Revealing the The Harlot and the Lamb-like Beast

 “The visions of Revelation 17-19 constitute a cohesive unit which further amplifies the seventh plague (Rev 16:17-21).” . . . The seventh plague contains the summary statement:  ‘God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of His wrath.” 

The judgment on Babylon is the theme of Rev 17-19, they are detailed expansions of the seventh plague.

Rev 17:1 “. . . Come hither; I will show unto you the judgment (sentence) of the great harlot that sits upon many waters (multitudes) with whom the kings of the earth have committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her adulteries.”

When the harlot (the “Christian” world) commits “adultery” with the kings of the earth (the political power), this passage symbolizes the intimate relationship between “church” and “state.”  When church and state combine, those who believe doctrines different from the ones the church and state agree on, will be severely persecuted.  All one has to do is look at history to see that this is so.
The Harlot is the Central Character of Revelation 17
Rev 17:3-5:

“. . . and I saw a woman (a church - this time a false church) sitting upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads (all world rulers who are above the ten kingdoms) and ten horns (the ten kingdoms of the world).
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls (man-made adornments as opposed to the good woman, adorned with the stars, etc.) having a golden cup in her hand (used in the sanctuary service - mocking God) full of abominations and filthiness of her adulteries.
And upon her forehead was a name written, ‘MYSTERY (Secret), BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

The Harlot represents the unfaithful church that has entered into an illicit relationship with the political rulers of the world, “the kings of the earth” (17:2).  That is why she is able to persecute all dissenters (She is drunk with the blood of the saints).