1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” 3 So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Jesus had “announced the collapse of end-time Babylon without the identifying it (Rev.14:8; 16:19).” (Ranko Stefanovic) She is “represented as sitting upon many waters, to show the vast extent of her influence. See on Revelation 17:13.— ‘with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were ‘made drunk with’ [Greek ‘owing to’] the wine of her fornication.’... Kings have committed spiritual fornication with her, and their subjects have drunk deep, dreadfully deep, into the doctrine of her abominable errors.” (Adam Clarke)
“The figure of adultery, harlotry, or fornication is the standard Old Testament description of apostasy.” (Burton Coffman) “Isaiah mourns: ‘How the faithful city has become a harlot’ (Isa. 1:21). Jeremiah speaks of Israel as ‘a harlot with many lovers’ (Jer. 3:1; cf. Hos. 3:4; Mic. 1:7). Ezekiel mentions Israel playing the harlot with ‘many nations’ including the Egyptians, Assyrians and Chaldeans (Ezekiel 16:26–29; 23:3-30). Furthermore, it appears that John’s description of the great prostitute in 17:1-6 reflects the image of the figure of queen Jezebel which served as a model for Jeremiah‘s betrayal of faithless Jerusalem (Jer. 4:30; cf. 2 Kings 9:30).
The portrayal of the union between end-time Babylon and the governing political powers of the world in Revelation 17:18 builds on this Old Testament imagery.” (Ranko Stefanovic)
But after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, the church became the center of religious activity. So, this is a Christian apostasy from the one one Lord, one faith, one baptism. This false church " is the symbol for a system that reaches back to the tower of Babel (Gen. 10:9-10; 11:1-9) and extends into the future when it will peak under the regime of the beast.” (Thomas B. Constable)
“So he carried me away into the wilderness”— "associated with the church's sojourn on earth, answering to the type of the first Israel's forty years of wilderness wanderings, a symbolism that forces the conclusion that the great harlot is the true church gone astray, an apostate church. If such an apostasy had never occurred, this analogy might be ignored; but this is exactly what happened to the Catholic Church, and not only to her but to many Protestant churches.” (Coffman)
4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.
"Paint on the outside and slime on the inside.” (D.S. Clark)
”The woman was arrayed in purple" — royalty— "and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls,"— priestly— and indicating to a misguided world "her vast wealth and luxury, and the gorgeous and splendid decorations by which she dazzled and captivated the deluded multitude. Great external parade, pomp, and show are given in the Bible as characteristics of that corrupt secular and ecclesiastical power denominated antichrist, the mystery of iniquity, the beast, the great whore, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.” (Justin Edwards)— "having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication." She ought to have had the Cup of Salvation, but instead she had “offers in her golden cup... ‘abominations’… including spiritualism, magic, witchcraft and divination (Deuteronomy 18:9-12; 2 Kings 23:24; Deuteronomy 29:17; Deuteronomy 32:16; 1 Kings 14:23-24; 2 Kings 16:3-4; 2 Kings 21:2-3; Ezekiel 8:6 and often; Revelation 11:18; Ezekiel 16:15-26 - linked with harlotry). “ (Peter Pett)
5 And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
“‘And upon her forehead was a name written,’— As the high priest had on his mitre upon his forehead written, holiness to Yahweh, Exodus 28:36…” (John Gill)— “That every one, who observeth, may know…; she hath her name written upon her forehead: ’MYSTERY’ By mystery, we are to understand the mystery of iniquity, {2 Thess. 2:3-7} in opposition unto the mystery of godliness, in the doctrine, worship, and power thereof. ‘BABYLON THE GREAT’ that is, the great whore, the Roman Papal Church, and ‘THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS’ all national churches, parish churches, cathedral churches, provincial churches, etc, who own, acknowledge, and subject themselves to the ecclesiastical headship of the Roman hierarchy, pope, and papal prelacy, episcopacy, or presbytery. ‘AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH’ that is, all the abominations in the world are nourished and cherished, by the indulgences, pardons, and dispensations....” (Hanserd Knollys)
6 I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.
"She is described... in manner of deeds: She is red with blood, and sheds it most licentiously, and therefore is coloured with the blood of the saints, as on the contrary part, Christ is set forth imbued with the blood of her enemies; (Isaiah 63:1).” (Geneva Study Bible)
7 But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
"The mystery involves both the woman [explained in Revelation 18] and the beast [explained herein Revelation 17]; it refers to the intimate relationship between Babylon and the beast. The two are inseparable, for she derives her character and power from the beast. Understanding the identity of the beast is key to understanding the true nature of the end-time Babylon.” (Ranko Stefanovic)
8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, 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 yet is. [NU-Text and M-Text read and 'shall be present.']
When the beast ascends out of the the bottomless pit of the earth— “those who dwell on the earth will marvel.” "Those ‘whose names are written in the book of life from the foundation of the world’ see him for what he is, but to ‘those who dwell on earth’ (non-Christians) he is mysterious and powerful, attractive because of the mysteries of his ways, and very intriguing.” (Peter Pett) “The identification of the beast as the one who ‘was, and is not, and is about to come about’ is a parody of the title of God as the One ‘who was and who is and who is coming’ in Revelation 4:8 (also 1:4, 8)… The reference to God as ‘the One who is and who was and who is coming’ refers to the eschatological ‘visitation’ of God’; so the beast who ‘was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss“ also refers to the beast in his end-time activity and role.” (Ranko Stefanovic)
9 Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.
Here is the mind wisdom which is of God, which is foolishness to man. From the going forth from Babylon: "The seven mountains stand for seven successive world powers that dominated the world throughout history and ‘through which Satan has worked to oppress God’s people through the ages.’ Thus, the great prostitute ‘finds her support from the beast who appears in history in a succession of secular godless kingdoms.” (Ranko Stefanovic)
10 There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.
“Five have fallen—To ascertain which these fallen kingdoms are, we note that the present beast, as stated in Revelation 13:2, comprised in himself leopard, bear, and lion, which are the beasts of Daniel, (Daniel 7:4-6,) traced in backward order. The present is, therefore, the ‘fourth beast, dreadful and terrible;’ and Daniel’s four beasts, as explained in that chapter, given in his order, are Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. And this is the order of the same kingdoms as presented in Nebuchadnezzar’s image, in Daniel 2. And, previous to these, there were but two antichristic monarchies—Egypt and Assyria. ‘One is’— The five fallen being EGYPT, ASSYRIA, BABYLON, PERSIA, and GREECE. ... 'The one that now is’, [in the days of John] is imperial ROME.
‘And the other has not yet come’—Pontifical Rome. Hence, comparing ver. 8, the beast that ‘was and is not’, is imperial Rome, which expired with the last emperor, Augustulus, A.D. 475. ‘Is not yet come’—To imperial Rome succeeds papal Rome. The universal emperor ceased, and revived in the universal bishop. When, in the fifth century, the Roman empire succumbed to the flood of the northern barbarians, and the emperor no longer existed, Rome was left with little or no civil government. Then was the period when the imperial beast ‘was and is not’. After this the pope came into supremacy, and in due time became the substitute for the imperial Cesar. And that stupendous spiritual Roman empire, in far greater extent than the first secular empire, stands to the present hour… And when he comes, he must continue a short time—Or, a little while. As Alford well observes, the emphasis must be read upon continue, and the meaning be that of permanence [until their end]. The others will have past, but he will stay awhile.” (Whedon's Commentary)
11 The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.
‘The beast that was, and is not’; that is, the beast in his last form ascending out of the bottomless pit, (Revelation 17:8)— ’is himself also the eighth’; in the order of succession, since he comes after the other seven.; ‘and is of the seven’; he belongs to them, as being a continuation of the same power which they have exercised before him.” (Justin Edwards) “and is going to perdition”— along with the rest of the persecuting powers of the universal church of God.
12 The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast.
The ten horns is taken from Daniel 7:7 "where they represent ten rulers that arise from the great and terrible fourth beast before the judgment seat (Dan. 7:26). Thus they are ten rulers who arise in the end days. They receive authority for ‘one hour’ their period of reign is minimal and they are contemporary with each other as in Daniel. Ten is a number regularly signifying completeness so that in the end all the rulers under the beast are finally one in mind. We can compare the lines of ten patriarchs in Genesis 5, 11 which represented all the patriarchs, and how ten ‘rulers’ are described in Psalms 83:6-8 incorporating the nations surrounding Israel and including Assyria in their vendetta against Israel. So we have in these verses the arising of a ‘Beast’ (a bestial leader over a bestial empire) who will arise towards the end of time and will establish an alliance of powerful rulers. All is building up to man’s final confrontation with God.” (Peter Pett)
13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.
“The ten kings... collectively ‘have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.’ Whoever and whatever these ten kings are, they evidently ‘constitute the last phase of the beast power.’ They represent an end-time unity of governing political powers of the world which will submit to the authority of the... [harlot], The ten kings will become the backbone in the creation of the religious-political confederacy in the final crisis…” (Ranko Stefanovic)
14 These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”
They make war with the Lamb by persecuting his followers; but the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is the Lord of lords, and King of kings.” (Adam Clarke) “So then, the war of the beast and his kings comes at last to a war with the Lamb! And when once His love shall burn to anger, and His longsuffering shall burst into fury...” (Joseph Sutcliffe). destroying them with eternal fire.
15 Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. (Esther 7:10a) This ten horn federation shall turn on the whore, "that is, the Church of Rome; that is, the Popedom, the priesthood, and her false idolatrous worship. ‘And shall make her desolate and naked’; that is, they shall waste the Church of Rome, take away all her revenues, which the Pope, cardinals, abbots, friars, nuns, priests, and Jesuits, have in possession. They ‘shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire’; that is, they shall utterly ruin the City of Rome, the Church of Rome... And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth,’ This ‘great city’, literally taken, is the city of Rome, as will appear in the exposition of the eighteenth chapter.” (Knollys)
“The very powers that have up to this point loyally supported Babylon now withdraw their support. The river Euphrates upon which Babylon sits dries up (Rev. 16:2). The reason for such a sudden reversal is not explain here.... They have turned to such antagonism ... that they will hate the prostitute and bring her to ruin. This recalls the Old Testament prophecies according to which in eschatological state of turmoil the enemies of God’s people turn against each other (Ezek. 38:21; Hag. 2:22; Zech.14:13).This disillusioned worldwide political power will make Babylon desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh... We see in this scene in Revelation the pattern of Satan’s kingdom: each power destroys its predecessor. (Babylon destroyed Assyria, Persia destroy Babylon, etc.) The battle of Armageddon breaks the cycle; God himself steps into action and brings the history of oppression to its end." (Ranko Stefanovic) The stone "cut out without hands" smashes the other kingdoms and "became a great mountain and filled the whole earth." (Daniel 2:34-35)