Revelation 17

1 – 2

One of the seven angels came and spoke to me. This was one of the angels that had the seven bowls. He said, “Come, and I will show you the punishment that will be given to the famous prostitute.

She is the one sitting over many waters [people]. The kings of the earth sinned sexually with her. And the people of the earth became drunk from the wine of her sexual immorality.”


This woman shows us the false church. Of course, this church does have many sexual sins but God is speaking here now about how the Christian churches used to belong to Him and are committing adultery with the devil’s church. Spiritual adultery means worshiping something that is not God."

3 – 4

Then the angel carried me away by the Spirit to the desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a red beast [antichrist]. He was covered with names against God written on him. He had seven heads and ten horns [kings].

The woman was dressed in purple and red. She was shining with the gold, jewels, and pearls she was wearing. She had a golden cup in her hand. This cup was filled with evil things and the uncleanness of her sexual immorality.

The false church has many things to tempt people. The ones who fall into these temptations will be possessed by an unclean spirit.

Search and see if you can find a church which has leaders who wear gold and jewels and purple clothing but also has done many evil things. Whatever the true meaning is, we know there must be some sort of evil church that comes out of Rome in the future.

5. She had a name written on her forehead. This name is a mystery: THE GREAT BABYLON, MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES, AND THE EVIL THINGS OF THE EARTH.


The first rebellion against God is found in Genesis 11. The people build a tower to find a way to go to heaven without God’s help. It was called the Tower of Babel, which means the tower of confusion. The people who stayed near the tower built the city of Babylon in Iraq. The false church is called spiritual Babylon. The Christians of John’s day would understand this mystery name. See Zechariah 5:611.

6. I saw that the woman was drunk. She was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people. She was drunk with the blood of those who were killed because of their faith in Jesus. When I saw the woman, I was fully amazed.

Search the history books and see if you can find which church killed millions of people in the name of Christ? There is no excuse for what this church has done. All we can say to unbelievers is that these things are not the way of Christ. There can be some true Christians in this church system, but someday they will have to come out.

7. Then the angel said to me, Why are you amazed? I will tell you the hidden meaning of this [false church] and the [antichrist] she rides–the one with seven heads and ten horns.

This church will ride on the back of the antichrist which means the false church controls the antichrist for some time. See if you can find which church in history has been known for controlling governments.

8. The [antichrist] that you saw was once alive. He is not alive now. But he will be alive and come up out of the bottomless pit and go away to be destroyed.

The people who live on earth will be amazed when they see the [antichrist]. They will be amazed because he was once alive, is not alive now, but will come again. These are the people whose names have never been written in the book of life since the beginning of the world.

Some Bible teachers say that this spirit which comes out of the pit and enters into the antichrist is the same demon that was controlling Nero. This would mean that the antichrist rules in the same insane way that Nero ruled. The people will think that this is someone who came back from the dead because of this evil spirit.

9. You need a wise mind to understand this. The seven heads on the [antichrist] are the seven hills [of Rome] where the woman sits. They are also seven kings.

The city of Rome is surrounded by seven hills. So we know that this false church has its headquarters in Rome.

10. Five of the kings have already died. One of the kings lives now. And the last king is coming. When he comes, he will stay only a short time.

Some teachers say that these are five Roman kings who have fallen: Augustus, Tiberius, Gaius, Claudius, and Nero. The one who “is now” at the time John was writing was Galba who served for only six months. Other teachers say that these are five kingdoms that have controlled the earth in history.

11 – 12

The [antichrist] that was once alive but is not alive now is an eighth king. This eighth king also belongs to the first seven kings. And he will go away to be destroyed. The ten horns you saw are ten kings. These ten kings have not yet begun to rule. But they will receive power to rule with the [antichrist] for one hour.

These ten kings can be compared to the ten kingdoms in Daniel 2:36 45.

13 – 14

All ten of these kings have the same purpose. And they will give their power and authority to the [antichrist].

They will make war against the Lamb. But the Lamb will defeat them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings. He will defeat them with His chosen and faithful followers, the people that He has called.”

This is spiritual warfare: putting evil thoughts in the minds of men and turning them against Jesus.

15. Then the angel said to me, “You saw the water where the [false church]. sits. These waters are the many peoples, the different races, nations, and languages.

This is how we know that many waters means many people.

16 – 18

The [antichrist] and the ten [kings] you saw will hate the [false church]. They will take everything she has and leave her naked. They will eat her body and burn her with fire.

God made the ten [kings] want to carry out His purpose: They agreed to give the [antichrist] their power to rule. They will rule until what God has said is completed.

The woman you saw is the great city [Rome] that rules over the kings of the earth.”

The antichrist wants to pretend that he is like Christ. He wants to be Lord of lords and King of Kings. He does not want the false church, or any other kings, to control him because he wants to be ruler of all.