In this chapter, we’re introduced to a woman described as a great prostitute. In the vision, the angel removes John from where he was and takes him into a wilderness where he sees ‘a woman.’
This great harlot in Revelation 17:1 is described as ‘sitting on many waters’ Revelation 17:1, and Revelation 17:15 tells us exactly to whom this is referred. The great harlot is the city that is ruling over the peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages of the earth.
Notice again, we have a description of people getting drunk with wine with her adulteries, Revelation 17:2 / Ezekiel 6:9 / Ezekiel 16:15-17 / Jeremiah 2:1 / Hosea 4:11-12 / Hosea 1:1 / Revelation 2:14 / Revelation 2:20 / Revelation 14:8.
The question immediately arises: Is this the same woman previously mentioned? A closer examination of her characteristics reveals that she is adorned with those items signifying royalty.
We know the Dragon is Satan, Revelation 13:1 / Revelation 12:9, but we also must understand who the harlot and Babylon are. These two figures are mentioned in Revelation 17 and Revelation 18. The harlot is none other than the city of Rome itself.
Let me list some facts for you that will help you see that the harlot is Rome. Revelation 17:18 says that the harlot is a great city. During the time of the Book of Revelation, there was no city greater than the city of Rome.
Millions of people lived there, and it was a powerful world force. Revelation 17:2 says that the harlot had committed adultery with the kings of the Earth. Who was making foreign alliances and bringing foreign nations under her power? It was Rome.
In Revelation 17:3, we are told that the harlot rode on the back of the beast. Because Rome and her rulers were the beast, she is the one who is riding on the back of the beast. Revelation 17:4 says that she lives a luxurious life.
Rome, its senate, and its elite inhabitants lived one of the most luxurious lives you could ever imagine. Revelation 17:6 says that the harlot was drunk with the blood of Christians.
During the time of the first century, Rome was the main persecutor of Christians; the Romans were putting Christians to death. Some were being thrown to the lions. Anyone caught worshipping as a child of God was put to death. Revelation 17 identifies a city that fits the description of none other than Rome itself.
McGuiggan, in his commentary, says the following.
‘She sits on the seven hills, Revelation 17:9. She rules the earth in John’s day, Revelation 17:18. She is a terrible persecutor of the saints, Revelation 17:6 / Revelation 18:20 / Revelation 18:24. She is the leading commercial power on earth, Revelation 18:3 / Revelation 18:11-14 / Revelation 18:15-19. She is supported by the military might of Rome, Revelation 17:3 / Revelation 17:7. She is destroyed by her own military power, etc., Revelation 17:16-17.’
John is now carried away in the Spirit, which means that John is seeing a vision, an inspired message from God, Revelation 17:3 / Ezekiel 2:2. In a wilderness, ‘a woman,’ Revelation 17:3. Who is this woman?
McGuiggan, in his commentary, says the following.
‘John had seen another woman, and she fled into a wilderness. There was quite a difference between the two. This one is supported by the seven-headed beast, but the other was sustained by the Lord God. The one woman was the city of the Living God, and the other was the ‘Eternal City’ (as Rome is called over and over again).’
This beast mentioned here, Revelation 17:3, sounds like the beast mentioned in Revelation 13:1. Notice the beast was ‘covered with blasphemous names’, Revelation 17:3.
Domitian, during his reign, issued his decrees as ‘Lord God Domitianus’. Therefore, it would have been unmistakable in the minds of the first readers of John’s letter that he was referring to the emperor. The scarlet colour would indicate that the beast was deadly and wicked.
A figurative view of the imagery would be that the beast had seven heads, Revelation 1:3 / Revelation 17:9-10, indicating perfection, and ten horns, Revelation 17:3 / Revelation 17:12, indicating complete authority.
Domitian claimed in his early years as emperor to be Nero returned, so it was a common superstition among the people of the time that Domitian was thought to be either Nero returned or reincarnated.
The woman is dressed as royalty, and she is carrying a ‘golden cup filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries, Revelation 17:4. The ‘abominable things’ represent all the evils which have come from her idolatry and persecution.
Barclay, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This is symbolic of the luxury of Rome and of the meretricious and lustful way in which it was used, the picture of a wealthy courtesan, decked out in all her finery to seduce men.’
The name was a mystery, Revelation 17:5. The word ‘mystery’. shows that this name is a symbol for a worldly, wicked city. Notice the words, Babylon the great’, Revelation 16:19. What did real Babylon and the great prostitute named Babylon in Revelation 17 share in common? They both imposed forced worship of an idol of the king of their country on their citizenry, Revelation 13:14-15.
She is called the ‘mother of prostitutes’, Revelation 17:5, and she is drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus, Revelation 17:6 / Revelation 16:6. This certainly fits the city of Rome and her severe oppression of the first-century Christians.
Barclay, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The implication is that Rome did not simply persecute the Christians as a legal necessity but took fiendish delight in hounding Christians to death.’
Notice that John appears to be at a loss for words, he’s greatly astonished, and so the angel has to explain to him what he’s seeing and happening, Revelation 17:7. The beast that was and is not and is about to come and then go, Revelation 17:8, is probably a reference to the changing leadership of the Empire.
McGuiggan, in his commentary, says the following concerning Revelation 17:8.
‘The beast begins its work again when Domitian comes on the scene and resumes persecution. Thus, the beast is about to come up out of the Abyss, Revelation 13.’
Barclay, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Even when Nero died, his wickedness lived on, and John sees it re-emerging in Domitian, the new Nero. Everyone leaves something behind in this world. It may be a memory which is a helper of all that is fine and good; it may be an evil influence which lays a trail of trouble for many generations to come. Every man’s life points somewhere; he must see that it points to goodness and to God.’
It appears that John wasn’t the only one who would be astonished, especially those whose names are not written in the book of life, Revelation 17:8 / Revelation 13:8, that is, those who are not Christians. They will be astonished because they thought the beast was gone once and for all, Revelation 17:8.
Domitian claimed in his early years as emperor to be Nero returned, so it was a common superstition among the people of the time that Domitian was thought to be Nero either returned or reincarnated.
John says the only way to understand all of this is by using wisdom. The seven heads of the beast were seven heads of the Roman Empire. Rome ruled its empire through a government system made up of several geographic territories called provinces.
Each province fell under the control of a provincial governor. The governors of these provinces were completely at the whim of the Emperor and could serve from 1 to 5 years. There were about twenty-eight imperial provinces at the height of the empire. All of these provinces were subject to Roman rule.
The first five emperors are Augustus (26BC-13AD), Tiberius (14AD-37AD), Caligula (37AD-41AD), Claudius (41AD-64AD) and Nero (64AD-68AD). Revelation 17:10 says these five are fallen, thus out of the picture. ‘The one is,’ Revelation 17:10 would be Vespasian, the sixth king/emperor, who ruled from 69AD-79AD.
The ‘other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a little while’, Revelation 17:10, would be Titus, who only reigned from 79AD-81. His reign was short, only a ‘little while’, Revelation 17:10, and he was the seventh king. This is what we would call the honeymoon period.
Now we come to the king in Revelation 17:11, who is the ‘eighth’. This is the first mention of this king, who would have been Domitian. He is the one who ‘was and is not’, Revelation 17:11, which refers back to Domitian’s claim that he was the reincarnation of Nero.
The eighth king was ‘of the seven’, Revelation 17:1,1 which means that he was related to them. Domitian was the brother of Titus and the son of Vespasian of the Flavian dynasty.
The angel now explains to John what he saw earlier concerning the ten horns, Revelation 17:12 / Revelation 17:7. The ten horns represent the power of the empire, which was concentrated in the provinces and not in the city of Rome itself. They enjoyed some authority from Rome for an hour, Revelation 17:12, in other words, a short period of time.
Kercheville, in his commentary, says the following concerning these verses.
‘Rome had given power to various regents and procurators, like the Herods, to rule over the regions and provinces. Yet their power was only from the Roman empire itself and was not their own. These rulers gave their allegiance to the Roman Empire (the beast) and would make war against God and his people who did not worship the beast.’
Daniel’s prophecies of a great beast in Daniel 7:23. The beast of Daniel is the same as the beast of Revelation. This is an unmistakable reference to the Roman Empire. No other empire fitting this description devoured the whole earth.
Daniel goes on to say that out of this fourth kingdom will arise one who will ‘speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws.
The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times, and half a time,’ Daniel 7:25. This can be no other person but an emperor of the fourth kingdom, the Roman Empire.
The beast is going to wage war against the Lamb, Revelation 17:14, who is obviously Jesus, John 1:29 / John 1:36, but notice the beast will fail because Jesus is the ‘Lord of lords and King of kings’, Revelation 17:14 / Deuteronomy 10:17 / Psalm 136:4 / Revelation 1:5 / 1 Timothy 6:16 / Revelation 19:16. And who is with Jesus, His called, His chosen, His faithful followers, Revelation 17:14.
Christ is the One Who is leading the army. He is the Captain of the Lord’s army, Hebrews 10:9-10. We have the perfect spiritual armour, Ephesians 6:10-12. We have been promised that we will be victorious, Hebrews 2:14 / 1 Corinthians 15:51.
Christ always leads us in triumph, and so, here it’s no surprise that the Lamb, Jesus, and those who follow Him will overcome Rome and her government and will arise out of persecution victorious. The battle was over before it even started. God and His people would be victorious.
This was the explanation of the waters upon which the harlot sat, given to John by the angel in Revelation 17:1. The kings of the provinces will ultimately turn against Rome.
One of Rome’s greatest fears was insurrection and turmoil in the provinces. History records this is precisely what happened to the Roman Empire. She was defeated from within by her own subjects, Daniel 2:43.
Remember God doesn’t create evil, but He can use evil to serve His purposes, and that’s what we’re reading here, God’s will, will be done, Revelation 17:17. The identity of the woman John saw earlier, Revelation 17:1-2, is now revealed, she is the great city, Revelation 17:18, that is Rome.
When we face tribulation and when evil opposes Christianity, whether it is an evil government, atheism, humanism, or post-modernism, Christ and the faithful will always win the battle. The battle has already been won.
If we make sure that we are on God’s side, we will overcome. Why? It’s because Jesus is Lord of all lords and King of all kings. There is no one greater than the Lord Himself.
No one can match His majesty, His power, or His ability to lead us to Heaven. No one can even compare to Jesus, the Captain of the Lord’s army. Yes, we will be victorious, but we must be sure that we are among the faithful who are God’s chosen.