Lesson 53
Revelation - Study of Things to Come
Destruction
of
The Larger Context
Examined
1. The Larger context in
which these 2 chapters are positioned also underscores the parallelism between
the chapters.
2. Chapter 17 & 18
are an interlude placed here to explain the destruction of
3. In the song of praise
found in 19:1-3 immediately following this great event; heaven is said to
rejoice over this fall of
4.
In describing the fall, those in heaven mention the harlot, 19:2, cp. 17:1;
Also mentioned is the smoke rises up forever, 19:3 cp. 18:9,18.
Both being related to one
judgment.
5. Conclusion: the wider
context limits the chapters 17 & 18 to such an extent that the Babylons
they are describing must be considered identical.
6. The larger context
actually can be traced back to 14:8 which first predicts an angel flying in
mid-heaven proclaiming "Fallen, fallen is
7. The next appearance of
8. The subject of the
fall of
* Do you see the
significance of the sequence here?
In
In 19:2 the praise focuses on the harlot of chapter
17.
** Conclusion is that the
praise song of 19 incorporates elements of both chapters 17 and 18 and clearly
is a song celebrating just one fall and doing that in response to the command
of 18:20.
The
Interpretive Keys within these Chapters
1.
Description of
- This allusion to a
harlot has caused many to identify
- The figure of the
harlot was clearly used in the Old Testament to describe God's view of man's
association with idolatry, religion.
- Conclusion:
- It is interesting I
think that the figure of a harlot in the OT was never applied to religious
system only. As so many want to do
today!
2.
The Explanation of
We need to analyze just what does musth,rion in 17:5 refers to where
Two problems that need to
be resolved at this point.
#1. To Determine the
grammatical relationship between the word musth,rion and the title of the
woman.
- Either John is saying
that the name on the woman's forehead is "Mystery Babylon the Great"
or he is saying that,
- Walvoord
notes this when he writes,
"The word mystery is a descriptive reference
to the title, not a part of the title itself as implied by the capitalization
in the translation.
#2. The second problem that
must be addressed is the exact nature of the mystery. In what way then is
- The problem with all of
this is that the use of musth,rion with something mystical or mysterious cannot be
justified by N.T. usage of the word.
- W.E. Vine (Expository
Dictionary of N.T)
"In the N.T. [musth,rion] denotes, not the mysterious (as is noted by
the Eng. word usage) but that which, being outside the range of unassisted
natural apprehension, can be made known only by Divine revelation, and is made
known in a manner and at a time appointed by God, and to those who are
illumined by His Spirit."
- Point is that the word
does not denote the quality or character of the truth; rather it focuses on the
availability of the truth.
- Its designation as a
mystery means that the vision being given to John had not been made known
before.
3.
The Identification of Babylon as a city
- There is no lack of
opinion as to the identification of the harlot called
- Whatever else is said
about the harlot, the woman, she is first a city, not an ecclesiastical system.
4.
The Location of
- The view that this refers to
1. The assumed relationship between the woman and
the hills.
The 7 heads are associated with the Beast not the
woman.
[7 heads are 7 mountains....they are 7 kings]
2. There is a clear
distinction between the woman and the beast; and it is the beast that has the 7
heads!
The angel recognized this distinction in vs:7.
3. If you say the seven
hills are
4. An argument is made
that the harlot is still to be associated with the Beast since it says in vs:9 "seven mountains on which the woman sits."