED AND CHOSEN AND FAITHFUL.”

Revelation 17:15
HE (the angel) SAID TO ME, “THE WATERS WHICH YOU SAW, WHERE THE PROSTITUTE SITS (see Revelation 17:1), ARE PEOPLES, MULTITUDES, NATIONS, AND LANGUAGES (the people of many different countries).

Revelation 17:16
THE TEN HORNS WHICH YOU SAW, AND THE BEAST, THESE WILL HATE THE PROSTITUTE, AND WILL MAKE HER DESOLATE, AND WILL MAKE HER NAKED, AND WILL EAT HER FLESH, AND WILL BURN HER UTTERLY WITH FIRE. The political power of the Papacy finally came to an end in AD 1870, as we have seen in previous studies; but that didn’t happen suddenly – it was the culmination of a long process. That process is described in this verse as passing through five stages: in the first stage, the Church was hated; in the second, it was isolated; in the third, it was stripped of the trappings of power; in the fourth, much of its property was seized; and in the fifth, its power was completely obliterated. You can read about this long process in any book that tells the history of Europe from the fourteenth through the nineteenth centuries (the time periods known in history as the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Enlightenment).

Revelation 17:17
FOR GOD HAS PUT IT IN THEIR HEARTS TO DO WHAT HE HAS IN MIND, AND TO BE OF ONE MIND, AND TO GIVE THEIR KINGDOM TO THE BEAST, UNTIL THE WORDS OF GOD SHOULD BE ACCOMPLISHED. This statement reminds us of the major theme of the book of Daniel – God is in control! All of these things happened because God planned that they would. How comforting it is to know that nothing in history is beyond His reach! Because of that fact, nothing in the future can stop Him from bring His plan to complete fulfillment when He decides to do it.

Revelation 17:18
THE WOMAN WHOM YOU SAW IS THE GREAT CITY, WHICH REIGNS OVER THE KINGS OF THE EARTH.” This is the “clincher” clue. What city was “ruling the world” when the book of Revelation was written? Rome. The “woman” can’t possibly refer to anything but a world power that goes by the name of “Rome.” The Papacy was the only power in the world that went by that name during the time when these prophecies were scheduled to be fulfilled. Whatever else in the book of Revelation may be unclear, the one thing that is clear is the Historicist conclusion that Revelation 17 is a description of the medieval Papacy.