Revelation chapter seventeen begins as one of the seven angel/messengers who had the seven vials speaks with John and tells him he will show John the judgment of the great whore who sat upon many waters. We learn in verse 15 of this chapter that the waters represent people, and multitudes and nations and tongues or languages. Verse two tells us that the kings of the earth committed fornication, which is spiritual in nature through their false gods which she also worshipped. She made the inhabitants of the earth drunk with the wine of her spiritual fornication. So the angel/ messenger carries John in spirit (there is no definite article in the text), into the wilderness where he sees a woman sitting on a scarlet colored beast that is full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. Go to the study to see who this represents. John describes the woman's attire and notices a cup she had and what it contained. A lengthy discussion of who this is, is in the study. Go there to see it. John next describes her name using Babylon as an example. John says he saw this woman drunken with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. From this description it becomes obvious who the woman is. Go to the study to see further proof. In the next several passages, the angel/messenger tells John of the relationship of the woman with the beast. He discusses the seven heads and ten horns and what they represent. Go to the study to see a full explanation of what these things mean. These make war with the Lamb and we are told the outcome. The chapter ends with what happens to the whore and who carries out the sentence. Go to the study for a full scriptural discussion of this.

1. 1
SECTION OUTLINE 17 (REVELATION 17:1-18)
A. Verses 1-6
1. Who talked with John? V1
One of the seven angels/messengers that had the seven vials.
a. What did he want to show him?
The judgment of the great whore. The word is #4204, here in
feminine gender of #4205, meaning harlot or prostitute.
b. Why is the term “the great whore” used?
It is used to depict the unfaithfulness of the one depicted. The
harlot or prostitute sells her body for sexual uses. Any woman who
yields for the sake of gain.
Lk 15:30 – devoured his living with harlots
Ezek 16:1-2, 28 ..cause Jerusalem to know her abominations …thou
hast played the whore with the Assyrians
Is 1:1 & 21 – The vision of Isaiah concerning Judah and Jerusalem…
How is the faithful city become a harlot
c. Explain as best you can, how she “sitteth upon many waters”?
Jer 51:13 applied to Babylon , its trade and support
Rev 17:15 The waters thou sawest where the whore sitteth are
peoples ..
Sitteth - #2521 – to sit down, fig. to remain or reside
Matt 22:44 be a partner of my power
Mk 10:40 to sit on my right hand …is not mine to give
This means that many people are in partnership with the harlot in
her fornication. Jerusalem depended upon Rome for its trade,
revenue and support in what it did acting as a partner with Roman
authorities and others who also supported Rome.
2. What did she do? V 2
She committed fornication - #4203 – porneuo – to act the harlot,
NT:4203
i.e. (literally) indulge unlawful lust (of either sex), or (figuratively)
practise idolatry: KJV - commit (fornication). Strong’s
Ezek 16:2, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations ..36-
38 ..through thy whoredoms with thy lovers and with all the idols…

2. 2
a. Who did this with her?
The kings of the earth and the inhabitants of the earth.
Ezek 16:2 cause Jerusalem to know her abominations …v26 thou
hast committed fornication with the Egyptians v28 also with the
Assyrians
b. What effect did this have on the inhabitants of the earth?
They were made drunk with the wine of their fornication.
Drunk - #3184 – to drink to intoxication
Jer 51:6-13, 49-53 nations drunken of her wine, v13 thou that
dwellest upon many waters, v49.. Babylon hath caused the slain of
Israel to fall
Is 29:9 ..they are drunken but not with wine…
c. Is this literal and physical or figurative and spiritual?
Figurative and spiritual – Israel had been disobedient to God down
through time. Now she had become a partner with Rome in killing
the Messiah.
Hos 1:2 Departing from the Lord
Deut 31:16-18 will go awhoring after other gods
Jere 2:11-19 - …my people have changed their glory…forsaken the
Lord thy God
Ezek 23:4, 11-24 ..her sister Aholibah was more corrupt ..& in her
whoredoms
3. Where was John carried? How? V3
John was carried into the wilderness, #2048 – desert, desolate, solitary
Rev 12:6 – the woman fled into the wilderness
Rev 12:14 – the woman given 2 wings ..she might fly into the
wilderness
He was carried away “in spirit”, not “in the spirit”.
Same in Rev 1:10 and 4:2 and 21:10. Same in John 4:24, but translated
correct.
Rom 2:29 – circumcision that of the heart, in spirit
Col 1:8 – your love in spirit
a. List what he saw in verses 3 and 4.
1. A woman - #1135 – gune – woman, wife.

3. 3
Same throughout Revelation
2. A scarlet colored beast
Scarlet - #2847 – see Rev 12:3 – red, fiery
Is 1:18 – though your sin be as scarlet…they be red like crimson
Beast - #2342 – throughout Rev
See Rev 12:3 red dragon, seven heads, ten horns, seven crowns
3. Names of blasphemy
Rev 13:1 – beast rise up with seven heads, ten horns & upon the
heads the name of blasphemy
4. Seven heads - Roman authorities
See Rev 12:3 and 13:1
5. Ten horns – local supporters
See Rev 12:3 and 13:1
6. Dressed in purple & scarlet – see Rev 18:7, 12 & 16
7. Decked with gold, precious stones, pearls
Ezek 23:4 Jerusalem is Aholibah. See verses 22-23, 26-27
8. A golden cup full of abominations & filthiness of her fornication
Hos 1:2 – description of Israel and Hos 2:1-5
Rev 14:8 – made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication
Rev 18:6 – in the cup she hath filled – see context
Rev 19:2 – he hath judged the great whore
b. Are these literal or figurative?
Figurative expressions to show spiritual unfaithfulness.
c. Why was the woman represented as sitting on the beast?
In verse 1 she is sitting upon many waters – see Rev 17:15 people,
multitudes…
She supported the beast (Roman authorities) using them in her
idolatry, persecution and killing of the saints and Jesus. She was in
fellowship
John 19:15 – we have no king but Caesar – a blasphemous
statement
Israel had a history of wanting to be like those nations around
them when they wanted a king in 1Sam 5:8

4. 4
1 Kings 11:1-4 Solomon’s heart turned after other gods
Ez 9:9 the iniquity of the house of Israel..city full of perverseness
Neh 13:23-26 ..I saw Jews married wives of Ashdod, Ammon, Moab
4. How was the woman dressed?
She was dressed garishly – obtrusively bright and showy, lurid
a. Was she dressed modestly?
No.
1 Tim 2:9 adorn themselves in modest apparel, not with elaborate
hairstyles, gold..
1 Pet 3:3 – whose adorning not that outward adorning of plaiting
of hair
She was dressed as the harlot she was, calling attention to herself.
Symbolizing the unfaithfulness of Jerusalem
Is 3:16-26 the daughters of Zion are haughty ..He will take away
their tinkling ornaments
Prov 7:10 – there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot
b. What was in her hand?
She had a golden cup very valuable and beautiful.
Rev 14:10 – cup of His indignation
Rev 16:19 – cup of the wine of the fierceness
Matt 26:39 let this cup pass from me
c. What did it contain?
It was full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication
Lk 16:15 – esteemed among men is abomination in God’s sight
d. Why mention these things?
Describes the awful character of the harlot Jerusalem, unfaithful to
the Lord, illustrated for all to see.
5. Why is such a name upon her forehead? V5
The name encompasses all of the unfaithfulness of national Judah and
Jerusalem. She is the mother of all of Israel’s apostasies and she will
be punished for them all.
This is her identity, her name, personality, what she is as God sees her.
She destroys others that she entices. She is bizarre, immodest, not

5. 5
belonging to God. Similar figure throughout Revelation. Not a literal
mark.
Rev 13:16 – a mark …in their foreheads
Rev 14:9 – receive his mark in his forehead
Rev 22:4 – His name in their foreheads
Hos 2:2-8 – your mother has played the harlot
Hos 4:5 – I will destroy thy mother
a. What was she drunken with? V6
The blood of the saints and witnesses of Jesus
Matt 23:34-36 – upon you may come all the righteous blood upon
the earth
Acts 7:59 – they stoned Stephen
Rev 2:13 – Antipas my faithful witness was slain
Rev 6:9-10 souls of them slain
b. Did Jesus ever speak of the faithful being killed? If so, where?
V6
Yes. Throughout His teaching of His disciples
Matt 10:16 & 21 – I send you forth as sheep before wolves ..brother
shall deliver brother to death
Matt 23:34-36 – some ye shall kill
Matt 24:9-13 – and shall kill you
Lk 21:16 – you shall be betrayed ..put to death
John 16:1-2 whosoever kills you will think he does God service
All of this was in the context of the coming destruction of
Jerusalem
B. Verses 7-18
1. What is the angel/messenger about to do? V7
He is about to tell John the mystery of the woman and the beast.
Mystery - #3466 – musterion – a secret through the idea of silence
same in v5
a. Have we heard what is said of the beast in verse 8 before? If
so, where?
Yes.
Rev 11:7 – that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit

6. 6
Rev 13:1-3 – having seven heads and ten horns
b. Who will wonder concerning the beast? V8
Those that dwell on the earth whose names are not written in the
book of life
Rev 13:8 – whose names are not written in the book of life
Phil 4:3 - with Clement also ..whose names are in the book of life
2. Where have you heard, “Here is the mind that hath wisdom” or
something very similar? V9
Rev 13:18 – here is wisdom..count the number of the beast
Prov 2:6 – the Lord giveth wisdom – out of His mouth cometh …
James 1:5-6 – if any lack wisdom, let his ask God (pray) ..ask in faith
2 Tim 2:15 – study to show thyself approved of God
a. What do the seven mountains represent?
The seven mountains represent what the woman sat upon.
Rev 17:7 - Says the woman was carried by the beast
Rev 13:1 – says the beast rose up out of the sea
Dan 7:1- 7 the fourth beast same as 4th
kingdom in Dan 2:40
Rome, the seat of authority in the Roman Empire was built upon 7
mountains/hills. The woman here is not Rome itself. The woman is
unfaithful Judea/Judaism/Israel/Jerusalem as described in verse 5.
b. Of the seven kings, which was reigning when revelation was
written?
This passage says 5 of the kings had fallen and one is. The 6th
king
was reigning, which would be Nero. The previous 5 Caesars had
passed before John wrote Revelation.
Does this agree with the number of the beast? V10
Yes.
Rev 13:18 – 666, the number of a man. Sixth Roman emperor, Nero.
The seventh king has not yet come. When he does come, he will
continue a short space. He would continue the same policies,
persecutions of Christians, etc. Typical of the other Caesars.
c. Explain as best you can what is said in verse 11.
Verse 10 says the 7th
(king) must continue a short space after he
come. Verse 11 continues on the next Caesar, the eighth, saying

7. 7
he is of the seven, (same title Caesar), same ruling style, and he
goes into perdition like the rest because of what they did. The text
brings us up to the eighth Caesar. Roman persecution continued
after the destruction of Jerusalem. Remember what the Lord said
to Smyrna in Rev 2:10.
3. Explain how the ten kings have no kingdom but receive power.
V12
These are individuals who serve in positions of authority as given by
the Roman government, the beast, throughout the Empire. They are
not independent kings but serve as kings with the authority given
them by Caesar Nero.
a. Is the time period literal or figurative? Why or why not? In
keeping with the signs given to John, the time period is figurative.
The words “one hour” are used 3 other time in Rev 18 (vss 10, 17, &
19). The contexts, as here, indicate, again, a figurative use. What
king has ruled literally for one hour?
See other places in the NT:
John 5:28 the hour is coming in the which all in the graves shall
hear His voice
1 Cor 15:52 in a moment …the dead shall rise.
b. How do they have one mind?
All of them are executing the requirements of the beast, Roman
authority.
Phil 1:27 – with one mind striving together
c. Who do they support?
They are supporting Nero, the sixth king, and doing everything
Nero requires of them throughout the Empire. That would be the
destruction of Jerusalem, Judah, the temple and ultimately
everything relating to Judaism. And in keeping with Nero’s
persecution and killing of Christians and attempt to destroy the
Lord’s church.
4. What is it that these kings do? V14
They shall make war with the Lamb, continuing the war of the red
dragon against the woman, church, Jerusalem that is above (Heb

8. 8
12:22-23, Rev 21:8-10), the mother of us all (Gal 4:26) referred to
earlier in Revelation, (Rev 12:1-5)
Dan 7:17-27 the truth of the 4th beast ..the same horn made war
with the saints
Acts 4:25-31 kings of the earth stood up…
Ps 2:1-2 Why do the heathen rage…
a. Physical & literal, or figurative and spiritual?
Even though the persecution and killing are literal, the language is
figurative and the war is spiritual.
Eph 6:12 – not against flesh and blood..spiritual wickedness in high
places
1 Tim 1:18 – war a good warfare
2 Tim 2:3 – endure as a good soldier of Jesus Christ
b. Who will win? Why?
The Lamb will overcome them. He is Lord of lords and King of
kings
Matt 28:18 – all authority given unto me
1 Tim 6:13-16 – the only Potentate, King of kings, Lord of lords
1 Tim 1:17 – to the King eternal
c. Who else is included?
They that are with Him, called, chosen and faithful
Rev 14:1-4 – 144,000 … the redeemed among men representing
all, not just 144,000.
Eph 1:1 & 4 – the faithful and chosen
Rom 1:5-7 – obedience to the faith …called…called saints
d. Why identify the waters? Can you understand this? V15
The waters are identified in order to explain what is meant in using
this figurative expression, which was used in 17:1.
Yes. It is interpreted for us. The same used by Isaiah.
Is 8:7-8 the lord bringeth up upon the waters of the river – the king
of Assyria …he shall overflow
It is just as understandable as anything else in the Bible, even
though there are some things hard to understand
Eph 3:3-4 when you read you may understand my knowledge

9. 9
Eph 5:17 – be not unwise but understanding the will of the Lord
2 Pet 3:16 – in all his epistles ..some things hard to be understood
Prov 1:7 – the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
Prov 2:1-6 – My son if you will …out of His mouth comes knowledge
and understanding
5. Who would be made desolate? V16
The whore would be made desolate. Referred to as the mother of
harlots in verse 5
a. Who would make desolate?
The ten horns, collectively, which were 10 kings per verse 12 would
make her desolate. It is because they hated the whore. This is
proof that the harlot city is not Rome.
b. Is there a prophesy concerning this desolation?
Yes.
Matt 24:15- the abomination of desolation
Dan 9:27 – overspreading of abominations..He shall make it
desolate..shall be poured upon the desolate
Lk 21:20 – when you see Jerusalem compassed with armies know
the desolation is nigh
Matt 23:36-38 – behold your house if left unto you desolate
c. Who determined that this would be done? V17
God determined that this would be fulfilled. God’s will to destroy
Matt 24:27-34 – Son of man coming in the clouds in this generation
Matt 26:62-64 ye see the son of man on right hand ..coming in
clouds
d. Who is the woman?
The woman is unfaithful Israel who had killed the Messiah through
the Roman government that she used to do so. She had a history
of being unfaithful.
Lam 4:5-6, 11-13, 22 – the punishment of thine iniquity is
accomplished daughter of Zion
Hos 4:15 – though thou Israel play the harlot

10. 10
Ezek 16:3-15 – and played the harlot..v17 – and committed
whoredom
Read the whole chapter to get the complete picture of her
unfaithfulness.