Who is the Great Whore of Babylon
Who was responsible for
the the blood of God’s people? John wrote in
Revelation 18:24, "And in HER was found the blood of prophets, and of saints,
and of ALL that were slain upon the earth." Let’s compare Matthew 23:31-38, "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." According to Christ only that generation was responsible
for "all the righteous blood shed upon the earth."
According to John the Babylonian whore was also guilty for "all that were slain
upon the earth". One can only conclude that they are talking about one in the
same character.
Lets also look at Matthew 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [THOU] that killest the prophets,
and stonest them which are sent unto THEE" and
compare that with Rev 18:24
"And in HER was found the blood of prophets". Are
the ones responsible for killing the prophets one in the same with those that
were found with the blood of the prophets? Who did it? HER did it. Who is HER?
The YOU, YE, THOU and THEE of the generation to whom our Lord was pronouncing
the judgments upon in Matthew 23. Therefore the SHE is apostate Jerusalem, or
Israel. To round off this thought look what Paul said in 1 Thes 2:14,15 "For ye, brethren, became followers
of the churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have
suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they [have] of the Jews.
Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us;
and they please not God, and are contrary to all men." According to the
Lord and the Apostle Paul the Jews of the first century were the one's
responsible for the persecution and the deaths of the prophets.
Point number two, where
have all the prophets gone? As far as I'm concerned and many other students of
the bible past and present and I hope future the office of prophet only existed
in OT Israel and up to the closing of the scriptures in first century (this is
according, amongst other things, to the 70 weeks of years in Daniel 9:24 - the sealing of prophecy).The
office of prophet and the miraculous gift of prophecy ceased to exist in the
first century after the completion of the scriptures and the death of the
apostles. If we think we have the same ability and anointing to bring forth the "Word of the Lord" as the apostles and
prophets did we are being foolish and are deceived. The spirit of God was upon
them in a special way to bring forth the Word. Now that we have the perfect (1 Cor 13:10)
Word of Life we do not need the ability to prophecy. Gods word is perfect,
complete and self sufficient (Heb
4:12, 2 Tim 3:16,17).
We don't need any more prophets! If the office of prophet cease and desisted in
the first century then whoever killed all of the prophets had to cease and
desisted in the first century. Their is only one city according to Jesus that is
responsible for all of the deaths of all the prophets and all of the apostles
and all of the saints and that is
Jerusalem . Jesus
said, God's vengeance would come against these people, this generation Mt 23:36; 24:34.
They would be judged for spilling all the righteous blood shed on earth.
Therefore, if all blood of all the prophets was against them and the office of
prophet no longer exists then the Babylonian Whore in Rev 18 no longer exists.
This moves me into point
three, the kingdom has been removed from them and their nation destroyed
forever. Because of the shedding of "all the
righteous blood shed upon the earth", God was going
to come and judge the people and make their Holy City desolate "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate"
(Matt 23:38). Jerusalem should be called the "Desolate City" instead of
the "Holy City" because it no longer is "Holy". The city certainly has been
deserted by God to this day. Desolate of any true faith that leads to salvation. Rev 18:23 "And the light of a candle shall shine no more
at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard
no more at all in thee for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by
thy sorceries were all nations deceived". The city ceased to be holy and
useful to God in the first century when God removed his presence from the Holy
of Holies, destroyed the temple, judged millions of Jews through death and
scattered the rest throughout the world.
Jesus said in Mt 21:43 "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be
taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." Her destruction is one that will last forever. "Rejoice over her, [thou] heaven,
and [ye] holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. That
economy was destroyed forever by God . "In that he saith, A new [covenant], he
hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old [is] ready to
vanish away" (Heb 8:13).
It did started to vanish away with the sacrifice of Christ and was completely
destroyed when Jesus came in judgment to flatten the temple within a generation
as he promised (see Mt
23:36,38; and Mt 24:2,34). The old kingdom was
ground into powder at the coming of the New Kingdom. They rejected the corner
stone and it crushed them to pieces (See Mt 21:41- 44). Heb 12:27 says: "And this [word], yet once more,
signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are
made, (he's speaking of the old covenant) that those things which cannot be
shaken (God's new covenant) may remain." We have graduated from the
"kindergarten" of God's redemptive plan never to
return to the "blood of bulls and goats". We have
graduated as valedictorians through His blood. We are now in the KINGDOM OF HIS
DEAR SON never to be shaken or removed. Hebrews 12:28 continues the thought "Wherefore we receiving a
kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God
acceptably with reverence and godly fear." "Who hath delivered us from the power
of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son" Col 1:13. AMEN.
We must
use the Bible to interpret the Bible biblically. We are not to look on the
political landscape of our world and try to expose Mystery Babylon. We are not
to use the signs of the times, the newspaper, our favorite prophecy magazine or
Scofield's footnotes to interpret Bible prophecy as some "prophecy" preachers do
today.
The key book on New
Testament prophecy of course is the book of The Revelation. The book clearly
says in the first verse it's about "things which must
shortly come to pass". In case you missed it there John also says it at
the end "to shew unto his servants the things which must
shortly be done" (Rev 22:6). He also says it in between. (Rev 1:3, 3:10).
The book is about the covenant divorce of God from Israel and His marriage to
His true bride, the church. It details the great tribulation that was to come
upon Israel (the land) for their disobedience within a generation just as Jesus
prophesied in Matt 24:34. The Revelation
reveals the enactment of the curses of Deut 28 and
29 that were promised by God on the Jews if they rejected Him, his Law,
his Son and His Spirit. The book was written pre 70 AD and 90% of the book deals
with first century events. It foretells the destruction of first century
Jerusalem and the downfall of the "Beast" the Roman Empire.
Well what does Mystery
Babylon mean to us today. We like the first century Christians are also called
to "Come out from her." Jesus warned the disciples that Jerusalem (Israel) was
going to be judged. He told them to flee the city, the coming wrath, and not to
stay behind. Josephus reports that all of the Christians heeded the warning and
fled the city just before it was destroyed. When a Jew in the first century came
to Christ they were to leave Judaism behind and likewise we are to leave our
sins and religion behind when we come to Christ. God's wrath maybe coming
against our nation because of its sins. We must remain spotless and are not to
partake of the same sins that the Jews were guilty of in the first century. We
must not reject the Son of God like they did. We have to be sensitive to the
leading of the Holy Spirit thru the Word and not leaning onto our own
understanding. We are not to reject the true Word of life and add to it like
Judaism has. Like listening to prophetic utterances and tongues by so called
modern day prophets. The scriptures are completely sufficient for all our needs.
We are not to get caught up in the heresy of adding to God's word (i.e. modern
day prophetic utterances) like the Pharisees did in their apostate Judaistic
religion. We are not called to get in the bed with politics like the Pharisees
and Jews were doing with the Roman government. We are called to preach the
gospel and stand for righteousness and not get so caught up in politics that it
clouds our true vision. I'm not talking about not
voting but using the system to further the agenda of the church. We are to steer
clear of materialism and the lure of worldly riches that would draw us away from
the true and pure faith. I could go on and on about the sins of first century
Judaism but the lesson learned is that we as the body of Christ are to remain
pure and undefiled awaiting our final redemption. When Christ delivers the
kingdom to the Father and his last enemy is crushed under his feet.
WHO IS THE GREAT WHORE OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION?
Jerusalem who rejected and crucified Jesus was the Great Whore.
Watch the corollary:
JERUSALEM:
Matthew 23:33-35 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.
NOTE IN REVELATION ABOUT WHORE:
Revelation 18:24 And in her was found the blood
of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
TOLD TO WOMEN OF JERUSALEM:
Luke 23:28-30 But Jesus turning unto them said,
Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your
children. For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say,
Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which
never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us;
and to the hills, Cover us.
NOTE IN REVELATION:
Revelation 6:16 And said to the mountains and
rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the
throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
JERUSALEM IS NOTED IN REVELATION AS THE GREAT CITY:
Revelation 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.
So when we read after this verse, through the rest of the book,
whenever we come across a reference to "that great city", its pointing
back to the Great City noted above.
Revelation 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is
that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
When we let the Bible interpret itself, by noting the references to Jerusalem
as being identical to the points about the Great Whore in the book of
Revelation, we clearly see that JERUSALEM was that whore. However, be careful to
note that this speaks of Jerusalem of Jesus' day. In THAT GENERATION, forty
years later, Jerusalem was judged in 70 AD. Revelation is about that judgment.
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