Revelation 17:5; Mystery, Babylon the Great (1)
Revelation 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Mysterion in the New Testament is usually a mystery to be revealed. So here the three character and identity of the woman, previously kept concealed, are now objects of clear revelation (Hailey). The word implies a new revelation, not something to be kept hidden. In this case it is the exposing of what is evil about Babylon (Lenski).
The subsequent revelation will show her to be a great city (v18), but also a vast system of idolatry through the centuries that the great city represents (Bullinger).
Revelation 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
The system had its beginning on the plains of Shinar through the work of Nimrod and will reach its pinnacle there just before the second advent (Bullinger, Seiss). Reports of Babylon’s present utter desolation and impossible restoration are radically overstated.
The Gulf War brought “Babylon” under the American control today.
The Gulf War[b] (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991), codenamed Operation Desert Shield (2 August 1990 – 17 January 1991) for operations leading to the buildup of troops and defense of Saudi Arabia and Operation Desert Storm (17 January 1991 – 28 February 1991) in its combat phase, was a war waged by coalition forces from 35 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq’s invasion and annexation of Kuwait arising from oil pricing and production disputes.
On 2 August 1990, the Iraqi Army invaded and occupied Kuwait, which was met with international condemnation and brought immediate economic sanctions against Iraq by members of the UN Security Council. UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher[29] and US President George H. W. Bush deployed forces into Saudi Arabia, and urged other countries to send their own forces to the scene. An array of nations joined the coalition, forming the largest military alliance since World War II. Most of the coalition’s military forces were from the US, with Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Egypt as leading contributors, in that order. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia paid around US$32 billion of the US$60 billion cost.[30]
Iraq lies between latitudes 29° and 38° N, and longitudes 39° and 49° E (a small area lies west of 39°). Spanning 437,072 km2 (168,754 sq mi), it is the 58th-largest country in the world. It is comparable in size to the US state of California, and somewhat larger than Paraguay.
Iraq mainly consists of desert, but near the two major rivers (Euphrates and Tigris) are fertile alluvial plains, as the rivers carry about 60,000,000 m3(78,477,037 cu yd) of silt annually to the delta. The north of the country is mostly composed of mountains; the highest point being at 3,611 m (11,847 ft) point, unnamed on the map opposite, but known locally as Cheekah Dar (black tent). Iraq has a small coastline measuring 58 km (36 mi) along the Persian Gulf.
In 1992, the US Defense Secretary during the war, Dick Cheney, made the same point:
I would guess if we had gone in there, we would still have forces in Baghdad today. We’d be running the country. We would not have been able to get everybody out and bring everybody home.
And the final point that I think needs to be made is this question of casualties. I don’t think you could have done all of that without significant additional US casualties, and while everybody was tremendously impressed with the low cost of the (1991) conflict, for the 146 Americans who were killed in action and for their families, it wasn’t a cheap war.
And the question in my mind is, how many additional American casualties is Saddam [Hussein] worth? And the answer is, not that damned many. So, I think we got it right, both when we decided to expel him from Kuwait, but also when the President made the decision that we’d achieved our objectives and we were not going to go get bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and govern Iraq.[169]
Will this city be rebuilt to be the most luxurious city in the world to attract all the kings and merchants to it.
Revelation 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Would the Antichrist that come out of the earth come from the place where Nimrod of old became great? Is this the place for the portal where the devil is released!
Genesis 10:8-12 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.
Today, a city can be built in a short time. A sky-scraper of 100 floors can be built in three and a half months – one floor per day, pre-fabricated. Ancient Babylon can be rebuilt in a short time.
Revelation 17:10-11 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. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
The Antichrist (the 8th) will come out of the 7th world empire – (1) Egypt (2) Assyria (3) Babylon (4) Medo-Persia (5) Greece (6) Rome (7) Revived Roman Empire (Shinar).
The woman’s name is Babylon the Great, not Mystery Babylon the Great (Smith, Walvoord).
This along with the face that mysterion seems to have a phrenetical independence here brings a decision favouring the appositional relationship. This gives sense, “a name written, which is a mystery”.
Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth is the name that constitute the mystery. Babylon is a theme in Scripture in Genesis 10:9-10 with its first mention and continuing into these closing chapters of the last book of the Bible.
Genesis 10:9-10 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
It was a city where false religion began (Genesis 11:1-9) that has continually plagued Israel, the church, and the world (Walvoord).
It will once again become the world’s leading city religiously as well as commercially and politically as the end draws near. Her role as “mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth” makes her the progenitress of everything anti-Christian.
This includes all false religions, not just those that are Christian in name only, but also everything that is pagan and idolatrous under Satan’s control (Seiss). The Genesis 11 passage tells where it all began, with the building of a tower that become a forerunner of the world’s idolatrous practices throughout history (Seiss, Walvoord). So the metropolis that functions as headquarters of the beast’s empire has a long reputation for its anti-God stance. It is a city, but it is also a vast religious system that stands for everything God does not tolerate.
[Robert L Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 288-290]