Introduction

The Whore of Babylon is a term you may not find in these exact words, but references the woman described in Revelation 17:1. Some translations say the great harlot or the great whore, but I've always heard her referenced as "The Whore of Bablyon" in sermons so that's how I'll refer to her in this post. She plays a major role in end time prophecy and is one of the villains of Revelation. We'll get deeper into who she is and the symbolism of what she represents when I study Revelation 17. This post, at least until I get to the more in depth study, focuses on the week long study I did in my daily devotion journal from June 11-17, 2025. Update information will be published in the post on Revelation 17 and copied here for future readers.

The Basic Description

She is described as a prostitute who sits on many waters. She is involved in sexual immorality with the kings of the world. John witnesses more about her from the wilderness. Not only did she sit on many waters, she rides on the beast with seven heads and ten horns. She is dressed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, jewels, and pearls. She has a golden cup that is filled with her sins. The name given to her is "Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prosititues and of the Detestable Things of the Earth." She persecutes the saints.

John is given the meaning of all these symbols by an angel.

• The beast Was, is not, and will be; it will come up from the abyss and those who are not saved will be amazed by it. Represents and eighth king. Hates the Whore of Babylon.
• Seven Heads Seven mountains where the woman is seated; it also represents seven kings (five are no longer kings, one still is, and the final one hasn't come yet).
• Ten Horns these are also kings, but they have no kingdom. They receive authority with the beast for one hour. Their purpose is to give their powere to the beast. They make war with the Lamb of God. They hate the Whore of Babylon and help destroy her.
• The water Nations, languages, and peoples
• The Whore of Babylon is the great city that has power over the kings of the earth

Defining Symbols

When I was in high school I was always thrown for a loop with how my English teachers determined the meaning of symbols within a text. Luckily, the Bible defines its own symbols. As such, I looked up the symbols from this passage elsewhere in the Bible.

Questions

About the Passage

1. Who is the harlot?
2. Why is she a harlot?
3. If the kings fornicate with her, why do they hate her?
4. Why is she drunk with the blood of the saints?
5. What is the meaning of the scarlet and purple?
6. Why is she in the waters?
7. What are the waters?
8. What is her connection to the beast?
9. What is her punnishment?
10. Is her punnishment forever?
11. Is the name on her forehead like the Mark of the Beast?
12. Why does John marvel at her?

If I could talk to her...

No one wnats to be referred to as "the whore" and no one would volunteer for the punishment she is destined to receive. So how did she end up in this predicament? Why does she choose to behave this way? Why did she turn against the Father? Did she grieve away the Holy Spirit? Is that why she is unable to find her way back? I don't know that I would actually want to talk to her—lest she confuse me—but my major question would be what led her down that path so I don't follow!

Phototheology

Phototheology is a way of learning the Bible taught by Ivor Myers.[1] I am employing this technique in my weekly Woman of God study journal. The following three prompts are the ones I drew from the card deck while studying the The Whore of Babylon.

How does the story or text relate to joy?

There isn't any joy for the Whore of Babylon. Her story ends with punishment and she is hated by those she is seemingly aligned with. She meets a gruesome end in which she is burned with fire. This is exactly the opposite of joy. She likely thought she had joy when we was committing the idolatry with the kings. We can never have true joy when we are out of alignment with YHWH. The joy in this passage is for God's people; we will be free of her seducive temptations and persecutions.

Connect a historical or social event to the text

After a year of bominb Palestine, Israel has bombed Iran. Their actions do not comply with God's Word (re: do not vex a stranger in your alnd, a la Exodus 22:21-23:10). Much of the world is angry with Israel for their treatment of Palestine, yet kings and governments are allied with Israel. It is possible they are also sick of Israel's shenanigans, but citizens of these countries are expressing disagreement with these alliances in large quantities. We are left wondering if their targetting of Iran will lead to a war or not. These events parallel the description of the Whore of Babylon in that Israel is out of alignment with God and other nations are involved begrudgingly.

Connect the text with another "random" text or story and a relationship

The first story to come to my mind was that of Queen Vashti (from Esther 1). She is often categorized as representing an imperfect and disobedient state of Israel—we'll deep dive into that when we discuss Queen Vashti. This is somewhat similar to what we see with the Whore of Babylon. Arguably, Queens Jezebel and Athaliah have more in common with the Whore of Babylon; they are explicitly said to commit idolatry and persecute God's people. While Queen Vashti is disobedient to the king, she is not necessarily guilty of these things.

Another thought that popped into my mind is that since the Whore of Babylon is an apostate church, its is similar to the Pharisees or Paul before his conversion. This begs the question of whether she can be redeemed or is simply the final incarnation of these types such that there is no hope for them.

Journal Pages

Journal Pages on The Whore of Babylon from June 11-17, 2025

References and Footnotes

1. Pastor Ivor Myers' Phototheology Game Deck