Revelation 17
The Great Prostitute and the Beast
17:1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke to me. “Come,” he said, “I will show you the condemnation and punishment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters,
Chapter 17 reveals some of the details of the first half of the Great Tribulation. One of the seven angels came and spoke to John. He wanted to show John the condemnation and punishment of the great prostitute who sits upon many waters. The great prostitute will be ecclesiastical Babylon, or the false religious system of the Great Tribulation. This religious system will include the Catholic and liberal Protestant churches which missed the Rapture. It will also include many other cults and isms as well. All of these religious entities will be joined into one large ecumenical church. This church will be a prostitute church, as she will commit spiritual fornication by giving her flesh to the satanic world system. She will not stay a pure virgin that is loyal to Christ alone.
According to verse 15, the many waters will be a symbol of all of the people of all of the nations who are following the false ecumenical religious system of the Antichrist. Whenever modern believers observe ecumenical church organizations that desire the unity of all churches, then this is an organization that will continue and be successful all the way through the Great Tribulation. This will be the church that will eventually worship the Antichrist.
17:2 with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality and the earth’s inhabitants got drunk with the wine of her immorality.”
During the first half of the Great Tribulation, the kings of the earth will commit spiritual fornication with this apostate church. The wine of her immorality is the spilling of the blood of the true saints of God.
17:3 So he carried me away in the Spirit to a wilderness, and there I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.
The Holy Spirit carried John away into the wilderness. He will see a woman riding a scarlet beast. The woman is the apostate church of the Great Tribulation. The beast is the Antichrist. During the first half of the Great Tribulation, the woman will be riding, or controlling, the Antichrist. She will have reluctant support of the one world government.
17:4 Now the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet clothing, and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup filled with detestable things and unclean things from her sexual immorality.
The apostate church will be holding a golden cup that is filled with detestable things. The apostate church will be drunk. The liquid in the golden cup will be making her drunk and out of control.
17:5 On her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the Great, the Mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.”
The name of the harlot is "Babylon the Great, the Mother of prostitutes." Babylon was the first city after the flood. She was commanded to spread out and subdue the world. Instead, she stayed in Babylon and created a false religious system. The false religious system was that of Nimrod and his mother, Semiramis. Nimrod died, but his mother claimed to have another son by a virgin birth. This new son was called Nimrod, who supposedly had reincarnated himself into the womb of his mother. This began the Madonna, or the mother and child cult. The astrological signs given to Noah were perverted at this time. The worship of Jehovah was rejected. Monotheism ended. Polytheism began. The languages were confused at the Tower of Babel. This new religious symbol of the "Madonna cult" was taken into every family and tribe in the world. The Catholics later merged the Madonna cult into their religious system. Catholicism is a mixture of Christianity and the Tower of Babel religious system of Nimrod and Semiramis.
17:6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of those who testified to Jesus. I was greatly astounded when I saw her.
The apostate church was killing the true saints of God. It was the blood of the saints that was keeping the Mother of prostitutes intoxicated.
17:7 But the angel said to me, “Why are you astounded? I will interpret for you the mystery of the woman and of the beast with the seven heads and ten horns that carries her.
There is no reason to speculate on these identities. The angel gave the identity of the woman and the beast directly to John.
17:8 The beast you saw was, and is not, but is about to come up from the abyss and then go to destruction. The inhabitants of the earth – all those whose names have not been written in the book of life since the foundation of the world – will be astounded when they see that the beast was, and is not, but is to come.
The beast will be the Antichrist. The inhabitants of the earth will be those who will take the mark and worship the beast.
Everyone's name is written in the Book of Life at birth. The unbelievers will have their names blotted out at the Great White Throne Judgment.
The book mentioned in this life is a different book. It is the Lamb's Book of Life. All believers' names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundations of the world. This is the doctrine of election and predestination. Their names will never be blotted out.
17:9 (This requires a mind that has wisdom.) The seven heads are seven mountains the woman sits on. They are also seven kings:
The seven mountains are not Rome, the city of seven hills. The seven mountains will be seven different satanic world kingdoms that have existed or will exist throughout history. The seven heads will be the seven kings who will rule these kingdoms.
17:10 five have fallen; one is, and the other has not yet come, but whenever he does come, he must remain for only a brief time.
Five of these kings have fallen. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece have fallen.
One is, meaning Rome, which was in power during the days of John. The Bible teaches that Rome will exist in three different ways. It will be an imperial dictatorship, which it was in the days of John. Then it will become divided into East and West, meaning the Byzantine and Roman empires. During the Great Tribulation, the ten toes will become ten regions of the world which will be under the control of the Antichrist.
The other kingdom is not yet, but yet to come. This seventh and last kingdom will be the one world government under the authority of the Antichrist. This government will exist during the time of the Great Tribulation.
17:11 The beast that was, and is not, is himself an eighth king and yet is one of the seven, and is going to destruction.
The beast is the Antichrist. He will be a human born of a virgin. His mother will be a human of Roman origin. His father will be the devil himself. This will be a counterfeit virgin birth.
17:12 The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but will receive ruling authority as kings with the beast for one hour.
These ten kings will receive their kingdoms sometime at the beginning of the Great Tribulation. The Antichrist will establish them as regional leaders who will report directly to him.
17:13 These kings have a single intent, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.
In the middle of the Great Tribulation, three of these kings will be defeated and killed by the Antichrist. The other seven kings will give their power and authority to the Beast.
17:14 They will make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those accompanying the Lamb are the called, chosen, and faithful.”
All of these kings will bring their armies to fight against the Lord Jesus Christ at Armageddon.
17:15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw (where the prostitute is seated) are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages.
The waters are identified in this verse as all of the worldwide population of the Antichrist's kingdom.
17:16 The ten horns that you saw, and the beast – these will hate the prostitute and make her desolate and naked. They will consume her flesh and burn her up with fire.
The Antichrist will not need the Babylon religious system during the second half of the Great Tribulation. He will step into the Jewish Temple in the Holy of Holies and declare that he is God in the flesh. All of those who oppose his claims will be killed, including those of the Babylon religious system.
17:17 For God has put into their minds to carry out his purpose by making a decision to give their royal power to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled.
These events are all part of God's sovereign plan.
17:18 As for the woman you saw, she is the great city that has sovereignty over the kings of the earth.”
The one world religious system will be located in the literal city of rebuilt Babylon.