Apocalypse Unsealed: chapter 17
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Chapter Seventeen
MYSTERIES REVEALED
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had
the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me,
come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgement of
the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed
fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have
been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
The great whore is the corrupted
Word of God. She sits on the sea
of humanity.* To commit *See Revelations 17:15
fornication with the harlot means below.
to make use of her services: false
doctrine.
3 Se he carried me away in the spirit into the
wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a sarlet
coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having
seven heads and ten horns.
Scarlet is the color of spiritual beauty among the Muslims. The
seven heads and ten horns identify the beast as the Bani-Umayyad
dynasty and its image, the 'Abbasid dynasty. The harlot lives in
the wilderness of spiritual desolation. "... such souls as tread
the valley of arrogance and pride, are lost in the wilds of
remoteness, walk in the ways of their idle fancy, and follow the
dictates of the leaders of their faith."--Baha'u'llah_/1
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4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet
colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and
pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of
abominations and filthiness of her fornication.
The harlot is blasphemously arrayed in the purple of royalty and
the scarlet of spiritual beauty. She is bedecked with precious
gifts bestowed upon her by her clientele, the corrupt priesthood
and temporal rulers.
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY,
BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND
ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
This verse explains that the harlot, Babylon, the corrupted Word
of God, is the secret source of all the world's abominations.
The harlot in the wilderness of spiritual desolation is
contrasted with the Bride who flees into the desert wilderness of
Hijaz for her survival in Chapter 12. The Bride is the undefiled
Word of God. In her pure role she is THE HOLY CITY JERUSALEM.
In her corrupted role she is BABYLON._/2
6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the
saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus
and when I saw her, I wondered with great
admiration.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou
marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman,
and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the
seven heads and ten horns.
8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and
shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into
predition: and they that dwell on the earth shall
wonder, whose names were not written in the book of
life from the foundation of the world, when they
behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
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The angel explains that the beast "was" (existed as the Empire of
Alexander), "is not" (did not exist in the first century AD), but
will ascend out of the pit of error and will ultimately be
destroyed. Those whose names were not written in the Book of
Life will marvel when they behold the Empire of Alexander come
into existence a second time.
It was the dream of ancient rulers and conquerers to reestablish
the Empire of Alexander. The dominions ruled by both Alexander
and the Bani-Umayyad rulers included large areas of the three
continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe, and united East and
West._/3 The eastern borders of the two Empires were virtually
identical.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven
heads are seven mountains, on which the woman
sitteth.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and
one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he
cometh, he must continue a short space.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is
the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into
perdition.
The riddle explains that the harlot sits on an Empire of seven
dominions or nations (mountains). Of the seven dominions
symbolized by seven kings, five will be fallen, that is, under
the control of foreign powers before their conquest by the
beast._/4 These five were the Roman (Byzantine) dominion around
Damascus (Syria, Palestine), the dominions of Arabia, Egypt,
Africa (Libya), and Andalusia (Spain). One dominion "is,"
meaning that it will remain sovereign until the "hour" of the
beast. This was Persia. The dominion which "is not come" was
Turkestan-Transoxania.
In the first century, the region now known as Turkestan was
occupied by nomadic pastoralists and sedentary cultivators. The
region became Turkish in the sixth century AD, about 500 years
after the writing of the Apocalypse. It was conquered in the
late seventh and early eighth centuries by the Bani-Umayya who
gave the region the name of Ma Wara'an-Nahr, "the land
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beyond the Oxus" or "Transoxania."_/4 Verse 10 explains that the
dominin will continue a short space. The prophecy means that
Turkestan-Transoxania will cease to exist with the invasion of
Genghis Khan 1218-1220 AD.
Verse 11 explains that the beast will have an eighth ruler, who
is one of the seven, and who will ultimately be destroyed. This
refers to The Caliph. The caliphate was abolished by the Turkish
Grand National Assembly on 2 March 1924, less than three years
after the Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Baha._/5
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten
kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but
receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
Verse 12 explains that the ten horns are the names of kings who
did not have a kingdom in the first century AD. They will
receive power for only an hour with the Bani-Umayyad dynasty. An
"hour" is a part of a "day," and is therefore, a part of a "year"
of 360 years. The Bani-Umayya had sovereignty for 89 years,
about one-fourth of a "day."
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power
and strength unto the beast.
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb
shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and
King of kings: and they that are with him are
called, and chosen, and faithful.
Verse 13 explains that the dominions and rulers of Islam will
give power to the beast, personified in The Caliph. Verse 14
prophesies that the Muslim State will make war on the Bab and His
followers, but that the Bab will gain the spiritual victory,
because He is a Manifestation of God, that is, Lord of lords and
King of kings._/6 "Verily He (the Bab) is the King of the
Messengers and His Book is the Mother Book, did ye but know."
"... the Ancient Beauty appeared, in the year sixty (1260 AH), in
the person of 'Alo-Muhammad, the Bab." "Thy Lord, the Most
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High (the Bab), addresseth thee, from His realm of glory..."
"... this, the Lord of days, ... the Day in which the Beauty of
the All-Glorious shone forth in the exalted person of
'Ali-Muhammad, the Bab."--Baha'u'llah_/7
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou
sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and
multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Verse 15 explains the symbol of the sea of humanity in verse 1.
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the
geast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make
her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and
burn her with fire.
17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his
will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the
beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
These verses explain that the rulers of the Bani-Umayya will hate
the harlot, the corrupted Word of God, destroy her beauty, and
will condemn her with the fire of their words. God has put it
into their hearts that they should satisfy His Will and agree
with each other, giving their dominions to the beast until the
words of the prophecy have been fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great
city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
This verse explains that the harlot is Babylon, the corrupted
Word of God, that has dominion over the rulers of the earth.
Notes to Chapter Seventeen
1. _Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah_, p. 18
2. The symbol of the corrupted bride who is once more united with
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her husband is used in Isaiah 54. See also the harlot in Isaiah
47.
3. A good discussion of the aspiration, successes, and failures
of Alexander can be found in Reference 3, Chapter 1.
4. From the first century to the beginning of Muhammad's
Dispensation, Andalusia was dominated by Romans, Vandals,
Visigoths and Byzantines. Syria was dominated by Romans,
Persians and Byzantines. Egypt was dominated by Romans and
Byzantines. Africa (Libya) was dominated by Romans, Vandals and
Byzantines. Arabia was dominated by Romans, Byzantines,
Abyssinians and Persians. West Turkestan, later to become
Transoxania, remained an amorphous region dominated in turn by
various invaders. (See Reference 38.) Only Persia, under the
Seleucids, Parthians and Sasanids remained sovereign.
By 632 AD, the date of the Ascension of Muhammad, most of the
Arabian peninsula had become united under the banner of Islam.
Arabia became the platform from which the Caliphs launched their
campaign of territorial expansion and unification.
5. Both the caliphate and the sultanate were abolished. The
Arabic alphabet was outlawed, making it impossible to read the
Qur'an in its original language. Muslim dress and Islamic law
were abolished, and Friday was no longer an official day of
prayer.
6. _The Book of Certitude_, pp. 123-124.
7. _The Tablet of Ahmad_, _Gleanings from the Writings of
Baha'u'llah_, pp. 77, 292, 145.