Revelation 17:1; Judgment of the Great Whore that Sitteth Upon Many Waters

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: 

The “great whore” is being used to describe the false church that symbolized all apostate religion after the rapture of the church. 

“many waters” describes the global extent of her reach. 

Revelation 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 

The word “head” is a description of the governmental authority or kingdom. Here is described seven empires that came through the ages.

This judgment upon the false religion and her leadership was enacted by the Antichrist and the ten kings that will arise in the future. The Antichrist made use of the apostle church for his own self-exaltation and at the height of his power, he will ditched the great whore.Verses 1-2 describes the destruction of this religious system. 

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 sixth vision John shows the defeat of the woman called the great prostitute and Babylon the Great (chap. 17). The next chapter is an account of the fall of Babylon and its empire (chap. 18). These two chapters are followed, first, by the celebration of the wedding of the bride and the Lamb; next, by the battle the victorious Christ wages against the forces of the evil one; and last, by the beast and the false prophet who are cast into the lake of fire while the rest of Christ’s opponents are killed with his sword (chap. 19).

How does this sixth vision relate to the preceding chapter? To get an overview we have to go back to the three cycles of seals, trumpets, and plagues. These cycles show similarities with respect to the seventh one in each series, because each seventh one has its location in heaven. The seventh seal introduces a period of silence in heaven (8:1); when the seventh trumpet was blown, loud voices were heard in heaven (11:15); and after the seventh bowl was poured out, a loud voice from the throne in heaven said, “It is done” (16:17). At the end of these seven-part cycles there is further information on the end of time. But even though the seventh plague is the last one for all three series, there are still more details. Hence, chapters 17 and 18 provide a detailed discussion on the sixth and seventh plagues (16:12–21).

Chapter 17 presents a description of the great prostitute and the spiritual war that the kings of the earth fight against the Lamb, while chapter 18 describes the economic downfall of the world.

 Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Book of Revelation (Vol. 20, pp. 458–460). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.