Daily a new Bible text for devotion - EZBB

Revelation 17:1

Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, where I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemies and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold jewelry, precious stones, and pearls. In her hand she held a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her immorality. On her forehead was written a mysterious name: “Babylon the Great, the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth.” I saw that she was drunk with the blood of the holy people, the blood of the witnesses of Jesus (Rev. 17:3-6).

What is Babylon? It is a political and spiritual force. The angel will speak about the political force in verses 7-14. The spiritual force will be addressed in verses 1-7 and 15-18. First, Babylon is a prostitute, the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth. It is distinct from the Beast, but it is also part of it, for it sits upon it and rides upon it. It sits upon many waters, and these waters are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages. It is also the great city, where the kingdom over the kings of the earth dwells. Political and spiritual power are intertwined. Its most important characteristic is that it is a great prostitute. And this means that it is the antitype of the Bride of the Lamb. John begins with the spiritual aspect of Babylon, and then with the political aspect.

Who is this scarlet Beast? John will hear more about this soon, in verses 9–12, but one thing is immediately clear, it is the Beast he saw rising earlier, emerging from the sea (of the nations).

This is the spirit of Babylon. Streams of blood will be flowing again, blood mainly of Jews and Christians. This blood flowed under fascism and communism. With Hitler-Germany and in Russia Lenin/Stalin. This blood is flowing under communism in China and also in Muslim countries around the world. And who knows how long it will be before this happens again when Babylon is full. If you want to know more about the persecution of Christians around the world, visit the Open Doors website and see the final convulsions of the old serpent in the world!