Summary:
The name that God has given this ideological independence of Him is the name Babylon, and it goes all the way back to Genesis 10 where the people came up with their own idea of what to do, rather than obeying God’s instructions. In the imagery given to John here, Babylon is represented as a prostitute, which is someone that sells the sanctity and sacredness of their own body for worldly gain. First, we see this prostitute standing on “many waters,” which shows her dominion over many people. Then the same prostitute is shown riding on a scarlet beast, showing that her support and power are from Satan’s kingdom of darkness. In verses 7-15 the angel gives John the explanation of what he is seeing. Then in verse 16, we are shown again how the Antichrist, halfway through the tribulation period, will turn on the multitudes that he duped into false religion and will “make her desolate and naked.” The most important verse of this chapter is verse 14.
Key Points/Questions:
- What is the difference between secular and sacred?
- To the world they are contradicting terms, but what is meant by secular religion?
- What is sacred to you? How do you determine that?