ECHO Student Ministries

Revelation 17:1-18

The final series of judgments have been poured out upon the earth and John had documented what he had been shown in Revelation 15-16. The seventh bowl (or vial) judgment included the destruction of Babylon, which was the capital city of the Antichrist. John is given a little more detail about the demise of Babylon before its destruction in Revelation 18-19. Revelation 17 is best seen outside of the chronological order which has been followed so far. This demise probably took place around the mid-point of the tribulation period while Babylon's destruction would not take place until right before the millennial reign of Christ.

John begins this section by writing, "One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me [John], saying to me, 'Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot [Babylon] who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.'" (17:1-2) The fornication being referred to here is not sexual sin, but spiritual apostasy. Instead of worshiping God, the kings as well as the inhabitants of the earth worshipped false gods. The ultimate plan of the Antichrist was to bring all kings and nations under one religion which meant the exclusive worship of himself.

John is then "carried away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I [John] saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast [Antichrist] which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns...I saw the woman [Babylon], drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus" (17:3,6). We must remember that the Antichrist desires to bring all people into a one world religion causing millions to reject Jesus Christ and worship him. God then allows John to see the extent of the Antichrist's influence upon the entire world and how he leads them into spiritual apostasy. When John sees all this, he says that he "marveled with great amazement" (17:6b). The angel immediately says, "Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman [Babylon] and of the beast [Antichrist] that carries her..." (17:7). The angel goes on to reveal to John concerning the "seven heads and ten horns" which were used to describe this beast, the Antichrist. Many scholars believe that this description illustrates the alliance of the Antichrist with other kings and rulers. Here is how John describes it based on the words of the angel, "The seven heads are seven mountains [seven kingdoms] on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings. Five have fallen [Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece], one is [Rome], and the other has not yet come [Antichrist's kingdom]. And when he comes, he must continue a short time" (17:9-10). John also adds that "the beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going into perdition" (17:11). The Antichrist is seventh and eighth because he was the seventh ruler and then after his fake resurrection (13:1-5) he will also be the eighth.

The beast is also described as having ten horns. Again, scholars tell us that the ten horns are representative of ten kings who will be placed under the authority of the Antichrist. These rulers will "give their power and authority to the beast" and they "will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them..." (17:13-14). This war was referenced in Revelation 16:14-16 and their eventual defeat is recorded in Revelation 19:17-21. There is so much symbolism in this chapter so I have decided to summarize it with an overall commentary from the John MacArthur Study Bible (p.2017): "After using the false religious system to unify the world kingdoms and gain control of all, the Antichrist - with the help of ten sub-rulers - will turn against the system, plunder and destroy it, and seize all power and worship for himself."

Dear God, please continue to give me wisdom to see those things which are written about the future.