Main Reference: Rv 18 (Rv 17, 13, 12, Dn 2)
In the Old Testament, Babylon was a kingdom of demons that destroyed God’s kingdom, Jerusalem, and made it its captive. It is written in Dan 2 that on the statue of Babylon, the head was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. This meant that the statue was made up of many different countries. Babylon was a coalition of kings, with Nebuchadnezzar as the king of kings. The spiritual Babylon in Revelation is a figurative reference to that physical kingdom. The spiritual Babylon is a coalition made up of several denominations, and they swallow up God’s tabernacle (Rv 13) like the physical Babylon did to God’s tabernacle in the Old Testament era.
The seven heads and ten horns whom the prostitute of Babylon sat upon (Rv 17, 18) are the ones who destroyed God’s tabernacle. The one who saw this event at the location of Rv 13 saw those very physical entities of Babylon, who were like beasts, and he is able to testify to it. This is how God promised through prophecy and fulfills it and makes it appear. The ones who received the mark on their foreheads and hands from the beast of Babylon and worshipped the beast are the betrayers. The beast, Babylon, is the destroyer who destroyed the congregation of God’s tabernacle. This event marked the end of Spiritual Israel, just like how Physical Israel (Jerusalem) came to its end as Babylon destroyed it.
Jesus said in Jn 14:29 that he told of things before they happened so that we can believe when they are fulfilled. As such, the events of Revelation were told ahead of time so that people can see and believe when Revelation is fulfilled. The book of Revelation makes known God’s tabernacle and the devil’s tabernacle, God’s pastor and the devil’s pastor, and God’s food and the devil’s food. It is made known that there are events of betrayal and destruction, and that God’s promised new kingdom and people come. Those who do not believe in this (Revelation) even when it is fulfilled and shown are those who have been born with the seed of the devil. Those born of God’s seed have seen and believed it all. This is the new covenant. It is the promise, and it is faith. Thus, we must believe in the promise to be saved.