The New Testament with Commentary Revelation 17

About Babylon

1 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me saying, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great whore who sits on the many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth fornicated; and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”

A woman and a beast

3 So he took me away in spirit to a wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. 5 And on her forehead a name was written:

“Mystery,

Babylon the Great,

the Mother of the prostitutes

and the abominations of the earth.”*

6 And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, even with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And upon seeing her I was tremendously impressed.

The vision explained

7 So the angel said to me: “Why are you impressed? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast, having the seven heads and the ten horns, that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the Abyss† and to go into perdition. And those who dwell upon the earth will be amazed, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world,‡ when they see the beast that was, and is not and will be present. 9 Here is the mind that has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. 10 And there are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not come yet. And whenever he comes he must continue a short time. 11 And the beast that was and is not; he is actually the eighth, yet he is of the seven, and he is going into perdition. 12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the Beast for one hour. 13 These are of one mind and give their power and authority to the Beast. 14 They will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called and chosen and faithful.”

15 Then he says to me: “The waters that you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, also the beast, these will hate the whore and will lay her waste and strip her and eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 Because God put it into their hearts to perform His purpose, even to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the Beast, until the words of God should be fulfilled.§ 18 Now the woman whom you saw is the great city* that holds rulership over the kings of the earth.

*17:5 In Hebrew usage a ‘son’ of something was characterized by that something. So a ‘father’ of that something would be even more so. So when James calls God “the Father of lights” (1:17) that means that “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5)—He is totally light. In John 8:44 the Lord Jesus says that Satan is the father of the lie, and that “there is no truth in him”—he is totally falsehood (I conclude that it is impossible for Satan to tell the undistorted truth). Here we have “the mother of prostitutes and abominations”—she is totally perverted, evil (it is impossible for her to do anything pure, clean or really good). So whom or what does the whore represent? If the kings are fornicating with her they are not trying to please God, so perhaps she is organized religion (including dead Christianity, of whatever kind). In that event organized religion is incapable of doing anything pure, clean or really good.

†17:8 Well, the origin matches 11:7 but the description matches 13:1, so maybe the three passages refer to a single personage. If “sea” refers to human origin and “Abyss” to demonic, could it be that Satan will imitate God in producing the Antichrist?

‡17:8 Here is a strong statement of election or predestination—how else could God know what names to put in the Book? At the same time the seven letters (chaps. 2 & 3) are strong on human responsibility (including the possibility of a name being erased). Divine sovereignty and human responsibility walk side by side throughout the Bible.

§17:17 Compare verse 13—God is in ultimate control; His Word and purpose will be fulfilled.

*17:18 In chapter 21 the Bride of Christ is represented by a city, the New Jerusalem, but the Bride is presumably people from around the earth. Likewise the whore, represented by a city, may well involve people from around the earth. “Is the great city”—when John wrote, Rome was the ruling city.