This chapter contains a whole panoply of strange characters who are aligned not only against God but also against one another. I guess it only goes to prove the proverb: “There is no honor among thieves.” But in addition, it appears that God Himself is the one responsible for the division that will occur. There have been a variety of approaches to the interpretation of this chapter, but below are some of my own thoughts on the subject. I will start with the way the chapter is organized since it always supplies clues as to the author's purpose.
Organization of Revelation 17
1. The whore seated upon the waters (1)
a. The kings of the earth (2a)
b. The inhabitants of the earth (2b)
c. The ten horns (3a)
d. The beast (3b)
e. The woman's expensive clothing (4-5)
f. The blood of the martyrs (6a)
2. The beast and the kings (vv. 6b-14)
a. The beast (6b-8)
b. Seven kings (9-10)
a'. The beast (11)
b'. Ten kings (12)
a''. The beast (13-14a)
2'. The Lamb (14b)
1'. The waters on which the whore is seated (15a)
b'. The inhabitants of the earth (15b)
c'. The ten horns (16a)
d'. The beast (16b)
e'. The woman is stripped naked (16c)
f'. She is devoured and burned up (16d-17)
a'. The kings of the earth (18)
As you can see, there is almost complete parallelism between the elements in the vision of Revelation 17:1-6a (Section 1) and its explanation by the angel in Revelation 17:15a-18 (Section 1') although we are encouraged to see a stark contrast between 1e-f and 1' e-f instead of a parallel. Between these two sections 1 and 1' is sandwiched the description of the arraigned forces of evil (Section 2) against that of the Lamb of God (2'). Within that unit there is a special unity of a-b-a' formed by similar past-present-future statements
2a. The beast who “was, and is not, and is about to...go to destruction.”
2b. Seven kings of whom “five has fallen, one is living and the other has not yet come.”
2a'. The beast “that was, and is not, ...and it goes to destruction.”
The most complete description in this chapter of the identity of the whore of Babylon really comes in the last verse. Remember that when she was first introduced to John, she was called “great.” (v. 1). Now in v. 18 we learn that she is in fact “the great city.” This prepares us for the actual fall described in the following chapter in which Babylon is called “great” (Rev. 18:2) and the phrase “great city” appears in verses 10, 16, 18, 19 and 21.
This is actually not the first time the phrase “great city” and related terms appear in the Bible. And, as we might suspect, the original designation is borrowed from the Old Testament. So we need to visit those passages in order to better understand better what we are being told in Revelation 17.
Nehemiah 7:4
Nehemiah states that when he viewed the city of Jerusalem toward the end of the Persian captivity, it was “large and great.”
Isaiah 26:1
Similarly, Jerusalem is described as “a strong city” by the prophet. However, Jeremiah in 20:5 predicts that the strength of Jerusalem will be delivered into Babylon's hands.
Ezekiel 26:17
Then, coming even closer to the wording in Revelation 17 is the whole of Ezekiel 17 describing the downfall of the city of Tyre. Compare especially Ezekiel 26:17 with Revelation 18:18b-19. Both “great” cities are noted for their widespread trade with the countries in the Mediterranean area. And both “renowned and strong” cities are similarly destined to suffer a downfall when judged by God.
Jonah
But the Old Testament book that uses the phrase “the/that great city” the most is the book of Jonah. It appears in every chapter other than the one describing the prophet's time under the sea (see Jonah 1:2; 3:2-3; 4:1). And in each case it refers to Nineveh, the pagan city who managed to escape judgment by her repentance but would later meet her own doom after setting her sights on conquering Jewish territories.
Proverbs 18:11, 19a
The Book of Proverbs contains some teachings using the image of important cities to make its point. In verse 11 we read, “The wealth of the rich is their strong city; in their imagination it is like a high wall.” Notice that those wealthy people have imagined that their riches alone will save them from disaster. This explains the utter shock those who mourn the fall of Babylon will experience, as portrayed in Rev. 18.
Another possible lesson applicable to Revelation can be drawn from the warning in Proverbs 18:19a: “An ally offended is stronger than a city.” We see this clearly in Revelation 17:16-17 where at God's leading, the ten horns (i.e. kings) and the beast will turn against their former ally Babylon and destroy her.
Revelation 11:8
But one important precursor to the “great city” of Revelation 17-18 has not yet been mentioned, and it is the most telling one of all. It appears in chapter 11 of this same book where we are first introduced to the “great city” and given an even clearer understanding of what the phrase really means. There the “great” city is identified as Sodom, Egypt, and Jerusalem (“where their Lord was crucified”). And this identification is said to be given in “prophetic,” “allegorical,” or “spiritual” terms, depending on how your translation reads.
If we piece all the above imagery together in order to get a better idea of what John is taking about when he writes “Babylon, the great city,” we arrive at quite a different understanding from those literalists who merely state in no uncertain terms that in future times, a world power will rebuild a city on the site of the old Babylon, and that is what is being referred to in Revelation 17. Or there are an even larger number of commentators who have only to cite Revelation 17:9 with its “seven hills” and “seven kings” in order to authoritatively assert that the “great city” is obviously Rome. But both of the above approaches result in interpretations that are entirely too facile.
In fact, as scholars such as Jacques Ellul in his seminal study The Meaning of the City explain, the Babylon of Revelation 17-18 possesses all the characteristics of every major city and power throughout history who has attempted to raise itself to the status of “great” with the exclusion of God. Such a symbolic city makes war on God's people and enslaves them (Egypt, Nineveh, Babylon), glories in her own riches and influence (Tyre), openly engages in debauchery (Sodom), and martyrs Christ and his followers (Jerusalem).
In fact, Rome of the time of writing did meet all these definitions, but that should certainly not limit our understanding of the “great city” of Revelation to that one city and historical time period. As Ellul demonstrates, the fall of “Babylon” represents all misguided attempts for people to gather together in cities that allow them to be self-sufficient and selfish while excluding God from their existence. All such attempts will be destroyed once and for all when they are replaced by the Heavenly Jerusalem, the truly "great" city of God.
As a case of propinquity, I was thinking of some work of art of mine which I could use to illustrate this short post and remembered my “colorized” version of Paul Klee's pen-and-ink drawing titled “The Flood Washes Away Cities.” Several people who have seen this piece immediately think that it pictures a sort of Chinese dragon with fire coming out of its mouth. But the “fire” is actually a flood of water. And so, I saw a sort of correspondence between this “dragon” and the satanic image of Revelation 12:15 describing a dragon who attempts to drown the church with a flood of water coming out of its mouth. Also, of course, there was the similar theme of a city being destroyed, even though fire rather than water appears to be in store for Babylon.
The Flood Washes Away Cities (oil on sand on board)
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