[PHIL HARRIS]
Introduction
One of the angels who poured out God’s final wrath now takes us back in time to the two beasts and dragon of chapter thirteen, introducing important details concerning the world’s worship of the Antichrist during the time of the tribulation.
Revelation chapter 17 through 19:5 concerns the Great Prostitute of Babylon and her relationship with the Antichrist.
Chapter 13 is where we were first introduced to the two non-human beasts that the dragon brings up from the abyss. The first is the Antichrist, and the second is the false prophet whose role is to support the Antichrist.
In Rev. 13:3 we read that the whole earth, those not recorded in the Book of Life, follows the beast:
And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it” (Rev. 13:4)?
You will notice that the beast representing the Antichrist is called an “it”. The two beasts are non-human and only have the appearance of ordinary people. Strong’s Greek G2342 defines “beast” as a creature of non-human origin. This definition of “beast” renders the traditional Seventh-day Adventist understanding of the Antichrist and false prophet as nonsense.
The Second Angel’s message in Revelation 14 warns us of the danger of “Babylon the great” and her sexual immorality:
Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality” (Rev. 14:8).
The common understanding of this passage is that the harlotry of the great prostitute, Babylon, is a metaphor for worldwide spiritual adultery. However, when we explore biblical examples, we find that “spiritual adultery” is often coupled with actual adultery of the flesh. In fact, ancient Israel is a prime example of this fleshly and spiritual corruption:
They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply, because they have forsaken the LORD to cherish whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding. My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore (Hosea 4:10-12).
This problem of fleshly and spiritual defilement was not unique to Israel but existed also in first-century Christianity. Jesus said this to the church at Pergamum:
But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality (Rev. 2:14).
In addition, Paul wrote this to the church at Corinth:
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1).
Physical fornication is what leads to and is coupled with spiritual fornication—commonly known as idolatry—and certainly is a problem in our own time.
The Great Prostitute
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” (Rev. 17:1-2).
John is now shown the judgment (a word categorized as Strong’s G2917 and defined as a punishment, or a decree of a judge) of “the great prostitute who is seated on many waters.” Verse 15 confirms that “waters” refers to peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages.
To be “seated” upon the nations means the great prostitute has evil authority and control over the unredeemed of the entire world. This widespread access is the reason she shares a major responsibility for God’s wrath that has just been unleashed upon the earth. It is because of her that the rulers of the world, together with the “many waters”, are guilty of being drunk with sexual immorality in their worship (spiritual adultery) of the Antichrist.
A Name of Mystery
John is now taken into a wilderness where he is shown more of this woman:
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. 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” (Rev. 17:3-5).
In the wilderness this woman is seen sitting on a “scarlet beast”. The description of this beast identifies him as the Antichrist first introduced in chapter thirteen. Her sitting on the Antichrist signifies she is in a position of power, influence, and authority and that she inseparable from him. The power of the beast carries the woman.
The woman is richly dressed and adorned all the while holding a golden cup of her sexual immorality.
A name of mystery is written on her forehead. The mystery centers on her being the mother of all prostitutes and of earth’s abominations. It certainly is a mystery how the prototype of Babylon was destroyed several thousand years ago, yet she is the ongoing, active mother of all prostitutes with her power culminating in her alliance with the Antichrist during the tribulation. She is described as a real person and is therefore responsible for her actions.
Daniel 2:31–35 says this about King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the gentile empires of the world and the heavenly stone that would crush them:
“You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Daniel 2:31–35).
In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream we see that the entire image of gentile nations would be crushed all at once: “the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them could be found.”
In other words, even though history affirms the succession of empires as each overcame the preceding one, at the coming of the kingdom of Christ, all of those empires are destroyed together. This fact suggests that the spiritual powers behind those empires have continued to exist and will be active in some way at the culmination of history.
The passage in Revelation 17:3–5 above confirms that the evil power of Babylon will be active and ubiquitous in the unbelieving world and that it will be associated intimately with the Antichrist.
Furthermore, in Revelation chapter 10 we are assured that in God’s own timing we will understand the mysteries of God at the unsealing of the Little Scroll:
And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets (Rev. 10:5-7).
Many believe the city of Babylon will be rebuilt in the end times, but Isaiah 13:20 assures us that this will not happen:
It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there; no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there (Isaiah 13:20).
Some refer to Revelation 11:1-14 where the Antichrist kills the two witnesses in the city where “their Lord was crucified” and think, therefore, that “Babylon” will be Jerusalem. However, this city where the witnesses die is called “Sodom and Egypt” (Rev. 11:8).
For now it is best to leave the question of the meaning, identity, or location of Babylon as a mystery. This mystery will be revealed at the time God chooses to make it known.
Drunk With the Blood Of the Saints
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. 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 (Rev. 17:6-7).
The whore of Babylon is drunk with the martyred saints during the tribulation. John marvels at what he sees. The angel, however, responds by promising that the mystery of the woman will be made known, but the forthcoming explanation focusses on details of the world-wide rule of the Antichrist—the beast which is first revealed to us in Revelation chapter 13.
The Woman And the Beast
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; 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 (Rev. 17:8-10).
The angel reminds John that Antichrist, who causes the world to marvel at his apparent death and resurrection, is the beast whose destiny is eternal destruction along with those whose names are not recorded in the Book of Life.
The woman, the whore of Babylon, is seated upon (and thus controls) seven mountains. These mountains represent world kingdoms. The first five no longer exist. In John’s time the five world kingdoms that no longer existed as world-wide empires were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. Rome was the existing kingdom at the time of John’s vision. The seventh kingdom (mountain) comes to power during the tribulation.
In reality, however, in all of human history since the fall of Adam, there have only been two kingdoms:
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:13-14).
Those who believe God, as did Abraham (Gen. 15:6), are counted righteous in God’s sight. In fact, Abraham is the prototype of all who believe since Adam and Eve at the forbidden fruit (see Romans 4 and 5). Those who respond to the salvation message of Jesus Christ are eternally in God’s kingdom; those who do not believe are condemned already (Jn. 3:18), and the wrath of God abides on them (Jn. 3:36). Those who are made alive through faith and trust in the finished work of the Lord Jesus have nothing to fear from the deceptions of the Antichrist and his babylonish mistress. They are safe in the kingdom of the beloved Son.
The Eighth Kingdom
As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction (Rev. 17:11).
The Antichrist is an eighth kingdom but rules through the power of the other seven. Again we are reminded he is headed for destruction, and he is powered by the same evil that directed the ancient world empires.
Ten Horns
Now we come to details of the seventh satanic kingdom:
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. These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast (Rev. 17:12-13).
The seventh world kingdom is an alliance of ten kings who have absolute rule, together with the Antichrist, over the entire world.
And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads (Rev. 13:1).
This alliance goes far beyond the fallen Roman empire.
Whom Will You Worship?
Since these ten kings are wearing diadems, it is said they have royal power; however, the source of their authority is satanic. The Antichrist’s intention is to rule and to be worshiped by all the world through these ten kingdoms controlling all the world as his proxy.
Only the sealed saints of God willingly defy the Antichrist.
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” (Rev. 17:14).
The Antichrist and his followers are in total warfare against the Lamb of God. This rage culminates at the Battle of Armageddon described in Revelation 16:12-21.
Since Jesus the Lamb of God is the eternal, holy, all-powerful Lord over all lesser lords and King over any and all earthly kingdoms, He is victorious.
And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages (Rev. 17:15).
This verse gives us an understanding of “the waters” mentioned in verse one. This description of “the waters” is also reminiscent of Revelation 11:9–10 where John describes his vision of some of the people of the world gazing at the two witnesses lying dead in the Great City:
For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth (Rev. 11:9-10).
In other words, the “waters” are the worldwide wicked followers of the the Antichrist.
End Of the Great Prostitute
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 (Rev. 17:16-17).
God puts it into the hearts of the ten “royal kings” who rule all the earth along with Antichrist to unanimously hate the prostitute. They strip her naked of all riches she is wearing, devour her flesh, and kill her with fire.
After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever” (Rev. 19:1-3).
Chapter 17 ends simply by saying she was the “great city” that had dominion over all the godless rulers of the earth:
And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth” (Rev. 17:18).
Many have speculated about the identities of the woman, the kings, and the beast by spiritualizing much of this chapter without direct biblical proof that those spiritualized interpretations are true. It is best to wait until God in his own timing unveils the contents of the Little Scroll.
Summary
- This chapter of Revelation gives an understanding of the relationship of the Great Prostitute of Babylon with the Antichrist.
- Even though the ancient city of Babylon no longer exists and never will be rebuilt, the Great Prostitute is described as still having an existence. There must, therefore, be another explanation as to just who she is.
- Since she isn’t described in Scripture as simply another of the Dragon’s demons, we are, for now, left with a mystery. However, both Scripture and the current moral condition of the world testify that she and her evil harlotry are very active and real.
- With her help, in conjunction with the ten evil kings of the seventh world government, the Antichrist is able to enforce the world to worship only himself. The Dragon finally achieves control of the world, but only for an “hour” which ends at the pouring out the seventh bowl of God’s wrath.
- God puts it in the hearts of the Antichrist and the “ten horns” to turn against the woman and kill her.
- Jesus Christ the Lamb of God is now eternally King of kings and Lord of lords.
—All biblical quotes taken from the ESV
- Daniel 5: Babylon Is Fallen! - April 25, 2024
- Daniel 4: The Stump Bound By Iron and Bronze - March 7, 2024
- Daniel 3: The Fiery Furnace - December 21, 2023
I don’t know where you keep finding “the Antichrist” in Revelation when the word “antichristos” does not appear ANYWHERE in the book. That’s a sloppy handling of the text.