The Judgment of the great whore. Revelation 17:1-6 A corrupt Christianity David Thomas, D. D. 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. )

Benson Commentary Revelation 17:1 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: Revelation 17:1-2 . And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials — Most probably this was the seventh angel; for, under the seventh vial, great Babylon came in remembrance before God, and now St. John is called upon to see her condemnation and execution; saying, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great whore — Which is now circumstantially described. This relation concerning the great whore, and that concerning the wife of the Lamb, ( Revelation 21:9-10 ,) have the same introduction, in token of the exact opposition between them; that sitteth as a queen, in pomp, power, ease, and luxury, upon many waters — So ancient Babylon, which was seated upon the great river Euphrates, is described by Jeremiah, ( Jeremiah 51:13 ,) as dwelling upon many waters; and from thence the phrase is borrowed, and signifies, according to the angel’s own explanation, ( Revelation 17:15 ,) ruling over many peoples and nations. Neither was this an ordinary prostitute; she was the great whore, with whom the kings of the earth, both ancient and modern, have committed fornication — By partaking of her idolatry, and various kinds of wickedness. So Tyre is described, Isaiah 23:17 , as having committed fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. Nay, not only the kings, but inferior persons, the inhabiters of the earth, the common people, have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication — No wine can more thoroughly intoxicate those who drink it, than false zeal does the followers of the great whore. Thus it was said of ancient Babylon, The nations have drunk of her wine, therefore the nations are mad. Fornication, in the usual style of Scripture, is idolatry; but if it be taken even literally, it is true that modern Rome openly allows the one as well as practises the other. Ancient Rome doth, in no respect, so well answer the character; for she ruled more with a rod of iron than with the wine of her fornication. Her ambition was for extending her empire, and not her religion. She permitted even the conquered nations to continue in the religion of their ancestors, and to worship their own gods after their own rituals. She may be said rather to have been corrupted by the importation of foreign vices and superstitions than to have established her own in other countries. Revelation 17:2 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. Revelation 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. Revelation 17:3 . So he carried me away, &c. — Namely, in the vision. As Ezekiel, while he was a captive in Chaldea, was conveyed by the Spirit to Jerusalem, ( Ezekiel 8:3 ,) so John is carried away in the Spirit into the wilderness; for there the scene is laid, being a scene of desolation. When the woman, the true church, was persecuted and afflicted, she was said ( Revelation 12:14 ) to flee into the wilderness: and, in like manner, when the woman, the false church, is to be destroyed, the vision is presented in the wilderness. For they are by no means, as some have imagined, the same woman, under various representations. They are totally distinct and different characters, and drawn in contrast to each other, as appears from their whole attire and behaviour, and particularly from these two circumstances, — that during the one thousand two hundred and sixty years, while the woman is fed in the wilderness, the beast and the scarlet whore are reigning and triumphant, and, at the latter end, the whore is burned with fire, when the woman, as his wife, hath made herself ready for the marriage of the Lamb. And I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet- coloured beast — The same which is described chap. 13., but he was there described as he carried on his own designs only; here he is connected with the whore. A woman sitting upon a beast is a lively and significative emblem of a church or city directing and governing an empire. In painting and sculpture, as well as in prophetic language, cities are often represented in the form of women: and Rome herself is exhibited, in ancient coins, as a woman sitting upon a lion. Here the beast is a scarlet-coloured beast, bearing the bloody livery, as well as the person of the woman, called so for the same reason that the dragon ( Revelation 12:3 ) was termed a red dragon, namely, to denote his cruelty, and in allusion to the distinguishing colour of the Roman emperors and magistrates. The beast is also full of names of blasphemy — He had before a name of blasphemy upon his heads, ( Revelation 13:1 ,) now he has many: from the time of Hildebrand, the blasphemous titles of the Roman pontiff have been abundantly multiplied; having seven heads — Which reach in a succession from his ascent out of the sea to his being cast into the lake of fire; and ten horns — Which are contemporary with each other, and belong to his last period. So that this is the very same beast which was described in the former part of chap. 13: and the woman, in some measure, answers to the two-horned beast, or false prophet; and consequently the woman is not pagan, but Christian Rome; because Rome was become Christian before the beast had completely seven heads and ten horns; that is, before the Roman empire experienced its last form of government, and was divided into ten kingdoms. Revelation 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: Revelation 17:4-5 . And the woman was arrayed — With the utmost pomp and magnificence; in purple and scarlet — Which were the colours of the imperial habit, — the purple in times of peace, and the scarlet in times of war: and the scarlet is the colour of the popes and cardinals, as it used to be that of the Roman emperors and senators. Nay, the mules and horses which carry the popes and cardinals are covered with scarlet cloth, so that they may properly be said to ride upon a scarlet-coloured beast. The woman is also decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls — And who can sufficiently describe the pride, and grandeur, and magnificence of the Church of Rome in her vestments and ornaments of all kinds? One remarkable instance of this we have in Paul II., whose mitre was set with diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, chrysolites, jaspers, and all kinds of precious stones: and another conspicuous instance is in the lady of Loretto; the riches of whose holy image, and house, and treasury are far beyond the reach of description. There silver can hardly find an admission, and gold itself looks but poorly among such an incredible number of precious stones. Moreover, the woman, like other harlots, who give filters and love-potions to inflame their lovers, hath a golden cup in her hand, like the ancient Babylon, Jeremiah 51:7 , full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication — Signifying the specious and alluring arts wherewith she bewitches and incites men to idolatry, which is an abomination, and spiritual fornication, and to many other abominable doctrines as well as practices. And upon her forehead a name written — Whereas the saints have the name of God and the Lamb on their foreheads. The allusion here seems to be to the practice of some notorious prostitutes, who had their names written in a label upon their foreheads, as we may collect from ancient authors; (see Seneca, Book 1. contr. 2; Juvenal, Sat. 6. lin. 122;) MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT — This name mystery can imply no less than that she dealeth in mysteries; her religion is a mystery, — a mystery of iniquity; and she herself is mystically Babylon the Great. Benedict XIII., in his proclamation of the jubilee, A.D. 1725, explains this sufficiently. His words are, “To this holy city, famous for the memory of so many holy martyrs, run with religious alacrity! Hasten to the place which the Lord hath chosen. Ascend to this new Jerusalem, whence the law of the Lord, and the light of evangelical truth, hath flowed forth into all nations, from the very first beginning of the church: the city most rightfully called The Palace; placed for the pride of all ages; the city of the Lord; the Sion of the Holy One of Israel. This catholic and apostolical Roman Church is the head of the world, the mother of all believers, the faithful interpreter of God, and mistress of all churches.” But God varies the style: he terms her the mother of harlots — The parent, ring-leader, patroness, and nourisher of many daughters, that closely copy after her; and abominations — Of every kind, spiritual and fleshly; of the earth — In all lands. In this respect she is indeed catholic, or universal. The Papists would fain persuade us that pagan Rome is here intended: but, as Bishop Newton justly observes, “The title of mystery is in no respect proper to her more than any other city, and neither is there any mystery in substituting one heathen, idolatrous, and persecuting city for another; but it is indeed a mystery that a city, called Christian, professing and boasting herself to be the city of God, should prove another Babylon in idolatry and cruelty to the people of God. She glories in the name of Roman Catholic, and well therefore may she be called, Babylon the Great. She affects the style and title of our holy mother the church, but she is in truth the mother of fornications and abominations. Neither can this character, with any propriety, be applied to ancient Rome, for she was rather a learner of foreign superstitions than the mistress of idolatry to other nations; as appears in various instances, and particularly from that solemn form of adjuration which the Romans used when they laid siege to a city, calling forth the tutelary deities of the place, and promising them temples, and sacrifices, and other solemnities at Rome. It may be concluded, therefore, that this part of the prophecy is sufficiently fulfilled, though there should be reason to question the truth of what is asserted by some writers, that the word MYSTERY was formerly written in letters of gold upon the forepart of the pope’s mitre. Scaliger affirms it upon the authority of the duke de Montmorency: Francis le Moyne and Brocardus confirm it, appealing to ocular inspection: and when King James objected this, Lessius could not deny it. If the thing be true, it is a wonderful coincidence of the event with the letter of prophecy. It is, however, much more certain, and none of that communion can deny it, that the ancient mitres were usually adorned with inscriptions. Revelation 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. Revelation 17:6 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 wondered with great admiration. Revelation 17:6-7 . I saw the woman, &c. — Infamous as the woman is for her idolatry, she is no less detestable for her cruelty, which are the two principal characters of the antichristian empire. She is drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs — Or witnesses; of Jesus — So that Rome may well be called, the slaughter-house of the martyrs. “This may indeed be applied both to pagan and to Christian Rome, for both have in their turns cruelly persecuted the saints and martyrs of Jesus; but the latter is more deserving of the character, as she hath far exceeded the former both in the degree and duration of her persecutions. It is very true, as it was hinted before, that if Rome pagan hath slain her thousands of innocent Christians, Rome Christian hath slain her ten thousands. For not to mention other outrageous slaughters and barbarities, the croisades against the Waldenses and Albigenses, the murders committed by the duke of Alva in the Netherlands, the massacres in France and Ireland, will probably amount to above ten times the number of all the Christians slain in all the ten persecutions of the Roman emperors put together. St. John’s admiration also plainly evinces that Christian Rome was intended: for it could be no matter of surprise to him that a heathen city should persecute the Christians, when he himself had seen and suffered the persecution under Nero: but that a city, professedly Christian, should wanton and riot in the blood of Christians, was a subject of astonishment indeed; and well might he, as it is emphatically expressed, wonder with great wonder.” And the angel said. Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery — It was not thought sufficient to represent these things only in vision, and therefore the angel, like the ??????? , nuntius, or messenger, in the ancient drama, undertakes to explain the mystery, the mystic scene or secret meaning, of the woman, and of the beast that carries her: and the angel’s interpretation is indeed, as Bishop Newton observes, the best key to the Revelation, the best clew to direct and conduct us through this intricate labyrinth. Revelation 17:7 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 ten horns. Revelation 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. Revelation 17:8-14 . The beast that thou sawest, &c. — The mystery of the beast is first explained, and the beast is considered first in general, ( Revelation 17:8 ,) under a threefold state or succession, as existing, and then ceasing to be, and then reviving again, so as to become another and the same. He was, and is not — ?????? ????? , and yet is, or, according to other copies, ??? ???????? , and shall come, shall ascend out of the bottomless pit — A beast in the prophetic style, as we before observed, is a tyrannical idolatrous empire; and the Roman empire was idolatrous under the heathen emperors, and then ceased to be so for some time under the Christian emperors, and then became idolatrous again under the Roman pontiffs, and so hath continued ever since. It is the same idolatrous power revived again; but only in another form; and all the corrupt part of mankind, whose names were not enrolled as good citizens in the registers of heaven, are pleased at the revival of it; but in this last form it shall go into perdition — It shall not, as it did before, cease for a time and revive again, but shall be destroyed for ever. After this general account of the beast, follows an explanation of the particular emblems, with a short preface, intimating that they are deserving of the deepest attention, and are a proper exercise and trial of the understanding. Here is the mind which hath wisdom, Revelation 17:9 — As it was said upon a former occasion, Revelation 13:8 , Here is wisdom: let him that hath understanding count, &c. The seven heads have a double signification: they are, primarily, seven mountains on which the woman sitteth — On which the capital city is seated; which all know to be the situation of Rome. It is observed too, that new Rome, or Constantinople, is situated on seven mountains: but these are very rarely mentioned, and mentioned only by obscure authors in comparison of the others; and besides the seven mountains, other particulars also must coincide, which cannot be found in Constantinople. It is evident, therefore, that the city seated on seven mountains must be Rome; and a plainer description could not be given of it without expressing the name, which there might be several wise reasons for concealing. As the seven heads signify seven mountains, so they also signify seven kings reigning over them. And they are seven kings — Or kingdoms, or forms of government, as the word imports, and hath been shown to import in former instances. Five are fallen — Five of these forms of government are already past; and one is — The sixth is now subsisting. The five fallen are kings, and consuls, and dictators, and decemvirs, and military tribunes with consular authority; as they are enumerated and distinguished by the two greatest Roman historians, Livy and Tacitus. The sixth is the power of the Cesars or emperors, which was subsisting at the time of the vision. An end was put to the imperial name, A.D. 476, by Odoacer. king of the Heruli. He and his successors, the Ostrogoths, assumed the title of kings of Italy; but though the name was changed the power still continued much the same. This, therefore, cannot well be called a new form of government; it may rather be considered as a continuation of the imperial power, or as a renovation of the kingly authority. Consuls are reckoned but one form of government, though their office was frequently suspended, and after a time restored again: and in the same manner kings may be counted but one form of government, though the name was resumed after an interval of so many years. A new form of government was not erected till Rome fell under the obedience of the eastern emperor, and the emperor’s lieutenant, the exarch of Ravenna, dissolved all the former magistracies, and constituted a duke of Rome, to govern the people, and to pay tribute to the exarchate of Ravenna. Rome had never experienced this form of government before; and this was, perhaps, the other which, in the apostle’s days, was not yet come, and when he cometh he must continue a short space — For Rome was reduced to a dukedom, tributary to the exarch of Ravenna, by Longinus, who was sent exarch A.D. 566 or 568; and the city revolted from the eastern emperor to the pope, A.D. 727; which is a short space, in comparison of the imperial power, which preceded, and lasted above five hundred years; and in comparison of the Papal power, which followed, and hath now continued about one thousand years. But still it may be doubted whether this is properly a new form of government, Rome being still subject to the imperial power, by being subject to the Greek emperor’s deputy, the exarch of Ravenna: and, according as you determine this point, the beast that was, and is not — Was, while idolatrous, and was not, while not idolatrous, will appear to be the seventh or eighth. If you reckon this a new form of government, the beast that now is, is the eighth; if you do not reckon this a new form of government, the beast is of the seven; but whether he be the seventh or eighth, he is the last form of government, and goeth into perdition — It appears evidently that the sixth form of government, which was subsisting in St. John’s time, is the imperial; and what form of government hath succeeded to that in Rome, and hath continued for a long space of time, but the Papal? The beast, therefore, upon which the woman rideth, is the Roman government in its last form; and this, all must acknowledge, is the Papal, and not the imperial. Having thus explained the mystery of the seven heads, the angel proceeds to the explanation of the ten horns, ( Revelation 17:12-14 ,) which, says he, are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet — And consequently they were not in being at the time of the vision; and indeed the Roman empire was not divided into ten kingdoms till some time after it was become Christian. But they receive power as kings one hour — Or rather, at the same time, or for the same length of time; with the beast — It is true in both senses, they rise and fall together with the beast; and consequently they are not to be reckoned before the rise and establishment of the beast. Kingdoms they might be before, but they were not before kingdoms or horns of the beast, till they embraced his religion, and submitted to his authority; and the beast strengthened them, as they again strengthened the beast. It is upon the seventh or last head of the beast that the horns were seen growing together, that is, upon the Roman empire in its seventh or last form of government; and they are not, like the heads, successive, but contemporary kingdoms. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast, Revelation 17:13 — Which is easily understood and applied to the princes and states in communion with the Church of Rome. However they may differ in other respects, yet they agree in submitting implicitly to the authority of the Roman Church, and in defending its rights and prerogatives against all opposers. But where were ever ten kings or kingdoms who were all unanimous in their submissions to the Roman empire, and voluntarily contributed their power and strength, their forces and riches, to support and maintain it? These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, Revelation 17:14 — They persecute the true Church of Christ, but the true church shall in the end prevail and triumph over them; which particulars have been fulfilled in part already, and will be more fully accomplished hereafter. Revelation 17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. Revelation 17:10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. Revelation 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. Revelation 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. Revelation 17:13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. Revelation 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. Revelation 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. Revelation 17:15-18 . And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest where the whore sitteth are peoples, &c. — In the former part of this description, ( Revelation 17:1 ,) the whore is represented like ancient Babylon, sitting upon many waters; and these waters are here, Revelation 17:15 , said expressly to signify peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. So many words in the plural number fitly denote the great extensiveness of her power and jurisdiction; and it is a remarkable peculiarity of Rome, different from all other governments in the world, that her authority is not limited to her own immediate subjects, and confined within the bounds of her own dominions, but extends over all kingdoms and countries professing the same religion. She herself glories in the title of the catholic church, and exults in the number of her votaries, as a certain proof of the true religion. But notwithstanding the general current in her favour, the tide shall turn against her; and the hands which helped to raise her shall also pull her down; the ten horns shall hate the whore, Revelation 17:16 — That is, by a common figure of the whole for a part, some of the ten kings; for others ( Revelation 18:9 ) shall bewail her and lament for her; and ( Revelation 19:19 ) shall fight and perish in the cause of the beast. Some of the kings, who formerly loved her, grown sensible of her exorbitant exactions and oppressions, shall hate her, shall strip, and expose, and plunder her, and utterly consume her with fire. Rome, therefore, will finally be destroyed by some of the princes who are reformed, or shall be reformed, from Popery; and as the kings of France have contributed greatly to her advancement, it is not impossible nor improbable that some time or other they may also be the principal authors of her destruction. And such a revolution may more reasonably be expected, because ( Revelation 17:17 ) this infatuation of Popish princes is permitted by Divine Providence only for a certain period, until the words of God shall be fulfilled — And particularly the words of the Prophet Daniel, Daniel 7:25-26 , They shall be given into his hand until a time, and times, and the dividing of time; but then, as it immediately follows, the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume, and to destroy it unto the end. Little doubt can remain after this, what idolatrous church was meant by the whore of Babylon; but for the greater assuredness it is added by the angel, Revelation 17:18 , the woman which thou sawest is that great city, &c. — He hath explained the mystery of the beast, and of his seven heads and ten horns; and his explanation of the mystery of the woman is, that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth — And what city, at the time of the vision, reigned over the kings of the earth, but Rome? She hath, too, ever since reigned over the kings of the earth, if not with temporal, yet at least with spiritual authority. Rome, therefore, is evidently and undeniably this great city; and that Christian, and not heathen, Papal, and not imperial Rome was meant, hath appeared in several instances, and will appear in several more. Revelation 17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. Revelation 17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. Revelation 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Revelation 17:1 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: CHAPTER XIII THE BEAST AND BABYLOST. Revelation 17:1-18 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 Revelation 6:17 , and again at Revelation 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 Revelation 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 Revelation 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 ( Revelation 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. Revelation 13:1 ; Revelation 17:3 ; Revelation 17:7 ; 2Comp. Revelation 13:1 ; Revelation 17:3 ; 3Comp. Revelation 13:1 ; Revelation 17:3 ; Revelation 17:12 ; 4Comp. Revelation 13:1 ; Revelation 17:8 ) The more positive points of difference, again, may be simply and naturally explained. In Revelation 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 Revelation 17:12 ; 2 Revelation 17:12 ; 3 Revelation 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 Revelation 13:2 ; 2 Revelation 12:17 ; 3 Revelation 17:14 ; 4 Revelation 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 Revelation 1:18 ; 2Comp. Revelation 13:3 ; 3 Revelation 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. Revelation 6:13 ; Revelation 8:10 ; Revelation 9:1 ; Revelation 11:13 ; Revelation 14:8 ; Revelation 16:19 ; Revelation 18:2 ; 2Comp. Daniel 7:17 ; Daniel 7:23 ; Revelation 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 Revelation 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 Revelation 12:12 ; 2 Daniel 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 Revelation 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 Revelation 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 ( Revelation 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. (* Acts 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. (* Revelation 14:8 ; Revelation 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 Jeremiah 3:1 2 Micah 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 . (* Matthew 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 Revelation 11:8 ; 2 Isaiah 1:10 ; 3 Isaiah 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 multitud