I Told You So! (Revelation 17)

Out of 192 different countries on earth, how many do you believe would be classified as a Christian nation? Exactly zero. Both Israel and the United States had a pretty decent moral beginning, but it didn't take long for both to turn away from God. Shortly after God led the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt, they abandoned their worship of God and began to worship a golden calf. The history of the faithfulness of God's children continued to be inconsistent at best. American history reveals an even more inconsistent faithfulness. Currently, we have hit a new low, and any semblance of a "Christian" nation is long gone. No nation claims to be Christian. Why? Isaiah 53 explains, "Each of us has turned to his own way." Revelation 17 uses the image of a prostitute to show how the people of the earth have exchanged true and faithful love for a cheap and temporary love.

I. The Great Harlot

The chapter opens with a beautiful and seductive prostitute who has enticed the kings (leaders) of all the nations. She didn't have to trick the leaders to follow her. No, they gladly followed, showing the depravity of their heart. More likely than not, they ran to her because she represented the riches of the secular world - a world totally without God. The ideology of secularism, being separated from God, is prevalent today. God himself is the moral standard, and anything against him is depravity. She was not only depraved, but she was happy about her state of being. The text says that she was "drunk with the blood of God's holy people." In other words, she was enjoying the demise of the ones who bore testimony to Jesus.

II. The Seduction of the Masses

Many things can cause people to be led astray. However, I believe that there are three main things that caused the masses in Revelation to turn away from God. Today, these same things lead people away from God and into secularism. First, the pursuit of wealth leads people away from God. Money and material possessions do one thing. They satisfy a narcissistic and selfish society. The pursuit of wealth keeps one busy with no time for God or service to others. It also fosters an unhealthy competitive spirit that causes people to lie, cheat, and steal to get what they want. Secondly, the pursuit of power, especially political power, keeps people from God. People who are in a quest for power have only one thing in mind- to be lifted up and to be in control. Today, our nation is so politically divided. People are not loyal to God, rather, they are loyal to their party and themselves. Lastly, an unbeliever's own abominations keep him from God. Abomination is used in the Bible to describe things that are offensive or in opposition to God. The most grotesques abomination against God is abortion. Millions of dollars have been given by our government to fund the operation of Planned Parenthood. According to the CDC stats, from 1970 until 2014, about 44.5 million babies have been aborted. That certainly is an abomination. Verse 16 reveals a startling event. God put it in the rebellious to "eat their own." Eventually, those seeking wealth and power, and those participating in abomination will turn on each other. Without God, one has absolutely no hope.

III. The Victory of the King

With God, one has hope and ultimately, victory. God will win, and we, his chosen, will be with him in the victory. Verse 14 is our hope, "They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is the Lord of lords and King of kings- and with him will be his called, chosen, and faithful followers." The Lamb will certainly overcome. Just before Jesus died for the sins of the world, he assured his disciples this very thing, "These things I have spoken to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world, you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." We can have hope and peace when we choose to walk by faith as we follow Jesus Christ. In the end, God will be victorious, and we will be with him in the victory. Amen.

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