Babylon, the Prostitute on the Beast

REVELATIO 17 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
Babylon, the Prostitute on the Beast
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.
1.BARNES, “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven
vials - See the notes on Rev_15:1, Rev_15:7. Reference is again made to these angels in
the same manner in Rev_21:9, where one of them says that he would show to John “the
bride, the Lamb’s wife.” No particular one is specified. The general idea seems to be, that
to those seven angels was entrusted the execution of the last things, or the winding up of
affairs introductory to the reign of God, and that the communications respecting those
last events were properly made through them. It is clearly quite immaterial by which of
these it is done. The expression “which had the seven vials,” would seem to imply that
though they had emptied the vials in the manner stated in the previous chapter, they still
retained them in their hands.
And talked with me - Spake to me. The word “talk” would imply a more protracted
conversation than occurred here.
Come hither - Greek, δεሞρο deuro - “Here, hither.” This is a word merely calling the
attention, as we should say now, “Here.” It does not imply that John was to leave the
place where he was.
I will shew unto thee - Partly by symbols, and partly by express statements; for this
is the way in which, in fact, he showed him.
The judgment - The condemnation and calamity that will come upon her.
Of the great whore - It is not uncommon in the Scriptures to represent a city under
the image of a woman - a pure and holy city under the image of a virgin or chaste female;
a corrupt, idolatrous, and wicked city under the image of an abandoned or lewd woman.
See the notes on Isa_1:21; “How is the faithful city become an harlot!” Compare the
notes on Isa_1:8. In Rev_17:18, it is expressly said that “this woman is that great city
which reigneth over the kings of the earth” - that is, as I suppose, papal Rome; and the
design here is to represent it as resembling an abandoned female - fit representative of
an apostate, corrupt, unfaithful church. Compare the notes on Rev_9:21.
That sitteth upon many waters - An image drawn either from Babylon, situated
on the Euphrates, and encompassed by the many artificial rivers which had been made
to irrigate the country, or Rome, situated on the Tiber. In Rev_17:15 these waters are
said to represent the peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues over which the
government symbolized by the woman ruled. See the notes on that verse. Waters are
often used to symbolize nations.

2. CLARKE, “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven
vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto
thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters - That
idolatrous worship is frequently represented in Scripture under the character of a whore
or whoredom, is evident from numerous passages which it is unnecessary to quote. See
1Ch_5:25; Ezekiel 16:1-63; 23:1-49, etc. The woman mentioned here is called a great
whore, to denote her excessive depravity, and the artful nature of her idolatry. She is also
represented as sitting upon many waters, to show the vast extent of her influence. See on
Rev_17:13 (note).
3. GILL, “And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven vials,.... It
may be the first of them, since one of the four beasts designs the first of them, in Rev_
6:1 though Brightman thinks the fifth angel is meant, because he poured out his vial on
the seat of the beast, who is by this angel described; but rather this is the seventh and
last angel, concerned in the utter destruction of antichrist: and therefore proposes to
John to show him the judgment of the great whore:
and talked with me, saying unto me, come hither: he conversed with him in a
friendly manner, see Zec_1:9 and desires him to come nearer to him, and go along with
him, adding,
I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore; that noted and famous
one, known before to John by the names of Jezabel and Babylon, who taught and caused
many to commit fornication, Rev_2:20 Rev_14:8 and is no other than Rome Papal; for
that a city or state is meant is clear from Rev_17:18 and it is usual for idolatrous or
apostate cities to be called whores or harlots, see Isa_1:21 Eze_23:2 and she is called a
"great" one, because of the largeness of the Papal see; and because of the multitude of
persons, the kings of the earth, and the inhabitants of it, with whom the Romish
antichrist has committed spiritual fornication, or idolatry: her "judgment" signifies
either her sin and wickedness; in which sense the word is used in Rom_5:16 and which
is exposed, Rev_17:5 namely, her idolatry and cruelty; or else her condemnation, and the
execution of it, suggested in Rev_17:8 and more largely described in the following
chapter:
that sitteth upon many waters; which in Rev_17:15 are interpreted of people,
multitudes, nations, and tongues, subject to the jurisdiction of Rome; and so several
antichristian states are in the preceding chapter signified by the sea, and by rivers and
fountains of water: and this is said in reference to Babylon, an emblem of the Romish
harlot, which was situated upon the river Euphrates, and is therefore said to dwell upon
many waters, Jer_51:13 her sitting here may be in allusion to the posture of harlots
plying of men; or may denote her ease, rest, and grandeur, sitting as a queen; and is
chiefly expressive of her power and dominion over the kings and nations of the earth,
Rev_17:18.
4. HENRY 1-6, “Here we have a new vision, not as to the matter of it, for that is
contemporary with what came under the three last vials; but as to the manner of
description, etc. Observe, 1. The invitation given to the apostle to take a view of what was
here to be represented: Come hither, and I will show thee the judgment of the great
whore, etc., Rev_17:1. This is a name of great infamy. A whore [in this passage] is one

that is married, and has been false to her husband's bed, has forsaken the guide of her
youth, and broken the covenant of God. She had been a prostitute to the kings of the
earth, whom she had intoxicated with the wine of her fornication. 2. The appearance she
made: it was gay and gaudy, like such sort of creatures: She was arrayed in purple, and
scarlet colour, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls, Rev_17:4. Here
were all the allurements of worldly honour and riches, pomp and pride, suited to sensual
and worldly minds. 3. Her principal seat and residence - upon the beast that had seven
heads and ten horns; that is to say, Rome, the city on seven hills, infamous for idolatry,
tyranny, and blasphemy. 4. Her name, which was written on her forehead. It was the
custom of impudent harlots to hang out signs, with their names, that all might know
what they were. Now in this observe, (1.) She is named from her place of residence -
Babylon the great. But, that we might not take it for the old Babylon literally so called,
we are told there is a mystery in the name; it is some other great city resembling the old
Babylon. (2.) She is named from her infamous way and practice; not only a harlot, but a
mother of harlots, breeding up harlots, and nursing and training them up to idolatry,
and all sorts of lewdness and wickedness - the parent and nurse of all false religion and
filthy conversation. 5. Her diet: she satiated herself with the blood of the saints and
martyrs of Jesus. She drank their blood with such greediness that she intoxicated
herself with it; it was so pleasant to her that she could not tell when she had had enough
of it: she was satiated, but never satisfied.
5. JAMISON, “
5B. BARCLAY, "1. THE WOMAN ON THE BEAST
The woman is Babylon, that is to say, Rome. The woman is said (Rev. 17:1) to sit upon many waters. In this
picture of Rome, John was using many of the things said by the prophets about ancient Babylon. In
Jer.51:13 Babylon is addressed as: "O you who dwell by many waters." The river Euphrates actually ran
through the midst of Babylon; and she was also the centre of a system of irrigation canals, spreading out in
every direction. When this description is applied to Rome, it does not make sense. Later in Rev. 17:15, John
realizes this and gives the waters a symbolic interpretation as the many nations and peoples and tongues
over whom Rome rules. For this way of speaking, also, we must look to the Old Testament. When Isaiah is
forecasting the invasion of Palestine by Assyria, he writes: "Therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up
against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory; and it will rise
over all its channels and go over all its banks; and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on,
reaching even to the neck" (Isa.8:7-8). Again, when Jeremiah is prophesying the coming invasion, he uses
the same picture: "Behold, waters are rising out of the north, and shall become an overflowing torrent; they
shall overflow the land, and all that fills it" (Jer.7:2).
In Rev. 17:4 the woman is said to be clothed in purple and scarlet and decked with all kinds of ornaments.
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 woman is said to have in her hand a golden cup, full of abominations. Here we have another picture of
Babylon taken direct from the prophetic condemnation of the Old Testament. Jeremiah said: "Babylon was
a golden cup in the Lord's hand, making all the earth drunken; the nations drank of her wine; therefore the
nations went mad" (Jer.51:7). So Rome is said to hold the golden cup in which is that power of seduction
which has spread immorality over all the earth.
The woman is said to have a name on her forehead (Rev. 17:5). In Rome the prostitutes in the public
brothels wore upon their foreheads a frontlet giving their names. This is another vivid detail in the picture of
Rome as the great corrupting prostitute among the nations.

In Rev. 17:6 the woman is said to be drunk with the blood of God's dedicated people and with the blood of
the martyrs. This is a reference to the persecution of the Christians in the Roman Empire. But it does more
than simply stamp Rome as the great persecutor. She is glutted with slaughter; and she has revelled in that
slaughter as a drunken man revels in wine.
In Rev. 17:16 she is to be destroyed by the invasion of the ten kings. This we shall discuss more fully when
we come to discuss the symbolism of the beast. It is sufficient to say just now that it foretells the destruction
of Rome by the rising against her of her subject nations. It is as if to say that the great prostitute will in the
end be destroyed by her lovers turning against her.
2. THE BEAST
It is much harder to fix the meaning of the beast than of the woman, mainly because the meaning of the
beast does not stay steady. The beast has a series of interconnected meanings, whose point of union is that
they are all closely connected with Rome and with her empire.
(i) The woman sits on the beast and the beast is filled with blasphemous names which are all insults to God
(Rev. 17:3). If the woman is Rome, clearly the beast is the Roman Empire. It is full of blasphemous names.
This includes two things. First, it is a reference to the many gods of which the Roman Empire was full. All
these names are insults to God, for they are all infringements of his supreme and unique authority. No one
has the right to the name of god save only the true God. Second, it is a reference to many of the titles of the
emperor. The emperor was Sebastos, or Augustus, which means to be reverenced; and reverence belongs to
God alone. The emperor was divus or theios (GSN2304), which, the first in Latin and the second in Greek,
mean divine; and to God alone belongs that adjective. Many of the emperors were called soter (GSN4990),
saviour, which is uniquely the title of Jesus Christ. Most common of all, the emperor was in Latin dominus
and in Greek kurios (GSN2962), lord, which is the very name of God.
(ii) The beast has seven heads and ten horns (Rev. 17:3). This is a repetition of what is said of the beast in
Rev. 13:1, and we shall very soon return to its meaning here.
(iii) The beast was, and is not, and is about to come (Rev. 17:8). This goes back to Rev. 13:3,12,14 and is a
clear reference to the Nero redivivus legend, which is never far from the mind of John. We have already
seen that the ideas of Nero resurrected and of Antichrist had become inseparably connected. Therefore, in
this passage the beast stands for Antichrist.
(iv) The beast has seven heads. These are doubly explained.
(a) In Rev. 17:9 the seven heads are seven hills. Here we have an easy identification. Rome was the city
upon seven hills; this once again identifies the beast with Rome.
(b) The second identification is one of the riddles of the Revelation (Rev. 17:10-11).
They (the heads) are also seven kings. Five have fallen; one at present exists; another has not yet come, and,
when he shall come, he must remain for a short time. The beast, which was and is not, is itself the eighth. ]t
proceeds from the series of the seven, and it is on its way to destruction.
Five have fallen. The Roman Empire began with Augustus; and the first five emperors were Augustus,
Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. These, then, are the five who have fallen. We have already seen that
after the death of Nero there were two years of chaos in which Galba, Otho and Vitellius followed each
other in quick succession. They were not in any real sense emperors and cannot be included in any list.
One at present exists. This must be Vespasian, the first emperor to bring back stability to the empire, after
the chaos following the death of Nero; he reigned from A.D. 69-79.

Another has not yet come, and, when he shall come, he must remain for a short time. Vespasian was
succeeded by Titus, whose reign lasted for only two years from 79-81.
The beast which was, and is not, is itself the eighth. It proceeds from the series of the seven, and is on its
way to destruction. This can only mean that the emperor who followed Titus is being identified with Nero
redivivus and Antichrist; and the emperor who followed Titus was Domitian.
Can Domitian reasonably be identified with the evil force which Nero redivivus personified? We turn to the
life of Domitian written by Suetonius the Roman biographer, remembering that Suetonius was not a
Christian. Domitian, as Suetonius tells, was an object of terror and hatred to all. We get a grim picture of
him at the beginning of his reign. "He used to spend hours in seclusion every day, doing nothing but catch
flies and stab them with a keenly-sharpened stylus." Any psychologist would find that a curiously revealing
picture. He was insanely jealous and insanely suspicious. He formed a homosexual attachment for a famous
actor called Paris. One of the pupils of Paris so much resembled his teacher that it was not unreasonable to
suppose that he was his son; the lad was promptly murdered. Hermogenes, the historian, wrote things which
Domitian did not like; he was executed, and the scribe who had copied the manuscript was crucified.
Senators were slaughtered right and left. Sallustius Lucullus, governor of Britain, was executed because he
allowed a new type of lance to be called Lucullan. Domitian revived the old punishment of having his
victims stripped naked, fixed by the neck in a fork of wood and beaten to death with rods. He put down a
civil war that broke out in the provinces. Suetonius goes on: "After his victory in the civil war he became
even more cruel, and, to discover any conspirators who were in hiding, tortured many of the opposite party
by a new form of inquisition, inserting fire in their privates; and he cut off the hands of some of them."
Early in his reign he appeared wearing a golden crown with the figures of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva in it,
while the priest of Jupiter sat by his side. When he received back his divorced wife, he announced that she
had returned to the divine couch. When he entered the amphitheatre, he loved to be greeted with the cry:
"Good fortune attend our lord and his lady." He began his official edicts: "Our lord and god bids this to be
done." Soon that was the only way in which he might be addressed.
He was so suspicious that he never gave prisoners a hearing in private, and, even when he heard them with
his guards present, they were chained. He so feared for his own life that he had the passages and colonnades
through which he moved tiled with phlengite stone, which is like a mirror, so that he could see anyone who
was moving behind him. Finally, on 18 September, A.D. 96, he was murdered in the bloodiest
circumstances.
To all this we may add a final fact; it was Domitian who first made Caesar worship compulsory and who
was, therefore, responsible for unloosing the flood-tides of persecution on the Christian Church.
It might well be that John saw in Domitian the reincarnation of Nero. Others did precisely the same. Juvenal
spoke of Rome being "enslaved to a bald-headed Nero" (Domitian was bald) and was exiled and finally
murdered for his temerity. Tertullian called Domitian "a man of Nero's type of cruelty," and "a sub-Nero," a
verdict which Eusebius repeated.
The one difficulty is that it makes it look as if John wrote in the reign of Vespasian; and we know that John
in fact wrote under Domitian. Two possibilities may explain this. John may have written this particular
vision years before in the time of Vespasian, lived to see it come terribly true and incorporated it in his final
draft of the Revelation. Or he may have written it all in the reign of Domitian, and, projected himself back
into the time of Vespasian to trace in retrospect the terrible lines that history had taken.
However we explain it, the picture is satisfied if we hold that John saw in Domitian the reincarnation of
Nero, the supreme embodiment of Roman wickedness and defiance of God; we need not go on to say that
he identified Domitian with Antichrist.
There remains one problem in identification and it is less susceptible of definite solution than the others. In

Rev. 17:12-17 it is said that the ten horns are ten kings who have not yet received their power. They will
receive it, and when they do, two things will happen. They will unanimously agree to hand over their own
power to the beast; and with him they will rise against the harlot and make war with the Lamb and finally be
defeated.
By far the likeliest interpretation of this is that the ten kings are the satraps of the Parthian hosts, who will
make common cause with Nero redivivus and under him fight the last battle in which Rome will be
destroyed and the Lamb will subdue every hostile force in the universe.
6. PULPIT, “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with
me, saying unto me; and spake with me, saying. Omit "unto me." This and the following chapters
(to Rev_19:21) consist of visions which are really included under the seventh vial, but which, on
account of their length and elaboration, may be considered apart from the other judgments of that
vial. In the preceding chapters we have had placed before us a conspectus of three classes of
ungodly people, and the three principles of evil in their abstract form, as represented by the world
(the first beast), the flesh (the second beast), and the devil (the dragon). The personal final
overthrow of the devil is described in Rev_20:10; Rev_17:1-18. and 18, are devoted to the
description of the judgments of the two former—the world, in its character of the openly hostile
persecutor of the Church of God; and the other portion of the ungodly who, while still professing
Christianity, find excuses for conforming to the worship of the image of the beast. The first beast
is, therefore, identical with Babylon, and represents, as we have seen, the openly hostile and
persecuting world power of all ages, of which, in St. John's time, Rome was the foremost
embodiment. The second beast is identical with the harlot, and represents faithless Christians, the
apostate portion of the Church. The very raison d'etre of the Apocalypse is to deal with these two
forms of evil; to declare the overthrow of the one, and to warn and, if possible, reclaim those
under the influence of the other. In the latter case, the warning consists in setting forth the
judgment in store for faithless Christians; and as this is the course pursued with the former also,
the two merge into one, and indeed are declared to be one. The apostle in substance declares
that, though there is a prima facie difference between the two forms of ungodliness, there is in
reality no distinction to be made, but both are involved in one common final judgment. He thus
twice solemnly asserts that the harlot is Babylon (verses 5 and 18). The comments upon the
following chapters will be based upon this hypothesis, the reasons for which will be brought out
more clearly as we proceed. The opening words of this chapter leave no doubt that the visions
which follow are connected with the vial judgments. The "one of the seven angels" may be the
seventh angel, to whom it pertained to unfold the circumstances connected with the last judgment.
Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment. Hither, de???? , without the verb, as in Rev_21:9
and Joh_11:43. Though this particular narration necessarily takes place after the account of the
vials, yet we are not to understand that the events here related are subsequent to these related in
the concluding verses of the previous chapter. Note the remarkable similarity between these
words and these of Rev_21:9, and the contrast between the bride, the wife of the Lamb, and the
harlot who is connected with the beast. Wordsworth carries the comparison even to the form of
words, thus—
The harlot and the beast.
?? p?´??? ?a?` t?` ????´?? ,
?? ??´ f? ?a?` t?` a????´??
The bride and the Lamb.
Of the great whore; harlot (Revised Version). There seems no doubt that this figure describes the
degenerate portion of the Church of God.
(1) As we have already seen, this symbolism is made use of by St. John to portray the
faithlessness of those who are professedly servants of God (see Rev_2:20; Rev_14:4), and in this
sense it is applied in the great majority of passages of Scripture where it occurs (cf. Isa_1:21; Jer_

2:20; Jer_3:1-25.; Eze_16:1-63.; 23.; Hos_2:5; Hos_3:3; Hos_4:15; Mic_1:7). In Isa_23:1-18, and
Nah_3:14 the term refers to Tyre and Nineveh respectively.
(2) There is an intended contrast between the bride and the Lamb, and the harlot who allies
herself with the beast (vide supra).
(3) A contrast is also probably intended between the woman clothed with the sun (Rev_12:1-17.),
bringing forth the man child, Christ Jesus the Saviour—the representation of the pure Church—
and the harlot clothed in scarlet, the mother of harlots and abominations—the representation of
the faithless part of the Church.
(4) Both the woman of Rev_12:1-17. and the harlot of this chapter reside in the wilderness, that is,
this world (see on Rev_12:14); indeed, they are to men sometimes indistinguishable (cf. the
parable of the wheat and tares).
(5) The faithful Church, the bride, is called a city (Rev_21:2, Rev_21:9, Rev_21:10); so the
faithless portion of tile Church, the harlot, is identified with the city Babylon (Rev_11:8; Rev_17:4.
5). Other coincidences will be noted as we proceed. But it seems equally impossible to accept the
view that this faithless portion of the Church refers to papal Rome, and none other. We must
include all the faithless of God's Church in all time. If the fulfilment is to be limited at all, it seems
more reasonable to suppose that the first reference of St. John was to the faithless members of
the seven Churches to which he addresses the Apocalypse. But we are, no doubt, intended to see
here a picture of the position of the unfaithful part of the Church wherever it exists, at any time,
and which men are certainly not able always to specify and judge. On this point see Professor
Milligan's 'Baird Lectures' for 1885, on "The Revelation of St. John." In lect. 5. he says, "But
Babylon is not the Church of Rome in particular. Deeply, no doubt, that Church has sinned. .. Yet
the interpretation is false ... Babylon cannot be Christian Rome; and nothing has been more
injurious to the Protestant Churches than the impression that the two were identical, and that, by
withdrawing from communion with the pope, they wholly freed themselves from alliance with the
spiritual harlot. Babylon embraces much more than Rome, and illustrations of what she is lie
nearer our own door. Wherever professedly Christian men have thought the world's favour better
than its reproach; wherever they have esteemed its honours a more desirable possession than its
shame; wherever they have courted ease rather than welcomed suffering, have loved self
indulgence rather than self sacrifice, and have substituted covetousness in grasping for generosity
in distributing what they had,—there the spirit of Babylon has been manifested. In short, we have
in the great harlot city neither the Christian Church as a whole, nor the Romish Church in
particular, but all who anywhere within the Church profess to be Christ's 'little flock' and are not,
denying in their lives the main characteristic by which they ought to be distinguished—that they
'follow' Christ." (For the distinction between the harlot and Babylon, see above.) That sitteth upon
many waters. "The" is inserted in B and other manuscripts, probably on account of the reference
in verse 15, but is omitted in à , A, P, and others. This is the description of Babylon in Jer_51:13,
whence, doubtless, the expression is derived. In the place quoted, the sentence refers to the
many canals of Babylon; but the interpretation of this passage is given in Jer_51:15, where the
waters are stated to be "peoples." This fact sufficiently demonstrates that, though the imagery of
the Apocalypse be taken from the Old Testament, it is not always safe to insist on an exactly
similar interpretation; the symbols employed may be applied in an independent manner. That the
harlot sits on many waters therefore shows us that the faithless portion of the Church is to be
found distributed amongst "peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues."
7. BURKITT, “Observe here, 1. The angel's invitation to the subsequent vision, One of the angels,
talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee, &c.
Where we see the readiness of those ministering spirits, the holy angels, to do any good office for
the saints, and with what cheerfulness they are employed about things for our consolation, and
the sweet familiarity that is between them and the saints, evidenced by that expression, He talked
with me, saying, Come hither.
Observe, 2. The promise which the angel makes to St. John, namely, to show him the judgment

of the great whore. By the whore, all understand the city of Rome; only some will have it Rome
Pagan, others Rome Papal, or the great idolatrous city and church of Rome. Idolatry is often in
scripture style called whoredom; and idolaters are said to go a whoring from God. A whore is a
person married to an husband, who afterwards proves false to his bed. The Papal present church
of Rome deserves this name, having been guilty of the greatest defection and apostasy from the
true evangelical doctrine and worship that ever was in the world; and she is deservedly also called
the great whore,because of her whoredoms committed with so many under her power and
jurisdiction, having many people subject to her, and for that reason is here said to sit upon many
waters.
The true church is Christ's bride and spouse, she is betrothed unto him in righteousness, in
loving-kindness, and in tender mercy; and at any time by idolatry to apostatize from him is spiritual
whoredom, which shall not pass without deserved punishment.
Learn hence, How hateful idolatry is to God, and how highly it provokes God's wrath, even as the
whoredom of a woman who plays the common harlot provokes the jealousy of her husband.
Verily, never was husband more jealous of the chastity of his suspected wife, than God is jealous
in point of worship.
8. PULPIT, “"Babylon the great."
Our aim in this homily will be to show to what form of evil the name "Babylon the great" specially
seems to point. The complexity and difficulty which have gathered round this chapter seem to the
writer to arise rather from the enormous incubus of human interpretation which has pressed it
down. In this passage we are shown rather a twisted rope than a tangled web. If we untwist the
threads and lay them side by side, we shall not have much difficulty, specially if we exercise all
that reverent and painstaking care which is due to the examination of every part of the Word of
God. The main figure in the symbolism of the chapter is an infamous woman. Those who are
familiar with Old Testament prophecy will know how often the terms "fornication," "adultery," etc.,
are used. As in Isa_1:21; Jer_2:20; Jer_3:1, Jer_3:6, Jer_3:8, and in many other places, such
terms are used of an apostate Church. In Isa_23:15-17the like terms are used of Tyre; in Nah_
3:4, of Nineveh. So that, so far as the use of such terms in Scripture is concerned, they may mean
apostasy from God under the form either of secular rule or of religious corruption. Nor can we
have any difficulty in seeing the propriety of such figures. As fornication and adultery are forms of
false affection, and are the prostitution of the most sacred part of our nature to alien purposes, so
the alienation of the heart from God, and the departure of a Church from fidelity to him, is a
violation of the most sacred ties, and is the leaguing of the heart in a false alliance, which is
odious to our God. Where is THIS harlot seen? There is a triple combination of expressions here.
(1) She is seen seated on the beast with seven heads and ten horns;
(2) seated on seven hills;
(3) seated on many waters, which are peoples, nations, and tongues.
Her being seated on the beast, or resting on the civil world power, is one form of expressing her
alliance with state authority. The seven heads of the beast are so many forms of worldly
dominion—five of which had passed away, viz. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece. The
sixth existed at the time of the apostle. This was Rome. The seventh was another which, when
Rome was no more Rome, would rise up, and would be manifest in ten forms. The number ten
may be a definite expression for an indefinite number, or it may be that the world powers may yet
be resolvable into ten before Babylon's fall. And the beast himself—being an eighth—is also
doomed to perdition. That the woman is also spoken of as seated on seven hills, and (in Nah_
3:18) as "that great city," again indicates a very precise reference to Rome. That she was seated
on many waters indicates her sway being as wide as that of the great world power with which she
was in base alliance. Seated on this earthly power, and yet controlling it, as a rider is seated on a
horse and yet controls the beast. This is the harlot, Babylon the great, which made all nations to
drink of the wine of her fornication. Nor must we fail to notice the several descriptive features of
the harlot. She is:

(1) Clad in gorgeous aray (Rev_17:4).
(2) Holding out an enticing cup (Nah_3:4).
(3) Mother of harlots and abominations (Nah_3:5).
(4) Drunk with the blood of the holy (Nah_3:6).
(5) Poisoning the inhabitants of the earth (Rev_18:3).
(6) Bearing names of blasphemy (Nah_3:3).
(7) Yet in a wilderness (Nah_3:3).
(8) Ruling over the kings of the earth (Nah_3:18).
(9) One by whom the merchants grow rich (Rev_18:3).
(10) Presumptuous in her self security (Rev_18:7).
(11) Hated by the very powers whom she has ruled (Nah_3:16).
Hence we are bidden, by the very terms of the symbolism, to look out for some form of evil, which
manifests a glaring alienation and apostasy from God—while yet putting on a form like that of the
faithful Church; which at once relies on worldly power, and yet assumes its direction; which
invests itself in gorgeous array, assumes pompous titles, even such as are names of blasphemy
against our Lord and against his Christ; which should exert a most baneful influence on the
inhabitants of the earth, and fill the air with the miasma of her pollutions and her crimes; which
should be at ease in her self security, as it no power could disturb her; which should shed the
blood of the saints without measure; and which should be in itself the very filth and scum of
wickedness. The apostle is astonished with a great astonishment at the symbols of such an
incarnation of evil. And a voice is heard crying aloud, "Come out of her, my people that ye
receive not of her plagues." Can we now point to any form or forms of evil that answer to this
symbolism? We have no hesitation in saying—Yes. In so doing, let us observe that there really is
not room for any great diversity in applying such symbolism as we have here, for surely there are
few forms of evil so gigantic as to suit the words, "She hath made all nations drink," etc. It is,
however, clear that whatever form of evil there may be, known or unknown to us, which presents
all the features named here, or even the greater part of them, there is a great Babylon which is
doomed to a fall that will be utter and irretrievable. Therefore observe—
I. One form of Babylon the great is seen in that terrible, awful, universal departure from God which
has corrupted all nations, perverted politics, poisoned commerce, and marred social life; by which,
as manifested in the iniquitous pursuit of gain, many have grown rich; which has manifested itself
in "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life;" which has assumed a
domineering air, commanding men to bow down to it, under pain of social ostracism or petty
persecution. This spirit of exaltation, against God has often puffed men up in false security. It hath
been the curse of mankind; for when men are unfaithful to God, they are untrue to themselves.
The cup of iniquity becomes fuller and fuller. Often the land mourneth because there is no truth
nor justice, nor knowledge of God, therein. Yea, in legion forms this worldwide poison of sin,
which works out in blasphemy towards God and ruin towards man, is a great Babylon, which will
be smitten, and reel, and fall. And in so far as any so called Church puts itself between man and
God, and usurps his rights, it is akin to Babylon the great. £
II. At the same time, we cannot fail to see that there is one special form of evil which more than
anything else in the world is pointed out in the symbolism of this chapter, and that is THE
APOSTASY OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. Not that we can agree with those who think papal
Rome the sole enemy of God here referred to. For we shall find in the lamentation over Babylon's

fall much that leads us to think not only of a huge ecclesiastical Babylon, but also of a huge
commercial one. But that papal Rome is one form of this mystic Babylon we can entertain no
doubt whatever. The student of history can follow out at leisure thirteen or fourteen lines of inquiry,
on which we can but give a few illustrative remarks.
1. The woman was seated on the beast as if supported by it (Nah_3:3). Rome has relied on the
worldly power to put her decrees into execution by brute force; both in using temporal powers, and
in herself claiming temporal power as well as spiritual.
2. She yet rides the beast as if to govern it (Nah_3:3). We know but too well how Rome has aimed
at, and does still aim at, controlling the power on which she relies; claiming even to regulate
allegiance to earthly princes.
3. She is seated on many waters (Nah_3:1). In every quarter of the world her emissaries are sent.
And in many a land where the pure gospel of Christ has been preached, she sends her
emissaries to undo the holy work by sowing tares among the wheat.
4. She rules over the kings of the earth (Nah_3:18). Kings are but the "sons of the Church," to do
the bidding of their "holy" (?) mother; otherwise she may absolve subjects from allegiance to their
sovereign.
5. She holds out a golden cup full of abominations (Nah_3:4). Papal Rome makes large offers of
indulgences and absolutions, and positively lures men into sin.
6. The merchants grow rich by her (Rev_18:3). Many are enriched by the ungodly traffic to which
she consents in making the house of prayer a den of thieves; for her indulgences and absolutions
will cover any kind and degree of sin, whether in the getting of wealth or otherwise.
7. She is presumptuous in her self security (Rev_18:7). Papal Rome acknowledges no other
Church, and looks for the time when all will be absorbed in her, while she is to be "a lady forever."
8. She is adorned with pompous array—in gold (Nah_3:4), purple, scarlet, and precious stones.
Anyone who has watched the working of papal Rome at Rome will need no words to convince him
of her gorgeous display and dazzling sheen.
9. She is drunk with the blood of the holy (Nah_3:6). What tales does history unfold! A hundred
and fifty thousand persons perished under the Inquisition in thirty years; and from the beginning of
the Order of Jesuits, in 1540, it is supposed that nine hundred thousand persons perished through
papal cruelty. While, although it is impossible to estimate the exact number, yet it is supposed that
during the papal persecutions of the Waldenses, Albigenses, Bohemian Brethren, Wickliffites, and
other Protestants, those who perished are counted by the million. The same spirit exists still. In
Ireland the priests keep the people in terror, and if Rome does not persecute us, it is because
shedare not.
10. She is the mother of abominations (Nah_3:5). Students of history and tourists in papal districts
know that this is literally true. Indulgences for an indefinite number of years may be purchased
with money. No viler looking set of faces could ever be beheld than the present writer has seen
surrounding the confessional boxes in St. Peter's at Rome.
11. The beast she rides is full of names of blasphemy (Nah_3:3). The proclamation of infallibility is
the one fulfilment of this that surpasses all others.
12. The inhabitants of the earth are led by her into sin (Rev_18:3). The papal Church notoriously
leads people into the sin of idolatry. The worship of Rome is largely the adoration of a great
goddess. £ Papists pronounce accursed those who do not "honour, worship, and adore the
adorable images."
13. The several kings or kingdoms into which the civil power of the beast is to be divided shall

"hate the whore, and make her desolate," etc. (Nah_3:16). How true! If there is an object of
imperial hatred, it is papal Rome, which is hated most of all. She is regarded as the disturber of
states everywhere.
14. Yet within this great Babylon there will be to the last some saints of God, who will be called on
to come out of her (Rev_18:4). Even so. Fearfully apostate and adulterous as is papal Rome,
there are in her pale many holy ones who are profoundly ignorant of the abominations, done by
her in religion's name. The Lord will know his own in the day when he maketh up his jewels. But
this great Babylon of harlotry, pomp, pride, and all abominations, is doomed to fall terribly,
suddenly, completely, and forever! £ Earnestly do we press on the student carefully to follow up
each of these fourteen lines on which history will be found to confirm the prophecy here couched
in symbolic form. The identification is such that not one point seems lacking. How this great
mystery of iniquity is to fall we have yet to consider.
9. BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR 1-6, "The Judgment of the great whore.
A corrupt Christianity
The description here given of this harlot suggests and illustrates three great evils ever
conspicuous in corrupt Christianity.
I. Political subserviency. “With whom the kings of the earth have committed
fornication.” Essentially Christianity is the absolute queen of life. Although her kingdom
is “not of this world,” her demand is that the world should bow to her. In yielding to
worldly influence she lost her pristine purity and primitive power, she got corrupted,
and became more and more the servant of rulers and the instrument of states.
II. Worldly proclivity. “And the woman was arrayed in purple anal scarlet colour, and
decked with gold,” etc. Genuine Christianity is essentially unworldly.
III. Religious intolerance. “And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints,”
etc. (David Thomas, D. D.)
Babylon and Anti-Christ
I. The woman.
1. Her position, which was indicative of power. John saw her seated upon a beast,
“dreadful, and terrible, and strong exceedingly”; for so, in the book of Daniel, we find
him described. Again, it was a position indicative of hostility to God. For the beast on
which the woman sat was “full of names of blasphemy.” Then it was a position
indicative of the unsightliness of vice. What a hideous monster was this beast,
“having seven heads and ten horns”; and how strange was the picture presented to
the apostle’s view of “the great whore,” as seated upon him. Here, too, was a position
indicative of cruelty towards men, as well as of hostility towards God. The beast on
which she sat was scarlet-coloured, betokening war and bloodshed. It was a position,
nevertheless, of allurement and seduction. For she was seen as one who had in her
hand “a golden cup,” too successfully held forth to “the inhabitants of the earth,”
who are represented as having been “made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”
Her position once more was that of a deceiver and destroyer. The cup held forth was
“golden.” But its contents, as seen by the apostle—what were they? It was “full of
abominations,” etc.
2. Her attire. “The woman was arrayed in purple, and scarlet-coloured,” indicative of
her real dignity; “and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls”—illustrative

of her vast wealth. How many, beholding a female thus adorned, would at once wish
to occupy her place! Yet such might be arrayed on earth in purple, and fail of being
hereafter arrayed in white in heaven. Instead of wishing to be “decked with gold and
precious stones,” such as John saw glittering on “the mother of harlots and
abominations of the earth,” let the heart go after that “redemption of the soul” which
is “precious, and ceaseth for ever.”
3. Her names.
(1) “Mystery.” Such she would have been to John but for the angel’s explanation.
Such, even with that explanation, she to certain extent remained to him. And
such she was destined to remain to the Church of God through a long succession
of ages. Let it be observed, however, that inquiry into the import of the vision
was, as it were, challenged by the angel who showed this “woman” to John. We
do not, therefore, act unbecomingly in endeavouring to ascertain what this
“woman” was destined to represent to the apostle.
(2) “Babylon the Great.” In having this name inscribed upon her “forehead, she
was exhibited to the apostle in a vaunting attitude, and as under the influence of
a spirit, similar to that of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan_4:30). Elsewhere, too, in this
book we find her displaying a boastful and vainglorious temper of mind (Rev_
18:7). This should be a lesson to us not to be high-minded, as the possessors of
either worldly or religious distinctions.
(3) “The mother of harlots, and abominations of the earth.” This was indeed to
have “a whore’s forehead,” and to be, as the Jewish nation was once charged with
being, one that “refused to be ashamed.” Behold the woman with unblushing
effrontery proclaiming to the world her character and misdoings; and see, m her,
the foreshowing of those “latter times,” in which “doctrines of devils” shall be
promulgated, and “men, giving heed to seducing spirits, shall depart from the
faith”; times when there shall be a “forbidding to marry.” It would seem that in
this way Babylon the Great is destined to become “the mother of harlots”—
namely, by an authoritative prohibition of the nuptial tie; a doing away with
marriage throughout the wide extent of her dominion, and a consequent
abandonment of society to general dissoluteness.
4. Her condition. “And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints,” etc.
What spectacle was this! fitted to awaken in his bosom feelings at once of disgust and
horror. How fearful an amount of persecuting rage against the Church of God, as
destined to become apparent in the days of the ascendency of “Babylon the Great,”
was thus prophetically indicated to him! And of what an amount of suffering, on the
part of the saints, and of the witnesses for Jesus, was he thus made aware
beforehand.
II. The beast.
1. His colour. A scarlet-coloured beast. What did this indicate? Perhaps, his regal
character. We are forewarned that he will be a king of widely-extended rule. In
another vision John saw “power given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and
nations.” “And the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” We
conclude, then, that in being foreshown to John as a scarlet-coloured beast, the regal
character of the Man of sin may have been prophetically indicated, and in particular
his character, as vicegerent on earth, of the “great red dragon” (Rev_12:3). But it is
more probable that, in presenting him thus to the view of the apostle, the Divine
purpose may have been to foreshow to the Christian world the character of

antichrist, as a warrior and persecutor of the Church of God. Such he most certainly
will be. As a scarlet-coloured beast he might be very fitly presented to view—a
monster dyed, as it were, in blood—when it is considered that the time of his
ascendency will be “a time of trouble such as never was, since there was a nation to
that same time” (compare Rev_12:12; Dan_12:1), and “except that the Lord had
shortened those days, no flesh would be saved.” Power was given to him to make war
forty-and-two months—no longer. Then he was, as foreshown to John, “cast alive
into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”
2. His names. “He was full of names of blasphemy,” which make us, as they made the
apostle, aware that antichrist, when he shall come, besides “wearing out the saints,”
will “speak great words against the Most High”—“marvellous things against the God
of gods.” In times long gone he was foreshown to the prophet Daniel as one who
would act thus. It will be one special end of his mission, as Satan’s prime minister in
the world, to blaspheme.
3. His figure. He had “seven heads and ten horns,” and must, hence, have presented
to the apostle an aspect at once singular, hideous, and terrible—indicative, however,
of large intelligence and vast power.
4. His manifestation, contemporaneously with that of “Babylon the Great.” Together
they will flourish—together they will fall. The day of power to both will be one and
the same. The day of doom also.
5. His subservience to her exaltation and advancement. She is seated on him. He
“carrieth her.” Her prosperity, glory, and dominion will be consequent on, and
commensurate with, his own.
III. The apostle’s wonder at the spectacle. “And when I saw her I wondered with great
admiration.” But John was rebuked on account of the “great admiration” with which he
“wondered” at the woman on whom he was looking. He writes, “And the angel said unto
me, wherefore didst thou marvel?” What you have now before you is not, in itself, a
spectacle that ought to be wondered at, as it now is, by you. And, even if the world will
wonder at it, should you do so? “They shall wonder, whose names were not written in
the book of life, from the foundation of the world” (verse 8). But “wherefore shouldst
thou marvel?”
IV. The angel’s promise to John. “I will tell thee the mystery of the woman.” This vision
was granted to the apostle for the purpose of instruction, not of mere entertainment. The
angel will unfold the mystery to him. The promised revelation, however, of all to him, a
holy man of God and a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, is in accordance with what we
read elsewhere (Psa_25:14). (H. Edwards.)
The martyrs of Jesus.
The noble army of martyrs
I. What do the “Martyrs of Jesus” teach us about themselves?
1. Their heroic faith. They had unswerving reliance in Christ, and knew they were not
following cunningly devised fables. These martyrs had not simply an opinion or
impression, but a deep belief; they were resting upon evidence which they felt to be
sufficient and immovable. They believed in living, risen, and reigning Lord.
2. Their sublime hope. All they could see seemed to be against them, all their

surroundings were calculated to depress them; but they looked not at things seen
and temporal, but for aa inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away.
3. Their ardent love. They loved their country, home, and friends; but they loved
their Master more, and they were prepared to relinquish all for the love they bore to
Him.
4. Their complete obedience. They had their marching orders, and they marched on
under the Great Captain of their salvation, to do and dare and die. They reciprocated
His love.
5. Their transparent sincerity.
6. Their restful satisfaction. They felt they had not only sufficient, but satisfactory
evidence of the truth as it is in Jesus. They found in Him all they needed to satisfy
the wishes and wants of their spirits, so nothing could move them or shake their
steadfastness.
II. What do “the martyrs of Jesus” teach us respecting Him?
1. He could have been no myth. These martyrs were—as the word literally means—
witnesses, not inventors, or historians merely, they had the evidence of their senses
as well as the experience of their hearts. From what we know of human nature, we
feel it would have been impossible for the early Christians to have died for a myth or
phantom: they were in a position to test most fully the historic claims of Christ, and
to prove His personality and identity at the various points of His mission and
ministry.
2. He could not have been a deceiver. Men may submit to be deluded when they have
much to gain and nothing to lose; but when it is the reverse they will exercise the
utmost vigilance and practise the strictest caution.
3. How faithful Christ was to His promise never to leave nor forsake them, and they
witness to the victorious power of His religion to sustain the soul in the most trying
circumstances, in torturing pain, and the dying hour.
4. The impotence of error and the omnipotence of truth. Truth is mighty, and must
prevail; more is for it than all that can be against it. Error, in its rage and cowardice,
has drawn the sword and gone forth to win its way, and strike terror into the hearts
of the true. But the prospect of massacre and martyrdom could not deter the true
followers of the Lamb: they have gone forth feeling that the Lord of hosts was with
them, and that the mighty God of Jacob was their refuge. The King Immortal,
Invisible, steers and guards His own ark, and all shall ultimately and utterly fail and
fall who lay their unholy alien hands upon it. The noble army of martyrs praise God,
and they preach to us. (F. W. Brown.)
10. EBC, "THE BEAST AND BABYLOST
AT the close of chap. 16, we reached the end of the three great series of judgments which
constitute the chief contents of the Revelation of St. John, - the series of the Seals, the
Trumpets, and the Bowls. It cannot surprise us, however, that at this point other visions
of judgment are to follow. Already we had reached the end at Rev_6:17, and again at

Rev_11:18; yet on both occasions the same general subject was immediately afterwards
renewed, and the same truths were again presented to us, though in a different aspect
and with heightened coloring. We are pre pared therefore to meet something of the same
kind now. Yet it is not the whole history of that "little season" with which the Apocalypse
deals that is brought under our notice in fresh and striking vision. One great topic, the
greatest that has hitherto been spoken of, is selected for fuller treatment, - the fall of
Babylon. Twice before we have heard of Babylon and of her doom, - at Rev_14:8, when
the second angel of the first group gathered around the Lord as He came to judgment
exclaimed, "Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great, which hath made all the nations to drink
of the wine of the wrath of her fornication;" and again at Rev_16:19, when under the
seventh Bowl we were told that "Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God,
to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath." So much importance,
however, is attached by the Seer to the fortunes of this city that two chapters of his book
- the seventeenth and the eighteenth - are devoted to the more detailed descriptions of
her and of her fate. These two chapters form one of the most striking, if at the same time
one of the most difficult, portions of his book. We have first to listen to the language of
St. John; and, long as the passage is, it will be necessary to take the whole of chap. 17 at
once: -
"And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and spake with me,
saying, Come hither; I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon
many waters: with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that
dwell m the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication. And he carried
me away in the Spirit into a wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-
colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the
woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and
pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of
her fornication, and upon her forehead a name written, Mystery, Babylon the great, the
mother of the harlots and of the abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman
drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and
when I saw her, I marveled with a great marveling. And the angel said unto me,
Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast
that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that thou
sawest was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss: and he goeth into
perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall marvel, they whose name hath not been
written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast,
how that he was, and is not, and shall be present. Here is the mind that hath wisdom.
The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And they are seven
kings: the five are (alien, the one is me other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he
must continue a little while. And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth,
and is of the seven; and he goeth into perdition. And the ten horns that thou sawest are
ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but they receive authority as kings
with the beast for one hour. These have one mind, and they give their power and
authority unto the beast. These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall
overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they also shall overcome
that are with Him called, and chosen, and faithful. And he saith unto me, The waters
which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations,
and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest, and the beast, these shall hate the
harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her
utterly with fire. For God did put in their hearts to do His mind, and to come to one
mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God should be

accomplished. And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which reigneth over
the kings of the earth (Rev_17:1-18)."
The main questions connected with the interpretation of this chapter are, What are we to
understand by the beast spoken of, and what by Babylon? The Seer is summoned by one
of the angels that had the seven Bowls to behold a spectacle which fills him with a great
marveling. Thus summoned, he obeys; and he is immediately carried away into a
wilderness, where he sees a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of
blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
1. What is this beast, and what in particular is his relation to the beast of chap. 13?
At first sight the points of difference appear to be neither few nor unimportant The order
of the heads and of the horns is different, the horns taking precedence of the heads in
the earlier, the heads of the horns in the later, of the two.1 The first is said to have had
upon "his heads" names of blasphemy; the second is "full of" such names.2 There are
diadems on the horns of the former, but not of the latter.3 Of the first we are told that he
comes up "out of the sea," of the second that he is about to come up "out of the abyss."4
In addition to these particulars, it will be observed that several traits of the first beast are
not mentioned in connection with the second. These last points of difference may be
easily set aside. They create no inconsistency between the descriptions given; and we
have already had occasion for the remark, that it is the manner of the Seer to enlarge in
one part of his book his account of an object also referred to in another part. His readers
are expected to combine the different particulars in order to form a complete conception
of the object. (1Comp. Rev_13:1; Rev_17:3; Rev_17:7; 2Comp. Rev_13:1; Rev_17:3;
3Comp. Rev_13:1; Rev_17:3; Rev_17:12; 4Comp. Rev_13:1; Rev_17:8)
The more positive points of difference, again, may be simply and naturally explained. In
Rev_13:1 the horns take precedence of the heads because the beast is beheld rising up
out of the sea, the horns in this case appearing before the heads. In the second case,
when the beast is seen in the wilderness, the order of nature is preserved. The
distribution of the names of blasphemy is in all probability to be accounted for in a
similar manner. At the moment when the Seer beholds them in chap. 13 his attention
has been arrested by the heads of the beast, and he has not yet seen the whole body.
When he beholds them in chap. 17, the entire beast is before him, and is "full of" such
names. The presence of diadems upon the ten horns in the first, and their absence in the
second, beast depends upon the consideration that it is a common method of St. John to
dwell upon an object presented to him ideally before he treats it historically. We know
that the ten horns are ten kings or kingdoms1; and the diadem is the appropriate symbol
of royalty. When therefore we think of the beast in his ideal or ultimate manifestation in
the ten kings of whom we are shortly to read, we think of the horns as crowned with
diadems; and it is thus accordingly that we see the beast in chap. 13. On the other hand,
at the point immediately before us "the ten kings have received no kingdom as yet;"2 and
the diadems are wanting. The application of this principle further explains the difference
between what are apparently two origins for these beasts, - "the sea" and "the abyss."
The former is mentioned in chap. 13, because there we have the beast before us in
himself, and in the source from which he springs. The latter is mentioned in chap. 17,
because the beast has now reached a definite period of his history to which the coming
up out of "the abyss" belongs. The "sea" is his real source; the "abyss" has been only his
temporary abode. The monster springs out of the sea, lives, dies, goes into the abyss,
rises from the dead, is roused to his last paroxysm of rage, is defeated, and passes into
perdition.3 This last is his history in chap. 17, and that history is in perfect harmony with
what is stated of him in chap. 13, - that by nature he comes up out of the sea. (1 Rev_

17:12; 2 Rev_17:12; 3 Rev_17:11)
While the points of difference between the beasts of chap. 13 and chap. 17 may thus
without difficulty be reconciled, the points of agreement are such as to lead directly to
the identification of the two. Some of these have already come under our notice in
speaking of the differences. Others are still more striking. Thus the beast of chap. 13 is
described as the vicegerent of the dragon1; and the object of the dragon is to make war
upon the remnant of the woman’s seed.2 When therefore we find the beast of chap. 17
engaged in the same work, 3 we must either resort, to the most unlikely of all conclusions
that the dragon has two vicegerents - or we must admit that the two beasts are one.
Again, the characteristic of a rising from the dead is so unexpected and mysterious that
it is extremely difficult to assign it to two different agencies; yet we formerly saw that
this characteristic belongs to the beast of chap. 13, and we shall immediately see that it
belongs also to that of chap. 17. Nay more, it is to be noticed that both in chap. 13 and in
chap. 17 the marveling of the world after the beast is connected with his resurrection
state. This was undoubtedly the case in chap. 13; and in the present chapter the cause of
the world’s astonishment is not less expressly said to be its be holding in the beast how
that he was, and is not, and shall be present.4 Let us add to what has been said that the
figures of the Apocalypse are the product of so rich and fertile an imagination that, had a
difference between the two beasts been intended, it would, we may believe, have been
more distinctly marked; and the conclusion is inevitable that the beast before us is that
also of the thirteenth chapter. (1 Rev_13:2; 2 Rev_12:17; 3 Rev_17:14; 4 Rev_17:8)
Turning then to the beast as here represented, we have to note one or two particulars
regarding him, either new or stated with greater fullness and precision than before;
while, at the same time, we have the explanation of the angel to help us in interpreting
the vision.
(1) The beast was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss: and he goeth into
perdition. The words are a travesty of what we read of the Son of man in chap. 1: "I am
the first and the last, and the living One; and I became dead: and, behold, I am alive for
evermore."1 An antichrist is before us, who has been slaughtered unto death, and the
stroke of whose death shall be healed.2 Still further we seem entitled to infer that when
this beast appears he shall have the marks of his death upon him. They that dwell on the
earth shall marvel when they behold the beast, how that he was, and is not, and shall
be present. The inference is fair that there must be something visible upon him by which
these different states may be distinguished. In other words, the beast exhibits marks
which show that he had both died and passed through death. He is the counterpart of
"the Lamb standing as though it had been slaughtered."3 (1 Rev_1:18; 2Comp. Rev_13:3;
3 Rev_5:6)
(2) The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And they are
seven kings: the five are fallen, the one is, the other is not yet come; and when he
cometh, he must continue a little while. Notwithstanding all that has been said to the
contrary by numerous and able expositors, these words cannot be applied directly to any
seven emperors of Rome. It may be granted that the Seer had the thought of Rome
sitting upon its seven hills in his eye as one of the manifestations of the beast, but the
whole tenor of his language is too wide and comprehensive to permit the thought that
the beast itself is Rome. Besides this, the heads are spoken of as being also "mountains;"
and we cannot say of any five of the seven hills of Rome that they "are fallen," or of any
one of them that it is "not yet come." Nor could even any five successive kings of Rome
be described as "fallen," for that word denotes passing away, not simply by death, but by
violent and conspicuous over throw;1 and no series of five emperors in other respects

suitable to the circumstances can be mentioned some of whom at least did not die
peaceably in their beds. Finally, the word "kings" in the language of prophecy denotes,
not personal kings, but kingdoms.2 These seven "mountains" or seven "kings," therefore,
are the manifestations of the beast in successive eras of oppression suffered by the
people of God. Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, and Greece are the first five; and they
are "fallen" - fallen in the open ruin which they brought upon themselves by wickedness.
Rome is the sixth, and "it is" in the Apostle’s days. The seventh will come when Rome,
beheld by the Seer as on the brink of destruction, has perished, and when its mighty
empire has been rent in pieces. These pieces will then be the ten horns which occupy the
place of the seventh head. They will be even more wicked and more oppressive to the
true followers of Christ than the great single empires which preceded them. In them the
antichristian might of the beast will culminate. They are "ten" in number. They cover the
whole "earth." That universality of dominion which was always the beast’s ideal will then
become his actual possession. They receive authority as kings with the beast for one
hour; and together with him they shall rage against the Lamb. Hence. - (1Comp. Rev_
6:13; Rev_8:10; Rev_9:1; Rev_11:13; Rev_14:8; Rev_16:19; Rev_18:2; 2Comp. Dan_
7:17; Dan_7:23; Rev_18:3)
(3) And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven. The
reader will notice that the expression of the eighth verse of the chapter "and is about to
come up out of the abyss," as also another expression of the same verse, "and shall be
present," are here dropped. We have met with a similar omission in the case of the Lord
Himself at Rev_11:17, and the explanation now is the same as then. The beast can no
more be thought of as "about to come up out of the abyss," because he is viewed as come,
or as about "to be present," because he is present. In other words, the beast has attained
the highest point of his history and action. He has reached a position analogous to that
of our Lord after His resurrection and exaltation, when all authority was given Him both
in heaven and on earth, and when He began the dispensation of the Spirit, founding His
Church, strengthening her for the execution of her mission, and perfecting her for her
glorious future. In like manner at the time here spoken of the beast is at the summit of
his evil influence. In one sense he is the same beast as he was in Egypt, in Assyria, in
Babylonia, in Persia, in Greece, and in Rome. In another sense he is not the same, for the
wickedness of all these earlier stages has been concentrated into one. He has "great
wrath, knowing that he has but a short season."l At the last moment he rages with the
keen and determined energy of despair. Thus he may be spoken of as "an eighth;" and
thus he is also "of the seven," not one of the seven, but the highest, and fiercest, and
most cruel embodiment of them all. Thus also he is identified with the "Little Horn" of
Daniel, which has "eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things."2 That
Little Horn takes the place of three out of the ten horns which are plucked up by the
roots; that is, of the eighth, ninth, and tenth horns. It is thus itself an eighth; and we
have already had occasion to notice that in the science of numbers the number eight
marks the beginning of a new life, with quickened and heightened powers. Thus also
fresh light is thrown upon the statement which so closely follows the description of the
beast, that he goeth into perdition. As in the case of Belshazzar, of Nebuchadnezzar, and
of the traitor Judas, the instant when he reaches the summit of his guilty ambition is
also the instant of his fall. (1 Rev_12:12; 2 Dan_7:7-8)
Before proceeding to consider the meaning of the "Babylon" spoken of in this chapter, it
may be well to recall for a moment the principle lying at the bottom of the exposition
now given of the " beast." That principle is that St. John sees in the world-power, or
power of the world, the contrast, or travesty, or mocking counterpart of the true Christ,
of the world’s rightful King. The latter lived, died, was buried, rose from the grave, and

returned to His Father to work with quickened energy and to enjoy everlasting glory; the
former lived, was brought to nought by Christ, was plunged into the abyss, came up out
of the abyss, reached his highest point of influence, and went into perdition. Such is the
form in which the Seer’s visions take possession of his mind; and it will be seen that the
mould of thought is precisely the same as that of chap. 20. The fact that it is so may be
regarded as a proof that the interpretation yet to be offered of that chapter is correct.
It may be further noticed that the beast s being brought to nought and being sent into
the abyss takes place under the sixth, or Roman, head. We know that this was actually
the case, because it was under the Roman government that our Lord gained His victory.
The history of the beast, however, does not close with this defeat. He must rise again;
and he does this as the seventh head, which is associated with the ten horns. In them
and "with" them he assumes a greater power than ever, gaining all the additional force
which is connected with a resurrection life. The objection may indeed be made that such
an exposition is not in correspondence either with the view taken in this commentary
that the beast is active from the very beginning of the Christian era, or with those facts of
history which show that, instead of falling, Rome continued to exist for a lengthened
period after the completion of the Redeemer’s victory.
But, as to the first of these difficulties, it is not necessary to think that the beast rages in
his highest and ultimate form from the very instant when Jesus rose from the dead and
ascended to His Father. That was rather the moment of the beast’s destruction, the
moment when, under the sixth head, he "is and is not;" and a certain extent of time must
be interposed before he rises in his new, or seventh, head. The Seer, too, deals largely in
climax; and, although in doing so he is always occupied with the climactic idea rather
than with the time needed for its manifestation, the element of time, if our attention is
called to it, must be allowed its place. Now in the development of the beast there is
climax. In Rev_11:7 it is said that "the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make
war with" the two faithful witnesses "when they shall have finished their testimony," and
this finishing of their testimony implies time. Again, in Rev_12:17 the increased wrath of
the dragon against the remnant of the woman’s seed appears to be subsequent to the
persecution of the woman in the same chapter (Rev_12:13). No doubt the thought of the
increased wrath of the dragon is the main point, but it may be quite truly said that some
time at least is needed for the increase. The view, therefore, that the beast rages from the
beginning of the Christian era, from the moment when he rises after his fall, or, in other
words, is loosed after having been shut up into the abyss, is not inconsistent with the
view that his rage goes on augmenting until it attains its culminating point.
The answer to the second difficulty is to be found in the consideration that to the Seer
the whole Christian era appears no more than "a little season," in which events must
follow closely on one another, so closely that the time required for their evolution passes
almost entirely, if not indeed entirely, out of his field of vision. He has no thought that
Rome will last for centuries. "The times or the seasons the Father hath set within His
own authority."* The guilt of Rome is so dark and frightful that the Seer can fix his mind
upon nothing but that overthrow which shall be the just punishment of her crimes. She
is not to be doomed; she is doomed. She is not to perish; she is perishing. Divine
vengeance has already overtaken her. Her last hour is come; and the ten kings who are to
follow her are already upon their thrones. Thus these kings come into immediate
juxtaposition with the beast in that last stage of his history which had begun, but had not
reached its greatest intensity, before Rome is supposed to fall. (* Act_1:7)
2. The second figure of this chapter now meets us; and we have to ask, Who is the
woman that sits on the beast? or, What is meant by Babylon?

No more important question can be asked in connection with the interpretation of the
Apocalypse. The thought of Babylon is evidently one by which the writer is moved to a
greater than ordinary degree. Twice already have we had premonitions of her doom, and
that in language which shows how deeply it was felt.* In the passage before us he is awed
by the contemplation of her splendor and her guilt. And in chap. 18 he describes the
lamentation of the world over her fate in language of almost unparalleled sublimity and
pathos. What is Babylon? We must make up our minds upon the point, or the effort to
interpret one of the most important parts of the Revelation of St. John can result in
nothing but defeat. (* Rev_14:8; Rev_16:9)
Very various opinions have been entertained as to the meaning of Babylon, of which the
most famous are that the word is a name for papal Rome, pagan Rome, or a great world-
city of the future which shall stand to the whole earth in a relation similar to that
occupied by Re me towards the world of its day. These opinions cannot be discussed
here; and no more can be attempted than to show, with as much brevity as possible, that
by Babylon is to be understood the degenerate Church, or that principle of degenerate
religion which allies itself with the world, and more than all else brings dishonor upon
the name and the cause of Christ.
(1) Babylon is the representative of religious, not civil, degeneracy and wickedness. She
is a harlot, and her name is associated with the most reckless and unrestrained
fornication. But fornication and adultery are throughout the Old Testament the emblem
of religious degeneracy, and not of civil misrule. In numerous passages familiar to every
reader of Scripture both terms are employed to describe the departure of Israel from the
worship of Jehovah and a holy life to the worship of idols and the degrading sensuality
by which such worship was everywhere accompanied. Nor ought we to imagine that
adultery, not fornication, is the most suitable expression for religious degeneracy. In
some important respects the latter is the more suitable of the two. It brings out more
strongly the ideas of playing the harlot with "many lovers"l and of sinning for "hire."2 In
this sense then it seems proper to understand the charge of fornication brought in so
many passages of the Apocalypse against Babylon. Not in their civil, but in their
religious, aspect have the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and they
that dwell on the earth been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Her sin has
been that of leading men astray from the worship of the true God, and of substituting for
the purity and unworldliness of Christian living the irreligious and worldly spirit of the
"earth." To this it may be added that, had Babylon not been the symbol of religious
declension, she could hardly have borne upon her forehead the term MYSTERY. St. John
could not have used a word connected only with religious associations to express
anything but a religious state awakening the awe, and wonder, and perplexity of a
religious mind. Babylon, therefore, represents persons who are not only sinful, but who
have fallen into sin by treachery to a high and holy standard formerly acknowledged by
them. (1 Jer_3:1 2 Mic_1:7)
(2) We have already had occasion to allude to a fact which must immediately receive
further notice, - that to the eye of St. John there is an aspect of Jerusalem different from
that in which she is regarded as the holy and beloved city of God. Jerusalem in that
aspect and Babylon are one. Each is "the great city," and the same epithet could not be
applied to both were they not to be identified. Not only so. The words here used of
Babylon lead us directly to what our Lord once said of Jerusalem. "Therefore," said
Jesus, "behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall
ye kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute
from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous bloodshed on the earth, from
the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye

slew between the sanctuary and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall
come upon this generation."* Precisely similar to this is the language of the Seer, And I
saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs
of Jesus. (* Mat_23:34-36)
It may indeed be thought impossible that under any circumstances whatever St. John
could have applied an epithet like that of Babylon, steeped in so many associations of
lust, and bloodshed, and oppression, to the metropolis of Israel, the city of God. But in
this very book he has illustrated the reverse. He has already spoken of Jerusalem as
represented by names felt by a pious Jew to be the most terrible of the Old Testament, -
"Sodom and Egypt."1 The prophets before him had employed language no less severe.
"Hear the word of the Lord," said Isaiah, addressing the inhabitants of the holy city, "ye
rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah,"2 and again,
"How is the faithful city become an harlot, she that was full of judgment! righteousness
lodged in her; but now murderers;"3 whilst the degenerate metropolis of Israel is not
unfrequently painted by Jeremiah and Ezekiel and other prophets in colors than which
none more dark or repulsive can be conceived. (1 Rev_11:8; 2 Isa_1:10; 3 Isa_1:21)
In forming a conclusion upon this point, it is necessary to bear in mind that to the eye of
the faithful in Israel, and certainly of St. John, there were two Jerusalems, the one true,
the other false, to its heavenly King; and that in exact proportion to the feelings of
admiration, love, and devotion with which they turned to the one were those of pain,
indignation, and alienation with which they turned from the other. The latter Jerusalem,
the city of "the Jews," is that of which the Apocalyptist thinks when he speaks of it as
Babylon; and, looking upon the city in this aspect as he did, the whole language of the
Old Testament fully justifies him in applying to it the opprobrious name.
(3) The contrast between the new Jerusalem and Babylon leads to the same conclusion.
We have already more than once had occasion to allude to the principle of antithesis, or
contrast, as affording an important rule of interpretation in many passages of this book.
Nowhere is it more distinctly marked or more applicable than in the case before us. The
contrast has been drawn out by a recent writer in the following words: -
"These prophecies present two broadly contrasted women, identified with two broadly
contrasted cities, one reality being in each case doubly represented: as a woman and as a
city. The harlot and Babylon are one; the bride and the heavenly Jerusalem are one.
"The two women are contrasted in every particular that is mentioned about them: the
one is pure as purity itself, ‘made ready’ and fit for heaven’s unsullied holiness, the other
foul as corruption could make her, fit only for the fires of destruction.
"The one belongs to the Lamb, who loves her as the bridegroom loves the bride; the
other is associated with a wild beast, and with the kings of the earth, who ultimately hate
and destroy her.
"The one is clothed with fine linen, and in another place is said to be clothed with the
sun and crowned with a coronet of stars: that is, robed in Divine righteousness and
resplendent with heavenly glory; the other is attired in scarlet and gold, in jewels and
pearls, gorgeous indeed, but with earthly splendor only. The one is represented as a
chaste virgin, espoused to Christ; the other is mother of harlots and abominations of the
earth.
"The one is persecuted, pressed hard by the dragon, driven into the wilderness, and well-
nigh overwhelmed; the other is drunken with martyr blood, and seated on a beast which
has received its power from the persecuting dragon.

"The one sojourns in solitude in the wilderness; the other reigns ‘in the wilderness’ over
peoples, and nations, and kindreds, and tongues.
"The one goes in with the Lamb to the marriage supper, amid the glad hallelujahs; the
other is stripped, insulted, torn, and destroyed by her guilty paramours.
"We lose sight of the bride amid the effulgence of heavenly glory and joy, and of the
harlot amid the gloom and darkness of the smoke that ‘rose up forever and ever.’"*
(*Guinness, The Approaching End of the Age, p. 143)
A contrast presented in so many striking particulars leaves only one conclusion possible.
The two cities are the counterparts of one another. But we know that by the first is
represented the bride, the Lamb’s wife, or the true Church of Christ as, separated from
the world, she remains faithful to her Lord, is purified from sin, and is made meet for
that eternal home into which there enters nothing that defiles. What can the other be but
the representative of a false and degenerate Church, of a Church that has yielded to the
temptations of the world, and has turned back in heart from the trials of the wilderness
to the flesh-pots of Egypt? Every feature of the description answers, although with the
heightened color of ideal portraiture, to what such a professing but degenerate Church
becomes, - the pride, the show, the love of luxury, the subordination of the future to the
present. Even her very cruelty to the poor saints of God is drawn from actual reality, and
has been depicted upon many a page of history. With the meek and lowly followers of
Jesus, whose life is a constant protest that the things of time are nothing in comparison
with those of eternity, none have less sympathy than those who have a name to live while
they are dead. The world may admire, even while it cannot understand, these little ones,
these lambs of the flock; but to those who seek the life that now is by the help of the life
that is to come they are a perpetual reproach, and they are felt to be so. Therefore they
are persecuted in such manner and to such degree as the times will tolerate.
One other remark has to be made upon the identification of Jerusalem and Babylon by
the Seer. It has been said that he has one special aspect of the metropolis of Israel in his
eye. Yet we are not to suppose that he confines himself to that metropolis. As on so many
other occasions, he starts from what is limited and local only to pass in thought to what
is unlimited and universal. His Jerusalem, his Babylon, is not the literal city. She is "the
great harlot that sitteth upon many waters;" and "the waters which thou sawest," says
the angel to the Seer, "are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues."* The
fourfold division guides us, as usual, to the thought of dominion over the whole earth.
Babylon is not the Jerusalem only of "the Jews." She is the great Church of God
throughout the world when that Church becomes faithless to her true Lord and King. (*
Rev_17:15)
Babylon then is not pagan Rome. No doubt seven mountains are spoken of on which the
woman sitteth. But this was not peculiar to Rome. Both Babylon and Jerusalem are also
said to have been situated upon seven hills; and even if we had before us, as we certainly
may have, a distinct reference to Rome, it would be only because Rome was one of the
manifestations of the beast, and because the city afforded a suitable point of departure
for a wider survey. The very closing words of the chapter, upon which so much stress is
laid by those who find the harlot in pagan Rome, negative, instead of justifying, the
supposition: And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which reigneth over
the kings of the earth. Rome never possessed such universal dominion as is here
referred to. She may illustrate, but she cannot exhaust, that subtler, more penetrating,
and more widespread spirit which is in the Seer’s view.
Again, Babylon cannot be papal Rome. As in the last case, there may indeed be a most

intimate connection between her and one of the manifestations of Babylon. But it is
impossible to speak of the papal Church as the guide, the counselor, and the inspirer of
anti-Christian efforts to dethrone the Redeemer, and to substitute the world or the devil
in His stead. The papal Church has toiled, and suffered, and died for Christ. Babylon
never did so.
Nor, finally, can we think of Babylon as a great city of the future which shall stand to the
kings and kingdoms of the earth in a relation similar to that in which ancient Rome
stood to the kings and kingdom? of her day. Wholly apart from the impossibility of our
forming any clear conception of such a city, the want of the religious or spiritual element
is fatal to the theory.
One explanation alone seems to meet the conditions of the case. Babylon is the world in
the Church. In whatever section of the Church, or in whatever age of her history, an
unspiritual and earthly element prevails, there is Babylon.
We have spoken of the two great figures of this chapter separately. We have still to speak
of their relation to one another, and of the manner in which if is brought suddenly and
forever to a close.
This relation appears in the words, I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast,
and in later words of the chapter: the beast that carrieth her. The woman then is not
subordinate to the beast, but is rather his controller and guide. And this relation is
precisely what we should expect. The beast is before us in his final stage, in that
immediately preceding his own destruction. He is no longer in the form of Egypt, or
Assyria, or Babylonia, or Persia, or Greece, or Rome. These six forms of his
manifestation have passed away. The restrainer has been withdrawn,1 and the beast has
stepped forth in the plenitude of his power. He has been revealed as the "ten horns"
which occupy the place of the seventh head; and these ten horns are ten kings who,
having now received their kingdoms and with their kingdoms their diadems, are the
actual manifestation in history of the beast as he had been seen in his ideal form in chap.
13. The beast is therefore the spirit of the world, partly in its secularizing influence,
partly in its brute force, in that tyranny and oppression which it exercises against the
children of God. The woman, again, is the spirit of false religion and religious zeal, which
had shown itself under all previous forms of worldly domination, and which was
destined to show itself more than ever under the last To the eye of St. John this spirit
was not confined to Christian times. The woman, considered in herself, is not simply the
false Christian Church. She is so at the moment when we behold her on the field of
history. But St. John did not believe that saving truth, the truth which unites us to
Christ, the truth which is "of God," was to be found in Christianity alone. It had existed
in Judaism. It had existed even in Heathenism, for in his Gospel he remembers and
quotes the words of our Lord in which Jesus says, "And other sheep I have, which are
not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall
become one flock, one Shepherd."2 As then Divine truth, the light which never ceases to
con tend with the darkness, had been present in the world under every one of its
successive kingdoms, so also perversions of that truth had never failed to be present by
its side. All along the line of past history, in Heathenism as well as in Judaism, the ideal
bride of Christ had been putting on her ornaments to meet the Bridegroom; and not less
all along the same line had the harlot been arraying herself in purple and scarlet and
decking herself with gold and precious stones and jewels, that she might tempt men to
resist the influence of their rightful King. The harlot had been always thus superior to
the beast. The beast had only the powers of this world at his command; the harlot
wielded the powers of another and a higher world. The one dealt only with the seen and

temporal, the other with the unseen and eternal, the one with material forces, the other
with those spiritual forces which reach the profoundest depths of the human heart and
give rise to the greatest movements of human history. The woman is therefore superior
to the beast. She inspires and animates him. The beast only lends her the material
strength needed for the execution of her plans. In the war, accordingly, which is carried
on by the ten kings who have one mind, and who give their power and authority unto
the beast, in the war which the beast and they, with their combined power, wage for one
hour against the Lamb, it would be a great mistake to suppose that the woman, although
she is not mentioned, takes no part and exerts no influence. She is really there, the prime
mover in all its horrors. The "one mind" comes from her. The beast can do nothing of
himself. The ten kings who are the form in which he appears are not less weak and
helpless. They have the outward power, but they cannot regulate it. They want the skill,
the subtlety, the wisdom, which are found only in the spiritual domain. But the great
harlot, who at this point of history is the perversion of Christian truth, is with them; and
they depend on her. Such is the first part of the relation between the beast and the
harlot. (1Comp. 2Th_2:7; 2 Joh_10:16)
A second, most unexpected and most startling, follows.
We have seen that in the war between the ten kings and the Lamb the woman is present.
That war ends in disaster to her and to those whom she inspires. The Lamb shall
overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings. The name is the same as that
which we shall afterwards meet in Rev_19:16, though the order of the clauses is
different. This Lamb, therefore, is here the Conqueror described in Rev_19:11-16; and
many particulars of these latter verses take us back to the Son of man as He appeared in
chap. 1, or, in other words, to the risen and glorified Redeemer. The thought of the risen
Christ is thus in the mind of St. John when he speaks of the Lamb who shall overcome.
The leaders of the Jewish Church had believed that they had for ever rid themselves of
the Prophet who "tormenteth them that dwell on the earth."* They had sealed the stone,
and set a watch, and returned to their homes for joy and merriment. But on the third
morning there was a great earthquake, and the stone was rolled away from the door of
the sepulchre; and the Crucified came forth, the Conqueror of death and Hades. Then
the Lamb overcame. Then He began His victorious progress as King of kings and Lord of
lords. Then the power and the wisdom of the world were alike put to shame. Was not
this enough? No, for now follow the words which come upon us in a way so wholly
unexpected: And the ten horns which thou sawest, and the beast, these shall hate the
harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn
her utterly with fire. (*Comp. Rev_11:10)
What is the meaning of these words? Surely not that Rome was to be attacked and
overthrown by the barbaric hordes that burst upon her from the North: for, in the first
place, the Roman manifestation of the world-power had passed away before the ten
kings came to their kingdom; and, in the second place, when Rome fell, she fell as the
beast, not as the harlot. Surely also not that a great world-city, concentrating in itself all
the resources of the world-power, is to be hated and burned by its subjects, for we have
already seen that this whole notion of a great world-city of the end is groundless; and the
resources of the world- power are always in this book concentrated in the beast, and not
in the harlot who directs their use. There seems only one method of explaining the
words, but it is one in perfect consonance with the method and purpose of the
Apocalypse as a whole. As on many other occasions, the fortunes of the Church of Christ
are modeled upon the fortunes of her Master. With that Master the Church was one. He
had always identified His people with Himself, in life and death, in time and in eternity.
Could the beloved disciple do otherwise? He looked round upon the suffering Church of

his day. He was a "companion with it in the tribulation, and kingdom, and patience
which are in Jesus."* He felt all its wounds and shared all its sorrows, just as he felt and
shared the wounds and sorrows of that Lord who lived in him, and in whom he lived.
Here, therefore, was the mould in which the fortunes of the Church appeared to him. He
went back to well-remembered scenes in the life of Christ; and he beheld these repeating
themselves, in principle at least, in the members of His Body. (* Rev_1:9)
Now there was one scene of the past - how well does he remember it, for he was present
at the time! - when the Roman power and a degenerate Judaism, the beast and the harlot
of the day, combined to make war upon the Lamb. For a moment they seemed to
succeed, yet only for a moment. They nailed the Lamb to the cross; but the Lamb
overcame them, and rose in triumph from the grave. But the Seer did not pause there.
He looked a few more years onward, and what did he next behold? That wicked
partnership was dissolved. These companions in crime had turned round upon one
another. The harlot had counseled the beast, and the beast had given the harlot power,
to execute the darkest deed which had stained the pages of human history. But the
alliance did not last The alienation of the two from each other, restrained for a little by
co-operation in common crime, burst forth afresh, and deepened with each passing year,
until it ended in the march of the Roman armies into Palestine, their investment of the
Jewish capital, and that sack and burning of the city which still remain the most awful
spectacle of bloodshed and of ruin that the world has seen. Even this is not all. St. John
looks still further into the future, and the tragedy is repeated in the darker deeds of the
last "hour." There will again be a "beast" in the brute power of the ten kings of the world,
and a harlot in a degenerate Jerusalem, animating and controlling it The two will again
direct their united energies against the true Church of Christ, the "called, and chosen,
and faithful." They may succeed; it will be only for a moment. Again the Lamb will
overcome them; and in the hour of defeat the sinful league between them will be broken,
and the world-power will hate the harlot, and make her desolate and naked, and eat her
flesh, and burn her utterly with fire.
This is the prospect set before us in these words, and this the consolation of the Church
under the trials that await her at the end of the age. "When the wicked spring as the
grass, and all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for
ever: but Thou, O Lord, art on high for evermore. For, lo, Thine enemies, O Lord, for, lo,
Thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered."* (* Psa_92:7-9)
Babylon is fallen, not indeed in a strictly chronological narrative, for she will again be
spoken of as if she still existed upon earth. But for the time her overthrow has been
consummated, her destruction is complete, and all that is good can only rejoice at the
spectacle of her fate. Hence the opening verses of the next chapter.
11. HAWKER, "(1) And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and
talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the
great whore that sitteth upon many waters: (2) With whom the kings of the earth have
committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the
wine of her fornication.
We cannot well be at a loss to discover, who is here meant, if we call to remembrance,
that in scripture language, Persons are spoken of by figures, and places by waters. That
this woman is a city, the last verse of this Chapter, in so many words plainly saith, the

woman which thou sawest, is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
And what great city but Rome, which had so many provinces under her, and in a
religious sense, (that is, I mean a mere nominal religion,) how many kings and nations
have owned the Pope’s supremacy. So that nothing can be more clearly defined. Add to
these, it is a very usual thing, to call states and empires harlots and whores, when
becoming profane and ungodly. Thus the Lord complained of Israel, How is the faithful
city become an harlot. Isa_1:21. Waters and rivers are terms used in scripture for states
and people; yea, in this very Chapter, the term is explained. And he saith unto me, the
waters which thou sawest where the whore sitteth, are people, and multitudes, and
nations, and tongues, verse 15. Hence, therefore, here are explanations given, as plain as
words can make them, in proof that this great whore, is great city, that hath rule over the
kings of the earth, and the many waters she sitteth upon, expresseth her power and
authority. So, that Papal Rome and none else, can be meant. This is a great point in
discovery.
The next account is, that she is said to commit fornication with the kings of the earth,
and the inhabitants of the earth, and to have been made drunk with the wine of her
fornication. Now when we consider, how many nations profess popery, surely we
discover the awful proof of her fornications. And when we call to mind, the blood of the
martyrs she has shed, we may well call her thirst after blood drunkenness. We shall see
by and by as we prosecute the Chapter, the number of those kings, that are tributes to
the whore. But this in due time.
12. VWS, "Sitteth upon many waters
Said of Babylon, Jer_51:13; the wealth of Babylon being caused both by the
Euphrates and by a vast system of canals. The symbol is interpreted by some
commentators as signifying Babylon, by others pagan Rome, Papal Rome, Jerusalem.
Dante alludes to this passage in his address to the shade of Pope Nicholas III., in the
Bolgia of the Simonists.
“The Evangelist you pastors had in mind,
When she who sitteth upon many waters
To fornicate with kings by him was seen.
The same who with the seven heads was born,
And power and strength from the ten horns received,
So long as virtue to her spouse was pleasing.”
“Inferno,” xix., 106-110.
13. RWP, "I will show thee (deixō soi). Future active of deiknumi. It is fitting that
one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls should explain the judgment on
Babylon (Rev_16:19) already pronounced (Rev_14:8). That is now done in chapters Rev
17; 18.
The judgment of the great harlot (to krima tēs pornēs tēs megalēs). The word
krima is the one used about the doom of Babylon in Jer_51:9. Already in Rev_14:8

Babylon, the Prostitute on the Beast

Babylon, the Prostitute on the Beast

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