Today, I am reading and commenting on Revelation 17-19.

The description of the beast mentioned in this passage resembles the description of the beast which rose out of the sea in chapter 13, but I do not think it is intended to be viewed as the same beast.  Perhaps more accurately I would say that the events related to the beast in chapter 13 are not intended to be connected to the events described in the vision in today’s passage.  Many years ago I had come across the idea that the seven heads of this beast represented the seven hills upon which the city of Rome is built.  Since then I have always thought that the writer of this book was thinking of Rome when he wrote this.  Since I do believe that this is a description of a vision which John had, I did not believe that John’s understanding of it as applying to Rome necessarily means that it does indeed mean that it refers to Rome.  Today when I read it I noticed that it refers to “the beast” as “once was, now is not, and yet will come.”  In addition, I remembered that Jerusalem was sometimes referred to as “Babylon” in prophetic writings in the Bible.  Finally I read that the woman was drunk with the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.  Which leads me to think that John was thinking of the Jews who rejected Jesus when he wrote about this vision.

I wrote the above thinking it was going somewhere.  In any case, this account of the beast and the woman reflects how those who make war against the Lamb will go down into defeat,.  While His called, chosen, and faithful followers will be invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb and thus be blessed.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Revelation 17-19.

I was not sure where to start writing today.  Then I was struck by part of the description the angel gave of the scarlet beast.  He said, “it once was, now is not, and yet will come.”  I think we should note the similarity and difference with the formula used in Revelation 4:8:  “who was, and is, and is to come.”   This latter formula is used several times to refer to God in the Book of Revelation, and sometimes to refer to Jesus (thus making part of the case for the Trinity) and to indicate His eternal, unchanging existence.  The formula used here to describe the scarlet beast, I believe, is intended to indicate both its desire to be held up as divine and its inferiority to the Real thing.  Which brings me to the woman saw sitting on the beast.  The woman is symbolic of those who strive to control the beast, to control that which holds itself up as being worthy of being worshiped in place of God, in order to accomplish their own selfish desires.  I want to note that the woman here appears to represent a specific organization at a specific time (whether that organization is a government or some other type of organization is not entirely clear), but it may represent worldly society.  The woman will fail to control the beast and will instead be consumed by it.  And all who have tied their well-being to that of the woman will suffer on that day.  We who follow Christ and through Him serve God are called to separate ourselves from the world, from those who seek to replace God with something other than God.  I want to be perfectly clear.  This passage appears to be a prophecy about specific events, presenting them with symbols and metaphors, but there are lessons which apply to our interaction with this world even if we are not at the time being referred to here.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Revelation 17-19.

I always find this passage difficult to understand.  I am convinced that John believed when he wrote about the woman and the beast here that they referred to Rome.  John would have seen the seven hills referenced here as being the seven hills of Rome.  And perhaps the passage does indeed refer to Rome.  After all the passage says that it once was, now is not, yet will come again.  That being said, when I read John’s description of the woman he identifies as Babylon, the only place which fits his description today is the United States.  Or, perhaps, Washington, D.C. because he does write that the woman is the great city which rules over the kings of the earth.  However, if we read the woman referred to in this passage as the Untied States, we see that the merchants of the earth would mourn its fall because there would indeed be no one to buy their merchandise.  I also see the United States fulfilling what John writes about all the nations being led astray by her magic.  Reading this passage, I think Christians should be warned against allowing themselves to be seduced into thinking that we can give our loyalty to both the Kingdom of God and to the United States.  While being loyal to the Kingdom of God does not make us traitors to the United States (or whatever other nation we live in), loyalty to the United States (or whatever other nation we live in) will make us traitors to the Kingdom of God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Revelation 17-19.

I struggle with putting together a blog on today’s passage.  The passage speaks of the woman who sits on a scarlet beast.  The woman is described as both a prostitute and as ruling over the kings (governments) of the earth.  The woman abuses those who follow Christ (drinks their blood).  The beast existed in the past, did not (does not?) exist for a time, then exists once again.  The heads and horns of the beast are kings (governments) who give their power to the beast.  Together the kings and the beast make war on Christ and His followers, but Christ will be victorious over them.  Despite sharing an animosity towards the Christians with her, the beast and its kings will hate the woman and seek her destruction.  The beast will succeed in destroying the woman, to the dismay of the kings who gave their support to the beast in her destruction.

I can see this prophecy reflected in the world today, although I am unsure that it is being fulfilled now.  As a side note, I believe that God intends for each generation to perceive aspects of the prophecies contained in the Book of Revelation as coming to fulfillment in the events they witness.  So, how could this prophecy apply today?  The woman would be the United States government.  The beast would be the various international organizations supported by world governments (if you look at these organizations, most of them share common goals and have overlapping governing boards).  These organizations all seem to hate the United States, yet all of the world would suffer badly if the United States was destroyed.  These organizations, and the U.S. government, are hostile to those who faithfully follow Christ.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Revelation 17-19.

Today’s passage is intentionally obfuscated, not because the writer did not want people to understand, but because people would jump to the wrong conclusions if it was written clearly.  Of course, people did so anyway.  The first thing to understand is that the woman and the beast in today’s passage is not the same as the woman or the beasts mentioned previously.  Perhaps the most confusing part of today’s passage is that the woman and the beast represent both different aspects of the same thing and completely different things.  The beast and the woman ruled (will rule?) the world together, but the beast hates the woman and will bring about her destruction.  Yet, more important to the beast will be its animosity towards those who worship God.  I take a couple of messages out of this passage.  First, despite the harsh treatment the “woman” gives to God’s people they will still find it easy to get caught up in her sins and adulteries.  We must diligently work to avoid doing so.  Second, despite the “kings of the earth” working with together and with the beast to bring about the destruction of the “woman”, they will regret and mourn when she falls.  Finally, when the “beast” believes that it has won domination over the entire earth and all who live on it, it will face defeat at the hands of God.  The last message is one we are meant to apply to events in our lives, whether we live in the time of Christ’s return or not.  Throughout history powers have arisen which think they are preeminent and can force all people to worship them in place of God (I want to note that these powers are not necessarily aware that that is what they are attempting to do).  These powers have failed, and will fail, because nothing can usurp God'[s throne.  For example, today there are those in Big Tech who believe that if they just get their algorithms right they can manipulate people to believe what they want them to believe.  They believe they can establish control over what people think by controlling the information to which they have access, all for our best interests of course.  They are not wrong.  Their mistake is in thinking that they can control enough of the information to which people have access in order to maintain their control.  God has created the world in such a way that, while they may have success in the short term, ultimately they will fail.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Revelation 17-19.

I find this portion of John’s vision this morning interesting.  So, as I understand the explanation, the woman who sat on the great beast with seven heads and ten horns is the country or city which rules over the world.  Additionally, the seven heads and ten horns of the beast represent kings who ruled her.  Nevertheless, those kings hated the woman and worked together to destroy her.  Let that sink in.  Those who rule over the most mighty nation of the world when John’s vision takes place hate that nation and work to take all of its wealth, destroying that nation.  Then a little further on we discover that those rulers, and their followers, stand against the One who is Faithful and True: they stand against all that is faithful and true.