Act III · Milestone 7 of 9
Revelation 17–18 — Babylon
A woman in purple and scarlet rides a scarlet beast, drunk with the blood of the saints — and a name on her forehead reaches all the way back to a tower on the plain of Shinar.
Revelation 17–18 · about 20 minutes
3So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
15And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
18And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
2And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
3For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
4And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Watch the scene first
An angel carries John into the wilderness to see a woman sitting on a scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns. She is arrayed in purple and scarlet, decked with gold and pearls, holding a golden cup 'full of abominations.' On her forehead: 'MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS.' And she is 'drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.' Then chapter 18: an angel lightens the earth with glory crying 'Babylon the great is fallen,' while kings, merchants, and shipmasters weep over the smoke of her burning.
Follow the name backward
The woman is not named Rome — she is named Babylon, and the name is the key. Babel was the first confederacy: 'let us build us a tower' — man climbing to heaven by his own works (Genesis 11). Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon made a golden image and commanded worship on pain of fire (Daniel 3) — church and state fused, conscience outlawed. Revelation's Babylon is the same city wearing its third crown: a religious system that rides the beast (directs the state), that 'reigneth over the kings of the earth' (17:18), that changed times and laws (Daniel 7:25), and that persecutes. Babel's confusion, Babylon's furnace, and the harlot's golden cup are one story of salvation-by-empire.
The Bible names its own symbols, once more
As always, the angel hands you the decoder: 'the waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations' (17:15) — a worldwide following. 'The seven heads are seven mountains' — the city of seven hills. 'The woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth' — in John's day, and for the twelve centuries after, only one city on earth fit that sentence. And a pure woman is Christ's church (12:1; Jeremiah 6:2); a harlot woman is a church unfaithful — united with the kings of the earth instead of waiting for the King from heaven.
'Come out of her, my people'
Chapter 18 is the last call of the Bible. Babylon is judged not for being irreligious but for being religious — golden cup, fine linen, incense, 'the souls of men' in her cargo list (18:13). And yet God still says 'my people' are inside her. The final message of earth's history is not 'Babylon is falling, gloat' but 'Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins.' Every movement that rebuilds the Babel pattern — religion grasping civil power, nation baptized into church, conscience traded for culture-war victory — is the tower going up again, and the call stands: come out.
Check what you saw
Two questions on this scene. Answers show an explanation either way.
What is Babylon in Revelation portrayed as?
Which earlier stories does Babylon reach back to?
Talk it through
- —What does the merchant lament in chapter 18 reveal about the system's real interests?
- —Where do you see worship and civil power courting each other today?
Good prompts for a study group, or for the reflection journal on the Today page.