Babylon, the Prostitute on the Beast

In chapter Seventeen, we get a more in depth description on Babylon. We know it will be utterly destroyed as we saw in chapter fourteen, but we never received a full description of what Babylon is and why she must be destroyed. 


¹ One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. ²With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”
 ³ Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. ⁵ The name written on her forehead was a mystery:
   BABYLON THE GREAT
   THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES
   AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
 ⁶ I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.
   When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. ⁷ Then the angel said to me: “Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. ⁸ The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come.
 ⁹ “This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. ¹⁰ They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. ¹¹The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.
 ¹² “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. ¹³ They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”
 ¹⁵ Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. ¹⁶ The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. ¹⁷ For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority, until God’s words are fulfilled. ¹⁸ The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”


One of the angels that was in charge of one of the seven bowls of judgment comes to John and tells him to come with him and see the punishment of Babylon. John is taken to the wilderness where he sees a woman sitting on a scarlet Beast, covered in blasphemous names with seven heads and ten horns. We know that this is the Antichrist because he is described in this way in Revelation 13:1. Now the woman is described as being dressed in purple and scarlet with gold, precious stones and pearls. Purple and scarlet are colors that only the extremely wealthy can afford and is usually associated with kings or rulers. The gold and gems and pearls signify extreme luxury and wealth. She is identified by the name written on her forehead, Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth. He calls her Babylon, but makes clear that this is not the original city of Babylon, but a new version. Calling her the mother of prostitutes means that she leads other cities to prostitute themselves to the Beast and worship him. Her adultery with the Beast is compared to wine with which she has made the inhabitants of the earth intoxicated. Her own drunkenness comes from the blood of the saints, those that worshiped 
Jesus. 
John appears astonished, but the angel tells John that he will explain the mystery. He describes the Beast as one who once was, now is not, and yet will come. He describes the Beasts seven heads as seven hills on which the woman sits. The city on seven hills is well known to represent Rome. The Beast is described as being the eighth king, someone in the line of Roman emperors, possibly a second Nero, since he will be like Nero in character. We can take from this that the Antichrist is the seven headed Beast, but he is also the eighth king. The ten horns are ten kings who currently do not have a kingdom, but will be given one to rule for a short time under the Beast. Their purpose is to hand over their power to the Beast. Together with the Beast they will wage war against the Lamb. These kings are probably the Kings of the East from chapter 16:12, or the Kings of the whole world, chapter 16:14-16, who gather for battle at Armageddon. They will be defeated by the Lamb and His faithful followers. 
Then the angel interrupts the scene of battle to describe the water where the prostitute sits. The waters are the peoples, multitudes, nations and languages, which represents her control over the whole world. Now we see dissension, the Beast and the ten horns hate the prostitute and will destroy her. We had earlier seen that the ten kings had one purpose, now the angel tells us that God is using them for His own purpose, to hand over their authority to the Beast until God's words are fulfilled. God uses their evil purposes to ultimately defeat them.