{"id":6388,"date":"2013-05-13T06:00:38","date_gmt":"2013-05-13T13:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thepangeablog\/?p=6388"},"modified":"2013-05-12T22:46:46","modified_gmt":"2013-05-13T05:46:46","slug":"revelation-17-sermon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thepangeablog\/2013\/05\/13\/revelation-17-sermon\/","title":{"rendered":"Revelation 17: The Whore, The Empire, and A Tale of Two Cities [observations and sermon download]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Used by Permission. \"Design by Jim LePage.\" Click Image to Purchase.<\/a>
Used by Permission. \u201cDesign by Jim LePage.\u201d Click Image to Purchase.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

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If you follow this blog regularly (and my Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a> feeds), you probably have noticed that I\u2019ve been doing some research on the book of Revelation. Last week, I posted what I think will be the first of several scattered posts about my findings as I study the book [Corrective Strategies and Themes for Understanding the Book of Revelation (Tired of the chaos? Me too!)<\/a>].<\/p>\n

My first\u00a0experiment\u00a0in preaching from Revelation took place yesterday (5\/12\/13)\u2026 well, if we don\u2019t count the obvious ways that I have incorporated\u00a0Revelation\u00a021-22 into my preaching engagements over the past several years. My home church, College Community Church \u2013 Mennonite Brethren, has walked through Revelation since the first week after Resurrection Sunday.<\/p>\n

The passage I was asked to cover was Revelation 17. Specifically, I was invited to talk about how Christians are to relate to earthly powers. So, in\u00a0continuity\u00a0with the rest of the sermon series, I put together some thoughts on how to understand Babylon \u2013 the whore \u2013 and how to relate to our modern day \u201cBabylon \u2013 the USA (download sermon<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Before I get too far into content, let\u2019s read the biblical text (which was read aloud just prior to my sermon<\/a>).<\/p>\n

1\u00a0Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, \u201cCome, I will show you the judgment of the great whore who is seated on many waters,\u00a02\u00a0with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk.\u201d\u00a03\u00a0So he carried me away in the spirit\u00a0into 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.\u00a04\u00a0The 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 fornication;\u00a05\u00a0and on her forehead was written a name, a mystery: \u201cBabylon the great, mother of whores and of earth\u2019s abominations.\u201d\u00a06\u00a0And 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.\u00a07\u00a0But the angel said to me, \u201cWhy 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.\u00a08\u00a0The 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.\u00a09\u00a0\u201cThis calls for a mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; also, they are seven kings,\u00a010\u00a0of 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.\u00a011\u00a0As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.\u00a012\u00a0And 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.\u00a013\u00a0These are united in yielding their power and authority to the beast;\u00a014\u00a0they will make 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.\u201d\u00a015And he said to me, \u201cThe waters that you saw, where the whore is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.\u00a016\u00a0And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the whore; they will make her desolate and naked; they will devour her flesh and burn her up with fire.\u00a017\u00a0For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by agreeing to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.\u00a018\u00a0The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As I say in the sermon, \u201cIf that\u2019s not an appropriate text for Mother\u2019s Day, I don\u2019t know what is\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Several issues could be mentioned about this chapter of Revelation. Perhaps listing some of them here will help. For a more detailed analysis, of course, you will have to download the sermon and listen to it<\/a> \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n