When I saw her, I marveled greatly. 7 But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. 9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
15 And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”
Before leaving this chapter with its solemn message about the self-destruction of evil, we should realise that it has an application on a personal level. In Hebrews we read, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord', and this reminds us that when in the work of God we are faced with injustice and hurt, and when evil things are done to us, God says 'Leave it to Me. They may be harming My work, and doing despite to it. Do nothing. Do not retaliate. Wait. Things will begin to go wrong with them'. And don't they just! When God's work is attacked by men who oppose themselves against Him and refuse the message of grace, we must learn to suffer this, hard and distressing though it be, and leave God Himself to deal with them. That evil thing has within itself the seeds of self-destruction. Men unite in their common resistance to the gospel and the will of God - men who have little else in common with each other - but God says, 'Watch them: see what happens to that pocket of resistance and rebellion; see what happens to their homes; see what happens in their families; see what happens to their health; things will begin to go wrong'. Of course, because the seeds of destruction are inherent in the rebellion they have adopted against the Lord. This is one of the saddest and most tragic realities in spiritual experience, and borne out again and again in the lives of those who have made shipwreck of faith, As the prophet Isaiah puts it, 'Behold all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks; walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow'. (Isaiah 50:11)