REVELATION 17:1-6a

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

Richard Bauckham has a helpful summary of what John is telling us in Revelation chapters 17-18:

“The book of Revelation uses two major, complementary images of the evil power of Rome. One is the sea-monster (‘the beast’), introduced in chapter 13. It represents imperial power, the Roman Emperors as a political institution, and in particular their military might, on which the Roman empire was founded. The other image is of the great city Babylon, first named in 14:8, and then portrayed as a woman, ‘the great harlot,’ in chapter 17. Babylon is the city of Rome (built on the seven hills: 17:9) and in particular the city of Rome as a corrupting influence on the peoples of the empire. Chapter 17 brings the two images together: the harlot is enthroned on the seven heads of the beast (17:3, 9-10). In other words, Roman civilization, as a corrupting influence, rides on the back of Roman military power. The city of Rome grew great through military conquest, which brought wealth and power to the city, and its economic and cultural influence spread through the world in the wake of the imperial armies. John never forgets that Rome’s power is founded on war and conquest, but he also recognizes that it cannot be reduced to this. As well as the irresistible military might of the beast, there are the deceptive wiles of the great harlot.”

—Richard Bauckham, The Climax of Prophecy

In Revelation 17-18, John uses a startling image to describe Rome—as a prostitute. In John’s vision, Roman economic power and wealth have the seductive allure of a prostitute, but he wants his people to know that Roman prosperity comes on the back of Roman conquest and war. This language is striking:

1b “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. [Revelation 17:1-6.]

The woman rides on the beast, because Roman wealth comes from Roman conquest.

An important insight that John sees is that wealth and materialism can make you drunk—she holds a cup that looks good on the outside, but on the inside is the vilest filth.

Our global economic system can be like that, can’t it? Think of the ways that some of our economic practices enrich the people at the top but exploit the ones at the bottom.

It is important that we don’t allow wealth and the pursuit of wealth to corrupt us and pull us away from faithfulness to the gospel.