Whore - Revelation 17

17:1-2 - After all seven angels poured out their vials and God’s judgment of the wicked was finished, one of the seven came over to John and told him to go with him and “I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters.” I just want to stop here and note what a problem I have with the word “whore” when it comes to describing women or wickedness, basically I hate the word all together. I’m sure it’s my own personal trauma that comes with being called a whore for most of my formative years, but it’s always really bothered me that this word is used so much when talking about wickedness. In my mind, the Church of God is male because we only know about Heavenly Father and Jesus who are both male, and males hold the priesthood, so it’s never been anything other than male in my mind. Conversely, the kingdom of the devil is portrayed as female in these types of descriptions. Just the male/female contrast between righteousness and wickedness has always just implied to me that being female is wrong. It enforces the “women as temptresses” and “men have to resist them” or “men are coerced into sinning by women, without women there would be no sin.” Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but it’s just always how this comparison has made me feel instinctually. The IM suggested that the “whore of all the earth” stands in contrast with the “righteous bride” that is the Church, so if we are comparing both organizations as women then that makes more sense. The other problem that I have with the “whore of all the earth” phrase is that it discounts women’s sexuality and everything that comes with it. The word “whore” refers to prostitution and the vast majority of prostitutes worldwide are basically sex slaves, implying that the slave is the wicked one and not the people who imprison or rape her. Another part of the problem is that the connotation is that a woman who is sexually active outside of marriage is wicked. First, where is the condemnation on her male partner in crime? Second, there are varying degrees to sexual activity and the way that this “whore” is portrayed suggests that she is incredibly promiscuous, and in my experience, most women who sexually liberal to a pathological point have a history of intense and horrific trauma. Again, to me it’s another implication that the abuse endured doesn’t matter as long as she deals with it in a way that doesn’t “bother” men. From my perspective, it’s like “ok many men abused me and traumatized me and when I try to deal with it, the Church demonizes me because I might tempt one of their precious men to sin.” Wow, I have a lot of strong feelings about this that I have never worked through. Interesting. There’s a statement here that I find interesting, I’m just going to call her a woman because I’m done using the word “whore.” This wicked woman has “committed fornication” with the “kings of the earth… and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” One aspect of human nature that has always been interesting to me is the obsession with sex. I mean, I get it, but it’s is SO prevalent that it seems to be the motivating factor for so many actions. So when it says that “inhabitants of the earth,” that means everyone, is “made drunk” on “her fornication,” that reinforces to me just how big of a deal it is. The use of the word “drunk” is telling here as well because it implies that people don’t act reasonably when it comes to sex. 17:3-13 - The angel takes John “into the wilderness” where he sees a woman “arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand.” This woman is sitting on “a scarlet coloured beast… having seven heads and ten horns.” The IM suggests that the seven heads referenced here might be referring to Rome because it was built on seven hills, so even though Rome was the symbol of corruption and wickedness anciently in John’s time, I think it probably just represents anyone or any organization that promotes behavior contrary to the gospel. This woman has a name written on her forehead that says, “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” I wonder if this counters the title that Jesus had displayed above his head during his crucifixion. This woman was “drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” The IM comments that this “suggests that throughout the ages, many righteous people have been slain by the wicked. The scriptural language suggests that the slaying of the righteous had an intoxicating effect on those who carried out the slaughter.” This is a really interesting concept because I would imagine that, while Satan delights in any and all destruction, when it hurts people who love Jesus, it must feel like an exceptional victory. If Satan is extra pleased with the slaughter of the righteous then surely he “rewards” those who carry it out, so that might explain the “intoxicating” effect. John marveled at this, and I think it might be out of righteous indignation. He knows personally and loves those righteous who are killed, he’s seen the suffering first hand and it probably infuriates him to see the rejoicing of so much pain caused to others. The angel notes his reaction and offers to explain the woman and the beast. He says that the beast “was, and is not,” indicating that it is temporary. The beast came out of the “bottomless pit, and go into perdition,” because Satan came from hell and will return there. Similarly, the angel talks about seven kings, “five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.” It feels like he’s referring to the countless political kingdoms that rise and fall like daisies. They are created by people who crave power, but they don’t last without Christ-like leadership, so they rise and rise again and again, and the people who rule them wickedly think that they are all powerful, but they eventually fade into the dust too and their power evaporates. 17:14-18 – The beast has all these puppets on earth who think he is rewarding them and protecting them, but the beast doesn’t care about them and is only using them to further his “war with the Lamb,” but “the Lamb shall overcome them.” There’s a bit where the angel explains that the ten horns, I assume on the beast’s head, “hate the whore,” and basically destroys her. I wonder if this is because of the Satan has no loyalty and will destroy anything and everything that he can, including his own people, and when your leader will eat you just as quickly as it will eat the enemy, then it turns really quickly into a civil war.