Revelation 17:1-18

Tomlinson's Comments

CHAPTER XVII
MYSTERIOUS BABYLON SITTING
UPON THE BEASTS

Text (Revelation 17:1-18)

1 And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters; 2 with whom the kings of the earth commited fornication, and they that dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication. 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication, 5 and upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 And 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 a great wonder. 7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, they whose name hath not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how that he was, and is not, and shall come. 9 Here is the mind that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth: 10 and they are seven kings; the five are fallen, the one is, the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a little while. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goeth into perdition. 12 And the ten horns that thou sawest are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour. 13 These have one mind, and they give their power and authority unto the beast. 14 These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they also shall overcome that are with him, called and chosen and faithful. 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest, and the beast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire. 17 For God did put in their hearts to do his mind, and to come to one mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished. 18 And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

INTRODUCTION

Beginning with the Vision of the Three Signs, namely, the Women (Revelation 12:1-17 th chapter), the Two Beasts (Revelation 13:1-18 th chapter) and the Seven Vials (Revelation 15:1-8 th and 16th Chapter s), we have found that the woman (or the true church of Christ) has had three great adversaries.

These three were the Dragon, or the Devil and Satan, political Rome, the beast coming up out of the sea and papal Rome, the beast coming up out of the earth and later called the false prophet in (Revelation 16:1-21 th chapter). In this chapter, in which we now enter, papal Rome is called Mystery, Babylon, the Great, the Mother of Harlots, and the abominations of the earth.

It is altogether fitting that as we reach the climax of the uncovering of her identity, she should be so designated in the chapter upon whose threshold we now stand.
The introduction, of this new revelation of the apostate church, is linked to the judgments visited upon her under the Seven Vials, by the declaration:

Revelation 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters.

The seven vial angels had given a sweeping account, of the overthrow of this spiritual Babylon, by the pouring out of their vials. This one of the seven angels will present to John, Babylon's overthrow in greater detail. This, and the two following Chapter s, relate to her final fate.

Twice before, in Chapter s Revelation 14:8, and Revelation 16:19, this Babylon has been named and her fall foretold, yet in neither mentioning has she been described, nor has her identity been disclosed. Here the mystery of her is to be uncovered, or revealed.

There is a second definite linking of this description with the Babylon of the Seven Vials. Under the third vial, we read: They have shed the blood of saints, In this present chapter and the sixth verse, this Babylon, characterized as a woman, is drunken with the blood of saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
This repeating of unfoldings of revelation, in a series of visions is proof positive that the Apocalypse is divided into a series of approaches, in which there is a constant returning in later visions to territory, that has already been covered, either for a fresh start, or to show a vision in greater detail.
The seventeenth chapter is expressly an uncovering of the judgment of the great harlotthe apostate church.
This great harlot is described as sitting upon many waters. Here again, we meet with one of the few times in Revelation when the book itself, interprets the symbol given. The symbol of waters, is explained in the fifteenth verse of this same chapter, And he saith unto me, the waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations and tongues. These waters, then, are symbolic of the many nations and races that support the whore.

The papal church calls herself the Catholic church, meaning, the universal church. It is a church, here in Revelation, under the characterization of a harlot, which sits upon, or has dominion over peoples and nations and races, the world over. The very name Catholic, even if no other identification were given, is enough to prove she is the harlot depicted here in Revelation. How unwittingly has this apostate church revealed herself by the very name she wears, as the Babylon of the Apocalypse! By her very name she presents the student of the Bible, not with mere circumstantial evidence, but with positive, incontrovertible, direct evidence.
God works in a mysterious way his wonders to perform. He not only will not allow a church to wear a scriptural name, which observes unscriptural practices and follows unbiblical doctrine, but He brings it about that every church that so departs from the truth wears a name in keeping with that departure. We continue to read:

Revelation 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

In the first verse she is called a whore or harlot, and in this verse, the participants with her in her harlotry, are disclosed.
For centuries past the kings of the earth, or earthly governments have had unholy relations with this Jezebel. Since she if a religio-political institution, she has enticed the governments of the world to support and sustain her unholy ambitions, by secret, as well as open alliances. History breathes in the record of her political and religious concordats with the rulers and governments of the earth.
And the inhabitants have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

Fornication, in the Scripture, spiritually speaking, refers to false worship, and disloyalty to Christ and His word. Judged by this stand, the Roman Church stands self condemned. When she endeavors to obtain mercy and redemption through Mary as Mediatrix, rather than through Christ, directly, she is untrue to Him. When she teaches doctrines of men, rather than a thus saith the Lord, she is guilty of spiritual fornication.
The Scripture here says, They are drunk with the wine of her fornication. Intoxication addles the brain, and affects the muscles so the intoxicated cannot walk straight. The wine of spiritual fornication also addles the mind so the one drunk cannot think God's thoughts after Him, and their walk is crooked. Not according to the straight and narrow way of New Testament truth. A drunk thinks himself sober; likewise, the deluded think themselves right and everyone else wrong. Hence, you hear the apostate church declaring, The Catholic Church is the only true church.

Revelation 17:3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness.

The true church fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared of God. (Revelation 12:6), but here it is a place of the apostate church's own preparing. Her growth and development was so obscure and unnoticed, until her true nature was revealed, that she was like one living hidden in a wilderness. John had to be carried away in the spirit to clearly see her true nature and only those with God-opened eyes can spiritually see this great apostacy and departure from the truth.

Revelation 17:3 And I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

We have already learned in Revelation 13:1-18 th chapter, that the beast was political Rome, one of those heads was wounded as to death, but whose deadly wound was healed, We learned from history how the old political Rome fell during the seven trumpets, but how, simultaneously, the papal, political state arose to heal the head of government and cause it to continue to live.

So, here, the woman rides upon political Rome, or a secular power. It was a scarlet colored beast, a color symbolical of bloodshed. Both old imperial Rome, and later papal Rome, that arose from the ashes of the destruction, of the former, were guilty of shedding the blood of the saints.

John saw the heads of the beast full of names of blasphemy. Blasphemy is the sin of claiming the attributes of God. Because Christ claimed that he was the Son of God, the high priest accused him of blasphemy. (Matthew 26:63-65)

We shall find, presently, that these heads represented forms of government. Did the Roman rulers claim deity, and in so doing become guilty of blasphemy? Let history speak for itself, on this point.
Alexander, reading Homer, found that the ancient heroes were sons of gods, so he, also, claimed and received divine honors, reserved for a god.
The infamous Antioches Epiphanes was assigned a place among the holy gods. We read, in the Scriptures that, Herod, with all his vileness, was hailed as a god.

And upon a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an ovation unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, it is the voice of a god, and not of a man. (Acts 12:21-22)

Caius Marius (about 156 to 86 B.C.), seven times elected to the consulship of Rome, was classed with the gods, by the people of Rome.
Julius Caesar was worshipped as a god, and after his death many temples were built and frequented in order to worship him.
Trajan worshipped Nerva and honored him with chief priests, with altars and with scared gifts.
Plury, the younger, in turn, honored Trajan as a god.
The vile Caligula claimed to be a god, calling himself by names of the deity. He boasted that every nation, except the Jews, worshipped him.
The King of Parthis, kneeling before Nero, said to him: You are my God, and I am come to adore you as I adore the sun.
Domitian filled the earth with his statues, to which sacrifices were offered, and required that all letters written, or published in his name should begin with, Our Lord and god commands.
One of the underlying reasons for the martyrdom of the early Christians, was that they would not worship, nor sacrifice to the Emperors, as gods.
And the woman herself, patterned after old imperial Rome, in that she was an ecclesiastical state springing up out of the old empire, also is full of names of blasphemy.

The pope claims to be the vicar of Christ, or the representative of Christ on earth; but Christ declared that he sent the Holy Spirit to speak for him on earth. (John 16:12-14) He also claims to be the head of the Church, but Paul's words come to us across the centuries saying that God hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body. (Ephesians 1:22-23)

Some of these blasphemous names come to light in the Mariolatry, or worship of Mary of the apostate church.

Some of these names have been spoken so often by this institution of blasphemy that they no longer shock the world whose spiritual senses have been dulled and deadened. Listen to a few of them as we hear Mary called: Mother of God, Queen of Heaven, Mary, the Immaculate. And listen to those pronouncements of blasphemy: There is one mediator between Christ and men, the Holy Mother, Mary. How blasphemous this sounds when read along beside 1 Timothy 2:5: For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

Or listen to this blasphemy, Mary is the way, the Truth and the Life, no man cometh to Jesus, but by Mary, in comparison with Christ's own words, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)

The Psalter of Bonaventure, reads: We praise thee, O Mary! We acknowledge thee to be the Virgin. All the earth doth worship thee, spouse of the Eternal. To thee angels and archangels cry, Holy, Holy, Holy, art thou, Mary, Mother of God.

Archbishop Vachon, of Ottawa, who sponsored the Marian Congress, (June 1947), in his pastoral letter, given in the Canadian Register (Feb. 8, 1947), quoted the encyclical of Lamentations 13th (Sept. 22, 1891). No portion whatsoever of the immense treasury of graces accumulated by the Savior, is bestowed upon us except through Mary, such is the will of God. no heavenly gift comes to men which does not pass through her virginal hands.

The canonized saint, Liguori, in his work, The glories of Mary, says, this good Mother, for the love she bore us, wished also to help the cause of our salvation with the merits of her sufferings, which she offered for us on Calvary. (Vol. 2, page 19)
Again same author, Volume I, page 409:

The wills of Christ and of Mary were then united, so that both offered the same holocaust; she thereby producing, with him the one effect, the salvation of the world. At the death of Jesus, Mary united her will to that of her Son; so much so, that both offered one and the same sacrifice.

No wonder Cardinal Gibbons, in his book. Faith of Our Fathers, page 215, 38th Edition, attempted to escape the accusation of Mariolatry, by saying, And yet the admirers of Mary's exalted virtues can scarcely celebrate her praises without being accused in certain quarters of Mariolatry.
Then, there is the familiar claim of the power to forgive sins, which only Christ has the power to do. Truly, both imperial Rome and religio-political papal Rome are full of names of blasphemy!
We also note that papal Rome, or the apostate church, here is presented under the symbolism of a woman. The very circumstance that this woman is seen in the wilderness, places her in contrast to the other woman of the twelfth chapter of Revelation who, as the true church, was forced to flee into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared of God.

Since the woman of the twelfth chapter, represented the true church, this woman in the seventeenth chapter, being a harlot, symbolizes the false or apostate church.
This is further substantiated by turning to the twenty-first chapter of Revelation. Just as one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, had revealed to John, in the seventeenth chapter, the apostate church, here, in this chapter, one of the seven angels, also, shows John the true church, the Lamb's wife:

And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

And he carried me away in the Spirit, (Just as in Revelation 17:3) to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the Holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.

Here the Lamb's wife is called a city, just as the harlot woman is also called a city, And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the Kings of the earth. (Revelation 17:18)

Further, the harlot woman of the seventeenth chapter is identified with the earthly city of Babylon, or the city of confusion and instead of being the immaculate bride of Christ, she is one with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication.
This, beyond a scintilla of a doubt, is the false church, which came into being in the Pergamos Period, characterized by the doctrine of Baalam, or the doctrine of compromise, and the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes or the doctrine of overlordship. This is the apostate church which came to full flower in the Thyatira church period, when the church reached the depths of Satan. Removing all symbolism the false church is known, in history, as the Roman Catholic Church.
The only symbolism left in this verse yet to be considered the seven heads and the ten hornswill be taken up in the more logical place where they are mentioned later in this chapter. Shall we proceed with the description of the woman.

Revelation 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls.

Purple is the color of royalty. She has ever claimed temporal and spiritual sovereignty, hence the mention of this color. As for scarlet, her cardinals wear the color scarlet with their red hats. Her altars throughout the world are decorated with gold and precious stones. These colors, purple and scarlet are characteristic of the vestments of the Roman hierarchy, scarlet being particularly identified with the cardinals, who are called, princes of the church. The red color also identifies this church with the great red dragon or the devil and satan.
The gold and precious stones and pearls are truly representative of the earthly gorgeousness and magnificence of the embellishments with which the Roman church adorns her altars, temples, rites and ceremonies.
Over against the showy attire of the harlot church, Paul speaks of the true church as follows:

Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting of hair, and wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. (1 Peter 3:3-4)

Even the pope is reported using a solid gold telephone and has a car in which to ride on six hundred feet of track in the Vatican grounds. And that car is covered within and without with pure gold.

Besides all this, this apostate church is the richest institution in all the world, that is materially, though not spiritually. The papal church has enriched herself at the expense of peoples, multitudes and nations (many waters), upon which she has fastened her tentacles. Her treasures are fabulous beyond the knowledge of men. Her revenues are enormous. Her land, factory and building values run into astronomical figures, much of which is non-taxable, though oftimes competing with legitimate business, which must bear a staggering tax burden. Never in history, was there ever a more flagrant example of contempt for and regard of Christ's pronouncement, Lay not up for yourselves treasures on the earth. (Matthew 6:19)

Continuing this verse, we read: Having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.
This harlot woman, the apostate church, had in her hand the means of conveying the trutha golden cup; but instead she filled it with her own abominations and filthiness of false teaching, called fornication.

Later this woman is called, Babylon, which, in connection with the mentioning of a cup in her hand, brings to our mind a statement made concerning the Babylon, of the Old Testament, which was a type of this spiritual Babylon: Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine, therefore the nations are mad. (Jeremiah 51:7)

Shall we note also, that the cup is one. In all the varied systems of religion, whether Roman Catholic, the degenerate catholicism of the Byzantine church, or the false teachings and worship of denominationalismall have the essence of the old harlotry of Babylon.
Shall we continue to the next verse.

Revelation 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery.

Of all the institutions of the world, whether secular or spiritual, there has never been one so mysterious as the apostate church. Her rising out of the ashes of the old Roman empire, her hold upon the souls of men, as well as the life of nations, her political machinations, her age-long ability to seduce men to subscribe to her half-pagan ritualism, her power to demand an unquestioning blind following of her devotees, her seductive influence to induce men to substitute the worship of Mary, in the place of Christ, her strong hold of slavish fear over the hearts and minds of menall combine to make her the most mysterious religio-ecclesiastical-political organization in all history.
But there is even more hidden in this word, Mystery. It is entirely fitting that this name should be written upon her foreheadthe seat of all false thinking and teaching. Paul, looking down through the corridors of time, saw this coming, whose beginning was manifest, even in his day:

For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who letteth will let until he be taken out of the way: and then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. (2 Thessalonians 2:7-8)

This church that went into the wilderness of error, superstition and false teaching, yea even humanism became the monstrous mystery Babylon.
The second name by which she is called is Babylon the Great.

Here we come to one of the deepest symbols. In the tenth and eleventh Chapter s of Genesisthe book of beginnings, we have in these two Chapter s the record of the beginning of various nations. These Chapter s may rightfully be called, the Chapter s of origins. In this catalog of nations, we are given the origin of the Kingdom of Nimrod, the grandson of Ham. This kingdom is called Bab-el or Babylon, in the land of Shinar.
Nimrod, we read was a mighty hunter before the Lord. The Targum of Jonathan renders this, a mighty rebel before the Lord, the mightiest rebel before the Lord that ever was on earth.
The apostate church, or New Testament Babylon is likewise, the greatest rebel before God, scripturally and spiritually speaking.
As Nimrod was such a brazen offender, who hesitated not to withstand God, Himself, so the Roman church is the world's worst offender in God's sight, because she wilfully rejects God's authoritative pronouncements.
Bab-el, means, the gate of God. The Catholic Church teaches no one can come to God but by that particular church, thus claiming she is the gate of God.
Bab-el, or Babylon, means, confusion, because there began the confusion of tongues. The apostacy, by its false teaching, has confused the religious world.

The people, in the days of the erection of the tower of Babel, did it to make a name for themselves. (Genesis 11:4) Literally it is, make a sem, meaning token, sign, banner, name or mark, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth. (Genesis 11:4)

That name, sem or sema, was a mark of their greatness. In the language of that day, a sema-rama. From this we derive the name, semiramis, the dove-goddess, the ensign of all Assyrian princes. This mark, or name figures prominently in the national lives of the pagan nations. It came to be the name of a woman closely resembling the Virgin Mary of the Roman Church. In ancient Babylon, she was Semiranii, in Assyria, she was Astarte; in Egypt, Isis, in Greece, Aphrodite, in Rome, Venus. Hesiod, one of the earliest Greek writers, described her as, the mother of the gods. Catholics call her, mother of God.
The symbol of such a mark came to take the place of a god and became the holy mother, the great heavenly protectress.
She is called, Babylon the Great. She is the great church that ruled over the kingdoms of earth. History substantiates this with an abundant flood of proof.

She is called, The mother of harlots. The Catholic Church habitually calls herself, the Mother Church, and ever urges her childrenthe churches who broke away from herto return to the fold.
Revelation not only calls her a harlot, but the Mother of Harlots.
This church is pictured as the mother of a family of churches. Since she is a harlot and a church, then her children, being harlots, are likewise churches. How necessary for each person to examine with extreme care the denomination to which he belongs, to see whether it may not be like its mother, holding a cup full of humanisms and doctrines of men, rather than a thus saith the Lord. The apostate church surely has a numerous and growing family of daughters. And ever this Mother Church longs to gather her daughters to her ample arms.
She is also called the mother of abominations of the earth. How astonished the entire world will be when that Wicked shall be revealed! The more one studies the harlotry and abominations of this apostate church, the more utterly amazed he becomes that he never realized before her hideousness in God's sight, and, also, that the world is so blind to the true character of this God-hated institution.
And speaking of how abominable she is in God's sight. One of the, if not the most characteristic features of this woman is her harlotry. Harlotry is the standing symbol, in the Scriptures, for a system of debauched worship, idolatry, and false teaching.

The Scriptures call it adultery, whoredom and fornication.
Harlotry uniformly symbolizes the apostacy of God's church. The word, harlot, is used at least fifty times to describe spiritual fornication. In eighteen out of twenty occurrences of this figure of speech, the import is that God's church and people have forsaken Him. There are only three times in the entire Bible where the figure is applied to heathen cities or nations, twice to Tyre and once to Nineveh. So she is a harlot and the Mother of Harlots, or other false churches which have followed in her footsteps.

Revelation 17:6 And I saw her drunken with blood of saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

She not only made the inhabitants drunk with the wine of her fornication (Revelation 17:2), but she herself has become drunk with the blood of saints and martyrs.

The word drunken expresses the state of being glutted or surfeited with blood, although, judging by her persecution and slaughter of the saints, her thirst is insatiable.
There have been harlot daughters who have also engaged in persecution, but there is only one church who could be styled, drunk with the blood of the saints. And, note she was drunken with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. That identifies her as an institution this side of the time Jesus walked on the earth, was crucified, died, was buried and rose again.
Her blood-drunken state made the Apostle to wonder with great wonderment.

Revelation 17:7 And the angel said unto me, wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman and the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.

The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition.
We have found this beast to represent a government, and in this case Imperial Rome, which perished during the seven trumpets, but arose from the ashes of destruction, as the papal hierarchy restored the government, but in another form. And this restored government, ascended out of the bottomless pit, the final abode of the devil. In other words, it was devil born and satan inspired.

Revelation 17:8 And they that swell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Revelation 17:9-10 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. Of course, this refers to spiritual wisdom for, the natural man (the unrenewed man through the new birth) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The seven heads are seven (1 Corinthians 1:14) mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

While there is a much deeper meaning hidden here, Rome has always been recognized as the seven-hilled city, from the seven hills on which she stood. They were Mt. Aventine, Mt. Capitaline, Mt. Palatine, Mt. Esquiline, the Caelian Mount, the Quirinal and Viminal. Ovid, Horace, Levy, the early church fathers, Tertullian, as well as Jerome, all called Rome the seven-hilled city.
Jerome, born 342 A.D., wrote a letter to a certain Christian lady urging her to read what is written in the apocalypse of the seven hills.

But there is a deeper meaning. A mountain, in symbolism, represents a government of some form or nature. The seven heads are also seven kings, or kingdoms, or governments, for the original term may signify either of the three. Revelation 17:10, And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is yet to come; and when he is come, he must continue a short space.

Rome, in all her political history, had seven forms of government, as follows:

1.

The first form was Kingly. The first king was Romulus; the last, Torquin, the Proud. There were seven kings in all.

2.

The second form, that of Consulers. Two consuls were elected annually.

3.

The third form was that of Dictators. In this form one man was invested with dictatorial power.

4.

The fourth form was that of Tribunes. Under this form, the chief magistrates were the Tribunes of the people.

5.

The fifth form was that of Decemvirs. Under this system absolute government was invested in ten men who were superior to all laws.

These first five forms had come and gone before John's day, because five are fallen. The sixth form was in existence at the time, for we are here told that one is. We know from earlier studies, that the system of government, at the time of the revelation given to John, was that of Emperors. John had been banished to Patmos by the Emperor, Domitian. The form was that of an Imperial government.
So, now we have found six of the heads to be, (1) Kings, (2) Consuls, (3) Dictators, (4) Tribunes, (5) Decemvirs and (6) Emperors.
But we are informed that one is to come. We have already discovered this seventh form in our study of the Seal Series. Following the overthrow of the Emperors, there followed a period in which Rome was ruled by Military Governors. Under this form, the Roman Legions set up their own Generals as Military Governors. Of this form, John said, And when he cometh, he must continue a short space. This seventh form was to give way for an eighth. Shall we read about it:

Revelation 17:11-12 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

In the light of our already gained knowledge, we know with the fall of Rome, a new form of government had already begun to rise, like an empire within an empire. Long before the fall of Rome, there had begun to grow up within the secular state, an ecclesiastical state, which in its constitution and administrative system, was shaping itself upon the imperial model, with finally the pope becoming temporal sovereign, with the states of the church, its domain.
This eighth form then, was an image of the old secular government, yet with something distinctly new addedthe merging of church and state. The eighth form was, then, a religio-political form.
This is the reason why the woman is said to be seated on the beast. The secular system supported the papal form. The temporal form carried the religious system.

It is worthy of note that it is never said of the other seven forms that they should go into perdition. It is only of this eighth formthat of religion and politics combined, that it is said And goeth into perdition. This is the Babylon of the seventh vial (Revelation 16:19) that came into remembrance before God to give her the cup of the wine of fierceness of His wrath.

Now, we are ready to advance to the next verse. Revelation 17:12, And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no Kingdoms as yet, but receive power as Kings one hour with the beast.

We have, earlier in this study, learned that a horn represents power, especially a Kingdom, not necessarily a world power. When John wrote, those Kingdoms did not yet exist.
After the fall of Rome, the dominion of the Caesars divided into ten smaller states. Sir Isaac Newton traced this ten as follows:

1.

Kingdom of the Vandals in Spain and Africa.

2.

Kingdom of the Visigoths.

3.

Kingdom of the Suevi.

4.

Kingdom of the Alans in France.

5.

Kingdom of the Burgundians.

6.

Kingdom of the Franks.

7.

Kingdom of the Britons.

8.

Kingdom of the Huns.

9.

Kingdom of the Lombards.

10.

Kingdom of the Revenna.

So the Roman Empire broke up into ten lesser nations, but all the ten carried or supported the Papacy. They are not to exist very long as ten, for a part of them soon passed away.

Revelation 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of Lords, and Kings of Kings: And they that are with him are called and chosen, and faithful.

These are evidently mentioned again in (Revelation 19:19) when the Kings of the earth and their armies come forth to battle the Lamb.

Revelation 17:15 And he saith unto me. The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

This verse is one of the few in Revelation that seems to be included in that book to give us an interpretation of some symbol. We will recall that the verses mentioning seven candlesticks, the seven stars, and the one explaining that the dragon was the devil and satan, are verses employed as interpreters of symbols.
Rome, in the Papal form, or eighth governmental system, held vast sway of the power over peoples and nations and tongues.

Revelation 17:17 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

We have already shown how France, one of the ten horn Kingdoms, conquered the Papal states and humiliated the pope by taking him a prisoner to France. With the action of France, we read of how a tenth part of the city (or papal Rome) fell. As nations threw off the Roman yoke, they made the Harlot on the Tiber, desolate, and naked, by stripping her of her treasuries, her power and her temporal states. The seven vials recounted how these made war on religion-political Rome. And how did it happen that they were of one mind to do this? Judging from the historical viewpoint, we would say they did this because of oppression and through a desire to throw off the papal yoke.
But John was permitted to step in behind the scenes, and see the hand back of it all, For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree and give their Kingdom unto the beast, until the Word of God shall be fulfilled.

He caused them to agree and used these ten agencies to carry out His divine will.
First, they unitedly gave their support to the woman, or the apostate church, until God's word was accomplished; then they turned on the woman or ecclesiastical Rome to destroy her.

Revelation 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the Kings of the earth.

There is but one church that ever ruled over the Kingdoms of this earth, the City of Babylon, spiritually speaking, or the Roman Catholic Church.
This entire seventeenth chapter seems to have been dedicated to the task of leaving the world without the faintest doubt as to what the beast is, as to what Babylon is, what the Mother of Harlots is, and what church, in God's sight, is the abomination of the earth. Mystery, Babylon the great, has now been fully revealed so that all who runs may read.