There is a widespread misconception concerning Satan and religion. They are not enemies, at least not at this point. Religion has been a tool used by Satan to lure people away from the knowledge of the one true God. He is the great pimp running his line of prostitutes, enticing humanity away from its creator. His ladies come dressed in many alluring costumes, some exotic, some erotic, others appearing virtuous and innocent. His lineup has something that will appeal to everyone, being specifically designed for each culture and society that has ever existed. Religion is appealing, yet it is nothing but a prostitute, a whore. In the end, in the days before our Lord’s return to rule, God will use Satan himself to judge this prostitute. For when Satan establishes himself as the sovereign of the earth seeking to be worshipped as a god, even this tool of his will be destroyed by him for it will compete against him for mankind’s affection and worship.
In chapter 17 of the book of Revelation, there are two entities or systems presented; a religious system, represented by the woman, the great prostitute, and a political system, represented by the beast with seven heads and ten horns. The woman is first carried along by the beast, supported by it, but in the end, it turns and destroys her.
The controlling and guiding force behind and working through each of these human systems is, of course, Satan himself, inasmuch as he is so allowed by God. He subverts true religion and prostitutes it, luring people away from the true Creator and using it to destroy the servants of God and witnesses of Jesus Christ. He also controls the political systems upon the earth, setting up rulers and manipulating them to his purpose to establish himself as sovereign over all the earth and to be worshipped as a god.
However, in the end, even the false religious system or systems are incompatible with his purpose. Having served their purpose by enticing people away from the only true God to false gods, they too compete with him for the worship by earth’s humanity. Thus they must be eliminated.
Revelation 17:1-18
| 17:1 | Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters |
| 17:2 | with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” |
| 17:3 | And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. |
| 17:4 | The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality |
| 17:5 | and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” |
| 17:6 | And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly |
| 17:7 | And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? 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. |
| 17:8 | “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. |
| 17:9 | “Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, |
| 17:10 | and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while |
| 17:11 | “The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction |
| 17:12 | “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. |
| 17:13 | “These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. |
| 17:14 | “These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.” |
| 17:15 | And he *said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues |
| 17:16 | “And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire |
| 17:17 | “For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled |
| 17:18 | “The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.” |
For the purpose of the study of this passage, it can be divided into the following three logical sections: first, the introduction in verses1-2, next, the vision seen by John in verses 3-6, finally, the explanation by the angel in verses 7-18.
The Introduction
Jesus Christ, our Lord, has been installed as King of kings and Lord of lords, the true and rightful regent of all the earth. Now crowned, He has symbolically swung the sickle of judgment over the earth. In this courtroom, John has witnessed the ceremonial pouring out of seven bowls representing the final seven judgments of God upon a rebellious earth. He has also witnessed the attendant results upon mankind on the earth. As the last of these final seven judgments takes place, John notes, “Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.” Now, one of the angels who emptied the seven bowls of God’s judgment comes to John telling him, “Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot….” This harlot is further described by the angel as sitting upon many waters and one with whom the kings (or leaders) of the earth have committed immorality and who had intoxicated the inhabitants of the earth with her wine of immorality.
This great prostitute is named in verse 5 of this chapter as “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” Further, in verse 18, she is identified as “the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.” We know from this that she is not an individual but more likely a religious/political entity that is located in one of the world’s great cities. She sits on many waters, identified in verse 15 as peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues. Because she is supported by or exerts control over these many different nations and ethnic groups, she is not an individual nation or country. There is only one other type of power that exerts this strong influence over nations, peoples and world leaders alike. This is a great religious system of the world. Witness the influence and control exerted by the Church in European affairs from the time of Constantine onward, or the Buddhist and Hindu influence in the Asian realms, or the power that the Muslim religion has over nations in the Middle East today. This religious system or systems come under the judgment of God in the final pouring out of His wrath upon the earth and are judged.
This or these systems have prostituted themselves to the nations of the world and their leaders, each using the other to further their own goals and glory. Religion was and is effectively used by world leaders to control the masses, while religious leaders use it to further their own positions, power and wealth. The angel tells John that he will show him the judgment of this great prostitute.
The Vision
Again, John is transported in or by the Spirit to another place where he has a vision. The location seems to be on earth, for he is in a wilderness or deserted place where he sees a woman. The woman is sitting on a scarlet beast that is described as full of blasphemous names and having seven heads and ten horns. This beast will be detailed later in this chapter, but for now, suffice it to be said that this represents the political entities controlled used by Satan to establish himself as regent of the world.
The woman is richly and lavishly dressed, indicating the wealth she has acquired. Indeed in our nation, at least, religion is one of the top moneymakers, if not the top. She carries a gold cup. She offers this cup to those that come to her. It is beautiful and attractive, yet for all that, it is filled with abominations and unclean things of her immorality. All we need to do to confirm this picture is look at what has been done and what is being done today in the name of religion today.
Lest anyone mistake who she is, she has a name written on her forehead. It is called a mystery. She is Babylon the Great, the Mother of the prostitutes and abominations (things hated by God) of the earth. Because she is called a mystery, we know that there were or are things hidden from us about this entity. Although the angel explains to John some of this mystery in verses seven and following, much, no doubt remains hidden to us today, which will be made clear to those living in these days yet to come.
This religious system or systems were drunk with the blood of believers; that is, she was responsible for their deaths. In the beast’s determination to destroy all believers during these days, it is likely he uses this official system to help carry this out.
The Identification
When John sees all this, he is astounded and wonders at it. The angel then explains some of what John has seen in this vision. The angel first asks John, “Why do you wonder at this?” Then he tells John that he will tell him about the mystery of this woman, the beast that carried her and the seven heads and ten horns.
The first thing that the angel tells John is that the beast was, is not and will come. This can only mean that it has existed at one time, does not exist at the time of John’s writing these words but will come again. John would not have been unfamiliar with this description of the beast, for it was the beast he saw coming up out of the sea in verse 1 of chapter 13. He would have also known it from Daniel chapter 7, where this beast with seven heads and ten horns is also found. In these passages where this beast is spoken about, we know it can refer to an individual, the Antichrist (For example, see Revelation 13:1-6.), and it can refer to the nation or nations controlled by the Antichrist (See Daniel 7:17-23.). It seems likely that here it refers to the nation or nations controlled by the antichrist rather than the man. However, with the advances in genetics and cloning, it is not outside the realm of possibility that this might refer to an individual. Whichever the case, the world is in wonder at this beast, the individual and/or his kingdom, because of the fact that it again exists after so many years.
The seven heads are identified as seven mountains upon which the woman sits and seven kings or individuals. Many conservative commentators have identified the seven mountains as the seven hills upon which Rome was said to have been built and the woman as the Roman Church. However, it seems best to understand the seven mountains as seven kingdoms or empires. This description of a nation as a mountain can be found in the Old Testament, for example, Jeremiah 51:25, Daniel 2:35, and Zechariah 4:7. These national world powers supported a false religious system that pulled people away from the one true God. The angel tells John they also represent seven kings. Not only does Satan use the political powers of the day, but he also uses particular individual leaders of these nations. It seems likely from the passage that Satan has directly worked through some of these powerful potentates of the past.
The major world powers that have competed with Israel, God’s chosen people, and the nation through which He revealed Himself to the world are:
| 1. | Egypt |
| 2. | Assyria |
| 3. | Babylon |
| 4. | Media-Persia |
| 5. | Greece |
| 6. | Roman |
| 7. | ? |
Of these seven world powers, five had fallen and faded into history (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Media-Persia and Greece). One was currently in power, Rome. The last one is yet to appear. When it does, it will exist for a small period of time before it is taken over by man indwelt by Satan, the antichrist, and become the kingdom of the beast through which he will attempt to rule over all the earth. This last kingdom arises from the coalition of the ten kingdoms represented by the ten horns of John’s vision.
These horns are ten kings or world leaders that will arise in the future. They are also described in Daniel 7:7-8 and 19-27 and are referred to under another picture in Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2 of that book. Without taking the time here to go into a detailed exposition of these passages in Daniel, the following is suggested by the author: These ten kingdoms or nations represent a continuation of the old Roman Empire in some form. They are nations that once comprised this great empire, and they unite in some form of a federation. The antichrist appears to arise as the leader of one of these ten, then defeats or takes over three others. The rest unite behind this man, give him their power forming the resurrected Roman Empire that will dominate the whole earth, and attack the True King of kings and Lord of lords and all who believe and follow Him. God uses this federated empire to destroy Babylon the Great. From the description of the destruction in chapter 18 and the reaction of those who observe this destruction, it is likely that the city is destroyed by a massive nuclear weapon employed by this coalition of nations.
The angel informs John that the woman called Babylon the Great is the great city that reigns over the leaders of the earth. While it seems certain that this woman represents a religious system or systems, it also is to be noted from the next chapter that it is also a powerful economic power. This is to be expected for all of the great religious systems have also been powerful economic powers that any examination of history will show. This religious system has its center of power located in one of the world’s great cities, one that has access to the sea and the trade routes of the world. Many conservative authorities in the past have identified this system as the Roman Church and the city as Rome, with Babylon being a mystical designation of Rome. However, it is preferable to understand this city as the literal rebuilt city of Babylon itself.
First, the prophecy concerning Babylon’s destruction found in Jeremiah 50:39-40 states, “…it will never again be inhabited or dwelt in from generation to generation… No man will live there, nor will any son of man reside in it.” This cannot refer to the city that was destroyed and lies in ruins today, for it is indeed inhabited, and though the population is not large, people do live there. It seems that Jeremiah’s prophecy has both a near and far fulfillment. While the destruction of Babylon did take place in the past, this was only the near fulfillment. The far and yet future fulfillment will take place near the close of the Tribulation Period, where the rebuilt city is incinerated by the beast. If this was indeed destroyed by a dirty nuclear weapon, it could well render the city uninhabitable for the rest of the earth’s duration.
There is also a prophecy found in Zechariah chapter 5 that may relate to this issue. In one of his night visions, Zechariah sees a basket in which there is a woman, described as ‘Wickedness,’ being carried away. When Jeremiah asks where they are taking the basket, an angel answers him in verse 11, “To build a temple for her in the land of Shinar: and when it is prepared, she will be set there on her own pedestal.” As noted in other chapters, these visions of Zechariah often involve events in the last days. Whatever else this vision might mean, it does say that this woman, called wickedness, becomes an object of worship and veneration in the land of Shinar or Babylon. It appears that Babylon is rebuilt and becomes a great religious and economic power in these last days. It is this great city that will be destroyed by God using the instrumentality of the beast and his federated empire.
Throughout history, from the false religions of the Babylonians to the Muslim religion today, Satan has used many false religious systems to lure people away from the one true God. We are not told and cannot say with certainty now which system Babylon the Great represents. It could be a united faith of several major religions including the apostate Christian church or the Muslim religion, or a sect thereof reestablished in the rebuilt city of Babylon. What we do know is that Satan has a wide selection of prostitutes that he has used and still uses to draw the world away from God. However, the day is coming when God will destroy this system or systems. The instrument he uses ironically enough is Satan himself, who, once in control through the person of the antichrist, will not tolerate any competition to his own worship.
