Posted on 04/09/2014 9:44:02 AM PDT by 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
I thought it meant Rome.
I think it means San Fransicko?.
+1
I read something that said it’s us, the USA.
>>>I read something that said it’s us, the USA.<<<
That was most likely found in a book purchased from the “Antichrist of the Month Book Club.”
I wonder who the Antichrist is, this week?
-:)
Philip
I thought it meant Babylon
>>>I think it means San Fransicko?<<<
From what I have read in the Bible, and in the works of Flavius Josephus, San Fransicko didn’t hold a candle to old
“Sodom & Egypt” (aka, Jerusalem.)
Philip
1.1 million people? Don’t think so, Rome was the largest city in the world at that time but only had a population of roughly a million.
Jerusalem isn’t known as the city on seven hills, has never ruled over the kingdoms of the earth, isn’t economically important, isn’t accessible from the sea, and is destined to be rebuilt and glorified rather than destroyed forever so . . . I’m thinking no.
>>>I thought it meant Rome.<<<
Nope. That is a myth. The Roman Empire did “carry her” (Rev 17:7,) until Jerusalem rebelled, resulting in her eventual destruction by the Roman legions in 70 AD.
Philip
I like the one where New York is Babylon and the harlot is the world bankers.
Can you explain this “civil War” a bit? John and his bandits were robbing and killing the people around the Temple. Titus did not want to burn the Temple and gave orders not to. Josephus was a prisoner of Titus as he had been captured trying to defend his home city so he had a ring side seat to write things down. How would you run a civil war while under siege without Josephus seeing you?
You are correct. The Seven Hills of Rome 0n the other side of the Tiber. It does not include the Vatican.
I hope I’m right, this went through the mill a long time ago.
the harlot Babylon symbolizes pagan Rome
Oros - if not used to translate Har - might conceivably mean hill or mountain - but when greeks or romans referred to Rome they used the word bounos, not oros to describe the City on seven hills.
There is at least one city which is arguably 'on seven mountains'. That is Mecca, which is certainly a wicked city that has filled the world with poison.
I think it could mean the US, or perhaps western civilization in general.
Something is happening in the nuclear age. The Lord warns us if he did not intervene we would not exist. This must mean our nuclear age. We never before had this capability in human history.
It is the people who liked to use modern day political names from scripture as connecting dots.
So many newspapers. So little time.
You say “Was “Babylon The Great” a Symbolic Name for Jerusalem?” I don’t think so because Jerusalem is on the mountain of God (singular) and Babylon the Great is interpreted by the Angel to be on seven mountains. Also Jerusalem has a future and Babylon The Great does not.
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