Revelation 17:1-2 (TS2009)
And one of the seven messengers who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying to me, “Come, I shall show you the judgement of the great whore sitting on many waters, with whom the sovereigns of the earth committed whoring, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her whoring.”

In prophecy a woman either symbolizes God's faithful people (Isaiah 54, 2 Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 5:25-27, Revelation 12) or God's unfaithful people (Jeremiah 3, Jeremiah 51). Whoring symbolizes idolatry (Leviticus 20:5, Hosea 1:2, Hosea 4:12, Hosea 6:10, Ezekiel 23:30). In prophecy the sea or the waters symbolize foreign nations that are separate from God's people (Psalms 144:7). The symbolic meaning of earth, as opposed to sea or water, is stability (1 Chronicles 16:30-32). Earth is the footstool of God (Isaiah 66:1). Wine is linked to loose behaviour (Ephesians 5:18) and making the nations go mad (Jeremiah 51:7). This entity misleads the nations and has power over leaders in the world.

Revelation 17:3 (TS2009)
And he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast covered with names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

In prophecy the meaning of the "wilderness" has to do with the condition of God's people after they turn their backs on God and start intermingling with foreign nations and their ungodly traditions (Isaiah 64:10). The wilderness is a place of trial for Godly people (Mark 1:12, 1 Corinthians 10:5). Two events in the history of the Israelites are most significant examples of this: the Egyptian captivity and the Babylonian captivity. Isaiah speaks of the "Wilderness of the Sea" in relation to Babylon (Isaiah 21:1). The symbolic meaning of a beast is a kingdom or empire (Daniel 7:23). This beast with seven heads and ten horns coincides with Satan's final global empire from Revelation 13. Later this beast is explained in more detail. This passage refers to a future situation in the world when God's people will experience trial in the time of the end.

Revelation 17:4 (TS2009)
And the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup filled with abominations and the filthiness of her whoring,

The colors purple and scarlet are associated with rulership (Daniel 5:29, Matthew 27:28). Purple and red are also associated with Tyre (Ezekiel 27). Tyre was an ancient Phoenician city which was known for its wealth and commerce and for its significant role in trade and its interactions with Israel, particularly during the reigns of Kings David and Solomon. They allied themselves with King Hiram I of Tyre who provided architects, workmen, cedar wood, and gold to build the royal palace in Jerusalem, as well as the Temple. Tyrian purple was the color worn by the royalty of Phoenicia and also by the rulers of the Greek and Roman empires afterwards. So the colors purple and scarlet signify that Babylon the Great has power over the beast. In the Old Testament Israel and Judah were likened to Babylon and called a golden cup in the hand of YHWH (Jeremiah 51:7). King Solomon brought false gods or abominations into the earthly Temple of God in Jerusalem (2 Kings 23:13).



Revelation 17:5 (TS2009)
and upon her forehead a name written, a secret: BABEL THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE WHORES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Something that is written on someone's forehead is an inherent part of that person's being (Jeremiah 3:3). Revelation 14 also mentions this: If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark upon his forehead or upon his hand, he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of Elohim, which is poured out undiluted into the cup of His wrath. (Revelation 14:9-10a) It is like a permanent mark or a seal (Revelation 7:3). The forehead has to do with a person's faith. That her name or identity is "a secret" indicates that she is somewhat hidden and excercises her power from behind the scenes. That she is the "mother of whores and abominations" likely indicates that she is responsible for misleading the nations with false gods and false religion.



Revelation 17:6 (TS2009)
And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the set-apart ones, and with the blood of the witnesses of YHWSO. And having seen her, I marvelled – greatly marvelled!

Babylon the Great is responsible for killing God's chosen ones. The Messiah was persecuted and killed in Jerusalem by the Jewish authorities who rejected Him because He posed a threat to their power. The Jewish authorities manipulated and used the Roman authorities to kill the Messiah. After Paul, who used to be a persecutor of God's people, became an apostle of the Son of God he was persecuted himself by the Jewish authorities (Acts 9:29, Acts 13:50, Acts 14:19). All disciples were killed by the Jewish authorities centered in Jerusalem. The Messiah said: Yerushalayim, Yerushalayim, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to her! (Matthew 23:37a) and to the Pharisees who wanted to kill Him: You are of your father the devil (John 8:44a) and in Revelation: those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not (Revelation 3:9). The Jewish religious-political authorities centered in Jerusalem, who rejected the Messiah and killed Him and His disciples, represented Babylon the Great. They had the power to deceive and manipulate the Jewish people and the Roman authorities for their own gain. These Satanic Pharisees and their teachings formed the basis for modern-day Judaism.

Revelation 17:7-8 (TS2009)
And the messenger said to me, “Why did you marvel? Let me explain to you the secret of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the pit of the deep and goes to destruction. And those dwelling on the earth, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, shall marvel when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Satan's final global empire is the last phase of this beast. As explained in other chapters, the prophecies are about divine intervention on earth related to God's people, specifically to His chosen ones: from the first prophets to the Messiah and His disciples, followed by a period of no divine intervention, and ending with the final global empire in the time of the end when the remainder of God's chosen ones will be gathered to complete God's Kingdom. This explains that the beast was, and is not, and yet is. All the people on earth that don't worship God will follow or worship the final beast empire of Satan.

Revelation 17:9-10 (TS2009)
Here is the mind having wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. And there are seven sovereigns: five have fallen, and one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he has to remain a little while.

Of the seven empires five have fallen, one is at the time of the vision, and another is yet to come. The five fallen empires that affected God's people throughout history are Egypt, The Assyrian Empire, The Babylonian Empire, The Medo-Persian Empire, and The Greek Empire. The empire that is during the time of this revelation to John is the Roman Empire. The empire that is still to come to remain only a little while is Satan's final global empire. So, the period between the Roman Empire and the final global empire is not relevant because there is no divine intervention. The Messiah brought the Good News of God's Kingdom to the whole world (Matthew 24:14) which means that God's people are scattered all over the world. Only in the time of the end there will be divine intervention again, concerning the whole world. It is noteworthy to mention that the Jewish religious-political state of Israel existed only during the beast empires mentioned in this prophecy, and not during the period between the death of the Messiah and His disciples and Satan's final global empire. Israel and Jerusalem were destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD and raised again in 1948 by the Jewish religious-political movement called Zionism.



Revelation 17:11 (TS2009)
And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes to destruction.

The heads of the beast symbolize subsequent empires, the seventh head is the final global empire. The complete beast also represents the eight beast. This means that with the coming into existence of the final global empire also the eighth beast comes into existence. There seems to be a parallel to the complete statue in king Nebuchadnezzar's Dream. The feet of clay and iron of that statue represent Satan's final global empire and they complete Nebuchadnezzar's statue or false idol which is in the likeness of a man. King Nebuchadnezzar's sin was pride, he boasted about himself: Is not this great Babel, which I myself have built, for the house of the reign, by the might of my power and for the esteem of my splendour? (Daniel 4:30) Therefore God punished him: Let his heart be changed from man’s, let him be given the heart of a beast, and seven times pass over him. (Daniel 4:16) Interestingly, seven "times" equals seven years (Daniel 4:32) and this also happens to be the duration of Satan's final global empire. Possibly this eighth beast is the false prophet mentioned in Revelation 13, the beast that had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. It comes into existence with Satan's final global empire.

Revelation 17:12-14 (TS2009)
And the ten horns which you saw are ten sovereigns who have not yet received a reign, but receive authority as sovereigns with the beast for one hour. They have one mind, and they shall give their power and authority to the beast. They shall fight with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Master of masters and Sovereign of sovereigns. And those with Him are called, and chosen, and trustworthy.

The ten horns are the ten most powerful leaders in the world, covering the whole world, that give their power to Satan and his final global empire. They shall fight with the Son of God but they will be destroyed by Him.

Revelation 17:15 (TS2009)
And he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples, and crowds, and nations, and tongues.

Babylon the Great has power over many nations in the world.

Revelation 17:16-17 (TS2009)
And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these shall hate the whore, and lay her waste and naked, and eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For Elohim did give it into their hearts to do His mind, to be of one mind, and to give their reign to the beast, until the words of Elohim shall be accomplished.

Close to the time of the end the ten leaders of the future global empire will make an end to Babylon the Great and her influence on world events. Likely because Babylon the Great is an obstruction to their desired global empire and has been using and abusing them for her own gain. Therefore they hate her and will plot to destroy her. All this happens according to God's plan.



Revelation 17:18 (TS2009)
And the woman whom you saw is that great city having sovereignty over the sovereigns of the earth.

Which entity had and has power over the kings or leaders in this world? It must be related to financial power and to the murderers of the Messiah and His disciples. In the days of the Messiah the money-changers in the temple were overseen by the same Jewish religious-political leaders who were also responsible for the killing of the Messiah and His disciples. Since then Zionist families have amassed tremendous financial wealth by which they influence world events in their own favor, to the detriment of the nations they abuse. Zionists became so powerful that they were able to create the modern state of Israel which had a defining influence on the world in a very negative sense. The creation of Israel went hand in hand with the ongoing expulsion and genocide of Palestinians and was followed by numerous aggressive wars in the Middle East. Zionist organizations have tremendous power in the whole world, especially in the Anglo-American Empire which is in control of more than half the globe.



Revelation 18:1-2 (TS2009)
And after this I saw another messenger coming down from the heaven, having great authority, and the earth was lightened from his esteem. And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, “Babel the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, and a haunt for every unclean and hated bird,

Babylon the Great is completely evil and infested with demons.

Revelation 18:3 (TS2009)
because all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her whoring, and the sovereigns of the earth have committed whoring with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the power of her riotous living.

The Messiah was furious when He saw that the temple in Jerusalem had become a place of money change and trade (Mark 11:15-18). The Jewish religious-political leaders made their fortune with these ungodly practices in the temple and sought to kill the Messiah because they perceived Him as a threat. They were responsible for the killing of the Messiah and His disciples. There is no doubt that the Jewish religious-political Zionists, who are responsible for the creation of the modern state of Israel, have tremendous power over the United States and other nations on earth. They exert their power largely from behind the scenes by means of lobbies, blackmail, extortion, and by using their tremendous wealth which they accumulated with their control over the global banking world. They are also responsible for the aggressive wars around the world by which they plundered other nations and killed countless people for their own gain.

Revelation 18:4-7 (TS2009)
And I heard another voice from the heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. Because her sins have piled up to reach the heaven, and Elohim has remembered her unrighteousnesses. Render to her as she indeed did render, and repay her double according to her works. In the cup which she has mixed, mix for her double. As much as she esteemed herself and lived riotously, so much torture and grief give to her, because in her heart she says, ‘I sit as sovereigness, and I am not a widow, and I do not see mourning at all.’

Babylon the Great regards herself as a queen and claims she is "not a widow" which means that she regards herself as representative of God (Jeremiah 51:5). Just like the corrupt Pharisees in the Messiah's time, the corrupt Zionists of the state of Israel abused the Word of God to fulfill their own desires. They claim to represent the God of the Hebrew Scriptures, but in reality they worship Satan. In Revelation 12 God's people are represented by the woman clad with the sun who gives birth to the 144,000 who will form the government headed by the Son of God. The whore of Babylon is an adversary of God and His people, she's a whore of Satan and infested with demons.



Revelation 18:11-19 (TS2009)
And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their merchandise any more – merchandise of gold and silver, and precious stone and pearls, and fine linen and purple, and silk and scarlet, and all citron wood, and every object of ivory, and every object of most precious wood and bronze and iron and marble, and cinnamon and incense, and fragrant oil and frankincense, and wine and oil, and fine flour and wheat, and cattle and sheep, and horses and carriages, and bodies and lives of men. “And the fruit that your being longed for has gone from you. And all your riches and splendour are lost to you, and you shall find them no more, not at all. “The merchants of these, those who became rich by her, shall stand at a distance for fear of her torture, weeping and mourning, and saying, ‘Woe! Woe, the great city that was dressed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! For in one hour such great riches was laid waste.’ And every shipmaster, and every passenger, and sailors, and as many as work the sea for their living, stood at a distance, and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’ “And they threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning, and saying, ‘Woe! Woe, the great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she was laid waste.’

The destruction of Babylon the Great goes hand in hand with the crash of the global financial system and global trade. This will happen suddenly and quickly. Ezekiel prophesied against Israel in his day...

Ezekiel 7:19 (TS2009)
They throw their silver into the streets, and their gold becomes as filth. Their silver and their gold is unable to deliver them in the day of the wrath of YHWH. They do not satisfy their appetite, nor fill their stomachs, because it has been their stumbling-block of crookedness.

Ancient Israel was punished because of its abominations. Likewise modern-day Israel or Zionism will be punished for her abominations. Another strong indication is given by the Messiah Himself...



Revelation 17:18 (TS2009)
And YHWSO went into the Set-apart Place of Elohim and drove out all those buying and selling in the Set-apart Place, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, “It has been written, ‘My House shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of robbers.’ ”

The Jewish religious-political leaders in Jerusalem used the temple of God as a place for finance and trade in order to enrich themselves. The practice of using temples for finance and trade originated in the Babylonian Empire. It seems that this ungodly practice was incorporated by the Israelites during their Babylonian captivity. The Messiah said: No one is able to serve two masters, for either he shall hate the one and love the other, or else he shall cleave to the one and despise the other. You are not able to serve Elohim and mammon. (Matthew 6:24) Mammon stands for material wealth or greed. Likely Babylon the Great is in control of large parts of the world through her control of the global financial system, the Western banking system set up by the wealthiest and most powerful Zionist families in order to enrich themselves more and more at the expense of the rest of the world. But it will crash and make them powerless in an instance. As a consequence, the ten kings or leaders of Satan's final global empire can set up a new global financial system which entails that no one should be able to buy or sell except he that has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:17)

TS2009 - Genesis 11
TS2009 - Ezekiel 27
TS2009 - Ezekiel 28
TS2009 - Jeremiah 51