(Revelation 17:1-7) One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me: “Come, I will show you the judgment on the great prostitute who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and earth’s inhabitants were made drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.” 3 And he carried me away in the power of the spirit into a wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored wild beast that was full of blasphemous names and that had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and she was adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, and she had in her hand a golden cup that was full of disgusting things and the unclean things of her sexual immorality. 5 On her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the Great, the mother of the prostitutes and of the disgusting things of the earth.” 6 And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the holy ones and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. Well, on seeing her I was greatly amazed. 7 So the angel said to me: “Why is it that you were amazed? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the wild beast that is carrying her and that has the seven heads and the ten horns:
(Revelation 18:1-4) After this I saw another angel descending from heaven with great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his glory. 2 And he cried out with a strong voice, saying: “She has fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen, and she has become a dwelling place of demons and a place where every unclean spirit and every unclean and hated bird lurks! 3 For because of the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, all the nations have fallen victim, and the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth became rich owing to the power of her shameless luxury.” 4 And I heard another voice out of heaven say: “Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues.
Insight on the Scriptures states:
“Some scholars assume that Babylon the Great is a political empire, either Babylon or Rome. We have already seen that Babylon as a political empire had long since ceased to exist when John received his prophetic vision. As to Rome, the nature of its political rule does not harmonize with the description of Babylon the Great’s course and her methods of dominating. She is a harlot, committing fornication with the kings of the earth, making them drunk with the wine of her fornication, misleading the nations by her “spiritistic practice.” (Re 17:1, 2; 18:3, 23) Rome’s dominion, by contrast, was gained and maintained by its ironlike military might and its firm application of Roman law among its provinces and colonies. Recognizing this fact, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible says: “It is not sufficient to identify Rome and Babylon. Babylon embraces more than one empire or culture. It is defined rather by dominant idolatries than by geographical or temporal boundaries. Babylon is coextensive with the kingdom of that beast which has corrupted and enslaved mankind, and whom the Lamb must conquer (Rev. 17:14) if mankind is to be freed.”—Edited by G. Buttrick, 1962, Vol. 1, p. 338. (Insight on the Scriptures vol.1 pg 240)
The NKJV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible equates Babylon the Great with the Roman Empire:
“Rome does not exhaust the significance of Babylon, but Rome embodied the spirit of Babylon for the first-century churches in Asia Minor. A number of points make clear this connection with Rome.
First, like the earlier empire of Babylon, Rome destroyed the temple and enslaved many of God’s people. As Israel once experienced exile under the evil empire of Babylon, now they experienced the captivity of a new evil empire in Rome.
Second, and especially for reasons just noted, Jewish thinkers often compared Rome to Babylon. The connection came partly because of the interpretation of Daniel’s prophecies about the four kingdoms. (Dan. 2:36-45; 7:3-14); Babylon was the first of the kingdoms, and first-century Jewish interpreters understood Rome as the last.
Third, the woman sits on seven mountains (Rev. 17:9); ancient writers regularly portrayed Rome in this manner.
Fourth, the leader of Babylon may be a new Nero (Rev. 17:8-11).
Fifth, this empire rules over the other kings of the earth (Rev. 17:18). It rules the nations gathered around the sea because it is a maritime power (Rev 17:15).
Sixth, Rome (and only Rome) traded in the same merchandise noted in Rev 18:12-13.
These factors show that Rome was the Babylon, the oppressive empire, of John’s day; but many also view Revelation’s Babylon as the evil world system that in principle continues beyond Rome’s fall.” (NKJV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible pg. 2332)
So this commentary, while recognizing a first century connection between Rome and Babylon, extends the application of John’s vision into the future beyond the fall of Rome.
Albert Barnes in his commentary associates Babylon the Great with the Roman Catholic Church:
“As applicable to papal Rome, in view of her impending ruin, this means:
(a) that there might be found in her some who were the true people of God;
(b) that it was their duty to separate wholly from her – a command that will not only justify the Reformation, but which would have made a longer continuance in communion with the papacy, when her wickedness was fully seen, an act of guilt before God;
(c) that they who remain in such a communion cannot but be regarded as partaking of her sin; and,
(d) that if they remain, they must expect to be involved in the calamities that will come upon her. There never was any duty plainer than that of withdrawing from papal Rome; there never has been any act attended with more happy consequences than that by which the Protestant world separated itself forever from the sins and the plagues of the papacy.” (Barnes Notes on the New Testament)
Here we have 3 possible interpretations. Which one is correct? In the next article I will attempt to lay out another option that I believe fits better with the scriptural and historical evidence.
However, in order to properly understand this or any other entity symbolically depicted in Revelation, it is vitally important to take into consideration the element of time. When was the book of Revelation written? What importance did the book have for first century Christians? Do the contents of this message apply to their immediate future or to a time in the distant future? So, next I will explore the question When Was the Book of Revelation Written?