The Great Prostitute and the Beast

Outline: The Great Prostitute and the Beast
Passage: Revelation 17
Discussion audio (1h18m)

There is God’s way, and then there is every other way. God’s way is love, mercy, compassion, forgiveness, nonviolence, and restorative justice. The world’s way includes deceit, manipulation, coercion, force, vengeance, violence, and punitive justice. It too often seems like the world’s way “works” better and obtains results more noticeably and quickly.

The Christians to whom John wrote Revelation must have felt the same way. The Roman Empire was prospering. They could be a part of it too, by just going along and accepting the Roman way.

John’s message to the Christians was this: the way of the world will self-destruct; don’t be a part of it. Resist the temptation to mingle the world’s ways with God’s ways. Be patient. Endure. Keep faithful. Hold on to the assurances and exhortations in this book. God’s restorative justice will win. Evil eventually turns upon itself and destroys itself. Then all will see that God’s way is the only way to life.