Revelation 17:15-18
The Beast Turns on Babylon
Read the passage
15Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
16And the ten horns and the beast that you saw will hate the prostitute. They will leave her desolate and naked, and they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
17For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose by uniting to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
18And the woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
The angel tells John that the waters where the prostitute is seated are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages. Her influence reaches across the populated world and has been intertwined with political authority.
The ten horns and the beast hate the prostitute. They make her desolate and naked, devour her flesh, and burn her up with fire. The alliance that carried her luxury turns against her with violent contempt.
God puts it into their hearts to carry out His purpose by agreeing to give their kingdom to the beast until God's words are fulfilled. The woman is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth. The vision shows a corrupt partnership collapsing from within.
The powers that supported the woman become her destroyers. Her dominion over kings does not make her secure. The angel explains both the scope of her influence, in the peoples represented by the waters, and the end of that influence at the hands of the beast and horns.
God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, and their cooperation lasts until His words are fulfilled. Their hostility does not place events beyond His rule. This does not make their conduct an example for the church to imitate. It shows that even these rulers cannot overturn the purpose God has declared.
Questions
1 What do the waters represent?
AnswerThey represent peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages. The woman's reach is broad, but breadth does not make her authority secure.
2 Who turns against the prostitute?
AnswerThe ten horns and the beast turn against her. The political powers that benefited from the alliance eventually destroy the partner they once supported.
3 How do they treat her?
AnswerThey make her desolate and naked, devour her flesh, and burn her with fire. The collapse is violent and exposes the hatred beneath the partnership.
4 What is the woman called?
AnswerShe is called the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth. The image joins a city, an economy, and a political system of corrupt influence.
What This Means for Us
A partnership built on using people may appear secure while everyone profits. Examine the terms before lending it your name, work, or money. Can the people involved tell the truth and be treated fairly? Refuse to gain an advantage through someone else's harm. Babylon's allies provide no dependable refuge from God.
Prayer
God of justice, expose alliances built on exploitation. Keep our household from profiting through another person's harm, and give us wisdom to leave unstable partnerships before their violence spreads. Amen.