Tough chapter we're going to look at today. Tough to unpack. So we'll pray for God to help us. Our Father and our God, we pray your blessing on your word. And Lord, we pray your blessing on us. Lord, that you'd open our ears, that we could actually hear truth, take it in to our hearts, Lord, that we would be able to understand what's being conveyed in this rather cryptic chapter. So Lord, we need your spirit to help us. We thank you for that. In Jesus' name. Amen. So today I'm going to read a section at a time, and we'll unpack a section at a time as we move through. Chapter 17, we're going to be introduced to a prostitute that's riding a beast. And of course, there's a lot of symbolism here. The book itself tells us it's a mystery. And when you get to chapter 18, and we see that Babylon has fallen, chapter 18, I'll probably not get to for two weeks, because I'm planning on taking a break from Revelation, because next week's Easter, and I'd really like to focus on the resurrection next week. But when you get to chapter 18, it's really a dirge, or a mourning song over the fall of Babylon. But there's a little almost sarcasm in chapter 18, because what they're really mourning is all the goodies and the products and whatnot that the world enjoyed because of Babylon's success. So more of a warning against materialism. when we get to chapter 18 in a couple of weeks. But that's kind of what we got before us. I was listening yesterday, I got all done putting my sermon together and everything, and I thought, I'm going to go listen to D.A. Carson, because I love D.A. Carson. You might not even know who that is, but I really enjoy his teaching. I listened to him and he got done teaching and he goes, he almost apologized to his church. He's like, look, hang in there. I know this is tough stuff. We're getting to the victory really soon. We'll be in a chapter in the second part of 19 and on into 20 and 21 and so on. And it's really exciting to see the main thrust of the point of the book of Revelation is that Jesus is the victor. And because we're in Jesus, we're all victorious because of Jesus. And that's where we're heading to. So some dark paths to look through as we get to the top of the crescendo, which is the victory of our Lord. So with that little bit of an introduction, this seducing harlot, I'm going to read Revelation 17, one through six, and then we'll come back and kind of pick it apart a little bit. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads, and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written, Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth. I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. So let's start where this starts. The tour guide for John here, it says, is one of the seven angels. So that harkens back to the angels with their bowls of wrath. And there's some significance to this as we move through. And I think it's not an accident that when we get to chapter 21 and verse 9, we're going to see this angel again. And there, and I'm just going to read you the verse, this is 29 verse 1, it says, then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, it's the same tour guide, says, filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me saying, come, I will show you the bride, the lamb's wife. And there's a comparison being made here between this harlot, this prostitute, who's riding the scarlet beast, and the Bride of Christ. And just put that in your mind as we work our way through this. We're going to later look at the Bride of Christ, but here we have the seducing harlot. One writer wrote that really you could see in the Book of Revelation the tale of two cities. sub-plot the tale of two women. And that's really what we're looking at here. The New Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem that we'll see come down out of heaven, and the city Babylon, which represents in a lot of ways the world system, the world powers. So judgment, he says, is upon the harlot who sits on many waters. And I want to just spend a minute pulling back a little bit from this and taking you through a little tour in the Bible of the rebellion of man and the city of man versus the bride of Christ and the city of God. And if you are a student of theology at all, you know St. Augustine is one who really put forward, while he was writing the city of God, that there's really two cities. There's the city of God, and we're inhabitants of that city. We're citizens of heaven. And there's the city of man. And we're navigating life through both of those places as children of God, dealing with the secular that's all around us. But we don't want it to be in us, because we're really citizens of heaven. And you'll see that in the book of Revelation quite a bit. But to show you that from scripture, if you go back to Genesis, somebody once said, if you don't understand Genesis, you'll never understand the Bible. But when you get to like Genesis chapter 4 and verse 17, speaking of Cain, and it says, And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch, and he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch. It wasn't Corpus Christi, the city of Christ, or anything like that, the body of Christ. It had nothing to do with God. It was the city named after what he produced, Enoch. And there's a lot of significance in that. And it was defying God who told him he was going to be a vagabond upon the earth. And basically, Cain said, no, I'm not. I'm going to build a city, and I'm going to find permanence. That's where I'm going to live, and I'm going to raise my family there. It was defiance and the distrust of God who said that he was going to protect Cain by giving him a mark. And Cain said, that's not enough. I'm going to build a walled city. That's going to be my protection. So you can start to see, early on in even the book of Genesis, the rebellion of man, a distrust of God, a rebellion and a defiance against God. And you see it continue when you get to Genesis 11, the city of sheer defiance, in verse 4. And they said, come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth. And so they build a city and a tower, a monument to their own achievements. This is not a God-glorifying project at all. And there's a lot in this Tower of Babel. We're talking about Babylon here. And you've got to find the root of all this. And it's also rebellious, because God told them to be fruitful, to multiply, and to spread out across the whole earth. And mankind said no. We're going to wall up here in this city. We're not going to do what you told us to do. And you know how the story goes. God scatters them and confuses the language. But it was just flat out defiance over the rule of God. And so ancient Babylon, because Babylon's being mentioned here, Babylon's been destroyed. But there's sort of a reemergence of the spirit of Babylon, Babylon being a type, representing the defiance of man against God. And in the Bible, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with cities, but you do see in the Bible, it tends to be people walking after the Lord, or people building cities and walling themselves up against the Lord, is the way it's presented in the book of Genesis. But when you read Jeremiah, and I'm going to read you a little bit out of chapter 51 in Jeremiah, beginning in verse 11. where it says, make the arrows bright, gather the shields. The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, for his plan is against Babylon to destroy it. Because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for his temple, Set up the standard on the walls of Babylon. Make the guard strong. Set up the watchmen. Prepare the ambushes. For the Lord has both devised and done what he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon. O you who dwell by many waters, Abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your covetousness. That's the same language, guys. This woman who sits on many waters, right? The city, Babylon. And the reason why that is is because ancient actual Babylon, when it was a power, one of the seven wonders of the world, was built on a system of canals. I mean, Babylon was famously known for its hanging gardens, right? It was this incredible place. And that's what they're known for. But they're also known for covetousness, for worldliness, for materialism. And God was opposed to ancient Babylon, which was destroyed. There may be some ruins left. That's all that's really left of it. So it really is the tale of two cities. The city of Babylon, which represents as a type of mankind in rebellion to God, building its cities walled up against God in sheer defiance to the purpose of God, versus those who have been rescued out of that and are now citizens of heaven that are the bride of the Lamb. Two women. So that's what we got here. So the worldwide influence of this whore, Babylon. I mean, it's put in really stark words as we work our way through the chapter, but in verse two, back to Revelation 17, with that little backdrop I gave you, it says, speaking of Babylon, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So you have the leaders of men, worldwide leaders in allegiance, in this language, committing fornication with her, which is a picture of wickedness and rebellion against God, not following God's ways. And also all the inhabitants of the earth. Right? And a little sub lesson for us, and I'll take you down this little path because it's right here in the text, is if you notice in verse 2, the influence that leaders have on the populace, on the people. And never underestimate the influence of leaders. And I'm talking about national leaders, but I also want to talk about church leadership. Because it's important and the Bible speaks to it. Proverbs 29.2 says, when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. There's wisdom in that, guys. I mean, make sure your vote counts, because we want to see righteous people in positions of power, because as the leader leads, so the people follow. And that's true all through history. It's right here in Revelation 17, 2. Proverbs 29, 12. If a ruler pays attention to lies, it says, all his servants become wicked. But the ruler gets bad advisors and he's listening or she's listening to lies. The people will stumble into wickedness because they're following the ruler who's being led by deception. So you've got to be careful of this. And this is why the Bible so strongly warns the church. And this is 1 Timothy 5.22. In that context, listen to this verse. Do not lay hands on anyone hastily. And then it goes on to say, nor share in other people's sins, keep yourself pure, but do not lay hands on anyone hastily. Don't rush to make somebody a leader in a church, right? The New Living Translation puts that same verse, never be in a hurry about appointing an elder. My son and daughter-in-law were on the board at their church to bring in a new pastor. The pastor's in his 70s, and he's retiring. And it took them a long time to find a pastor, because they were following the wisdom of scripture. They interviewed many, many people. And they're like, this isn't the one. This person's not ready for leadership. And they're asking hard, hard questions. And I'd ask my son, how'd it go this week? Oh, we had one. We thought he was the one. And we asked this one really tough question. I really didn't like the way he answered it. And he's not the one to be our leader. And we're looking for somebody to lead them. And they just found the man. And I think he's coming this Sunday, actually. So keep that in your prayers. I forgot about that. I should have had that on the prayer list. Because they're following the wisdom of scripture, you have to be careful. Because as the leader leads, so the people follow, right? And so we have to be careful. So here you find in chapter 17 verse 2, the leaders commit spiritual harlotry. That's the language of fornication. That's what's going on there. These are leaders that are spiritually being like harlots against the living God. In Jeremiah 51 and verse 7 this time, we looked at 51, 11 through 13, but here in verse 7, It says Babylon was a golden cup. And what's the prostitute holding in her hand? She's holding a golden cup. This is symbolism, guys. Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand that made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine. Therefore, the nations are deranged. And beloved, I look at what goes on in the nations today, and that's good language. I could look at some of what's going on politically and say, that's deranged. This is a deranged people. And it's because they have a deranged leader leading them, and the whole nation goes down that crazy path of doing ungodly things in their derangement. So when you get to verse 3, beginning to unpack this a little bit, the scarlet beast, It says, so he carried me away in the spirit, and that just means that John's getting a spirit-directed vision here, into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. Now we were introduced to this beast in chapter 13, if you remember, in verse 1. Then I stood on the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and 10 horns, and on his horns 10 crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. So we're given a greater description here. Now we find out that the beast is actually a scarlet, or if you will, a red beast. And the color has symbolic significance. It could be bloodthirstiness, as we move through the text. Scarlet represents, in the scripture, sin. Isaiah chapter 1 verse 18, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. So it represents bloodthirstiness, probably sin. And before the heads had a blasphemous name on the heads, now it appears like this monster, this beast, is covered in blasphemous tattoos, is the way I picture it. And this woman, this prostitute, is seated on the beast. is deriving her power from the beast, and the beast derives its power from the dragon, which is Satan. So this is a satanic world system, whatever this is, and we'll look at it and try to unpack it a bit, but she's seated on the beast. Philip Hughes writes that she is upheld in a position of prominence from which she deceives and seduces kings and nations, is what the real picture is there. And if you look at the woman herself, she's in royal attire, right? The woman was arrayed, verse 4, in purple and in scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, had a gold cup. I mean, she's royalty. That's purple and scarlet. It's royalty. Throughout history, the royals have worn purple. The Roman Senate wore purple sashes and scarlet sashes. That would have been something that John's immediate audience would have been familiar with in Rome. Incredible wealth. Gold, precious stones, pearls. She's wealthy. The wealth of the nation. Outwardly, extravagant wealth, but inwardly, what? The cup is full of filth. Right? And that's the picture that we're getting painted here. Robert Mounce writes, her cup promises carnal delight, but it is full of the sewage of her sensual practices, is what really is being conveyed. So this is a striking contrast again to the Bride of Christ. Where in the New Testament, we're told how to conduct ourselves as Jesus's people. And when instruction is given to the women of the church, it says in 1 Timothy 2.9, that a woman should adorn herself in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, Not with the braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing. Do you see the polar opposite of this woman Babylon and how she's represented here with all this gaudy jewelry and wealth and having to basically show it off to the nations to allure the kings to her is really what the text is doing. And the mystery of her name. The Bible says there's a mystery to her name. It's not a simple thing to unpack, but it says her name and it's probably not written on her head. Imagine a headband. And I was reading, they said that the prostitutes in John's day and pagan cults would wear headbands with writing on the bands to represent who they were and what they do. And here we have a woman that on her band, if you will, is written, mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth. So if this is symbolic, which I think there's a lot of symbolism here, the ungodly world powers throughout history culminating in one final world power at the end of all things. And I think that's probably a pretty good description. And we'll move into that a little bit deeper with her identity. And I'll give you a couple people's points of view, and then I'll read a few scripture verses. But Joseph sees, trying to identify this woman, He writes, and as this woman is a harlot, the great harlot, and the mother of the harlots and the abominations of the earth, she must needs be the great embodiment, source, and representative of all idolatry, false worship, and perversion of the word and the institutes of God. So a lot of people see here and they point to false religion. A lot of people point to the Catholic Church throughout history, especially the reformers would point in that direction. That this somehow is the promotion of all that's false, all that's opposed to God. Warren Wearsby, who follows more of a dispensationalist tact, and I love Warren Wearsby, he's a great teacher, but he writes, The true church is a pure virgin, but the false religious system is a harlot who has abandoned the truth and prostituted herself for personal gain. In every age, there has been a harlot who has persecuted God's people, and this will culminate in the last days in a worldwide apostate religious system. And that very well could be what we have represented here. She's full of blasphemies. And I want to pause for a minute to think, well, what would that be? Well, it could be, if John had in mind Rome, and Rome just being a type, because Rome has fallen, and if that's a type of what we're going to see throughout history and then culminating to a great Rome of sorts in the future, right before Jesus' return, The blasphemy of Rome was obviously all kinds of things, but the ultimate blasphemy, or probably one of the highest blasphemies, was that they were commanding their people to worship the Caesars as God. I mean, how greater, more blasphemous can you get than to say that your human political leader is God Almighty, and put that on your coinage, which is what they did. So what's blasphemy? Well, Deuteronomy 27.15 says the worship of idols is blasphemous to God. In Deuteronomy 23.18, the wages of a prostitute were not to be brought into the temple because that was blasphemous to God. You weren't to do that. In Leviticus 18.22, as unpopular as this is today, homosexuality is blasphemous to God. And in Deuteronomy 18, 10 and 11, infanticide, killing your children, that the gods will let things go well for you. That's what they did with the Baals and Malak and all that in the Old Testament. It was blasphemous to God. And in that same chapter, witchcraft, necromancy, conjuring up the dead that they might tell you the future, all that is blasphemous to God. God says to his people, don't ever go down this path. Don't do these things. Now, you can imagine a church that calls itself a church but is not a church promoting these things, promoting abortion, promoting homosexuality. It's a blasphemous anti-church. It's anti-Christian, yet it masquerades itself as a church. Karen and I went down a couple of years ago to Annapolis for a weekend getaway. And we stayed downtown Annapolis. And right across the street from our room was a church, so to say. And they have banners all over it promoting homosexuality. I thought, that's not a church. It's an anti-church. Yet the local people might think it's a church and they go there to worship whatever God that pastor is representing in the pulpit, but it's not the true and living God. Because the Bible says that's blasphemous. No true church is going to go gather to blaspheme God and his ways and his word. So it very well could be that this woman represents false religion at its peak, at its worst. And she herself, not only do the kings come and get drunk on the wine of her cup, but she herself is drunk. But she's drunk on the blood of the martyrs. She's murderous. Whoever she is and represents, she's anti-Christian and pursues and murders Christians, is what it says in verse 6. I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. I'm going to read you a little bit of a lengthy quote, so hang in there. And this is from Matthew Henry. And he's pointing to Rome as a type. So he says, Rome clearly appears to be meant in this chapter, pagan Rome subdued and ruled with military power, not by art, not by flatteries. She left the nations in general to their ancient usages and worship. But it is well known that by crafty and political management, with all kinds of deceit, of unrighteousness, Papal Rome, and he's talking about the Catholic Church, Papal Rome has obtained and kept her rule over kings and nations. Here were allurements of worldly honor and riches and pomp and pride suited to sensual and worldly minds. Prosperity, pomp, and splendor feed the pride and lusts of the human heart, but are no security against the divine vengeance. The golden cup represents the allurements and the delusions by which this mystical Babylon has obtained and kept her influence and seduced others to join her abominations. She is named from her infamous practices, the mother of harlots, training them up in idolatry and all sorts of wickedness. She filled herself with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus. She intoxicated herself with it. And it was so pleasant to her that she never was satisfied. We cannot but wonder at the oceans of Christian blood, shed by men called Christians. Yet, when we consider these prophecies, these awful deeds testify to the truth of the gospel. And let all beware of a splendid, gainful, and fashionable religion. Let us avoid the mysteries of iniquity and study diligently the great mystery of godliness, that we may learn humility and gratitude from the example of Christ. The more we seek to resemble him, the less we shall be liable to be deceived by antichrist. Let that sink in. That's a good quote. You might not agree with all the theology there, and I don't always agree with all the theology, but that is a good quote. In other words, we need to strive to be conformed to the image of Christ, and we won't be duped by any Christ. That's really what he's saying. I go to a website quite frequently that I like, gotquestions.org. And again, I don't always agree with everything they have there, but there's a lot of good stuff there. And off that website, they wrote, so can the mystery of the Whore of Babylon be solved? Yes, well, at least partially, right? The Whore of Babylon is an evil world system controlled by the Antichrist during the last days before Jesus' return. The Whore of Babylon also has religious connotations. Spiritual adultery with the beast being the focus of an ungodly end times religious system. And the biggest way we combat this in our own lives is to know the truth, right? To be under good biblical teaching, to be under good biblical preaching. And when you get hungry for the word and you're in the word, and you're like, I wanna hear a sermon, make sure you're getting a really good solid biblical teacher on the radio or wherever you like to go to listen to sermons. So our second point, we'll move on from there. The mystery revealed, and I'll start at the tail end of verse six and read it down to verse 10. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. But the angel said to me, why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that you saw was and is not and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was and is not and yet is. Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. I was listening to Dr. R.C. Sproul teach on this. And he's teaching in a classroom setting. And he starts laughing. He goes, well, there you go. Plain as pie. I mean, there you go. Why are you all confused, John? Why is this amazing? It's as simple as this. He's the one who is. He's going to come back out of the abyss and go to perdition. I mean, easy peasy. Well, obviously, it's still somewhat shrouded in mystery, isn't it, even though we read it, the angel's explanation. So the beast here is described. He's described in chapter 13, verse 2. It says, the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and his great authority. So this is a satanic movement, a satanic figure, an Antichrist. Empowered by Satan himself. And he is the one who was, is not, and will ascend from the pit. And later in verse 8, was, is not, and yet is. One wicked world power is toppled, yet another keeps emerging. And I think that's a good way to look at this and try to figure this out. I told you before, some look at this and say, no, any crisis, somebody is going to get a death sentence. blow, but then miraculously come back to life. Some people hold that view. I see it more symbolic than that. And I think I shared the view of, you know, we get a despot or a dictator that takes over a nation, and everybody's cheering him on, and then he begins to, the nation begins to fold in on itself, and things topple, and finally it seems like it's over, it's done, they're gone, and yet It's not very long later before another despot, another dictator rises up and we go through it all over again. It's not really dead. It's yet to come. So it could be that. Robert Mounce writes, whenever in the course of history secular power oversteps its lawful bounds and tyrannizes the innocent, it can be said that the beast has risen from the abyss. At the end of history, he will rise one final time to launch an all-out assault against the people of God. On that occasion, he will be confronted by the king of kings who would destroy him from the face of the earth and dispose of him forever in the fires of perdition." I think that's a pretty good quote. So there's a mystery of the seven heads and the seven kings. In apocalyptic writing, you'll see that a lot, where a symbol means something in this instance, but then that same symbol is going to mean something else in another context. That's very common, and we'll see that here. So it says, here is a mind which has wisdom. In other words, you have to think through this, but here it is. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. I think not every single scholar sees this, but most of the scholars would agree that this is clearly Rome. Rome is a city built on seven hills. In that word that's translated mountains, also that very same Greek word can be translated hills. So I think it's very clearly Rome in mind, but I think Rome is a type What's going to emerge is going to be of that same ilk as what we see in ancient Rome, a world-dominating power that doesn't lead people in godly directions, but the ultimate Rome led by Antichrist himself and his own forces and whatnot, very satanic. So we see that also there are seven kings. So these hills also represent seven kings. She's sitting on seven mountains, Rome, and seven kings. J. Vernon McGee, who's more of a dispensationalist, but I'll read you, I thought this is good. He says, the wild beast was, speaks to the past history of the Roman Empire is not, refers to the present condition of the fragmented empire. And I'll explain that in a second. The Roman Empire is not dead. It has fallen apart into the nations of Europe today. is about to come out of the abyss speaks of the reactivation of the Roman Empire by Satan. And a lot of dispensational views hold that very view. If you remember when the European Union formed a bond and a pact, and we've been to Europe, you don't have to... You have to have their own money. But everybody else uses the Euro. It didn't used to be like that. Everybody had their own coinage, their own dollars. But now you can just go from country to country. It's all the Euro. Because they've formed a union. I remember when that happened, I remember people saying, oh, this is what the Bible is talking about. The multiple kings, this is it. It could be. Maybe not. But I want to be alert to it. I want to see things like that and think, well, it could be. I mean, when you see these type of things, you think, where do they get that? Well, right here in this context, when you get to the 10, when we get to the number 10. So seven kings, some see that historical as Roman emperors. It's really hard to make that work. You had to skip a few and start, you know, late. I mean, if you want to play with stuff, you can make anything the number. I mean, you really can. But then you get this really cryptic verse 11, and it says, the beast that was and is not is himself also the eighth. and is of the seven, and is going to perdition." So we get this eighth king who's of the seven, but he's distinct from the seven. And I wanna read you what Robert Mounce says. He says this, he says, verse 11, and that's what I just read to you, verse 11 is the heart of the riddle. The beast is described as an eighth king who belongs to the seven. He is not simply one of the seven. While in one sense he belongs to the seven, he rules on earth as a king, in another sense he is distinct. As an eighth, he stands outside and above the historical sequence of secular powers that have governed the empire through John's day. In short, the beast is not a human ruler through whom the power of evil expresses itself. He is that evil power itself. The beast is none other than Antichrist, that malign and evil being who throughout the history of the church has set himself in opposition to the people of God, but he is going to his destruction. No matter how terrible the beast may appear and how intimidating his claims, this oppressor will receive his just reward in the eternal fires of retribution. And then in verse 12, the 10 horns, which you saw, they're 10 kings, and that's where we get some of the thought about the European Union and all that, who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour, I believe that just means for a short time, as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, they will give their power, and there you see the union, right? They're of one mind, and they, collectively, will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them. Why? Because He's Lord of lords and King of kings. And those who are with Him are called chosen and faithful. Do you see the division here? All through the book of Revelation, either you have the mark of the beast or you have the mark of God. Either you're the bride of Christ or you're in league with the harlot. Either you're a citizen of the heavenly city Jerusalem or you're in the city of fallen man and the satanic kingdoms of this world. There's a dividing point in the Bible. And the beauty is that the whole book is leading us gloriously to the triumph. That, you know what, you're on the right side. And you're going to prevail because Christ prevailed. That's the point of the book overall. So literally, these 10 horns, 10 nations that align with the Antichrist and his cause. Symbolically, some see it as 10 being a number of fullness representing the kingdoms of the world, again, under the sway of the devil. When you go back to chapter 16, verse 14, it doesn't speak of just 10 kings coming against the Lamb. It says the kings of the whole earth, the whole world, come at the Battle of Armageddon. So then lastly, verses 15 to 18, there's judgment now upon the prostitute. Then he said to me, the waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God has put it into the hearts to fulfill his purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth." In my Holman Bible, It titles this section, Surprise! I mean, this is really a twist in the story, isn't it? They all turn on her. I mean, do you get that in the story? I mean, they all turn. The nations turn on the harlot that made them wealthy and rich. And they turn on her and destroy her. And the language is just ghastly. It's horrific language of what goes on here. And it's supposed to sound that way. So we kind of take a breath and dig into it and see what's happening here. So we find that the waters that she's sitting on, it's the masses of the world that are swayed by anti-Christian forces. And we see that throughout the world, even in our day, but I think it's going to culminate and heighten as we get closer to the return of Christ. Philip Hughes writes on this, And all men hate the thing they love, wrote Oscar Wilde in his poetic overstatement, though it also applies with particular force to those who are driven by an ungodly lust for power and pleasure. For they become sated and then nauseated with their excess, which always, after promising everything, leave them disillusioned and unfulfilled. The euphoria of being drunken with the wine of the harlot's fornication, in verse 2, turns to disgust and hatred. The mad addiction to luxury and licentiousness of her citizens destroyed the grandeur of Rome, the great Babylon of their day. And so it happens with the followers of tyrant after tyrant. They kill the thing they have loved. The fate of the harlot is to be hated by the very ones who have avidly drunk from the cup of her abominations and impurities, to be made desolate and naked by those who have wallowed in voluptuousness of her company, and to be destroyed by the lovers who have wanted unending existence for her. Thus, over and over in history, the great Babylons of this world rise only to fall by their own internal rottenness. You might not think that's a perfect unpacking of that passage, but what Philip Hughes wrote is absolutely true. If you look at world history and the tyrants that rise, the nations that gather around them and are cheering them as they go down the road in their car, generally those nations, now sometimes they get attacked by outside and defeated, but generally those nations fall apart all on their own. You look at the communist Russia and the Iron Curtain and how that all came down. It collapsed from within. The inner rottenness of ungodly world systems tend to collapse on themselves. And that's really kind of a picture of what you see here. They turn on Earth. And the most graphic, horrific language. Robert Bounce writes, they strip her naked, they eat her flesh and burn her remains with fire. A ghastly ordeal that reveals man's evil nature striking out in blind fury against the supposed cause of its own wickedness. The angel adds, and this is really key, the angel adds that God has put it in the hearts of the kings to carry out his purpose. I think it's moral. I won't talk about it for a second as we close. But he says, the angel adds that God has put it in the hearts of the kings to carry out his purpose. In the final analysis, even the destructive wrath of the wicked is used by God to fulfill his word. And beloved, whatever we see go on on planet Earth and the things that transpire, never think God's forgotten us or God isn't in control of everything that's going on. He's not the author of evil. But he certainly is using... in His own perfect way, evil things, to steer everything. Like the Book of Romans says, that He causes all things to work for the good of those who love Him, who are the called. He's working His will out. Even in evil things that we see in this world, God's on His throne. He's working these things through. And that's what it says in verse 17, for God put it in their hearts to fulfill His purpose. That's like Joseph, right? When he finally confronts his brothers at the end of his life, you know, towards the end of his life. And he says, you meant this for evil. No doubt about it. You're culpable before Almighty God. You meant this for evil, but God meant it for good. How could He say that? How could both be true? But they are. They're both true. God sovereignly is working out His perfect will. So don't be frightened as we go through these things. We get to chapter 19, chapter 20, chapter 21. It's marvelous. God's in absolute control and He always has been. Let's pray. Our Father and our God, we thank you for your word. And we thank you that you are sovereign. You're sovereignly in control of everything. And Lord, at times in our lives, it just seems so chaotic, and things are spinning out of control. Because Lord, we want to control things. But ultimately, Lord, you're the one who's in control, and we're thankful for that. Lord, help us to have a confidence in your goodness, and in your power, and your love, and your grace. Lord, help us to leave this place with those things on our mind that we might worship and praise you all through our week. In Jesus' name, amen. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his confidence upon you and give you peace. Reveal the peace of Christ Jesus to a world that desperately needs to hear the gospel. In Jesus' name, amen.