Babylon, the Great Prostitute, and the Beast She Rides

REMEMBER—immediate context/fulfillment and remote context/fulfillment

The Great Prostitute and the Beast She Rides (17:1-6)

Revelation 17:1–3 ESV

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, 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.” 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.

Revelation 17:4–6 ESV

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

The beginning of chapter 17 signals another major transition of themes in Revelation. John indicates this by saying that he was “carried away by the Spirit” (1:9-10; 4:1-2).

She is INFLUENTIAL

She is EVIL

She is ATTRACTIVE

She is REPULSIVE

Revelation: Verse by Verse (An Angel Introduces the Great Prostitute (17:1–2))

This material is tied to the bowl judgments in that the angelic guide is “one of the angels having the seven bowls.” The judgment of this chapter is an extension of the bowl judgments, especially of the last two as leading to the destruction of the evil empire. This intro will be repeated in 21:9, and points to an important contrast between the great prostitute and the bride of the Lamb. The unholy one leads to final judgment, the holy one to the wedding feast of the Lamb (19:9).

Here it is the judgment of the “great prostitute,” who is “great” because she symbolizes the empire of the beast. Scripture frequently uses the image of a prostitute to describe the immorality and idolatry of apostate Israel and the nations (Jer 3:1–3; Ezek 23; Hosea in nearly every chapter; Isa 1:21; 23:15–17). Sinful humanity plays the harlot in that it not only commits licentious behavior but also leads others into doing so. The image is clearly the Roman Empire as a whole in all its alluring depravity.

The prostitute is pictured “sitting on many waters.” This echoes Jeremiah 51:13, which describes Babylon as “you who live by many waters,” alluding to the ancient city’s location on the river Euphrates with a series of canals and irrigation streams from the river. The “many waters” are defined in 17:15 as the many nations under the control of Babylon/Rome. To “sit upon” a nation is to conquer and gain control over it.

In 17:2, the “kings of the earth” are the rulers over these nations. The indictment that they “committed adultery” (= idolatry) with the great prostitute is a key phrase in 18:3, 9; and the idea of one nation committing adultery with other nations is frequent in the Old Testament (Isa 23:17; Nah 3:4). The populace of these nations have become “intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries,” language reminiscent of 14:8, 10 (“the wine of passion for adultery”). This also alludes to Jeremiah 51:7, which depicts Babylon as making “the whole earth drunk,” resulting in God making them really drunk “with the wine of my wrath.” The charge is that Rome has subverted the nations religiously, politically, and economically with promises of luxury and power.

As John arrives he sees “a woman sitting on a scarlet beast.” While the beast is the political ruler of the empire, the woman/great prostitute stands for the blasphemous religious and economic system that seduces the nations into its blasphemous lifestyle. The description of the beast as “scarlet” highlights the luxury of the Roman Empire, seen also in the “purple and scarlet” clothing of the woman in 17:4 (also 18:12, 16). The added material on the “blasphemous names” and the “seven heads and ten horns” is drawn from the emergence of the beast in 13:1. Their presence here prepares for their interpretation in 17:9–14. As in 13:4, 8, 14–15, this stresses the pretense of the beast setting itself up as “the god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4).

The vast luxury and moral corruption of the woman is described in 17:4. Only royalty and the supremely wealthy could wear purple or scarlet garments in the ancient world, for the dyes were inordinately expensive. In addition, she is “glittering with gold, precious stones, and pearls.” This is the kind of opulence we see on the red carpet of Hollywood openings, and in the great prostitute’s case it is a sign of her moral bankruptcy.

However, the more serious indictment follows. She holds in her hand “a golden cup … filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.” All her wealth is detestable to God, and it is compounded by a licentious lifestyle. As with 17:2, this is taken from Jeremiah 51:7, where Babylon is “a gold cup in the LORD’s hand” that has “made the whole earth drunk.” The depravity of the nation provides the contents of that cup, and it has led them not to true pleasure but rather to the wrath of God. “Filth” refers to that which is unclean and further highlights how abhorrent the actions of these nations are to God.

The great prostitute has a “name written on her forehead,” paralleling the seal of God on the saints in 7:3, 4 and the mark of the beast in 13:16. It defines who she really is and the god to whom she belongs. Roman courtesans would often place their names on their headbands, so this divulges her true identity. Some versions make “mystery” (see on 1:20) part of her name (KJV, NIV 1984), but most today consider it further identification, “a mysterious name” (NRSV, ESV, NLT, NIV 2011). That is more in keeping with the use of the term in Revelation (1:20; 10:7). God is unveiling new divine truths about the last days. The mystery is the name “Babylon the Great,” how it is a great prostitute and symbolizes the empire of the beast.

Rome is Babylon because, like Babylon, Rome conquered Israel, destroyed its temple, and led the world into its depravity and opposition to God (1 Pet 5:13; see also 2 Baruch 11:1). She is also “the mother of prostitution and of earth’s abominations.” In the New Testament “son of” is used to describe a person’s primary characteristic (for example, “son of righteousness”). Calling a person “mother of” means it not only characterizes them, but that they also reproduce it in others. Rome was not only a prostitute and an abomination, but she had her own children (the conquered nations) and made them as depraved as she was. Apostate Israel is at times depicted in the Old Testament as a mother who prostitutes herself (Isa 50:1; Hos 2:2–7).

In 17:4 the woman held a gold cup and was drunk with idolatry and immorality. Now in 17:6 she is also “drunk with the blood” of the saints. This is a frequent Old Testament metaphor (Isa 49:26; Jer 46:10; Ezek 39:18–19) and depicts the savage joy with which armies would slaughter anyone in their way. In Revelation 13:7 God allowed the antichrist to make war against the saints and conquer them, and this describes the results of that carnage. There are four things Babylon/Rome focuses on here: idolatry, immorality, luxury, and persecution.

Still, as in 12:11 where God’s people conquer Satan by “the word of their testimony,” they emerge triumphant. Their sacrifice has taken place because they “bore testimony to Jesus.” Throughout this book these two themes merge and mingle: 1) Satan, his cosmic powers, and their followers pursue, persecute, and martyr the believers unmercifully; yet 2) with God’s protective presence, the undergirding strength supplied by the Spirit, and their own faithful endurance, the saints are victorious. The reason is that in this very persecution they have united with Jesus in “the fellowship of his suffering” and thereby share in his victory. At no time are the followers of Christ hiding in forests or caves. Rather, they engage in in fearless witness and conquer the evil powers.

The Significance of the Beast (17:7-14)

Revelation 17:7–9 ESV

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

Revelation 17:10–12 ESV

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. As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 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.

Revelation 17:13–14 ESV

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

Revelation: Verse by Verse (John’s Confusion Leads to the Angel’s Explanation (17:6B–7))

THE INTERPRETATION OF THE BEAST (17:8)

The description of the beast is a parody of both God and Christ. In 1:4, 8; 4:8; 11:17, and 16:5 God is called “the one who was and who is and who is to come,” referring to him as Lord over time and history. Now the beast “once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss.” The beast along with the dragon demands worship as “the god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4, see also Rev 13:4–15). Moreover, the “once was and now is not” also parodies the death and resurrection of Christ. Christ in Revelation 1:18 states, “I am the Living One. I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever.” The beast imitates this in 13:3, 12, 14 in the fatal wound that was healed.

The phrase “was and is not” points forward to the “eighth king” explained in 17:11, referring to the antichrist who “was” with Satan, “is not” here right now, but “will come” at the end of history (1 John 2:18). He will assume power and take on the pretense of divine attributes, but he is the opposite of divinity. For the third time he is said to “come up out of the Abyss” (Rev 11:7; 13:1). In keeping with “once was and is not,” this ascension has not yet occurred but is “about to” (in the Greek) happen in the imminent future.

In one sense this could refer to the ongoing ascensions of anti-Christian rulers and false teachers throughout history, but primarily it points to the final appearance of the antichrist at the end of history. But his destiny is settled, for as he ascends, the beast is going to “go to his destruction,” alluding to the rise and fall of the little horn in Daniel 7:11, 17–18, 23, 26. In Daniel and here the demonic powers behind the little horn/antichrist will temporarily prevail over the saints, but his predetermined end is destruction. The false trinity “knows [their] time is short” (12:12), and the frustrated rage they feel fuel their evil efforts. They know it will all come to naught, but it is all they can do. At least they can temporarily enjoy the pain their terrible deeds bring to God and his people.

In another reflection from 13:3, 8, the earth-dwellers are even more astonished than John because they don’t just hear about the death-resurrection of the antichrist, they will see the beast that “once was, now is not, and yet will come.” They will be present when that event takes place, and they will watch the rise and career of this arch-nemesis of the believers.

The reason they are so easily deceived is then explained. Their “names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life,” a statement taken from 13:8. They are not citizens of heaven and have rejected God’s offer of salvation, so they are easily led astray by falsehood. In 13:8 “from the creation of the world” modified “the Lamb slain,” but here it modifies “the book of life” and refers to the sinners whose names were kept from the book of life from eternity past. In the same way that God has kept his followers secure, he has known his enemies from the beginning of time. They will never have any peace or security for all eternity.

THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SEVEN HEADS (17:9–11)

As he moves into even more difficult material, the angel states, “This calls for a mind with wisdom.” This repeats the call for wisdom in 13:18 (the number of the beast) and calls the reader to seek divinely given wisdom and understanding. The astonishing nature of the antichrist and the events he will initiate demand that the reader turn to God for help, a fact that is often stressed in the Bible (Dan 1:4, 17; 9:22; 11:33; Mark 13:14).

The angel identifies the seven heads with “seven hills or mountains,” often used as a euphemism for Rome because it was built on seven hills. In Domitian’s time a festival called the Septimontium celebrated this fact. In 17:1 the woman was said to sit on “many waters” (= the inhabitants, 17:15), meaning she ruled over them. Here she sits on the seven hills, meaning she is enthroned on Rome.

The seven hills are identified with seven kings (17:10), usually linked with Roman emperors, but the numbering is very difficult to understand (we need “wisdom”): “Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come” is obviously a parody exactly like 17:8 of the title for God. If this refers to emperors, it means five have died, and the present one will soon be superseded by a seventh whom God will allow to reign for a time. This is based on the added point, “he must remain for a little while,” with the “must” (dei) indicating divine necessity. Then there will arrive “an eighth king” who “belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.” This last is clearly the beast/antichrist of 17:8. This numerical riddle is probably built on the Nero redivivus legend (see on 13:3), with the beast killed and rising from the dead leading to universal worship by the nations. This unholy king is also “of the seven,” meaning he emerges from the previous seven kings. So the numbering is 5 + 1 + 1 + 1, but it is hard to fit this into the list of emperors:

Emperor

Reign

Julius Caesar

died 44 BC

Augustus

27 BC–AD 14

Tiberius

14–37

Caligula

37–41

Claudius

41–54

Nero

54–68

Galba, Otho, Vitellius

68–69

Vespasian

69–79

Titus

79–81

Domitian

81–96

Nerva

96–98

Trajan

98–117

First we must date the book either to the time of Nero or that of Vespasian or Domitian. In the introduction I favored Domitian as the most likely. Then we must decide whether to begin with Julius Caesar or Augustus. Most go with Julius Caesar, who called himself imperator, and Augustus (who was his nephew Gaius Octavius) idolized him.

If we date this in the time of Nero it is simple, for Nero was the sixth emperor (= the “one who is”), and the revived Nero would be the “eighth king” who returns as the unholy emperor or beast. But there are problems dating this book during Nero’s reign, so that is unlikely. Others take this not as kings but empires, with five previous empires (perhaps Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece) and Rome being the sixth then with the seventh and eighth being future empires. But if the beast is an individual more than an empire, this approach too falls short, for these would need to be individual kings.

Probably the best option is to take the numbers as apocalyptic symbols (like “Armageddon” in 16:16), with the seven (5 + 1 + 1) meaning that the world kingdoms (and kings) are complete; the time for the nations is over. This fits the use of sevens throughout the book to indicate completeness. The 5 + 1 + 1 may also indicate emperors and not just empires. However, the numbering does not indicate specific emperors but a symbolic reference to the belief that Roman tyranny was temporary and soon to end. The beast/antichrist is the eighth emperor who will reign at the end of history, and at the time of writing he had yet to appear. He will be a Nero-like figure, evil in his character and doomed in his destiny to destruction.

THE INTERPRETATION OF THE TEN HORNS (17:12–14)

The 10 horns of the beast (13:1) builds on Daniel 7:7–8, 20–25, where it depicts 10 kings from the final kingdom, with the little horn (= the beast in Revelation) arising from these 10 horns. In John’s day, these kings would be “client kings” under the Roman emperor who ruled the 10 provinces that made up the Roman Empire. Only Herod the Great and his grandson Agrippa I were allowed by Rome to be labeled “king,” but all of them aspired to it. These 10 kings represent the world’s rulers who will give their allegiance to the beast.

This passage expands the scene that began in 16:12, when the Euphrates dries up so the “kings of the east” can come and join the beast/antichrist. Then in 16:14 the false trinity called the other rulers from the nations to make war with them. So the whole world joins the army of the beast. Yet the beast/antichrist is not really in charge, for the actual source of that authority is God who gives them power “for one hour,” used also in 18:10, 17, 19 to symbolize the swiftness of the destruction of Babylon the Great (see also 8:1). Their power will be very short-lived and will last the three and a half years of that final period of history (11:2, 3; 12:6, 14; 13:5).

These 10 kings will be united by a single purpose (17:13), to yield their “power and authority to the beast.” They are of one accord in following the antichrist and give him absolute allegiance and support, accepting every decision he makes. So there are four groups in the evil empire—the antichrist, the 10 kings who fawn over his every move, the rest of the world’s rulers who join them (16:12, 14, 16), and the earth-dwellers who worship him.

That single purpose is revealed further in 17:14, where their unified intention is to “wage war against the Lamb,” a reference to Armageddon (16:16). In 12:17 and 13:7 they “wage war” against the saints, referring to the intense persecution and martyrdom of this “great tribulation” period (7:14). Now these 10 kings prepare for the final event of that period, the “great day of God Almighty” (16:14; see 6:17). However, the victory will not be theirs but belongs to the Lamb, who has seven horns, transforming him into the conquering ram (5:6). Thus they now face “the wrath of the Lamb” (6:16) who will now “triumph over them.” That victory is instantaneous in 19:19–20 because the Lamb is “Lord of Lords and King of kings,” a title used of Yahweh in Deuteronomy 10:17 and Daniel 2:37, 47 in the Septuagint, transferred to the Lamb here and in 19:16.

Not only will the Lamb be victorious, but the people of God will be victorious with him. In Revelation 2:26–27 these “overcomers” are promised that they will accompany him and shatter the nations “like pottery” (from Psa 2:9; see also Rev 19:15). So the saints will participate in the final war. They will form part of the Lord’s army and will accompany Christ back to earth (19:14), probably alongside the hosts of heaven (the angelic army implicit in the title “LORD of hosts” in the Old Testament). They have conquered the dragon spiritually in 12:11, and now will conquer him with finality in that ultimate victory over the evil forces in 19:19–21.

The Beast

Revelation 13:3 ESV

One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.

Revelation 13:12 ESV

It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.

Revelation 13:14 ESV

and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

The Beast’s Heads

The Beast’s Horns

The Significance of the Prostitute (17:15-18)

Revelation 17:15–18 ESV

And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 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, 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. And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”

Revelation: Verse by Verse Civil War Breaks out, and the Great Prostitute Is Destroyed (17:15–18)

In this section the angel describes both the identity and the fate of the great prostitute, beginning with the waters on which she sits. The waters are the peoples of the nations, described in the typical fourfold “peoples, multitudes, nations and languages” (see 5:9; 7:9; 10:11 and others). So the prostitute “sitting” means she rules over all the people of the world (see on 17:1). This woman represents the “great city” controlling the world (17:18).

Now we see the true feelings of the beast/antichrist for the harlot (17:16). This follows the civil war motif of the second seal (6:3–4) as the beast and kings turn on the great prostitute and destroy her. It also follows the fifth and sixth trumpet judgment of chapter 9 where the demonic powers turn on their people to torture and kill them. The cosmic powers have no love for their own followers, for they are still made in the image of God and loved by God. In harming their followers, they are getting back at God. This is the true nature of evil: It never builds up; it only destroys. So the evil powers destroy the great prostitute. This eschatological civil war is predicted in Ezekiel 38:21, where as part of the judgment of Gog “every man’s sword will be against his brother.”

The reason for this betrayal is stated in 17:16. The beast and 10 kings “hate the prostitute,” and this leads them to turn on her. This kind of civil war was a great fear of Rome. No external army could defeat Rome, but Rome several times nearly self-destructed in civil wars. The latest before the time of Revelation took place in AD 68–69, when three generals (Galba, Otho, Vitellius) one by one brought armies into Rome to take it over after the suicide of Nero. Then the great general Vespasian left the Jewish war to his son Titus, brought his legions to Rome, and saved it.

The evil powers first “bring her to ruin,” with this verb a cognate of “desert,” meaning laying waste or depopulating a city. Then in a series of destructive steps, they “strip her naked, … eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.” This is built on Ezekiel 23:25–29, detailing the destruction of Jerusalem at the exile by telling the story of two harlot sisters (Samaria and Jerusalem) who are indicted for their sins and then punished. The harlot Jerusalem is stripped and consumed by fire. Here John adds the image of “devouring her flesh,” a symbol of the total annihilation of the harlot-city. Being “stripped naked” pictures the exposure of their evil deeds (see the “shameful nakedness” of Laodicea in Rev 3:18). The image of “burned with fire” may go back to Leviticus 21:9, where a priest’s daughter who became a prostitute was to be “burned in the fire.” All three are images of sins exposed and the terrible penalty sin exacts.

The false trinity will destroy the great prostitute because “God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose.” It seems startling at first but is in keeping with the core theme of the book—the absolute sovereignty of God over all things, including the demonic realm. The verb “put” is actually the word for “given,” that verb that emphasizes divine control. When these kings submit “their royal authority” to the beast and obey his orders, they are actually fulfilling God’s purpose. Even the evil intentions of the cosmic powers ultimately serve the larger purposes of Almighty God to carry out his judgments on the sinful nations.

The ultimate purpose follows: that “God’s words are fulfilled.” There are three levels in which this takes place: 1) fulfilling the prophecies of Daniel 7, 10, 12 regarding the destruction of the little horn/beast/antichrist (also Rev 10:7, the completion of “the mystery of God”); 2) keeping the promise of 6:10–11 that God would “avenge the blood’ of the martyrs when the “full number” of those to suffer was completed; 3) keeping the promise of 17:1 that John would see “the punishment of the great prostitute.”

The final point (17:18) defines the woman as “the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.” We have already seen in 16:19; 18:10–21 that the “great city” is Babylon/Rome, the capital city of the beast. Note the inclusio—the first thing John sees (17:1) is the last to be interpreted. It is last in order to provide a transition to chapter 18, which will center on the judgment of Babylon the Great.

This is a prophecy about the final Babylon, the unholy Roman Empire established by the antichrist to rule sinful humankind. This will be the final stage of the many evil empires and anti-God rulers and false teachers down through history, but this depravity is soon to end for all eternity. We are living in the world that will produce this final evil. We face daily the atmosphere of anti-Christian sentiment that will produce the final antichrist, and so we, like those addressed originally by John, must become “overcomers” and rise above the sins of our world to live fully for Christ. False teachers exist all around us, and we are called by God to speak and live truth in the midst of such falsehood.