Corona Chronicles - Crown of Gold

Welcome back to the Corona Chronicles. We are in chapter 17 of the book of Revelation and we have just had at the end of chapter 16. We've had the seventh bowl of God's wrath poured out, and we've heard a voice from the throne saying, it is done. And now we're in verse 1 of chapter 17. 1 of the 7 angels who have the 7 bowls came and said to me, Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute who sits by many waters.

With her, the kings of the Earth committed adultery. And the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adult trees. Then the angel carried me away in the spirit. Into a desert. There, I saw a woman sitting on a Scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names.

And had 7 heads and 10 horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. The name written on her forehead was a mystery. Babble on the great, the mother of prostitutes, and of the abominations of the earth.

I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God's holy people. The blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. Then the angel said to me, why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides which has the 7 heads and the 10 horns.

Yeah. So we're still we're still looking at the judgment of God that is being poured out against the system of this world, aren't we? And Although the chapter divisions in our modern bibles have put in to help us break it up, really we're in the same kind of. Episode of time, aren't we? And it's just interesting looking at some of the things that are similar and some of the things that are different.

So in chapter 16, we were picking up that there was a lot of exodus language being used. So we've been taken back to that story where pharaoh is being judged and pharaoh is being and and the nation of Egypt is being judged with these terrible miraculous kind of judgments before God's people are rescued. And Egypt really was seen as the slave master and the slave master is destroyed and then the people of God can go free. But here, Babylon is much more of a a seductress, you know. So she's not a slave master.

She's a tempter. So this is looking at the side of the world which tempts, tempts into sin and tempts into adultery and tempts into blasphemy. And this angel is wanting to say that aspect of the world too is falling and is gonna be destroyed. Yeah. And it's and I suppose this is why 1 of the reasons why there is this group of collective people against God because they have been fooled into thinking that they're in on in the right Yeah.

Aren't they? There is a there is a nice message that you're a good person, you know, come and enjoy these good things in the world. And this is good. But actually, it's it's gonna be shown for what it is, isn't it? Mhmm.

I'm here. Yeah. And you you were talking earlier quite helpfully about the the which in the narnia stories -- Mhmm. -- who who you said she's very beautiful and she is striking. And she's even able to conjure her delight.

Yeah. But it's kind of out of it's magical. It's out of thin air. It has no substance to it. And then as the story goes on, the boy is in prison and he's given stale bread and water, so there's no substance to Yeah.

Absolutely. And I think there's that famous saying, isn't there? Not all the glitters is gold? Yes. And that's definitely true here.

You know, she glitters in verse 4. Dressed in open and scarlet, glitter it with gold, precious stones and pearls, golden cups in her hands. You know, she glitters. Yes. She would be on front cover of Vogue magazine.

Yeah. Would she? Yeah. She's desirable. She looks good.

She's got the things that are rich. She's got the the that they upper class lifestyle. And so in 1 sense, she's much more appealing than the slave masters of Egypt. Yes. You know, she she tends us and that's why this language of adultery is so common.

It's not just to be read, you know, flatly as we would think of adultery, but in the bible, that's how that's 1 of the ways sin is described, is breaking your covenant with God and being seduced into following other gods. And that's that's definitely what she's about. You know, the golden cup is full of abominable things and the filth of her adultery. She wants to tempt people away. Yeah.

And you can imagine for these first Christians, you know, living under Roman rule. They they may have thought in both of these categories, like Rome is the cruel slave master, but my goodness, she's powerful. And you know, I might be tempted to give up the testimony of Jesus. And to go with the glittering power of rope. Yeah.

And so both aspects I think would have really touched touched touch them. Yeah. And she is kind of aping God as well, isn't she? So she's a lure she's setting herself up as an alternative a viable alternative. So she's sort of sat on this beast.

It's kind of like her throne. She wears purple, which is like a royal color, isn't it? She glitters with gold, all these things that, you know, the throne is ornate and royal, and then this golden cup in her hand. We've just heard about the cup that God has, which is filled with his wrath. Mhmm.

So here's her holding a cup. There are lots of similarities. Yeah. But as you say, she's she is she's, yeah, drunk with the blood of God's holy people. This is not the wine of of of righteous wrath.

This is the blood of god's holy people. And that's that's really helpful, isn't it? Just to just to draw that out from verse 6 because the most unsettling villains in reality and in fiction. Mhmm. And not the ones that are obviously cruel from the start.

They are ones who pretend to be nice. It's not what you're saying about the wicked witch. You know, and and you can imagine, you know, this this this this adulterous looking, friendly and kind. But what is she about? She is about the slaughter of Christ and Christ people.

Yeah. And she loves violence and she loves murderer being a murderer. So when you take off her glittering dress, she's a much she's a murderer underneath that. Yeah. And she wants to destroy God's people and to blaspheme against him.

And and yet, you know, as we say this this is this is in part for the encouragement of God's people, you know, we aren't to be in any doubt. She she has an authority. The beast has an authority of some kind. But verse 1, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute. Yeah.

You know, that she is going to fall and Perhaps the reason this is being repeated so often is because if you were a Christian in the first century, living with the reality of the Roman Empire. Mhmm. You would want lots of persuasion that it was gonna fall. Yes. You would wanna be told over and over again, wouldn't you?

Yeah. Every aspect of this -- Yeah. -- is coming down. Yeah. And, you know, similarly in our age, you know, when we're tempted to betray Christ and to abandon the testimony.

Of his word, we have only to remember it's falling. It's falling. Yeah. It's gonna fall. Yep.

Yeah. So perhaps we'll pause there for today.