Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: REVELATION #18 - 17:1-18)
G. 17:1-18:24 BABYLON'S TWO-FOLD JUDGMENT FOR ALLIANCE WITH BEAST
1. 17:1-18 INTERPRETATION OF THE HARLOT AND THE BEAST
a. 17:1-2 AN ANGEL OFFERS TO REVEAL JUDGMENT ON THE GREAT HARLOT
Kai ELthen heis ek ton hepTA agGElon ton eCHONton tas hepTA phiAlas [5357]
And one out of the seven angels that had the seven bowls
kai eLAle-sen met' eMOU, LEgon, DEUro [1204], DEIxosoi to KRIma [2917] tes PORnes tes meGAles
came and spoke with me, saying, Hither, I will show you the judgment of the great :harlot
tes ka-theMEnes [2521]ePI huDAton [5204]polLON;
that sits upon many waters;
meth' hes ePORneu-san [4203]hoi ba-siLEIS tes ges,
2with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication,
kai e-meTHUSthe-san [3184]hoi ka-toiKOUNtes [3631]ten gen ek tou OInou tes porNEIas [4202]auTES.
and the dwellers on the earth were made drunken with the wine of her :fornication.
b. 17:3 THE HARLOT RIDES THE BEAST
kai aPEnegKEN [667]me eis Ere-mon [2048]en PNEUma-ti:
And he carried me away in Spirit into a wilderness:
kai EIdon guNAIka [1135] ka-theMEnen ePI theRIon [2342]KOKki-non [2847],
and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast,
GEmon-ta oNOma-ta [3686] blas-pheMIas [988], Echon ke-phaLAS [2776]hepTA kai KEra-ta [2768]DEka.
full of names of blasphemy, he having seven heads and ten horns.
c. 17:4-5 A REVELATION OF THE GREAT EVIL IN THE HARLOT
kai he guNEen pe-ri-be-bleMEne[4016]por-phuROUN [4209]kai KOKki-non [2847],
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet,
kai ke-chru-soMEne[5558]chruSIo [5557]kai LItho [3037]tiMIo [5093]kai mar-gaRItais [3135],
and gilded with gold and precious stone and pearls,
Echou-sa poTEri-on [4221]chruSOUN en techeiRI [5495]auTES GEmon [1073]bde-lugMAton [946],
having in her :hand a golden cup full of abominations,
kai ta aKAthar-ta [168] tes porNEIas [4202]auTES,
and the unclean things of her :fornication,
kai ePI to MEto-pon [3359]auTES Ono-ma ge-gramMEnon, muSTEri-on [3466],
5and upon her :forehead a name written, a mystery,
Ba-buLON [897]he meGAle, he MEter [3384]ton porNON [4204]
BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS
kai ton bde-lugMAton [946] tes ges.
AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
d. 17:6a THE HARLOT: CAUSE OF MARTYRDOM OF THE SAINTS
kai EIdon ten guNAIka meTHUou-san [3184] ek tou HAIma-tos [129] ton haGIon [40],
And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints,
kai ek tou HAIma-tos ton marTUron [3144] IeSOU.
and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.
e. 17:6b And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder.
Kai eTHAUma-sa [2296], iDON auTEN, THAUma [2294]MEga.
f. 17:7 THE ANGEL PREPARES TO REVEAL THE MYSTERY OF THIS HARLOT
kai EI-PEN moi ho AGge-los, DiA ti eTHAUma-sas [2296]?
And the angel said to me, Why did you wonder?
eGO eRO soi to muSTEri-on [3466] tes gu-naiKOS, kai tou theRIou
I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast
tou baSTAzon-tos [941] auTEN, tou Echon-tos tas hepTA ke-phaLAS [2776] kai to DEka KEra-ta [2768].
that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
g. 17:8a FIRST: THE MYSTERY OF THE BEAST
to theRIon [2342] ho EIdes en, kai ouk EStin; kai MELlei
The beast that you saw was, and is not; and is about
a-naBAInein [305] ek tes aBUSsou [12], kai eis aPOlei-an [684] huPAgei [5217].
to come up out of the abyss, and he goes unto destruction.
h. 17:8b THE BEAST: A CAUSE OF WONDER TO EARTH-DWELLERS
kai thau-masTHEson-tai [2296] hoi ka-toiKOUNtes ePI tes ges,
And the dwellers on the earth shall wonder,
hon ou GEgrap-tai to Ono-ma ePI to bibLIon [975] tes zo-ES [2222]
theywhose name has not been written upon the little book of :life
aPO ka-ta-boLES [2602] KOSmou, blePONton to theRIon [2342],
from theworld's foundation, when they behold the beast,
HOti en, kai ouk EStin, kai paREstai [3936].
how that he was, and is not, and shall be present.
i. 17:9a Here is the mind that has wisdom.
HOde ho nous [3563]ho Echon soPHIan [4678].
j. 17:9b-10 THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE BEAST AND HARLOT
hai hepTA ke-phaLAI hepTA hoRE [2776] eiSIN, HOpou he guNE KAthe-tai ep' auTON:
The seven heads are seven mountains, where the woman sits on them:
kai ba-siLEIS hepTA ei-sin; hoi PENte Epe-san [4098], ho heis EStin, ho ALlos HOUpo ELthen;
10 and the kings are seven; the five are fallen, the one is, the other is not yet come;
kai HOtan ELthe, oLIgon [3641] auTON dei MEInai [3306].
and when he doescome, he must continue a little while.
k. 17:11 THE BEAST: HIS HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND END
kai to theRIon ho en, kai ouk EStin, kai auTOS OGdoOS es-tin,
And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth,
kai ek ton hepTA es-tin, kai eis aPOlei-an [684] huPAgei [5217].
and is of the seven, and goes unto destruction.
l. 17:12 THE NATURE OF HIS TEN HORNS
kai ta DEka KEra-ta [2768] ha EIdes DEka ba-siLEIS [935] ei-sin, HOIti-nes ba-siLEIan [932] OUpo Ela-bon;
And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet;
alLA e-xouSIan [1849] hos ba-siLEIS MIan HOran [5610] lamBAnou-sin meTA tou theRIou.
but receive authority as kings with the beast one hour.
m. 17:13 These have one mind, and they give their :power and authority to the beast.
HOUtoi MIan GNOmen [1106] Echou-sin, kai ten DUna-min kai e-xouSIan auTON to theRIo [2342] diDOa-sin.
n. 17:14 WAR OF THE LAMB AGAINST THESE TEN - HIS VICTORY
HOUtoi meTA tou arNIou [721] po-leMEsou-sin [4170], kai to arNIon niKEsei [3528] auTOUS,
These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them,
HOti KUrios kuRIon esTIN, kai ba-siLEUS ba-siLEon;
for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings;
kai hoi met' auTOU kleTOI [2822] kai e-klekTOI [1588], kai piSTOI [4103].
and they with him called and chosen and faithful.
o. 17:15 INTERPRETATION OF THE HARLOT'S WATERS
kai LEgei moi, Ta HUda-ta [5204] ha EIdes, hou he PORne [4204] KAthe-tai,
And he says to me, The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits,
laOI [2992], kai OCHloi [3792] eiSIN, kai ETHne [1484], kai GLOSsai [1100].
are peoples, and crowds, and nations, and tongues.
p. 17:16 EVIL OF BEAST OVERCOMES EVIL OF HARLOT
kai ta DEka KEra-ta [2768] ha EIdes, kai to theRIon, HOUtoi miSEsou-si [3404] ten PORnen [4204],
And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these shall hate the harlot,
kai e-re-moMEnen [2049] poiEsou-sin [4160] auTEN kai gumNEN [1131],
and shall make her desolate and naked,
kai tas SARkas [4561] auTES PHAgon-tai [4315], kai auTEN ka-taKAUsou-sin [2618] en puRI [4442].
and shall eat her :flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire.
q. 17:17 GOD BEHIND THE 10 KINGS YIELDING TO THE BEAST
ho gar TheOS Edo-ken eis tas karDIas [2588] auTON poiEsai ten GNOmen [1106] auTOU,
For :God did put in their :hearts to do his :mind,
kai poiEsai MIan GNOmen, kai DOUnai ten ba-siLEIan auTON to theRIo,
and to come to one mind, and to give their :kingdom to the beast,
Achri te-lesTHEson-tai [5055] hoi LOgoi tou TheOU.
until the words of :God should be accomplished.
r. 17:18 THE HARLOT: A CITY OVER KINGS OF THE EARTH
kai he guNE hen EIdes esTIN he POlis [4172] he meGAle,
And the woman whom you saw is the great :city,
he Echou-sa ba-siLEIan [932] ePI ton ba-siLEon [935] tes ges.
which has kingship over the kings of the earth.
NOTE: Revelation 17:1-18 deals with the relationship between the harlot and the beast. 18:1-24 deals specifically with the judgment on the harlot. Heaven rejoices over this judgment, and specifically the martyred saints. Again in this section we see the balance between the love of God in Redemption, and the Judgment of God when Redemption in the Lamb is despised and rejected. The world has great difficulty in understanding and receiving the Justice and Righteousness of God in this balance. Only the Holy Spirit in answer to prayer can open the human heart to see and understand. But the day is fast approaching when this Judgment will be released and accomplished. For all eternity the universe, even the wicked, will then acknowledge the everlasting Justice of God.
And Babylon? The great City? The great harlot? The one who in end times links up with the Beast, the Antichrist, the false prophet and the dragon? Ask the leaders of just a few centuries back, and they have almost a unanimous understanding of this mystery. The angel spells it out to John quite clearly, and a study of church history throughout the past 1700-1800 years, made sense to them concerning the Book of Revelation. Read “Rees Howells, Intercessor” by Norman P. Grubb, and you will find a key figure who sided with God in this Revelation.
27 times in the NT the word “mystery” appears. What was hidden and a mystery in the OT however, has been revealed by Jesus and His apostles in the NT. The parables of Jesus in a marvelous manner open up what had been hidden even to OT prophets. The mystery of the harlot is one of the 27 mysteries that God has made clear. Jesus through His angel has made this clear to the apostle John in this last book of the Bible. Dr. Daniel Juster had this even more clearly revealed to him by the Spirit through the 7 keys of the First Passover and the Exodus of Israel from Egypt through the Red Sea. These 7 principles placed upon this last book as a key, unlock yet more clearly to us what John is saying.
Many see other answers and interpretations. But consider the clothes of the harlot. They are a clue to understanding. The merging of the Roman Empire with the Church under the Emperor Constantine is another clue. - J.A.W.