Who is this ‘scarlet beast’? John will hear more about it soon, in verses 9–12, but one thing is clear immediately- it is the ‘beast’ he saw arising previously, surfacing from the sea (of nations).1 John sees the ‘woman’, the ‘whore’, sitting on that ‘beast’. That is what the angel, one of the seven angels with the seven ‘bowls’, shows him. He will later also show John who the ‘bride of the Lamb’ is – the Heavenly Jerusalem.2 A greater contrast is unimaginable. We get to see the ‘woman’ here for the first time. She is sitting in the godforsaken ‘wilderness’ on the way to her judgment, but she is oblivious to what is about to happen to her. She sits on many waters.3 ‘Deserts’ and ‘many waters’ point to historical Babylon on the Euphrates, and not to Rome! Only the river Tiber flowed through Rome, but Jeremiah says of Babel: “You who live by many waters and are rich in treasures, your end has come, the time for you to be destroyed.”4 To apply this to ‘Rome’ you would have to consider the ‘many waters’ to be the many nations5 by which Rome caused itself to be ‘fed’. Yet the fact that not only Rome, but also Washington, Moscow, Paris, Berlin, Beijing and all human centres of power, including Jerusalem and Geneva and ‘papal Rome’, all have to do with Rome, will soon become clear. But the historical city this beast refers to, ‘Babylon’, is not Rome. ‘Babylon’ has become the personification of everything that is vile. Everything the Old Testament prophets said about ‘Babylon’ is in John’s mind, and just as ‘Rome’ was indeed enthroned at the centre of the then known world in John’s day, and ruled over many peoples and languages and multitudes and nations, ‘Babylon’ will do so even more in the end-time. At that time it will happen on a worldwide scale; the centre of power does not have to lie in the (papal) city of Rome; it can just as well lie in Washington or in New York, with the headquarters of the United Nations, or in the city of Jerusalem, the city of ‘the so- called three monotheistic world religions’, or in the reconstructed city of Babylon in Iraq, or yes indeed, even in Rome! Wherever: there will be a ‘world-centre of power’ with which all the great cities of the earth will be in contact. They will also be hit together by the judgment.6 The ‘beast’ upon which the ‘woman’, the ‘whore’, is sitting, is scarlet. Violet-toned scarlet
is the sign of wealth7 and of regal power, which is why Jesus was clothed with a scarlet robe when He was mocked.8 Mark says it was purple, Matthew9 says scarlet. These are symbols of wealth and might. It will soon transpire that the ‘woman’ herself is also robed in purple and scarlet, and that she is immensely rich. Israel’s prophets often used the image of a ‘whore’ for unfaithful Israel or for unfaithful Jerusalem – the ‘city’ as a representation of the ‘nation’. Isaiah sighs: “See how the faithful city has become a prostitute!”10 Heathen nations could also be called ‘whores’. Isaiah says that Tyre fornicates with all the ‘kingdoms of the world’ on earth.11 Nahum calls the city of Nineveh a whore and says: “All because of the wanton lust of a prostitute (Nineveh, city of blood, Nahum 3:1) alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft. I am against you, declares the Lord Almighty.”12 He then follows up with His judgment. The ‘whore’ sells herself to the ‘beast’—the ‘beast’ full of blasphemous names—for money. The ‘spiritual forces’ fornicate with the ‘political forces’, for money, wealth, freedom, lust and pleasure.
• How separate is the Church, you and me, from the world? Are we being duped by ‘silver and golden’ cords? If so, we shall go down with the world.
• One hears people refer to Jerusalem as ‘the city of the three monotheistic world religions’. But in fact there is only one monotheistic religion, and that is Judaism. Christianity is a branch of that tree. Islam is another religion with another god.
Bible References:
1.Revelation 13:1–2 2.Revelation 21:9 3.Revelation 17:1 4.Jeremiah 51:13 NIV 5.Revelation 13:15 6.Revelation 16:18–19 7.Luke 16:19 8.Mark 15:17 9.Matthew 27:28 10.Isaiah 1:21 NIV, see also Jeremiah 2:20, 3:1; Ezekiel 16:15; Hosea 2:4, 3:3, 4:15 11.Isaiah 23:7 12.Nahum 3:1–7
