The Great Whore and the Beast

• Know that as true believers that our names are written in the book of life from the foundation of th world.
• Any control given to the beast has been agreed by God to carry out His purpose by until the Words of God will be fulfilled. 
• The Lamb will conquer the beast and his army, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with Him are called and chosen and faithful.
• All idolatry and cruelty are the issue and product of hell and shall return there and go into perdition.
• Though the beast and his army appear much stronger than the Lamb and His army. Yet The Lamb shall overcome. Christ must reign till all enemies be put under His feet.
• Christ and His army will be sure to meet with many enemies, and much opposition, but they will also be sure to gain the victory. For He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He has, both by nature and by office, supreme dominion and power over all things. All the powers of earth and hell are subject to His check and control.
• Christ’s followers are called, chosen, and faithful. They are called out by commission to this warfare. They are chosen and fitted for it, and they will be faithful in it.
• God has powerful influence over the minds of great men. Their hearts are in His hand, and He turns them as He pleases. It was of God to fulfill His will, that these kings agreed to give their kingdom unto the beast; they were judicially blinded and hardened to do so. And it was of God that afterwards their hearts were turned against the whore, to hate her, and to make her desolate and naked and burn her with fire. They shall at length see their folly, and how they have been bewitched and enslaved by her. Out of a just resentment they shall not only fall away from her, but shall be made the instruments of God’s providence in her destruction.

The Great Whore and the Beast

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great whore who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk.” So he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornications.

On her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of whores and of earth’s abominations.” And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly amazed. But the angels said to me, “Why are you so amazed? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. The beast that you saw was, and is not and is about to ascent from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be amazed when they see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.

The Lamb will conquer

“This calls for a mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; also, they are seven kings, of whom five have fallen, one is living, and the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain only a little while. As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. These are united in yielding their power and authority to the beast; they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with Him are called and chosen and faithful.”

And he said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the whore is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the whore; they will make her desolate and naked; they will devour her flesh and burn her up with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose by agreeing to give their kingdom to the beast, until the Words of God will be fulfilled. The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”

She was arrayed in purple

Henry says – The Apostle is given an invitation to take a view of what was to be represented: Come hither, and I will show thee the judgment of the great whore, etc., Rev. 17:1. This is a name of great infamy. A whore [in this passage] is one that is married, and has been false to her husband’s bed, has forsaken the guide of her youth, and broken the covenant of God. She had been a prostitute to the kings of the earth, whom she had intoxicated with the wine of her fornication.

Her appearance was gay and gaudy: She was arrayed in purple, and scarlet colour, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls, Rev. 17:4. Here were all the allurements of worldly honour and riches, pomp and pride, suited to sensual and worldly minds. Her principal seat and residence was—upon the beast that had seven heads and ten horns. {Many have linked this to Rome as it was known as the ‘city on seven hills’ – infamous for idolatry, tyranny, and blasphemy. However there are numerous cities that claim to have been built on seven hills. Verse 10 explains that the seven hills represent 7 kings or kingdoms so it cannot refer wholy to Rome}.

A mystery in the name

She had a name which was written on her forehead. It was the custom of impudent harlots to hang out signs, with their names, that all might know what they were. {This beast is the same as the one mentioned in Chap 13 which is believed to refer to the Antichrist 2 Thess 2:3-4, Dan 9:27. So the whore has a close association with the Antichrist in the latter days}

She is named from her place of residence—Babylon the great. But we are not to take it for the old Babylon as we are told there is a mystery in the name. It is some other great city resembling the old Babylon. The whore is named from her infamous way and practice. She is not only a harlot, but a mother of harlots, breeding up harlots, and training them up to idolatry, and all sorts of lewdness and wickedness—the parent of all false religion and filthy conversation.

The apostle was amazed at the sight

She satiated herself with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus. She drank their blood with such greediness that she intoxicated herself with it. It was so pleasant to her that she could not tell when she had had enough of it: she was satiated, but never satisfied.

Here we have the mystery of this vision explained. The apostle was amazed at the sight of this woman. The angel tells the apostle what was meant by the beast on which the woman sat. This beast was, and is not, and yet is. It was a seat of idolatry and persecution and is not. It is not in the ancient form, which was pagan. And yet it is, it is truly the seat of idolatry and tyranny, though of another sort and form. 

It shall not rise again

It ascends out of the bottomless pit (idolatry and cruelty are the issue and product of hell), and it shall return there and go into perdition. This beast has seven heads, which have a double signification. (1.) Seven mountains and (2.) Seven kings—seven sorts of government. For those who associate this with Rome, it has been governed by kings, consuls, tribunes, dictators, emperors who were pagan, and emperors who were Christian. Five of these were extinct when this prophecy was written; one was then in being, that is, the pagan emperor. The other, that is, the Christian emperor, was yet to come, Rev. 17:10.

This beast makes an eighth governor, and sets up idolatry again. It had ten horns; which are said to be ten kings which have as yet received no kingdoms. That is shall not rise up till this empire be broken in pieces. Or, as others, shall not rise up till near the end of antichrist’s reign, and so shall reign but as it were one hour with her. But shall for that time be very unanimous and very zealous in that interest, and entirely devoted to it, divesting themselves of their prerogatives and revenues (things so dear to princes), out of an unaccountable fondness for antichristian interests.

Christ must reign

Here we have some account of the downfall of Babylon. Here a war begins between the beast and his followers, and the Lamb and His followers. The beast and his army appear much stronger than the Lamb and His army. But-The Lamb shall overcome. Christ must reign till all enemies be put under His feet. He will be sure to meet with many enemies, and much opposition, but He will also be sure to gain the victory. For He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He has, both by nature and by office, supreme dominion and power over all things; all the powers of earth and hell are subject to His check and control.

His followers are called, and chosen, and faithful. They are called out by commission to this warfare. They are chosen and fitted for it, and they will be faithful in it. There was a vast multitude who paid obedience and subjection to the beast and to the whore. She sat upon (that is, presided over) many waters. These waters were so many multitudes of people, and nations, of all languages. She reigned not only over kingdoms, but over the kings, and they were her tributaries, Rev. 17:15, 18.

Their hearts are in His hand

God has powerful influence over the minds of great men. Their hearts are in His hand, and He turned them as He pleased. It was of God, and to fulfil His will, that these kings agreed to give their kingdom unto the beast; they were judicially blinded and hardened to do so. And it was of God that afterwards their hearts were turned against the whore, to hate her, and to make her desolate and naked, and to eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. They shall at length see their folly, and how they have been bewitched and enslaved by her. Out of a just resentment, shall not only fall away from her, but shall be made the instruments of God’s providence in her destruction.

{The whore of Babylon will have great worldwide influence over people and nations. There will be an evil world system, controlled by the Antichrist, during the last days before Jesus’ return. But ultimately she will be destroyed}

Adapted from the Matthew Henry Commentary