The children of Israel were warned of God not to trust in men and their horses (Isaiah 31:1).  These people however, were not acting as God’s people.  They did not want to hear from the Lord if He was against that which they were doing.  Notice what they were like: “That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us” (Isaiah 30:9-11).  When the apostates of old wanted the teachers to hush, God made them a promise that when they turned to the right or to the left, the teachers would be behind them trying to correct them (Isaiah 30:20-21).

Many people of today are like God’s apostate people of old.  They simply do not want to hear about their wrongs.  When you try to help them see the wrong they are doing they will quickly try to silence the message of God you are trying to bring to them.  Does this mean that we should allow ourselves to be silenced?  To a degree “yes”, and also there are times when the answer to that question is “no”.  When we have said all that we can or a person won’t listen to the truth, we’ve reached the point to stop warning the wicked from his way (Matthew 7:6, Matthew 10:14, Romans 16:17, and Titus, 3:10).

While there is a time to stop the pursuit of a soul with the saving message of the Gospel, there is a time when we must not be silent.  We must understand the urgency of the message of warning (Ezekiel 3:17-18; 33:7-8).  We cannot call ourselves a good neighbor to the lost or a friend of erring Christians if we are silent about the state of their lost souls (Leviticus 19:17-18, Luke 17:3, and Galatians 6:1).  Paul said: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.  Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences” (II Corinthians 5:10-11).

No matter how much of a pest you might seem to your neighbor, your loved ones, or your erring brother; we must see the urgency in converting the lost to Christ (II Timothy 3:14-4:2).  Jesus taught the urgency of preaching (John 4:31-35).  Tomorrow is not promised (Proverbs 27:1 and James 4:13-14).  If a person is in sin and that person dies before you “get the opportunity to sit down and talk with them”, your intentions to help them see their error will mean nothing in regard to their judgment (Ezekiel 18:20, John 12:48, Romans 6:23, and Galatians 6:7-8).

Christ had a purpose on this earth.  Christ’s purpose in His life and death is to save the lost (Luke 19:10 and I Timothy 1:15).  We are supposed to carry on that work wherein we have been trusted to do so (I Thessalonians 2:4 and I Timothy 1:11; cf. II Timothy 2:2).  Let us realize the urgency and cease being complacent when it comes to helping the lost be saved.  A person cannot obey that which they’ve never heard (Romans 10:14).  – B.A.Y.

Introduction Thoughts:

Satan has used the Roman Empire (beast # 1) and the false prophet (beast # 2) to wage a war against those who “…keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (12:17).  In Chapter fourteen we learned that the Lord was going to execute a judgment on Rome and her worshippers.  We just concluded studying two chapters about the vials of the wrath of God.  Rome is now portrayed as an awful harlot.  This is set in sharp contrast with the pure and beautiful bride of Christ in chapters twelve and twenty-one.  We will begin to learn more detail of what we have discussed since chapter fourteen including what we learned of the seven vials of wrath.

17:1-2 “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 judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”

• We first must identify who this harlot is as that fact is paramount in our continued studies.  We will see that the Roman Empire itself (the beast) is not the harlot (17:7; 17:16).  The harlot is a city (17:18), not an empire.
• If we look back to chapter fourteen (14:8-10) and compare how the Imperial City of Rome was called Babylon with our current context (17:1-2; 5), we will have solid evidence that we are talking here of the city of Rome.  There is too much evidence to conclude anything other than the city of Rome is the harlot.
• Consider the following facts comparing chapter thirteen (which identifies Rome as the beast) and our current chapter.  These facts tie Rome to the harlot and helps us to conclude that the harlot is the Imperial City of Rome:
• Arose from the sea / sitting on many waters (13:1; 17:1).
• Seven heads and ten horns (13:1; 17:3).
• Full of blasphemy (13:7; 17:3).
• Warred with the saints / warred with the Lamb and the chosen ones (13:17; 17:14).
• Power over all nations (13:7; 17:18).
• Now that we have considered who the harlot is, let us consider some other things about these first two verses.  One of the angels that spilled out one of the seven vials of the wrath of God is revealing the things to follow to John.
• The harlot sits upon many waters (societies), has great control over the world, and this harlot has polluted the world like alcohol.

• Here we see that the beast supports the imperial city and again, as we noted above, the like characteristics of the imperial city and the empire are in many ways identical.

• The city of Rome is attractive to the worldly eye.  Rome is full of abominations and spiritual fornication (seen within the cup in her hand).  Upon the mind of Rome is sin and Rome is the source of it in this past age.

• John sees that the city of Rome has blood on her hands - to say the least.  The bloodshed of the saints is one cause for the Lord’s wrath (Revelation 16:4-6).  This makes John to wonder in great admiration [amazement –NKJV].
• Consider how we too should be amazed that Rome went to war against the Almighty God without considering sure defeat (Hebrews 12:29).  They failed to realize the character of God (Exodus 15:3) and His war record.

• The angel asked John why he was amazed and will now explain the harlot.  Some insight of the harlot may even help us to understand that power clouds judgment.

• The beast that John saw, that was carrying the harlot (17:3), was and is not. That is to say, Rome was powerful and then the world wondered if Rome could stay in power from Nero to Domition (see notes on 13:3).
• Rome ascended from the bottomless pit.  In other words, Satan has empowered the beast.  Satan is from the bottomless pit (Revelation 9:1-2).  We know that Satan empowered Rome from what John has previously written (Revelation 13:2).
• The beast is empowered from Satan and is headed for perdition (eternal death – Revelation 19:20).
• Those of the world wonder what the beast was, seemed to fall, and yet strengthened again (Revelation 13:8).  The world has faith in the power of Rome and not in the power of God.  One wonders why many failed to see that God is the true one who brings forth the true Resurrection.

• The seven high places are the seven heads on which the harlot sits.
• The city of Rome is personified in the various emperors, particularly in Domition.  Seven different emperors in all, but Domition is viewed as the reincarnation of Nero, and he is therefore viewed as only the seventh. That is why the beast was seen with seven heads.  Five of the previous seven kings had fallen [failed].
• Domition “comes into his own” being the eighth king and shows he is worse than all preceding rulers in Rome that have influenced his reign.  God will humble him shortly.

• There are ten kings that serve under the harlot, having no kingdom of their own, but they will have power for a short time as they are part of the beast (the Roman Empire).

• These kings are unified and they contribute to the power of Rome.

• The rebellion of Rome against God (Revelation 16:13-14) is supported by all those in power within the empire.  They fight against the Lord and they lose.
• Christ is far above the greatest in Rome (Ephesians 1:20-21).  Christ is the Lord of lords and King of kings (I Timothy 6:14-15).
• Those with the Lord are Christians who are the called (II Thessalonians 2:13-14), chosen (I Peter 2:9), and identified as faithful (Revelation 2:10).

• The waters that the harlot sits upon, as we indicated earlier (17:1), represent the societies of men.

• The ten kings serving under the Roman emperor (17:12) shall turn from the unity they once had with the Roman emperor.  This is decay from within the empire.  The breakdown of the empire and the desire to dethrone the emperor certainly affected Rome.  Who could be trusted?
• “…Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand” (Matthew 12:25).

•  Ah, proof that God does rule in the kingdoms of men (Daniel 4:17; 25; 32).

• As we noted when we opened this chapter, the woman is a city – not a man, nation, or empire.

1. All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version unless otherwise noted.
2. Joseph H. Thayer, Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, (Reprint by Hendrickson, 2002, original copyright 1896).