hotcoffee
New Member
Revelation 17:1 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. 2 With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”
3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. 5 The name written on her forehead was a mystery:
6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.
3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. 5 The name written on her forehead was a mystery:
babylon the great
the mother of prostitutes
and of the abominations of the earth
.the mother of prostitutes
and of the abominations of the earth
6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.
John seems to be taken by the prostitute. According to the commentaries.... the woman surprised him by affecting him so.
The Greek text says, literally, "And seeing her I marveled a great marvel." The archaic accents of the King James Version capture the meaning quite well: "and when I saw her I wondered with great admiration." A man may lust after a prostitute, but rarely "admires" her. John is on the brink of yielding to temptation, but the temptation is not sexual. John's astonishment is more dangerous than that, for it is closer to worship.
Apparently the author of another commentary has an equal admiration for John's description. He writes:
In this writer’s opinion, Revelation 17 is the most difficult chapter in the whole of the Revelation. This, in no sense, is my final word on this chapter. It, no doubt, will undergo many changes as we prayerfully reflect and study it in the future. I seek to understand the text in its most normal, natural and customary sense. Thus, I tend to shy away from views, which do not have direct textual support. Therefore, views which do not have explicit biblical support are ignored.
The explanation of the vision comes next so I'm going to hold further comment until then. One thing that seems certain. This is the beginning of the Prostitute's final judgement.
