18 And the woman you saw is the great city that has an empire[i] over the kings of the earth.” (HCSB)
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. (KJV)
18 The woman you saw is the important city which dominates the kings of the earth.” (NOG)
(1) Babylon holds the most powerful city on Earth and it is also a nation. There are MANY detailed descriptions of end-times Babylon the Whore. There is currently only one nation that fits all of them. This nation literally controls the Beast and his 10 kings who receive power for one hour. The Woman who rides the Beast is the Daughter of Babylon. She is end-times Babylon the Great.
15 The angel also said to me, “The waters you saw, on which the prostitute is sitting, are people, crowds, nations, and languages. (NOG)
15 He also said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages. (HCSB)
(2) The WATERS are not “space”. There are three Heavens and one Firmament. This forces the Firmament into sections or layers of Heavens. The First Heaven is our atmosphere. No man has gone beyond it physically. NONE. The Second Heaven is where the sun, moon, stars, are. It is also the abode of Satan and his fallen messengers. The Third Heaven is the abode of Yahweh and His messengers.
The second Heaven could have water or space as its medium. I do lean towards water. The Third Heaven sounds like it has air as the medium like the First Heaven. Outside the Firmament "above" the Third Heaven is water... the vast deep darkness of nothing but dark water. This is the reality the Bible supports: A Flat/Disc shaped Earth covered with a layered dome with three distinct Heavens, surrounded by infinite water.
(3) There are not many people with their new bodies in Heaven. There are 24 Elders (prior humans) there and the vast number of martyrs (always increasing) are under the alter of the Almighty. We must assume the martyrs are there in some kind of spirit or soul form. The 24 Elders are in their new bodies already, imo.
Rev 6:9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the people[a] slaughtered because of God’s word and the testimony they had.[b] There are no other people in Heaven yet.
(4) The only current way to make into Heaven is by becoming a martyr. You will not have a body there yet. The rest of us must wait until one of two Resurrections when we receive our new bodies. You want to be in the First!
