Revelation 17:1
And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
In prophecy a woman is a symbol of a church, with a virtuous woman standing for a pure church and a vile or harlot woman standing for an apostate church. The great whore is Rome, the papal power, an apostate church that persecuted the followers of Christ. Her judgment is shown in a variety of images that expose the wicked character and seductive influence of those distinguished for persecuting God's people.
She deceives all nations with all deceivableness of unrighteousness by outward attraction and gorgeous display. She promises all good to those who receive her mark and all harm to those who oppose her fallacies, as Satan promised our first parents. Her kingdom is given to her by Protestantism, a power professing the temper and spirit of a lamb and alliance with heaven while speaking with the voice of a dragon and moved by a power from beneath.
Her daughters are churches that follow Rome's corrupt doctrines, traditions, and worldly practices. Babylon signifies the various forms of false or apostate religion. The fall announced for these daughter churches is the fall proclaimed by the second angel's message. The woman, also called the scarlet woman, is followed in the error of infant baptism by pedobaptists.
The chapter connects the great apocalyptic beasts with the union of church and state, which becomes destructive to both civil government and the church and crushes those who oppose it. The verse exposes the detestable works of the world's ruling powers who bind themselves into secret societies and confederacies without honoring God's law and of all false religionists. This is manifest with ever greater external parade of heathen power as heathen deities manifest signal power and exhibit themselves before the cities of the world near the close of time, a delineation already beginning to be fulfilled.
The judgment hangs over a vast, countless multitude that bows before Satan as God. Satan confirms his claim to be God by miracle-working power through every object in the earth, in the air, and in the water, and seeks to destroy all who oppose him. Those who yield are alive with intense activity, influencing and stimulating one another to confirm the greatness and glory of his kingdom, and surge restlessly in determination to take and occupy the place of God's throne. Their religious enthusiasm is marked by eagerness and rage and defiant rebellion, and their warfare is against their Creator and Redeemer. They think themselves mighty in their countless numbers but do not see all things, for the cloud of judicial wrath hangs over them, containing the elements that destroyed Sodom.
The verse promises the judgment and destruction of all the churches that corrupt themselves by idolatrous devotion to the service of the Papacy and have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and of all who seek to destroy those who oppose Satan. It belongs to the prophecies of Revelation 12 to 18 that are being fulfilled. Its showing of judgment is part of the last message of warning that all are to hear. It stands just before the very last call to the churches in chapter 18 and the taking of the beast and false prophet, the binding of the dragon for a thousand years, the final destruction of Satan and all the wicked, and the final triumph and reign of Christ.
The verse shows part of what John beheld about the last days as God's warning to His people of perils to come. It shows things that will be in the last days, a deceived company and a people working counter to God and gathered for the battle of the great day of God Almighty. The verse calls for wisdom to search out the mystery of iniquity figuring largely in the winding up of earth's history. It warns those having the light of truth to keep clear of these evils, for there are only two parties, those who keep God's commandments and those who war against His holy law.