Scripture: Revelation 17
I remember one time when I was in seminary a Jehovah’s Witness came to my door wanting to talk to me about the book of Revelation. They were determined to show me the error of my Lutheran ways, and wanted to use Revelation 17 to do it.
They asked me, “Do you know what the Harlot is?” I said, “Ummm, a great city?”
“Oh no! Revelation 17 tells us that it’s following a false religion.”
I responded with… “Oh? Really? Ok, let’s look it up…” I then proceeded to read to them verse 18, “The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth…”
For some reason... they never came back to visit me.
People go a lot of different places with this imagery…
But if we go back to John’s day, we know that the image of a woman riding a noble steed was frequently used throughout the Roman Empire to symbolize the city of Rome.
What John is doing is taking this well-known image and “revealing” its true nature.
John is using satire. He’s taking this familiar image, and making it into a caricature to say something about the nature of this so-called “noble woman” called Rome.
I’m sure you’re all familiar with how satire works. We see it in our newspapers and online all the time. Political groups are represented by animals – elephants and donkeys respectively, and artists will caricature political leaders by exaggerating a person’s identifiable traits. If the identity is in doubt, the name will be written on its picture.
The actions of the satirical figure are very telling as well. Such as during the 80's there were pictures of Uncle Sam (representing the US) and the Russian strides toward a democratic and free government that were portrayed with Uncle Sam holding puppet strings.
Satire helps reveal different types of relationships, showing readers something that they might not otherwise see, and its humorous elements contribute to its persuasive power. If people can be persuaded to think that what appears impressive is actually ridiculous, that what seems glamorous is really garish, and that what appears desirable is in fact ludicrous, they will be more ready to resist.
This is what John is doing when he portrays the image of the harlot that rides the beast.
John takes this type of imagery that his audience would have been familiar with – a symbol that was usually a picture of virtue and justice – and now portrays it as a debauched prostitute reeling in a drunken stupor clinging not to the seven hills portrayed on the coin, but to the back of the seven-headed beast. It’s John’s caricature of Rome.
And the “harlot” imagery draws on a wealth of stock imagery from the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, Israel’s relationship to God was compared to a marriage in which God was the husband and Israel was the bride.
By worshipping other gods, the people violated their marriage covenant with God and assumed the role of a prostitute who embraced many lovers. (Hos. 2:5; Jer. 2:20, 3:1-14; Ezek. 16:36) Her fate is the same as these Old Testament prostitutes – her lovers destroy her.
Israel’s enemies were frequently referred to as prostitutes… Tyre (Ezek. 27:3; Isaiah 23:17), Ninevah (Nahum 3:4); and of course Babylon (Jeremiah 51:7; 25:15-16) Babylon and Rome had much in common and his readers would have readily made the connection of Babylon with Rome as the city on seven hills. And like Babylon – Rome was enticing. It was prosperous and wealthy and many were willing to “commit fornication” with the cult of the emperor and accepted Rome as the point of orientation for life in this world, making Rome herself a “god.” So I suppose if one views their government and society as their orientation for life, is what they "worship" - then the Jehovah's Witnesses were right - that is indeed a false religion.
But the satirical portrayal incorporates Roman symbols but caricaturizes them in such a way that John breaks the spell with which the great city bewitches the nations.
John’s drawing his readers – which includes us – to recognize a certain reality. Faith may set you apart from the societal mainstream… but if the alternative is to cozy up with a prostitute and her pet beast… maybe being outside the social mainstream isn’t so bad.
The ultimate fate of Babylon is what John is drawing us to as well. The end of Babylon’s story is clear – evil self-destructs. The beast and its allies begin by waging war against the lamb, but they end up not destroying the lamb, but destroying the harlot.
After carrying her around, the beast eventually overthrows her, her gold and jewels stripped away in disgrace, consumed by the jaws of the beast. Destruction by evil always brings about destruction not only of its enemies, but if its allies as well. Part of God’s judgment is to allow evil to run its course – it will eventually destroy itself by its own practices.
While John was pointing to a specific threat that first century Christians were facing in their day, the point is timeless.
These are realities and lessons we still have to learn today. Partaking in evil actions because it may seem more enticing or easy will never end well. We are warned that partaking in a societal system that oppresses and makes its wealth off the backs of the poor and needy will eventually collapse.
Evil destroys evil. Greed, terror, tyranny – all these things eventually self-destruct.
It’s like cancer… it eats away at and destroys its host – ultimately killing itself as well.
God is calling us to not partake in this self-destructiveness. To not be part of the systems of the world that entice us by their riches and luxuries, but ultimately lead to oppression and death. This does not mean we do not participate in government or the processes through which we govern society - it's just a warning regarding how those governments operate and through what means they govern.
We are called instead to look at what God has done and what God sees as important. God came to us in the form of a child, born in a humble stable, renouncing the destructive ways in which the world tended to operate.
And he died and was resurrected so that we might be saved from those things. The lamb of God who saves us not through worldly pursuits, but through sacrifice.
We are being shown a warning of what happens when we concentrate too much on worldly pursuits, when we get side-tracked by what seems to be glamorous.
It’s easy to fall for. We can look at all the Hollywood stars and want what they have, want to be famous, or rich like they are…
But I can tell you first-hand… it can easily become a self-destructive lifestyle. 9 times out of 10 when people get into that luxuriant lifestyle – they turn to drugs, alcohol and other self-destructive ways of life. They find ways to backstab others for personal gain. It may look enticing from the outside… but it’s falling apart on the inside. It’s self-destructing.
John reveals the truth about these things for us by utilizing images that portray their true nature.
He does so… not because these things are so easy for us to see, but precisely because they are so DIFFICULT for us to see. Difficult for us to sometimes distinguish between what is of God, and what is not of God.
So he uses images of harlots and beasts to persuade us not to take part in these systems, but rather – to ally ourselves with the lamb who was slain.
I think during the Christmas season, it isn’t too difficult for us to realize in our own society sometimes how hard it is to distinguish that which is of God – and that which is of materialism and commercialism. Where is the focus when we think about Christmas? Is it on the stresses of getting the right gift for friends and family? Or is it on the fact that God broke into our world to save us from ourselves?
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