Come out of her . . . (Part 2)-Deeper Evidence!

.....still have your doubts??

 

The Great Harlot of Rev 17-18 is Jerusalem, & what that means

 

It's very important to know who the Great Harlot and just what it is that she had started many many years ago in the world if we are to obey the command in Rev 18:4, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."

 

There are many different views on the identity of the harlot.  So, who is she? 

 

The literal city of Babylon (in Iraq)? 

The UN? 

USA? 

New York City? 

Rome? 

The Catholic Church, in Rome? 

The apostate Church? 

False religion in general? 

All world religion? 

International bankers and/or money lenders (Fake Jews with Vatican involvement)? 

The literal city of Jerusalem?

 

I believe the best answer is a combination of the last two views, that of the international bankers and Jerusalem.  The harlot is Jerusalem, not the literal city, but certain people who represent the rulers of the city, the Pharisees, religious leaders, moneychangers, and modern day equivalents who "rule the kings of the earth," as we will see.

 

A question comes to mind: "Does the Bible ever teach that Jerusalem, or that some people of Jerusalem, will rule the nations through money lending?" YES!  And that is the subject of my first proof below.

 

I believe the Bible irrefutably teaches the great harlot is Jerusalem.  I will show the Scriptural evidence, discuss the various implications of this view and what it means, and how this view actually incorporates many other views, because the other interpretations of the woman are really just daughter harlots of the great mother of harlots,.... Jerusalem.

 

Since very few people advocate this view (i.e.;Judaizers-supporters of Israel), and since you may never have heard of it before, I will start by listing a few web sites that teach that the great harlot of Revelation 17-18 is Jerusalem, to show that this is not of "private interpretation" not by any means.  Please note, the implications and conclusions these authors make regarding what it means that "Jerusalem is the harlot", are vastly different than mine, mainly because their overall eschatology concerning what will happen in the future is different.

 

http://members.aol.com/johnprh/whore2.html (excellent scriptural proofs, Dr. Scott Hahn) 

http://www.catholic.com/library/Whore_of_Babylon.asp 

http://www.kensmen.com/catholic/endtimes.html 

 

--These Catholic authors above see "Jerusalem is the harlot", but generally use the evidence to say that the whore is therefore not the Catholic Church.

 

http://www.preteristarchive.com/Preterism/preston-don_p_03.html 

http://hellbusters.8m.com/prophecy/BabylonJerusalem.html 

http://www.geocities.com/newearthcs/studies/BabylonJerusalem.html 

http://www.souldevice.org/pret_babylon.html 

http://www.ecclesia.org/truth/whore.html 

 

--These all see "Jerusalem is the harlot", but denies the prophecy has a future fulfillment, saying Rev 17-18 is speaking of 70 A.D.

 

http://www.apostolic.net/biblicalstudies/post/worldtrade.htm 

http://www.lookup.org/mysterybabylon.htm 

http://www.post-boks.dk/rev-list/msg00097.html 

 

--These all see "Jerusalem is the harlot", but make no solid conclusion of what it means.

 

http://www.post-boks.dk/rev-list/msg00427.html 

 

--A list of nine book authors who see "Jerusalem is the harlot".

 

http://www.mvpca.com/escha-12.htm 

 

--This sees "Jerusalem is the harlot", and concludes we should resist the harlot.

 

http://www.gracepleasanton.com/Hard_Questions/rev/A%20Revelation%20TOC.htm 

http://www.wiredweb.com/~shades1997/Babylon_the_Great_The_Secret_Meaning.html http://askelm.com/prophecy/p000201.htm 

 

----These all see "Jerusalem is the harlot", and see a future judgment of the harlot.

 

http://members.tripod.com/sheltonjack/id53.htm 

http://theseventhtrumpet.org/iscarlet.html by Jeffrey Brackeen (large site) 

http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/bb980313.htm 

http://www.samliquidation.com/mystery_babylon.htm 

http://www.nationmakers.com/chap8.htm by Robert Harris Brevig 

http://www.roytaylorministries.com/am00037.htm 

http://www.bethelcog.org/Bablon.htm 

http://www.cyberclass.net/turmel/babyl12.htm 

http://www.despatch.cth.com.au/Transcripts/Dart_nafta_gatt.html 

 

--These all see the international bankers as Babylon, as I do, but they generally do not spend time showing that "Jerusalem is the harlot".

 

Lazarus and the Rich Man 

 

The Rich Man in the parable is shown to be Judah. 

 

Unfortunately, many of the authors above come to odd conclusions that follow the interpretation of "Jerusalem is the harlot". Nevertheless, those other authors list many, many solid proofs that "Jerusalem is the harlot". I will briefly cover several of the best Scriptural proofs, and then spend time discussing implications and conclusions.

 

Summary of proofs: 

 

1. Jerusalem rules the nations through lending money. 

2. Jerusalem kills the prophets and saints. 

3. Jerusalem is the "great city" where Jesus was killed. 

4. Jerusalem sits on 7 mountains. 

5. Jerusalem is described as a whore in the Bible. 

6. Jerusalem's priests wore purple, red, precious stones, and gold. 

7. Jerusalem drinks the cup of wrath. 

8. Jerusalem's lovers, the kings of the earth, turn on her to destroy her. 

9. Jerusalem is called "Babylon" by Peter in 1 Peter 5:13 

 

 

Proof #1.

 

Prophecy tells us who will rule many nations. It is a blessing of God to Israel, and it even describes how they will rule over the nations. They rule by lending money to the nations. 

 

Deuteronomy 15:6 "For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee."

 

Deuteronomy 28:12 "... and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow."

 

Of course, the harlot woman rules the kings of the earth.

 

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

 

This, my first proof, is an extremely important argument, one that I have not seen any other authors make who teach that "Jerusalem is the harlot".  The great harlot lends money to the nations to control them.  This is the opposite of how a harlot operates; normally a harlot receives money from her lovers.

 

Ezekiel 16:33 describes how Jerusalem plays the harlot, oddly enough, by giving money to her lovers, which is "contrary" to how other women commit whoredoms:

 

"They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom."

 

Eze 16:31-34 "In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire; But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband! They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom. And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary."

 

Does the fact that the woman lends money to the nations prove that she rules them?  Yes!  Deuteronomy 15:6 clearly shows that by lending money, she rules the nations.  Further proof that the lender rules over the borrower.

 

Proverbs 22:7 "The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."

 

Implications of this proof: If you study the role of gold in history, and the history of money, you will find that the international moneylenders control the nations through lending money to them, and that a portion of these bankers have a certain tie to Jerusalem.

 

This is not a racist view, nor is it a condemnation of the people living in Jerusalem; but rather, it is merely the fulfillment of Bible prophecy.  In fact, this interpretation cannot and is not a judgment against the Jewish people, because the common people do not lend to the nations or kings of the earth.

 

However, 

 

Rom 16:18 "For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." 

 

Phil 3:19 "Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) "

 

Rev 2:9 "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan." 

 

Rev 3:9 "Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee." 

 

Proof #2.

 

The Pharisees of Jerusalem killed Stephen who was the first of "the martyrs of Jesus" (This began the dispensation of Grace). Any other interpretation of who the woman is, if it does not include the Jewish religious leaders in the time of Jesus, including the Jewish religious leaders who killed the Old Testament prophets (Rev 18:24), is therefore incorrect.

 

Rev 17:6 "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."

 

Rev 18:20 "Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her."

 

Rev 18:24 "And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth."

 

Stephen, the first Christian martyr, fingers the council at Jerusalem as the murderers of the prophets, and they were so angry they killed Stephen, too:

 

Act 7:52 "Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: ..."

 

Jesus speaks harsh words to the leaders of Jerusalem, saying they are worse than harlots, and also says that "Jerusalem kills the prophets":

 

Jesus, while on earth, had nothing good to say about Jerusalem!

 

Mat 21:31 "...Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. 

 

Mat 21:32 "For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him."

 

Mat 23:29-39 "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 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. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."

 

Luke 13:31-35 "The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee. 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. Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. 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! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."

 

Proof #3.

 

The great harlot is the "great city". The "great city" is Jerusalem.

 

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

 

Revelation, earlier, tells us which city is THE GREAT CITY: it is Jerusalem.

 

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

 

The Lord was crucified in Jerusalem, -not Rome or any other place on earth; it was Jerusalem.....the great city, which is the great harlot.

 

Babylon, as a name for Jerusalem, is not unlike the comparison to other cities, such as as Sodom, Egypt, and Gomorrah; "spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt" 

 

Rev 11:8. (Isaiah 1:10; Jer. 23:14, Ezek. 16:44-56 all compare Jerusalem to Sodom. (also, Jesus in various NT Scriptures, compared various Israelite cities to Sodom and Gomorrah by comparing judgment), Luke 10:12, Mark 6:11, Matthew 11:23-24, Matthew 10:15.) 

 

Proof #4.

 

As the woman sits on seven mountains, Jerusalem is built on seven mountains:

 

Rev 17:9 "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

 

From http://www.kensmen.com/catholic/endtimes.html , 

Mt. Goath, Mt. Gareb, Mt. Acra, Mt. Bezetha, Mt. Zion, Mt. Ophel, and Mt. Moriah.

 

A second source, http://www.angelfire.com/pr/truth/whore.html , lists the same: Mount Zion, Mount Ophel, Mount Moriah, Mount Bezetha, Mount Acra, Mount Gareb, and Mount Goath.

 

A third confirming source, http://jesus-messiah.com/prophecy/rev-13.html , lists the same seven, and explains a bit more of why some authors list different mountains, and includes a map: 

 

"The seven hills identify Jerusalem not Rome: Jerusalem was a large city spreading outside the walls and covering the seven hills there during the time of Jesus and the Apostles: 1.) Mount Gared; 2.) Mount Goath; 3.) Mount Acra; 4.) Mount Bezetha; 5.) Mount Moriah; 6.) Mount Ophel; 7.) Mount Zion. For what ever reason, and by what ever hands and manipulation, Mt. Gared, Mt. Goath, Mt Acra, and Mt. Bezetha have been deleted from nearly all maps of Jerusalem."

 

http://www.unlimitedglory.org/txtrevcha4.htm "look at any old map showing the topography of Jerusalem immediately prior to 70 A.D. In so doing I believe that you will find that the 7 hills of Moriah, Ophel, Zion, Bezetha, Golgotha, Bareb and Offence are all or partially located within the confines of Jerusalem as it existed at that time."

 

I could not find Mt. Acra or Mt. Bezetha in Scripture, but five others I could. Gareb & Goath in Jeremiah 31:39, Ophel in 2 Chronicles 33:14, Moriah in 2 Chronicles 3:1 and Zion yielded 153 occurrences.

 

Jeremiah 31:39 "And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath."

 

2 Chron 33:14 "Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah."

 

2 Chron 3:1 "Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite."

 

The two mountains not found in Scripture, Mt. Acra and Mt. Bezetha, are both mentioned in the Jewish Encyclopedia under the listing for"Jerusalem": 

 

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=242&letter=J 

 

Here is a Psalm about the mountains around Jerusalem, "As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever." {Psalms 125:2)

 

The word in Rev 17:9 is clearly mountains, not hills. Hills as referenced and attributed to the "Seven Hills of Rome."

 

3735 oros {or'-os} 

probably from an obsolete oro (to rise or "rear", perhaps akin to 142, cf 3733); TDNT - 5:475,732; n n 

AV - mountain 41, mount 21, hill 3; 65 

1) a mountain

 

There is a word for hills in the Greek language, even used in the New Testament, a word that John was aware of, and could have used, if he meant to say "hills."

 

Luke 23:30 "Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us."

 

1015 bounos {boo-nos'} 

probably of foreign origin;; n m 

AV - hill 2; 2 

1) a hill, eminence, mound

 

Therefore, the interpretation that the woman is Rome, a city on seven hills, is not fitting with Scripture nearly as much as the interpretation that the woman is Jerusalem, a city on seven mountains.

 

I suppose it is possible that the seven mountains have another symbolic meaning; in addition to literal mountains or kings. That the seven mountains are the seven continents of the earth: 

 

North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica, which would mean that the woman sits on and rules the entire earth. After all, the whore is also said to sit on many waters, which are the people, and multitude and nations of the earth; hence,....world dominion.

 

Rev 17:1 "And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:..."

 

Rev 17:15 "And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues."

 

 

Proof #5.

 

Rev 17:5 "And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."

 

Israel is described as a harlot in many texts of the Hebrew Scriptures: Isa. 1:21, Ezek 16, 23, Isaiah 57, Jeremiah 2-3 and Hosea 2 

 

Isaiah 47 is a striking parallel passage, with 3 key elements repeated: She calls herself a lady/queen, not a widow, and will see her destruction in one day.

 

Isaiah 47:7-9 "And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it.Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments."

 

Compare to:

 

Revelation 18:7-8 "How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 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. "  

 

 

Proof #6.

 

The woman is wearing red and purple, with a cup of gold in hand. The Israelite priests wear red and purple, and used cups of gold in the temple worship.

 

Rev 17:4 "And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:..."

 

Rev 18:16 "And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!"

 

God commanded that the priests' vestments be made with purple and scarlet yarn (Ex. 28:4-8, 15, 33, 39:1-8, 24, 29).

 

Exodus 25:29 "And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them."

 

Dan 5:2-3 "Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein." Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them."

 

Proof #7.

 

The woman also drinks the cup of wrath.

 

Rev 18:3 "For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies."

 

Isai 51:17 "Rouse yourself! Rouse yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem, You who have drunk from the Lord's hand the cup of His anger; The chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs."

 

Rev 14:8-10 "And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. "

And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:...."

 

Proof #8.

 

The kings of the earth (the horns of the beast) (Rev 17:12), who the woman rules (Rev 17:18), will turn on the woman and destroy her. Ezekiel, in chapter 16, and Jeremiah chapter 4, say the same thing about Jerusalem and Israel. 

 

Rev 17:16 "And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire."

 

Eze 16:1-2 "Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, ... "

 

Eze 16:37-41 "Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness. And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy. And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare. They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords. And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more."

 

Jer 4:1 "If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove. ... "

 

Jer 4:30-31 "And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life. For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers."

 

Proof #9.

 

Peter uses the word "Babylon" to describe Jerusalem, where he lived, in a greeting at the end of his first epistle.

 

1 Peter 5:13 "The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son."

 

Peter was in Jerusalem, writing from Jerusalem, living with his son Marcus in Jerusalem, not Babylon.

 

Galatians 1:18 "Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days."

 

Acts 8:14 "Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:..."

 

At the time Peter wrote 1 Peter, the literal city of Old Babylon was in ruins, and uninhabited. Therefore, "babylon" was a name for Jerusalem.

 

Conclusions and the implications of this view that "Jerusalem is the great harlot". Nowhere can we EVER conclude that Rome, the USA or any other physical location is "Mystery Babylon" except,....Jerusalem. 

 

Now we know...and know also of what is to be her judgment.