A Biblical Look at Babylon the Great
There are passages in Scripture that feel like sealed doors — heavy with mystery, layered with symbolism, and trembling with meaning. The Woman of Revelation 17 is one of them.
For centuries, readers have whispered questions: Who is she? Why is she clothed in such beauty? Why does her presence disturb the nations?
Misinterpretations have spread like wildfire — some calling her the Antichrist, others imagining a future woman of unmatched beauty rising to deceive the world.
But the truth Scripture reveals is far deeper, far older, and far more confronting.
This is not just a story to read.
It is a mystery to enter.
A vision to unfold.
A spiritual reality we are still living in.
As we begin to understand The Woman of Revelation 17, the illusion breaks… the symbols sharpen… and the true message of the text rises like a warning flame in the dark.
This is the story behind the story — the biblical truth about Babylon the Great.
1. The Vision: Clothed in Beauty, Carrying Corruption
Revelation 17:3–4
“I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast…
The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls.
She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filth of her fornication.”
At first glance, she is stunning — wrapped in royal colors, gleaming with jewels.
But the beauty is a mask.
Her golden cup is full of spiritual poison.
Her appearance is the very strategy of deception.
Revelation isn’t describing a literal woman but a spiritual seduction that looks desirable and harmless on the outside while carrying destruction within.
2. Her Name: A Title, Not a Person
Revelation 17:5
“And on her forehead a name was written:
Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and of the Abominations of the Earth.”
Her name is a clue.
Not a personal name — a symbolic title.
Not a future woman — but the embodiment of an ancient biblical theme.
From Genesis to Revelation, Babylon represents pride, idolatry, rebellion, and the seduction of worldly power.
Just as Scripture personifies Jerusalem as a faithful woman, it personifies Babylon as an unfaithful one.
This woman is a symbol of a system, not a single soul.
3. She Is Not the Antichrist
Many Christians have been misled into thinking this woman is the Antichrist.
Scripture says otherwise.
Revelation 17:3:
“I saw a woman sitting on the beast…”
The beast represents political and spiritual power in rebellion against God.
The woman represents the seductive culture that rides upon that power.
They are connected — but not the same.
- The Beast = Antichrist power
- The Woman = Babylon’s seductive world system
One leads.
One lures.
Both oppose the Lamb.
4. What She Represents: A Counterfeit Kingdom
Her imagery reads like a prophetic mirror revealing the world’s heart.
• Purple and scarlet
Earthly power. Wealth. Self-made glory.
• Gold, jewels, and pearls
A glory that sparkles — but isn’t holy.
• The golden cup
Beauty in the hand… corruption in the contents.
• Riding the beast
A system empowered by ungodly structures.
Throughout the Old Testament, idolatrous nations were called “harlots” because they seduced God’s people away from Him (Isaiah 1:21, Ezekiel 16, Jeremiah 3).
Revelation continues that tradition: what appears beautiful can be spiritually deadly.
She is the world’s false kingdom —
shiny, seductive, influential…
but empty, corrupt, and doomed.
5. Her Fall: Judgment of a System, Not a Woman
Revelation 18 announces her collapse:
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great!”
—Revelation 18:2
Heaven rejoices because God dismantles the deception that enslaved nations.
Earth mourns because its source of luxury and corruption is gone.
Her fall is not the defeat of a woman —
but the end of a world order built apart from God.
6. The Truth: A Symbol of a World in Rebellion
The Woman of Revelation 17 is:
✔ A symbolic figure
✔ A representation of spiritual deception
✔ A portrait of worldly seduction
✔ A warning against placing trust in earthly kingdoms
She is not:
✘ The Antichrist
✘ A literal future queen
✘ A prophecy about female leadership
✘ A specific person rising in the end times
Her story is a message:
The world’s beauty can be a disguise.
Its power can be counterfeit.
Its luxuries can be traps.
Revelation tears the veil so we can see clearly.
7. Why This Matters Today
The spirit of Babylon is still alive — not as a woman, but as a pull.
It shows up in:
• systems that profit from sin
• culture that glamorizes rebellion
• ideologies that reject God but shimmer with influence
• pursuits that sparkle but starve the soul
Revelation’s call is clear:
“Come out of her, My people…”
—Revelation 18:4
Step out of seduction.
Step out of compromise.
Step into the Kingdom that cannot be shaken.
And remember…
“The Lamb will overcome.”
—Revelation 17:14
Every Babylon falls.
But the Kingdom of God stands forever.
