Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)
Revelation 17 - Introduction
A new and remarkable part of the fourth great section of the Apocalypse here opens, but one full of melancholy. We cannot enlarge upon it now before we have determined the meaning of ‘Babylon.' Let it be enough to say that under the name of that city we shall find represented the degenerate Church of Christ. Notwithstanding all that has been done for her she forgets her Lord; and, in the character of a harlot selling herself to the world for hire, hastens to her fate. It may seem as if this were defeat for the cause of God. It is really victory. The true Church, the faithful remnant, is not defeated when it is constrained to leave the fold in which it has hitherto been nourished (comp. on John 10). The outward institution falls; but the voice is heard and obeyed, ‘Come forth, My people, out of her' (comp. Revelation 18:4), and those who listen to that voice enter into rest.