COMMENTARY ON REVELATION 17:15-17

REVELATION 17:15-17

¹⁵ And he said to me: The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples and nations and tongues. ¹⁶ And the ten horns which thou sawest in the beast: These shall hate the harlot and shall make her desolate and naked and shall eat her flesh and shall burn her with fire. ¹⁷ For God hath given into their hearts to do that which pleaseth him: that they give their kingdom to the beast, till the words of God be fulfilled. (Rev. 17:15-17, DRCB)

¹⁵ At sinabi niya as akin, Ang tubig na iyong nakita, na kinauupuan ng patutot, ay mga bayan, at mga karamihan, at mga bansa, at mga wika. ¹⁶ At ang sangpung sungay na iyong nakita, at ang hayop, ay siyang nangapopoot as patutot, at siya'y pababayaan at huhubaran, at kakanin ang kaniyang laman, at siya'y lubos na susupukin ng apoy. ¹⁷ Sapagka't inilagay ng Dios as kanilang mga puso na gawin ang kaniyang kaisipan, at mangagkaisa ng kaisipan, at ibigay ang kanilang kaharian as hayop, hanggang as maganap ang mga salita ng Dios. (Rev. 17:15-17, TCB) 

¹⁵ And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ 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. (Rev 17:15-17, KJB) 

Again, in verse 15, the angel reveals to Apostle John the interpretation of what is meant in Revelation 17:1 by the words … “the great whore that sitteth upon many waters”. The angel gives the interpretation here in Revelation 17:15 that “many waters” means “peoples, multitudes, and tongues”. 

In verse 16, the angel informs Apostle Paul that the “ten horns” [the kings of the ten kingdoms] will come to “hate the harlot” and will be used by God to “make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and burn herwith fire”.   

The ten kings will strip the “great whore” [the Vatican City] of all her wealth, her purple, her scarlet, all of her gold, precious stones, pearls, etc., will all be confiscated by Antichrist. -- And I believe that her wealth will be stripped away from her in many other Catholic Church buildings around the world as well. And, Antichrist will strip her of all of her power and control that she exercised over the “beast” (the revived Roman Empire). 

They will eat her flesh meaning that her apostate Christianity will be eaten up and destroyed forever. 

They will then burn her with fire [Vatican City in Rome]. – In Leviticus 21:9, the law required that any daughter of a priest that played the harlot was to be burnt with fire for having profaned the name of her father . . . and so the “Great Harlot” of Revelation 17 shall receive her just punishment of being burned with fire for having profaned the name of “God the Father” through her false teachings and idolatry throughout the world. And please note that it is God who judges her through the ten kings.  The following quote helps to make that point clear.  

[BEGIN QUOTE] - In Revelation 17:17, we read that God put this into their hearts that his purposes might be carried out and his words fulfilled. Here is a strange thing. These evil powers thought they were working out their own purposes but they were, in fact, working out the purposes of God. R. H. Charles says: "Even the wrath of men is made to praise God." The truth behind this is that God never loses control of human affairs. In the last analysis God is always working things together for good. [END QUOTE] ^[1] 

END NOTES

 [1] STUDY LIGHT, “Barclay’s Daily Study Bible, Revelation 17”, Accessed September 27, 2024, Web: https://www.studylight.org/commentary/revelation/17-16.html