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Response
Revelation 17:1-2 states, “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke to me, saying, ‘Come, I will reveal to you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.’” Revelation 17:5 further states, “And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” Who is this “harlot of Babylon” and what is “mystery Babylon”?
Revelation 17:3 provides this depiction: “Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.” The beast mentioned in this verse is the same beast as in Revelation chapter 13:1, “And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.” The beast in Revelation chapter 13 is believed to refer to the Antichrist, the man of lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4;Daniel 9:27). Therefore, the prostitute of Babylon, whoever she may be, is closely associated with the end-times Antichrist.
The designation of the prostitute of Babylon as a mystery implies that we cannot definitively ascertain her identity. Nevertheless, the passage does offer some clues. Revelation 17:9 explains, “This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits.” Many interpreters connect this passage with the Roman Catholic Church because historically, the city of Rome was known as “the city on seven hills” due to the presence of seven prominent hills surrounding the city. However, verse 10 elaborates that the seven hills symbolize 7 kings oIn the kingdoms, five of which have fallen, one that is, and one that is to come. Therefore, the “whore of Babylon” cannot refer exclusively to Rome. Revelation 17:15 tells us, “Then the angel said to me, ‘The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages.’” The whore of Babylon will have significant worldwide influence over people and nations. Verses 10-14 describe a series of eight and then ten kings who are associated with the beast. The whore of Babylon will at one time have control over these kings «And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.», (Revelation 17:18), but at some point, the kings will turn on her and destroy her «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 17:16).
So, can the mystery of the whore of Babylon be solved? Yes, at least partially. The whore of Babylon is an evil world system, controlled by the Antichrist, during the last days before Jesus’ return. The whore of Babylon also has religious connotations – spiritual adultery with the beast being the focus of an ungodly, end-times religious system.
