"5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and
God hath remembered her iniquities.
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.
7 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.
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.
9 ｦ And the kings of the earth, who have
committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her,
and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her
torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city!
for in one hour is thy judgment come.
11 And the merchants of the earth shall
weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
12 The merchandise of gold, and silver,
and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk,
and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and
all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments,
and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts,
and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted
after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly
are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
15 The merchants of these things, which
were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment,
weeping and wailing,
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!
17 For in one hour so great riches is come
to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors,
and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
18 And cried when they saw the smoke of
her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
Text 2)
Ezekiel 16:10-41
10 I clothed thee also with broidered work,
and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen,
and I covered thee with silk.
11 I decked thee also with ornaments, and
I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.
12 And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and
earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.
13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and
silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work;
thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding
beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.
14 And thy renown went forth among the
heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which
I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.
15 ｦ But thou didst trust in thine own
beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out
thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.
16 And of thy garments thou didst take,
and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot
thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.
17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels
of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself
images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,
18 And tookest thy broidered garments,
and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before
them.
19 My meat also which I gave thee, fine
flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it
before them for a sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD.
20 Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and
thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed
unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,
21 That thou hast slain my children, and delivered
them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?
22 And in all thine abominations and thy
whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast
naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.
23 And it came to pass after all thy wickedness,
(woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord GOD;)
24 That thou hast also built unto thee
an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street.
25 Thou hast built thy high place at every
head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened
thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.
26 Thou hast also committed fornication
with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy
whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.
27 Behold, therefore I have stretched out
my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered
thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines,
which are ashamed of thy lewd way.
28 Thou hast played the whore also with
the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the
harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.
29 Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication
in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.
30 How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord
GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish
woman;
31 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;
32 But as a wife that committeth adultery,
which taketh strangers instead of her husband!
33 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.
34 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.
35 ｦ Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word
of the LORD:
36 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy
filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms
with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the
blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them;
37 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.
38 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.
39Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication
in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea;
40 They shall also bring up a company against
thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with
their swords.
41 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."
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Today, I'd like to give a message entitled "Babylon And Jerusalem." What is the meaning of the harlot Babylon in Revelation? Let's examine this parable.
Please compare the above two texts. In Revelation, it describes in its text the harlot Babylon. In the book of Ezekiel, it mentions about Jerusalem. If we look at these descriptions carefully, we will discover that they are very similar. Let's summarize their similar points.
1. Both are cities, women and queens.
Babylon: " I sit a queen, and am no widow,
and shall see no sorrow"
Jerusalem: "thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom"
2. Both commit adultery with this world and are called harlots.
B: " I will shew unto thee the judgment
of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:"
J: " But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by"
3. Both have gold and jewelry.
B: "The merchandise of gold, and silver,
and precious stones, and of pearls"
J: "Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee"
4. Both are famous in the world
B:" And he saith unto me, The waters which thou
sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations,
and tongues.
J: "And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty"
5. Both kill and are judged for this sin.
B: And I saw the woman drunken with the
blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus"
"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."
J: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.
6. Both have relation with Babylon
B: "And upon her forehead was a name written,
MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE
EARTH."
J: " Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication
in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea"
(The Chaldean people are a race of people in
Babylon.)
7. Both are judged by God and killed by the people with whom she committed
adultery.
B: "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..."
J: 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."
8. Both women are burnt by fire.
B: "And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!"
J: "And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women:"
9. Both are naked.
B: "The ten horns and the beast which you saw
will join with the harlot, commit fornication and be her companion." anataga
mita jyupponn no tunoto ano kemonotoha, sono innpuwo nkumi kanojowo kouhai
sase son nkuwo kurei."
J: and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.
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As seen above, there are many similarities between them. The name of the reat harlot Babylon is a hidden name. However, God informs us the fact that this great harlot is similar to Jerusalem written in the book of Ezekiel through these similarities. Or God may be suggesting to us that Babylon is Jerusalem itself.
By the way, what God wants us to understand through all this? We would like to to know. To know it requires the wisdom of God. What does God want to show us through this image of Jerusalem? Jerusalem is the center of Israel, God's people. But, they continued in unfaithfulness. And at last, this city Jerusalem was surrounded by its enemy. Her gates were burnt with fire and many people were taken into captivity to Babylon. This is the climax of the judgment of God's people. This is a historical fact that Jerusalem was judged by God. But what kind of relationship exists between this fact and the time period of Revelation? Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and it symbolizes the church in the new testament. Therefore, this prefigures the judgment of God's people to be judged by God in the end time. God's judgment begins in the house of God as per the epistle of Peter.
In addition, there is another fact I would like to bring up. After their captivity in Babylon, there were some people who returned back from Babylon and built a new Jerusalem. these people have their number recorded in the scripture and they returned to the land of their fathers' heritage. Likewise, we can see a new Jerusalem in the new testament. This represents the assembly of the saints. In book of Nehemiah, it speaks about the construction of a new Jerusalem. In the book of Ezra the reconstruction of a new temple is written about in it. Both Jerusalem and the temple are representative figures of the church. The temple symbolizes one aspect of the church. It stands for the place where God lives.
These two old testament typologies present a model of end time and it present a message for those of us listening today during these end times. In the end time, there will also be a people of God who are to be called the harlot Babylon and she will be judged. There will also be another type of God's people called the new Jerusalem, and she will go out from Babylon. The parable of Babylon indicates this fact. Therefore, the judgment against the harlot Babylon is not far from us. The scriptures are truly warning about it.
Let's do the Lord's will in this end time.
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