Having looked at the little horn of Daniel 7 from the perspective of him being Domitian, Rome’s 11th Emperor, we will now employ a verse-by-verse view of Revelation 17’s “Eighth Horn”.
In this view, we will attempt to demonstrate two things. First, that Domitian is the eighth horn prefigured in this picture, in the same way he was the eleventh horn in Daniel 7 (for the reason which will be apparent). Second, that great whore Babylon is the ancient principality often termed ‘Jezebel’ who ruled over the city of Rome.
The following text is taken from the Revelation 17 of the NASB.
Introduction
[1] Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, [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 the introduction of the text. We see that one of the angels previously seen has approached John and is bringing him to see something else. The division here marks that there is likely a break in time and space (“distance” in both, implied by “come”). When and where this will be, it is not clear, but it is not in the immediate vicinity of what had just taken place up through the bowls of wrath in Revelation 15-16.
This introduces the “Great Harlot”. The many waters speaks of peoples (given later in the vision in v15). The kings of the earth sinned with this harlot and were made drunk by her.
Babylon the Great
[3] And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. [4] The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, [5] and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
John is carried by the angel into an unnamed wilderness, and sees the harlot riding a scarlet (red) beast. The beast has seven heads and ten horns and is clothed in purple and scarlet (red), and decorated with ornaments. But, written on her forehead is a ‘mystery’, a puzzle or riddle, and she is called “Babylon the Great” and the “mother of harlots and abominations of the earth”.
[6] And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly. [7] And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
Moreover, this harlot is responsible for killing saints and is drunk with their blood. John wonders at the beast, but the angel promises an interpretation.
Next, we need an interpretation just for the interpretation!
The Angel’s Interpretation
[8] “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. [9] Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, [10] and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. [11] The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. [12] 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. [13] These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.
The ‘beast’ from v8 is the one previously seen, and apparently is a reference back to the first beast of Revelation 13 (see Revelation 13:1). This is the beast which was, is not, and will come out of the pit and go to destruction. The ‘beast’ represents both the Empire and the Emperor. In this case, it is referring to the emperor, as the beast died, but will “come back to life”. While this could refer to literal resurrection, what it seems to indicate Domitian as Nero ‘raised from the dead’.
Emperor Nero stabbed himself with his own weapon in the neck (the head-wound). It was believed at the time that Nero would be raised from hell in some fashion, and many believed that Domitian was him raised. Moreover, because Domitian, like Nero before him, was so cruel, even many Romans took to calling him a ‘beast’.
What we have historically is Domitian is the 11th emperor, but in 69 AD, four emperors ruled after Nero’s suicide in 68 AD. During that year, the three short-lived emperors could be said to have not ruled over Judea, as they were short-lived, and were eventually replaced after their subsequent deaths by Vespasian, the father of Titus and Domitian, the two next emperors. So, while Daniel 7 is looking at the actual number of kings, John’s revelation is seeming to look at the kings of real importance, and, in so doing, sees the parallel between those who seriously governed Rome with the number of hills upon which it sat. Part of the current city of Rome still today sits upon those seven hills.
So, while many theories abound, we assume a date of writing of Revelation in the period of Vespasian, after the death of Nero, most likely before the fall of Jerusalem. Many critics abound, but there is no clear consensus. One point of note, however, comes from Kenneth Gentry which points out that while many like to cite several early ‘historical sources’ upholding a ‘late date’ for Revelation, what in fact is the case is that there is one early source, and several sources later which directly reference this one source. Hence, we do not have the matter established on the testimony of two or three witnesses, but only one, and that source is not absolutely clear in the context of the dating. If it were interpreted wrong, the testimony of the others rely upon it, and would throw them into question.
So, while Nero was the 5th king to pass, the one who is is Vespasian, the sixth king (not counting the three short-lived emperors in the same year), and the other to come, the seventh, is his son Titus. Titus, as it were then, did only ‘remain a little while’ (v10), in that he reigned only two years and three months. Domitian is the eighth, and he was one of the seven, in that he was considered Nero from the dead, and he was Vespasian’s son. The ten kings are also listed here, and could refer to the ten persecutions of the church up until the time of Constantine. Or, they could be ten other powers. Debate could go on here, but that is the not the current focus.
But, what is clear in this context is that what is probably in view, and what would have been understood by a First Century reader, is Rome. Rome was known as “the city built on seven hills”. Further, from reading Daniel 2, it is clear that all four kingdoms comprised one entity in the vision. Thus, to call the foot by the same name as you call the head (of the statue) in the vision would be a simple rule. In contrast, in order to avoid the interpretation above, futurist interpreters of the passage must read ‘kings’ as ‘kingdoms’, and read the ‘king’ that is as the Roman empire itself.
But, for the Christians reading this letter at the time, the most pressing concern was first the fall of Jerusalem, and second, the fall of Rome. Their conclusion through studying this document should have been in line with what they saw, and, assuming the timing of the book, would have judged that Rome was indeed in view.
The City and the Harlot
To further clarify this particular point, the identity of the Harlot is identified as the spiritual ruling force, or principality, over the city of Rome. Rome, though, was the name of three different things. First, it was the name of the empire as a whole, Rome. Second, it was also the name of the capital city of that empire. And, third, it was the chief goddess of the city. All three, called Rome, or Roma, were in view at some point, but specifically, Roma the spiritual force, would be the great harlot.
Evidence of this is seen on coins minted, depicting the ‘dea Roma’ sitting on seven hills beside the waters. Further, from the wikipedia article on her, she was said to ‘personify the city’, and also ‘civilization itself’. This explains the later reference in v18 where John is told that “The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”. This is the absolute truth, since the Roman goddess Roma personified the city. Moreover, as she was said to personify ‘civilization itself’, she was the “mother of all harlots and abominations of the earth”. Much of what secular history today calls Western Civilization, God calls harlotry and abominations, and what some people today call the ‘Dark Ages’ is only ‘dark’ in regards to the ‘light of Rome’–Rome the beast, persecutor of Christianity, destroyer of Jerusalem and scatterer of the Jews.
So, while some attempt to draw the connection between “the great city” in Revelation 17 and Revelation 11, the speculation is unwarranted. While both passages use “great city”, the qualifiers of those clauses are left out when they are equated. In Revelation 11, it is the great city wherein their Lord was crucified, meaning Jerusalem. In Revelation 17, it is the great city which reigns over the kings of the earth. Two separate cities, then, the first Jerusalem, and the second Rome, are the primary focuses of Revelation. Just like you could call New York the “great city of the East Coast” and Los Angeles “the great city of California”, or even Detroit as “the great city of the automobile”, without the context, there is not much other than a fairly generic adjective to go on.
And so, we see the ‘goddess Roma’, sitting on the seven hills of the city of Rome. Spiritually this would mean that this is the ruling demonic power over the city. Yet, where it came from would most likely be from the last place it was seen, when it was gathered up in a basket, and carried away to Babylonia, in Zechariah 6. There, the woman, called wickedness, can be seen as the wickedness that Israel had allowed in, was to be carried away to the country that would rule over it. As other studies show that Leviticus 26 indicates that the 490 years of Daniel 9:24 are further punishment, not a reprieve, the spiritual wickedness that had been allowed in by people such as Ahab intermarrying with Jezebel was carried out of their country, into the land which would rule over them for the next nearly 500 years. Thus, when John sees it, he is astounded.
Victory for the Lamb
[14] These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.
[15] And he said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. [16] And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. [17] For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. [18] The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
Here, the reference begins again with the ten kings. They will war with the Lamb, but He will defeat them. And, the description of the harlot and the kings of Rome.
So, what would make a luciferian-empowered emperor hate the chief ruling goddess of the city? Having her worshipped in his own temples along side himself, and sometimes above him. This is indeed what the case was in Rome, with the emperor worship, and also this demon power venerated as well.
The enemy loves attention, and is proud beyond comprehension. There is not movement on the earth that is sustained in any one direction by a great many people that is not either inspired by heaven or led forth by hell. This is the case here, as the Roman emperors would hate, not the city, but the Jezebellian force that usurped and dominated himself and his city and his empire.
This power, then, the harlot, is simply the same spirit today called Jezebel. This is the same spiritual power behind the story in the books of 1 & 2 Kings, and, from this passage is the source of all the harlotry and wickedness through the ages. Spiritually, God did not want Israel mixing with the cultures around them, because He wanted them to remain pure, and devoted to him alone. Civilization, under the influence of this spirit, has produced, and is producing today, is the producer of the harlotries and abominations of the earth. In the name of civilization, culture, and ‘nation’, the most vile, evil, and depraved sense of wickedness have been conceived, birthed, and fill the world. As a contrast, when God set up Israel, He gave them no king. Instead, He was to be their king. It was, in asking for a king, asking to be just like all the kings of the earth, that Israel rejected God as their king, and began their step towards Babylon, Jezebel, and destruction.
So, up until the Babylonian captivity, Israel could not keep itself from the Baals. Yet, after their return to Israel, despite their lack of repentance confessed by Daniel, they did not have the same open idolatry that they had before. This is because God had taken ‘wickedness’ in the basket to Babylon. God, in His perfect justice, seems to have both removed it from them, and yet, kept it over them, until His purposes that it would be destroyed off them be fulfilled.
Thus, Domitian fits the type of the eighth horn here in Daniel 17, and the Great Harlot, as depicted by the statue of Daniel 2, is simply the whole statue, from head to foot. The Harlot is Roma, both the city, the empire, but most specifically, the ungodly culture, worship, religious pluralism, and ‘culture’, which both attempted to surround them and to force them to comply.