That it was one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls who came and spoke with John connects the judgment of the harlot with the seven last plagues (16:1–21). As previously noted, chronology halts in chapters 17 and 18 as the scene shifts from God’s judgments to Antichrist’s world empire, the target of those judgments. The great harlot that will be judged is not an actual prostitute. The term harlot is a metaphor for false religion, spiritual defection, idolatry, and religious apostasy. Besides