Revelation 17
17
Chapter 17
The great prostitute
1One of the seven angels that had the seven bowls came to me. ‘Come with me,’ he said. ‘I will show you how God will punish the great prostitute. #17:1 The great prostitute is like a picture of the bad city of Babylon. See Revelation 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:1-24. She sits at a place where there are many rivers. #17:1 Many years ago, Babylon city was in a place where many rivers came together. Verse 15 of this chapter explains what these rivers mean. 2It is like the kings who rule on the earth have had sex with that bad woman. She has led the people who live on the earth to do bad things. They have become drunk from the strong wine that she has given to them.’ #17:2 The Bible tells us many times about people who have sex in a wrong way. In the Bible, this idea is often used as a picture of people who turn away from God. It means that people were worshipping idols instead of the true God. If they chose to worship other gods, they were like a bad wife who had gone away from her husband. The people in Babylon worshipped many false gods.
3Again, God's Spirit caused me to see and to hear strange things. The angel carried me away to a wilderness. There I saw a woman who was sitting on a wild animal that was bright red. All over this wild animal, names were written that insulted God. The animal had seven heads and ten horns. 4The woman was wearing clothes that were made from expensive cloth. She also wore bright things that made her look beautiful. She shone with gold, valuable stones and pearls. She held a gold cup in her hand. The cup was full of the bad and disgusting things that she had caused people to do. 5A name was written on the front of her head. Only God knows what it means. It was:
Powerful Babylon.
Mother of all prostitutes.
Mother of all the disgusting things on the earth.
6I saw that the woman was like a drunk. She was like someone who had drunk the blood of God's people. She had killed them because they had told other people about Jesus. When I saw her, I was very surprised. 7Then the angel asked me, ‘Why are you surprised? I will explain the secret of the woman to you. I will tell you the secret of the wild animal that she rides. The wild animal that you saw has seven heads and ten horns. 8This animal was once alive, but it is not alive now. Soon it will come up out of the deep hole again but then God will destroy it completely. #17:8 We read about this deep hole in Revelation 9:1,2. All these things will surprise many people who live on the earth. Those are the people whose names are not written in God's book of life from the beginning of the world. They will be surprised to see the animal that was alive at one time. It is not alive now, but it will soon appear again.
9If you are wise, think carefully about this. The animal's seven heads are a picture of seven hills in the place where the woman sits. #17:9 The city of Rome has seven hills. So many people think that the message about Babylon is really a picture of Rome. Rome was an enemy of God's people at the time when John was alive. 10They are also a picture of seven kings. Five of these kings have already stopped ruling. Another king is ruling now. The last king has not yet come. When he does come, he must rule only for a short time. 11The wild animal is a picture of an eighth king. He was alive once, but he is not alive now. He belongs to the group of seven kings, but God will destroy him completely.
12The ten horns that you saw are a picture of ten more kings. #17:12 We do not really know what the ‘seven kings’ and the ‘ten kings’ mean. Different people have different ideas about them. There is one important thing for us to understand. The city (the ‘woman’) may not be only one city in only one place at only one time. It is the Devil's city. And he rules everyone in the world who does not love God. They have not yet begun to rule anywhere. But they will receive authority to rule as kings for one hour. They will rule people together with the wild animal. 13They all have the same purpose. They will give their power to the wild animal. They will give him authority to rule people. 14Together they will fight a war against the Lamb. But the Lamb will win against them. He is the Lord above all lords. He is the King who rules over all kings. And God's people will be with him. They are the people that the Lamb has chosen to belong to him. They are the people who have continued to trust him.’
15Then the angel said to me, ‘You saw the many rivers where the prostitute sits. Those rivers are a picture of people from many nations. They are crowds of people from different countries who speak many different languages. 16The wild animal and the ten horns that you saw will hate the prostitute. Those rulers will destroy her. They will remove all her clothes. They will eat the meat on her body. Then they will burn her with fire. #17:16 This describes what will happen to Babylon. Enemies will destroy the city and take away all its valuable things. 17They will decide to do that because God has given them those thoughts. So, they will do what he wants. They will give to the wild animal their authority to rule as king. The animal will continue to rule until everything happens that God has said will happen. 18The bad woman that you saw is a picture of the great city. That city has power over all the kings who rule on the earth.’
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Revelation 17: EASY
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