9 “This calls for a mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; also, they are seven kings, 10 of whom five have fallen, one is living, and the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.
12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 13 These are united in yielding their power and authority to the beast; 14 they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
15 And he said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the whore is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the whore; they will make her desolate and naked; they will devour her flesh and burn her up with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by agreeing to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. 18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”
Of all the passages I have read so far in Revelation I found this chapter to be the most confusing semantically because it sometimes has several verb tenses in a phrase; especially unsettling is the assertion at the end that the beast and all the peoples of the earth are compelled to hate the woman who is called the 'whore of Babylon' and commit what reads as a violent assault on her in verse 16. In fact, this 'woman' is not a human female at all but is in fact symbolic of "Babylon the Great", a city that a great many writers posit is meant to symbolize Rome.
To use a female figure to symbolize a city come to greatness due to patriarchy at its utmost seems odd to me but perhaps the reason for using this symbology is to equate idolatry, greed, materialism, and gluttony with the emotion of lust in the presumably mostly male readers' minds at the time this was written (as attested by literacy rates); to drive home the point that these behaviors are no different in God's eyes than promiscuity.
In Benson's commentary on biblehub.com, he writes,"Fornication, in the usual style of Scripture, is idolatry; but if it be taken even literally, it is true that modern Rome openly allows the one as well as practices the other. Ancient Rome doth, in no respect, so well answer the character; for she ruled more with a rod of iron than with the wine of her fornication. Her ambition was for extending her empire, and not her religion ."
I think Benson is right that this is the point that John of Patmos is trying to drive home; whereas Christians are given the Great Commission to win souls to Christ, worldly empires care only about expanding territory and material wealth, with little regard to human morality or conscience. Their existence is focused on the world and indulging in whatever behaviors will give them what they desire, rather than on obeying God and living by God's laws. Revelation drives home again and again that the price for living by the laws of the world rather than the laws of God is that we will incur the wrath of God for doing so. I hope everyone will accept Christ as Savior and walk in the path He illuminates for us so that we can avoid the wrath of God that Revelation illustrates for us so dramatically.
If you want to accept Salvation from Christ here are some resources:
A Prayer for Salvation from Christ:
Lord
Jesus, I confess my sins and ask for your forgiveness. Please come into
my heart as my Lord and Savior. Take complete control of my life and
help me to walk in Your footsteps daily by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thank you Lord for saving me and for answering my prayer.
A more detailed step by step process:
https://www.wikihow.com/Accept-Jesus-Into-Your-Life
