Today’s scripture: Revelation 17 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Alex Pittaway):
Picture this. In the movie Thelma and Louise, Brad Pitt seduces Thelma by promising her the world. He’s such a handsome young man and he looks so innocent and all he’s asking Thelma to do is believe in him, despite the fact that he robs banks for a living. Brad Pitt offers Thelma everything she’s always wanted. A handsome young man who is interested in everything she is, on the surface, while she ignores the warning signs. Thelma is being offered power, but that’s exactly how controlling people start to control their victims. They give them everything they’ve ever wanted but never gotten. The next day Brad Pitt’s character runs off with all their money and leaves them with nothing. The seduction is complete. This is the main story of the Woman that Rides the Beast of Revelation 17. A story of how the enemy can seduce us with power.
Revelation is such an evocative book of the Bible. For some people it’s a book they’d rather avoid that’s confusing. For others it’s a blue print of things to come. For others still it’s a very specific blue print (think Left Behind series and John Haggee, etc.) about the anti-Christ. Without taking sides in that debate the question before us is who is the Woman that rides the beast in Revelation 17 and why is this important to us believers today?
Again I want to reiterate I understand and respect all sides that interpret Revelation as either something that has happened or something that will happen. The deeper truth behind Revelation 17 that I want to look at is power. Specifically, how does power that is not of God seduce us?
Revelation was written during a time when the Roman Empire was in charge. Rome stayed in power, not just through the persecution Christians, but also through slavery, exploitation, brute force and violence. In Revelation 17 we see evocative images of a woman ‘who is seated on many waters’, a reference to the nations who live beside many different seas and oceans of which Rome has conquered; a woman is sitting on a scarlet (red) beast that has 10 horns, a beast referring to the military might of Rome and red which matches the Imperial color of Rome, that has 7 heads referring to 7 hills that the city of Rome is said to have been built on.
And the main image we want to focus on is how the rulers of the earth in verse 2 have become drunk with power because of the woman who rides the beast. All of the above images tell us that’s how power works; it seduces us with things we really want. Getting our own way in the world. Seeking validation from people and things that will only like you for what you do and not who you are. Making money by taking advantage of others, and for John’s time (the author of Revelation), it was giving into the power that Rome could offer you if you stopped believing in Christ and made sacrifices to Roman gods and Emperors.
The message of revelation 17 is don’t trust in the power the world offers you. Trust in the power that God offers you, which is the power of love, the power of lifting up the weak, the power of the Holy Spirit to transform you for the better, the power to shatter the slavery we find ourselves in whether it be slaves to money, abusive relationships or looking a certain way.
So what’s the message really? Don’t fall for Brad Pitt.
Thought for the day: Think about a time when putting your trust in a person or an idea not of God looked so tempting. What was the outcome? Can you imagine how trusting in God’s power might have changed things?
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.