启示录第十七章敌基督、十王和女人是谁？

The judgment upon the great harlot
In the Old Testament, the metaphor of adultery was frequently used of Israel as God's faithless wife, turning to worship other gods (Isa. 1:21, Ezek. 16:15) as well as commercial gain. Here it is Babylon as a symbol of human civilization with all its lust for richness, wealth, luxury and against Gods laws and order. Offering babes and children to satan (abortion, euthanasia).
The great harlot who is seated upon many waters. That cannot be the city of Rome, for while the Tibers flows through the city, Rome is NOT built upon waters (Vatican City). One needs to think about a city like Amsterdam built on pillars with its many canals and Berlin built on a swamp.
Verse 2 The old Babylon seduced the old world into its fornication. The AntiChrist will seduce the COMPLETE world in everything against God, seduce may people on earth and force to worship the Beast and to accept the mark.
John is carried into a wilderness, which could mean an uncultivated region with few people. And he saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast. Scarlet indicating the intimate relationship with its master satan. So this wilderness we can see as the occult place, the deep inner relationship of the woman with satan. While on many waters we can say the openly relationship with the many nations on earth.
Full of blasphemous names, a reference to the self-deification of the AntiChrist and his demand for the worship of his followers.
The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, full of luxury. The woman is showing her wealth to the world. Purple and scarlet were in the old days very costly and could only be afforded by very rich people and kings. Desire for this, entice men away from God.
Verse 5 Her name of mystery. The mystery that in her title is included her object: the abominations and the impurities of her fornication to lead people away from God and the AntiChrist to be worshiped as god. It shows her drunkenness through the blood she drunk of the saints she murdered.
Verse 6 John marveled greatly, a better translation is John was greatly amazed. The angel asked him, why are you amazed? And tells him that he will explain the mystery of the woman AND the beast. SO here we see the close interrelation between the two. It is one mystery: the civilization which supports the Beast. The beast passes through three stages: it was, i.e. it had an existence in the past; it is not, i.e. there is a time it does not exist; it is to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to perdition, it will have a future manifestation which will be satanic power. The bottomless pit is the home of satanic power before it enters on earth (Abyss, but is not hell). Matthew 8: 28-34 The evil spirits ask to be allowed to enter in the swines and they fall into the sea (abyss), for they do not wish to be tormented before their time. Before their time: That is the eternal punishment in the lake of fire.
With my introduction, I mentioned several explanations, which can be very dangerous, due to their wrong interpretations. I think the most save is that the was, is the Roman Empire which ended in 478 A.D., is not the Roman Empire did not exist until the "European Union" and it is to ascendwill be the "European Union" which WILL ascend in the Great Tribulation.
It is wrong to align the five fallen kings to the Popes or the United States presidents, as explained in my introduction. Surely what will happen after the Rapture of the Church, we can only guess. It will be chaotic, the Church, the Restrainer, is no longer on earth, so all evil forces will come to power and no respect for life and God's laws will be there. In my opinion the United States will play no role anymore and the focus will be shifted completely to Europe. The Turkish and Iran war might occur and the intervention of God of Ezekiel 38-39 might occur. Thereafter the "peace" of the AntiChrist with these seven kings. The people in the Great Tribulation will know! In the end these kings will give their power to the Beast, verse 13. Whether we have to take the ten kings literally, I do not know, or as some say it represents fullness of ten meaning the complete earth. These kings are not important, only allies of the Beast who seek their complete devotion in the Beast.
Verse 13 Now we jump to the end of the Great Tribulation and go to the war of Megiddo (Rev. 16:16) and the Second Return of Jesus on the Mount Zion (Zechariah 14), where all Jews and Israelites will SEE HIM whom they have pierced (Zechariah 12:10) and ALL ISRAEL will be saved (Psalm 130:4, Rom. 11:26).
The complete earth in worship of the Beast, peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues will raise and fight against the Lamb and the LAMB WILL CONQUER them. For it is God Who have given them over to their lusts and now are of one mind with the Beast.
Verse 18 gives a symbolic interpretation of the woman, she is the great city which has dominion over the kings of the earth.