And one of the seven angels who had seven bowls spoke to me saying: “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute sitting on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and those dwelling on the earth became drunk with the wine of her fornication.”

And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup filled with abominations and the unclean things of her fornication, and upon her forehead was a name inscribed, which is a mystery: “Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and the abominations of the earth.” And I saw the woman drunk from the blood of the saints and from the witnesses of Jesus. Revelation 17: 1-6a

Before getting into battle details concerning end-time Babylon, John first describes Babylon in general terms. He does this to show why Babylon is being judged.

In the Old Testament, apostate Israel was often compared to a prostitute or adulterous woman (e.g., Ezekiel 16: 15; 23: 30). John, here, is told about an even greater apostate prostitute. She is in control by virtue of her seductions as she sits atop, so to speak, the many nations of the world (Rev. 17: 15).

During pre-probation, she has gotten there by illicit, immoral solicitations, specifically aimed at the political powers (kings) of earth. As such, these leaders place their authority and resources under her quest to kill God’s people and to rule the world. And the rest of those dwelling on the earth (the wicked) follow along, having fallen into a drunken stupor from the wine she serves (deceptive doctrines, signs and wonders).

John, by the Spirit, is then moved to a symbolic wilderness (a wilderness condition that God’s people are experiencing) to view the great prostitute. There, he sees a woman. Often in prophecy, God uses a woman as a symbol for a church (e.g., Jeremiah 6; 2; Ephesians 5: 25). Here, then, John is looking at an apostate church that sits atop a beast.

The beast’s seven heads and ten horns represent political powers. This beast, scarlet in color (the color of sin, blood and oppression), is similar to the “great red dragon” of Rev. 12: 3. That, plus the beast’s corresponding numbers of heads and horns, shows that it is Satan working through the world’s political powers. So this woman/church sitting atop the beast is a worldwide power that has united church and state. The church is in the driver’s seat.

In addition to sin, scarlet is also a color, along with purple, that is associated with royalty. This is pompously pointed out in the prostitute/church’s statement in Rev.18: 7: “I sit as a queen.” Further distinguishing herself; her gaudy dress and jewels are a stark contrast to the Lamb’s bride who is arrayed in fine, clean, white linen (Rev. 19: 7, 8).

As was the custom of ancient Roman prostitutes who wore frontlets with their names, this great prostitute has a name on her forehead. The word “mystery” is not part of the title, though. It simply describes the title, which is why some scholars call the entity “mystical Babylon.”

Literal Babylon of the Old Testament represented rebellion and resistance against God. Its desire and drive was to reach heaven and take over God’s place as ruler (Genesis 11: 4; Jeremiah 51: 53). Biblically, a name often refers to character, which is why this woman is named Babylon the great. She has the same ambitious character as the Old Testament Babylon.

Revelation’s Babylon is the name for the end-time, worldwide religious system established by Satan. It unifies all false and apostate religions, making it the mother of prostitutes (apostate Protestantism in particular). The term Babylon mainly refers to the organizations themselves and to their leaders, not so much the members who follow.

Finally, in this judgment of end-time, mystical Babylon’s crimes, John sees that the prostitute/church – who has made the wicked drunk with her wine – is herself drunk with the blood of those she killed for their faithful witness of Jesus’ truth and gospel.