Revelation 17:3

3. Carried me away From the visional Jerusalem temple, where were the throne, the living four, and the twenty-four elders. These are resumed again at Revelation 18:1, as appears at Revelation 19:4.

Into the wilderness Where she has been driven by the downfall and desolation of her capital, Babylon. That this wilderness, or desert, is a typical image of a condition of deprivation or desolation is indicated by the fact that the same Greek word, in verb form, is used in Revelation 17:16 for desolate. Desolate now by the loss of her capital, the nations will yet make her both desolate and, richly arrayed though now she be, naked. Having lost the real organic power of despotism and persecution, she still can glorify herself in gorgeous apparel, pomps, and display, and make proud pretensions of infallibility and universal supremacy, but of even these costly attires the ten horns will finally strip her naked. Revelation 17:16. Alford, however, maintains that Babylon herself was in a wilderness, and that this woman is that Babylon. He argues, that in the Septuagint the chapter of Isaiah (Isaiah 21:9) from which the clause “Babylon is fallen” is quoted, is headed “The vision of the wilderness.” But Babylon is not there said to be “in the wilderness,” but the wilderness or “desert” is the region whence the vision sweeps in upon the conception of the prophet. It is incongruous to say that a city which was an empire in itself was in a wilderness. But we have a close analogy much nearer at hand. The woman of chapter 12 was driven from her high place into the wilderness; and so this harlot is driven from her fallen home into a parallel wilderness. And what makes this certain is the following parallelism: seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness. Revelation 17:1; Revelation 17:8.

the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain. Revelation 21:9-10.

This remarkable and certainly intentional parallelism fully proves that as the bride is a pure Church so the harlot must be a corrupt Church. Pagan Rome was no Church at all.

Beast The seven heads and ten horns worn both by the dragon of 12 and 13 identify this as the Roman beast of the latter chapter. Scarlet is the colour of popes, and especially cardinals; and Newton says, “The mules and horses which carry the popes and cardinals are covered with scarlet cloth, so that they may be properly said to ride upon a scarlet-coloured beast.” Wordsworth says, quoting the historian Platina, “Paul II. made it penal for any one to wear hats of scarlet except cardinals; and he gave them scarlet trappings for their mules and horses.”