Jer 51:1-16  Babylon Hath Been a Golden Cup in the Lord’s Hand

[Study Aired October 9, 2022]

Jer 51:1  Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;
Jer 51:2  And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
Jer 51:3  Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.
Jer 51:4  Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.
Jer 51:5  For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
Jer 51:6  Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD’S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
Jer 51:7  Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
Jer 51:8  Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
Jer 51:9  We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
Jer 51:10  The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.
Jer 51:11  Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.
Jer 51:12  Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.
Jer 51:13  O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
Jer 51:14  The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.
Jer 51:15  He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
Jer 51:16  When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

Here’s the New Testament version of the message of this 51^st chapter of Jeremiah:

Rev 18:1  And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven [“A destroying wind”], having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. [The habitation of every false doctrine].
Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her,  and the merchants of the earth [the holy men of every religion] are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. [The same spirit identified within the church of Laodicea:  (Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.)]
Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

The fall of Babylon is said to be “sudden” in Jeremiah 51:8. The words used to convey this thought in Revelation 18 is “in one day” in verse Rev 18:8, and “in one hour” in these verses:

Rev 18:10  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

Rev 18:17  For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,

Rev 18:19  And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

Jer 51:1  Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;

Verse 1 tells us that “the Lord… will raise up… a destroying wind… against them that… rise up against me”, and those who do so are identified as “Babylon”, a type of ‘Mystery Babylon’. As we have seen in earlier studies, all men are in covenant with God via the Noahic covenant, and we are told that Mystery Babylon rides on a beast which is defined as “all nations… and the kings of the earth”. They have all committed spiritual fornication with this “great whore that sits upon many waters”, which waters are defined as “many… peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues”:

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 shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

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.

Unlike the judgments of ancient Israel, Judah, by physical Babylon, and even physical Babylon, by the kings of the Medes and Persians, those whom the Lord sends to destroy Mystery Babylon are not identified as any particular nation, and yet we are plainly told that John is being shown “the judgment of the great whore that sits upon many waters” (Rev 17:1).

The Lord revealed to us that this great whore is none other than His own unfaithful wife… spiritual “Judah and Jerusalem”:

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 shew 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.
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.

Every word of the revelation of Jesus Christ is based upon revelations found in the Old Testament, which reveals that this “great whore” is no one else than the Lord’s unfaithful wife:

Isa 1:1  The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! It was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

The death of His saints is the same phraseology used to describe Mystery Babylon:

Rev 18:24  And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

Christ Himself identifies Mystery Babylon with this statement:

Luk 13:33  Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.
Luk 13:34  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem [“Mystery Babylon the Great”], which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

Just as Adam and Eve had a relationship with Christ before they became “the seed of… the serpent” by being obedient to the words of the serpent and by disobeying the words of the Lord commanding them not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, so were Judah and Jerusalem in a marriage covenant with the Lord before they also became a great whore by breaking covenant with their husband, Christ, when they forsook the Lord and became a seed of evildoers, provoking the Lord to anger:

Rom 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Jer 51:2  And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
Jer 51:3  Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.
Jer 51:4  Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.

When the Lord says the time of judgment has come, He brings it to pass. He can do that because the very hearts of all men are in His hand:

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.
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.

The Lord is calling His elect to come out of this great harlot system which He is judging. Physical Israel, and all physical religions, are all ‘risen up against the Lord’, and He is in the process of judging them all. However, His judgments must “first… begin at the house of God”, the spiritual seed of Abraham, His very elect:

Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

‘Them that obey not the gospel of God’ are “all nations and the kings of the earth” who are all guilty of committing fornication with the ‘great whore’.

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth [false, greedy ministers] are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

If this harlot sits upon “all nations… and kings of the earth”, who then does the Lord use to accomplish the judging of this great harlot system? When Jerusalem forsook the Lord and became this harlot, the Lord sent Nebuchadnezzar, the king of physical Babylon, to judge His people. When the time was accomplished for Babylon to be judged, the Lord sent Cyrus, the king of the Medes and Persians to judge and destroy Babylon. The king of Greece is sent to judge Persia, and Rome is sent to judge the heirs of heirs of Alexander’s Greek empire. This is all revealed in Daniel’s revelation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s disturbing dream which Nebuchadnezzar could not remember. The significance of the symbols of the great image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream with a head of gold, arms and shoulders of silver, a belly and thighs of brass and the legs of iron and the feet and toes part of iron and part of clay, identify how the Lord used each succeeding nation to judge its predecessor.

Let’s carefully notice the reason the holy spirit gives for giving this dream to King Nebuchadnezzar:

Dan 2:30  But as for me [Daniel], this secret [Hebrew H7328: raz, mystery] is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.

Here is Strong’s definition of this Hebrew word, ‘raz’:

H7328
רָז
râz
rawz
(Chaldee); from an unused root probably meaning to attenuate, that is, (figuratively) hide; a mystery: – secret.

“But for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king” means the Lord gave this dream to Nebuchadnezzar and those who make the interpretation of the Lord’s word to us:

Rev 19:9  And he [“one of the seven angels which had the seven vials”] saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God [Rev 22:6].
Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

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 shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of all the nations which would rule this world was given to him “for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king” of the kingdom of our old man, as the book of Revelation twice reveals:

Rev 22:6  And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true [Rev 19:9]: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
Rev 22:10  And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

What the spirit is telling us in…

Dan 2:30  But as for me [Daniel], this secret [Hebrew H7328: raz, mystery] is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.

…It takes Christ in His Christ to show us the thoughts of our old man and make known the interpretation of all the types, shadows and symbols He uses to reveal Himself and His mind to “the king” – to you and to me.

The great whore of Revelation 17 is called “Mystery Babylon the Great”:

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.
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:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

This woman is “the great whore… [and] in the spirit [she is] in… the wilderness”. This “great whore” is a harlot because she is the Lord’s unfaithful, apostate wife. Like Jezebel, the queen of Israel, she is much more attached to the mind and customs of this world than she is to the people who are faithful to the Lord. Like Jezebel this great harlot system is seeking to destroy any who are faithful to the Lord and His doctrines, as the very next verse reveals:

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.

Just as it was in the days of Jezebel, when she was seeking to destroy Elijah and all the prophets of the Lord, the Lord still has a remnant who are coming out of this great harlot and are willing to die daily with their Lord. It is only those who come out of the Lord’s apostate harlot wife, who will be given to become his spotless virgin wife, the true “Israel of God”:

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

2Pe 3:14  Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

Gal 6:15  Certainly, it doesn’t matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.
Gal 6:16  Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God. (GWV)

Only the faithful “are counted for the seed”:

Rom 9:6  Now it is not as though God’s word has failed. Clearly, not everyone descended from Israel is part of Israel
Rom 9:7  or a descendant of Abraham. However, as Scripture says, “Through Isaac your descendants will carry on your name.”
Rom 9:8  This means that children born by natural descent from Abraham are not necessarily God’s children. Instead, children born by the promise are considered Abraham’s descendants. (GWV)

It is “children born by the promise” who are the spiritual subject of our next verse:

Jer 51:5  For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.

The Lord’s own people are those who first reject Him and who will be the first to be judged in this present time. The Lord’s very elect are no better or worse than any other men of themselves. They are simply those who He has elected to be His:

Rom 9:11  (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth)

That is the only reason any of us come out of apostate Jerusalem, “Mystery Babylon the Great”. Those who are granted “according to election” to ‘come out of her’ will be the first to be judged in this present time and to be reunited with their True Husband, Christ:

Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family [“a remnant”], and I will bring you to Zion:
Jer 3:15  And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. [“Make known the interpretation to the king…”, Dan 2:30]

Jer 51:6  Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD’S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.

The Lord’s admonition to us is to “Come out of her, my people”:

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

The only difference between Jeremiah 51:6 and Revelation 18:4-6 is that Revelation 18 gives us more details of the Lord’s vengeance which He will render unto her. We receive double according to our works. Revelation chapters 17 and 18 are just a broad scale recapping of chapters 15-16, which go into much greater detail of “the seven last plagues” which the Lord’s “vengeance [and] His recompense” entails for our personal, inward, self-righteous rebellion against Him and His doctrines.

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

Rev 15:5  And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
Rev 15:6  And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.

Rev 16:1  And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

Jeremiah 51 typically complements the words of Revelation and reminds us that Babylon is nothing more than an instrument in the Lord’s hand. Jeremiah helps us to see how a sovereign God uses Babylon as His cup. It is He who gives this great harlot the commission to pour out her spiritual fornications upon all nations and the kings of the earth.

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:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
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.

Jer 51:7  Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
Jer 51:8  Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
Jer 51:9  We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.

“We would have healed Babylon”, but the Lord has no intention of doing so. Our natural inclination is to want to preserve the kingdom of our old man. Ishmael, as “the son of the bondwoman”, Hagar, typifies the kingdom of our flesh, but our flesh is also a physical descendant of Abraham, and even Abraham was very reluctant to part with his own flesh:

Gen 17:15  And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
Gen 17:16  And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
Gen 17:18  And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

We are all, by nature loathe to deny our own flesh. The Lord simply assured Abraham that Ishmael would indeed “multiply exceedingly… and… make him a great nation”. Ishmael is indeed a great nation which “persecuted Him that was born after the spirit” and the Lord told Abraham that His covenant would only be with the son who was “born after the spirit”, and the Lord insisted that “the son of the bondwoman shall not be made heir with the son of the freewoman”:

Gal 4:25  For this Agar [Hagar] is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Gal 4:28  Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Gal 4:30  Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31  So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

As surely as Sarah and Abraham had nothing to do with the miraculous birth of their son Isaac, in like manner, we have absolutely nothing to do with our own election:

Jer 51:10  The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.

We are the Lord’s spiritual ‘Zion’ which He has chosen as His dwelling place:

Psa 9:11  Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.

Zion and Jerusalem are used interchangeably in scripture because Mount Zion is within Jerusalem. Therefore, it is no contradiction when we read:

Psa 135:21  Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.

The Lord does not dwell in physical Jerusalem. He dwells in “Jerusalem above which is the mother of us all”.

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

The word ‘above’ is not a geographic word as it is used here. It is a spiritual word which is “as high above our thoughts as the heavens are above the earth”:

Isa 55:9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

“Jerusalem above” is the mind of Christ and His thoughts within His elect in which He even now dwells.

Mat 28:20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Jer 51:11  Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.
Jer 51:12  Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.

All our efforts to spiritually hold onto Ishmael and Esau are to no avail when “the Lord raises up a destroying wind against all of her lies within us (Jer 51:1). When His time to destroy Mystery Babylon comes, He will destroy her and all she stands for within us and dispensationally when He decides it is time.

Jeremiah 51:12 is the natural reaction of our flesh. Like Joseph’s brothers, we just naturally believe we can thwart the Lord’s words and keep them from coming to pass:

Gen 37:18  And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
Gen 37:19  And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
Gen 37:20  Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

Mat 21:37  But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
Mat 21:38  But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
Mat 21:39  And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.

Jer 51:13  O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.

Mystery Babylon also “dwells upon many waters”:

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 shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

These same “many waters” upon which this great whore sits, are also revealed in verse three to be the same as “a scarlet coloured beast”:

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.

Both symbols (the ‘many waters’ and ‘a scarlet colored beast’) are clarified as representing the flesh of all men:

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.

Jeremiah and the book of Daniel both tell us that the Medes and Persians were the Lord’s hand to accomplish the destruction of physical Babylon, but neither Daniel nor the book of Revelation, name any one nation as the Lord’s instrument for bringing about the destruction of Mystery Babylon. Because all men are under the Noahic covenant, Mystery Babylon is therefore the symbol for all the religions which have been given to rule over “all nations… and the kings of the earth” (Rev 18:3). Instead of any particular nation, we are told that all flesh, the very beast itself, and the very waters on which the great whore sits, will be the instrument of the Lord’s judgment upon Mystery Babylon. The scarlet-colored beast and the waters upon which Mystery Babylon sits and dominates the whole world are both symbolized by the ten toes on Nebuchadnezzar’s image in Daniel 2 and by the ten horns on the beast upon which the great whore also sits, which will revolt against her and destroy her:

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.
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.
Rev 17:13  These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
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.
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.

The Lord makes no excuses for His part in the destruction of Mystery Babylon within and without. This is the only reason the ten horns do what they do:

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

Jeremiah gives us the very same message in these words:

Jer 51:14  The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee [Babylon] with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.
Jer 51:15  He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
Jer 51:16  When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

All of this is the Lord’s judgment of Babylon, and the Lord tells us that He uses the ten horns on the beast and the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar’s image to effect His judgment upon Mystery Babylon.

The negative application of the number ten signifies Adamic flesh in its full bloom and at its zenith. Here is the study on the number ten: The Significance of the Number Ten

The timing given in Daniel 2 reveals that Daniel 2 includes the time of the judging of Mystery Babylon:

Dan 2:41  And whereas thou sawest the feet and [ten] toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
Dan 2:42  And as the [ten] toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
Dan 2:43  And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
Dan 2:44  And in the days of these [ten] kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
Dan 2:45  Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

These verses verify the revelation that all flesh will rebel against the religions of this world and will be used of the Lord to judge Mystery Babylon:

Jer 51:1  Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;
Jer 51:2  And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.

I will conclude with the words with which the Lord told us to petition our heavenly Father “When [we] pray” (Mat 6:7):

Mat 6:9  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Mat 6:10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.