Revelation 17:4; Having a Golden Cup In Her Hand
Revelation 17:4 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 last part of the woman’s paraphernalia is the golden cup in her hand, which adds to her royal appearance but those contents epitomize the depths of her degradation. Jeremiah used a golden cup to picture the degrading influence Babylon on this around her (Jeremiah 51:7).
Jeremiah 51:7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
From her perspective, the cup’s contents represent her own glory and grandeur, but in reality they are her self-destruction as the consequences of her sins turned upon her (Hailey). God sees the true picture and calls them, “abominations, and filthiness of her fornication”. “Abominations” was a characteristic term for idols in the OT (Beasley- Murray), where it denotes ceremonial and moral impurity, but especially idolatrous rites.
Deuteronomy 18:9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
Deuteronomy 29:17 And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which wereamong them:)
Deuteronomy 32:16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.
1 Kings 14:24 And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
2 Kings 16:3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.
2 Kings 21:2 And he did that which wasevil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
2 Kings 23:4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el.
Ezekiel 8:6 He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.
Ezekiel 8:9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
Ezekiel 8:13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, andthou shalt see greater abominations that they do.
Ezekiel 8:15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, andthou shalt see greater abominations than these.
Ezekiel 8:17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.
Ezekiel 11:18 And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence.
Ezekiel 14:6 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselvesfrom your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
Ezekiel 16:2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
Ezekiel 20:7 Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Ezekiel 20:8 But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
These are blasphemous actives that God detests, and the harlot’s cup is full of them!
“… abominations and filthiness of her fornication” further defines those abominations. The adjective “filthiness” or “uncleanness” in the New Testament has associations with idolatry (2 Corinthians 6:17) and perhaps cult prostitution (Ephesians 5:5).
2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
Ephesians 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
So the harlot thrives on spreading her filthy vices and corruptions by allowing earth’s inhabitants to drink fro her beautiful, but contaminated cup.
[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 288-289]