On her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the Great, the mother of the prostitutes and of the disgusting things of the earth.”
Revelation 17:5
Notable features
Babylon the Great is described as
- the great prostitute
- sitting on many waters,
- committed sexual immorality with the kings of the earth
- making earth’s inhabitants drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality
- sitting on a scarlet-colored wild beast
- clothed in purple and scarlet
- adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls
- having in her hand a golden cup that was full of disgusting things and the unclean things of her sexual immorality
- the mother of the prostitutes and of the disgusting things of the earth
- drunk with the blood of the holy ones and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus
- the great city that has a kingdom over the kings of the earth
Additional clues to unravel the mystery
- (Revelation 17:9-13) 9 The seven heads mean seven mountains, where the woman sits on top. 10 And there are seven kings: Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet arrived; but when he does arrive, he must remain a short while. 11 And the wild beast that was but is not, it is also an eighth king, but it springs from the seven, and it goes off into destruction. 12 “The ten horns that you saw mean ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they do receive authority as kings for one hour with the wild beast. 13 These have one thought, so they give their power and authority to the wild beast.
- (Revelation 17:15) . . .“The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is sitting, mean peoples and crowds and nations and tongues.
- (Revelation 18:3) . . .the merchants of the earth became rich owing to the power of her shameless luxury. . .
- (Revelation 18:5) . . .her sins have massed together clear up to heaven, and God has called her acts of injustice to mind. . .
- (Revelation 18:7) . . .she glorified herself and lived in shameless luxury. . . she keeps saying in her heart: ‘I sit as queen, and I am not a widow, and I will never see mourning.
- (Revelation 18:22-23) 22 . . .the sound of singers who accompany themselves on the harp, of musicians, of flutists, and of trumpeters will never be heard in you again. And no craftsman who practices any trade will ever be found in you again, and no sound of a millstone will ever be heard in you again. 23 No light of a lamp will ever shine in you again, and no voice of a bridegroom and of a bride will ever be heard in you again; for your merchants were the top-ranking men of the earth, and by your spiritistic practices all the nations were misled.
What is the identity of Babylon the Great?
These features, and references leaves us in no doubt! The Mother Harlot, Babylon the Great can be nothing other than
religion. Notably, since she has God's displeasure, she has to be
false religion. This is supported by the warning God gives... “Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues. For her sins have massed together clear up to heaven, and God has called her acts of injustice to mind. . . (Revelation 18:4-5)
Thus, keeping in consistency with scripture, Babylon the Great represents all religion that is false from God's perspective.
What else can it be,
based on scriptural references?