TRANSLATION

1. And there came one of the seven angels having the seven vials, and talked with me, saying to me, Come along; I will show to thee the judgment of the Great Harlot that sitteth upon the many waters: with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication; and they who inhabit the earth have been intoxicated by the wine of her fornication.

3. And he conducted me away into a wilderness in spirit; and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast, full of Names of Blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

4. And I saw the woman who had been arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones, and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication;

 5. And upon her forehead a name had been written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS, AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

6.And I saw the woman intoxicated by the blood of the saints, and by the blood of the witnesses of Jesus: and beholding her, I marveled with great astonishment.

7. And the angel said to me, Wherefore didst thou wonder? I will explain to thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her. having the seven heads and the ten horns.

8. The BEAST which thou sawest, was, and is not: but is hereafter to ascend out of the abyss, and to go away into perdition: and they who dwell upon the earth, of whom there hath not been written the names upon the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, shall wonder when they behold the beast that was, but is not, although it is.

9. The mind having wisdom is this. The seven heads are seven mountains, where the woman is sitting upon them: they are also seven governments: the five have fallen, and the one is, the other is not yet come; but when it may have come, it is necessary that it continue a short time.

11.And the beast that was, but is not, even he is the EIGHTH, and he is of the seven, and goeth away into perdition.

12. And the Ten Horns which thou sawest, are ten governments, which have not yet received kingdom; but they receive authority as kings one hour with the beast.

13.These have one purpose, and they shall deliver their power and authority to the beast.

14. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those with him, called, chosen and faithful.

15. And he said to me, The waters which thou sawest, where the Harlot is sitting, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

16.And the Ten Horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the Harlot, and make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her with fire

 17. For the Deity hath given into their hearts to execute his will, and to perform one purpose, and to deliver their kingdom to the beast, until the predictions of the Deity have been fulfilled.

18. And the woman which thou sawest, is that Great City having dominion over the kings of the earth.

EXPOSITION

"And there came one of the seven angels having the seven vials, and talked with me".

John was in Patmos nearly eighteen hundred years ago. Why are we informed that he was visited by one of the angels of the vial? Why was he not visited by one of the angels of the trumpets? Because the subject of this chapter is "the judgment of the Great Harlot;" and this judgment belongs to the vials. And which of the seven angels was he visited by? By the Seventh; because, "the judgment of the Great Harlot" is the grand catastrophe of the seventh vial (ch. 16:19) and therefore the seventh only of all the seven could show the judgment to John. If it had been decreed to be executed under the outpouring of the fourth angel's vial, the fourth angel would have visited the apostle; but being the specialty of the seventh, the seventh angel must be the interlocutor and actor in the scene.

Being, then, in company with John, he said to him "Come along!" The English Version translates deuro, come hither! This would be very well if John had not already informed us that the angel had come to him. Had the angel remained stationary at a distance, and called out deuro! come hither, would have been correct. But, it was John who was station-ary, so the angel came to him, and invited him to accompany him, and he would show him the judgment of the Great Harlot.

John was stationary. The seals, and trumpet, and vial, periods, as so many succeeding and passing scenes, had all to revolve until the sixth vial-period of the seventh seal and last trumpet, came before him. He would then be visited by the Sixth Angel, and feel his power in being "caused to exist incorruptible," for the dead are immortalized in the sixth vial-period. The judgment of the Great Harlot could not be shown to him by the sixth angel. He will have to wait until visited by the seventh angel. Then, being a living apostle, and one of those to whom it is given to execute the judgment written against the Great Harlot in the seventh vial-period, when that period arrives, he will go along with the Lamb, that is, with the Omnipotent and Omniscient Spirit, and not only see the judgment, but take part in it, and rejoice over her catastrophe and fall (ch. 18:6,20). This is the import of the words, "I will show thee the judgment of the Great Harlot".

What John saw in Patmos, he saw "in Spirit". In his day, the Great Harlot to be judged under the seventh vial, had not been developed. Hence, he saw her "sitting upon the many waters" only in prophetic vision. In this sense, he was "inspirit", as he will be, in the highest sense, when he is incorruptible and immortal; and as a constituent of the seventh angel, rejoices over the Harlot-Mother and all her adulterous progeny, whom he contributes to destroy.