Revelation:  Things Which Must Be Hereafter
Event Scripture Hist. Interp. Time Of Historicist Fut. Interp. Futurist Book
Chapter 17 Title References Strength Occurrence Interpretation Strength Interp. References Comments
This spreadsheet is meant to be used with the Revelation Puzzle Pieces Series of Articles.  Please go to the Revelation Puzzle Pieces series at http://usaprophet.com/propheticsuperpages.html
Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:  Strong ***** 1793 AD to 1810 AD 17:1   Interpreted by Historical Bible expositors as meaning that the whore is signifying the city of Rome and Papal Rome and her Empire..the many waters are interpreted as peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues, as shown during the time of her collapse, when the peoples she rode upon turned upon her and devoured her. Guinness, “History Unveiling Prophecy”, preface viii 17:1   This is, in my opinion, the first and most well documented sign in the whole Book of Revelation.  It is also the only one that is divinely interpreted within Revelation 17 itself.  So, if you are filling out your Revelation puzzle, this is the first piece that you fit into place on your chronological time-line, as every single symbol that is given by John has been explained in a very neat and tight fit into the 1,260 year time-line for the rise and fall of the Papacy.  This Revelation 17 event most certainly fits with great exactness into the time of the French Revolution, as displayed in Revelation 16, Vials one through five.  Given that so much of Revelation 12 and 13 describe this same beast empire, yet in an earlier, more imperial and less religious form, it serves as the foundation post from where we begin to unlock the secrets of the meaning of this entire Book of Revelation.  Strong argument is therefore made that the seals and first four trumpets most probably refer to the fall of Imperial Rome prior to 476 AD.
Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.  17:2   That these three visions of the wild beast power (Rev 12, Rev 13 and Rev 17) represent successive stages in the history of the Roman Empire, as first under the government of its seven heads ; secondly under the government of its ten horns, for in the prophecy the crowns are transferred from the heads to the horns; and thirdly as carrying, and then casting off and destroying, the harlot Babylon. Guinness, “History Unveiling Prophecy”, preface x Read the article:  Spiritual Defilement and A Powerless Church    http://www.usaprophet.com/tribvoice/today02102019.html
Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.  EVENT 33-The Woman, sitting on the Scarlet Beast, having 7 heads and 10 horns Strong ***** 17:3   The color here ascribed to the Beast from the abyss is purple-red or scarlet, the usual color of the trappings of horses or mules ridden by the Popes and Cardinals…and seeing these and beyond to the very last days, NICOLL writes-...Babylon is the representative of religious, not civil, degeneracy and wickedness. She is a harlot, and her name is associated with the most reckless and unrestrained fornication. But fornication and adultery are throughout the Old Testament the emblem of religious degeneracy, and not of civil misrule. In numerous passages familiar to every reader of Scripture both terms are employed to describe the departure of Israel from the worship of Jehovah and a holy life to the worship of idols and the degrading sensuality by which such worship was everywhere accompanied. Nor ought we to imagine that adultery, not fornication,
is the most suitable expression for religious degeneracy. In some important respects the latter is the more suitable of the two. It brings out more strongly the ideas of playing the harlot with " many lovers " l and of sinning for "hire." 1 In this sense then it seems proper to understand the charge of fornication brought in so many passages of the Apocalypse against Babylon. Not in their civil, but in their religious, aspect have the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and they that dwell on the earth been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Her sin has been that of leading men astray from the worship of the true God, and of substituting for the purity and unworldliness of Christian living the irreligious and worldly spirit of the " earth." To this it may be added that, had Babylon
not been the symbol of religious declension, she could hardly have borne upon her forehead the term mystery.  		 Elliott, Horae, Vol 3, P67 AND Nicoll, The Expositor's Bible, Volume 25, P 290
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:  17:4   Further, we identify Papal Rome as the Harlot of the Apocalypse by her characteristic attire. Her garments of purple, scarlet, and gold, adorned with precious stones +and pearls, what'are-these but the-notable and characteristic dress of popes,
Cardinals, archbishops,"bishops and prIests of the  church,of Rome.  Regarding the Pope, at his feet, as he sits on the day of his coronation on the high altar of St. Peter's, kneel seventy cardinals, attired in long scarlet robes, princes of the Catholic Church, constituting her highest conclave		 Guinness, “Key To The Apocalypse”, P88, P71
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.  1793 AD to Future 17:5   What is this “Mystery" but the development of that MYSTERY OF INIQUITY" which began to work in the Christian Church in apostolic times ? (2 Thess. ii. 7). Further, she is called "BABYLON THE GREAT." What symbolical title could better describe Papal Rome; for has she not been the worldly, idolatrous, proud, persecuting power in the history of the Christian Church which the literal Babylon was in the history of apostate Israel? What could better symbolise the idolatrous and persecuting Church of Rome than that Babylon which in the days of Jewish apostasy filled Jerusalem with bloodshed, and drank to her idol gods out of the golden vessels of jehovah's sanctuary? Guinness, “Key To The Apocalypse”, P75 17:5   This Roman Catholic harlot is a mother of all the harlot denominations and mega-churches, down to this very day
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.  17:6   Papal Rome through long centuries has held the pre-eminence as the persecutor of those faithful to the teachings of the Gospel of Christ. She has been all along in her essential and unalterable character a persecuting Church. Persecution has occupied a prominent place in her doctrines, decrees, canons, excommunications, tribunals, trials, condemnations, imprisonments, executions, and exterminating wars. Centuries of persecuting action witness against her. Her laws for the persecution and extermination of heretics have increased in malignity from their first rise down to modern times. Plainly and openly she has declared herself to be a persecuting Church. Guinness, “Key To The Apocalypse”, P90
Rev 17:7  And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.  17:7   I discuss in my article that the seven heads seen here, in Rev 13, and Rev 17( “8th, which is of the 7” in Rev. 17) probably have an alternate meaning to denote that these heads represent seven empires: five that had already fallen by the time of Christ and then later, John, were: 1) Egypt, 2) Assyria, 3) Babylon, 4) Media-Persia and 5)Macedonia-Greece. Rome was presently in power and that scripture says that one more would follow, making seven Empires in total. Then, an eighth would arise which would be "of the seven", but just who or what is that seventh empire? Most say the Holy Roman Empire under the Papacy, but that never held sway over the Eastern lands or the Holy Land. The seventh Empire of Revelation 17:10-11 must have been an amalgamation of the Holy Roman Empire, under the Papacy in the Western leg and the Ottoman Empire in the Eastern leg. That will then logically follow on to indicate that the eighth empire (Rev 17:11) could very possibly, or rather just as possibly be (partly) comprised of a reconstituted Ottoman empire (Islamic). See my article “The 2,670 Day Prophecy Of Daniel”
Rev 17:8  The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 
Rev 17:9  And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.  17:9   The city is represented as sitting on seven hills, the well known seven hills of Rome.  This is the only DIVINELY revealed sign of the apocalyptic flow of seals, trumpets and vials.    CONTRARIWISE ………….from Nicoll-Notwithstanding all that has been said to the contrary bynumerous and able expositors, these words cannot be applied directly to any seven emperors of Rome. It may be granted that the Seer had the thought of Rome sitting upon its seven hills in his eye as one of the manifestations of the beast, but the whole tenor of his language is too wide and comprehensive to permit the thought that the beast itself is Rome. Besides this, the heads are spoken of as being also mountains ; " and we cannot say of any five of the seven hills of Rome that they "are fallen," or of any one of them that it is " not yet come." Nor could even any five successive kings of Rome be described as "fallen," for that word denotes passing away, not simply by death, but by violent and conspicuous overthrow ; x and no series of five emperors in other respects suitable to the circumstances can be mentioned some of whom at least did not die peaceably in their beds. Finally, the word " kings " in the language of prophecy denotes, not personal kings, but kingdoms.* These seven " mountains " or seven " kings," therefore, are the manifestations of the beast in successive eras of oppression suffered by the people of God. Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, and Greece are the first five ; and they are " fallen "—fallen in the open ruin which they brought upon themselves by wickedness. Rome is the sixth, and " it is " in the Apostle's days. The seventh will come when Rome, beheld by the Seer as on the brink of destruction, has perished, and when its mighty empire has been rent in pieces. These pieces will then be the ten horns which occupy the place of the seventh head. They will be even more wicked and more oppressive to the true followers of Christ than the great single empires which preceded them. In them the antichristian might of the beast
will culminate. They are "ten" in number. They cover the whole " earth."		 Guinness, “History Unveiling Prophecy”, preface ix AND Nicoll, "The Expositor's Bible", Volume 25, P 284 17:9   The underlying Greek word, “oros”, translated as mountains here, is used also to denote “hills” in the KJV.  “Septicollis Roma” denotes Rome, as labeled as the Seven Hilled City, from antiquity.  There can be no doubt that it referred to Pagan Rome and also to Papal Rome but, it must be noted that the City of Rome has expanded now, in 2017, to cover more than seven hills or mountains.  Huge mountains are not required here.  The Greek word “oros” is used to describe the Mount of Olives.
Rev 17:10  And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.  See below 17:10   I discuss in my article that the seven heads seen here, in Rev 13, and Rev 17( “8th, which is of the 7” in Rev. 17) probably have an alternate meaning to denote that these heads represent seven empires: five that had already fallen by the time of Christ and then later, John, were: 1) Egypt, 2) Assyria, 3) Babylon, 4) Media-Persia and 5)Macedonia-Greece. Rome was presently in power and that scripture says that one more would follow, making seven Empires in total. Then, an eighth would arise which would be "of the seven", but just who or what is that seventh empire? Most say the Holy Roman Empire under the Papacy, but that never held sway over the Eastern lands or the Holy Land. The seventh Empire of Revelation 17:10-11 must have been an amalgamation of the Holy Roman Empire, under the Papacy in the Western leg and the Ottoman Empire in the Eastern leg. That will then logically follow on to indicate that the eighth empire (Rev 17:11) could very possibly, or rather just as possibly be (partly) comprised of a reconstituted Ottoman empire (Islamic). See my article “The 2,670 Day Prophecy Of Daniel”
Rev 17:11  And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.  17:11   Seven heads to signify seven, or in a certain sense eight, successive rulers, or successions or classes of rulers.  Daubuz attributes its discovery to King James. Pareus, p. 422, as the solution of Aretius, Napier, and Brightman ; each of whom probably, some certainly, preceded King James. Indeed I find almost the same in the yet earlier commentator Osiander j the same of whom I have spoken, Vol. ii. p. 136, and who published A. D. 1544. He gives as the seven heads ;— 1, Kings; 2, Consuls; 3, Decemvirs; 4, Dictators ; 5, Triumvirs ; 6, Caesars ; 7, External Caesars, i. e. of foreign extraction ; 8, the Popes. Elliott, Horae, Vol 3 p 62, p98 17:11   The crowns are seen to be upon the heads here in Rev. 12:3, as opposed to being seen on the ten horns in Rev. 13:1.  This is a powerful and persuasive indicator that Imperial, Pagan Rome, under its' seven successive rulers, is prefigured here.  The linkage of John's ten horned wild beast with Daniel's four beast is complex:  probably not complete without inclusion of the Islamic Eastern leg of the Roman Empire, as discussed at the link provided below to my article.
Rev 17:12  And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.  17:12   The following is the list of the ten kingdoms represented by tlze ten horns of the Beast, given by Sir Isaac Newton :-I. The kingdom of the Vandals and Alans in Spain and Africa. 2. The kingdom of the Sueuians in Spain. 3. "The Kingdom of the "Visigoths. 4. The Alans in Gallia. 5. The kingdom of the Burgundians. 6. The Franks. 7·The Britains. 8.The Huns. 9. The Lombards. 10. The Kingdom of Ravenna. Guinness, “Key To The Apocalypse”, P78
Rev 17:13  These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.  17:13    Roman Catholics...were united in the support of the papacy. Barnes Commentary on Revelation 17:13
Rev 17:14  These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.  17:14   They would practically do this in sustaining a persecuting power.  Barnes Commentary on Revelation 17:14
Rev 17:15  And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.  17:15   The peoples of the ten sovereign kingdoms overruled by the Papacy.  See verse 12 for their identity.  Read the article:  "The Papacy Is Antichrist"
Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.  17:16   Emphasis is laid upon the fact that the city is burned. Her destruction by fire has indeed been more than once alluded to. Of the beast and the ten horns it had been said that " they shall burn her utterly with fire;  and, again, it had been proclaimed by the voice from heaven that "she shall be utterly burned with fire." * We shall not venture to say with any measure of positiveness that the type of this "burning" is taken from the burning of Jerusalem by the Romans. It may have been taken from the burning of other cities by victorious enemies. But this much at least is obvious : that, in conjunction with the fact that Babylon is a harlot, destruction by fire leads us directly to the thought of the spiritual, and not simply the civil, or political, or commercial, character of the city. According to the law of Moses, burning appears to have been the punishment of fornication only in the case of a priest's daughter: "And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the harlot, she shall be burnt with fire." (Lev 21:9) Nicoll, "The Expositor's Bible", Volume 25, P 309
Rev 17:17  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 
Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.  17:18   Rome would of course be  understood by this language in the time of John, and all the circumstances, as we have seen, combined to show that Rome, in some form of its dominion, is intended. Even the name could hardly have designated it more clearly, and all expositors agree in supposing that Rome, either as pagan or as Christian, is referred to. The chapter shows that its power is limited; Barnes Commentary on Revelation 17:18