Was Babylon The Great a Symbolic Name for Jerusalem? Part II: Mother of Harlots and Sins of Sodom.

Apr 9, 2014 | PhilipFreneau

[PhilipFreneau]

Was "Babylon The Great" a Symbolic Name for Jerusalem? Part II: Mother of Harlots and Sins of Sodom.

Jerusalem was completely destroyed in 70 AD, and over 1.1 million people were slaughtered or starved to death; both as a result of an internal civil war, and a later siege and assault by the Roman armies. Yet there is barely a direct mention of the magnitude of destruction and death in the New Testament, with the exception of these passages in Luke:

"And when [Jesus] was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation." (Luke 19:41-44 KJV)

"And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh." (Luke 21:20 KJV)

Jesus said the destruction would occur in the generation of his disciples, which is exactly when it occurred:

"Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled." (Luke 21:32 KJV)

The purpose of this series of posts is to show how there was a substantial and fairly detailed reference in the Revelation of Jesus Christ to the destruction of Jerusalem under the pseudo-name of Babylon the Great. In Part I we discussed how Babylon the Great and old Jerusalem were both responsible for the same blood: in particular the blood of the prophets. We now look at the similarities of whoredom by both cities.

Whatever the sins of Sodom, the sins of Jerusalem were worse, according to Ezekiel. He begins with a general statement of why God adopted the Israelites as his children:

"Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, And say, Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare." (Eze 16:2-7 KJV)

And the Lord turned Jerusalem into a prosperous and beautiful kingdom:

"I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom." (Eze 16:10-13 KJV)

Babylon the Great was similarly adorned:

"And the woman [Babylon the Great] was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication . . . And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! (Rev 17:3-4, 18:16 KJV)

Both Babylon the Great and Jerusalem were called the great city in the Revelation. This is Jerusalem:

"And their dead bodies [of the two witnesses] shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." (Rev 11:8 KJV)

Note that Jerusalem is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt. The Jerusalem-Sodom comparison is referenced in the prophets, and will be discussed below. But the Egypt comparison is not so clear. We know that the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt; but how does that relate to Jerusalem? Paul explains it here:

"Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." (Gal 4:24-26 KJV)

We never think much about the children of Israel being in bondage in the days of Christ; but Christ indicated they were in bondage in part of his mission statement:

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;" (Isa 61:1 KJV)

Now on to the Sodom comparison: first, we should note that Jerusalem rebelled against God and played the harlot:

"And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God. But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so. Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them," (Eze 16:14-17 KJV)

In comparison, Babylon the Great was called the Mother of Harlots:

"And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth. " (Rev 17:5 KJV)

But Ezekiel implied that Jerusalem was also a mother of harlots, and her sins were worse than Sodom's!

"And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters. Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways. As I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. " (Eze 16:46-48 KJV)

This was Isaiah regarding Judah and Jerusalem:

"How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers." (Isa 1:21 KJV)

Here Isaiah claims Jerusalem is like Sodom and Gomorrah; and only by the grace of God were any saved. Isaiah then instructs the rulers of Jerusalem as if the city really is Sodom or Gomorrah:

"Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah." (Isa 1:9-10 KJV)

Paul quotes verse 9 in this passage where he explains the destiny of the children of Israel:

"Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For [Jesus] will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha. " (Rom 9:27-29 KJV)

In the judgement against Jerusalem and her daughters, Ezekiel prophecies that Jerusalem will not return to its former estate, until Sodom is restored. That is unlikely. Does anyone even know where Sodom was located?

"When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate." (Eze 16:55 KJV)

In the matter of judgement, both Jerusalem and Babylon the Great were made desolate. This is Babylon:

“… for in one hour is she made desolate.” (Rev 18:19)

This is Jerusalem:

“Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.” (Jer 7:34)

Compare the last verse with this one in the Revelation referencing Babylon the Great:

“And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee ... And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee:” (Rev 18:23-24)

In summary, we have already seen in Part I the similarities in blood vengeance on Jerusalem and Babylon the Great: and now we see that both are called the great city; both are mothers of harlots; both are made desolate; and neither shall ever hear the voice of the bridegroom and the bride, again.

I must conclude that the destruction of Babylon the Great in the Revelation is referring to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

Philip

[ravenwolf]

I can plainly see that your knowledge of scripture probably exceeds mine.

For instance the fact that nothing is mentioned about the destruction of Jerusalem in all of the letters is pretty good proof that the epistles were all written before it happened.

Including the rev told to john.

I do disagree with Jerusalem being the harlot of rev 17 because the harlot of rev 17 is in the time period of the beast.

rev 17
3
So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

The roman empire was the kingdom at that time, and was the sixth, the seventh was one that would come later.

The eighth is of the seven and comes later yet.

Rev 17
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

The eighth beast comes near the end of this world which may be closer than we think.

[johngrace]

I believe your right. New York City fits the description better than Jerusalem. It is a port city..........it has the UN (United Nations of the World). The seven hills can be a word meaning land mass as in 7 continents of the world geography. There is only seven which means it in compasses the whole world. Since trade goes on here. Also remember the title the World Trade Center buildings which came down. It seemed every nation loss a citizen in the buildings thus the mourning. It could mean it all is part of steps by time in scripture too. It happened on a emergency phone number numeral 911 day 9/11. God is telling us something? The Statue of Liberty has seven points too on its crown. She is a lady modeled form lady goddesses including a Babylon goddess. Also why is it called Mystery Babylon. Mystery means hidden.

[Errant]

I must conclude that the destruction of Babylon the Great in the Revelation is referring to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

Unfortunately, you're not even close to being right Philip... You've missed it by almost 2,000 years. ;)

[NoDRodee]

I agree and feel it’s talking about Jerusalem in 70 AD.
Keeping in mind that the beast the Harlot rides on is Rome.
So in Revelation you find references to both

[Gamecock]

Rome has seven hills.

[Tzfat]

Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish State of Israel. Not destroyed. But don’t tell a Praeterist, Supercessionist that.

[NoDRodee]

Also Rev 1:1

1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John,...

[johngrace]

Lol! We all have heard that old stand by. Lol!!!

[ravenwolf]

The seven mountains are the beast where the woman sits, they are probably not literal mountains but kingdoms.

[Campion]

Jerusalem isn’t known as the city on seven hills

Ancient Jerusalem was absolutely built on seven hills.

Your other assertions are largely wrong as well.

[Campion]

So did ancient Jerusalem.

So does Cincinnati, Ohio.

[johngrace]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_claimed_to_be_built_on_seven_hills

[Errant]

Exactly

[johngrace]

I got it! It is Liberty university in Lynchburg Va.

Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 75,568.[3] Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of the James River, Lynchburg is known as the "City of Seven Hills" or "The Hill City." Lynchburg was the only major city in Virginia that did not fall to the Union before the end of the American Civil War.

yikes!!!!! Lol!!!!!'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynchburg,_Virginia

[Gamecock]

But Rome proudly claims to be that, and was in existiance before the others.

[johngrace]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynchburg,_Virginia

[Boogieman]

I agree that Jerusalem is the most likely candidate for Babylon the Great in Revelation, however it’s not plausible that the events described were those that happened in 70 AD. After, all there certainly were stones left standing on top of one another in 70 AD, so that prophecy (and its associated prophecies) could not have been fulfilled at that time.

[WillOTerry]

See:

End Times: http://www.fisheaters.com/endtimes.html

Dispensationalism: http://www.fisheaters.com/dispensationalism.html

[Boogieman]

Rome was in existence before Jerusalem?!?

[PhilipFreneau]

>>>Jerusalem isn’t known as the city on seven hills<<<

If you insist on applying a literal interpretation to figurative imagery, then you must be ready to admit that neither is Rome known as a city that sits on seven mountains (the Revelation states seven mountains, not seven hills.) Ancient Jerusalem, however, did actually sit on seven mountains.

>>>… has never ruled over the kingdoms of the earth<<<

No one really knows what that means. But, to be exact, it doesn't say Babylon reigned over the "kingdoms" of the earth. This is what it says:

"And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." (Rev 17:18 KJV)

The original Greek could also be translated, "sovereigns of the land;" or as Peter used in Acts 4:26, the "rulers" of the land. Jerusalem most definitely "ruled" over all "rulers" of Israel. The early Christians who were the target audience of the book (the seven churches in Asia) would have understood.

>>>… isn’t economically important<<<

Jerusalem was most economically important for its day. The city was rich and decked in splendour: the showcase of the middle east. Further, it was at one time, the richest of all kingdoms:

"So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom." (1 Kin 10:23 KJV)

Much of the imagery in the Revelation came from Old Testament imagery.

>>>… isn’t accessible from the sea<<<

If you are willing to admit that you spiritualized a "seaport" out of the book that mentions no seaport, I will concede it is relevant.

While you are at it, can explain how any creature could remain alive for any length of time after all green grass was burnt up (Rev 8:7.) And why, after a third of all ships were destroyed, and a third of all sea creatures were killed, their loss was not mentioned in any manner in regards to the destruction of Babylon?

BTW, those were not the worst "woes" to come (Rev 8:134.) LOL!

>>>and is destined to be rebuilt and glorified rather than destroyed forever so<<<

That is not true unless Ezekiel was a false prophet (Eze 16:55 KJV.)

Would you care to elaborate on those items already mentioned, such as the blood of the prophets and the harlotry?

Philip