The Unity of Revelation 17 and 18
Traditionally, most (not all) pretribulationist interpreters have differentiated the Babylon the Great of Revelation 17 from the Babylon the Great in Revelation 18, arguing that Revelation 17 speaks of an apostate church symbolically as a prostitute, and that Revelation 18 describes a literal city. However, an analysis of Revelation 17–18 shows that both chapters refer to the same entity, and that this is a political entity, not an apostate church.
First, Revelation 17:18 directly states that the prostitute of Revelation 17 is the great city (more accurately, the great “polis,” or state) of Revelation 18: “And the woman whom you saw is the great state, which has a kingdom over the kings of the earth.” Revelation 17:18 clearly establishes that the prostitute is a political entity, not a religious one. Babylon the Great is a world hegemon, a superpower that dominates world politics, economics, and culture in the last days.