1. And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying -

another of the many instruments of God. This is one that helped in pouring the judgment described in Chapter 16.

“Come up here, I shall show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters -

this is not any normal harlot. This the great harlot, the one who has power and position. Notice where she sits.

2. with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” -

this is descriptive of the type of evil the great harlot did and whom she involved. The wicked.

3. And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness -

he is taken into the spirit realm, the place where God is. What he will see he will see from God’s vantage point. Later he will see the same from man’s view point.

and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. -

SHE has great power or at least it seems that way. We see the type of person she is in that she is full of blasphemous names. She is related to that which is evil.

4. And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls -

she is all decked out, seemingly beautiful and desirable. But we know that things aren’t always as they appear.

having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality -

we can see more the nature of this great harlot. She most certainly is evil.

5. upon her forehead a name was written, a mystery -

she is identified so we can know.

Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth -

God knows the real nature of this critter. She is the great enemy of God. She is one of great wickedness. She is comparable to Satan. We already know from 14:8 that Babylon the great is fallen. We shall see how.

6. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus -

she is truly wicked. Look at the things that she has done.

And when I saw her, I wondered greatly -

he marvels at the extreme wickedness of this harlot. How could anything be this wicked. Satan is. But John hasn’t learned yet that things aren’t what they appear sometimes.

7. And the angel said to me “Why do you wonder? I shall tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns -

John is asked why he wonders. The angel is going to tell him why he shouldn’t wonder. He’s going to tell him the way things really are.

8. The beast that you saw was and is not and is about to come out of the abyss and to go to destruction -

this is a far cry from the picture we see in the first chapter. This beast is doomed. John begins to realize that he need not wonder at this thing he sees.

And those who dwell on the earth will wonder, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. -

only the wicked marvel at this beast. John must be learning now. So should we.

9. Here is the mind which has wisdom. -

Just like in 13:9, 13:18, 14:12, here is something that John, you and I should take hold of. Listen up.

The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, -

we are to find out the power source of the woman and the beast. She seems
powerful.

10. and they are seven kings -

maybe John should fear after all. She has seven kings. But wait!

five have fallen -

it is not too scary if 5 are beaten already.

one is and the other has not yet come; and when he comes he must remain a little while. -

these aren’t any kind of powerful kings at all. The one who reigns only does so for a little while. What is there to wonder at. John is learning.

11. And the beast which was and is not, is also himself an eighth -

he is just like the others, they were nothing to be afraid of. We need not fear the beast either.

and is of the seven, and he goes to destruction. -

This is what we are to think of the beast, He goes to destruction.

12. And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. -

What kings? They don’t even have a kingdom yet. And when they do they only reign for one hour. What kind of power is that? If John has not learned yet that he need not fear the beast he never will. It’s a joke. The beast looks spooky. But he isn’t.

13. These have one purpose and they give their power and authority to the beast. -

they give all they got to the beast. BIG DEAL. They don’t have anything to give.