Commentary - Revelation 17:15-18

Bird's-eye view

In these closing verses of Revelation 17, the angel provides John with a divine glossary for the symbols he has just witnessed. The vision of the great harlot astride the beast is not left to our fevered imaginations; its central components are explicitly defined. This section serves as the interpretive key, unlocking the political and covenantal realities of the first century. The harlot's power base, the beast's ultimate treachery, and God's absolute sovereignty over the entire sordid affair are all laid bare. The passage reveals a stunning, providential reversal: the very world powers that propped up the apostate covenant community will be the instruments of her destruction.

The central action here is a divinely orchestrated betrayal. The harlot, who represents apostate, first-century Jerusalem, has been riding high, leveraging the power of the beast, imperial Rome. But the alliance is a temporary one, a devil's bargain. God Himself will turn the hearts of the beast and its vassal kings against the harlot. Their political hatred will manifest in a brutal, total destruction, which is precisely what the Roman legions did to Jerusalem in A.D. 70. This is not a story of geopolitical chance, but a demonstration of God's meticulous and righteous judgment, fulfilling His ancient covenantal warnings. The chapter concludes with an unambiguous identification of the harlot as "the great city," which in John's immediate context, can be none other than the Jerusalem that crucified the Lord of Glory.

Outline

Context In Revelation

Chapter 17 is a detailed explanation of the judgment pronounced upon "Babylon the Great," a judgment announced in chapter 14 and anticipated in the bowl judgments of chapter 16. John is taken into the wilderness to see the "judgment of the great harlot" (17:1). What he sees is this garishly adorned woman sitting on a scarlet beast, a picture of an unholy alliance between a corrupt religious system and a pagan political power. This vision provides the backstory for the dramatic fall of Babylon depicted in chapter 18. The identity of this harlot is one of the central keys to understanding the entire book. Given the consistent Old Testament imagery of Israel as Yahweh's unfaithful wife, a harlot (e.g., Ezekiel 16, Hosea), the harlot is best understood as apostate Jerusalem, which had rejected her Messiah and entered into a covenant with Caesar ("We have no king but Caesar," John 19:15). The beast she rides is the Roman Empire. These final verses of chapter 17 make this identification explicit and describe the mechanism of her prophesied downfall, setting the stage for the great lament over her destruction in the chapter that follows.

Key Issues

The Treachery of Alliances

One of the central lessons of this passage, and indeed of Scripture, is the folly of God's people making worldly alliances for the sake of power and security. The harlot is riding the beast; she is comfortable, powerful, and influential precisely because of her relationship with this monstrous pagan empire. Apostate Jerusalem, through her Sadducean and Herodian leadership, had made a devil's bargain with Rome. They leveraged Roman power to maintain their own positions and, ultimately, to crucify their own Messiah. They thought they were in control, cleverly steering the beast to serve their own ends.

But this passage shows us the inevitable end of all such compromises. The world is a fickle friend. The beast you ride today will be the beast that devours you tomorrow. The ten horns, representing the powers that make up the empire, will turn on the harlot with a shocking ferocity. This is not just a political lesson; it is a profound spiritual one. When the church seeks to advance her mission by hitching her wagon to the beast of political power, secular influence, or cultural approval, she becomes a harlot. And God, in His righteous judgment, often uses the world to chastise His unfaithful people. The very power she trusted in becomes the instrument of her ruin. The only secure alliance is the covenant of grace we have with God through Jesus Christ.

Verse by Verse Commentary

15 And he said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and crowds and nations and tongues.

The angel begins his interpretation by defining the "many waters" from verse 1. This is not a literal body of water, but a symbol of humanity in its vast diversity. The harlot's influence is international. This points to the global reach of first-century Jerusalem. As the center of the Jewish faith, her influence extended throughout the Roman Empire and beyond, wherever there were synagogues and Jewish communities. The "peoples and crowds and nations and tongues" represent the whole world of that time, the oikoumene. Jerusalem was not some backwater village; she was a major player on the world stage, and her corruption had global ramifications. Her sin was not done in a corner.

16 And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will lay waste to her and make her naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire.

Here is the shocking reversal. The beast and its constituent powers, the very source of the harlot's security and prestige, will become her executioners. The language used is one of utter, violent, and contemptuous destruction. They will "hate" her. This is not a simple political disagreement; it is a visceral loathing. The alliance was one of convenience, and when that convenience ended, a deep-seated animosity was revealed. They will "lay waste to her," a term for utter desolation. They will "make her naked," stripping her of all her wealth, finery, and dignity, exposing her shame to the world. They will "eat her flesh," a brutal image of total consumption and plunder, like wild animals tearing a carcass. And finally, they will "burn her up with fire," the ultimate symbol of complete and final judgment, the fate prescribed in the Old Testament for a priest's daughter who became a harlot (Lev. 21:9). This is a precise, albeit symbolic, prophecy of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, when the legions under Titus did, in fact, desolate the city, strip it bare, plunder it, and burn it to the ground.

17 For God gave it in their hearts to do His purpose both by doing their own common purpose and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be finished.

This is one of the most profound statements on divine sovereignty in all of Scripture. Why will the beast and the horns turn on the harlot? Because God put it in their hearts to do so. The hatred of Rome for Jerusalem was not an accident of history. It was a direct, divinely implanted impulse. Notice the layers here. The ten horns have their own "common purpose", their political and military aims. They give their power over to the beast, the centralized Roman authority, to achieve those aims. But behind their purpose, and accomplished through their purpose, is God's ultimate purpose. They think they are simply consolidating an empire and putting down a troublesome rebellion. In reality, they are acting as God's divine council, executing His verdict against the covenant-breaking city. God is not the author of their sin, but He is the sovereign author of the outcome. He orchestrates the sinful intentions of men to accomplish His righteous ends, and He does so until His prophetic "words," the covenant curses He had long ago promised for disobedience, are brought to their complete fulfillment.

18 And the woman whom you saw is the great city, which has a kingdom over the kings of the earth.”

Lest there be any doubt, the angel provides the final, explicit identification. The harlot is "the great city." In the context of John's world, there were two great cities that could fit this description: Rome and Jerusalem. But Rome is the beast, the power doing the destroying. The harlot is the one being destroyed. Therefore, the harlot must be Jerusalem. But how could Jerusalem be said to have "a kingdom over the kings of the earth"? This was not a political or military reign, but a spiritual one. For centuries, Jerusalem had been the center of God's rule on earth, the place where He put His name. From her went forth the law and the word of the Lord. She was the mother city of a faith that had adherents in every corner of the empire. Her spiritual authority was immense. But she had prostituted that authority, turning her spiritual kingdom into a harlot's enterprise, and so she had to be destroyed to make way for the New Jerusalem, the true bride of Christ.

Application

This passage is a stark reminder that God is in meticulous control of history, right down to the sinful hatreds in the hearts of pagan kings. Nothing happens by chance. The rise and fall of nations, the betrayals of allies, the convulsions of history, all of it serves to fulfill the words of God. This should be a profound comfort to the believer. Our God is not wringing His hands in heaven, surprised by the latest news cycle. He is on the throne, and He is working all things, even the wrath of man, to praise Him and to accomplish His good purposes for His people.

Secondly, this is a severe warning against spiritual adultery. The harlot's sin was trusting in the beast instead of her husband, Yahweh. She sought security, wealth, and influence from the world system. The Church is always tempted to do the same. We are tempted to measure our success by the world's metrics, to adopt the world's methods, and to seek the world's approval. We are tempted to ride the beast of political expediency, cultural relevance, or financial security. This passage screams at us that such alliances are a path to ruin. The world we try to court will eventually turn and devour us. Our only safety is in radical, uncompromising faithfulness to our King, the Lord Jesus. We must be the faithful Bride, not the great harlot. We must trust in His promises, not in the power of the beast, knowing that the kingdoms of this world will all be thrown down, but the kingdom of our God and of His Christ will endure forever.