Revelation 17
By all the measurables the
Christian community could not last long against Rome. Rome destroyed and assimilated all her
enemies. The Christian faith with its
high ideals, morals, and ethics could not last long against Rome. Rome, for her part, was everywhere and
offered everything a person could want.
There was almost no vice, experience, pleasure or indulgence that could
not be had in the Roman Empire. All that
was demanded was loyalty to Rome and tolerance of the vices of others. Rome was mighty, with kings and peoples to
do her bidding. She boasted of her
courts, transportation, education, philosophy, Pax Romania, power, regal pomp
and her own eternal greatness. What did
the church have to offer compared to that?
As disciples it is easy to
feel the same way today. How can we
stand up to the wealth, opulence, pleasure, and might of our culture? What can a Sunday worship service do when
compared with a day at Universal Studios or Disney? Our gatherings seem so insignificant when
compared to sporting events, concerts, or national political conventions. How does reading of Scripture and saying of
prayers match up to the news and entertainment media? All the while we are opposed in every way
from being marginalized to outright persecution. It is easy to feel the church, the community
of disciples, is of no consequence in comparison to the power of this
world. Maybe we should pursue the path
of power, the way of wealth, the influence of excitement. These are all seductive.
In Revelation 17 we see the
façade pulled off, the curtain pulled back and the true nature of Rome and the
powers that oppose the church shown for what they are. We see a harlot, a whore. Please let’s not use polite euphemisms for
something this disgusting. This is no
young seductress. Jewels do not keep us
from seeing the ugliness. She is drunk
and if not for her ill-gotten wealth she would be sprawled out in a gutter, but
she is rich with power, influence and money.
She hates the church the way a bitter, old, skanky slut hates a young,
beautiful, virgin bride. Her patron’s
will soon turn on this nasty, sick, drunk whore. Do not envy the world’s wealth and power and
pleasure anymore than you would envy an old whore just before her ruin.
Questions to ponder
Why do you think the Holy
Spirit inspired such dramatic and graphic language to describe the world?
It has been reported that
red lights were used in houses of ill repute to make it more difficult to see
the lesions and sores on the prostitutes’ bodies. What means does the world use to hide its
sinful and revolting true nature?
In what ways is the world’s
system like a whore? In our sexually charged society we have down played the
evil of prostitution. How might that
impact our understanding of this passage?
Scripture often uses the
metaphor of prostitution for the infidelity on the part of God’s people. What picture does that give us of God’s
emotions when we sin?
