Part 1: Who is the Harlot Babylon?
Some people say, it is the Pope; some people say it is the economy. It could be anyone, even the Church. So who is the Harlot Babylon?
Overview
Chapter 17 is about the Harlot Babylon but it is difficult to identify who she is, because there are many characters in this chapter interacting with each other. Let us have a look at them.
It begins with the Great Harlot with whom the kings commit adultery and she intoxicates the whole earth. Then the angel starts to reveal the mystery surrounding her. The first clue we get is that she sits on a beast (from chapter 13) that has 7 heads and 10 horns and the woman is identified as Babylon. The 7 heads are 7 hills or 7 kings who rule consequetively while the beast is the 8th king. The 10 horns are 10 kings who rule at the same time and give all their power to the beast.
Now the beast fights against the saints, but Jesus will take up the fight and it ends with the beast and the kings hating and destroying the harlot.
There are too many players, but they are all needed to describe the Harlot. This chapter is a build up and now fully describes the devil. So let us break it down.
The scarlet Beast
This beast has many parallels to the First Beast in chapter 13.
| The First Beast of Revelation 13 | The Beast of Revelation 17 |
|---|---|
| Has 7 heads and 10 horns Rev.13/1 | Has 7 heads and 10 horns Rev.17/3 |
| Head as if slaughtered, grows back | 5 kings fallen, the seventh yet to come |
| Beast seems unrivalled | Beast makes war against the King of Kings |
| Blasphemous speechRev.13/5-6 | Blasphemous name Rev.17/3 |
| Fights against saints and defeats them Rev.13/7 | Fights against Lamb and is overcome Rev.17/14Fights against the Harlot and destroys herRev.17/16 |
| All who are not written in the book of life worship the beast Rev.13/8 | All who are not written in the book of life are overwhelmed Rev.17/8 |
This beast is also a picture of the Emperor including his military power. The scarlet color refers to royalty.
The beast is described three times in verses 8 and 11 as the one who
- once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction
- once was, now is not, and yet will come
- once was, and now is not, … is going to his destruction
which is a parody on the description of God as the Eternal One who is described in Rev.1:8 as the One who was and is and is to come.
The seven hills and seven kings
The seven hills on which the woman sits are the seven hills that describe Rome. Rome, in the view of the first readers, is the place of the emperor, who is praised as Lord of lords and King of kings as being equal to God. It is not the pope or anyone else who later lived in Rome!
On the other hand, hills can also mean kingdoms (since they are also interpreted as king, these would be the associated kingdoms). This is supported by the description of the greatest kingdom in Isaiah, the description of Babylon as a mountain, the description of Edom as its mountain, or the mountain that filled the earth in Daniel as the new godly kingdom.
Who are the seven kings? 5 were gone, one is now, and a seventh is still to come, but will reign only for a short time? They describe a chronological sequence and show that during this time the kings will support the beast. It is not necessarily tied to a strict count, but shows that the final countdown is not far away to keep us alert.
Now the beast itself comes as the 8th king which is one of the seven. Considering that Jesus was resurrected on the 8th day (the day after the Sabbath), and that we have the topic of the resurrection of the beast already in chapter 13 and chapter 16 (frogs are related to Egyptian goddess Heqet, who is the goddess of birth and resurrection), we can see that the beast appears on the 8th day: He appears to be invincible. But this is a deception, because he is already revealed as “the one who was, who is not, and who goes to destruction”. Here it is confirmed that the beast is one of the seven — not a superhero.
The 10 kings
[The 10 kings are the 10 horns](http://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.) that act at the same time, and they give their power to the beast’s agents, who submit to the beast’s agenda. They represent the beast’s power over the (potentially whole) world at that particular time. The number 10 could again be symbolic. In the context of the first readers, this could refer to the supporting kings of the Roman Empire.
Their purpose is to wage war against the Lamb, but things work out differently as we will see.
The Harlot
She has many parallels as a contrast to the bride in chapter 21 and the woman in chapter 12
| Wife in chapter 12 | Harlot in chapter 17 | Bride in ch.19 and 21 |
|---|---|---|
| Hidden in the desert Rev.23/26 | Sheltered in desert Rev.17/3 | |
| Harlot is city BabylonRev.17/5 | Is city Rev.21/9-21 | |
| Undivine capital | City God | |
| Mother of legitimate children | Harlot | bride |
| Pursued mother | Persecuted Mother (Rev.17/16) | |
| Rescued Mother | Destroyed woman | |
| Angel announces court is certain | Angel announces bride is certain | |
| Faithfulness Children | Faithfulness Children | |
| Gives birth to the community | Attempts community destruction | Is community |
| Has security in heaven | Has security in nations and kings (Rev.17/18) | |
| Covered in jewelsDressed in canvas (Rev.18/16)which covers her corruption | Covered with precious jewels (Rev.21/9-23)Dressed in pure white canvas (Rev.18/16)which reflects God’s glory and righteous deeds of the saints |
and a lot of similarities with Jezebel, who causes also trouble in Thyatira.
| The Harlot | Jesebel |
|---|---|
| God led this | God has put in heart to destroy the harlot |
| Before death Jezebel dyed eyes and made head pretty 2 Ki.9/30 | Harlot is adorned with gold, purple, scarlet Rev.17/4 |
| Jesebel is queen1 Ki.16/31 | Harlot is queen Rev.17/1-2 (Rev.17/18, Rev.18/7) |
| fools people | fools people (Rev.2/20) |
| Prostitution through Idolatry 2 Ki.9/22 (2 Chr.21/13) | Prostition through cooperation with the beast Rev.17/1-2 (Rev.17/5, Rev.2/20-22) |
| Use Wizard | Uses wizardry |
| Seeks economic advantage | Addiction to economic wealth |
| Persecutes and kills saints (1 Kings.19/2 | Persecutes and kills saints |
| Remnant resists (1 Kings 19/18, 2 Kings 9/22) | Remnant resists |
| God atones for blood of witnesses | God atones blood of witnesses |
| Judgement comes quickly | Court comes quickly (Rev.18/17, Rev.18/19) |
| God judges successors (2.Kön.10/19) | God judges successors (Rev.2/23) |
and finally many parallels with the Second Beast in chapter 13.
The Harlot and the second beast
| The Second Beast of Revelation 13 | The Harlot |
|---|---|
| Comes from Earth | Sits in desert |
| Has two horns like a lamb | Is dressed like the bride of the lamb |
| Acts in power of the (first) beast | Sits on the (first) beast |
| Can make fire fall from the sky Rev.13/13 | Will be judged by fire Rev.17/16 (Rev.18/9) |
| All who do not worship it will be killed | Drink blood of the saints |
| Makes a sign on forehead and hand Rev.13/16 | Has sign on forehead: Babylon Rev.17/5 |
| Cannot buy or sell without mark | Cannot buy or sell without sign (Rev.18/11-17) |
| Requires wisdom | Requires wisdom |
The power of the harlot is also reversed here into: while in chapter 13 she dropped fire from heaven, now she is destroyed by fire; while she makes a mark on her forehead, here she herself is branded on the forehead (like a slave).
While the first beast supports the harlot in chapter 17, the second beast supports the first beast in chapter 13.