“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters” (Revelation 17:1 ESV).
We can better understand this reference to spiritual harlotry when we consider the relational aspects of human marriage. For instance, when a couple enters into a Biblically sanctioned marriage union, they make a formal and exclusive commitment to one another. This explains why traditional marriage vows typically incorporate the phrase “forsaking all others” to emphasize the privileged nature of that marital commitment.
An engaged couple thus affirms their promise to share an exclusive and personal relationship with one another as they stand before God at the marriage altar. This serves to model the spiritual relationship that God seeks to enter with us. Just as a human marriage covenant involves a commitment to forsake all others, we similarly agree to forsake all other spiritual allegiances when we enter a relationship with God in Christ.
We can find a Biblical reference to that commitment in the New Testament book of Ephesians…
“’For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:31-32).
This illustrates the close, personal relationship that God seeks to enjoy with His people. With this in mind, let’s consider what takes place when the bonds of a human marriage relationship are broken. When one partner severs that intimate relationship, it inevitably leads to a period of emotional suffering for the other. Consider the typical responses that are likely to follow an act of marital infidelity…
- I trusted that person and he/she betrayed me.
- I made myself vulnerable to that person and he/she abandoned me.
- I kept my vow, but that person broke his/her promise.
We can find a spiritual parallel in the midst of these painful responses. For instance, let’s apply this idea to those who have made a commitment to Christ but later abandon that commitment. Or perhaps we might consider others who accept Christ, but spend little or no time with Him in prayer or through God’s Word. Or what if we took the gifts He has lavished upon us- our time, our talents, our skills, our resources, and other such things- and used them in inappropriate ways?
Our text from Revelation chapter seventeen should thus serve as a reminder to guard against spiritual infidelity. We will examine God’s deeply emotional response to such things next.
Image Attribution: GDJ, Marriage Silhouette, via Open Clipart