This series on Christian Eschatology discusses the aspects of Daniel and Revelation least affected by speculation. The most significant problem with Christian Eschatology is arbitrary interpretation, rooted in writer’s opinions or church traditions. This series derives conclusions from only two things: scripture and the historical record. No tradition is permitted.

The complete series:

“The Whore of Babylon” (this part)
“Ten and Three Horns”
“The Seven Kings”
“The Image and Mark of the Beast“

Revelation 17 describes the Whore of Babylon:

Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes, and of the abominations of the earth.

Babylon generally refers to the city of Rome. This is seen in 1 Peter 5:12-13:

With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark.

Peter wrote from Rome, but he refers to it as Babylon. Writing around the same time, so too does John the Revelator.

As seen in the “Eschatological Timeline“, from 293 to 382 AD the Roman Empire was ruled in pieces, dioceses each ruled by its own vicarii. In 380AD, Christianity became the state religion of Rome. Through 382AD (Council of Rome) and 395AD (when Roman Catholicism took the civil power of the sword), the three superior dioceses of Roman Catholicism (containing the three Petrine Seats of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria) were handed civil authority from the 10 remaining dioceses.

It is within this time frame^[1] that John the Revelator writes this sexually explicit, graphic portrayal of these historical events:

Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.  The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority, until God’s words are fulfilled.  The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.

By this point in history, the prostitute—Rome—was the seat the Roman Religion (but not the seat of the empire). What was left of the Roman Empire, in its final act, went along with the beast into the prostitute, hating her and laying her out naked, desolating her, and consuming and destroying her flesh as with fire^[2]  in a black orgy. The beast, the ten kings, and the Roman religion (made up of the other three dioceses) cleaved to one another and became one flesh. It was thus that the independence of the church from the state was ended and the religion was, figuratively, sexually defiled in the most unholy of marriage couplings. And after this defiled union, the ten kings physically ruled with the beast shortly before handed the remainder of their royal power over to the new Roman Catholic religion centered in Rome.

All this was required by prophecy in order for Roman Catholicism to take over royal authority from the secular Roman Empire. But make no mistake, though the Roman Catholic church describes this in terms of the heavenly kingdom brought down to earth, John describes it in the most debased, defiled, sexually explicit manner.

Footnotes

^[1] Revelation 17:12 describes the time frame like this: “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast.” When John wrote his Apocalypse, the 10 dioceses of Rome’s final configuration and their vicarii had not yet risen, but when they finally coupled with Roman Catholicism in the late 4th century, the joint rule of the Roman Empire and the new Roman religion was brief.

^[2] Some may argue that the fire of Revelation 17:16 is a flashback that refers to the beast (with the ten kings who had not yet received a kingdom) destroying Rome during the reign of Nero. This is a plausible alternative understanding, but ultimately doesn’t change the timeline of the ten kings handing over their power to the beast. However, this explanation removes the power of the deviant sexual imagery, which was obviously intended. In particular “bringing her to ruin”  and “eating her flesh” are graphic sexual euphemisms—that form parallel couplets with “burn her with fire” and “leave her naked” respectively—the sense of which Rome burning fails to capture. Rome burning is not a sexual union, an unholy marriage.