Babylon the Great and the Scarlet Beast: Daniel and the Revelation, Chapter 17
- Babylon the Great:
- 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. v1
- That this apostate woman, as presented in this chapter, is a symbol of the Roman Catholic Church, is generally believed by Protestants.
- With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries. v2
- Between this church and the kings of the earth there has been illicit connection, and with the wine of her fornication, or her false doctrines, the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk.
- 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. v3
- This prophecy is more definite than others applicable to the Roman power, in that it distinguishes between church and state. We here have the woman, the church, seated upon a scarlet-colored beast, the civil power, by which she is upheld, and which she controls and guides to her own ends, as a rider controls the animal upon which he is seated.
- 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. v4
- Purple and scarlet are the chief colors in the robes of popes and cardinals. par3
- From the golden cup in her hand... there came forth only abominations, and wine of her fornication, fit symbol of her abominable doctrines, and still more abominable practices.
- The name written on her forehead was a mystery: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES, AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF EARTH. v5
- This woman is explicitly called Babylon. Is Rome, then, Babylon, to the exclusion of all other religious bodies? — No.
- I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. v6
- Why should John wonder with great astonishment when he saw the woman drunken with the blood of saints? Was persecution of the people of God any strange thing in his day?
- But when he looked forward, and saw a church professedly Christian persecuting the followers of the Lamb, and drunken with their blood, he could but wonder with great amazement.
- The Scarlet Beast:
- 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. v7
- The beast of which the angel here speaks is evidently the scarlet beast... the symbol of an oppressive and persecuting power.
- "The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its 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 it once was, now is not, and yet will come. v8
- Rome in Three Phases: Rome in its pagan form was a persecuting power in its relation to the people of God, during which time it constituted the beast that was.
- There was a transition from paganism to another phase of religion falsely called Christian... while this transition was going on, it lost its ferocious and persecuting character, and then it could be said of the beast that it was not
- Time passed on, and it degenerated into popery, and again assumed its bloodthirsty and oppressive character, and then it constituted the beast that "yet is," or in John’s day was to be.
*Smith makes no comment about the beast that "yet will come" arising from the Abyss.
- "This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction. v9-11
- The seven heads are explained to be, first, seven mountains, and then seven kings, or forms of government.
*Smith makes no comment about the seven mountains "on which the woman sits" referring to the city of Rome.
- The seven forms of government that have existed in the Roman Empire are usually enumerated as follows: (1) kingly; (2) consular; (3) decemvirate; (4) dictatorial; (5) triumvirate; (6) imperial; and (7) papal.
- "Five are fallen," says the angel, or passed away; "one is;" the sixth was then reigning.
- Kings, consuls, decemvirs, dictators, and triumvirs had passed away in John’s day. He was living under the imperial form.
- Two more were to arise after his time. One was only to continue a short space, and hence is not usually reckoned among the heads.
- The third phase of the beast that was, and is not, and yet is, is the Roman power under the rule of the papacy.
- "The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. v12,13
- Croly, in his work on the Apocalypse, offers this comment on verse 12: "The prediction defines the epoch of the papacy by the formation of the ten kingdoms of the Western empire.
- The translation should be, 'in the same era'. The ten kingdoms shall be contemporaneous, in contradistinction to the 'seven heads,' which were successive."
- This language must refer to the past, when the kingdoms of Europe were unanimous in giving their support to the papacy, and upholding it in all its pretensions. It cannot apply to the future; for after the commencement of the time of the end, they were to take away its dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the end (Daniel 7:26).
- "They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings - and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers." v14
- Here we are carried into the future, to the time of the great and final battle; for at this time the Lamb has assumed the title of King of kings and Lord of lords, a title which he does not assume till his second coming.
- Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. v15
- An Important Symbol Defined. — We have a plain definition of the Scripture symbol of waters; they denote peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.
- "The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority, until God’s words are fulfilled. v16,17
- The treatment which these kingdoms are finally to bestow upon the papacy, is expressed in verse 16... A part of this work the nations of Europe have been doing for years. The completion of it, burning her with fire, will be accomplished when Revelation 18:8 is fulfilled.
- The angel told John, while calling his attention to this subject, that he would show him the judgment of this great harlot. In verse 16 that judgment is specified.
*It appears that Smith is only crediting the ten horns, the kingdoms of Europe, with the God-appointed judgment upon Babylon the Great, while verse 16 clearly shows it is the combined union of the beast and the ten horns.
- "The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth." v18
*Smith makes no comment on this verse.
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Summary of Uriah Smith's Revelations 17:
- Symbol Identification:
- The great prostitute:
- Babylon the Great: The Roman Catholic Church, the head of which is the pope.
- Sits by many waters: The area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.
- The kings of earth: Nations and rulers who had corrupt relations with the woman.
- The inhabitants of earth: The people of the nations who were under the intoxicating influence of the woman.
- Physical appearance of the woman: The colors of her dress are like those worn by Roman Catholic high clergy.
- The golden cup in her hand: Contains the wine of her false teaching and sinful acts.
- The mystery of her name: Connects her spiritually with the religion and practice of Babylon.
- She is seen drunk with blood: Though supposedly Christian, she is guilty of persecuting God's faithful followers. This comes as a shock to the apostle John.
- The beast she rides:
- The scarlet beast: A symbol of the Roman Empire, oppressors of Jews and Christians. (1) "Once was": Rome during its pagan period. (2) "Now is not": The present time when Rome is transitioning from paganism to Christianity. (3) "Yet will come": Rome in the future under Papal rule. (4) This last appearance of the beast astonishes the faithless, unknowing people of earth.
- The seven heads of the beast: Two meanings: They are seven hills and seven kings. The seven hills may refer to the hills upon which Rome is built.
- The seven kings: (1) Seven forms of Roman government: Monarchy, Consular, Decemvirate, Dictatorship, Triumvirate, Imperial, and Papal. (2) Five have passed into history, the sixth is the "one that is", the seventh is yet to come but only for a short time. (3) The beast that "once was" (pagan Rome) returns as an eighth, but is one of the seven. Pagan Rome spans the time from the Monarchy to the Imperial periods before its transition to Christianity. Smith identifies the beast that "yet will come" as the Papacy, but it is not one of the first six.
*The Roman monarchy: BC 753 to 509. The Consular through the Triumvirate periods existed during the Roman Republic: BC 509 to 27. The Western Roman Empire: BC 27 to AD 476. The apostle John, to whom this revelation is given, lived during Rome's imperial form of government.
- The ten horns: (1) The kingdoms (divisions) of Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire (AD 476). (2) The Papacy assumed temporal authority over these kingdoms after this date and for some time during the middle ages.
*Smith makes no comment about the ten horns having not yet received a kingdom. Could this be why the ten horns at this time in the prophecy do not bear crowns? Apparently, they receive power to rule at the time of the reappearance of the beast that "once was, now is not, and yet will come".
- The scarlet beast in union with the ten horns unite, in what appears to be a rebellion, to throw off the yoke of the woman, unwittingly executing God's judgment on her.
- They wage war against the Lamb: The final battle at Christ's second coming in which he is victorious.
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