Revelation of John 17 · The Lantern

And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

That a woman ought not to be adorned in a worldly fashion. In the Apocalypse: "And there came one of the seven angels having vials, and approached me, saying, Come, I will show thee the condemnation of the great whore, who sitteth upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication. And I saw a woman who sate upon a beast.

Isaiah speaks of the devil in a similar manner when he foretells the fall [of the devil] under the figure of the leader of Babylon.

Come, I will show you the condemnation of the great harlot, etc. The multitude of the lost, who, forsaking the Creator, surrendered themselves to demons to be defiled, is remembered as sitting on the waters, that is, in the discord of the peoples. Conversely, the multitude of believers was of one heart and one soul.

With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Nor does he want to openly say that the Roman empire must be destroyed, which those who rule it regard as eternal. Therefore, according to the Apocalypse of John, on the forehead of the purple-clad prostitute, the name of blasphemy is written, that is, the eternal Rome.

The writing on the forehead indicates the shamelessness of the fullness of sins and of the confusion of the heart. She is mother because for those cities ruled by her she is the teacher of their spiritual fornication, giving birth to transgressions that are loathsome to God.

And on her forehead was a name written, Mystery, etc. This corruption is immediately shown on the very face to be the nurse of vices, but because it is discerned only by prudent reasoning, being most ornately adorned, it is indicated to be a mystical name.

And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.

The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

We understand this to mean that an evil people is born out of an evil people. And so we can say the beast comes out of the beast and the abyss out of the abyss. And what does it mean that the beast comes out of the beast, unless an evil people is born out of an evil people?

The holy Scriptures teach that from the beginning of the world there has been the rise and the advance to the present time of two cities. Of these, one is of God and the other is of the devil, and in this passage [the city of the devil] is indicated by the beast as [representing] altogether the whole body of the wicked.

The beast is the devil who is always seeking someone to devour. He was killed by the cross of Christ, but, it is said, he will live again at the end, effecting the denial of salvation through the deceit of the antichrist in signs and wonders.

And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

And there are 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.

For as the times are noted from the foundation of the world, and reckoned from Adam, they set clearly before us the matter with which our inquiry deals. For the first appearance of our Lord in the flesh took place in Bethlehem, under Augustus, in the year 5500; and He suffered in the thirty-third year.

As we have said frequently, in each member of a species the whole genus is indicated. Hence when we indicate what the whole beast is, there are the seven heads, and again the heads are called seven mountains and seven kings. That is to say, they are the entire reality of wicked people, which consists in the leaders as well as in kings and their subjects.

Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. When he described the fullness of worldly power in the number seven, whose final part, that is, the kingdom of the Antichrist, had not yet come, he consequently testifies that five kings have passed, the sixth is present, and the seventh is to come.

And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

"And the beast which thou sawest is of the seven." Since before those kings Nero reigned. "And he is the eighth." He says only when this beast shall come, reckon it the eighth place, since in that is the completion. He added:- "And shall go into perdition." For that ten kings received royal power when he shall move from the east, he says.

Lest we should think him of a different kind, it adds that the one whom it calls the eighth is from the seven and goes to perdition. In this way it shows that he is of the same evil genus, and by going beyond the number seven, it indicates that he is even a worse hypocrite.

And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, etc. The Antichrist, who is to rule at the end of the world, because of the unity of the same body of the wicked, of which he is the head, belongs to the number of the kingdoms of the world; but because of the singular power of his wickedness, he is also contained in the order of his own proper place.

And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

In a still clearer light has John, in the Apocalypse, indicated to the Lord's disciples what shall happen in the last times, and concerning the ten kings who shall then arise, among whom the empire which now rules [the earth] shall be partitioned.

He is speaking again of every kingdom of the world, which just above he indicated in the kings and their subjects. "The kings receive power with the beast for one hour." Here the hour is to be interpreted as referring to the time from the passion of the Lord, as the apostolic voice says, "It is the last hour." Therefore, until all the future is fulfilled, it says that they have…

But they will receive power as kings for one hour with the beast. He said, as kings, because they reign as in dreams, who oppose the kingdom of Christ.

These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

He says that "they have one mind, and give their power and authority to the beast." For though the ten kings will be opposed to one another in their opinions, yet in this they will have "one mind": in giving "their power and authority to the beast", that is, to the Antichrist. For they will be defeated by him, and he alone of all will rule over the rest.

Indeed! For "no one can serve two masters." And so those who conspire together with an evil agreement and ally themselves with the antichrist will oppose themselves to Christ. However, the Lamb of God who was slain for us will conquer them.

These have one mind, etc. That is, with equal consent, they fully intend to fight for the devil, which is what it means to receive the kingdom after the beast, by imitating the devil and opposing Christ.

These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

We have indeed, likewise, a second font, (itself withal one with the former, ) of blood, to wit; concerning which the Lord said, "I have to be baptized with a baptism," when He had been baptized already.

He says these "will make war with the Lamb." For before they are completely overthrown by the Antichrist, these will persecute the church about which the book speaks. But Christ will prevail; for though they are evil, he will deliver them over to the worse Antichrist unto death.

These will make war with the Lamb, etc. So that human weakness would not fear the cruelty of the ancient enemy, he describes the beast with seven heads armed with the horns of secular power, defeated by Christ's triumph, and added, indicating that he triumphs in his own:

And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

"For God", he says, "has put into their hearts to do his purpose." He says that God, granting forgiveness, will persuade those who oppose it and those willing to take it.

What the apostle said, "God gave them up to a base mind to do what they ought not," that is also now said. For God has placed in their hearts to do that which is pleasing to him. Righteousness is pleasing to God, through which we know that retribution is visited upon the impious.

For God has put it into their hearts, etc. God, he says, the just and mighty judge, who is always pleased with righteousness, has permitted the impious to act in such a manner as a punishment for their previous sins, for which he deservedly imposes the end of the entire world, as the Gospels testify happened with Sodom and the flood.

And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

More clearly, concerning the city about which the passage intends to signify, he brings forward that "the woman" "is the great city which has the dominion" over all.

That which continues makes very clear that the woman who was seen is the great city that exercises power over the kings of the earth, and the sufferings of that power that is ruling during those times is prophesied. From these trials the beneficent God will redeem us and enlist us in the heavenly city, namely, in the Jerusalem above.

And the woman whom you saw is the great city, etc. Likewise, later he is commanded to behold the bride of the Lamb, and he saw the holy city descending from heaven. As he describes it: And the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it (Rev. 21). For there are two cities in the world: one arising from the abyss, the other from the heavens.

Revelation of John17