When I saw her, I marveled greatly. 7 But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. 9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
15 And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”
By no means unrelated to the story of Babel is the lesson of the last few verses of the chapter, which speak of the revolt of the nations against the harlot. For ambition is a sin which contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction, and disintegration must eventually come to those who are committed to it. In 13 and 17 it is stressed that there was one mind among the enemies of God, and that they were united in their allegiance to the beast and the harlot. But this unity is only a seeming one, and it is seen to be a delusion when God has fulfilled His purposes with them. Their agreement simply furthers His will (17), and then when divine restraint is removed they are seen in their true colours. It is very wonderful to see how perfectly God is in control of the confederations of evil powers arrayed against His people, and still more so to see Him in His own good time loosening the knot which binds them together, and straightway the beast and the harlot are at each other's throats! This is how evil powers in history are brought down. God causes His enemies to destroy one another! It is common knowledge now that for a considerable time before the end of the last war there was increasing tension within the German High Command between Hitler and his generals which led to more than one attempt on his life and finally ruined the German war-machine. And even more recently we have seen the tensions arising within the Communist bloc itself, both in Russia itself, in the deadly jockeyings for power in the Kremlin, and between Russia and China. That this is an inevitable biblical principle is seen in the story of Jehoshaphat and the war with Moab and Ammon in 2 Chronicles 20:1-23, in which the enemies of God helped to destroy one another. Well might the Psalmist say, 'He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh'. (Psalm 2:4)