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Commentary on Revelation

Chapter 17

The judgment of Babylon

The great harlot

Chapters 17 and 18 are an obituary for the great city Babylon; that is, for Rome. (If any doubt remains as to the identity of Babylon, the description in this chapter should leave no doubt that it depicts Rome.) Babylon was said to have fallen in Chapter 14 and was pictured as being broken into three pieces in chapter 16. Chapters 17 and 18 provide the details of that fall. Recall that we discussed Chapter 17 at length when we studied Chapter 13 since 17:7-18 provides an explanation of many of the symbols found in Chapter 13. It is important to note that 17:7-18 is not part of the vision but is instead a commentary on the vision in which an angel tells John the meaning of some of the symbols he saw. A main character in this chapter is a great harlot named Babylon the Great. Chapters 17 and 18 provide the following description of this harlot. Do they sound familiar?

1. She is powerful: She is seated upon many waters. She rides a scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns. (17:1, 3)

2. She is successful: She is arrayed in purple and scarlet. She is bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls. She holds a golden cup. (17:4)

3. She is arrogant and proud: Babylon the Great is written on her forehead. (17:5)

4. She sits on seven hills. (17:9)

5. She rules the world in John's day. (17:15,18 and compare Luke 2:1)

6. She is a terrible persecutor of God's people. (17:6; 18:24)

7. She is the leading commercial power on earth. (18:3; 18:11-19)

8. She is supported by a great military force. (17:3,7 and compare Chap. 13)

9. She is destroyed by her own military power and inner strife. (17:16,17)

At the time this book was written, Rome was the only nation which fit each of these descriptions. A coin minted during the reign of Vespasian has been found which represents the city of Rome as a woman seated on its seven hills: Palatine, Capitoline, Esquiline, Aventine, Quirinal, Caelian, and Viminal. John uses the same image (which certainly would have been familiar to his readers) to describe Rome as a blood thirsty harlot (drunk on the blood of Christians) sitting upon seven mountains.

Note: Many commentators say that Babylon depicts Jerusalem. Would a first century reader have thought that Babylon meant Jerusalem when in his pocket he had a coin which depicted Rome as a woman seated upon seven mountains? Clearly, no. To understand Revelation, we must strive to see it from a first century perspective.

Rev. 17:1 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 harlot who is seated upon many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the dwellers on earth have become drunk."

She sits on many waters? Verse 15 tells us that these waters are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. Rome was the city that ruled the world during John's day. Did Rome literally rule the entire world? No, but her dominion was so large that it was a common exaggeration. Luke 2:1 says that "a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled." Kings have committed fornication? Fornication in this context means that these kingdoms have made alliances with Rome. In the Old Testament the term most often depicts alliances which involve idolatry. When Israel went after strange gods, she was often described as a harlot. Israel was a theocracy and thus her fornication referred to religious apostasy; she was called an adulteress because she had left God to go after another. The harlot in this chapter is not called an adulteress; her fornication did not represent a departure from God. Are there any examples of this in the Old Testament? Yes. Isaiah 23:17 says that Tyre played the harlot with all of the kings of the earth. Nahum 3:4 says that Nineveh betrayed nations with her harlotries. Their fornications, like that of Rome, involved their treacherous and deceitful relationships with other nations.

3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; 5 and on her forehead was written a name of mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earth's abominations." 6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

Recall Chapter 12 in which the people of God were depicted as a woman chased into the wilderness by an angry dragon. The woman which John sees in Chapter 17 is also depicted as being in the wilderness but as we will see she is quite different from the woman of Chapter 12. She sits upon a scarlet beast which is full of blasphemous names and which has seven heads and ten horns. (Recall our discussion concerning Chapter 13.) This beast is the beast from the sea which represented Rome as a civil power. The seven heads and ten horns were explained in Chapter 13 and will be discussed again in the comments below concerning 17:9-12. The harlot is dressed in purple and scarlet and arrayed with gold, jewels, and pearls. This denotes her richness and royalty. Rome was powerful in earthly terms. Rome was royal in earthly terms. Rome was rich in earthly terms. Rome was beautiful in earthly terms. Revelation says that, from God's point of view, the Church (which is an exact opposite of Rome) is powerful, royal, rich, and beautiful. She offers a golden cup to other nations. Compare the description of the actual Babylon found in Jeremiah 51:7 - "Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand, making all the earth drunken; the nations drank of her wine, therefore the nations went mad." The nations which shared Rome's wealth also shared her guilt. She wears on her forehead the name "Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earth's abominations." She wears this title proudly just as the High Priest wore the name of Jehovah upon his forehead. In Rome the prostitutes in the public brothels wore upon their foreheads a frontlet giving their names. Rome was proud of its abominations and fornications and made no attempt to hide it. She is vividly pictured as being drunk with the blood of saints and martyrs. She is not just a persecutor. She is glutted with slaughter and she has revelled in that slaughter as a drunken man revels in wine. The next sections contains an explanation of many of the symbols which John has described. This section is not part of the vision per se but is an interpretation of the vision. We have already had an extensive discussion of part of this section in our comments on Chapter 13. Our explanations of these verses will be briefly reviewed below. See Chapter 13 for the details.

The mystery of the harlot and the beast explained

When I saw her I marveled greatly. 7 But the angel said to me, "Why marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her.

The mystery of these symbols was something which was previously not understood but which will now be revealed. Throughout this explanation we should reverse the rule which we have been using throughout our study of this book; that is, we should accept the explanation as literal unless there is an overriding reason to treat it otherwise. This section does not describe something which John saw; it describes something which John was told about what he had seen.

Note: Many commentators have trouble with this section because the angel's interpretation does not match their own. Their response often involves figurizing all or part of the angel's interpretation. In fact, many treat the image as a literal description and the explanation of the image in this chapter as a figurative description!

8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to perdition; 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 behold the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.

Recall our earlier comments regarding the bottomless pit and the book of life. The beast represents Rome as a civil, persecuting power. That "the beast was" would then represent that there had been persecution; that "the beast is not" would indicate that presently the persecution had subsided; and, that "the beast is to come" would indicate a resumption of the persecution. Does this fit Rome? Yes. Nero was the first to actively persecute the Church. The persecution had subsided considerably when the book was written during Vespasian's rule. The persecution began again under Domitian's reign. Domitian was actually thought by some to be Nero resurrected. Suetonius says that Domitian was an object of terror and hatred to all and says that he "used to spend hours in seclusion every day, doing nothing but catch flies and stab them with a keenly-sharpened stylus." Domitian was the first to make Caesar worship compulsory. Juvenal said that Rome was enslaved to a "bald-headed Nero" and was, of course, then killed. Domitian renewed the persecution against Christians that Nero had started.

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 comes 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 perdition.

The five kings who have fallen are Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. Galba, Otho, and Vitellius who followed Nero and ruled and died all within a span of about one year are ignored. The king "who is" is Vespasian. (The book was thus written during his reign.) The one who will come and reign only a short time is Titus who ruled for only 2 years. The eighth king is Domitian who began where Nero had left off with regard to persecuting the Church. (Recall our earlier discussion regarding this point.)

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 give 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 he said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the harlot is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the harlot; 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 giving over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is the great city which has dominion over the kings of the earth."

Recall from Chapter 13 that the ten horns represent the client kings and federates of Rome. They have given their power to Rome but will receive authority at some critical point and will contribute to Rome's fall. The Visigoths were the first group to receive federate status from Rome and they sacked the city in A.D. 410. The Lamb will overcome and conquer both Rome and her allies. We see here in fact that God will use Rome's allies as a weapon against her. Does Jesus' victory make him Lord of lords and King of kings? No. Jesus is victorious because he is already Lord of lords and King of kings. Nowhere in this book does Jesus begin to rule over something new. He has all authority when the book begins and he has all authority when the book ends. Those who overcome with Christ are those who "are called and chosen and faithful"; that is, the Church - not just martyrs but all who refused to submit to Rome.