Revelation 17:2 Commentary and Bible Study

The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her because they have pursued her for her luxuries. They have desired the glory with which she decks herself, hoping to have a share in it. They are taken in by her deceitful beauty, and make no effort to dispel the mystery and see her sinister purpose. It suits them to be deceived by her. The image of a world that commits fornication with a city is not a new one. It is used by Isaiah of Tyre, which is also a symbol of this fallen world. The kings have committed fornication with Babylon because they have obtained illegitimate pleasure from her that involved them breaking their proper loyalty to the God of all the earth. She represents the world with all its attractions. It is a world that promises pleasure to all who conform themselves to its mould. It deceives all those who do not belong to the Lord. Its lies are very plausible and without God’s protection they have no power to resist her allurements. This harlot represents the world as a system, a kingdom, the kingdom of the devil, operating throughout history. She is a harlot who is very old and has practised her trade from the beginning of time. It is not just some of the kings of the world who have committed fornication with her, but all, in every nation, in every age. She uses false religions, those provided by the world with worldly elements in them. Some of these are far from true religion, others are as near to it as the devil dares to come, and as close as he can stomach. Roman Catholicism is one such religion, and it has been the means by which many are prevented from truly coming to Christ. Babylon is present in secular societies as well as religious ones. The great harlot is found in Communism and in materialistic secularism. The world is present wherever men are outside of the kingdom of heaven. She not only affects kings but ordinary people. They too sample her delights although they do not have the same capacity to do so as kings. They are described as drunk with the wine of her fornication. Her pleasures have an intoxicating effect. They make the people to reel about like moral and spiritual drunkards, no longer able to discern right from wrong and truth from error. They lose their desire to seek the Lord and forget the value of their own eternal souls. Like someone who is desensitised by alcohol, they fall but hardly realise they have hurt themselves. Sin continues to do great damage to their souls but they are scarcely aware of it.