Revelation 17:7-18

Revelation 17:1-6 emphasizes the great harlot of Babylon.  Rev. 17:7-18 emphasizes the scarlet beast that carries her.  Having read the passage let us comment on various truths and then seek to summarize at the end.

·        v8: perhaps there is a contrast between the beast who was, is not, & yet is and the Almighty God who is & who was & who is to come (Rev. 1:4,8; 4:8).  

·        v8: the scarlet colored beast is often identified with the antichrist, the beast of Rev 13:1ff.  But there are differences, such as the emphasis on the color of this beast, the fact it rises from the abyss instead of the sea, and the lack of any crowns.  The explanation from this chapter is that the scarlet beast is the kingdom or political entity that has been moving towards the day that the antichrist rules.  The antichrist has crowns on his horns because he is victorious through military conquest.  The fact that the scarlet beast arises from the abyss may connect it with the demonic presence in the antichrist (remember Rev. 9 where demonic creatures arise from the abyss, and the demons that come out of the antichrist in Rev. 16:13).  Further confirmation of this explanation is found in Dan. 7:7-8,23-25.  Daniel, in a dream, sees a terrible beast (the Roman empire) that has ten horns.  The horns are ten kings who, in a future time, will arise out of Rome.  From those kings comes the antichrist who supplants three of the kings and becomes the lead king.

·        v9-11: The 7 heads are both 7 hills and 7 kings.  Some say these are emperors that preceded Domitian, the emperor in John’s day, but those emperors did not all fall.  And there was more than one emperor after him.  The futurist idea is that these are world empires (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece had fallen; Rome was, and would be revived in the last days).  The antichrist comes from and takes control of the seventh and is the eighth.

·        v12-17: The 10 kings are future to John’s day.  They will rule as a confederacy for a short time.  They have one mind or knowledge which is to give their power and authority to the antichrist.  But they are actually doing the will or knowledge of God so His words are fulfilled, which is to destroy the harlot, the religious/ political/economic system.

·        v15,18: The woman is further identified as involving all the people of the earth.  And she is connected with Rome, which in John’s day was that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.

To summarize, we see how the nations are gathered against the Lamb at Armageddon.  A world-dominating Rome-based confederacy arises in the last times, but then cedes power to one who rises up among them.  They destroy the economic/religious system of the day, leaving the world in total disarray, which likely lends itself to the rise of a self-proclaimed “savior.”  In the end, God is in control of it all and will bring about what He promised to His Son, that He would make His enemies a footstool for His feet (Psalm 110:1).