Revelation Chapter 17
PARTS OF THE BEAST
It is immediately noticeable in this chapter that Babylon is portrayed as a harlot SITTING ON a beast. In Chapter 13, church and state were all amalgamated into the beast. The story of the fall of Babylon and of the destruction of the beast, however, requires the SEPARATION of the symbols for church and state.
Note also that this is NOT Papacy riding the beast. Papacy was (Chapter 12) portrayed as the “man-child” and as a “mouth”, which spoke great or pompous words (Rev 13:5, 6; Dan 7:20). While we cannot EXEMPT Papacy (the leadership, i.e. those in charge directing the affairs of the church) from the fall of Babylon, IT (Papacy) is not the focus of this chapter; the Church itself is, i.e., the Roman Church.
The change is probably due to several factors:
(1) Papacy has always (except in Chapter 12) been pictured as a horn on the beast -- a picture which is ill-suited to the narrative of this chapter.
(2) The use of a harlot stresses the fornication sin of the church, the Lord thus indicating His MAIN objection to this apostate.
(3) The Revelator here wants us to understand the destruction of the CHURCH, not just its leadership.
Brother Russell provides a very important clue to the interpretation of this chapter in Volume II, page 354 of the “Studies in the Scriptures” series.
On this page he subtly hints that, though we’ve discussed heads and horns, we might do well to consider the beast’s BODY -- which he suggests is the PEOPLE. Notice how Rev 17:1 establishes and emphasizes the import of the PEOPLE in this prophecy: “… the great harlot who sits on many waters.” a comparison of 17:1 with 17:3 virtually establishes that the people ARE (at least in part) THE BEAST.
Thus we can break down the beastly parts as follows:
(1) THE RIDER: The apostate Roman Catholic Church which has, indeed, by harlotry controlled the direction of the beast.
(2) THE BODY of the beast: The People who either have nominally supported, or have by coercion been functionally a part of the arrangement.
(3) THE HORNS: The supportive powers (nations) which, throughout the age, have fluctuated in identity.
(4) THE HEADS: The forms of authority which have acted as kinds of umbrella philosophies over this complex entity.
CAVEAT: It seems that KINGS in this chapter have more than one meaning. They are somewhat akin to the heads (Verses 9-10) in one application; they are akin to the horns, (Verse 12) in another. The reason for this varied application will become clear in the narrative.” (N.A.N.O.R. Pages 130, 131)
In our next post we will begin with Verse 1
