The Great Harlot – Revelation 17

The Great Harlot, the sixth in our series on Revelation, is a figure of significant importance. As we’ve observed, many participants in the book of Revelation are shrouded in symbolism, making their identification a challenging task. However, when it comes to the Great Harlot in Revelation 17:1, symbolism doesn’t obscure her identity; it aids us in recognizing her.

Revelation 17:18 tells us who the Great Harlot is. It is a city and not just any city; it is “that great city which rules over the kings of the earth.”[1]  The great city referred to is the city of Rome. Recalling the rules of Revelation, the literal always trumps the symbolic, and the symbolism must be something John’s audience should recognize. Verse 18 meets both criteria. There is additional confirmation of the harlot’s identity in a geographic hint in verse 9, “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.”

It is widely acknowledged, both by Biblical scholars and Historians, that the description of the city that sits on seven hills is the city of Rome. We now have confirmation of the harlot’s identity, both literally and symbolically, as well as geographically. In verse 18, we have the literal; in verses 1-2, we get the symbolic; and in verse 9, we have the geographic. But concluding our discussion here will deprive us of some pertinent information. Important to those in John’s time, as well as to us today.

In Biblical Prophecy, the words harlot, whore, and fornication describe illicit sexual activities or participants in those activities and always in a negative connotation. Yet, they generally are metaphoric. We find one of these examples in verse two, “with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” We already know the harlot in verse one is a city, confirmed by verses nine and eighteen. In verse two, the harlot commits fornication with the kings of the earth.

The question arises: how can a city participate in sexual intercourse? Physically, it cannot. Our answer lies in the definition of the term ‘harlot.’ According to Webster, harlot is “an old-fashioned and disparaging term describinga woman who engages in sexual intercourse in exchange for pay.” The key part in Webster’s definition is intercourse in exchange for pay. So, while a city cannot have physical sexual intercourse with kings, she, the harlot, can have financial intercourse with the kings of the earth.

Verse one includes the adjective ‘great’ in the harlot’s description. The Greek term for “great” (megalēs) means great in the broadest possible sense, but in context, “great” in Revelation 17:1 refers to something predicated on rank, belonging to a person of authority and power. The remainder of verses one and two support this implication.

The harlot “sits on many waters,” with “many waters” being symbolic of peoples (see Rev. 13:1). Combining the descriptions we have thus far, we can conclude that this harlot is a person of rank and power who sits over many different peoples, comprising kingdoms and/or nations. Because of the position of rank, she ‘sits.’ Since her opulence is of such greatness, her sexual services must be in great demand and, consequently, costly.

Her suitors are identified in verse two, “with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication.” Men of rank engaging in lucrative intercourse with the great harlot. The great harlot, the city of Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire, sits in a place of rank and opulence. Hence, kings of the earth come to her to engage in economic transactions—fornicated intercourse- corrupted economic intercourse.

Economic intercourse, in which the great harlot dictates the rules, profits, and terms. Where the kings of the earth must comply. Why? Because of the Beast, she sits on verse three, “And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” In previous articles, the identity of this Beast is that of the Roman Empire. Think of it: Rome, the empire of John’s Day, ruler of the known world, dictating the terms of virtually all economic activity backed by the most powerful army of the age. An insidious form of economic activity occurring between the city of Rome and the kings of the earth. She can dictate what is of worth and what is not. Her immense economic influence dictates prices and profit margins at her discretion. She is the great harlot, the one who sits while the kings of the earth come to her to market their wares.

“The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.”[2] This form of economic activity is a corrupting evil fed by exploitation of trade and taxation. Let us not forget that some of this trade included enslaved people. Men, women, and children were bought and sold like lifeless objects. She is the only game in town, a power dictating virtually all economic activity, either by force or coercion.

Imagine you have a product that you wish to market, but there is only one buyer. That single buyer can dictate the price, putting you at their economic mercy. Even if the harlot allows you to make a small profit, you miss the fact the funds used to purchase your product were from the taxes you paid. The great harlot defines ‘fair trade.’ Top-down evil, corrupting politicians, corporations, middlemen, and everyone who wishes to make a profit or scratch out a living, forced to engage in intercourse with the great harlot; some refuse, some engage reluctantly, some willingly.

A situation which recalls “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (I Timothy 6:10). The direst warning regarding corrupt economic activity is given by our Lord himself, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Mathew 6:24).

This type of economic activity ultimately brings the wrath of God upon the harlot, “I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.” [3] Since the followers of Christ refuse to engage in corrupt economic activity, they become a liability to the harlot. While decked out in precious stones, pearls, and the finest of attire, she crushes the followers of Christ under the feet of the Beast upon which she sits.

The kings of the earth hate the harlot; they dislike being taxed and taken advantage of financially, but they willingly continue because their love of money enables them to keep their hatred in check. They are guilty of illicit, but consensual activity. They cannot blame the great harlot, for they have willingly complied. Hence, she holds “the filthiness of her fornication in a golden cup.”

Her identity is not complete without considering the relevance of verse five, “And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”[4] Let us examine this statement in greater detail, starting with the term ‘Babylon.’

Early Christians understood ‘Babylon’ was a symbolic reference to Rome, as confirmed by I Peter 5:13, “She who is in Babylon.”

The term “Babylon” has Hebraic roots, historically associated with the Tower of Babel and the ancient Nation of Babylon, ruled by Nebuchadnezzar. We are familiar with the tower of Babel as the place where God ‘confounded’ or confused the languages of the tower’s builders. In this context, the word “Babylon” is a noun referring to a place. However, the root of Babylon is balal (Hebrew), and when used as a verb, balal means to mix or blend.

Is this not a mixing, a blending of activities that should remain separate? And what are the components of the relationship with the harlot in Revelation 17? They are a mixing, a balal of the financial and spiritual—the things of God and the things of the world. By mixing the two, both become corrupted, which is spiritual fornication.

In verse five, Babylon is referred to as the mother of harlots, indicating that Babylon gave birth to the Great Harlot described in Revelation 17. We can trace the origins and actions of the great harlot to ancient Babylon. John draws our attention to this relationship by the term “Mystery.” Mystery, in this context, means that if we understand the origin of the harlot, we will gain insight In Revelation 17:5. The mystery is not so much a history lesson as it is gaining spiritual insight into the powers behind the actions.

Let us briefly compare the mixing of spiritual and economic activities innovated and/or developed in Babylon, specifically under Nebuchadnezzar, and compare them with the 1^st-century AD rule of Rome. First is the temple economy—economies built around temples constructed for idol worship. The image was the core of all temple activity. The purpose of a temple is to house, worship, and care for the deity. The Babylonian temples housed various lesser gods, but the central image was that of Marduk. Marduk’s image was always in the form of a man and placed on a pedestal, Elevating it above his worshippers. The idol was not left static but continually adorned for various rituals to appease and make the image seem alive. The priests dressed any areas not covered in gold with the finest clothing adorned it with precious jewelry.

The priest prepared food and served it to the god daily on a table set before it. This daily feeding and continual adornment required a small army of individuals, talents, and resources, requiring a priesthood and a support staff. Temple maintenance required additional personnel. Daily sacrifices for the worshippers required extra help. The craftsmen and craftswomen were needed to make the adornments for the idol and the lesser gods. In some rituals, priests burned the lesser gods in their attire with their adornments. The replacement idols required new clothing and new adornments.

The priests who manned these temples had additional responsibilities beyond officiating at the worship of the temple gods, thereby necessitating a hierarchy within the priesthood. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people comprised the workforce of the temple economy. Whole families comprised these workforces; hence, their entire lives were part of the temple economy.

The king granted large plots of land to the temples. The two largest temples, Eanna and Ebabbar, controlled 40,900 acres and 3,720 acres of farmable land, respectively.[5]  The temple officials rented out lands not in immediate use to individuals or groups in an arrangement known as rent farming. The proceeds financed temple operations and forwarded a steady income to the king and kingdom.

Daily temple sacrifices and food for the staff required large herds of livestock to be raised and slaughtered. One-year-old male lambs were the daily sacrifice. The temple raised other sheep for their wool, harvested it, used the wool, and sold the excess, with the proceeds going to the king and the kingdom.

Nebuchadnezzar paid the temple priests a regular salary, so they were not reliant on profits from rent farming but instead supplemented by it, encouraging good management. This income, in addition to the offerings of the faithful, followed the natural economic course of wealth accumulation, resulting in the temples becoming banks.

Another temple responsibility was tax farming. The taxes collected, minus the fee, were then passed on to the empire to support civil projects and armies. These and many other temple activities congealed the union of worship and finance. It became too easy for people to accept that worship and money were part of the same action. If you want to worship a god, you go to the temple. If you want to borrow money or rent land, you go to the temple.

Suppose you were not a willing participant in economic transactions with the temples. The temple officials applied coercion through temple tithes and taxes, debt and labor obligations, political and social pressures, and sacred currency and trade, all under the control of the temples. The temples, whose very existence was to serve the gods housed therein, were the ultimate authority save the king himself.

“The Mesopotamian deity remained aloof—yet its partaking of the ceremonial repast gave religious sanction, political status, and economic stability to the entire temple organism, which circulated products from fields and pastures across the sacrificial table to those who were either, so to speak, shareholders of the institution or received rations from it. At any rate, the image is the heart and the hub of the entire system. His attendant worshipers lived from the god’s table, but they did not sit down with him.” [6]

Babylon became the first empire to use coinage for remuneration instead of direct trade at a government level. [7] They chose silver as coinage material and regulated the coins’ weight and purity. Establishing an intermediary (silver coinage) created another opportunity for economic corruption.

We cannot overlook the fact that Babylonian authority based monetary denominations on barley, the staple food of the poor. 1/40^th of a shekel of silver was equal to 3 quarts (liters) of barley. [8]This measurement method from the 6^th century BC is eye-opening considering Revelation 6:6, which states, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius.” What is even more foretelling is that Daniel’s prophecies begin during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, forming a direct prophetic and comparative link between Daniel’s prophecy and John’s vision 6 centuries later.

The temple economy required artisans whose worth was not in material goods but in their abilities to create, fabricate, and maintain. But where could these craftsmen be found? In Israel. Thus, when Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem, we read in II Kings 24:14, “Also he carried into captivity all Jerusalem: all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land” (italics mine).

Since captives were often given to the temples, many of these craftsmen were tasked with making ornaments, trinkets, and clothing for the temple, the image (idol), and the priesthood, all while contributing to the empire’s economy. Their lives intertwined, blending in terms of both religion and economics.

Compare this to 1^st-century Rome, and we find a similar economic structure characterized by the blending of worship and economic activity. Rome expanded upon the Babylonian model: increased monetization and the expansion of a market-based economy. The joining of the idol and the king became inseparable. Artisans whose lives depended on the sale of idols and temple trinkets. A priesthood paid by the government. Since the king, or Caesar, was second only to the god, worshipping the one constituted worshipping the other.

In Rome, the Temple of Saturn housed the state treasury, and imperial cult temples reinforced allegiance to the emperor while receiving monetary offerings. I have mentioned but a sample of an exhaustive list of comparisons between first century Rome and Babylon of the sixth century BC. But the Babylonian model was expanded upon by the Roman Empire.

In first-century Rome, it was impossible to separate the worship of the gods without encountering economic repercussions. Early Christians posed a threat to temple economies and the financial stability of the Roman Empire. The Great Harlot, whose mother was Babylon, was now in control of the known world’s economy and, to her, would not tolerate any unmixing of the two. Her fornication led to the blood of the saints, those who would defy her. Our Lord warned us, “You cannot serve God and mammon,” yet that is the choice the Hebrews faced in Babylon and the 1^st century Christians under Caesar.

We must never allow dispensational thinking to hide the fact there is an evil spiritual activity that empowers and shapes physical events until they reach a climax. A culmination of events occurred in John’s time, yet not prophetically complete, telling us a similar culmination will happen again.

One of the most insidious aspects of this mixing of God and mammon is its seductive aspect. This mixing, this fornicating of the two, is difficult to break away from. Even after the Hebrews were allowed to return to Israel, only a few did. The artisans, bankers, and bourgeoisie were unwilling to leave their comfortable lives and start over again in a ravaged land. Similarly, in Imperial Rome, many found it difficult to abandon their comfortable lifestyles within the empire. The Beast crushed those who did.

Today, few are willing to distinguish between their financial resources and their service to Christ, and often compromise their faith in monetary matters, fornicating the two. If this article does nothing else, I hope it will open your eyes to the evil that lulls you to sleep with the lure of monetary gain and the spiritual blindness this confusion causes.

In the last days, the Beast will revive the temple economy, and the great harlot will return. We will see a merging of the religious and the financial. Once again, people, either willingly or via coercion, are forced into working for the Beast to survive. Which will you choose?

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