Mother Babylon - Revelation 17:1-5

Revelation 17:1-5 NASB
The Doom of Babylon
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “ BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”


John has been shown the seven-fold judgements that were described during the listing of the bowls. Now a little more detail is given on Babylon. It is presented as a harlot, an immoral woman who rides the scarlet beast. The beast shares the color of dragon thrown from heaven. The woman is clothed in garments reflecting the same color mixed with purple, which represents the power and wealth in the world. She sits on many waters, signifying her rule over many nations.

She seduces the kings of the world with the beguiling glamor and deceit that has been the hallmark of Satan from the beginning. All the earth is made senseless, having drunk from her cup continually of the wine of this earth.

John finds himself in a wilderness, for that is the home of the woman. It was in the wilderness that Satan tempted Jesus. It was in the wilderness that Israel wandered until they reached the promised land. John the Baptist cried out in the wilderness for people to repent. It was filled with beasts, wild animals, danger, and want. It is in that place Satan rules for now.

This is the same beast of the dragon, confirmed by the blasphemous names, seven heads, and ten horns.

Though the woman is clothed in finery and precious stones, the cup in her hand is filled with abominations. These are acts which are not tolerated by The Lord and are abominations when one uses the word of God as a reference point. Nothing is good or bad unless one is able to get their bearings using the light of God. It is this light that reveals darkness and the distance between mankind and the divine. This woman symbolizes the wayward world alienated from God. She gives birth to all that is wicked and those that take pleasure those things.

Isaiah 57:3-10
But you, draw near,
sons of the sorceress,
offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.
Whom are you mocking?
Against whom do you open your mouth wide
and stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of transgression,
the offspring of deceit,
you who burn with lust among the oaks,
under every green tree,
who slaughter your children in the valleys,
under the clefts of the rocks?
Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion;
they, they, are your lot;
to them you have poured out a drink offering,
you have brought a grain offering.
Shall I relent for these things?
On a high and lofty mountain
you have set your bed,
and there you went up to offer sacrifice.
Behind the door and the doorpost
you have set up your memorial;
for, deserting me, you have uncovered your bed,
you have gone up to it,
you have made it wide;
and you have made a covenant for yourself with them,
you have loved their bed,
you have looked on nakedness.
You journeyed to the king with oil
and multiplied your perfumes;
you sent your envoys far off,
and sent down even to Sheol.
You were wearied with the length of your way,
but you did not say, “It is hopeless”;
you found new life for your strength,
and so you were not faint.

Nahum 3:4-7
And all for the countless whorings of the prostitute,
graceful and of deadly charms,
who betrays nations with her whorings,
and peoples with her charms.
Behold, I am against you,
declares the Lord of hosts,
and will lift up your skirts over your face;
and I will make nations look at your nakedness
and kingdoms at your shame.
I will throw filth at you
and treat you with contempt
and make you a spectacle.
And all who look at you will shrink from you and say,
“Wasted is Nineveh; who will grieve for her?”
Where shall I seek comforters for you?

Jeremiah 51:7-10
Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand,
making all the earth drunken;
the nations drank of her wine;
therefore the nations went mad.
Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;
wail for her!
Take balm for her pain;
perhaps she may be healed.
We would have healed Babylon,
but she was not healed.
Forsake her, and let us go
each to his own country,
for her judgment has reached up to heaven
and has been lifted up even to the skies.
The Lord has brought about our vindication;
come, let us declare in Zion
the work of the Lord our God.

Revelation 18:16-17
“Alas, alas, for the great city
that was clothed in fine linen,
in purple and scarlet,
adorned with gold,
with jewels, and with pearls!
For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.”
And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off

2 Kings 21:2-6
And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune- telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.