I am convinced that Jerusalem is Babylon in the Book of Revelation. In biblical expression, Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel, is representative of Israel as a whole; Jerusalem is essentially Israel.
Here's the Evidence:
We should note that the book of Revelation uses the spiritual character of Old Testament nations to identify the spiritual condition of Israel – “…the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified” (Rev. 11:8). Where was our Lord crucified? This is clearly Jerusalem. Jerusalem “spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt!” Jerusalem is also spiritually called Babylon!
John writes of Babylon – "And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
Instead of birthing and nurturing righteousness, this mother, by her example, made the world drunk, not able to walk or think straight.[1] Confusion as in a drunken stupor was induced by this mother, Jerusalem, Babylon. As a drunken man’s inhibitions are deadened, so Jerusalem deadened the senses of all she influenced; her example gave license to all who related to her and to all who saw her from afar.
Indeed, it is a great mystery how God’s chosen wife, Israel, turned herself into a harlot.[2] The Old Testament prophets marvel as John did at this wonder and mystery. She who was the “faithful city”, “full of justice”, “righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers.”[3] She was “a noble vine, a seed of highest quality!” But she turned into the “degenerate plant.”[4] How mysterious this is!
Isaiah 1:21 "How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers."
Jeremiah 2:21 "Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?"
This harlot, Babylon, “…siteth upon many waters” (Rev. 17:1). John is told plainly by the angel that, “...The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” (Ref. Rev. 17:15).
Jerusalem exercised influence over the nations (discretely) as no other nation could. Her influence was military; Rome possessed the military might. Jerusalem’s influence was spiritual![5] She claimed to represent the True and Living God.
And because she had corrupted her spirituality and turned her faithfulness and righteousness into murder and harlotry, her witness to the world was corrupted, confused, and gave the nations freedom, like a drunken man, to engage in wickedness as would not be normal or natural. In the same way, this “great city…reigns over the kings of the earth” (Rev. 17:18).
God’s people are called to “Come out of her…lest you share in her sins…” This is the same warning Jesus gave in Matthew 24 when He said concerning those dwelling in Jerusalem.[6]
Our support to this fallen land must end! Any false religions or unities must not be!
All of heaven is called upon to “Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.!”[7]
In anticipation of this judgment, Jesus warned Jerusalem, “That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar."
"Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation."[8] For, says John, “ And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.”[9] Compare the words of Jesus – “…That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth”
It is not Rome or any other nation that was held responsible for “all the righteous blood shed on the earth;”
.......It was Jerusalem, Israel against whom it was accountable.
Prophetic Similarities in the Judgments of Jerusalem and Babylon
Isaiah prophesied of Babylon, “For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.”[10]
Jesus prophesied in a similar manner of Jerusalem, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:...”[11]
Isaiah prophesied that Babylon would be (as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah) "And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah."[12] John’s Revelation says Jerusalem is spiritually “Sodom.”[13] Sodom is representative of a society or nation ripe for judgment.[14]
If you are able to receive that Jerusalem is Babylon, observe that Isaiah represents that the king of Babylon as lucifer the arch demon.[15] John says of Babylon in Revelation "And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.”[16]
This study and these comments are not exhaustive and deserve further investigation. For this purpose I recommend several books: “Days of Vengeance” by David Chilton; “Before Jerusalem Fell” by Kenneth Gentry; “Last Days Madness” by Gary Demar.
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[1] Rev. 17:2 – “With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”
[2] Jeremiah 3:6 – “The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.”
[3] Isaiah 1:21 – "How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.”
[4] Jeremiah 2:20-21 – “For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?”
[5] Matthew 23:15 - “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.”
[6] Matthew 24:16-24. Note also Luke 21:20 which sets the context of this exit as prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 by the Roman armies.
[7] Revelation 18:20
[8] Matthew 23:35-36
[9] Revelation 18:24
[10] Isaiah 13:10
[11] Matthew 24:29
[12] Isaiah 13:19
[13] Revelation 11:8
[14] Isaiah 3:9 – “The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.”
[15] Isaiah 13:12
[16] Revelation 18:2
The Following video is over two hours long but well worth the listen- make time to hear it today!
Other Reading > MYSTERY BABYLON