Revelation 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
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.
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.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
As we learned earlier the waters that the whore, or church, was in control of was all people, nations, and tongues.
She did this for the first three and on half years with the help of the Antichrist but the religions order had more control in this time period. Because of the power that the whore had for this time period and the assumed dearth of the Antichrist at the half way point and resurrection by the beast of the Antichrist the ten horns came into power and had enough of the religions rule. They destroy the whore completely which cases everyone to worship the beast or Satan himself. This is where all people left on earth have to take the mark of the beast or stay true to God and face death.We have to remember that God is still in control, He put in the hearts of those who were against Him to fulfill His will. Verse 18 mentions the woman one more time because the city where she ruled from has been the city that down through the centuries has been a place of evil, Babylon.Chapter 17 was all about the destruction of the church now chapter 18 is going to get into the destruction of Satan. Also remember Satan may think he has accomplished defeat again but we know that God is even in control Satan.