“The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 17:18, NIV 1984).
My Musings – Some believe that Revelation 17:18, with the use of the present tense “rules,” is a clear indication that this text refers a city that existed in John’s day, i.e, specific to his first century readers. The city was prosperous and powerful, but also idolatrous (“blasphemy”) and dangerous. It polluted the nations with its filth and abomination (pictured by the golden wine cup) and persecuted those belonging to the Lord (Revelation 17:6). Power, prosperity, pollution of morals, persecution and pride are words that describe the “great harlot’s” influence and activities on a worldwide scale. Because of this, many Biblical scholars believe that Babylon is a metaphor for the pagan Roman Empire at the time it persecuted Christians, and before the Edict of Milan in 313 AD which ended Christian persecution during the reign of Constantine.
Many aspects of Rome’s rule resembled Babylon’s (power, prosperity, polluted morals, persecution and pride). In 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch and the Sibylline oracles, Babylon is used as a cryptic name for Rome. A Roman coin minted under the Emperor Vespasian (ca. 70 AD) depicts Rome as a woman sitting on seven hills. The seven heads are identified as seven mountains, giving a strong indication that the city could be Rome, which was situated on seven hills.
When Revelation was written, Rome was indeed reigning over the kings of the earth. In John’s day, no one in the Roman Empire could have doubted that the city that “rules over kings” meant Rome, any more than anyone would have doubted that the seven hills (Revelation 17:9) alluded to Rome. In 1 Peter 5:13, “she who is at Babylon” was most likely the Apostle Peter’s way of referring to the church in Rome, a city which had become as immoral and idolatrous as ancient Babylon. Just as that ancient Babylon had oppressed the Judean exiles, so Rome was now persecuting the Christians living there.
Other scholars view mystery Babylon as a specific but yet unknown end times’ empire with many of the characteristics of the ancient Babylonian and Roman Empires (prosperous, powerful, polluted morals, persecution of believers and pride). They view Jeremiah’s prophesied destruction of Babylon as accomplished, never to be inhabited again. This would be why Alexander the Great’s and Saddam Hussein’s efforts to rebuild Babylon were not successful. If Babylon is never to be rebuilt, but two entire chapters of Revelation is devoted to its future destruction, then it must be a future empire that is typified by (a type of) ancient Babylon. More on this is a later musing.
My Advice – We must not forget the apocalyptic genre that John is using, with its coded language (“Babylon” may not actually be Babylon), imagery that can fit more than one time period, (“once was, now is not, and yet will come“), and “yet will come” may have been soon to John’s readers, the far distant future, or both. We should not assume that we have it all figured out until the end begins to unfold.
Resources:
Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 612). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whore_of_Babylon.
Wiersbe, W. W. (1992). Wiersbe’s expository outlines on the New Testament (p. 845). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
Keener, C. S. (1993). The IVP Bible background commentary: New Testament (Re 17:18). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (p. 250). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
The Brew Is A Musing 