Daily Devotional • November 8
A Reading from Revelation 17:1-14
1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great whore who is seated on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have engaged in sexual immorality and with the wine of whose prostitution the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk.” 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her prostitution, 5 and on her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of whores and of earth’s abominations.”6 And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.
When I saw her, I was greatly amazed. 7 But the angel said to me, “Why are you so amazed? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw was and is not and is about to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the inhabitants of the earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be amazed when they see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.
9 “This calls for a mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; also, they are seven kings, 10 of whom five have fallen, one is living, and the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth, but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 13 These are united in yielding their power and authority to the beast; 14 they will wage war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
Meditation
As has been stated more than once (I’m thinking of C. S. Lewis in particular), there can never be anything that is pure evil. Even the worst evil one can think of must have something good upon which it is a parasite. Most evil in the world disguises itself as something good in order to carry on its evil.
But when evil is discerned and determinedly exposed and opposed so that it can be deposed, its disguised nature is more and more undone. In today’s lesson we have all the evils of the earth completely exposed for what they are. The great prostitute is revealed for what it is with increasingly disgusting images. “Seated on many waters” is being at the top and center of the ungodly world. Drunkenness and sexual immorality, royal scarlet and purple clothing, gold and jewels, a golden cup show all of the world’s godlessness without any disguise; but all these signs of opulence are filled with blasphemies and martyrs’ blood.
The angel describes the meaning to John. Just as the faithful describe God as “who was, who is, and who is to come,” so the Beast and the prostitute who rides it are described as “was, is not, and is about to rise…and go to destruction.” Their “was” is evil before Jesus came, “is not” is having been conquered by Jesus,” and “about to rise” is the immediate time of coming judgment. The ripping off of the disguise worn by evil of all kinds is the necessary prelude to its extinction.
After all, this ghastly description, the lesson’s last sentence gives the denouement: “They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them.” For in the End, without any doubt ever, the Lamb is the winner.
David Baumann is a published writer of nonfiction, science fiction, and short stories. In his ministry as an Episcopal priest, he served congregations in Illinois and California.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
St. David’s (Radnor) Church, Wayne, Pennsylvania
The Diocese of Pyay – The Church of the Province of Myanmar (Burma)
