16 The ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute, and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh, and will burn her utterly with fire.
these will hate the harlot – this is really the climax of the passage, the judgment of the Great Harlot by the European states who turned against the power of the Pope in the Reformation. But Daniel told us the beast would “subdue three kings” (Dan 7:24); these are the Latin states of Italy, France and Spain.
and make her desolate and naked – the Kings help to expose the falsity of this religion, and the harlot becomes as “naked.”
they will eat her flesh – that is to punish her, to rebuke her, and end her power over the saints. See also Revelation 19:18, “eat the flesh of Kings.”
and burn her with fire – as required by the Law, “if a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute . . . she must be burned with fire” (Lev 21:9).