Proof that "Babylon the great, the mother of harlots" represents Jerusalem

In this article we'll consider the woman described in Revelation 17 and 18. 

Revelation 17:4-6

And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, 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 upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Who is this woman? What is her identity?

Some groups believe she represents Ancient Rome, others believe she is the Roman Catholic Church. Some think she represents a future global religious, political or economic system, others think she represents all human systems throughout history that have been opposed to God.

I used to believe she represented all false religion.

Then, one day I over heard someone say “doesn’t Babylon represent Jerusalem?”

This really caught my attention and made me think “that would tie Revelation in nicely with the rest of the bible”.

Today we’re going to consider this possibility.

Is there enough evidence to prove that “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots” represents first century Jerusalem?

Point 1. the “great city”

Revelation 17:18 

And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Let’s compare this to…

Revelation 11:8

...the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

Where was Jesus crucified? At Jerusalem. 

Therefore the “great city” is a reference to Jerusalem.

Point. 2 the “harlot”

The imagery of a "harlot" is heavily drawn from the prophets, who used the same term for apostate Judah/Jerusalem:

Isaiah 1

1 The vision of Isaiah…which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem…

21 How is the faithful city become a harlot!…

Jeremiah 3

1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem…

3…thou hast played the harlot with many lovers…

Ezekiel 16

15 But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot…

35 Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:

38…I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged…

Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel all portray Jerusalem as a “harlot” because of her spiritual adultery.

Point 3. adorned like the priesthood and temple in Jerusalem 

Revelation 17:4

The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls...

Let’s first compare this to the holy garments worn by Levitical priests

Exodus 28

6 And they shall make -- the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen…

15 And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment…

17 And thou shalt set in it…stones…

The tabernacle of Moses, first and second temple were also adorned with gold, precious stones, and fine linen

Ex. 26

1 Moreover thou shalt make -- the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet…

1 Kings 6

22 And -- the whole house he overlaid with gold…

The red and purple garments, gold and precious stones worn by “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots” identifies her as Jerusalem—the centre of temple worship and the Old Covenant system.

Point 4. Her fall matches the fall of Jerusalem

In Matthew 24 and Luke 21 Jesus predicted the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, using language that mirrors Revelation 18.

Matthew 24

1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple…

2 And Jesus said… there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel…

16…let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains:

21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Luke 21

20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

21 Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains…

22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

Revelation 18

8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

10…Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

Revelation’s judgments on Babylon is clearly connected to the Olivet Discourse that was about the coming judgment upon Jerusalem in AD 70.

Point 5. She’s drunk on the blood of the martyrs

Revelation 17

6 I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

Revelation 18

6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

Jesus said similar things about Jerusalem

Matthew 23:31-37

31…ye are the children of them which killed the prophets

32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers

35...that upon you [Jerusalem] may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth... 

37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee…

38 Behold your house is left unto you desolate.

This direct accusation of prophet-killing matches Revelation’s description of the harlot.

Revelation 18

20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.

This is a crucial verse because only Jerusalem was guilty of killing prophets and apostles (cf. Matthew 23:37, Luke 13:34).

God’s judgment is seen as vindication for the blood of the righteous, including Jesus and His followers.

Revelation 18

24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

Jesus said that Jerusalem would bear the guilt for “all the righteous blood shed upon the earth” (Matthew 23:35).

This is the final confirmation that the woman equals first-century, apostate Jerusalem. 

Not Rome, not the Catholic Church, not a present or future global religious, political or economic system. 

Let me reiterate the five points I  made in this article:

Point 1- the woman in Revelation 17&18 is described as “the great city”and according to Revelation 11 “the great city” is Jerusalem.

Point 2- The woman is called a harlot. Old Testament prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel all referred to apostate Judah/Jerusalem as a “harlot”.

Point 3- the woman is adorned in purple and scarlet, gold and precious stones like the priesthood and temple at Jerusalem.

Point 4- The judgment that came upon this woman in Revelation 18 matches the judgement that came upon Jerusalem in 70AD as foretold by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse.

Point 5- the woman in Revelation is judged because she shed the blood of apostles and prophets. The only one guilty of killing apostles and prophets, according to the bible, was first century Jerusalem.

Thank you for reading this article and considering that “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots” represents first-century apostate Jerusalem.

Feel free to leave comments, God bless.

The Seven Vials of Wrath

Today we’ll explore the first three vials of wrath that were poured out in Revelation 16.

I’ll be speaking from a fulfilled eschatology perspective and I’ll be referring to the works of first century historian Flavius Josephus.

Revelation 16

1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

By Revelation 16 the seven seals have been loosed, the seven trumpets have sounded and the seven vials of wrath are about to be poured out.

Vial 1

Revelation 16

2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshiped his image.

This vial causes grievous sores.

We’ll consider a few possibilities of what this means.

If we look at Deuteronomy 28 we find a list of curses. 

Those who disobeyed God’s commandments were cursed with boils, like the boils that came upon Egypt.

Deut. 28

15…if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do -- all his commandments..

35 The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.

Almost the exact same phraseology is found in Isaiah concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

Isaiah 1

1 The vision of Isaiah…which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem…

4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers…

6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores…

Josephus wrote that Jerusalem sat in the centre of Judea, like the head of a body. Thus inflammation spread from the head to the entire body.

WOJ 3.3.5

5…. The city Jerusalem is situated in the very middle…the royal city Jerusalem…presided over all the neighbouring country, as the head does over the body. 

WOJ 4.7.2

2… Now as it is in a human body, if the principal part be inflamed, all the members are subject to the same distemper; so by means of the sedition and disorder that was in the metropolis, had the wicked men that were in the country opportunity to ravage the same…

In this case inflammation is a metaphor for the disorder that was going on in Jerusalem and Judea in the lead up to 70AD when the city was destroyed by Titus and his Roman army.

Another thing to consider is that during this same period, the Zealots (an extreme political faction that sought independence from Rome) were murdering anyone who tried to escape Jerusalem and were leaving their dead bodies to putrify in the sun. You can imagine how this could cause the spread of disease.

WOJ 4.6.3

3… these zealots came at last to that degree of barbarity, as not to bestow a burial, either on those slain in the city, or on those that lay along the roads; but as if they had made an agreement to cancel both the laws of their country, and the laws of nature…they left the dead bodies to putrify under the sun…

Vial 2 and 3

Revelation 16

3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.

In 67AD Vespasian began a military campaign in Galilee, a zealot stronghold. By 68AD he and Placidus had worked their way down towards Judea. 

The people fled to Jericho but could not pass the Jordan River, Josephus wrote that 15000 were killed on it’s banks, others leaped into the water. Their bodies floated down the Jordan, into the dead sea. Hence the river and sea were filled with blood. 

WOJ 4.7.3-5

5 …So they got in great numbers together, and fled to Jericho…But Placidus…followed them; and slew all that he overtook, as far as Jordan. And when he had driven the whole multitude to the river side, where they were stopped by the current…he put his soldiers in array over against them…They then extended themselves a very great way along the banks of the river; and sustained the darts that were thrown at them…fifteen thousand of them were slain…

6 Jordan could not be passed over by reason of the dead bodies that were in it; but because the lake Asphaltitis was also full of dead bodies, that were carried down into it by the river.

This reminds me of the first plague that came upon Egypt, when waster was turned to blood (Ex. 7:17).

Vial 4

Revelation 16

8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.

9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

This vial could refer to how Vespasian burnt everything in his path as per “scorched earth policy”, a military strategy of burning or destroying crops and other resources.

WOJ 3.4.1

By this means he provoked the Romans to treat the country according to the law of war; nor did the Romans, out of the anger they bore at this attempt, leave off, either by night or by day, burning the places in the plain…

In around 68AD Rebel leader Simon bar Giora and his followers were destroying everything in their wake. Josephus likened them to locusts. They burnt some places as well.

WOJ 4.9.7

Thence did Simon make his progress over all Idumea: and did not only ravage the cities and villages, but lay waste the whole country…he was of a barbarous disposition, and bore great anger at this nation. By which means it came to pass that Idumea was greatly depopulated. And as one may see all the woods behind despoiled of their leaves by locusts, after they have been there, so was there nothing left behind Simon’s army, but a desert. Some places they burnt down: some they utterly demolished…

However the “fire” could also be a reference to what was going on inside Jerusalem. There was a civil war raging, in which competing factions burnt each others food supply. This is what led to the terrible starvation that happened during the Roman siege. 

WOJ 5.1.4

… John…set on fire those houses that were full of corn, and of all other provisions. (4) The same thing was done by Simon…destroying what the city had laid up against the siege…. almost all that corn was burnt, which would have been sufficient for a siege of many years.

Vial 5

Revelation 16

10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,

11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

What was the “seat of the beast”? It cannot have been Rome. God was using Rome as a tool to execute his judgement upon Jerusalem.

I think the “seat of the beast” is a reference to Jerusalem. 

In 69AD Rebel leader Simon bar Giora was invited into the city with his army to get rid of tyrannical zealot leader John Gischala. Simon bar Giora then arrogantly “took possession” of Jerusalem.

WOJ 4.9

11…in order to overthrow John, they determined to admit Simon…The people also made joyful acclamations to him, as their saviour, and their preserver. But when he was come in, with his army, he took care to secure his own authority…

12. And thus did Simon get possession of Jerusalem, in the third year of the war, in the month Xanthicus [Nisan] [A.D. 69].

While Jerusalem is called the “holy city” throughout scripture, by this time there was nothing holy about it. It was a man-centred, man-ruled kingdom of darkness. It was like the bottomless pit without form or foundation. 

Does this remind you of the plague of darkness that came upon Egypt?

Vial 6

12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.

 

I’ll just start with this verse. 

If we go back to Deuteronomy 28 we see that those who kept God’s commandments would be safe from their enemies. Those who disobeyed his commandments would be killed or taken captive by them.

Deuteronomy 28

15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do -- all his commandments…

25 The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

Throughout the bible, seas and rivers acted as barriers or boundary-lines. For example God promised Abraham that he and his seed would inherit Canaan, from the river of Egypt to the Great Euphrates river (Gen. 15:18).

The Euphrates drying up so the “kings of the east” could pass it, makes me think that the protective barrier was being removed. The Covenantal blessings were being taken away as God poured out Judgment upon Jerusalem and the surrounding areas.

Revelation 16

13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

These verses describe “the whole world” being gathered to Armageddon for “the battle of the great day of God almighty”.

First of all “the great day of God almighty” sounds like “the day of the Lord” mentioned in both the Hebrew and Greek scriptures that was always a day of national judgement. In this case it was judgement coming upon Judah/Jerusalem.

In 68-69AD Simon bar Giora gathered an army of at least 40,000 men from across the country and brought them to Jerusalem. 

WOJ 4.9

4…many of the men of power were corrupted by him: so that his army was no longer composed of slaves and robbers, but a great many of the populace were obedient to him as to their King…

7…he had forty thousand men that followed him…

In 69AD Titus also gathered his Roman army for the final assault upon the city. 

WOJ 4.11.

5…Vespasian…sent his son Titus, with a select part of his army, to destroy Jerusalem…he (Titus) pitched his camp at Gaza. After which he came to Ascalon, and thence to Jamnia, and after that to Joppa, and from Joppa to Cesarea: having taken a resolution to gather all his other forces together at that place.

Armageddon, also called mount Megiddo, was the location of several battles throughout scripture (2 Kings  23:29-30  2 Chron. 35:20-24 Judges 4-5 1 Kings 9:15). It was a strategic location for battle because it was on a major trade and military route between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Also it was a large flat area suitable for armies and chariots.

It was at Mount Megiddo that King Josiah was killed by Pharaoh Necho ll of Egypt. Many consider this to be the beginning of the end for Judah because Josiah, one of it’s last righteous Kings, led major religious reforms. After his death Judah returned to Idol worship and became internally unstable.

Armageddon may be used figuratively in Revelation 16 because of it’s long history of warfare.

Vial 7

Rev. 16

17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

There are two things I want to focus on here. First, “the great city was divided into three parts”.

I mentioned before how, in the lead up to the Roman siege, there was a civil war raging within Jerusalem. 

By 69AD there were three main competing factions led by three people, Simon bar Giora, John Gischala and Eleazar ben Simon. These three people may also be the “frogs” mentioned in verse 13.

WOJ 5.1

1 When therefore Titus…came to Cesarea: having resolved to set his forces in order at that place, before he began the war…the sedition at Jerusalem was revived, and parted into three factions: and that one faction fought against the other…like a wild beast grown mad, which, for want of food from abroad, fell now upon eating its own flesh.

4. And now there were three treacherous factions in the city, the one parted from the other. Eleazar and his party…came against John…John…went out with zeal against Simon.

Verse 21 describes “great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent”. This may be a reference to the stones that Rome were catapulting into the city, once they began their final assault. These stones were white and weighed about a talent. 

WOJ 5.6.3

Now the stones (15) that were cast were of the weight of a talent…they at first watched the coming of the stone: for it was of a white colour; and could therefore not only be perceived by the great noise it made, but could be seen also before it came by its brightness….the watchmen…cried out aloud, in their own country language, the stone cometh.

Another thing I want to mention is how when the 4th and 5th vial were poured out the people refused to repent. 

This reminds me of Pharaoh’s stubborn refusal to release the Israelite slaves into the wilderness.

Revelation 16 depicts the second Exodus, by the end of which spiritual Israel was able to enter the spiritual “promised land” we see in Revelation 21&22.

The New Jerusalem, an everlasting, spiritual kingdom that we can access today, through Jesus Christ.

I hope this was thought provoking and brought clarity to your mind around the seven vials of wrath in Revelation 16.

Feel free to leave comments or send me an email at crystalriver053@gmail.com