If the end of chapter 16 reminds us that powerful kings have often set themselves up as opponents of King Jesus, chapter 17 reminds us that wealthy and sophisticated civilizations tend to be just as hostile to the claims of Christ. John describes “the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth” (17:18) as a woman dressed in “purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls” (17:4). Yes, her clothing recalls the vestments worn by Old Testament priests, but instead of offering up sacrifices to God, she holds a “golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality” (17:4).

And notice that in John’s vision the woman is riding on the beast. This points to the partnership that all too often exists between godless governments and the civilizations they lead. And we cannot deny that political, social and economic power have often combined over the last 2000 years either to tempt the Church into compromise, or to destroy the Church when it dares to criticize the wickedness of worldly cultures. After all, John saw Babylon “drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (17:6).

Now, some commentators make a direct connection between the seven mountains on which the woman sits (17:9) and the seven hills of Rome, the most powerful city in the world at the time of John’s writing, and the seat of the government that had sent him into exile. But in calling the woman “Babylon,” John reminds us that other wealthy and powerful cities throughout history have set themselves up against God’s people, only to find themselves conquered or even destroyed at the hands of their own enemies – after all, the Persian Empire had conquered Babylon over 600 years before John saw his visions.

Moreover, John saw how wealthy, sophisticated cultures are often destroyed by the very godless governments they set up for themselves – after all the beast eventually turns on the woman, devouring her flesh and burning her up with fire (17:16). And that accurately describes the way Rome would fall some 300 years after John’s vision: exhausted by onerous taxes and regulations and weakened by endemic corruption, it had little strength or even will to resist its Gothic conquerors.

And the same thing will happen to every other government or culture that dares to make war on the Lamb of God, no matter how powerful and wicked they may eventually be. And why? John reminds us that “The Lamb will conquer them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings” (17:14). Yes, the beast may rise from the bottomless pit, but it will only have authority for one hour (17:12), and then it will “go to destruction” (17:8). In fact, the worst schemes of the beast and Babylon can only serve to carry out God’s purpose, to fulfill the very words of God (17:17).

The good news is that those who will join Christ in His victory over the beast and the prostitute are “called and chosen and faithful” (17:14). On the day He returns, will we find ourselves among them? Or are we more interested in the wealth and sophistication and power of the world?

Revelation 17:1-18 (ESV)

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 prostitute who is seated on many waters,
2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.”
3 And 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.
4 The woman was arrayed 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 sexual immorality.
5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.”
6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly.
7 But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her.
8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.
9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated;
10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while.
11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.
12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.
13 These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast.
14 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.”
15 And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.
16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire,
17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
18 And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”