Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

What does Revelation Chapter 17 mean?

At this point in Revelation, the bowl judgments have been described, and all that remains of the tribulation is the second coming of Christ. Before this is explained, John is shown a vision which symbolizes two additional judgments which are spread out over the tribulation. Chapter 17 focuses on the ruin of “religious Babylon,” an ungodly spiritual system which is at first supported, then ruined by the efforts of the beast. Chapter 18 will describe the fall of Babylon in a political or economic sense.

This chapter begins with one of the angels who poured out a judgment bowl calling John to see a “great prostitute.” This figure is another of the commonly-known symbols of Revelation, often referred to as the “Whore of Babylon.” What follows is a vision—specifically meant to be symbolic, and not literal (Revelation 17:1–2).

John’s vision takes him to a wilderness, where he sees the image of a woman sitting on a strange beast. The beast and the woman are described in careful terms, to be explained later by the angel who brought John. In Scripture, sexual immorality is often used as a parallel for idolatry. Both are gratifying and temporary, but result in shame and ruin. This immoral woman is richly clothed, symbolizing her support and adoration by the world. She is also said to be “drunk with the blood” of believers. Wine and blood are often interchanged in biblical imagery—this woman is responsible for untold bloodshed among Christians. As explained later, this woman seems to represent an ungodly religious view, either something new or a corruption of the truth, which spreads worldwide at the time of the tribulation. This striking image causes John to respond in shock and amazement (Revelation 17:3–6).

In response to John’s awe, the angel promises to explain the meaning of these visions. The beast is described using a peculiar phrasing, suggesting that it used to exist, does not now exist, but will exist in the future. Its heads are explained as both a series of mountains and as a group of kings. Many interpreters believe this is an additional reference to the Revived Roman Empire: a government once powerful, then extinct, and finally restored in the end times. The leaders described in this passage will make war on God, and experience sound defeat (Revelation 17:7–14).

The prostitute John saw is prophesied to be destroyed by the beast and the ten leaders. The woman symbolizes some form of apostate religion, and the beast and kings some form of government. This leads to the likelihood that this blended or ecumenical or universal world religion will rapidly go from beloved to reviled by the world, and be destroyed as a result. In the end times, Satan will not be content with any vestiges of religion other than that which worships him (Revelation 13:11–12). The religious symbol of Babylon will lose her wealth and status and be torn apart by those who once supported her (Revelation 17:15–18).

Chapter Context
Chapter 16 resumed explaining God’s pattern of end times wrath, this time describing the seven bowl judgments. As the last bowl is poured out, John is called to see a vision, which seems to incorporate events occurring throughout the tribulation. This chapter focuses on the fall of religious Babylon. Revelation 14:8 and 16:19 mention Babylon’s collapse under the wrath of God in the tribulation. Babylon’s ultimate fall may actually occur before the bowl judgments, anytime during the second half of the tribulation. Isaiah 13 and Jeremiah 50 and 51 predict the fall of Babylon. Revelation 18 also speaks of the ruin of Babylon, but from a political and economic perspective.

Verse by Verse

Verse 1. 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,

John relates that one of the seven angels with the bowls invited him, but does not specify which one. His vision here is to see judgment on a symbolic woman living in a symbolic location. The following descriptions are ornate and meant as intricate metaphors. Their non-literal intent is made clear in the next passage, starting in verse 8, where the angel explains what each of these images is meant to symbolize. The angel’s invitation to John begins by identifying another infamous figure in the end times, sometimes referred to as the “Whore of Babylon” or “Mystery Babylon.”

Scholars are divided in their interpretation of the identity of this prostitute. Later verses connect this symbolic woman named Babylon with a city (Revelation 17:18). Some say this points to Rome, meaning Catholicism. Others identify Jerusalem, meaning Judaism. However, this symbolic prostitute is probably an incorporation of corrupt religions. Some commentators suggest an end-times union of apostate Protestantism and apostate Roman Catholicism, or a blend of world faiths into a single one-world religion. Others suggest this is a reference to a general, ungodly humanistic version of spirituality.

The prostitute is “seated on many waters.” We learn from verse 15 that the waters “are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.” Perhaps the false prophet in Jerusalem persuaded world religions to join in the worship of the beast regardless of their religious views. Revelation 14:8 describes Babylon as having “made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.” The prostitute—this ungodly and corrupt approach to religion and morality—is about to receive divine judgment.

Context Summary
Revelation 17:1–7 depicts a system of corrupt religion from which God calls upon His people to withdraw (Revelation 18:4; 2 Corinthians 6:14–18). This religious system is referred to using the name Babylon; the following chapter will use similar names and symbols to describe a ”political Babylon.” This religion is state-sponsored, like the Baal worship imported from Phoenicia by Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife (1 Kings 16:29–33). Just as Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord (1 Kings 18:4), so religious Babylon will murder many tribulation believers. In a literal sense, this suggests the one-world religion of the Antichrist and the False Prophet, but it also has implications for worldly and false religious teachings of our present time.

Verse 2. with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.”

John has been told to view a highly symbolic vision: a prostitute symbolizing a false and ungodly form of religion. This system is given the name Babylon (Revelation 17:5), frequently discussed as the “Whore of Babylon.”

This verse emphasizes the extent of spiritual corruption religious Babylon exerts over international leaders. “Sexual immorality” is a literal sin, but it’s often used figuratively in the Bible to represent spiritual apostasy and idolatry. This imagery is meant to link the temptation to seek other gods, and the shameful acts which follow, to a person who is tempted with sexual immorality, with degrading and unhealthy behavior following as a result. Both are associated with betrayal of a person to whom the immoral person ought to have been loyal.

For example, 2 Chronicles 21 says King Jehoram did evil in the sight of the Lord and had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers. Verse 11 charges that “he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom and made Judah go astray.” Isaiah also carried God’s indictment to the people of Jerusalem. He stated that the city that was once faithful to the Lord had become immoral and unjust and had become a whore (Isaiah 1:21). Ezekiel 16:16, too, charged the people of Israel with sexual immorality—idolatry. The verse states: “You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore.”

The reference here to sexual immorality might include some aspects of physical sexual sin, but it primarily points to the idolatrous worship of the beast by the world leaders and their citizens (Revelation 13:11–12).

Verse 3. And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.

John has been ordered to observe a vision of a “great prostitute,” a figure commonly referred to as the “Whore of Babylon” (Revelation 17:5). This figure represents an ungodly approach to religion and spirituality, as Scripture often uses the concept of sexual sin as a parallel to spiritual infidelity. The imagery here is meant to be seen just that way: as symbols, explained later in this chapter by the same angel (Revelation 17:8–18).

This verse reports that John’s vision involved being carried to a desert. There he saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast. The beast is the head of the system that incorporates all antichrist (1 John 4:3) corrupt religions, and is supported by a vast political alliance. The beast is described as “scarlet,” which is a popular color of the religious trappings of so many false religions. The woman was full of blasphemous names, indicating the religious system’s utter disdain for God and her vicious opposition to God and His people. Verses 9, 10, and 12 identify the beast’s seven heads as seven mountains and seven political rulers, and its ten horns as ten kings. This corrupt religious system receives support from a confederacy of world leaders that support the head of the Revived Roman Empire, also known as the Antichrist.

Based on these verses, many interpreters believe the end times will produce a fusion of state-supported religion which is corrupt, blasphemous, and powerful.

Verse 4. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.

John’s vision here is of a “great prostitute,” representing a “religious Babylon” which sets itself opposed to God. Infamous alongside other end-times figures such as the Antichrist and the False Prophet, this symbolic character is sometimes labelled the “Whore of Babylon” (Revelation 17:5).

This verse portrays religious Babylon as extremely rich. John reports her wearing purple and scarlet attire. These were the colors of very expensive dyed clothing that Roman officials and royalty wore. In order to be like the officials, those who could afford purple and scarlet clothing purchased it as a sign of upper-class affluence. Acts 16 relates the conversion of Lydia of Philippi. She was a seller of purple and apparently a well-to-do businesswoman. The woman John saw in this vision, religious Babylon, was adorned with gold, jewels, and pearls.

This description emphasizes again that religious Babylon is strongly supported by the wealth and status of the world. This is not a poor, shunned, disgraced figure, but one celebrated and beloved by the world. However, she is spiritually and morally bankrupt. She holds in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and sexual immorality. This point partly connects to the Bible’s comparison of idolatry to sexual sin (Ezekiel 16:16). At the same time, John’s vision also suggests the debauchery of banquets of the first century, in which drunkenness and sexual immorality occurred. Perhaps the woman is leading a toast to the beast from the sea (Revelation 13:1), the powerful world ruler with whom she shares an alliance.

Verse 5. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth ‘s abominations.”

This symbolic “great prostitute” seen by John (Revelation 17:1) is identified by the name John saw on her forehead. She is “Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” This figure is frequently described as the “Whore of Babylon” in discussions of the end times. This name is not incidental; major cities are often used as a shorthand reference to politics (Revelation 11:8). This is seen when substituting “Washington D.C.” for the United States or “Moscow” for Russia. Cities are also common titles given to religious ideas, as “Rome” is frequently used shorthand for Catholicism, or “Mecca” can be a reference to Islam.

Babylon, in the Bible, shares this same literal-and-symbolic usage. The history of the city of Babylon goes back to Noah’s descendants who settled in the Euphrates valley and founded a city, called Babel at the time (Genesis 11:1–9). Babel was the site of a tower built to unify their people, to bring them fame, to worship the stars, and possibly to protect them from another flood. Their efforts stood in direct disobedience to God’s order to replenish the earth (Genesis 9:1). Babylonian worship involved prostitution and worship of the so-called queen of heaven.

During the time of the kings of Judah and Israel, worship of the Canaanite deity Baal was common. King Ahab and his wife Jezebel made the worship of Baal the state religion (1 Kings 16:29–33). Later, invading ruler Nebuchadnezzar set up an idol in Babylon, and commanded everyone to worship it (Daniel 3:1–7). After the Persians overthrew Babylon, the Babylonian worshipers of Baal moved to Pergamum, where one of the seven churches of Asia Minor was located. Jesus rebuked that church for allowing the practice of idolatry to continue (Revelation 2:14).

In both literal and symbolic terms, Babylon is condemned in Scripture for its idolatry and blasphemy (see Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17–19, 25 and Ezekiel 8:14). The term is both a literal city and an abbreviated reference to ungodly, worldly spirituality.

Verse 6. And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly.

John reports that the woman, religious Babylon, was drunk with the blood of the saints, who died as Jesus’ martyrs. Wine is frequently used as a metaphor for blood in Scripture (Revelation 14:19–20), and the reverse can also be true. Those who engage in a great deal of bloodshed are said to be “drunk with blood,” as if they’d consumed a large quantity of wine (Deuteronomy 32:42; Ezekiel 39:19). False religion through the ages has been guilty of the sin of persecuting and even killing God’s people. Even Jesus was put to death because apostate religious leaders clamored for His crucifixion. This kind of religious hatred will flourish in the tribulation period, as religious Babylon slays those whose faith is in Jesus.

Two groups of people will be on earth in the tribulation: those who worship the beast and those who worship the Lord (Revelation 13:16–18; Revelation 20:4). Those who worship the Lord are described as “saints.” The word “saints” is from the Greek hagiōn, which simply means “holy ones.” This is not a title given to specially-righteous people, but to anyone who has been saved by Christ (Romans 1:7; Ephesians 1:1). Such people are holy because God saved them and separated them from the evil world system to serve Him. Today, also, the world is divided into two groups: those who belong to the evil world system and those who belong to the Lord (John 10:1–9). Jesus counseled those who belong to him: “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19).

A glimpse of the woman astonished John—this surprise and bewilderment will be addressed in the following passage, as the angel explains the meaning of these visions.

Verse 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.

The angel speaking here is the same one who brought John into a vision about a “great prostitute” (Revelation 17:1–6). This symbolic woman is the religious aspect of Babylon. At the end of that description, John said he “marveled greatly,” meaning he was amazed or astonished. The attending angel said he would explain the mystery of the woman and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that supported her. Apparently, the angel saw the look of bafflement on John’s face and promised to reveal the meaning of what he was seeing.

Although John was an apostle, he did not know everything. He often depended upon a revelation from heaven to clarify matters. We, too, will never outgrow our need to depend upon God for enlightenment. Fortunately, God has given His Holy Spirit to us to help us understand what He has revealed. First Corinthians 2:9–12 explains, “As it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.”

Context Summary
Revelation 17:7–14 explains the meaning of the visions John saw in the prior verses. The angel speaking with John explains the symbols of the beast, seven mountains, and ten horns. In the passage to follow, the angel will explain the downfall of the ”great prostitute,” who symbolizes an ungodly religion. Other passages in the Bible speak to this vision in Revelation 17. e For example, Daniel 7 prophesies a ”fourth empire” to produce ten kings and another king. The final king will speak blasphemous words against God and will wear out God’s saints for three and a half years. However, the Most High will destroy him and establish God’s everlasting kingdom. Daniel 9:24–27 and Revelation 13 also describe this defiant, powerful king. Revelation 19:11–21 reveals his end.

Verse 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.

John has been called to see a vision (Revelation 17:1–6), leaving him amazed. The angel who brought John into this vision plans to explain these symbols (Revelation 17:7).

In this verse the angel identifies the scarlet beast (Revelation 17:3) and predicts its future. The beast supports the woman, religious Babylon (Revelation 17:4–6). This creature is said to have a known past, present, and future. This description connects with the description found in Revelation 13:3 of the Antichrist having had a mortal wound that was healed. He arises from the bottomless pit, the location of demons, which points to his power as satanic.

In contrast, a few Bible teachers believe this description points to Judas Iscariot. He betrayed Jesus after Satan had entered his heart. Later, he committed suicide. Acts 1:24–25 describes this, in part, as Judas “go[ing] to his own place.” These teachers interpret “his own place” to mean the bottomless pit, suggesting this to be a unique place reserved for Judas, the betrayer.

Another interpretation, which we think seems best, is to apply the beast’s past, present, and future tenses to the Roman empire that collapsed in the past, experienced a time of non-existence, and which will emerge in the tribulation as the Revived Roman Empire, finally destroyed when Jesus returns to earth.

According to Revelation 17:8 the whole world, with the exception of believers, will be astonished at the beast’s revived presence and power.

Verse 9. This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated;

The angel explained that the beast’s seven heads are seven mountains. Many expositors attribute the seven mountains to the seven hills of Rome. Originally, Rome included seven hills on the Tiber River. These hills were named Palatine, Aventine, Caelian, Esquiline, Viminal, Quirinal, and Capitoline. Later Rome’s territory included the hill Janiculum and another hill to the north.

If Rome, “the city of seven hills,” is referred to in this verse, we might conclude that Rome is the beast’s capital city. Or, as some do, that the religious power behind the Antichrist is connected to Catholicism. However, the following verse also refers to these seven mountains as seven kings (Revelation 17:10). It is unwise, therefore, to be dogmatic about identifying the city of Rome as the beast’s capital city, or a reference to a particular religion. Just as a mountain rises above its surrounding area, so an unrighteous king or ruler exalts himself above his subjects. Further, a mountain is strong and may represent a king’s political strength. In the tribulation, the beast arises as a strong political figure who exalts himself to the point of declaring that he is God and demanding that people worship him (2 Thessalonians 2:3–4).

Verse 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.

According to this verse, the seven heads of the beast (Revelation 17:3) are seven mountains, and these seven mountains are seven kings. The angel declares that five of them have fallen, one is alive, and the seventh king is yet to come. When he comes, his reign will be brief.

Perhaps this reference is to forms of government which dominated the Roman Empire. If this interpretation is correct, five of the forms of government had already fallen. They were kings, consuls, dictators, decemvirs, and military tribunes. A sixth form of government existed in John’s lifetime: the imperial government under the Caesars. A seventh form of government, the Revived Roman Empire, would therefore lay ahead—as of the time John wrote these words—and would exercise control of multitudes of people in the tribulation.

Other interpreters identify the five fallen kings as Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. They identify Domitian as the sixth king and the head of the Revived Roman Empire as the seventh. Others tag seven empires as the seven kings: Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Greece, Rome, and the Revived Roman Empire as the seventh. Again, given the symbolic and speculative nature of Revelation, it’s important not to be overly dogmatic about any one specific viewpoint on this issue.

Verse 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.

The angel’s explanation of John’s symbolic vision (Revelation 17:1–6) continues by focusing on the beast. Varied interpretations of Revelation tend to converge here and identify this specific creature as the Antichrist. The beast had a past but not a present: it “was,” but it “is not.” However, it will emerge from the seventh form of government and take its place as the eighth form of government. It will be destroyed, though. The most likely interpretation of this passage is as a reference to the seventh form of Roman government, in this case the Revived Roman Empire which comes into existence at the beginning of the tribulation. Ten kings will govern this political structure, but the beast from the sea (Revelation 13:1), will succeed these kings and become the dictatorial head of the Revived Roman Empire.

This takeover will introduce the eighth form of Roman government. The eighth form of Roman government will end when the beast—the head of the Revived Roman Empire—is cast into the lake of fire at the hands of Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Revelation 19:20 says, “And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.”

Verse 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.

The angel is explaining symbols seen by John in his vision (Revelation 17:1–6). Here, he explains the meaning of the ten horns. They are ten kings, who haven’t received their kingly power, but they will receive it for a short time. Further, they will share their authority with the beast.

Based on typical interpretations of this passage, and of the timeline of the tribulation, it seems the kings will govern a confederacy of ten states at the beginning of the tribulation. Likely, this confederacy will involve nations in Western Europe, which is territory once occupied by the Roman Empire. By this interpretation, those leaders will ratify a peace treaty with Israel during their rule (1 Thessalonians 5:1–3), before trouble emerges. Perhaps the confederacy fears the rise of militant Russia, and the situation becomes too complex for the ten kings to handle, so they unite with the beast. Together, the ten kings and the beast rule, but the union endures for only a brief time. While some Bible teachers try to identify the ten kings as successive rulers in the past, this verse identifies them as kings who rule together.

Verse 13. These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast.

The ten kings may hold a summit meeting, at which time they decide conditions economically and politically are too critical for them to resolve. So, unanimously they turn to the beast for help. In turn he receives their decision to hand over their powers to him. Thus, the beast holds absolute sway over the empire. This is not an unprecedented strategy. Dictators often seize power by convincing others that they have no choice other than to hand over absolute control to one person. In ancient Greece, a leader known as an asymnetes was sometimes deliberately given absolute power by the people in order to deal with some crisis or time of need.

The ten kings’ willingness to give the beast their power indicates their antagonism to genuine faith. However, it also indicates their allegiance to religious apostasy represented by the scarlet woman, whom the beast supports. Throughout history opposition to God’s people and His work has often come from a united opposition. When the Jews were faithfully rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls, the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites, “all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it” (Nehemiah 4:8). Also, Jews and Romans agreed together to crucify our Lord Jesus Christ. We should not be surprised if religious unbelievers oppose our faith and Christian service.

Verse 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.”

The angel speaking to John continues to explain John’s earlier vision, and the symbols it contained (Revelation 17:1–6). The ten kings and the beast, the head of the Revived Roman Empire, will unite to fight against Jesus, the Lamb. But they wage a losing war. No one has ever won a battle against God and no one ever will win a battle against Him.

Why do the kings show such antagonism against the Lamb? There are three plausible reasons: First, they are influenced by Satan. Second, they recognize that the Lamb has launched the judgments they have experienced. Third, they hate the fact that the Lamb’s followers refuse to worship the beast.

The kings engage in battle against Christ at the end of the tribulation and will be destroyed by Jesus at His return to earth (Revelation 16:16; 19:17–21). Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords and will carry this title on His robe and thighs when He defeats His enemies (Revelation 19:16). Revelation 17:14 identifies those who accompany Jesus in His victorious battle against His enemies as “called and chosen and faithful.” Jesus has called them to Himself, chosen them out of the world, and enabled them to be faithful.

Verse 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.

In this verse we have the angel’s explanation of the imagery of a prostitute (Revelation 17:1) seen in John’s vision. The waters on which she sits are “peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.” Her corrupt religious system will include false religions all over the world. Some identify this eclectic religious system as the culmination of the ecumenical movement. According to this view, apostate Protestantism, apostate Roman Catholicism, and all world religions will unite and exist as one in the tribulation.

The apostle Paul advised Timothy “that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared” (1 Timothy 4:1–2). The apostle John also predicted the rise of antichristian religion in 1 John 2:18. He wrote: “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come.” Jude warned his readers that ungodly religious teachers had wormed their way into the church. He wrote: “For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:4).

Whether by combining all religions, the domination of a single false faith, the invention of a new one, or simply a widespread lack of spiritual truth, the apostasy that began in the first century will grow worldwide during the end times.

Context Summary
Revelation 17:15–18 continues the angel’s explanation of John’s symbolic vision, seen in verses 1 through 6. This section focuses on religious Babylon—pictured as a sexually immoral woman—and her judgment. Other Scriptures proclaim the judgment that God eventually brings on apostate religion. A few are Psalm 9:17; 73:27; Isaiah 1:25; 3:11; 34:1–10; Jeremiah 23:9–40; Zechariah 11:17; Luke 12:1–5 Jude; and Revelation 18:1–8.

Verse 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,

This verse explains what happens to the prostitute of John’s vision (Revelation 17:1), a religious side of the ungodly world system referred to as “Babylon.”

The horns represent kings. The ten kings and the beast, most likely the head of the Revived Roman Empire, will hate religious Babylon and will destroy her. The corrupt ecumenical system, therefore, will come to a sudden end. Perhaps religious Babylon will receive too much loyalty and too much wealth to the liking of the beast and the ten kings. They want all the loyalty and resources for themselves. We know from chapter 13 that the beast demands worship of himself (Revelation 13:11–12), so he likely views religious Babylon as competition that he must destroy.

The beast and his ten royal cohorts leave the prostitute, religious Babylon, desolate and naked. When they finish her off, they will confiscate all her wealth. The destruction of religious Babylon probably occurs in the middle of the tribulation when the beast comes into power, assumes the role of God, and demands everyone to worship him. This suggests that the unspiritual, ungodly religious character of the world at the beginning of the tribulation will be gutted and destroyed by the coming of the Antichrist and his allies.

Verse 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.

Unwittingly, the beast (Revelation 17:3) and the ten kings (Revelation 17:12) destroy religious Babylon by an act of God’s will. God puts it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose. Further, the ten kings unintentionally fulfill God’s will by turning their power over to the beast. However, it is God’s purpose to draw the political leaders into judgment.

In the time of Moses, God brought the evil Pharaoh and the Egyptians into judgment. They worshiped false gods, but God punished them. First, God responded to Pharaoh’s stubborn heart by sending further hardening, so the ruler would not allow the Hebrews to leave Egypt. Then God drowned the Egyptians in the Red Sea. He declared in Exodus 14:17 “I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them [the children of Israel into the Red Sea], and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

We may not understand why God delays His judgment, but we can be certain that He will not delay forever. Further, God works in mysterious ways to fulfill His purposes. He used Pharaoh to display His power and glory at the Red Sea, and He will use the ten kings and the beast to display His power and glory when He judges both them and religious Babylon.

Verse 18. And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”

In this verse the prostitute, religious Babylon, is described as “the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.” What John saw in his vision was a series of symbols (Revelation 17:1–6). Those are now being explained to John by one of the angels involved in delivering the bowl judgments (Revelation 17:1, 7).

The metaphorical woman, often referred to as the “Whore of Babylon,” practices her false, satanic religion from Babylon, which some interpreters believe is the city of Rome. But it may be the literal city of Babylon in the middle east. Just as modern cities are used as symbols of certain nations or religions—such as Moscow, Mecca, or Rome—this might refer to the worldwide center of the ecumenical religious system.

Ancient Babylon was notorious for its idolatrous worship. When Daniel and his three friends were taken into captivity from Jerusalem, they found themselves surrounded by idolatrous customs in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon tried to indoctrinate them in the worship of Baal by feeding them unclean food, by inducting them into a three-year education program, and by changing their Hebrew names to pagan names. But every effort failed. The young men remained true to the Lord (Daniel 1). These three friends miraculously survived a blazing furnace after refusing to worship a statue of the king (Daniel 3). When King Darius took the Babylonian throne, he forbade prayer to anyone other than himself for thirty days. Standing true to God, Daniel continued daily prayers to the Lord. He was arrested and thrown to the lions, but God rescued him (Daniel 6).

Jeremiah 50:1–2 says, “The word that the LORD spoke concerning Babylon . . . ‘Declare among the nations and proclaim, set up a banner and proclaim, conceal it not, and say: “Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed. Her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed.”‘” When God judges religious Babylon, her universal adoration (Revelation 17:4) will end.

End of Chapter 17.

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