This individual study guide draws directly from the sermon “Showcase - One Harbor MHC | Sunday Service” so you can keep engaging with the message all week. Read, reflect, and share it with your small group or friends.

In-Depth Bible Study Guide

Unmasking Evil: The City of Man, the City of God, and the Hallelujah of the Saints

Primary Text: Revelation 17:1–19:10

1. Introduction & Overview

This sermon takes us into one of the most visually intense and theologically rich sections of the entire New Testament — Revelation 17–19:10. The preaching pastor walked us through the third major vision of the book: God's apocalyptic unmasking of evil, the judgment of "Babylon the Great," and the contrasting responses of those who belong to the city of man versus those who belong to the city of God. The central argument is both sobering and liberating: when evil is finally stripped of its mask, it looks less like a foreign ideology and more like the greed and indulgence woven into the fabric of our own comfortable lives — and the saints' proper response is not despair but the thunderous "Hallelujah" of those who trust the Lamb.

Key Passages: Revelation 17:1–19:10 (primary); Matthew 6:19–24; 1 Timothy 6:6–10, 17–19; Ezekiel 16; Acts 19:23–41

Study Objectives: By the end of this guide, you will be able to (1) understand the literary structure and symbolic logic of Revelation 17–19; (2) identify the Old Testament roots of the "Babylon/harlot" imagery; (3) engage seriously with the economic critique embedded in apocalyptic literature; (4) articulate what it means theologically to "come out of Babylon"; and (5) connect the righteousness of the saints (19:8) to the gospel of grace.

Estimated Study Time: 2.5–3 hours

Why This Passage Matters: Revelation 17–19 is not escapist fantasy. It is a pastoral letter to persecuted Christians confronting the seductions of empire — and it speaks with startling directness to a consumerist, comfort-saturated culture. This guide deepens and expands what the sermon opened for us.

2. Exegetical Analysis

Genre and Literary Structure

Revelation is simultaneously a letter, a prophecy, and an apocalypse — three genres that must be held together. As the pastor noted, this is the third of four major visions in the book (introduced by the phrase "I was in the Spirit," echoing 1:10 and 4:2). Chapters 17–19:10 form a literary unit framed by an angel's invitation ("Come, I will show you," 17:1) and John's attempt to worship the angel (19:10) — a common apocalyptic bracket technique signaling the unit's close.

Structure of the Passage

17:1–6 — The vision of the harlot/Babylon introduced
17:7–18 — Angelic interpretation of the beast and the woman
18:1–8 — Heaven's proclamation: "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great" + the call to "Come out"
18:9–19 — Lament of the kings, merchants, and seafarers
18:20–24 — Heaven's counter-rejoicing; the millstone sign-act
19:1–10 — The fourfold "Hallelujah" chorus; the marriage of the Lamb announced

Section-by-Section Analysis

17:1–6 — The Harlot Unveiled. The prostitute seated on many waters (17:1) deliberately echoes Jeremiah 51:13, where Babylon sits on many waters. Her purple and scarlet clothing, gold and jewels, mirror the priestly and royal regalia of both Roman imperial cult and the Jerusalem temple establishment. The golden cup filled with "abominations" (17:4) is a grotesque inversion of the temple's sacred vessels (cf. Daniel 5, where Belshazzar desecrates those very cups). The phrase "drunk with the blood of the saints" (17:6) establishes that this is not merely a commercial or political critique — it is a martyrological one. Real people have died.

17:7–18 — The Angelic Interpretation. The angel's explanation is deliberately dense. The seven heads are both seven hills (a clear reference to Rome, universally recognized in antiquity as the "city of seven hills") and seven kings, creating a layered symbol. The "beast that was and is not and is to come" (17:8) is a parody of the divine name revealed in 1:4 ("who is and who was and who is to come"), reinforcing the unholy-trinity motif the pastor highlighted. The ten kings (17:12) likely represent client kings of Rome's vassal territories — those who derive their authority from imperial power and willingly surrender it to the beast.

18:1–8 — The Fallen City and the Call to Exodus. The angelic announcement "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great" (18:2) quotes Isaiah 21:9 verbatim — a prophetic perfect, declaring future judgment as already accomplished. The call "Come out of her, my people" (18:4) is the theological heart of the chapter and directly echoes Jeremiah 51:45 and Isaiah 48:20 — the language of the Exodus. God has always called his people to separate from the systems that enslave them.

18:9–24 — Three Laments; One Millstone. The threefold lament — kings, merchants, seafarers — is structured as a funerary dirge (qinah in Hebrew poetry). Each group mourns not the people of the city but its economic productivity. The cargo list in 18:12–13 climaxes with "slaves, that is, human souls" — the final commodity, and the most damning. The millstone sign-act (18:21) echoes Jesus's own words in Matthew 18:6 and Jeremiah 51:63–64.

19:1–10 — The Hallelujah Chorus. The word hallēlouia appears in the New Testament only here (four times in vv. 1–6). It is a Hebrew liturgical shout (hallelu Yah — "praise Yahweh") imported directly into Greek, connecting the heavenly choir to Israel's temple worship. The bride's "fine linen, bright and pure" (19:8) is explicitly decoded: "the righteous deeds of the saints" — but as the pastor powerfully noted, this must be read in light of the gospel. The deeds are real, but they are granted to her (19:8a, "it was granted her"), meaning they are themselves a gift of grace.

3. Historical & Cultural Context

Rome, the Seven Hills, and Imperial Religion

Writing around 95 CE under the Emperor Domitian, John addresses seven churches in the Roman province of Asia (modern western Turkey). Domitian intensified the imperial cult, demanding to be addressed as Dominus et Deus ("Lord and God") — a direct challenge to Christian confession that "Jesus is Lord." The seven hills of Rome were not merely geographical trivia; they were ideologically loaded. Rome celebrated its seven-hilled geography in coins, literature, and festivals. When John's audience heard "the woman seated on seven mountains," they would have recognized the image immediately — and felt its danger.

Babylon as Code

Using "Babylon" as a cipher for Rome was not unique to John. The Jewish apocalypse 4 Ezra (c. 100 CE) and 2 Baruch use the same substitution. After Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 CE — just as Babylon had done in 586 BCE — the identification became theologically natural. Both empires destroyed the house of God; both represented the crushing weight of pagan empire on the covenant people.

The Economics of the Roman Empire

The cargo list of Revelation 18:12–13 is not invented. It maps closely onto actual Roman trade routes and luxury goods documented in sources like Pliny the Elder's Natural History. Rome's economy was deeply dependent on slave labor and long-distance trade. Merchants in the eastern provinces (where John's audience lived) were deeply embedded in this system. The question "Come out of her, my people" was not abstract — it had concrete economic implications for Christian business owners, craftsmen, and traders who participated in trade guilds often tied to pagan religious festivals.

The Parthian Threat

As the pastor noted, the titles "Lord of Lords and King of Kings" were used by Parthian rulers, Rome's feared eastern rivals. For John's audience near the eastern frontier, this was not merely liturgical language — it was a politically charged declaration that the true king was neither Caesar nor the Parthian monarch, but the crucified and risen Lamb.

The Harlot Imagery and the Old Testament Prophets

Ezekiel 16 and 23 deploy extended and graphic metaphors of Israel as an unfaithful wife/prostitute to describe covenant betrayal. Hosea's entire marriage narrative serves the same purpose. Nahum 3:4 applies the harlot image to Nineveh. John is working squarely within this prophetic tradition.

4. Word Studies

"Fallen" (Greek, peptōken) — from piptō, "to fall"

Meaning: The verb is in the perfect tense, indicating a completed action with ongoing results. "She has fallen — and the effects are permanent."
Etymology: From the root pet-, related to falling or collapsing. Used in the Septuagint (Greek OT) to translate Hebrew naphal in contexts of military defeat and divine judgment.
Biblical Usage: Isaiah 21:9 (LXX); Revelation 14:8 (an earlier anticipation of this announcement); Luke 10:18 ("I saw Satan fall like lightning").
Theological Significance: The double "fallen, fallen" is a Hebraism signifying certainty and completeness. The repetition is not redundancy — it is a death knell. God's judgment on the city of man is not tentative.
Translation Considerations: Most translations render this as "Fallen, fallen" (ESV, NIV, NASB), preserving the rhetorical force of the repetition.

"Hallelujah" (Hebrew, hallĕlû-Yāh) — "Praise Yah(weh)"

Meaning: A compound imperative: hallĕlû (plural imperative of hālal, "to praise, to boast in") + Yāh (a shortened form of the divine name YHWH).
Etymology: Hālal in its intensive form (piel) means to boast, to shine, to celebrate loudly. It is the root of the word used in Psalm 150, the great doxological conclusion of the Psalter.
Biblical Usage: Psalms 113–118 (the "Hallel" Psalms sung at Passover); Psalm 150; and exclusively in the NT, Revelation 19:1, 3, 4, 6.
Theological Significance: The fact that the only New Testament hallēlouia occurs in response to the judgment of economic evil is staggering. The saints' praise is not ethereal or disconnected from history — it is rooted in the concrete justice of God overturning systems of exploitation.
Translation Considerations: Transliterated universally rather than translated, because it is a proper liturgical term. Handel's Messiah draws directly from this passage.

"Abominations" (Greek, bdelygmatōn) — from bdelygma

Meaning: Something detestable, causing revulsion — particularly in a cultic/religious sense. The term carries the weight of ritual defilement.
Etymology: Related to bdeo ("to stink"). The LXX uses this word to translate Hebrew tôʿēbāh ("abomination"), the same word used in Leviticus and Ezekiel for idolatry.
Biblical Usage: Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11 (the "abomination of desolation," quoted by Jesus in Matthew 24:15); Mark 13:14; Revelation 17:4–5.
Theological Significance: By placing bdelygmata in the harlot's cup, John is saying that what looks like a golden chalice of pleasure is actually a vessel of defilement — the mask hiding the reality of idolatry.

"Merchants" (Greek, emporoi) — from which English derives "emporium"

Meaning: Wholesale traders, traveling merchants — those who moved goods across the empire for profit.
Etymology: From en ("in") + poros ("passage, journey") — literally one who travels through for trade.
Biblical Usage: Matthew 13:45 (the merchant seeking fine pearls); James 4:13 (the merchant who says "today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city"); Revelation 18:3, 11, 15, 23.
Theological Significance: The emporoi weep not for people but for lost markets (18:11). Their grief is entirely economic. John is exposing the dehumanizing logic of a system that commodifies everything — including, finally, human beings (18:13).

"Righteous deeds" (Greek, dikaiōmata) — from dikaioō ("to justify, to declare righteous")

Meaning: Acts of righteousness; legal requirements fulfilled; righteous ordinances. The word sits at the intersection of justification and ethics.
Etymology: From dikaios ("righteous, just") + the noun-forming suffix -ma (indicating the result or product of an action).
Biblical Usage: Romans 1:32; 2:26; 5:16, 18; 8:4; Revelation 15:4; 19:8.
Theological Significance: This is the crucial word the pastor highlighted in his conclusion. The bride's garment is dikaiōmata tōn hagiōn — "the righteous acts of the saints." But critically, 19:8 says "it was granted to her to clothe herself" — the passive voice signals divine gift. The good works are real (not merely imputed), but they are themselves the fruit of grace, not the basis of acceptance. This preserves both the gospel (salvation by grace) and the call to holy living (real deeds matter).

5. Cross-References & Biblical Theology

Old Testament Background

Jeremiah 51:6–9, 45 — "Flee from the midst of Babylon... Come out of her, my people." The most direct source for Revelation 18:4. Jeremiah's call to flee Babylon before its judgment is the template for John's pastoral warning.

Ezekiel 16:15–22, 35–43 — Israel depicted as a prostitute who abandoned her covenant Lord. The graphic imagery of Revelation 17 is deliberately drawn from this prophetic tradition, applying it to the religious establishment that rejected Jesus.

Isaiah 47:7–9 — Babylon says, "I shall be queen forever... I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children." Compare Revelation 18:7: "Since in her heart she says, 'I sit as a queen; I am no widow.'" John quotes Isaiah nearly verbatim.

Isaiah 21:9 — "Fallen, fallen is Babylon!" The prophetic announcement quoted in Revelation 18:2 and anticipated in 14:8.

Daniel 5:1–4, 23 — Belshazzar's feast using the temple vessels for idolatrous worship. The golden cup of the harlot (Rev. 17:4) evokes this scene of desecrated holiness.

New Testament Connections

Matthew 6:19–24 — "You cannot serve God and money (mamōnas)." The sermon's theological backbone. Jesus identifies wealth as the rival lord, not merely a neutral tool.

1 Timothy 6:6–10, 17–19 — "The love of money is a root of all kinds of evils." Paul's most direct teaching on the spiritual danger of wealth, closely paralleling Revelation 18's economic expose.

Acts 19:23–41 — The Ephesian silversmiths' riot. As the pastor observed, this narrative passage dramatizes precisely what Revelation 18 describes apocalyptically: religious idolatry protecting economic interests.

Luke 16:13 — "No servant can serve two masters." The Lukan parallel to Matthew 6:24, reinforcing that this is a consistent dominical teaching, not a single saying.

James 5:1–6 — "Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you." James uses strikingly similar prophetic-lament rhetoric to John, targeting economic exploitation.

Hebrews 13:14 — "For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come." The theological framework of "city of man / city of God" that Augustine would later systematize is already present in the NT.

Revelation 21:2, 9–27 — The New Jerusalem as bride, adorned with jewels — deliberately contrasted with Babylon's jewels. The city of God surpasses and replaces everything the city of man promised.

6. Interpretive Considerations

Who Is the Harlot/Babylon?

This is the central interpretive question of Revelation 17–18, and serious scholars hold several positions:

Rome only: Many commentators (including most in the preterist tradition) identify Babylon exclusively with Rome, noting the seven hills reference (17:9) and the historical destruction that Rome brought. G.K. Beale, in his magisterial NIGTC commentary, leans toward Rome as the primary referent while acknowledging symbolic expansion.

Jerusalem only: Some interpreters (notably in the partial-preterist tradition, including David Chilton) argue that Babylon is primarily Jerusalem, citing that Revelation 11:8 locates "the great city where the Lord was crucified" as the locus of evil, and that the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE fits the historical fulfillment more precisely.

Jerusalem and Rome together: The pastor's interpretation — that the harlot represents the religious establishment (Jerusalem) riding on imperial power (Rome) — is exegetically well-grounded. This reading honors the OT prophetic tradition (Israel as unfaithful wife/prostitute) and the structural parallel to Revelation 13's two beasts (sea beast = Rome; land beast = false religion). Richard Bauckham's work in The Theology of the Book of Revelation strongly supports this layered reading.

Babylon as "the city of man" universally: By the end of chapter 18, the image has expanded beyond any single historical referent. The pastor's move to call it "the city of man" — drawing on Augustine — is theologically sound and hermeneutically responsible. The specific historical referents (Rome, Jerusalem) ground the vision; the expanded application addresses every age.

The Kings and Their Numbers

The seven kings (17:10–11) have generated enormous scholarly debate. Attempts to identify them with specific Roman emperors produce contradictory results depending on where one starts counting. The pastor wisely sidestepped this, noting that the images are sometimes deliberately paradoxical (the beast becoming its own head) and resist over-precise pinning. This is a sound hermeneutical instinct — apocalyptic imagery is more impressionistic than algebraic.

The Righteousness of the Saints (19:8)

Some interpreters read the "righteous deeds of the saints" as purely imputed righteousness (Christ's righteousness credited to believers). Others read it as actual moral deeds. The grammar of 19:8 — "it was granted to her" — suggests a both/and: the deeds are real and genuinely the saints' own, but they are themselves a gift of grace. This is consistent with Philippians 2:12–13 ("work out your own salvation... for it is God who works in you").

7. Theological Implications

The Doctrine of Providence and the Sovereignty of God Over Evil

Revelation 17:17 is one of the most startling verses in the passage: "God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose." Even the self-destructive alliance of the beast and the kings serves God's sovereign design. Evil devours itself — but not randomly. The God who is "seated on the throne" (a phrase repeated throughout Revelation) exercises providential governance even over the machinations of his enemies. This is the Reformed doctrine of providence at its most dramatic, but it is also affirmed in the Wesleyan and Catholic traditions: God's sovereignty does not eliminate human responsibility but works through and even in spite of it.

The Theology of the Two Cities

Augustine's City of God (written in response to Rome's sack in 410 CE) developed what Revelation 17–19 dramatizes: all of human history is the story of two cities — the civitas Dei (city of God, built on love of God) and the civitas terrena (earthly city, built on love of self). Revelation does not call Christians to abandon the world but to refuse to be seduced by it — to be, as Jesus said, "in the world but not of it" (John 17:14–16).

Mammon as a Rival Lord

The sermon's central theological claim — that the root of evil is the love of money — is not merely a moral observation. It is a theological one. Jesus personified wealth as mamōnas (Matthew 6:24), a term that may derive from an Aramaic root meaning "that in which one trusts." Mammon is not just a temptation; it is a rival deity that makes totalizing claims on human loyalty. Revelation 18 unmasks this rival deity by showing what it truly is: a system that ultimately trades in human souls (18:13).

The Gospel and the Bride's Righteousness

The sermon's conclusion is a beautiful articulation of the gospel: the bride's fine linen (the righteous deeds of the saints) is both real and granted — both genuinely ours and entirely a gift. This preserves the Reformation insight (sola gratia) while honoring the biblical insistence that faith without works is dead (James 2:26). The saints' deeds are not the basis of their acceptance; they are the fruit of grace that will be remembered and celebrated eternally.

8. Practical Application

The Economic Examination of Conscience

The sermon's most searching application is this: "Where your money is, there your heart will be." Deeper study confirms that this is not a peripheral concern — it is the final revelation of what evil looks like (Revelation 18). A serious disciple will regularly audit not just their giving but their entire financial life: What do I spend money on, and why? What would I be unwilling to give up for the sake of following Jesus? Where am I participating in economic systems that dehumanize others?

"Come Out of Her" as Ongoing Posture

The call to "come out of Babylon" (18:4) is not a call to cultural withdrawal but to spiritual non-conformation. Romans 12:2 uses the same logic: "Do not be conformed to this age." Practically, this means cultivating habits of simplicity, generosity, and contentment — the very virtues that resist the logic of consumerism. The pastor's announcement of a forthcoming four-week series on faithful discipleship in a greedy world is a direct pastoral application of this text, and it deserves serious engagement.

Rejoicing When It Costs Something

The sermon's most convicting question: "If the destruction of evil meant financial hardship for you, would you still celebrate it?" This is the test of whether we belong to the bride or the merchants. The discipline of rejoicing — even in loss, even in suffering — is the spiritual practice that Revelation 19 commends. Paul and Silas singing in prison (Acts 16:25) is the New Testament's narrative embodiment of this.

Holding Lightly to Comfort

The pastor noted that "God's good gifts are the very things that lead to idolatry." The application is not asceticism for its own sake, but the regular, intentional loosening of our grip on comfort and security. Practices like fasting, giving sacrificially, and choosing simplicity are not punishments — they are training exercises for the bride making herself ready.

9. Discussion Questions

Observational

In Revelation 18:12–13, John lists the cargo of Babylon's merchants. What is the significance of the order of items, and what does it reveal that human beings appear last on the list described as "slaves, that is, human souls"?
Three groups weep over Babylon's fall in chapter 18: kings, merchants, and seafarers. What do all three groups have in common in their response, and what is conspicuously absent from their lament?
How many times does the word "Hallelujah" appear in Revelation 19:1–6, and where else in Scripture does this word appear? What does its exclusive placement here suggest about the nature of the praise?

Interpretive

The pastor argued that the harlot represents the religious establishment (Jerusalem) while the beast represents Rome — but that by chapter 18, the image expands to encompass "the city of man" as a whole. What textual evidence supports this expansion? Do you find this reading convincing, and why?
Revelation 17:17 says God put it into the hearts of the kings to carry out his purpose. How do you reconcile divine sovereignty over evil with human moral responsibility? What are the implications of this verse for how we understand suffering and injustice in history?
The call to "come out of her, my people" (18:4) echoes Jeremiah 51:45 and the Exodus tradition. In what sense is this a call to literal separation, and in what sense is it a call to a posture of the heart? How do you determine which is meant?

Theological

The sermon argued that the final revelation of evil in Revelation 18 is expressed in economic terms — that greed and indulgence are the ultimate face of evil. How does this reshape your understanding of what evil is? Does this challenge or confirm your prior assumptions?
The bride's garment in 19:8 is described as "the righteous deeds of the saints," yet it is also "granted to her." How does this tension between gift and deed illuminate the relationship between grace and works in the Christian life? How does this differ from what the sermon calls "false religion"?

Applicational

The pastor said, "What I do with my money is the clearest index of my true spirituality." Spend time honestly reflecting: What does your financial life — spending, saving, giving, debt — reveal about where your heart actually is? What would need to change for your finances to more fully reflect citizenship in the city of God?
The sermon observed that every generation has blind spots, and suggested ours may involve wealth and consumerism. What would it look like for your community group or household to "come out of Babylon" in concrete, practical ways this week?

Investigative

Research the Roman trade economy of the first century and compare the cargo list of Revelation 18:12–13 with documented Roman imports. How does understanding the actual economic context deepen the impact of John's critique? (Consider consulting Craig Keener's IVP Bible Background Commentary or Bruce Longenecker's work on economics in early Christianity.)
Read Augustine's City of God, Book I (the Preface and first few chapters) and compare his framework of the two cities with what John describes in Revelation 17–19. In what ways does Augustine's reading illuminate the text, and in what ways might it be limited by his fourth-century context?

10. Recommended Resources

Commentaries on Revelation

Accessible

Michael Gorman, Reading Revelation Responsibly (Cascade, 2011) — An excellent entry point for serious lay readers. Gorman is a careful scholar who makes the political and economic dimensions of Revelation clear and compelling without requiring prior expertise.
Eugene Peterson, Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination (HarperOne, 1988) — Devotionally rich and literarily sensitive. Peterson helps readers feel the weight of Revelation's imagery without getting lost in technical debates.

Intermediate

Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation (Cambridge, 1993) — Perhaps the single best intermediate-level theological treatment of Revelation. Bauckham's chapter on the critique of Rome's economic empire is directly relevant to this passage and will reward careful reading.
Craig Keener, The NIV Application Commentary: Revelation (Zondervan, 2000) — Keener's strength is historical background and contemporary application. Excellent for understanding the first-century context of Revelation 17–18.

Advanced

G.K. Beale, The Book of Revelation (NIGTC, Eerdmans, 1999) — The most comprehensive technical commentary in English. Beale's treatment of Old Testament allusions in Revelation 17–19 is exhaustive and indispensable for serious study.
David Aune, Revelation 17–22 (Word Biblical Commentary, 1998) — The standard critical commentary. Especially valuable for the historical and linguistic background of individual verses.

Biblical Theology and Background

Accessible to Intermediate

Bruce Longenecker, Remember the Poor: Paul, Poverty, and the Greco-Roman World (Eerdmans, 2010) — Provides essential background on the economic world of the New Testament, directly illuminating the cargo list and merchant culture of Revelation 18.
Craig Blomberg, Neither Poverty nor Riches: A Biblical Theology of Possessions (IVP Academic, 1999) — The best single-volume biblical theology of wealth and possessions. Essential preparation for the forthcoming sermon series on faithful discipleship in a greedy world.

Historical Theology