WHO IS THE WOMAN WHO RIDES THE BEAST (a/k/a The Harlot, Adulteress, Prostitute, Mystery, Babylon the

Great) By: Mick Rynning May 5, 2013

In the study of Bible prophecy, there are numerous opinions on the identity of Mystery, Babylon the Great. Some have made a seemingly strong case for city of Rome with some inclusion of the system of the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope. Others have opined geographical locations alone, such as Mecca, ancient Babylon, or Jerusalem. Of relatively recent vintage, some have drawn striking comparisons of Scriptural details to the United States. Before delving into the identity of Mystery, Babylon the Great, just to (hopefully) eliminate the idea that she is the United States, please consider these opposing and obvious facts, and take the U.S. off your mental list of candidates: Concerning the USA, Mystery, Babylon the Great cannot be the USA - or any other country for that matter - because the Biblical text tells us that she is a city (Rev. 17:18; 18:10, 18:16, 18:19, 18:21). If we are prepared to ignore the plain message of the text and entertain our own fancies as to the identity of Babylon then we will only get what we deserve: deception. It simply will not do to walk right past the main interpretive clues as to her identity and set up our own conjectured identity! As many students of end-times prophecy, casual and serious alike, have noted, there apparently exists three parts of some sort of One World system relating to Mystery, Babylon the Great; the first being a spiritual, conjoined with political and economic components, as well. It may be of interest to the reader to note that the Bible places a comma after Mystery and before Babylon the Great. Despite this glaring clue, it seems that many nonetheless opine a single entity to represent all three components of spiritual, political and economic. It is this writers opinion, that those three parts relate specifically to the name, Mystery, Babylon the Great; specifically, that the Mystery is comprised of two parts, i.e., political and economic, while the third part, Babylon the Great, is the spiritual element. In this regard, I ask the reader to consider that other names used in Scripture bear importantly on this view, e.g., The Harlot, Adulteress, and Woman Who Rides the Beast. Before proceeding further, I ask the reader to pause and consider that our unchangeable God gives us repeated examples throughout Scripture that involve what are known as types, often using numbers in relation to those types. I think the easiest and best examples in this context are that as Christians we worship a triune God comprised of three persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Likewise, during the end-times we see a trinity of evil at work, Satan, Antichrist, and spirit of deception/antichrist. Following both the number of three and the type, this writer asserts that Mystery, Babylon the Great, will likewise be composed of three separate and distinct identities that comprise the whole of the end-times One World system. In a paper that will follow, I will present a Scriptural case that supports this assertion. However, at present, I intend to show that the spiritual component, the Harlot, Adulteress, etc. is none other than the city of Jerusalem.

This paper will explore the identity of Babylon the Great from three main perspectives: 1) the first being the fact that she is referred to as a harlot, an adulteress and a prostitute; 2) the second (and much shorter) exploration will approach the topic from what Scripture itself tells us regarding her identity as that place where the prophets are killed, and 3) if we can determine identity from Babylon the Great also being referred to as, "that great city;" In addition to what Scripture tells us, this paper will also include what notable theologians (who do not wear the interpretive eye-glasses of the false doctrine of Dispensationalism, which system for prophetic interpretation was not known for 1800 years of church history--a teaching that did not arise until John Nelson Darby invented it in the 1830s in Scotland.) Lastly, and in regard to church history, included at the end of this paper will be the teachings of the Ante-Nicene fathers on the subject--church fathers who maintained the teachings they received directly from the Apostles, e.g., St. John of Revelation taught Polycarp, who taught Irenaeus, who taught Hippolytus. The writings of these men are, if you will, the very first commentaries ever written in the Faith; but, commentaries written by men who learned from the Apostles themselves--a very rare claim that no other commentators in history can make! THE HARLOT, PROSTITUTE, AND ADULTERESS MOTIF: One of the keys to helping us to identity who Babylon the Great is can be found if we explore the Biblical references to her as, "the harlot, the prostitute, and the adulteress." When we look at Babylon in the Old Testament is she ever referred to as a prostitute? The description of Babylon the Great parallels Old Testament language of Babylon in various ways, but adultery is not associated with the name Babylon until Revelation 14. There is another city, however, that is repeatedly associated with adultery, prostitution and harlotry. In Isaiah 1:21 the reader is introduced to a faithful city (Jerusalem) that becomes a harlot inhabited by murders. See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in herbut now murderers! (Isaiah 1:21) But this harlot will become a faithful city again. I will restore your judges as in days of old, your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City. (Isaiah 1:26) Biblical use of the word prostitute is usually in the sense of a wayward wife. In Revelation 17, 18 and 19, the great prostitutes promiscuity is referred to as adultery. This implies unfaithfulness to a husband. Who could that husband be? In Hosea 1:2 the LORD commands Hosea to take an adulterous wife. Hosea obeys God and marries Gomer (Hosea 1:3). Their second child, a daughter, receives a name from the LORD. The name, Lo-Ruhamah, means not loved or not my loved one. The reason for the name is that the LORD will no longer show love to the house of Israel. Their third child, a son, is named Lo-Ammi by the LORD. The LORDs reason for the name is that Israel is not His people and He is not their God (Hosea 1:9).

However, in the next verse it is said that those who are not my people will be called sons of the living God. A separation from God is indicated with a restoration to follow. Hosea 2:23 sums it up: I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called Not my loved one. I will say to those called Not my people, You are my people; and they will say, You are my God. (Hosea 2:23) God goes from calling Israel Not my people to calling them You are my people. This declaration by God (that Israel is His people and He is their God) is most important because of its repetition throughout scripture. Some other examples of this phraseology are Zechariah 8:8, Zechariah 13:9, Ezekiel 11:20, Ezekiel 14:11, Ezekiel 36:28, Ezekiel 37:23, 27, Jeremiah 24:7, Jeremiah 30:22, Jeremiah 31:33, Jeremiah 32:38, Hebrews 8:10 and Revelation 21:3. These words are always said referring to the time of fulfillment of the everlasting covenant with Israel. In Hosea 3 the LORD commands Hosea to show his love to his wife again even though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. The LORD in verse 1 commands: Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes. (Hosea 3:1) In verse 2 Hosea buys (redeems) his wife back. She is restored, but her harlotry cannot continue. So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. Then I told her, You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will live with you. (Hosea 3:2-3) Verses 4 and 5 give insight into the restoration God has in mind for Israel. For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol. Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to his blessings in the last days. (Hosea 3:4-5) Gods relationship with Israel is compared to a husband taking back an unfaithful wife. Do we see other instances of this restoration in scripture? Daniel 9:24 gives another view of the restoration without the harlot motif. Seventy sevens are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. (Daniel 9:24) Daniels prophecy focuses on a time table of 490 years. The last seven years of this 490 will include a 42 month great tribulation, a time of trouble for Jacob (Jeremiah 30:7). And in Jeremiah 30:8-9 the restoration is described in terms of liberation of Israel from foreign enslavement so they might serve the LORD, their God. How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it. In that day, declares the LORD Almighty, I will break the yoke off their

necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave them. Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. (Jeremiah 30:79) Note that in Hosea 3:5 Israel will return and seek their God and David their king, and in Jeremiah 30:9 they will serve the LORD their God and David their king. In Jeremiah 31:31-33 the LORD refers to himself as a husband of Israel. Though Israel has broken the LORDs covenant, she will be restored with a new covenant. The time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, declares the LORD. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the LORD. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. (Jeremiah 31:31-33) Notice that at the time of the new covenant the LORD declares, I will be their God, and they will be my people. The next part of this email will further explore the marriage language between the LORD and his chosen people, Israel. Above, we were introduced to the idea of God as a husband (Jeremiah 31:32). Is this anthropomorphism (the attribution of human qualities to nonhumans--in this case, Jerusalem) just an isolated occurrence or is it repeated? Chapter 50 of Isaiah gives us marriage language with regard to Israel although in the negative, echoing Hosea. This is what the LORD says: Where is your mothers certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Because of your sins you were sold; because of your transgressions your mother was sent away. (Isaiah 50:1) In Isaiah 54 the LORDs self identification as a husband resurfaces as he speaks to the future glory of Jerusalem. And again we see the idea of Hosea, the redemption of the rejected. Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. For your Maker is your husbandthe LORD Almighty is his name the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirita wife who married young, only to be rejected, says your God. For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you, says the LORD your Redeemer. (Isaiah 54:4-8) The Book of Ruth is a case study for the marriage-redemption idea. Boaz, as the kinsmanredeemer, marries Ruth. Ruth is redeemed by her marriage to Boaz. In Ruth 3:9 Ruth asks Boaz to spread the corner of his garment over her as a symbol of this marriage-redemption. This imagery will be repeated in Ezekiel 16 between God and Jerusalem. In Jeremiah chapter 3 the widowhood of Isaiah 54:4, the desertion and rejection of Isaiah 54:6, and the abandonment of Isaiah 54:7 are represented as a certificate of divorce given for adultery. (The estrangement between the LORD and Israel is coterminous with the end of the 490 year period prophesied in Daniel 9:24 otherwise expressed as the end of the 70th week of Daniel.)

During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there. I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. Because Israels immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense, declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 3:6-10) Israel and Judah have both committed adultery in the eyes of the LORD their husband. But the LORD is going to choose and bring some to Zion, redeem them. Return, faithless people, declares the LORD, for I am your husband. I will choose youone from a town and two from a clanand bring you to Zion. (Jeremiah 3:14) But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you have been unfaithful to me, O house of Israel, declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 3:20) The marriage-bride-wedding metaphor is also found in the New Testament in 2 Corinthians and Revelation. I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. (2 Corinthians 11:2) Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) Then the angel said to me, Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb! And he added, These are the true words of God. (Revelation 19:6-9) Remember that Gods redemption of his people both the church and Israel is through Messiah, the Son, and the Lamb of God. Note the garments worn by the bride. Later we will see descriptions of dress in Ezekiel 16 and Revelation 17 and 21. Now that we have a Biblical basis for who the adultery is committed against, we will look next at what the Bible has to say specifically about Jerusalem. Understanding Revelation requires some familiarity with the Old Testament because of the many allusions to it. In chapter 16 of Ezekiel we are given background to the city of Jerusalem that impacts our understanding of The Mother of Prostitutes and of the Abominations of the Earth. The allegory is graphic, and one of a romance. Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, Live! I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew up and developed and became the most beautiful of jewels. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, you who were naked and bare. Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine. (Ezekiel 16:6-8)

Jerusalem is depicted as a baby not cared for, despised, thrown out into an open field. (Ezekiel 16:1-5) Then the LORD passes by and gives her life. She grows and becomes beautiful. The Lord passes by again when she had become old enough for love. The Lord spreads the corner of his garment over her (this is an allusion to the Book of Ruth). He covers her nakedness. The LORD gives Jerusalem his solemn oath and enters into covenant with her. She becomes the LORDs possession. Now remember the concept of covenant, a covenant broken, and restoration, redemption, to an everlasting covenant. The pattern of Hosea applies not only to Israel as a whole, but also to the city of Jerusalem. I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put leather sandals on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was fine flour, honey and olive oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD. (Ezekiel 16:9-14) The Lord washes Jerusalem because of her ancestry, the Canaanites, Amorites, and Hittites. (Ezekiel 16:1-5) Notice the detailed language with regard to clothing, garments. Parallel descriptions of garments and adornments recur in Revelation. Jerusalem enjoys luxury in her food. She becomes beautiful and rises to become a queen. The LORD gives her splendor that makes her beauty perfect. But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his. You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. Such things should not happen, nor should they ever occur. You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them. And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them, and you offered my oil and incense before them. Also the food I provided for youthe fine flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eatyou offered as fragrant incense before them. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign LORD. And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood. (Ezekiel 16:15-22) Jerusalem becomes a prostitute. Gods bounty provided to Jerusalem is offered to other gods and she murders her children in that offering. You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband! Every prostitute receives a fee, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors. So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you. (Ezekiel 16:32-34) Jerusalem is accused of prostitution with Egypt, Assyria and Babylon. She prefers them to her own husband. She provides them her illicit favors without payment. Her iniquitous desire is for foreigners, not for the LORD. The LORD goes on to say:

This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your childrens blood, therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see all your nakedness. (Ezekiel 16:36-37) Compare the above paragraph with Revelation 17:16-17. The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until Gods words are fulfilled. (Revelation 17:16-17) In Ezekiel 16:36-37 God says that he will gather Jerusalems lovers (nations) against her and that he will strip her and leave her naked in front of them. In Revelation 17:16 the beast and the ten horns hate the prostitute. Remember Israel-Jerusalem enters into covenant with the beast (Daniel 9:27) and the ten horns or ten kings. Are these the kings of the earth of Revelation 17:2 that have committed adultery with the great prostitute? In other words, is the covenant of Daniel the prostitution of Babylon the Great (Jerusalem) with the kings of the earth (her lovers)? They bring her to ruin, leave her naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. In verse 17 we learn that God has put it into their hearts to do this. Note the peculiar concept of nakedness (connotative of shame or disgrace) that is common to both passages. Both passages show God acting to accomplish his purpose. (Similar nakedness imagery with regard to the daughters of Zion is used in Isaiah 3:17) The pattern of delivering the prostitute, Oholah (Samaria) and Oholibah (Jerusalem), into the hands of her adulterous lovers continues in Ezekiel 23. (See Ezekiel 23:9, 22-23, 28-30) Later in Ezekiel 16 God compares Jerusalem to Sodom, but she is worse than Sodom. Your older sister was Samaria, who lived to the north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you with her daughters, was Sodom. You not only walked in their ways and copied their detestable practices, but in all your ways you soon became more depraved than they. (Ezekiel 16:46-47) This comparison to Sodom is significant because Jerusalem is compared to Sodom in Revelation chapter 11. Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. (Revelation 11:8) The word, Figuratively can be translated mysteriously. The name Babylon the Great is mystery. Babylon the Great is destroyed in one day and by fire, a reference to Sodom. Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her. (Revelation 18:8) Jerusalem is compared to Sodom in Ezekiel 16. Jerusalem is mysteriously called Sodom in Revelation 11. Babylon the Great is destroyed as Sodom. Is Babylon the Great mystery for Jerusalem? In Matthew chapter 11, relative guilt of cities is spoken of by Jesus. Jesus

compares Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum to Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom, judging the former more harshly because of his visitation to them. Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the Day of Judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the Day of Judgment than for you. (Matthew 11:20-24) Jesus also has words for Jerusalem. As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peacebut now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of Gods coming to you. (Luke 19:41-44) A principle is revealed here with parallels in history. When the abomination of Babylonian idolatry occurred in the temple (Ezekiel 8), the glory of God left the temple and Jerusalem (Ezekiel 9,10,11). God himself commands the guards of the city to defile the temple with dead bodies (Ezekiel 9:1-7). This resulted in the destruction of the temple and the city. When Messiah, the Son of God, comes to Jerusalem and is rejected and murdered there, the temple and the city are destroyed. When the man of lawlessness sits in the temple receiving Gods worship, the temple and the city will be destroyed. The temple was destroyed on the 9th of the Jewish month of Av in both 586 B.C. and 70 A.D. (1) Will it be destroyed on the 9th of Av a third time? The more God has revealed himself to a city, the more responsible it is to obedience. What Gentile city is as obligated to God as Jerusalem, the place of his temple and the glory of his presence? What Gentile city was in covenant to God? Chapter 16 of Ezekiel, however, does not leave Jerusalem without hope. It ends with a reminder of an eternal covenant for her. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will deal with you as you deserve, because you have despised my oath by breaking the covenant. Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. (Ezekiel 16:5960) Next, we will examine two cities and commonalities with regard to the shedding of blood. Revelation uses the term great city in reference to Jerusalem (Revelation 11:8) and Babylon the Great (Revelation 16:19, 17:18, 18:10, 18:16, 18:18, 18:19, 18:21). What are the possibilities that John is speaking of two great cities? Revelation 17:18 tells us that she is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth. Similar language is seen in Revelation 1:5 when Jesus Christ is said to be the ruler of the kings of the earth. Christs throne will be established in Jerusalem. He rules from only one city, Jerusalem.

Jerusalem may rule over the kings of the earth in another sense. The ten kings of Revelation 17:12-13 receive their authority along with the beast and then give their authority to the beast. The beast (Antichrist as opposed to the final beast empire) is associated with only one city, Jerusalem. The ruler who will come (Daniel 9:26) puts an end to sacrifice and offering, and sets up an abomination on a wing of the temple (in Jerusalem). The king who will do as he pleases (Daniel 11:36) pitches his tent at the beautiful holy mountain which is Zion in Jerusalem (Daniel 11:45). The man of lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:3) sets himself up in Gods temple (in Jerusalem). The beast kills the two witness and their bodies lie in the street in Jerusalem. (Revelation 11: 7-10) The beast is located at Jerusalem and he rules over the ten kings. If there is another city that Revelation 17 is speaking of, it cannot be known from scripture, including the ancient city of Babylon. Because to declare the name a mystery and then to name the actual city is contradictory. Babylon the Great has ultimate characteristics of the ancient city, but they are not one and the same. She is guilty of shedding blood (Rev. 17:6), just as Jerusalem was (Ezekiel 23:37, 45). She kills the prophets: In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth. (Revelation 18:24) Jeremiah chapter 51 has similar language to Revelation 18:24 which uses the phrase, all who have been killed on the earth. According to Jeremiah, the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon. Babylon must fall because of Israels slain, just as t he slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon. (Jeremiah 51:49) What other city is associated with blood that has been shed on the earth? The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her detestable practices and say: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood in her midst and defiles herself by making idols, you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries. Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, O infamous city, full of turmoil. See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood. (Ezekiel 22:1-6) The kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the worlds people, that enemies and foes could enter the gates of Jerusalem. But it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed within her the blood of the righteous. (Lamentations 4:12-13) Matthew 23 also identifies Jerusalem as a city that sheds blood, especially the blood of the prophets. And you say, If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets. So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers! You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth; all this will come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you

who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. (Matthew 23:30-39) Jesus says that upon Jerusalem prior to her restoration will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on the earth. In verse 34, prophets, wise men, and teachers will be sent to her. But she will kill, flog, and pursue them. One example is the two prophets killed in Revelation 11 who lie in the streets of Jerusalem for three and a half days. Can Babylon the Great, that contains the blood of prophets and saints, be different from Jerusalem (upon whom will come all the righteous blood that is shed on the earth and who kills the prophets)? Can these two cities be mutually exclusive? In Luke 13:33 Jesus again associates the death of prophets with Jerusalem: In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next dayfor surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem! (Luke 13:33) The greatest prophet, the prophet foretold by Moses, is crucified in Jerusalem. Is there another city that can fulfill the characteristics of Babylon the Great? If the harlot-prostitute-adulteress motif is treated consistently then the harlot is Jerusalem. And true to the restoration theme of the prostitute we see Jerusalem restored in Revelation 21: I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. (Revelation 21:2-3) Jerusalem, from detestable harlot to beautiful bride beautifully dressed (compare to Ezekiel 16:10-13, Revelation 19:8) for her husband. When this fulfillment comes to pass, we see the same words of Hosea 2:23 in Revelation 21:3, Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. Next, let's consider the great harlots name, her relationship to Babylon in Genesis and Gods jealousy for his temple. Let us now further examine the title for the great prostitute: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. There is some argument as to whether the word mystery in this case is a descriptor or part of the title. Suffice it to say that the identity of Babylon the Great is not specifically spelled out and thus open to conjecture. 2 Thessalonians 2:7 speaks of a mystery of lawlessness or the secret power of lawlessness. Mysteries in the great harlots name suggests unseen activity, power or character in accord with Babylon the Great. Babylon the Great will be the greatest manifestation of the Babylon of Genesis and the supreme rebellion against the Creator. Certainly, one can assert that the Babylon of Genesis was a type of the final Babylon the Great of the end-times. The LORD said, If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other. (Genesis 11:6-7)

The words nothing they plan will be impossible for them gives us an idea of the unbridled characteristics of this city when the restrainer is taken out of the way. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. (2 Thessalonians 2:7) All the evil connotations of Nebuchadnezzars Babylon with regard to pride, idolatry, and brutality can be applied to Babylon the Great also, but to a supreme degree. She is contemporaneous with the beast she rides and is in collaboration with it. The phrase Mother of is a Middle Eastern idiom for the greatest of. She is the greatest of prostitutes and the greatest of the abominations of the earth. Her adultery can only be against the God of Israel. There is no city, save Jerusalem, in history with a covenant of possession with God. And the greatest of abominations would necessarily have to involve the temple. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in Gods temple, proclaiming himself to be God. (2 Thessalonians 2:4) All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beastall whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. (Revelation 13:8) The beast will set himself up as God in Gods temple, proclaim to be God, and receive Gods worship. A majority of Israel will worship him. The ultimate adulterous act will be worship of antichrist, Satans man, in the Jewish temple by the people of God. A remnant of Israel will turn to the true Messiah, Jesus and be saved. The LORD has taken vengeance for his temple (Jeremiah 50:28, 51:11) in the past and He will do so in the future. Babylon the Great (Jerusalem) will attract to it all the rebellious forces of Satan and the beast to their destruction. And so the evil city will be thrown down in a day as Sodom. But God is not finished with Jerusalem. Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again. Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion. (Isaiah 52:1-2) Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the LORD returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes. Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. (Isaiah 52:89) Jerusalem clothed with strength and garments of splendor is cleansed of the defiled forever (See Zechariah 14:21). She will free herself from the chains of captivity and rise from the dust to receive her King (See Jeremiah 30:8). Her watchmen see the LORD return to Zion. The ruins of Jerusalem will burst into songs of joy at their redemption. Just as Babylon the Great receives a double portion for her iniquity: Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Mix her a double portion from her own cup. (Revelation 18:6) The redeemed Jerusalem will receive a double portion for her inheritance.

Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. (Isaiah 61:7) For a better understanding, let's delve into Israels desire to be one of the nations, along with the centrality of the temple to Israels idolatry-adultery prior to the eternal covenant. A key to understanding the great harlot is the temple. Ezekiel was a priest who was exiled to Babylon in 597 B.C. This was the second of three groups of exiles under Nebuchadnezzar. (These exiles occurred in 605 B.C., 597 B.C. and 586 B.C.) In chapter 8 of Ezekiel, the Spirit transports Ezekiel who is in Babylon back to the temple in Jerusalem (this is prior to the destruction of the temple in 586 B.C.). God shows Ezekiel the idolatry in the temple. The idolatry included the idol that provokes to jealousy (verse 3) at the entrance to the north gate of the inner court. Ezekiel is also shown 70 elders of Israel (one identified by name as Jaazaniah son of Shaphan, verse 11) offering incense to images on the walls of the court. Women at the north gate (verse 14) were mourning for Tammuz. Finally Ezekiel sees 25 men between the portico and the altar bowing down to the sun in the east with their backs to the temple (verse 16). The identification of Tammuz and the worship of the sun suggest Babylonian idolatry. Judah had descended into Babylonian worship of idols in Gods temple. In chapters 9, 10 and 11 we see the glory of God depart from the temple. Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. (Ezekiel 9:3) Then the glory of the LORD departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the LORDs house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. (Ezekiel 10:18-19) Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. The glory of the LORD went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it. The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia in the vision given by the Spirit of God. (Ezekiel 11:22-24) The glory of God departs the temple to the east and is last seen over the Mount of Olives. The temple is subsequently destroyed on the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av, 586 B.C. (Jewish tradition commemorates this destruction on the 9th day of the 5th month. See also 2Kings 25:89, and Jeremiah 52:12-13.) This departure of Gods glory from the temple (prior to its destruction in 586 B.C.) begins in a sense, the absence of Israels husband from the temple (See Isaiah 50:1, 54:1, 54:5-7). As the glory of God is departing, guards from the city are summoned along with a man holding a writing kit. The man with the writing kit is commanded to mark the forehead of those who grieve and lament over the evil done in the city. Then the LORD called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side and said to him, Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it. (Ezekiel 9:3-4) Students of Revelation will see a parallel with the seal put on the foreheads of the 144,000 in Revelation 7. The guards are to follow the one with the writing kit and kill indiscriminately anyone without the mark on their forehead. In Ezekiel 9 we see a remnant delivered from Gods wrath in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Babylonians. The marking of the

forehead foreshadows the sealing of foreheads of the 144,000 of Revelation prior to the commencement of eschatological wrath in Revelation 8. We know the 144,000 are delivered because they are referred to as redeemed in Revelation 14:3. As I listened, he said to the others, Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple. (Ezekiel 9:5-6) God then instructs the guards to defile the temple with the dead. Then he said to them, Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go! So they went out and began killing throughout the city. (Ezekiel 9:7) There is no as to whose will is being exerted here. The glory of God is leaving the temple and he defiles it at his departure. (This departure from the temple is the beginning of the abandonment of Isaiah 54:7.) His righteous anger is evident for all to see in the subsequent complete destruction of the temple and the city. There is no scriptural evidence for the return of Gods glory to the second temple. According to Randall Price, in his book, The Temple and Bible Prophecy, Jewish sages understood that the glory of God did not return to the second temple and will not again until the Temple stands again in its full and final splendor. The definition of desolation denotes not only destruction, but also emptiness and loneliness. The abominations of Ezekiel 8 lead to the departure of Gods glory from the temple leaving it empty or desolate. Jerusalem is destroyed and its inhabitants taken into exile leaving it empty or desolate. Once the glory of God departs the temple and it is destroyed the Jews are left alone. They had broken the covenant with the God of Israel to such an extent that his glory abandons the temple to its destruction and subsequently the city is also destroyed. In Solomons Temple the innermost sanctum had housed the Ark of the Covenant with the two Tablets of the Law, but the Ark disappeared with the Babylonian destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C. All that remained in the Holy of Holies in Herods Temple was the Even Shetiyah, or Foundation Stone, on which the Ark of the Covenant had rested. The absence of the Ark was a further distinction that would remind the Jews that the second temple was not equal to the first. The Ark is seen again at the time of the seventh trumpet (Revelation 11:19). The seventh trumpet announces that the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of God and of the Lamb. The 70th week is complete and the new covenant is in effect. The bookends of Gods estrangement with Israel are the departure from the temple (loss of the Ark) and the end of the 70th week (the Ark seen again as the testimony of God to the new covenant as it goes into effect). At Messiahs first coming God is rejected again. Jerusalem did not know what would bring her peace (Luke 19:42), and so her house is left to her desolate (Matthew 23:38), without the presence of the LORDs glory. Ezekiel chapter 43 speaks of the future return of Gods glory to the temple from the east. Then the man brought me to the gate facing east, and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory. (Ezekiel 43:1-2)

The glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east. Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple. He said: Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever. The house of Israel will never again defile my holy nameneither they nor their kingsby their prostitution and the lifeless idols of their kings at their high places. (Ezekiel 43:4-7) The glory of the LORD returns when God says he will live among the Israelites forever. Never again will they defile his holy name by their prostitution. Verse 7 depicts the presence of Messiah, Jesus, in the temple after the 70th week of Daniel, when the new eternal covenant is manifested, and when Israel becomes Gods people and He becomes their God. Daniel 9:24 says that after seventy sevens the most holy (the temple) will be anointed. God will place his throne and the soles of his feet in the temple. He will be present in a new way, in bodily form (the risen Christ) sitting on his throne. Tell him this is what the LORD Almighty says: Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the LORD. It is he who will build the temple of the LORD, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two. (Zechariah 6:1213) Zechariah chapter 6 also shows us a throne in the temple and the king (Christ) will be a priest. The king will purify Israel so finally her offerings in the temple will be acceptable to the LORD. The cleansing of the temple will be part of the eternal covenant and will happen when antichrist and all the wicked of Israel are destroyed. See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come, says the LORD Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiners fire or a launderers soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years. (Malachi 3:14) Previously we saw antichrist setting himself up in Gods temple, proclaiming himself to be God. (2 Thessalonians 2:4) This is the end result of Israel wanting to be like the gentile nations and her prostitution with them. Israels fulfillment in Gods plan was to be Gods treasured possession and a kingdom of priests to the gentile nations which is ultimately accomplished by Messiah, Jesus. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites. (Exodus 19:5-6) But Israel could not keep Gods covenant, she wanted to be like the nations. So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have. But when they said, Give us a king to lead us, this displeased Samuel;

so he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD told him: Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. (1 Samuel 8:4-7) Wanting to be like the other nations with an earthly king, Israel rejected God as their king. This desire to be like the nations (adulterous desire) comes up again in Ezekiel chapter 20. You say, We want to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone. But what you have in mind will never happen. (Ezekiel 20:32) Israel and by extension Jerusalem has not been Gods faithful possession. Judah has broken faith. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god. (Malachi 2:11) The nation of Israel keeps wandering away trying to become one of the nations and in doing so desecrates the sanctuary, until God by his own great power makes her a faithful bride. Notice what God does for her in the Ezekiel chapter 36. For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. (Ezekiel 36:2428) The temple is an essential element of the adultery of Babylon the Great. And the temple is associated from the time of its building by Solomon until Daniels 70th week with only one city, Jerusalem. Israels desire to be one of the nations will be taken to its height as she enters into covenant with antichrist. God will intervene with cleansing, providing a new heart and a new spirit. The covenant with antichrist is destroyed and the eternal covenant established. Next, let's look at Isaiah 62 and its before and after depiction of Jerusalem. Chapter 62 of Isaiah points to the eventual redemption of Jerusalem and in this chapter there is a before and after comparison. This comparison should be seen in the light of a transformation from harlot to bride. No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you. (Isaiah 62:4-5) Jerusalem had been called Deserted. Her land was named Desolate. Now she will be called Hephzibah (which means: my delight is in her). Her land will be called Beulah (which means: married). From this language one can infer that God did not delight in her and she was not married to him. But now we see a complete reversal for Jerusalem. In verse 5 God says that he will rejoice over Jerusalem as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride. In verse 7 the LORD says that he will make her the praise of the earth.

Verse 10 gives an imperative, Pass through, pass through the gates! This is a foreshadowing of nations streaming to Jerusalem in the Millennium to worship and receive wisdom from Messiah who will be enthroned there. The LORD has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: Say to the Daughter of Zion, See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted. (Isaiah 62:11-12) The reversal of status in Gods eyes is associated with a Savior that comes. He has a reward and a recompense with him. The people will be holy and redeemed. The city will no longer be deserted or desolate, because the Savior, Messiah, the Son of God is now there. This redemption is connected to the wrath of Messiah in chapter 63 of Isaiah. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come. (Isaiah 63:4) The reader should be connecting this coming of the Savior with Chapter 43 of Ezekiel and the return of the glory of God to the temple. Reward and recompense is mentioned earlier in Isaiah chapter 40, here associated with power and rule. See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. (Isaiah 40:10) Christ Jesus speaks to us directly about his coming with his reward in chapter 22 of Revelation. Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. (Revelation 22:12-13) So it is the coming of Christ Jesus that causes Jerusalem to be married (Beulah). It is the coming of Messiah that reverses desolation. It is the Root and Offspring of David that fulfills the 70th week of Daniel. Seventy sevens are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. (Daniel 9:24) Isaiah 62:2 says that Jerusalem will be called by a new name. The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow. (Isaiah 62:2) In the last verse of the Book of Ezekiel we are given that name. The distance all around will be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on will be: The LORD is There. (Ezekiel 48:35) The LORD has returned to his chosen city in everlasting covenant. Never again will Jerusalem stray from the LORD, never again will she be unfaithful, and never again will she be desolate. Lastly, let's look at the double, the departing and the queen-widow parallels of Jerusalem and Babylon the Great.

At this point, it may be helpful for the reader to become acquainted with the concepts of double as it applies to Jerusalem. According to Eastons Bible Dictionary, This name is in the original in the dual form, and means possession of peace, or foundation of peace. So, the name Jerusalem literally means double or dual peace. Likewise, there are clear references in Scripture where references are made to Jerusalem, with distinctions between a heavenly Jerusalem and an earthly one. Other similar double patterns also arise in Scripture. In Isaiah 61 the LORD promises Zion a double portion. Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. (Isaiah 61:7) This double blessing is a backdrop to, double punishment for Jerusalem. Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORDs hand double for all her sins. (Isaiah 40:1-2) In the above passages Jerusalem inherits a double portion after receiving double punishment. Some commentators attribute Jerusalems hard service to the Babylonian destruction and exile of Jerusalem, because of Isaiahs prophecy in Isaiah 39. Others acknowledge a break between chapters 39 and 40. Isaiah 40:3-5 and 9-11are surely eschatological and not at all descriptive of the return from Babylon. Isaiah 40:1-2 appears to be describing time immediately following the end of Daniels 70th week. The comfort for Jerusalem, or peace of Jerusalem for which we often pray, is only effected by the coming of Messiah. That is because the double portion of peace is found in Messiah. If the name Jerusalem literally means: a foundation of double peace, then only Messiah can be that foundation. Lets examine Zechariah 6:13 and what it tells us of Messiah. Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices. (Zechariah 6:13 NASB) Messiah, Jesus, provides peace between God and man as our high priest, the one and only duly appointed mediator between God and man. He also brings peace between man and man as the eternal King of Kings. Thus Christ fulfills the law for us as summed up in Luke 10:26-27. Christ rectifies the hostility between God and man, and between man and man. Now consider a description of Babylon the Great. Then I heard another voice from heaven say: Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Mix her a double portion from her own cup. (Revelation 18:4-6) Babylon the Great is promised a double portion for what she has done. Verse 4 is an imperative to my people. Who would these people in Babylon the Great be? The Old Testament people of God are Israel, the Jews. Could my people be the Church? Or has the Church been raptured

by this time? In any event, Babylon the Great receives double as does Jerusalem. And there are people of God in Babylon the Great that are commanded to come out of her. The destruction the Harlot has wrought is what she will experience in a double portion. The cup is a reference to the golden cup in her hand (Revelation 17:4) that was filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries and the blood of the saints (Revelation 17:6). God is about to pour out his wrath on her. Now consider a passage about Jerusalems redemption. Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes men stagger. (Isaiah 51:17) These double calamities have come upon youwho can comfort you?ruin and destruction, famine and swordwho can console you? (Isaiah 51:19) This is what your Sovereign LORD says, your God, who defends his people: See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger; from that cup, the goblet of my wrath, you will never drink again. (Isaiah 51:22) Jerusalem is made to drink the cup of Gods wrath to the dregs. The cup is emptied. Double calamities have overtaken her, but eternal redemption is declared, because Jerusalem will never receive Gods wrath again. These appear to be eschatological verses because they are sandwiched between language pertaining to the everlasting salvation for Zion in Isaiah chapters 51 and 52. There is a cryptic passage inserted into chapter 52, however. Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the vessels of the LORD. But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard. (Isaiah 52:11-12) Verse 11 is reminiscent of Babylon the Great in Revelation 18:4, come out of her my people. There are interpretations that the departure is from the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar, but if that were true the positioning of these verses would be strange. Remember the subject of Isaiah 52 to this point is Zion, Jerusalem. In verse 12 those who are departing will be guarded by the LORD fore and aft. If those departing are leaving Jerusalem is there any other eschatological leaving of people from Jerusalem? I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come and all the holy ones with him. (Zechariah 14:2-5) Inhabitants of Jerusalem will flee through the LORDs mountain valley after suffering destruction from all the nations. Comparisons have been made with Zechariah 14:5 and the parting of the Red Sea, but Zechariah himself compares this escape from Jerusalem to an earthquake in the time of King Uzziah. Unfortunately Scripture and history are silent with regard to this earthquake. Are Isaiah 52:11-12 and Zechariah 14:5 speaking of the same event? Both

passages are future and appear to be positioned near the end of Daniels 70th week. The double wrath and the coming out of Gods people from the city are two more parallels between Jerusalem and Babylon the Great. Another departure imperative can be found in Micah 2. Get up, go away! For this is not your resting place, because it is defiled, it is ruined, beyond all remedy. If a liar and deceiver comes and says, I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer, that would be just the prophet for this people! I will surely gather all of you, Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people. The One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their King will pass through before them, the LORD at their head. (Micah 2:10-13) Notice that in each imperative (Revelation 18:4, Isaiah 52:11-12, and Micah 2:10-13) the reason to leave is because of sins and plagues or ritual defilement. The ritual defilement would locate the departure from the area of the temple, Zion. Even the Revelation verse is influenced in Revelation 18:1 by the presence of unclean birds and animals. Micah reveals that the King, the One who breaks open the way, will lead the people out through the gate, away from defilement and ruin. According to Zechariah 14:4, Messiah is located at the Mount of Olives in preparation to lead a remnant out of the city. Micah 2 confirms this. A final comparison of ancient Babylon, Jerusalem, and Babylon the Great might be found in the queen-widow imagery of Isaiah, Lamentations, and Revelation. You said, I will continue foreverthe eternal queen! But you did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen. Now then, listen, you wanton creature, lounging in your security and saying to yourself, I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children. Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells. (Isaiah 47:7-9) Babylon of the 6th century B.C. boasts in Isaiah 47 that she will continue forever as the eternal queen. She says to herself, I will never be a widow. But God proclaims that she will become a widow in a moment, in a single day. Likewise Babylon the Great boasts of being a queen and not a widow, but her destruction will come by consuming fire (a reminder of the sudden destruction of Sodom). Give her as much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn. Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her. (Revelation 18:7-8) Now let us look at Jerusalem in the aftermath of Babylonian destruction. Her status as queen is gone. (See Ezekiel 16:13) She is like a widow. How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations! She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave. Bitterly she weeps at night, tears are upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is none to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies. (Lamentations 1:1-2) The mention of her lovers in verse 2 affirms that the prostitution is the result of Jerusalems downfall. Now it might be said that this queen-widow imagery is very thin evidence for the

premise that Jerusalem is Babylon the Great. But the prostitute label has been applied to Jerusalem many times in Scripture as noted in this email. Babylon the Great is the mother of prostitutes. However, the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar while wicked and doomed to destruction is never called a prostitute. The books of the Bible are filled with poetic imagery and metaphor. These devices, most of the time, would have been unambiguous to their contemporary audience. Being acquainted with a motif that runs through several books not only provides clarity to the reader but also an enhanced appreciation for the unity of Scripture in general. Leaving the "harlot-prostitute-adulteress motif above, we will now examine other pertinent verses that certainly seem to indicate some information on her identity, including her being called, "the great city". At this point, we will also examine the teachings of notable theologians (who do not wear the interpretive eye-glasses of the false doctrine of Dispensationalism, which system for prophetic interpretation was not known in 1800 years of church history and teaching, until John Nelson Darby invented it in the 1830s in Scotland.) THE CITY WHERE THE PROPHETS ARE KILLED: The Prophet Daniel tells us in Daniel chapter 11 that the antichrist will set up his End Times world government and End Times religious headquarters in Jerusalem. The city and its inhabitants will promote the antichrist as the one true god, thereby committing the ultimate abomination, and entice the world to follow them in their worship of The Man of Sin. We know that the antichrist will choose Jerusalem to declare himself as god (2Th 2:4, Mat 24:15, Dan 11:31-32), and we know the greatest religious killing of all time will happen, beginning in Jerusalem and then worldwide (Mat 24:15-21). Regarding Babylon the Great, we read: Rev 18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. Have you ever known a city in the Bible or world history that killed the prophets? Before you rack your mind for such a recollection: Luk 13:31 The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee. Luk 13:32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. Luk 13:33 Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out (outside of, away from) of Jerusalem. Luk 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

Basically, the Pharisees were telling Jesus to leave Jerusalem or Herod was going to kill him. And Jesus told them, I have to stay here because this is where all the prophets are killed. Based upon Revelation 18 quoted above says Mystery Babylon is the place where the blood of the prophets is found, this is strong evidence in favor of it being Jerusalem. Jerusalem is called The Harlot hundreds of times in Scripture, e.g., Isaiah 1:21, Ezekiel 16:1-2, 15-16, and always in the context of spiritual harlotry for always following false gods and killing the prophets. Jerusalem is warned in Scripture that if she does not abandon her harlotries, she will be judged, and the exact judgments Jerusalem gets are the same ones promised (prophesied) to Babylon the Great (Ez 16:40-43). Please note especially the next verse: Eze 16:44 Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, as is the mother, so is her daughter. The inhabitants of Jerusalem are the harlots and Jerusalem herself is the mother. Confusion about this arises because numerous commentaries insert the word, all in the mother of (all) harlots, which leads to an incorrect belief that Mystery Babylon is the mother of all bad religious systems and idolatry, but thats not what the text saysthe word, all is not there. MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT AS, THE GREAT CITY: In Chapter 17 of Revelation which deals specifically with Mystery, Babylon the Great, we find: Rev 17:18 And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth." One other important verse in Revelation pertaining to the end-times identity of Mystery, Babylon the Great is: Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. It's this writer's belief that it is patently obvious that our Lord was crucified in Jerusalem, that this really shouldn't be an issue. It seems plain enough in a simple reading of the two verses above that Mystery Babylon referred to as, "the great city," in Revelation 17 is Jerusalem when we've been already told in Revelation 11, "the great city . . . where our Lord was crucified," especially after we consider our Lord's own words that he must return to Jerusalem to be killed as no prophets are killed outside of Jerusalem! However, this seems to be an issue of disagreement within the church, so it behooves us to look further. What do notable theologians say on the matter? From EW Bullinger's Commentary on Revelation (note Bullinger's other Biblical references!): Page 197: 8. And their dead body (235-see below) (or corpse) shall lie on the street of the great city, which is called spiritually Sodom, and Egypt,] Here, then, in the street of "the great city" Jerusalem, these two witnesses will be slain, and Ps.

lxxix. will receive its fulfillment, for it is to this very time that it refers. "O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; Thy holy temple have they defiled; They have laid Jerusalem on heaps. The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, The flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth, Their blood have they shed like water on every side of Jerusalem, And there was none to bury them." The whole Psalm should be read in this connection, as well as Psalms ix. and x., which relate to these very "times of trouble" (ix. 9; x. 1) when the "wicked man," or "the man of the earth" oppresses and slays the saints of God where their (236--see below) Lord also, was crucified] So jealous is the Holy Spirit over His words, that He effectually prevents any allegorical interpretation here. Lest anyone should for a moment think He meant "Sodom" and "Egypt," He not only says it is only "spiritually" called by these names, but also immediately adds "where their Lord also was crucified"; and yet, in spite of this, interpreters for example, Alford say, "not Jerusalem, which is never called by this name"; i.e., "the great city." But it is so called in Neh. vii. 3, 4. Jer. xxii. 5, 7-9. (Compare Jer. v. 1. 2 Chron. xxxii. 6). One would think "where their Lord was crucified" would settle the matter. But, no! he says, "It is true, He was crucified at Jerusalem; but it is also true that He was crucified, not in, but outside, the city." Was ever such interpretation heard of? It is sufficient to notice that it does not say "in," but "where" (...). A Sunday-school child could tell us where the Lord was crucified; but these learned men cannot. They say "the great city" here means "the church of God"! Well, what is gained by this? Was "the church of God" the place where the Lord was crucified? And is "the church of God" spiritually called "Sodom" and "Egypt"? The fact is, that these proper names are used to describe the character and condition in a spiritual and moral sense. What the character of "Sodom" was, we know from Gen. xviii.; xix.; and 2 Pet. ii. 6. What that of "Egypt" was, we know from Ex. i. - xv. Jerusalem is compared to "Sodom" in Isa. i. 9, 10; iii. 8, 9. Jer. xxiii. 14; and in the Song of Moses, which refers to these very times, Deut. xxxii. 30-33. It is also spiritually likened to "Egypt" in Ezek. xxiii. 3, 4, 8, 19, because of the adoption of the customs and vices of Egypt. There is another reason why they may be spiritually so called; and that is, because both were visited with judgments and plagues similar to those described in this prophecy. But, beyond this, lest there should be any doubt left in the reader's mind, or any danger of being misled by the use of these names, it is added, "where their Lord also was crucified." 235 All the Critical Texts read the singular instead of the plural. Wordsworth thinks this is mystical, and means "the two Testaments are one." But the plural is used in verse 9, which disposes of this conceit. 236 G.L.T.Tr.A. WH. and RV. read (...) (auton) their, instead of (...) (hemon) our. From George Eldon Ladd's, A Commentary on the Revelation of John: "Verse 8. . . where their Lord was crucified . . . It is obvious that the city of Jerusalem is intended." From BW Newton's, Thoughts on the Apocalypse (1853) Page 154: " Where also their Lord was crucified" These words should be noted, because they so distinctly mark the scene of this awful chapter as being Jerusalem."

But, let us also consider further what the Ante-Nicene fathers taught as to the matter of Jerusalem Please bear in mind that St. John of Revelation taught Polycarp, who taught Irenaeus, who taught Hippolytus; so when considering these writings, bear in mind that these teachers were in the same generation of the Apostles, and in a direct line of their teachings: In his, Dialogue with Trypho, Justin Martyr writes: This should be noted by those who refute Jerusalem as Mystery Babylon by stating some bizarre word logic that "Christ was crucified outside the camp . . . hence not in Jerusalem": Chapter XL: " . . . God does not permit the lamb of the passover to be sacrificed in any other place than where His name was named; knowing that the days will come, after the suffering of Christ, when even the place in Jerusalem shall be given over to your enemies, and all the offerings, in short, shall cease; . . . having laid hands on Him and put Him to death, sent Him away as the scape [goat]; and His second appearance, because in the same place in Jerusalem you shall recognise Him whom you have dishonoured, and who was an offering for all sinners willing to repent, . . . And further, you are aware that the offering of the two goats, which were enjoined to be sacrificed at the fast, was not permitted to take place similarly anywhere else, but only in Jerusalem." In his, Dialogue with Trypho, Second Apology, Justin Martyr writes: Chapter CXIV: Regarding Christ: "For Jeremiah thus cries: Woe unto you! because you have forsaken the living fountain, and have digged for yourselves broken cisterns that can hold no water. Shall there be a wilderness where Mount Zion is, because I gave Jerusalem a bill of divorce in your sight? Chapter CXV.Prediction about the Christians in Zechariah. But you ought to believe Zechariah when he shows in parable the mystery of Christ, and announces it obscurely. The following are his words: Rejoice, and be glad, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I shall dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall be added to the Lord in that day. And they shall be my people, and I will dwell in the midst of thee; and they shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee. And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and He shall choose Jerusalem again." In his Against Heresies, Book IV, Irenaeus writes: Chapter IV "2. Since, then, the law originated with Moses, it terminated with John as a necessary consequence. Christ had come to fulfil it: wherefore the law and the prophets were with them until John. And therefore Jerusalem, taking its commencement from David, and fulfilling its own times, must have an end of legislation when the new covenant was revealed." Chapter XXXIII: Another rebuttal to those who say Jerusalem is not Mystery Babylon because Christ was not crucified in the city, but outside the camp: "12. . . prophesied His coming in the character of a man as He entered Jerusalem, in which by His passion and crucifixion He endured all the things which have been mentioned." Chapter XXXV: Distinction between earthly Jerusalem and new Jerusalem descending from Heaven: "2. . . . But in the times of the kingdom, the earth has been called again by Christ [to its pristine

condition], and Jerusalem rebuilt after the pattern of the Jerusalem above, of which the prophet Isaiah says, Behold, I have depicted thy walls upon my hands, and thou art always in my sight.And the apostle, too, writing to the Galatians, says in like manner, But the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. . . And in the Apocalypse John saw this new [Jerusalem] descending upon the new earth" In his Refutation of All Heresies, Hippolytus writes: The interpretation by Hippolytus, bishop of Rome, of the visions of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar, taken in conjunction "39. Thus, then, does the prophet set forth these things concerning the Antichrist, who shall be shameless, a warmaker, and despot, who, exalting himself above all kings and above every god, shall build the city of Jerusalem, and restore the sanctuary. Him the impious will worship as God, and will bend to him the knee, thinking him to be the Christ." In his Treatise on Christ and Antichrist, Hippolytus, where he not only instructs on Christ and Antichrist, he also contrasts the two, and addresses the city of Jerusalem: 6. . . The Lord gave a seal to those who believed on Him, and lie will give one in like manner. The Saviour appeared in the form of man, and he too will come in the form of a man. The Saviour raised up and showed His holy flesh like a temple, and he will raise a temple of stone in Jerusalem." "29. Let us look, therefore, at the things which are to befall this unclean harlot in the last days ; and (let us consider) what and what manner of tribulation is destined to visit her in the wrath of God before the judgment as an earnest of her doom. 30. Come, then, O blessed Isaiah ; arise, tell us clearly what thou didst prophesy with respect to the mighty Babylon. For thou didst speak also of Jerusalem, and thy word is accomplished. For thou didst speak boldly and openly : "Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire ; your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate as overthrown by many strangers. The daughter of Sion shall be left as a cottage in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city." "57. By the unrighteous judge, who fears not God, neither regards man, he means without doubt Antichrist, as he is a son of the devil and a vessel of Satan. For when he has the powder, he will begin to exalt him.self against God, neither in truth fearing God, nor regarding the Son of God, who is the Judge of all. And in saying that there was a widow in the city, he refers to Jerusalem itself, which is a widow indeed, forsaken of her perfect, heavenly spouse, God. She calls Him her adversary, and not her Saviour ; for she does not understand that wdiich was said by the prophet Jeremiah : " Because they obeyed not the truth, a spirit of error shall speak then to this people and to Jerusalem." And Isaiah also to the like effect : " Forasmuch as the people refuseth to drink the water of Siloam that goeth softly, but chooseth to have Easin and Romeliah's son as kino; over you : therefore, lo, the Lord bringeth up upon you the water of the river, strong and full, even the king of Assyria." ^ By the king he means metaphorically Antichrist, as also another prophet saith : " And this man shall be the peace from me, when the Assyrian shall come up into your land, and when he shall tread in your mountains."" In conclusion, I believe the Scriptures, the earliest church fathers taught by the Apostles, and the teachings of theologians not limited with Dispensational eye-glasses, all testify to the identity

of Mystery, Babylon the Great as being none other the "great city" of Jerusalem. Lastly, while I may not have persuaded you of my premise, I believe that your increased familiarity with the verses examined, as well as earliest church teachings dating back to the time of the Apostles, will increase your understanding of Gods plan of salvation through Christ Jesus--may His name be forever praised!