Behold the Whore

Revelation post 52

John the Baptist revealed the Lord Jesus to his disciples with the words, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”; In Revelation Chapter 17 an angel essentially says to John the Revelator, “Behold the Whore of Babylon who embodies the sins of the world.”

It is easy to get confused by the stream of images and symbols that flash through the book of Revelation, especially when different images are used to describe the same reality. So, I will attempt to explain the images in Chapter 17 as simply as possible. A scarlet woman is introduced who is referred to as ‘the great prostitute’ and ‘Mystery Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth’. Although this particular imagery has not been used before in Revelation, we have already encountered the reality it describes. The second beast of Chapter 13 is called ‘the false prophet’ (Revelation 16:13) and I have already made the claim that this beast/prophet represents Religion in all its negative forms. In Chapter 13 Religion is described as partnering Humanism, the Beast from the Sea. Here in Chapter 17 it is described as riding on the beast of Humanism – it’s the same idea in different words and images.

Up to this point we have been aware that religion is a false prophet, but here in Chapter 17 we are shown something startling concerning the true identity of the Earth Beast/Great Whore of Religion. As Christians, it is easy for us to see Islam, Hinduism, and so on, as false prophets. As Protestants, it is also possible for us to understand why teachers like Matthew Henry regarded Roman Catholicism as the Great Prostitute. But, we might be shocked to realise that more than world religions and Roman Catholicism are in view here.

‘I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. Then the angel said to me: “Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns’ (Revelation 17:6-8).

whore of abaylon

Sun clothed womanThe angel asked John why he was so astonished when he saw the Whore of Babylon, and that is a question we too need to ask. John must have seen many Roman women of high standing dressed in similar fashion, and he would have been familiar with the immoral behaviour in that society. Why did seeing this woman shock him so? I think it was because he recognised her from an earlier vision. Chapter 12 starts with the vision of ‘a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head’ (Rev 12:1). Here in Chapter 17 John is confronted with the vision of a woman clothed in gaudy splendour, with a beast under her feet, and a whore’s headband identifying her. Could this be the same woman? I think it is; the sun-clothed woman has become the Great Prostitute! We identified the sun-clothed woman as representing the people of God, firstly ancient Israel and then later, the church. Now we see the church, in intimate partnership with the beast of Humanism, abandoned to idolatry and bent on persecuting true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

How did much of the ‘church’ degenerate to such an extent? The short answer is, by adopting the values and methods of the humanistic world system instead of being different from it. On the one hand we find the liberal ‘church’, focused on social and political issues and wanting desperately to merge into a one-world religion of compromise and false peace. On the other hand, we have the wealth and feel good ‘church’ eagerly adopting business structures and practices from the world and setting before its followers the false promise of everlasting prosperity.

Having described the Whore, John then sketches a complex portrayal of Humanism as existing in every age: like the Roman powers of his day, the great Babylonian and Greek powers that preceded Rome, and the world powers which were to come after his generation. With pointed irony John writes, ‘The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come’ (Revelation 17:8). God was earlier described as ‘him who is, and who was, and who is to come’ (Revelation 1:4) but the beast once was, now is not, and yet will come.

For millennia religion has piggybacked on Humanism, serving the Beast and getting rewarded for its services. But now, in the end, the Beast turns on the Whore and destroys her in a most horrible way.

Chapters 17 and 18 are unremittingly distressing and dark, so when reading them it is important that we let our eyes return to the beginning of Part 5 of Revelation:

“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the ages.
Who will not fear you, O Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Revelation 15:3-4

 

 

Christopher Peppler

Christopher Peppler

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2 thoughts on “Behold the Whore”

  1. Wow, Chris, thank you – again, spot on and how pointed and relevant for the West right now.

    I have really enjoyed your Revelation columns – so much of the book has come into place.

    I read a biography on St Benedict recently and the reality of how to deal with a decadent world came to the fore. Benedict was studying in Rome but, abhorred by the decadence of his day (c.500AD) he retreated to the Italian mountains and started the first monasteries.

    I have a growing awareness of how the world filters into our mind and thoughts, and feel the need to get ‘the world’ out of my head. Its influence is everywhere: media, TV, shopping malls, hearing the way people talk nowadays, even seeing manner and dress of people in the streets. All of these go towards shaping us in the image of the world, sometimes unconsciously, without us realizing it.

    On the one hand, one does not want to get into a ‘permanent retreat’ mentality, but one does feel the need to get back to purity and holiness and not be conformed to the world.

    I have thought of everything, from setting up a sort of Protestant monastic system to ditching my TV set wholesale – or am I being too extreme? I would be interested to hear if you have any thoughts on the matter.

    Regards,
    Greg

  2. Like the early Protestants, I have always seen the Papacy as the woman, however, the more that I see and read of the church today, the more I am inclined to agree that today she represents not merely the Catholic church (as in those days) but rather the church at large.
    I wonder if there has ever been a time (other than in medieval Catholic times) when the church has descended to such a level of greed and apostasy – heaping up teachers to tickle the (worldly) ears of their congregants lest they lose them and their cash contributions; preaching mainly pop psychology and motivational talks rather than the gospel of”Christ and Him crucified”, and making God to be to be a cosmic slot machine who will fulfil your wildest greedy dreams.

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About Me

My name is Christopher Peppler and I was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1947. While working in the financial sector I achieved a number of business qualifications from the Institute of Bankers, Damelin Management School, and The University of the Witwatersrand Business School. After over 20 years as a banker, I followed God’s calling and joined the ministry full time. After becoming a pastor of what is now a quite considerable church, I  earned an undergraduate theological qualification from the Baptist Theological College of Southern Africa and post-graduate degrees from two United States institutions. I was also awarded the Doctor of Theology in Systematic Theology from the University of Zululand in 2000.

Four years before that I established the South African Theological Seminary (SATS), which today is represented in over 70 countries and has more than 2 500 active students enrolled with it. I presently play an role supervising Masters and Doctoral students.

I am a passionate champion of the Christocentric or Christ-centred Principle, an approach to biblical interpretation and theological construction that emphasises the centrality of Jesus

I have been happily married to Patricia since the age of 20, have two children, Lance and Karen, a daughter-in-law Tracey, and granddaughters Jessica and Kirsten. I have now retired from both church and seminary leadership and devote my time to writing, discipling, and the classical guitar.

If you would like to read my testimony to Jesus then click HERE.