~~~ Uriah Smith's Revelations II ~~~
Babylon the Great and the Scarlet Beast: Daniel and the Revelation, Chapter 17

    ~~~ Page numbers refer to Uriah Smith's book, Daniel and the Revelations. ~~~

    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. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries." The name written on her forehead was a mystery: Babylon the Great the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth. Revelation 17:1-2, 5

  1. Babylon the Great:
    • That this apostate woman, as presented in this chapter, is a symbol of the Roman Catholic Church, is generally believed by Protestants. (533)

      *Smith makes no comment regarding why the woman or her name, Babylon the Great, is a mystery. He also doesn't comment on the apparent objective of chapter 17, that being to show the "punishment of the great prostitute".
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      *Singularly identifying this woman with the Roman Catholic Church is probably too narrow an interpretation. She may be a symbol for the collective ungodliness and idolatrous systems of the world throughout history, not just one specific entity.

    • Between this church and the kings of the earth there has been illicit connection, and with the wine of her fornication... the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk. (533)
    • This prophecy is more definite than others applicable to the Roman power, in that it distinguishes between church and state. (533)
    • 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. (533)
    • The vesture and decorations of this woman are in striking harmony with the application made of this symbol; for purple and scarlet are the chief colors in the robes of popes and cardinals. (533)
    • 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. (534)
    • She is called the mother of harlots... which shows that there are other independent religious organizations that constitute the apostate daughters. (534)
    • 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? (534)
    • 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. (534)

    2. 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. Revelation 17:3

  2. The Scarlet Beast:
    • A wild beast, like the one thus introduced, is the symbol of an oppressive and persecuting power. (534)
    • Rome in three phases - "once was, now is not, and yet will come":
      • 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 "once was". (534)
      • The empire was nominally converted to Christianity... While this transition was going on... it could be said of the beast that it "now is not". (535)
      • Time passed on, and it degenerated into popery... and then it constituted the beast that “yet will come”. (535)
    • The seven heads are explained to be, first, seven mountains, and then seven kings, or forms of government. (535)

      *Smith makes no comment regarding the meaning of the seven mountains "on which the woman sits."

    • These are seven kings. "Five are fallen," or passed away; "one is;" the sixth was then reigning; another was to come, and continue for a short space. (535)
    • When the beast reappeared... it was to be under the eighth form of government, which was to continue till the beast went into perdition. (535)
    • The seven forms of (Roman) government... (1) kingly; (2) consular; (3) decemvirate; (4) dictatorial; (5) triumvirate; (6) imperial; and (7) papal. (535)
    • Kings, consuls, decemvirs, dictators, and triumvirs had passed away in John’s day. He was living under the imperial form. (535)

      *There were only three forms of Roman government: The Monarchy, the Republic, and the Empire.
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      *.The consuls were the two highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic. The decemvirs were a ten man commission tasked with codifying Roman law. The dictators were emergency magistrates in the Republic appointed with absolute, temporary authority. The triumvirate were two influential political alliances that dominated the late Republic.

    • 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. (535)
    • The last, which is usually denominated the seventh, is in reality the eighth... We understand, therefore, that the papal head is the eighth. (535)
    • The third phase of the beast that was, and is not, and yet is, is the Roman power under the rule of the papacy. (535)
    • The ten horns (see remarks on Daniel 7:8), are shown to represent the ten kingdoms that arose out of the Roman empire. (535)

      *Smith makes no comment on the subject of the ten kings "who have not yet received a kingdom."

    • They receive power one hour with the beast... they reign a length of time contemporaneously with the beast, during which time they give to it their power and strength. (535)
    • This language must refer to the past, when the kingdoms of Europe were unanimous in giving their support to the papacy. (536)
    • It cannot apply to the future; for after the commencement of the time of the end, they were to take away its (the papacy's) dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the end. (536)

      *The ten horns (kings) are empowered along with the beast upon its "yet will come" period. This occurs not in the past but just before Jesus' second coming. Revelation 17:14
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      *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.

    • These (the beast and the ten horns) make war with the Lamb. Here we are carried into the future, to the time of the great and final battle. (536)
  3. Summary:
    • The woman, Babylon the Great, is the Roman Catholic Church.
    • The scarlet beast that "was" is pagan Rome.
    • The scarlet beast that "is not" is Rome transitioning to Christianity.
    • The scarlet beast that "yet will come" is papal Rome.
    • The seven heads are seven kings (i.e. forms of Roman government).
    • The beast who once was is an eighth... is in reality the papal head.
    • The ten horns are the kingdoms of Europe after the fall of the Western Roman empire.
    • The ten horns join with the beast prior to the time of the end.
    • The ten horns and the beast execute God's judgment on the great prostitute.
    • The ten horns and the beast confront Jesus at the Second Coming.
Uriah Smith's Obsession with the Papacy:
  1. The Little Horn of Daniel 7: It sprouts from among the ten horns on the fourth beast. He identifies it as The Papacy. Daniel and the Revelation, p104, paras3-4.
  2. The Little Horn of Daniel 8: The Roman Empire that arises after the division of Alexander's Empire about the second century BC. It came under the dominion of The Papacy by the fifth century AD. Daniel and the Revelation, p134, paras4-6.
  3. The Leopard Beast of Revelation 13: This he identifies as Rome under the dominion of The Papacy. Daniel and the Revelation, p431, paras4-5.
  4. The Woman, Babylon the Great, of Revelation 17: This he identifies as The Roman Catholic Church. Daniel and the Revelation, p533, par2.
  5. The scarlet beast of Revelation 17: This he first states is the Civil Power under the control of the woman. Daniel and the Revelation, p533, par3.
  6. Later, as the beast that "yet will come", he identifies as The Papacy. Daniel and the Revelation, p535, paras1-2.
  7. This last point begs the question: Is there a contradiction in Smiths discourse here? He is identifying the woman as the Roman Catholic Church, and the beast that "yet will come" as the Papacy. Revelation 17:16 clearly states it is the union of the scarlet beast and the ten horns that are used to execute judgment on the woman. Will the Papacy bring about the destruction of its church? This contradiction leads to only one conclusion: One or perhaps both interpretations of the woman and the scarlet beast are mistaken.