Revelation 17:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we have a new vision, not in what it shows, because it belongs to the same time as the three last bowls of wrath, but in how it is described.

Notice first the invitation given to the apostle, John, to look at what is being shown: “Come here, and I will show you the judgment of the great whore” (Revelation 17:1). This is a name of deep shame. In this passage, a whore is a woman who is married, yet has been unfaithful to her husband, left the right path of her youth, and broken God’s covenant.

She had been a prostitute to the kings of the earth, whom she had made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Next, see her outward appearance. It is bright and flashy, like such people often are: she was dressed in purple and scarlet, and decorated with gold, precious stones, and pearls (Revelation 17:4). These are all the attractions of worldly honor and wealth, display and pride, fitted to people who live for the senses and for the world.

Her main seat and home is upon the beast with seven heads and ten horns, that is, Rome, the city on seven hills, infamous for idolatry, oppression, and blasphemy. Then there is her name, written on her forehead. It was the custom of shameless prostitutes to hang out signs with their names, so everyone would know who they were.

Look at what her name shows. First, she is named after her place of residence, Babylon the Great. But so we do not think this means the old city of Babylon literally, we are told there is a mystery in the name. It means some other great city like the old Babylon.

Second, she is named for her wicked life and work. She is not just a prostitute, but the mother of prostitutes, raising others in idolatry and training them in every kind of immorality and wickedness. She is the source and nurse of all false religion and filthy living.

Her food is the blood of the saints and the martyrs of Jesus. She drank their blood with such greed that she seemed to grow drunk on it. It was so pleasant to her that she never knew when she had had enough. She was filled, but never satisfied.