Who or What Is "mystery Babylon" in Revelation 17?
1) Direct Answer
Mystery Babylon is the great end-time apostate church system—a religious city that rules the nations, joins with political power, and mothers other churches after her kind. It is an unfaithful “woman,” a system of worship that mixes the things of God with the world.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- It is a woman—an unfaithful church: in prophecy a woman types a church (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:25-27). Here she is a harlot, meaning spiritual fornication—uniting with the world and idols (Revelation 17:1-2; Jeremiah 3:1-9).
- She sits on many waters—global reach: “The waters… are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” (Revelation 17:1,15).
- She is a mother system: “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS…” (Revelation 17:5). She has daughters—other churches that take her ways.
- She is rich, ceremonial, and intoxicating: “arrayed in purple and scarlet… decked with gold… having a golden cup… full of abominations” (Revelation 17:4). Her “wine” makes the nations drunk (Revelation 18:3).
- She persecutes the true saints: “drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (Revelation 17:6).
- She is a ruling city on seven mountains: “The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth” and “that woman… is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth” (Revelation 17:9,18).
- She rides the beast—church controlling state power—until the horns turn and destroy her (Revelation 17:3,16-17).
- God calls His people out: “Come out of her, my people” (Revelation 18:4).
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- A pure woman portrays the Bride of Christ; a harlot portrays a fallen church. So this is not merely a nation; it is a religious system.
- She is centered in a specific great city known for seven mountains and worldwide influence over kings and peoples—so it’s a church-political power, not just a local congregation.
- She is a “mother,” so her daughters are other systems patterned after her—sharing her mixture of tradition with the world.
- The name “Babylon” reaches back to Babel—confusion and man-made religion (Genesis 11). “Mystery Babylon” is that same spirit in its religious form at the end: organized worship mixed with politics, wealth, and idolatry, drawing power from the beast and intoxicating the nations.
- The final word from Heaven is separation: leave the mixture and cleave to the Word, because her judgment comes suddenly (Revelation 18:8-10).
4) Reinforcing Statement
Now notice, the Bible paints it plainly: a mother church-system, ruling from a great city, riding worldly power, rich, ceremonial, persecuting the saints, and spawning daughters after her order. The call of God is simple—come out to the pure Word of Jesus Christ before her plagues fall.
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What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Christ is the mystery of God revealed
63-0728 §120
Look, Christ in you makes Him the center of life of the revelation, see. Christ's life in you makes Him the center of the revelation. Christ in the Bible, makes the Bible the complete revelation of Christ. Christ in you makes you the complete revelation of the whole thing. See, what God's trying to do? What is the new birth then? You'd say, "Well, Brother Branham, what is the new birth?" It is the revelation of Jesus Christ personally to you. Amen! See? Not you joined a church; you shook a hand; you done something...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 2:E-66
The Victorious Christ Revelation 1:17,18, "And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the First and the Last; I am He That liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."
The Rapture
65-1204 §42
In the Bible... Cain and Abel didn't have a Bible to read, but it was revealed to Abel by faith, which is a revelation. Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than that of Cain, which God testified that he was righteous. When Jesus was asked here in Matthew 16:17 and 18... We haven't time to read it, but if you want to write it down. He said, "Who does men say I, the Son of man, am?" One of them said. "You're Moses, Elias, or someone." He said, "But who do you say I am?" He said, "Thou art the Christ, the...
Is this the sign of the end sir?
62-1230E §84
Now, let's note a few of these mysteries, and if you want to, write them down. First, I'll take what Scofield says here in Matthew 13, if you'd like to type some of them down. If you haven't got a Scofield Bible, you might read what he thinks some of the mysteries are. Now, in the 11th verse: He answered and said unto them, Because it is given to you [his disciples]... Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but not to them, but to them it is not given [the mysteries]. Here is the...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 6:E-68
In verse 17, it emphatically shows that she will gain absolute control of the commerce of the earth, for no man can buy or sell apart from her. This is borne out in Revelation 18:9-17 which shows her involvement with kings, princes, merchants, all of whom have to do with Rome and commerce.