The seven bowls of God’s wrath have been poured out upon Babylon the Great, which is the beast from the sea which we saw in Revelation 13. Revelation 14:8-9 shows that the beast and Babylon the Great linked together. Revelation 17 will also link Babylon the Great and the beast together. The bowls which have been poured out have shown us God’s judgments upon the Roman empire. These judgments have indicated the end of its followers (16:2,9), the end of the throne of Rome (16:10-11), the end of its commercial power (16:3), and the total end of Rome as a world power (16:4-7, 17-21). Now in chapters 17 and 18, the details of the fall of the Roman empire will be described. All of these events are according to the prophecies of Daniel, as we have noted previously. Daniel 7:15-28 in particular describes the end of the fourth beast that was great and terrifying. Its description is the same as John’s found in Revelation 13. If you have had doubts about who the seven bowls have been poured out on, these next two chapters should clearly reveal the object of God’s wrath.

The Notorious Harlot

In verse 1 we read one of the seven angels who poured out a bowl of wrath is going to show John the judgment of the notorious harlot. It is important that we note that many cities were called harlots in the Old Testament. Ninevah is called a harlot in Nahum 3:4, “All because of the many harlotries of the harlot, The charming one, the mistress of sorceries, Who sells nations by her harlotries And families by her sorceries.” Tyre is called a “forgotten harlot” and is said to “play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world” in Isaiah 23:15-17. Babylon is called the harlot in Isaiah 47:5-15. Jerusalem is also called a harlot in Isaiah 1:21. The point we want to make from this is that in every instances we are talking about a city. Therefore, in Revelation 17:1, we must look for a city that fits the description of the great harlot.

Notice the descriptions given to this notorious harlot of Revelation 17:

The notorious woman sits on many waters (17:1). The waters are later identified as “peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages” (17:15). Therefore this city has great power over all the world and rules the people of the world.

Next, the notorious harlot has on her forehead “Mystery-Babylon the Great- The Mother of Harlots and of the Vile Things of the Earthâ€? (17:5). She is also described as “the woman was drunk on the blood of the saints and on the blood of the witnesses to Jesusâ€? (17:6). The city is full of evil deeds, including the persecution and murder of God’s saints.

Finally, the notorious harlot is described in Revelation 17:18. I have included a couple different version to help you see what city is being identified. “And the woman you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth� (17:18; NKJV). “And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth� (17:18; ESV). “And the woman you saw is the great city that has an empire over the kings of the earth� (17:18; HCSB).

What city would the people in the first century reading this message identified as the great city that reigns over the kings of the earth, has dominion over the kings of the earth, or has an empire over the kings of the earth? The answer is clearly Rome. Rome is Babylon the Great. Rome is the worst of all the evil cities and its judgment has been described.

The Beast

The beast in Revelation 17 is described as the same beast in Revelation 13:

Revelation 13
Out of the sea (13:1)
7 heads, 10 horns (13:1)
Blasphemous names on head (13:1)
Warred with saints (13:7)
Head fatally wounded, yet healed (13:3)
All the world wondered (13:3)

Revelation 17
Out of the abyss (17:8)
7 heads 10 horns (17:3)
Blasphemous names (17:3)
Makes war with the Lamb (17:14)
Was, is not, yet is (17:8)
Earth shall wonder (17:8)

Therefore, the beast refers to the empire itself and the notorious harlot refers to the city of Rome. All of Rome will be cast into judgment.

The mystery revealed (17:7-8)

The angel sees that John is astounded by what he has seen and the angel is now going to explain the mystery of the woman and beast. As we have noted, verse 8 describes the beast in such a way to show John and the reader that this beast is the same as the one we have been reading about since chapter 13:1-8. In verse 8 we read that this beast was, is not, and is about to come up is similar to what we read in Revelation 13:3 about the head that appeared fatally wounded but healed. Again, we are seeing a picture of the great power of this beast. Many times it seems that the Roman Empire is falling apart, yet then revives and continues its havoc upon the saints of God.

Explanation of the vision (17:9-18)

Now we will take what we are reading a verse at a time to try to understand the symbols and interpretation that the angel is presenting. The angel says, “here is the mind with wisdom.” The angel says that the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated. Classical literature refers to Rome repeatedly as the city on seven hills. In fact, a Roman coin depicted the goddess Roma sitting on seven mountains. So the symbol would certainly bring Rome and the empire into the mind of John’s readers.

The seven heads are also seven kings. “Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes, he must remain for a little while. The beast that was and is not, is himself the eighth, yet is of the seven and goes to destruction.” I think that this is one of the most difficult texts and most difficult images that has yet been presented in Revelation. Nearly every book that you can pick up will have a different explanation for what this symbol means. I do not have the space to go through all of the different ideas about this text. What I will do is present two views that I think are the most likely.

View 1: The number seven is found throughout this book as a symbol for completeness or perfection, and the number ten stands for the fullness of power. Thus, if seven stands for all the rulers of Rome, then many have already fallen, one still reigns now, and there will be more to come, but will only reign for a short time. The beast and the emperor are considered as one in verse 11, and yet both of these will go to destruction. The Roman empire seems to be folding and then will strengthen itself again, but its downfall will come. The benefit of this view that it continues along the lines that we have maintained throughout the book to not place literal details into the symbols, for when one does, the answers are numerous and confusing.

View 2: Standing against the first view is the act that these symbols are very detailed and seem to be trying to indicate something particular. I believe it does not make sense for the angel to try to explain the imagery of the first eight verses by given more symbols. The angel is giving an explanation. Because of the details given, we must take these words literally as the text is demanding us to do so. If the angel had simply said the seven hills are seven kings, we could have understood this section as a broad symbol, as the first view above does. However, the details force us to look for a more detailed answer.

We can count the kings as literal kings. If we count the first five kings, we then have Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. There are a couple of reasons not to begin with Julius in the counting. First, Julius was a self-appointed dictator that died 17 years before the Republic became an empire under Augustus. Second, Suetonius and other Roman historians say that the first emperor was Augustus. Augustus was the one that began the empire and continued a line of emperors upon his death.

“One is.” This then is referring to Vespasian. Vespasian began his reign in 68/69 A.D. Why do we skip Galba, Otho, and Vitellius? Because three are uprooted by Daniel. In Daniel 7:24 we see that of the ten kings, another would arise and put down three kings. The view then says that these are the three that should not be considered. These three emperors are chosen because they were quickly removed by civil war within a period of 18 months.

“The other has not yet come.” This would then refer to the emperor after Vespasian, who was his son Titus. Interesting that Titus ruled for only two years. Notice Revelation says that “he must remain for a little while.” In verse 11 we see that there is an eighth, who is of the seven yet goes to destruction. The eighth ruler of Rome, using this count, is Domitian. He is said to be of the seven because he reignited the persecution against the Christians like the other emperors before him. This view then gives more understanding to verses 8 and 11 about the description of the beast “who was, is not, and is coming up from the abyss.” This would mean that this is referring to the persecution of the saints. The persecution was occurring under many of the emperors, in particular Nero, but is not now, but will come up again with the eighth, Domitian.

Here is a summary:
1. Augustus (27 B.C.-14 A.D.) (5 have fallen)
2. Tiberius (14-37 A.D.)
3. Caligula (37-41 A.D.)
4. Claudius (41-54 A.D.)
5. Nero (54-68 A.D. -persecutor
1. Galba (68 A.D.- 6 months) (the three uprooted in Daniel
2. Otho (69 A.D.- 4 months) and therefore not counted
3. Vitellius (69 A.D.- 8 months) by John)
6. Vespasian (69-79 A.D.) (one is)
7. Titus (79-81 A.D.) (one is yet to come)
8. Domitian (81-96 A.D.)- persecutor (the eighth like the seven and goes to destruction)

Verses 12-14 would then refer to the sub-kingdoms and provinces that ruled within the Roman empire. Rome had given power to various regents and procurators, like the Herods, to rule over the regions and provinces. Yet their power was only from the Roman empire itself and was not their own. These rulers gave their allegiance to the Roman empire (the beast) and would make war against God and his people.

So now notice the interesting image presented in verses 16-17. We see that the ten horns and the beast will hate the great harlot. They will make her desolate and naked, devour her flesh, and burn her up with fire. As we have noted previously, the beast is the extent of the Roman empire and the ten horns are the sub-kingdom and governors of the empire. The text says that they will turn upon the woman and destroy her. This is exactly how history records the fall of Rome. The inner decadence and inner strife are two of the reasons why Rome fell. Is this not exactly what Daniel had prophesied? Turn back to Daniel 2:40-44. We read of the fourth kingdom (the Roman empire) made of iron and clay so that is was partly strong and partly brittle. Notice verse 43, “As you saw the iron mixed with clay, so will they mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay.” The kingdom would not hold together but fall apart because of the way it was built. One of the greatest strengths of Rome was that it incorporated all the languages and nations of the world under it. But this also was its weakness, leading to perpetual internal problems until it finally fell.

This was all according to God’s plan as we see in Revelation 17:17. This was God’s purpose to allow this kingdom to exist until the fullness of time would come and God could carry out his plans. But now God has brought it down, never to rise again. Some say that the city is still there so this prophecy cannot be speaking about the fall of Rome. Many of the cities that were judged were eventually rebuilt, but they never had the glory or power that they previously had over the world. They are simply powerless cities. The same is true of Rome. Though a city stands, it has no power or influence like it did in the first couple centuries. In chapter 18 we will see that this is exactly what God was speaking about.