Rev 17:1  "And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and
talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the
great whore that sitteth upon many waters:"
Rev 17:2 " With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the
inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication."

We are all to be married (Spiritually) to Christ.  We are the bride.  He is the bridegroom. .
When our primary loyalty is to another this is fornication.  "I have likened the daughter of Zion to
a comely and delicate woman." Jer 6:2  Wine is a symbol used for doctrine.   Therefore the
rulers of the earth enforce religious teachings of this false Church.

    " Christ honored the marriage relation by making it also a symbol of the union between Him
and His redeemed ones. He Himself is the Bridegroom; the bride is the church, of which, as His
chosen one, He says, 'Thou art all fair, My love; there is no spot in thee.'" The Adventist
Home pg 26

Rev 17:3 "So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman
sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and
ten horns. "
A woman is a Church.  Beast is Civil Power/ government.  The seven heads
[7=complete, 10=total (  other examples - Ten Commandments, ten Virgins) or world wide].
Therefore John is seeing a global government controlled by a False Church.

Rev 17:4  "And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with
gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of
abominations and filthiness of her fornication"
She appears beautiful but inside are Demonic doctrines.  (Immortality of the soul and Sun(day) worship.)

Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE
GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
{Great not small, and having other false Churches following in similar Paths}

    " I saw that the two-horned beast had a dragon's mouth, and that his power was in his head,
and that the decree would go out of his mouth. Then I saw the Mother of Harlots; that the
mother was not the daughters, but separate and distinct from them. She has had her day, and it
is past, and her daughters, the Protestant sects, were the next to come on the stage and act out
the same mind that the mother had when she persecuted the saints. I saw that as the mother has
been declining in power, the daughters had been growing, and soon they will exercise the power
once exercised by the mother"  . Spalding and Magan Collection -pg- 1
  

     "The woman (Babylon) of Revelation 17 is described as "arrayed in purple and scarlet color,
and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of
abominations and filthiness:...and upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the
Great, the mother of harlots." Says the prophet: "I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the
saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." Babylon is further declared to be "that great
city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." Revelation 17:4-6, 18. The power that for so
many centuries maintained despotic sway over the monarchs of Christendom is Rome. The
purple and scarlet color, the gold and precious stones and pearls, vividly picture the
magnificence and more than kingly pomp affected by the haughty see of Rome. And no other
power could be so truly declared "drunken with the blood of the saints" as that church which has
so cruelly persecuted the followers of Christ. Babylon is also charged with the sin of unlawful
connection with "the kings of the earth." It was by departure from the Lord, and alliance with the
heathen, that the Jewish church became a harlot; and Rome, corrupting herself in like manner by
seeking the support of worldly powers, receives a like condemnation." The Great
Controversy  pg 382

Rev 17:6 " And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood
of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration."
{Countless millions where martyred during the 1260 years of Papal dominance 538-1798.}

Rev 17:7  "And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the
mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads
and ten horns."

{Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having
seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of
blasphemy.
Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a
bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and
great authority.}

Rev 17:8  "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the
bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder,
whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when
they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is."
 {This is a key text, John is projected into the future and is seeing the event of this prophecy at the time when the Beast "is not".  After the time of Papal control and before the papacy regain world dominants.} A beast in prophecy is a kingdom / Secular power.  A Woman is a Church.  When a woman is ridding a beast it is controlling a secular power.  Uniting Church and state.

{Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was
healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.}

Can not apply the vision to John's day because the Papacy had not yet been.

Rev 17:9  "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven
mountains, on which the woman sitteth. "
{mountains or regions, 7 =complete}

Rev 17:10  "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."
{1. Babylon. 2. Media and Persia. 3. Greece 4. Pagan Rome 5. Holy Roman Empire/ European
Nations under the control of the Roman Papacy  --6. United States (the one that is)  7. New
World Order? ( Not ye come} - sixth described in Rev 13:11

Rev 17:11  "And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the
seven, and goeth into perdition. "
{League of nations under Papal leadership}

"is of the seven" - Papal power is also the 5th and is of the 7th (i.e. part of Europe).

7th is the first stage of United Church and state under indirect papal control.  Apostate
Protestants and US/ NATO.  United States Sunday Law

See prior quoit on Rev 17:5

8th is as described in vs. 12.  More direct more Global surrender of leadership to the Papacy.
World wide Sunday laws.  US no longer a dominant superpower.  National Apostasy has
brought national Ruin.

Rev 17:12 " And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no
kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. "
{10 equal total -Global }

Rev 17:13  "These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the
beast."
{The end result of the New World Order}

Rev 17:14  "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them:
for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and
chosen, and faithful."
{Christ is the Lamb and His followers will be the enemy in this war.  Praised the Lord "the Lamb
shall overcome them"}

Rev 17:15  "And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore
sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues."

Rev 17:16  "And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the
whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her
with fire."
{This New World Order will see that they have been deceive by the Roman Catholic Church
and Ecumenical Sister Churches, probably during the time of the 7 last plagues.}

The same prophecy is in Dan 11:45  "And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him."

Rev 17:17  "For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their
kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. "
Rom 8:28

Rev 17:18  "And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the
kings of the earth."
 {Rome}