Verse By Verse Through Revelation

Chapter Seventeen

Revelation 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.”

• The seven angels with the seven vials (Revelation 15:1, Revelation 15:6, and Revelation 16:1-21).
• The angel talked with John (cf. Revelation 10:9-10). This is not unique to John (Zechariah 1:9, Zechariah 4:1, Acts 5:19-20, and Acts 8:26).
• Come hither (cf. Revelation 4:1). We will see how momentarily (Revelation 17:3).
• The hour of judgment is come in this vision (Revelation 14:7 and Revelation 18:10).
• The whore sitting on many waters (Revelation 17:15).
• Being called a whore in relation to spiritual transgressions (Jeremiah 3:1-6).
• The kings of the earth had committed fornication with this whore (Revelation 14:8 and Revelation 18:3).
• Later we will read this was as the Lord willed (Revelation 17:17; cf. Jeremiah 51:7 and Jeremiah 27:6).

• John was in the Spirit (Revelation 1:10 and Revelation 4:2).
• He was here and later carried away in the spirit (Revelation 21:10) by the angel.
• This is what prophets experienced in visions at times (Ezekiel 11:24).
• The wilderness had been, earlier in this vision, the place where saints fled (Revelation 12:6 and Revelation 12:14).
• This woman on the beast is the great city (Revelation 17:18).
• The beast with names full of blasphemy with seven heads and ten horns (Revelation 13:1-6).

• The woman (Revelation 17:3), the great city (Revelation 17:18), is arrayed in such a fashion that signifies earthly royalty (Revelation 18:7 and Revelation 18:16).
• Think about the imagery of a golden cup full of the imperial city’s abominations and fornication. Think back of the past regarding those who put their sins on display (Proverbs 30:13, Isaiah 3:8-9, and Isaiah 3:16).
• Think about an adulterous woman (Proverbs 30:20).
• There were those whose foreheads marked with God’s seal (Revelation 7:3) and those marked with the mark of the beast (Revelation 13:16-18).
• The Great City is saying she is the mother of harlots and abominations.
• Now about Babylon. We will see Babylon three times in the next chapter (Revelation 18:2, Revelation 18:10, and Revelation 18:21). We first saw such in Revelation 14:8. Remember, Babylon is not the literal city. The mention of Babylon is rooted in the fact that the “Great City” reminds God of ancient Babylon (Revelation 16:19).

• The woman is still the imperial city (Revelation 17:3-5).
• It was said that the beast would kill as many as did not worship the beast and the image of the beast (Revelation 13:15). Wrath was to come upon them for the shedding of the blood of the saints (Revelation 16:1-6). In her was found the blood of prophets and saints (Revelation 18:24). The throne of iniquity and the blood of the innocent is language used in a unrelated Psalm (Psalms 94:20-21).
• God hates those that shed the blood of the innocent (Proverbs 6:16-19).
• The word “admiration” does not clearly describe John’s reaction. The Greek word “θαῦμα” means: “1) a wonderful thing, a marvel [note: the next verse proves out this definition]; 2) wonder; 2a) to wonder [with great wonder i.e.] exceedingly” (Thayer; Strong’s # 2295). The word only appears once in the N.T. What you can know is that John did not “admire” this as one would typically think the word suggests (Psalms 97:10, Psalms 119:104, and Romans 12:9).
• John marveled at the sight of this vision. Like as Jesus marveled at the unbelief of His own countrymen (Mark 6:1-6) and Paul marveled at how quickly the Galatians fell away (Galatians 1:6).

• The angel’s goal in this context was to reveal (Revelation 17:1).
• Angel’s have helped prophets understand what they were seeing (Daniel 8:15-16, Daniel 9:21-23, and Zechariah 1:9).
• This is the case with John’s Revelation (Revelation 22:6).
• The beast with seven heads and ten horns (Revelation 13:1-9).

• The beast with seven heads and ten horns (Revelation 17:7; cf. Revelation 13:1-9).
• We will see the language of the beast that was and is not again soon (Revelation 17:10-11).
• The beast that came out of the bottomless pit (cf. Revelation 11:3-7).
• Those who wondered at this beast; they worshipped it (Revelation 13:4 and Revelation 14:11).
• Their names were not written in the book of life. We see the book of life mentioned in other Scriptures (Philippians 4:3, Revelation 3:5, Revelation 13:8 and Revelation 20:15).
• The language of “from the foundation of the world” brings God’s foreknowledge to mind (Ephesians 1:1-4 and I Peter 1:18-20).

• “And here is the mind which hath wisdom” (cf. Revelation 13:18).
• The woman sitteth on the seven heads [figurative mountains] (Revelation 17:3 and Revelation 17:7).

• This is just a prophecy that seven kings would fall and the one that was to come would continue a short space. The whole Revelation of John is about short periods of time (Revelation 1:1-3, Revelation 3:11, Revelation 11:2-3, Revelation 13:5, and Revelation 22:6-10).

• Reminder: the beast that was, and is not (Revelation 17:8).
• There were multiple co-emperors in Rome at this probable time. I.E. Two with Marcus Aurelius: Lucius Verus and Commodus. Later Caracalla Co-emperor with Geta. So, the language in this verse could be relative to something such as that.
• Perdition is simply “damnation” (II Peter 2:1; II Peter 2:3) or “destruction” (Philippians 3:19 and II Peter 3:16). See Strong’s # 684

• This language Daniel used when the Spirit prophesied of Rome through him (Daniel 7:7).
• We will see in the verses to come that these kings will be unified with Rome for a period of time, but then will turn against her.

• Having one mind is language of unity working together (Philippians 1:27).
• They contributed to the Roman empire by giving their power and strength to the empire. Evil men sometimes work together to their common cause (Proverbs 1:11-14).
• The enemy of my enemy is my friend principle at play here (Psalms 83:1-5 and Luke 23:6-12).

• “These” are the kings working together with Rome (Revelation 17:9-13).
• The war they have made with the Lamb [Jesus; John 1:29 and John 1:36] is through what they had done to the saints (Revelation 13:7 and Revelation 16:5-6). When you do something good or bad to the Lord’s people, you have done such unto Him (Matthew 25:40, Matthew 25:45, and Acts 9:1-5).
• Jesus, the king of Kings (I Timothy 6:14-15).
• Those with Jesus (Luke 11:23, I John 1:1-7 and II John 1:9).
• Called (Romans 1:7, I Corinthians 1:2, and II Thessalonians 2:14).
• Chosen or elect (Colossians 3:12). *This term applies to angels too (I Timothy 5:21).
• Faithful (Matthew 24:45-46, I Corinthians 4:2, and Revelation 2:10).

• The chapter started off with the whore sitting on many waters (Revelation 17:1). That imagery is explained further here.
• Remember what we learned about the first beast (Revelation 13:7-8).

• The ten horns upon the beast were the kings (Revelation 17:12) that WERE unified (Revelation 17:13). They now hate the whore.
• When Daniel prophesied about the Roman Empire he wrote about ten kings too (Daniel 7:23-25).
• Clearly, the unity has ceased. What happens to divided kingdoms (Mark 3:24)?

• God putting something in someone’s heart can have multiple meanings. It can be literally a direct action (I Kings 10:24; cf. I Kings 3:12). It can be indirect (Exodus 4:21; cf. Exodus 8:31-32).
• What God has said would happen needed to happen as He stated through John (Revelation 1:1, Revelation 15:8, and Revelation 21:5-6; cf. Isaiah 42:8-9, Isaiah 46:9-10, and Isaiah 48:3).

• The great city that reigned in an earthly fashion (Revelation 11:8, Revelation 14:8, Revelation 16:19, and Revelation 18:10).
• There will be the mentioning of another great city later in this letter, which is NOT an earthly city (Revelation 21:10; cf. Hebrews 12:22-23).

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