Revelation 17:5: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

The names of the Great Whore are symbolically written upon her forehead¹ to openly express² her latter-day attributes.³ The names reflect her complete opposition to all that is good and holy.⁴ The names of the Great Whore in this verse are symbolically similar to Revelation 13:16, where wicked people have the name or mark of the Second Beast in their hand or in their forehead.⁵ At the Second Coming, by contrast, Christ will appear with a symbolic name in his forehead that is unknown to the world.⁶ Righteous people that accompany him will also symbolically have God's name written in their foreheads.⁷

The Great Whore is called Mystery.⁸ Some scholars believe this word is part of her actual name, while others believe it symbolically summarizes all the names listed in Revelation 17:5.⁹ This debatable point does not alter the ultimate interpretation.¹⁰ In either case, the word or name of Mystery describes the secretive and counterfeit nature of her false religion.¹¹ The name itself is misleading because a mystery is true doctrine that remains unknown only until the meaning is understood¹² by divine revelation.¹³ The Great Whore does not possess or teach true doctrine.¹⁴ Thus, she purports to be the mystery of godliness,¹⁵ but she is actually the mystery of ungodliness and iniquity.¹⁶ The false façade of the Great Whore is consistent with John's symbolic description of the Second Beast that looks like a gentile and submissive lamb, but it speaks like a deadly dragon in Revelation 13:11. Spiritually sensitive people can recognize these distinctions¹⁷ with the help of revelations from the Lord in the latter days.¹⁸ For example, the Book of Mormon¹⁹ has restored many plain and precious truths lost from the Bible.²⁰ The visions of Nephi in 1 Nephi 13 and 14 in particular reveal the history and mystery of the Great Whore in great plainness.²¹

The Great Whore is also called Babylon the Great,²² which is synonymous with Spiritual Babylon and Modern Babylon.²³ This modern name is derived from ancient Babylon,²⁴ which was an evil city and empire wholly familiar to the Jews in John's time.²⁵ Babylon's name comes from the Hebrew word balal²⁶ which means confusion.²⁷ The confusion of tongues at the tower of Babel is the origin of this Hebrew definition.²⁸ However, the word Babel came from bab-il, which originally meant the gate of God.²⁹ Nimrod, whose name means mighty hunter,³⁰ used this misleading name when he built the city of Bab-il as the gate of his great city that was actually the earthly seat of Satan's kingdom.³¹ Thus, from its very foundation, Babel or Bab-il purported to be a city of holiness, but was actually a city and kingdom of idolatry,³² falsehood,³³ and worldliness.³⁴ Today, the name of Babylon symbolizes the all-encompassing evil and wickedness in the latter-day church of the devil.³⁵ Modern Babylon is synonymous with the Great Whore and she is the mirror opposite image of Zion that will rise as Babylon falls.³⁶

Finally, the Great Whore bears the name and title of Mother.³⁷ She is the mother of harlots³⁸ and the mother of abominations in all the earth.³⁹ She is mother to generations⁴⁰ of promiscuous harlots or false churches⁴¹ that also practice spiritual fornication of every kind.⁴² Spiritual fornication began in the kingdom of Nimrod, the great-grandson of Noah.⁴³ Nimrod established a worldly kingdom that was both political⁴⁴ and falsely religious.⁴⁵ Nimrod rebelled against God⁴⁶ when he laid the physical foundation for his ancient city of Bab-il⁴⁷ that eventually became the ancient city of Babylon. He also laid the spiritual foundation for wicked practices⁴⁸ that still exist and thrive in the last days in Modern Babylon.⁴⁹

The collective names for the Great Whore in Revelation 17:5 are synonymous with the great and abominable church from 1 Nephi 14:9-10, which is also the latter-day church of the devil.⁵⁰