The Woman in Revelation 17 is identified as Mystery, Babylon the Great, symbolizing a city and nation rather than a church. She is depicted as riding the Beast, a position of control, indicating a relationship within the same Babylonish system but with distinct aspects and competing interests. The Beast, described with seven heads and ten horns, embodies immense power, yet the Woman is shown as superior and more influential at this point in the prophecy. This dynamic reveals a struggle for world domination within a divided system that ultimately cannot stand, as confirmed by the ten horns of the Beast turning against the Woman, hating her, and destroying her. Biblical examples from the Old Testament, such as Ezekiel 16, Isaiah 47, and Lamentations 1, consistently use the woman symbol to represent a city or nation, often of vile character, like Samaria, Jerusalem, or Babylon, rather than a religious entity. In Revelation 17 and 18, the Woman as Babylon is portrayed as a mother of harlots, a collective term for all inhabitants, male and female, showing corrupt characteristics. Revelation 18 further describes her as deeply involved in worldwide commerce, manufacturing, and entertainment, presenting a prophetic picture of global scale, not tied to religion. The Woman is an external influence over the Beast, separate from its internal politics, economics, religion, or military, despite both being part of the Babylonish system. She epitomizes this system at its peak of worldwide influence in the end time, exerting significant power over the Beast from an external position as a political, economic, and military powerhouse.

God, through His prophets, delivers a stern judgment upon Israel, likening her to Sodom, Egypt, and Babylon due to her spiritual adultery and fickle discontentment. In her carnality, Israel reveals a disastrous curiosity and incautious temperament, seeking variety of experience over the truth of His Word, which leads to her rebellious and impatient nature. Despite His clear instructions to remain unified in one system under His way, Israel stubbornly pursues foreign religions and alliances, ignoring His commands to avoid the abominations of the heathen. Her drive for fulfillment in variety transforms her into a great whore, embodying the symbol of Babylon in her unfaithfulness to Him.