The Mystery of the Woman
Revelation 17:7-187And 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. 8The 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. 9And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10And 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. 11And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 12And 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. 13These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 14These 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. 15And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16And 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. 17For 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. 18And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. (Revelation 17:7‑18).
The description of the woman given in our chapter so accurately portrays the ecclesiastical system that prevailed at the time of the Reformation, that it seems more like a history than a prophecy.
“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” (vs. 7).
In answer to the prophet’s amazement, the angelic messenger explains the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her.
It is the beast with seven heads and ten horns that has already been before us—undoubtedly the Roman Empire. But the mention of the ten horns proves that it is that phase of the Roman Empire which will be seen at the close.
“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 shall be present” (R.V.).
This is a most remarkable verse, dividing as it does the history of the Beast into three stages. There was a time during which Rome existed as an imperial power—it “was”— but for centuries it ceased so to be—it “is not”— and until quite recently it gave no appearance of revival. Prophetic students had clearly foreseen that it would arise in fulfillment of what had been revealed in the Word of Truth. Ever since in years gone by it was the present writer’s good fortune to come in contact with the writings and oral ministry of some of the early “Brethren” it has been his happy privilege to proclaim the truth of the Gospel linked as it ever should be with a clear testimony as to the coming of the Lord.
The Beast from the Pit.
The Roman Empire is destined to rise again. What John was inspired of God to reveal, we are now seeing coming to pass under the leadership of Mussolini.
But the Scriptures that foretell the final rise of the Roman Empire likewise reveal what will be its moral characteristics. It will ascend out of the bottomless pit (11:7; 17:8). It will be energized by Satan, for the dragon, we are told, will give it “his power, and seat, and great authority” (13:2). Woe to the earth dwellers then! They will fall completely under the power of the Devil, whose existence they now deny. And Satan is today obtaining startling power over men. Spiritism which is spreading with such extraordinary rapidity is preparing the way for the apostasy from God which will mark the time of Antichrist’s seductions after the removal of the Holy Spirit—” the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders” (2 Thess. 2:99Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, (2 Thessalonians 2:9)).
Men today are rejecting, or perhaps we might more accurately say, they are despising the offered mercy of God because they do not love the truth (2 Thess. 2:1010And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. (2 Thessalonians 2:10)). They “might be saved,” but they will not. None will be lost because they could not be saved, only because they would not.
“And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth” (verse 9).
In verse 3 we are told the woman sits upon a scarlet colored beast “having seven heads”; in verse 9 these seven heads are explained to be seven mountains. This clearly shows the geographical position of the Beast. The Roman Empire will have its center and seat at Rome, the city of the seven hills. So what this chapter clearly teaches is the revival of the Roman Empire—a political system—and the control of that Empire at the close by an ecclesiastical system whose moral features are too clearly delineated to leave any reasonable doubt what is in the mind of the Spirit.
But there is an additional explanation of the seven heads of the Beast.
“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” (vs. 10).
This evidently alludes to the different and successive forms of government with which every reader of Roman history is familiar. Five of these had fallen, such as Triumvirs, Decemvirs, Consuls, etc.; the sixth, or imperial existed when John wrote; a seventh was to arise—” not yet come”— and we are distinctly told that when come, this seventh would continue but a short space.
The Seventh Head.
Along with others we used often to suggest that Napoleon Bonaparte might have been this seventh. The brief description here given seemed to have had its fulfillment in his extraordinary rise to power, and his equally sudden fall. But the present remarkable developments in Italy make it much more likely that Mussolini may be this seventh, for after all, Napoleon’s seat of government so long as it lasted was Paris, whereas Mussolini’s is Rome. Time will show. But it is noteworthy that in a recent article in the Evening Standard from the pen of Dean Inge, this prolific writer in giving his opinion upon the affairs of Italy, and commenting upon the meteoric appearance of Mussolini upon ‘the stage of history, gives it as his opinion that Mussolini’s influence is destined to be short-lived. Without reflecting upon the Dean in any wise, we do not suppose he had in mind this passage in Revelation 17. But it is remarkable for all that.
Whether this be so or not, it is important to observe that the seventh head is not exactly the Beast himself.
“The beast that was, and is not, even he is an eighth (R.V.), and is of the seven, and go eth into perdition” (vs. 11).
So that what we are now witnessing in Italy may be, and most likely is, the immediate preparation for the actual Beast of prophecy.
“And the tea horns which thou sawest are ten kings which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast” (vs. 12).
In this verse we have ample evidence not only that the Roman Empire will be revived, but that its last phase will be different altogether from what has been seen in the past. Never yet has such a thing been known as an empire with its seat at Rome, and consisting of ten independent kings associated with that central power. The expression “the beast” may sometimes be understood as the empire, and at other times the head of the empire.
All our readers are well aware of the remarkable awakening of Italy that is now taking place. From the human point of view the Great European war has been the chief cause of this, though the Balkan war with Turkey in 1912 gave the first impetus to the events which when fully developed will divide up Europe into its ten kingdoms. It was during that time that the king of Italy claimed to be called the Emperor of Rome. Little notice was taken of that by politicians, but prophetic students saw and pointed out the remarkable coincidence. Now all eyes can see it.
The Ten Kings.
“These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast” (verse 13)
When God gave the Revelation to Jesus Christ, and He in turn signified it by His angel to His servant John (Rev. 1:11The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: (Revelation 1:1)), the ten kings spoken of in our chapter had no existence as such. The Beast was there in its sixth head, but the ten kings had not received their power as kings. This ten-fold division is the final phase of the Roman Empire. The changes we are now seeing so rapidly developing may, and in all probability will, bring into existence the ten kingdoms—just ten, neither more nor less—but the wonderful features of the last hour of European politics are these, that the Roman Empire will be unmistakably revived: that territorially it will cover the extent of the ten kingdoms into which Europe, south of the Danube and west of the Rhine, will be divided: that these ten ‘kings will have their own separate spheres of authority and power but that for a short period, just at the close, they will give their power to the Beast, who will thus be an Emperor over the whole. Geneva today is a sort of weak and inefficient sample of this.
There are all sorts of rumors now afloat of changes in the governing heads in Italy. Hints are afloat as to Mussolini’s successor. Even allusions to abdication of the king have made their way into the daily press.
The whole habitable world is just now in a state of feverish unrest. The sickening memories of the Great War are fading away. A new generation has sprung up to whom it means no more than a mere name like “Waterloo.” War, in spite of Peace Pacts, is uppermost in everybody’s mind. Many have been cooing like doves in their cots, “Peace, peace,” and are now rudely being awakened to find that “there is no peace.” Russia with its teeming millions, helpless under the cruel leadership of the Soviet power—the Russian military machine, now being organized by Germany, as the latest carefully guarded secret has revealed—war preparations in the Far East under Russian influence—civil commotions in European countries—all these things make thoughtful men tremble as they contemplate the possibilities that darken the political horizon.
The Kings of the Earth.
In this chapter (Rev. 17) and in the next we must confine our attention to the western nations. The “kings of the earth” (17:2, 18; 18:9) do not simply mean kings reigning on the earth. The “earth” must be understood in its prophetic sense in contrast to the “sea”; in other words, those nations which are in an ordered and civilized condition, rather than restless and changing.
Other kings besides these will enter into the conflicts of the last days, the “kings of the east” (16:12), and the “kings of the whole habitable world” (16:14). The drying up of the Euphrates need not be taken literally, but as in a symbolic way breaking down the eastern boundary of the old Roman Empire to enable the free and unhindered intercourse between the East and the West. The “kings of the east,” no doubt, refer to such nations as China, Japan, India, etc. But no part of the earth—north, south, east, or west—will be left out in that awful Armageddon, “the battle of the great day of God Almighty.”
But here in Revelation 17. as we have said, it is the western nations, the ten kings, that are in question.
Shortly before the Great War we wrote what may be repeated with even greater emphasis: — “A threatening confederacy of northern and eastern nations can even now be seen in embryo, but will soon loom largely on the political horizon. The Balkan surprise has rudely shaken the settled beliefs of politicians, and as we write, the daily press begins to speak of the unexpected coquetting between Russia and Germany. This need not surprise the prophetic student. But all that it involves with the countless multitudes of China, Japan, India, etc., the great north-eastern confederacy of nations, soon to be formed into one united army, the Assyrian of Isaiah, the Gog and Magog of Ezekiel, the King of the North of Daniel—all this we fully believe, may, as suddenly as the Balkan conflagration, burst forth before the eyes of an astonished world. This may as suddenly call into being the confederacy of the West, or the ten kings united under the Beast, as a preservation of their very existence.”
War in the Air.
“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” (vs. 14).
He who was rejected on earth, the suffering Lamb, will then come with power and great glory. Despised and rejected on earth He had been. He had been sentenced and crucified by the very empire, which now under Satan’s leadership will hurl itself against Him when He comes the second time. But all supremacy and royal authority will then be His. The dying malefactor’s vision of faith will then be fulfilled, — “Lord remember me when Thou comest in Thy kingdom”—and that first trophy of redemption will find himself coming with the King of kings, holding no mean place amongst the called, chosen, and faithful followers of the Lamb.
“And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations and tongues” (vs. 15).
The woman’s geographical position was the seven mountains of the city of Rome, but her spiritual and ecclesiastical influence will spread throughout the whole of that part of Europe dominated by the Beast. This is what Scripture announces will be the case after the removal of the Church at the coming of the Lord. Ecclesiastical Rome will be the all-controlling power in the revived Roman Empire.
Protestantism will never break the power of Rome. Protestantism will quickly be sucked into the vortex of the apostasy, as is now rapidly taking place under the influence of an ever-increasing army of its so-called Ministers, Those who cannot be satisfied with an infidel form of religion, professedly Christian yet deprived of every Christian doctrine, will go to swell the ranks of Babylon the Great, with the exception of those who through grace are found in Christ and will be “caught up” before the final catastrophe. But Babylon’s hour of doom will surely come, not at the hand of Protestantism, but from the infidel and blasphemous power of the Beast and its ten horns.
The Judgment of the Great Whore.
“And the ten horns which thou sawest AND (R.V.) the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire” (vs. 16).
For a time the political power will tolerate the impudent assumptions and persecuting tactics of Babylon. Her wealth, her luxury and worldly magnificence will dazzle the kings of the earth, and intoxicate the high circles of Society. But at length her pretensions and her tyranny will become intolerable, and in hatred of the whole hierarchy of religion, they will strip her of her magnificence, and swallow up her wealth. This is what we believe the Spirit of God would have us understand by eating her flesh. She is not yet seen as completely destroyed but deprived of her Power.
“For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled” (vs. 17).
In the words of another:— “How good to know amid all that day of terror that God is supreme, above all the devices of His enemies! ‘He maketh the wrath of man to praise Him, and the remainder of it He restraineth!’ And this is the time which will most fully demonstrate this. Then the way is prepared for blessing, wide in proportion to the judgment which has introduced it”— Grant.
Never before had these kings been in complete accord. Dual and triple alliances there had been to keep the balance of power between one another, all the more needful when Europe had become an armed camp. But then they will all have one mind, and will all agree in their antagonism to the Lamb, and to carry out His purposes with regard to the idolatrous persecutor of His people.
In the order of the events verse 16 will precede verse 14 as may be easily seen from chapter 19