Revelaton 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:
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.
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.
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:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
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.
At the end of chapter 16 the 7 years of tribulation ends but now one of the 7 last angels comes to John and says I will show you what happens to the great whore, which is actually the religions order of first three and one half years. It says she sits on many waters which means she rules over seas of people, and do not forget the true church was taken in rapture . This church committed many religious wrongs. It shows us that she was empowered by the beast with seven heads and ten horns, the rule of Satan himself. we see the church was basically a financial storehouse of not only material things but abominations and fornication. The names of this church are listed in verse 5 showing what this church represented and where it’s head quarters was located. Verse 6 tells us this church was responsible for the death many of the saints and it made John wonder. Remember John’s physical state he cannot see, but by the spirit he is seeing all this. All of this takes place in the first half of the tribulation with the destruction of the religions order at the end of the first 3 an 1/2 years and then the reign of the Antichrist begins. We can see already in the religions of today how people can be lead in wrong direction and these religions condemn the true worshipers of God. Please find you church today that teaches the truth of God’s word.